#chapel one-shot comic

[youtwitinmyface]

CHAPEL (one shot)

Written by Robert Napton Drawn by John Stinsman Published by Awesome Comics

By September 1997, Rob Liefeld had left Image Comics and set up his new imprint Awesome Comics. And this month he published this one-shot, written by Robert Napton, who previously co-wrote issues four, five, and six of Chapel's ongoing series. Like the first Chapel miniseries, this issue tells a flashback story set during Chapel's past when he was a soldier doing covert missions for the U.S. Government. It's 1989, and a Middle Eastern dictator named Kustan Hakmed has gotten his hands on a stolen sample of X-7, which is described as the "super soldier" serum that Chapel himself had been injected with, which increased the strength and stamina of it's subject to superhuman levels. The U.S. Government is worried that he'll use it to create his own army of super soldiers to use for terrorist acts, so Chapel is sent in to Hakmed's small island nation of Liban, located off the coast of Africa, to destroy the lab that Hakmen'd scientists are working on reverse-engineering the sample they have so they can mass-produce it. As Chapel is sent in alone, he muses how three years earlier he'd been part of a team sent in to assassinate Hakmed, but they messed up and killed his daughter instead. Since then Hakmed has vowed to revenge on everyone involved, including Chapel. So much like the first miniseries, Chapel stalks through a jungle, brutally killing soldiers along the way until he finally has his face-to-face showdown with Hakmed. I won't spoil how the fight goes, I mean suffice it to say Chapel emerges victorious in the end, but you'll have to buy the comic book yourself to see how he does it. What I will spoil is that when the mission is over and Chapel returns to the Pentagon, that's when he's given his next mission, which is to assassinate Al Simmons. And thus this issue becomes a defacto prequel to Todd McFarlane's SPAWN series. I thought that was a cool little detail to add to this story, and at first I was surprised by it since Rob Liefeld was no longer connected to Image, but in hindsight, I realize that the Spawn animated series had debuted earlier that year, which featured Chapel in it as Al's killer, so it's possible that this issue was published specifically to capitalize on the Chapel's connection to Spawn. If so, I can't say it's not a smart move. It's a decent story and makes me think a series that focused on Chapel's adventures as a covert operative could have been interesting. John Stinsman, who had previous done work for Liefeld on the Team Youngblood series at Image and would go one to do more work for him on other titles at Awesome, does a decent job here, he's got the basic "Extreme studios style" down pat. Of the Chapel comics I've reviewed here, I'd call this one of the better ones. Chapel (1997 3rd Series)

[bunniisms]

WALTER. C. DORNEZ HEADCANON DUMP

Blame this headcanon dump on the tremendous support from my friends and my unending obsession with this Old Fart and throwing him down the metaphoric staircases in my brain!

THE C IN HIS NAME ISN'T A MIDDLE NAME. Remind me to talk about it at length later, because it's an entire bullshit that would make this post far, far longer that I've already made it. Instead, the C in Walter's name stands for COURTENAY, the name of the old, old noble family he draws descendants from. Who had historical connections to the art of Vampire Hunting & the Hellsing Family via their connection to the Vatican and support of the late Abraham Van Hellsing.

Walter was the son of a daughter who didn't have the name (or any claim) to pass down beyond her and her late husband's friendship with Arthur Hellsing. As an adult, Walter's reclaimed the title and hyphenated his last name (i.e. Courtenay-Dornez)

TLDR: Walter C. Dornez but the C in his name is a desperate clinging symbol and claim to historic (and almost forgotten) notoriety and a connection to the business he’s attached his whole identity to but never found direct happiness from

WALTER DESCENDS FROM PEERAGE BUT ISN'T DIRECTLY OF ANY IMPORTANCE TO ANY NOBLE FAMILIES

This is sort of canon, but WALTER HAS DEEPLY STAKED HIS SENSE OF IDENTITY AND PERSON-HOOD INTO VAMPIRE-HUNTING and the concept of both his body deteriorating with age, and his gradual sense of being rendered obsolete behind New Operatives and Alucard is the heartbeat in the floorboard driving him to madness. FOR WALTER TO BE BENCHED OR TO BE RETIRED, HE SEES THAT AS THE DEATH OF HIMSELF IN A FAR MORE VISCERAL SENSE

WALTER IS AN OXYMORON OF ARROGANCE AND INSECURITY. Walter struggles with his sense of identity and his place in the world. It's not that he feels useless, but he feels like he has been doomed and damned to forever be third best - unable to move forward - unable to be better, to be wanted by existence (and himself), always envious and wanting for any claim of his own that he can truly sink his teeth into and use as a salve to cover the infected wounds of insecurity that have been with him since he was a child.

HOWEVER, the funny thing with Walter? As much as he feels this way, he is a haughty, arrogant, catty bastard. He views the vast majority of people, human and otherwise, as far, far beneath him, even with his insecurity being what it is. Walter knows he could be MORE, but these other people? It would be a miracle if they even got to his weakest position. Their words have precisely as much weight as the clucking of chickens.

WALTER HIDES THESE TRAITS WITH A JEEVES-LIKE FACADE AND PERSONA OF WARMTH AND HUMILITY. A lot of the time, the Walter seen smiling and bowing, offering his hand and advice, greeting the guests and answering the household's calls with a polite warmth is as superficial as a cardboard mockup - it's an act - the Walter we see walk out and make pot shots to scare Jan and quote his speech back at him. THAT'S THE REAL WALTER. Walter hasn't so much changed that part of him that we saw so much of in Dawn, as much as he's learned to hide it.

ONE OF WALTER'S LOVE LANGUAGES IS TRANSPARENCY. Walter has developed such a false crust of subservience and humility and comically stereotypical butler-like deference. You know you've sunk deeper into his person when he begins lifting the act in more intimate settings. Walter might seem to get sharper and cattier, a little more mean-girl-esc with his judgement and quips, but that's Walter! If you took him for a sweet old man, you bought the charade, hook, and sinker. THIS is the real Walter, THIS is what goes on inside his mind's palace. Either embrace it or take the check and go! Haha

UNLIKE THE HOUSE OF COURTENAY'S CATHOLIC ORIGINS, WALTER IS ANGLICAN and sparsely practicing, making sure to attend major Church Functions alongside the Household (such as Integra) but not making much of a habit of attending the small chapel inside the Hellsing Estate

WALTER HAS FOURTH NERVE PALSY, caused during The Dawn Arc after he sustained a massive skull fracture and very nearly died

YES, HE DOES BLAME ALUCARD FOR THE INCIDENT THAT CAUSED THIS, they were assigned to a mission together, flushing out operatives in Warsaw together, and yet, they became separated. Alucard's bloodlust or showboating slowed him down, and Walter was left alone to fend on his own. While successful for a while, Walter was a child, a lone child, and his enemies had no mercy. By the time Alucard dragged his carcass back to Hellsing, there was little to be done. But, despite rescuing him after, Walter never forgave Alucard for the part he feels Alucard played. His blame is partially misplaced, but it still burns hot, and the paranoia festering in the back of his mind forever wonders whether it was delayed by accident or if he orchestrated it all to stunt his abilities and prevent him from surpassing Alucard? (it's absolutely NOT that Walter, I can promise you)

WALTER HAS A SMALL HABIT OF ALWAYS LEANING/COCKING HIS HEAD SLIGHTLY TO THE RIGHT SIDE TO COMPENSATE FOR THE DAMAGE TO HIS EYE AND VISION

RE: THE MONOCLE, it's not there for the aesthetics of a Victorian nobleman, though that's not to say Walter doesn't carefully cultivate his image. Walter's monocle is a prescription medical device; it helps correct issues with his depth perception and acquired short-sightedness caused by his palsy (especially with reading). Additionally, it's been a wonder how ptosis symptoms in his right eye that've stemmed from the palsy have been eased with the monocle supporting that side of his face.

WALTER ALSO HAS PERIPHERAL HYPER-MOBILITY SPECTRUM DISORDER most notably impacting his hands, wrists and fingers, but more broadly affecting his ankles and feet too. In recent years, Walter's found that the symptoms have been worsening and spread to his knees, too, but he's never spoken openly about this and resents it greatly. The records from Hellsing-pocket Doctors making note of the degeneration of his condition have always been burned, almost as though destroying them could silence the truth in some way.

THE PURPOSE OF THE GLOVES, while Butlers wearing gloves is a tale as old as time, Walter wears them not to uphold old traditions of cleanliness and not smudging things - but rather to hide the slight but noticeable gaps at the center of each of his fingertips where he ejects the monofilament from, which is unfortunately essential when facing the public. He removes them the second he gets behind closed doors and happily does that.

WALTER HAS A COMPLICATED RELATIONSHIP WITH HIS DISABILITIES, BUT THEN AGAIN, HE HAS A COMPLICATED RELATIONSHIP WITH EVERYTHING

WALTER RE: THE WIRES AND THEIR IMPACT ON HIS BODY, the designs of the Late Hellsing and Seward, while innovative, were... imperfect. Flawed even. Walter REFUSES to come to terms with it, but the wires, despite their impeccable qualities, have been degrading his body MORE than gradually. They are the single leading reason for his Hyper-Mobility Spectrum Disorder; they have been EATING at the cartilage and connective tissue in his limbs and making his gradual decline far quicker than had ever been previously believed.

WALTER GOT HIS WIRES IN AN OPERATION AT TEN. It was a deeply invasive affair that left Walter bedridden for months. Directed by Seward and Hellsing loyalists and conducted by the last design of the Late Abraham Van Hellsing and his mentee Seward. WALTER CONSENTED AT THE TIME, IN FACT, HE WAS EAGER ABOUT IT AND THE PROMISE. Walter wanted the prestige, the power, to feel purpose and drive and to have something that was his, that defined him, and the miserable life he'd been gifted that was always at the mouth of the river, leaving him looking up at the source and the promise he had been born outside of and dreaming. HOWEVER, IT WAS STILL SKETCHY AF AFFAIR, AND AS THE WORD OF GOD, IT WAS, WITHOUT A DOUBT, AN INCIDENT OF ADULTS EXPLOITING THE LACK OF KNOWLEDGE, INNOCENCE AND EAGERNESS OF A CHILD FOR PERSONAL BENEFIT.

WALTER'S LOVE LANGUAGE IS QUALITY TIME. Walter, while a womanizer, is no adept man in the art of romance - some would call him a tad clumsy, but that's not it, nor would it be right to call him cold or unromantic. Walter is simply... atypical. He doesn't enjoy grand gestures of romance or constant touch - Walter is a man of boundary, and his ideal form of love is the quiet, cat-like sort of co-existing in joy. Can he perform his duties and passions and look over to see someone he is fond of simply existing - caught in their natural environment and at peace WITH him? That's ideal for him.

WALTER IS A SOMMELIER. Read as Wine Snob, not only for his job, but he just really enjoys wine!

WALTER AND BEING A BACHELOR IS A DELIBERATE CHOICE. He's had proposals passed onto him, and thrice, he's declined. He's had his girls and boys, but never committed even to the point of being considered lovers. Walter is simply most at ease on his lonesome, and though it might seem lonesome at the surface, it's ideal for his line of work and his love style.

HE ALSO IS ALLERGIC TO DEEP COMMITMENT BUT SHHHH

WALTER DOES A LOT OF WORK AND TAKES A LOT OF PRIDE IN KEEPING HIS APPEARANCE. Sorry, I KNOW this man wears expensive colognes that he has organized for the seasons, has all his suits and tail coats properly fitted and has a skincare routine. He IS the type, and I love that for him. His toiletry cabinet is more stuffed with product than either Integra or Seras' COMBINED! He will not leave his room until his hair is slicked back and he smells like sandalwood ON GOD.

