#go read the comic i drew of their first meeting too :^

[exhaslo]

Kinktober Day 16- Miguel x Villian!Reader (Bondage)

*Requested by reader ;) *

        The age of heroes was long gone, therefore you thought it was safe to play the part of a villain. Not really a villain, per se, you were a thief. Upon reading about how glorious the past thieves and villains were, you wanted to give your life a new thrill. Taking upon the name of, 'Black Cat', you dedicated your nights to stealing from the rich and giving to the poor, or sometimes to your pockets. Which ever gave you more of a high.

"Ohhhhhh, look at those earrings she is wearing! I'm sure she won't notice if I take them~"

"I'm sure she will,"

"No she-Ah!"

        You yelped away from the window, wondering who was talking to you. To your surprise, it was a tall muscular man in a suit. This must have been the big scary Spiderman that everyone was talking about. Your eyes wandered from his head to his toe. He was much finer than the stories you heard. Ain't no way a man like that was single. You swore a lightbulb appeared above your head. There was something new to steal now.

"Don't believe we've officially met, I'm Black Cat, but you can call me Kitty." You said with a wink.

"Gatita? (kitty?)" He repeated. 

        You nearly gasped. He was Spanish too, one of your many weaknesses in a man! Holding your chest, you nearly stumbled. What would happen if you just surrounded yourself to him? Spiderman was a hero, perhaps you can taint him!

"Wow, that just rolls right off the tongue-ahem, anyway, there's no way such a big hero like yourself is here to stop lil ol' me from stealing some earrings, right?"

"No. Just patrolling and saw a shady figure looking to break in."

"I am not shady!" You said with a huff and approached him, "But, I'll be a good kitty tonight and go home. Maybe if we meet again, I can be good to you~" You purred, trailing your finger against his chest.

        You quickly left with a wide grin against your lips. Oh he was so toned! You casually glanced back, hoping that your flirting was good enough. It had been a while since you did something so bold. Well, the mask sure helped.

----------

        Miguel just stood there, wondering what had just happened. Normally he wouldn't let such petty thieves get away without teaching them a lesson, but then again, you didn't steal anything yet. That, and Miguel had not been flirted with in such a long time that he was in shock. Your casual touch against his skin made him tense. You called yourself a good kitty for him. That was something he was going to think about all night.

----------

        As luck would have it, you kept bumping into Spiderman. It was always whenever you were going to steal something petty or for yourself. Never when it was for others. It made you wonder if he was watching what you were stealing. If so, where would he draw the line? It felt like your flirting was working because Spiderman had started to flirt back! Oh, you nearly dropped on your knees the first time he said something so proactive! You nearly folded right then and there for him!

"Not yet, (y/n)! You need to think!"

"(Y/n)? What a pretty name," Spiderman said with a hum. You let out a whine as your cat claws stroked down the wall you were about to climb,

"You're so mean to me!" You teased, facing the tall man, "Are you going to look me up when you get home, huh Spidey?"

"Now why would I want to look up criminals?" He drew closer to you, "Unless you want me too?"

"Tsk, tsk, this kitty won't like that. This game has to be fair."

"I don't play games with thieves." Spiderman hummed lowly, his hand pressed against the wall as he hovered over you, "Now what were you trying to steal this time?" He asked.

        You gave him your best pout, trying to act innocent. Why was this man so attractive!? If only you can match a face with that sexy voice of his. You bit you lower lip as you took notice of the position you were in. This was straight out of a comic book! Argh, if only you weren't restricted by his mask. You would totally kiss him!

"Why don't I let you guess?" You placed a hand against his chest, "If you guess correctly, I'll reward you~"

"I don't play games with-"

"Boo! Perhaps next time you can play with this kitty. I'm flexible~" You whispered in his ear before dashing off.

-------------

        Miguel inhaled deeply as he watched you scurry off. He kept saying that he did not play games with criminals, yet here he was, letting you run off. Like a game of cat and mouse, only he was a Spider. Miguel groaned lowly as your last words repeated in his mind. Next time he might want that reward you were tempting him with. Next time, he might stop playing games and catch you...Just to see how flexible you really were. It all depends on how you were going to be and what you were going to steal.

-------------

        This was it! This was really going to test your flirting skills with Spiderman. You might be going too far, but hell, this was for your own amusement. You wanted to steal Spiderman for yourself. Such a fine man deserved to be yours. You could not go to bed without thinking of him being intimate with you. You wanted him! Chuckling to yourself, you stared at the adult store in front of your, waiting for Spiderman to appear.

"What are you doing, gatita?" Spiderman said with a hesitant sigh. You smirked towards him,

"What? Can't even steal myself some relief? I'm tired of being a good kitty~"

"Rel-" Miguel stopped himself, feeling that thin line slowly breaking, "You don't need that."

"Awe~ Why not?" You slowly approached Spiderman, "Remember that game last time? Guess what I'm going to steal and I'll reward you? Well, it will be an extra sweet reward~"

"Fuck," Oh, you weren't expecting that, "I'm done playing games."

        Before you can whine, you yelped as Spiderman fired his webbing towards you. You gasped as both of your hands were stuck to the building. Spiderman drew closer to you, webbing your hands more firmly so your claws couldn't break you free.

"You've been a bad, gatita. I'm going to have to punish you after all," His voice was low and raspy. Did you actually succeed?

"Oh? And how are you-ah~"

        You gasped once more as Spiderman started to rub his fingers against your cunt. The fabric causing a burning friction. You tried to close your legs, but Spiderman raised them and webbed them to the wall as well. This was an embarrassing position! You were completely caught in his web.

"Miguel," He whispered, trailing his fingers against the rip of your pants, "(Y/N), if you want relief so badly, then I'll give it to you."

        Shit, this was actually happening. You felt yourself grow wetter just by him telling you his name. At least now you had something to yell out. Muffling a moan, you whined as Miguel lowered your pants. The bottom half of his mask disappeared as he brought his tongue to your wet pussy. Your eyes widen as your saw fangs. So those rumors were true. Before you could ask him about them, you let out a loud moan as he licked your folds.

"M-Miguel!" You yelped in shock. Miguel just looked up at you thru his mask, licking your wet folds in the process,

"You can't lick yourself here, gatita, so I will." His voice vibrated throughout your body, causing you to shiver in delight.

        You tried to arch your back as he wiggled his tongue all over your pussy. A burning sensation traveling all over your body to your cunt. His hands stroking your legs, making you more sensitive. Miguel raised his head slightly, sucking against your clit. You cried out, feeling your growing pleasure. You felt his smirk as he slid his hand over your cunt, sliding two of his large digits inside of you. That was your final straw as you cam against his hand.

        You whined once more as Miguel kept fucking his fingers into your throbbing pussy, not giving you a chance to rest. His tongue still against your clit, eagerly sucking and licking. This was actually happening. Spiderman was fucking you. Trembling as Miguel curled his finger's inside you, you started to grind your hips against his hand. This was much better than whatever toy you were going to steal. Another gasp came out of you as Miguel started to pump his fingers faster. You wanted these webs off.

"C-Come on, Spidey, I-I'll be a good, ah, kitty, lemme g-go~" You begged, feeling another orgasm forming. Miguel looked at you, freeing your abused clit,

"Don't like it when you're trapped in my web?" He asked, bringing his fangs against your neck, "Gotta tie up criminals. Including bad gatitas." He whispered, sucking against your neck.

        Your whines got tuned out by your moans since Miguel pumped his fingers into your g-spot. Your vision blurred for a second as you cam once more. Miguel removed his fingers, giving them a lick as he freed his large cock. Pre-cum already dripping from his tip. You were brought back to your senses once you laid eyes on it. How was that going to fit? There was no way you could move either.

"Awe, is my gatita scared?" Miguel teased, pressing the tip of his cock against your soaked pussy, "Why don't I give you a reward for not stealing anything?"

"Mhm-Miguel...It's...too hn...b-big," You stuttered, trembling as he slowly slid his cock inside your gummy walls, "D-Does y-your training...including...d-dick growth?" 

"Hah," Miguel almost let out a rare laugh. 

        You wanted to say you were joking, but you weren't. Miguel was so big and thick. You were shaking as you felt your pussy stretch like never before. It hurt at first, but this position was making you adjust quickly. You were spread out like a damn butterfly. Thank god there were no cameras or nearby people. You flung your head back, moaning as you felt his tip hit your cervix. Who knew Spiderman had such a big dick. Who knew it would even fit inside you!

"Fuck, look at that. What a good gatita." Miguel groaned lowly.

        You whined softly as you felt your walls squeeze him. Miguel leaned in to kiss you before beginning his rough thrusts. Your eyes widen as you moaned into the kiss, surprised by his strength. You felt him fuck the breathe right out of your throat. With each thrust, Miguel bruised your cervix. He held your hips, climbing onto the wall to fuck you deeper. If only you could hold onto him. You felt so vulnerable in this position, unable to move. It was like you were just his fuck toy.

        You swore you saw stars as Miguel made you cum again. He grunted as his cock started to get a white ring from your juices. He quicken his pace, causing you to moan from overstimulation. How many more orgasms' was this man going to draw out of you. You started to feel dizzy, but you didn't want him to stop. Hearing another grunt, Miguel held your waist tighter, almost piercing it with his talons. He slammed his dick into you harshly, pouring his cum into your womb.

"That's right, good gatita's like their milk." Miguel panted softly. You just trembled,

"A-Ah~" You moaned lowly, feeling his hot load fill you.

        Miguel waited a moment before pulling out. He watched as a mixture of his cum and your juices rolled down your legs. He freed you from his webbing and fixed your suit. Glancing up at the building before you, he smirked under his mask,

"I'll let you steal just one thing from that store, but I'll have to punish you again." He whispered in your ear, holding your waist close to his. Your body leaned against his, unable to think straight,

"Do you like seeing this kitty all tied up?"

"I'd be lying if I said no."

"Then I'll reward my precious hero and grab more bondage...That doesn't involve sticky webs." You whined, still removing his webs from your suit. Miguel smirked, biting against your neck as he rubbed your pussy again,

"But you enjoy these sticky webs." He poked against your hole, causing you to melt under his touch,

"L-Lemme steal...mhm...something first."

