#The last 2 panels are a little ugly... but I think you understand what it's happening

[marsspeedway]

[wisyhana]

These are some pages that I made as fanart for a fanfic i Really Love. It's something rare that I look back and actually kinda liking the result- 😂 I've been trying to improve my panels flow(?)/pacing And the Lettering- adding words in comics is pretty hard 🥺 if you had some insights, pls let me know ❤ or just give me what you think... Thank you so much!!

Hi! Thank you for waiting this long hahaha

First of all I love your Yugi, is so freaking adorable, big fan over here aaaaaa.

And okay we're gonna talk about comics. Oh boy. It's not a topic I dont like talking but it's something I get way too.... intense, even if I feel I don't have much to defend with. Anyway I'll try to not be so detailed and serious about it so I can bring a decent commentary!

Disclaimer that I have a lot of issues with the use of thought bubbles, but that's a me thing. Myself I try to avoid them so I can focus on a "show more, talk less" type of flow. So if I start talking about them it's because of that, not that you'r doing a bad thing or anything.

I like how you use the panels, by themselves and ignoring the dialogues, they work perfectly fine! I think my thing with the pacing is that I'd draw a 3-4 pages comics instead of 2 for this scene alone. It's a pain I know, but I think for this type of scenario adding a little more of time could help to appreciate some details, like Kaiba being notoriously angry, the moment he touches Yugi's forehead, etc. But this is also a very personal opinion because I'm a sucker for very sloooow interactions, so all this I'm saying is for the sake of a slower pacing. Sadly you gotta draw more or write less if you want to get that effect, also you can get in a situation where things end up vague and ugh, what a pain hjdfhjhds.

I have a serious problem with dialogue bubbles, I never know where to put them Dx. I always feel they're on the way or that they hinder the reading or that they look straight up ugly hahahaha. I think you use a good space for them! they're not in the way of the faces or important scenes, but I can see you needed to add arrows for the conversation to work. In my opinion the dialogue works perfectly without the arrows. We all know there are two people talking so having only the faces on the bubbles was enough to understand who was talking and what order follow.

Now, if you want to work on bubbles without using the faces to show who's talking and don't lose the order in the way, I could recommend something like this:

Sorry if it looks way too clumsy! But a thing we artist have to deal is how the order of the bubbles affects on the flow of the dialogue. Specially when we don't have a specific way to show how the person talks (for example japaneses have many ways to show character's expression so it's easier for them to identify it.) So we need to focus on the flow.

A wonderful person who talks TONS of this matter is the motherfucker Scott McCoud!

This is just an example of how dialogues can contribute to the time and spaces and how the order affects the reading. This is not the exact example for what I mean but Scott is a badass of the comic and the complexity of it.

Understanding Comics The invisible Art is a masterpiece, I blame him for making me doubt is I'm doing a good job or not.

Okay before I go way too into this, one last thing and this is personal opinion. I love white background but you gotta be very careful to not make it look like lazyness. You don't need to draw a full background but maybe adding some shading can help to make the illusion of space rather than having a blank space. Of course this is just my opinion.

Anyway, I really like how you work! my huge recommendation would be to simply take your time on it, I feel it shows a bit of impatience or nerviousness, but that's just my idea. So far you're going a good way on creating comics and I'd love to see more of them :3

Hope this helped you in some way! And as always don't forget to have fun drawing your beautiful bois!

this is me everytime I draw comic and find a inconsistency.

[thetobiroppofan]

one piece rant #1: the gay evil pronoun

im nervous to start this off cause what if some random incel comes in saying "erm snort actually this is wrong" like go kiss my ass basement dweller I am a 15 year old trans boy do not fw me yu dcikhead :(

anyways I wanna talk abt doflamingo today

Doflamingo's honestly a great villain, in my opinion. This is WAYY different than like.. a great person. He serves as a good driving force for the plot and I think he like is honestly kinda well-written. I mean, the guy's morals and stuff are downright despicable as expected of a villain. I don't know how to add gifs I forogt

ok so I figured it out woohoo anyways

Starting off, his backstory is honestly fuckin' sad as hell understandably, I mean obviously he's still a dickhead I mean like one of the first panels of him going down there was "where are the slaves lets buy some"

little ugly fuck........... anyways

Quick explanation for anyone reading who a. doesn't know his backstory or b. just wants to read; Doflamingo's family was originally celestial dragons (a whole society 'above' the rest of civilization, generally they're hated by the public but their word goes above anyone elses, even the Marines at times, so people have to keep their shit together) but his father decided to move down to the real world as regular nobles.

yeah so that was a bad idea.

his family was borderline fuckin JUMPED over their former status as world nobles, and were forced into poverty, his mom died, and yada yada he shot and killed his own dad and joined the pirate life. I'm just rereading one piece again after a 2 month break, on alabasta, so details might be off do NOT take my word for granted chat

but like you get the gist, former noble goes down to civilization, is tortured, gets inducted into the pirate life, etc

the reason he was inducted was through trebol, since he saw young doffy and went "yeah that kids got potential" and not in the drake way

Trebol's the guy on the left, the uglier one

yeah so basically over the course of dressrosa (The arc where doflamingos the main villain), we learn more tidbits about his actions like how he took the head of his father back up to the home of the world nobles and asked to rejoin the celestial dragons (he was obviously rejected) and ykw I forgot to mention: doflamingo has a BROTHER. his name is Rosinante, and he's a great guy but he ends up working for doflamingo (spoiler alert: he's not actually there to be a good brother he is a spy) but over the course of the backstory, Doflamingo's newest member, a young Trafalgar d. water law

yeah he's lowk ugly as a kid but it doesn't change much when he grows up

side note: I love how ugly some op kids are like its just funny anyways this isn't abt law that's a whole other rant

anyways so law joins the donquixote pirates (Doflamingo named it after his last name, donquixote) and I'll talk more abt law's stuff later in another rant along with Rosinante (doflamingos brother) however all you need to know ATM in this rant is 1. Rosinante and Law leave to find a cure for laws disease+rosi discovered law has 'The Will of D.' (I'll need to explain that later wont I) 2. Rosinante already ate a devil fruit and if u weren't aware already u cant eat two dfs or else you DIE

happy father son bonding moment

oh btw

During their time out, Rosinante and Law get a call from doflamingo telling them to come back so Rosinante can eat this devil fruit doffy planned to steal called the ope-ope no mi (remember what I told u sister.) so he can cure law

yeah so

since rosinantes a marine he stops that, and hides law in a chest after forcefeeding him the devil fruit and skipskip andddd oh no

OH FUCK!!!!!!!!! ROSINANTE DIED.

oh btw you see the unshaded bright white chest RIGHT behind him

you'll never guess who's hiding there.

tragedy strikes.

but this ain't abt two tragic found family LOSERS (i don't mean this I love them both guys please I have a law Funko and plush I'm a mother) this is abt evil incarnate right here in a bright pink feathery coat and fuckass glasses

anywyas law goes on the run finds his crew this ain't abt him we're focusing back on doffy

so like skipping allat stuff we are now in the time when doflamingo says "fuck it" and decides oh yeah lets take over

an entire kingdom

thats what normal pirates do anyways.

So using his devil fruit the Ito Ito No Mi (which allows him to manipulate strings, allowing him to be like spiderman and also be a puppeteer which btw that reflects his char so much like gyattdamn!) he demands a beri sum of like 10 billion for this king to have his nation left alone before he like takes over him, puppeteering him to slaughter his own people before coming to the rescue yadadyadyaydyaydyaydaydysyay8dy8

so yeah

he takes over dressrosa, actingg as a 'hero' and he and his crew rule over the kingdom now

I don't think I've talked abt sugar yet but she can turn people into toys and form contracts, and that's what she basicallyy did with people who either a. doflamingo didn't like or b. spoke out against the pink feathered fuck

thats part 1 for now mainly just a backstory dump

i am insane

thanks for reading chat this has been a Quinn tm rant

[skatingexposed]

Barking Chihuahuas and the Truth About Crossovers: Exposing Lies Behind Kostner’s Skating Skills (and a Little Rant)

So, I was scrolling through a skating forum and came across this post totally lying about Carolina Kostner. Given that I already spilled the tea on Italian skater Sarina Joos’ skating skills and then her crossovers as a little "bonus" in my last skating skills analysis post from JGP RIGA, it’s only right I set the record straight on Kostner—Italy’s skating empress.

One of the biggest issues? The sheer number of crossovers she does. It’s like, girl, chill! It’s not the best, yet skaters today get dragged for doing just 3 or 4 at max. Completely unfair!

Here’s the truth: Kostner had good speed, but WAYYYYYYYYYY too many crossovers at times! Seriously, more than most ladies today.

Let's count together the amount of crossovers Kostner does in her programs right before an element such as jumps.

I will provide a Gif and count every cross that she uses to gain speed. Count with me and expose this lie 😁

MY RANT:

Keep in mind the ISU used Kostner as the poster child of skating skills meaning "They do not give a f&#% about ugly crossovers" that some irrational fans bark like Chihuahua's about.

Have you ever heard a Chihuahua bark? It’s like, the most annoying sound ever, right? Well, that’s exactly how it feels when fans go on and on, acting like the way crossovers are done is the ultimate measure of skating skills. They’re like barking Chihuahuas—nonstop noise over something that’s just not that important!

Let me be clear: how you do your crossovers—whether you miss a push, use both pushes with equal power, have a stronger under push, or lift your leg higher as you crossover—doesn't matter to the judges or tech panel when getting scored. None of that factors into skating skills; it’s just the basic way to gain speed. Much ado about nothing!

Now, speed itself? That’s a different story because it counts. Most skaters rely on crossovers because it's the easiest way to pick up speed, but that doesn't make it the hallmark of incredible skating skills. It's the easiest method! Nothing impressive about it. What really impresses judges is gaining speed from the most difficult turns, like rockers, counters, brackets, and all those tricky moves because they are difficult. That's where the real magic happens!

So many fans love to "bitch" about ugly crossovers (thanks to the constant noise from those barking Chihuahuas), but guess what? The judges don't care. Crossover count and technique aren’t even in the criteria for skating skills! So, let's focus on what actually matters, and not get caught up in the drama created by clueless fans and retired skaters who have never competed at the elite level or don’t really understand how scoring works.

Until this madness stops, I’m going to keep calling out the so-called "favorites" of the past generation who use the same—or even worse—crossovers as the skaters who are getting bullied for them today. It’s time to shine a spotlight on the hypocrisy and show that it's not about "crossovers" or how the crossovers look, but the actual criteria set by the ISU.

Excuse the slight cursing, but I am so fed up with these clueless skating fans who think "Perfect Crossovers" automatically mean "Amazing Skating Skills."

Let me tell you, that couldn’t be further from the truth.

The ISU never said that basic crossovers are the ultimate measure of skating skills. NEVER. Yet, these fans act like it's the only thing that matters (when it’s not even a factor!) and use it to drag skaters they don't like.

Sure, speed is important, but "perfect" crossovers or doing a ton of them? Not the be-all, end-all—if it were, Carolina Kostner would be ranked way lower in skating skills!

None of the skating skills criteria even mention crossovers as a big deal. There’s no rule saying you need 2-3 or 3-4 crossovers or else. Kostner was out there doing 5-7 at times, and she’s still celebrated as one of the best standards of SS in official ISU educational videos! And this was over Mao Asada by the way who had better "crossover technique" and used less crossovers from element to element.

Here is the skating skills criteria for 2024/2025 yet again:

Do you guys see anywhere that says, "Crossovers must be 2 - 3 maximum or must be done a specific way with equal pushes and no back pumping?" No! Because that's complete bull.

I too like minimal crossovers 2 - 3 crossovers.

I too hate back pumping.

I too am annoyed by jerky short strokes on crossovers.

But all of this is an aesthetic and efficiency preference on how the crossovers are done not a hard rule.

If the skater is fast with 4 - 5 crossovers with some of the flaws I stated above I won't snap their neck and pretend the ISU should lower their scores in skating skills when the ISU never made "crossover technique" a factor for skating skill scoring.

Should you get a little praise or boost for minimal crossovers, yes, but should your skating skills score be punished when it was never a factor to begin with? No.

Kostner was hailed as the queen of skating skills even though she did 6 - 7 crossovers at times, and no one batted an eye. Just wowed at her speed.

Nowadays, skaters with just as much speed should get the same pass for doing just 4 crossovers which is standard today, especially if they're a bit sloppy like Kostner's with the fast short strokes, over leaning and pumping back. She was still celebrated as the Queen of skating skills by the ISU and tons of fans. It's funny—someone even tried to claim she only did 2-3 crossovers to gain speed, but it varied so much with many of her skates having excessive amounts such as the gif I provided above of 7 back crossovers! It's wild how people twist the truth just to keep her on that pedestal, especially when current skaters get criticized for doing the same thing.

So here’s the deal: Carolina Kostner, even with her 5 - 7 crossovers that had back pumping, over-leaning, and those short, fast strokes, still had fantastic speed. Compare that to Sarina Joos, who only did 4 crossovers but with average-to-below-average speed going into jumps. It’s no wonder Sarina is getting lower scores—it’s about speed, not just the crossover technique.

Carolina might have had messier crossovers, but her speed earned her higher scores. The key takeaway? Super fast but botched crossovers will always outshine perfect but slow crossovers because speed is the real game-changer in the "Power and Speed" criteria.

Of course speed is just one of the six criteria for skating skills. I’m not saying it’s the only thing that matters, but I’m focusing on this because I’m so over this whole crossover drama that the Chihuahuas created. So, while there’s more to skating skills, let’s not get bogged down by this crossover nonsense!

[hezuart]

That anaversary aizen looks absolutely fabulous, he looks like a figure skater xd.

I heard along time ago the last arc of the anime was being animated finally bc they pulled a 90s sailor moon were the last season was not either animated or dubbed untill decades later.

I recall near the end of the current 366 episodes there was an episode were the creapy demon ppl woke up in hell and we're all bitter, and there was the other guy who was like, iM cOmEiNg FoR u IChIgO, but then is never mentioned again after and I'm like,why? Why is lt there just plopted randomly into a different arc that seams unrelated.

And locking aizen up underground seems ok, but It deff won't hold, and he will. Escape, and he will kill, you either need that one spell from star, dubbed, the darkest spell of moon the undaunted, a powerfull dark spell that killed immortal beings, that came from best character, eclipsa, the queen of darkness.

We need that.

Or stick him I'm crystal like eclipsa was in star. Is there no one who could trap him in ice or crystal for all eternity.

How about throw him into the centre of a volcano trapped and caged , forverr being killed by heat?

I assume there's space travel, send I'm into a black whole, were a black whole don't fuckin care if your immortal or fat, you will die

:3

Yes, I love anniversary Aizen. His original octopus-butterfly hollow design was ugly so I'm glad he's back to being the fashion icon he is.

Locking Aizen up underground once is one thing, doing it twice after saying he got more powerful by just sitting there, and he escaped to battle the Quincy Soul King God... is another. I think he should have escaped at the end of the Quincy arc. That is the only feasibility.

I heard the anime is coming back for the Quincy arc as well, but because of COVID its probably going to be delayed. (I'm not gonna watch it until the Rain section of the arc then I'm dipping out. I'm only here for Zangetsu)

and funny that you mention that hell scene in the manga :)

-> spoilers for the new BLEACH 73 page anniversary chapter / thoughts/critique on it

So hey you had a premonition! Syazel .... returned? And his hole is outside of his body??? for some reason???

(I didn't understand the explanation or why / how that happens and what that means for the hollow)

And my friend and I were laughing because out of ALL the things. Kubo could do in this anniversary. He gave Syazel his dick back after going to hell. That is iconic. (that's where his hole was located, and now that its not on his body ... well...) This is the funniest thing Kubo has EVER pulled. Kudos to you, sir.