THOUGH THAT BEING SAID, HE IS LONELY IN THE SENSE THAT HE FEELS DEEPLY ALONE WITHOUT PEERS; he simply doesn't see most other people, most other creatures, as on his level. In that, and his arrogance, he is deeply alone, but it's a cage of his own creation.

HE LOVES INTEGRA LIKE A DAUGHTER, AND I REFUSE TO SEE IT ANY OTHER WAY; he helped raise that girl - a constant, familiar face in the background of her youngest years. He watched her be born in the house, he was one of the first that held her - she was one of few she gave a big smile to as a baby (she was one of few things that ever made him reconsider his decision to never want children), she watched her walk, then run and grow into a girl and then a confident young woman. And when it comes to the betrayal :,)

I could make an ENTIRE post detailing my thoughts about it and how I portray it, but Walter had been turned into a Freak a long, long time ago, and by the time he met Integra (as in, she was born), he was too far gone to be saved, and he knew it. There was a gun to the back of his head - he had the chip, and he could be toast at any moment; he... well, he selfishly did what he needed to do to survive. Sometimes, the awful truth is that both things can co-exist, and a person can be caught between love and survival and still choose survival, even after everything.

I'm 10000% on copium with this. Still, I feel his whole Ebony Darkness Dementia speech to Integra was to VILLAINIZE HIM AND HIS MEMORY IN HER MIND - he spent DECADES selfishly loving her and raising her, and he knows she returned those feelings. They never spoke about it, but he KNEW. She'd ask him his opinions (even when he, as a servant, wasn't entitled to those against the word of his lord), request him to have dinner upstairs with her and attend church functions alongside him, even when she was a grown woman. He was one of the most consistent fatherly figures she had. He became that for her, but he doesn't want her to spend any years agonizing or grieving over another dead father. Telling her he's a mustache-twirling evil that has always plotted her downfall is another selfish lie. Still, he hopes and needs to believe that maybe, maybe, that'll make it easier on her heart to cope with the rug-pull, his defection (and death) and losing yet another dad.

WALTER IS INTEGRA'S MOST ADAMENT APOLOGIST AND DEFENDER; this is another truth of mine I will take to the grave, and Hirano can fight me. It's not Walter's place as a servant to feel that level of protection over his master - even given his place, having watched her grow. Still, something alien takes over his sensibilities when he hears people speak against her brazenly, and he'll stamp it out in his own petty way. He's her dad, your honour!

[moonysgoldenstar]

Ok, these are some Newtmas fics I’ve read so far and that I’ve liked the most!

Blood Stained Butterflies in a Tin Can by chrissophile

The Maze Runner x The Walking Dead universe

Not completed

Thomas’ pov (third person)

Would’ve, Could’ve, Should’ve by Sanctum_Sanctorum

Time travel

One-shot

Words: 18,370

Thomas’ pov (third person)

here’s hoping we collide by wesball

Based on the comic “Origins” (movie verse)

Chapters: 4/4

Words: 13,296

La Douleur Exquise by dracoommalfoy

The Fever Code / Pre-Maze Runner

Completed (5 chapters)

Newt’s pov (third person)

maybe the end is the start of us by wesball

Chapters: 9/9

Words: 21,303

Thomas’ pov

twin flame by FilisMaze

Chapters: 4/4

Words: 13,065

too many colors by wesball

Chapters: 4/4

High School AU

Words: 14,856

Good Luck, Babe! by ssseashell

Based on the Chapell Roan’s song

Not completed

Call My Name by KathSilver

Call My Name is the name of the series that contains:

Where you lead (complete)

I will follow (complete)

If you need (complete)

Forgotten moments (drabbles and outtakes set in this universe)

Fix-it, time travel, slow burn

Words: 170,992

Thomas’ pov / Newt’s pov

loss of my life by FilisMaze

Based on loml by Taylor Swift

One-shot

“Thomas made it to the Safe Haven, Newt didn’t.”

Words: 2,445

a world their own, a night eternal by beardyswrites

The maze runner x Harry Potter universe

One-shot

Words: 3,064

Thomas’ pov

‘Til the night runs away by Trashner

During The Fever Code

One-shot

Words: 3,339

Thomas’ pov

take a breath of myth and mystery by wesball

Percy Jackson’s universe

Chapters: 2/2

Words: 14,938

Thomas’ pov

Hourglass by Alias_InsertName

Not completed

Thomas spends a year in the Glade before Teresa’s arrival.

Thomas’ pov / Newt’s pov

……………….

I’ll update this and any recommendation is welcome <3

[scarlet--wiccan]

Where is the recent infinity comic with William & Thomas (?) or Billy & Tommy (?) supposed to fit into canon? Like is it an au or something? Bc I’ve only seen one panel of it but it doesn’t seem to actually fit anywhere into canon since Billy & Tommy didn’t know that eachother existed at that age and William & Thomas were William & Thomas not Billy & Tommy, Thomas didn’t have white hair and they were both toddlers when they died??

So, the comic you're asking about is this week's issue of Marvel Voices: Avengers Academy on Marvel Unlimited. The issue ends with a scene of a very young Billy and Tommy fleeing from Mephisto and hiding out in a spooky chapel on Academy grounds. There is an editor's note in the issue which explains this, but these versions of Billy and Tommy first appeared in the Young Avengers run of the Marvel's Voices Infinity Comic back in 2022. Both comics are written by Anthony Oliveira, who's previously several one-shot and event tie-ins with Billy, Teddy, and sometimes Tommy.

And yes, this is taking place in present day, Earth-616 continuity.

In the Young Avengers series, Iron Lad is fighting an evil future version of Kristoff Vernard-- you know, Doctor Doom's son?-- over a shard of the M'Kraan crystal. The crystal flies off and passes through a series of time- and space-rifts, visiting each of the Young Avengers before arriving at its final destination.

Like I said, there's a lot of time-warping going on. Teddy is reunitied with a past version of his mom, and America encounters these weird little-kid versions of Billy and Tommy. These are, apparently, the souls of Wanda's sons, from after they were taken by Mephisto in Avengers West Coast. They escaped from his Hell when the crystal passed through, opening a rift which leads them to America in the present day. America defends them from Mephisto, and the kids flee through another rift with the crystal in tow, but they don't show up again for the rest of the series.

In Avengers Academy, the school campus is built in a pocket-dimension that was created using the same M'kraan crystal shard. Presumably, the rift that Billy and Tommy escaped through led them there.

My assumption is that this storyline is meant to bridge the gap between the twins' death and reincarnation. I've always felt that the retcon in Children's Crusade explained it just fine-- Wanda attempted to resurrect them using Earth's Life Force, and it worked, just not how she expected. There is room to build on top of that, though, and here, we're seeing how their souls escaped from Mephisto in order to make that reincarnation possible. The fact that time travel is explicitly involved also accounts for the timeline discrepancies around their reincarnation, although, again, that was easy enough to justify with Wanda’s heightened reality-warping.

There are also some very touching moments with Billy and America, who's really struggling in this story after finding out that everything she believed about the Utopian Parallel is a lie. There is potential here to fix some of the damage that was done to her character by threading their storylines back together Billy appears to be inspired to someday create the Parallel himself, and comments that he and Tommy might do it together, which is is interesting. Turning Billy's Demiurge destiny into a shared role makes a lot more sense after Scarlet Witch (2024) did something similar with Wanda and Pietro.

Overall, I like this storyline, but I will say that there are a number of small continuity errors, and Oliveira makes it seem as if Wanda abandoned her sons and doesn't have a good relationship with them in the present, neither of which is true. It left a bad taste in my mouth, so I am intrigued, but nervous.

The twins' ages feel very arbitrary-- they were barely toddlers when they died-- but this isn't the first time they've been retroactively aged up. Vision (2016) made them appear older in flashbacks. Tommy's hair color doesn't really bother me, because the twins weren't originally intended to have Wanda and Pietro's powers/coloring. Applying it retroactively is fine, especially since, again, this is a slightly older version, and Pietro's always canonically had white hair from a young age.

[newtsnaturethings]

Can we please have more info and lore for Trigun/Nausicaä AU? Am very interested with the story and the characters in this world setting.

Well good evening Anon I would LOVE to talk more about this AU.

I don’t want to reveal too much since I’m very much still working out a lot of lore and ideas, but I can give a summary of some of the ideas and characters. I have a LOT of little plot bunnies and comic ideas for this AU; they just take me a hot minute lol. And I’m not much of a writer so drawing it is!

So like. The ideas I had for this AU were entirely born from a world building standpoint; Gunsmoke and the Toxic Jungle are like. On the same spectrum of world building but on opposite ends, if that makes sense (harsh potentially toxic environment, post-apocalyptic human society, there’s massive fucking bug-adjacent things, etc). And I love world building and environmental storytelling so yeah let’s put these characters into this similar but also different setting.

Meryl is Nausicaä. She’s always trying to help people and understand toxic ecosystem. She tries to investigate the nature of the Toxic Jungle and the Insects (Zazie finds this VERY interesting).

Kuroneko is the fox-squirrel.

Vash is…a being of the toxic jungle somehow. I’m still workshopping how exactly this will is gonna play out. Vash has a whole inner conflict about how the Toxic Jungle is hurting people, but he also feels bad for the plants (vegetation plants AND capital P-Plants) and insects and stuff; he’s drawn to the fact that Meryl is trying to find a solution to this.

Wolfwood is the guy from Pejite. Hint hint betrayal later.

Milly is one of Meryl’s best friends from the Valley of the Wind.

Livio is Mito. Constantly worries about Meryl going into the Toxic Jungle.

Zazie: insects, hivemind, the works.

Chronica is Princess Kushana, but she may or may not exactly be calling all the shots. Chapel and Conrad run things over in Pejite.

Knives is here too. He’s pulling some strings and organizing conflicts for his ultimate goal: eradicating humanity. Vash is very much not cool with this.

The Plants are underground purifying the earth.

Plot wise: most of the story beats stay similar, with some added themes from Trigun sprinkled in. The big ol fire dudes in the movie: they’re a proxy for nukes yes, but also a warning about the mindset that one constantly needs to be preparing for war by acclimating bigger and more destructive weapons. And that doing so paired with the willingness to use those weapons pages the way for someone to shut out the suffering of others (be that animal, plant, etc). The fire dudes are even vaguely human shaped, but thier eyes are vacant and soulless, and that shows how beings can spiral down that route if they aren’t careful.

Vash and Knives both come from the bones of these guys, so they’re an offshoot of both the destructive capabilities of humanity (which manifests as those fire dudes) AND Toxic Jungle (which exists to heal the Earth from that trauma). Fun internal conflicts that they both react to in very normal ways 🙃.

Also it’s me so yes this AU will have vashmeryl in it SUE ME

That’s the basics of it for now. I have an entire Notes App page of snippets and ideas for this au and I’m always happy to talk about it. I have it under the tag: Trigun Nausicaä AU for organization.

Thanks for the ask 🦎

[thegodemperorsmycopilot]

Dramatis Personae

The Agents

Ezekyll Krinn, "Hollow"

Jeziree M'Bannyon, "Dust"

Rezika Kastalani, "Rush"

Sabin Zimnyadova, "Frost"

Uhlaxendra Oktano, "Lex"

3

They pulled on gloves as they walked into the abandoned chapel, keeping to the shadows pooled along the wall and naves. They'd landed the guncutter atop a nearby ruined hab, the leaning mass of exposed permacrete and rebar creating a cavernous space within to hide the ship.