"Yes, my good little gatita."

[wcnderlnds]

saving the world | peter maximoff

・❥・summary: when the weirdo at the coffee shop turns out to be a superhero ・❥・warnings: none! ・❥・word count: 1k ・❥・authors note: if you saw this posted earlier no you didnt (i messed it up) 😭 but first peter fic of the year lets go!!

The delicious smell of coffee invaded your senses the second you stepped foot into the small little coffee shop you worked at. The morning shift was your least favourite but at least your co-worker always seemed to arrive early enough to get the coffee brewing. It was another task you could tick off your schedule for the day. As you made your way to the back to grab your apron, you noticed the head of silver hair that you’d seen around lately. He was hunched over, flipping pages on some comic book. You guessed he just enjoyed the place — coffee shops always seemed to have the best kind of vibes.

However, as the day went on, he stayed put flipping through the comic book that never seemed to end until you noticed there was a stack of them on the table now. He hadn’t left so did he bring that many with him? Was he really spending his day sitting in a coffee shop? Whispering to your co-worker to take over the cash register, you headed over to the silver haired boy, pot of coffee in your hand.

“Want a drink or anything?” You asked, holding up the coffee in a gesture. “It is a coffee shop after all.”

“No, thanks,” he shook his head, offering you a small smile.

“Okaaaay.” You’d just turned around to go back to the counter when you heard him call out for you again. You span on your heels, turning back around to face him.

“Do you work here everyday?” He peered over the top of the current comic book he was reading, brown eyes meeting yours. “I mean, I’ve been here every day this week and I feel like you’re on every shift.”

You sighed. “Got to make money somehow, huh? What about you? Don’t you have a job? Or do you just like spending all your time at a coffee shop doing nothing?”

“I save the world and stuff, no biggie.”

“Yeah, okay.”

With a laugh, thinking this man was crazy, you headed back to the counter. It was always the cute guys that ended up being a little weird. Unfortunate, really, because he was cute. The silver hair, the deep brown eyes – he had a unique look, one that you were sure had most people swooning. That included you. Too bad he seemed like he was crazy. Saving the world? Maybe in his little delusional brain.

A couple of weeks passed and he was in every day. You’d found out through another brief conversation with him again that his name was Peter. He always seemed willing to talk, like he was surprised that someone actually wanted to talk to him. In fact, he often struck up conversation with you as you worked. It was nice, actually. Maybe he was a weirdo but he seemed sweet. The only problem was that now you were starting to think about him when you were at home. As you’d sit on the couch watching your favourite show, you’d think about whether Peter would like it or not, making a note to ask him. Or finding new songs to share with him. You’d found out he was a big music fan – he’d even brought you a mixtape one day full of all his favourite artists. It had become your favourite thing to listen to.

As you walked into work one day, your heart sank when you noticed Peter wasn’t sat in usual seat. The day progressed and he still hadn’t shown up. Anxiety gripped you, your brain automatically thinking the worst. Something must have happened to him. Why else wasn’t he here? Unless he’d found somewhere else to occupy his time. The thought alone made your heart ache. Damnit, you’d really started to fall for this weirdo who sat in your coffee shop all day.

The sound of the TV in the corner drew your attention, a news piece about the latest disaster in town. Something about how the X-Men had saved the day. You were about to turn away when you saw that familiar head of silver hair on the TV donned in one of the infamous X-Men suits. You blinked, confusion etched all over your features until it dawned on you, his words from weeks ago echoing in your mind. 

I save the world and stuff, no biggie.

He really hadn’t been lying. All this time you’d thought he was just pulling your leg but turns out he really was out saving the world. He was part of the friggin’ X-Men. How hadn't you put that together? He must be a new addition to the team or you hadn’t been paying enough attention lately.

A gust of wind blew the door open and before you could even process it, Peter was stood in front of you, his hair a windswept mess as his gloved hands pulled the goggles over his eyes onto his head. “I’m so sorry I’m late. Was busy….”

“....saving the world and stuff?” You cut him off, a smile tugging at your lips. He grinned, pointing his finger at you jokingly. 

“Didn’t believe me, did ya? I’d never tell a lie to a pretty thing like yourself.”

“Shutup.”

“Ha! Made you blush. So, hey, you think you could get me a coffee? I’m pretty spent.”

His request took you off guard for a moment. He never requested a drink so it took a moment for your brain to process it. “Uh, yeah…”

“While you’re at it, take your break and have a coffee with me. I was going to ask you on a date today but with all of that stuff happening, didn’t really go as planned so… why not just make it happen now, huh?” He folded his arms across his chest, his lips upturned in a cocky grin. He was so damn confident that you were going to join him and… he was right.

You called to your co-worker that you were taking your break, throwing your apron off and into the back. A first date at your work place wasn’t ideal but nothing about Peter seemed normal anyway. In fact, it seemed perfect.

taglist: @marchsfreakshow @ldydeath @bohnerrific69 @evansroses @mistysconcilium @decaf-mother @lacucarachapisser @strawb3rrystar @honeymoon8 @urmomsg1rlfreind

[balkanradfem]

So, in the light of sharing lesbian experiences, I thought I'd try sharing a story that makes me wary of dating; it ends in hubris, so be warned. It might make it more clear why I'm not trying to date the hot woman in my building! Click read more for a long sad lesbian story.

Years ago, I had a crush on a woman I met on tumblr. I started talking to her, and I told her honestly that I like her, and asked her if she was into women. She said yes! We started chatting and communicating daily, and after a bit we switched over to sending emails, so we could write long stories to each other. She was incredibly smart, talented, creative, she was a good storyteller, she knew so much about plants and animals, she had a garden, a dog, she lived in a country close to mine, so I could logically, at one point, sit on a train and meet her.

After we talked excitedly for a while, she told me she has a crush on me too. I was so happy. The unreachable scenario, your crush likes you back. I was living it, I was beside myself. I was dreaming of being in a relationship with her and how that would look like, and she was sending me flirty little messages in the emails. We kept talking, and slightly flirting with each other in our emails, and this went on for months. She would tell me about her life, experiences, past relationships, her art and books she wrote. I was into it all, I read anything she wrote or drew, I offered support whenever she was having a rough time or was bothered by something. I noticed at this point that if I send her my stuff, she doesn't really comment on it, but I felt okay about it, since I already had enough confidence, and wasn't looking to get praise.

During this time, I grew attached to her, I started to really love her. She was sweet and warm and so interesting to me. She knew a lot about stuff I didn't! Her stories and art were admirable and I remember fondly going trough it over and over. I felt a little bit like a child next to her, since she was 10 years older, and smarter, and I kept trying to prove that I too, am an adult, who knows stuff, and is smart. At one point we decided to have a video call, and I was so nervous, I had to go be outside to connect to a wifi, and I kept thinking what if it's awkward, what if we don't know what to say? I decided to tackle that issue by going trough a comic she drew and then using the call to give her tons of feedback, praise and opinions on it, it was a long comic so I was able to talk about it for an hour! She was happy to discuss it and our conversation went lightly and we had fun. I asked her at the end if she had a good time, and she said – yes, we talked about me the entire time! And I hadn't even realized that, until she said it. I think I felt a bit weird about it afterwards, because I do tend to fixate on people I like a lot, but ultimately, you know, we could talk about other things next time.

This is where things started feeling weird. We were talking for about 6 months then, and she was starting to disappear without notice. I wouldn't get my emails answered in a while, and every time I grew anxious and upset, wondering if I did something wrong, or she just got busy. At first I just blamed myself for, you know, being mentally ill, having abandonment issues, worrying too much. But I felt more anxious every time she'd disappear. I would sometimes have to go away too, for a few days, but I would always warn her, and let her know when I'd be away, and when I'd come back. She'd never say anything. So next time she disappeared on me, I asked her to please just let me know when she's leaving, because I easily get worried and miss her, and I do have some issues that make me feel abandoned. She said it was difficult for her to read this, because it makes her look inconsiderate in comparison to me, but she'll of course, say something next time.

She didn't. She kept both disappearing, and being too busy to respond to me. And even though we started talking with the idea of being in a relationship, it was never later discussed or prompted again, she only would add one flirty sentence to each email, so I'd know she's still interested. But now she was disappearing, or ignoring me, or  - just lost interest. I had to slowly realize that we were not, in fact, going to date. Because if she wanted to be in a relationship, surely by now it would be at least discussed or mentioned, and we would want to spend more time together, find out more about each other. And instead she was responding to me less, growing away from me, but still wrote in flirty lines. I was heartbroken, but also found it too difficult to keep pretending that it's going to happen, when it clearly was not, the contrast of what she was saying, and what was happening, was too much for me.

It took me a hot minute to gather my courage, and then I wrote to her that her disappearances are heavy on my mental health, and in order for me to feel normal about it, it's best if we continue as just good friends, and then I won't have to be stressed about why she's not responding to me. And she responded to that one instantly, saying no, we're going to date, in fact we can be dating now, she wants to. But this was instead, even more confusing to me, because why now? We didn't mention it for months, there was no progression towards it, she's organically responding to me less and less, obviously losing interest in talking regularly, she didn't care to warn me of her disappearances to ease my worry and anxiety over losing her, so how could she actually want to date? I sent her an email apologizing, calling myself an idiot, offering to talk her trough my mental process of making this decision, blamed it all on myself and my mental illness, but I couldn't bring myself back in the mindset of just, waiting for her messages, worrying if she was losing interest in me, worrying if I did something wrong and she didn't want to be with me anymore. It was mortifying to me.

I sent her further two emails apologizing and asking if she was okay, now worried if I hurt her with my giving up on romance, if she's maybe upset with me. I said sorry so many times and asked her to please share with me how this has affected her.

She never replied to any. She never talked to me again.

And I didn't understand, for a long time, what had happened there. Nothing made sense to me, in one second she was asking for a relationship, and then in the next moment she was done with me forever. I waited for a reply for such a long time, before I finally accepted that it's not coming, she wasn't... she wasn't interested in even being friends with me.

