#how can they give noir powers from a mystic god

[emichevy]

NOIR HEAD CANONS PART 4!!1!1!!!1!1!1 BECAUSE THIS IS THE ONLY STUFF THATS POPULAR OF MINE-

I don’t know how many more of these I can make but RAWR

I need to do the others too lmao- although any art I actually put effort into prolly won’t be seen. Oh well. 🦅🦅 enjoy part 4. More may come 👁️

[gale-gentlepenguin]

ML Analysis: The Miraculous. Marvelous or Ridiculous.

So I have been asked to make an analysis on the well known Magical Jewelry of the show. The miraculous. (No I will not be talking about the Shanghai special magical gems, I won't even be mentioning anything revealed after the NY special. This is solely knowledge on season 3 and prior.)

This will be a VERY long post in which I will be discussing the merits and demerits of the magical items in question.

Now for this analysis I will be doing my best to solely focus on the miraculous themselves, this is not an analysis on the Guardians or other miraculous holders. This is about the magical gems. I will be giving some background information on certain things. But I am going to focus on the miraculous.

I think in order to organize this post I will be splitting it up as follows.

A Miraculous Lore

Kwami: Personal Pals or Pain in the Butt

Potential and Drawbacks

Power Balance: The delicate dance

Final thoughts

So lets get to it

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A Miraculous Lore

To briefly explain, the 'Miraculous' are magical jewelry created by a powerful mage which allows the powers of Kwami to be harnessed and controlled by anyone who wields it and uses it to transform.

Now when it comes to magical items, its important that these items have sort of connection to the fictional world they are in. This connection acts as a means of world building. Now there are 3 main factors to keep in mind when connecting the mystical item of power to the world itself, the history, mystery, and Impact on the present. In this section I will be talking about how the miraculous are addressed in the series, from their historical significance as well as their mysterious powers that are yet to be truly revealed.

Now history is the talk of the events of the past, and in the world of miraculous ladybug, the miraculous have a rather interesting connection to world events. In the show, we learn that the miraculous were active in ancient china, in Egypt, in greek mythology (which makes the greek myths more of history) and even events as recent as the American revolution were impacted by the miraculous. Now these reveals are information provided in the show itself, there are also confirmations from the writers regarding other points in history where the miraculous were active, such as when Joan of Arc was fighting in the 100 year war. Now this aspect works well with the second trait of world building, mystery, but it also leaves a lot of gaps for the viewer, which is where the next part of the history connection comes in, the order of the guardians. The guardians of the miraculous work as the connecting point, giving the viewer the explanation on how the miraculous became a part of human history. The guardians connection lays the ground work for the miraculous lore as it allows us to understand that an ancient order dedicated to protecting the miraculous knew when to step in and help history along. Overall, the aspect of history when connected to the miraculous seems to work well for the world building, at least so long as we focus on the miraculous themselves.

The mystery is the aspect of the unknown. What exactly are the secrets hidden about the miraculous. Now the part of the mystery is that the purpose of the miraculous and how the link between the god like beings that the Kwami are is still left up in the air. With the comics, we know that the Kwami are each based on an abstract concept like Creation, destruction and so on. We also find out that a wizard made the miraculous... for some reason. The mystery of the miraculous allows for rapid progress and power ups in the story. In the beginning we knew very little of the limitations and potential the miraculous had. We knew, Ladybug and Chat noir had 5 minutes after using their unique power and that the bad man wanted their miraculous for evil. As the mystery unveils, we find out that there are more miraculous, and that using certain miraculous together can allow for god-like power. We also learned about potions, techniques, and other such things that make the miraculous more enigmatic. What is the full potential of the miraculous? What more is there to this mystery? The miraculous brings the more interesting parts of ML to light because we as the viewer are invested in what more these jewelry sets can do.

The impact on the present. As the show's plot revolves around the two heroes that utilize the miraculous, it is easy to see how the miraculous are very crucial to the plot. The main villain wants the magical items because he wants to make his wish, the heroes need the power to fend off his villains that he creates and eventually take the miraculous back from him. Meanwhile the order that protected the miraculous are once again active thanks to Ladybug and Chat noir purifying the akumatized Sentimonster Feast (which had massive impact on the progression of story ).

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Kwami: Personal Pals or Pain in the Butt

Kwamis, best described as divine, spirit-like beings who embody "abstract" concepts. They give certain powers to people with Miraculouses, transforming them into animal-themed super beings. Kwami are the beings that make the Miraculous, well miraculous.

The Kwami have a rather fascinating role in the story as they act as they add character to this relatively cool jewelry piece. It isn't just a magical item, the Kwami are companions to their wielders and need to be judged as such. Now these beings are crucial because they play multiple roles in the show. For this part of the analysis, I will be focusing mainly on the Kwami that have had the most screen time, mainly Tikki, Plagg, Wayzz and Nooru. The other Kwami, while having personalities, do not have permanent owners or have not been out long enough to establish themselves. Now these four Kwami are important because they can be examined if they follow the indicators of a companion or specifically fit the trope known as Mentor Mascot. For this I have created 2 criteria Distinct criteria that these Kwami must meet in order to be considered good companions. These criteria are Cute Confidant and Wiser Advisor.

The Cute Confidant is an aspect that addresses two key components in the mentor mascot companion field. The first is obviously, cuteness. The Kwami must be cute, small and have tiny habits that make you want a plushy of them. In this regard, all of the Kwami pass the test because all of them are tiny and have little habits that make them adorable to the viewer. From Wayzz and his little Match box bed, to Plagg's chaotic cat tendencies, to Tikki's cute little assistant routine, and even Nooru's tiny bits of exposition and concern. The kwami capture cuteness. The second component to this is the Confidant portion. The Kwami must be entities that the wielder wants to tell things to, things that they would not tell anyone else. In short, the Kwami need to be beings that the user can trust whole heartedly. Now Tikki and Wayzz have both shown to be the most obedient confidants in this regard. Both have the best experience keeping secrets and their users trust them completely. Plagg is a bit more chaotic and it is true that Adrien does tell him everything and that he would never spill that info, Plagg has gone behind Adrien's back more times then any of the other swami (like in Sand boy, and in Kwamibuster). Though while not trust breaking, Plagg has caused his partner a bit of trouble (which actually makes him a better mascot, but less a mentor). Nooru is sort of forced to obey Gabriel so while not a willing confidant, he does listen to him monologue a LOT. In short, the Kwami do make for Cute Confidants.

The Wiser Advisor aspect comes into play in one very simple way. How do the Kwami help their wielders outside of their powers. The Advising role of the mascot mentor is truly important as with nearly every single magical girl/ superhero show, the character has an identity to keep secret and sometimes the only one that can be talked to when there is a problem is their mascot mentor. In this department, Tikki is technically the best advice giver as Marinette is suppose to learn the most lessons due to her being the main character, but I think Plagg better exemplifies the personal aspect of the wiser advisor role. Plagg goes out of his way to try and do what he thinks is best for Adrien. Plagg is seen more like the devil on the shoulder by the fandom, but Plagg is acting more like the voice of self worth for Adrien. Plagg is acting with Adrien's interests at heart. If one looks at Syren or Chat Blanc, there are times when Plagg advises AGAINST something and is often right in that regard. Plagg has a larger grasp of knowing when something is wrong more than something is right. The Kwami are still inhuman and can't relate to everything their 'Chosen' goes through, which we see more in the recent season, with Tikki's explaination. In this regard the Kwami learn just as much from the humans as the humans do from them. Though really, Tikki is suppose to be the wiser advisor but the problem comes into play when her answers are... not very helpful. Tikki has shown to either tell the lesson of the day and get ignored or have no idea how to fix a situation. There is no middle ground with her. But in the end the Wiser Advisor role is conveyed by the kwami and that is important.

The Kwami provide a very crucial aspect to the miraculous, it adds a personality to the ancient relic. We want our heroes to protect the miraculous because we want the kwami to be safe and away from evil people like Hawkmoth. The kwami add so much more to this normally typical magical item. Their roles as the cute confidant and the Wiser advisor allows for them to be crucial in the growth of the heroes as they continue down the path of heroism. And while i think the writing for the kwami can fluctuate, I think its fair to conclude that they are personal pals rather than pains in the butt.

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Potential and Drawbacks

So in this section of the analysis I will be covering the Potential of the Miraculous as well as the drawbacks. Does this potential make sense? Or is it simply another deus ex Machina. As for the drawbacks. Whats the price of utilization? Is their a fee? What are the limits? Do these limits make sense? Are there too many limits or not enough limits? Now let us progress.

As mentioned in the mystery aspect of the miraculous. The Miraculous have Kwami that represent concepts and their power relates to said concept. When we as the viewer are introduced to the Miraculous, we only know that the miraculous have a unique power and that when the ladybug and Cat miraculous are both used can have a power that the villain wants. Now as the seasons pass we see that the specific power that the villain wants is to use the two miraculous to make a wish. This concept alone make the miraculous (or at the very least the ladybug and Cat miraculous) immensely powerful. The potential of having a wish makes the two miraculous priceless. In a way, this reveal shows the max potential that the miraculous are capable of, the ability to shape the world in anyway the user desires. But that is only the case when BOTH the ladybug and Cat miraculous are utilized, what about the other miraculous? What are they capable of alone? Well by themselves, the miraculous are pretty much straightforward. They enhance the abilities of the user to super human levels and then allow the user to utilize the unique power of the miraculous, such as destruction, time travel, etc.

Now in season 2 we learn that there are potions that can be consumed to allow the heroes to traverse different environments, such as the vaccum of space, the ocean, and frozen plains, what this does is allow for the user to have an edge in any environment which makes the miraculous highly adaptable. It is unknown if potions can be stacked on top of one another, but that is debatable on whether or not that would even be useful.

In Season 3, we learn that miraculous can be used together, using unification. This allows the user to use 2 miraculous at the same time. While it is unclear if it improves the already enhanced abilities of the wearer, it is confirmed that they can use the kwami powers involved in the unification. We even see Marinette find a work around to this by using the mouse miraculous to make copies of herself and then use 4 different powers! Showing that there is a way to work around the two person ability of unification. It is also feasible that using more than two active miraculous at once in one form is possible, but that is yet to be discover.

In Season 4, we are given a reveal that embodiment of the concept of the miraculous can result in more abilities, or at the very least can be inferred from Alya's discovery. Ladybug created a new powered up form of her lucky charm and could now create Akuma/Amok warding charms thanks to this power. This aspect of the miraculous is rather new and it is unknown how far this concept can be taken. But the potential demonstrated gives the implication that the limitation of powers on the miraculous is mental.

The miraculous still seem to have more tricks that have yet to be revealed, but the potential from environmental potions, to 100's of unification combinations, and potential to push past limits gives the miraculous a massive pool of potential that make it fascinating.

When it comes to magical items, many always like to know the drawbacks with the magical item involved. The miraculous is no different. Now this is where I find the miraculous is a little murky. At the start the most well known issue with the miraculous was that after the miraculous wielder used the special power of the Kwami, the user only had around 5 minutes before they were forced back. Now with Hawkmoth we never really knew if he was subjected to that rule, since there were times he was off screen. Did he simply have a work around? Was it because he knew something the heroes didnt? That was the biggest mystery until season 3 when its revealed that adults can use the power multiple times without having to de-transform. This explanation was and is still a gripe many people have with the series. The creators gave explanations outside of the show on why that is but it was usually dismissed and still left people angry. However there were still plenty of other drawbacks that the miraculous had.

A major drawback is that the Kwami's condition is related to the condition of the miraculous and vice versa. A broken/damaged miraculous results in the kwami also being damaged. We see this in season 3 with Duusu and the peacock miraculous. Using a damaged miraculous also has an impact on the wielder, slowly draining their life force (as seen with Nathalie) and it appears that overuse can kill the wielder. (which is what happened with Emilie). A Kwami is the reason the miraculous are powerful, without the kwami present, the miraculous is useless. So being too far from one's kwami would make transforming impossible. The kwami being affected by something would also affect the user. Like when Plagg couldnt see due to Chloé's jewlery it is implied if Adrien had transformed, He would have been blind. So the kwami needs to be taken care of, which is a drawback that makes sense.

Another Drawback of the miraculous is revealed in both Silencer and Miracle Queen. The transformation and special power are voice activated. In Silencer, when she had her voice stolen, Ladybug was unable to summon her lucky charm until Silencer used her voice to say the word Lucky charm. And in Miracle Queen, Chloé couldnt utilize the other miraculous because she didnt know the names of the kwami. Without the Kwami's name, the user cant activate the miraculous. It plays on the trope of a name giving the speaker power over the magical being. Using a name also gives a level of respect and it is an interesting drawback as well as a fail safe.