The entire internet is freaking out over Ukitake being in hell. Honestly Kubo has done far worse, and we've established that Soul Society is a corrupt system that hasn't changed, so I'm not surprised he would pull something like this.

At the same time, Kubo 1. cheated his audience. 2. continues to prove me right that he cannot bring himself to kill his characters

1. Hollows who have commit murder in their human life are sent to hell. Syazel and Aaorniero are two of these hollows, and yet, when they are killed, there is NO gates of hell scene. We see them there later in the hell chapter (which was more of a promotion for the fourth movie and I didn't believe it would hold any merit)

But the same goes for Ukitake. We never see the gates of hell take him. What, was hell late? Did hell's gates get lost like an uber before picking him up? It's bull. Withholding such vital information from your audience, not showing the gates of hell when they should pick up this soul IMMEDIATELY is ... I mean its a lie. Kubo lied to his audience.

2. Now we are told powerful shinigami are sent to hell when they die. First of all that sounds like a security threat. Wouldn't shinigami want revenge for that? Or attempt to escape? Why would they still hold loyalty after being sent to a prison of eternal suffering?

Also "Yhwach and Aizen" were the only ones keeping Hell's gates closed is way too convenient and doesn't really make any sense. I feel like Aizen should have deliberately gone to hell to retrieve powerful shinigami / hollows for his army instead of keeping it /closed/.

This is definitely a Kubo-doesn't-know-what-he's-doing-and-is -making- stuff-up-as-he-goes, but it might have a pinch of merit because of previous plot lines.... but either way, there's some big plot holes here, but again, its Kubo, so I expected nothing less.

Again, he can't kill off his characters. He introduced zombification, he introduced immortality through the hougyoku, he has Orihime and Hachigen's reversal / rejection abilities. He brought back Luppi, friggen.... a character who's entire upper half of his body was incinerated. Like.... come on. No. He's dead, you can't bring him back like that. That's a cop out and just weird. You're taking away consequences and grief.

(Also Yamamoto and Unohana deserve to be in hell far over Ukitake, they've done some fcked up stuff in their pasts unlike him)

Also Kubo's favorite character is Mayuri, which.... you're allowed to have a favorite problematic character. But Keeping said character alive and bared from the consequences of abusing his daughter, murdering innocents, and experimenting on your own squad members? Nah. Nope. Kill him, Kubo. Kill this dude.

(his weird attachment to Mayuri is probably why he keeps bringing Syazel back, since Syazel is Mayuri 2.0, but Syazel is the bad guy who does face consequences for his actions while Mayuri is not)

~

Also, I'm certain Kazui and Orihime are going to be THRILLED that their precious husband/dad is going to hell when he dies :)

(I just... Rukia teased Ichigo about leaving Orihime at home. She teased him about having a house wife who he leaves all the chores to. Orihime had two panels. She checks on her son who promised he would be at home and sleep. Kazui fcking breaks his promise like it never mattered to him and JUMPS out the window after pretending to sleep in front of his mother. ... An 8 year old... alone... in the middle of the night.)

Orihime is abandoned. She is not invited to SS, she is not informed of what is going on, her son leaves her.... I...

Orihime is a side character. She doesn't matter anymore. She hasn't mattered for a long, long time.

A part of me is glad she had little screen time, since she tends to waste it, but another part of me is embroiled with rage.

I've even see people try to defend this. "Orihime and Ichigo can't be together ALL the time, that's an unhealthy relationship!" and I'm like guys... that's not the point. The point is Orihime is not part of Ichigo's other life. Any shinigami stuff from now on is none of her business. She's going to stay at home while Kazui and Ichigo go off and save the world. Ichigo is going to be fighting by Rukia and Renji while Orihime watches from the sidelines, or worse, doesn't even know what is going on with her husband and son. Orihime is going to be uninformed and abandoned, because she has not proven she is capable of fighting by their sides(go on, @ me. I will fight this. She's a failure.), and also because she prefers a human life over a dead one. Which is ironic, because she married a dead man. Ichigo is a shinigami, and he will be one forever. god forbid she ever meets his Zanpaktou. She would tremble in fear at the monsters her husband harbors in his soul, especially when she realizes they don't care about her and would rather see her dead. (Zangetsu would absolutely kill Orihime. Not sure about Kazui, but Orihime has not accepted Zangetsu, she does not like either of them, and the feeling is assuredly mutual.) frick now I want to make a comic about this

Also still frustrated over Zangetsu's shikai / bankai regression. Kubo once again lied to his audience. Ichigo has no bankai. How ridiculous is that? The main character of BLEACH doesn't have a bankai. Insulting.

(RIP to Chad. He doesn't exist anymore. He's just gone. No mention, no cameo. Gone.)

Kazui is a demon child. That character from the novels? Hikone? They're the same character. Literally same personality, same power level. Its worse because Kazui is a liar. He constantly goes behind his parents' backs. He can summon creepy fish and creepy eyeballs and open portals like is ANYONE aware of this? How has SS not kidnapped Ichigo's son and experimented on him / locked away his powers yet? All substitute shinigami require a reiatsu controlling / spy badge to keep them in line. Where is Kazui's? Or is he just a weird fullbringer?

I was worried Kubo was gonna try and pull a knock off Boruto but luckily he kept the focus on Ichigo and the others. But that being said, Ichika and Kazui are now just... sort of there? Kazui was kinda just.... having his own adventure that doesn't matter to the plot at hand, and Ichika had some nice characterization at first but she just hid behind her dad the whole time.

I have a feeling Kazui is gonna step in at the last minute or do some major behind the scenes thing that indirectly interferes with the main plot so no one will realize how powerful and dangerous he actually is. Its sad because Ichika is the superior character in personality and likability, but she clearly is not going to have a bigger part in this.

Ichigo having a normal life after everything still feels extremely boring and uncomfortable to me. Everyone's like 'I'm still bLEACH!" but.... BLEACH just... doesn't feel like BLEACH anymore. It hasn't for a while now.

~~~

There's two new shinigami characters. Didn't care for the girl, but the Sign Language kid who talks to animals is adorable ... however... he just reminds me of Chad, and I just... it hurts knowing Chad has essentially been deleted. Chad and Orihime are officially benched. They have chosen the human world, and Orihime has given Ichigo his spawn so she has no more use/purpose to him anymore... ////sigh

~~~

Also. This is claimed to be a new "arc". So is the BLEACH manga coming back? What is happening. I thought Kubo was tired and didn't want to do BLEACH anymore. I thought Shounen Jump cut him off. People made so many excuses for Kubo and why the past two arcs have been so badly written the past 6 years and now almost everything they've attempted to defend him with has been revoked.

BLEACH is going to continue to screw up its plot lines and characters, so Its probably best for it to stay dead but I've seen a lot of Kubo stans drooling over this content, they're desperate for BLEACH's return, but its already given out all its possible revelations. There's really nothing else to top here. It's just going to make things up as it goes along ,and I'm not really here for half-assed writing like that, especially since the damage of rushing the previous manga has already been done. Kubo and Shounen Jump are riding off a money nostalgia. None of this was planned.

Honestly though.... overall feeling of this chapter, not as bad as it could have been.

Syazel stole the spotlight, and he's my friend's favorite character, so that's all that really matters.

[trulyhumblenarcissist]

Abourt Rei Himura and BNHA Chapter 301

Now that I've read the official release of chapter 301 I can finally try to gather my thoughts. I think this time the particular rendition of dialogues and inflections provided by Caleb Cook is more crisp and clear than usual, especially in throwing "shade" upon Endeavor as a father figure. But let's do things in order...

Title: THE WRONG WAY TO PUT OUT A FIRE - a simple, but stark message that doesn't leave space for ambiguity. There was a fire, an imminent tragedy that could and should have been avoided, but whoever tried to fix it, did it all wrong and now we have to deal with a huge arson.

CARLESS HANDLING OF FIRE, on the other hand, doesn't quite cut it for me, because it seems like everything was caused by a foolish mistake. "I was carless and now I'm in a pinch"- type of situation, while it's perfectly clear that Endeavor and Rei decided purposefully which "strategy" to use with Touya. A BAD one to say it lightly. Rei's contribution and complicity is debatable, of course, and I'll touch on this later.

Let me get this clear though: I'm not trying in any way to critique the hard work of unofficial translators. I can't say anything relevant because I'm not a translator in the first place (I can barely understand English and my native language on a good day) and also because I am so grateful for everything they do in order to give us really good material FREE OF CHARGE basically a second after the release in Japan. I'm just interested about the different shades of subtext we can catch if we read the story through multiple filters. Every translation is unique because it carries the personal spin of the author even if the bias should be inexistent or ideally undetectable...

However, back to the chapter

REI'S CAGE

The first scene opens on a luxurious classic Japanese villa, with Enji, Rei and her parents discussing the motivation behind Enji's proposal. Or at least we initially think that's what's going on... Because in reality Rei's family couldn't care less about the motivation. Everything these people see is a wealthy, famous guy the next number one hero ready to take their daughter in marriage. I guess the Himuras are pretty broke, thight on cash, their old prestige is definitely gone and all they can do to save themselves from shame and poverty is "to sell" their only remaining asset.

During the whole ordeal, Rei is standing still, silent, cold as ice. She knows she doesn't really have a choice. How mortifying and sad is this? An adult, capable woman has no agency whatsoever, she is used again and again and she stoically accepts this treatment from every single dominant figure in her life until she can't be stoic anymore. I really hope Horikoshi's going to give her a much more proactive role in saving her family and it seems the narrative wants us to expect this type of character development.

I'd like to point out 2 panels in particular:

First one

In this scene the Todorokis are back from their trip to the doc, who clearly said they shouldn't try to conceive a child with a perfect quirk mix because it is dangerous (and morally questionable too). Rei understands this fact and tries to dissuade Enji, but he doesn't listen, because he's projecting all his pent-up resentment and frustration onto Touya. He knows how it feels to crush against an unbreakable wall, since he can't surpass All might and his son can't too. He had to learn this truth the hard way, so Touya needs to do the same. Enji is purposefully throwing upon his son years of failures, self consciousness and despair, just because the boy has to get it into his thick skull that he is a dud, just like his father. This is not a hopeless dad making a mistake bona fide, this is a broken man trying to destroy his self reflection by proxy, annihilating everything Touya is, swiping the kid's identity under the rug. He describes his son's dreams and sadness as something birthed from stubbornness. He is auto-convincing himself however (because Endeavor is not stupid). A little bit later he's basically saying: "Touya let's play make believe! We can go on like everything I had engulfed in your psyche never existed, you're a failed attempt so you don't exist. Your needs and wants are silly and useless, nothing worth dealing with now that I can't make you my prodigy. Why don't you go play with the other failures so that I don't have to look at myself while taking actually care of you. I don't want to see you, because it's too painful, because you're a remainder of my own inadequacy."

Note: If you want to read an incredibly well done analysis about Endeavor's motives and psyche, you can get it on @thyandrawrites , she's dwelt on everything extensively and way better than me.

I really want to talk about Rei though. In the panel I showed above, her expression is a bit tricky to analyse. At first she is very vocal about her position. She doesn't want to put Touya through useless suffering, especially since they have a scientific reason not to. They have no guarantee of success with other children, besides, they could possibly have to deal with other health related issues. However, all it takes to convince her in the end is Enji's half assed attempt at the "It's for Touya's sake" shtick. Is it really? Why doesn't she question her husband anymore?

Well... I think before Natsuo, she was probably hoping Touya would let go "naturally", with time and growth, maybe by taking interest in his other siblings. Rei said she wanted to have more children because in her mind they would have supported and loved each other. Maybe she was naive enough to think that a big family full of kids few years apart from each other was all Touya needed to distract himself from his purposes... BUT and here is the point I want to get across: She was deluding herself too, much like Enji. The ugly truth, in my opinion, is that Rei is a person prone to protect herself by going with everything other people want, especially if said people are capable of hurting her. Yes, she was hurt time and time again, but what would have happened if she really tried to stop Enji?

What I am trying to say is that Rei is the kind of person who endures to survive. She holds a "captive" mentality in which, by indulging her captor's desires, she can continue living with less possibile damage. If I stay still and silent, if I don't make a scene, I can go on, I can hold onto the few things I have that actually make me happy.

Let's think about it... Enji was so obsessed with his psychotic, power-hungry quest that he would have probably disown Rei. She would have been thrown away for a more compliant woman with an ice quirk, or something similar, this resulting in her probably losing everything, the respect and love of her family (the Himuras) and also her own children. Because we know Endeavor can definitely hold a grudge and is vendicative.

So, clarifying, Rei doesn't put up a fight because she is scared for herself in a way... She is scared to be hurt in the worst possible way (by losing her little bit of serenity), so her strategy is to endure and to keep up a facade of control and purpose.

Rei, ironically just like Touya and other characters in mha, doesn't really get what unconditional love is. Her family loves her until she can be useful to the Himura name and status, her husband loves her for her quirk. Her children, however, love her for who she is and she wants to stay with them... Only to be forced to leave them later anyway.

The few times Rei actually smiles are when she is with her babies. She is a deeply loving mother in her core, but her declining mental health makes her a very lacking caregiver.

This panel, in my opinion, shows the point of no return for Rei. She can't keep the glacial facade forever...

After Natsuo's turn to be deemed a failure, Endeavor is crazier than ever, because All Might is as popular and loved as ever and he hasn't make any progress into his eugenetic games. The last two images of Rei are very telling. She is exhausted, but she knows what her husband wants from her this time too. She looks like a lifeless doll and honestly I can easily see Shouto's conception as... Non consensual and I will stop here.

Then Shouto is born, the last, perfect specimen... And Rei isn't doing much for Touya, we can see she's apparently blind towards her eldest son's distress already after Natsuo's birth... But why?

Because she is actively avoiding to face the Touya's problems too.

If Touya is still suffering, is still feeling stressed and worthless, then everything Rei has endured, everything she pretended not to feel for the sake of her family has been completely useless. What Rei cannot look at is her own parental failure, is the concrete proof that while protecting herself and her peace she did not protect her children too, because the two interests were never really aligned, even if she really believed so. She never had a functional family to preserve in the first place and everything she accepted to do was all for the sake of a false sense of belonging.

However is too easy to say she should've rebelled against Enji and dumped his sorry ass. Abuse traps you and your abuser too in a cage tricky to escape.

What I imagine will happen next chapter is one of two things:

Enji stops Touya by using brute force, probably also saying something really scarring to reinforce the notion that Shouto is the only child he cares about.

Rei stops Touya by using her quirk. This act could be considered by Touya another confirmation that even his mother actually does something by her own accord only when Shouto's safety is at risk

Necessary conclusions

I don't blame Rei for her actions too much. She is a victim turned abuser by circumstances, but more importantly she's actually taken mesures to prevent herself from hurting her children again. She's trying to heal for her family's sake, really this time. Ten years spent dealing with guilt and having actual therapy seem a good plan to me. And now she's the one ready to snap Enji back to reality.

Enji, on the other hand, is trying too. It's too little too late, but if he stops avoiding reality and hardly works on understanding his family's point of view I don't think he is completely unredeemable. I don't see him surviving his last confrontation with Touya, thought... But I could be totally wrong.

Obviously everything I've said it's my personal analysis on Rei's character, as I interpret her actions and words, so feel free to contradict me and/or to add anything you might see fit.

[maxwell-grant]

One last one for the moment; top five superheroes who definitely AREN'T Pulp Heroes, but could be with a little tweaking?

Oof, that's a hard one. It's a hard one because, again, there ultimately isn't that much separation between the two to the point there's enough of a hard line in there to work with, but I guess the cat's out of the bag now that I've staked claims on there being differences between them.

Okay so, not counting superheroes who are deliberately modeled after actual pulp heroes, so no Tom Strong or Night Raven here. I'm sticking mainly with comic book superheroes (barring one oddball exception) since the medium separation is important), who I think could become pulp heroes with some tweaking.

