#for them to be 100% alienated from her as a character and personality

[fideidefenswhore]

i don’t actually mind iterations of AB where she’s ‘mean’ (…again, whatever the fuck that means in the 16c); but i really do reject portrayals where she’s completely devoid of warmth. unfortunately for me, one of them has remained #1 prestige ‘blueprint’ tudor drama since 2012 😭

[bumblingbabooshka]

Every time I watch the cold open of Memorial and B'Elanna tells Tom about how she ASSEMBLED a 50's television set from SCRATCH just to surprise him (there's no reason beyond that - just an incredibly sweet and thoughtful gesture) and replicated popcorn for him to eat while he watches and Tom says "They didn't have remote controls in the 50's ♥ Also where's my beer?" I contemplate murder ESPECIALLY because B'Elanna responds cheerfully to it - GIRL!!! LEAVE HIM!!!!!! IS HE SUPPOSED TO BE CHARMING IN THIS SCENE????

[psuedofolio]

I've been continuing my quest to draw 100 different characters, once a day every weekday and a couple weeks ago was like... "Girls and Mecha" week. And I tried each time to have like... a different take on the theme but would still have certain similar aesthetics. With the exception of the "school girl" the other machines were inspired more with industrial or construction machines.

So like... here's a power loader type mech. And a power armor type design. Then there was like... a mecha pilot but all she got was a roomba. Then there was the "pilot" and there was the girl that is actually the mech for a tiny robot. Was fun!

I had this whole lore where it was some corporation fighting some future union rebels on some space planet. Maybe I'll expand more on that someday.

EDIT: It occurs to me I should probably include the flavor text from when I tweeted these out. I'll put them in the same order as the images here:

"You know Kimmie, from the loading docks? Yeah she took to the Pile Bunker like a champ. You should see her tear open the corpo APCs."

2. "The off world colony workers repurposed the excavator suits into mobile armor frames. Corporate needs you to shut this down, now."

3. "The workers at the BIG PLANT found a little creative solution for taking their work with them while moving through and monitoring the factory floor. They've taken to personalizing their "Desk-bas" thinking of them like their own little mecha."

4. "The Cortex Walker, inspired by some particularly cruel science fiction, was Corporate's latest attempt to demoralize the rebel factions. While impractical from a mechanical perspective, the psychological impact of firing on captured allies could not be understated."

5. "My Best Friend is An Alien (and Unfortunately That's my Type!)"

[thefandombringer]

Season 3 Milkvan is not nearly as cute as I remembered it being 4 years ago

So I’m rewatching s3 for the first time in a hot minute because I remembered that being the most milkvan heavy season but what I’ve realized in this rewatch is that there is not a single scene between Mike and El where Mike does not have to put up some sort of facade. We see a lot of Mike’s genuine character in the first two seasons, especially when he is happy (playing D&D with the party, spending time with his friends and Will) so we as an audience can tell that all the times where Mike appears happy in season 3—especially in scenes with El—are NOT Mike’s genuine personality.

Im not sure quite how to explain it, but the main scenes that come to mind are the opening scene with them making out in El’s bedroom, Mike’s phone call to El when he lies about his Nana, and the scene in the pool with that human dummy thing. Two of these are scenes where Mike is supposedly happy and joking around with El, but they have a very superficial vibe to them—which will be the first . I’m pretty sure that anyone can clock those moments if they watch those on their own but, as someone that does a lot of acting, mannerism and vocal inflection shifts are key when playing different characters. The way Mike holds himself and delivers his lines do not feel like the same Mike that we grew to know and love in the earlier seasons and, since Finn is obviously not a terrible actor (he is, in fact, quite a good actor), we as the audience are meant to realize that Mike is not being his true self or, in other words, playing another character. He can’t be his genuine self around El (which is also demonstrated very very clearly in season 4 but this shows that these issues did not come out of nowhere), which heavily contrasts the other significant relationships in the show, especially throughout season 3 (Jancy, Jopper, Lumax) who are their authentic selves with each other and are able to bicker and match each other’s energies while still very clearly loving each other. Milkvan is not like them, and not in a good way.

The second portion of this (and why I mentioned the phone call scene) is the fact that Mike talks to her like he has to dumb himself down/like she is much younger and unable to understand how he would talk to her normally. I really don’t has a way to describe this other than just recommending that you watch those scenes again to see what I mean. It’s obvious that he cares about her and really does enjoy talking to her, but in a way that I would talk to my younger siblings/cousins. Is this how a healthy relationship should seem? I certainly hope not. This is doubled by the fact where in that one interview (I have no idea where to find it so if someone has it please link it!!) Finn says that when he first met El, it was like taking in an alien like in ET. Again, not very romantic. It is also explicitly shown that this is not how everyone talks to El, so it’s not like she can’t understand the standard level of conversation. Such a big emphasis on El and Max’s friendship and the fact that Max treats El as an equal and helps her find her own personality instead of babying El and keeping her sheltered and controlled. She can be treated like a regular person and is so much better for it. She’s not you pet, Michael.

Notice how both of these major problems are never found between Mike and Will. All of their conversations and interactions within the show are 100% genuine and authentic and never feel superficial or forced. Their relationship is also taken much more seriously throughout the whole show when contrasted to Milkvan, but that’s a whole separate post. Mike and Will’s fights are serious and real, while Mike and El’s (with the exception of the “From Mike” fight, which is pretty telling) are comedic and surface level and played for laughs.

BYLER ENDGAME BYLER ENDGAME

[reomikagekin]

Hi! I hope I'm not too late to make a request but can you please do Alien stage main characters, mostly Mizi, Sua, Ivan, Till, Hyuna & Luka with a female reader who is like a mysterious human girl but she's trying to save the idols from death singing contest.

It's 100% PLATONIC & the female reader personality is mysterious, aloof, stoic, calm, composed but very EMOTIONAL because she failed to save them from their deaths(mostly Sua, Ivan, till & Hyuna deaths), failed to protect Mizi from the cruelty & failed to shelter Luka from evil persona, thanks to the aliens brainwashing Luka. Female reader is like a motherly figure & holds them on her lap like mother & child bond.

Please make it from angst to fluff, from hurt to comfort, despite the tragedy deaths & events. (Sorry about the long request because my grammar is poor).

(Also in Ivan's part it might say that Luka, hyuna and mizi are watching, but I meant it to be that they're watching through the TVS..)

A Song for the Lost

---

Sua’s Death

Mizi doesn’t scream when Sua dies.

She just stands there, frozen, staring at the empty space where Sua once was. The stage is still lit, the cheers of the alien audience still ringing in your ears, but the only thing you hear is the hollow sound of Mizi’s breathing—shallow, uneven, like she’s forgetting how.

You rush to her before she falls.Her body is light as you pull her into your lap, but she doesn’t react. Doesn’t cry, doesn’t speak, just stares blankly ahead, as if her mind still refuses to accept reality.

“Mizi,” you whisper, brushing a hand over her hair.

She flinches.

“I should have been the one to die,” she finally chokes out.

You don’t let her finish that thought. You cradle her against your chest, pressing her close like you can shield her from the world. “Don’t say that.”

She doesn’t fight you. She just buries her face into your shoulder, gripping onto your sleeves as if she’ll fall apart otherwise.

“She’s gone,” she breathes, voice breaking. “She’s really gone.”

And you—who promised to protect them, who swore you wouldn’t let them die—you can do nothing but hold her.

---

Ivan’s Death

You don’t scream when Ivan dies.

You just kneel beside him, cradling his lifeless body in your arms, pressing a hand against his bloodied chest as if you can will his heart to beat again.

