#eleanor reads comics

[whitmore]

i’ve seen the “no one ever came looking for me. but you would have, courtney” panels before (out of context) and they still make me deranged to this day. i love when characterizations of courtney put her loyalty forefront i love when it’s recognized by other characters in text— something about issue 1 setting the audience up to believe that courtney doesn’t have her priorities straight and issue 2 sending an immediate reminder that her priorities are always her people above herself and that she would go to lengths that other people would not for her friends and loved ones. but you would have, courtney. she makes me self-liquify and implode

[zal-cryptid]

Hey i have a question for the author have they read The Mouse and His Child it's really cute

I have read it, and I concur! Perhaps I'll add it to Maria’s reading list!

[re-readingcomics]

Comics Read 02/10-03/31/2024

Over this period of time I read a special compilation called The Flapper Queens, Women Cartoonists of the Jazz Age. The compilation is in this beautiful hard cover volume. It was edited and compiled by Trina Robbins and I have been meaning to look into more of her work ever since I learned that she created the costume design for Vampirella. (I am sad to say that between starting to draft this and posting it Robbins died.) While reading this didn’t do much to better acquaint myself Robbins’ work it was interesting and a mostly enjoyable to read collection. The cartoonist that this volume focuses on are: Nell Brinkley, Eleanor Schorer, Edith Stevens, Ethel Hays, Fay King and Virginia Huget. I have not idea if anyone else should have been included.  Not all of the cartoons were great, and the standard warnings about the racism and sexism of the times needs to be applied. Still the drawings were often very pretty and the situations depicted were a fascinating time capsule. If I wrote this in a more timely manner I might have written more about it presenting a view of how flappers were perceived in their time, but not really what it was like to be one, leading me to wonder who the target audience was… but I didn’t write this in a timely manner and now I have to write about two more comics that I read.

The first is Girl written by Peter Milligan with art by Duncan Fegredo and colors by Nathan Eyring. I know Milligan is controversial, brining up tricky topics in not the most sensitive ways, or ways that become quickly out of political. But I mostly like him as a writer. I think he can get to a sublime sense I don’t get from many writers. He and Fegredo did that with their earlier comic Enigma. That said, I didn’t like Girl that much. The grim set up felt too heavy, the potentially delusional narrator too sad. It may have started with some interesting ideas, but it did not really pull them off. The too happy ending was neither earned nor unsettlingly unreal. I wanted it to be real because the misery earlier was too much, but mostly it made the story feel pointless. I didn’t love the art. This was originally published in 1996 and some of it is that style just isn’t to my taste these days. Though I have to appreciate how the artist worked to make two characters identical except the hair and clothes.

Finally I read the miniseries Afterlift. I bought it because it was written by Chip Zdarsky, artist for Sex Criminals and writer for the Kaptara, (which, much to my surprise has a second volume coming out this week) as well as some Big Two titles that I don’t read. The art is by co-creator Jason Loo, with colors by Paris Alleyne, Letters by Aditya Bidikar, and edited by Allison O’Toole. This was a refreshing read. It is the story of a ride share driver named Janice Chen who unknowingly picks up a demon planning to escort a miserable soul to Hell. It’s funny, it cares about the state of the soul, it’s not too attached to any specific dogma. The art is fun, easy to read, filled with distinct, both human and divine. The colors are great at evoking different dark scenarios while still being clear. A good reminder of why I sill make time to read comic books. 

[tickldpnk8]

Excellent breakdown! You’re convincing me I need to read/listen to the audiobooks. (Because audiobooks Are reading)

One thing I’ve loved about this series are just the small little details in art and in dialog that you pick up when you reread it. I admit that I wasn’t at first a fan of Dreamling because it felt so out of character for comic!Hob to me. Because he does come across as a bit of a womanizer and a selfish man. And while I love Ferdie’s take on him, I just still saw those attributes the most. (I’ve since become a big Dreamling fan in part because of the excellent fic writers out there who are able to write such convincing portrayals.)

But I love the nuance you’ve teased out of the panels here. I certainly didn’t pick up on how Hob referred to Jim/Peggy, although I did assume they were the same person he later married. And Hob’s such a womanizer that I think it really colored my interpretation of their story…rather than allowing Jim/Peggy to influence my interpretation of Hob.

Hob Gadling - A Queer Romantic?

I have been listening to The World's End chapters of The Sandman on Audible lately and just finished Hob's Leviathan. I didn't pay this story much attention when I first read the comic, as I tended to read through the stories quickly and put more focus into the stories where Dream had a larger role. But one of the reasons I like listening to the Audible book is because it allows me to absorb each story more thoroughly and take my time thinking about each one and the (usually multiple) meanings behind them.

Hob Gadling is a character that fandom has fallen in love with. I think this is clear to anyone that takes even a partial glance at Sandman fandom. This isn't a criticism - Ferdie's performance as Hob in the Netflix show has done wonders for Hob's character. He has made his version of Hob very easy to fall in love with!

But the truth is that in The Sandman comics, Hob is a minor character who we only get to know very little about. The story Hob's Leviathan appears in The Worlds End Sandman book. We only meet him twice before this, once in The Doll's House, where we are introduced to him in Men of Good Fortune, and again in Season of Mists when Dream comes to let him know that he may miss their next meeting. In both these issues, Hob is introduced via the narrator, and therefore I like to think that we are given a fairly honest representation of the kind of person he is. We watch him grow and learn throughout the centuries in MoGF, but one of the major takeaways from this I believe is that he tends to always be on the wrong side of history. He makes bad choices and can be a bit narrow minded. He is rude and selfish and also rather self-absorbed. I actually think that the performance of the voice actor who plays Hob in the Audible book emphasises these character flaws making him even more unlikeable in many ways, though I am aware that this could just be my own experience and opinion.

But Hob's Leviathan takes a different view of Hob. Literally. The narrator of this story is a young boy of 16 called Jim. Jim met Hob on a ship travelling from Bombay to Liverpool in 1914. Jim was working on the ship as a cabin boy and Hob had bought his passage back to England - though it is revealled at the end of the story that Hob actually owned the ship they were travelling on. It is clear that at this point in time, Hob is extremely wealthy.

Jim attends to Hob throughout the journey, and grows very fond of him. In Jim's tale, Hob is a good man, who is kind and thoughtful and cares about others. He saves the life of a stowaway (who turns out to be another immortal). He is shown to be patient, and funny, and very intelligent. Jim waxes poetic about how smart Hob is, and how much he impressed him. It is particularly clear in the Audible book that Jim is taken with Hob, to the point that it could arguably be a crush.

It is fascinating how much more likeable Hob is when narrated from the viewpoint of someone with a crush on him, whether this story is exaggerated through rose tinted glasses is of course something to consider. All the tales in World's End are just that, tales. There is a constant undercurrent of exaggeration and make believe to them where even the other patrons of the inn question elements to each of the stories. We are not supposed to take these stories as absolute fact, rather they are supposed to reveal to us more about the narrators as well as their own experiences existing in this magical and strange world.

When it is revealled that Jim is actually a girl called Peggy in disguise so they can get work on the ships, the quite obvious crush makes more sense to a heteronormative audience, but what I particularly like about this story is its queer potential. See in the comic, it isn't really clarified if Jim goes by Jim because they feel more themselves as a boy, rather than a girl, or if they are disguising themself as a boy just to get work as a means to an end. I would argue that the latter is the more obvious interpretation. Jim tells the other World's End patrons that they are getting too old to keep up the disguise and will eventually have to stop working in shipping, and that when that happens, they will take on a new name, a new identity and do something else, but that for now, the patrons can keep calling them Jim.