They were not surprised to see the rail-thin man sprawled across a collapsed pew with a faded floppy, wide-brimmed hat resting upon his face nor the woman lounging upon a rafter near the ceiling with a lengthy rifle cradled in her hands.

They were surprised, however, to find a uniformed female in battered body armour seated on a pew with her blonde-haired head in her hands.

And surrounded by a trio of massive cyber-augmented hounds lying on the dust-covered ground. One of the hounds had its head lying on the woman's thigh in an almost comically comforting manner.

An eyebrow arched.

"Who brought the Lex?"

The whispered question echoed like a shot in the dilapidated nave.

"'Zeek brought the strays. Not really his fault they happen to be the local Lex," chuckled the riflewoman in the rafters. This was met by a rather dry cough from amidst the broken pews.

They realised the dry cough did not come from their sprawled associate on the ground when splinters of old wood fell upon her as the riflewoman dropped to the floor with a thud, her long-shafted weapon clattering loudly on the yellowing marble floor.

They dived for what cover they could, hitting the ground and sliding a little through the dust. They heard similar sounds of the others taking cover on the floor behind the broken pews.

More coughs followed, wood exploding into more splinters and shrapnel all around them. Slivers of wood struck their jacket and parts of their exposed face while their hands were pressed against the ground under their body.

They shoved a hand into their jacket and dragged their heavy pistol from its holster, thumbing the safety off. They raised their head slightly and looked through the crack in the pew they were taking cover behind.

They had a few seconds' glimpse of what appeared to be a male humanoid brandishing suppressed handguns in three hands. Then it was hit by a small storm of fur, steel and fangs as the three cyber-hounds crashed into the figure, bearing it to the ground. More coughs, growling and screaming came from the end of the chamber.

They leapt up from the floor and ran towards the scrum, screaming, her voice cracking, "Alive! ALIVE! TAKE HIM ALIVE!!!"

Section prev

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[darcydarlingdabbles]

🎙️✨ Until the Devil’s Last Dance ✨🎙️ Part 3

🍒 On Ao3☕Read on Ream☕On Tumblr 🍒

Sway by Dean Martin

🎙️“Ah, rhythm, the heartbeat of life itself! When the music takes hold of you, what can you do but sway? One must give in to the movement, let the moment sweep you away. Tonight, our players will dance a dangerous dance—one that’s both mesmerizing and utterly unstoppable. Care to join them?”🎙️

🎵 When marimba rhythms start to play

Dance with me, make me sway 🎵

Alastor's gaze swept over his unexpected savior, hazel eyes narrowing as he took in every detail.

The man before him was a study in contrasts—a painted portrait on the Sistine Chapel that went rogue. His classically good looks, with sun-kissed hair and bright eyes, had been turned to artful disarray with his tousled locks and a cracked leather jacket. His skin was pale and would be perfect, if not for the intricate tattoos adorned his arms, like an ancient story etched into his skin.

Lucifer’s lips quirked in response to his scrutinizing, and the omega let out a huff as he rolled his eyes.

"Well, aren't you playing the gallant prince?" Alastor's voice was laced with an amused lilt as he teased Lucifer.

"Hardly a prince," Lucifer retorted, his voice resonating through the air though it was hardly an alpha’s growl. "And, I think you've got all the charm here, Alastor."

“I’ve no idea what you could mean by that,” The omega intoned, even as he let this near stranger pull him away from Vox.

Alastor couldn't help noticing how he had to tilt his chin down to meet the other man's gaze. A good six inches separated them in height—an unusual experience, even for a tall omega. He was never approached by an alpha who couldn’t at least attempt to look down at him.

🎵 I can hear the sounds of violins

Long before it begins 🎶

The lively swing tune filled the club around them, the crowd on the dancefloor already swelling so they had to come to a stop on the hardwood.

Lucifer’s hands were on Alastor since his rescue, but he hadn’t attempted to make the omega dance with him.

But Alastor found himself wondering how they'd manage together with such a height difference. The mental image of them attempting to sway in sync was almost comical.

Lucifer, who had been looking for trouble over his shoulder, must have sensed Alastor's skepticism when he turned back, because his easy smile faltered. He quickly stepped back, releasing the brunette from his grip and holding up his hands in a mollifying gesture.

"Shit, sorry," he said, his tone genuinely contrite—not censoring himself around an omega, so many alphas did. "I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable."

Alastor blinked, surprised by the alpha's considerate response. It was…refreshing, to say the least.

"No need to apologize," Alastor replied, his own smile softening a fraction. "You didn’t."

Lucifer's golden eyes lit up.

Alastor gestured towards the floor and the other swaying bodies with a tilt of his head. "I believe you cut-in to dance with me, did you not?"

A warm smile spread across Lucifer's face, crinkling the corners of his eyes. "Well then, may I actually have this dance?" He extended his hand towards Alastor in a formal gesture that seemed at odds with his leather and boots.

🎶Like a flower bending in the breeze

Bend with me, sway with ease🎵

Alastor hesitated for just a moment, his mind racing through the potential consequences of accepting. But the night had already veered so far off course—what was one more unexpected turn?

"You may," Alastor replied, placing his hand in Lucifer's with a flourish.

As their palms connected, an unexpected warmth spread through the omega’s body like a shot of whiskey, startling him with its intensity. Lucifer's touch was surprisingly gentle as he guided Alastor into the rhythm of the crowd, his other hand coming to rest lightly on Alastor's hip.

"My, my," Alastor murmured, a hint of amusement coloring his tone. "Are you just playing at being the perfect gentleman?"

“Not at all.” Lucifer's grin sparkled with deviltry as he effortlessly led them into the rhythm of the swing tune. "I just aim to please," he replied smoothly. "And I’m used to my dance partners being taller than me."

"Is that so? I hadn't noticed a height difference at all." Alastor chuckled, deliberately draping his arm over Lucifer's shoulders.

Testing the waters, looking for alligators. To his surprise, Lucifer didn't seem bothered by the teasing jab.

 Instead, he matched Alastor's movements with surprising grace, guiding them across the polished wooden floor as if they'd been dancing together for years.

“Well, my dear,” Alastor mused, raising a hand and nearly drawing it through Lucifer’s hair, before he remembered himself. And where they were. “You are lighter on your feet than I gave your boots credit for.”

The alpha raised an eyebrow up at him. "I thought you didn't like pet names, sweetheart."

Alastor scoffed lightly, shaking his head with a chuckle. "If you think I'm sweet," he countered, leaning in closer so their faces were mere inches apart, "then I must question your judgment—for the second time in five minutes of meeting you."

The corner of Lucifer's mouth twitched up into a smirk. "For someone who isn't sweet," he retorted playfully, his gaze flicking down to Alastor's lips and then back up to meet his eyes again, "you sure have a habit of sugaring up your words."

"Alphas fancy their omegas on the saccharine side…don't they?” Alastor leaned in even closer until their noses almost touched. He held Lucifer's eyes steady and defiant. “Don’t you…darling?”

There was a subversive little tilt of Lucifer's head as he met Alastor's challenge with an equally confident smile. 

"I do," he admitted without hesitation. His voice dropped to a whisper as he added sincerely, "but only if you mean it."

“And how would you know if I meant it?” He asked, his voice dropping below the timbre of the music, so no one else would hear.

Alphas never knew what he really wanted, and they never bothered to ask. But the way Lucifer opened his mouth—Alastor suddenly worried that he might.

And there was danger in that. For an omega who kept his cards so close to his chest to be asked to show a few.

Alastor pulled back with a shrug, finally breaking the spell, but never looking away from the blonde. If he meant it, he’d use words from his own home—Cher, mon ange—and that confession was almost on his tongue.

Lucifer chuckled easily as he swayed them over the dance floor.

"Well," he said between laughs, "I know ya didn’t mean it when you called Vox that. And he was droning on and on about nothing."

“Perhaps I use that trick on any alpha who is barely retaining my attention.”

“You’re not doing it now.”

“And how would you know that?” Alastor countered, with one of his sweetest smiles.

Lucifer returned his smirk. “Because you can’t take your eyes off me.”

🎵 Other dancers may be on the floor

Dear, but my eyes will see only you🎶

Alastor blushed, like a damn school girl.

 He couldn’t admit that. He wouldn’t admit that. 

He glanced around, realizing he didn’t even think about anyone near when he was in Lucifer’s arms.

Alastor's smile took on a mischievous edge, diverting the conversation with the ease of his agile footwork. "You know," he purred, "when Vox returns—and he certainly will—you'll be in quite a bit of trouble, my daring rescuer."

Lucifer was the one to roll his eyes. He shrugged, the movement drawing Alastor’s attention to the tight white shirt beneath his jacket. "I’ve never been one to cause trouble, nope, not me."

He chuckled, a low, warm sound that sent another unexpected shiver down Alastor's spine.

"Besides," the alpha continued, "I happen to have an escape plan at the ready."

Alastor raised an eyebrow, intrigued despite himself. "Oh? Do tell."

"Well," Lucifer said, spinning Alastor out and then drawing him back in smoothly, "I may have a motorcycle parked just around back."

🎵Make me thrill as only you know how

Sway me smooth, sway me now🎵

"A…motorcycle?" Alastor repeated, his curiosity betraying him.

 He'd never seen one up close, let alone ridden on such a contraption. The idea was both thrilling and terrifying.

Lucifer's grin widened at Alastor's obvious interest. "Mm-hmm. Fast, sleek, and perfect for a daring getaway. What do you say, Al? Wanna throw caution to the wind and let me whisk you away ?"

Alastor's heart raced at the audacious proposal. 

For a moment, he allowed himself to imagine it—the wind in his hair, arms wrapped around Lucifer's waist as they sped off into the night.

🎵When we dance you have a way with me

Stay with me, sway with me🎶

But then reality reasserted itself, and he schooled his features into a look of mock disapproval.

"My, my," Alastor tsked. "How terribly forward of you, Mr. Lucifer. Proposing to steal away an omega you've only just met? What would people say?"

"I-I didn't mean...I wasn't implying..." he stammered, his cheeks flushing a pretty sweet pink for an alpha.

Alastor couldn't help it. A genuine laugh bubbled up from his chest, surprising even himself. It had been a long time since anyone had made him laugh like that.

 "Oh, dear," he said, squeezing Lucifer's arm reassuringly—and secretly thrilling at the muscle he found there. "I know exactly what you meant. I was merely teasing you."

"Well, you certainly had me going there for a moment." Lucifer relaxed, a sheepish grin spreading across his face. 

“I think I have, for most of the night.” The omega murmured under his breath.

Alastor’s arm slid back around Lucifer’s shoulders, letting himself be pulled close as they swayed and spun easily, closer than he’d allowed any other alpha dance partner.

🎶Only you have the magic technique

When we sway I go weak 🎶

He didn’t know how long he’d just been, just caught in the blonde’s gaze, when he saw the flick of mischief light Lucifer’s face. “Wanna bet I can dip you?”

“What now?” Alastor blinked, bemused and utterly confused. “Are you teasing me?”

“I’m stronger than I look.” The alpha squared his shoulders, but it was without the tone of bruised ego that always set the wary omega on edge. His arm slid around Alastor’s back, just tilting the brunette back on his heels to the beat of the music.