It doesn’t.

Mizi is sobbing somewhere in the distance. Luka watches in silence, unmoving. Hyuna stands frozen, her hands clenched at her sides, looking anywhere but at the body before her. Till stood there, horrified as Ivan bled out. He won, Ivan had lost.

But you—you just hold him.

Hold him the way you wish someone had when he was a child, when he was lonely and lost and trying so desperately to be someone worth loving.

“Ivan,” you whisper. “You weren’t alone.”

You don’t know if he ever truly believed that.

But at least, in his final moments, he wasn’t alone.

---

Till’s Death

You run to the stage when his voice cracks.

When he stumbles.

When his last, desperate note fades into silence.

But you’re not fast enough.

Till’s eyes widen when the spotlight dims, when his body gives out beneath him. He reaches for something—someone—but the only thing he meets is empty air.

Luka stands just beyond his grasp, eyes shadowed, expression unreadable. He didn't care.

Till falls.

You catch him.

His weight collapses into your lap, his body trembling as he gasps for breath. His fingers clench weakly against your sleeve, like a child seeking comfort. You press your forehead to his, fighting back the tears threatening to spill.

“You did so well,” you whisper, your voice shaking.

He exhales softly. A ghost of a smile tugs at his lips.

“Was I… good enough?”

You don’t let him hear the sob in your throat. “You were perfect.”

Till sighs. His fingers relax.

And the warmth begins to fade.

---

Hyuna’s Death

She smiles, even as she bleeds.

Even as Luka stands before her, wide-eyed and horrified as she collapses into his arms.

“I’m sorry,” she whispers, voice barely a breath. “For leaving you.”

Luka shakes his head, his hands trembling as they press against the wound in her side. “No. No, you don’t get to say that. You don’t get to die.”

But she does.

And Luka, the boy who was once hers, who she would have burned the world down for, can do nothing but watch.

You kneel beside them, reaching out, but Luka clings to her like he can anchor her soul to this world. Like if he just holds her tight enough, she won’t slip away.

“She wouldn’t want you to grieve forever,” you say gently.

Luka stiffens. Then, slowly, he lets go.And Hyuna’s body slumps against you.

You hold her close, resting your cheek against her cooling forehead, stroking her hair like a mother would a sleeping child.

“It’s okay,” you whisper. “Rest now.”

For once, she listens.

---

Luka's condition.

Luka is the only one left. (With Mizi and you.)

You don’t know if he can still be saved.

He’s not the boy he used to be—the one Hyuna loved, the one she would’ve burned the world down for. No, this Luka is a creation of the aliens, a puppet who sings for an audience that feeds on human suffering.

And yet.

When you find him alone, sitting in the shadows, staring at his hands like he doesn’t know what they’re for anymore, you kneel beside him.

He doesn’t react when you pull him into your lap, like you’ve done with all the others. He just lets himself be held, lets you stroke his hair, lets you whisper words that shouldn’t matter anymore but still do.

“You’re still in there,” you murmur.

He doesn’t respond.

But when you cradle him a little closer, you swear you feel him tremble.

And for the first time in a long, long time, you think maybe—just maybe—this one isn’t lost yet.

---

Mizi’s Breakdown

Mizi doesn’t cry when Sua dies.

She doesn’t cry when ivan falls, when Till's voice goes silent, when Hyuna bleeds out in Luka’s arms.

She just keeps moving. Keeps breathing. Keeps existing in the ruins of everything she once loved.

But then—She sees Ivan’s jacket, crumpled on the floor where he left it.

And something inside her snaps.

Her breath comes in short, sharp gasps. Her fingers tremble as she reaches for it, as she grips the fabric so tightly her knuckles turn white.

Then, without warning—

She screams.

It’s raw, broken, torn from the deepest part of her chest. She clutches the jacket to her heart like a lifeline, shaking, shaking, shaking as the weight of every loss crashes down at once.

“Why—” she chokes, her voice hoarse. “Why did they all have to die?”

No one answers.

Luka watches in stunned silence, his hands still stained with Hyuna’s blood. You kneel beside Mizi, reaching for her, but she flinches away.

“It’s not fair,” she gasps, her breathing ragged, uneven. “They should have been here. They should have—they should have won.”

She slams a fist against the ground. Once. Twice. Again and again, until her skin is raw, until the pain is the only thing anchoring her.

You finally pull her into your arms.

Mizi doesn’t resist.

She just collapses against you, fists clutching your shirt, her body wracked with shuddering sobs.

“I want to go home,” she whispers. “But there’s nothing left, is there?”

You hold her tighter.

“We’re still here,” you murmur. “Even if it hurts. Even if it’s unfair. We’re still here.”

She lets out a shaky breath. Her fingers loosen.

And for the first time since the stage took everything from her—

Mizi cries.

---

Your Breakdown (after Luka and Mizi had their moments, you broke down after.)

You don’t know when you hit the floor.

You don’t know when the sobs finally force their way out of your throat, or when the weight of all the deaths—Sua, Till, Ivan, Hyuna—crushes you.

All you know is that your knees buckle. Your breath hitches. And then—you break.

Mizi reaches for you first, despite her own grief, despite the fact that she hasn’t spoken a word since Till fell. She grabs your wrist, holding it like an anchor, her own tears spilling silently down her cheeks.

Luka watches, frozen. His hands are still covered in Hyuna’s blood.

Your hands are covered in all of theirs.

You try to scrub it away, clawing at your arms, your fingers trembling as you whisper, “I should have saved them. I should have—”

Mizi’s grip tightens.

Luka finally moves.

You don’t realize you’re shaking until Luka kneels beside you, until his arms wrap around your shoulders, pulling you close. Until Mizi presses her forehead against yours, grounding you, her fingers lacing with yours.

“We’re still here,” Luka says, voice barely above a whisper.

You let out a shaky breath.

“We’re still here,” Mizi echoes.

And so, you hold on.

Through the silence. Through the grief. Through the unbearable ache of all the ones you lost.

Because even if you couldn’t save the past—you can still hold onto the future.

------

The dead don’t come back.

No matter how much you grieve, no matter how many times you whisper apologies into the void, they are gone. Sua, Ivan, Till, and Hyuna—each of them left a hole in the world that nothing can fill.

But the ones who remain?

You hold them a little closer.

And When Luka finally, finally buries his face against your shoulder and cries—quiet, broken, but real—you let your own tears fall, too.

Because maybe, in the end, this is all you can do.

And maybe, just maybe, it’s enough.

[tabsters]

a compilation of reasons why till is 100% alive and definitely not dead

none of these theories are originally mine, I'm just compiling them all in one place to feed our delusions

please let me know about any more theories that I might have missed

here we go y'all!!!

psst @thegh0st-of-ingrid @hoisinblackcat @ventiilatte @starboy2461 @hyeesong @professionalwaterbender @yourlocalapplejuice @im-just-here-for-the-comics-r18 @iirexenii @probably-a-human-being

1 - Lovehate merch

probably the most blatant and obvious indicator as to why till's alive. in the other two lovehate merch items, the dead person is in black and white, while the alive person is in color.

thus implying that with ivantill, only Ivan is truly dead, and till is alive. he doesn't look too happy about it, but he is alive.

counterpoint to this point by @/mara9:

"I personally think the lovehate is only in relation (?) to their rounds together, it was just my first interpretation of them, could be totally wrong"

and while this could be true, luka and hyuna are not in the clothes they wore when hyuna died. luka is in his round 5 outfit, while hyuna is not in her uniform hoodie thing. therefore, the outfits have no relation to the symbolism. I think.