*for a lack of clarity around the point in the comic, I am going to use gender neutral pronouns for Jim going forward*

Now from Hob's POV, he figured out that Jim was a girl, and they talk about it briefly along with the sea serpent they saw. I think that at this point, Hob is impressively progressive compared to the previous times we have met him. Now whether or not this is biased storytelling from someone who has a crush on him remains to be seen, but if we take Jim's word as truth, not only is 1914 Hob a fair and honest man who is willing to pay the way of a stowaway and fully respect the secrets of a young girl disguised as a boy so they can work on ships, but he's also totally comfortable flirting with them.

I like that he calls Jim the "handsome cabin boy". I like that this version of Hob, whether real or an exaggeration skewed by Jim's feelings for him, respects Jim's identity. Jim may be a girl in disguise, but Hob doesnt call her pretty, he calls him handsome.

It's all just a bit subtly queer and I like that for Hob (But then I would do, I'm a Dreamling shipper HA)

When Jim finishes their story, they state that they didn't see Hob again after that, but the comics later do give us a possible outcome to Jim's story...

We next see Hob in The Kindly Ones where he is mourning the death of his girlfriend Audrey. He briefly reveals that Audrey was the first person he had loved since Peggy, who was his lover until her death during the Blitz. Whilst it isn't made clear that Hob's lover Peggy is the same Jim that we meet in World's End, it is a bit too much of a coincidence. The timing adds up. If Jim was 16 in 1914, they'd be in their early 40s during the Blitz. Hob remains forever in his early 30s so I'd say its a safe bet that Jim eventually found Hob again and they were together. Hob loved them enough that he wasn't with anyone again until Audrey in the 80s. That's 50 years worth of mourning. A long time not to be with anyone, even for an immortal.

It's funny because we know so little about Hob, but one thing that I have seen commented on here a lot is that comic Hob is deemed to be as Straight as an arrow. Now I admit that the voice actor in the Audible book plays him very straight, but that is still only one interpretation.

All this is to say that I am fascinated with how the Netflix show will adapt this, since Hob in the show already comes across much kinder and more selfless than his comic counterpart. He already has an entire fandom viewing him as queer, and the comics certainly don't outright shut down such interpretations. There are moments in the comics that you have to wonder on. He does call Jim handsome rather than pretty, and when he talks to Audrey's grave he mentions his wives and loves as separate groups. He talks about finding it easy to get sex if you want it, and he talks about it in generally gender neutral terms. In Sunday Mourning Gwen reveals that she thought he was gay when she first met him, though her reasonings were that he knew so many dead people (a dark reminder that these comics were published at the height of the Aids epidemic). He reacts very badly to the news of Morpheus' death. He states on several occassions just how much he liked Morpheus, and he is one of the few people to wake up from the Wake with tears running down his cheeks. I would arguably state that its between Hob and Matthew as to who had the worst reaction to Morpheus' death, showing just how much both Hob and Matthew cared about him, and placing Hob on par with Matthew in the comics is a big deal. He seriously considers accepting Death's gift when she offers it, simply because Morpheus is dead. He doesn't, because at the end of the day, its just not in his nature to do so, and given he then dreams of Morpheus, I like to think that it was a test, that he passed.

When it comes to how the show will adapt all this, I genuinely think it will take a new approach with Jim/Peggy. I think they will be either a trans man, or at least non binary. But I think having Jim be a trans man is the better option. In the comics, Jim's tale is only very subtly queer, Jim clearly likes being Jim, but it seems like its a means to an end, a convenience in order to get work on the ships, rather than being something that is core to Jim's feelings on their gender. Besides, if we assume that Jim is indeed the Peggy Hob talks about in The Kindly Ones, then we know that Jim goes back to being Peggy when they get older and apparently continues living as a woman whilst they are with Hob, otherwise I doubt Hob would have referred to one of his greatest loves by a name they themselves rejected and only used she/her pronouns when talking about them. Nevertheless there is no reason for the show to take this approach, and if they DO decide that Jim should be a trans man, then their relationship with Hob is canonically a queer one. Trans men are men and if one of Hob's greatest loves is a trans man, then Hob is a queer man himself. I genuinely believe the show will take this route and I can't wait to see it.

Going back to my point about narrators bias, if MoGF, SoM, tKO, and TW are all narrated by a neutral third party, then this must be the true Hob. A not overly likeable rather selfish man. He has his good points, and he has certainly grown and changed over the centuries, and carries a lot of guilt for his past mistakes, but he is still quite self absorbed. Jim paints a picture of a rose tinted Hob that is far more the dreamy romantic older gentleman that took a young person under his wing. Which is fair enough.

The show is of course its own adaptation, with changes from the comics as it sees fit, but I do feel it's my duty to remind you that the show also has a narrator guiding the audience through its many stories. Dream of the Endless, Lord Morpheus, King of Nightmares and Prince of Stories himself. Take from that whatever you will.

;-)

[pathologicalreid]

wrapped around your finger | s.r.

in which you come home to find spencer in peak girl dad form

who? spencer reid x fem!reader category: fluff content warnings: mom!reader, girldad!spencer, nail polish, this is technically the family from cryptic, but you don't need to read cryptic to know what's going on word count: 578 a/n: this is for the anon who asked for dad!spencer! i always have some dad!spencer on retainer for when the people are in need! it's nothing crazy, but i was cleaning up my desk and found a sticky note that said spencer would definitely let his daughter paint his nails.

A little voice carries itself from down the hallway, and you follow the sound of it. The carefully chosen words of your four-year-old daughter make you wonder who she could possibly be speaking to. Slowly, you walk down the hallway, trying not to alert anyone to your presence.

On your way, you peek into the nursery, your younger daughter sleeping soundly in her crib as you pass her, finally ending up at the doorway of Eleanor’s room, “Do you like the color?” She asks gently, holding her father’s hand in hers and inspecting his fingers.

“I love the color, thank you,” Spencer says politely, “You know, purple is my favorite color.”

The smile that blooms on her face is so bright, it makes you wish you’d never left the house in the first place. “Mommy told me!”

Nothing in all of the parenting books you’ve read prepared you for your firstborn to stop calling you mama. The switch had caught you off-guard, and you found yourself mourning the little girl she had been while simultaneously prideful of the personality that she was developing.

You’d have to keep better track of it with Olivia, though you and Spencer hadn’t come to a consensus on whether or not you were done after two kids. The sight in front of you might just be enough to convince you to go for a third.

Her princess tiara slides forward on her head as she focuses on painting Spencer’s nails, your husband sitting in a chair that’s comically small for him as her small hands deftly apply the lacquer.

Catching sight of you in his periphery, Spencer gives a soft smile in greeting, not wanting to alarm Eleanor of your appearance. “You’re really good at painting nails,” he observes, reaching his free hand up to adjust her crown.

“I wanna do it forever and ever,” she responds giddily, putting the brush back into the bottle. You notice the way Spencer reached over to seal the nail polish bottle, preventing a tragedy before it strikes.

Spencer hums in response, “If that’s what you want, lovebug.”

She smiles, spinning around in her PJs until she sees you, “Mommy!” She squeaks excitedly, running over to you and giggling when you pick her up.

“Hello, Princess Nellie,” you greet her, hugging her tightly before setting her back down. Listening to see if the ruckus woke up the baby, you walk further into the bedroom when you hear no stirring from the room next door.

She smiles, pointing at Spencer with a proud look on her face, “I painted daddy’s nails.”

