#and at least two other upcoming illustration projects

[ichorblossoms]

ougughhgg i wanna draw my ocs so bad but...the Obligations....

[jackie-gremlin-ghost]

Today marks 7 years since the reawakening of my Captain Underpants hyperfixation, which had been asleep for a very, very long time.

I had first discovered the books much like any kid in the late 90s/early 2000s; at the Scholastic Book Fair. If I remember correctly, the first one I had found was the second book, Attack of the Talking Toilets. I remember thinking how silly the cover looked, and it drew my little elementary school self in like a moth to flame.

I had quickly read it and absolutely loved it, and like discovering a new favorite treat for the first time, I immediately wanted more.

I was able to find the first book in my school’s library so I was able to get the full story on the two best friends who pulled the ultimate prank by hypnotizing their grouch of a school principal, and how it immediately became the worst decision they ever made.

And I loved every second of it.

As the years went on, I eagerly anticipated the Book Fair’s arrival at my school and would beg my mom for a few dollars extra, just so I get my hands on the newest adventure.

I devoured every single story I could find and bought as soon as I could, and each one was more entertaining than the last. From alien lunch ladies and zombie nerds, to a megalomaniac professor with an incredibly silly name in a giant robot with charts that you could use to give yourself a silly name (mine is “Poopsie Bananachunks” BTW), to an insane hypnotized woman with Medusa hair that gave atomic wedgies.

The more I read and reread these stories, the more I couldn’t help but think that it would make a pretty fun movie, or at least a tv show.

These stories had been with me through a lot of ups and downs in my life, the biggest being my parents’ divorce. They were there to remind me that even when times could be tough, you can make it through and still be able to laugh at even the silliest of things, no matter how old you got.

By the time I was 10, I got my hands on the latest book in the series, The Big Bad Battle of the Bionic Booger Boy Part 1. I loved it as always, but was shocked to see it ended on a cliffhanger. This had never happened before. I was anxious to see what would happen and how George and Harold would get out of this mess.

But… it would be some time before I got those answers.

Time went on, and my attention went to other things. I found new hyperfixations over the years, and while I didn’t have the 7th book at the time, I was eventually able to get answers thanks to the internet.

Eventually I entered middle school, and I found myself drawn to new book series that I grew to love, but Captain Underpants remained a big part of my childhood and some of its happiest memories. And for a while, I thought that was all it would be; memories to just fondly look back on.

But that all changed the winter of 2016.

It was the halfway point between Christmas and New Year’s, and I was gonna be 24 in less than a month. I was spending my downtime between holidays like any other bored 20-something year old; scrolling through Tumblr, of course. It was during that time that I stumbled across this post by @mondentertainment. It was photos of posters from a Licensing Expo, showcasing upcoming animated projects, be it films or series.

Among them were a few that sounded promising, others not so much.

But what caught my eye was this.

A poster from DreamWorks with a very familiar face on it.

I could barely believe what I was seeing, and from the comments and reblogs on the post, neither could a lot of other people.

It was like a door that had been long locked in the back of my brain finally burst open, and all those memories came flooding back, particularly of a reoccurring thought that ran through my young mind whenever I would look at those illustrations every time I turned the page.

Could it really be true? Was one of my favorite childhood books finally getting a chance to truly come to life on the big screen?

It had already happened once before after I read Coraline in middle school, so there might be a chance.

As you could probably imagine, I poured my thoughts of hope and excitement into the tags as I reblogged the post.

And when the trailer finally dropped three months later, it was like meeting that one childhood friend you never truly forgot all over again.

So much happened after seeing the movie on opening night, including meeting Dav Pilkey himself!

And all the great memories and friends I’ve made since rediscovering the fandom all lead back to that one moment on December 28th, 2016.

And I couldn’t be more grateful for that.

[luckytendency]

It's been...

4 years since we decided to start Lucky Tendency.

And we're still working on it!

A lot of life things have happened, but we're in a place to announce two projects in place.

Project #1

Have You Eaten Yet?

Guani has moved five years ago to the port city of Jingngon (映岸) and has lived rather uneventfully. He has a stable job, a place to live, but no lover in sight and no other goal in life. Perfectly satisfied with each monotonous day, ending it with feeding into his fantasies. In another uneventful day, his boss has tasked him to deliver to the most popular Spirit in town. A certain Spirit who Guani has dubbed 'Heartbreak Ghost'. An easy job to most, but for Guani something slowly changes in him... He's hungry? A horror romance illustrated webnovel.

Project #2

Lucky Tendency

A Phase of someone's life is not so easily determined. Layers upon Layers create the image that exists in every person, a defined path. But a single Anomaly is all it takes to change the trajectory of their lives... A modern fantasy adventure webcomic.

A little more information...

First, The five unlucky members of Lucky Tendency:

Tashi

A workaholic janitor, handyman, gardener extraordinaire. The resume continues on. Though fully capable in working with tools, they struggle with working on themselves. Ignoring their relationships tanking, they find themselves in...

Sang Io

Self-proclaimed pirate royalty, an outdated concept. Though there isn't another path for them, is there? Having come from an unsuccessful heist, she is trying to restore her status with a new crew, a new treasure. And he's found the perfect place, it's just in...

Shashi

Ex-deliveryman, emphasis on the ex. In his mind, his last thirty or so years on the planet have been as normal as anyone else. Everyone has one grandma, one father, one friend, one job, one secret deal he can't tell anyone else. Aiming back to normalcy, he ends up in...

Vanna

Looking for another passion, the retired ecologist ends up getting stood up once more. Though the rejection this time comes with an offer they cannot refuse - a chance to cure their curse. If they couldn't save the world, they could at least save themselves. They just have to brave...

Yi

Ignoring her decades long overdue graduation paper, the eternal student embarks on another side quest. The exalted heir can never take a break from his family's troubles. Though having done everything else for all of them, isn't it time for her to have a bit of fun? Especially in...

... the pits of a privately owned property. Trapped, closing in.

And one lucky anti-member:

Lili

One of the most successful inventors in the world... almost. With 100 children and leading the research on Spirits, it's difficult to say if they're even human. As perfect as they seem to be, there is one issue that plagues them to this day, but it will all end here. One day.

Next, our plans:

We're planning to finish Have You Eaten Yet? first, being a prequel and a bit more focused and easier than Lucky Tendency. It helps us focus a bit more on the world we've created before showing it in Lucky Tendency.

HYEY? is not a direct prequel, but just takes place in the same world years before LT. Think 70s era for HYEY? and Y2k for LT. HYEY? started as a story I (Gayun) was writing for GM but we decided to expand it to be something we both work on. We plan to post chapters for HYEY? sometime beginning of next year and it should end in the same year or next (hopefully).

We'll be posting more of the three main characters Guani, Heartbreak Ghost and Manao in the upcoming weeks along with our LT characters!

Thanks for reading this to the end :)

[littlemisssquiggles]

LittleMissSquiggles’ Summary of Art 2023

Honestly folks, I don't got much to say about this year. This might just be my shortest art summary to date since I don't have much to comment on this year's events.

2023 was a general mix of highs and lows but overall, not a bad year. You could say that this was the year I was more work-oriented.

I focused more on work especially during the early half of this year, between January and July and therefore didn't spend much time on personal projects; specifically 3D. That being said, I did end up getting back up to my art. Since I've been more focused on 3D for the past two years, I chose this year to get back into my 2D art doing illustrative work since I missed it.

More than that, I took this year to spend some well needed time improving my drawing skills, using tools and techniques from my 3D workflow in an attempt to improve my illustrative work and needless to say, I think it worked out great, even if the end results wasn't much.

---

Some squiggly good accomplishments I achieved in 2023:

Started the year employed and while I had to juggle two job opportunities which had its fair share of ups and downs in more ways than one, at least it allowed me the chance to earn the funds I needed to obtain my new workstation: a Lenovo Ideacentre 5 Gaming PC.

Learned about the almighty power of networking and remote desktops thanks to my contract job which allowed to me to transform my current setup into one that fully connects and maximizes the full use of all the devises in my arsenal. Basically I figured out how to connect my previous laptop to my new PC so now I work with a setup where my laptop acts as a third monitor for my PC while I'm able to access all my files from my laptop from my PC. Ontop of that, I also learnt how to connect my PC to my Ipad Mini, not just for transferring files for art but for also using it as a proxy computer device to remote into my main PC workstation. This may not seem like a big deal to most but for someone who didn't know a thing about most of this stuff up until this year, it makes a huge difference to this squiggle meister.

Gained a new four-legged member to the squiggle meister family household. A playfully mischievous yet adorable Husky-mix pup fittingly named Alaska or the "Wee Las" as I like to call her.

Experimented a lot with my art this year and while I may not have shared all of the fruits of my labour to social media, I have been making quite a few strides. ---- I spent the last couple of years pushing my social media presence and while I have benefitted from it from time to time, I missed out on just taking some time to myself; getting back to indulging in other activities that brought me joy; particularly the ones that involve truly honing my craft.

I hope to maintain this type of vibe moving forward towards the new year.

Even if my social media activity won't be as frequent as previous years, I do hope that those who have been following and supporting me and my work over years still continue to do so, even if it's to simply just check in from time to time.

To conclude my post, as always, I'm wishing everyone all the very, very best in their respective lives and daily endevours for the upcoming new year.

Let see what we got in store for 2024! Happy New Year folks!

—————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

♦  PREVIOUS ART SUMMARIES  ♦

2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022

—————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

LittleMissSquiggles (2023)

[lizzybeth1986]

Headcanon: Sloane as an Author of Children's Books

• Sloane's interest in writing stories began a little late, at around 10 years of age. The thing about the way Sloane holds interest in a hobby is that she tends to hyperfocus on one or two and won't leave that till another one captures her interest enough. And for little Trudy, that initial interest was and is always going to be in science, coding and hands-on experimenting.

• Sloane has always had a bit of a fertile imagination, that she supplemented with things she read about, esp related to science and fantasy.

• Part of her inspiration came from her English teacher at the time, Jessica Bass, who felt Sloane's fertile imagination could be put into great use in fictional writing if she nurtured that talent enough. Mrs. Bass would often suggest a few assignments to Kim, Trudy's mother, who also taught at the same school.

• It also helped to a great extent that Trudy was best friends with Mrs. Bass' son Isiah, who loved writing! The two teamed up on storytelling and writing exercises together. A story on space explorers that they co-wrote featured in a science digest for kids when they were 12!

• Unfortunately, Mrs Bass and Isiah had shifted to another state when the two kids were 15, and a lot of Sloane's momentum, and drive to write fizzled out without someone to bounce her ideas off of.

• The last thing she'd tried to write at the time was a space odyssey called Across the Void. Very impressive and detailed for her age, but she still felt like she wasn't fully into writing it. She had to force herself to complete the whole thing, and often couldn't bring herself to read that draft again.

• Cut to two decades later, when Sloane is still in NY, living her best life and now the CEO of Eros. As things begin to stabilize at the company, with relations between the organisation and the Unity for Matches (Psyche) in a good place and the surviving Matches feeling comfortable enough to live functional, independent lives - Sloane gets a bit more time to pursue old interests that she'd thought she was no longer any good at.

• Like her Momma Kim, she does want to encourage more children to see science as fun. She begins to get in touch with schools and educators, eventually starting a STEM-based summer camp for kids and pre teens. As she starts caring for Hamza and then having her own children, she visits kids' libraries more, and starts getting interested in writing for children.

• A STEM-based Book Festival is planned in the upcoming year for kids in NYC, and a popular kids' publishing house comes up with a pitch for Sloane (a very famous scientist and science educator by then) to co-write a set of books in time for release at the festival. The person she is meant to partner with is her old friend from Queens - famed children's book author and illustrator, Isiah Bass.

• The two had kept in touch off and on through letters and email all through their late teens, before losing touch eventually once university and work took over. This reunion was a pleasant surprise to both of them, even though they'd kept tabs on each other from time to time.

• Sloane was understandably nervous when the offer came up, but Isiah was super proactive and helped her out with resources, writing exercises and prompts just to build her confidence in her ability to write a compelling story. He showed her what his writing process looked like, gave her a view of his concepts moodboard. Isiah told her that exercise was particularly useful in getting him to keep track of his ideas and maintain flow.

• Even after this particular project is over, Sloane is determined not to lose touch with her writing, and at least tries to participate in ChiBoWriMo* with her friends in the children's author community every November.