The omega clung tight, half certain he was going to end up on his ass either way—when Lucifer put him back up on his feet.

Even that much thrilled Alastor.

“What do you think?” Lucifer said hopefully.

“I think I’d rather not have my hair brushing this floor.” Alastor murmured, still flustered from the easy display of strength.

“It won’t.” Lucifer huffed playfully, “But I can take a hint.”

“A unique gift for an alpha.” Alastor sighed, though he settled back into Lucifer’s hold.

Only to have the shorter man snort, ducking his head as he tried to hold back his chuckles.

“What’s so funny?” Alastor asked, though he knew his tone was more amused than irritated.

“You make it too easy, sweetheart,” Lucifer grinned, giving the omega a wink. “To say I’m uniquely gifted for an alpha.”

Alastor’s confusion turned to exasperation at once, rolling his eyes—though he was more amused than annoyed by the alpha’s overt innuendo.

"Rest assured, I don't make anything easy for anyone."

"Is that so?" The question hung in the air as Lucifer cocked an eyebrow, a challenge simmering beneath his words. To his surprise, Alastor felt a blush creeping up his cheeks—unaccustomed to feeling anything but fear in response to the advances of an alpha.

“You hush.” The omega huffed, smacking a hand lightly at Lucifer’s chest. The alpha just chuckled and continued to sway him.

Their shared laughter was abruptly cut short as the atmosphere in the club suddenly shifted. 

The jovial energy drained away, replaced by a palpable tension that made Alastor's skin prickle. He turned, his heart sinking as he saw Vox striding towards them, flanked by two burly club bouncers.

The omega quickly broke free of the alpha’s arms.

"Well, well," Vox sneered, his eyes narrowing as he took in the scene before him. "What do we have here? Some upstart greaser trying to steal my omega?"

Alastor bristled at the possessive tone. "I am not your omega, Vox," he snapped, drawing himself up to his full height.

Vox's face twisted with anger. "You might as well be," he snarled, gesturing wildly. "I brought you here, didn't I?"

The bouncers nodded in agreement, their stern faces a treacherous reminder of the risks involved in challenging an alpha's claim. However unfounded it might be.

Alastor knew Vox would return, but he hadn't expected this level of aggression and force. As he frantically considered his options, he felt Lucifer's steady presence beside him, still holding his waist in a silent promise of support.

Until Vox had to open his big mouth. 

“C’mon, omega.” The oily alpha sneered, “You know your place.” 

Lucifer's golden eyes flashed with anger, his jaw clenching as he stepped forward. The club's lights flickered ominously, casting strange shadows across his face.

"Now hold on just a minute," the alpha growled, his voice low with warning.

Alastor's heart raced, a mix of fear and something else he couldn't quite name coursing through him. He'd never seen anyone stand up for him like this before.

“I think the omega gets to decide who he wants to go with and when,” Lucifer continued.

The other dancers in the club had stopped, forming a curious circle around the confrontation. But the band played on. A discordant backdrop to the tense scene unfolding.

Vox sneered, taking a menacing step forward. "You don't know what you're talking about, pretty boy. Alastor's mine."

Alastor could see Lucifer's fists clenching, his body coiling like a snake ready to strike. 

For a moment, he feared the alpha might actually attack Vox. He was used to violent outbursts from the dominant sex—but never to protect him.

Without thinking, Alastor reached out, placing a firm hand on Lucifer's shoulder. The touch seemed to ground the alpha, and Alastor felt some of the tension leave the blonde’s body.

"I won't be going home with you tonight, Vox. Or any other night, for that matter."

The words hung in the air, a challenge and a declaration of independence all at once. 

Alastor's heart hammered in his chest, but he stood firm, bolstered by Lucifer's unwavering presence.

"You ungrateful little—" Vox's face contorted with rage. He lunged forward, grabbing Alastor's arm with bruising force. "You're coming with me, bitch!"

Alastor winced. He could smell Vox's anger, sharp and acrid, mixing with the scent of alcohol on his breath. 

Lucifer had launched himself at the dark-haired alpha—and, despite his size, it took both bouncers to hold him back as Vox reeled Alastor in.

The situation was spiraling out of control, and he knew he had to act fast. Years of dealing with unwanted advances had taught him a thing or two.

"Oh, Vox," Alastor purred, his voice sickeningly sweet. "That was…just so alpha, I can hardly stand it."

Confusion flickered across Vox's face. Which was nothing compared to the utterly comical bewilderment on Lucifer’s face as he dropped the bouncer he was holding up by the shirt.

“Well now, that’s more like it.” Vox puffed out his chest, crushing the omega to his side, that hand getting dangerously close to his ass. “I knew you’d see it my way, doll.”

“Hmm, yes, I certainly do see it…”

In one fluid motion, Alastor brought his knee up, connecting solidly with Vox's groin. The alpha's eyes bulged, his grip on Alastor loosening as he doubled over in pain.

"Don’t ever touch me like that again," Alastor said, his smile razor-sharp.

A collective gasp went up from the crowd, followed by shocked whispers and a few scattered cheers.

 Lucifer let out a surprised bark of laughter.

"Well, I'll be damned," Lucifer stepped, taking Alastor's hand. "Remind me never to get on your bad side, hot stuff."

Alastor's heart was pounding, a mix of adrenaline and exhilaration coursing through his veins. "Perhaps we should make ourselves scarce before he recovers, yes?"

Lucifer nodded, his grin infectious. "Follow me!"

Lucifer led Alastor through the crowd, weaving past shocked onlookers and towards the kitchen.

As they pushed through the swinging doors, the clamor of the club faded, replaced by the clatter of pots and pans and the sizzle of grills.

"Exit's this way," Lucifer said, guiding Alastor past the unconcerned kitchen staff.

Alastor couldn't help but laugh, the absurdity of the situation finally hitting him. "I can't believe I just did that," he said, shaking his head.

Lucifer squeezed his hand reassuringly. "Believe it, sweetheart. That was the most impressive thing I've seen in a long time."

As they approached the back exit, Alastor felt a twinge of uncertainty. 

What was he doing, running off with an alpha he'd just met? But then he remembered Vox's possessive grip, the way Lucifer had defended his right to choose, and he knew he was making the right decision.

"Ready for your first ride?" Lucifer asked, his hand on the door handle.

Alastor took a deep breath, then nodded. "Lead the way, my daring rescuer."

Lucifer pushed open the door, and together they stepped out into the unknown.

🎶Make me thrill as only you know how

Sway me smooth, sway me now🎵

The cool night air hit Alastor's face like a shock, a stark contrast to the stuffy heat of the club. Before he could fully appreciate the relief, angry shouts erupted behind them. Lucifer's grip on his hand tightened.

"Time to run," Lucifer said, his golden eyes sparkling with excitement.

They took off down the alley, their footsteps echoing off the brick walls. 

"Where exactly are we going?" Alastor gasped between breaths.

Lucifer glanced back, his sun-kissed hair catching the dozy streetlight. "My bike. It's just around the corner."

As they rounded the bend, Alastor caught sight of a sleek motorcycle gleaming in the shadows. Lucifer released his hand and sprinted towards it.

"Have you ever ridden before?" Lucifer called out as he swung his leg over the seat.

Alastor hesitated, his steps faltering. "I... no, of course I haven't."

The shouts grew closer. 

Lucifer turned the key, and the bike roared to life, the engine's growl echoing through the alley. He extended his hand towards Alastor, a challenging smile on his face.

"There's a first time for everything, sweetheart. What do you say?"

Alastor's mind raced. This was madness, surely. Running off with a stranger on a machine he'd never even touched before. And yet...

"Oh, what the hell," Alastor muttered, reaching out to take Lucifer's hand.

🎶You know how

Sway me smooth, sway me now🎵

🎙️ “Infatuation is a dangerous thing, my dear listeners. See how it unfolds with Nat King Cole’s ‘Fascination’ next.” 🎙️

🍒 On Ao3☕Read on Ream☕On Tumblr 🍒

[raddocwrites]

SNW drabbles

Did I miss the wedding bells?

The laughter died suddenly and ortegas stiffened as she turned around. Chapel was deathly still beside her. La’an eyed the stranger dubiously (but that’s how she eyed most everybody).

Una immediately noticed the intense chill in the room and her eyes flicked worriedly to ortegas and chapel. She squared her shoulders, plastered a polite smile on her face and moved to place herself between the old Klingon and her crew.

The ancient Klingon with an ample belly and shock white hair seemed oblivious to the tension. He beamed at uhura and in Klingon, asked her where she had learned to speak Klingon like kahless himself.

“Are you injured?” una asked cutting him off. Her voice was completely courteous but with an undeniable edge.

The intruder ignored una (a feat in and of itself) and waited patiently for uhuras response. After a moments hesitation, she replied in flawless Klingon that she simply liked languages, so she learned them. He laughed. He placed a hand over his round stomach and positively bellowed in amusement.

He grinned at ortegas and nodded approvingly. “It is as you said. As smart as she is beautiful.” He winked and continued to laugh.

Ortegas mouth moved and for once she couldn’t find the words. The tips of her ears turned bright red.

Una raised her eyebrows and looked to la’an who shrugged. Chapels voice was rough as she asked. “What do you want?” She had sidled closer to ortegas without thinking.

The Klingon sobered. “I mean no harm. I came only to gift this to your little warrior.” He held out a nondescript, standard, replicated thermos for liquids. He toggled his hand impatiently up and down and nodded encouragingly towards ortegas.

Ortegas was still too stunned to move so una quickly retrieved it from their ‘guest’. “What is it?” she asked politely.

The klingon grinned and huffed a great chuckle. He winked again at ortegas as he boomed. “It is traditional Klingon recipe. It makes the blood sing and the heart dance. So that little warrior may ngagh with all her beautiful be’enal all night long.

Uhuras eyes nearly popped out of her skull and she half chocked in surprise.

“What? What did he say?” la’an asked. Uhura just shook her head.

“Well, thank you,” una started as she tilted her head in a dismissal. But the Klingon just looked between the container una held and ortegas, clearly waiting for her to give it to the pilot.

He smiled again when ortegas finally accepted the thermos. He eyed una up and down. “So tall. So formidable.” His eyes practically twinkled at a joke una couldn’t quite grasp. “I think little warrior will need it for you, yes? You are almost intimidating enough to be Klingon!” he said eagerly. His smile was enthusiastic and he patted his belly again. “I say again. Your wives are fierce. You are very lucky.”

Unas eyes widened comically, chapels mouth dropped open, and la’an blinked several times. “What?” she asked sharply.

“I-its nothing,” ortegas stuttered.

“Agh!” the Klingon chided. “Do not be modest. It is no small feat to satisfy one, let alone fou,r fine vixens.”

Una decided to step in and put a stop to this before things got (even more) out of hand. “Well, thank you…”she tried again.

The Klingons eyebrows shot up. “I am a fool,” he berated himself. “I am T’lan of house Miral.” He made a small bow with his head towards ortegas. “If you or any of your be’nal ever require assistance, house miral will be there!”

“Yes, well,” una said for the third time as she slowly walked the Klingon back towards the door. “Thank you so much for your…gift. It was very…thoughtful.”

The Klingon just winked one last time and left sickbay with a jovial laugh.

Una turned to ortegas with a raised eyebrow.

Ortegas was still a lovely shade of red. “I-um…he was on the prison asteroid-“

“Obviously,” chapel cut in.

“And…um…he may have thought that…uh…we were all together….”

“As in?” una asked.

Uhura chuckled. “Wives. He called us the Lts wives.”