This was baffling, because I believed we had, in fact, created a good friendship over those 6 months! We learned about each other's lives, interests, pasts, we discussed ideas and art and feminism and capitalism, we told each other stories, we shared our struggles and days, we had our jokes and references, I had an entire library of her works and art in my head at this point and cared for her deeply. I thought we had a bond, and regardless of it being a friendship or a romance, we cared for each other. And I could see we weren't going to progress to a relationship, because she lost interest, or at least the desire to talk to me regularly, and I accepted it, so what was wrong?

Well, it would take me months more of thinking it trough and catching little hints and signs of things that were wrong. During our conversation, since I hoped that we would date, I would regularly try to prop her up and make her feel good about herself; I always wanted her to feel special and amazing, and would often shower her in praise and admiration. I wanted her to know that being with me would mean constant support and appreciation of everything good about her, and she'd get endless warmth and adoration, because this is what I thought relationships should be like, right, and I wanted her to know that's what I wanted for us. This sentiment was not returned to me in kind, but I didn't mind since I could already feel good about myself. She also didn't react if I sent her some of my work, but I would react to her stuff for ages, because I knew how good it is to get feedback on your own creation, anyone would enjoy that. I realized belatedly, that when she'd ask for support, I'd drop everything to reassure her and comfort her, and be mad at her behalf, while when I asked for support, she'd kinda side with me but still talk about herself. But all of these things were so subtle and tiny to me, I couldn't even see them over the excitement of 'my crush likes me back'.

I wondered, if she wasn't into me at all, then why didn't she just turn me down at the start, or somewhere down the line, she could tell me if she wasn't actually interested in dating me. Because if she seriously did want to date me, then she could have tried being friends with me, speak with me more consistently, show me that she was serious and that she does want to talk to me, and then try for a relationship later; it was unlikely that I would say no, I was filled with adoration for her. So she didn't want a relationship, and she didn't want a friendship, so why didn't she just say no to me?

Because she wanted the attention. She liked being adored and having someone pursue her so passionately. And the rest... didn't really matter to her. She would have only talked to me, and flirted with me, to have me believe we were going to date, and the second I didn't believe it, and I wouldn't pursue her in that way.. I was as good as dead to her. I was just a resource in there. She didn't care when I was starting to get hurt by being ignored by her, and she didn't care when I specifically said to her that I was struggling with mental health because she was trying to have me believe in something I saw wasn't true. She still tried to push me back into pursuing her after I gave up because of pain. She wanted the attention even when it was hurting me to give it.

I also tried to put myself in her shoes, and see how I would react in her place. I imagined if I had flirted with someone, and then ignored them for a while, and they then asked to be just friends. I don't think I would have even attempted to persuade them to go back to how they were before, because I would be horrified that I set this person up with false expectations, and then caused them pain by failing them. I would be relieved that they weren't mad at me for leading them on, and would feel awful for leading them on at all. But I also wouldn't even bring myself into this situation; if I had feelings for someone, and then realized they're fading away, but this person was still hopeful, or anxious, I'd have to set them straight and tell them what's up, so they could get a chance to move on. Saying 'no I actually want to date, lets go back to that' when I'm ready to drop them in an instant would be unthinkable to me.

What happened was so much worse than being rejected, or turned down. I was at this point wishing so badly that I had just been rejected. I would have moved on from that in a day or two. I had created a whole bond with a person who could not have cared less, and who dropped me the second I did something they didn't like. If I had known that's the reality of it, I would have never wanted to be friends, or anything else. And I also had no way of knowing, it was a shock when things turned out this badly.

I left that experience with some new conclusions. One was that I'll never try to date someone who makes me feel like a child. When I would feel dumb or childish next to her, she would poke fun at it and tease me about it, when I would genuinely feel not taken seriously, and I hated every minute of it, I hated having to prove that I'm an equal to someone. I also would no longer try to pursue anyone with so much love and attention. I might have been wrong to be so honest and direct with my intentions and my feelings. I set myself up for exploitation. It wasn't the first time I was exploited in that way either, this was just one of the worst ones.

After this experience, for a while I stopped liking people in general. Considering even being friends with someone, filled me with anxiety and exhaustion. I fell depressed and had thoughts about never talking to anyone again. I just didn't want to be put trough this again, and it took time for me to believe that a person can be that selfish and cruel, and hide it for so long, I didn't believe this could happen. I guess it hit me worse than it would have because I have abandonment issues, and this falls heavy on a heart of a person who's been abandoned before.

But anyway, I am feeling better now, and I'm very careful about having any kind of ideas about dating! I'm not interested in anyone who gives even the tiniest hint of mixed signals, or wanting to play with my heart, or promise anything unlikely or far down the line. If someone says they like me I won't even believe them! But, I'm keeping my honesty, and I won't set anyone up for this kind of pain. If I don't intend to be with someone, they'll know right away :).

[bookcrazyace]

Dick & Jason and Why We Need to Stop Mischaracterizing Them and Their Relationship

I know it's been brought up a million times and will probably be brought up a million more times but I wanted to put my 2 cents in. Jason and Dick and their relationship is grossly mischaracterized and it hurts the narrative. Now there isn't anything wrong with a little ooc content I'm a fanfic writer and I've fallen onto some of the more fanon sides of things to make it fit my narrative better but the problem arises when people mistake fanon for canon and bring it up in serious fandom discussions.

Dick was the first Robin so we'll start with him first. Characterizing Dick as the happy-go-lucky Robin is very distinctly wrong and actually quite the opposite of what he actually was. Dick wanted revenge for the death of his parents and that's what drew Bruce to him in the first place. Bruce made Batman to focus his anger and grief into something productive that would help people. When he recognized the same yearning for vengeance in Dick he trained him so that Robin could be for Dick what Batman was to him, a coping mechanism. In the end Dick manages to let go of the notion of revenge and it means that Robin succeeded and he then takes on a new identity, Nightwing (Canonically Dick and Bruce start having arguments and that's more the reason he leaves but from a narrative perspective Dick going from Robin to Nightwing can be seen as him getting rid of the feelings of revenge and gaining new goals. Also it's an excellent juxtaposition to the fact that while Robin succeeded in freeing Dick Bruce is still Batman.) Dick starting off as a vengeful spirit and blossoming into one of the most outwardly cheerful members of the batfam (despite the most definitely present repressed anger) is so much more powerful than him essentially not changing throughout the entire story especially when you consider that multiple times in canon Bruce has said that NIghtwing is better than Batman and what Batman was meant to be.

Jason ever the fan favorite and probably the person in the batfam that is misharacterized the most (in my opinion) is the next topic of discussion. Jason being the angry Robin takes so much away from his story and honestly I'm not vibing with it. One of Jason's notable lines as Robin is the phrase "Being Robin gives me magic!"you surely can't hear that and picture a violent criminal in the making. Jason being a street kid that jacks tires for a living but still being kind and childishly innocent makes him as Robin so much more interesting. Jason's drive to help people is obviously heavily influenced by his mother and how he took care of her up until her death. The tragedy of his mother's death is what drives Bruce to him. Of course Jason's process of becoming Robin wasn't immediate like a lot of people believe, Jason was actually sent to an all boys school for a short period of time before realizing they were a front for a crime ring he then helped Batman take down their operation. I feel like after seeing all that one would lose their faith in most people but Jason didn't remember he wasn't Robin until after this incident and he still was so happy and bright. The big turning point in Jason's story (from what I remember I haven't read the comics in a while) Batman suspects he pushes a man they were chasing off of a roof (I don't remember if it's ever made clear whether he did or not) this puts a pretty big strain on their relationship. Soon after all that goes down Jason finds out that the same mother he grew up with, the same mother he took care of, the same mother he watched die isn't actually his mother. The tense atmosphere between him and Bruce in combination for his yearning for answers leads him to run away to find her. When he meets her she sells him out to the Joker who subsequently beats him with a crowbar and leaves him to die in a warehouse that's rigged to blow up. Jason's mother is in the warehouse too and he does everything he can to save her. In the end they both die but when Batman questions her Jason's mom tells him that he tried to save her. In most modern iterations of Jason's death story his mother is written out and his death is pinned on him and his "impulsive and brash decisions". When Jason comes back to Gotham after his revival he seeks vengeance and is incredibly violent a very stark contrast to the bubbly kid that was just happy to be there. Two of his most notable actions as Red Hood are decapitating the lieutenants of the top crime lords and delivering them in a duffel bag and attacking Tim Drake the new Robin in Titans Tower. Jason's main drive for attacking Tim and becoming a crime lord is the fact that he died, he died as Robin and he didn't think that children should have to take on crime in the way Bruce did Jason decided that the best way to get rid of crime was to control it. The way Jason went from sunshine personified to a gritty crime lord who was willing to kill is what makes his story so interesting. The way an innocent child that got exposed to the darkness of the world and got swallowed by it is what makes the story so meaningful. In comparison to Dick, Jason is Batman's greatest failure he became the very thing Bruce tried to prevent him from being, a vengeful spirit that kills. In some ways Dick and Jason's stories are opposites and parallels.

Now for Dick and Jason's relationship. Despite what a lot of people think Dick didn't hate Jason when he first appeared (I think there was a point where Dick wanted to adopt Jason but I don't remember). Making Dick hate Jason as Robin sort of ruins both of their character arcs Dick evolved past his hatred and need for vengeance and thus adores Jason, Jason growing into someone so angry and hating Tim as Robin despite the fact that Dick showed him so much kindness makes everything hit so much harder.

In conclusion, this isn't really a huge deal but I've been thinking about it a lot recently. I've written and read fics where Jason was an angry Robin and Dick was a happy one. I've written and read fics where Dick hated Jason at first. Fandom is all about what fans do with a piece of media they like and at the end of the day the characters can be whoever you want them to be. Don't let this post uninspire you or make you feel called out if you enjoy the more fanon dynamics and personalities of these characters. Fee free to point out any inaccuracies to me it's been a while since I've read the comics.

[burningfudge]

Rogue & Carol Danvers

Rogue and Carol’s relationship has been spoken about quite a bit over the years, and a ton of people want them to meet in the MCU (me included), but I always love it when they interact just because of the DRAMA. As a Carol Danvers fan, her best moments are when she’s full of raw emotion, and there’s so much of that whenever she interacts with Rogue (ironic, I know, since Rogue absorbed her memories, powers, and emotions). I also became a Rogue fan by reading about Carol's time with the X-Men.