Another drawback that we learn about is that using too many miraculous at once can be dangerous. While this has only been shown in Kwamibuster, when Marinette wore at one point nearly every miraculous at once. Simply transforming caused her to feel a bit woozy. Though after that it did not seem to impact her. There has yet to be seen if abusing unify (like Shadowmoth) and Ladybug have been doing will result in similar effects. But it is something to look out for.

For the most part the potential of the miraculous is put on the user where it is the user figuring ways of utilizing the miraculous that make it more powerful while the drawbacks are mainly limited to the state of the Kwami. This allows for an interesting act of balance where caring for the miraculous would allow the user to evolve, which is something we are seeing in the show, and not taking care of the miraculous or abusing it results in damage, like we see with the villains. Its an interesting parallel that I do wish was explored more.

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Power Balance: The delicate dance

People dont really understand how important balancing power is when it comes to shows. The Hero must be strong enough to save the day, the villain must be a big enough threat for the hero to take seriously. Thats why superman has foes like Darkseid or Braniac. Why Goku fights Frieza, or why Sailor moon has to fight Galaxia.

The miraculous are very bizarre in terms of balance. The strongest miraculous are claimed to be the ladybug and Cat miraculous, the concepts of creation and destruction, Together they maybe the most powerful, but in reality, they are not the strongest. The strongest single miraculous is the Rabbit. A miraculous with the ability to travel through time, it is likely the closet miraculous to being the cat and Ladybug combined. It allows one to change the flow of time. Changing events that could have lead to disaster. And we know that time travel is not multiversal travel, that going to the past DOES impact the timeline. In fact thats the reason its so rarely used, the Rabbit miraculous is a last resort, and if something is a last resort, than its clearly the most powerful. There is also the snake miraculous which has nearly infinite uses regardless of age so long as it is within the 5 minute window. The Horse miraculous that can transport the user anywhere they have in mind, including sending someone into the vacuum of space.

The miraculous power balance also has issues when one considers the two main miraculous, the cat and the Ladybug. Both miraculous are considered crucial to giving someone maximum power and are illustrated like Yin and Yang. But in reality, the Ladybug miraculous is much more powerful than the cat miraculous in nearly every conceivable way. Ignoring the users and just taking their abilities at face value. The cat miraculous has one unique power while the ladybug miraculous has 3. The cat miraculous can destroy anything but the ladybug miraculous can fix any damage done with her miraculous cleansing. The cat miraculous has one piece of jewlery while the Ladybug has two, making it still possible to use with only one earring. Looking at the powers by themselves and not the wielders, one would believe one miraculous was superior to the other.

The power balance between the heroes and the villains seems to be the only one with some care and merit. The peacock and the Butterfly miraculous are at perfect odds with Ladybug and Chat noir. The peacock and the butterfly allow for any sort of power to be created and utilized by an individual or created monster, while the ladybug and cat miraculous are able to purify and fix the person possessed. This allows for a strong balance that means one side must try and out think the other in order to win. The one balance I do think the show captured correctly is the balance between the heroes and villains. Ladybug and Chat noir always managed to foil Shadowmoth's plans but shadowmoth gets more creative and does have small victories from time to time, but never actually wins the day. It is enough to keep the viewer on their toes and keeps the power balance from being too predictable.

The miraculous in terms of balance are... a mess, and I do think that the powers given to the miraculous in some cases were not well thought out. It is hard to say that the miraculous follow a proper balance of power or even dynamic. But the balance is hard to maintain when one is trying to have over a dozen different magical items, its natural that some would be more powerful than others.

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Final thoughts

The Miraculous are incredibly interesting magical items and its understandable how appealing they are to viewers. They arent just unobtanium or a generic magic powersource that villain can pursue. The miraculous have sentience and special unique characteristics that make them so much more. While the power balance is something I find problem with, the matters of lore and kwami help keep the user invested and I feel it makes the miraculous well... Miraculous. I find the miraculous fascinating and while at times ridiculous, the potential development has me marveling at their beauty.

(thanks for this commission and sorry it took months to make. Season 4 put a wrench in this and I needed to utilize what was learned to add to it)

[miraculouswolf99]

Breaking Into The Watchtower Part 2

Part 2, and the final part, of my Miraculous-Justice League crossover. Prepare for a long one, readers.

*****

After recharging, the masked teens all gathered back in front of the heroes. Since the ones that had used their powers had to recharge, their power effects lifted from Dr. Fate and Superman. It allowed both heroes to be free once more. The Justice League and Young Justice all returned to their seats. If Wonder Woman was honored to meet them, then they should hear them out before deciding what to do with them.

The group was about evenly split to be on either side of who seemed to be the leaders of their group. The ladybug and butterfly girls as well as the wolf and black cat boys.

“Introductions would certainly be the best way to start,” the ladybug girl said. “My name is Ladybug and I am one of the leaders of the Miraculous hero team of Paris. Right next to me is my partner, Cat Noir.”

The black cat boy nodded at the heroes.

“My name is White Wolf and I am the co-leader of the Miraculous team along with Cat Noir, Ladybug, and my partner Beautifly,” the wolf boy motioned to the butterfly girl when he mentioned her.

“Pleasure,” she nodded to the heroes like Cat Noir.

“With us are all of our team members,” Ladybug motioned to the rest of the heroes. “To my right is Vulpix, Emerald Shell, Queen Bee, Tigress, Lady Unicorn, and Shadow Cat.”

“To my left is the rest of our team,” White Wolf says. “Viperion, Ryuko, Ocean Mage, King Monkey, Gladiator, and Bunnix.”

All of the other heroes nodded when they were introduced.

“For three years, Paris has been terrorized by a terrorist known as Hawkmoth and as have come to personally ask for your help,” Beautifly says.

Ladybug then stepped forward and took the yo-yo off of her wait. She opened it and typed in a few commands. A hologram appeared out of it, like the holographic screams and projectors that the league uses. Ladybug put her yo-yo on the ground so that the others could use their weapons/communicators to control the images that are seen. Cat Noir took out his staff and used it to punch in a command. The hologram then showed images of a few of the miraculous. The most well-known ones, such as the ladybug and black cat as well as the moth/butterfly.

“The miraculous are an ancient set of jewelry enchanted and bonded to gods known as the kwami,” Ladybug explains. “Each piece, along with the kwami that it is bonded to, represents a specific aspect of magic. Creation, destruction, illusion, protection, and more. But that is specifically the miraculous of ancient China, where most of our miraculous come from.

“The miraculous that are used by myself, Beautifly, Tigress, and Gladiator use miraculous that originate from ancient Greece,” White Wolf says. “Our representations are more general but also more specific at the same time. Mine represents Winter’s Hope, as in the hope that comes when you know and hope about how the frost protects the earth before it gives way to the flowers of spring. Beautifly’s represents Spring Love, coming from the original belief of flowers and Spring being associated with love.”

“My miraculous comes from the mystical creature miraculous, where each represents a magical creature and what their core is all about,” Ocean Mage said. “Mine is the miraculous of the mermaid.”

The Justice League paid close attention to what the group was saying. Most of Young Justice was looking at Kid Flash, who was glaring at the teen heroes. He was probably itching to yell at them that “magic wasn’t real” because of his extreme disbelief in it. But the Flash was next to him and making sure that he did not let his former sidekick’s delusions interrupt the Miraculous Team.

“So, it would be a magical threat, right,” Aqualad guessed. “That would be the only reason why the miraculous would be called into action, correct?”

“Exactly,” Beautifly answered the Atlantean.

Cat Noir punched in a command into his baton and the hologram changed. It now showed an image of Hawkmoth. 

“He looks like a Mexican wrestler reject,” Red Hood said.

Most of Team Miraculous had to hold their hands over their mouths to stop them from bursting into laughter and ruining their aura of seriousness.

“This is the terrorist that we have been fighting,” Cat Noir says. “He showed up about three years also, almost four. He has been using the stolen butterfly/moth miraculous in order to turn unsuspecting people into superpowered villains.”

“How can he do that,” Flash asked, curious. “What exactly is the power of his miraculous?”

“The power is originally known as Empowerment,” Cat Noir said. “The miraculous are not meant to be used for evil, so Hawmoth has turned the power into Metamorphasis. He uses it to sense those that are feeling intense negative emotions and takes advantage of them in order to turn them into his villains. Anger, sadness, betrayal, heartbreak, anything negative.”

“His goal has remained the same for the entire time that he has been active,” Viperion says. “He desires to obtain the ladybug and black cat miraculous.”

“What is it about those two that he specifically wants them above all the others,” Black Canary asked them.

“The ladybug and black cat are the most powerful of the ancient China miraculous,” Ryuko tells the league. “They’re the complete opposite of each other with the ladybug being creation and good luck while the black cat is destruction and bad luck. When you combine them, the person wielding them is given the power to bend reality in order to make a wish.”

“So this guy is terrorizing your city just to make a single wish,” Green Arrow raised an eyebrow.

“Must be something that can not be obtained any other way or he is just really desperate for a quick solution,” Red Arrow said.

“If it was a simple wish, there would not be much of an issue,” Ladybug says. “But because the ladybug and black cat need each other to balance the other, the wish itself would also require balance.”

Viperion was the one to put in the next command. How he was able to do that with a harp, none of them ever asked. Three more images appeared, replacing Hawmoth’s. Pompeii, the Black Plague, and even the Salem Witch Trials.

“All of these things were caused by a wish,” Superman sounded skeptical.

“There are many examples of magic throughout history,” White Wolf says. “You just have to know where to look.”

Vulpix took his turn to speak. He used his flute to point at specific images when he was talking about them.

“In Pompeii, someone wished for their family to not be killed by disease,” Vulpix said. “But that ended up causing a volcano that wipes out a majority of the city and most of its population. A man’s wife was sick and he wished for her illness to go away. But then the illness spread since it left one person and turned into a plague. Last was a miraculous holder that was deeply afraid of being discovered and wished to never be accused of using magic. But then dozens upon hundreds of innocent people were convicted and executed during the witch trials.”

“The balance is why the wish is so dangerous,” Emerald Shell says. “Everything that is wished for usually ends in disaster. Even those with pure intentions are not spared. But since Hawkmoth definitely is planning on using the wish, it is either for something extremely wrong or just extremely selfish. Either would end in hell on Earth.”

“It’s so hard to believe that a wish could do all of that,” Black Lightning was shocked.

“Magic does that,” Beautifly says. “It makes the impossible turn possible.”

“If it is the miraculous of ancient China that Hawkmoth wants, why not use the others you have access to,” Red Tornado asked. “It is the logical choice to keep the miraculous that he desires out of his reach. You do have access to the ancient Greek miraculous, given White Wolf, Beautifly, Gladiator, and Tigress.”

“We wish it was that simple,” Lady Unicorn said.

“The problem is that the powers of Hawkmoth’s miraculous can only be undone by the ladybug miraculous,” Ladybug says. “And since the ladybug and black cat have to balance each other, both have to be active at the same time or neither of them can be active. I am the only one that can purify his akumas and then fix all the damage that they cause with my Miraculous Cure.”

Queen Bee typed a command into her top. A video replaced the images of the disasters that the wish caused. The video was from the Ladyblog and it was of the first akuma attack. It showed Ladybug casting her first-ever cure and everything being fixed by it.

“This was only the first of Hawkmoth’s attacks,” she said.

“There is also the added issue that the Greek miraculous also have a wish tied to the most powerful ones,” White Wolf says.

“They do,” Wonder Woman did not know about the Greek miraculous since neither she nor any other Amazon came into contact with them.

“As we have said, the wolf and butterfly miraculous are each themed by elements of Winter and Spring,” White Wolf says. “So you know that would leave the other two seasons. Those two exist in the power of Summer’s Heart for the songbird miraculous along with the Wildness of Autumn for the panther miraculous. Combining all four seasons gives the same wish ability as the combined ladybug and black cat.”

“But there is still the balance issue even with a different set of miraculous,” Tigress added. “Magic always comes at a price. That is the universal law of magic.”

The Justice League all nodded, most of them understanding the price that could come when you use magic. The Young Justice team remembered Zatanna explaining her powers to them when she had first met them. She had said that the power of her spells usually has to come from within, meaning that the more powerful spells would seriously drain her energy. Plus, there is also the known fact that Dr. Fate was never controlled by who wore the helmet. They were like a coat that the lord of order would put on in order to be active. Zatara was still in there but the price he paid was only being able to see his daughter once a year.

“So, what exactly is it that you need from us,” Batman asked the teens.

He was surprised to have heard about the villain in Paris before. Sure, he rarely ever left Gotham unless it was an international emergency, but this was a serious problem. If this villain, or any villain, got their hands on the miraculous, it would be a complete hell on earth. Lord knows what disaster would happen if the Joker made a wish.