• She keeps a specific room in her home decorated and ready for just writing practice. Files and folders full of notes and ideas, moodboards on the wall for her writing projects, her favourite music, scented candles to keep her calm. It even has a calm down corner whenever she feels a bit stuck and needs to get out of a rut.

• Sloane and Isiah's first collaboration, a book named A Slice of Pii, was an instant hit. It was a fun math-based book, and followed by books on the chemistry of baking and physics-themed books as well. They got a LOT of publicity at the festival and Sloane shot to fame as an aspiring children's book author overnight. She became very in demand for more projects, but always maintained that it was a side hustle, with her main job still being science-specific education and heading Eros with Khaan.

• One of Sloane's greatest achievements as a writer is her collection of books on galaxies and constellations, which released around Oct (World Space Week), four years after her debut. The books were informative, but in a way that was fun and approachable. The series won her the Orbis Pictus award that year.

--

Faceclaims:

(Sloane Washington: Nelly Muse/Muses Uniform

Isiah Bass (OC): Dimitri Abold)

Tagging @sloanewashingtonappreciationweek, and host @sazanes for SWAW Day 5: Hobbies!

[ontaworks]

© 2022 Gadeton, All Rights Reserved [HAPPY NEW YEAR 23]

This is my final illustration for 2022, and this is kind of a simple on to say.

I didn’t have enough time to do my 2022 Art Sumary since I registered my account back two months after I moved from my old one, and I don’t want to add my old illustrations through my new account under a new name, so I decided to do another illustration in which it is a reference to the Congratulations Screen for Mario in the 1999 Fighting Game known as Super Smash Bros. for the Nintendo 64. 

Let me give out my final verdict for this year. So honestly 2022 was kinda below average to say the least, with most of the flaws surrounding the war in Ukrainie and the fact that a ton of NFTs and AI Art are on the rise and there a ton of drama with many of the flames being fueled on Twitter, though I don’t any opinion to say on 2022, and of course I was very busy for the majority of year because I’m having a massive development trouble with my first project and it’s really tough to figure out as I need to elaborate much on my own ideas regarding around my first project, other than that. This wasn’t pretty much of a great year for everyone, but for me, I find this year to be below average at best, not technically the worst year like 2020, but pretty far from it. I’m hoping that 2023 would be a better year and hopefully will get better when 2023 arrives.

Happy New Year Everyone and stay tune for other projects coming in the way.

Sorry that there is no Christmas related illustration, because I was six days late to make it and had to illustrate this in order to make up for Christmas illustration that I was planning to draw for this year, but maybe next if I have more time, I could illustrate that Christmas illustration for the upcoming year.

---

© 2022 Gadeton, All Rights Reserved

[thezanyarthropleura]

Now with a graphic that hopefully illustrates that the title is clever, and not, in fact, the least creative thing I could’ve called it.

...for the people who’ve even seen the movie it’s referencing.

...and liked it enough to not immediately purge it from their memories.

...

Anyways, the subject of today’s inaugural GAMERA MARCH post is...

Why?

...

...okay, valid.

I guess I bring up Gamera primarily because fandom-wise, I tend to be drawn to sci-fi/urban fantasy stories with interesting (and preferably wlw shippable) female characters, and the Gamera franchise is one that fills that particular niche. Out of a total of twelve, the five most recent Gamera films (released 1980-2006), all have women as either primary or secondary protagonists, sometimes with multiple plot-important characters in the cast and with two films giving female cast members top billing. Add to that, three and sometimes four of those particular five movies are regarded as some of the best in the Kaiju genre, outclassing some far bigger-name monsters you’re probably familiar with.

As a franchise, Gamera occupies a strange place in the popular consciousness. While running concurrently with the other heavy-hitters in the genre during the peak of classic Kaiju cinema, the big turtle has been largely left out of a recent phenomenon called the Kaiju Renaissance, a resurgence in the popularity of giant monsters that’s been taking place throughout the last decade (after a drought of content in the late 2000s and early 2010s). The most attention Gamera has recieved since the last film Gamera the Brave in 2006 was a short proof-of-concept teaser in 2015 and the upcoming Gamera: Rebirth mini-series on Netflix. It’s entirely possible the latter project may renew some fandom interest, and if that is in fact the case, allow me take a month-long break from being a Battra apologist and toss my two cents in the pile of why the Gamera films are, in fact, worth revisiting.

Upcoming this month:

A personal writing goal of at least one Gamera-related fic chapter or one-shot per week, including the final chapters and epilogue of my Gamera/TMNT crossover

Discussion/review of the seven Gamera films released in March, on their release dates - starting March 6th with Gamera 3: Revenge of Iris (1999)

Discussion/review of the five Gamera films not released in March, dates TBA and likely following the the last of March ones

...whatever else I have time for, as the writing and chapter artwork is going to take up the bulk of the time I have to spend on this

[jasperygrace]

May 2022 Mid Monthly Report

Hello hello again! I am back with a proper Mid Monthly Report this time. This month I will be talking about some upcoming projects for this summer, so stick around if you're interested in learning more.

As always, if you're interested in learning more about my WIP Project : Desert, the consider checking out the Masterlist or my Artstation for a more condensed view.

So without further ado, let's begin!

Project Progress

Act One Completion

We are finally done writing Act One of Project : Desert! Good lord did it take a long time, but it's finished and now we are ready to move onto Act Two.

So one of the big things I realize while writing Draft 1 - Act 1 was just how demanding it was. I'm no stranger to writing, but this is the first time I've written something as big as Project : Desert. In the past, I've only ever written short stories and various forms of flash fiction, so moving up to a project as big as this is just... it's really something. And it's fun-- I'm excited to see how the story will play out, but I need to develop better writing habits if I'm going to see the completion of Draft 1 by the end of the year. That means it's going to be my goal this summer to complete (or at least get close to completing) Act Two.

I know this will be a tough goal to do, but if I'm committed to writing at least a little bit every day, then I think I can achieve it.

New Art in the Works

I'm working on a new set of artwork for Pro:Des (though let's be honest, when am I not). I wanted to do something different than another round of concept art, so I decided I wanted to do a set of prints this time. The plan is for them to be Art Nouveau/ Mucha-inspired prints featuring the main cast (meaning yes, Niv will get his own illustration for once). So it will be a set of 5 prints, likely A4 sized unless there's a different measurement that seems more fitting.

I'm not quite sure how long this will take compared to how long the area or character concepts took. A single illustration could range from a week to two months. I'd like to think that for what I'm planning it won't be too terribly long, but I want to give myself enough time to work on it while also letting myself be able to work on other stuff in the mean time. Let's say I put the deadline to the end of September to get the 5 prints done; that gives me four-and-a-half months to get this done.

I think I can do that.

New Project Announcement??

I'm not really one to multitask projects-- I feel like even when I try, one project gets focused on over the other. But this summer I decided I wanted to join a game jam.

If you're not familiar with the concept, a game jam is an event where game developers of any kind are given a set amount of time to create a game. Game jams can be as short as a day or as long as two months. I will be joining SuNoFes 2022 this year, which will begin July 1st and end August 31st. It is a game jam that focuses on visual novels and story-based games. Since we're allowed to start planning before the event begins, I will be releasing small devlogs every so often starting next week up until the end of the event to document the game's development.

So currently, the project is called Project : Identity; it is about a woman name Sid who is a lone wolf in the city's underground scene. While she may not be part of any gang officially, she does have ties to a few and is known to help people out in a pinch. But Sid is a notorious people-pleaser, so much so that her inability to say no has landed her in the middle of an on-going turf war; she accidentally turned into a double agent between two rival gangs. Unable to reconcile both sides, Sid has to make the difficult choice of siding with one of the two gangs.

For those interested in what the game might look like, here's a quick mockup image of where I'd like to take the art direction:

Goals

May Goals:

Write three/four chapters by June 15th

Storyboard chapters 6 & 8 by June 15th

Finish Art Nouveau prints by September 30th (or sooner)

Begin development for Project : Identity and post first devlog by May 22nd.

Update the Masterlist by May 31st

Begin work on Project : Desert anniversary

That sums up my report for this month. Thank you for reading and I hope you'll support me in my future endeavors!

[hughjidiot]

Hugh Jidiot’s Weekly Whatever #1

Hey there friends and fans! Welcome to the inaugural post of my new blog, the Weekly Whatever.

Since I’ve recently had some more free time added to my schedule, one of the things I want to do is be more sociable online. To interact more with the folks who follow me, whether they follow me for my fanfiction, my original fiction, my opinions on cartoons and media, my stupid memes that aren’t half as clever as I think they are, and so on.

So I’ve decided to start this new blog series where I talk about everything I listed above, share random facts about myself, discuss upcoming projects... Pretty much ramble about whatever’s on my mind. I do have a fair number of follows, so hopefully at least some of you will find some of my blathering interesting and could potentially open further avenues of conversation. Naturally if I want to get really in depth into a particular subject that will get its own blog post(s) in the future.

Let’s start!

- All my life I’ve loved creating things, writing stories in particular. From a young age I decided I wanted to make a living writing books, and I’ve been regularly writing fanfiction on and off for well over a decade as a way of cutting my teeth. The Hugh Jidiot moniker is probably my... tenth account I’ve had over the years? At any rate, it’s by far the most successful.

- I’m hoping to make this the year I finally write a novel I’ve dreamed of writing for years, now that I’ll be having a lot more free time. I have many ideas, some more developed than others. Currently I’m in the process of refining one idea that’s been in my head for years, and hope to start on the project proper soon.

- This project in question might not even be a traditional novel. It might work better told in a non-traditional format like a web series, or even an audio drama.

- In case it wasn’t obvious by anyone who’s seen my stories on Reddit, I love horror. I grew up on Goosebumps and was reading Stephen King as early as 6th grade. I hope to write more horror/thriller themed fanfiction as well at some point.

- I’m also interest in a lot of other creative venues: graphic design, drawing, sculpting, painting, even tabletop game design. That last one in particular is a favorite hobby of mine, and creating a full tabletop game - board game, card game, RPG or whatever - has also been a lifelong dream of mine.

- I’m a tarot geek, big time. I love studying the meaning behind all of the different cards and how they link when paired with others as part of a larger reading. Of course I don’t really think tarot cards can predict the future; I just think they’re neat.

- I’m secretly five raccoons who stand on each other’s shoulders and don a trench coat when I need to go outside.

- To give you an idea of just how much I love writing: in fifth grade we had a creative writing assignment to write a short story based around an illustration. Most kids’ stories were one or two pages. Mine was seven pages.

- I love Pokemon, even though I sort of fell out of it in recent years and am just now trying to get back into it. One of my possessions I still have from my childhood is a small stuffed Squirtle, who is also my favorite Pokemon.

Well, I’d say that’s enough rambling for now. Hope some of you found this interesting, at least. Until next time, peace from the heart my friends!

[memes-in-a-half-shell]

Business AU - Working Late, Part 1

Just a quick idea to test more and play around this AU I’m trying to build. For the sake of taking it easy, I’ll use my OC Vee 😊

Vee didn’t realize how late it was starting to get until she finally glanced away from her computer screen and towards the large windows the building had to offer. The sky was turning to a dark blue, the city’s lights creating a halo around the various skyscrapers. Many coworkers had already left the place and most of the main lights were off, leaving only some bulbs on towards the main hallways here and there for the cleaning team. Well, at least those hours will give me a better pay..., thought Vee as she stretched her arms, trying to ease the stiffness in her shoulders and at the base of her neck. ... All she could think about was getting home and enjoying a nice warm drink to ease her into a better sleep. Or she could always enjoy a nice glass of red wine - the latter much more enticing. Collecting her handbag and coat, her feet instinctively proceeded towards the large room’s exit, until her eyes caught on a glow that wasn’t usually there. It was coming from the nook of a small hallway that led to a room not usually used by any employee. Vee’s reasoning first led her to believe that someone forgot to turn off a switch, but her curiosity actually wondered if another soul was still occupied in this building. She approached the source calmly, taking a peek while still standing by the doorframe of the small space. At first she noticed many tables and shelves, a plethora of paper rolls, books and drawing equipment decorating the room in an organized chaos. Then she noticed him. She had seen the turtle brothers many times ever since she’d been employed barely a month ago. At first it had been a surprise, but now it was simply pure fascination. Vee recognized this one to be Donatello, the tallest of the bunch. His shell was facing her, his attention all on a large sheet of paper laid on a drafting board. The woman couldn’t help watching him for a moment, his movements ever so precise with his scale ruler and his pencil. As he paused to admire his work, Vee studied his form. Even with his white shirt, with the sleeves rolled to his elbows, she could still decipher the subtle shape of his muscles - all thanks to his trainings. He wasn’t as built as his brothers, but he was toned enough to bring a blush on the woman’s cheeks... “You can come forward, I won’t mind.” His voice broke her thoughts. He didn’t even turn around as he had said that, probably feeling observed anyway. Vee suddenly felt embarassed, her audible gasp finally grasping the turtle’s attention. “Oh, uhm, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to disturb your work. ... I saw some lights in the distance and was wondering if someone forgot to turn off something...”