2 - Till's All-In cover art

till's art is the only piece of art to feature two different colors: red and green. (you could hypothetically count Ivan's art as having two different colors as well because of his red eyes but this art isn't officially released yet, so I won't count it)

it's extremely important to note that not only is the tape red (symbolizing till's blood), it's also directly over till's gunshot wound. this could imply a number of things, such as:

till's alive but his vocal cords are permanently injured

till was dead but comes back to life wrong

till somehow loses his sense of identity (because the tape is also directly over his name) and is technically "alive" but is no longer till

3 - Traces comic

all of the "dead" characters got comics after their death, depicting their dying thoughts.

sua where she talks to her older sister about how she found heaven in ANAKT:

Ivan talks about his selfish love towards till:

and hyuna talks about how luka was her one and only weakness:

but till doesn't get his own comic after his death. he gets a comic about his mother talking about till before he came to ANAKT.

considering this, we can conclude that till doesn't have any dying thoughts yet because he's not actually dead.

4 - Vision After art

again, this is part of a series with the other dead characters (excluding hyuna, because she wasn't dead at this point). with Ivan and sua, both of them are looking towards the camera, and their mirrors are typical mirrors, reflecting their images.

but till's mirror is different; it's a true mirror. what till sees in the mirror is exactly the same as what everyone else sees. he's turned away, and you can't see either till's faces.

while this presents less implications about his supposed death, it does separate him from Ivan and sua, who are already confirmed to be 100% dead.

I'm also unsure if this has been touched on, but I think that Ivan and sua looking towards the viewer could be indicative of them looking towards the person they sacrificed themselves for. what could this mean for till? it could be that till is looking towards himself because he was selfish in his "death". he wasn't sacrificing himself for anyone, he "died" when he was trying to reach for mizi.

this could be interpreted as a selfish act; he "died" to fulfill a desire that he had. he "died" for himself.

"died" being in quotation marks because, as previously stated, HE'S NOT ACTUALLY DEAD!!!

5 - Screenshots from the final round

many people have pointed out two things: till's heart rate monitor/mic thing is hanging out of his ear. this could mean that till's heart did not actually stop; his monitor merely got dislodged, making the aliens think his heart stopped. this also explains why till's picture flickers twice before going dark, as opposed to every other eliminated person's picture flickering once.

additionally, people have also pointed out that if till was really dead, his leg would not be up. his body would simply just go completely limp. this implies that there's still oxygen circulating through till's leg, thus implying that his leg is alive, thus implying that till is still alive.

6 - Screenshot from wiege:

this can probably be written off as more of a stylistic choice, but mizi's arms are completely covering till's face. we cannot tell what expression till's making, and therefore can't confirm for sure what he looks like and if he's actually dead.

7 - All the dead characters have bushy eyebrows

I think this one is self-explanatory.

Additional points by @/thegh0st-of-ingrid:

8 - His character treatment post-R7: apparently when asked about specific things about his character (mainly about his relationship with Ivan from his pov) Vivimeng didn't answer the questions. This to me could be proof that he's still alive since there are things yet to be reveald. And speaking of which...

9 - Narratively, the lack of his pov renders his (and partially Ivan's) storyline incomplete: his death hasn't a sense of finality bc he hasn't got a mini comic about that from his pov, and the lack of that pov itself (plus Vivimeng gatekeeping it) indicates that they're not done with the character

10 - Cross sybolism:

That may not that much of a concrete proof, but it could add to the forshadowing if he's reveald alive

(he'll arise 3 mvs after his death)

Additional point from @/probably-a-human-being:

11 - his hair thing is still pointing up. That's his antenna how could he be dead if his antenna is still up

edit: some more theories from another user that made a similar post not long after mine:

12 - This promotional art featuring all of the ALNST crew:

notice how only mizi is fully in color while sua, Ivan, and hyuna are completely in shades of blue. but it's important to note that both luka and till still retain their original colors as well as shades of blue. this could mean that luka and till die eventually, but not yet. and luka and till are right next to mizi, while hyuna and Ivan and sua are farther away.

13 - This coffin art

all of the confirmed dead people are at the top, with the people they sacrificed themselves for on the bottom. while this could just be defining who sacrificed themselves and who was saved in turn, it could also mean that TILL IS ALIVE!!!

14 - Snow White fanart

this was made before hyuna died and I think also before till died. all of these people are dead. notably absent is TILL!!!

[funishment-time]

if i had to guess why people take issue with the kirumi twist in particular, it probably has to do with the desire to convert the V3 cast into a non-despair setting more easily, to have them at Hope's Peak alongside the DR2 and DR1 casts (and DR3 casts if it's someone who isn't afraid to touch that cast) as like. class 79 or another offset of 78.

V3 is, by design, very exaggerated with their backstories. I've noticed this a ton when writing for my own fanworks. quite literally we have

angie's island is very exaggerated (and stereotyped at that)

gonta was not raised by wolves, but raised by (and I cannot exaggerate this enough) actual dinosaur people

korekiyo is a serial killer who aims to kill 100 people and is at least double digits to that goal

miu got into a car crash that turned her into a super genius

ryoma. just... all of ryoma's backstory (that's the entire joke is that the animal crossing looking guy has the World's Saddest Backstory)

rantaro amami has 12 sisters and he lost EVERY SINGLE ONE

this isn't to say that the DR series doesn't have very wild or goofy things to them; i mean hell one of the most notable scenes in the first game is when yasuhiro talks about how aliens stole his hamburger from him. but the character backstories tend to be relatively tame in comparison with V3's, which makes it harder to implement because. Actual prime minister.

this is all true! just in my personal experience, people Take Issue with the Kirumi Twist because it wasn't (to them) telegraphed. that's not to say you're wrong at all, though! just what i've personally noticed. it tends to irk me since we have plenty of twists in DR that aren't telegraphed...you kinda just have to roll with da punches.

i also think V3's backstories are supposed to be Over-the-Top to 1) contrast with THH in general, which was extremely grounded despite everything, and 2) to act as Subtle Evidence that things aren't quite what they seem. V3's characters seem like OCs because they may in fact be Tsumugi's (or Team Danganronpa's) OCs.

i personally have always felt that they fit in fine with the rest of the franchise's cast when chucked into UTDP/Summer Camp...as long as you don't think too hard about it. or, alternatively, think so hard about it that it's comical. we do have an open serial killer who is also the best-selling teen author of all time, after all. i like to imagine Kizakura was trying to go sober when it came to "class 79" and it turns out he needs alcohol to scout anyone remotely normal

[barbwritesstuff]

Not and ask but I do have to say I love how you’ve played with the lore of these mythical creatures. A lot of media definitely leans more towards romanticizing being one of these creatures but you’ve given them this doomed lore. If you’re a werewolf, you will go mad. If you’re a vampire you’ll likely die early or live long enough to see yourself lose touch with the world and become a blood crazed maniac. Upon dying, you can’t ever find peace in death. Becoming a monster comes with a few shiny perks and the heaviest debt you will ever take on. It’s so tragic and I love it.

I have a name for this! I'm sure people in the literacy analysis sphere have a smarter, swankier name, but I call it:

✨The Spooky vs. Superhero Slider✨

On one hand, you have the spooky stuff. Characters who are written to have genuine curses. You've been bitten by a zombie. You will die in seven days. etc That means the slider is set 100% to the spooky side.

On the other, you have literal superheroes. They're gods, they fly around and save the day, it's awesome. You want to be on this end of the slider.

Most characters who aren't just regular humans (be they vampires, werewolves, or alien gods) are somewhere along the slider. Depending on the author, depending on the story, even depending on the character, it can fluctuate a lot.