“We actually have been requesting help for years,” Queen Bee glared at the league. “Ladybug has called, Cat Noir has called, even the mayor of Paris has called. You all brush us aside and have even told us to stop calling the League to trick them with ‘such an unrealistic prank.’ It’s ridiculous, utterly ridiculous.”

“While Queen Bee could have been a bit more diplomatic, she is correct,” Ryuko says. “The miraculous are not so unrealistic when you have magic-users like Zatanna as a part of the League while also having Dr. Fate, whose helmet inhabits a lord of order that possesses whoever wears the helmet. That is not unlike the miraculous, only slightly different.”

Guy Gardner looked particularly embarrassed by that. That made the rest of the league realize who had been ignoring their calls for help, waving it off as a prank. You would think that someone with a powerful piece of jewelry himself would believe in the miraculous.

“As much as it pains us to admit, we no longer know what to do,” Cat Noir says. “Hawkmoth has been growing in power ever since Heroes Day almost two years ago. That was also the first time that his partner revealed herself.”

Vulpix was the one that typed in the command this time, into his flute. The hologram changed to show Mayura. The elegant woman looked even more dangerous with her fan allowing only access to her deadly gaze.

“This is Mayura,” Emerald Shell said. “She appeared on Heroes Day and foiled the closest time that the team had ever come to defeating Hawkmoth. She wields the peacock miraculous, which grants the power of Emotion, which allows her to make inanimate objects into guardians. Only they are now called sentimonsters. They are a monster created by a person’s negative emotions just like Hawkmoth’s akumas. While she is not as common as Hawkmoth, the two of them do combine their powers to give akumas a powerful allie.”

Emerald Shell typed in a command and pictures of some of her sentimonsters appeared around the image of Mayura. The moth creature that she usually gives Hawkmoth, Refleckdoll, the lollypop monster, and Feast.

“Why does she not appear as often as Hawkmoth,” Martian Manhunter asked.

“From our own research, and from what our kwami have told us, the peacock miraculous is broken,” Ladybug says. “In an effort to repair itself, it takes away the energy and life force of the person using it. Each time that Mayura transforms, she is risking her life.”

“You think she would actually risk her life just for Hawkmoth to succeed,” Captain Atom asked.

“Mayura has shown to be loyal to a fault,” Shadow Cat said. “The fault being that she is loyal to Hawkmoth. We also suspect that whoever she was had also allowed herself to be akumatized into Catalyst on Heroes Day in order to give Hawkmoth the needed power-up that he needed to do what he did.”

“What exactly did he do,” Green Lantern (John) asked.

“Catalyst gave Hawkmoth a power boost that he used in order to use his power on a massive level, allowing him to become Scarlet Moth,” Beautifly says. “He akumatized almost everyone that had previously been victimized by him. Dozens of his akumas flooded the streets while more of his akuma waited for others to feel negative emotions to infect them as well if they were not under the control of the mind-controlling akumas like Darkblade or Queen Wasp.”

Queen Bee shifted a bit at the mention of her second akuma form, but she got her composure back quickly.

“Hawkmoth had been able to accomplish that when he used a previous akuma to create an illusion of Ladybug being akumatized and killing Cat Noir,” Gladiator said. “All those people feeling the same negative emotion of fear and hopelessness was what allowed him to akumatize so many people at once.”

He typed in a command and the image of Mayura and her sentimonsters were replaced by a clip of what had happened during the parade played.

“And ever since Heroes Day, Hawkmoth has been getting a lot worse,” White Wolf says. “His akumas used to be a lot easier and were relatively harmless to even those affected by them. Like Princess Frangrance only hypnotized those that smelled her perfume and Silencer only took people’s voices. But then you compare that to Syren and Stormy Weather, both have caused natural disasters. Hawkmoth is getting deadly in his desperation for the miraculous.”

He typed in a command and the image changed to show the range of akuma that have happened over the years. Harmless ones like Mr.Pigeon, deadly ones like Queen Of Hearts, and natural disaster ones like Syren.

“We can deal with the akumas,” Ladybug says. “But with Hawkmoth constantly sending them out, we have no time or energy to put toward finding him and taking him and Mayura down for good.”

“Do you have any suspects,” Nightwing asked.

“We had a promising suspect in fashion designer, Gabriel Agreste,” Ocean Mage said. “He lives a secluded life away from people, butterflies are pretty common in a lot of his designs, and there was also that a lost grimoire had also been found in a secret vault by his son.”

“But we had to cross him off the suspect list when he was akumatized,” Tigress says. “But even our only suspect for Mayura puts him right back in the suspect pool.”

“You mean his assistant, right,” Red Robin was looking at the holographic screen over his glove, same as Oracle. “Nathalie Sancoeur.”

“She had had multiple doctor’s appointments ever since this Heroes Day you told us about,” Oracle continued for him. “And every time it is for the same thing. Dizziness, fatigue, constant headaches, and multiple coughing fits.”

“Yes, she is his assistant,” Shadow Cat answered. “She has also shown that she is incredibly loyal to Gabriel no matter how inhumane the things that he wants his son to do are. His diets and constant photoshoots should never be given to a teenager.”

“He also has a motive,” Cat Noir looked to be the most reluctant out of all of them on this topic. “Gabriel Agreste’s wife vanished about six months before Hawkmoth appeared and many assume that she is dead by now. He could desire to use the wish to either bring her back or to bring her back to life. Either would probably cause the balance to cause something horrible to happen.”

“If you suspect those two, do you also suspect Agreste’s son, as well,” Red Robin asked.

“That is the thing that we want to avoid,” Shadow Cat says. “Most of us know his son or have met him because he was targetted by an akuma. Adrien is known as the Sunshine of Paris. There is no way that he is involved even if those two are behind it.”

“We also do not want it to be true because that would also mean that Mr.Agreste put his own son in danger by sending akumas after him,” Lady Unicorn added. “It would also mean that Adrien would probably have his life destroyed if those two really are behind the attacks.”

“I am sure that he would greatly appreciate you all standing up for him,” Wonder Woman smiles at the teen heroes.

Robin had been staring at the group the entire time. He was not only the only blood son of the world’s greatest detective, but he also had a trained assassin’s eye. He noticed things that others didn’t. Like there was an unspoken bond and closeness between the black cat boy and the wolf boy. The other obvious couples seemed to be the horse and tiger girls as well as the dragon girl and snake boy. The fox and turtle boys were also definitely together.

“Is there anything else,” Superman asked.

The teens shared a look with each other. It seemed that this part was probably something that they had discussed before. Ladybug nodded to Cat Noir. He typed in a command and the image of a civilian girl appeared. 

“Why does this girl have sausages on her head,” Red Hood asked.

Most of Team Miraculous did not even try to hold in their laughter this time. But they had to soon get back their composure since this was a very serious situation.

“This is Lila Rossi, daughter of an Italian diplomate,” Ladybug said. “She has been akumatized almost fifty times. She is mostly akumatized as Volpina, which is a poor copy of Vulpix and his powers. But she also has been akumatized into Chameleon, which is an akuma that can shapeshift into anyone or anything that she kisses, as well as Miracle Queen, which can create illusions that can hypnotize people. We believe that she is working for Hawkmoth since Volpina is the only akuma that could have created the illusion on Heroes Day.”

“Why does that make her a suspect,” Green Arrow asked.

“Because I didn’t purify Volpina’s akuma that day,” Ladybug says. “And since Hawkmoth had to akumatize another person into Catalyst after the illusion that was created, that meant that she was akumatized and didn’t tell anyone.”

“There is also that the mayor’s daughter, Chloe Bourgeois, sent us this,” Queen Bee types in a command.

Next to the image of Lila appeared a video that was obviously taken on a cell phone while a person was hiding. It showed Lila running toward an akuma and literally jumping up to snatch it out of the air. She then placed the akuma into the necklace that she was wearing and actually smirked as a glowing butterfly outline appeared over her eyes.

“Because of Chloe’s previous reputation of being a bully and a spoiled brat that likes getting others into trouble, she knew that only we would actually believe her when she gave us this video,” Ladybug says.

“There is also the fact that Lila is a pathological liar that puts on a sweet and innocent front that makes it almost impossible for people to see her as the horrible person that she really is,” Emerald Shell of all people basically growled.

“Lila has spent years telling tall tales about being Ladybug’s best friend,” Vulpix said. “As well lies about musicians like Jagged Stone and Clara Nightingale, comic book artists like the writers of the Miraculous Adventures comic, fashion designers like Style Queen and MDC, as well as Adrien Agreste himself. Anyone that has ever called her out has had their lives ruined.”

“More research into her revealed that at every single school that Lila has ever attended, there has been either a suicide, a deadly accident, or a person getting greatly injured,” Viperion says. “All of them have been about kids that were once popular and loved, but their lives went to hell once Lila attended their schools.”

“You believe that this Lila girl is behind all of these things,” Superboy asked.

“We connected everyone that we could that was connected to her past victims,” Gladiator said. “They all said the same thing, that Lila came to the school with tales of grand adventures and their friend or child realized that she was lying. Then she would start whispering lies about these kids to all of her loyal listeners. She would make up stories about them bullying her, threatening her, stealing from her, talking behind their backs, anything that she could think of.”

“She would turn everyone that she could against them,” Ocean Mage crossed his arms. “Friends, teachers, principals, even family. There were those that killed themselves over the bullying they received, but it was actually worse for those that were too strong for that. Lila would then either cause an accident that would kill them or injure them in a way that broke them even further.”

“Take a look at this,” Tigress made an image appear of a kind-looking boy that looked to be from Spain from the background of the image. “This is Mateo Santiago. He went to the same school as Lila when she was in Spain. He was once a popular boy that had a gift for singing. He won countless youth singing contests all over Spain. When he heard Lila’s tales, he did his research and found her to be a liar. But just like all the others, she turned everyone but his family against him. But Mateo remained strong and did not let her or anyone get to him, confident because of how much he performed in front of others. So, Lila took that away from him.”

“See, Mateo was allergic to fish,” Beautifly took over the story. “It gave his throat a bad reaction, so he stayed away from it to keep his vocal cords safe. But one day, Lila managed to get into his locker and pour fish sauce all over his lunch salad. So when lunch came, he had an allergic reaction. He was taken to the hospital and the procedure that saved his life also damaged his vocal cords. He would be mute for the rest of his life. All of that because he knew Lila was a liar and tried to expose her.”

“Lila has been trying to do the same in Paris as well,” White Wolf says, making an image of a Chinese-French girl be exchanged for Mateo’s. “This is Marinette Dupain-Cheng, Lila’s latest victim. See, Marinette is a fashion design hopeful and has already designed for those like Jagged Stone, Clara Nightingale, Adrien Agreste, and even been noticed by Style Queen herself for a simple hat. Since she has her own connections, she knew right away that Lila was a liar.”

“You may notice from any research that you do that Vulpix, Emerald Shell, and Lady Unicorn have not always been those that wield the fox, turtle, and horse miraculous,” Cat Noir says, making images of three previous holders appear next to Marinette’s picture. “This is Rena Rouge, Carapace, and Pegasus. They were the previous holders of those three miraculous.”

“Did something happen to them,” Red Arrow asked.

“Lila happened,” King Monkey crossed his arms. “These three used to be friends of Marinette’s. Especially Rena and Carapace. But then Lila came along and Marinette tried to expose her. Lila managed to sway half of Marinette’s class into being her attack dogs to attack Marinette even if Lila looks even the slightest bit upset.”

“Marinette is a sweetheart,” Shadow Cat added. “She was the class president, got some of the best grades in her class, does charity work, babysits, helps her parents in their bakery, and has always bent over backward to help others. But Lila took most of that away with her lies. She probably would have destroyed Marinette if not for her having loyal friends.”

“Marinette has been the victim of physical, mental, and emotional bullying for years because of Lila,” Cat Noir looked ready to hiss. “But she remains positive the entire time. She’s transferred classes, has gotten a new phone number, and even uses a secret identity when she designs to keep Lila from claiming her designs as her own.”

“Lila has also chosen to act as a spy for Gabriel Agreste,” Ladybug’s fists were clenched tight. “She has used her lies to get close to him and he uses her to try and separate Adrien from ‘bad influences.’ Which is basically just Lila using more lies to try and isolate Adrien so that he would only have her. Adrien actually stays away as best she can, especially since she is sexually harassing him, but his father always gives them photoshoots together. She constantly threatens him by saying that with one word, Adrien will be back under house arrest by his father no longer letting him leave the house.

“Between her causing akumas, being akumas, Hawkmoth, and Mayura, we need help,” Beautifly says. “There must be something that you can do to help us.”

The league all shared looks with each other. These heroes have obviously been doing a great help if Paris is still standing, but they also look so tired and in dire need of their help.