5: Captain America

Sort of cheating because I already covered it here, but I definitely have to include Captain America in here, especially in the stories they actively go for a "pulp" vibe as well as the earliest ones.

Fun fact about Marvel: As Timely, they actually began life as pulp publishers. Not just pulp publishers, but specializing in some of the sleaziest, ghastliest magazines of the era, and you can bet this carried over to their superheroes. Where as DC's superheroes took inspiration from the big pulp heroes such as The Shadow and Doc Savage, Timely's superheroes seemed instead much more inspired by Weird Tales stories and Poverty Row horror films, and even in the 60s, Marvel never really abandoned their horror roots, the trick was just using them as a baseline to create superheroes. In DC, the world's first contact with superheroes begins with the world looking in wonder at a friendly strongman. In Marvel, it began with the world looking in panicked horror at a flaming monster rampaging through the streets desperately trying to not burn everything it touches. It should come to little surprise then that the majority of characters I'm including in this list are Marvel characters.

People think Captain America's first comics largely consisted of him fighting Nazis left and right, but they were actually much more often based around him encountering monsters and creatures of horror, like the above panel where it looks like Cap's staring down the beginning of Berserk's Eclipse (RIP Miura).

The early Captain America comics pretty much consisted of Kirby dipping his toe into the monster comics he'd make in the 50s which would later bleed into the 60s Marvel entourage. They even tried repackaging Captain America into a horror anthology in the 50s titled "Captain America's Weird Tales", just imagine how different the character would be today if that somehow stuck.

Imagine a world where Steve Rogers never became leader of The Avengers, never got to become the shining beacon of heroism of an entire universe, and instead, when he was unfrosted, he woke up to find a world running rampant with crawling nightmares and Nazi tyranny, and he has no idea what's become of his former sidekick. That definitely sounds like the start of a promising pulp adventure.

4: Namor

Another Timely creation. In Namor's case, he didn't so much encounter horrors from beyond imagination, as much as HE was the terrifying thing beyond us ready to rampage upon mankind, whose first on-screen act consists of the calculated slaughter of a ship full of innocents. The first true villain protagonist of comic books. Not just an anti-hero, a villain intent on wiping out the human race.

And not just a cardboard supervillain, but the beautiful prince of a race of ugly fish monsters, a momma's boy who's doing what he thinks is right by warring with surface dwellers. While Namor's become largely defined by his gargantuan arrogance, here, he's almost childlike, despite being much more brutal and villainous here, spurred on by the whims of his mother, who even acknowledges that Namor had no real reason to kill the divers but did so anyway, and now encourages him to genocide. His mom even tells him "Go now, to the land of white people!", and the very last panel of the story even states he's on a "crusade against white men".

The massacre of explorers at the hands of something beyond their understanding. A monster born of an interracial coupling. A race of fish monsters with bulging eyes, antagonistic towards humanity but are shown to have positive traits just the same. A dash of racism. There is no mistaking The Sub-Mariner's pulp horror influence.

A non-white superhuman warrior born from a Lovecraftian horror story, who gradually moves away from his villainous crusade into becoming more of an anti-hero, never truly putting aside his hatred for humanity, remaining a temperamental, unpredictable outcast, with a strong, palpable undercurrent of anger in his stories. I could very easily buy Namor as having crawled out of a Weird Tales story and I can't think of other superheroes whose origins are as steeped deeply in pulp horror.

3: Doctor Fate

Technically we already have a pulp hero version of Doctor Fate in Doc Fate, and I'll get to him separately, but even besides him, the earliest Doctor Fate stories in particular feel very much like he's a character steeped in the worlds of pulp and pulp horror who decided to put on a superhero costume and show up in comic.

He's got a similar set-up to The Shadow, from the pulp Shadow in the sense that he's a mysterious, eerie crimefighter who dwells as a presence more often than an active character and who kills criminals without remorse, always watching and waiting for the right time to strike as a a wrathful old-testament force of vengeance, and from the radio Shadow due to him using superpowers to fight crime while being accompanied by a smart, fierce love interest.

Originally, Fate was not a sorcerer, but instead a scientist who discovered a way to manipulate atomic structure, of his and other things, thus making it appear that he can do magic (although we never see his face, and he's implied to be thousands of years old, before they settled on the Nabu origin). And going back to Lovecraft, a lot of it appears in the earliest Fate stories. Fate was given powers not by a sorcerer, but an alien worshipped as a god. He barely encounters traditional monsters, but instead contends with hidden races, zombie slaves, abandoned alien monoliths, and half man and half fish creatures. Fate may have actually been the very first pastiche of Lovecraft in pop culture.

And of course we can't forget the gloriousness of Doc Fate pulling an Indiana Jones on us.

2: Wolverine

I don't even think you'd have to tweak Wolverine at all. You'd just have to get him out of the costume and Avengers/X-Men associations (although the X-Men have a substantial background in pulp sci-fi stories like Slan and Odd John, so they aren't really at odds here), maybe tone down his powers a bit and, that's it. Logan's already the kind of character who has such a varied sandbox history, whose powers can lead to so many different scenarios, that it's not a stretch at all to picture Wolverine in the usual pulp hero scenarios.

You can have half-naked Wolverine running around in the jungle with animals Tarzan-style, take him to Savage Land if you wanna throw dinosaurs in there. He's already Marvel's foremost "wandering samurai/cowboy" character which was one of the stock and trade types of the pulps. Western? Done. Samurai? Done. Wuxia? Just put him in China and add a couple extra fantasy elements. Wanna make a sword and sorcery story with him? He already comes with a bunch of knives and savagery and ability to survive grisly injuries. Horror? The MCU is crawling with them, or alternatively, tell a story from the perspective of someone who's being hunted down by Wolverine. Wanna tell a detective/noir/post-apocalypse story? Logan's right there.

Wanna have him crossover with pulp heroes? He's lived through the 1800s and 1900s and traveled all over the world, you could feasibly have him meet up with just about any of them. Logan may actually be the purest example of your question, because he's very much not a Pulp Hero, and yet, he definitely feels like a character who could have been one, at just about any point in the history of pulp magazines. He's perfect for it.

1: Wario

WAAA-okay, look, bear with me for a second here, I'm not just picking Wario because I love oddball choices and he's one of my favorite characters, I got some logic to this.

Okay so, the first question here: is Mario a superhero? While I'm usually adverse to calling characters prominent outside of comic books superheroes (hence why I'm definitely not interested in debating whether Harry Potter or Goku or Link or Frodo are superheroes), I do think it's a pretty shut case that, yes, Mario is a superhero. Superheroes don't just come in the form of skintight crimefighters, right from the start comic books have had varied types of superheroes appearing in comics and comic strips. For example, the "funny animal" superheroes are a type older than superhero comics, and they were arguably not only the most successful type of superhero of the 40s-50s era, but arguably defined trends dominating nonfunny animal superheroes, traits that predated or influenced Captain Marvel as well as Otto Binder's reshaping of Superman that defined much of superhero convention as we know it. It's part of why the question of "Is Sonic a superhero" has a very clear Yes as an answer.

So upon establishing that, yes, funny cartoon characters can be and are superheroes too, is Mario one? Well, I'd say yes. He's got an iconic uniform, he's got superpowers, he goes on fantastical adventures, he is both a nebulously general do-gooder as well as having a clear mission as protector of the Mushroom Kingdom. His adventures span multiple storytelling formats, he's got catchphrases, he even dresses up in Superman's colors and has a Super prefix iconically associated with him. Not a superhero the way we usually think of, but a superhero nonetheless.

And Wario? Well, putting aside Wario-Man who's more of a running gag than anything, Wario does just about everything Mario does. He's got all the traits that define Mario as a superhero short of a Super prefix and the selfless mission (which isn't exactly a rule). He goes around and gets into crazy adventures, he picks up items, beats bad guys, conquers the odds, and gets some kind of prize for it. He's got Mario's physical traits, and Mario's costume, and just about the same name short of a single letter. The caveat being, of course, that he's Wario, and so everything Mario is or does has to be exaggerated to gross extreme.

Mario is paunchy and strong, Wario's round and built like a powerlifter. Mario's got a friendly face and a fluffy mustache, Wario's got a massive horrible grin and jagged razors for a stache. Mario is a bit of an overeater, Wario can and will eat anything in front of him. Mario gets around with acrobatics and magic power-ups, Wario brute forces his way through everything and just rolls with whatever injuries he picks up along the way.

Mario gets fire powers by consuming magic flowers. Wario sets himself on fire and barrels around destroying everything in his path. Mario harnesses the elements or abilities of beings around him to clear obstacles and solve puzzles, Wario gets turned into a zombie, a vampire or a drunk to get the same things done. Mario befriends and rides dinosaurs who raised him from infancy, Wario piledrives dinosaurs and then uses their bodies to beat up more dinosaurs. Mario pals around with fellow heroes, princesses and friendly fantasy creatures, Wario pals around with aliens, witches, mad scientists, cab drivers, and lanky weirdos. Mario always ends his adventures joyfully leaping to the next one, Wario usually ends up either cackling in a pile of treasure or completely broke.

Mario races through plains to rescue princesses, Wario invades pyramids to hunt for treasure. Mario jumps through planets with baby stars guiding his path, Wario crashes into the Amazon jungle and fistfights the devil. You can see where I'm going with this.

If you were to take one of Nintendo's heroes to make them into pulp heroes, Wario, specifically the Wario Land Wario, may be the only one who really could do it, because in essence, he's the videogame equivalent of Professor Challenger. He's Bluto moonlighting as Indiana Jones, the weird brute adventurer for weird brute adventures where everything's off limits and you can trust our intrepid hero, who really shouldn't be a hero on all accounts, to deliver us a good time, give or take a couple deaths, scams, shams and oh-damns to complete said mad treasure hunts.

[woahajimes]

rate all wonder girl uniforms (cassie's)

YES 100000/10 BEAUTIFUL LITTLE GIRL WITH HER WIG AND THE SANDALS SHE STOLE AND HER SKATEBOARD GOGGLES AND HER GIANT T-SHIRTS AND JEANS THAT SHE PROBABLY RIPPED AND A WONDER GIRL TSHIRT THAT WASN’T EVEN SUPPOSED TO BE AN UNIFORM BECAUSE SHES JUST A FANGIRL YES YES YES and the VEST and the JEANS AAAAAAAAA you know I love how the shorts she wears at that point are completely inconsistent like I promise you that I saw her in a panel once with like orange biker shorts with red stripes on them its beautiful.

 I really like this one even though its like that small step into changing her character BUT???? the red biker shorts??? THAT ARE COMFORTABLE???? THE LEATHER JACKET THAT MAKES HER LOOK BADASS???? the kneepads for volleyball (or maybe skating idk i know that she skateboards so they’re probably for skateboarding) that her mom most likely forced her to wear???  the WIG??? with the BANGS??? BUT HER SHORT HAIR UNDERNEATH??? MWAH 20/10

 this was in the sins of youth run where she was aged up, and i really like the commentary she makes on wonder woman’s suit and how it’s really not HER and she hates it (but they had switched costumes because, uh, 15 year-old diana didn’t exactly fill out the suit (cassie told her this and diana was like “it’s not like YOU fill it out either” sdlfjfhgf i love them), but I do like how this Cassie is really how i imagined cassie growing up (look at her short hair!! all those muscles!!! AHHHH!!!) 059340753849984584/10 i love her

this one just happened for ONE issue, in which cassie was feeling bad because she wasn’t as feminine as the other girls at school, and the girls at school would make fun of Wonder girl because she had “long legs and ugly hair and blah blah blah” so cassie decided to change her whole look because she also liked kon, and it somehow got in her head that kon would like her more if she dressed like ‘kon’s type’ and anyways it makes me really sad how she felt the need to change her looks because of the girls at school :( OH BUT THEN things went really nice with kon, but not because of the outfit and anyways they had this really touching moment and it also shows how much of a softie kon actually is and how he’s not superficial and stuff here’s the link to the post i made (it just has the panels and some rambling but so you get the idea).... 4/10 while i really dislike the outfit in general cassie was just vulnerable... 

eh, not my favourite. I’ll always be biased by the fangirl shirt and the kneepads BUT i do like that she has a jacket still poor bby she’d get cold 8.5/10 (jeans??? really??? the whole point of biker shorts was that they were comfortable to like. kick in) BUT I DO LIKE THE PIGTAILS AND THE LITTLE NECKLACE!!! 

 okay listen i KNOW that i just dissed the jeans but I LOVE THIS OUTFIT!!! those jeans do look waaay too hard to kick ass in but i like the shirt and the color scheme and how she has TWO shirts, one with short sleeves and a tank top (i think it’s a tank top, i know nothing about clothes sdslkjfs). What i mean is that yes 9/10 i’d wear this but also it’s a nice look on cassie (now, if the cassie on the first picture (like waaay up top) would wear it, that’s something else yk? but point is i really like this one)

I like this one, although i really don’t like the BANGS hhhh... and also those jeans look way more uncomfortable thatn the last ones even though i think they’re the same??? the shirt looks nice and she does look a whole lot more mature so like 6.5/10 she’s wearing heels now ? !

NO NONONONO NO NO NONONONO IM SORRY TO EVERYONE THAT LOVES THIS OUTFIT but i cant look at it for long it just... hurts my eyes to see her character and costume design just... so badly done.. first of all those are like... skinny jeans??? leather pants??/ i have no fricking idea but i do know that they’d roll down every like two steps and also she wouldn’t be able to even SIT like that much less kick ass... the shirt is a disaster i just.... why why wh wywhywwyhwh WHY.... the hair looks... really unnatural and i can’t- the BANGS oh my god anyways -10/10 :)

eh, they’re better than the last one (obv) but like is she wearing a bra sdlfkdshjd ALSO THE UH what is that on her shirt is it like a bird anyways LIKE WHY DOES THE DESIGN WRAP AROUND THE CHEST LIKE THAT WHO GAVE HER THAT SHIRT also the best and the gigantic star on the side????? her hair’s loose so that probably gets in her mouth a lot idk 5/10

now this is new 52, and you guys are probably going to block me for this BUT i really like the uh concept of this suit, the whole bodysuit with the armor and its RED, cassie’s colour!!! while the neckline could do a lot better (and maybe we should get her a hair tie or a bandana or maybe we should like cut her hair while she sleeps), this suit could sorta constrast donna’s troia costume?? the starry one (or the wonder girl one, even), but yeah i like this one 7/10 we’d have to fix a few things yk? 

THIS!!! i have no idea where the suits came from but i really like that one okay i won’t rate it but the idea is there i love it look at her! (also kon looks cute af)

I DONT EVEN!!! BEGIN to understand what the hell this outfit is supposed to be oh my god. I’ve got down: sneakers, long socks OVER leggings with stars on them UNDER the shirt and her metal arm band things. her loose hair and a black headband and that’s all i know for sure. 

The shirt seems to be either a tank top OR a long sleeve shirt (it’s been drawn as both and i can’t figure it out), and her jacket/sweater is either a zipped hoodie OR a brown leather jacket and i don’t understand because she’s supposed to be in COLLEGE!!! she’s starting college next fall and she walks around in that kdsfjskjgdgkj GUYS this isn’t cassie sandsmark im so sorry cassie sandsmark was a fasion disaster but she looked GOOD sorry 2/10

[prettywordsyouleft]

The Cowboy - Part 9

Summary: Leaving the city for a rural area called Blayne seemed simple enough. Your task was to convince the people to agree with selling their land for a resort redevelopment. But once there, you soon realise that your city ways are entirely different to theirs. Winning their trust was going to take some effort, and when you start to fall for a local cowboy, you wonder if you really needed Blayne more than the city life after all.

Pairing: Jung Jaehyun x female reader

Genre: cowboy au / drama / romance / if you squint there’s some enemies to lovers up in here.