Take Lestat and Louis from Anne Rice's Interview With The Vampire for example. Both are vampires, but Lestat doesn't hate being a vampire quite as much, in fact he often has a wee bit of fun with it. Plus, he can fly. Stories from his POV are a few points more superhero than anything told from Louis' POV.

Another example, Twilight by Stephanie Meyer. They're mostly superheroes with the one big downside being their bloodlust. So, when Bella could instantly control her bloodlust, that series tipped hard into superhero. There was nothing horrific about being a vampire. It was fun. It was cool. It was... super.

It's always a sliding scale.

Personally, I prefer for that slider to remain closer to the spooky side than the superhero side. That doesn't mean I don't love superheroes. I am a massive Superman fan and wrote a whole wee story about it. But I want superheroes to be done with intentionality and I want my curses to feel like curses.

The genre of Blood Moon and Thicker Than is urban fantasy/horror.

They're not meant to be goth superheroes. They're meant to be cursed.

And that sucks for them... but it's a huge amount of fun for me, as the writer. I think it makes them much more interesting characters and makes the world way more fun to play in.

I think my werewolves have it just a tiny bit easier. They're 70% spooky and 30% superhero. The downsides are downsiding but the powers are still cool. My vampires I gave a bit of a rawer deal. They're 80%, maybe even 85% spooky. They get powers, sure, but the cost is steep.

Sorry for the long rambling response. This is just something I've thought about probably too much before.

[trekkele]

Patriach!!!!!! I love that fic it's so good and it really made me think about Bruce's relationship with Leslie

*spoilers*

So many Fics have Bruce not liking going to Leslie and I never really thought about it because that's how it's always been

But when Dick starts to point out that Bruce would rather bleed in an alleyway then face one of her lectures and I just sat there

Because kids really want to be accepted!!! And hearing only criticisms all the way well into adulthood will 100% destroy your mental health, and when you think about how much effort and sacrifices Bruce probably had to make to train under the best of the best, only for Leslie (who had an impact on him growing up but also was his dad coworker/friend) to dismiss all of it and tell him that violence is not the answer*.... It must of hurt

(*which is bull, we've been spilling blood for every freedom for as long as we've been around, open a history book Leslie)

I said this once (I think in dms with @wanderintofics) but I think it's very funny how Alfred has been cast into this overbearing mother role and Leslie has been cast as the distant and disappointed father role. Because where Alfred will relentlessly criticize Bruce, and withold care or affection if he feels Bruce doesn't deserve it, he will also always, always come back to Bruces side. It's a whole thing! Meanwhile Leslie will never whithold care, she's a doctor, she's a good doctor, but she will absolutely side with those criticizing Bruce whenever possible.

I think the fact that Leslie has been criticizing him this way since he's a kid influences it the most. Because hearing that your choices are a disappointment and your dead parents would be ashamed of you is. Not great!! Ever!! And since Alfred is literally an employee of the estate, Leslie is technically the only person in his life who gets nothing from him and isn't interested in pleasing or pacifying him. Alfred's criticism would hurt, of course, but there's also a level of "he's meant to be raising me into the perfect heir". Leslie has no such responsibilities, and that means her criticism is entirely personal.

There are two ways to write Leslie, and one is Watsonian (she represents an in universe belief) and the other is Doylest (she represents Batman critics in our universe). And my problem with her as a Doylest criticism is you cannot apply our universe rules to a universe with superheroes. The entire argument against capes falls apart with the first alien invasion. More then that, it simply isn't an interesting critique of the genre, because it inevitably falls into doomerisms and nihilism and I am supremely uninterested of that view of the world.

The Watsonian critique is slightly more interesting, because it at least has Leslie (reasonably!) acknowledge that she lives in a universe where superheros do exist, she is just personally against them. And my issue there is that Leslie is a militant pacifist, which boils down to "she believes you should also die for her beliefs". And. No.

She also believes that all violence is equal, when it clearly isn't and has never been, and insisting that it be treated as if it is is disingenuous and unhelpful. Its how we get people in prison for killing their abusers even in the most clear cut of cases. I disagree with her philosophy in the real world, and not even in a way that means I can agree in the fictional world, if that makes sense.

Leslie is a great character and I think she's very interesting even when I disagree with everything she's saying. I wish she had more screentime as n antagonist. Steph, for one, should not trust her ever again.

[stickkitty]

I got color names for the AvAvM characters

I used four websites which I will bullet in order for each one:

- color-name.com

- colornamer.robertcooper.me

- chir.ag/projects/name-that-color

- colors.artyclick.com

I will also sometimes be pretending their names become their literal personality/design because its fun for this post

EDIT: I forgot to say but the reason I am doing this is cuz I found out Alan Revealed official hex codes for a lot of the characters (idk when this was, I usually look at the AvA wiki and I suddenly saw it there and was like ooh this is useful) I did not do TDL or TDL cuz they are straight up just pure black and red (usually gives no other names for such pure colors although I technically never checked). The mercs did not get hex code reveals sadly (but they are multicolor so I wouldn’t do them anyway). I am not sure who else got hex reveals that I did not do other than hangman and Vic’s gray workers, but hangman is also pure black and I didn’t feel like doing anyone else. (Edited this again)

THE SECOND COMING

- Orange (wow basic)

- Safety Orange (honestly fits their personality)

- Blaze Orange (last two websites had this result. ArtyClick said it was a 100% match!)

- ArtyClick always says 4 similar color names. One was Mango Tango and surprisingly King didn’t have that from any website or the similar names list.

RED

- Boston University Red (That’s his future university now)

- Communist (Red’s a Communist?! :0)

- Guardsman Red

- Rosso Corsa

YELLOW

(Sigh no yellow text color on Tumblr I swear they used to have yellow)

- Tangerine Yellow (their new fave fruit)

- USC Gold (Yellow’s future University)

- The last two sites said Supernova which is a very cute name

GREEN

- Alien Armpit (BAHAHAHA THAT NAME- rip Green's ego)

- Blinking Terminal

- Limeade (that’s better)

- Alien Green (never mind he’s an Alien again) (Green is an Alien and he is kinda spacey)

BLUE

- Spiro Disco Ball (fits their personality since they are very good at dancing)

- Shovel Knight (Kinda fits cuz Blue likes gardening) (Shovel Knight and Guardsman Red should be in the same kingdom)

- Dodger Blue (her favorite sports team)

- Bright Sky Blue

PURPLE

- Heliotrope Magenta

- Magentle (A gentle Magenta?)

- Violet Eggplant

- Barney Purple (LOL Barney the dinosaur)

PURPLE’S MOM

I call her Sakura but she has other names so I just put Purples Mom

- “Shocking Pink (Crayola)” (Crayola? How shocking…)

- This and the next website both said Pink Flamingo

- Fuchsia Pink

PURPLE’S DAD

- Blue (wow basic #2)

- C64 Blue (...interesting name)

- Blue Ribbon (cuz he won so many fights I guess)

- ArtyClick Ocean Blue (The website name is in his name?)

- Similar name ArtyClick gave me is “Blue Orchid” which is cool since many people hc Pink to be called Orchid. Blue Orchid and Pink Orchid!

Bonus for Blue Ribbon and Blue Orchid:

Bonus for the first ribbon drawing except the ribbon says something else:

King Orange

- Metallic Orange

- “Apple II Chocolate”

- The last two sites said Bamboo (aren’t bamboos green?)

Gold

- Chinese Gold (so he’s Chinese?)

- Leopard (cute ^ ^)

- Buddha Gold (and he's Buddhist?)