Their first meeting was in Avengers Annual #10, but Carol was already in a dark place due to Avengers #200 (easily the worst Marvel comic ever made), where she gave birth to a son who rapidly aged and sexually assaulted her in the same issue, leading to him becoming his own father. If that wasn't bad enough, the Avengers saw nothing wrong with it, even congratulating her on the birth of her son when Carol wasn't even pregnant a few days before. I don't know how that was ever approved by editorial. It's not the focus of this post, so I won't go into detail, but here is a fantastic post about it:

Ms. Marvel gives birth to the man who kidnapped and impregnated her - Avenger #200 AKA the worst issue in the history of the Avengers

Thankfully, Chris Claremont was rightfully outraged at Carol's treatment and took over for Avengers Annual #10, where Rogue was introduced.

Destiny had prophesied to Mystique that Carol would harm Rogue, so Mystique wanted to prevent it from happening. Therefore, Rogue took things into her own hands and got to Carol first, but due to Carol's strength, Rogue held on for too long and absorbed her powers and memories. She then threw her off the Golden Gate Bridge into the water below, but thankfully, Carol was saved by Jessica Drew, who then became a long-time confidant and best friend, although everyone knows they're girlfriends. Carol survived the attack only because she was a human-Kree hybrid. After that, Rogue attacked the Avengers the next day. Teenage Rogue was a menace, lmao. Professor X then helped Carol remember who she was, and she absolutely dragged the Avengers for letting Marcus kidnap her. It's glorious. She then left the Avengers and hung around the X-Men for a while, where she could be under Claremont's supervision and not some other trash writer.

All Ms. Marvel was—all I was—she is. And will be—forever.

Uncanny X-Men #158

What I love most about this relationship is that these two irrevocably changed each other. They would not be who they are today without each other. Rogue, literally, wouldn’t be who she is because she absorbed a part of Carol’s personality, so a part of Carol will always live within her. Plus, while Rogue can’t fly anymore, she did for a while, and that’s only because she got the ability from Carol.

Rogue's even expressed how she doesn't know which parts are her and which parts are Carol and how she believes the best parts of her are Carol. She believes that she became a hero instead of a monster due to Carol's psyche in her brain, but it's actually quite sweet that Carol later acknowledges Rogue's growth and states that she wouldn't have come as far as she did if she didn't want to change. I also like that Carol acknowledged that they will never be friends, but they've gotten to a point where they can work together. I think it’s realistic that they’re not best friends and a part of Carol will always resent Rogue, but they can work together when required.

Mr. & Mrs. X (2018) #9 | Captain Marvel (2019) #5

While Carol literally shaped Rogue, Rogue shaped Carol in a much more traumatizing way. After Rogue took Carol's powers, she was a blank state and only remembered who she was with Xavier's help; however, she didn't have the emotional connection to her memories.

Uncanny X-Men #158

She was kidnapped and experimented on by the Brood, gaining her powers back and making her more powerful than ever by becoming Binary. Binary is my second favorite Carol-era (the first is her as Ms Marvel), and she has sooo much growth. Even though she was going through a really dark time as Binary since she was struggling with her memories, rape, and both the Avengers and X-Men letting her down, Binary shaped so much of Carol's character today as she became more of a space adventurer when before, she was just on Earth.

Uncanny X-Men #164

She didn’t know who she was and didn’t feel like Carol Danvers because she had no emotional attachment to her memories, so she ran away from Earth and stayed in space. However, she eventually realized that she was running away.

Binary is when she also first got her photon blasts; she only had super strength and flight when she was Ms Marvel, and this eventually helped her become Captain Marvel.

Carol’s first photon blast!

Uncanny X-Men #164

Uncanny X-Men #171

I love this panel because both sides are absolutely correct. Rogue left the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants and went to Professor X for help because she kept hearing Carol’s voice in her head. Charles, obviously, will never turn away any mutant, and by joining the X-Men, Rogue achieved her true potential and gained a better life than she ever would have had if she stayed with Mystique. Rogue became one of the best X-Men because Charles gave her another chance.

On the other hand, even though Carol understands why Charles would take Rogue in, she feels betrayed because both the Avengers and the X-Men have discarded her feelings, so who else does she have on Earth? After this, Carol would stay in space with the Starjammers as a coping mechanism. She would later rejoin the Avengers in the late '90s, where she's dealing with fluctuating power levels, leading her to drink due to the trauma of her rape, Rogue, and fluctuating power levels. The Avengers removed her from the team due to her alcoholism and tried to help her, but she started to spiral and lash out. Plus, due to Rogue, Carol couldn't form emotional connections with friends and family on top of her trauma from her rape, so she drank even more. After a long struggle, she eventually accepted help and became sober at Iron Man's insistence, as he knew exactly what she was going through and became her Alcoholics Anonymous sponsor. It's why I've always loved Carol and Tony's friendship. All in all, it's...not a great time for her, but I found Carol's struggle with alcoholism to be complex and heartbreaking.

(Also lol, Kitty saying that she'll never like Rogue when she and Rogue are now friends.)

While Carol was dealing with her alcoholism, Rogue was going on adventures with the X-Men, exploding in popularity. Life went on, and both characters went on their own paths.

Ms. Marvel (2006) #10

For context, an alternate version of Carol arrived to kill Rogue because Rogue attacking Carol is a constant in every universe. To Rogue's credit, she has repeatedly expressed remorse for what she did and has apologized many times, but how are you supposed to get over something like that? Therefore, Carol pretended to forgive her while also harboring resentment toward her.

In this comic, Carol also recounts what Rogue did to her and says, "Rogue hurt me in a way worse than physical pain. Her attack ripped my memories out, leaving me in a blank state. I was no one. A nonperson. I was unconscious for days as Xavier telepathically reassembled my mind. Afterwards, Charles was concerned that I rest and recover properly. Not that it's the kind of thing you ever recover from. It's been years and I still feel dirty. I've changed my costume. I've changed my name to Warbird. I've done everything I can to move on, but it's never worked."

X-Men: Legacy #270

Carol eventually truly forgave Rogue and was able to work together with her. I love it when they do. And it's important to Carol that Rogue asked if she could borrow Carol's powers because she's been powerless (physically and otherwise) for some traumatic moments in her life.

Captain Marvel (2019) #49

They finally buried the hatchet recently as Rogue shared the burden of Carol's powers to save the day, as Carol would've died from the power load. I love this moment.

All of this started because Destiny foresaw a possible future, leading to Carol’s life getting ruined, which makes Carol’s actions in Civil War II all the more frustrating. During CWII, she utilized the help of a young Inhuman, Ulysses, who saw a possible future, much like Destiny, and Carol prevented horrible events from occurring. The only problem was that she sometimes went too far, handing out punishment before the crime. Carol lost everything because Rogue attacked her before she could attack Rogue as per Destiny’s vision, which hadn’t come to pass yet. I know Bendis is infamous for ignoring continuity, so I probably shouldn’t expect anything else. Maybe it can be said that hurt people, hurt people and it’s a cycle of violence, but I think that’s giving him too much credit for one of the worst Marvel events in recent history.

In the end, Rogue and Carol will always be intertwined. Carol went on a traumatic path and hit rock bottom, but she came out of it stronger than ever, while Rogue went on a path of redemption and became one of the best superheroes in the Marvel universe.

[turtletimewriting]

2012 meets 2018

Summary: Mikey through a portal mishap is stuck in the 2012 series. Not a big deal, but he’s noticed that they’re all so serious. Not nearly as huggy and close as him and his brothers. Welp, time to fix that!

_._._

Things were so different here. Which makes sense. Like duh, it was his brothers from another universe. But it was weird. It was weird to see a Leo who spent all his time hidden away in the dojo meditating. Raph who spent all his free time reading comics and judging his brothers. Donnie... well actually Donnie was largely the same as his Donnie, spending a lot of time being the mad scientist he is. This version of himself was always doing his own thing. 

The only times they were together were when they were patrolling or when they were watching tv in the night. But otherwise, everyone was busy doing their own thing. Being serious and nothing like his own touchy feely family.

And of course, he was going to fix this!

Somehow...

Admittedly, he had no idea how he was going to. But he was taking it one step at a time. First he had been trying to get involved in all their hobbies. Right now he was sitting with Leo watching some show he liked called Space Heroes. It was... alright? Probably didn’t help that he was in the middle of a later season and Leo had gotten too lost in the sauce to remember to speak at a normal pace when recapping the show.

He was still rambling furiously, his hands vibrating violently in front of him. His Leo didn’t do any of this but he recognised all of this from Donnie so he found himself smiling so wide at how obviously happy Leo was. The happiness radiating from him. Sitting crossed legged together enjoying a show.

He so badly wished he could see them all this aggressively cheerful and happy. Leo burst into a huge smile as the Space Captain slapped his... co-captain? Okay a little weird but whatever makes him happy. Mikey wanted so badly to see this Leo finally let go and be fully silly and happy. 

His own Leo was so much more laidback and always willing to dive head first into the chaos. 

At that thought, a lightbulb went off in his head. 

His bent knee was pointed straight at him and that was his Leo’s like ultimate weakness. Leo’s legs were his worst spot, although he was definitely a walking tickle spot to be fair. Every part of his leg were very ticklish, his calves, the back of his knees, knees in general and don’t even think about his thighs or he’ll explode.

While he was distracted, he placed his scrunched up fingers right on his knee and then slowly drew his hands out in a slow crawling tickle across his bent knee.

“This is like their thing. So typi-AAAH!” Leo leapt like three feet in the air. He looked at him with sheer bewilderment and betrayal. “What was that!”

“Uhh... me tickling you?”

“No, I know that. Like... what kind of technique was that?” Leo laughed.

“Oh that!” Mikey spread out his fingers again on his kneecap to demonstrate, sending a violent jolt and slapping a hand over his giggles, “This drives my Leonardo insane! We have to pin his leg down so we can do it over and over again.”

He didn’t realise he was demonstrating over and over again until Leo was slapping the sofa arm. “Pfftahaha HAH! Hehe, o-okay. Okay okay okay! Hah! I get it!” He wiggled his knee but never withdrew his leg.