“We’ll help,” Robin tells the heroes before the league actually answered.

[editorofeverything]

Day 6? of going through my drafts I never finished or posted because ✧Low Self-Esteem✧

Except I started going through my fanfic folder... and getting really into the plotlines I had going on there... and I may have started completing them all of a sudden?? I won’t question it because I’m afraid the will to write will suddenly go away so here is my now complete first part of my Daminette fic I wrote like a year ago?

So, without further ado, here is four times the Ladybug magic teleported Marinette to where she would be safest, and the one time she was already there—Part One.

~

When Tim Drake started his nightly shift in the Batcave with a pot of coffee in hand and a research project in the works, he didn’t expect a magical portal to spit out a ladybug themed superhero at the Batmobile with a cut off scream.

He froze as the swirling red portal disappeared and the hero that made a dent in the Batmobile stopped moving. He reached over and pushed the SOS button that would alert the others that something was wrong before grabbing his coffee mug as a weapon and heading over towards the girl.

She was small, was his first discovery. Probably shorter and younger than Damian, and yet she was wearing a bright red suit over her curled body and a mask over her closed eyes. She was hurt, and Tim didn’t know what to do. He hadn’t slept in over a week and the brain cells that were left were combusting at the sight of a child crumbled on the floor after playing the hero game.

He sucked in a breath and froze at the puddle of blood starting to pool under her head. The crashing of glass broke him out of his stupor and he barely noticed his favorite mug broken on the floor beside him before he threw himself at the girl’s side and eased her onto her back so he could look her over. All he could do was breathe a sigh of relief when he could feel her pulse beating weakly. He tried her mask first, and, after discovering that it wouldn’t budge from her skin, he realized that whatever magic she possessed would prevent him from checking her for injuries.

He brushed her hair out of her face and saw the bruises and scrapes all over before he checked her head. Her lips parted in a small cry when he touched a tender spot and he cursed at his red coated fingers when he pulled away.

“What the hell is it now, Drake? Do you even know what time it is?” Jason walked over with Alfred on his tail and rested his hand on Tim’s shoulder, startling him. “What’s up-? Who the fuck is that?”

“She teleported here. She’s… Jay, she’s hurt really bad and she’s some type of magic so I don’t even know how hurt she is and-” A beep interrupted his rant and they both looked for the source on her.

“Alfred, get the first aid kit and get the others in here.”

“Of course, Master Jason.”

~

“All I’m saying, Father, is that maybe if we put him through a rehab system, these ridiculous late night emergencies would decrease.”

“They’re not all hallucinations, Damian. We haven’t had an incident since last month.”

“Until now,” Damian huffed as he and his father ran into Alfred who was carrying a first aid kit, some blankets, and some towels.

“Was Tim injured, Alfred?”

“No, Master Bruce. There seems to be an intruder in the Batcave. I believe Master Tim and Master Jason are currently trying to assess her for injuries, but it seems she is of the magical variety and her suit is giving them some trouble.”

Damian was already sprinting to the cave while Bruce grabbed some of the items from Alfred and walked with him to the group of his kids kneeling around a small figure on the ground.

Damian saw the dent in the Batmobile before he saw the girl and actually stopped in surprise. “She did that?”

Bruce followed behind him and made a surprised noise as well before moving towards Tim and Jason’s side. “What happened?”

“A portal opened up and she was thrown into the Batmobile. She’s been unconscious the whole time. Her head is bleeding and I wouldn’t be surprised if she has a concussion. I can tell she’s hurt more, but we can’t take off her suit to check.”

Jason placed a towel under her head and she moaned at the movement, her eyes fluttering.

“She has these earrings that have been beeping for the past three minutes. I think they might be where she gets her powers from. They seem to be timing out.”

A final beeping noise echoed throughout the cave before a bright pink shine encased her body, revealing a small girl. She had blackish-blue hair tied in falling pigtails, pale skin that was speckled with bruises and lacerations. Her clothes looked impeccable, though the blood from her wounds was starting to soak into her red sundress.

“What the actual fuck is that?” Jason spotted a round, red figure moving on the girls collarbone.

The bat family took in the little red bug as it sat up and shook its head before seeming to notice the girl she was on.

“Marinette!” the thing spoke and Tim clutched Damian’s arm with an urgency that startled him.

“Please tell me you heard that thing talk.” Damian patted Tim’s hand lightly.

“You are not alone in hearing the kwami talk, Master Tim.” Alfred straightened up at the sight of the mystical being fretting over her charge’s unresponsive body.

“Kwami?” Bruce muttered under his breath, looking to Alfred for answers.

“Tikki, Goddess of Creation,” Alfred pressed his fist into his hand and bowed towards her, “how may we assist you?”

Tikki turned her wide eyes to Alfred and floated up to him. “Please help her! She’s more hurt than I can heal, and the fight is still waging on! Without Ladybug, the entire team will fail!”

Bruce straightened up at that and turned to his sons. “Jason, Tim, keep pressure on her head wound and wrap up any minor lacerations. She’s lost too much blood. Damian, come with me so we can get some more supplies for Miss Marinette.”

“Father, a word, please?” Bruce paused as soon as they exited the cave and were heading for the kitchen with a list of things Alfred told them to grab like water, cookies, and something light for Marinette when she would wake up. Damian had gotten better with being open and calm with his family for a while, but it still took time to unlearn years of life being taught one way for so long.

“What is it, Damian?”

“I… I know everyone’s concerned about the girl—I am too—but has anyone thought of what will happen if she wakes up? Will she recognize the Batcave? Will we reveal our identities to her, especially since she’s been forcefully revealed to us? What if she doesn’t wake up? How will we explain how a foreign girl ended up in Gotham?”

“These are all good questions, Damian, and I’m glad you’re able to share your concerns with me. In this matter, though… I believe we’ll just take Alfred’s que for right now. If at any point you feel uncomfortable with your identity being discovered when Miss Marinette wakes up, then you can leave and we’ll fill you in later.”

Damien’s silence carried into the kitchen as Bruce started handing things to him to take back.

“I’ll go back,” Damien finally said as Bruce pulled the cookie jar off the cabinet, planning on taking the whole thing. Who knew how much those kwamis could eat? Bruce certaintly didn’t, and the fact they were magic too didn’t help him any. “I think… Alfred usually knows best, and I trust his judgement… As well as the rest of the family’s. I want to make sure the girl is okay firsthand, and we can go from there.”

Bruce felt a wave of affection and pride towards his son, and wished Damian would look him in the eyes, but he would settle with placing a hand on his shoulder and giving it a reassuring squeeze. “Then, let’s go give them a hand, son.”

~

Bruce and Damian joined the group quickly enough to arrive just as Tikki and Alfred were starting their own conversation while Jason and Tim assisted the girl. Damian stood with his father, both with their guard up in case someone could possibly track Marinette and Tikki down. Magic, they agreed before they entered the room, is a fickle thing, and they didn’t want to take any chances of their family, or their sudden patient, to be caught off guard.

“You were a previous Miraculous holder, weren’t you? I can sense your bright soul. Who was your chosen?” Tikki asked, hovering just over Marinette’s collarbone. Alfred didn’t know if it was because she was protective of the girl or injured herself, but he felt it too rude to ask directly of the tiny god.

“Duusu, the Peafowl Miraculous of Emotion. We were separated after a year of us working together, and I never knew what happened to him or Nooroo, who was taken as well.” Alfred could tell Master Bruce and the boysr were listening intently on their conversation, but wouldn’t interrupt. Detectives they might be, but Alfred raised Master Bruce, and they, in turn, raised the boys to have manners. He could sense their questions piling up, but was confident they would save them for after they delt with Marinette’s most pressing wounds.

“Unfortunately, they ended up in the wrong hands. It’s why Ladybug and Chat Noir were called together in the first place. Marinette has made excellent work in finding and defeating Hawkmoth, but there has been too many obstacles in her way lately. She’s been through a lot…” Tikki turned on to face Marinette and Alfred was overcome at the overwhelming sense of sadness emanating from Tikki.

“We will do all we can for her,” he choked out, and shook his head at Jason and Tim, who paused at the catch in Alfred’s voice. “For such a young child to be a holder though…” Tikki sat on Alfred’s shoulder as Tim and Jason started wrapping Marinette’s head gently and patched up some larger cuts she had on her side. Her ribs were likely broken if the mottled bruised running down her side were anything to go by, and her ankle seemed to be sprained, if not broken as well.

“The previous Guardian made a rushed decision on who to choose for the Miraculous. It just so happens that Marinette is the one soul in this lifetime that resonates with mine. Despite her age, she has become one of the best Ladybugs I’ve had the honor of assisting, and she is now the Guardian of the Miraculous Box as well.”

“Guardian? She’s a Guardian as well? How could that be?”

“The previous Guardian’s identity was compromised by Hawkmoth, the villain with the butterfly miraculous. He’s been terrorizing Paris for almost three years now. Marinette had to step in as Guardian or the Miraculous Box would be lost.”

“Tikki…” The girl winced away from Jason and Tim’s hands and she whimpered.

“Tikki…” Bruce began in a steely tone, “how old is Miss Marinette?”

“She’s turning eighteen in a few months. I know she’s young, and I hate to put so much on her shoulders, but she’s the only one who can be Ladybug, and competent enough to be Guardian. She’s intelligent, strong emotionally and physically, and her heart is pure. She is the embodiment of what Ladybug is supposed to be.” After that speech, Damian took a breath and knelt down between Todd and Drake to assist. They still didn’t know everything, which could be dangerous for them, but Damian felt that if he were to take a chance on anyone, it would be this girl that was worthy of so much power and responsibility.

As soon as Damian brushed his fingers against her wrist to check for a break, however, the girl suddenly seized up and Damian jolted his hand away. Tikki gave him a strange look before floating over to her chosen.

“Tikki!” Marinette shot up, instantly collapsing with her head pressed into her knees with a groan. Tikki nudged Marinette cheek with her head reassuringly.

“It’s ok, Marinette. We’re safe for now. Please lie down or you’ll hurt yourself more.”

“Safe…? But where are we? School?”

“I believe that a Ladybug power was activated when Mayura cornered you. It teleported you to where you would be safest in the world.”

“Safest?” Marinette looked around and seemed to panic at the group of men surrounding her. “Oh my god, who are these people?! Did they see me transform? Tikki, you’re supposed to stay hidden!”

“Excuse me, Miss Marinette, but you can rest assured that you and Tikki are safe here.” Alfred rested a gentle hand on her arm, and she immediately relaxed. “I know first-hand the challenges of being a Miraculous holder, and we will do everything in our power to assist you if need be.”

For a moment, Marinette seemed paralyzed. She was looking at Alfred unfocusedly, as if she was seeing right through him. Suddenly, she met his eyes and started speaking a language only the three could understand.

“You have the soul of emotion and light. Touched by one who has been stolen and corrupted. You have my trust and thanks for your assistance, young Peafowl.” Marinette stated in an ancient, unfamiliar language before blinking out of her haze and nearly falling to one side if Damian hadn’t grabbed her and kept her propped up.

“Sorry,” she blinked slowly and focused on Alfred again, “I’m still getting used to that.”

“Your trust in me is an honor, my lady Guardian, but I doubt I can be considered very young anymore,” Alfred said with some humor in his voice. Marinette smiled warmly at him and, with the help of Damian, Jason, and Tim, eased back onto a few blankets and some towels to cushion her beating head.

“Damian, pass some water over,” Tim asked, still checking over Marinette’s head. Damian did so, being uncharacteristically silent during the entire conversation.

“My head is fine,” Marinette said in a thick accent. “I believe I hit it after I have been teleported, not during the battle.”

“You speak English very well, Miss,” Bruce praised, leading to Jason cooing at her blush.

“Ah, well, it’s important to be able to communicate with tourist during akuma attacks. I’m afraid I haven’t had much practice, though. And it’s definitely not as good as your French.” Marinette gave a shy, kind smile to Alfred.

“What did I hit my head on, anyways? I’ve been thrown before, but I’ve never hit anything so hard that I’ve passed out and detransformed.”

The resounding silence echoed throughout the room and Marinette took a breath before sitting up properly and keeping her gaze steady at the ground.

“Whatever it is, I don’t want to know. Don’t even tell me your names.”

“Miss?”

“I’m a superhero fighting an evil villain with magic jewelry, I know the awkward ‘I have a secret I can’t tell you’ silence. I haven’t exactly been on this side of the conversation much though. I understand. Just let me catch my breath and I’ll be out of your hair.”

“’Catch your breath?’ You have a concussion! And broken ribs! You can’t fight like this!” Jason was getting too worked up, but this was a child.

“Yes, I can. Just give me a minute. I’ve fought in worse conditions, and I’ll be better once I can reverse the damage.”