- Yellow Ochre

Victim

- Dark Liver

- Fiftieth Shade of Gray

- Emperor (Guardsman Red and Shovel Knight serves xem)

- Vampire (Vampire Vic :0)

Corn Dog Guy

- Smoky Topaz

- Cranberry Zing

- The last two sites said Copper Rust

[creatingblackcharacters]

Hello!! This is my character bee!

Bee Vuttercup (all pronouns, mostly uses bee/bees) is a shapeshifting alien that is supposed to be at least Black-coded while in alien form and is Black while in human form 

(a very little sketch of bee as a human!!)

Bee takes a Lot of pride in bee’s hair, I love drawing it in different styles!!!!!! This specific drawing is based off of someone I saw on Instagram, totally blanking on her name, but she’s currently selling star puffs and they reminded me of bee instantly!!!!

On bee’s home planet bee is a well-reknowned scientist in the study of humans and human cultures, so it spent ~100 years or so making a space ship for beesself so bee could travel down to earth and continue its studies from the inside, turning beesself into a “normal” human teenager!!

Bee’s whole story is bee learning how to act like a human being and making human friends so bee can go back to bees planet and share bees new knowledge in a way nobody has before!!!!!!

Bee’s plan goes a little arje when its space ship is almost immediately found by another person, Star (who bee is incredibly happy to see as bee worships the stars— almost like they’re destined to meet or something) and immediately scientifically falls in love with. Star and Bee become almost instant best friends, to the dismay of Star’s girlfriend and ex-boyfriend who are (understandably) concerned about the fact that aliens are real and trying to study people. Either way, they learn to love bee eventually seeing as bee is a total sweetheart.

Also Yes bee is a gyaru. I love gyaru

Bee has a whole lot of love and I could talk for hours about bee’s species (as I’ve thought a Lot about them and their religions etc)

I love bee so, so much and am so happy to share about bee

Interesting!!! I like Bee's design and Bee's story. Question- can you explain to me "Gyaru" and why Bee is a gyaru?

[veneritia]

when comes the dawn monthly update {01.30.2025}

First monthly update of the new year!

THE STATISTICS

the draft → 64,598 words * words written this month → 6,008 words average word count per session this month → 501 words words written this year → 6,008 words

* my draft is spread across multiple docs so this number may not be 100% accurate

STORY NOTES

We have another Nike POV scene! Ft. Nike being the complete opposite of a wife guy, and a grown ass man pouting over having to wear green because his wife told him to :( (but with everything the guy's been through, he deserves to pout)

Fenice comes out of the gate swinging and decides that the best way to build a base of power and influence is by alienating herself from potential allies. Don't worry, Leda is there to tell her that that's a stupid plan actually

New character unlocked: [High Commander Selene Doriaskora]

I've decided to lean a lot more into Fenice and Charles' relationship from this point on and put a lot more emphasis on the fact that 1) they've known each other since they were kids and are in fact the closest among the vi Aetier siblings, and 2) allying herself with Charles is Fenice's best chance of surviving the King's Game until she becomes a strong enough candidate on her own

I'm way too scared to go back into earlier chapters and fix them to make them fall in line with the new directions I'm taking because I'm afraid that I'll end up slashing 70% of them, so we're just gonna wait until I finish act 1 to do that.

EXCERPT

“My good lords and ladies,” she spoke, ringed fingers drumming staccato at the head of her armrest. “My Imperial father has sent me here with two missions in mind. The first is on a hunt.” She lets the word ring clear through the air, letting it sink into every person’s mind. “The man known as Isandros Deominos is to be  branded a criminal. An enemy of the state. He will be caught, and he will be executed as per the will of His Imperial Majesty. Those who are found to be aiding Isandros, whether it be harboring him, cooperating with his schemes, or failing to provide any information as to his plans or whereabouts, will be found guilty of treason and punished to the full extent of the law.”

Fenice sat back, her eyes hardened. “He may have once been a prince to all of you, but now he is simply nothing more than a man running on borrowed time. His fate is inevitable, and the Fortune-Weaver has turned her gaze away from him. Loyalty to a dying man will earn you nothing.” And then as if a page was flipped, or the mask changed, her face became warm again and Fenice smiled serenely at her audience as if she did not just condemn Nike’s brother to die. “But I am not just here as an executioner, no. His Imperial Majesty has tasked me with bringing peace and order to the land, and that is exactly what I intend to do.”

BLOG STUFF

Check out my 2025 resolution bingo for this month's WTW event! It features all of my writing goals for WCTD

TAGLIST (ask to be +/-)

@bloomingwrites @writinglyra @zmwrites @trapped-inadystopianovel @inky-duchess @aalinaaaaaa @seasteading @kaatiba @serpentarii @lazulis-stuff @sourrcandy @charlesjosephwrites @marrowwife @forever-and-almost-always @halcionic @caninemotiff @socialmediasocrates @zorya-km @smolandweirdwriter @floweryprosegarden

[applebuttercringe]

Arcane and Class Conflict

So, it has become pretty obvious that Arcane will mostly abandon the class oppression plotline and end Season 2 with Zaun and Piltover teaming up to fight off Noxus. The plot is almost definitely going to gloss over Caitlyns fascist martial law over Zaun, and focus the story on redeeming her personally via her relationship with Vi. As is reasonable, a lot of people are kind of upset with this direction, and in general how Arcane seems to try and portray both sides as equally in the wrong even when the majority of Zauns issues can be directly traced back to mistreatment by the Topsiders.

Lets be honest, this was obvious from the start. Here's why:

Arcane was made by a big budget corporation: Arcane cost $250 Million to make, which is the largest budget for an animated series ever. This money came directly from Riot games. Riot isn't exactly the most enlightened company. Despite their profits and budget increasing year over year (the average income per employee was $600,000) in 2024 they layed off 530 employees with little warning or reason. Then they opened an Arcane themed office with Executive offices. They recently settled a $100 Million dollar Sex discrimination lawsuit for gender discrimination and sexual harassment in the workplace. As talented as the writers, artist, designers, musicians, coders, animators, etc. at Riot are, ultimately the story has to fit into the boxes of what the producers and executives want. Those executives aren't exactly the most class critical.

Arcane is first and foremost an advertisement: Arcane is a prequel for League of Legends, giving more detailed backstories to some of their most popular characters (Jinx, Vi, Caitlyn, Jayce), after Arcane was released the usage rates of these champions increased immensely and with it so did the profits associated with these champions. Interestingly, the amount that these characters popularity increased was mostly in line with how well their character was received in Arcane. For example: despite being practically unrecognizable to his League counterpart in season 1, Viktor experienced one of the greatest increases in usage rates of all champions. This was directly connected to his fan favorite status amongst the Arcane audience. As such, Riot has an investment interest in making the champions as interesting, badass, and likable in Arcane as possible. If Caitlyn was really torn down by the narrative for her turn to fascism they might not sell as many Pool Party Caitlyn cosmetics. In Arcane, the world building regarding extreme poverty and oppression is just a backdrop to give the champions cool backstories. Not to make you think critically about wealth disparities or systematic oppression.

Not to mention, taking any political stance at all would alienate part of the audience. They invested $250 Million dollars in this show, they need/want it to appeal to the greatest audience possible if they are going to make that money back.