Warnings: Jung Jaehyun is a cowboy, need I say more? (a bit of angst and drama, and it sometimes might feel like you’re reading a Nicolas Sparks book, so I’m told lol)

Word count: 2332

This series will be updated every Thursday and Friday.

Preview | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10

“Just one more,” you murmured, pressing your lips into Jaehyun’s before he could object.

He didn’t hesitate to kiss you back, chuckling softly when he separated. “You’ll have me late if you keep this up.”

“It’s not even light out yet,” you complained groggily, your hands blindly searching for a place to anchor onto.

“That’s the point. I need to get home, so I’m back in time to start the day when dawn arrives,” he reminded, reaching for those travelling hands and taking hold of them.

Your eyes had since adjusted to the dim lighting in the bedroom, and you noticed the embers from last night hadn’t yet been put out within Jaehyun’s gaze. You stoked the fire a little more, shifting your leg to nudge his.

Jaehyun groaned. “You’re tempting fate, Y/N.”

“I’m attempting something,” you mentioned demurely and shook your hands that Jaehyun still held.

“Not even my Mum has made me turn up on that yard late, I’ll have you know. I can’t be having you ruin my good reputation.”

You pouted, but nodded the further your slumber rolled away and your mind became alert. Unhooking your leg from his, you sighed. “Your career is important. Go be the best cowboy you can be.”

“You’re so cute, you know that?” he breathed, grinning from your supportive statement.

“I aim to be everything you need,” you announced and Jaehyun, who had pulled himself to the side of the bed and reached for his jeans, halted his movement, glancing over his shoulder in thought at you. You reached for your hair, assuming he was taking in your abominable morning state. “What? Do I look ugly?”

“No. You’re the most beautiful person I’ve ever laid my eyes upon.”

“You better go before my heart starts ruling over this head of mine and I take back about being supportive of your needs and aim to satisfy mine,” you confessed, and Jaehyun shook his head, discarding his attempt to leave and kicked his pants off.

Crawling back to you, he gathered you up in his arms, a giggle leaving you when his hands brushed along your sensitive sides. Once fully captured within his arms, he kissed you passionately.

“Even if I’m late, you’re well worth putting in the extra effort this morning with.”

After Jaehyun had gone, with a final kiss exchanged at your front door and a warning about not answering the door looking like that to anyone but him, you headed back to your bed, nestling in under the warm covers in just one of Jaehyun’s t-shirts.

You were extremely happy right now.

And had been for the past month too. Everything was working well. You woke up most mornings feeling warm and appreciated, kissing Jaehyun off to work before eventually getting up and starting your own. You so far had acquired two signatures of landowners in Blayne over your proposal for redevelopment and was certain you’d have three more by mid next week.

You had chosen to go this path first before confronting Mr Jung with your proposition. Word travelled all too easily in these parts for you to rely on what was spoken was kept confidential. Part of you hoped for this to happen. If you got enough people talking about the redevelopment positively, you believed that would shape the head of the town’s opinion too.

It was a gamble, though, and the longer you spent racking up other names and parts of the land as opposed to the one Pierce instructed you to get meant you would be running out of time to convince Jaehyun’s father if he initially rejected your proposal.

You had confidence in your decision.

And that confidence clearly shone in other ways now too. “You know, I haven’t seen you this dressed down since you came to Blayne, Y/N.”

Glancing up at May as you stopped in for lunch with Reg, one of the landowners you were meeting with, you laughed lightly. “I’ll take it as a compliment.”

“You finally look like one of us, is what she means,” Dorothy, from the table over, chimed and you grinned at her.

“Do I? I wonder how I managed that, being a city-slicker and all.”

“I don’t think it’s about how, but rather whom,” May concluded, and you bit your bottom lip, trying not to smile with the image of Jaehyun surfacing in your mind.

“We had it pegged that it’d be Avery,” Reg chortled, and you spluttered on the water you had taken in, looking up and apologising profusely. The older man held out his hand to May. “Well, it’s not him. Pay up.”

“Not my boy? Surely it’s him that has you enjoying Blayne. Out of us all, he’s the most understanding to newcomers.”

“Are you making bets on my relationship status?” you asked, and the patrons of the diner all chuckled in one way or another. “Well, I’m sorry May, but I’m not dating Avery.”

“You didn’t deny dating someone else,” Josie, the only waitress, piped up and there was immediate silence as everyone stared at you.

“I’m dating Blayne,” you answered cheekily, and they all groaned with protest. “What? Call me a sucker for what I’m trying to do out here, but this place has changed me.”

You left out the part about a certain cowboy that had as well.

Word travelled too fast around this place.

“Avery is disappointed, you know,” Jaehyun mentioned when he stepped through the front door of your home later that evening. You glanced up at his arrival, dropping your laptop onto the couch and moved into Jaehyun’s waiting embrace.

After kissing Jaehyun in greeting, you smirked. “Word sure doesn’t struggle to get around here yet mobile data does.”

“You completely ruled my cousin off your it-list. The elders are scrambling about trying to figure who’s left to catch your fancy.”

“Have they suggested you at all?”

Jaehyun grinned and shook his head. “Not Jung’s boy.”

“Because you’re so exclusive.”

“I’m destined to marry a Blayne Belle, apparently.”

“So you’re either going to wait another six years until Melody is legal or pick up Josie? I mean, she looks great for forty.”

“Don’t!” Jaehyun exclaimed, encircling your waist with his palms. They felt hot against your barely covered skin. “Where are your clothes by the way?”

“I’m used to the summer weather being removed by air conditioning in my apartment,” you admitted, gesturing to your singlet and shorts with a sly smile. “And this is more than what I had on when you last saw me.”

“Wicked woman,” he stated and went over to a panel on the wall.

You followed Jaehyun and pointed at it. “I tried to turn it on, but it’s ancient and doesn’t have any instructions.”

“You’d be lost without your damn instructions, wouldn’t you?” he teased, and you rolled your eyes, peering around him to inspect his efforts.

“Do you know where the toolbox is in the truck?” he soon asked, and you nodded. “Can you get it for me?”

“Why, are you going to be Mr Handyman instead of Mr Cowboy to me now? Perhaps Avery might be a better option after all.”

“Har-har. If you want to learn how hellish this summer is going to get in the countryside when the heatwave hits next week then-”

“Toolbox. Onto it!” you cried, dashing outside into the humid evening and over to Jaehyun’s truck. After spotting it nestled just behind the passenger seat, you went to reach for it but stopped, your eyes travelling to the papers sitting on the chair you had just leaned over.

Picking them up, you read the contents and returned inside with the toolbox in a daze. “Thanks, Miss City. I’ll have you feeling cool in no time.”

“Were you going to tell me about the rodeo tour?” you queried in a small voice a moment later, and Jaehyun stopped looking through the box for what he needed and up at you.

He shot you one of his lopsided smiles, though his eyes were hesitant. “You’re concerned already? The rodeo season is basically over for this year, don’t worry.”

“I know. This is for next season, but the qualifiers are tomorrow.”

“I was planning on telling you tonight.” Standing back up and wiping his hands on his jeans, Jaehyun gauged your expression. “You know I do them from time to time. Old Joey from the county over popped by and offered me a horse to ride. It’s a real nice horse, gave him a test-”

“What about Blaze? What will he think?” you cut in and Jaehyun frowned. “He’s your riding horse.”

“He’s a work horse. And horses don’t really get offended if you ride another. You’re being weird about this.”

“I’m just confused. This morning I woke up thinking this weekend we’ll be going to the farmer’s market and maybe ride over to the lake and take a swim or something. Now I’m going to be on the sidelines of some rodeo? What do they call them? Rodeo Bunnies? Don’t expect me to become one.”

Jaehyun laughed heartily, scooping you up into his arms in a warm embrace. “You’re coming?”

“Of course. I have to.”

“Why?”

“Why are you asking why? I’m supportive of your endeavours,” you answered, puzzled by the smile spreading Jaehyun’s lips out further. “Why are you looking at me like that?”

“Like a girlfriend would support me?”

“Girlfriend?” you echoed and let out an awkward laugh.

“Is it more for you now, Miss City? A whole month of you and me having this secret rendezvous and you might be feeling something deeper than my skin for me, huh?”

“Do-don’t you have to fix the air-con? It’s hot in here.”

“Stifling.”

“And if you’re going to some rodeo thing, don’t we need to sleep early or something?”

“Are you flustered, Y/N? You’re awfully good at not answering my question.”

“What question was that now?” you diverted, slipping out from under his strong arms and over to the toolbox. “Which one do you need?”

“All of you. That’s all I need,” Jaehyun confirmed, coming back to your side, kissing the top of your head before taking the tool you held in your left hand and got to work.

You arrived on the Jung’s property around six the following morning, travelling in your car separately. Whilst June was aware of your ruse, and no doubt Avery had strong suspicions, Jaehyun had asked to keep your relationship on the low for now. At first, you had agreed. You had a job to complete and complicating that with personal affections could ruin your credibility.

Still, it was hard to keep your hands off of Jaehyun when he came out from his room above the stables. “Wow, you know I’ve been calling you a cowboy from day one because of the hat and boots but I didn’t realise just how much this shirt was missing from the picture until now.”

Jaehyun glanced at his rodeo shirt, tassels and all, before shooting you an embarrassed smile. “Get a real good look at it today, Miss City. I don’t dress up like this often.”

“Another reason why he’s single, I’m sure,” his father gruffly mentioned, patting his son on the shoulder. You realised the older man was proud for some reason. All this time, you assumed he only cared for Jaehyun by the level of work he did around the farm.

Perhaps that was because Jaehyun was adamant that was all he cared about. However, as you watched the interaction fondly, you realised the man had a lot of love for his son. Jaehyun mentioned he had been on the sure-fire track to going pro as a teen on the rodeo circuit last night. You wondered if Mr Jung wanted that for him and felt guilty for needing him to help on the farm.

Either way, it warmed your heart to see a nervous Jaehyun, and his father equally acting out of character for once.

“Don’t you go worrying about marriage for our son today,” June fussed, straightening out Jaehyun’s collar as you had been itching to do. She smiled up at him. “Come home in one piece.”

“Of course, he will. We can’t be having Y/N’s first rodeo dashed with any hospital visits,” Avery commented, arriving at your side and slinging an arm over your shoulder. “You and I need to do some talking about the earful I got from my mother last night.”

You giggled awkwardly. “I’m sorry about that.”

“You’ll be sorry when they start trying to hook you up with all the eligible men in Blayne. Dorothy is convinced you’d suit her boy, Jacob.”

Jaehyun snorted. “Y/N’s a little too high maintenance for Jacob.”

“Am I now?” you retorted, waving off Jaehyun’s parents who were staying behind to look after the farm. Hopping into the cab of Jaehyun’s truck and looking at Avery who got in after you, you scoffed loudly. “If I was too much high maintenance, I’d recommend we take my vehicle over this one. At least, I’d be convinced we’d get there on time, for one.”

Jaehyun glared at Avery’s somewhat stifled snort before patting the steering wheel of the truck. “Don’t you worry. This old beauty of mine will get us there with ease. It’s you we have to concern ourselves over.”

“Me?” you wondered, and Avery nodded. “Why me?”

“Rodeos are a whole other world, Y/N. I bet you won’t be ready for what’s about to happen.”

“It’s people riding horses and taking on cows or something with ropes. I’ve seen it on TV,” you assured the cousins, who looked at one another with loose grins forming.

“She’s not ready for this.”

“Nope. Not a chance.”

“Would you two just shut up, and Jaehyun, start driving. Watch me prove how-”

“Adaptable you are,” both boys chimed, and you rolled your eyes, trying not to smile as Jaehyun finally threw the truck into reverse and headed down the driveway towards your first rodeo.

_________________

Part 10

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[monellabella]

Where are the rats? AKA Pt. 2 of the hunger games x HP crossover series ft. Fredward Weaslely (OC x Fred W.)

a/n: THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR ALL THE LOVE ON PT. 1 I NEARLY CRIED READING EVERY COMMENT SO THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU I LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH MWAH <3

Warnings: Just some cursing and a mention of a black eye (this is all I can think of but pls let me know if I should add any!)

Taglist: (leave a comment or message me to be added!) @anchoeritic​ @pineapplesandpinas​ @mitsukui​ @beiahadid​

Link to Pt. 1: https://bisou-doux.tumblr.com/post/640770995870957568/the-starving-games-ft-freddie-weasel-aka-pt-1 

Those ten minutes felt both shockingly short and blissfully eternal; As time seemed to run of its own accord. Seeing my mother and sister alone was enough to make me misty-eyed; but when mom pulled a disgruntled-looking Tulip from her bag and handed him to me, I burst into tears. I collapsed onto the floor and just sat there. My mother and sister joined me. I curled into mom’s lap, allowing her to stroke my hair as I laid my head on her chest and gave in to the soothing, wavelike motion of her breathing. Maeve snuggled up close to us and hugged my waist from behind, leaning her head on my back. Tulip, that furry little menace, seeming to sense the heavy sadness that blanketed the room- plopped himself onto my lap and curled into a ball against stomach. I sniffled and gave a light chuckle. I started stroking his plush fur absentmindedly; I eventually let my eyelids, heavy with grief and exhaustion, to slowly droop closed.

None of us felt much like talking. We just sat like that for a while- letting the tears roll silently down our cheeks. I could’ve easily fallen asleep, but my mother soon gently sat me up, and I reluctantly shifted from my place in her lap. Maeve begrudgingly followed suit, and we both sat criss-cross on the floor across from her. Maeve shuffled closer and leaned her head on my shoulder. Tulip was kind enough to stay in his place- in fact, seemingly enjoying it- and I felt the vibrations of his contented purrs echo through my chest as I pet him. At last, my mother broke the silence, “Seph,” she sighed, “I- um-” she seemed to be at a loss for words. “Mom, it’s okay. You don’t have to say anything.” I said quietly. Her eyes brimmed with tears. “Oh, Seph,” she leaned forward and hugged me tightly. I tried to keep my composure, but my voice still shook when I spoke, “It’s gonna be okay, mom. You have so much love around here- none of the aunties or uncles would ever let you and Maeve fend for yourselves- you know that.” I rubbed her back comfortingly. She sniffled, “I know but-” she sighed and pulled away slowly, placing her hands on my shoulders. “Seph, promise me you’ll try.”

“I promise- no, I swear- whatever happens, I am leaving that arena alive.” I said resolvedly. My mother looked at me, her eyes, like mine and Maeve’s, were red and puffy. She cupped my face with her hands and gave me a small smile. Planting a tender kiss on my forehead, I reached up to place my own hands over hers. Maeve, who was still at my side, spoke up, “You didn’t have to do it, y’know. I could’ve handled it.” She sniffled and wiped at her nose with the back of her hand, “Not to mention Tulip- He’s gonna miss you! You’re his favorite out of the three of us!” she added. I looked over at her and scoffed, “First of all, kiddo, you haven’t even hit your growth spurt yet- so I doubt you’d be handling anything other than that fancy Capitol silverware.” Mom laughed, and Maeve looked down and smiled, “Also- what on earth makes you think I’m Tulip’s favorite? The little jerk was SLEEPING ON MY FACE THIS MORNING.” At that, we all burst out laughing, the sound of it bouncing off the walls and making everything seem a little bit lighter. When our laughter died down, a comfortable silence took its place. We sat there for a moment soaking it in. Eventually, Maeve turned to me and broke the quiet, “Hey, Seph?”

“Mhmm?”

“Give ‘em hell, will you?” she said gravely. Instead of reprimanding her for her choice of words, mom nodded, and looked at me earnestly, “Give those bastards in the Capitol a run for their money.” 

“But how? They own me now- I’m their property. They could do whatever the hell they want.” I said.