Chapel snorted. Una looked towards the container she had handed to ortegas. “And that?” she asked, clearly not sure if she actually wanted the answer.

Uhura grinned even wider. “Im guessing its some sort of ancient Klingon recipe to make the drinker…um…more virile…to uh…”

Una held up a hand stopping the ensign. “We get it.”

La’an just looked from ortegas to where the Klingon had been, back to ortegas, then to all the other people around her. The look on her face was almost thoughtful. “Well that was interesting,” she said as she leaned back, resting against the monitors.

“It WAS interesting. Little warrior,” chapel said turning to her friend with an intensity in her eyes that ortegas knew meant she was going to be hounded about this (unrelentingly) for months.

Unas face was concerned. “Are you okay? Should I-“

Ortegas held up a hand. “Its okay,” she reassured number one. “Its just…you know. Hes Klingon. But he actually seems…”

“Friendly?” chapel tried. Her eyebrow quirked up like the idea of a friendly Klingon was somehow impossible. But ortegas nodded when chapel looked at her.

“Yeah,” ortegas agreed in surprise.

Uhura shrugged. “He seemed nice to me. Klingon or not.”

“Of course, you liked him,” chapel pointed out. “He called you beautiful.” Her voice was playful and she winked at the ensign.

Uhura shook her head. “He said, that’s what erica call…said.” Somehow admitting that ortegas had called her beautiful was too much. She felt her cheeks flush.

Everyone turned to look at orgtegas. “HE said you were beautiful and I said that you were a STARFEET OFFICER and he-“ She threw up her hands. “Why are we even talking about this?” she exclaimed.

Una crossed her arms, hiding her own mischievous smile. “What I want to know is why he thought you were the alpha? Why are we YOUR wives?”

Ortegas mouth moved like a fish for a moment.

“Yeah!” Chapel jumped in again. She lightly nudged her friends shoulder. “And what did he say about me?” She leaned closer, her voice slightly more conspiratorial now. “Or the Lt?” she looked with a raised eyebrow to la’an who pretended to ignore their conversation through half lidded eyes. But chapel knew better, the security chief was absorbing every, single, word.

Her eyes flicked back to her friend who held out her hands in a mollifying gesture. Or was she trying to ward off a pack of rabid animals?

Chapel grinned, loving this and not wanting to let it go quite yet. “Its obvious, his thoughts on the commander,” she offered as if to help ortegas.

Una straightened and she uncrossed her arms. “What do you mean?”

Chapel and ortegas and uhura all shared a look. They had seen the way the Klingon had clocked her height and the pilots (lack of height). But they were all thinking about una towering over a different person, a certain security officer known to be quite stubborn…Perhaps using said person for support as they traveled down a poorly lit tunnel, casting shadows that made the difference in size even more adorable.

“Your height,” la’an stated, surprising them all.

“What?” una blinked.

“You are significantly taller than Lt ortegas,” la’an explained.

“So,” una asked still feeling out of the loop.

La’ans face flashed through several different unreadable emotions and she shifted slightly.

Chapel jumped in quickly. “Sex. He was referring to sex,” she said casually. “You know. Since the height difference would make it…” she made a vague gesture with her hands.

Unas eyes widened comically and the others tried not to laugh.

“Why are we still talking about this?” ortegas groaned.

Uhura picked up the container with the mystery Klingon brew and held it up. “So, the real question is what are we going to do with this?”

[degeneratewh0re]

"Do you still have feelings for me?" + copiiia? :]

(Yo I accidentally wrote a whole fanfic for this one lmao, more content for y'all. I hope you enjoy 💕)

Copia had never felt more miserable in his life. He thought that becoming Papa could possibly fulfill the empty feeling in his chest, and he knew what he needed, but there was no way he could ever get it back. Even leading the sermon during mass, he wasn't himself. He choked on his words and the chapel's occupants gave him concerning looks. He merely passed it off as, "Eh, scusi, I fear I may be coming down with something..." and awkwardly laughed it off. Really, he was crumbling on the inside. Suffering with loss. Everyone says it grows easier over time, but that isn't the truth, is it? The more time passes, the more we forget about the person we lost. Copia didn't want to forget Terzo. He couldn't.

He had been missing for over three years. Presumably dead. And though Copia wanted to do everything in his power to search for his lover, Sister Imperator would never allow it. He wanted to peel his skin away, feeling constantly watched. Like he was prey being stalked by an eagle, waiting to dig its claws into him as soon as he made the wrong move...

But, one night, the unthinkable happened.

An anonymous letter left on the windowsill in his bedroom. 'Come to the forest at midnight. It has been such a long time since we've spoken.'

Unsigned, yet the handwriting was deeply engraved in Copia's mind. His heart began racing. This has to be a prank. Whoever was behind it, he would sure give them a piece of his mind. What a cruel thing to do to somebody...

Fine. He'd go. When the hour struck, he climbed out of his bedroom window and quickly ran across the gate bridge as to stay out of sight, silently cursing to himself. He could have been smarter and worn something else besides his slippers. He persevered, despite nearly stumbling with every step, and ran deep into the forest. It had been thirty minutes since he first began his journey. His sleepwear was torn, nicks covering his arms and legs from the thorns and branches he got caught on. Maybe this was a bad idea... what if whoever wrote that letter only wanted to lure him in so he'd get lost? For the worse, kill him? He grew anxious, paranoid. He was lost in the dark and far from home. He wanted to cry, but he was so angry with himself that his body wouldn't allow it. Though.. he saw a strange rope on the ground. It was suspiciously out of place. The more he looked, the more he realized that there was more rope. It has to lead to somewhere...

By the end of the rope, still nothing. Copia buried his face in his palms and shouted. The tears began to quickly fall after a while of holding them back. He felt so stupid. He was going to die here, alone, torn to bits by some wolf or something befitting of his situation-

"Copia."

He froze, slowly turning around towards the voice. Was it...?

It was Terzo. Alive. His hair had grown past his shoulders, and there was no mistaking that chilling, glowing white eye in the darkness. Copia stared at him, wide eyes, and then something snapped inside of him. He shouted and knocked the other man square in the jaw, sending him tumbling back against a tree.

"You motherfucker- how could you- why? Why did you leave me?" He panted, grabbing Terzo by the front of his shirt, angry enough that steam could have comically shot from his ears. Terzo slightly panicked, putting his hands up to defend himself, wincing from his jaw aching from the punch. "Will you calm down? Let me explain before you start beating the shit out of me, belial!"

Copia huffed, and reluctantly let Terzo go. He didn't want to do that.. he wanted- he shook away those thoughts. Terzo was still alive, and hadn't even bothered to say goodbye. Nothing. Copia had been hurting for years.

"Hurry then! I'm cold, I'm torn to bits, I-I-" his breath shuddered as Terzo quietly shushed him, brushing a hand over his cheek, petting him softly. He looked away and gritted his teeth.

"I had to run, Copia. They were going to kill me. I wished I could have told you, but doing that, I would be risking both of our lives."

Copia felt his anxiety spike hearing this. No, no.. this was too much information to process right now. "Why... why would-? Your own father wouldn't kill you." His voice sounded out of breath, broken, hurt. Terzo cooed quietly. Oh, he hated seeing Copia upset... and Terzo felt his heart break whenever Copia began sobbing.

"No, don't cry, bello. I'm here. I'm alive." He wrapped his arms around Copia, letting the Papa cry into his shoulder. Copia trembled beneath his fingers and gripped onto the back of his shirt. Now, he really didn't want to let go.

"Do you..." Terzo never let Copia leave his grasp, but moved his head so he could look down at him as he began to spoke. He wiped away his tears with his thumb, stroking over the faded out freckles on his cheeks. "What is it?"

"Do you still have feelings for me...?" Copia choked out between sniffled. Terzo smiled sadly, sighing, looking his dearest in the eyes.

"I've never lost them. The only reason I came back was for you, caro mio..."

Copia smiled through his tears. His grin big and crooked. He felt the emptiness inside of him slowly being filled again. He cupped Terzo's cheeks with both of his trembling hands, pulling him into a gentle, passionate kiss. Terzo held onto his hips firmly, gently caressing his lover while he returned the affectionate touches.

"I am going to take you far away from here, beloved. I'll make sure they never hurt either of us..."

[twasbrillig71]

oooh i have a question!!! i've seen folks tagging Music Meister's real name as both Darius Chapel and Alastor Sharpe. are both of these different variants on canon, and do you know where they come from? i want to make sure i'm tagging correctly 🥰

im pretty sure Darius Chapel is the only True canon here, it originated from the one-shot comic dc pride (2022)— the story involving him was called "Think of Me" if im not mistaken —where they finally gave him a name after a decade.

the other is for the codotverse/Rouges podcasts version of Music Meister specifically!

people usually only call him Alastor if he's from that verse, but i tag all my Meister posts with it bc honestly??

,,his canon name just NEVER sit right with me. lmao

it should be WAY more dramatic and pun-y!! Alastor Sharpe is just perfect for my little zoot suit theater kid man <3

hope this helps!!

[lostcybertronian]

I’ll Be Right There

I have ten million things to work on. Have some TOS Spirk.

Angst with a happy ending.

---

It was hard enough to sleep alone, but the nightmares made it damn near impossible. Kirk woke with a gasp, cold sweat beading on his forehead, grasping at wounds he didn’t even have.

His middle throbbed, and as he sat up he ran a hand over the ridged bandage, wincing. Remembering, even as the last dregs of dream faded away.

Why did shore leave always have to go so wrong? He could still feel the impact of phaser bolt to flesh, the collision of head to stone. The pool of warm blood spread out beneath him. A stomach wound with no major organ damage was easy enough to fix, according to Bones. A couple of days and he was out of the medbay with orders not to make any sudden movements.

It didn’t hurt damn near as bad as watching Spock take three phaser shots to the chest, plasma sizzling through favric and skin, his eyes widening almost comically, as if he were enduring one of McCoy’s illogical insults.

And he’d felt it, through their bond. Kirk’s chest still burned even now. He clenched his fists, biting the nails deep into the palms to try to quell the shaking. 

Th’y’la. Spock’s voice unfurled in his mind, quiet and weak. His presence was barely there, but it was, and that brought relief so intense Kirk could’ve cried. Why aren’t you resting?

Kirk took a deep breath that hitched, tried to compose himself before answering. I could ask you the same thing.

I felt your distress.

There was a touch of concern there, some emotion peeking through the shield of Vulcan indifference; Spock probably didn’t have the strength to maintain it. Kirk suppressed a watery smile, well aware there was no one in his quarters to give it to. There’s no need to worry about me, Spock. How do you feel?

A pause, lasting so long that he would’ve thought Spock had fallen asleep if not for his quiet presence hovering at the edge of Kirk’s mind. I will recover.

There was an edge of pain to his voice, though it would embarrass Spock to point it out. Instead, Kirk stood up, ignoring the stab of pain from his middle. I’ll be right there.

He threw on a gold shirt before leaving his quarters.

—

The medbay was dark and only Nurse Chapel sat at the desk when he entered, her pretty face illuminated by the light of her tablet.

“You’re in a rush,” she said. “Are you feeling alright, Captain?”

“Yes, yes, of course,” Kirk reassured her, even though it was a bald-faced lie: he felt like he’d been stabbed all over again, and in his hurry to reach the medbay he was almost certain the wound had started bleeding again. “I am here to see Mister Spock.”

Nurse Chapel shook her head. “I’m afraid the last time I checked on him he was still asleep.”