“Reverse the damage?” Damian said, and was almost disappointed when Marinette didn’t look at him directly. She wasn’t looking at any of them, except for Alfred, in the face. Deniability, most likely, but definitely not what he was initially expecting when he decided to stay with his family despite the chances of being recognized.

“Tikki?” Marinette said, and rested her head against the Batmobile while she started poking at her wounds.

“I give Marinette many powers. One of which is the power of the Miraculous Ladybug. It reverts ay damage done by a kwami instantaneously. In fact, the dent in your motorized vehicle should be back to normal as well once the battle is won.”

“Tikki, I need to know how the fight is going. Be stealthy and take a look, and grab Khalki. I’ll need him to teleport back to Paris. I don’t want to risk using whatever power got me here in the first place.”

“I’ll be right back!” Tikki turned towards Alfred and patted him gently on the cheek. “I leave my chosen in your hands, Alfred. Look after her, please.”

“Of course, Tikki.”

“Thank you, young Peafowl.” Alfred returned her smile instantly before Tikki disappeared through the floor.

~

“So, let’s play ‘Do I Have a Concussion 20 Questions!’” Jason announced after he and Tim propped her up between them, leaning against the dent in the Batmobile.

Damian sat in front of them while Bruce and Alfred had moved over to the Batcomputer to try and do some research into the Miraculous themselves.

Marinette giggled and focused herself from closing her eyes by chipping at her black nail polish.

“So question number one: what is your name?” Tim was holding the broken handle of his coffee mug in his fist and was talking into it like it was a microphone.

“Marinette, but you already knew that,” Marinette said in a teasing tone.

“True, but this is if you know your name, not for us, little lady,” Jason bumped her shoulder with his gently and she giggled again.

They went through a few questions that were vague enough not to uncover her identity completely, but still show that she had her wits about her. Where are you from? Paris, of course. Do you go to public, private, or home school? Public! I hate homeschooling. Do you live with your parents? Yeah… oh I left my phone with my stuff at school. They’re probably worried sick. Do you have a job?

“Oh!” Marinette suddenly exclaimed, jolting where she sat. “Maman and Papa are going to be so disappointed if I can’t get home in time to watch the bakery! They’re going on a date tonight, and we have three orders to fill… I wonder if I can get Chloe to push their reservation…”

Jason shared an apologetic look with Tim when they realized how much she just let out. Damian was alarmed. She didn’t even seem to notice how much she just gave away about herself during her rambling.

“Why are you telling us all of this?” Damian finally asked after a moment of silence. He didn’t understand this girl. She was in a strange place, surrounded by strangers, and willing to avoid looking at them or around to keep them comfortable with their secrets, and the she goes and basically tells them where she lives.

“I know it might not makes sense, but as Ladybug and Guardian, I can sense things most people can’t, and I’ve learned to trust myself above all. My powers brought me here because I’m safe, and I can sense that you all have pure souls. You two even have souls saturated in Destruction energy… The Black Cat’s energy. It balances my own soul out well… How did you come across a Lazurus pit?”

Jason and Damian jolt and look at each other. Bruce was at Damian’s side in the next moment. “How do you know about the Lazurus pits?” He asked in a cautious tone, though Marinette didn’t seem to notice. She was still picking at her nail polish and Damian had a moment of irritation at the flaky mess until he realized she was probably doing it to keep her focus off of them.

“I am Guardian, and Tikki’s chosen. I know everything there is to know about the Miraculous, though I only recall the information when I needs to be used. When the Ladybug and Cat’s miraculous are combined, the holder may make a wish. One of those wishes was to be immortal. The Lazurus pits were created out of that wish, but the price was heavy. To manipulate a soul into bearing life after one should die… it leaves a mark—mentally, physically, emotionally… Most of the Lazurus pits were destroyed to restore balance, but some still remain in this world to keep the balance of what was already taken as its price. If they were all to be destroyed, something else in the world would have to be as well to keep balance.”

The resounding silence in the room felt suffocating, but Marinette just smiled reassuringly and brushed her dress down. Damian suddenly noticed that he felt… calmer in her presence than he usually would with someone he met barely twenty minutes ago.

Marinette’s voice brought him out of his thoughts once more. “Tikki is coming back.”

The kwami suddenly appeared a moment later with another one right behind her. Marinette smile and held out her hand.

“Hello, Khalki.”

“My Lady,” Khalki purred, floating around her hand.

“The fight is still going, Marinette. Chat Noir and Queen Bee are playing decoy and distraction. I informed them that you had been transported away for your safety and that we would be present for the fight soon. Hawkmoth and Mayura can’t end the fight and get what they want without Ladybug present, and Chat Noir and Queen Bee are smart enough not to let them leave or capture them while you’re gone. Both sides are playing it safe and waiting for your return.” During Tikki’s rundown, Marinette slowly but surely began to stand on her own, leaning against the Batmobile.

“Well, let’s give them an entrance they won’t forget. Are they all still at the Tower?”

“Yes. Chat Noir has followed your direction to keep them centered there well.”

“Good. Tikki, spots on. Khalki, Tikki, merge.” The family all stood and watched in amazement and shock as Marinette glowed that same pink hue before the red and black spotted heroine stood before them.

“Your injuries are still there.” Damian broke the silence to his family’s surprise. “You should be careful and finish your battle quickly to minimize your injuries until you can heal.”

Marinette seemed surprised, focusing on his shirt, the closest she’s gotten to looking his in the eyes the entire time she had been there. He almost… wanted her to. He wanted to look directly into her bright blue eyes and let her see him as he saw her… He shook himself out of that embarrassing train of thought just as Ladybug said something that caused a portal to appear.

“Thank you for your help…” Marinette nodded to them and looked one last time at Alfred. “I hope we meet again, young Peafowl.”

“As do I, my lady Guardian,” he bowed.

Ladybug turned and was suddenly gone. The only evidence of her being there was the broken remains of Tim’s broken mug and the huge dent in the Batmobile.

“Well, I’m going to sleep,” Tim announced to the room. “Someone else can take night shift tonight and someone can also tell me this wasn’t all some fever dream in the morning.”

Half an hour later, Damian, who had volunteered to stay up and finish the nightly watch in order to gather more information of the Miraculous and Marinette, noticed Tim’s mug appear sitting perfectly on the floor half full of the sludge he must’ve been drinking before it had broken and the dent in the Batmobile disappear in a wave of ladybugs.

Damian smirked at the knowledge that she and her team had won their battle, and that, if these items were fixed, then so were Marinette’s injuries. He ignored the part of him that felt… proud at the knowledge of her win, and happy knowing she was healed.

Damian grabbed the mug off the floor and took it with him to drop off in the kitchen while he searched for a snack. All his searching through all the bakeries in Paris was starting to make him hungry, especially the one he left on the Batcomputer. He would have to see if the Dupain-Cheng Bakery catered internationally, or if the woman posing with her husband in the owner’s bio passed down her black-blue hair to any daughters his age.

~

UPDATE: Here’s the link to the next part and the AO3 link for anyone who wants to continue!

Next - AO3 Link

[maggies-scribblings]

2) "How long have you been standing there?" If you're willing, I'm thinking this would be interesting with Marichat post season 3. 😊

“How long have you been standing there?”

Of all the responsibilities Marinette inherited as Guardian, that cursed Grimoire was by far her biggest headache.

Well, Master Fu did leave a USB drive with the scanned pages of the sacred book, and a password-protected file with all the discoveries he’d made with her help: the power-up potion recipes, the story of how the Miraculous came to be, the descriptions of each jewel’s powers…

Unfortunately, his work was left incomplete by his forced retirement, leaving Marinette to painstakingly decipher almost everything Master Fu could not. However, there was still a very important part that eluded her after four years — the ritual that had to be performed in order to summon The Wish. Not because she wanted to use it, rather to be able to identify any peculiar ingredients or locations she could use to trace Hawkmoth.

The cypher on this section was even more complex than the rest: not only were the glyphs more intricate, the illustrations were so bizarre she couldn’t tell whether they were allegorical or instructional.

It was a race against Hawkmoth, who had recently cracked the code on the copy he had stolen from Master Fu. This had been evident a few months ago, when a fire-powered Mayura, together with a flaming akumatized villain, had attacked an old theatre full of people attending a concert.

Repeatedly, Hawkmoth had shown to be playing around with the power-ups, prompting Ladybug to keep a stockpile of potions so that everyone in Team Miraculous could use them in an emergency.

Approaching the subject as methodically as her chaotic life allowed, Marinette reserved her Wednesday nights to work on the Grimoire. On this beautiful evening, she decided to move the studies to her balcony, reclining on her lounge chair. At least her muscles could relax a little. Her nerves? Not so much…

“Goddamn mystical book!”

She was holding the tablet on one hand and taking notes on the notebook on her lap with the other. She’d been on this very page for weeks, with no progress.

“Aaaah!” Marinette screamed, “are you sure you can’t help me, Tikki?”

“I’m sorry, Marinette,” the little god replied from her favourite flower pot. “You know us kwamis can’t know the secrets of the book.”

Another few minutes passed in silence, before Marinette let out a frustrated huff, slamming her stuff down on the reel that served as coffee-table.

“I give up! I will never break the stupid magic code on the stupid magic book.”

“Is everything okay here?” A familiar voice asked, quizzically.

Looking for the source of the voice, Marinette yelped as she spotted the unexpected visitor, perched on the wall just behind her.

“How long have you been standing there?” she asked, as she tried (and failed) to conceal her reading materials.

“I heard a scream,” Chat Noir replied evasively, “I simply wanted to check on my favourite civilian. After all, this city is littered with danger!”

“Oh. I didn’t realise I was so loud.” Marinette blushed in embarrassment. “Sorry to alarm you. I was just having trouble with some homework.”

“Can I help you?” he plopped down beside her. “My wits are as sharp as my claws.”

Marinette snorted involuntarily, only to try and cover it up with a fake cough.

“No, thank you. It’s… kinda personal.”

The notebook with some of the symbols she’d copied was still visible, despite Marinette’s attempts to hide it. She watched in panic as his eyes landed on it, head tilted sideways in curiosity.

“Oh, I recognize some of those characters.” Before Marinette could swipe it from view, he picked it up.

“Hey, that’s priva— wait… you know these symbols?”

“Not exactly… Why are you writing this?”

“Oh! It’s a—a…” Marinette scrambled to find an excuse. “It’s copied from an old document, from my mother’s side of the family. I don’t even know what it is.”

“They look like Thai characters, only… in an ancient form…”

“Thai? You know Thai!?”

“Oh… I’ve been there for— for work. I saw something similar to this in an old museum.”

Reluctantly, she allowed him to see the rest of her notes. She was pushing her luck, really. Then again, Chat Noir had never seen the Grimoire, had he? And who knew, maybe he could help.

He flipped through the pages, studying the copied symbols intently.

“These drawings, though... they don’t look like anything I’ve seen before… except…”

Marinette noticed the change in his countenance, from curious excitement to perplexed recognition. “Uh-oh!”

“Oh, never mind, then.” She forced a laugh and waved dismissively, trying to pry the notebook from his claws. “It’s probably an old recipe or something like that.”

“Where did you say you got this?” Was his voice actually trembling?

“My—my mother’s uncle— great-uncle. He’s no longer around.”

“Not around, huh?” Marinette felt the way he was studying her face. “You mean he died?”

“N—no… he— retired.” Even with the risk of discovery, she couldn’t bring herself to lie. “A—abroad.”

“Hmm…” he mumbled again, flipping the pages of the notebook until he found a particular figure. “This one certainly rings a bell.”

He showed her the pages where she had reproduced the diagram of the wish. “Crap, I forgot I had doodled that!”

“You’ve seen that image before?” she gulped nervously.

“Just once, briefly. In a book I borrowed from my father then lost.”

“You? Y-you borrowed then lost it?”

“Hmm-hmm. It was mysteriously returned a few days later. My father never told me who found it.”

“And this book… belonged to your father?”

“It was a present from my mother. He was very upset about me losing it.”

“Upset?” Marinette was barely able to speak coherently, the way her head was spinning.

“Yes. So upset he was— never mind.”

Chat Noir put the notes down on the table, the movement lighting up the tablet screen Marinette had forgotten to lock.

It was impossible not to see the scanned page, complete with balloon notes and the title “Miraculous Spellbook Translation — V.2.34”. Marinette smacked her own forehead. “Why didn’t I lock the screen? Why didn’t I change the name of the file?”

She couldn’t stop him from picking up the tablet and flipping through the pages, exact reproductions of Gabriel Agreste’s book, down to the wear marks and ragged edges.

There were a few minutes of uncomfortable silence, where it seemed like both were putting two and two together and coming up with a square.