“Bullshit. You’re still a person. Not a hunk of meat.” she gently placed her hand on the side of my face, “You have a brain- use it.” She glanced around the room and lowered her voice to a near whisper, “The thing the Capitol fears more than anything is the districts realizing exactly that. They’re afraid we’ll rise up against them when we realize we’re not just brainless pawns. They keep us in check with the games- reminding us that they have all the power- that they can threaten us all they want but we’ll never have the guts to do anything about it. But that’s all they are- threats. They’re threatening us because they’re afraid of us.”

“But what am I supposed to do about it? I can’t exactly organize a rebellion.” I replied, matching her lowered tone. 

“I’m not asking you to. What I’m asking you to do is remember that you are not just a sheep off to the slaughter. Make them like you- show them that you’re not just some kind of dirty, uneducated savage. Appeal to their vanity; trust me, they have a lot of it. Whatever happens, make all those pricks at the Capitol wonder if maybe they shouldn’t have sent you into the games- that you might just be the one tribute they seriously regret sending into the arena. Show them you have a mind and soul. Give those Capitol freaks something to feel for. But most importantly,” she leaned in and spoke in a barely audible whisper, “give that motherfucker Snow something to be afraid of.” She leaned back and looked me dead in the eye. “Do you understand what I’m saying?”

I nodded wordlessly. 

“And for god's sake please don’t let them put you in some kind of hideous outfit, or I swear, I’ll stop rooting for you then and there.” Maeve joked. I looked over at her and smiled. I ruffled her hair and gave her a big smooch on her forehead. “I won’t. Pinky promise.” we hooked our pinkies together and gave each other a curt nod. “Besides,” I said, “if the outfit’s ugly enough, I’d rather go naked. At least that would earn me some points with some of the male sponsors, don’t you think?” Maeve giggled in response. I leaned over and hugged them both, “I love you. I love you both so much. I’m coming back, you hear me? I’m coming back.” We heard heavy footsteps coming down the hall. I gave Tulip a quick kiss on top of his head, and whispered “I love you, too, Tulip. You’re the best cat anyone could’ve asked for.” I handed him over to Maeve, and she quickly but gently placed him back into the bag as we all stood up. Mom hugged me so tight I could hardly breathe, but I didn’t care. “I love you. I love you so much, sweetie.” she whispered. “I love you, too, mom.” My eyes started to water. She planted a kiss on my forehead and both my cheeks, and I stepped over to Maeve as I heard the footsteps getting closer, “I love you, kiddo. Don’t ever forget it.” “I love you, too.” she replied breathlessly, tears now pooling in her eyes. Maeve held the bag between the three of us, Tulip poking his head out from the top of it, and I embraced them both as tightly as I could manage. A moment later, the door swung open and five peacekeepers entered the room. “Time’s up.” one of them said. We all turned to face him, but I maintained a tight grip on Mom and Maeve’s arms. “You two,” he said pointing to my mother and sister, “Out.” Two of the peacekeepers walked over and grabbed hold of their arms. They pulled them away with such force, I had no choice but to let go. I stared after them, my feet glued to the floor, as the two peacekeepers pulled them out of he room. My breathing quickened and I felt myself starting to panic. I rushed towards the door to see if I could still catch a glimpse of them, but I was held back by two more peacekeepers grabbing my arms. “Wait, please, just a few more minutes.” I said desperately. I saw the bright purple edge of Maeve’s dress disappear as they rounded the corner into the main hall. “Please. Please, I’m not ready to go.” I choked. I heard their steps echo across the marble as they were made to walk rapidly towards the exit. “MOM!” I cried, pushing harder against their iron grip. “MAEVE!” I shouted, fat tears rolling down my cheeks. I grunted, practically throwing myself out of their clutches. “LET GO OF ME!” I screamed, “LET GO OF ME YOU FUCKING BAST-” but the rest of my sentence was muffled as one of the peacekeepers clapped his hand over my mouth. I thought about biting his palm, but it was unfortunately protected by a thick leather glove. But him and his stupid gloves couldn’t stop me- I screamed anyway- yelling out obscenity after obscenity as I continuously tried to free myself from them. I was losing my voice, and I strained against them so hard, I thought my shoulders might pop out of their sockets. When I heard the sound of the heavy brass doors being opened and closed, I went limp. I stopped fighting. I slumped forward as my breathing slowed, and my anguished cries turned into defeated sobs. The peacekeeper removed his hand from my mouth, and the one still standing behind us, who’d been observing my little meltdown, took a few steps closer, “You done?” he asked. I huffed in annoyance, “Yes,” I croaked, my voice practically non-existent. “Good. Now shift it or we’ll drag you to the train by your ankles.” I gulped, straightening up just in time to once again be shoved to my next location. 

Instead of leaving through the brass doors, we walked straight past them and down a second hallway opposite the one we just came from. This one was slightly larger, and the dark wood-panelled floor had square tiles of dark green marble lining either side of it. At the end of it was a set of bolted steel doors flanked by two more peacekeepers. As we approached them, they opened the doors to reveal what appeared to be a large, dimly lit tunnel. It looked like the underground station we took that morning- only much, much nicer. The concrete platform we stood on was unnaturally clean- neither a single piece of trash, nor suspiciously blood-like spill. The tall, arched ceiling was entirely covered in dark blue and green tiles that still gleamed despite the dim lighting. I didn’t think it was possible for an underground station in a city to be entirely vermin-free; yet here I was, and there was not a rat or cockroach in sight. But the most peculiar thing was how wide the single set of tracks was- they were at least 12 or 13 feet wide. For fuck’s sake, how big could this train possibly be?, I thought to myself. A few moments later, two peacekeepers emerged from steel doors, grasping the arms of a tall, redheaded boy. They walked forward and stood a few feet to my right. I looked over, and tried to hide my smile: despite their armored uniforms, the two peacekeepers looked absolutely ridiculous standing on either side of their prisoner- he was at least a good four to six inches taller than both of them and made the two of them look like little children holding onto their mommy. Despite the fact that he looked like he could crush them with his pinky, Fred was sporting a nasty black eye that hadn’t been there less than an hour ago. Observing his injury, I could’ve sworn I saw him glance at me. I tried to catch his eye- well, the good one- but he just clenched his jaw and resolved to stare blankly at the ground below him. I exhaled through my nose in frustration and turned my gaze back to the empty tracks in front of me. We stood there in torturous silence for a few minutes, until suddenly I heard a faint rumbling coming from the right of the tunnel. As it got closer, some of the lights flickered and everything looked to be shaking. A few moments later, a sleek, black bullet train pulled into the station and whizzed past us until it slowly came to a squeaking halt. Every window was tinted so that you couldn't see inside. The door in front of us slid open with a small hiss, and Ms. Magenta from the ceremony stepped out. She gasped happily, “Oh, my lovely tributes, I am so-” she paused upon seeing Fred’s eye, “My goodness what have they done to you?” No one said anything. She turned to the peacekeepers holding Fred, “Did you do this?” she said sternly. 

“He wasn’t cooperating.” one of them replied flatly.

“That’s not an excuse to abuse him! Don’t you understand that he is going to be on television in front of the entire country? He cannot have that on his face, it’s hideous! It will ruin his entire outfit!” she said shrilly. 

“Not my problem.” he responded. Ms. Magenta scoffed angrily then took Fred by the wrist and whisked him away from the peacekeepers, “Come, my dear, we’re going to get this all fixed up. You will get the best treatment the Capitol has to offer!” She turned on her heel and walked over to me. “You, too, my dear- come, come!” she chirped. The peacekeepers maintained their grip on my arms and started walking towards the train, but she turned and stopped them, “Oh, please, let go of her,” she huffed before stepping back and yanking me over by the wrist, “She’s a girl, not an animal.” she said disapprovingly. She took mine and Fred’s hands into her own and I stumbled a bit when she jolted us forward. Walking briskly to the train, I smirked as I put my free hand behind my back, and held up my middle finger. 

I held on to the tiny railing on the side of the five or so steep steps leading into the train, and the door hissed shut behind us. Once at the top, I turned to face a room that made the marble halls of the Justice building look like a pile of bricks. She let go of our hands but I hardly noticed as I stood gaping at the space in front of me. I now clearly understood why those tracks were so wide- it must’ve been double- maybe triple- the size of the apartment I lived in. There was an elaborate crystal chandelier hanging from the ceiling, and gold sconces in the spaces between the windows. The floor was made of dark cherry-wood panels that looked like they’d never seen a single step. On either side of the train carriage, there was a short little couch, a chaise I think it’s called, with gold legs and light-blue silk cushions. In the middle of the car, below the chandelier, there were two larger couches facing each other that matched the ones on the side. Between them was an elegant glass table where a white, porcelain tea set, and colorful little cakes on a silver-tier platter sat on its surface. The carriage itself carried a faint scent of old wood and lavender. I looked over to see Fred standing there with the same, awed expression. “Is- is this all for us?” he asked quietly. 

“Of course it is! You are both very important guests of the Capitol- it would be rude of us not to show you the best of our hospitality.” Ms. Magenta replied brightly. “Now, if you would follow me, I’ll show you to your rooms and then we will meet in the dining car for supper, alright?”

“Wait there’s more?” I asked, my voice still a bit hoarse. 

“Well, obviously.” she replied chuckling, “The trip from here to the Capitol takes at least a week- you can’t expect to stay in one room the whole time, can you?” she laughed lightly then made her way to the door at the other end of the car. It slid open to another train car- this one as equally opulent as the last, though instead of couches, in the center of the room were two pairs of plush silk chairs. A jade and white marble chess board sat between two of them, the pieces all lined up perfectly. Between the others was a small, square wooden table with a pack of playing cards sitting on top. “I’ve never played chess before.” Fred remarked.

“I have; it’s fun.” I replied looking up at him. 

“Really? D’you think you could teach me?” he said, turning to face me.

“Sure.”

“Is it a hard game?”

“No, not once you get the rules.”

“Okay, good,” he said nodding to himself, “You’ll teach me then?”

“Yeah, tomorrow.” 

“Cool.” He looked down at the ground and a small smile crossed his face.

We followed Ms. Magenta through the next few train cars until at last she stopped and turned to us, “So, behind me are your rooms. Yours Fredrick-”

“It’s just Fred, actually.” 

“Very well; Fred, your room is on the left, and Persephone, yours is on the right.” she paused then looked over to me, “You do like to be called Persephone, don’t you?”

“Well, most people call me Seph, but you can-”

“Persephone it is! Don’t worry, it is a very pretty name, everyone at the Capitol is going to love it.” she said excitedly, “Now off to your rooms! I’ll see you both at six o’clock in the dining car.”

“Wait a second,” I said, “You never told us your name.”

“I didn’t? Huh- I was sure I mentioned it...well anyways, it’s Emerald. Emerald Tallis. But of course, you can both call me Emmie. Now both of you- rooms!” she said walking away briskly. 

“Wait, but how will we know-” Fred started to ask. 

“There are clocks on your walls!” Emmie responded as she walked through to the next carriage. “Ta-ta!” she said airily, waving her hand above her head as the door hissed shut behind her. Fred and I stood there awkwardly for a moment before I cleared my throat, “Um, I’ll see you at six.” I said quickly. 

Without looking up, he nodded, “See you at six.” And with that, we both walked hastily into our respective rooms and shut the door. The room was surprisingly plain. It contained a large bed with a dark grey comforter partially inlaid in light wood-panelled walls, a small desk in the corner to my right, and some shelves to my left. The whole room was basked in a warm glow emitting from the strips of light that trailed across the top of the wood panels on the walls. Admittedly, it was a nice change from the extravagance of the rest of the train. I stepped over to the bed and fell backwards on to the plush comforter. I kicked off my shoes then sat up once more, leaning back on hands. My stomach rumbled.

Shit, I thought, I should’ve snagged one of those cakes. 

I massaged my still sore throat.

And maybe some tea, too.

a/n: If you’ve made it this far, welcome I have a task for you: can you give Seph this mug so she can drink her tea

I don’t think she knows what a dinosaur is but she’s gonna like the mug. 

[stillness-in-green]

Spinaraki Week, Day 2: Devotion

Spinner and Re-Destro have some after-hours drinks and talk.  

———–      ———–      ———–      ———–

“Drinks?” Spinner said in the face of Re-Destro’s wide smile.

“It’s just the thing to do after a long day’s work, isn’t it?”  

And that, more or less, was how he wound up with the Liberation Army’s ex-Grand Commander in a secluded portion of the villa’s bar.  It was, no exceptions, the swankiest place he’d ever set foot in, all shiny wood paneling and big glass windows looking out over the pool and courtyard behind the building, and beyond that, the mountain view.  The mountain view, admittedly, would probably be more impressive to people who weren’t still sick of mountains after an extended life or death boss fight in Niigata.

They talked about work first—troop morale (which was why they were Being Seen Together at the bar and not holed up in a private dining room) and squad distribution, how the League was continuing to settle in—and then beer.  Re-Destro had white collar taste in beer and it showed, but Spinner wasn’t in much of a position to heckle him on it.  He had not, before he left home, had the kind of friend group that meant he’d been able to do a bunch of illicit drinking before he hit the legal age, and then after he left home, wasting money and effort on alcohol hadn’t seemed like the kind of thing Stain would approve of when there was a war on society to wage, so he hadn’t then, either.  He was, when he stopped to think about it, kind of a huge alcohol n00b.

He did not tell all that to Re-Destro.  Pretending he had any idea what he was doing was working with the MLA so far, so Spinner meant to keep doing just that.  Anyway, he was pretty sure he already knew what this was really about, and that the two of them were just dancing around it until they were drunk enough to talk about it.

“You’re concerned about the surgery.”  Bingo. “We all are.”  Yotsubashi had much more crooked smile when he was two drinks in. His regular showmanship must have taken a lot of concentration.  “But I’m sure he’ll be fine.”

Spinner scowled at the topic change, though it was nice to be proven right about the purpose of the invitation.  "He'll push himself too hard," he insisted, the words pulled out of him like a secret.  "He doesn't know how to quit."  And now he’s going off to be alone with Ujiko for four months.  Without me.  “He needs people around to watch his back.”

Re-Destro took a measured drink.  He looked out the window, eyes on the pool lights refracting up through the water.

“If I may,” he said at last, “what were you all doing up in the mountains?”  

“You don’t know?”  Spinner blinked, a little sluggishly, to which Re-Destro smiled his uneven smile and shook his head.

“I don’t.”

“We were—it was Machia,” Spinner answered.  “We were fighting Machia.”

“Fighting him?”  The man’s brows rose.  “Why?  Isn’t he one of Shigaraki’s most devout followers?”

Spinner snorted, the sound turning into a laugh the more he thought about it.  Memories of pain jangled beneath his skin, the full-body experience of fighting Gigantomachia that had been a month and a half of his life—an uncountable number of cuts, scrapes, and bruises, irregular meals, rotations between combat, watch duty and fitful sleep or total unconsciousness.  Weeks of it, night and day, completely relentless.

And through it all, Shigaraki—filthy as a kid just in from a playground scrap, always nursing some new injury, but with a light of ambition in his eyes that had returned and returned no matter what.  A goal, a conviction.  Exactly what Spinner had been chasing ever since he left home.

He sobered at the realization that he couldn’t even remember what fighting Machia felt like without remembering how it felt to watch Shigaraki doing it.  He shook his head, trying to clear it, and focused back in on Re-Destro.

“Shigaraki got him at the same time he got you,” he answered, grinning in what felt like a pretty ugly way. And me, he didn’t add.  “Machia wanted him to prove himself worthy.”  He ran a hand through the air along with the words, like accenting an invisible banner.  “We were fighting him for six weeks before that.”

"Six weeks?" Re-Destro's brows crept even higher, then lowered back down over a thoughtful frown.  "I see.  That explains it, then."

"Explains what?" Spinner leaned back in his chair, taking another gulp of the beer.  