“Haha, no! C’mon! We can consider it a science experiment!” Mikey clapped his hands as he inched forward into his space, his plan all coming together. “Let’s see if you have the same tickle spots as my Leo!”

He pushed him down to lay on the sofa, had to make him comfortable before wrecking him to tears! Jumping up to his stomach to pin him down, he faced his legs. Obviously any Leonardo must have the most ticklish legs in existence, right?

“Wait! What! No, we don’t have to do this!”

“Oh yes we do!” Mikey cracked his fingers before he immediately grabbed his knees and started squeezing. 

Leo jolted up but his own weight kept him pinned. “HAH! Wahait! WAHAIT! HA! Ahahahaha!” He drummed his feet violently.

“Aww, that’s not as much laughter as I was expecting,” Mikey whined. His Leo would already be driven to tears by this. Yet this Leo was just laughing. Not even that hard! Huh, that’s... weird. Ugh, he was just being stupid. Of course this Leo was different, he was different in a million ways from his Leo. They weren’t even the same species! He needed to get over himself. Try to enjoy the silly moment. He spidered his fingers over his knees again. 

“Ihi Ah! Ah! Wait! Hahaha! Ah! I didn’t even know my knees were ticklish!” Leo gasped.

That made him stop. “What!” Mikey gasped himself.

“Who goes for the knees when tickling someone!” Leo gasped amongst his giggles.

“Uh me!” Mikey gasped as he squeezed his knee again, sending Leo tumbling back down from his sass, “I can go for the knees. Since I have a brother who dies if you go for the knees!”

“Hahahaha! Wehell that’s hahaha dumb!” Leo snarked, bucking up to try and kick him off. Which almost worked. Mikey had to put an end to that. 

But now he felt like he was in uncharted territory. It makes sense, he thought. This Leo did act entirely differently so of course he’d have different spots. He looked him over passively at where to go next. 

Suddenly he snapped forward and started scribbling over his plastron. His scutes lay in a different layout than Leo’s, and also unlike his Leo, he immediately burst into frantic bright laughter. “WAHAHAHAIT! WAIT WAIT HAHAHAHAHAHA!” 

Mikey smiled manically. “Now there’s some good laughter! Is that a good spot, huh? Is that an extra ticklish spot? Does it tickle tickle tickle you!” 

Mikey felt all his weirdness completely disappear though as Leo slapped a hand over his face as he slowly turned bright red. 

“You can blush! That’s amazing! Look at how red you are!” Mikey cooed. 

“HAHA SHUUHUUHU SHUSH! HAHAHHAHAHAAHAA! STAHAP TALKING!” Leo kicked out frantically as he slowly turned more and more red. 

“Aww you’re so adorable!” Mikey exclaimed as he traced around his scutes which sent Leo tumbling down even more frantic laughter. His head tipped back as he was lost to the sensation. “But is this where you’re most ticklish? Oooor is there another spot?”

The way he reacted clearly meant he was close though. Mikey used the tracing to explore his whole torso.

“NO! NO! HAHAHAHAA! HA! HA! HA! NO!” Leo suddenly gasped as he fingers trailed from his stomach to his sides. 

Mikey grinned evilly. “Oh you shouldn’t have said that!” 

Not one to waste time, he immediately started pinching and scribbling over his sides. It was really fun to tickle actually! The smooth shell of his sides was fun to slide his fingers against and the polished smooth texture made him want to keep tickling and tickling. 

“Oh this is too much fun! I’ve gotta keep tickling you! I can’t stop tickling you!” 

“HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAA!” Leo was totally lost to the sensation and Mikey knew it was time to let up. He really didn’t want to kill him or something. 

Well okay, maybe one last tickle.

As he harshly scrubbed against his sides and Leo jolted up, he met him halfway with a raspberry pressed in the middle of his plastron. 

Leo’s laughter went silent until Mikey sat back up and gentle climbed off of him. 

“Huh, you and my Leo have completely different tickle spots,” He grinned but that smile kept growing when Leo kept laughing. 

“Hahahaa... ha... heh... whaht was thahaha hahaha... about!” Leo exclaimed. Setting off more of his laughter as he remembered and brought up the tickling.

“Dunno!” He chirped back, giggling himself too, “For the funsies.” 

“Nahat fun! Ha! Hahahahaa!”

“You can stop laughing,” Mikey giggled. The laughter catching on. Leo had yet to even sit up yet and seemed totally lost in his own unending giggles.

A snort ripped through the room and properly set off Mikey’s laughter. 

“Dude, stop laughing! I’m not tickling you!”

“Dohon’t SAY THE WORD! Hahahaha! HAH! Heheheee...”

Wholeheartedly, Mikey thought that would be stuck in the cycle of making each other laugh if it wasn’t for this world’s Raph walking in. 

“Okay, who got Leo tickle drunk?”

“Tickle drunk?” Mikey asked incredulously. 

“STAHAP SAHAYING THE WORD HEHEHEEEE!” Leo kicked out his feet again from the tiny ball he was curling into.

Raph sauntered over with such a fond smile and casually leaned an arm on the back of the sofa. “Yeah, if anyone... uh t-words Leo then he can’t stop thinking about it which means he can picture the sensation. Meaning! He can’t stop giggling or feeling like he still being attacked.”

“Wait, wait, wait!” Mikey lit up like christmas had come early, “Can you not say the word tickle?”

The instant he said it, Leo snorted as he frantically tried rubbing away at his sides. Raph looked on with a mischevious smirk. “Oh I can definitely say the word tickle,” He deliberately spoke clearly and sounded out each syllable in the word, much to Leo’s giggly dismay, “it’s just that it takes a while for Leo to stop being tickle drunk, especially if everyone keeps mentioning it.”

Mikey finally made eye contact with Leo as he peered up at him through the tiny ball he curled into. And as subtle as a ninja, he flicked his eyes back to Raph quickly. Thankfully, Leo seemed to grasp his message. “Well, you know what would probably help?” Mikey cued up.

“What?” Raph asked genuinely.

“To tickle someone else!” He roared before grabbing Raph and somersaulting him on to the sofa, where Leo immediately grabbed hold oh him and dug away at his pits.

Well it wouldn’t be fair to just test the tickle spots of one of their alternative universe selves.

[jccatstudios]

I have been following your soc comic adaptation and it just so good!!! I love how you draw them!

I have just one question: Why did you not include Inej's opening musings about Kaz on the first page? (Kaz Brekker didn't need a reason etc) I actually really like how there is not text on the first two pages, it's really atmospheric and moody so this really is not a criticism, I don't want to insult you. I guess I was just wondering what the thought process behind that was?

Oh, I've been wanting to talk about this for a while! Buckle up, this is gonna be one of my long comic rants. (Also, no offense taken at all! Anyone's welcome to question my artistic choices and I'm always happy to take critique, even though that isn't your intention.)

So, the thing is I actually planned on including that first paragraph into the comic! Here's when I first shared the thumbnails on here. Just for the sake of this post, I'll insert them here too.

The boxes are meant to be where excerpts of that introduction would go. When I was creating the thumbnails, I was thinking about how iconic these lines were and how well they introduce the world and characters. I even finished the pages with the intention to include those lines. This is from my original csp file.

When I lettered it all out, I felt like something wasn't right...? Hard to explain. I wanted silence for the opening and the narration took that away. I then thought about the reader who'd go into this without reading the novel first, wondering if they'd be thinking, Who's this Kaz Brekker guy? Is it this character on the page? It's clearer in the book, but I didn't think it paired well with what I drew. I didn't want any confusion. It's also Inej's chapter, and while Kaz's parts take up most of it, I still wanted it to feel like her POV and her story. We can hold off officially meeting Kaz until page four.

But the main reason I took it out comes down to my philosophy when it comes to comic adaptations. I believe that an adaptation should use the original story in the best way for the secondary medium. A comic adaptation should play to the strength of comics, not the original source material.

Time and time again, I see a lot of comic adaptations of books try to use a book's strength instead of a comic's. When that happens, you get pages upon pages of narration boxes and exposition that could've easily been told in a single panel's image. If you want to read excerpts from the original novel, go do that! They're beautiful and well-crafted and you should be reading the original anyway! If you're making a comic adaptation, make a comic, not an illustrated version of the novel (that's a whole field of its own).

This whole thing really ties well into what I'm doing for Chapter 3. Kaz is such an internal character, his chapters have a lot more exposition that isn't setting description or character actions. I've had to do a lot more of my own writing for this chapter than the last just to turn that exposition into his own voice as an internal monologue. Sometimes, it's just a change from "he" to "I," but there are other times I've had to write new dialogue and find ways to naturally flow between thoughts. If I didn't do the work to adapt the expository text and instead just put in narration boxes of text from the book, there would be a greater disconnect between the reader and Kaz. Third-person limited works great in books and doesn't separate the readers from the story, but in comics, first-person internal dialogue keeps the readers inside the scene better.

If I were to redo Chapter 2, I think I would try to find a way to incorporate the information from the chapter intro better. I think by losing the intro I initially planned to include, I didn't establish certain ideas very well. Ketterdam and Kerch are established later on pages 4 and 5, but I don't think I ever go back and mention The Barrel. Also, the idea that Kaz is deliberate, even if his reputation says otherwise, is important too. I've made sure to fix this kind of issue in Chapter 3 and keep record of what kind of information I'm losing as I adapt it.

[binders-and-beanies]

My first ever attempt at a comic bc it truly felt like the most powerful way to depict this. Additional commentary under the cut

First of all- this is not an invitation to take any sort of action about my safety without my consent. To do so would completely miss the point of the art I’ve just put my heart and soul into. If you’re concerned about me, check on me directly. This is truly just me wanting to be heard. Anyway

I named the comic this because when the GPS robot voice says “starting route to home,” I am overwhelmed with emotion. I’m rarely at my literal home theses days, and I don’t know what to expect from a future home. I feel like I’m constantly, and somehow never, “starting route to home.”

The bridge at the beginning connects my current two homes; my hometown and college campus. I keep hearing that they’re going to close the bridge for construction for several years, meaning I’ll have to take a scarier way home. (And yes, I deal with some difficult thoughts about the bridge. Yes I’m safe)

The parking garage is downtown where I’m planning to move soon. The swirly ramp lights up at night. I almost included a frame of a picture I took in the garage elevator, of a sign saying that the roof was closed for construction. I felt it was a bit too on the nose, as I purposely avoid seeing the roof.