“Whe—” his voice came out cracking, so Chat Noir cleared his throat and tried again. “Where exactly did you get this, Marinette?”

“I— I told you already…”

“That great-uncle of yours… his name wouldn’t happen to be Wang Fu, would it?”

Marinette grimaced — there was no going back now.

“Y-you knew my uncle?”

“He was Master Fu to me… but of course, you know that very well, don’t you?”

Chat Noir’s frown turned into that mischievous grin he sported when he had a trick up his sleeve.

“So, would you say you can’t make heads or tails of this book… Bug?”

Marinette smiled back playfully, flicking his nose in an affectionate gesture.

“I’d say we’ve only just scratched the surface, Kitty. What do you say we work on it together?”

Prompt: “How long have you been standing there?”, Marichat, post-season 3.

For @miraculous-elcie. Thanks to everyone on Discord who chimed in!

[mamahanu]

All 10 questions for whichever Spidey fics you wish to talk about :)

LOL!

I am so down for this. :-)

1. Of the fics you’ve written, which is your favorite, and why?

So @spideynamu already asked the first one, and my answer was annoyingly lengthy lol. I’m terrible, and am going to give a short version here, and recommend you scroll down for more deets. ;-)

I have two fics that I like the best. The first is called Chase Them Away from the Harry Potter Fandom (and I need to go and edit that one... oof). It’s from Lily Luna’s POV seeing her dad with PTSD. I like it because it was the first time I wrote from a child’s POV, and because it was a reflection of my own childhood, watching my father deal with PTSD (he is a Vietnam Veteran). 

The second is called Omertà. I like this one because it’s just so fun. I get to pull in a whole bunch of Marvel characters, and write manipulative people, and it was a type of story I really wanted to read, but couldn’t find. Seriously, I found tons of mob Tony Stark stories. Why isn’t there one with Peter working for the actual mob boss in Marvel? I love canon-divergence, so it’s been really fun to write. 

2. Which scene was your favorite to write in Omertà?

There are two. One is yet to come, so I won’t tell you. It’s close to the end and is already written. Can you believe that? I take almost two months off of this fic, and I’ve got two scenes from near the ending done. Shame on me. ;-) My favorite that’s already written is the beat-down from Fisk then the Wesley conversation afterwards. That was the first scene that I visualized for this fic, from Peter getting into the car all the way to the thing with the phone. I was MOST excited to post that chapter, because of that sequence. 

3. Which part of Bear the Burden of Responsibility was hardest to write?

I have a whole chapter from Doctor Strange’s perspective. I thought going into it that it would be fine. I know Stephen. I’ve seen the movie. I’ve seen some cartoons from Marvel. I’ve read him in some comics. Easy-peasy, right? WRONG! WRONG WRONG WRONG! He is a very difficult character to nail down. He’s snarky, but not too snarky. He’s mystical, but also realistic. He’s sneaky and mysterious AF. And his background and powers and all of that is pretty fantastical. I’m still not sure I got him right, to be honest. 

4. If you could change anything in Sunday Dinner, what would it be?

I make Tony really harsh, I think. I like flawed Tony. I really, really like flawed Tony. I feel there isn’t enough of him out there. But I painted him really negatively, and upon re-reading it, I think I would want him a little softer. 

5. Did you make an outline for Fake News? Did you stick to it?

Nope. I had a conversation with my husband about how they were going to cover it up, and then I immediately wrote until it was done. :-)

6. Which scenes did you cut, and which were added in (Not Just) Father’s Day?

I cut some gifts, actually. Or rather, I edited some gifts. For the fishing scene, Peter had given Ben a tool set, but that didn’t fit with the rest of the gifts which were all handmade. Then, it was a tool box, but I thought that was too easy, because he’s so super smart. Thus, the homemade telescope was born. I added the scene with Tony. The story wasn’t a 5+1, it was just a 5, because I love Ben, and I didn’t want anything to overshadow him. Later, I decided to add the +1 with Tony, because really, his relationship with Peter is pretty important in MCU, and I hadn’t found many fics about Tony’s transition to Iron-Dad, you know? He’s still figuring everything out, and I wanted to capture that. 

7. Who was your favorite character to write in Omertà?

Fisk or Wesley, hands down. I love Netflix Daredevil. The way those two are portrayed is magical. It’s so noir and gangster and the way they both manipulate all the puzzle pieces? The way they manipulate each other? I just love the way they speak and act, and I had a really good time writing these absolutely horrible people. 

8. Which came first, the title or the fic?

The fic always comes first. The title is my last priority. Which is probably why my titles are terrible. 

9. Which idea came to you first in Fake News?

The interview with Sam and Bucky. I wanted to get to that end so badly. I almost didn’t write the beginning. I just wanted to write Peter watching those two pick on him. The whole time in my head I’m picturing Tom Holland telling Anthony Mackie he won’t do a chat show with Mackie because of the shit Mackie gives him. 

10. What are some facts readers may not know about (Not Just) Father’s Day?

I am a pretty firm believer in write what you know. Every one of those scenes was something that happened for me in some capacity in real life. The hand print and picture frame were two gifts my child gave to my husband on Father’s day, and my hubby was touched. I gave my dad a coffee mug and made him coffee when I was small. I watched my Grandpa make Rouladen. I went fishing with my Dad at a god-awful time in the morning. We freaked out together over my college acceptance letters. Even the scene in the graveyard is a reflection of when my dad and I talk about my mom and some of the happy memories we have of her. That can be said for a lot of my fics. There is some nugget of real life and truth from my own experiences nestled in there.

That was SO FUN! Thank you for the amazing ask!!!

For those of you not following @silentsaebyeok, go read her stuff. Oh my gosh, she’s amazing. If you like Spidey, and Iron-Dad, just... just do it. 

Thanks again!

[ryuutchi]

Dearest Yulegoat [Mirrored Yuletide Letter] 

[General]

To start with, if you're writing fic for me, I love you. I'm going to be happy just to be able to share my fandom love with someone. You'll notice I throw a lot of ideas out-- feel free to take one, take many, take none. I know how hard it can be to settle on an idea once the assignments come in. So I'm offering a bunch of options that I will enjoy. None of these suggestions are hard and fast requirements. They're here to give you an idea of what's going on in my head and what my preferences look like. My current blog is ryuutchi, over on Tumblr. I can't promise it will be helpful, but in the interest of helping with the stalking process, feel free to check me out over there. I like: Plot, adventures, banter and dry humor, happy endings, over the top AUs (steampunk, noir, organized crime, rum-runners, harems...), casual physical intimacy, emotional interdependency, bad decisions and poor coping mechanisms, hurt/comfort and whump-with-comfort, loyalty and morality confusion, worldbuilding, identity porn, questionable healthy attachments, seeking out physical affection, accidentally caught feelings,  power-play, porn, gen, slash, femslash, het, any rating you feel comfortable with (for violence and/or sex), bittersweet things that are heavy on the sweet, Happily Ever After/Happily For Now endings I don't like: Deathfic, gratuitous angst, character-bashing, introspective character pieces, five times fics, mommy/daddy kink, A/B/O universes, contemporary social issues as the main focus/issuefic, sad or hopeless endings. (Also the standard DNWs: scat, watersports, necro, mpreg, homophobia, transphobia, etc) No Game No Life - Kamiya Yuu: Sora, Shiro The Series: They are both NEETs and Hikikomoris… but on the internet, the genius gamer siblings Sora and Shiro are known as the undefeatable “__” (blank). Sora and Shiro’s talents and skills are so abnormally good they are considered as urban legend.  One day, they are challenged by the god of games to chess and are victorious. As a result, the god summons them to Disboard, a reality which revolves around games. Intent on maintaining their reputation as the undefeated gamers, Sora and Shiro plan to conquer the sixteen ruling species and to usurp the god of games... NGNL is a series of light novels, of which 6 have been translated (PDFs can be found here, or bought legally at any online bookstore). The No Game No Life anime can be found on Crunchyroll here. Request: The fact that Shiro and Sora literally cannot be separated from each other is one of the dynamics that I like about the series. I really enjoy codependent siblings as a Thing. So I would be happy if you played with that dynamic. Plotty gen for this series would be great-- it's always fun when one of them is much better than the other or they have to separate and execute plans while relying solely on the intuition of what their sibling will do. Alternately, someone kidnapping Sora and Shiro having to play a game to get him back while they both battle their inability to get anything done alone... I'd love background on them, where they tried to separate or were forced to separate and failed to function, or where one or the other tried to interact with other people (maybe a gamer who tracked them down) but were either terrible at it, the other one quietly sabotaged the budding relationship,  or the third person got way too freaked out by the way Sora and Shiro act around each other. Future fic would also be great-- King/Queen Blank or even the Gods Blank, after they've beaten Tet. What does that look like? What kind of world are they making for themselves and each other? I ship them, but do not expect other people to, so if you want to write shippy fic (with aged up Shiro!!!) for them, I will be surprised but happy. I will happily admit to wanting kinky sex games. Extra Details: For reference, I've read through volume 8 of the light novel, watched the anime and the movie. I am not precious about spoilers for this series, so feel free to use later information. I know this series isn't everyone's cup of tea, with the sheer amount of fanservice and Sora's utterly otaku personality and the pseudo-incest thing with the 12 year old. Personally, as is probably obvious from the request, I'm less interested in the fanservicey characters, and much more about the dynamics of Shiro and Sora's relationship. I love the way they know exactly what the other is capable of and trust each other completely and whole-heartedly. Whether you write something small and domestic or big and plotty, for me the core of NGNL is that they love, care and respect each other in a way that is beautiful but also extremely unhealthy. If you want to go the shippy route, again, Shiro needs to be aged up appropriately-- it's always been interesting to me that Sora understands that it is inappropriate to sexualize his underage adopted sister, while Shiro goes out of her way to help sexualize other women for Sora's entertainment. There's a part of me that wonders if she's planning ahead for when she is old enough to be an "appropriate" (in age, if nothing else) sexual partner and is trying to get Sora to lose his virginity ahead of time. selector infected WIXOSS: Aoi Akira, Igarashi Rumi | UlithThe Series: WIXOSS is a popular trading card game in which players battle against each other with fighters known as LRIGs, using cards to support them. Certain LRIGs are able to communicate with their owners, and the girls chosen to wield them are known as "Selectors". Selectors are given the chance to have any wish granted by winning battles against other Selectors, but should they lose three times, their wish will be reversed into a curse instead. The main series, selector infected WIXOSS, follows a girl named Ruko Kominato, who becomes a Selector after receiving an LRIG that she names Tama. As she and various other Selectors battle it out for the sake of their wish, Ruko finds herself drawn into the dark, sinister world of WIXOSS, discovering that, win or lose, there is always a price to pay. The anime can be found on Funimation here Request: So, you know how in my "general likes" I said I don't like "gratuitous angst"? In this fandom, there is no such thing as "gratuitous". Darkfic is absolutely welcome here. The thing I am most interested in here is the manipulative, awful relationship that Akira has with Ulith-as-Iona. Like, I love them all, and for some reason in this fandom, that comes out to "please break them". Exploring their adult lives and how their relationships and the Wixoss game affected them in the future would be amazing. What else happened to them? What are their careers like? What are their home lives like? Are they... living together? Does some sort of magic continue to be a theme in their lives? Feel free to write in-universe plot or no-powers universe, or some horrible Madoka or Yurikuma Arashi  or other magical girl thing, where they can all be horribly manipulative lesbians together because that's magical and wonderful. OTOH, if you want to write codependent-but-vaguely-functional adult Akira and Iona/Ulith being horrible assholes and having adventures of some sort (magic, detectives, idk) that is ALSO A+. I mean, I like happy endings, and if you can come up with something heartwarming (or "heartwarming") I'm not going to complain. Extra Details: Evil lesbians are Problematic, I know. But Akira was one of my favorite characters from the word go and (if you're paying attention to my fandoms as a whole) I really really like codependent or unhealthy relationships. I love her love/hate relationship with Iona and with Ulith, and the way those two characters sort of get mixed up for Akira specifically. If you want to play with Iona and Ulith's personalities and interactions as well, that would also be pretty fun. I'm also down for other types of AUs, like they have to get their shit together and track down someone who is killing Selectors, or they become selectors as adults and not girls. I know they're young, but given that this is a super-fucking dark canon, I am totally cool with dubiously consensual sex either on or off-screen. FANDOM: Yoroiden Samurai Troopers | Ronin Warriors (Shuu Rei Fuan | Kento Rei Fang, Mouri Shin | Cye Mouri) The Series: Ronin Warriors, known in Japan as Yoroiden Samurai Troopers (lit. "Legendary Armor Samurai Troopers"), is a Japanese anime series and manga adaptation created by Hajime Yatate. It's the story of five teenage boys, given mystical armor to protect the world from the evil Arago. 1000 years ago, Arago nearly succeeded in taking over the human world when Kaosu managed to defeat him. Although Arago's soul is banished to the demon world, his armor is left intact. Kaosu divided the armor into nine separate armor suits. Each armor will choose its bearer, and together they will fight Arago. At least that was the original intent... Although Arago manages to corrupt four sets of the armor, the last five remain safe. It's a bit like Power Rangers, only grounded in more serious traditional Japanese cultural trappings. Being created in the 80s, the art style is a little wonky, but it's an enjoyable thriller and is somewhat more focused and serious than a lot of sentai shows. The anime can be found on Crunchyroll here Request: I love Shuu/Shin with Shin being snarktastic and Shuu being smug and solid and dependable. I used to frequent the Minkland archive back when this fandom still kinda existed, and was forever disappointed that the skinny pretty boys got tons and tons of fic and Shuu was just sort of there in the background. (If you used to read Mink and Jink's fic, I will be so happy I could cry if I got that sort of cracked-out porny fic with Shuu, okay. Due to that formative influence, if you want to GO FOR THE AU, GO FOR IT WITH GUSTO. I've always wanted nanshoku/samurai AU. Or, you know, hooker fic, or dark!troopers fic, or harem fic or something like that. I also like found-family fic, gen-ish mysteries and adventures-- more fighting Massive Cosmic Evil, and curtainfic. Futurefic is also awesome, where they get on with their lives, maybe together or maybe trying to keep their friendships intact when there's no massive Cosmic Evil to keep them close. Extra Details: If you used to read Mink and Jink's fic, I will be so happy I could cry if I got that sort of cracked-out porny, possibly AU fic with Shuu, okay Fics I especially enjoyed from that archive: The Grand One The Clit Club Chronicles The Harem Vinyl Wagashi Cherry Zima Threesome Theater of Magic Due to that formative influence, if you want to GO FOR THE AU, GO FOR IT WITH GUSTO. I've always wanted nanshoku/samurai AU (see this image). Or, you know, hooker fic, or dark!troopers fic, or harem fic or something like that. My usual ships are Shin/Shuu, Shin/Ryo, Touma/Seiji and Ryo/Nasuti. But I multiship and am willing to run with anything-- I'm a Sex With All Teammates sort of person, so fivesomes and alternate pairings are not a problem for me. Dragon Prince Trilogy - Melanie Rawn: Ianthe of Princemarch, Sioned of River Run The Series: To blatantly steal someone else's review on Amazon: "Melanie Rawn created a world and a people that gives everything you could possibly want in a fantasy world. It gives love, hate, peace, war, magic, royalty, commoners, children to take over the next generation and best of all; dragons." I want to say "if this wasn't the matched fandom you should go out and read them right the fuck now', because I have read these books So Many Times.  They're high fantasy novels about politics and the prince of a desert and magical people who communicate via sunlight and can conjure fire. AND DRAGONS. Also a lot of interpersonal and romantic maneuverings. It's a high fantasy politics and romance romp of somewhere ~550 pages. If that sounds interesting to you, pretty much every used bookstore I have ever been to has at least one copy of these books. I think they spawn on bookshelves or something. The books are also available in ebook form here (Kindle) and here (Nook) for 3 bucks. Please read them. (TW for rape in the first book) The Request: I love everything this series chooses to be. It's fun and cheesy and fantasy, which the best thing in the world. I've always thought that Ianthe had a serious hate-crush on Sioned and part of the reason she was so vicious and fucked up was that whole "you must marry a guy and expand the empire or your useless" thing when maybe she didn't want to do that. Ianthe's always been one of my favorite characters because she's brilliant and ruthless and clearly takes joy in clever plans that go well. Of course, being the villain in a cheesy fantasy, she got no depth whatsoever, aside from that whole sexually liberated, taking male consorts thing (which is AWESOME, okay.) Sioned is also awesome and brilliant and kick ass. Her hesitance in the first book while she decided what she really wanted to do was pretty great, as was the fact that she promptly made friends with Tobin and pretty much every character not designated "villain". It seems like up through Ianthe's death, they're playing a game of brinkmanship. (Which isn't to say I don't like Sioned and Rohan together. They're bookTP and totally awesome.) As for prompts, I normally prefer plotty fic to introspection. I feel like the whole sunrunner thing lends itself well to espionage, so political thriller, or murder mysteries or something would be great. If you want to do plot-what-plot involving these two-- either sex or just the sort of dancing around/pigtail pulling that would be great. Threesomes with Rohan-- also acceptable! Hell, if you want to do an AU where they end up together instead of Sioned marrying Rohan-- or alternately, an AU end to the trilogy, where Ianthe never died in the fire and ends up taking over as High Princess and making the Desert monarchs' lives hell and discovering her powers. Or something where she knew about her powers all along. Or Sioned, I don't know, realizing she kind of did think Ianthe was attractive. I also really enjoy Pandsala, but I didn't find her dynamic with Sioned and Rohan quite as engaging, even though she also did some bad-ass stuff in the long run. Her weird push and pull backstabby, politicized sisterly thing was interesting, though. Extra Details: Okay, like I said, I think this series is the cheesiest fantasy series in the WORLD and in a lot of ways it's one of my first nostalgia fandoms. If you haven't read them, they are kind of ridiculously long (Like, GRR Martin-long), but they're quick reads despite that and rather less depressing than a lot of high fantasy. It's silly in the way that "adult fantasy" that takes itself way too seriously can be. A lot of the main protagonists actively enjoy each others' company and that's as much integral to the book as the politics and dragon-slaying. That said, I kinda asked for a semi-serious plotty story. But if you want to run with the "it's cheesy fantasy" and want to write about Ianthe rescuing princesses or Sioned running away to be a knight and abducting Ianthe away from her toxic father, or something silly, I say get down with your nerd self and run with it. I've only read parts of the second trilogy, and the second generation aren't really very interesting to me. If you want to write future-fic, I would prefer that it continues to focus on the original generation (no matter how much I love Andry, Pol just seems like kind of a jerk).