“That’s quite alright. I’ll see him anyway.” Kirk went to brush by her but she caught his arm.

“I understand you have-“ she started, but seemed to think better of it. She let go of his arm and took a step back, her eyes soft. “I’ll bring you a chair, Captain.”

Kirk was already nodding, already turning away. “Yes, thank you, Nurse.”

Spock was in rough shape; his face was bruised green and dark, tired circles ringed his eyes. Heavy bandages plastered his bare chest and he was hooked up to what seemed like a dozen machines, all of which beeped and booped, monitoring his vitals and administering fluids as needed.

“Jim,” Spock croaked, struggling to raise a hand, to extend two fingers for a Vulcan kiss. 

Instead of meeting it, Kirk took his hand tightly in his own and bent over to kiss him properly. He tasted like the plastic tube he’d been intubated with.

Behind them, Nurse Chapel cleared her throat. “Uh, Captain?”

Kirk stood up quickly in some attempt to regain his dignity, a flush creeping up his neck. He noted with satisfaction that, for once, he’d left Spock breathless. “Yes, Nurse Chapel?”

She set down the chair she’d been carrying. Ever the professional, if she was caught off guard by stumbling upon the Captain and First Officer engaged in unprofessional activity, she refused to show it. “Your chair.”

“Thank you.” Kirk waited for her to retreat before repositioning the chair close to the bed. He settled with a soft sigh and took Spock’s hand once more, pressing soft kisses to his fingers.

“Such public displays of affection are inappropriate,” Spock admonished, but didn’t withdraw his hand or the amusement in the arch of one delicate eyebrow.

With his free hand Kirk gestured to the machines, to his own wound. “I think today we can make an exception.” He hesitated. Looked down at their clasped hands. Felt something inside him give. “You look like hell, Spock.”

“And you yourself appear unwell.”

Kirk chuckled. “I can’t sleep. Not without nightmares.”

Spock pulled his hand free, and before Kirk could protest too loudly he pressed his fingers to the side of the captain’s face and closed his eyes, initiating a mind-meld.

Immediately Kirk was engulfed in emotion. Pain. Fear. Everything Spock had felt when they were attacked. He watched through Spock’s eyes as he was shot, sunlight glinting harshly off the phaser bolt, and he watched through Spock’s eyes as he fell, blood spattering the sand of that nice M-class planet. He floundered, struggling against the mind-meld, but was completely unable to break free of it. 

And then it all went away. Waves of calm washed over him. He was dimly aware of being touched, of a world outside of his consciousness, of Spock speaking in a low voice. He couldn’t quite make out what he was saying, but he felt comforted nonetheless.

He slumped in the chair, the pain in his stomach fading to a dull ache, his head lolling. He felt Spock end the mind-meld– felt the absence like a hole in his heart– but he was already asleep, far too tired to protest.

—

Bones was none too surprised to find Kirk in the medbay when he arrived to relieve Nurse Chapel. The love-stricken bastard seemed to be glued to Spock’s side nowadays.

He held his tablet with both hands and eyed Spock, who was doing a decent job of appearing to be asleep. But he knew better; you didn’t become CMO of a starship by not being able to read a simple vital machine. “I know you’re awake,” he said gruffly. “Stop pretending so I can take a look at you.”

Spock opened his eyes, fixing him with a look that was a little too bold for someone at his mercy. “Merely meditating, Doctor,” he said. “It is beneficial to the body.”

“Yes, yes.” Bones waved a hand. “I’m well aware of your Vulcan mind-tricks. Meditation won’t return you to your duties any faster.”

Spock opened his mouth to reply but Bones cut him off by jabbing his stylus in Kirk’s direction. The captain was fast asleep, and didn’t look like he’d be moving anytime soon. “I couldn't even get him to sleep. How’d you manage it?”

Spock arched an eyebrow in a way that made Bones want to smack him. “Only my Vulcan mind-tricks, Doctor.”

[mikurulucky]

One thing I'd like to do is try and look over the comics and shit to try and come up with a map/room plan for the king's castle. Thing is, there's only so much room in a panel for a hallway background, so it's kinda hard to get a feel for where each room or building is in the castle walls in relation to direction and whatnot. There's also only so much you can show from external shots of the castle and its outdoor area in the walls.

If I'm eventually able to have at least a mental feel for how the castle's laid out, I could actually imagine myself walking in it. A feel for where the great hall is, where Johan and Peewit's chambers are located. Or other buildings like stables or potentially a chapel.

There is also the cartoon, which kinda has its own layout that's a tad inconsistent with the comic's, at least in terms of room layout. I still haven't gotten a mental map of the great hall yet or whether the banquets are held in that same hall or not (which they often were in a lot of medieval castles irl, particularly smaller ones).

But if there's ONE detail about castle design that I really like in Peyo's works, it's that they have some wood detailing. Plus the screenshot above kinda makes me think the outer walls were whitewashed as well (like with white paint and such). Like, there's wooden supports for roofs and wooden balconies. It's not ALL stone and I like that detail. It adds a bit of variety in a way.

[ang3l0fde4th4ndd0gs]

Okay so at some point I was writing like 4 fandoms at once and some original stories. I have since written one Disney one shot and the rest has all been Marauders. So I have a feeling I should fix that 😂. I loved being a fully multi fandom account. Like I wrote Marvel stuff, Harry Potter stuff, Disney stuff, MCYT stuff, BNHA stuff, OUAT stuff all at the same time and had like 40 different books. Most of it was MHA of course cause at the time, that was the big thing. Everyone was into that. But I haven't written much outside of my bubble. So I present a challenge (for those who want to participate of course), give me a fandom to get into. I will post my list of fandoms under the cut. I will look into said fandom and write at least one one shot about it and put it in AO3. Only because I would love to be multi fandom again, I just haven't gotten into much as of lately.

Once Upon a Time 

Harry Potter

Marvel

Star Wars

Glee

Liv And Maddie

Disney

V for Vendetta

Hamilton

Heathers

BNHA

Doctor Who

Firefly/Serenity 

Lovejoy (But I don't Support Wilbur)

Wilbur Soot (Don't support Wilbur himself)

Technoblade

Friends

Wednesday

Divergent

Disney Parks

Tesla

Riverdale

Melanie Martinez (I don't support Melanie herself)

Sam Smith

Tom Lehrer

Mitch Hedberg

John Mulaney

Nick Kroll

Taylor Tomlinson

Dungeons And Dragons

Gabriel Iglesias 

Stranger Things

Unus Annus

Markiplier

Jacksepticeye

CrankGamePlays

Five Nights At Freddy’s

Slime Rancher

Harley Quinn

Dear Evan Hansen

Dangnonronpa

Bob Ross

In The Heights

Free Guy

Percy Jackson

Apollo Series

Asylum Series

My Chemical Romance

Paramore

Cinder Series

Nerdy Nummies

How To Cake It

Monster

Grease

Animal Crossing

Totally Reliable Delivery Service 

Call Of Duty

Halo

Zoo Tycoon

Powerwash Simulator 

Alexa and Katie

The Crown

Bo Burnham 

Beetlejuice

Lana Del Rey 

Face Off

Red Rising

Kevin Hart

Jo Koy

Mateo Lane

Slime Meowy

PeachyBbies 

Assassination Classroom 

The Grinch

Moriah Elizabeth 

TPM Videos

Andy Weir

Project Hail Mary

Artemis

Ready Player One

The Martian

Inception

Punisher

Spiderman

Shadow And Bone

Six

Narnia

Marauders

Hazbin Hotel

Dear Evan Hansen

Game Of Thrones

Gilmore Girls

StampyCat/StampyLongNose

Mean Girls

After Series

Archie Comics

The Flash

Arrow

Ouran Highschool Host Club

TX2

SkyDxddy

Cloudy June

We Three

AC/DC

Aerosmith

Dorian Gray

Ben Barnes

Hadestown

Blue Eye Samurai

Daz Black

JacksFilms

Bridgerton

How to train your dragon

P4perback

Whataboutpadfoot

P4perangel

Taylor Swift

Brain Leak

VOILA

Skyrim

Assassin's Creed 

Pirates Of The Caribbean 

Deadpool

X-Men

Bluey

Mario

Jujutsu Kaisen

Hozier

Good Omens

Sam And Colby

Kall Me Kris

Billie Eillish

Little Misfortune 

Nerdforge

The Princess Bride

DSMP

HermitCraft

My Little Pony

A Goofy Movie

Slime Obsidian 

The Rise Of The Order

The Last Of Us

The Big Bang Theory 

South Park

Winx Club

OddCat Cosplay

Commander BunBun Cosplay

Soul Eater

Heartbreak High

Young And Hungry

The Lord Of The Rings

Saturday Night Live

Westworld 

Lucifer

Chapell Roan

Renee Rapp

Tinkerbell

Queen

(As of 8/01/2024)

Some might be doubles but, that was everything I've been into. A lot of it honestly doesn't have great fanfiction potential though. I have admittedly written a little bit of Ben Barnes stuff too. But not much. I think maybe 5 one shots if that.

The whole list was taken from my Quotev list. But, I wanted to share my own interests and encourage others to share theirs. Perhaps tag someone and let's see how many interests I can collect lol.

I know that there are a lot of fandoms here that I probably could write for but haven't gotten around to it. I probably will eventually I just also enjoy the thought of learning new things as well.

[channeleven]

LTA: Todd McFarlane’s Spawn

I'll be blunt, I don't have the best relationship with comic book cartoons. I'm able to appreciate some of them these days like the Incredible Hulk cartoons, but I feel a lot of them fall into the same series of tropes and cliches that basically make them as run of the mill as an animated sitcom, I feel like I'm the only one who noticed this. Now, comic book adaptations, familiarities aside, are enjoyable if you're into that scene, though it's hard to deny most of them have some serious issues. They could be forgivable if they came out at a time long before a gold standard is set like the old Marvel cartoons, but for stuff like She-Hulk Attorney at Law and DC Superhero Girls...

At your own risk.

But when it comes to shows like those, either I avoid it knowing I'd have little good to say about it, or I give it a shot after seeing some clips and I'll see how I feel about it from there, and here we are now.

Background

Spawn is a comic book character created by Image Comics co-founder Todd McFarlane, and one of many Image properties that received a hell of a lot of interest. In the mid-90s, Spawn received a massive marketing push, from video games, to toys, to movies and a television series, and for better or worse they saw the light of day. Though I imagine it was through marketing people became familiar with Spawn, I know I was.

My first exposure to Spawn was through a trailer for the 1997 film that turned up on an old VHS tape I had. I was unfamiliar with the character and assumed this was some B movie tribute, Spawn was a mutant and Clown was an evil wacky political figure or something. If you want my opinion on the film, I can understand why some things about it were changed compared to the comics, like changing Terry Fitzgerald's race and removing Chapel, but whether it was Todd's influence or not, it feels like people actually cared during its production, as nearly everything else is done to properly replicate elements of the comics, Michael Jai White did a good job as Spawn and John Leguizamo absolutely nailed Clown. You can certainly do a lot worse when it comes to superhero films, especially New Line Cinema titles released during that period. After all, 97 was the year of Annihilation.

As for the series it's another interesting coincidence. I left a comment praising the animation in the music video for Korn's Freak on a Leash, and I said yeah, I want to see a cartoon animated like this. Someone recommended Todd MacFarlane's Spawn to me, and after a few years I got around to checking it out... just to find context for a scene I saw on YouTube. Although going through it, it seemed more familiar than I expected, like I watched this long ago in reruns, or my folks actually let me watch it, I know they let me watch The Sopranos with them.

Let's just get into the series proper.

Plot and Characters

This won't be a plot summary, but just to get you into the loop, Spawn centers on Al Simmons, a government assassin who is betrayed by his partner and killed. He bargains with Satan stand-in Malebolgia in order to return to earth and reunite with his wife Wanda, but as his death was arson-based he is rendered disfigured, and now sent to recruit souls to join Malebolgia's army, in this case, souls of those who have done wrong and would be destined for hell.

This is made clear early on, so even if you haven't read the comics you can at least jump right in without needing that much knowledge of the character. An adaptation works best when you don't need to be immediately familiar with the initial source material. With so many adaptations taking on radically different directions with little connection to the sources that originated them, it's a huge mess. However, that doesn't mean you'd be losing some context if you're new to the series, and it shows for a lot of the characters. I'm not aware of their allegiances, motivations or overall relevance to the plot, so admittedly I had to look them up so I have some idea to what to expect, especially when each are well written characters in their own right. Firstly, Angela. She had only made one appearance in the animated series proper. I had assumed she would be a bounty hunter sent to kill Spawn, and I was kinda right. At least somewhere in the comics she was initially sent by heaven to destroy Spawn, it fails but not on black and white terms. The role was kinda switched by the end of the series, where Jade was given the role. I heard this was due to legal issues between Todd and Neil Gaiman and if the latter had no role in the series that could've spelt trouble, although Angela would've appeared in the show's fourth season had the series kept going.

But when it comes to Spawn characters outside of those immediately connected to Spawn, I've gotta talk about Sam and Twitch. Now, on the surface they appear to either be corrupt cops or those who would become a thorn in Spawn's side, but basic research and getting through the series revealed that wasn't so. In truth, Sam and Twitch are poised as being good cops in a precinct riddled with corruption, that point being made especially clear in the show's last season, when beforehand they were just investigating incidents Spawn either had a hand in or happened to be at the right place at the right time for. People like to immediately depict cops as outright corrupt, whether it comments on police brutality or just pokes fun at them, so it's nice to see something not only serve as antithesis to that, but maintain its commentary on corruption in the police force. Even when said commentary is on the nose, it's at least relevant to the plot and key characters and carried out in a way that makes either character shine, from reflecting Sam's genuine care for justice beyond his more loutish nature, to Twitch's bravery, determination and analytical nature.

I certainly thought they were great, and so did everyone else. They not only got a cameo in the 1997 film, but they even got a spin-off comic series.

Clown, aka the Violator, marks the perfect balance between entertaining and sadistic, or just one who delights in fucking with people's minds. He was summoned to ensure Spawn kills those with souls to be damned to be recruited into Malebolgia's army. The film portrays him as more comedic but otherwise in line with his comic depiction, while the animated series is the latter in full force, either works for the material they are given. On the opposite extreme, Cogliostro, once the Black Knight who had managed to escape Malebolgia's grasp, seeks to help Spawn avoid a similar fate. Regretfully in the comics he becomes a villain, but hey as long as it wasn't so he could get into the pants of a deviantArt OC so be it. This seems to be a later occurrence in the comics so the animated series was spared from one of the most desperate attempts at drama since ever.

Of course there're people who're relevant to Spawn's former life as Al Simmons, and this series does not take those details for granted. He wants desperately to see his Wanda one last time and he takes the opportunities, only for her to be appropriately disturbed by what is now at his disposal. His best friend Terry married her and had a child, and though Spawn was appropriately angry that he got further than he did, he realized it wasn't out of malice and at least found closure on that. Spawn was even able to confront his physical killer, Chapel, and of course he wouldn't show any mercy, having him live with the guilt, but having the strength to not have his soul claimed by Malebolgia. Finally, Jason Wynn, basically the whole reason things fell into place. Spawn indirectly served as a key to unlocking Wynn's corrupt practices, including black market trading. Whenever he strikes, he sends others to do so and is determined to keep his conquests in check. However, after becoming severely burned from a mythical mask, apparently the unmade fourth season would've had him seek redemption... either apologizing to Spawn or trying to have his soul be made pure so he can go to heaven, though the latter seems to be the case as he feared his actions against Al Simmons would catch up to him.

The seasons can be summed up like this.

The first season exists to establish Spawn and his motivations, as well as him settling into Rat City, an alleyway serving as a sanctuary for the homeless, and one where a number of shady dealings take place no doubt thanks to Wynn and for the first season, Tony Twist, who is promptly dealt with after Spawn makes quick work of Overt-kill, whom Twist sends to deal with a stake in their affairs.

The second season sees Spawn confronting Chapel and Terry finding himself scrutinized by Wynn after learning of his black market dealings, while Spawn is seen as a protector of Rat City. This also sees the introduction of Washington Post reporter Lisa Wu, who is soon revealed to be Jade, which the third season would confirm. As for the third season, Spawn realizes he can no longer get back to his old life as Wanda outright rejects him out of pure fear, a series of events would help clear Terry and expose Wynn, Twitch would survive an attempted assassination by his and Sam's superior officer and confirm his connection to Wynn, Jade willingly gives up after discovering Spawn's humanity is stronger than prior hellspawns she was sent to kill, and by dying a warrior's death she can maintain a place in heaven, and the series ends with Spawn wanting his humanity back. To some, this seems like a bad end, but this can be seen a number of ways, like how he is willing to be dead, knowing he's now a burden to those he cares about and can never live the life that was yanked from him, while realizing those who have wronged him were dealt with

Acting

Keith David as Spawn is complicated, because it isn’t Keith David playing Spawn, just Keith David. All that changes role to role is the script and the direction. Play his Spawn with his Goliath (Gargoyles) and I’m sure you’d find some similarities. Of course that isn’t to say it’s a bad performance by any stretch, but I can’t say the voice is necessarily unique. About the only time it seemed sorta different was when he played Atlas in Teen Titans.

But to be fair, let's bring up another example of an actor who is well recognized for one role, even though it's a similar performance across the board. Mike Pollock is the current voice of Doctor Eggman. While he has owned the role, his voice ins't particularly unique, a keen ear can easily pick that up when watching other 4Kids shows. However, the voice became synonymous with Eggman, as it fit the character. Mike Pollock is Eggman as much as Keith David is Spawn, having voices that suit the characters well and serve to truly define them.

Then there's one of the more interesting actors for Tony Twist, interesting in that he's played by the same guy, James Keane, who played Mr. Green on Hey Arnold!, and I say it that way because Hey Arnold! came before Spawn's animated adaptation. Keane also played Sam in this show, so it turns out he has more range than I'd expect of him.

And there’s not a single piece of Tara Strong or Grey DeLisle to be heard, it’s a breath of fresh air. We do however get Kath Soucie, sure, I'm okay with that, I know little of her personal life and her voice isn't as obnoxiously stale and repetitive as Grey DeLisle's, and she isn't a raging bitch like Tara Strong. Bite me.

But that's not all. We got the voice of Mulan playing Jade, James Hong; guy from the Seinfeld episode The Chinese Restaurant doing a role, Jennifer Jason Leigh got to play a character one time too, and there's a rule that says if it exists, Eric Roberts has to lend his voice one time. Inherently, it's a mixture of actors either not entirely in the loop of traditional voice acting or already are, and it can work, I know it did here.

Layers

There is some hidden complexity within even the smallest of things. Take for instance Spawn's encounter with that bad cop in the fifth episode. He threatens Gareb, but his anger was due to the stress of seeing one of his right hand cops and others literally blown up by a deranged priest who turns out to be Clown. Of course you wouldn't root for the cop but you kinda understand what led him to go bad, even get some irony of Spawn making him a message board, and after getting killed by Clown he gets the message about Spawn's presence to Sam and Twitch. This actually helps to give more weight and motivation to later scenes, for instance, Twitch's encounter with Spawn. Spawn has already determined cops to be outright crooked, but Twitch manages to demonstrate a stronger moral compass, and bravery in the name of learning the truth, and Spawn returns the favor with a warning, which really is him being nice.

You can even see such strong motivations with the other characters. Wynn is a uniformly corrupt individual, but he fears for his life upon realizing what he had created in Spawn, and he becomes determined to destroy him to save his own ass. Clown can seem like a hardass, but it's kind of his job, he wants to make sure Spawn fulfills his obligations. Terry married Wanda, but he never meant to infringe on foreign territory, and Chapel seemed to express repressed guilt over killing Al, before it drove him insane. Then Sam and Twitch, throughout the entire series leading up to a hell of a finish, and of course Jade which not only put her through an arc but helped better establish Spawn's humanity.

A great show is more than the sum of its parts, and I feel Spawn went above and beyond in that regard. It's really something you have to see for yourself.

The Animation

I was directed to this series because I loved the animation in the Freak on a Leash video, and I was not disappointed here. The animation was produced in house at HBO, and they also worked on Hot City which came out around the same time. MadHouse are credited to producing the show's title sequence. MadHouse is a prevalent anime production company, but they've had a hand in some American productions. For instance, they produced the animation for the second season of Street Fighter: The Animated Series.

However, MadHouse merely served as a contractor for other companies. In the first season, animation was split between KoKo Enterprises, Sheen Production and Sung Production. Koko were involved in quite a bit, producing the animation for the first season of Static Shock, Superman The Animated Series and took on animation services for Men in Black: The Series after the first season. For the second season it looks like MadHouse took on a more direct role in animation production alongside DR Movie. DR Movie also happened to produce the animation for Men in Black: The Series, but also produced the third season for Avatar: The Last Airbender, episodes of The Batman including The Batman Vs. Dracula, one episode of Teen Titans, they helped produce the Death Tome segment in The Simpsons Treehouse of Horror XXXIII, DC Superhero Girls, Justice League/Unlimited, they did one episode of Street Fighter, Masters of the Universe: Revelation, oh, they even did Loonatics Unleashed and High Guardian Spice.

It's important I highlight the more anime type shows and lesser stuff to demonstrate how subtle their work is on a visual basis in Spawn, but soon.

Okay, back on track, the last season was handled through Mook Co., who produced the first season of Men in Black: The Series, Swat Katz: Radical Squadron and the Scooby-Doo direct-to-video films from Zombie Island to Cyber Chase. At first I thought they were the ones behind the entire series, but I was wrong.

With Todd McFarlane playing a major role in the series' development, either he'd have plenty of freedom to take advantage of, or he's just there to make people happy. Okay this isn't going anywhere, what I'm trying to say is that things are drawn and animated to act like a direct translation of the comics. It's a huge contrast to the overt anime aesthetics and overtones present in other comic book adaptations. Now, it seems like most comic book adaptations outsource their work to Japan or equivalent studios in Korea in order to better replicate the action, but somewhere along the line people cut the middleman and decided to bank on the growing popularity of anime in the states.

Or maybe I'm overthinking it.

Spawn's animation is great, but far from perfect. They tend to take shortcuts and reuse animations, but most shows do and they're not as blatant as say... The Real Ghostbusters in its twilight seasons. Of course it's of no hinderance to the constant action going on, it isn't too complex, but it isn't too simple either. The art design provides a gritty appearance that compliments Spawn quite nicely, if it was overtly anime-esque, it would lose its punch, its grit, and just be a faceless series.

Senseless Comparisons

In a way, I feel that Spawn set a good standard for comic book shows that seek to be dark, well Batman: TAS aside. There're a lot of shows I can compare Spawn with, so let's begin with another series adapted from an Image Comics series, Invincible.