Arcane is character focussed, not world focussed: From the beginning Arcane was always focussed on the characters first and foremost. I saw some people upset that Season 2 didn't spend enough time on the world outside the main cast. Like not showing the audience in detail how the power struggle between the chem-barons affects life in the Undercity. But this is just always how Arcane has been. Season 1 never focussed on how the Hexgates revolutionized trade or cross continental relations, only on how it elevated Jayce. The most we saw of the child labor in the mines in season 1 was as a backdrop for a Jayce and Vi fightscene, and then a child is fridged to start an argument between them. In season 2 the only significance the freeing of the child miners is that Isha joins the cast. The world exists to serve the characters, as is only shown in detail in the way it directly affects the characters. It is a cool setting, but ultimately the show will always spend more screentime on the characters emotional lives than the cultural and economic life of Zaun and Piltover as a whole. This isn't necessarily a good or bad thing, it is just a writing choice. This also means that the finale will be far more focussed on the conclusion of these characters emotional arcs than it is in resolving or otherwise finding some conclusion to the civil war plotline.

Of course Arcane isn't a revolutionary story about rising up against oppressors. It is a League of Legends champion advertisement. Subversive political takes don't emerge from big budget blockbusters on Netflix. That isn't necessarily a bad thing, it is just the genre.

Just some thoughts. I've seen some discussion about this and wanted to throw in my two cents on the topic.

[the-lark-ascending69]

I'm sorry but I have a very real problem with Vickie as a character. A fan-favorite character is revealed to be queer in the previous season and gets a love interest shaped appendix with no plot relevance or personality, created only to be Robin's trophy girlfriend, in a way that is so painfully and obviously different from how they did it when they tried to make a new character entirely to give her a love story with an already existing main character.

I'm talking about Robin herself, and how, despite not having the deepest character arc in S3, she still had some meat on her bones. She still had some stuff to work with. She was actually important and involved with the plot and had real chemistry with her would-be love interest, Steve. Making her a lesbian at last second pretty much saved both her and Steve's characters and made the Scoops subplot, the only redeemable subplot of S3, actually salvageable. By recontextualizing Stobin with that revelation, you go from a forced, heteronormative/amatonormative "love story" with mysoginistic undertones (because what are frmale characters if not trophy wives for male characters!) and 1) you give Robin actual stuff in her life that has nothing to do with Steve, turning her into a real character on her own, yet also shows why their friendship is so valuable to her, giving her a mini-arc in the process about overcoming isolation, alienation and loneliness, and 2) you wrap up Steve's arc the way his character clearly needs to be wrapped up - by moving on from his immature pursuits of women as romantic/sexual fulfillment and his highschool persona constructed on that, and embracing maturity by working on himself with the help of the people who challenge him the most, his platonic bonds (Dustin and Robin). Like I'm being 100% serious when I say making Robin a lesbian somewhat saved season 3.

But you can tell the brilliance of that move did NOT come from the Duffers' mastermind because they couldn't even attempt to replicate their unexpected success with Robin and Vickie. Because even before Robin was made into a lesbian, she still had SOMETHING. Vickie has nothing. She's a non-character. And it's interesting to note the difference in treatment when it comes to straight male characters vs. queer female characters. You can make the case that Max's introduction in S2 followed a similar pattern to beta!Stobin - new character paired up with pre-existing character. But you wouldn't say Max was added just to give Lucas a girlfriend, because even if her plot relevance in S2 was rather lackluster, she still had... so much more than even Robin in S3, and she's simply uncomparable to Vickie. She feels like her own person right from the start. We know the Duffers like to add wayy to many characters, making the show feel crowded and inevitably leaving a few characters behind, but when they add new characters in a given season, they're actually pretty good at making us fall in love with them quickly. Max, Robin, Eddie, hell even Billy if you're into that - like I said before, there's always some work that goes into them that makes you care about them.

Sure, there are less important characters that don't get half the effort put into them - Heather, Benny, idk, Barb's parents? And many others I can't remember right now. Not every character needs to be a fan-favorite.

But none of these guys were a main character's love interest. Not even for like, a second-row main character like Robin. Lucas gets a girl and she gets proper character development. Steve was originally intended to get a girl and she gets plot relevance, screentime and charisma (and a bit of character development pre-coming out too). Robin gets a girl and... it seems like Robin and her girl don't matter that much.

Which makes me question, why give Robin a love interest at all if they weren't going to do anything about it. My guess is that, well, she's a lesbian, so of course she gets to kiss girls. Character arc? What is that? Just watch her gush over a girl without last name and not care about anything else for most of the season. The writers just didn't know what to do with her now that she's no longer gonna be Steve's trophy girlfriend. Just throw in a poorly put together gay subplot, because everyone knows gay people only get to kiss other gay people and there's nothing else about the lesbian experience worth talking about (like, idk, the loneliness? The alienation?). I'm of the belief that, if you're gonna half-ass it, don't write a romantic subplot at all, regardless of the characters' genders and sexuality. But what bothers me isn't a shitty romantic subplot. It's the difference in treatment that the queer characters get vs. their straight counterparts.

And it bothers me because it could have been fixed SO easily! You get three options:

Give Robin a character arc that's not a romantic subplot. That doesn't mean she doesn't get to have a crush, but it should be in the background. My idea would be to make it about her, Nancy and Barb, and their old friendship + Robin's sense of alienation. Robin learning the truth about Barb's death, and her and Nancy helping each other heal. Robin and Nancy becoming friends through long conversations about their feelings, through which Nancy gets a sort of "second chance" at having a friend again and Robin gets to connect with someone who initially hated her in her own special way. The point is to not make r0vickie obviously endgame, EVEN if it turns out to be that way next season, because if it's obviously endgame it suddenly begs for a deeper development and the lack of it becomes a problem. An easy solution would be to give Robin multiple crushes, to signal at how unserious they all are at the moment.

Give Robin a love story with a newly introduced main character. And the obvious option is *rolls drums" genderbent Eddie! Or Vickie in Eddie's place. Best and easiest solution imo. It may sound weird but if you think about it, it all makes sense - plot relevance, character development... only problem would be killing your gays if you squint, though Robin would be alive and ready for a new character arc next season, as a changed person. Sad, angry, possibly seeking revenge and seeking to assert herself as a threat after hiding and running her entire life. Robin's feelings are suddenly plot relevant now. I'm picking Eddie here (or rather, his role) because he's the most important one out if all the new S4 characters, and the one that spends time with the group the most. It's clean, minimalistic and practical.

Give Robin a love story with a pre-existing main character, i.e Nancy. As a ronance shipper, I maintain that pairing up Nancy and Robin would have been original and unexpected in the best way. I feel like I don't even need to explain why this would have been a good idea - tons of people already have. Mostly, I want to lament the impossibility of this option, which links directly to the point I'm trying to make.

Robin was never going to be paired with a main-main character, old or new, because queer relationships on-screen need to be pushed to the sides as to not interfere with or threaten the straight main characters. Nancy, as the main girl, was never going to get a romance with a girl. Vickie was never going to get the centrality that Eddie got. Straight relationships get to be taken seriously, even if they're writen stupidly, like whatever the fuck happened with stancy and jancy in S4. Queer relationships don't get to be more than silly forgettable subplots. Queer characters like Robin need to be inobtrusive. She could never fall in love with Nancy, even if one-sided-ly, because that would create a conflict straight audiences don't want to see.

And if a queer character DOES fall in love with a main straight character, like Will, it's all meant for pointless suffering. Not the kind of suffering that's vital for a character arc, or the kind that gives depth to a character. It's not a kind of suffering that leads them to change, to take any given decisions that they wouldn't otherwise have taken. It's not a suffering that could possibly interfere with the straight main couple's happiness. It's not a pain that causes conflict. Queer love and pain doesn't get to be part of the conflict in straight-dominated stories. So Robin can never fall in love with someone from the front-row sphere and Will suffers pointlessly, even though that pain has no real effect on him.