“I see that,” you took in the sight before you, Spencer’s nails had indeed been painted, along with all of the skin surrounding them. “They look great honey,” you tell her, sitting down on the edge of her bed.

Nellie looks up at you expectantly, “Daddy said I can’t paint Livvy’s nails.”

You smile slightly at the pout on her face, “That’s right, she’s too little to have her nails painted.” Though you have to admit, you’ve been imagining mini spa nights with your daughters from the moment you found out you were having another girl.

Her eyes go wide as saucers, “Oh! Then it’s a good thing I have daddy.” She beams over at her father, and he looks at her with an equal amount of adoration in his eyes.

Grinning over at Spencer, you nod in agreement with her, “Yeah, it is a good thing.”

[sforzesco]

lmao the rival dynasts are fighting and they're fucking it up for everyone else at a record pace

this tweet made me laugh, and I frequently make political comparisons between these specific groups of people, so now it's finally a comic

regarding the OctavianOctaviaAntony Uniteam Alliance

Octavia Minor and the Transition from Republic to Empire, Katrina Moore

in the red panel, which is an obvious anachronistic soup of events happening all at once: we have on the left: messalla corvinus

Alternative Memoirs: Tales from the ‘Other Side’ of the Civil War, Kathryn Welch

and then octavia (in despair & weaponizing that sacrosanctity to turn rome against antony), some kids (the two closest to antony are the twins, but tbh you can just kind of. pick whoever from the soccer team of kids antony had)

octavian and antony's back and forth is referencing suetonius augustus 68 and 69 (specifically: Antony also writes to Augustus [...] "What has made such a change in you? Because I lie with the queen? She is my wife. Am I just beginning this, or was it nine years ago? What then of you — do you lie only with Drusilla? Good luck to you if when you read this letter you have not been with Tertulla or Terentilla or Rufilla or Salvia Titisenia, or all of them. Does it matter where or with whom you take your pleasure?") and also the whole. thing. about antony's will. that sure was something.

the herod comment from kleopatra is referencing all of this

Mark Antony: A Biography, Eleanor Huzar

AND FINALLY. the art in the inset panels are from The Roses of Heliogabalus, Lawrence Alma-Tadema

⭐ places I’m at! bsky / pixiv / pillowfort /cohost / cara.app / tip jar!

[arthenaa]

Say Yes To Me - Ominis Gaunt x Reader

Plot Summary: After your eventful years at Hogwarts, you are now a famous magizoologist known by all. Life's great and all's well until you see Ominis Gaunt's engagement on the daily prophet.

Content Tags: that dilemma newt and tina had in fantastic beasts, yeah this is it but its you and ominis, ominis works at the ministry, mentions of ominis's older brother, gender neutral reader, sebastian being sebastian, slight angst if you squint, reader trying to keep their shit together, kiss kiss fall in love, idiots in love basically.

"Poppy! Can you please hand me the eye drops for the mooncalfs? I think I left it upstairs!"

You had yelled from your place within the Erumpent's mouth as you examined it's molars with your illuminated wand. This certainly wasn't a good position to look at, after all who would be putting their head inside a giant's mouth knowing it could very well decapitate you in seconds. However, this was the usual for you.

After graduating Hogwarts, your specialties and skills have led you to the magizoology field due to your affinity with beasts. It wasn't a big surprise to all considering you had always excelled in Beasts class and the questionable returns to the castle with a new beast curling in your arms. Professor Fig had often joked about which magical creature you'd be holding in your pocket for the day. He thinks it's absolutely comical whenever you did have one.

With your accomplishments and great efforts in defeating Ranrok, you had immediately garnered influence and reputation in magizoology, earning you the title of being the wizard world's most famous magizoologist. It certainly helped a lot with gaining access to various areas all over the world for you to rescue and release the beasts within your care.

Currently in your apartment in London, you busy yourself with a checkup on the beasts. Poppy Sweeting, a very old friend and your co-worker as well had been your partner since last year. The two of you lived together in the apartment and tended to the needs of the wondrous beings living in the magical depths of your basement.

You lift yourself from the creature's mouth, smiling as you gently caress it's horn. The Erumpent nudges your hand, unaware of its strength causing you to stumble back. "Easy Lola. Feels better doesn't it?"

It lets out a grunt before turning to do whatever it was originally doing. You let out a sigh as you turn to look up the stairs, waiting for the former Hufflepuff to come back with the eyedrops. "Poppy? Did you get lost or something?"

"Sorry! I just received today's newspaper." Poppy apologetically replies as she rushes down with the drops on her arms. She stops in front of you, a sympathetic look on her face.

"What's wrong?" You look at her, confused. She gives you the eyedrops with a sheepish smile. "You look worried."

"I— Well. It's fine," She nervously chuckles as she places the newspaper on the cluttered table behind you. "It's just the usual anyway."

You furrowed your eyebrows at her skittish behavior before shoving the eyedrops back to her arms and grabbing the newspaper from the table. Poppy tries to steal it back from you but you simply raise your hand and using your height advantage.

"I swear, Y/N. It's just the usual! You needn't concern yourself with it!" Poppy reasons as she tries to jump up and take the paper from your hands.

"You always read it out to me, I don't get what all the fuss is about if it's just the—" And there it was. Written in bold letters at the front page was a name you didn't even expect to reach the Daily Prophet. "... usual."

"I told you." Poppy sighs as she takes a step back. Your eyes were stuck on the front page, rereading the same set of letters printed on the paper.

Ominis Gaunt engaged to Eleanor Rosier. The Gaunts continue to rise.

Ominis Gaunt engaged to Eleanor Rosier.

Ominis Gaunt engaged.

You let out a shaky gasp as you hide your face with the newspaper. Poppy stares with a sad look on her face. Everyone knew of your trio. Wherever Sebastian was, everyone expected Ominis and you to be there. The three of you were stuck to the hip and it was like that for the rest of your years in Hogwarts. It was because of that fact that you'd fallen in love with one of them. Many suspected it to be Sebastian but it was in fact the blue eyed blonde that had your heart in his grasp. You had tried to hide it in your 6th year but failed because of Sebastian's meddling and so you had this weird situationship with him during your last year in Hogwarts. It was never established that you two were together but the fleeting touches and lingering glances were the reason you held on for so long.

Being a magizoologist meant that you needed to travel a lot. Mostly it was out of the country and that meant you rarely got the chance to see him after your graduation and so over time, you two had fallen out of communication. You hoped, hoped, that someday you'd be able to face him and that he would return the same feelings that he proclaimed back then in the safety of the Undercroft, your hands in his and a warm smile on his face but apparently, Merlin had other plans for you.

Poppy makes a move to comfort you but you suddenly pull away, looking at her with a crazed look. "No. No! Don't comfort me. I'd feel all the more pathetic."

"Eh, well. I've seen you in worse situations." Poppy smiles. You roll your eyes, mood gone sour as you toss the newspaper in the fireplace before pointing your wand at it and casting Incendio. Poppy looks between the fireplace and at your face. "I still needed that—"

You send her a glare to which she raises her hands up in defense. You grab the eyedrops from her and walk over to the mooncalfs who chirp at your presence. Blobs of liquid fall down the dropper as you give your undivided attention to the cute beasts in front of you.

Yeah. I'll just stay here and wallow in my misery. At least, I have my beasts with me.

"I can literally hear what you're thinking, Y/N." Poppy chuckles as she watches you tend to your creatures. "I won't let you lock yourself in here for 4 weeks."