House of M - New X-Men: Academy X: Any The Series: I'm surprised it took me so long to nominate and request this fandom. I love New X-Men and was GUTTED when Decimation forced them into killing off so many of the characters. If you've never read it, New X-Men: Academy X was an X-Man title in the mid-00's, focusing on entirely new students at Xavier's Academy, being taught by the more established characters. Some of the New X-Men have managed to escape and become general Marvel characters in their own rights (David Alleyne, for example), but for the most part, they were just teenagers at school who rarely got caught up in larger plots. 616 New X-Men were about teenagers fighting, and coming to grips with the fact that they're being raised and taught to go sacrifice themselves for a Greater Goal. They're all wonderfully, horribly traumatized teenagers with powers. The plots were fleshed out and realistic, and when they weren't they were still interesting or fun. This request isn't technically for that. It's for the House of M megacrossover from 2009. Wanda Maximoff, mutant reality shifter and sometimes-crazy-lady, decided that mutants should run the world. SO THEY DID. And suddenly the lives of our young students become very different. Half of them after still "New Mutants", working towards peace, and the others are "Hellions", SHIELD trainees in a violently anti-homo-sapien state system. I've always felt that House of M as a narrative concept has been dismissed too easily by Marvel fans, because there are so many pieces of worldbuilding left unbuilt. I'm most interested in seeing it from the eyes of younger participants who are being trained or have been trained for their places. What does that world look like? New X-Men: Academy X can be found online here: https://viewcomics.me/comic/new-x-men-2004. The House of M crossover runs for issues 16-19. The Request: There's a lot here to play with because the authors never really got to play in either the Academy X OR the House of M sandboxes long enough to do all of their ideas justice. So I'm going to lay out some of the stuff I liked most about NXM in general and HoM in particular. The nom is for HoM, but I think HoM is most interesting in conversation with the standard 616 universe, alongside having the fun YA action stuff and the complicated interpersonal relationships. For example: in 616 Josh joined the Reavers and pretended not to be a mutant until he was confronted with Laurie nearly dying. I can imagine a bunch of different scenarios for House of M that would lead to where we see Josh and Laurie in the HoM comics (Laurie undercover with the New Mutants, and Josh working as an interrogator alongside Kevin). Laurie's introversion in 616 juxtaposed against her brazen treachery and clear control over her skills in HoM. HoM shows Kevin in a full decontamination suit, but we know in 616 that his ability is blocked by wearing synthetic fibers (I imagined this to be a interrogator scare tactic, but it could be any number of other things). Kevin and Josh's relationship in 616 is fraught, especially with Josh's previous experiences with anti-mutant activists and the fact that Kevin killed his father when his powers manifested. But they seemed to work together well in HoM. And speaking of Kevin-- how did his powers manifesting actually pan out in a universe where mutants aren't seen as a threat? I have to wonder whether there's some concept of "acceptable casualties" because some peoples' powers clearly manifest first in dangerous situations. Alternatively: Fluffy Josh/Kevin with a backdrop of torture, murder and state violence. I ship mostly Josh/Kevin because rivals-to-lovers and boy-who-kills-anything-he-touches/boy-who-cannot-be-killed is Great For Me. I also love the abuse of powers and manipulation involved in being interrogators/torturers(/murderers?) for the House of Magneto. They work together, they hurt people together, but maybe they also... smooch? THAT SAID! Adding Laurie to that ship is always a great way to fuck up and destabilize them! Especially in HoM, where we know she's already keeping secrets and can and WILL use her pheromones to fuck with people. And David! OH, DAVID. The only real New Mutant in this request. Does he have previous relationships with Josh and/or Kevin? I don't mind David/Noriko, but I also ship David with Kevin and Josh, and also Tommy and Teddy from Young Avengers, if you feel like exploring other parts of the HoM world. I have never considered David/Laurie before, but if you want to give it a whirl, I'm down. As for David-- His responses to state violence (as evidenced by the Hellions and SHIELD) are clearly different from the rest of the requested characters, and it would be interesting to explore David and his experience of this universe. Are his powers still restrained the same way? I know he supposedly dies at the end of the HoM mini-arc, but we never see them die, so feel free to write David managing to crawl off and plan to take down everything and everyone. A specific DNW for this fandom is Josh/Rahne. I don't mind the relationship having existed and impacting the characters, but only as a past relationship.

Extra Details:

SENSORY DETAILS. When it comes to magic and meta powers-- especially ones that aren't battle-oriented-- is what they feel like. What does it MEAN for David to be able to know anything someone else knows? What does the emptiness and fullness of it do to him? Josh's powers are all tactile and his body actively changes after trauma (in 616, first by turning him gold, then by creating black spots on his skin after he kills someone for the first time). Does his power always alter him, but usually in unnoticeable ways? What can he know and feel from a touch? Same for Kevin-- does withering sate a hunger, or make him feel worse? What would it feel like if he touched Josh? And Laurie... I'd love both her thought-process and the sensory details of what she's doing. Can she smell her own pheromones? Do they ever affect her? What does she feel like when she's manipulating people so subtly that they barely notice a passing smell? If you want to bring in other 616 knowledge and see what it looks like in HoM, that's cool. So is bringing in other HoM storylines. There's a throw-away line in Luke Cage's HoM crossover that the Runaways are known as an organized crime group. Cage himself runs a resistence cell (and given the end of the NXM crossover, David seems like he'd be willing to throw in with that lot). Young Avengers, the other New X-Men who weren't given much screentime in the HoM crossover-- I'd love any of that. Young Justice (Comics): Match, Tim Drake