[superman86to99]

Adventures of Superman Alpha Centurion #516 (September 1994)

The effects of Zero Hour get crazier as our hero meets a strange visitor from another reality: some long-haired dude called "Super-Man" who dresses in garish blue tights and, worst of all, has the hots for Lois. How will Alpha and the gang deal with this weirdo?!

We open with this new character flying into Metropolis when he's hit by a lightning bolt, which he just shrugs off (overpowered much?). As he approaches Metropolis, The Superman seems surprised to realize that the city isn't in ruins -- which suggests that he isn't a very good superhero, since he apparently allowed Metropolis to be destroyed by some supervillain in his own reality.

Confused, he decides to investigate by infiltrating the Daily Planet offices wearing a hilariously flimsy "regular person" disguise consisting of: 1) an office worker suit, 2) a pair of glasses, and 3) a ponytail. When he sees Lois Lane, "Clark" (as he calls himself while wearing the glasses, kinda like how Batman calls himself "Patches" when he has an eye-patch on) just walks up to her and kisses her on the mouth. We can add "sexual harassment" to this guy's seemingly interminable list of powers. She slaps the shit out of him, of course.

Embarrassed, "Clark" changes back into his blue tights in a supply closet (looks like they haven't invented the concept of changing rooms in his reality) and flies off to deal with an emergency that his Superman-Senses detected -- only to find that good ol' Alpha Centurion is already handling it. About time the actual protagonist of this comic showed up! Alpha recognizes Superman from the crowd scenes in Zero Hour #3 and cordially invites him to team up against Bloody Mary and her robots, to which Superman initially reacts by just standing (well, floating) there looking confused.

The fight leads them to Centurion Park (home to the Alpha statue from "Death of Alpha Centurion"), where Mary's jetpack seems to malfunction and Alpha has to save her. They almost have a tender moment, but then Mary reacts to Alpha turning down her advances for the 516th time by stabbing him in the gut with her animetal hand, also for the 516th time. Yes, we've been keeping track.

Superman finally makes himself useful by stopping Mary as she's trying to escape, but Maggie Sawyer from Metropolis' The 100 police force understandably assumes this ridiculously-dressed flying being must be another villain and tries to arrest him. Alpha quickly clears up the misunderstanding, and then Superman returns the favor by taking him to Alpha Tower for healing. This scene re-confirms that Superman's an inferior superhero, since his reaction makes it clear that he doesn't have a big building shaped like the first letter of his name or an awesome swimming pool where he heals himself.

(Not to mention a cool Moe Howard haircut under that wig.)

As Alpha heals, he retells his origin for Superman's benefit (and because they needed to fill two pages with stuff we've heard a million times, I guess). You know the drill: he was a Roman Centurion, he was taken to another planet to study with aliens for 10 years, he came back to Earth 2000 years later because quantum physics, he saved a space shuttle, and a "tenacious reporter" gave him his superhero name (as seen in 1986's The Centurion of Alpha #1 by Junius Byrne).

Just then, that same reporter stops by and immediately starts making out with him Alpha, this time with both parties' full consent. Superman doesn't take the smooching well, and that's when he explains his awkwardness around Lois: in his reality, not only is he the hero of Metropolis but he's also her boyfriend! (Really, alternate reality Lois? Him?)

Superman says he has to go back to the Zero Hour series to "straighten out" the screwed up timelines. Alpha announces that he's coming along too, despite Superman warning him that this might "erase him from existence" (as if DC would just delete their biggest cash cow, and right when Lois and Marcus: The New Adventures of Alpha Centurion was in the air). Superman and Alpha depart together, meaning this will be CONTINUED IN ZERO HOUR!

Character-Watch:

The character debuting in this issue (after that brief Zero Hour cameo) would go on to make a ton more appearances throughout the '90s, though in a somewhat more irritating form than the reasonable chap we see in this issue. Why, he'll even get his own Superman Special! According to the DC wiki, though, he hasn't appeared since a 2007 issue of Alpha Centurion/Batman. I'm actually surprised Geoff Johns or James Robinson didn't using him as cannon fodder in some crossover in the '00s.

Plotline-Watch:

Perhaps fittingly for a crossover about time weirdness, it's not clear when exactly this issue takes place: the blurb at the end directs the reader to pick up ZH #2, but that issue starts directly after the end of ZH #3, with the heroes dealing with the whole "a future city is about to crash into New York" issue. I kinda doubt Superman would take a break to check on Metropolis during that, so this story must have taken place at some point afterwards. This probably explains why the ZH reading order we've been using places this issue between #2 and #1 (it's been 30 years and the inverted numbering is still hard to get used to).

Aside from Maggie Sawyer, another member of Metropolis' The 100 police force is Jim Harper, who presumably wasn't allowed to wear his Guardian suit in this reality because Alpha Centurion has a monopoly on golden helmets, so he had to become a super-cop instead. (By the way, I'm pretty sure Maggie wasn't supposed to be piloting a ship that looks exactly like Bloody Mary's in the panel below... art error or chronal disturbance?!)

In the other reality, The 100 (at one point upgraded to The 1000) was the name of a criminal organization that fought Metropolis-based heroes like Thorn, Black Lightning, and Booster Gold, but wisely stayed out of Superman's way for the most part. I'm guessing that has nothing to do with the version in this issue, which is called that because Roman centurions had exactly 100 soldiers at their command.

I like the idea for this issue a lot, but it kinda feels like Karl Kesel ran out of space and had to end it very abruptly, before there could be any real conflict. Superman explains what's going on, Alpha is like "oh dang," the end. Both this story and Superman #93 could have benefited hugely from being month-long storylines, but then it would have been even more awkward to have the main character running back and forth between his own series and Zero Hour. Plus, we probably would have missed out on the fantastic Man of Steel #37, so maybe it was all for the best. Kesel would go on to write a much more satisfying version of the "issue set in the middle of an alternate reality continuity" idea in Amalgam's Spider-Boy #1, a.k.a. The Perfect Comic Book.

Shout Outs-Watch:

A hundred shout outs to Alpha Centurion LXXXVI to XCIX (AD)'s supporters, Aaron, Chris “Ace” Hendrix, britneyspearsatemyshorts, Patrick D. Ryall, Mark Syp, Ryan Bush, Raphael Fischer, Kit, Dave Shevlin, and Dave Blosser! Join them (and get extra Alpha Centurion-related articles) via Patreon or our newsletter’s "pay what you want" mode! Both of those also have free tiers, if you just wanna get posts like this one in your inbox.

And now, more from the great Donelius Sparrow!

Art-Watch (by @donsparrow):

We start with the cover, and we often talk on here about how it can sometimes be frustrating when a cover is symbolic only, and you actually wanted to see the image depicted take place within the issue.  This cover, by the regular Super-team of Kitson and McCarthy is accurate to a fault—not only does the story really feature a statue of Alpha-Centurion, and Lois Lane viewing Superman as a complete stranger, but it more or less summarizes the entire plot of the issue—Superman has been replaced in this timeline, in every sense, by Alpha-Centurion. Despite their names being on the cover, this is the last we see of Kitson and McCarthy, as art chores inside are actually handled by the unique team of Peter Krause (who would go onto pencil Jerry Ordway’s criminally underrated Power of Shazam series) and Jackson Guice (who at this time inked only rarely).  I’m a big admirer of both these artists, but the overall result is a little mixed.  The storytelling throughout (pacing the action, detailing the backgrounds) is generally pretty strong, but there’s a generally scratchy, rushed feel I don’t associate with either artist normally, and while some of the cartoony facial expressions are welcome, on the whole, Superman looks muggy and ugly for most of the story.