His golden eyes made her trail off her last words, internally melting as she saw the sweet smile on his lips.

“No worries, I know it’s late,” he added. “I’m mostly surprised someone was still working as well.”

“Yeah, that tends to happen whenever I’m too focused,” shyly answered back the woman with a smile.

“What were you working on?”

Vee was silent for some seconds. Am I really having a casual conversation with one of my bosses? she thought with a slight frown. Donatello’s soft chuckle made her realize she was probably taking too much time to answer.

“Please, I won’t bite,” he said. “I’m actually enjoying this break from my work. If you have a minute or two to spare before leaving, I don’t mind having a little conversation!”

The woman conceeded, finally entering the room and taking seat on a chair that was nearby the mutant’s desk. In the process she did not notice the other taking a good look at her, most presumably enjoying her presence. Vee first straightened her back once seated, extending a hand for a shake.

“Well, first of all, hi. I’m Véronique, but you may call me Vee. I’m the newest project manager overseeing the creative team. Everything regarding the company’s outer image has to go through me first.”

“Color me impressed, that’s quite the title,” replied Donatello, shaking her hand. “I do recall seeing and hearing your name a couple of times for the past weeks. You’re our newest addition coming from Montréal, if I stand correct?”

“Indeed! It’s been a dream of mine to come work in New York City, so I am extremely grateful for this job.”

Her hand felt so small in his. Gosh, she could feel her cheeks warm up...

“But I’m blabbering now,” she added, freeing herself from his hold. “I was trying to get through the upcoming evaluations I’ll have to give to the team and revise some designs that are supposed to come out by the end of this month. So it’s crunch time much.”

“Oh I do get that,” smiled the other. “Deadlines can be such a curse. ... I’ve been working late myself as well for a Lower East Side project.”

“What would that be, if it’s okay to ask?”

The turtle gave a better view to his board, revealing some intricate structure designs laid down on paper.

“The Lowline,” he started. “I can quickly summarize it as an underground park that allows sunlight in and vegetation all around. It’s been years since the city had this under work, and I’m trying to push it into completion. ... But there’s a lot of structure issues that needs to be addressed.”

Vee stood up, taking a better look to the drawings. Some calculations could be seen on the sides, but the trickiest parts were clearly the solar collection disks and underground domes that would distribute light. The whole idea in its whole was great, but in the long run it would prove to be a challenge in terms of weather changes and various issues - may they be of human nature or not.

“I’ve heard about it,” added the woman. “And I do hope it’ll come into fruition. It sounds like a great idea overall.”

“Indeed, but I feel like my lines are not organic enough for this line of work,” sighed the mutant. “I’m used to buildings, mechanics, and more ‘structured’ work. ... The city has more of a round and nature-friendly image in mind, so I’m trying to keep that in mind for my designs. Alas my drawings are resembling a prescholer trying to learn how to draw a circle.”

Vee couldn’t help a small laugh at that last remark, smiling as she looked back to the male.

“Don’t be so harsh with yourself, it’s already better compared to some employees around here.” She then pointed some lines. “I could definitely see an improvement here and there if you were to use a compass and smooth the lines, rather than guessing with a ruler and free-handing it. I understand the calculations, but you’ll have to trust the papers’ measure lines for it to truly work and give better measurements for whichever company would handle the creation of those structures.”

“... Have you worked in architecture before?” asked Donatello with a small smile.

“No, but I’ve done plenty of illustration works before and I can recognize the different needs for when you’re drawing buildings, compared to ‘organic’ structures or just plain vegetation.”

Their eyes met, Vee noticing the other’s amusement. She promptly moved away from the drawing, moving away a stray strand of teal colored hair from her face.

“... I’m sorry, I shouldn’t tell you what to do...”

“Oh no, no, I appreciate the insight!” reassured Donatello. “I should ask more of it in the future, in fact. ... Would you mind surpervising my work once this hellish end of the month has gone by? I could even help you, if you accept.”

Did she hear that right? Her slight astonishement made her feel like everything was a dream.

“I wouldn’t mind at all,” she answered. “I’d look forward to it, in fact.”

“Excellent!” added the turtle with a small clasp of his hands. “Then I guess I’m done for tonight and I can rest easy for now.”

He backed his chair a bit, allowing him enough space to stand up afterward. Vee could feel this knot forming in her stomach and throat, truly noticing their differences in size as the top of her head only came up to the height of his shoulders.

“If you don’t mind, we can head towards the exit together? I wouldn’t want you to get attracted to another light source and get lost once more,” he joked lightly.

Vee did a small snort in amusement, suddenly blushing after such display. She did nod through her shyness:

“Yes, that would be fine!”

She tried not to think too much about his smile, his presence such a nice feeling overall... After a small detour to his office so he could collect some of his belongings, they next headed to the building’s exit, and all Vee could feel was as if she was floating on a cloud...

((PART 2))

[lisakuma13]

Wisdom of Inner Child(ren)

“Be who you needed when you were younger.”

This was a profound lesson I learned as a volunteer in my daughter’s kindergarten classroom. I was a 39-year-old mother and wife who was beginning to understand various family dynamics that I couldn’t piece together as a child.

~

“How’s it going?” I asked, peering over the mop of tousled, dark hair.

Jed pouted as he struggled to eke out a sentence under his illustration of two people—one male and one female—who stood side by side, smiling, drawn in a style typical of kindergarten art.

It was volunteer day in my daughter, Jennifer’s, classroom. Every Tuesday morning for an hour and a half, I rolled up my sleeves and cut out materials for an upcoming art project, stapled weekly homework packets of addition facts, or worked with the children on their printing practice.

Today was a writing “assessment” day. The prompt was, “What fun things do you like to do with your family?” Naturally, as her mother, I started by Jennifer’s desk and watched her write, “I like waching moovs with my family.” I continued around the classroom to help kids sound out words like “/P/-/ar/-/k/” or directly offer more difficult-to-spell words like “bicycles.”

Nearly everyone contentedly worked on their prompts. Some meticulously printed and illustrated, coloring in between the lines. Others scribbled out words onto their lined paper alongside an abstract artwork.

But the face that caught my attention was Jed’s: so angry, so conflicted. I stooped down next to him on the side of his desk. “What do you think you’ll write for your sentence, Jed?” I prodded gently.

With his face cupped in his hands, his eyebrows furrowed, he replied with an adamant, “I don’t know.”

“Well, what do you like to do for fun with your family? Watch movies? Ride bikes?” I offered, drawing from ideas I had observed among his classmates.

Silence. Pouting.

“I like the picture you drew,” I encouraged. “They look like they’re happy here. Who are they and what are they doing?”

Jed let out a heavy, shuddered sigh. “My mom and dad don’t like each other.”

Silence—my turn this time. My heart momentarily sank.

Clearing my throat, I responded, “Well…the people in your picture are smiling. They look like they’re having fun. Who did you draw?”

Jed looked down at his illustration as though he’d forgotten it was there. “That’s me and my sister at the park. Because my mom and dad don’t get along.”

“How about we write a sentence about playing at the park with your sister? She’s part of your family and it looks like you guys have fun playing there together. The sentence can be about just the two of you.”

Jed’s eyebrows started to soften, and he suddenly sat up a little taller, a little straighter in his chair. “Yeah. Okay,” he said. His clumsy little fingers curled around the thick, yellow pencil as he looked at me and asked, “How do I spell ‘sister?’”

~

In that small moment of crisis and emotional heartbreak, I could not process the gravity of not only Jed’s words, but his world, as well as his position in it. It wasn’t until after I had hugged and kissed Jennifer at her morning snack recess—the break that signaled the end of my volunteer time—and then signed myself out at the front office and began walking to my car that I felt the weight of Jed’s statement. And it slowed the gait of my walk.

My mom and dad don’t like each other.

My heart hurt. Both it and my throat constricted—and I remembered.

I remembered feeling the powerlessness a child experiences watching and hearing the two most important people in your life shouting and yelling at each other. How, with each escalation in their tone, or bitterness in their words, it slapped you. You cringed. Your entire being shrunk into itself. “Please stop!” you’d scream from the inside. “Stop fighting!”

Even when the word-slinging stopped, the residual coldness remained in the house, and the words left unsaid lingered and haunted. As a child, it was hard to tell which was worse. Both seemed to break your carefree spirit. Both left you feeling miserably alone and scared.

I had seen Jed’s parents—once at a “Back to School” night and once more during pick-up time after school. His mother struck me as preoccupied and exasperated. Jed’s father, while quiet and resigned, appeared to be the more interactive parent with his children. I had observed them from afar without judgment.

Had I been living the perfect model of a blissful family life and marriage, I easily could have judged the pair of them. Or focused on her: What kind of mom are you, creating a setting in your children’s lives that your five-year-old son can’t write a single, positive sentence about your family?! Get it together, woman!

I sighed. Those critics certainly exist. I wasn’t hypocritical enough to be one.

As heavy as it was to remember the misery of being the child of a less-than-happy marriage, I now also bore the burden of being one-half of said marriage. I couldn’t judge Jed’s mom because I was her. At least, the distracted and aggravated part of her I superficially observed.

I was aware that I was also a parent who was setting up a dysfunctional environment for my family, because I was fighting with my husband—a lot. Whatever baggage and insecurities we were subconsciously harboring from our past, even as far back as our childhood, were being acted out in our marital dynamics.

As a child, I had taken my parents’ altercations and outbursts personally and absorbed the toxic energy as if it were my fault. Now, as an adult in the “hot seat” myself, I knew it had nothing to do with my own faultless, precious children. Mommy and Daddy have their own sh*t to process. Sadly, the kids can’t always be shielded or immune from watching and hearing it.

Life sucks like that. You can’t know then what you know now to help you process your childhood trauma and sadness.

It wouldn’t have been my place—but if I could rewind the day and put myself back in the classroom, I would tell Jed, “Your daddy and mommy not liking each other has nothing to do with you, even though it might feel like it has everything to do with you. Right now, you are the grown-up watching them throw temper tantrums. And all you can do is let them. Be the bigger boy who can go have fun with your sister at the park, with smiles on your faces and resilience in your hearts.” And I would hope to convey to him his wisdom, however green and raw, far exceeded theirs. As it did mine.

Jed’s honest connection that day drew out my inner child’s memories. She, in turn, tugged on the shirt of the mother and wife I had become to remind me:

Be present and aware. Heal what hurts so it doesn’t cycle downward. Remember what you needed to know and feel as a child to have a sense of safety in your world.

Heed the message, “Be who you needed when you were younger.”

[sugar-petals]

Hav u done predictive readings for who the boys will end up with & how their career will go etc?

a 2020 career prediction i’ll publish at the end of december! their future partner we’re doing now. i added some angel oracle cards today ♡ those describe the theme of their relationship.

Jungkook: QUEEN OF CUPS

Hallelujah! Oh yeah. That’s an ideal card, picture perfect. The Queen of Cups is quite possibly one of the best partner allegories to have because a) Cups rule smoothness of relationships and emotions and b) she’s a royal card which indicates a highly developed state of mind where things finally come to fruition unlike with the aces and pages. Jungkook will mean so, so much to his partner. That’s a twin flame or soulmate connection we’re talking here. A really beautiful and dignified person, a little touchy feely, but experienced with love. They can really depend on another. Maybe they’re from Busan like him or the shore generally, the sea plays an important role for the Queen of Cups. There are tiny little cherubs on the card, I’m thinking he’ll be treated like an angel. It’s a very healthy relationship that leaves nothing left to be desired. As for looks: It might be a blonde, taller person whose favorite color is blue. There are cliffs on the card that remind me of Cornwall’s coast. The English theme is pretty consistent in his readings lmao we’re dealing with an excellent speaker. And, because it’s a court card with quite abundant imagery, it’ll be a S/O of quite some status. I am sure the person will be known to us already, or at least a big deal within his or her family. It’s queen energy, so the mom friend is right on their way into JK’s heart. Another aspect is that his partner might be rather spiritually inclined — mind you, every person is spiritual, how aware you are makes the difference — or even psychic. Water signs ahead; Pisces, Scorpio, Cancer.