"How'd you know it's going to last 4 weeks?" You reply as you turn to glance at her for a moment before going back to tending to the mooncalfs. "I've got a call for a Thunderbird in North America. I'd probably just bury myself in work... Forever."

"Do you really believe the news? You know Daily Prophet has a tendency to overexaggerate details. It's basically the whole point of journalism." Poppy shrugs as she plays with a loose thread on her coat. You let out a breath as you turn towards her with a deadpan look on your face.

"How can you exaggerate an engagement exactly? Tell me Poppy, I would like to be enlightened." You sarcastically reply as you finish the mooncalfs before moving on to the puffskeins. Poppy follows you, finding the situation amusing.

"I find it to be considerably suspicious. Didn't Ominis mention that he would be renouncing his own family? It's just so odd that out of nowhere he's engaged." Poppy reasons as you lift a puffskein in your arms, examining it's physique. Poppy moves to stand next to you, lightly petting the creature in your arms.

"Stop pulling ideas out of your arse, Poppy." You mumble. Poppy rolls her eyes before slapping your arm. You yelp in pain before gently putting the puffskein back with it's family.

"I'm just saying you really can't believe baseless stories unless you hear it from the source." Poppy leans on the fence surrounding the puffskein enclosure as she looks at you with a smile. You look back at her with a frustrated huff. "On the bright side, if it's true, then you'd get to finally move on!"

"Merlin help me or I will use an unforgivable on myself." You mutter as you bury your face in your hands. Poppy full on punches your arm causing you to groan. "Ow! Do it again and I'll fire you! For real, this time!"

"Yeah? Eat shit." Poppy snorts to which you flip her off. "You have no choice, you'll get to see him tomorrow anyway."

"Yeah..." You absentmindedly reply before your eyes widen in fear. "Huh? Tomorrow? What do you mean tomorrow?!"

"Don't tell me you forgot that you'd have to renew your wand permit and travel visa." Poppy chuckles. "I heard Ominis works in that department. Such a perfect timing, isn't it?"

You let out a horrified gasp as you crouch down on the floor. You'd rather let yourself be swallowed by a basilisk if it meant that you'd get to postpone seeing Ominis Gaunt (a bit of a overreaction but it doesn't matter).

"Can't you just do that for me?" You whine as you grab the bottoms of her coat. Poppy slaps it away.

"I can't renew your own wand, dumbass. I already did mine a week ago. You were too busy drinking away with Sebastian." Poppy pats your head as an apology before making her way back upstairs. "Wear your best perfume tomorrow, love! I'm sure he'll ditch Rosier for you."

Poppy winks before laughing. You glare at the Hufflepuff as she ascended up the stairs.

I can't do this. Fuck.

"You can do this, dumbass."

Sebastian grabs your shoulders, preventing you from leaving the building. It seems that the Sallow boy had taken on Poppy's role as your tormentor for the day and it doesn't help that he's an auror. Wand permits are a must and being deemed as an illegal wand owner is not really the best look for your reputation. You look back at Sebastian, giving him the best crup eyes you could muster.

"I will hurl you myself into that department if you do that again." Sebastian threatens with raised eyebrows to which you pout and frown. "I know why you're feeling so skittish today. Everyone's gossiping about it and it's not really the best thing to hear about your best friend. Talk to him. You, of all people, should know that."

You feel your body surrender to Sebastian's tough grip as he walks with you (more like drags) to the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. He places you in front of an office before turning you towards him as he fixes your tie and hair. You look up at him with sad eyes. "Is it too late to apparate out of here?"

"Wizards and witches can't apparate within ministry grounds. You'd have to go outside for that." He smiles brightly as he tucks a stray hair back to your hairstyle. He leans close to sniff you before furrowing his eyebrows in contemplation. "New perfume?"

"Ugh. It was Poppy's idea." You flush at Sebastian's discovery. The former Slytherin chuckles.

"He'd love that for sure." Sebastian winks.

"Shut up."

"You know he's just as whipped for you as you are for him, right?" He pats your arm before slipping his hands in the pockets of his coat. "You have nothing to worry about."

"Easy for you to say." You mumble. Sebastian's eyes crinkle as he smiles at your sulking behavior before it moves slightly to the side of your face, directed behind you.

"Sebastian." A voice you haven't heard in months was finally within your presence. You're almost too afraid to turn around but you're glad you did. Ominis had grown so well in your absence. The face once filled with soft curves had now developed more into a sharper and sculpted face. He seems more taller and leaner than before and absolutely looks dashing in his three piece suit. Your mouth falls open as you unashamedly check him out. ".... is that you, Y/N?"

You had almost forgotten to reply if it weren't for Sebastian hard nudge to your ribs. You yelp in pain, clutching your side as you glare at the man beside you. "O-Ominis, hey...."

The gorgeous man in front of you smiles nervously as he shifts in his position. "What brings you here? I've heard a lot about your travels. It seems you were quite busy these past few months."

"Y-yeah. Lot of creatures need saving, y'know?" You laugh awkwardly as you glance at Sebastian who looks like he's about to combust with how red he is from preventing his laughter.

Awkward silence engulfs the three of you and Sebastian had to calm himself down to prevent him from cracking up. "They're here for a renewal, both wand and visa. I don't want to chase a magizoologist all across the world just because they forgot basic wizard law."

"Haha, funny." You sarcastically reply. Sebastian winks at you before walking towards Ominis who leans close to whisper something to him. The blonde flushes and you can't help but wonder what the actual fuck did Sebastian say to him that got him coughing and blushing.

"I'll see you two later for lunch! Admin needs me." Sebastian waves before rushing off. This now leaves the two of you standing in the hallways of the ministry. You let out an awkward cough that alerts Ominis.

"Ah Right. Come in." He nervously opens the door to his office. You cautiously enter the room, marveling at the sight of his cozy office. Paraphernalia decorates the shelves on his walls with banners of his former house, Slytherin hung on one side of the wall. A plant is situated on one corner and an array of food is presented on one side. Comfortable chairs are positioned in front of his desk and a flashy name plate with the words 'Ominis Gaunt, Department of Magical Law Enforcement' engraved on it. What catches your eye though is a frame of you three on his desk. It was captured on your last day in Hogwarts. The picture moves as you three huddle for the picture, smiles on your faces before laughing at one another. It continues on a loop that puts a smile on your face.

"I have this on my desk too." You mumble softly as you lift the frame to admire it more. Ominis smiles before sitting behind his desk, putting his wand down and leaning back on the chair.

"Yeah. It's made quite differently for me." He extends his hand, palm facing up as he signals for you to give it to him. You place it on his hand and with a grab of his wand and a flick of his wrist, you suddenly hear sounds from the frame.

"Sebastian come closer!"

"I'm already close! Do you want me to fuse into you or something?"

"Can you guys shut up, he's taking the memento!"

Then laughter was heard. Ominis smiles at the audio before placing the frame back on his desk. "I play that whenever I miss you two."

You look at him as he fiddles with his wand, still reminiscing the memory. Whenever he misses me, huh? And Sebastian... Of course. Don't get too ahead of yourself.

"Listen Omini-"

"Y/N-"

The two of you began to speak at once and stopped altogether. A moment of silence is heard before you both laugh at the situation. "You go first." Ominis smiles with a nudge of his hand.

You look at him, remembering the details of his face as you decide that this is it. The moment you'll let go of him. It shouldn't be a surprise to you that Ominis would get married soon. He came from a family known for keeping their blood pure and while you hoped that he'd escape the grasps of his wretched bloodline, it seems like even he would not be able to and so as a good friend of his, you'll just try to be happy for his sake.