The red car pictured throughout is mine, its name is Winston. I bought it used after a severe crash totaled my first car two months after I started driving independently. Winston has had a dent on the front since before I got it, and I always wonder what happened. That dent is the reason I could afford the car

The picture of my deceased friend Josh is displayed in my car as a reminder to drive with him in mind. He died in a car crash at 19

I got the “be safe” tattoo on the 11 year anniversary of meeting him

The screenshot of a song is really the song I believe I almost died to. I don’t remember what part of the song was playing during the crash, but I remember the end of the song blaring from my car as I escaped the wreckage.

The State Champs concert panel is my favorite panel in the comic. It’s the one I had to take breaks from drawing bc it hit hard. Driving myself to concerts is what wanting to live rly looks like to me

The timestamps in the GPS route panel are Josh’s birth and death dates. The route I drew is from my school to Baltimore. This is a route I drive for concerts + I’ve entertained the idea of living there someday. I almost drew the route between the North Carolina towns Josh and I lived in as children, but that felt too certain; I know where we lived. I don’t know where I’m going to be in a few years

My mom, best friend, and partner tend to be the first few people I text after a long drive. I try to do this quickly bc I know what it feels like to never get the “home safe” text. The timestamps on the messages are their birthdays. The additional messages are meant to convey that I have many more loved ones, *and* that I can’t keep up with my life

The Bratz keychain is one of the newest additions to a lifelong collection of Bratz items. Also pictured in this panel is my first tattoo, also for Josh.

The color scheme I used throughout is Josh’s favorite, and I always notice it at traffic lights.

Regarding the “ice on the road” panel: This is a metaphor pls for the love of god does anyone hear me. It’s also quite literal in regards to driving tho. Get off my ass

The warning lights I chose to highlight are ones that seemed closest to how I feel mentally in winter

I wrote the words to this comic in a parking lot on the way back from Dan and Phil in November. That drive felt exactly like what the comic describes, and the ideas developed so clearly that I had to create something about it immediately. I didn’t get to draw it until January but have re-read it every day

[dethkomic]

On Army of the Doomstar Day - And Remembering Jon Schnepp

Hey Goofballs. I didn't really have anything like this planned until the moment hit me, spontaneously. Today's a very special day, as Dethklok the live band gears up to go on tour, we've been blessed with not only a new Dethalbum, but a conclusion to the whole series. This being a momentous finale, over a decade in the making, I again wanted to take a minute to remember someone, just as I did last year..

Jon Schnepp was a guy you could pick out, even if it weren't for the fact that he was usually the tallest dude in any given crowd. He loved comics, music, good vegetarian food that didn't suck, and loved meeting his sweaty nerd fans. As a comic book artist myself, I had the rare privilege of meeting Jon on several occasions through the years at various comic conventions. We also kept in touch on social media, leaving likes and words of praise on each other's projects. Genuine to a fault, Jon was always the biggest fan of anything his friends were doing. He had impeccable comedic timing too. I'll never forget the message he sent me on Facebook when friends and I attended the first ever 70,000 Tons of Metal Cruise:

"I want to go... :("

For as big a Metalocalypse fan as I've been through the years, Jon absolutely eclipsed me in all ways. He loved the show, loved talking about the show, loved discussing production and animation and the characters, whose likenesses he himself designed. One of my prized possessions is a comic book Jon signed and drew a Murderface on the inside frontispiece of. We all agreed that triangle-hair was the pinnacle of good character art.

When he died in 2018, I remember he was either going to be at, or had recently attended a convention in my former hometown of Columbus, Ohio. I remember letting him know I wasn't going to be able to make it, but promising to catch him on the next one. I never got the chance.

Jon Schnepp left behind a hole in the cartoon and comic industry that has yet to be filled to this day. But he also leaves a hell of a legacy. I've been in comics since the early 2000's and one thing I can guarantee you readers is that the rarest thing in the entertainment industry is this: Getting the ability to see a story through to its conclusion.

As artists, it's a sad fact that we don't always get to see what we create come full-circle. We're extra-super lucky still, to have that circle continue on after we're gone. Regardless of what you believe, I bet it would do Jon proud to know his work lives on, today. I bet he'd love the movie and it's wild animation and incredible art and music and story. I bet he'd be happy to have that closure. I know he'd love hearing how much we all enjoyed it, knowing the wild ride we all took to get here.

Jon, we miss you, man. Brendon, Tommy, writers, artists, animators, and any and all sweaty nerds reading this -- you did it. We the fans love you and we'll see you on the road. Hold your heads high. You carried the torch across that finish line.

We'll take it from here.

[dropintomanga]

Graduating from My Hero Academia

So after 10 years, one of the 2010s' biggest hits is finally over. Kohei Horikoshi's My Hero Academia was a title that Shueisha and the anime/manga community needed to captivate audiences worldwide. The title coincided with the popularity of American comic book superhero movies over the last decade.

I'll say that after all I read, My Hero Academia is a great title for exploring how to nurture youth into becoming the best people they can be.

I still remember when I first got into the manga, I wasn't too initially drawn in. But I got how the interactions between Izuku "Deku" Midoriya and Bakugo Katsuki were a driving point in the story. What really drew into My Hero Academia was when Shoko Todoroki got development in one of the first major arcs. I wrote about this a decade ago when it was happening in the manga. Some youth feel that they don't have a choice in how to live unless you tell them that they do.

Another one of my favorite parts of the manga was when Deku and Bakugo fought after the Hero License arc. You got to see two young men who couldn't truly understand each other and felt weak despite being strong. Both were driven so much by All Might that their relationship almost deteriorated if they didn't address the tension between the two.

I've written quite a bunch about My Hero Academia, but I feel like I should have written about the Todoroki family drama and the Tomura Shigaraki trauma. Adverse childhood experiences are a thing and the circumstances regarding the characters involved reeked of ACEs. Children can potentially become villains when faced with abuse within their own homes. They will resort to unhealthy means/outlets to try to cope.

Ultimately, this manga is about how to lead children down a path where even if they are going through something terrible, there's some sense of hope out there. And at the same time, how do adults become the kind of people to inspire those kids? We don't want them running into All for Ones, who all think that the whole world needs to burn down in order for peace to occur.

While the final arc was a bit of a drag at times, I got the message that Horikoshi is saying. We have to pass down values, not beliefs. Values that promote compassion, humility, and connection. Anyone can become a villain due to how cruel society can be at times and anyone can be a hero when they meet the kind of people that shows them kindness.

Of course we can't save everyone, but we can definitely be heroes to the immediate people in our lives. That's all we can ask for.

In any case, thank you, Horikoshi, for creating a series that became a beacon for many youth looking for some optimism in a world that doesn't always show it. Thank you for creating a work that does a good job of showing the effects of childhood trauma and youth insecurities on its important characters.

May Plus Ultra continue to inspire the best in all of us!

[evelhak]

Part 1

When @vespersposts put together an event [𝐿𝑜𝑣𝑒 𝐵𝑢𝑚𝑝𝑠 ✘] with the theme "How I met you", I really wanted to participate but couldn't think of anything at first... I write canonverse longfic, so my ships can't actually have a second first meeting... except, a couple of them did! I remembered my convoluted fairytale fic, which is a fantasy AU within my canonverse longfic, because it's just a dream. So, I decided to draw KagaKuro's first meeting from that fairytale fic, as a comic.

I'm not completely happy with how I drew this. My drawing is still (always) so inconsistent, and I had too long breaks between drawing, so I made mistakes like forgetting where exactly my angle on the characters had been and for some reason being too stupid to check... but oh well, it's readable. And I do like the atmosphere.

I'll try to introduce this briefly and make some sense of it.

I drew this because it almost works out of context. You can read it as a standalone, I think, you just won't see the full extent of everything, where things came from and where they're going. I think what you need to know is that the idea of this story is reinterpreting/reliving your past, but it's not just "I dropped these characters back into a metaphorical dream version of the past", because it's also important that it isn't really the past. It's the present under the mask of some past events. The years aren't undone just because the characters momentarily don't remember who they are. That's why the past events are not a direct translation into a fantasy AU, it's slightly more complicated. The sense of "this is actually just a character meditating in the present(=third year of high school)" is kind of crucial to the story, even though no one in the dream knows it's a dream. It's about trying to make sense of what you missed. Things that you thought you knew, mistakes you thought had already been understood to their fullest extent, but weren't. In other words, everything that has happened after the events that are referenced in this comic, still affect the characters' decisions and what they say.

So, when the characters seem a bit off, or you can't see where they are coming from, it's probably because you missed about 800 000 words of character development. (Unless you've read my TOTverse of course.)

Okay, I definitely don't deserve praise for putting that simply and concisely.

I guess the elephant in the room is that in this dream fic there's a genderbent version of Kuroko, but it would be way too complicated to get into the narrative and meta reasons why that is relevant in this dream, without explaining the whole story, so, you're just going to have to take it at face value.

I hope you enjoy reading. ♥︎

(Read from left to right.)

(To be continued.)

[hostwastaken]

A Rocky Start || Hunter x Reader

__________________________________

around 2000 words, gender-neutral reader, told you I post sometimes. No warnings; asks open. Part 1 of many.

__________________________________

Being friends with Luz was easy. Being a junior in high school? Less so. But, life goes on, and on, and on. Much to the dismay of, {First name, Last name}. A remarkably average student at, Gravesfeild highschool. 

First meeting, Luz, was a bit of a disaster. Something she admitted to more than a handful of times. {Your name} had been running a barely functioning book club for all of their sophomore year. Which consisted of them reading, alone, in an abandoned stairwell. Until Luz came along. The two met during the club fair, where everyone got together and tried to convince middle schoolers to join their club. Luz was originally drawn in by, The Good Witch Azura, her favorite book placed front and center on the poorly decorated club booth table.

Their booth was comically tiny compared to the rest of the clubs. Tucked away in the only empty space they were able to find. Luz found them, head thrown back and a half-read book slung over their face. She was able to spot the book from across the cafeteria and immediately made a B-line straight to their booth. Slamming her hands down on the rickety table scaring the other kid half to death. {Your name} awoke with a jump, flailing to catch the book previously laid over their eyes. Startled, they seemed to gawk at Luz. Half because, holy shit, that was intense, and half because she was astounded that someone wanted to join their club. Luz seemed to think her behavior was perfectly normal. 