"Back when I fought him, I thought—I couldn't make sense of it.  We thought we'd done our homework as well as could be imagined, but he was so much—more than I'd been expecting."  The man stared off into the distance, expression caught somewhere between wonder and rue.  "I thought, 'If he were this skilled, surely Kamino would have seen more deaths?' Six weeks against Gigantomachia does give it some perspective."

Spinner looked down into his beer can.  He was pretty sure, even having laid it out like that, that Re-Destro didn’t really understand.  He's probably thinking Machia sleeps more.  That he fought us all equally.  The image swam behind his eyes, Shigaraki grinning like a lunatic behind the hand on his face as the earth erupted around him.

"My compliments to you, though."

Spinner blinked again, looking up with a grunt of surprise into Re-Destro's suddenly beatific expression.

"For your devotion," he explained, tipping his own drink in Spinner's direction.  "It's a beautiful thing, isn't it?  Having something to be so true to."

The back of Spinner's neck burned.  He opened his beak to protest, to misdirect, but stopped himself.  Don't disrespect it, something told him.  Not after what I saw at the end.  

He settled for a nod.

[abybweisse]

How do you think the manga will end?

Please do a search on my blog for “end of the series” (“series end” will bring up even more posts, but some of them aren’t quite as pertinent). Other tags to check out would be “series ending”, “end of the manga”, “predictions” and “mother3 predictions”. You can simply click those tags at the end of this reply to see what comes up.

A (not very) short recap of my series end predictions:

A lot more people die. Well, I think most of us knew that already. Here are two versions of me trying to figure out who’s in that pile underneath our earl. Yana-san could change her mind and save one or more of these people. She could also kill all of the people shown... as well as kill off others never included in this panel. In fact, she’s definitely going to kill off people not included in panel, since this pile seems to only represent our earl’s supporters, allies, friends, etc.

Madam Red is already gone. Others here that are easily identified are: Finny, Tanaka, Lizzie, Bard, Mey-Rin, Chlaus, and Lau. There is a dark-haired person that could be Soma or Sieglinde (or someone else, for that matter). The one I initially identified as Snake could possibly be Edward, but I think it’s meant to be Snake. There is also a person at the back, with their head behind the throne, someone in a pale suit and a hand up but hanging limp. I suspect that is a character that hadn’t been introduced at the time of that chapter release. Given the clothes, it could be numerous people, including Othello... though I’m not sure this pile of bodies should include anyone who is no longer human, like a reaper. 🤔 It also shouldn’t include anyone who was never an ally, so it shouldn’t be the Viscount of Druitt. Perhaps... we have Snake and Edward shown here. Keep in mind this is quite a pile, and the people we can see are not the ones at the absolute bottom... or on the other side of it. Expect quite a death toll by the time this series is over.

Our earl and Sebastian will have to defeat the queen and her servants... or at least the queen and John Brown. I say that because I still think they are behind the attack at Phantomhive Manor. If that’s not true, then it’s been set up that way for us to believe it, not just in the anime but in the manga, as well. Victoria and John Brown are pretty shady (with their matching shades, no less). I think they have a contract like the one between our earl and Sebastian, but I have a feeling the contract terms are not nearly as well-defined. That puppet of Albert — that is not simply a hand puppet; it’s a control device.

They will have to defeat Undertaker and the Lords of the Stars; that, of course, includes the bizarre doll of real Ciel. Real Ciel will have to be destroyed, most likely. In fact, at some point real Ciel might come to realize how messed up things have become, and he might ask to be destroyed. The other “lords of the stars” will have to be destroyed. Undertaker? Three possibilities I see: 1) destroyed by Sebastian and/or the reaper organization, 2) captured by the reaper organization and returned to their realm, or 3) sees the outcome (good or bad) of his actions and willingly leaves the human realm.

Once the contract has been fulfilled, Sebastian will devour the soul of our earl, his Young Master. This might happen in conjunction with the battles against Undertaker, the Lords of the Stars, and whoever else joins the fray, like some reapers. Because I have a feeling that Undertaker, at least, will not make it easy for Sebastian to get his meal/payment. It could include Undertaker trying to manipulate any loopholes he thinks he can find in the contract. It could include Undertaker trying to collect/steal our earl’s soul and placing it into the body of real Ciel (Undertaker is experimenting with Baron Heathfield’s wife’s body and souls of a matching shape for a reason, you know). There is also the slight chance that Sebastian gets to take his time, after all the battles, and truly savor his meal, but I do have the feeling he will have to fight for it, and that might force him to rush his meal. Even our earl might have to demand it be done quickly. I do not expect to get a scene in the manga that looks like the ending scene of s1 of the anime. None of this morbidly romantic nonsense about making it hurt, making his agony add extra flavor to every bite. Because that anime scene was Sebaciel with vore kink. **Shudder** I do expect, however, that fans that enjoy that sort of thing will still get something to cling to... just because; Yana-san does like to do fan service, and she knows those fans are out there. I’m just — hoping, really — that she chooses to portray the manga canon death/soul devouring scene in a way that isn’t so... shippy.

Eating our earl’s soul should change something in Sebastian. Eventually, I do think our earl and Sebastian will succeed in completing the contract, including the matter of payment. Like Hannah devouring Luka’s soul in s2 of the anime, I do expect Sebastian to be forever changed by devouring our earl’s soul. Sebastian is the main (even the title) character, after all... and he has seriously lacked any lasting character development, so far. There has been much foreshadowing about this, like telling Beast he understands not one “jot” of the feelings of love or loss “yet”. How he cries from the mustard gas and is shocked by it, saying to himself he lacks the emotions to do so. Heck, even Mother3 has a character who never cries until the very end, and it’s a shock to everyone, including that character. (Yes, Gregory Violet is the main parallel to that character, Kumatora... aka “Violet”, but that doesn’t mean we can’t get another shocking crying scene. Besides, in Mother3, the crying scene with Kumatora/Violet is described as “beautiful” or “cute”... and our Violet has a really “ugly cry” in Bath.) Sebastian could finally cry from all the emotions that wash over him, and it might be just... beautiful.

The earl’s death should happen December 13, 1889, the day before his 14th birthday... and a Friday the 13th. It could happen just as midnight approaches, heading towards the 14th. That’s not much timeline left in the series, only about two weeks, but the way it’s being dragged out chapter by chapter (flashbacks, overlapping “Meanwhile...” action, etc.) we will see monthly chapter publications for... probably at least a few more years. The series could end just like that, with our earl’s death, but I suspect not; Sebastian is the main character in this, so the story doesn’t completely end with our earl’s death. We should get to see how Sebastian has been affected by our earl’s death (an ultimately willing sacrifice, I should think). How will this change the demon’s behavior toward humans? I expect he won’t consider them mere insects anymore. If ordered to do so before our earl dies, he would stay afterwards and help “tidy up the mess” in the wake of all these battles. But, it’s also possible that our earl never orders him to do anything like that... and Sebastian does it anyway. Then, perhaps Sebastian leaves, having learned a valuable lesson? Having grown up a bit? This is his Bildungsroman, right? I hope so.

I don’t think Undertaker will be able to get rid of Death, the way the reapers seem to fear he might. Some reapers might die before all is said and done, including possibly Undertaker, but I think most of them will have to deal with the soul collections and all the paperwork this generates for them. Talk about massive overtime.

I guess that’s about it, without me getting way deeper into details.

And this could easily lead to a setup for a sequel to or spin-off from the manga.

Sequel idea: What Sebastian does later. Does he make other contracts, or does he decide to help humans without claiming their souls...?

Spin-off idea: What Undertaker does if he returns to the reaper realm. Does he get severely punished... then make new plans for escape and basically try to destroy the organization again...?

Spin-off idea: Stories about the other reapers. Before, during, and/or after the events of the first series.

Thanks for the ask! 🖤

Please make sure to look at this post’s tags for more about this, though this post includes some ideas that have changed a little over the past four years or so.

[capricornus-rex]

Perseverance Over Pride (2 - End)

Requested by: @stellar-trinity​ | Prompt:

Hey Hon! I was wondering if you could do a request? No rush on this one :) I will say this one is a bit personal bc I tend to do this A LOT 😅 Cal comforting the reader after being hard on herself? Maybe the reader was working on Cal’s saber, ends up breaking it more (unintentionally) and once everyone is asleep, she locks herself in her own room and cries? Thanks hon! 🥺💖

Tags: Self-doubting! Reader

Previous | Masterlist

2 of 2

Oh no… No, no… NO! Your mind, anxious and panicked, screamed. You wanted to let the words out but you can’t because it’ll alarm the crew.

You covered your mouth with your entire hand, bottling up all of the emotions that’s thrashing and storming inside your core right now.

“No… That’s impossible! What went wrong?!” you gasped, the weapon shook in your trembling hand.

You set it down on the workbench again. You don’t know what to do first: tear it apart again and redo everything or mentally assess what steps you could’ve possibly mixed up. Though, to save your pride, you didn’t do the latter.

You were back to where you started—taking it apart piece by piece, except with the newly-replaced parts this time. You examined and inspected every single component that you’ve detached from the very structure of the saber and looked for possible errors.

Blinded by confusion, you can’t seem to find what’s wrong. Everything seemed to be in place. You can’t pinpoint what you may have overlooked. You repeated everything you did—and perhaps adjusting a little bit of the parts in each step—and then tested the ignition again.

The result remained the same: a short-lived flicker of the blade.

You couldn’t control yourself when you flung your fist to the workbench, hoping nobody from outside heard that—which they obviously did—you jerked your hand away and rubbed the sore part; all of a sudden, your heart felt heavy, your stomach churned, and your breathing was shaky and rapid.

“What’s the matter with me?”

Trying to relax even felt tedious. The doubt in your conscience was beginning to chew its way into you, but your fought it off along with the words that were gradually forming in your mind—the words that you dread to hear, even if it was just in your imagination.

Nothing.

There was no concentration, no calmness… nothing.

Your mind was in a total disarray.

“This is bad,” you muttered fearfully.

You examined the disassembled lightsaber again, thought long and hard as you stared at it, and then wagered which of the new parts must be replaced to better, functioning ones. The next places that could possibly have some components are the Imperial station near the weathered monument and the ice caves. Asking Greez to take the Mantis to Coruscant is the farthest stretch of an option, so you put that as the last resort—even if the Jedi Temple has the best selection of parts, albeit abandoned.

“It’s highly likely graverobbers have looted the temple though,” you assessed.

Afraid to show your face, and scared to be incapable of answering Cal’s questions about his lightsaber, you couldn’t dare to step out of the room—though you badly need to if you want to get your components. You took a deep breath as if preparing yourself to speed through a row of Auger pulverizers, you rehearsed your general response if ever Cal asks, and coached yourself to keep your eyes on the door.

“Okay, just waltz out. Don’t maintain eye contact, eyes on the door. Just say you’re going out to get more parts, and that’s it. Simple.”

The line became your mantra in the next three minutes. Afterwards, you pulled yourself together and followed your mantra physically to a tee.

“I’m going out again, just need more parts,”

You practically ate your words as you briskly walked past Cal sitting on the couch with Cere in the middle of a hallikset lesson. The two Jedi followed you with their eyes until you disappeared out of the ship. Cal was able to sense something from you, it was faint yet noticeable; he contemplated whether to bring it up to you or wait and see if it would worsen or subside.

You gave the shed on the edge of the landing pad a try, but it turned out to be a disappointment when it was just crates of the same materials as the ones in the derelict hangar; and so off you go to where you needed to be.

You take the shortcut at the turbine facility leading out to the ice slide before the weathered monument. You surprisingly mowed down the dispatched unit of Stormtroopers just on the other side of that blaster door.

“Okay, gotta get to that station fast,” you tell yourself.

You’ve reached your destination: the Imperial command center with a landing platform. You had hoped that with a station this big, you hoped you’d find something worth of all this short trip.

You took every Stormtrooper stationed there singlehandedly by surprise; banking their shots right back at them until all that remains is the black R2 unit strolling across the metal halls.

Now that you’re in the clear, you scoured all of the supply crates that you can find, taking apart the control panels and power terminals for possible substitutes, and even harvesting the parts of a Stormtrooper’s blaster and a Scout Trooper’s staff. By sheer luck, the staff ran on a diatium power cell and prayed that this could be your key to actually fixing the saber.

When you got back, you came in with such a burst that the crew just watched you speed past them. Understandably so, you were too indulged in getting that lightsaber fixed—but they don’t know that you’re protecting your ugly secret of busting it a second time after the Jotaz did.

Cal walked in on you and found you on your second attempt.

“[y/n]?”

You jumped, startled by the softest call of your name.

“You startled me right there!” you gasped, clutching on your chest while sucking in air.

“Oh sorry, I figured you didn’t hear me the first time so I went closer. Sorry…”

“It’s okay,” you tried to hide the saber by blocking his view of it with your back. “Look, it’s not ready yet. I thought I finished it but turns out I had to do it again. I… I’m still fitting the power cells underneath the sleeve of the second saber.”

“Look, I’m more worried about you than the saber itself. Could you please do me a favor and don’t stress out on this? Like I said: don’t rush on this.”

“I’m sorry, I… I suppose I just got a bit worked up. Won’t rest until the job’s done—force of habit.”

He raised his lips to your forehead.

“Well, there’s no need to be worked up, okay?”

You nodded and replied in a hushed tone. He dismissed himself, saying Cere owes him another hour of hallikset lessons, and then walked out of the bedroom, leaving you again with his busted saber and in your solitude.

More hours have passed, at this point in time, your confidence has deteriorated. While the power-related parts—namely the diatium power cell, conductor, power vortex ring, and inert power insulator—were finally replaced with the whole, new ones supplied by your inventory and the ones you’ve picked up, it appeared that they weren’t the answers to your question.

You repeated again, tweaking some of the parts that you assumed could have gone wrong.

The same feeling that you had on the first attempt return—only this time, it was five times worse on the third and fourth tries. You wished that you knew what the problem was.

“No… NO!” you growled, pounding the edge of the worktable out of frustration. The force of your outburst was so strong that you managed to make the thin pipe railings creak.

The crew kept it quiet between one another whenever they would hear one of your outbursts: the grunts, startled cries, and groans of frustration. An hour later, you were still stuck in the loop of trying to figure out the mistake. Cal decided to pull you away from that spiraling mess you’ve gotten into.

“[y/n]…?” he called as he knocked. “Dinner’s ready. Are you coming?”

“N-No, Cal… I… I’m not hungry,” you spoke to him through the sealed door, your voice is muffled but still coherent. “I’m not hungry.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes. Sorry, Cal. Please, I just want some time alone to finish this,”

“Alright then. Call me if you need anything, okay?”

“Oh… okay. Thanks, Cal…”

Cal appeared out of the small annex to join the crew at the dinner table. Cere started to get worried when he appeared without you.

“Where’s [y/n]?”

He repeated your reason to everyone as he took his seat. There was awkward air that somehow exuded the empty chair next to Cal—where you usually sit.

Cal left some food for you and personally put them away on his own after dinner. Cere watched him prepare your serving in case you finally decide to come out of the room and eat, as he sealed off the food container, she confronted him gently.

“Cal, is [y/n] okay? She’s been acting… unusual lately. She’s been locked up in your room for hours now and missed dinner. The last time we saw her outside that room is when she came to scavenge for spare parts.”

“Something’s off about her ever since the last time she went out. She didn’t even open the door to talk to me, she just spoke through the door. I didn’t think that she’d put that much pressure on herself to repair my lightsaber… but now I do.”

“Go talk to her. I am absolutely sure she needs it,” Cere clapped him on the shoulder before retreating to the cockpit.

While they were eating, you have already gone through your fifth attempt. You’ve given up in the middle of the sixth try and ended up sitting on the floor, hugging your knees, and just succumb to crying. When Cal got close enough, he could hear you weeping in the room and that further confirmed his presumption about you.

He knocked on the door again, calling your name.

“Come on, I saved you some dinner,” he coaxed. “Greez made your favorite.”

“Please just… go away, Cal…” you replied.

Cal noticed the change of tone in your voice and the sniffles.

“No, I won’t,”

The two of you conversed with a sealed blast door in the middle. You wanted it that way because you didn’t want him to see the teary-eyed mess that you are and his still-busted lightsaber.

“Look, I couldn’t fix your lightsaber; I could have broken it but not on purpose—you should be hating me right now!”

“I don’t hate you,” he coolly said. “I could never hate you.”

There was no response from your end at the door, you buried your face in your knees in shame, letting tears pool on your pant legs in the process. He decided to open the door via the control keypad on his side. When the door whizzed open, he saw you curled up on the floor by the workbench; you didn’t look to him when he got in.

“Oh, [y/n]…” he purred, sitting on the floor and then taking you into his arms.

“I’m sorry, I thought I could do it…!” you sobbed. “I didn’t mean to break it, honest. I really wanted to fix it but I just couldn’t… I thought I could!”

He shushed. He rested his cheek over your head after kissing your forehead. “Please don’t cry. It’s okay. I’m not mad, I promise.”

“I was too afraid to ask help from you…” you hiccupped. “I was afraid you’d think of me as incompetent.”

“Aww, no,” he cooed. “Baby, no—I’d never think of you as something like that! What made you think that?”

“Cal, look at me: I’m a Jedi who can’t fix a lightsaber! I’m the perfect definition of that word. What else would I call myself if I’m incapable of rebuilding the most vital part of a Jedi?”

He cradled your head to his chest and allowed you to let it all out whether through tears or lashing out.

“You know, back in Dathomir—when I was opening the door to the Tomb of Kujet—I got myself into a Force vision,”

You listened, prompting him to continue with soft grunts.

“Master Tapal was standing there in front of me. When he saw that I didn’t fight back, he said something to me,”

“What was that?” you asked, your voice has calmed down and the sobbing hiccups have gotten lesser.

“He told me that persistence reveals the path. And you know what I’ve gotten from that?”

You look up at him to find sincere eyes staring back lovingly at you and a small yet reassuring smile. The word “What?” was a mere blow of air between your lips when you urged him to continue.

“When failure hasn’t deterred you from trying again and again, no matter how many times,” he spoke as he stroked your hair. “You’ll find your answer at the end of the path sooner than you think.”

“But I’m afraid. I’m afraid to fail… like I always have been, secretly.”

“But have you really given up?”

Your eyes wandered blankly into space, pondering on his question as well as your own answer—the true answer. Your eyebrows furrowed as you somberly reflected upon it. In response, you shake your head. You promptly stood up from the floor, Cal followed and stood by your side; you let him watch you work and to his surprise, you’ve picked up a soldering iron you found back in the Imperial command center.

From time to time, he would help out in certain parts of rebuilding it—handing out the parts and components that you need, giving you an extra hand when needing to hold something really still until you’ve perfectly fitted it into place as well as helping with a few of the trickier steps in the procedure.

The last part of fixing it was refitting the blade energy chamber—the narrow tube that bridges the kyber crystal and the emitter—and when you presume everything is finally done, Cal let you do the honors of meditating once more on the lightsaber.

“Go on,” he coaxed. “Relax and concentrate.”

“Okay…”

It may not be yours, indeed, but your connection with Cal—that you have unconsciously overlooked and shut out this whole time—was soothing the whole time up until this very moment. For a moment, that anxiety that was flooding your entire being was gone and all you could think of was thoughts that signify tranquility: the waterfalls, the sunrise at Bogano, the empty abode, and even an image of Cal himself.

Click…

Your heart skipped a beat when you hear that tiniest of sounds. You fought off the hesitation of opening your eyes. In face value, the lightsaber looked normal. You stared blankly at it, not even realizing that your hand was gravitating to it; once again, your fingers clamped around the handle and lifted it up from the workbench placemat. You shoot a look at Cal.

“Together?”

He placed his hand over your hand, his thumb over yours on the switch.

“Together.”

He squeezed on your thumb downwards, subsequently doubling onto the pressure applied on the switch button. A sharp buzz snarled out of the polished hilt. Cal removed his hand from the hilt and stood back, while examining the beam of light that shone in the room. You exchanged glances with him, you swallowed the nervous lump in your throat, and your heart was pounding that you couldn’t catch up with your breathing. Steadily, you waved the weapon around the small space where you stood.

More than ten seconds have passed and the blade of light didn’t die out. Your official sixth attempt finally was a success!

You exhaled laughingly. Finally! You thought. We did it!

You looked over the blade and found Cal smiling with a sense of pride in you. You pressed the switch again and the blade retracted back into the emitter to set it down on the workbench. You hopped toward Cal and—in an uncontrollable urge—threw yourself in his arms.

“We did it!” you beamed, relieved and happy.

“But you did most of the work, I only helped on the sidelines,”

“Don’t be silly. Well… I was silly myself,” you shrugged. “I guess I had too much pride earlier. Thanks, Cal, you’ve helped me a whole lot—more than enough, in fact.”

You yawned and rubbed your eyes, apologizing thereafter.

“It’s okay, sweetie, rest as much as you need. I’ll be here,” Cal planted another kiss on your head as he cradled you like a baby, trapping you in an embrace as your puffy eyes felt heavy. He continued to stroke your hair until you drifted off to sleep. “I’ll always be here. I promise.”

[aurora-the-kunoichi]

Aftermath Part 3 - The Meeting

Sorry for the delay in the release of this next part. Mun has found herself lacking in motivation in writing. I hope you enjoy the next installment in my apocalyptic TMNT story. 

Raphael and Reader

Everything hurt; even your eyelids ached, throbbing red flashes of pain as you tried to peel them open to see where you were, this wasn’t normal. What was going on, why did…..oh….OH….it was coming back in vivid angry snaps of memory. You were fighting off those men on the roof, who came unannounced and dead set on bringing you back to someone, to break you? Those assholes almost had you too before those four giant turtle men came, distracting them. The red banded one’s face flashed before your eyes concerned etched in his features. He had tried to save your dumb ass as you stumbled back in shock. The rotted out opening in the roof, how could you have not been aware of your surroundings? You could hear your mother scolding you in the back of your mind. Idiot!

As the world came rushing back you heard voices, male voices, not good. The fear bubbling up from your gut hoped it wasn’t those men you had encountered on the roof, prayed in fact, which you hadn’t done in years.

“I think she’s coming around?”

“Dudes, you think she’s gonna freak?”

“Can you get back nutball? She’s gonna freak if she wakes up and your ugly mug is inches from her fucking face.”

“Raphael can you please watch your language. We have a guest.”

As the light pierced your vision green became the forefront. Once, twice you blinked as the green blurry masses came into focus. Crystal clear they became, large muscle bound shelled behemoths just a few feet from where you lay. In the back of your mind you had hoped they were a figment of your imagination as you tumbled to your doom, but the four very large, very real man turtles stood around you.

The tallest of the four seemed to be concerned the most, his brown eyes moving behind a tattered purple mask and a pair of tech goggles sat upon his green bald forehead. His upper body well-muscled was sans clothing except for suspenders littered with multicolored patches and an arm band which seemed to hold a working tablet. He had a pack on the back of his shell and a small solar panel perched on the top with a weird pole attached to its side, it looked electric? From what you could see of his lower half he was wearing black cargo pants that held an array of gadgets and unknown gizmos strapped to his narrow hips. His left arm despite green with scales was covered in several all black tattoos that went from his shoulder cap to his pointer finger. His right arm had a nasty looking scar around his bicep, the green scaled flesh faded to white scar tissue reaching from mid bicep to his armpit. By the looks of the damage he had nearly lost it.

The one next to him was the smallest of the bunch but did not lack in bulk, his eyes were a brilliant light blue outlined in orange fabric. The front of his plastron looked carved in intricate designs, scrolling from the top left to the bottom right, but to your trained eye you could see the designs were hiding a long deep gash that had to have been painful to endure. His whole right arm down to the middle of his open side was drenched in vivid pigment and abstract watercolors. Along with a brightly colored octopus on his left shoulder, tentacles running up towards his throat to around his collar bone. His lower half was covered with brown shorts and knee pads and what looked like homemade shoes for his massive feet. And hanging on each swaying hip were a pair of fucking nunchaku?! Nunchaku?

The third was the second shortest but by the way he held himself he was very important, maybe the leader?  His green crown was wrapped in blue silhouetting his vibrant ocean blue eyes, he definitely oozed control. The top of his plastron had the same intricate detailed carvings covering what looked like a jagged gash across his chest moving from the left to just past the middle of the boney plates. The difference in his carvings was the indents looked blackened, enhancing the artwork, making it pop. Across his broad chest sat what look like a holster, black leather with dark blue embroidering running the length of the strap. His lower half was covered by black pants with knee pads protecting his joints with a strap around his left thigh holding an array of blades.

The last was the brute, not quite the tallest but definitely the one who worked out the most. A red bandana covered his whole head draping down to cover the back of his thick neck. His biceps were bigger than your head with dense muscles shifting under the green flesh as he palmed a half eaten apple in his right fist. His plastron had the most carvings covering nearly all his front breast plates besides the lower left section. His wide hips held a belt that slung lazily holding a set of red sais. His bulky legs were covered in dark green camo pants tattered and worn from years of abuse. His feet also adorned specially made footwear because you had never seen such gigantic black boots in your life. You wondered who the shoemaker of the group was.

Slowly you braced your hands under your back and sat up eyeing each mutant warily.

“Careful now, you got a pretty nasty concussion when you fell. Take it nice and easy.” The tall purple one yelped reaching for you out of reflex. When you recoiled, his face fell into a deep frown and stepped back out of your personal space.

You didn’t feel like you were in danger but that didn’t mean that you weren’t. You’re first interaction with humans in 10 years had left a sour taste in your mouth. But these four weren’t really human, were they?

“Umm….did you set up your rig, it’s quite impressive?” the tall one asked obviously trying to break the tense moment between you all. “How did you get the engine to take the solar power?”

You were about to say something but the horror of it hit you, your truck and camper! How long had you been out? Someone could steal all your hard work! Then you’d be stuck here!

The one in blue must have sensed your inner panic and lifted his large green hands in a non threatening manner. “Hey, hey miss calm down. Your truck and camper are safe; it’s down here with us. After you fell and we dispatched Donovan’s men, we brought you and your vehicle down here where they can’t get to it. The reason Donnie is asking because he got to drive it and hasn’t stopped talking about your work for almost 3 hours.”

“Down here? Donnie? Where are we? Who are you? Why did you help me? Donovan’s men?”

“Whoa whoa whoa there, that’s a lot of questions.” The red one chuckled taking another healthy bite from the apple. “By the way, thanks for the apple.” He winked finishing the sweet flesh in one final crunch. “It’s been years since I’ve had one.”

“God damnit Raph.” The purple one moaned in frustration hold his head in his hands. When he lifted his face you could have sworn his green cheeks had a red tint to them. “I’m sorry miss; you are in the sewers below what used to be New York City. I’m Donatello aka Donnie. This one here..” he wrapped his arm around the small but bulky orange banded one pulling him closer. “Is Michelangelo and he’s the youngest of us all.”

“You can call me Mikey though.” Michelangelo winked reaching his hand out for a knuckle bump.

His large knuckles were massive and highly scarred, like he had lived a very hard life. Which from the looks of their battle worn bodies was true for all of them? Reluctantly you lifted your hand and completed the bump to his very apparent excitement. His blue eyes shone bright as he leaned further into Donatello gracing you with a large white smile that warmed your soul.

The blue one stepped forward and bowed slightly, “I am Leonardo, and I’m the eldest of my three brothers and the leader of our clan. The one who took an apple without permission is Raphael, my second in command and 2nd oldest. I apologize for his rudeness, but I must confess we all were a little excited seeing fresh fruit and vegetables. It’s been a while since we’ve seen, let alone consumed any. We live underground but Mikey had a garden set up on a roof top not too far from here, but it kept getting looted. Soon there was nothing left to regrow because seeds grew scarce and no left-over parts of the food to replant. It was a major disappointment to all of us. How have you managed to grow them after all this time?”

Swinging your legs over the side of the bed you rested on you cracked your neck and took a deep breath. “Ummm, my name is Y/N, yes I set up the rig, been working on it for years. I’m not from New York, let’s just say I’m from somewhere with a lot of land. I’m here scavenging for parts. My parents were preppers so when everything went down and I lost everyone, I had enough skill set to be able to survive.” And there it was, like an idiot with no filter you word vomited too much information to four complete strangers who were the first to be nice to you in ten years. “I have an extensive garden at home as well as live stock…..fuck.”

All four of them chuckled as you spewed word after word at an alarming rate. In fact they were surprised they could understand you at all with how fast you were talking. Donnie lowered his goggles and saw just how fast your heart rate was and the temp of your body rising rapidly. He began to worry if this was too much for you?

“You’re having a panic attack aren’t you? Are we too much for you or have you been alone all this time and not use to this much social interaction in one day?” he asked quickly stepping towards you still keeping an eye on the red flush drenching your cheeks.

Looking to your hands you saw them shaking and your lungs, Jesus Christ they felt like they were being squeezed from the inside. And let’s not talk about your heart, it felt like it was trying to hammer straight through your chest. Your fingers curled in your shirt clutching at your thumping breast. “Is that was this is? A panic attack? I feel like I’m dying…”

Soon you felt two hands, two very large hands on your shoulders holding you steady before you tumbled back from the bed you were perched upon. Golden green eyes and red flooded your vision and a musky scent of engine oil and leather invaded your senses.

Raphael was inches from your face, his massive body so close you could feel the heat radiating off his pebbled flesh. He smelled of masculinity and something rough, you could taste it on your tongue and it traveled to your belly warming it pleasantly. “Look at me, listen to my voice.” The rumble from his deep voice vibrated fluidly through the little space between you. Seeping into your pores and headed straight to the apex of your thighs. He smelled of trouble, the best kind of trouble.

“Deep breaths now, we ain’t gonna hurt ya.”

God he smelled good, you took slow deep pulls of his scent and found everything slowing down, your heart, your lungs and the whole damn room around you. All you could see was his face and the slow creeping smile that revealed his white teeth and the pink tip of his tongue bit between them.

“Do ya feel better now?”

Another hard swallow and you suddenly because aware your hand was now resting on the boney plates of his warm plastron. Why did it feel so comforting to touch him? Yep you were in trouble, so much trouble.

 All my works

@blossom-skies​

[nebuletteart]

The Problem with HS^2

(And the HS Epilogues)

Ok, so I think I’m gonna do another post on this, because I’m feeling bothered. I’ve been really frustrated because I just couldn't seem to get hype for 4/13, like, at all, and I couldn’t even do any homestuck art today. I decided that I wanted to reflect on why that is.

BTW I AM NOT DUNKING ON ANYONE WHO LIKES HS^2 AND SUCH!! If it makes you happy, go read it! And if you don’t want to see me dunk on something you love, feel free to skip this post! I in no way want to pressure someone into hating something they enjoy, I just want to pull this fucker apart and see why is doesn’t tick.

Ok so first off, the build up. Imagine it’s the tenth anniversary of a property you really love, and word is that something big is dropping today! You sit at your computer and wait and wait, all that hype and excitement building up and then? They drop three chapters of fanfiction. And tell you to wait for the rest. When this happened, I, as someone who’d spent the last four or five years deeply invested in this comic, I legit cried out of fucking disappointment. I know Homestuck is known for trolling, but that was straight up not the way to handle that sort of build up. But I told myself, “Well, the other chapters will be good! I’m sure they’ll bring back the art, or bring the story to an enjoyable conclusion!” And then a week later they dropped the rest. And it was, not great?? Like, it had good concepts, and some scenes that were funny. But overall it was a pretty bad and draining read.

Why?