"Listen, I came here not just because I needed to renew my visa and permit. I just really wanted to tell you that I'm happy for you." You bite your lip, distracting yourself with the physical pain rather than the emotional one. Too invested in thinking of what to say, you fail to notice Ominis's face drop at your words. "I-I know it's hard but I want you to know that I'll always be here. Me and Sebastian. I'll support you and--"

"Wait! No!" Ominis abruptly stops your speech which you were grateful for because if you continued any further, you fear that you'd end up bawling in front of him. "I-I don't want you to be happy."

"Huh?"

"I mean-- I don't want you to be happy that I'm happy because it's not happy at all. But for you, I'm happy--" Ominis fumbles with his words as he grips the fabric of his pants on his knees. "It doesn't make sense but you know what I'm talking about."

Your tongue pokes the inside of your cheek before letting out a confused laugh. "... I actually don't know what you're talking about."

"I should be the one saying that to you." He whispers as he leans forward to rest his face in his hands before taking a deep breathe and exhaling. "I-I heard that you were seeing people and I just- I just wanted to congratulate you."

Seeing people? What in Merlin's name?

"Ominis." You blink in confusion. "Who told you this?"

"Uh... Sebastian?" He mumbles quietly as if he had been caught doing something wrong.

"I'm not seeing anyone, Ominis. Did you really let yourself be fooled by Sebastian, again?" You giggle as you watch his expression change from nervous to annoyed.

"That bloody fool always read me news about you. I can't believe he faked me out on this one. Of all things!" He groans in frustration. "I'll skin that boy."

"Please don't. Merlin knows we'll need him as a scapegoat for something in the future." You joke. He laughs at your jest and you almost let yourself fall all over again. "Aside that, I'm really happy for your engagement."

A confused look is back on his face again before a dreaded look appears on his face. This is the most expressive you've seen Ominis ever since he caught you sneaking out of the Undercroft. "Gods Y/N. I'm not engaged. I-It's my older brother who's going to be engaged to Eleanor. We both have similar names and the Daily Prophet assumed that it's me. I've already sent a report regarding that."

You have never felt more relieved in your life. You bury your face in your palms. "God, I thought I was about to die. I had almost tried to bury myself in work for 4 weeks because of that."

"Why?" Ominis stands up from his seat as he feels his way around and eventually kneels down in front of your seat. "Why would you want to do that?"

You remove your face from your palms before cupping his cheeks. "I admit I have made myself scarce these past few months but I have-- I still am hoping that you... you..."

You couldn't bring yourself to finish as you stare at his face that looked so full of hope and so you did the only thing you knew that would communicate the words you couldn't tell him.

"Y/N?" He softly speaks your name before you pull his face to yours and pressing your lips to his. Ominis had frozen in shock but eventually recovered as he pressed himself closer to yours. His arm encases your waist while the other cups your cheek. Lips move against one another as thousands of unspoken words flow through the air. The two of you release one another with a final peck before a smile graces your faces.

"I'm still hoping that you're in love with me." You finish as your index finger gently caresses the beauty marks that grace his skin. He closes his eyes at the feel of your touch before grabbing hand to kiss the inside of your wrist.

"Yes. Yes I am." He answers with no hesitation. You smile at his confession before pulling him in a tight hug. He releases you after a short while, hands cupping your face as he continues to leave chaste kisses all over it. You giggle at his affections. "I wasn't able to ask you back then but will you be mine? Merlin knows how long I've wanted to ask you this."

He has a hopeful look on his face that makes you want to coo and baby him but all you do is smile and peck his lips. "Of course. I'd always say yes to you."

The two of you smile and bask in each others presence before you're reminded of his face flushing earlier. "By the way, what did Sebastian say to you awhile ago?"

Ominis's face flushes before intertwining your fingers. "He told me to make the most out of your stay."

You let out an amused chuckle. Sebastian that sneaky motherfucker.

Before you could tease him about it, Ominis grabs your hips and pulls you in close. "Think Sebastian will mind waiting for a while? I'd like to heed his advice for once."

You chuckle before biting your lip as he pulls you up, grabbing your thighs and carrying you to his desk. You wrap your arms around his neck as he brushes his lips against yours.

"Go ahead, I don't think he will."

A/N: i also want to makeout w him in his office good lord. anys tysm for supporting my workss. i love writing for my two idiots <3

[redgoldsparks]

Hi, I just read your book gender queer and wanted to tell you that i have never felt more seen by a book in my life (or any media for that matter). Im also genderqueer and somewhere on the aro/ace spectrum and your book put into words alot of things I’ve never known how to express. Thank you for putting yourself out there!

(also do you have any other comic book recommendations?)

Hello anon! Thank you for this kind message! I very much do have comic book recs. In no particular order, here are some favorites. Not all of these are books are queer, but many are. If you want queer specific recs, here are some other asks I've previously answered- books about nonbinary identities, nonbinary mostly fiction

Memoir/Nonfiction 

Fun Home by Alison Bechdel

Relish: My Life in the Kitchen by Lucy Knisley 

March Trilogy by Senator John Lewis, Nate Powell and Andrew Aydin

The Best We Could Do by Thi Bui

Fetch: How a Bad Dog Brought Me Home by Nicole Georges 

You & a Bike & a Road by Eleanor Davis 

Tetris: The Games People Play by Box Brown

The Called Us Enemy by George Takei, Justin Eisinger, Steven Scott and Harmony Becker

Feeding Ghosts by Tessa Hulls 

Hey Kiddo by Jarrett Krosoczka 

Almost American Girl by Robin Ha 

Dragon Hoops by Gene Luen Yang 

Dancing at the Pity Party: A Dead Mom Graphic Memoir by Tyler Feder 

Banned Book Club by Kim Hyun Sook, Ryan Estrada and Ko Hyung-Ju 

Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands by Kate Beaton 

Homebody by Theo Parrish 

The High Desert by James Spooner 

Fiction

Prince of Cats by Ronald Wimberly 

This One Summer by Jillian Tamaki and Mariko Tamaki

Skim by Jillian Tamaki and Mariko Tamaki

Seconds by Bryan Lee O’Malley 

Nimona by ND Stevenson 

The Prince and the Dressmaker by Jen Wang 

The Hard Tomorrow by Eleanor Davis

On a Sunbeam by Tillie Walden

This Was Our Pact by Ryan Andrews

Grease Bats by Archie Bongiovanni

The Chromatic Fantasy by H.A. 

Salt Magic by Hope Larson and Rebecca Mock

Beetle and the Hollowbones by Aliza Layne

Kiss Number 8 by Colleen F Venable and Ellen Crenshaw 

Finder Library Vols 1 & 2 by Carla Speed McNeil

Castle Waiting: The Lucky Road by Linda Medley

The Deep and Dark Blue by Niki Smith

Across a Field of Starlight by Blue Delliquanti 

O Human Star by Blue Delliquanti 

Snapdragon by Kay Leyh

Cyclopedia Exotica by Aminder Dhaliwal 

Woman World by Aminder Dhaliwal

The Magic Fish by Trung Le Nguyen 

A Frog in Fall by Lisa Sterte 

Thieves by Lucie Bryon 

The Great Beyond by Lea Murawiec

Short Stories

The Amazing Screw-On Head and Other Curious Objects by Mike Mignola 

Other Ever Afters: New Queer Fairy Tales by Melanie Gillman

[obsessiveagony2point0]

The Past

Charles reminds Hob of someone from a long time ago.