"I want to join your club!"

Luz, practically beamed up at her, shouting. {Your name} seemed to still be waking up, running a hand over their face with the best smile they could offer. Gently, they picked up the sign-up sheet, handing it over to Luz. She squealed and twirled in place, hugging the clipboard close to their chest. Sloppily, the girl scribbled down her name in a sparkily pink gel pen she pulled out of seemingly, nowhere. 

"Welcome to the club..."

Glancing down at the sheet, for a moment, smiling at the poorly drawn cat next to the girl's name. 

"Luz Noceda!" 

Smiling they stick out their hand loosely for the younger girl to take. She did, very enthusiastically. Grabbing their hand with both of hers and shaking wildly. The biggest smile crossed her face. Eventually, Luz let go. She gasped suddenly, as if remembering something extremely urgent, and threw her bag to the floor. She rummaged around in it for a while, pulling random various objects out to set them aside. Eventually, she pulls out a handful of sparklers. The tired-looking club member's eyes went wide their brows drew in confusion. 

"Okay, I'm lost." 

They spoke while Luz was still rummaging through her bag for something else. Confused, they leaned over the table, seeing Luz squatted on the ground, a kazoo between her lips, desperately trying to light sparklers using friction. Oh no, Seemed to be the only thought running through their head as the sparklers came to life. Luz, on the other hand, seemed to be ecstatic. Loudly and horribly, playing the kazoo while dancing with the sparklers. There was one part of the dance where Luz dropped down to the floor as a dramatic ending. Well, the sparklers edged just a touch too close to the tablecloth decorating the booth. 

In shock, the two seemed to gawk at the fire wide-eyed. Until the elder rushed, trying to toss all the books off the table before they could fuel the fire. Luz resorted to swatting the fire with her hoodie, screaming at it. 

"Back down, fire! You will not best me!" 

Luz was pulled away from the fire by one of the teachers, another breaking the glass to the fire alarm, sending a shower of water through the cafeteria. Recalling the fond memory {Your name} hadn't realized they had been doodling the event until the drawing had begun to leak into their notes. Stifling a chuckle while the teacher lectures, they rip the doodle out of the book and stuff it into their pocket. The bell cuts the teacher short, and everyone scrambles to pack up. 

Impatiently, the older teen waits for Luz. Leaned up against their light green PT Cruiser; what a loser. Eyes scanning the crowd for their freshmen, hoping they haven't gotten into trouble again. Anxiously, their foot begins to tap, wondering why Luz could be so late. School ended almost fifteen minutes ago... Just about to head out to look for their younger friend she comes rounding the corner, screaming. 

"I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!" 

Running up they all but collapse onto their older friend, heaving between words. On instinct, they embrace Luz, patting her head. 

"It's alright, whatever it is, we can talk about it inside my car. It's hot as balls out here." 

Luz nods before hopping into the green car, her friend joining shortly after with a relieved sigh. Luz watches as they fiddle with the stereo, for a moment, before turning their attention to her. Feeling, suddenly embarrassed, Luz curls up, hugging her bag close to her chest. She speaks lightly and rubs the back of her neck nervously as she does so. 

"Some kid tried to take my book..."

Luz was cut short by her friend's flabbergasted expression. Their mouth hung agape, ready and willing to march back to the school and get that book. Anger quickly took over after that. This wasn't a one-time thing, Luz had been picked on all year and the school wasn't doing a damn thing about it. 

"Is this the same guy who poured milk all over your sketchbook?" 

Luz nodded but moved on quickly, a mischievous smile covering her features. 

"I punched him!"

She spoke almost like she couldn't believe she'd done it. {Your name}, on the other hand, laughed joyfully, happy the jerk got some justice, and that Luz was standing up for herself. 

"You punched him?! Oh man, that's awesome. I wish I had your gut's kid. Any teacher's around?" 

Luz smiled as her friend shoved her playfully but blanched at their question. Laying her head on the window solemnly. She spoke with dread like another detention would end her life.

"Uh, not a teacher... but some of his friends. They all ran off screaming about how much trouble I'm gonna be in. Mama is gonna be furious when she gets the call!" 

{Your name} couldn't help but feel for their little friend. She really tried, and a lot of her projects were cool! Just, not conventional... a lot of her projects ended up with her being picked on. Luckily, her mom was probably the most kind person they had ever met. Always willing to take them in whenever things tended to get rocky at home. The least they could do for Mrs. Noceda was watch out for Luz. 

"It'll be okay, Luz. Let's get some slushies before heading back. Besides, what's one more detention?"

                                                ______________________________________________________________

"Suspension?! A fight?! This must be a misunderstanding... Luz, wouldn't do that, not without cause!" 

Okay, so it was a bit more than a detention. The two teens stood in the doorway, slushies in hand, just catching the end of the conversation. They looked at each other, then at the kitchen, and then back to each other. Silently, they crept over to the kitchen, listening in. 

"Him? We have filed report after report about him! What are you doing to protect my daughter? Nothing more you can do?!"

With a frustrated groan, Mrs. Noceda hangs up tossing her phone onto the counter. She sighs, it's easy to tell she has mixed feelings about the subject. Luz inches over, head down like a kicked puppy. The guilt of her actions set in. 

"Mama?"

Mrs. Noceda turns and embraces her daughter. Pulling her close and patting the back of her head lightly. The brunette's eyes widen, confused at her mother's sudden reaction. 

"I'm so proud of you for standing up for yourself, mija, but violence is not a good habit to rely on."

Noticing the older teen in the doorway she waves them over, embracing both of them. Eventually, she pulled back, smiling at them. 

"My troublemakers, what will I ever do with you two?" 

She ruffled Luz's hair and walks away, asking if tamales are good for dinner. After having the approval of the teens she starts cooking. A new crime-drama tv show playing on her tablet. 

Luz leads her friend to the living room. Tossing the empty slush cups on her way. The two laze on the couch for a bit, scrolling through movies before Luz decides on the same movie for the tenth time this week.

Times like these with Luz and her mom were the moments that kept them sane. Things at home weren't the most stable. So, they would spend late nights here and then sneak back into the shitty trailer the school liked to think was their home. Nights there were quiet now. Lonely.

Mrs. Noceda knew all she needed to; she had decided long ago that they were family in her eyes. Treating them as her own. She had asked a while ago to keep some clothes here for them. Just in case, she said. For emergencies. 

An offering, a hand begging to be taken, a way out. One that Mrs. Noceda knew, deep down, wouldn't be taken anytime soon.

Despite calling him dad he was far from being a parent. At this point, he seemed to be more of a husk than a human, let alone a father. Only leaving the house to go to the bar or the store. Surviving off the little retirement he got. Sometimes they would come home and find him, dazed, staring blankly at whatever show was on; and they would scream, standing in front of the tv, crying for their dad. Other times they would try to feed him. "Please, I haven't seen you eat in weeks, please. Just eat something. I'm sorry for yelling." Pleading never went far; screaming didn't either. Never realizing they were crying until the hot tears salted their tongue. Sometimes, they would just sit there with him. Pretending they were a normal family, watching tv over dinner. 

They could never pretend for long. 

Always ending up holed in their room. 

Always staring blankly at the walls.

Always alone. 

Well, 

almost always. 

"{Your name}? {Your name}? You still in there?" 

Zoning back into the world around them they were met with Luz waving her hands franticly in front of their face. They were also met with the soft couch against their back, and the color of the walls, and the warmth of the house, and the smell of freshly cooked tamales. 

"Dinner is ready! Mama has been calling for us." 

Dragging a hand down their face groggily, they stand, grabbing at the couch for support. They trail lazily behind Luz, following her to the dining table. The food smelled amazing, fresh, and warm. They stared at the food, their appetite seemingly leached out of their body. The food seemed to stare back. Luz, on the other hand, was already beginning to dig in. A soft hum of approval at the familiar taste of her mom's cooking. 

Mrs. Noceda seemed to watch the older teen, a conflicted glint in her eyes. They still hadn't touched the food, stirring their portion of rice around with a troubled look. Mrs. Noceda knew that look, she had seen it before. Eventually, she was relieved to watch the kid take a bite of food. Smiling softly as their eyes lit up, ever so slightly. 

"So, it's the weekend. Why don't you spend the night?"

Mrs. Noceda offered politely, and Luz immediately latched onto the idea. Grabbing onto her friend's arm, agreeing with her mom, practiced puppy dog eyes silently begging them to stay. 

"Yes! Yes! Please? It's the weekend and you haven't slept over in so long!"

It was hard to say no to Luz and she had a point. It had been a while since the two of you had a sleepover. Plus, Luz just looked so happy. How could they say no? 

"Alright, alright, I'll stay! Just stop staring at me like that."

They jokingly pushed Luz away, coving her unsettlingly accurate puppy dog eyes. Luz jumped out of her chair excitedly, pulling her friend away by the arm. 

"Yes! We have to go set up! Nooooow. Come on, come on, come on!"

Laughing at Luz's antics, she pulled you away as you thanked Mrs. Noceda. Who was just happy to see you staying for once. Luz shoved some clothes into her closet messily before running out of her room. She came running back in, a deflated air mattress slung over her shoulder. Luz had denied any offer of help, insisting to set up for her esteemed guest. 

She even tossed a stuffed animal on the bed, "In case you get lonely", in her words.                                                                                  

Sleep that night came easy; tangled in soft blankets with a little fish hugged close. The stars told stories as they drifted off. Sleeping well for the first time in a while. 

                                                             _____________________________________________________________

:)

[sweeteastart]

Why do you love the Legend of Zelda? What first drew you to it?

That's.... A complicated answer lmao well more like long. sorry for the ramble !!

What drew me in

First off, unlike a lot of people I know I wasn't raised with the games. My parents were more Square Enix games people. Dragon quest and Final fantasy were the big games from my early years. So I had and still have very limited knowledge of the Legend of Zelda licence.