— angel card: “Playfulness — To bring about romantic feelings, allow your youthfulness to shine with delight.”

Taehyung: THE EMPRESS

Yet another powerful female archetype, this reading does not mince words.  And also a very wholesome outlook, it’s very similar to the Queen of Cups vibe, or Queen of Pentacles if we’re looking at other tarot suits. I was really happy when I saw this card come out. The Empress almost always signifies kids, the theme is fertility. Taehyung will live a very lavish life with this partner. The card has so much opulence and positivity on it. Nature, food, pillows, ample garments, jewelry, good weather, and harvest time. And, of course, the Empress is fairly curvy, so expect either Taehyung gaining weight in the future or his partner being chubby. It’ll be the good life, in a good place, with the right person. There’s a settled and satiated feeling there. Stagnation could be possible after a while because this card gets too cozy. However, loyalty and a ripe sexual life are like glue to the union so I don’t see Taehyung stress anytime soon there. The card gives me plenty of clues how his home will look like as well, it’s highly decorated and comfortable. Interestingly enough, we see a huge wheat field surrounding the Empress — hence the card symbolizes fertility — so I wonder whether Taehyung’s dream of getting involved in farming will play out. I mean… coincidence? The countryside will take on an important role in any case, maybe with photography as well. Tae marrying a farmer’s girl, who knows! Beautiful card, definitely. It’s a good prospect for him. The Empress is major arcana so, this state of happiness will last him for a giant while and it’s destined. The boy will shed a tear no more. 

— angel card: “Attraction — you receive love by enjoying the moment.”

Yoongi: KNIGHT OF SWORDS

It’s the fastest card of the tarot! The power of swords paired with a knight on his speedy horse is quite a combination. Yoongi’s future partner is not going to waste time to charge right into sweet honey boy’s life. We’re dealing with a hothead, athlete, extrovert. I don’t think Yoongi has to do as much as crook a single finger to get things going. In fact, he’s the one waiting it out. He’ll just lean back and poof there is his significant other bursting into his life. Though I gotta say, the Knight of Swords has a detriment and that is: He leaves as fast as he arrives, and you have to be sure of your boudaries. Major burnout dangers there. The relationship might be short compared to say Namjoon’s or Tae’s reading. It’s Yoongi’s part to make this last if that’s what he’s going for. It’s a sword card, there have to be efforts and mental clarity involved to solve the problem. Though, someone rushing towards their love interest with so much passion has a good reason why he or she does that. Yoongi could get snatched away by someone else, with so many people interested in him you really have to be determined. With the archetype being a knight I also know it’s going to be someone younger than him, there’s a certain rebellion to the card. It has military energy. Yoongi’s partner will be one outrageous and direct person. They are 100% unafraid to face off with Yoongi, they have better comebacks than the master of sharp remarks himself. When it comes to sex, Yoongi will probably forget his own damn name after that ride. This person is wild as hell. It’s not a fellow sleepyhead as we saw in the ideal type reading, but a S/O bringing him out of his dreamy world. There’s a strong encouragement for Yoongi to achieve a lot more when he enters that relationship, it’s a power up to be expected here.

— angel card: “Worth the Wait — Divine timing predicates your relationship.”

Namjoon: TEN OF PENTACLES

Nice! Wow. The tarot says Namjoon is blessed. This is the card of wealthy, happy old age. He’s headed right for it already. In all tarot suits, the 10 indicates fulfillment. E.g. the Ten of Cups shows relationship completion because cups stand for love, the Ten of Swords shows total defeat because swords symbolize conflict, the Ten of Wands signifies complete effort/exhaustion since wands represent impetus. So the Ten of Pentacles equals coming full circle in terms of material things as pentacles are responsible for all tangible value in life. He’ll be living blissfully with his S/O. Everything is cared for. We’re talking long-term relationship here. The card shows an old man settled in his favorite coat and spot. Namjoon has a kind of master plan to gently arrive in his 80s, 90s. It’s not a surprise, we know he looks ahead, the tarot is aware of it, too. And yes: He will finally be able to answer his question “Who the hell am I?”. Ten of Pentacles means: Identity found. I had to wipe away a tear for that one man. I think it has to do with the location. The setting of the card is like a polished type of town with castles. A bit Italian, Mediterranean. Not as modern as say Seoul, bigger cities. It could be him moving to a warm country where things are slow, antique, and indulgent. I once said Namjoon has a type of European mindset going on, if he moves there it with his loved one or his partner is European it wouldn’t be shocking. There are two dogs on the card so, Joon will have pets involved in the partnership. The 10 of Coins also shows a couple immersed in a chat. His S/O is primarily someone he can talk to about the world, it’s a very conversation-heavy union. Now, the old man on the card could also show that he finds another old soul— we’ve had that topic come up in the other readings as well, the tarot is sure he’ll meet someone on par. Earth sign energy here.

— angel card: “Love Without Fear — Open your heart to give and receive the highest of energies.”

Hobi: THREE OF PENTACLES

Even more pentacles. Taurus, Virgo, Capricorn is possible. His partner is a darn good team player, their friendship bond is strong. First thing that came to my mind, they’ll build a house together or get busy working around their home in some kind of way, that’s interestingly enough the central theme I get from the card. Distribution of chores and general tasks is a big thing, and they’ll be planning a gazillion industrious things from what I got through the imagery. There’s an abbot, architect/craftsman, and monk seen on that card working on a church wall embellishment. One gives directions, the other has drawn a sketch that illustrates what kind of decor the abbot wants to have on the church wall, and the third guy does the crafting, hammer and chisel in hand. It’s not a love-related card per see so it’s important to point that out. It could hint at some pretty huge artistic collaborations coming our way instead. If you combine that, it could happen in a way like… Hoseok gets with someone he collaborated/collaborates with sometime soon, or a little later. Yup. Chicken noodle soup with Becky G on the side! Their chemistry is amazing and she is so cute, it’s very much possible. Or, in a wider sense, it’s someone from an upcoming project. That’s interesting. It seems quite sure that Hoseok won’t retire after BTS even if he’s pretty damn rich already, he’ll stay in the industry and foster (=embellish) his career with a strategy behind it much like the abbot on the card. We’ll get to know his partnership(s) along the way, but the tarot says it’s not top priority. Pentacles are earth sign energy so Mercury, Saturn and Venus are what will dictate that union, it’s the overall pragmatic energy that’s taking center spot. Also, since the church is so prominent on the card, Hoseok is working towards marriage nine times out of ten. 

— angel card: “Fresh Love �� A new person has stirred your romantic feelings.”

Jimin: FIVE OF SWORDS

That one is… sigh. The odd one out in this post. How do I put it. It’s a series that just doesn’t break. Jimin constantly gets the messy cards and not so love-friendly swords when I do relationship readings on him. There is something going on and I kind of hate it already. But the tarot is being adamant so we have to decipher what’s going on and see the resolution, there’s more to it than just the cards doing him dirty. The Five of Swords pictures a battle aftermath with a mischievous winner and two defeated parties walking away sore. The winner picks up the weapons left behind to hoard then. So when it comes to his future S/O, we’re talking someone wants to play win-lose with Jimin’s insecurities and will get away with it because they’re strong, sly, and full of themselves. They don’t have his best interests in mind, especially when quarrels go down. Lack of harmony overshadows the relationship. There’s some major bullshit and that’s scary. The partner is like a leech, leaving only Jimin pissed, it’s not a lose-lose situation, things are wholly unequal. Picking on Jimin leaves their ego inflated and intensifies resentment. Working against each other over working with another is going on. Jimin has to walk away from that situation and mend his wounds, and never return. It’ll be a period of growth in his life ahead where he becomes aware just how giving too much and being defeated by that does him no good, as well as learning how to spot douchebags who don’t care about him. The Five of Swords is among the quintessential breakup card, it’ll be what defines his future relationship unless or until he has the grit to stop the fight and search for equity and affection instead of put-downs.

— angel card: “You Deserve Being Loved — You’re worthy of love.”

Jin: SIX OF PENTACLES

Pentacles, pentacles everywhere. I see that the hyungs have some financial themes going on, Jin’s card is emblematic of that. First let’s have a look what’s going on with the imagery. A wealthy man holds a scale on this card. He distributes coins to poor men kneeling before him. It’s an interesting symbol for a relationship, if not for another more important area of Jin’s life which could very well be philanthropy. He is the wealthy man on the card, sharing in just ways as the scale indicates. That could be providing for his partner a lot or simply doing charity together with them. I do have to say, and that is similar to Hoseok’s card, I don’t see too much of a romantic theme here which is surprising, but the tarot knows its ways. Some members might be doing partnerships much later in life or eschew them. With Jin here, I get a sense that business relations and deals will be an overarching theme in the near future. It could be the situation with his dad’s business in Germany the card is hinting at, and if marriage is involved, there’s a major exchange of valuable ideals and things involved between parties. A recurring theme is class difference though, the same popped up in the last reading. Jin’s status will be much, much higher but he can tip things into balance with a fairness mindset, Libra energy. A huge gap will be bridged. Last but not least, mea culpa: I think I’ve been missing the obvious interpretation there. The signs are everywhere in the cards for his readings, and oh my god: Jin is the member who’ll get together with a fan. 

— angel card: “Children — Kids will have an influence on your love life.”

[rpgsandbox]

          Contents of the boxed set, including planned stretch goals

Kalisz. Shit. We’re still only in Kalisz. We need to get out of here. Fast. The artillery barrages are getting closer. The Soviets will be here soon. Sarge says we move out after dark. I’m not sure we’ll last that long.

A classic roleplaying game returns. The new retro-apocalyptic edition of Twilight: 2000, published in partnership with Game Designers' Workshop, goes back to the roots of the franchise with a boxed set for sandbox roleplaying in the devastation of World War III. The new edition will be the fourth in the series, the first being released by GDW in 1984. Just like the original version, the new edition is set in a year 2000 devastated by war – now in an alternate timeline where the Moscow Coup of 1991 succeeded and the Soviet Union never collapsed.

                                         Art by Niklas Brandt

"The first edition of Twilight: 2000 was an iconic game for me back in the '80s, and we are humbled and honored to work with Marc Miller and Game Designers' Workshop to bring a new edition to life. The original game was really ahead of its time. Our goal is to build on the amazing sandbox survival gameplay and develop it further, making it more accessible using the tools of modern game design," says lead game designer Tomas Härenstam.

"When I saw this proposal to revisit the Twilight universe, I signed on immediately. As I have seen the work proceed, I have not been disappointed, and I look forward to seeing this project become reality," says Marc Miller of Far Future Enterprises and co-founder of Game Designers' Workshop.

                Sample Layout Spread – Texts Are Placeholder Only

                Sample Layout Spread – Texts Are Placeholder Only

Also part of the project are Amargosa Press (who have recently announced the new Dark Conspiracy 4th Edition RPG), Polish RPG publisher Black Monk Games (who will act as a consultant on the Poland in 2000 AD game setting as well as publish a Polish edition of the game later on), and Far Future Enterprises (who publishes the fifth edition of the Traveller science-fiction roleplaying game).

                                   The Twilight: 2000 Boxed Set

Making RPGs in boxed sets is expensive, but we really feel it's right way to go for Twilight: 2000, bringing back the feel of the first edition of the game with that iconic Poland map.

If we reach our base funding goal, the boxed set will at the very least include two beautifully illustrated full color books – a Players' Manual and a Referee's Manual, each of about 100 pages detailing rules, setting, gear and scenarios – as well as several empty character sheets and a huge, full color travel map (format 864x558mm) of central Poland on one side and southern Sweden on the other.

If we exceed our base goal, we will add more content to the boxed set as stretch goals. These include combat maps and tokens, cards for initiative and encounters, custom dice, additional content in the books, and more.

                Unlocking stretch goals will add content to the boxed set.

LIMITED EDITION METAL BOX: As a exclusive to this Kickstarter, you can even get your copy of Twilight: 2000 in a limited edition metal box. This deluxe edition of the game will only be available via this Kickstarter and will not be produced again. To get your game in the metal box, choose the LIMITED EDITION reward.

                              Metal Box Design (Work in Progress)

A Referee's Screen will not be included in the boxed set, but can be added to your pledge.

                                Referee's Screen – Work in Progress

Some say it didn’t have to be this way. Some say history could have taken a different turn. If the Soviet Union had collapsed back in ‘91 when it was on the ropes. If the Gang of Eight military coup against Gorbachev had failed, the world would have looked very different today. Some say. I think it’s bullshit. This storm was always coming, sooner or later.

It doesn’t matter anymore, anyway. Now, all that matters is to survive each day.

It’s all up to us now. Our squad. Jonesy. Diaz, manning the M113. That Polish girl Katje. The men and women around me. No one else will come to our rescue. The final words from division HQ, before they signed off for good, left little doubt.

“You’re on your own now.”

Just like the original game, the new edition of Twilight: 2000 is set in Poland, but the game also offers an alternative Swedish setting, as well as tools for placing the game anywhere in the world. In the game, players take roles of survivors in the aftermath of World War III – soldiers or civilians. Their goal, beyond surviving for another day, can be to find a way back home, to carve out their own fiefdom where they are, to find out more about the mysterious Operation Reset, and maybe, just maybe, make the world a little bit better again.

The core gameplay builds on the hexcrawling system established in Mutant: Year Zero and Forbidden Lands RPGs (both Silver ENnie winners for Best Rules, in 2015 and 2019), developing it further to fit the gritty world of Twilight: 2000. The characters explore the devastated lands using a large hexagon map of Poland or Sweden – or wherever in the world you wish to place your campaign.

                    Poland Map by Tobias Tranell – Work in Progress

                      Sweden Map by Tobias Tranell – Work in Progress

                                 Map Detail – Work in Progress

Ronson carries the SAW. Diaz is like the Professor on Gilligan’s Island, he can build a new carburetor out of a pair of coconuts and some dental floss. Kasia, all of 17, is the closest thing we have to a medic since we lost Doc. Jonesy is a ginger who Diaz says looks like the cat in Aliens which is how a German intel officer got a name like Jonesy. Top’s been in the Marines long enough to have fought in the Tet Offensive… and me? I’m just a grunt. We’re all trying to get by. Top once called us “the last family.” He might be right. Kasia made a gagging gesture when he did. But none of us expect to see our actual families again.

                                            Art by Niklas Brandt

The core rules of the game build on the Year Zero Engine (used in award-winning RPGs such as ALIEN, Tales From the Loop, Forbidden Lands and Mutant: Year Zero), but heavily adapted to fit Twilight: 2000 and its focus on gear and gritty realism.

Twilight: 2000 will be crunchier and have less random elements than other YZE games. Twilight: 2000 will get a solid ruleset that captures the gritty, realistic feel of the original, but in a more accessible way and that fully realizes the potential for sandbox gameplay. We aim for a system that retains depth and complexity, but that is less granular and easier to use.

Instead of a dice pool as in other YZE games, Twilight: 2000 uses a two-dice system. You'll roll one base die for your skill and one base die for the attribute connected to that skill. Base dice range from D6s to D12s. Skills and attributes are rated from A to D, with a better score giving you a better die to roll. Attributes and skills are fairly broad, with specialties used to fine-tune your character. Combat uses battlemaps with 10-meter hexes to regulate movement and ranged attacks. Extensive systems for critical injuries as well as component damage to vehicles give crunch to the system, while keeping it fast and playable.

More information about the rules will be presented in updates during this Kickstarter.

                                              Art by Niklas Brandt

                                           Art by Niklas Brandt

Twilight: 2000 is a game with a large and proud community. We want to extend a big thank you to everyone, for your warm welcome to us and the upcoming game since the project was announce a few months back.

Beside the comments field here on the Kickstarter, we have opened a section dedicated to Twilight: 2000 at our forums, and you're very welcome to join the discussions there. Also, of course you have the pre-existing Twilight: 2000 Facebook group which is an amazing resource and community hub, and the new Facebook group Twilight: 2000 by Free League, created specifically for the new edition.

We are very eager to hear your questions, thoughts and requests for the new edition. Even if we might not be able to fulfill every wish, we certainly want to listen to your advice and feedback.

After the Kickstarter concludes, later in the fall, we will share a full Alpha PDF of the game to all backers, so you will be able to playtest the game and  give your feedback on it before it goes to print.

                                             Art by Niklas Brandt

Kickstarter campaign ends: Thu, September 3 2020 8:00 PM BST

Website: Free League Publishing

[davidmann95]

For definitely no reason whatsoever, in response to nothing specific, can you rank the DC Multiverse Earths and tell us a bit about why each is in its place on the list?

Were this in response to an article, I could assure that I generally enjoy the writer’s output perfectly well from what I’ve seen and was absolutely baffled by the bizarrely selective research that went into it. Anyway, I hope you feel guilty enabling the amount of work I put into this truly ridiculous task by the end.

Cliff notes for the relatively uninitiated: that gorgeous monstrosity up above is The Map Of The Multiverse from the miniseries Multiversity, presented as a series of concentric circles bordered by the ‘Overvoid’ that all of reality is suspended in (and framed in such a way as to make clear it is the white of the pages comics are printed on). You go inwards from the borders of creation - moving moreso with each sphere from abstraction to the realm of the physical - to the Monitor Sphere in which once lived the near-omnipotent, now nearly extinct Monitor race that observed and maintained the multiverse, into the Sphere of Gods where the various beings of myth and divinity dwell, and into the innermost sphere where ‘we’ live. The 52 Earths you see within aren’t the whole of the multiverse but the ‘local’ 52 worlds, with infinite other Earths dwelling in their own dimensional pockets; all these universes actually exist in the same three-dimensional space at the same time but suspended in a higher-dimensional substance called ‘the Bleed’, and vibrating at distinct frequencies. Also there’s a ‘Dark Multiverse’ that’s cosmologically speaking ‘beneath’ the map, disintegrating half-formed potential realities that new proper universes are culled from. There’s a lot more to it than even all of that, but that’s enough to explain what’s up with these.

My ranking here is obviously subjective, but mostly comes down to a mix of ‘how cool is this Earth’, ‘how much would this Earth be worth using again’, ‘how well does it work in the context of being part of a shared multiverse’, and ‘do I seriously see creators unearthing any of this Earth’s potential down the road’. Also, Earths 24, 27, 28, 46, and 49 aren’t here, as they’re among the 7 Unknown Earths on the map that were left behind for future creators to define; 14 and apparently 25 have since been revealed.

64. Earth 14

A worthy bottom-place entry, Earth 14 is at the top of the Multiverse Map, and is shown as physically different from the other Earths, seemingly vibrating as if in two places at once; map co-designer and illustrator Rian Hughes suggested in an interview the intent was that this was where new universes entered the multiverse. Instead, ending up the first Unknown Earth to be revealed after the doors were opened to other creative teams, it was shown as a generic dystopian world home to a ‘Justice League of Assassins’ that were quickly dispatched by a generic cosmic threat. A monumental tribute to contextual ignorance and creative laziness.

63. Flashpoint

This is one of several Earths I’ll touch on that exist in neither the ‘local’ nor Dark Multiverse, but has directly crossed over or been framed in reference to the currently operating version of the DC Universe and so is probably worth a mention even if I’m not going over every Elseworlds and Imaginary Story DC has ever published. Another dystopian world, in this one an attempt by The Flash at fixing a change to history resulted in an Earth torn apart by war between Aquaman and Wonder Woman, where Cyborg was America’s greatest hero and Kal-El was held captive his entire life in a military bunker rather than becoming Superman. Aside from the prospect of a Thomas Wayne who became Batman when Bruce was gunned down as a child rather than vice-versa - resulting in him being pulled into a recent Batman run after this worlds’ destruction, the reason for this Earth’s inclusion - absolutely nothing of value came of this or the stories tied into it, such that astonishingly in spite of being the impetus for one of the biggest DC reboots of all time with theoretically an entire revised history to play with, essentially no one cares about this anymore.

62. Earth 1

The site of DC’s standalone, bookstore-market oriented ‘Earth One’ graphic novels. The incredible tunnel vision of marketing these for that purpose with titles that exist in reference to their multiversal structure aside, the Green Lantern book is the only one of those I’ve heard about being even kind of good; the rest top out at an interesting failure in Wonder Woman, with a standard forgettable failure in Teen Titans and truly flabbergasting misfires in Superman and Batman. Even Multiverse Map co-designer and writer Grant Morrison described this Earth in a blurb as having a history ‘in flux’, implicitly permitting the reader to believe it’s something else if they really want to, but as it stands in spite of the theoretical wide-open possibilities the foundations have already been built on salted Earth.

61. Watchmen

Home to the cast of characters of Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons’ seminal miniseries. Crossed over with the DC Universe 30+ year later in Doomsday Clock, which clearly intended to set up this world as one ripe for future stories and development rather than a singular text, but instead misinterpreted, stripmined, and otherwise nuked essentially everything that might have had one interested in exploring it further in the first place (in spite of the source text’s very definitive conclusions to all major narrative threads and characters). The only reason this is not ranked even lower is the possibility that the upcoming, as-yet untitled Watchmen project by Tom King and Jorge Fornes might manage to dredge something out of this.

60. Earth Negative 11

The first of the Dark Multiverse Earths here, a gender-flipped Earth where Bryce Wayne generically altered herself into an Atlantean in order to do battle with Aquawoman and the forces of Atlantis. As the Dark Multiverse worlds we have seen thus far are described as being borne of Bruce Wayne’s fears, it’s odd that as opposed to the ‘want of a nail’ scenarios shown on all others, this includes the additional twist of making Bruce a woman, yet does nothing with that. Anyway, this is a very clear product of the Dark Multiverse’s debut in Dark Nights: Metal wanting an evil Batman to correspond to each member of the Justice League, and it’s the oddest, most perfunctory of the lot.

59. Earth 34

Home to the heroes of the Light Brigade, defenders of Cosmoville, this is an Earth meant to evoke the classic creator-owned superhero comic Astro City. However, as Astro City is itself made up of archetypal signifiers yet isn’t meta about its usage of them, being defined by its storytelling principles rather than the shared universe it builds up in the background, there are essentially no stories to be told here that couldn’t be told with the regular heroes of the DC universe. Which is a shame, those are some neat character designs.

58. Earth Negative 12

A Dark Multiverse Earth where believing Wonder Woman killed in a battle with the war god Ares, Batman took up the deity’s helm in hopes of redefining war, instead being corrupted by it and becoming an unstoppable monster. There’s basically nothing here.

57. Earth Negative 44

A Dark Multiverse Earth where a computer program meant to replicate Alfred after the butler’s untimely death, attempting to protect its charge, takes control of Batman by way of mechanizing him and turns Gotham into a digital nightmare. A little more on-point than the previous entry, but still not much here.

56. Earth Negative 22

A Dark Multiverse Earth where Batman is finally pushed into killing the Joker, but the Clown Prince of Crime secretes a particularly potent Joker Toxin upon his death that corrupts the Caped Crusader into a second Joker known as The Batman Who Laughs, who slaughters his way across his universe before ultimately making his way to the ‘main’ DCU. The prospect of a Batman/Joker combination is interesting, but an origin for the ultimate corrupted Batman ‘he got drugged into going bad’ falls short.

55. Earth Negative 32

A Dark Multiverse Earth where Bruce Wayne moments after his parents’ deaths was judged worthy of a Green Lantern ring, but having only his hatred of crime rather than the discipline and morality he would come to develop becomes the murderous terror of the underworld, with even the Corps unable to stop him when he manages to force the darkness of his heart through the ring into ‘dark constructs’. Another ultimately throwaway Earth, this at least illustrates the properties of the Dark Multiverse in an interesting way: the constructs he creates aren’t something that’s ever been indicated as being possible or even sensible with the ‘real’ Green Lantern, but as this is a world literally made of nightmares that’s irrelevant.

54. Earth 39

Home to the United Nations superspies the Agents of W.O.N.D.E.R., who operating using super-technology with eventually deleterious side-effects. A pastiche of the obscure T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents, it’s hard to imagine anyone with much to say about them wouldn’t simply wish to write an actual comic about them under the current rights-holders, though the concepts described in Morrison’s provided information are enticing.