—-•—-•—-•—-•—-

Hob isn’t used to being asked about his past, with Dream being the only exception.

But now, with Edwin and Charles in his life, he was often asked on a daily basis.

Edwin was far more interested in comparing Hob’s experiences to what was written down. It was easier for him to answer those questions since it felt like teaching his History classes. The difference here being these boys knew he was almost 700 years old and his students did not.

A lot of the time, Edwin asked questions about the 1900s, around the time he had died. He’d missed out on not only growing up, but he’d been locked away in hell for nearly 100 years. He was curious, and Hob granted him that curiosity.

It was Charles who asked the harder questions.

A lot of the time, those questions had to do with experiences he should have died from but couldn’t. It was…a bit difficult bringing those memories up, but when Hob spoke about the 1600s where he was homeless and was freezing to what should have been death, he saw Charles’ expression change.

He’d given the boy a hug that day.

He’d asked if Hob had ever been in relationships with mortal people, which led Hob on a very strange and embarrassing yet sad path of all his past relationships. Which meant he spoke about his Eleanor and his once small family.

Then, one day, Charles asked about him.

They were in the kitchen; Hob cooking, Charles flipping through a comic, when suddenly Charles asked, “What was your son like?”

The room went deadly silent.

Hob stared at the eggs, not realizing they were burning until the smell hit him and he immediately moved the pan from the burner and turned it off.

“I-I’m sorry, we don’t have to talk about it.”

“No, no. It’s alright.” He turned to Charles, who looked like a beaten puppy. “I told you both you could ask anything you wanted and I meant it.”

Charles looked hesitant. “Yea…but…”

“It’s fine, Charles.” Hob gave a small, sad, yet reassuring smile before he leaned back against the counter, staring at the ceiling. “What was Robyn like…”

He looked back at Charles, who stared at him with big brown eyes, his face concerned and worried. Memories of Robyn flashed in his head, the face of a young boy who just wanted to make everyone happy and safe.

Hob reached a hand out, placing it on Charles’ head. “Actually…he was a lot like you.”

Charles opened his mouth to speak, but was interrupted by Edwin appearing through the wall. “Charles, we have a case. You can read your cartoon drawings later.”

“They’re comics, Ed. Comics.”

Edwin rolled his eyes and disappeared back into the wall.

Charles moved to follow, but stopped and turned to Hob. “See ya later, Hob.”

“Hopefully not in another week again.”

Charles chuckled. “Hopefully not, but you know Edwin.”

“I know.” Hob smiled. “Just…be safe. As best you both can.”

The ghost boy smiled back. “We will.” And with that, he vanished.

Hob stood there a moment longer, still smiling.

Yes…he was so very much like Robyn…

—-•—-•—-•—-•—-

Just really had to get this out of my system. I like the idea of Charles and Edwin of doing things that remind Dream and Hob of Robyn and Orpheus.

Twitter/X•AO3•Pillowfort •Linktree•Bluesky•Ko-fi

[icarusredwings]

I have problems incorporating Ellie because the comics/movie timeline does not link up, and I've had a hell of a time fixing the Xmen movie/Logan Timeline (because it has to make sense in my story damn it) I'd have to retcon wade banging Carmelita Camacho when he was broken up with Vanessa, and how do you do that tastefully?

So what is your opinion on how to do this?

Does it work in cannon?

Thoughts in general?

Okay so- Canonly to the movieverse, It's said that Ellie (Eleanor camacho) will not be in this universe, this is probably because Ryan doesn't like the idea of dipping on his daughter seeing in many comic universes, while he does take in Ellie he quickly realizes how crap of a parent he is, always on the run, always in danger, and he dosn't want her in danger (most times) so he leaves her with an adoptive family. He visits often, gives her a phone and tells her to call him any day or night for anything at all and he'll awnser, he plays with her often but has to leave half way through almost every time, her adoptive parents sometimes dislike Wade (for obvious reasons) but they let him come with them trick or treating and to her birthday party.

In the comics Ellie also is a big fan of Spiderman and peter meets Ellie a few times, saying he wasnt aware Wade even had kids, in which he responds that he wasnt either until a couple years ago. This is said as a joke since Ellie is only about 6 when this is said, but its true, Ellie was already born by the time he knew anything about her existence.

He even told her mother that she couldn't possibly be his because she's too beautiful. All in all, you can see him struggling so hard to balance his mental health, his work, his daughter, and just trying to live enough FOR her. She becomes his anchor, but really... really.. struggles to meet the standard of a "good father." To us, we can see how hard he's trying, but Ellie, her father, lies, doesn't come when he says he will, and all an all? Gave her away. It's a gorgeous story, really, depending on which one you read. Older Ellie eventually takes on the legacy of Deadpool in one universe and tells people loud and proud that she's Ellie Wilson and that she IS deadpool (similar to how Laura IS Wolverine).

Alright. Canon done and done.

Now. As the Board of Headcanons thoughts and opinions.

Yes- Ellie would be conceived during the time Vanessa and him are broken up, so somewhere between movie 2 and 3. I *Think* that it's implied that Wade went back to make Vanessa alive again, shooting himself in wolverine orgins, trying to kill baby hitler but failing, etc and then its implied (I think) that Cable goes back home after that seeing as in the 3rd movie the TVA says that he abused his powers with it and Wade mentions that he dosn't have it anymore. That he "smashed it" or something but Wade is a known liar. He probably returned it to Cable (or idk maybe he really did wreck it. Dropped it off the freeway or something- but then they probably could just fix it again idk) so he could go home to his daughter.

Im not entirely sure on the deadpool movieverse timeline, but I wanna say it's a good 6 years in between movies / how long he's been broken up with Vanessa? So yes, they totally could have had Ellie in the plot since Carmelita was a hookup. One that kind of was a bit Eeehhh if you ask me anyway since she only does it because she thinks she's about to die and wants to have sex again before that. He takes off his mask, and she runs off, probably leaving Wade feeling way worse then before hand.

Now I haven't read this specific comic, but she claims that she couldn't find deadpool for the entire pregnancy (accurate) and wanted to give Ellie up for adoption or she wanted child support (?) So Wade took her instead.

You could very easily label her as a sympathy/ rebound hook up from Vanessa but again, movie would be more complicated if he came back to vanessa with a whole kid so thats why they decided to keep her out (and child acting laws/pay probably)

There would infact have to be a whole argument of "Wade where the fuck did you get a kid!?" "Uhhhh shes mine" "no take her back where you found her thats someones daughter you nutcase!" "No no- I mean... shes literally mine.."

Which would do well inna fic where Vanessa and Wade stay broken up, because If my ex boyfriend had a whole kid with someone else I doubt it would be easy to get back together- but if you want it to where Vanessa is still together-ish with Wade then you will have to do something where Vanessa becomes kind of like a step mom.

With how young Ellie is- you could probably write it to where she fully believes V is her mom in the first place. The timeline makes sense that way, I think. You would just have to work out the whole "My boyfriend is having a massive mental identity crisis and is extremely depressed to the point he's neglecting his daughter"

And THAT would be the issue. Does Wade neglect Ellie sometimes? Yes. Is it for her own good? Yes. Would he EVER do anything to personally hurt Ellie? You're out of your god damn mind if you think yes. He does not want to be like his father so he would never hit her. Shout at her? Sure. Regret it? Instantly.

I also can't see Vanessa leaving Wade in such a dark place with Ellie and Al either. She definitely wouldn't leave a child in a home where she wouldn't he cared for- So you would have to have V take Ellie which would lead to Wade being MORE depressed, and maybe thats why he's trying to get his life together so badly? To get his daughter back?