The differences are night and day. Spawn employs a more grounded comic translated appearance, while Invincible embraces the anime schtick wholeheartedly. It feels like a Cartoon Network action show from the mid-late 2000s but with blood and cursing, and of course their brand of humor. It can be enjoyed on a surface level, but when someone comes along and does it better, it's hard to really deny that.

Take the introductions of Monster Girl there and Angela here. With the introduction of Angela, you get a quick hint to her hero appearance, and when she goes into the alley you expect her to show her powers, but she just uses melee and anything subtle. You’d expect her to go full hero, but they don’t play into it, all you’d expect is for those creeps to get their asses handed to them, just no way of knowing how.

With Monster Girl, it's like this. There's a character who looks like she doesn't belong there. She is provoked into showing her power, this has been done. Now, it can be done right, don't get me wrong. Take Fantastic Four: World's Greatest Heroes' introduction to She-Hulk in the sure. Yes, she is shown at the start of the episode, but you know who we don't see right away? Jennifer Walters. Hence, it's possible to be surprised by its reveal for those who haven't read the comics, and yeah, the series features somewhat different takes on existing Marvel characters so there is a chance to be surprised. Not to mention, they didn't mention her name, like Invincible did with Monster Girl, thus eliminating any sense of surprise and dragging it out to make it look like a huge reveal. I'm just saying.

Next up, let's resurrect an old punching bag of mine for some extra blows, Teen Titans. Spawn did an episode that tackled racism, but handled it in the best possible way, show, don't tell. You would think they would make it where Terry or Spawn are maligned for being African American, but no, they have a psychopath who kills African Americans for dark intent, and the racist motivation behind it isn't stated outright. This episode has enough faith in its viewers to let them connect the dots, whereas Teen Titans spoonfeeds the message, pussyfoots around directly focusing on those who would face prejudice, because Tamaranians don't exist, and above all, rather than take the opportunity to incorporate lore from the comics, they make up a character that exists solely to push the message.

And yes, Static Shock tackled racism direct, but they handled it better by committing to the kind of racism people are the most aware of, and I'm happy that episode is getting more and more recognition for it, while Troq isn't as much. Consider this a segway into the next section.

Getting Away With It

Spawn was able to get away with a lot of stuff, though some would argue it was because it aired on a premium cable network and at a time when kids would likely be asleep, midnight to be exact. That's a good argument, but I feel that any show, anywhere could get away with stuff, well, beyond overt gruesomeness and gratuity, whether it's premium or basic cable, network television or syndication. To better explain my point, let's refer to Stripperella, Static Shock and Swat Katz.

Stripperella aired on a basic cable channel, and if you didn't get the idea from the title, it's a show about a superhero who happens to be a stripper, and yes, that profession is shown full stop. In spite of that, there's more to the show than it. Stripperella feels like it's trying to pay tribute to silver age comic stories, or just parody the genre, or maybe Stan Lee was clearing his desk drawers, I dunno. What I'm trying to say is that they got away with showing T&A on basic cable, lest the copy I saw was sourced from a DVD, but hey, they were wiling. For syndication, let's turn to Swat Katz. This show got a way with quite a bit, especially for stuff I bashed Teen Titans for skimping on, like characters going insane for whatever reason, even death, with some gruesome killings shown, shadow or not. Now yes, syndication lacks the standards network television does, hence producers were able to get away with a hell of a lot more, but what about that network example? Networks are ones that crack down on no-no stuff the most often.

Well... Static Shock.

Racism focused episode aside, Static Shock went dark a decent amount of times, and they never held back for anything. They made it clear Virgil's mom died under harsh circumstances, they highlight her death and the impact on the family, they put one character in critical condition as a wake-up call for Virgil to take his heroic obligations seriously, the first episode featured a gang war, hell, need I remind you of Jimmy, where a gun is blatantly shown, well, again, in a straight up depiction of a potential school shooting, oh, need I forget how the weapon is fired and someone gets hurt, on network television.

But wait, isn't The WB technically a cable network, same with Cartoon Network, beyond Kids WB shows airing on WB affiliates in syndication? I mean Teen Titans was also in the same boat as Static Shock, but you could argue Static Shock did a hell of a lot more than Teen Titans did in highlighting serious issues, and above all committing to genuinely dark stories. I'd argue that Static Shock serves as a kids equivalent to Spawn for going above and beyond, showing writers genuinely cared about making engaging content, and Spawn just helped inspire me to see just how it could be done, or how it has been.

Now, if you really want to see the differences in impact an episode could have, compare Teen Titans' Haunted to Spawn's Home, Bitter Home.

Relationship

As far as how I feel about the show, I have the same relationship with it that I do with Koala Man. Both of them are great shows and vouching for their quality is a hill I'd be happy to die on. The issue is that I don't like to participate in discussions of either, because I know where they'd lead. Spawn got cancelled too soon, Koala Man was created by the same guy behind Smiling Friends, do the math. I still like the shows, but I know it can go south if I encounter the wrong people.

Not only did I bring up Koala Man for that, but because both represent the best of two sides of a superhero show. Koala Man is a well written comedy with glimpses of character complexity and motivations made clear, all in series about a man coping with his past and a midlife crisis, I guess. Meanwhile, Spawn is a well written horror drama with clever dialog helping to provide some relief every once in a while. Bringing back Teen Titans just to get this out, Koala Man is set in an absurdist world so you can take the weird things happening as a given and they let the jokes flow without resorting to tropisms to get a laugh out, and Spawn has every right to commit to more gruesome acts, both because of its midnight slot on a premium network and already being based on a gruesome comic book series.I don't know how else to end this, so let's go on.

Do I Want to see More?

So, seeing what I've said, do I want Spawn to get another season? Well the answer to that, is no. I don't. You're probably confused, lest you've seen my philosophy before. The thing about continuing, what if the ending turns out to be a letdown? A journey is only as good as the destination, if the end sucks it will drag down the experience of the rest of the series because you know that’s how it will end and there is nothing you can do about it, Camp Lazlo and Star Vs. beckon. There's also the matter if one more season is gonna be enough, will people be fine with that, or will they just keep asking for more? Ask for an inch, but take a mile. And of course people can indirectly kill the good will in seeing things continue. I never want to see Infinity Train or Glitch Techs with how clingy people are to those.

Then there's the matter of unintentional cockiness, had with shows like Sonic SatAM and Teen Titans, where they immediately end with either a cliffhanger, or a downer, something to gaslight people into thinking they want more. My philosophy on television shows go like this, treat every season finale like it's your series finale, leave off on a note that you can pick up the pieces on or satisfying enough to accept, which is something Spawn did, by having Spawn reaffirm his want to be human. You may say he hardly evolved, I'd say you're confused. Spawn wanting his humanity suggests he knows he can't get his old life back, but also won't be the leader of Malebolja's army, he is willing to die, but we don't see it. It could've been worse.

Okay yes, there's the matter of Spawn impregnating Wanda with a child that would serve as a decider for the fate of the world, but it would take a long time before the baby would be able to make a conscious decision and act on it. There's another element to the fourth season, but I'm not gonna bring it up, knowing how people on Twitter would lose their minds and that's another series thoroughly ruined by total goons.

Final Thoughts

Spawn is an underrated gem, for sure, but given the climate of cartoon culture, maybe it's for the best not that many people know about it, let this be like a secluded spot a select few people know about, a well kept secret not tainted by idiots, like Mission Odyssey.

I would say HBO turning away from animation after Spawn and Hot City concluded ironically predicted the state of HBO Max, but then you realize stuff like The Life and Times of Tim and The Ricky Gervais Show existed.

[hournites]

Oh my. Quite the assembly. I hope I have enough biscuits. Come, come. Do sit down. The tea is nicely steeped. It’s perfect, in fact. If I do say so myself.

↪ The JSA Meets The Shade | Stargirl 2x03

[decadentbearbird]

I want you to know, that I think a lot about your trigun AU. I want to know more, I want to consume it like a fine wine.

Oh god oh jeez oh man someone's asking about preacher au uh oh get READY FOR AN ESSAY.

Vash's story is pretty much the same, wandering peaceful gunslinger chased by a violent shadow, blew up a city once by accident and that guilt keeps him awake at night. Wolfwood... That's where we deviate, obviously. He's still a little forgotten ditch baby taken in by the orphanage and then trained by eye of michael/chapel, with the skills of an assassin and gifted that bigass punisher, but he manages to escape it before he's set on the path to chase Vash and sort of just... Rolls around on his own for a while trying to find a purpose. He ends up finding more struggling kids than he can hold and learns that if he plays up the priest part people treat him better, so by bringing these two things together he can build his own little pocket of the world where these kids can get some stability.

He ends up in a bordertown called Red River, not for the existence of a rare and mythical body of water nearby but because of a big tradgey decades ago which cursed the town to be poor and rough, the only spot he can afford to set up in- and he builds a pretty good community there, starting first with an orphanage and then building the church around it as he learns people help out more when he dangles divine reckoning over their heads. The town's divided by how they feel about him because he's jovial and approachable and a priest, but he also gets into fistfights at the bar a lot and once shot a guy (the sheriff, nonetheless) in the leg. He's known to be friendly and a lil rough.

I am working on a comic based around the AU but like all my project it's mostly staring at a canvas and hoping things appear there.

Then one day Vash the Stampede tumbles though town. He's got bandits on his tail chasing him for the bounty, they get a few good shots off on him and he's forced to take refuge instead of running and crashes into the church, intending to disappear in the pews and clutter and meets our priest who begrudgingly lets him hide in the confessional. Wolfwood scares the outlaws off with promises about the Lords judgement and the look of someone who would very much shoot these guys if they don't listen. With Vash injured, he stays in Wolfwoods company to lick his wounds and repay the favour for shelter by helping out with odd repairs and entertaining the kids (he is their jungle gym). They have a drink together, and realise pretty fast that they're BFFs from the start.

Everyone in town hates Vash, he showed up in a firefight, full of bullets and covered in blood, they're certain he's here for malicious reasons and is taking advantage of free hospitality. They find sneaky ways to try and drive him out of town, mostly by bullying him and being just generally mean. He gets punched a few times, but unfortunately for them pacifist Vash won't react in a way that'd warrant his ass getting kicked out of town, and Wolfwood's ready to throw hands any time he catches someone being cruel to him.

Eventually the anxiety of sitting in one spot for too long catches up to Vash and he moves on, but he returns at random to catch up for a drink, staying only long enough to avoid the danger nipping at his heels. Wolfwood gets letters signed by VTS, each one with a cute little bird trinket the outlaws found on his travels. He's getting a collection.

It's a surprisingly big AU despite the fairly simple setting, we've got a lot of characters involved who hassle Vash/love WW, nearing 150k of words in planning... Vash has suspicions about who Wolfwood really is in his past and why the man carries a pistol beneath his cassock, he knows that big cross has a mysterious story to it from the way Wolfwood detests it. Wolfwood still doesn't believe Vash is the legendary outlaw, and things might just turn sour as they uncover each others secrets...

That's the extent of it without me breaking out the charts and concept board 😂 we're really engrained in this AU at the moment, Wolfwood being a Mostly Good Boy trying to make the world better in his crappy little way, and Vash stumbling through the centre of it with no intention to make chaos but it finding him anyway. Plus! Wolfwood is really fun to draw in a cassock... Here's a gift of some more sketches.

and THANK YOU for asking!! I love asks and I love that you're interested in this au!!