That's my dear friend @lennsart that got me into it. Unlike me, Loz was a huge part of their childhood and they know the lore better than even the Zelda encyclopedia-- They are 100% the one to thank for even bringing the games to my attention !

The first game I played of all the possible games was Hyrule Warrior with Lenn. I really enjoyed playing it and it got me intrigued. I mean look at Link in this game. Fabulous boy going to war.

Recently, they got really into Link meet AU.

To be more precise, they got into @bonus-links . One look at Warrior and I was smitten. He didn't even appear yet in the comic that i adopted the guy. Love this man. I want to become cosplay him so bad.

Also they read This is an Adjuration by @not-freyja and wanted to get their feelings out. I listened and stumbled HARD into the fandom. Drew Warrior as consolation because I was not okay I really have to sit down and read it before the end ....

I even had the privilege of a full PowerPoint presentation of each boy so I could understand LU/Link meets AU and read their fanfic A cave like a net (and a spilled secret) if that's not dedication I don't know what else is.

You could say I'm here thanks to lenn, @bonus-links and @not-freyja --

What I love about the legend of Zelda

Unsurprisingly, I'm a huge Kingdom Hearts fan so the complicated timelines and plots drew in the gremlin in me.

Then I started to really look at the lore and characters.... And dang is there lots of fun things to learn. My knowledge of it is still scattered and random but that's really fun !!

I really love the music too. That's the side of the games I first learned about before even playing Hyrule Warriors. Song of storm and song of healing have been my go-to for a good decade now.

Recently I started playing Ocarina of Time and I'm counting this as another reason I love the Legend of Zelda. That's very fun even if I have negative skills in video games ahah

TLDR : My friend got me into Zelda by talking about @bonus-links amazing and delectable paneling and colours, scaring me with @not-freyja masterpiece This is an Adjuration and talking about LU (also their fire fanfic).

I love Zelda for the complex timeline and lore shenanigans, the music and my first time playing OOT very recently.

Thanks for the ask ♪♪♪♪

[officialinuyasha]

Takashi Shiina Blog Translation - Yashahime: Princess Half-Demon - Chapter 1: Shonen Sunday S, Nov. 2021

09/27/2021

What do you think of the “An alternative legend: Yashahime: Princess Half-Demon” first chapter? I’d be happy if you enjoyed this “alternative legend” of the anime “Yashahime: Princess Half-Demon” that has Shiina’s view of history.

Although there are exceptions, comicalizations are subject to rearrangement, and the reason is, well, it is usually because of the number of pages. The amount of information in the scenario of a visual work is considerably larger when translated into a manga, so the rearrangement of the story is inevitable. The arrangement is also subject to the habits of the mangaka in charge and their interpretation, which is the/an interesting part of a comicalization.

I chose the visual point of Towa-chan being “a resident of the world of a tale world who got lost into the real world” as the start (of the story). Then, I portrayed the “Inuyasha” world as “a tale world we long for where we can’t go by any means”. I entrusted the feelings of fans who love tales and fiction, and furthermore, my own admiration for Rumiko Takahashi's mangas, (to this project).

Then, for example, Mr Kirin is the English homeroom teacher in the original anime. This reflects the extent of views of a certain character, but I wanted to include that poem (“I awoke one spring night from a fleeting dream and saw a sky (filled with) a bank of clouds drifting away from the peak of the mountain”) by all means at the beginning, so I was put in charge of the classical writing in the comicalization. By doing so, I wanted to start with an introduction that asks the reader “Do you want to build a bridge that connects to the world of ‘Inuyasha’ once again?”. Furthermore, this song is what we call “honkadori (1)”. It’s a homage to the original song and “a love letter to a masterpiece of the past”, the last chapter of “Genji Monogatari”, “Yume no ukihashi” (floating bridge of dreams). It was the perfect introduction for this comicalization.

The rest is an adjustment to fill the number of pages. It’s the result of desperately choosing and putting the elements necessary for the first chapter of a monthly manga together. In order to depict her discomfort with the real world, I had Towa-chan wear a gabu (2) school uniform for the first half of the chapter, and roughly explained the character with the keywords “scary eyes” and “mejikara (3)”. To further consolidate the situation, the episodes that are linked in the second half are arranged that way. Unexpectedly, Mei-chan did a good job when it comes to understanding my intentions accurately (laugh), and I think I was able to bring the warmth of the Higurashi family out in a comical way, while taking it to the point where the princesses meet in the first episode and go to the Sengoku era.

In order to make the three-eyed centipede woman, which is too frightening (laugh), present in a few pages “the collapse of the frontier between the real world and the world of tales”, I wanted impact to such a level (the chapter had). For those kids who accidentally read it, I wish you a life lasting fear and also a life lasting love and courage!! I also think making Moroha’s words coincide with Inuyasha-senpai’s was a fine play, but I drew the centipede woman a bit bigger (than in Inuyasha) to make her look scary and so she doesn’t look like such a small fry (laugh).

With that feeling in mind when arranging it to make the development faster, I aim to reach the last scene as fast as possible. There must be as many fans as floating bridges that lead to the world of “Inuyasha”, but I wish you guys are able to sympathize with any part of my “dream of a night of spring”, on top of the bridge built by Sunrise. I’ll do my best so that my job spreads out an entrance to the anime and further deepens your love for the princesses, who play an active role in the anime.

Now that we’re at it, the final “Zettai Karen Children” volume is on sale. Buy it without fail!

Source: https://cnanews.asablo.jp/blog/2021/09/27/9427361

Notes 1- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honkadori 2- No idea how to translate this into English if it’s not “scout”. Search for カブスカウト and カブ制服 to get a clearer idea. 3- According to Takoboto: the ability to convey strong emotions with his eyes (for an actor), eyes that convey a strong sense of purpose. Literally, “power of eyes” (目 = eye/s, pronounced as “me”, 力 = power, force, pronounced as “chikara”).

[nalidyne]

Ah yes the Fantasy AU,,,

Arthur Kirkland, first born of a summoners/alchemists family, decides to leave his homeland Terra to move to Red Rose hoping to find a job in the big city.

During his journey he meets Amelia, a weird girl with huge sword, that is going to the Rose Castle too to finally reconcile with her brother.

They decide to travel together and Arthur soon finds out that the trip to the city is torturous, filled with monsters and that Amelia is a very strong fighter but also has the worst sense of direction.

———

((Not 2010 me creating an entire Hetalia/Nyotalia fantasy RPG just to have a game of all my fave ships lma0,,,,it has been more than ten years but I wonder if anyone read/remembers my HetaHearts comic from the deviant4rt age—

Even tho I deleted almost everything I still have good and cringe memories about this comic - tbh the outfits I drew for everyone still slap so hard ,, ))

[alexbrunn]

You're pretty damn good at making comics. How did you develop such a skill?

As cliché as it sounds, I think it's a matter of practice here. I'm not an avid comic book reader, I always prefer anime to manga (I read manga 2 times when I was eager to know the sequel, but I was well aware that I just couldn't wait for the anime adaptation). I encounter this kind of art only occasionally on the vastness of the internet and never emphasize too much to gain experience or anything like that. And if I learn, it's only from my mistakes. (Maybe that's why I still can't master the dynamics of lines when moving something, because I don't have much exposure and understanding of how it works)

If telling it from the beginning, my journey started with what could be called "art with text". That's a long period from late 2018 to early 2021. I didn't take drawing and drawing comics in particular seriously enough at the time, but as a first step to what I have now it's worth talking about. I just draw the art (at the time I didn't care about the background, which gave me some room to add text) so that it appears to stand alone and without text next to it, and write the text in the remaining space. There was no hint of separate panels or dividing the canvas into multiple parts. The composition and perception suffers from this, but because the character in the picture itself is elaborated I thought that everything looks even good. Also, as for me it is important to say that I always had an incentive. Question format. People ask a question of a character, and artists answer that question by drawing a comic. I had a deadline that I always had to meet, which in a lot of ways kept me evolving and moving forward.

At the beginning of 2021, I'm doing similar things in the same way, but there is some kind of turning point. Perhaps I had grown older and perceived the world around me a little more maturely, perhaps the subject matter of the issues seemed more interesting, because now I wasn't just talking about my favorite character that anyone in the fandom who knew that character could talk about, but about the interaction between two characters close to my heart. The fandom wasn't set up to think about their relationship. Probably half forgot one of the characters existed or turned it into a silly joke. But I found something different about them that no one else saw. I saw in them a very touching father-son relationship that in many ways helped me through some of the moments of this life as well. Faith, help and support was the outlet that I was anxious to develop between them. And it was exactly what I wanted to show the world around me, because it had already happened in the fandom, but with characters who couldn't do that in canon, and people didn't even notice such a great option that I found.

That's why I went from light and non-committal comics to something heavy. There appeared full panels and division into several plans and characters that could go beyond the panel. But the composition was still lame because of the perception of the comic as a set of artwork. The bubbles were inserted anywhere, they were transparent, which made it uncomfortable to read. The pages were also time-consuming, because I wanted to put all my efforts into them and to make the audience feel at ease, if not with high skill, then with dedication and hard work. I almost always drew the background, although I blured it so that it did not stand out in the foreground, drew all the dialog, even those that did not make sense.

I think I did about a hundred pages between early 2021 and mid 2023. That's not a lot, but considering I'm still learning and it's periodically time-consuming, I think I can be understood. However, it's been enough to gradually progress. To learn composition (not to try to make the largest possible portrait of the character, and already in the sketch to lay a place for the text, In general make the text small and leave empty air space for it in the bubble). Then the background started to appear not on all panels, but only on the key ones. I think it’s stylish?

I even tried to make a manga, but it didn't succeed. After all, I've been drawing in color all this time, and the ability to handle screentones is a whole other direction that also needs to be learned. And of course the dynamic strips... That's how it stopped at 5 pages.

I came to what I have now around the fall of 2023 after a bit of a break, moving to a different fandom, switching to an iPad from a computer. I'm just as driven by the desire to show the fandom something it hasn't seen yet, but already talking about Marcoh, Pav and already their interactions. I still have a lot to look forward to and I think this won't be the last post about my milestones.

Thank you so much for this question! I apologize for taking so long to reply. I tried to find some old works to show them, but unfortunately I deleted everything, so I had to tell everything in words.