53. Earth 41

A riff on several of the superheroes published by Image Comics over the years, they’re worth having around for the occasional heroes of the multiverse groupshots for your big crossover comics and Dino-Cop turned out to be charming, but it’s doubtful someone with a big Spawn story in them for instance would use Spore as their outlet.

52. Earth 9

All I know about this is that this is a ‘what if superheroes really changed the world’ Earth, and when those are a dime a dozen, the additional conceits of the names of the various characters not at all corresponding to their traditional backstories and attributes, and being the brainchild of creator Dan Jurgens, are far from enough to sway me. I understand there are some fans out there who may heartily disagree, to be fair.

51. Earth Negative 52

Another Dark Multiverse throwaway Earth, this time one where a Batman shattered by losing his various partners taps into the Speed Force so that he can finally be everywhere at once to stop all crime. This is distinct however in that he achieves this by defeating The Flash, chaining him to the hood of the Batmobile, and driving it so fast their atoms explode and merge, which is thoroughly rad and gets it big-time bonus points next to its contemporaries.

50. Earth 37

An Earth based on the DC works of creator Howard Chaykin, its conceit of being a world that progressed technologically far faster than our world but culturally remains decades behind us is interesting, but I’m not much of a fan of his work that I’ve read and most of what’s been drawn upon here doesn’t seem to have much of a following.

49. Earth 30

The world of Superman: Red Son, where Kal-L landed in the Ukraine and grew up to become leader of a global Soviet Union, before realizing he had deformed humanity’s development and faking his death. Leaving Earth in the hands of a Lex Luthor who while still very much a bastard found public approval in America for fighting Superman, Lex ultimately led Earth into a utopia that over time fell into complacency and became its universe’s version of Krypton, Jor-L (Luthor’s distant descendant) and Lara sending their baby back in time to survive and establishing a predestination loop. While several elements of the DC Universe are present in a limited capacity that could in theory be expanded on, Superman and Wonder Woman are the only superheroes of long-term note and both their stories are very much concluded, seemingly leaving little to do here except have the Superman with the hammer and sickle logo show up in event comics.

48. Earth 6

The world of the Just Imagine Stan Lee Created The DC Universe series, where the father of the Marvel Universe rebuilt several DC figureheads from the name and a few pieces of imagery up. The results were mixed at best, but a series of gorgeous artists involved in the projects mean the characters certainly look interesting even if it’s hard to imagine creators going back here in any meaningful capacity.

47. Earth Negative 1

A Dark Multiverse world where Superman turned on humanity for reasons unknown, and Batman deliberately infected himself with the ‘Doomsday Virus’ to gain the properties of the hulking monster and defeat his former friend. Now numbed to human emotion and vulnerability, this Batman hopes to spread the virus as to make humanity similarly indestructible, as well as shield them emotionally from what he has come to see as the false hope Superman represents. This Batman didn’t end up a major figure in the same way as The Batman Who Laughs, but the conceit is killer and I hope someone picks up on it one day.

46. Earth-52

A universe somewhere outside the local 52, a ‘remnant’ of sorts of the main DC universe circa 2011-2016 prior to cosmic revisions resulting in the current setup. A world where superheroes had emerged approximately 5 years earlier and home to lots of dudes in very dumb battle-armor, most fan-favorite stories from this era have been carried forward into the current history, and its unique version of Superman under Grant Morrison - a socialist crusader in a t-shirt and jeans who battled corrupt institutions and cosmic supervillainy in equal measure - was depicted as set loose from his world after 2016′s continuity changes as a defender of the multiverse. While a significant part of DC history both in-universe and publishing-wise, there wouldn’t seem to be all that much left here worth exploring.

45. Earth 2

A world where Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman alone represented the first wave of superheroes, they nobly fell in battle repelling an invasion of Earth by Darkseid. In time a new generation would emerge that were modernized, youthful iterations of the Justice Society of America, the superhero team predating the Justice League in DC’s publishing history. While the logline’s an interesting one and the successor to Superman Val-Zod debuted to some acclaim, for the most part this reinvention didn’t end up received well by either new or longtime fans, and a last-minute overhaul where this bunch was transplanted into a rebooted world without superheroes probably didn’t help. You still see them in crossovers and there are promising concepts, but this world seems basically dead.

44. Earth 50

When Lex Luthor ascended to the presidency and soon thereafter executed The Flash, Superman snapped, executed him, and took over the world alongside his allies as the Justice Lords, until they were ultimately overthrown by way of a parallel universe Justice League and a repentant Lord Batman. A Better World unequivocally rules, but given this is supposed to be those specific versions of the Lords rather than a new iteration, it’d be weird to see them up against any universe other than the DCAU. And, well...

43. Earth 12

The DCAU, currently world of Batman Beyond and a future Justice League. The DCAU, you may be aware, extremely rules, but is also somewhat redundant in this context - the ‘regular’ DCU already has all its core components without too much aesthetic differentiation, and there’s already frequently a Batman Beyond in the future of said universe. It has its unique attributes that make people love it, it’s cool that it’s here, but on the macro scale it’s too clean an adaptation to bring much to the table to crossovers and whatnot, and you’d never see any further stories told there otherwise as really being part of the DCU cosmic landscape so much as a comic tie-in to the TV show.

(Also it’s odd this is placed here with the Justice Lords Earth as if to go ‘it’s secretly been part of the 52 all along, you just never noticed when it only crossed over with the one other!’ when there were two other parallel universes in the DCAU.)

42. Earth 43

A nightmare world haunted by the once-heroic, now vampiric Blood League, the obvious potential would be for this world to function as DC’s equivalent to Marvel Zombies. Recently however DCeased has come to fill that position, and while this world in practice if not concept skews more closely towards that source material as the former heroes still have vestiges of their old personalities - in theory distinguishing it as its own spin worth keeping around - it’s hard to imagine most takes on ‘Justice League but monsters’ won’t come out under the DCeased banner for the foreseeable future.

41. Earth 40

A world of pulp villains made to oppose Earth 20, these guys are simple but a hoot.

40. Earth 35 aka the Pseudoverse

More analogues to analogues, this time of the Awesome Comics characters largely defined by Alan Moore in Supreme. This opens up the promising vista of ‘DC if it were designed by Alan Moore’, but in practice as demonstrated by his work with both DC and the analogues these mimic, that would just be...well, good DC comics, which you don’t need a whole extra universe for. The notion of this as a universe artificially created by Monitor ‘ideominers’ however both gives it a unique place in the multiverse, tackles its status as a pastiche in a unique way, and gets back to ideas of the power of imagination in both Supreme and Moore’s other works, so it’s likely there could be something to be done here.

39. Earth 11

A bit of a study in contradictions. This is seemingly a rather straightforward ‘gender swap’ Earth with Superwoman, Wonderous Man, and so forth. Also, its version of Star Sapphire implied it’s not subjected to constant crises in the same way as the main universe it mirrors, maintaining a greater degree of consistency in the process. At the same time however it’s mentioned that the Amazons rather than leaving Man’s World for Themyscira shared its technology and philosophy with the world, changing it forever, suggesting a far different world from what we’ve seen in glimpses here. Until it decides one way or another whether it’s a simple mirror to the regular DCU or a radically different take, it hovers in a state of uncertainty.

38. Earth-2 aka Earth Two

The original version of Earth-2, home to the DC Universe of the 1940s with aged versions of Superman and company and the original Justice Society of America. The first take on a DC universe that would progress in something resembling ‘real time’ rather than keeping the headliners as perpetual twenty-to-thirty-somethings, this was also the birthplace of heroes such as Power Girl and Huntress. I’m of the perhaps controversial opinion that this is a concept that was explored better in later takes: there’s a sense here that the largely forgotten follow-up generation eventually introduced, with the exception of the two heroes mentioned above, will never really matter in the same way as their still fully-active predecessors in spite of ostensibly taking over the family business, meaning you never quite actually get what you want here, which is to see a DC where things meaningfully change and move on - well into his middle age and his mentor’s death long behind him, Dick Grayson is still Robin. Add in the odd, ignominious demise of the original Batman and its Superman’s odd eventual fate - which slide from bizarre to intolerable if you accept the frequent implication that these are meant to be the original versions of them from the 1930s - and I can’t help but think the enjoyable high concept was never realized as well as it could be here.

37. Earth 4

The Earth of the characters of Charlton Comics who would go on to inspire Watchmen, this initially seemed like one of the most promising worlds after its debut in Pax Americana drew perhaps the most pronounced critical acclaim of any single issue in the past decade as the site for creators with something to say to work with Watchmen without actually touching that property. Now, however, Watchmen itself is in the mix: most wouldn’t reasonably go here while the material they’re truly referencing is now freely available (especially those simply wanting to draw fan attention by visibly playing with those toys, the way Earth 4 sidestepped) even though that world itself is now massively compromised past the original text, and with the ‘Watchmen Earth’ no longer an option and the characters themselves - if cleaned-up, more mainstream versions of them - existing in the DCU proper, this world’s role seems to have been largely stripped from it. I have to imagine there’s still potential here for those with the talent and commitment though.

36. Earth 44

A world where in the absence of natural superhuman beings, Doc Tornado created a Metal League of robot superheroes to protect the Earth. A promising concept definitely worth a few stories.

35. Earth 15

Once a perfect universe destroyed in a rampage by another Earth’s Superman, it was artificially reborn through the will of Countess Belzebeth - a cosmic vampire - as a copy of the Prime universe with the Green Lantern Corps replaced by Belzebeth’s despotic Blackstars, the uncertain and bitter heroes of this universe warped through the lens of Belzebeth’s perceptions of them had no chance against her forces. While its inhabitants are a bit samey what with all life having been subsumed into the diamond will of Blackstar Controller Mu, the idea of a conceptually weakened DCU being turned into an army against the rest of the multiverse makes for a terrific threat, and the prophecy of the ‘Cosmic Grail’ (a Green Lantern power battery lost somewhere in the multiverse) and that the First Lantern of the multiverse Volthoom hail from its original incarnation lend it some extra mythological weight.

34. Earth 32

A mashup world hosting the likes of the Justice Titans, Young Justice International, and the Doom Society. A world that’s home to Aquaflash will probably never have an ongoing all its own, but plenty of stories, miniseries, and even a brief line of comics have been based on mashup characters before, so there’s plenty of proof of concept for this being able to endure.

33. Earth 23

An Earth where Batman (naturally) is the only white guy on the Justice League, and Superman is not only President of the United States in his secret identity as Calvin Ellis, but the leader of the multiverse-spanning superteam Justice Incarnate. It reads like Morrison trying to do his idealized take on an ‘Ultimate DC’, a more diverse and politically engaged superhero landscape that doesn’t scale down its big ideas in turn, and if I were ranking it at the time it was introduced it would go much higher. The problem is that its version of Superman is modeled after Barack Obama, and that guy isn’t President anymore (and for that matter his legacy seems to grow more complicated by the year). As a result the vibe goes from triumphant to wistful mourning if not outright bitterly ironic, and that’s a needle that would have to be threaded before doing any substantial work here.

(Also, since several Justice Leaguers here rather than being made black are replaced with various black counterparts they’ve had over the years, that means Wonder Woman here is the 70s Amazon Nubia. And, uh, that name is something that would have to be...something.)

32. Earth 19

Steampunk superheroics; superhero period pieces are usually fun, and this is built on a foundation of pretty Mike Mignola art (though confession that I’ve never read Gotham By Gaslight), so sure, this one has potential.

31. Earth 18

Same as above but cowboys instead. This gets extra credit because cowboys mesh better with superhero conventions, and the additional twist of this world being frozen in history by the Time Trapper, forcing them to approximate modern technology with 19th century resources.

30. Earth 31

A post-apocalyptic waterworld where humanity is protected by Captain Leatherwing and assorted other pirate superheroes. Another ‘superheroes but in another genre’ setup, the post-apocalyptic, environmental twist makes it unfortunately more relevant than its peers, though I don’t think it’s quite the best end of the world as we know it on the list.

29. Earth 42

Home to the adorable, innocent world of the chibified Little League...secretly robots unwittingly enacting an endless stage play for the malevolent being known as the Empty Hand, running scenarios of his devising in preparation for a coming war with the rest of the multiverse. It’s a neat little multipurpose world, able to be played both as amusing contrast, or as parody whether light-hearted or cynical, in their endless ‘playtime’.

28. Earth 7

Formerly home to counterparts of the heroes of Earth 8, it was shattered by the Empty Hand’s forces and its desiccated cities made his throne, the zombie hordes that were once its champions his armies. The ‘Ultimate Marvel’ to Earth 8′s Marvel proper (and now Marvel Zombies), the idea of the broken remains of the cool version of the cool superhero universe as the lair of the ultimate evil has a certain appeal.

27. Earth 52

The last of the Earth 52s on this list, this newly added 53rd core Earth is home to Frank Miller’s Dark Knight books. Much as the reception to it over the years has become...mixed, at best (for my money Dark Knight III is the only one that’s not at least bad in a very interesting way, and even it still has its moments), the surprised generally positive reception to the most recent entry in Dark Knight Returns: The Golden Child suggests there’s still life in this oddball corner of the cosmos yet.

(Fun fact: this was Earth 31 in a previous version of the multiverse, and Morrison intended it to be included as such in Multiversity - hence why Earth 31 is made up of inky scratches on the Map - but Miller requested he not since he wanted to keep his domain separate from DC’s ongoing storylines. Instead he agreed later to Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo’s use of it in Dark Nights: Metal as DKR is famously Snyder’s favorite comic, bringing it in as Earth 52.)

26. Earth 47 aka Dreamworld

Where the Love Syndicate of Dreamworld dwells, baby: all is groovy. It’s incredibly specific in both era and theme, but a psychedelic universe with heroes to match invites tons of possibilities.

25. Earth 10 aka Earth X

It’s the Nazi Earth that sucks. It has superheroes who unnervingly are about as well-intentioned and effective as the standard set in the New Reischman, opposed by the few remaining dregs of the Freedom Fighters led by Uncle Sam; only their Kal-L, Overman, once Hitler’s weapon, truly understands the scope of the atrocities that led to their ‘utopia’, having grown a conscience too late and ever-aware that no feat in the present can ever redeem the oceans of blood on his hands. You can do horrifying introspective stuff with them as in their Multiversity chapter, you can tell Freedom Fighters stories like the recent miniseries, or you can just have the Justice League show up to fight the Nazi Justice League. A Nazi world is a standard one in multiverse stories for a reason, you don’t get easier targets.

24. Earth 5G

The DC universe that’s...sort of here and sort of not. Doomsday Clock and other upcoming stories appear to be shifting us over to this, but in most of DC’s line of titles the leap hasn’t taken place yet. As we haven’t seen the bench of successor heroes apparently primed to take over only so much can be judged, but the vast changes suggested by the new ‘official timeline’ that’s been leaked suggest a bizarre attempt at incorporating as many of their editorially-favored biggest hits as possible into a bizarre selective mishmash, without particularly serving the status quos any of the constituent characters said history is meant to bolster (with the exception of Wonder Woman, now framed as the first superhero, which would at least be interesting and a deserved bolster to her profile if there were any particular impression her new standing would be meaningfully followed-through on), while also not only reinstating the mutually destructive retcon of the JSA as preceding Superman, but taking the absurd extra step of actively presenting them as his inspiration. Of course we haven’t seen it in practice yet, and at the end of the day good stories will surely still be told here, but the foundations here are about as shaky as they’ve ever been for the ‘core’ DCU as a wholehearted capitulation to placing dotting all the i’s and crossing all the t’s over the actual narrative logistics of making a shared universe function smoothly.

23. Earth Negative Zero aka Betwixt

A world where those whose senses of self entire disintegrate fade away to seeking to feed on those still well-defined, this bears similarities to the realm of Limbo where ignored superheroes reside, but with just enough conceptual differences and a hellish, malleable twist that makes it the best thing anyone’s come up with to date to do with the Dark Multiverse.

22. Earth 48 aka Warworld

While its iconography is rooted of all things in castoff characters from Crisis On Infinite Earths and no-hopers from Countdown To Final Crisis, the actual conceit here of a world where literally everyone and everything is a superhero that operates by superhero rules, a world built by the New Gods as defenders of reality, is wide-open and tantalizing.

21. Earth 38

Another major shot at a DCU that aged in real time, this version has its own idiosyncrasies but far more of a sense of forward momentum and meaningful change, with the original Superman and Batman still leading the pack one way or another but successors to both them and the rest of the heroes truly stepping up. Also the predominant hero of the 21st century is Knightwing, the grandson of both Superman and Batman who has only partial Superman powers but also Batman training, which is just really cool.

20. Earth 3

The good ‘ol classic evil mirror universe, where strength is the only law, the forces of evil always win in the end no matter how bright the day may become, and thus the Crime Syndicate operates as it pleases. It’s never quite as interesting as you want it to be - its villains are largely one-note - but its warped societal and cosmic rules, and that each character has a handful of twists on the mythology of their counterparts rather than being an exact (if morally inverted) duplicate, means it could easily one day come to live up to its obvious potential in the right hands.

19. Earth 21

Here, most superheroes were forced into retirement after World War II by McCarthyist paranoia, but at the dawn of the 1960s the few remaining and a new generation are emboldened to step back into the light, spearheaded by the Justice League of America. DC: The New Frontier is a modern classic, with a direct standalone follow-up virtually out of the question; as it doesn’t quite lead into the world of the actual 1960s DC Comics either, its sole function in its capacity as a world in the multiverse is as a 60s ‘period piece’ Earth. Given that’s where most of the architecture of DC as we now know it was built however, that’s hardly a problem.

18. Earth 26 aka Earth C

Funny animals are fun, and in a superhero universe that means you get superhero funny animals, courtesy of Captain Carrot and his amazing Zoo Crew. What’s not to love?

17. Earth 22

While time has somewhat dimmed the acclaim that originally surrounded it, Kingdom Come and its tale of a Superman coming out of retirement alongside his allies to try and reign in an out-of-control new generation remains a landmark moment in the genre, and in many aspects still holds up. Unlike many stories of its stature this world has always played nice with the mainline universe in terms of guest appearances and crossovers, including works by the original creators Mark Waid and Alex Ross, and as the most iconic and conceptually expansive work to date set in a DC universe that has joined in the march of time, that makes it a prominent and useful one to have around.

16. The Antimatter Universe of Qward aka The Reversoverse aka the Anti-Verse

The original dark flipside of DC reality, this has occasionally also played home to the Crime Syndicate - and their best stories by far, to boot - but mainly serves as a home base to the Weaponeers of Qward and occasionally Sinestro. While largely unexplored it has a massively central place in DC’s cosmology and the birth of the multiverse, the glimpses of a society of pure evil in early Silver Age Green Lantern and JLA: Earth 2 are far more fun and interesting than anything seen in Earth 3′s history, it’s about to get even more room under Morrison to find definition, and as the ultimate mysterious Forbidden Realm of the DCU the possibilities could be essentially endless in the right hands.

15. Earth-1985 aka Earth One

The DC universe of 1956-1986, and the dragon an entire generation of creators have spent their livelihoods chasing as the ‘classic’ iteration, as evidenced by one of them flat-out confirming it still exists somewhere out there. While that makes it frequently redundant when the main DCU is trying hard to mimic its feel - a few divergent notes such as Maggin’s idiosyncratic take on latter-day Superman and its version of Jason Todd aside - the prospect of a DCU that remained in that mold forever to a greater or lesser extent even if time may have moved forward could, in principle, free the main universe to go off in wildly different directions, knowing this image of DC always exists in its own space to return to when so desired rather than actively turning the current status quo to face backwards.

14. Earth 17

The Atomic Knights of Justice quest across the radioactive landscape of Novamerika in a world decimated by nuclear was in 1963 in search of Earth 15′s Cosmic Grail, their only hope against the coming of Darkseid. A mashup of the Justice League with the protagonists of one of the most fascinatingly bizarre comics of DC’s Silver Age in the Atomic Knights, a mythic quest, and most relevantly “What if Fallout had superheroes?” leaves this feeling like it’s just waiting for its moment to shine.

13. Earth 8 aka Angor

Known across the rest of the multiverse as the protagonists of the Major movies and comics (as opposed to the sub-imprint Essential Major reflecting Earth 7), in actuality the non-actionable champions of Angor - the Retaltiators, the G-Men, the Future Family, and The Bug, among others - are as real as any other superheroes, and while they struggle under the weight of both mistrust by the general public and frequent in-fighting, they’ve thus far protected their world from threats global, universal, and multiversal alike. The Big Two having stand-ins for each other is a longstanding tradition for good reasons: it not only allows for crossovers where the legal stars don’t align (and adds an extra fun shock of recognition whenever the reader realizes what’s happening), but provides each of them an ongoing version of those archetypes to play with within the confines of their own narrative, whether as contrasts or bending them to fit the tone of a very different shared universe than they were originally created for.

12. Earth 16 aka #earthme

The world where every sidekick, super-son, successor, and short-lived ‘new generation - of HERO!’ at last seize their moment in the sun...in a world already saved by their predecessors, with little left to do but lap up lives of super-celebrity and wish for one, just one little alien invasion or immortal tyrant to justify their existences for them. The best of DC’s futuristic/what-if-time-mattered alternate Earths in my opinion, taking to its logical conclusion the notion as stated by Morrison in interviews that as the Justice League will stick around as long as there are evils that need fighting, the ever-present promise of the torch being passed could only ever truly, permanently take place in a world where the job was already redundant. Playing as it does with in-universe history, real-life publishing realities, celebrity culture, generational divides, and the question of what being a superhero even means sans the usual confrontational justifications, it’s by its nature only going to become more expansive and interesting a commentary as time goes by and the regular DCU goes through its cycles of reboots, rebirths, and returns to form.

11. Pocket Universe 54471

Exactly what you see: Superman made a little pocket universe a half mile wide to go fishing in and he was gonna take Bruce and Dick there for the former’s bachelor party, and he knows about and/or created at least 54470 others. It’s absolutely delightful not only in its own right, but as an opening of the door to what the multiverse can mean in DC comics as a sci-fi idea generator beyond riffs on existing properties, while still being presented with a distinctly DC sense of playfulness.

10. Earth 45 aka Earth 45™

The origin of one of the best Superman villains of all time in Superdoomsday - the Superman idea in a world without him brought to life but twisted by committee into a murderous living brand - a horrifying corporatocracy standing for all Superman and company are meant to stand against, and an enduring threat with the world still in shackles and those in power still able to dream to life whatever vision they please of absolute power to be wielded in their name.

9. Earth 36 aka Terra

Justice 9, the defenders of Terra - or I suppose Justice 7 now after the losses of Optiman and Red Racer, though how long does that matter in a superhero universe? - is the most interesting of the direct analogue groups for my money. Technically speaking they’re another twice-removed set like 34 and 35, standing in for the heroes of Big Bang Comics, but given my understanding is that there’s no major “Like the DC heroes, BUT” twist in that book the way Astro City and Supreme have other than a retro ‘good old days’ bent (which definitely isn’t the case here with at least two queer members), Justice 9 basically function as direct analogues for the Justice League...in the same comics as the Justice League. To me, that’s actually fascinating: one of the most useful elements of stand-in characters like this is the ability to tap into the iconic power of archetypes without the familiarity surrounding the actual figures, in the way Planetary for instance uses just enough distance from the source material to make a couple dozen decades-old pop culture touchstones feel completely new, and this implements that approach to the material to the DC characters with heroes who can actually themselves team up with DC proper. As many approaches as could be taken with that though, that potential alone probably wouldn’t be enough to shoot it this high up the list if not for a major additional factor: in the same way that in the old-school DC universe the heroes of Earth-1 had comics reflecting the adventures of the heroes of Earth-2 long before learning they were real in another universe, DC Comics are published on Earth 36. Aside from the neat trick of putting our leads in the same position as the Golden Age heroes, it means Justice 9 grew up with the Justice League as their heroes in the same way as us the audience before becoming heroes themselves, and then they grew up to learn they were real. These folks absolutely deserve to become multiverse standbys.

8. Earth 51

The Earth where all Jack Kirby’s ideas live as a single cohesive world and adventure. No further justification is needed.

7. Earth 13

A world of occult danger where DC’s traditionally superheroic magical figures such as Zatanna and Deadman are given the full Vertigo horror treatment, while the more intimidating and morally dubious figures such as Etrigan and John Constantine get logos and codenames. Not only an expansion but an offputting inversion of one of DC’s most acclaimed corners, this oddball bunch could bounce off of the capes and tights crowd as easily as your Shadowpacts and Justice League Darks, in ways no other team from any corner of the multiverse could.

6. Earth 20

Pulp champions of a 21st century that remains aesthetically moored in the early 20th, of the handful of Earths converting DC standbys into different genre territory in the local 52 the homeworld of the Society of Superheroes hits hardest, given the role the likes of Doc Savage and The Shadow played in that time shaping the conventions of superheroes as we know them. Add the wealth of concepts presented in their oneshot and the decision to hew away from the traditional Justice League riffs of parallel Earths, and of all the truly new worlds introduced in Multiversity, Earth 20 is the one that most feels like it could support an ongoing all its own.

5. Earth 29 aka Htrae

You gotta have Bizarro World. You just gotta.

4. Earth 33 aka Earth Prime

The in-universe representation of our very own pale blue dot. Whether it’s the birthplace of Superboy Prime where assorted DC creators had to deal with a visiting Flash and Superman throughout the 60s and 70s, meta games with the various incarnations of Ultra/Ultraa, a looming threat yet also victim in need of rescue through the eyes of Justice Incarnate, or the unwitting home of the ‘Superman’ or ‘Batman’ of Kurt Busiek’s off-center takes on the characters in Secret Identity and Creature of the Night, over the years DC has shown a decent amount of restraint in not going back to this particular well too often unless someone has a really clever tale to tell, and as a result it has maybe the single best batting average of all the ‘parallel Earths’ that have been regularly returned to by DC over the years. Give yourselves a hand, folks!

3. Earth 5 aka Thunderworld

Home not to ‘Shazam’, but Captain Marvel and the Marvel Family in all their glory, a technicolor world playing by the rules set down by Otto Binder and company where a superhero can literally battle planets and the most dangerous villain of all may be a very, very mean worm with glasses, a place of dream logic and childish innocence even by the standards of superhero comics. Captain Marvel at his best is one of DC’s most iconically potent players yet many seem to agree that much of his woes in recent years have come down to trying to find a unique space for him in the DCU proper. While I don’t know that it’s at all impossible to make that work, it’s certainly true that Marvel as he was originally presented doesn’t quite make sense in that world, whereas back in his own he keeps a flavor entirely unique to himself and his partners, whether for solo adventures or teamups with the heroes of the other worlds, playing it straight or examining some of the unsettling implications established by Thunderworld or finding a new way to make it work. Much like Bizarro World, it’s simply a locale the place doesn’t quite feel whole without.

2. Earth 25 (?)

While I’m a bit dubious on it definitely being Earth 25 in the core 52 based on interpretation of an offhanded line from Mr. Terrific (it has a multiverse all its own!), the fact of the matter is that America’s Best Comics came roaring out of the gate as proof of its own title, and basically didn’t stop until it ended. A couple after-the-fact Tom Strong miniseries (containing perhaps the most singularly cowardly hack move in the history of shared universe comics in undoing the end of Promethea) can’t detract from the core ABC lineup being made up of some of the most singularly clever, gorgeous, and heartfelt superhero titles to hit the stands, pretty much the platonic ideal of what you want books like these to look like. If this universe can hang around in any capacity at all until someone god willing picks them up again in a big way, it’s a win in my book.

1. Earth 0 aka Prime Earth

The extant version of the main DCU for at least a little longer, it really does feel like more than just about any version before it - at least for my money - they finally got all their ducks in a row, albeit right before blowing everything to hell. Most of the stories you really want to still have some sort of weight for the major characters are still in play to be built on, and most of the stories that clearly needed to be dropped are dropped. The cosmology’s fleshed out and expanding, the big names mostly work as they should ideally work while still heading into new territory, the JSA is mysteriously somehow around in the past without interfering with the primacy of Superman and the Justice League as the first known superheroes (a mystery that will never be resolved now due to the current reboot; damn shame) and the Legion of Superheroes have a new coat of paint, and there’s room for stories cosmically massive and intimately personal and utterly bizarre throughout the line rather than there being a single overriding idea of what these books should be. It may not be the perfect DC Universe by any means, but it’s a real, real damn good one, and of course without that thing, none of the rest of these universes would have been there in the first place.

[malachi-walker]

Ok. Time to talk about Spop and Licensing.

Since I've seen the "Catra and Adora are sisters" thing going around again based solely on supplemental material, let's just talk real quick about how merchandising and supplemental material works. (And before anyone asks, I know about this shit because I'm a professionally trained editor, with an actual degree and everything.)

DreamWorks owns the licensing rights to Spop which they bought from Mattel, so they control the overall brand as far as the show is concerned. The common way in which license holders get supplemental stuff made is by making licensing contracts with outside companies. So the other company gets the right to use the brand and make products based off of it in exchange for DreamWorks getting part of the profit. Like, for example, outsourcing to Mattel to make the official dolls because that's Mattel's expertise, not DreamWorks' (and was likely part of the rights purchasing negotiations.)

That also includes kid's books and guides; you'll notice the Rebel Princess Guide and other kids books are published by Scholastic. Now, the reason why this is done is because the show writers are busy working on the show, and also because show writing and book writing are two very different skills. A person can be proficient in both, but the skill sets are different enough that it's uncommon, and again doesn't address the time constraint of hypothetically juggling the main show and a side project, and frankly corporations don't have time for that when they could be making money.

So they outsource. As an example, this is why Star Wars: The Last Jedi the movie is written by Rian Johnson, and the official novelization is written by Jason Fry. (And if you want a fantastic illustration of how canon errors/wars can result from this, look no further than the fantastic clusterfuck that is Warhammer 40k, which has a team of at least twenty different writers all writing novels and short stories covering different areas of the canon, and where the official ruling from license holder Games Workshop is literally "pick the canon you like, because there's no way anyone can make a cohesive whole out of this thing.")

The writers working on Spop the show are Noelle Stevenson, Josie Campbell, Katherine Nolfi, M. Willis, Laura Sreebny, and Shane Lynch, with Noelle as the producer, concept creator and overall bottom line. Therefore, if you see a licensed work that doesn't have those names on it, the information therein isn't necessarily wrong, but should not be taken as Word of God. And I'm certain if you dug deep enough you'd be able to find stuff other than the "Catradora = sisters" thing that are inaccurate but just don't get brought up because they're not ammo for attempted ship sinking.

Also, I'm going to bring up that show runners don't often get a look at or any say about supplemental materials before they're released, because again: time and money. The license holders don't care about full accuracy to canon unless something... controversial happens. >;) Therefore, most errors don't usually get addressed unless they're truly grievous... Like say, labeling two characters with an obvious intended attraction as "sisters." That's when you see rapid corrections being made, which is exactly what happened with the Rebel Princess Guide.

Yes... "Sisters." Because that's totally what this looks like.

So, in brief summary: RPG is written by Tracey West, who is outside the show team and RPG therefore should not be used as full canon, though it is more accurate now due to the fact that a correction was made, meaning somebody on the show proper very likely did step up and get it fixed. The upcoming graphic novel does have Noelle Stevenson's name attached and can be considered tentatively canon, but until we have the book and can check the credits there's no way to tell just how much she was involved and whether or not the credit is due to her being the head writer.

So before anyone freaks out again if some other material does this crap again, check the sources. See whose name is involved before you panic, and if one of the showrunners is involved be sure to check just how deep that involvement actually ran.

We good? Thank you for coming to my talk.

[richincolor]

Interview with Lipan Apache Author Dr. Darcie Little Badger

Today we celebrate the book release of the slightly creepy and very intriguing mystery-fantasy Elatsoe by Darcie Little Badger (Lipan Apache) illustrated by Rovina Cai. I read an advanced copy last month and the story captivated me. Here's a one minute video to give you an introduction to this unique tale.

Darcie is quite a creative and accomplished person. She has a PhD in Oceanography, an award winning cosplay Magic Ivy, and will soon be writing a Dani Moonstar One-shot. We're fortunate to have Darcie on the website today to share about her debut novel and her writing.

Crystal Brunelle: You've written comics, short stories, nonfiction and at least one dissertation. What got you to jump into the young adult realm?

Darcie Little Badger: Thanks to my habit of throwing random thoughts on Twitter, I can pinpoint the exact moment when I realized that Elatsoe had to be a YA book. December 30, 2016, I Tweeted, “Uuuuuuhhhhh whyyyyy. Realized that the main character in this book of mine needs to be in high school, so I'm rewriting the whole thing.”

Yep. Elatsoe started as an adult book. But after about 10,000 words, I hit a wall. The story wasn’t working. At a deep, almost instinctual level, I knew that Ellie—her voice, her fight, and her triumph—had to be a young adult. So, er, I guess it’s less that I jumped into the YA realm and more that the YA realm summoned me.

Crystal: As a young adult, what kind of things were you reading and enjoying? Did you see yourself represented in what you found?

Darcie: During Middle and High School, I read almost anything in the fantasy/sci-fi section of the local libraries. Hundreds of books. Gosh, I was a voracious reader. The thing is, people are complex, and human identity contains multiple components. So I’d see parts of myself represented. I’d read about girls. I’d read about eccentric nerds. But in those hundreds of books, I never—seriously never—encountered a Lipan Apache character. Heck, there are very few Native American characters in sci-fi/fantasy. So the answer to the question “did you see yourself represented in what you found” is “only partially.” Which, considering the importance of the missing piece, was discouraging.

Crystal: Has publishing a novel changed your life in any interesting ways?

Darcie: Honestly, this is a difficult question to answer, since it’s been a very painful year for me and my family. We’ve experienced profound loss – it’s still recent and very difficult to talk about. Plus, I’ve been sheltering in place since late February. So everything has changed. And I don’t know what my life has become. Or even what I have become. But I can say that the support Elatsoe has received—the kindness of readers and other writers during this rough debut year—is a ray of light in dark times.

Crystal: I just finished reading your upcoming book and really enjoyed seeing the relationship between Elatsoe and her dog Kirby. Have you had strong connections with any dogs in particular that you may have been holding in your heart or mind as you wrote?

Darcie: Kirby is directly inspired by my first dog, an English springer spaniel. My family adopted him from an animal shelter in Vermont. I still remember meeting Kirby for the first time. His tail  wagging, he pranced to the wall of the kennel and stuck his nose between the metal bars, as if asking for a pat. We took him on a “getting to know you” walk and then immediately took him home. The original Kirby was gentle and smart, and I’ll always love him. In fact, my life—past, present, and future—is enriched by all the dogs I’ve loved.

Crystal: Elatsoe encounters quite a few monsters and she knows about many others from family stories. Who or what would you consider monsters in the here and now and are any of them represented in your writing?

Darcie: Without spoiling any Elatsoe secrets, Dr. Allerton, one of the primary antagonists in the book, definitely represents an insidious variety of real-world monster.

Crystal: Not many young adult novels have illustrations. What led to that decision?

Darcie: Haha! This is a good question for my editor, Nick. I believe it was his idea for Rovina Cai to provide an illustration for every chapter heading. So I wrote a script for a visual story within a story, one that connects to the main plot in surprising ways and answers a key mystery of the book (namely, what happened to Ellie’s legendary six-great grandmother?) And from that script, Rovina created beautiful, ghostly illustrations. It was such an honor to collaborate with her.

Crystal: Are you working on anything else for young adults that you're allowed to talk about yet?

Darcie: I can vaguely discuss my next YA book. It’s a fantasy with elements of science fiction (I’m clearly into genre fusion, considering that Elatsoe is a mystery/fantasy). Specifically, Untitled New Book is an epic two-world adventure involving near-future Earth and a land of spirits and monsters. I’m trying to finish that before the year ends. There are other projects in the work, but they’re secrets (for now muahahaha).

Crystal: How would someone be able to figure out that you are a book nerd?

Darcie: If the piles of books in my room aren’t a dead giveaway, I can always wear one of my many “Book Nerd” t-shirts! Seems like every time I visit my favorite indie bookshop, I pick up a new t-shirt. And books. So many books. I guess I’m still a voracious reader.

If you'd like to learn more about Dr. Darcie Little Badger and her writing, you may visit her website or find her on Twitter. Today, August 25th, there is also an online conversation between Darcie and Traci Sorell hosted by McNally Jackson in New York City via Zoom at 6pm EST.

Extra Videos: - Comic-Con Interview - SXSQ ESU - Panel on Border Crossing and Sacred Stories - Comic-Con Panel with Latinx & Native American Storytellers