Because normal dads have normal jobs right? Hence the car salesman gig. Maybe hes saving up to move to somewhere so Els and him can have a cleaner, safer, bigger apartment because Obviously sharing a bed with Al makes Vanessa look at him with somewhat suprise and pity. V would want him to get a place where Els can sleep safely and have her own space. Even if its their own apartment and wade gives Els the room and he sleeps on the couch, as long as shes his priority.

V taking Ellie from him would be a major eye opener for him to get his shit together.

(He also would probably call her all the time to talk to ellie and demand that Ellie dosn't meet Vs boyfriends or hook ups because HE'S her dad, not them, he'd kill a bitch if Ellie called them dad)

After the movie, when Logan and Laura are there, Wade can look at her and ask if he can have Ellie back now, and she tells him "Lets start with weekends." Because she can tell just how much he's actually gotten it together but hes not quite ready to have her full time again.

As time goes on with Logan, They would eventually have to move but yes, in about 6 months time he would get Ellie back and have his little family that consistents of a mommy, 2 daddys, a dog, 3 daughters, and a grandma.

[gwenllian-in-the-abbey]

hi! so i started reading when christ and his saints slept (your recommendation, it's great btw) and wow george really dropped the ball on the dance cause what is this going on. like older sister against brother?? why would that work George??

i've seen tb make arguments that the usurpation set women's rights back for centuries, and that seems kind of silly cause the rule of (bloody) mary i still led to the rule of elizabeth i. personally, i think the issue of women's rights has more to do with the lack of queen dowagers and regents which are more common in real history but less in asoiaf who use their power of being mothers of the king to advocate for women, and lay the groundwork (e.g. margaret beaufort, nurbanu sultan, anne of austria, etc)

but, also what are the greens meant to do because if viserys did not settle inheritance for his sons (through heiresses) whilst he lived there's no reason why rhaenyra would do it when she's queen.

for me the greens have three options : take the throne through conquest, ask for a great council (they have vhagar they can make demands), or three literally die.

like as much as i am green supporter if i was rhaenyra and i peacefully ascended to the throne and my half-siblings who are brothers with sons of their own well, they just have to die ottoman style, because allowing them cadet branches undermines her own and in the end you get a house bourbon supplanting house valois situation (something catherine de medici committed war crimes to prevent); you can't let them leave because well 6 dragons outside of targaryen control — you might as well be asking for trouble ; send them to the citadel —well two are married to each other, one has vhagar with clear anger issues, the other has tessarion and can just leave when he wants and, not even talking about the kids with their own dragons.

the truth is the greens can't just sit and do nothing. if viserys doesn't want the trouble of his sons ,and wants rhaenyra has queen then simply don't remarry or do you your duty to the sons that you have sired.

reading christ and when his saints slepts its actually comical how house targaryen don't have mistresses and they began to have them when the dragons are dead

this was a long rant but the greens don't have much options especailly cause their living in an environment where sons inherit before daughters. i would ask how would you make the story more compelling and logical causing reading penman the dance is not.

also, big can of your writing ofcir and akab are holding me down since hotd has been feeding us crap.

Anon I've had this reply sitting in my drafts and should have answered ages ago, so my apologies for the late reply!

I'm so glad you're reading When Christ and His Saints Slept. It's my go-to recommendation for historical fiction about the Anarchy, and Penman in general is just my absolute favorite historical fiction writer. I hope you continue the series that follows Matilda's son, Henry II, his wife Eleanor of Aquitaine, and their brood of children.

You're right that the greens didn't have many options if they wanted to stay alive. The show has downplayed that aspect this season but Alicent's sons and grandsons would always be a challenge to Rhaenyra and Jace's rule. You only need a basic understanding of the world to see that they were in an impossible position. Ultimately, Viserys is the one who destabilized his succession and deserves a lot more blame than the show is willing to give him.

As for the matter of powerful women, queens regnant, and women's rights, irl history is full of powerful queen consorts like Eleanor who exercised power, defended garrisons, negotiated peace, and sometimes, as in Eleanor's case, even rebelled against their own husbands. In the Anarchy, Stephen's wife, Matilda of Boulogne, was a force to be reckoned with, besieging Dover castle and making a treaty for Stephen with the king of Scotland. When he was captured in battle, Matilda raised an army, and when her army captured Empress Matilda's half-brother, Robert of Gloucester, who was one of her biggest supporters, Matilda of Boulogne negotiated a hostage exchange and secured Stephen's release. And this isn't even a Westeros problem because we see politically powerful women who are not queens regnant in-world-- Cersei as regent for her children, Catelyn, who was basically running the war effort before Robb set her aside, and even book!Alicent, who exercised a good deal of power. In fact, somewhat ironically, show!Alicent was well set up to exercise even more power than her book counterpart. It's clear Aegon actually listened to her and valued her counsel, even seeking out her advice and guidance. Having the ear of the king is no small thing, and if she'd done anything other than belittle him she could have ended up as his most trusted advisor. Look how easily Larys moved in! But the show instead had Alicent alienate Aegon and then treated her disempowerment as if it were a function of her gender rather than a result of her inability to provide useful counsel.

So no, a lack of queens regnant is not keeping Westerosi women out of powerful positions, and you're right anon, in that HotD seems to have decided that powerful women didn't exist as consorts, dowagers, and regents even though that's not true irl or in Westeros. As for women's rights, unfortunately having a queen regnant historically has done very little for women as a whole. Royal women tended to align their interests with other royals or nobles rather than with women as a whole, that is, solidarity is formed along class lines more often than it is formed along gendered lines. We see this even in our world today, where companies with women as CEOs in fact tend to hire fewer women in lower management positions. Rhaenyra being denied the throne doesn't mean much for the average Westerosi woman, but civil wars caused by an unstable succession can make everyone's lives demonstrably worse.

[whitmore]

just started reading stargirl: lost children n it’s cute i also like the references. i get very uncertain when media is very self-referential or dependent on understanding niche jokes in order to derive enjoyment from it but it feels more subtle here and more as a side than an entree if that makes sense. also the art is stunning

[genericpuff]

May I ask, what is dr foxglove about?? 😭😭

The gist of the plot is about a girl named Foxglove who loses her parents at a young age and later enrolls at a school to learn how to be a mortician (?). She's the only girl in the class, sexism ensues. Unfortunately because the comic hasn't been fully recovered, I can only give the gist based on what I've read, but I'm definitely getting the sense that Eleanor's Deathbed / Patients in the Dark is gonna wind up recreating elements of The Doctor Foxglove Show, as Rachel dropped Foxglove to work on LO (and the rest is history). That said, a lot of the plot elements and tropes in LO are taken from The Doctor Foxglove Show, which were taken from The Doctor Pepper Show. And that's not even getting into her other comics like Woman King and The Maiden which also feature "girlboss" female characters who are trying to overthrow a tyrannical mother-figure (sound familiar?) Rachel's kind of just been recycling the same plotlines and characters for 20 years LMAO

If you want to read what we've recovered so far, you can access the full archive of ordered pages here!

[yurimother]

Unlikely Couples Yuri Manga 'Assorted Entanglements' Volume 3 Release in English

On Tuesday, Yen Press released the third volume on Mikanuji's shakaijin Yuri manga series Assorted Entanglements (Fusoroi no Renri) in English. The manga is available digitally and in paperback.