Not to say that there aren’t highlights!  The opening page, with Superman being struck by a lightning bolt (no mere regular, electric one, but a time lightning bolt that seems to shuffle him into an alternate, Kal-El free timeline) is pretty great!  Nervy colouring choice by Glenn Whitmore to white Superman out almost entirely.

The image of ponytail Clark (I swear, his hair looks a lot longer when he’s Clark than when he’s Superman in this era) laying a big old smooch on the wide-eyed and disinterested Lois Lane is reminiscent of John Byrne’s famous “Smallville Hello” that Superman laid on Wonder Woman way back in Action #600, with Lois exactly as “into it” as the Amazonian Princess was back then.

The image of Clark cringing of embarrassment is outright hilarious, though, another example of ugly Superman in this issue.  The next panel there’s a slight colouring error that seems to happen fairly commonly when an inker doesn’t completely outline the eyelid.  I did a quick recolour to show how it was maybe supposed to look.

The double page spread introducing Alpha-Centurion is a great one...

...though the background contains a small colouring error.  Sure, Bloody Mary’s costume is plenty revealing, but I’m glad it’s not depicted as revealingly as this panel makes it out to be. [Max: Not coloring errors, Don! TIME QUAKES!]  In an era of more-is-more design, Alpha-Centurion’s costume is pretty restrained, though with its brassy gold and blue minimalist combo, it looked to me quite a lot like Triumph’s costume—Triumph being the other time lost hero of Zero Hour. [Max: It's a decent costume, but I still prefer the original Jovian Shuster design from Alpha Comics #1.]

As Superman teams up with AC to deal with Blood Mary, the robots she employs look for all the world like Japan’s Ultraman (or is it Dr. Who’s Cybermen?).

[Max: Nice shout out to Jack Kirby But Roman Name in that panel.]

SPEEDING BULLETS:

Alpha-Centurion’s main font could use some work—those letter “A”s always put me in the mind of half of the famed golden arches from McDonald’s. [Max: What's that? Is it like McDowell's?]

It’s interesting that the timeline hop jumps Superman to a reality where Metropolis is rebuilt.  The actual rebuild is almost exactly as finger-snappingly instant, but we’re not there for a few issues.

Alpha-Centurion’s origin—of being plucked from a historical era by semi-benevolent alien abduction is pretty similar to the origin of the Pre-Crisis version of Terra-Man, who was abducted by The Collector, and similarly had time pass more rapidly on Earth than it did for him in space.

What’s Bloody Mary’s deal?  The has a pirate-y look with the eye patch and bodice, but seems to be a cyborg, and she has an army of robots?  Where’s the synergy?

Alpha-Centurion’s statue begs the question—did he, too, die and come back to life? Or did they just give him a statue just because? [Max: Uh, we've covered "Reign of the Centurions," Don. Don't you remember the 100 Centurion impostors who show up in Metropolis before the real one returned, wearing an even bigger Moe haircut?]

Alpha Centurion’s Caesar cut pre-dates the ER-based craze by a couple of years.  Though, all wet, he looks more like Lloyd Christmas than George Clooney.

Lois’ insistence on Italian, due to AC being Roman is pretty hilarious.  Surely they eat other kinds of food?

It’s hard to square the Lois we know with being OK with a romance with a hero who builds skyscrapers in his name and surrounds himself with toga-clad babes.

I hope it doesn’t come off as though I’m dumping on this era, what with my well-established  Massacre-hating, but Alpha-Centurion is another character I never fully warmed to, but then again, I don’t think he’s meant to be someone we love, like a Guardian or Gangbuster.  He’s really meant to be a foil, or a nuisance for Superman, more along the lines of a Jeb.  But I tend to resent a lot of space being devoted to anyone not Superman in a Superman comic, and in years to come, Alpha-Centurion definitely gets some pages. [Max: Obviously! He's the main character!]

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[nature-girly]

My thoughts on Section 31

Just an FYI this is completely negative and filled with spoilers so don’t read if that bothers you. This is 100% my opinion. It also got really long.

I watched it assuming that I wouldn’t like it but I felt compelled to out of curiosity. Somehow it’s even worse than I expected. It gave me a headache. I’m not going to explain the plot because I simply cannot. It makes no damn sense. I’m instead writing about certain aspects of the movie that bothered me or stuck out. 

It doesn’t feel like Star Trek at all and is incredibly generic. It honestly reminds me of Guardians of the Galaxy: a ragtag team of alien criminals has to team up to save the galaxy. There’s a lot of violence and fight scenes, swearing, and attempts at humor. 

The depiction of Section 31: I haven’t watched DS9. My only prior exposure to Section 31 is from ENT which I watched four-ish years ago, so I won’t comment on this too much. I hate how they’re glamorizing it, making it seem like a necessary evil. Star Trek has always been about contemporary social or political issues and this honestly feels pro-military/government propaganda.

The movie starts when Georgiou was a teenager living in the Terran Empire. Three minutes in, she tells her family about how she had to fight against other children in the Empire’s version of the Hunger Games. Very original. She won by killing everyone which is how she became emperor.  

They somehow made the Mirror Universe boring. There are plenty of interesting Mirror Universe fics out there that I recommend reading instead.

The dialogue is awkward and oddly immature considering what the movie is about. I did not expect the emperor of the Terran Empire to describe sex as “sexy time”. Also “Chameloids are the only species in the galaxy immune to Delta sexy time charm.” Some other examples: “there’s the guy with all the high-end mech, standing in the back looking like he has thoughts.” Georgiou also told someone that they look like a Swiss Army knife. Huh? “don’t get you prime directives in a bunch.” “Butt pretzel” “Tight-ass” “What the shit, man?! You said that she was gonna be doing the face punching!” “If I wanted someone to like me, I’d get a dog.” “Your corporate culture was straight-up shit.” “So that’s why you were hiding in a bar at the ass end of nowhere.” “Once again, small shite for the win, mama.” “Chaos is my friend with benefits.” I’ll stop now. 

THIS is Rachel Garrett?!? Why did they do that to her? On TNG she was a morally upstanding Starfleet officer. It bothers me so much that she’s part of section 31 in this. She was forced to join Section 31’s mission. She criticizes their methods, but it come off as annoying and self-righteous rather than making her seem like a good person. The good Star Trek characters in the 80s/90s would’ve rather quit Starfleet than sacrifice their morals like that. They could’ve easily come up with an original character instead.

The costumes and set design: Everything is dark. My dad said it’s probably to cover up the absurd amount of CGI which would make sense. The costumes and sets are mostly black with accents of silver, gold, a little white, dark blue, and dark red. Star Trek used to be so damn colorful. I miss those days. 

The (super advanced) technology and fashion are especially ridiculous, considering this takes place around the same time as TOS. Their tricorders have touchscreens BTW. 

The characters whisper or talk quietly the entire movie and it was impossible to watch without subtitles. 

There were a few very 2010-sounding pop songs in the soundtrack.

None of the actors are remotely good. Michelle Yeoh is a good actor (I’ve seen her in other things) but, because of the weak dialogue, she’s not convincing.  

The villain has a facial disfigurement. Why is Hollywood still doing this in 2025? 

The characters are jaded, snarky, unsympathetic and not particularly interesting. The writers failed to make me care about any of them.

I miss when Star Trek criticized the American healthcare system, capitalism and class differences, talked about reproductive rights, and other ethical issues. If this is the future of Star Trek, then I'm scared.

To summarize: