#barely appeared in the 70s and 80s

[thenotoriousscuttlecliff]

Rebirth and the 2017 movie convinced a lot of people that you cannot do Wonder Woman stories without Steve Trevor there as her love interest, even though there's a good 45 years worth of WW comics with barely any Steve Trevor in them.

[hellotailor]

armand’s costumes are such an interesting data point re: his nebulous sense of identity.

when analyzing any costume, there are always many factors to consider: the setting, the character’s personal taste and economic constraints, storytelling concerns like tone and genre, etc. with armand, we also need to remember that he’s 500 years old and violently disconnected from his human origins. everything he wears has an element of disguise, selected to blend into a new environment.

armand was enslaved as a child in 16th century delhi, and barely remembers his mortal life. unlike louis - who can return to new orleans after 80 years and reconnect with his past - armand has no home to return to. his whole backstory, even his name, is rife with traumatic subtext, leaving him with an obsessive need for structure and control. this adds an extra layer of meaning to costuming choices that initially seem like straightforward menswear. 

armand’s 1940s wardrobe is very put-together - primarily three-piece suits and coats that make him look wealthier and more formal than louis, who is purposefully dressing down. most of these outfits are tailored to bulk up armand's frame, leaning into the "maitre" persona. and like his business-casual dubai wardrobe, he always leaves his collar open. when i interviewed costume designer carol cutshall, she described this as a symbolic power move, signalling that he's an apex predator who doesn't need to protect his throat.

my personal interpretation is that while armand clearly likes to look good, he has a complicated relationship with attractiveness. he doesn't always want to draw attention. his color palette is shadowy (black, grey, brown, olive green), and he’s much less flashy than the other Théâtre vamps. however when he’s feeling confident and flirty, he becomes more of a power-dresser - for instance his hunting outfit with the big coat and sunglasses, or his habit of wearing kohl.

interestingly, most of armand's 1940s costumes set him apart from the coven. the Théâtre vampires dress like cabaret performers, embracing a lot of period-specific styles. by contrast armand is more timeless and neutral. in fact, due to the relatively minor changes in men's suits over the past 100 years, there's a lot of overlap between his wardrobe in the 1940s, '70s and 2020s:

the rest of the Théâtre squad share an unofficial uniform of boldly clashing monochrome patterns with pops of bright color. meanwhile armand has a very plain wardrobe, emphasizing the image of him as a businesslike authority figure surrounded by zany artistes. he only wears subtle stripes on a few occasions in the '40s, reflecting the recurring prison motif we see in lestat's trial suit and (most famously) the dubai penthouse bedroom:

if we ask the question, "what does this person like to wear?" there are easy answers for lestat, louis and claudia. we understand their tastes, and the motives behind them. but armand is more enigmatic. we can recognize through-lines in his wardrobe, but his "taste" is dominated by whatever role he's currently decided to embody, whether that's a parisian theater director or a real estate mogul in dubai.

the times when he appears to have the most fun with clothing are when he steals a pair of sunglasses from his human dinner (!) and when he's pretending to be rashid. in other words, when he's explicitly performing for an audience. "real armand" is still a mystery.

(i may write more about armand's dubai wardrobe later, but for now, you can find all of my iwtv costumes posts on this tag!)

[vigilante24ish]

🌙 Moon Phases 🌙

Agatha Harkness X Fem!Reader

Chapter 1. - Chapter 2. - Chapter 3

Chapter 4. - Chapter 5. - Chapter 6

Chapter 7. - Chapter 8. - Chapter 9

Chapter 10. - Chapter 11. - Chapter 12

Chapter 13. - Chapter 14

Word Count: 1652

Chapter 14:

It was not long before the next trial appeared in your path. Once again, it was a house, though different from the last one.

There was no beach, no sunset and no expensive vibe coming from it.

What was different, though, was the fact that Alice seemed to recognise it.

"Pass." She exclaimed, going as far as to take a few steps back.

You arched an eyebrow and looked at her, getting the feeling that there was something inside there she wished to avoid or worse, something she did not want to remember.

Something was telling you this would be her trial, her own fear, and personal test that they all had to pass if they wished to make it to the next trial.

Rio gasped in joy. "A mutiny already?" She asked rhetorically with a toothy grin that made you all uneasy... well, almost all.

Agatha sighed. "Alice."

Yet the witch refused to take a single step.

You turned to face her. "So, what's the plan, Alice?" You asked, trying to make her see that there was not not of an option left.

"Go back. Go around. Go anywhere but in that house." Was her answer, and she went as far as to try and walk back where you all came from.

Yet a few steps after, she gasped upon spotting the very same house blocking her way. It was becoming evident rather fast that the Road was not going to take a No for an answer.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In the end, the group walked towards the next trial; Alice trailing behind with hesitation.

Immediately, you took notice of the glass stained door; depicting a moon phase once again, in a rather favourable and deep red shade.

"Waxing moon." Lilia informed, her hand gently brushing over the protruding 3d stained glass.

"The fire phase." Teen exclaimed, earning a nod from the older witch.

You glanced at Alice, seeing her regretting everything and you were now even more certain this was her trial.

Of course, you could not help but be curious as to what kind of trial you were about to face.

"Okay." Agatha exclaimed and pushed the door open. "Come on. Don't drink anything. Don't eat anything. Don't touch anything... It feels like there's a story there."

The moment the door closed and trapped you inside, everyone dared to look at one another and then at themselves.

"Oh, check me out," Agatha said, passing her hands slowly above her rather revealing dark outfit that have 70s-80s rock ballad vibes.

You could not help but stare a little longer, your eyes unwillingly following her hands as you took in every curve of her body. Your gaze remained a little more on both the view of behind but also the very open cut of her cleavage and abdomen, barely covering her perked up chest.

Agatha caught your gaze and slowed down her hand movements on purpose, enjoying the reactions she was drawing from you. She was a killer in that outfit. She was not going to lie, and she loved how she practically enchanted you without even trying.

Eventually, she chose to tease you. "Lips closed, sugar. We don't want any flies going in"

This made you focus on her and realize you had been staring with your mouth slightly open, an embarrassing thing for you to admit. Clearing your throat, you averted your gaze towards yourself and prayed your cheeks had not blushed from being caught red-handed.

You took notice of your outfit, once again changed to fit whatever aesthetic the road seemed to have chosen for each trial.

Long gone were the shirts and pants, replaced by a 70s slightly more rock era for you.

You moved your legs faintly, feeling the leather pants stretching and wrapping around your legs, while you also had leather black knee length boots; already too much leather for your liking.

Two extravagant belts with fake diamond and huge buckles drew most of your attention, their shining effect perhaps being the most interesting thing on this outfit.

Unlike Agath and Rio, you were more modest this time. Your bright crop stopped after your ribcage, leaving only a small piece of skin to be shown between it and your high waist leather pants. No cleavage this time for you, the fabric stretching all the way to your neck.

The cherry to the top was not the four necklaces of various lengths hanging in front of you but your short leather jacket, ending to shiny armcuffs.

"Hmmm..." someone exclaimed, sounding like a faint approving moan. "Someone fits the role of a bad girl pretty well"

You glanced to the source of it, seeing Rio eyeing you up and down before licking her upper lip faintly.

Between your bad girl rock style and Agatha's revealing leather one, she definitely had the time of her life and was not trying to hide it either.

Agatha glanced at her above her shoulder, giving Rio a disapproving look but the green witch merely pulled an innocent face; as fake as her good personality.

"The Road changes for the coven." You reminded everyone, once you were all done checking each other out.

"The Road isn't subtle." Jen argued, and you nodded faintly.

Now with that out of the way, you all chose to explore the room and try to find a clue or instructions; like that fancy envelope with the Riddle found in the first trial.

You walked slowly, taking notice of the spacey interior that resembled a 70s-80s recording place or booth. The designs, the colours, and the fancy couches at the sides fit the vibe perfectly.

Of course, one should not fail to mention that the majority of colours found all around were in different shades of red; perhaps a tribute to the fire phase associated with your trial.

As you all spread to explore, you felt as if someone had followed you. Your suspicions were proven correct when Rio sneaked up behind you, her lips too close to your face.

"Why the sour face? Thought you would be happy to see me," she whispered in your ear.

Immediately, you looked around to see if anyone was watching you. The last thing you needed was for the coven to find you knew Rio, even if not that well.

There were enough tensions and mistrust as their was already no need to add more fuel to the already big fire; that threatened to escape and burn you all in the process.

You turned to face her, only to miscalculated how close your faces were. Subconsciously you took a step back, only to feel the base of a couch that threatened to trip you if you dared to continue.

"You should not be here, Rio," you hissed in a low tone, trying not to let her closeness intimidate you. "You don't belong in this road"

She seemed amused by your reaction and your futile attempt to try and stand your ground. She took a step closer, your knees brushing against one another, and she was so tempted to give you a little push; watch you fall on the couch, fully exposed and ready to be taken.

"You summoned me here" she reminded you, her smirk never leaving her tempting lips.

"We summoned a green witch. We both know you are far from it" you argued, doing your best not to let her affect you as your faces were closer than before.

Her dark eyes seemed to be locked to your moving lips a little longer, making it clear what kind of thoughts passed through her mind; or at least you hoped you knew.

"I can do both, no big deal," she replied smugly. "I feel you simply don't want me around Agatha"

You kept your chin up and took a deep breath. "If I say yes, will it change anything?"

She lifted her hand, and you did your best not to react to the movement or focus too much on the rather exposed cleavage too close into your personal space.

"Nope," Rio replied and spread her hand on your cheek, trying to reenact a soft and caring movement. "But you should cheer up. This is where the fun begins, " she grinned. "Let us see which one of us will keep her in the end"

You had been trying hard to fight the goosebumps her cold hand was causing you. The moment she brought up Agatha and the fact that you had to fight for her affection like some sort of game; you snapped.

You grabbed her wrist in a rather iron grip, your gaze darker than before. In a swift motion, you had switched places with her, and the force of the move sent her straight on the couch.

She laid on her side, surprised by your reaction and yet she chuckled; clearly enjoying this little game between you and her.

"Do not dare to play with her emotions, Rio. I don't care what past you two have, but I dare you to try and play with her feelings..." White magic sparked between your fingers, your threat passing loud and clear.

Rio took notice, remembering the rather unique and slightly annoying feeling your magic had on her. Never enough to truly harm her but it was a sign of how polar you two were.

Ironically, it was also the first step in you finding out who she was.

When Rio merely kept looking at you and with your anger still rising, you chose to walk away and hope she got the message. You had to keep a distance between you and her, or you were afraid something would happen; whether bad or good.

After all, the moon was not going to be full forever, and only the triple godess knew what would happen; if once again Rio influenced your darker side when it was at each peak.

Chapter 15

[natequarter]

concepts i think would be fun for a nuwho companion:

a historical companion. like a proper one. none of this wishy-washy victorian nonsense. give me a tudor carpenter. a twelfth-century byzantine soldier. a tenth-century arab scholar. something to sink my teeth into!!!

ok rant over. now i want a bog standard young woman from london type companion... from the 70s/80s. it would be an interesting point of reflection for doctor who i think

a time lord companion. initially pitched similarly to romana (only minus the whole bird on his head guardian nonsense), the same age as romana in her first appearance - only, as soon becomes clear, drastically different in character. this time lord, barely of legal age, is (or was) a cia agent and bears the scars of growing up during and after the time war. can the doctor get this cynical, traumatised child to realise they've been forced to grow up too fast?

a robot. or an android, whatever word you prefer. similar to nardole but like, more obviously a robot. their consciousness was originally a living human's, uploaded by accident after the human's death to a factory work robot. they have all the core elements of the human, but their personality is different - travelling with the doctor is an opportunity to process their severe identity issues

an alien historian. like properly alien. really interested in studying a niche period of earth history - perhaps one from our future, even

[ffverr]

hello I come to you with a request. I watched x men 97 recently and was saddened by how little time the whole magneto in charge of the x men storyline got and I know he does this longer in the comics (I can't say why but the phrase "its seven in the morning max..." lives rent free in my brain) so I wanted to ask if you have any recommendation for comics from that era / any recommendations for comics with mister magnet-os because I want to get into x men comics but comics as always are so daunting

It is my great pleasure to answer this!!

Disclaimer 1, I am still going through a lot of the issues of this era but I will try my best to make it as clear a guide as I can for you!

Disclaimer 2, Headmaster of the school and leader of the X-Men are quite different positions that they kind of fused together in the 97 show so I do want to make it clear that magneto in the "seven in the morning" era is headmaster of the school, teaching young kids, while Storm is leading the X-men team and Scott is leading the X-factor team, so with that said:

Magneto's teacher arc starts in uncanny X-Men issues 199 and 200 (iconic issues containing the trial of magneto that was adapted in the show!) And then he is headmaster of the school in the book "The new mutants" by Chris Clermont, from issue 35 to issue 75. It is A LOT I admit and he gets a more minor place considering the book is about the kickass young class of new mutants that he's teaching. But it is worth checking out! Many consider this to kind of be peak magneto because.... he's trying so hard to be a good teacher and to handle all these kids and it's very humanizing for him!

I mean look at him and his 8 kids!

Now, how to get into Magneto overall? Let's get into it:

I believe it is impossible to get into Magneto without reading his ultimate origin story, Magneto: Testament by Greg Pack. It is a quick intro, it barely features his powers (not an action comic) and it is a very very emotional read. I consider it essential magneto reading!

Next up: Two One shots if you want to get a quick primer on the character pre moral arc instead of sitting through his few appearances in the Stan Lee comics:

A classic one: X-Men: God Loves, Men Kills by Chris Claremont. It is an iconic comic book one shot that can be read out of continuity just to see what his deal is when he's not necessarily on the side of the X-Men but fighting for his own ideals! It's overall a brilliant comic book!

If you want a more recent retelling of the first appearances of magneto you HAVE to read X-Men Mythos that retells magneto's major first appearance in the 60s in quite a beautiful and amazing way! It also has an absolutely insane magneto scene that is very memorable! (So this would "chronologically" come before God loves men Kills)

Now for his switch from cartoon villain of the 60s/early 70s to complex guy in the 80s, read the issues 149 and 150 from the run Uncanny X-Men by Chris Claremont. This is THE pivotal moment for "good guy" Magneto

(know that after issue 150, somehow he falls in the ocean from asteroid M, is rescued from a shark attack by Scott's girlfriend Lee Forester. They have a quick relationship where he struggled with his change of morals then he comes to the new mutants)

if you want to continue chronologically you read the issues 199 and 200 that I recommended at the start then go to the new mutants book I talked about earlier!

If you want MORE MODERN comics, then I advise you get right into what's happening at the moment!

House of X powers of X are two series that intertwine (you'll easily find them in the right order) by the same writer, Jonathan hickman!

It serves as a status quo change/relaunch of the X-Men universe. Magneto plays a big part of the story as he is directly involved in building a mutant nation. I'd say it's a bold but quite functional intro to X-Men comics!

Then he appears as a major character in the GREAT series X-Men Red by Al Ewing alongside Storm, a character that meant a lot to him in the 80s, so it's really nice to see again.

In this he is- epic, depressed, suicidal, sassy, it's great magneto stuff! This series is widely regarded as the best X-Men comic out right now!

(if you want context for this book read the event X of Swords, or I could explain if interested)

That's about all I will lay on you ! If this is hella confusing, don't hesitate to dm me! I can detail more cleanly exactly what you have to read and when!

Good reading!

[undergroundbillions]

Raggedy Ann art style masterpost!

Sorry this is a long one, but I need to make examples! After over a hundred years, how Raggedy Ann is drawn in books and merchandise has changed a LOT, and I'm obsessed with identifying different eras of the art styles and how they're combined. These aren't all of them of course but here's a few major ones.

First off, the original Johnny Gruelle & Co. style. These are the books from her first appearance in 1918 to the late 40's, when she was now being drawn by Gruelle's family. Early on they look more like literal dolls, but as the years go on they look more lively and round.

We get different illustrators throughout the 40's to the 60's, but the little physical merchandise outside of the books continues to lean toward the Gruelle style.

In the 70's, Hallmark owns the licensing, and as expected they go ALL out on merch. This era is defined by childish proportions with large heads, big eyes, and a checkered-shirt Andy.

In 1977 we get the Raggedy Ann and Andy Musical Adventure movie! Here's the most commonly used promotional art:

But this barely gets a chance to exist on its own, because in next two years both Chuck Jones holiday specials are released. As a result, there's a whole lot of promotional stuff that combines these two styles in a very strange way. Often, Ann and Andy (and Arthur) are in the Chuck Jones style, with the title and Camel from the movie. Sometimes side characters from both pieces of media make it in!

In the late 80's, the CBS Adventures of Raggedy Ann and Andy show along with the corresponding Grow and Learn series of books are released, with a new art style:

It's similar to the 1977 movie again, but as if they re-designed it from that above promotional shot alone. They're very much stuck in the one shape, instead of squishing and stretching like rag dolls as they do in the movie.

In the 90's you have the Snowden Target collab, which is pretty easy to spot since it's the most blatantly red & green christmassy thing you've ever seen.

Aaaaand last (and maybe least) we have Simon & Schuster's Classic branding in the 2000's. These are recognizable by solid black eyes with no whites, having the exact same expression in every picture, and visible stitches.

I will release you from this Raggedy Ann prison now. Go forth and be free with your new unnecessary Raggedy Ann knowledge.

-𝕸𝖔𝖉 𝕲𝖊𝖓𝖊𝖗𝖆𝖑 𝕯.

[dee-in-the-box]

random appearance headcanons for the Kennedy's given i'm making some New Designs right now (1973 edition):

both Jack and Peter are greying slightly by 1973 due to stress (like, think about it: they both have to look after a little girl when i'm pretty sure Neither of them were ready for that, and they're having to Work a LOT to support said kid. that'd cause some stress, i'd say).

all of the Kennedy siblings have tooth gaps (you can't tell with Jack, due to him missing both of his front teeth, but if you look at childhood photos of his, it's visible) and pointier than normal canines (i think this is also called prominent canines? can't remember, though).

related to the above point, all of them can technically "bare their teeth" in a similar way to a dog, but Jack's the only one who really does it Purposefully. (pre-death stuff, anyway)

as much as i love my design where i made Jack's hairstyle a mullet, he now has a buzzcut (at least, i tried to model it after a buzzcut of sorts). i think it also fits him.

y'know the color in game Dee is associated with (that pale, pastel yellow)? tried to add that to her design.

70s and 80s clothes my beloved <3

Jack's got a Resting Bitch Face. he just does.

[the-nado-hunter]

Random Hetalia character head cannons/hc histories and characterizations that float in my brain but I’ve never written down - starting with England, America and Germany since I’ve thought about them the most lol:

England:

- Was the reverse of Alfred where he actually physically and emotionally aged much slower than most nations. He was barely not a teenager when he first took in Alfred (and his other “kids” by extension) when he was not at all ready/had even fully matured himself.

- I have a hc that nations who “get too big” (meaning the territory under their name grows) they kind of lose themselves and get less distinct and coherent in their motivations and sometimes don’t feel themselves at all, too many voices in their head so to speak. Unfortunately Arthur “lost it” during a pivotal part of his relationship with his family, hence all his strained relationships.

- Once he took on those responsibilities he suddenly jumped in physical age a bit. So while Alfred sees him as being SO much older (calling him an old man) his time in the nation equivalence of life stages was uneven and all over the place.

- it wouldn’t be until the 60s/70s/80s that Arthur had the time and ability to “make up for lost time” hence his musical and punk phases. He finds himself in some ways.., also likely dissolves into addiction problems at the same time.

- In the modern era he still has many anger issues but he’s a lot more calm and sure of himself, however he’s got a built up emotional wall and a whole lot of hidden self hatred that’s going to take a long long time to resolve, and he isn’t quite there yet and tends to lash out and push people away rather than deal with things.

America:

- He was very sheltered by Arthur at first, he was kept out of almost everything for most of his early life. If Arthur wasn’t present (which he often wasn’t due to the two having vastly different understandings of the passing of time) there were people hired and cycled out to take care of him. He can’t help himself though, even if he’s being treated like a sheltered little prince he wants to go run free in the fields and get into shit. He’s basically a Disney princess in his early life is what I’m saying lol.

- reality hits him like a ton of bricks when he’s roughly looking/acting about 14-15. He realizes likely through being exposed to other nations starting to come in and managing to slip out to talk to people just how much has been hidden from him and the resentment grows. And he starts REALLY growing even faster.

- Despite all that he went full on into a “fight” coping mechanism and never stopped. He put on a “mask” at one point in his life and it hasn’t come off. He’s never really deeply dealt with anything so he progressively seems more and more obtuse and seemingly arrogant to overcompensate for not wanting to face any sort of pain.

- He’s deeply deeply lonely and desperately wants closeness and to open up- yet at the same time the idea of seeming “weak” or “vulnerable” is terrifying to him. Him and Arthur are more similar than they would like to admit with how they mask and push people away despite really REALLY needing love and closeness.

Germany:

- it depends on if you accept the “Germany is HRE” theory or not, but either way I tend to think they at least have the same body but might be different entities or ‘spirits’ so to speak. That being said I imagine Ludwig specifically not only was “born” into a body that was preexisting and therefore already past a decent part of childhood, I imagine that his body was at first incredibly weak, frail, and he was very sickly for quite some time.

- I’ve written a fic about this, but I personally hc Ludwig from about 6-15 years old in appearance being almost completely unable to walk and needing braces and assistance to get around. His brother obviously loves and cares about him, but Ludwig couldn’t help but feel frustrated and like a burden. He really does look up to his big brother and is worried about being weak and reliant on others for the rest of his life.

- Ludwig GETS his strength, and as soon as he’s able to walk on his on he becomes obsessed with being as strong and capable as he possibly can be. He wants to never have to rely on anyone again, feeling an odd sense of guilt for needing so much help.

- he’s, in the end… kind of socially inept. Gilbert isn’t exactly the pinnacle of a socialized man himself - So despite being mostly independent and capable he doesn’t really understand social situations, or how to understand himself and others. Feliciano is both jarring and someone I think he becomes interested in him because Feli is capable in something he never has been and really is teaching him a lot.

- Unfortunately Ludwig had in face overcompensated for his past feelings of being a burden he’s taken so much on and has become such a protector that he’s almost unable to set boundaries and say no to requests to take on extra work- malicious or not.

- we already know Ludwig tends to explode and bark directions at people, to me it’s always been a clear sign of how much stress he’s under- but he winds up just appearing scary and he once again takes on more responsibilities and feelings of “something must be wrong with me”.

- i think many in the fandom have joked about it but Ludwig to me is SO repressed and SO gay it’s not even funny

-I would expect poor Ludwig to hit a breaking point and have a nervous breakdown eventually, which I do want to write at some point, just gotta not procrastinate lol

[pluckyredhead]

We made it, you guys! I'm wrapping up my blitz through all the Fourth World canon. I've already covered the comics of the 70s, the 80s, the 90s, and the 00s, so now let's get into everything post-Flashpoint!

Wonder Woman (2011): I'll be honest: this series is Not Valid, and Orion only shows up as a supporting character for about a dozen issues, so I just skimmed his appearances rather than actually reading the whole volume. Anyway this version of Orion slaps Diana's ass and hits on her relentlessly and isn't even from Apokolips. Highfather is emotionally abusive. No one else from the Fourth World even shows up. Throw it all directly in the trash.

Infinity Man and the Forever People (2014): Genuinely who was asking for a New 52 book about the Forever People (the most optimistic of Kirby's creations) written by Dan DiDio (a man on the record as saying he wanted "to take the smile out of comics")? Shockingly, it's not as bad as I was bracing myself for. I mean, the lore changes are baffling (Darkseid and Highfather are brothers! the Infinity Man is Highfather's conscience and that's why New 52 Highfather's such a dick all the time! Big Bear is from Apokolips and has a secret, angrier face because he's like a bonus Orion now!). And the art rotates through four or five different artists and all of the issues not drawn by Tom Grummett are hideous. But mostly it's just very boring and pointless? Let's all ignore it forever.

Green Lantern/New Gods (2014): Hey, do you remember when Green Lantern was one of DC's most successful franchises and they were publishing five simultaneous GL-related ongoings and they oversaturated the market so badly they could barely keep one GL book going until recently? I'm not saying shit like this is what killed the goose that laid the golden egg, but...I'm not not saying that either. (No seriously, I am genuinely fascinated by whatever the fuck DC did to the Lanterns in the 2000s and 2010s as, like, a publishing cautionary tale, but that's a story for another post.)

This was a three-month crossover across all five GL books - Green Lantern (Hal's book), Green Lantern Corps (John's book), Green Lantern: New Guardians (Kyle's book), Red Lanterns (Guy's book), and Sinestro - plus a New Gods one shot and a GL annual. That's 17 issues that are meant to be read in order to follow the story, and then you can optionally also read the tie-in issues of Infinity Man and the Forever People, which makes a whopping total of 20 issues dedicated to this storyline.

So what was the plot of this grand saga? Uh...Highfather tries to steal all the rings of every Corps like he's the fucking Trix Rabbit or something. The end.

Yeah, it's a mystery what killed the GL publishing juggernaut. 🙄

(Side note: this crossover adds a brand new Original Character Do Not Steal who is from Apokolips and was raised by Highfather and has a Secret Rage Face. After Infinity Man and the Forever People also gave Big Bear a Secret Rage Face. STOP STEALING ORION'S SHIT. You don't need extra bonus Orions, Regular Orion is right there!)

Bug! The Adventures of Forager (2017): This is a very charming, very strange series that isn't in continuity (it was part of the Young Animal imprint) and doesn't really forward the plot of the New Gods in any way, but it's funny and enjoyable. Basically, Forager wakes up after his death in Cosmic Odyssey (29 years prior, for those keeping track) and goes on a time- and reality-hopping adventure in which he interacts with various characters Kirby wrote and drew for DC over the years (although oddly, very few New Gods). It's the sort of series that rewards the long-time comic book reader, but I still enjoyed it even though I was very aware I was missing references. I wouldn't recommend it if you're brand new to comics, though.

Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps (2016): Orion's in a couple arcs of this run, and they're pretty fun. Orion's heart gets removed from his body and Kyle keeps him alive with a construct! Hal races Lightray! Orion helps the GLs fight a shit ton of Darkstars! There isn't much in the way of advancing New Gods Lore (TM) here, but this is a pretty good series in general. A fun time!

Mister Miracle (2017): Sigh.

You know, the frustrating thing about this series is that some aspects of it are really good. The art is superb. Some of the humor really lands. Funky Flashman as the Frees' nanny is an utter delight. (The bit where he retells the Galactus Trilogy as "Jake's story" is especially charming.) The subtler take on Granny and the way Scott is still wrestling with her abuse and his complicated feelings about her is heartbreaking. And the big twist, when Darkseid demands baby Jacob in exchange for peace, and Scott's agony over the decision, is utterly wrenching. It's such a good conflict to give Scott, to have him try to wrestle with the decision his own father made and what the right answer is. I even believe King read more than one issue of Mister Miracle (1971) to research this! I mean, he references the Lump. That's a pretty deep cut.

But it's all undercut by his decision to make Orion a villain. King's Orion isn't just brutal and wrongheaded, like some earlier writers have portrayed him - he's a vindictive sadist who craves power and enjoys humiliating someone who, in all previous canon, he eagerly embraced as a brother. He has elaborately cruel plans and enjoys making others know their place - Orion, who is historically as subtle and refined as a two-by-four to the head. He's out of character in basically every possible way.

But this isn't just me being like "How dare you get my blorbo wrong?!" (That's my reaction to King's depiction of Lightray as a simpering toady.) Making Orion a villain, as I have said many times at this point, betrays a fundamental misunderstanding of the Fourth World's central concept, which is, like...not a hard concept to grok. The point of the baby swap isn't to see whether nature or nurture is stronger. It's that both babies grow up to be heroes. It's that good is stronger than evil. And if Orion isn't a hero, the whole thing falls apart. Instead, we get a bleak and fundamentally unbalanced take on the Fourth World that begins with a suicide attempt and ends with Scott resigning himself to a life from which he desperately wants to escape. And again, again, King's pessimism is mistaken for depth because someone else drew it real good.

Anyway I hate this comic, the end.

Justice League Odyssey (2018): The New Gods didn't really have a home base post-Flashpoint, which is why I'm covering so many books that aren't really New Gods books (Wonder Woman, the various GL books), because my crops are dying and I'm desperate for Orion to show up on his little scooter. Anyway this is actually first and foremost a Jessica Cruz book, which isn't really a complaint because I love her. Basically, Cyborg, Starfire, and Azrael (who is pretty OOC and also why is he here??? he doesn't know these people and he can't breathe in space?????) decide to go on an Illegal Space Adventure and Jessica tries to stop them and they all get swept up into an incredibly convoluted plan by Darkseid to turn everyone but Jessica into a NEW New God and take over the universe? Or maybe destroy it? UNCLEAR. Also the last time they all saw Darkseid he was a baby but now he's not anymore. How? UNCLEAR.

Darkseid kills Jessica but it doesn't take because she's the GOAT, but now he's taken control of Vic, Kori, and JPV, so Jessica has to team up with Orion, Blackfire, and Dex-Starr the Red Lantern cat to defeat Darkseid and rescue the others. Overall this book is so unrelentingly high stakes and cosmic that I kind of tuned out. After a while I just hit "we have to save the universe!!!" fatigue. But a huge part of the second half of the series is just Jessica yelling at Orion until he grumpily does what she tells him, and I truly could have read 40 more issues of that. I hope when it was all over he went and pouted at Lightray about how the Green Lantern was SO MEAN to him (he deserved it).

Verdict: Don't bother to read for New Gods continuity, do read if you love Jessica Cruz.

Mister Miracle: The Source of Freedom (2021): This book reintroduces Shilo Norman to the post-Flashpoint universe as a celebrity superhero and escape artist who aggressively protects his secret identity, because his predecessor Thaddeus Brown, who is Black in this series (and presumably going forward), had a public identity and dealt with horrible racism from the public. But his mask is partially torn off when he's attacked by N'vir Free, the daughter of Scott and Barda Free - who Shilo has never heard of. While Shilo tries to figure out who the Frees are and why N'vir thinks he stole her father's legacy, he also discovers that Thaddeus was secretly his grandfather, and has to unpack all of his emotional hangups about his own identity and legacy.

This is a great book for the humans of Kirby's Mister Miracle and a terrible one for the New Gods. Scott and Barda are not only dead, but their memories have been erased from most people's minds. N'vir is an awful character with a stupid name, and also a fascist dictator, which is...a choice for Scott and Barda's kid. (I'm assuming all of this is either taking place in a different universe than the main DCU, or has been retconned away, because Barda is currently appearing in Birds of Prey and is perfectly fine. And perfectly perfect. Please read Birds of Prey.) Orion does show up for a bit and he's great here, but he doesn't remember Scott either, which hurt my heart.

But it's a great book for Shilo, who gets to be a complicated, endearing but flawed protagonist instead of a sidekick who tends to get forgotten for years at a time. I'm a bit torn on having him be related to Thaddeus, since I like the idea of Shilo becoming a hero on his own smarts and spunkiness rather than inheriting it, but it allows for some really beautiful themes about legacy and being proud of where you come from, so it suits the story really well. And Oberon is a delight the whole way through (as always). Overall a good book, but somewhat to the side of the overall New Gods saga.

THE END. We did it, you guys! Now DC please greenlight a new New Gods book, thank you.

(Actually it should be double length and reversible so when you hold it one way it's a New Gods book and when you flip it to the "back" cover it's a Mister Miracle book and the stories intertwine. Do you see the vision???)

[emeritus-fuckers]

I got dumped on my birthday and I'm still not okay 😭😭 so if you could write some hcs or a fic on how all the papas would comfort you or deal with the situation? Please

But if you're busy or don't want to then it's seriously okay ❤️❤️❤️

I'm so sorry for you, babe! No worries, I got you! From the request I assumed you wanted it platonic, I'll gladly do another one if you want a romantic one, too - Jez

Papas comforting you after a heartbreak during your birthday party headcanons

Includes: Primo, Secondo, Terzo, Copia, young and old versions of Nihil. Sodo, Swiss, Aether, Cirrus and Cumulus mentioned in Copia's. Sister Imperator mentioned in Nihil's.

Primo

At this point we all know he's a top tier father figure.

If he witnesses it, the first thing he does is talk to you and ask the ghouls to take you outside so you can catch a breather while he gives the bastard who hurt you a very stern talking to.

Keep in mind, he's in his late 70s/early 80s. He might appear old and fragile, but this man can be scary. Very scary.

Might pretend to curse the poor bastard. Or actually do curse them.

Needless to say, when he's done, the whole room is quiet for a long time, even if he barely raised his voice.

He doesn't slam the door when he leaves. Doesn't need to.

He then joins you outside and gently holds your face, wiping your tears gently with his thumbs.

You spend the rest of your day in his garden or greenhouse, which is also his own little butterfly conservatory.

He'll make tea with you (from scratch!), walk you through the process of it and teach you which one is good for what.

Do you want to talk about the situation? He's all ears.

Do you want to distract yourself and forget about? He'll give you a tour of the place, teach you about the plants and butterflies (fun fact, I can also teach you about butterflies - Jez).

He'll keep you company as long as you need it and should you need a parental figure to help, he will.

He's absolutely the sweetest in that regard.

Secondo

Facepaint or not, this motherfucker can be intimidating as fuck. The poor bastard that broke your heart will absolutely end up crying just from this man's glare.

It's up to you to continue to party after that jackass leaves. If you want to continue the party, Mr. Worldwide over here will absolutely let out his inner party animal and help you forget everything.

If you wanna leave, you're leaving, no questions asked.

He takes you shopping and pays for everything you look at for more than five seconds. Everything you touch, too. And don't even try to protest.

"It's a gift from me to you. You won't turn down Papa's gift, now will you?"

Bro will gaslight you into letting him pay, it's best for you to just go with it, trust me.

Takes you to a fancy restaurant, somehow manages to get the entire place empty for the two of you. Don't ask me how.

Takes a week off and turns it into your birthday week. He takes you anywhere you ever hinted at wanting to go.

Even if abroad.

You are getting everything you want and that's it. There's no time to think about some idiot.

Terzo

He most likely causes a scene, mocking the bastard stupid enough to hurt you.

It's almost like a stand-up routine, where he somehow manages to point out the very specific thing that asshole is insecure about.

Nobody gets to hurt his friends and gets away with it.

The way he acts also puts the spotlight on the one who broke your heart, letting you slip out and take a breather.

Terzo will end his little performance by either spitting on the shithead's face or straight up slapping them, really depends on how strong your reaction was. If it was bad enough, he'd punch them, no questions asked.

When he's done, he'll come and find you, offering you a hug. He'll hold you as long as you need, rubbing your back comfortingly.

He'll ask you what you need. He knows nobody is gonna know how to help you better than you.

He'll probably have his ghouls keep people away from you until you feel better.

He will probably ask Primo for advice, too.

Terzo might be a shitty cook and and even worse baker, but if you like to do stuff in the kitchen, he'll do his best to help, even if it's just silly things like handing you ingredients.

He'd probably take you to an amusement park in the evening.

Buys you all the colors of cotton candy.

Buys you a big plushie of your favorite animal.

Terzo's comfort food is Chinese take out, so he'll probably get you to try that, too.

You get a second, better birthday party with him and the Ghouls.

Copia

Back in his cardinal days, he'd just take you away and try his best to soothe you.

As Papa, however, he got a major confidence boost (he's still very awkward, but he can be serious and confident when needed) and he won't let that slide.

Copia is by no means as scary as the other Papas can be, but he's got charm and he can make people just kinda... Flow with what he says. And his ghouls are a menace.

So when he throws a comment about the bastard, his ghouls (especially Sodo, Swiss and Aether) pick up on it and bully the life put of them.

Meanwhile Copia and the Ghoulettes leave the party with you, taking priority in your comfort.

Copia leaves you in their care for a bit so he can arrange something better for you. Cumulus is put in charge of taking care of you.

You get a sweet little homemade spa session with them and once Copia comes to pick you up, the Ghoulettes giggle at how flustered he gets for no apparent reason.

"Ah, I am terribly sorry for leaving you, I just wanted to make everything perfect for you, I hope they didn't mess with you too much!"

You ignore Cirrus's little giggle as she watches you both leave. She totally ships you guys.

Copia takes you to his room, his rats up and about, eager to play with you as she sits you on his little couch and runs to finish dinner preparations.

The food he made was just a little bit burned (he apologized for several minutes until you laughed and assured him it's fine), but you can definitely tell he made it with love!

Gaming night with him and the rats! He lets you do most of the gaming, only jumping in when you need help or giving you some tips. Even if the tips are a bit useless, it's the thought that counts.

You get ice cream, too. And have a sleep over. If you're uncomfortable with sleeping in the same bed, he takes the couch.

Copia just wants you to be comfy!

Young Nihil

This man will throw hands, no questions asked.

I mean it. He's a hoe, but he's very protective of his friends.

The bastard who broke your heart? Yeah, he's on the floor now, clutching his jaw.

"Serves ya right. Fucking bitch."

Nihil definitely spits on them, too. Might kick them in the stomach once for good measure before turning to you, wrapping an arm around his shoulder and telling everyone to go back to partying.

Gets you a drink. According to him, it's the best thing to do after a situation like that.

"That's what I did after Sister dumped me. And now I'm as good as new!" (bold faced lie)

You probably were there to see that this dumbass was a wreck and had to comfort him after Sister Imperator ended whatever the relationship has.

In his eyes, he owes you for that. He's... A bit stupid, though, let's be real here.

Ends up focusing more on making the party great and making the idiot who broke your heart regret their decision.

Once he realizes that's not what you needed, he asks what it is, then. Because in his eyes, there's nothing better he could do.

Give him detailed instructions. He'll forget half of it, but he'll go all out on the half he remembers.

Old Nihil

Bro takes it personally.

Scoffs and berates the bastard like he's the one who got his heart broken??

Goes at it so hard he needs a minute with his oxygen tank when he's done.

He then proceeds to leave with you. And demands you tell him what you want so he can throw you a better party.

He acts like he's genuinely offended at how the original party turned out and the only solution is to throw a bigger, better party.

Strippers will be included.

And fireworks.

Old man goes out of his way to make it as big and loud as possible like he's trying to prove something to the world.

Just like when he's younger, he ends up a bit too focused on it. You have to remind him yourself that it's kinda about you and not his party.

He waves his hand dismissively at that, giving you a checkbook. Sends you shopping with some ghouls. Probably gets you a grand makeover just for the party.

He'll keep you close when you're back and will ensure this party is the best party you've been to.

He's not the best at comforting, but he shows his affection a bit differently.

[mariaxxxxx]

Chapter 3- My future in gold and jade

Summary: To save your nation You are given as a bride to a sea god.

Warnings: 18+ ONLY/ Minors DNI, Angust, Hurt comfort, Sex, Apologies, Crying, Creampie, Passionate sex, virgin!reader, size difference, smut, soft!dom!, HEA, somnophille, slight degradation, duvious consent, pregnancy, arranged marriage, inexperienced reader, abortion commented, unprotected sex (don't do that wrap this thing), kidnapping, aftercare, curse words.

A/N: English is not my mother tongue. I apologize for any errors.

A/N: Reader is heavily implied to be Mexican but i tried to keep it as free to the imagination as possible

Curiosity: A friend asked me what period my story takes place in, well, although I didn't specify, it is very implicit that everything takes place in the colonial period. Namor obtains his queen (You) at least 200 years after burying his mother; As we know, our water daddy ages very slowly and he was around 70/80 years old when he said goodbye to his mother, but he had the appearance of a boy of no more than 13 years old. In my story he already has the appearance we know in the film, perhaps, with some small touches of subtle youth. The characters Namora and Attuma will not be present in this fic, as they were not born yet, I guarantee that later on the reader will have contact with the people who would become the great-grandparents of these iconic characters.

Work count: 1.020

Serie materialist

🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊

You could have a million lives, but it wouldn't be enough to describe the beauty of the man in front of you. Adorned in gold, jade and lazulite, with his modesty being covered by a white loincloth with checkered embroidery, in his beautiful nose a jade piercing and in his pointed ears earrings also decorated with green stone, his skin shone like liquid gold under the yellowish light from the cabin; the figure was so imposing that You believed you were in the presence of a God.

He smiled wide in her direction, exposing all his white, perfectly aligned teeth. He was standing in front of you, with an upright posture and hands clasped in front of his body. A beautiful body; You noticed. He wore nothing to cover his bare chest. You noticed that on his ankles there were two pairs of wings; just like his father had said.

“You’re even more beautiful up close.” He broke the silence.

"You speak my language." Although it wasn't his intention, his voice came out as a mere whisper. He seemed to have fun with it.

“I see they took very good care of You.” He gestured with his right arm as he spoke; indicating her figure covered in a beautiful dress and precious jewelry. His brain took a while to understand that the ‘‘they’’ he was referring to were the blue-skinned girls who had bathed and dressed him.

"Yes. They took very good care of me.” You said. “I feel like I should say thank you, but I don’t know how to do it.”

"Don't worry about that. I will tell them myself how pleased their queen is with the result.”

Queen, the word echoed in his mind. So he was a king? Were you his queen? Everything seemed so confusing to You. The information you were given proved useless at this point.

“I…” You started to speak, but the words slipped off your tongue. You knew what to say what to do what to think.

"You...?" he encouraged.

“What should I call him? I am your wife, but I know nothing about You.”

It seemed like the right question, because the man, The God, puffed out his chest and approached You. As he approached, You felt the wave of heat that his skin exuded.

“K’uk’ulkan. That’s what my people call me and that’s what my queen will call me.”

“K'uk'ulkan” You repeated the word quietly, testing the sound on your lips. The name was as beautiful as the one to whom it belonged.

“Come, sit next to me. I have a lot to tell you.”

The man was a talented storyteller and You were a curious listener. He told him how long ago his people were driven from their corn farms by white invaders; He explained how disease and genocide forced his people to look for alternative solutions to save themselves. It was a shaman, he said, who prayed to the God Chaac for an answer and the God responded. In a vision he was shown a plant, at the bottom of the sea, with sacred properties that would free the people from hunger and destruction.

His mother, his mother-in-law, refused to ingest the plant for fear of hurting the baby growing in her womb, but the Xama was convincing and she was promised that the seed growing in her womb would be the leader of this new nation. Then he, K'uk'ulkan, was born on prayers and salt water. With his ears pointed towards the stars and his feathered ankles, being able to breathe in and out of the water, he was given a throne when he was still just a few days old. His mother died at an advanced age and her body was buried on the surface, on the land from which she claimed to return.

“My mother is buried on the land where you belong. I cannot let his resting place be desecrated again by those colonizers.”

"I'm very sorry." You whispered. “It must have been painful to lose someone so important.”

“Don’t feel sorry for me, my queen. Use this deplorable feeling for those who deserve it. Those who invade taking what does not belong to them, those who deprive mothers of their children and wives of their husbands. What I will do to the invaders will be pitiful.”

“How should I thank the savior of my people?” You questioned, eyes shining in anticipation. You were his to play with, to mold; his destiny was ingrained between that man's fingers.

“Your father already did this for you the moment your hand was offered to me in marriage.” He paused. “A brave man, I admit. He gave his most precious possession to a stranger.”

You noticed a tone of irritation in his voice, as if the idea of You being handed over so easily was absurd.

“Desperate measures require desperate solutions. My father did what was necessary to protect his people and I don't blame him for that; What is a single life to save millions?”

He seemed proud of his words, proof of which was a huge smile that appeared on his lips.

“Sometimes, my queen, alternative measures can be taken that preserve a single life and the lives of millions.”

"I am a princess. And a princess's mission can never cease. I must serve my nation and its role to play, the hopes of my people I can never disappoint.” You said. “These words were whispered in my ears the moment I took my first breath of life and these are the words I repeated to myself when I was told that I would be handed over to a being that flies beneath the waves. I was afraid, I felt angry at my father and those who failed to protect me, but the lives of my people are much more important than my wishes.”

The man, her husband, leaned forward until his face was mere inches from hers. He placed his hand right on her cheek. You closed your eyes, enjoying that intimate and affectionate act.

“The gods sent a good queen to me.”

[wanderingmind867]

Ranking the members of the Justice League (from the 60s to the early 80s): I thought about including the Phantom Stranger, Metamorpho and Adam Strange on this list too, but I felt it'd make this whole note too long. Plus, they're barely there most of the time, so I can excuse it. Also, I forgot Snapper Carr. But Snapper would definitely also be amongst my favourites on the team.

1. Martian Manhunter (J'onn J'onzz): J'onn is the best character the Justice League has. An alien, alone and lost on a world that fears and distrusts him. Steve Englehart made it clear: J'onn's origins in the 50s are deeply entrenched in nativism and red scare era fears of the unknown. J'onn hid in plain sight for years, desperate to just be accepted and not persecuted. His powers are so cool too. Martian Vision (like superman's telescopic vision), Super-Strength, Invisibility, Shape-Shifting, Telepathy, etc. He's got such a cool powerset, and yet no writer ever knew what to do with him. J'onn should have been in all 200 issues of the Justice League comic, not a mere 70-80 of them!

2. Red Tornado: Red Tornado hasn't been as compelling as The Vision (in some ways), but that's probably because it's hard to get emotionally invested in a character who only appears 10 times and dies twice in one decade. But after he's finally made a permanent member in the mid-70s, reddy really helps me feel less of the pain of j'onn's loss from the book. He's another lonely soul, desperately seeking the meaning of his existence in a strange and unfamiliar world.

Red Tornado was built to be a weapon of T.O. Morrow. He was given false memories of being the real Red Tornado (in reality Ma Hunkel), and he was taught nothing beyond some basic facts about the Justice Society. His knowledge of the world beyond that is sorely lacking. He has no name. He has no face (at least initially). He has no nothing. He's just a machine. A being of metal and wires, a heartless robot that nobody could ever possibly love.

But slowly, reddy builds a community around himself. He adopts an orphan girl named traya. He starts dating a new yorker named kathy sutton. He manages to build a sense of self, as the kindness of strangers helps him realize just who he is and what he can offer the world. It's a beautiful story, and I really want to read his 80s miniseries. Because if there's one thing characters like Red Tornado and The Vision have taught me, it's that robots are some of the most relatable beings out there.

Also, I just need to mention his powers. Personally, I think Red Tornado could probably beat the flash in a race. He's a robot with control over the winds. He can fly at incredible speeds! And being that he's a machine, he isn't necessarily limited by things like human exhaustion or muscle strain. No, Red Tornado is definitely capable of outracing The Flash. It's just a matter of persuading other people to accept that belief of mine.

3. Superman: Superman was one of the most popular characters in comics for years, and it's no wonder why. He just inspires a sense of hope and optimism in people. Superman is a man with nearly unlimited strength, and he uses his gift to uplift the defenseless and speak for the forgotten. He could use his powers to make himself rich, but he doesn't want that. He lives a modest life as a newspaper/tv newsman, and I deeply respect him for that. He doesn't need/want riches like Batman. That's not the point of Superman. The point of Superman is seeing the good in humanity, even when everything seems bleak. There's always light in the darkness, and that light is symbolised by Superman. The hero for all mankind.

4. Wonder Woman: Probably the best female superhero DC has (at least back in the 60s and 70s). Wonder Woman does everything just as capably as the men around her, and she doesn't even need super-strength to be a hero. Sure, her amazonian lasso, super-strength, armour and robot jet definitely help her fight crime and injustice, but she doesn't need them to do it.

Look at the Diana Prince era in the 60s, where Mike Sekowsky and Denny O'Neil took all of Diana's amazon powers away. Did that stop her? No. Did it ever hinder her? Hell no! To be fair, I haven't a read of this Diana Prince stuff. But in her one apperance without powers in the Justice League, Diana pretends to faint, throws her attacker, and then threatened to break every single bone in his body. She's a strong-willed fighter, even without her many amazonian gifts. Wonder Woman is an amazing character, and her powers and skills always do impress me.

5. Firestorm: Firestorm doesn't get many good adventures with the Justice League (since he was added to the team around 20-30 issues before the team breaks apart), but his powerset and personality really impresses me. Molecular transfiguration, the ability to turn one element into another. Teenager Ronnie Raymond and his mentor Doctor Martin Stein. They're both great characters, and I just wish I'd get to see more of them doing cool stuff with the league. I want to see more of their powers! More of both of them in general, really.

6 & 7. Hawkman and Hawkgirl/Hawkwoman: They're ranked together, because they're very much a package item. Same powers, same skills, a devoted married couple, etc. As long as one of the Hawks is used in a story, I'm happy. They have a lot of cool character traits. Ties to History (being museum curators), Feelings of Loneliness and Ostracization (being aliens who feel out of place on earth), etc. Plus, they're nearly equal in strength and power. Hawkman and Hawkgirl are both amazing, and I can't bring myself to choose one over the other.

8. Green Lantern (Hal Jordan): Hal could go just above or just below the Hawks, depending on my mood. I don't want to read any of his stuff beyond the John Broome era (since I don't really like Green Arrow and his team-up stuff), but I liked most of the silver age stuff I did read. Plus, his power ring and willpower stuff is really cool. It's a very inventive powerset, one with so much potential and so many uses.

9. The Flash (Barry Allen): Flash is a great character. He's a very genuine soul, with a great sense of humour. He's one of the most normal members of the Justice League, just a man who accidentally obtained superpowers and now tries to use them to help people. I use to see him as boring, but now I see that as a charming aspect of his character. Still, there's more characters who I prefer, so he gets delegated to number 9 here.

10. The Elongated Man: Ralph Dibny is pretty cool. His twitching nose makes him a walking bloodhound for mysteries, and he's a great source of comedic relief in the series. He has so many fun lines, which makes me appreciate him. Also, he's got no secret identity. And I love that. Him and his wife are known public entities, a happily married pair. Why do Marvel and DC both have characters with no secret identities who're married to women named Sue? I don't know, but I love it nonetheless.

11. Aquaman: Aquaman isn't used that often, which makes it hard to have him as a favourite member. And while I still think Namor is better at Marvel, Aquaman isn't bad. His one main power (namely, that of telepathically communicating with fish), is really unique. And his family is pretty cool (like Mera and Aqualad). So he's not bad, he's just not used nearly enough for my liking.

12. Zatanna: Zatanna uses magic, which I love. Although I don't love reading all of her backwards spells, I still can't make her the bottom of my list. The gift of magic (even if it is in a style i don't necessarily love), is one that leads me to appreciate her presence on the team.

13. Black Canary: I like Black Canary, but I hate how underutilized she is. Does she get to use her martial arts skills often? Not really. Does she ever use her sonic powers? Not really. She uses it once in a blue moon, and that's it. Honestly, she was better back on the JSA. In those early stories, she had her ju-jujitsu skills, and an amulet tricked up with gadgets, and her husband who was a private eye. Dinah Lance is better with Larry Lance on earth-two, in my opinion. Before she gets her sonic powers, back when she was just a cool martial artist.

14. Green Arrow: Green Arrow is in my bottom three, because he can be a massive jerk sometimes. He's called Wonder Woman a "witch", he's kicked his sidekick out of the house, he's told wonder woman and black canary to stay on the sidelines and help the wounded. He's a chauvinistic pig sometimes, and he's so much worse than Hawkeye. The only reason he's not at the very bottom is because he gets some decently funny lines sometimes.

15. The Atom: I don't tend to like size changing super-heroes too much, so I tend to find Atom pretty boring. Jean Loring is actually way more sympathetic and compelling, to me. And Hank Pym has all his mental health issues, which makes me love him way more than Ray Palmer. So although I don't despise the atom, I do tend to find him more boring than the other characters on the team.

16. Batman: Batman is at the very bottom, solely because of his post-crisis stories and his dark and edgy interpretations. Although his silver age interpretation is great, his darker, more boring modern interpretation really sours me on the character. There's not much else to say beyond that.

[casusvallis]

╰┈➤ ❝ [Duskin "Dusk" Dae] ❞

⚔︎⚔︎ He/Him ⚔︎⚔︎ 20 ⚔︎⚔︎ Leo ⚔︎⚔︎

Physical Education & Nutrition Student

Knight of The Mirror

"Healthy diet, healthy body, healthy mind."

▬▬ι════════════════ﺤ

╰┈➤[≈] Description

Duskin Dae, commonly referred to as Dusk, is a physical education and nutrition student at Casus College of International Arts. He works as a personal trainer at the local gym, a multi-style sword fighting instructor in the fencing club at the college, and a waiter at Benny's Diner.

What is Dusk Dae's physical appearance?

Dusk is 5 feet 9 inches, or 175.26 centimeters. His skin is a light brown and white, most of his upper body affected by vitiligo. His hair is curly, but buzzed all the way down to the scalp. He has an buff, muscley build with thick biceps, calves, and pectorals, accentuated by the exercise and sword fighting he does. He has a normal skin type, relatively clear skin but with several reoccurring bruises. He has scarring on his chest from top surgery. Prior to entering the Mirror World, his original hair colour was a reddish brown. His eyes were a dark brown. After entering the Mirror World, the tips of his hair took on a blue-lavender tone. The pupils of his eyes became dark red droplets (𓄼).

What is Dusk Dae's background and history?

Unlike many of his friends, Dusk was born in Casus Vallis. He has left home very few times, only to visit his family in Zimbabwe or South Korea. Dusk was always a rowdy and excitable kid who got into trouble frequently - not because he was bad, but because he couldn't control his energy. Unlike his parents, both Dusk and Dawn were athletes from the moment they could walk, doing anything and everything they could to move. He also had the habit of picking up sticks and using them as swords, wanting to 'compete in battle' with anyone who was willing. As a way to try and get Dusk's energy out, his father introduced him to his old drum set that he used to play before moving onto electronica, teaching him a few tricks. From there, Dusk grew to love percussion, finding a lot of peace while he played the drums. It also birthed his interest in double sword fighting, now focusing a lot of his efforts on working with two swords in his hands. The family spent many happy years in Casus, enjoying the community and adopting the culture of Doluitism - though not Orthodox. Unfortunately, a car accident left the family struggling severely while the kids were still young, with Gi going missing and Dawn losing her right leg. Dusk feels responsible for the accident, and now works tirelessly to support his family and peers, looking for his father along the way.

Who is Dusk Dae related to? Who is his family?

Dusk lived with his simple and quiet nuclear family, composed of his mother Medjine Calixte who used to work for Casus City Hall, father Gi Dae who was a music teacher at Valmous Private School, and younger sister Dawn Dae who attends Doluit High School and is very accomplished in Track & Field. Both his parents lived in South Korea, with Gi living there all his life and Medjine moving from Zimbabwe for school. In their 20s they met in college as music students, realizing they had the same goal: to bring electronica alive through a unique sound. Together, they formed Crop Circle, a mid 70s-early 80s electronica k-pop band who gained surprising notoriety throughout Asia, quickly falling in love with the fame and one another. Like many things, their career was short and barely lasted 10 years, so when Medjine got pregnant with Dusk they decide to flee to a quiet place where no one would recognize them - Casus Vallis.

What sort of activities does Dusk Dae like?

Dusk is often seen in the fencing and sword fighting gym on Casus College property, at the 24h gym in Centretown, or drumming away in the college's music club The Speakeasy. Most of the things that occupy his time are fighting, exercise, and music - he does not pay attention to much else. If he isn't playing the music, he is listening to it, often putting on his record player and using it as workout material. Because his parents main interest was in electronica, Dusk grew a resentment for it, listening to old soul and R&B as a kind of protest. Additionally, he has a lot of interest in how the body functions and nutrition's impact on people, often researching the risks of fad diets.

What kind of traits, ticks, or behaviours does Dusk Dae exhibit?

Dusk is stoic in work, and rowdy in play. He has always taken sports and martial arts seriously, but when work is behind him he is a chill and fun guy to be around. Despite his strictness in routine and health, Dusk likes to party now and then, sometimes going out with his friends - though it is rare for him to have a day off. Dusk has a duty to protect his friends from the cruelty of the world, often acting as a 'white knight' to protect those in need. This can come out to a fault, especially when he helps people without asking. His mindset on helping others is quite toxic, putting himself in the role of a knight and forgetting he is a normal man who can also be hurt. It is important for Dusk to always be working, whether at the gym, or the fencing club, the Mirror World, The Speakeasy, or at Benny's Diner - he constantly needs to keep going to feel productive. Some think this is an internalized toxic masculinity he developed after dedicating himself to 'the way of the knight', not wanting to be seen as lazy or not good enough.

What does Dusk Dae want? What prevents him from achieving that goal?

Dusk more than anything else wants to be the knight, bodyguard, and caretaker of Quill Reyfus. Since they were children, he dedicated his heart and efforts into protecting Quill and making sure she grew up safe, calling her his 'priestess'. Because Quill was - and still is - sickly, Dusk worked extra hard to make sure she felt included and protected throughout their time as friends. After discovering the Mirror World, that responsibility grew tenfold, with Dusk taking his position as knight more seriously now that magic and mystery was involved. Along with being a knight, Dusk wants to solve the disappearance of his father, who went missing immediately after crashing their car into a pole just within Casus grounds. There was no sign of him leaving the scene of the accident, but no one has found him or his body. Dusk believes he is still out there and works tirelessly to bring him home.

How does Dusk Dae interact with his surroundings?

Dusk is moderately respectful of the places he is in, always asking permission before doing something, and when accepted in other peoples space keeps in clean. Like many young adult men, the home he shares with his roommates is a bit of a mess, but is manageable and more of an 'organized chaos'. While working in his clubs or jobs, he is extremely serious and keeps the space exactly how it should be, following extract instruction and orders. When he is free to his own devices, he will be more relaxed and not take care of the space's appearance.

What do outsiders think of Dusk Dae? How does he treat them?

Most people think Dusk is a polite, kind man. He is the 'help an old lady cross the street' or 'get a cat out of a tree' kind of guy when he has the means to do so. When in a serious situation, he can be scary, using all his strength to protect those around him, less so himself. He can be a frustrating combination of too serious and not serious enough, depending on the right situation. Dusk works hard to make his public perception a good one, and the fact he has to try hard might make him not the best.

What do Dusk Dae's friends think of him? How does he treat them?

Yhat: "He kiiiiinda feels like a fake. Am I the only one that thinks he tries too hard to be a goody-goody? Always about 'work hard' this, 'be perfect' that, but does he ever take his own advice? Does he ever ask before he 'helps' someone? No, he is self centered and doesn't realize it. Doesn't see how his actions can hurt people sometimes. How I see it, he's a sore loser with a nice-guy suit,"

Gwen: "He's so great to be around! We are both similar in that we love to help the public, but he has a stricter method. He teaches me a lot about strengthening so I can last longer doing chores along the ranch, and we often act as 'guard duty' together in the Mirror World. If I had more time, I'd probably hang out with him some more!"

Archie: "Yay!! Dusk is amazing!!! When I first moved to Casus he made me feel so welcome. It's so much colder here, I felt like I didn't belong, I was so out of my element, but we were so similar that I clung to him like glue! AND he plays the drums! He is always checking up on everyone, making sure everyone eats a good meal, and is always there to listen."

Donnie: "Uh, I really don't know much about anyone, do I? The first time I met him is when Yhat pointed him out years ago and called him a 'piece of shit', but he seems like a normal guy to me. Sometimes he offers me advice about football, but I don't like to talk about sports so I leave the conversations pretty fast... I'm sure he is nice. I just have a hard time talking to people..."

Quill: ⚔️🌧️💪

╰┈➤[🖑] Identity

Dusk Dae is half Zimbabwean on his mothers side, and half South Korean on his fathers side.

Dusk Da is questioning his sexuality, and is a transgender man.

▬▬ι════════════════ﺤ

╰┈➤[❤] Likes

Vinyl records, specifically 60s-70s soul and R&B

Singing

Competition, winning

Percussion

Sports

Swords

╰┈➤[⊘] Dislikes

Processed sugars

Yelling at and disrespecting women (what a king)

Video games

"Mall Ninja" swords

Isolation, not moving enough

Electronic music

▬▬ι════════════════ﺤ

╰┈➤[𐙚] Backpack

Protein bar

Deodorant/antiperspirant

Huge water bottle

Hearty lunch

Protein shake

Keyboard cell phone

Workbook

Lanyard keychain with brick man

Change of clothes

Drumsticks

eBop Tunes

▬▬ι════════════════ﺤ

╰┈➤[☀] Powers

How does Dusk Dae's power manifest?

Upon tapping into the Mirror World, Dusk Dae discovered his powers of Water, Rains, and Storms. This power likely stems from an accident he and his family were in during a rain storm, in which his father went missing.

How did Dusk Dae discover the Mirror World?

Dusk discovered the Mirror World very young, at age 8, though it was unknowingly. After the accident, he began to feel tremors and buzzing throughout Casus Vallis, but chalked it up to 'puberty'. Whenever he was around his childhood friend, Quill, he would feel sick and feel vibrations coming off her, but chalked it up to having a crush. It wasn't until he watched someone fall into a Mirror Pool and not come out that he realized the effects he experienced since childhood were from there. When he jumped in to save the stranger, he couldn't get back out, and was saved by Yhat.

What influences Dusk Dae to protect the public and go through The Mirror World?

The disappearance of his father fuels a lot of what he does, wanting to prevent other families from dissolving. The love and care he has for Quill is another aspect, going into the Mirror World mostly to watch over her. Protecting people, especially his priestess, is what fuels him.

╰┈➤[♿︎] Health & Conditions

Orthopedic Injury from Car Accident

Major Depressive Disorder

Chronic Pain from Sports-Related Injury, Car Accident

Vitiligo

[haggishlyhagging]

During the '80s, mannequins set the beauty trends—and real women were expected to follow. The dummies were "coming to life," while the ladies were breathing anesthesia and going under the knife. The beauty industry promoted a "return to femininity" as if it were a revival of natural womanhood—a flowering of all those innate female qualities supposedly suppressed in the feminist '70s. Yet the "feminine" traits the industry celebrated most were grossly unnatural—and achieved with increasingly harsh, unhealthy, and punitive measures.

The beauty industry, of course, has never been an advocate of feminist aspirations. This is not to say that its promoters have a conscious political program against women's rights, just a commercial mandate to improve on the bottom line. And the formula the industry has counted on for many years—aggravating women's low self-esteem and high anxiety about a "feminine" appearance—has always served them well. (American women, according to surveys by the Kinsey Institute, have more negative feelings about their bodies than women in any other culture studied.) The beauty makers' motives aren't particularly thought out or deep. Their overwrought and incessant instructions to women are more mindless than programmatic; their frenetic noise generators create more static than substance. But even so, in the '80s the beauty industry belonged to the cultural loop that produced backlash feedback. Inevitably, publicists for the beauty companies would pick up on the warning signals circulating about the toll of women's equality, too—and amplify them for their own purposes.

"Is your face paying the price of success?" worried a 1988 Nivea skin cream ad, in which a business-suited woman with a briefcase rushes a child to day care and catches a glimpse of her career-pitted skin in a store window. If only she were less successful, her visage would be more radiant. "The impact of work stress . . . can play havoc with your complexion," Mademoiselle warned; it can cause "a bad case of dandruff," "an eventual loss of hair" and, worst of all, weight gain. Most at risk, the magazine claimed, are "high-achieving women," whose comely appearance can be ravaged by "executive stress." In ad after ad, the beauty industry hammered home its version of the backlash thesis: women's professional progress had downgraded their looks; equality had created worry lines and cellulite. This message was barely updated from a century earlier, when the late Victorian beauty press had warned women that their quest for higher education and employment was causing "a general lapse of attractiveness" and "spoiling complexions."