Assorted Entanglements follows the daily lives and romances of a variety of intertwined, unlikey Yuri couples, including 28-year-old career woman Iori and the younger former delinquent Minami. It incorporates elements of slice of life, comedy, and drama.

The publisher describes the third volume:

Heke and Lala met as strangers in an online game― but in real life, they are a manga artist and her editor, working together as closely as any two people can. At work, they bicker and complain, day in and day out. But come nighttime, their game chat is a flood of honest feelings. Could they ever manage that face-to-face…?

Mikanuji began releasing the series online on her Pixiv and Twitter pages in 2017. Kadokawa picked the manga up for print publication. Kadokawa published the seventh volume in January. Assorted Entanglements moved to digital serialization on Comic Newtype in November 2020.

Mikanuji is a Yuri artist known for her series Assorted Entanglements and Senpai, Oishii desu ka? (Senpai, Does is it Tasty?), which concluded serialization on Young Ace Up in August. She also wrote the Yuri oneshots Now Loading! and I Don't Want a Happy Ending, published in English by Seven Seas and Yen Press, respectively, and contributed to the Syrup and Yuri Drill anthologies.

Assorted Entanglements is translated into English by Eleanor Summers, with lettering by Elena Pizarro Lanzas.

You can check out Assorted Entanglements volume 3 digitally and in paperback today: https://amzn.to/46g1CeI

Reading official releases helps support creators and publishers. YuriMother makes a small affiliate commission from sales to help fund future coverage.

[cosmonadarovicarts]

Series/webtoons if you like Hazbin Hotel/Helluva Boss

Lovely hell

I'll start right away with the probably least known AND best of all - at least in terms of being similar to the universe of HH and HB-.

"Tanz, a powerful creature of pure evil, is vanished to Earth agaist her will. Weak and without a plan, she'll have to rely to Cain, a human, to guide her throught the world and figure a way back to her home: Hell."

First of all, it's a webtoon, so you can read it for free on Webtoon! Created by Tita (stage name Lorsupp), the story takes place in the present day. our protagonists are biblical characters (I won't give spoilers about who Tanz is. Cain, you guys must have already understood...).

This webtoon deserves much more recognition! the story is organic and well-paced, funny and tense when necessary. The characters are super charismatic and have chemistry, the Lore of Hell is super interesting and with a different approach from HH/HB. I love the character design - you can see the evolution of the author's traits as the chapters go by.

It's great to see other ways of approaching well-known characters -like the Jewish/Christian angels and demons-. A emphasis for Gabriel, ahhh this character hahah Anyway, this webtoon is the one I most recommend!

You can read it -> Webtoon account

When Instagram starts working again, I'll share the creator's account here!

Vilanius

This series - with just a few episodes left - is a Mexican animation released for Cartoon Network. Compared to HH's type of humor, here it is much more toned down, as it is aimed at a younger audience.

"Villainous is the story of Black Hat Org., run by Black Hat (whose name is synonymous with villain, a reference to the evil black-hatted cowboys of Western films) and his team of three less evil sidekicks. Black Hat is trying to sell various evil inventions created by Dr. Flug and is desperate to fulfill his evil aspirations. However, things often end badly for him, as brilliant innovations tend to have small and often comical flaws."

The lore has nothing related to the Hell, but it still focuses on the evil side of the story. I love the character designs, very similar to HH. It's worth checking out, even more Latin animation!

The Good Place

A series already consolidated and finished. One of my favorites on Netflix!

Even though it's not exactly Heaven and Hell, the concept is very similar. but what stands out here is the philosophical debate about what is right and wrong, how to be a good person in a world marked by individualism, competition and exploitation so that a person can have the basics to survive? -neoliberalism cough cough-.

"Eleanor Shellstrop wakes up to discover that she has died and entered the afterlife. But when she is told by her mentor Michael that she is in the "Good Place" because of her good deeds, helping to get innocent people off death row, she realizes that a mistake has been made because the people They think she is someone else with the same name."

Question about existentialism, ethics and the meaning of life debated in a fun way! A quick comparison to Bojack Horseman, a series that I love. in The Good Place, the existentialism, life and death are treated in a much more optimistic and... beautiful way, while in Bojack it is pessimistic and heavy. the debates on human existence can have lighter conclusions - this is not a criticism of Bojack, just a different approach.

Guardians of the Mansion of Horror

This recommendation won't have a personal review because... I still need to watch it! but I saw so many people recommending it, saying that it has good LGBT+ representation that I thought it would be interesting to bring it here. If anyone has already watched it and wants to say something about it...

"Guardians of the Mansion of Horror follows friends Barney and Norma as they work at a theme park during the summer. The two take the night shift and are responsible for organizing the place while it is empty. What they didn't expect is that this fun place is actually an interdimensional portal to hell. Suddenly, several supernatural creatures appear to haunt the Earth and the two friends must join forces to stop them. To do this, they receive help from the talking dog, Pugsley."

Inside Job

Here we have the biggest injustice in the history of Netflix, the cancellation of this series! I brought it here because of their type of acidic and critical humor towards society - not that this criticism is present in HH-. An adult animation, with swear words and the same irreverent touch as HH, following the shadow side of society.

"A dysfunctional team working in a hidden government department is tasked with keeping conspiracies around the secret world. From complicated attacks to secret societies, anti-social technology genius Reagan Ridley will need to work in a place full of shapeshifting reptilians and psychic mushrooms, at the same time as she must deal with an unbalanced father, in order to achieve the dream she dreams of. promotion."

Emphasis to the animation itself and the character design. When it comes to other species, we have unique designs, they even resemble the design of demons in HH.

irreverent, intelligent and humorous. 🤌

Good Omens

It's almost a rule, if you watched Hazbin Hotel/Helluva Boss, you also watched Good Omens!

For those who have never given the series a chance, here are some reasons to watch it now: Inspired by Neil Gaiman's work - and approved by him! -!. It is focused entirely on this universe of Jewish/Christian characters - and it is possible to see how well they are studied! There are references that only those who have studied demology or the sacred writings of these religions will understand-

The first season has a wonderful rhythm with captivating characters - the second lacks this a little. The angel and devil couple are super charismatic and you root for them.

Watching some of the biblical events from the point of view of the questioning and sinister demon Crowley and the good lamb Aziraphale is wonderful!

[allurilove]

Crackhead question…BUT!…how’d our favorite husband handle having 12 daughters?!

I ask because Catherine O’Hara voiced the Duchess Rowena in Barbie and the 12 Dancing Princesses…so this is where my whack question is coming from!

Oh that sounds…. hectic.

In his office, he has a huge calendar filled with the extracurriculars Henry does. The karate classes, when school starts and all of the breaks, playdates, the first time the tooth fairy visited (yes, Henry celebrates that), and his birthdays. If yandere husband were to have twelve kids, oof.

He would have to hire an assistant and multiple nannies and tutors to help him. Maybe he'll even get his sisters to look after them too lol.

Yandere husband takes five-ten minutes out of his day to spend time with each of them. Five minutes hearing them ramble on about whatever shows they watched, playing dress up or other princess tea parties, reading them books and going through old comic books he used to read, and he'll even show up to his workplace with tiara. Deep down, he knows he looks good them.

He probably wouldn't be able to show up to all the sports games or any dance recitals, so he'd have his wife film everything for him to watch before bed and see how his cute little kids did.

Good thing I have a list of names yandere husband would use:

Alora or Elora

Anne

Blythe

Eleanor

Cecilia

Cyndi

Jane or Janie

Leah

Maeve

Magnolia

Moira

Sloane