I think the main flaws in The Epilogues (and HS^2 by extension) are the themes. The theme is Meat and Candy. Basically, too much of one or the other makes for bad story telling. And that’s interesting in theory, but little thing to take into consideration, YOUR THEME SHOULD NOT MAKE YOUR STORY WORSE. Writing something bad on purpose doesn’t make it any less bad. And another big detrimental theme is “Suffering makes a story” and like, NO?? NO NOT REALLY??? That’s not how that works. You don’t need to make your characters senselessly suffer for a good story, like any good writing tool, you use it in moderation. Good writers can make their story interesting without just throwing pain at their characters. The original Homestuck knew not to take itself too seriously and even in the face of suffering and tragedy, it kept a good blend of comedy to keep it from getting dreary.

And I think this focus on Suffering (+ the Meat/Candy binary) really does negatively impact the writing of The Epilogues and HS^2. It feels like by narrowing in on every single bad thing that could possibly happen, and making sure bad things do happen, they’re stretching the character’s to meet these themes. Many characters are basically unrecognizable due to how they’re pulled and stretched to meet the demands of the story, and as a result, characters act different than how they do in Homestuck proper.

Beyond this it also feels like the current team are pretty obsessed with inserting their headcanons and ideas into HS^2, The Epilogues, and Pesterquest, with no care for the source material. I am all for representation! I’m Nonbinary and I’m lesbian! I think rep is important! But going back in and retconning your rep when there’s literally no build up ain’t how that works chief. That’s not proper representation. I think the only character that they really managed to pull that off with was Vriska, and maybe Eridan, but even then it was still a bit shaky for me. But for many other characters (For instance June!! June is cute, but word of god is in no way good rep, especially since June literally has like, no build up or subtext or ANYTHING!) That’s basically the exact same as JK going back and saying Dumbledore (or whoever bc I never read Harry Potter) was gay! That is not rep. Rep requires time and writing, and that’s why I think (hold on a second I’m about to praise this not very good sequel) Nonbinary trans Roxy is done well. They took time to build them up, and their issues, in an authentic way. If you want to put rep in your comic, that’s how you should do it, retconning only alienates your fanbase, and makes characters seem even more out of character.

But beyond this, I think the most damning thing about the Epilogues and especially HS^2 is it’s very foundation. It’s just not built out of the same stuff, and as a sequel that makes it impossible for it to ever properly mimic Homestuck in any meaningful way. What I mean by this is, lets swivel over to look at the Patreon. Yall probably know what I’m about to gripe with. Bonus Updates. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again, BY THEIR VERY NATURE THEY GO AGAINST WHAT HOMESTUCK IS. And you may cry, “support the artist!! They’re just trying to make an honest living!!!” BITCH, I am an artist! Lets just look at the content of the Bonus Updates themselves:

The Bonus Updates take place in The Meat Timeline and have potential to become important later on. That is sneakily putting important content behind a fucking paywall, which directly stands against the accessibility Homestuck had for young teens. (And I personally consider it shady practice to accrue more Patreon support) Especially considering that, guess what?? That doesn’t have to be the case! The Bonus Updates could yknow, have focused on the time before the timeline split in order to avoid being plot relevant. Or if the Bonus Updates are plot relevant, they could at least release them later for those who cannot afford the Patreon bill? They could stagger the release, after two months, release the latest Bonus Update? Oh, or they could do something entirely different, such as showing behind the scenes sprites and artwork-- OH WAIT-- They set that to the twenty fucking dollar tier. And another thing that feels a bit anti Homestuck, basing the amount of updates on Patreon support.

Considering their rate is 2000 supporters a month, at the very least that would be 4000 dollars a month, if everyone payed the lowest tier. But most are likely paying the five a month for access the the Bonus Updates, so you could very likely bump that up to about 10,000. This is a ridiculous amount of money, especially considering the lackluster updates, three a month if you take into account Bonus Updates. I’m sure everyone get’s a smaller piece of the cut, and some of that goes into other HS^2 related projects, but that is a lot of fucking money, and definitely more than enough to pay the team if managed well. I don’t think that they should, and I don’t think that they even need, to use bonus updates to force invested fans to pay. If they were confident in the content they produce, they would certainly still have the backers.

Lastly,

Kanaya would not wear this ugly anime ass outfit are you kidding me. And this is also a not well preformed callback panel (like literally all callbacks oh my god none of the old Homestuck gags hit right in HS^2 at all!!) I could understand Dirk (Even though I think him looking more like Bro would have been a cooler symbolic thing but whatever), Terezi’s outfit was a stretch but I’d accept it, but Kanaya??? KANAYA??? You know she has more fashion sense than the entire Homestuck cast combined she would not be caught dead in this outfit. 

[davidmann95]

All-Star Superman #2

A scant year to the day since part 1!

All evidence to the contrary I actually have always wanted to go back to this, especially since I keep getting asked if I’ll do so and it stirs my omnipresent sense of guilt over my lack of productivity, and also the last year has not resulted in a mass turnaround of people realizing it’s a for-real good book and not just comfort food so this remains necessary. This isn’t going to be quite as in-depth as the first go-around - both that as the introductory issue and that as the introductory recap had a lot of groundwork to lay - but still plenty to cover, as this issue sets up Lois and Superman’s arcs for the series, which is rooted (amazingly, especially right off the bat, given the book’s reputation of being about how amazing Superman is) in how badly Superman’s let his fears and shortsightedness poison the most important relationship in his life.

If the first issue is the big classic Superman material - Superman saving the day from the monster! Lois and Clark and the rest of the Daily Planet crew! Lex Luthor’s sinister schemes! A ticking clock to doom! - this scales all the way down to the uncomfortably, stiflingly intimate. Classic archetypal Superman stuff gives way to the most Silver Age issue: casual huge ideas, relationship drama, misunderstandings, last-minute reveals that recontextualize the entire issue, and baaaarely latent psychodrama bubbling up at the edges. In service of that the visual framing here is not unlike a stage play, a limited set of physically connected locales as a pair of figures bounce off one another. Quitely and Grant’s work is therefore comparatively subdued next to issue #1, keeping to traditional panel layouts and wide or medium shots with a background color palate of mostly blacks and whites and grays with a handful of other colors popping out...until Lois starts to lose her shit at the end of the issue and we get close-ups and full black and white panels and eerie glowing and dutch angles and that unsettling abstract image of her clenched teeth, as the story starts to squeeze us like Lois’s gut.

She’s right to be unsettled for that matter; she’s alone on Superman’s turf (the one issue where that’s the case other than #6, and that one’s about how Smallville stopped being his home), the weird antiseptic alien lair of the ultimate super-hobbyist, and all the baggage of their relationship is spilling out into the open as she has less and less reason to think the best of this odd man who’s been lying to her for years. Unlike the Silver Age tales this is referencing, she’s absolutely on the money with her complaints about him: he’s been dicking around with her forever and thinks it can all be okay now (His little “What?” on the second page when she bursts his bubble says it all), and he’s awkwardly overcompensating trying to fix it.

While the Fortress tour serves to peacefully acclimate us to how utterly bizarre Superman’s world really gets past the traditional rescues (the little cubic starfield we don’t know the meaning of yet, trophies are floating rather than physically suspended, the glowing flowers in Lois’s room, “The Phantom Zone map room’s pretty dull unless you can see radio-negative anti-waves”), Superman himself is...humblebragging isn’t the right way of putting it, but it feels like he’s working way, way harder than he ever will again in this book to be cool and impressive and assuring. He’s a dope in love, but he can tell something’s up and that super-brain of his isn’t putting the obvious pieces together, or noticing that this is just putting her off further and further until, like Bluebeard’s wife before her, she stumbles through the threshold of the door she was never meant to, even of course in the end he’s still Superman and there’s a perfectly good reason. Not a good enough reason, however, for her accusations at dinner to not hit home - his mind may be expanding, but he’s still way up his own ass here in a genuinely unpleasant way that’ll be elaborated on momentarily. For now he’s left stammering that she should trust him and it’s limp and phony, especially compared to his big entreaty for someone to trust him in #10 (which’ll be right after he finally comes clean with her); while Superman may not be considered a savior figure by his friends in here the way he often is in the mainline comics Lois seems to be the only one who doesn’t look up to him at least a little bit, but that clarity means she’ll call him out where no one else will.

Across the next two pages it’s all laid out, and we get to the roots of where things have gone wrong between the two of them. Lois is paranoid, certainly, the panels are literally squeezing in on her, but with Superman seeming so out-there and alien like never before she would have every right to be even sans alien chemicals. But notably there remains throughout a part of her assuming the best of him wondering if maybe this is just another big misunderstanding or that he’s simply been mutated by the solar overexposure. And in her heart of hearts, she admits that maybe she wants this to be another big damn trick with a completely sensible justification, because the alternative is that this is the new normal and she has to accept that he’s a flawed mortal man. It’s ugly and it’s mean - especially since she likes Clark - and it’s human as hell in the worst, most understandable way. It’s not going to be until said mortality is staring her in the face that she’ll be able to accept it.

Superman, meanwhile...someone could write a thesis on these panels as an articulation of the Superman/Clark dynamic. The Mirror of Truth is actually preexisting, centerpiece of a Jerry Siegel/Curt Swan joint in Action Comics #269 that was later adapted into the Superman newspaper strip where Lois uses it to figure out Superman is Clark Kent until he tricks her into believing the mirror can lie, after which he tosses it in a volcano; here it’s survived, and curiously shows him as Superman rather than Clark, when in the original tale it displayed Kent even though that was fully the era of Clark as a disguise. In here too it’s Superman who’s the ‘true’ identity of the two and which this time is reflected in the mirror, yet as in #1 it’s Clark who says what he’s truly feeling. In that light, the final panel of the abandoned glasses reads like nothing so much as Superman using the mirror as affirmation that the truth of the solemn, steadfast Superman identity gives him licence to deny the uncomfortable emotions his squishy human farmboy side is dredging up, ‘lying’ to him in a way he had to fake in the source material. Those emotions however knock right on the door of what he can’t grasp here: Clark’s so wrapped up in his own head trying to do the ‘right’ thing that he’s overlooking how his attempts at self-sacrificing selflessness are hurting the people around him. Throughout the series he’ll come to rely on others, first at his lowest points with Jimmy and the Bizarros, until at last he comes to invest true trust in Lois, and the Kandorians, and Leo Quintum, and even Lex.

For now though Lois is deep in a hole, a brief but memorable meeting with the Unknown Superman of 4500AD - everything Superman seems to be becoming to her even before she wonders if it’s literally him, cryptic and masked and with a big ‘ol question mark right on his chest instead of the familiar comforting logo, even his gutbuster of a question reinforcing his distance from a recognizable human experience - leading her all the way to reimagining her Silver Age ideal happy ending of marriage and family with Superman as a Cronenbergian horror. It’s still a Superman story, it turns out he had the very best reason possible for wanting to keep her in the dark, but right through to the end he remains just a little condescending in his reassurance, and his gift of essentially bringing her up to his ‘level’ isn’t going to solve the problem. While the next issue lets us see the two of them properly in love, it won’t be until the elephant in the room comes out that they can come to terms.

Additional notes

* God Quitely is so good. Look at the way the seatbelt curves in the first panel! Lois’s bemused little disbelieving smirk!

* Pages 2-3: Aurora Borealis?!

* Lois is the only character other than Superman who gets to have actual narration (in both cases as looks at their in-text writing), the only one whose viewpoint is thus privileged in the same way as his.

* The key is the realization of this series’ aesthetic in a nutshell: the old-school idea in a sleek, shiny, clever new way that doesn’t take away from the fantastical toyeticness of it all. For that matter, the key is the centerpiece of a later bit with Superman that could be fairly described as the long-term goal of the book book as Morrison’s hoped-for perennial: “One day some future man or woman will open that door, with that key. When they do, I want them to know how it felt to live at the dawn of the age of superheroes.”

* This is A. The first note of a larger DC universe existing offscreen, something that I’ll go into more when discussing #8, B. A brilliant, concise, fun little summation of his place in Superman’s world, and C. Absolutely hilarious given Morrison suggested in his exit interview that this could be seen as much later on in the same universe as All-Star Batman & Robin The Boy Wonder, which entirely rewrites the tone of that moment.

* Already discussed the key but the muscles in Superman’s hand tensing a bit at picking it up is another great detail.

* The glimpse of the Fortress here is excellent: the statues of his friends and enemies instead of pictures because he does things bigger with the yellow electric something crackling at the end of it, the off-model but curious-looking robot appearing to glance at Kandor (are it and the bigger robot with the seats on top of it trophies, or Superman Robots with different designs tasked for specific purposes?), the classic Bad Penny Good For One Crime, the Legion time bubble that establishes his time-traveling credentials for later, the Titanic where he and Lois will dine when their relationship hits a proverbial iceberg, and most strikingly the space shuttle Columbia, his apparent rescue of which I have to imagine is a reference to Astro City’s Superman analogue Samaritan debuting by averting the Challenger disaster.

* It’s next issue that has my actual favorite Superman/Lois moment of all time, but “When we’re married fifteen years, when I’m sagging and he looks just the same, will he still meet me and say things like...” “These are for you. I picked them on Alpha Centauri 4.” is right up there.

* The technological aesthetic of the Fortress is so different than P.R.O.J.E.C.T., sleek and solid and cleanly-lit and antiseptic, beautiful and advanced but a little cold in its own way. As stuffed with wonder as this place may be, there’s something hauntingly empty about it, suiting both the tone of the issue and as a physical embodiment of Superman’s emotional state. The one part that goes against it is the forbidden room, it even has beakers and test tubes to sell the mad scientist vibe...though if you were to stretch it, it much more close resembles the human technology seen at P.R.O.J.E.C.T., and this is meant as a gift for one.

* The cosmic anvil made it along with the key into the CWverse, Lois used it in Elseworlds! I may not be expecting All-Star quality from the upcoming Superman and Lois, but it’s good to know the powers that be are using it as a reference point (beyond how it inspired Supergirl’s take on Cat Grant, a connection I discussed in a post that seems to have vanished into thin air). The whole page is perfect, Superman at his most joyfully benign and beautiful and godlike; it’s the one bit where Lois’s skepticism cracks a touch watching him feed his adorable little Lovecraftian abomination from beyond the stars.

* While he never appears physically aside from a statue Brainiac hovers over this series from beginning to end in name and deed, the ominous ultimate enemy of Superman’s past, the great trial overcome even as the scars forever remain. Morrison mentioned in the exit interview that he didn’t appear in here because he and Quitely already used him as the villain of JLA: Earth 2, but that if he had it would have borrowed Superman: The Animated Series’ take on him as a Kryptonian AI gone rogue. Personally I like his place in here as-is, a little totem parallel to the Justice League references indicating the breadth of Superman’s history between putting on the cape and Luthor’s final scheme.

* A pair of minor notes: Lois points at Superman with the pointy fork when asking him pointed questions, and while it’s not immediately clear on first read she does in fact ask the Unknown Superman exactly 3 questions (“Kal Kent?” “Will Superman and I ever marry and have children?” “What do you mean?”) before he replies with his own, as promised.

* “Oww.” and “Tickles.” literally could not be more perfect Superman moments.

* Worth taking a moment to marvel at just how many future plot elements are seeded here. There’s the obvious bit of Superman thinking about having a partner setting up the next issue, but we also for issue #6 have our first look at Kal Kent and Lois wondering “What if (the Unknown Superman) was really (Superman)?” when Clark will indeed pose as him, for #10 we get our first look at Qwewq, and for #11 not only is the Sun-Eater introduced but so is Robot 7′s malfunction as a result of Luthor’s tampering.

* The structure of the series according to Morrison is a solar cycle, beginning and ending at midday with nightfall in the center. If last issue was the sun at its brightest we begin the descent here, with Superman remaining larger-than-life and ultimately trustworthy but with his classic persona and habits held to an additional, unflattering degree of scrutiny.