The beauty merchants incited fear about the cost of women's occupational success largely because they feared, rightly, that that success had cost them—in profits. Since the rise of the women's movement in the '70s, cosmetics and fragrance companies had suffered a decade of flat-to-declining sales, hair-product merchandisers had fallen into a prolonged slump, and hairdressers had watched helplessly as masses of female customers who were opting for simple low-cost cuts defected to discount unisex salons. In 1981, Revlon's earnings fell for the first time since 1968; by the following year, the company's profits had plunged a record 40 percent. The industry aimed to restore its own economic health by persuading women that they were the ailing patients—and professionalism their ailment. Beauty became medicalized as its lab-coated army of promoters, and real doctors, prescribed physician-endorsed potions, injections for the skin, chemical "treatments" for the hair, plastic surgery for virtually every inch of the torso. (One doctor even promised to reduce women's height by sawing their leg bones.) Physicians and hospital administrators, struggling with their own financial difficulties, joined the industry in this campaign. Dermatologists faced with a shrinking teen market switched from treating adolescent pimples to "curing" adult female wrinkles. Gynecologists and obstetricians frustrated with a sluggish birthrate and skyrocketing malpractice premiums traded their forceps for liposuction scrapers. Hospitals facing revenue shortfalls opened cosmetic-surgery divisions and sponsored extreme and costly liquid-protein diet programs.

The beauty industry may seem the most superficial of the cultural institutions participating in the backlash, but its impact on women was, in many respects, the most intimately destructive—to both female bodies and minds. Following the orders of the '80s beauty doctors made many women literally ill. Antiwrinkle treatments exposed them to carcinogens. Acid face peels burned their skin. Silicone injections left painful deformities. "Cosmetic" liposuction caused severe complications, infections, and even death. Internalized, the decade's beauty dictates played a role in exacerbating an epidemic of eating disorders. And the beauty industry helped to deepen the psychic isolation that so many women felt in the '80s, by reinforcing the representation of women's problems as purely personal ills, unrelated to social pressures and curable only to the degree that the individual woman succeeded in fitting the universal standard—by physically changing herself.

-Susan Faludi, Backlash: the Undeclared War Against American Women

[lineli225]

MHA IS / NOT / ENDING IN 2024

Ok so, MHA is definitely having at least more 50 chapters at the very minimum.

MHA is weekly, and 2024 will have only 52 weeks, so that plus breaks, if it has 50 chapters, knowing Hori takes at least a break a month, it'd need around 65 or 70 weeks to be completed.

So it can't end in 2024, maybe MHA will end around February or March 2025... Perhaps even June!

But why I think so?

The final war arc started on chapter 343, so the current arc has 66 chapters.

This final arc is the longest arc in the series, as Hori's arcs got progressively longer each new arc, the longest arcs being 24, 41 and 54, from the first big arc, it basically doubled in size, it can double again.

But i think of the traitor arc as part of the final war, starting with the Sns chapter, which is chapter 329

So to me the final arc has 80 chapters so far to put it simple.

Also Hori wouldn't just cut the end dry, I can easily see a last, short, epilogue arc showing what happened after and all the changes in society and everything.

MHA won't end in more 15 chapters, we still haven't seen: Aizawa/Mic/Kurogiri, Sero's role, the tie up to Toga and Ochako, Hawks being the light of hope, Spinner's demise, seeing what talk Compress had with the heroes, Hisashi finally appearing(hori did promise it!), Hori did mention Class 2-A briefly showing up, tie the quirk singularity theory plot, AFO finally inserting his quirk factor on Tomura, AND finally, Tomura vs Izuku.

Tomura vs Izuku is probably not being quick, giving they are the main characters, and the grand finale, the greatest mess and also what needs more focus, In these 60+ chapters of this arc so far, izuku barely showed up, you can't have a 80 chapters only arc and your MAIN CHARACTER show up just 5 or so!!!

Considering Hori made almost 50 chapters of ONLY people fighting AFO and other stuff, I'm confident we will have at MINIMUM some 15 chapters of ONLY Shigaraki vs Izuku, he is saving these two for last, so I'm confident it won't be that fast AT ALL!

Honestly, I won't be surprised if MHA have more 70 chapters left, I can easily see this arc being over 150 chapters, like, come on, Hori didn't take his sweet sweet time only to half ass rush the most important part! Hori won't rush now that he toke so much care to build up the climax

Honestly i personally think MHA might even reach 460/480 chapters total, I wont be surprised if we reach 500 chapters either! (Each volume have 12 chapters, so MHA ending with a total of 47 or 48 volumes. )

Like- there is way TOO MUCH to be seen! The final arc is only on the half way but already been 80 chapters so far! And we haven't even got to the main fight!!!

Anyways, mark my words

MHA is ending in middle 2025.

Update/Edit: Just realized MHA will have only 33 chapters released this year and only 2 volumes

First chapter of 2023 was 377- the chain thus far

33 chapters of only fighting AFO, togachako and tododabi

Even If MHA have only more 15 chaps it'll still take half a whole year 😭 MHA IS SO NOT ENDING TILL 2025

[strangledeggs]

The Big Split: Introduction

An introduction to my series of essays, The Big Split.

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Loose Ends

God, I've been threatening to do this essay for something like 5 years (possibly longer?) now, and I finally finished it. I don't really have the energy to go back and read it for coherence (given that it was written stop/start over the course of a few years) or edit it, so you'll get it how it currently is and I can amend it/argue about it later. Without further ado, the beginning of a multi-part essay series on the general theme of "What happened to rock music over the last 25-30 years?":

Over a decade ago now, back when I was fresh out of high school (Jesus), I wrote this article about why modern rock radio sounded the way it did at the time and why it had changed so much from rock radio in the 70s and 80s. I didn’t have the vocabulary to explain it at the time, but I now realize that my approach to that article was largely genealogical in its exploration of rock history, attempting to trace the origins of things that had become influential in the popular consciousness to their roots as an explanation for what might appear on a surface level to be unbridgeable gaps in the progression of music.

Rock radio obviously sounds quite different now from how it did in 2013, and as a follow-up, I’d like to take some time to introduce a new genealogy that traces the origins of its new sound. While the previous genealogy of rock radio centered around a narrative of one subculture rising up to displace the dominant culture, then slowly becoming the new status quo, this new genealogy tells a different story, one of parallel paths in different subcultures that emerged in the 90s and 2000s as very distinctly opposed approaches that fought on semi-equal footing for cultural dominance before gradually merging into each other to create the sound of rock radio as it began to shift in the mid-to-late 2010s. In other words, it is the story of a “split” between two different genres, or, since “genre” feels a little misleading given the broadness of what we’re going to address, two different “scenes”. I will refer to this as the “indie/emo split” for shorthand, and much of what follows will be spent defining the boundaries of each side of the split, as well as mapping out my understanding of the cultural contexts that led to their reunification.

Please note the phrase “my understanding”; this account will be, at least in part, subjective, firstly because pop music criticism (and yes, even part of pop music history) is primarily a subjective matter at its core, but also because I am not a real academic and don’t have the time or resources to try and gather interview material from everyone who was “there” at the time of the events I will be examining. I will be relying on a few external sources such as books or articles, but I’m doing this as a hobby, so you have to grant me some room for error here in addition to things you might disagree with. I know I can’t make this thing critic-proof, so I suppose you have every right to complain about my slanting of issues if you want, but just keep what I’ve said in mind as you do. If you’re someone who was “there”, I would be happy to hear from you, but I’d also like to point out that since I’m talking about the radio here, I’m going to be relying on recorded music for my sources, so if you knew what the live scene “was really like” for the artists discussed in the following, I have to tell you in advance that I care significantly less about that for the purposes of this project than about the way the music came out sounding when it was released to the public. Also I should clarify that even “radio” is a term I’m using haphazardly here; back when I wrote the original article, I barely listened to rock radio. I probably listen to it even less now. But I like to think I have a pretty good idea of what the average young person will play or think of when they hear the term “rock music”, and I can at the very least see what various music streaming services and journalists are categorizing as “rock” that they might not have before, so I hope this is a satisfactory explanation of what I will be shorthanding as “radio”. I do note that the old rock radio as it existed in 2011 (when I wrote my original essay) is almost certainly still out there – it didn’t die in the sense of dropping off the face of the earth entirely. But I don’t think it’s too far-fetched to claim that such post-grunge-inflected radio is no longer the dominant cultural force at this moment in time, so it will also not be considered as the “rock radio” that lives in the ears of today’s youth.

Finally, I should be upfront about one more point with regard to my subjectivity: I do have an agenda here. I spent much more time listening to the music from one side of this split than the other and I do think it’s more worthwhile to listen to and I will try and convince readers of that. I also believe that this side of the split has been unfairly slighted in the current cultural memory of each, and part of my project here is to remind readers of its past greatness, as well as to help shatter some nostalgia for the earlier periods of the side of the split I don’t think so highly of. Those who have been following this blog for a long time probably already know which I side with, and those who haven’t (and aren’t interested in digging back through my past ramblings) will find out soon enough.