The Series: Comics are confusing! This request is for the late-90s version of Young Justice by Peter David, which consisted of Robin, Impulse, Superboy, Arrowette, Secret, and Wonder Girl, along with others. It's very much a young-heroes-trying-to-make-their-way. Unlike the newer show, this Young Justice tended to be left on their own without much of a guiding hand. It was a very 90s comic, with very 90s fashion and a lot of nod-nod-wink-wink in-jokes. I love it because it's a series that always wore its humor on its sleeve. It's an affectionate look at young superheroes, and allowed them to react to teen problems alongside the more standard superhero tropes. There's the possibility for angst and darkness (and once they graduated to Teen Titans especially, that came up more), but they were allowed to be both hurt and upset AND fun and cheerful. The comics weren't available collected until last year (it took them TWENTY YEARS JFC), and it's well-worth buying from your local retailer, but you can also find them online here. The character I'm requesting first appeared in Superboy's solo series (starting in issue #35), which can be found here and again in the first volume of Young Justice: Sins of Youth. The Request: SO! I have always loved Match in the original YJ and Superboy comics, and the writers gave him really short shrift. We have a clone of Kon, who is as smart, if not smarter, can pretend to be Kon for extended periods of time— but every time he tries, people get hurt or die. I’ve always wondered how Tim felt that he literally couldn’t tell his best friend from an imposter. And then Match went and ran off and disappeared and no one ever seemed to consider what he was doing, after thousands of his/Kon’s siblings/clones were murdered essentially in front of him and the Agenda fell apart. (I’m not entirely surprised that Kon didn’t pay attention to all of those clones of him dying, but think about it from the standpoint of someone for whom those were supposed to be an army of his siblings. What a way to get survivor’s guilt.) Did Match go to Lex? It doesn’t seem like it, but given that as Kon’s clone, he’s technically Lex’s son too, it’s a possibility. Or alternately! He got himself out of the superhero game and did something else! What was it? I’d also love for a story about him wanting to be a super and have that family that Kon and Clark have, but being shut out of that world because he’s a “villain”. Or him getting that family after so long. Or him showing up at the Kents’ place because “fuck it, if Kon can have this, so can I” and it goes… well or poorly, depending on you. Or him finding his own family in a place that is separate from the who superhero thing, and Kon or Tim or Clark stumbling on him. Or Lex trying to use him— whether or not it works is up to you, although I’d love for it to touch on Match’s need to be part of something larger— after all, he was built and trained to be the vanguard for an army that was summarily murdered in front of him. Tim's refusal to even vaguely hint about his real identity during this time is fun too-- we have two boys who are both hiding their identities in different ways. It makes me wonder if Tim COULD have figured Match out, if the Sins of the Youth plotline didn't happen or was delayed somehow, because he seems to have all of the pieces of information. Or maybe Match-as-Kon was the only person Tim revealed part of his real name too, and has to deal with the ramifications of trust. Actually, Tim and the Issues Of Trust is the YA novel that I'd love to see Tim and Match (and Kon and the rest of YJ) star in. Bring back Mr Sarcastic (PLEASE bring back Mr Sarcastic) and Alvin Draper. Bring back the way that Tim hides by burrowing under identities and performances, and collects information on everyone he knows. I love detective stories and, out of all the Bats, Tim has always struck me as one of the best actual detectives, rather than crime-fighters. So Tim getting lost in a mystery will always make me happy. There's also something interesting about a group of young teens fighting for their own autonomy and identity. At this point in Tim's story, I think he was still thinking of the Robin thing as almost an extracurricular, and probably grappling with how hard it is on him physically, as well as mentally. So, I guess struggling for a coherent snse of self and agency are really interesting touchstones in this fandom. ALSO, MY DEEPLY HELD RARE PAIR FROM THE 90s: Tim/Match! See above, re: Match being present for Identity Crisis instead of Kon. I’d love Match to be trying to follow Kon’s footsteps re: Cassie, and being way more into Tim, which leads to Tim being confused and into Kon. Also any of the above prompts can include Tim (maybe Tim tries to help cushion a meeting between Match and Kon or Clark! Or maybe he just ends up Match’s sugar daddy. I’m down.) Although this request is ripe for dubious identity weirdness with Match pretending to be Kon, I'd really prefer that you focus on Match getting to be his own person, even if there's some pretending-to-be-Kon in there. Extra Details: This has been a lowkey love of mine for literally decades. My absolute favorite gift of all time was original pages from one of the Superboy issues where Match appears for the first time. And as I've grown older, my love for this rare, obscure character has deepened. Also, as I've grown older, I've begun to want more adult!Match, or growing up!Match just because the idea of growing up in the margins of superhero culture after everything that happened to him is really interesting. He was straight-up groomed and brainwashed, and then the Agenda was gone, so how did he cope? What is he doing now? What kind of adult does he make? This request is specifically for the mid-90s comic, so feel free to stick to that. But if you read the 2010-era Teen Titans and want to explore some later story choices-- like Match becoming Bizarro-like, Slade making him part of Titans East, or his fear that Jericho would hurt the Titans in his body, or save Match from Superboy-Prime, I'm not going to complain. (Personal headcanon time: I think Slade was trying to mind control Match with the same stuff he used on Rose, and it caused the Bizarro-like symptoms). I also love Elseworlds and mirror!verse stuff too. As I've said elsewhere in the letter, I really prefer Happily Ever After/Happily For Now stuff, and I prefer my bittersweet fics heavy on the sweetness. Please give Match the love and affection he's always deserved. But also, please feel free to make both Match and Tim HURT first.

[shinserknoire]

Alex Lightvale's Profile

+ Profile +

Name: Alex Lightvale

Age: 29

Birthday: September 8

Height: 181 cm

Weight: 66 kg

Race: Human

Soul: The Soul of Light, Kindness Soul, green traits (before changed to The Soul of HATE)

Alex is the Old Knight of Light, before Silvesta, who was a Seven Knights Candidates. He have a maroon haired and green eyes (the same eye color from Awaken Rudy)

+ Story +

Alex was born in Terra Kingdom 20 years ago. At the age of 10 he learned history of Gaia World and about God of Destruction. In school he was the smart one so he always number one when Alex studying.

5 years later, Alex was the one who have a Shard of Destruction after he become guardian of Terra. He doesn't hesitate, and Alex liked that as a gift from Goddess. Alex now have a "The Power of Light" inside of him.

At the age of 22 Alex joined the troops as a guardian. He trained to use sword and shield, but he sometimes uses sword instead a shield. 2 years later, Alex wined a competition of The Seat of Light, and he become The Knight of Light at the same age. He have a wing just like Rudy after him, but his wing appeared temporarily because he learned magic.

The incident happened 6 years later, after the War of Destruction. While he preparing a big test to join Seven Knights with Silversword Nathan, Alex was going to Purgatory, and he meet a strange man. The strange man tell to Alex there's a stronger power than The Power of Light. Alex hesitated, but he agreed if it's true and he trust the strange man. Alex and the strange man now at the Dark Grave. The strange man asked Alex about the story of Skytria Empire, before it turned to Dark Grave. In here there's a laboratory he can learn, even some of books and stuff was destroyed. Alex nodded, and he going to the abandoned laboratory. Alex learned about forbidden magic, and also The Power of Destruction.

Before he going to stadium, he meet the strange man again in Mystic Wood. The strange man give Alex a black substance potion. He said it will give more power than The Power of Light. Alex accepted that, and he going to deeper place of forest.

At the deeper place, Alex looked at the black potion. He just nervous what would happened if he drink that, he can't find that potion from the book he learned. Alex thinking that it will stronger, so, he drink that black potion.

But... He was wrong.

Alex felt pain more on his chest and he coughed a black liquid from his mouth. He realized that the black potion will corrupt him, but he can't help it. Alex felt so much pain, and his soul turned into Black Soul, known as "The Soul of Darkness". The strange man laughed at Alex, how foolish that he was betrayed. Alex growl angrily at the strange man, and with final strike, Alex killed the strange man using his sword.

Nathan was shocked when he meet Alex, he trying to come to him, but Alex warned Nathan to stay away from him. Nathan doesn't want Alex get hurt, so he decided to stop the corruptions from Alex. The corruption was gone, temporarily, because Nathan sacrifices himself to save his own friends. Alex shocked for what Nathan doing, and he feel he can't control the Hate inside of him.

Alex, now corrupted and blood covered his body, become insane. Hate was consumed his soul, and finally he take out his shard from his chest. Before he dying, Alex uses a forbidden spell, "Noire", to fuses his soul and his shard into the black magic creature. During that, his hair changed to black color and his wing become fully black. He did it. Alex fall after he uses a spell, and the shard fall into his right hand. Alex looked at his shard in blurry vision, and slowly closes his eyes as the shard slowly disappeared, waiting for the new owner.

And the new owner was Rudy.

Alex, changed his name to "Noire", now is Rudy's Awaken Spirit.

+ Trivia +

-Alex's last name was "Lightvale", to commemorate Amber Lightvale from Glitchtale. He hated Agate because she kill her own sister, Amber.

-Alex likes yogurt, and chocolate.

-Alex likes cooking, when he's in Rudy's vessel, he can't cook just like him.

[xmoonlightjasminex]

Take Center Stage

Chapter 1

: Testing.....Testing....1-2-3Chapter Text

It was a beautiful day in the city of Paris, The City of Lights and Love and Fashion. People were bustling around, each with their own business in mind. Teachers were teaching, bakers were baking, and in a darkened room stood a costumed man. He wore a dark purple suit and a mask that hid his face. In his hands was a cane and a very interesting brooch in the shape of a butterfly.

Yes, even Hawkmoth the city's resident villain was having a nice day so far. He was just about to scour the air for a new victim to be akumatized. To offer them powers beyond their wildest imagination, for the price of them acquiring the miraculouses of the two town heroes Ladybug and Chat Noir.

Now, if this was a normal day a potential akuma could be found at any time, but try and search as he might Hawkmoth just couldn`t find one. After a full hour of searching he growled before spitting out the words. “Fluther off!” Which was lucky that no one was around to laugh at the sheer ridiculousness as the adult man spat those words as if they had personally offended him.

A tiny lavender creature emerged from the brooch gem, looking at the man in front of him in wariness.

“C..can I help you master?” the Butterfly creature, named Nooroo was still wary of the stone faced man standing in front, no matter how many times he had spoken to him he was still shy.

“Nooroo...Why is no one akumatized yet?” The silhouette of the man spoke, in the dark room illuminated only by the window.

“W..well Master, it seems that no one is angry today?” Nooroo`s statement ended more as a question.

“....I see. And tell me Nooroo. Does one have to be angry to become an akuma?” The man questioned.

“N..not really.” The tiny creature mumbled, looking at his tiny nubs for hands.

“T..they just have to feel a strong enough emotion.” He was going to continue explaining, but was cut off.

“A strong enough emotion? One that does not have to be negative?” The man asked as a completely new idea formed into his mind. “W..well yes but…” poor Nooroo was cut off from speaking as he was sucked into the brooch by his wielders next words. “Fluther on!” The newly masked Hawkmoth began to search with renewed vigor for an akuma. And not five minutes later he found his next champion.

A girl in a state of ennui, wanting and wishing to be special. And he could make her special, give her a gift to differentiate her from all the others. And all she had to do was, obey him. Just as he summoned a butterfly to rest on his hand and to corrupt before sending it to his new victim, there was a knock from the other side of the door.

“Mister Agreste? I am sorry to bother you, but there is an urgent matter concerning the newest production line….” A female voice spoke from the other side.

As he had turned to the door, Hawkmoth didn't notice a the small butterfly with a tiny black dot on its pristine white wings fluther away. No, but the tiny god currently residing in the brooch did, and it didn't plan on saying anything. “I will be out in a moment Natalie.” The man spoke, before hastily de-transforming, showing renown Fashion mogul Gabriel Agreste to be hiding behind the Butterfly mask.

Completely forgetting about the planned akumatization, the man took off said brooch and left it and the tiny creature in the room. Soon he would be so swamped with paperwork and business associated stress, that he will completely forget the new discovery he learned from Nooroo.

Unlike him, once he was left alone, Nooroo flew towards the window and if he squinted he could see the tiny butterfly flying away to its new champion. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Edelweiss Amarante was bored. The German-French brunette blue-green-eyed girl had just arrived to Paris with her mother and father a month ago, and already the young teenager was bored. And she had been so excited to finally get to do something unusual. She loved the moving, and she loved the townhouse her parents had gotten from a very distant relative who wanted to move to the Alps, for whatever reason. She loved her room, which was at the top floor of the huge house, an entire floor to herself. Granted it had been the attic before, but it had such a rustic charm to it.

Heck ,she even loved the tenants her parents had taken under their wings when they arrived. She loved family dinners where she met a bunch of people from all different kinds. The only downside to that was that none of the tenants had any kids, either they were too young in college or still trying their luck in finding work, or too old with their children and grandchildren all grown up. Or not married.

She was the only child at the entire house. Of course by default that meant she was babied and had a bunch of big sisters, brothers, aunts, uncles and elderly who looked after her and greeted her. And she loved that, she loved greeting Madame Beauchamp as she left for school and the older woman was watering her beautiful gardenia bush in the enclosed garden. She loved visiting Natasha, Katya and Mila the three Russian students that studied at the Royal Academy of Dance. They would fuss over her, teaching her tips and tricks and words in Russian.

She liked talking about books with Lucas, a British gentleman who lived to read. And his complete opposite of a partner Mark who was a boisterous and loud. And their poor roommate who had to be a witness to their couple moments the jokester Enric who would crack a joke anytime to make the two blush.

She liked to greet the resident mystic Madame Dorina, as she liked to be called. She had transformed her living room into a fortune tellers parlor, and had regular visitors. She would often usher Edelweiss in and make her a cup of tea to tell her fortune, her beloved white Persian Cat Leila mingling under the table begging for a scratch or a treat. Her other cat Hades, a pitch black Shorthair stood a ways away, always watching like a silent protector. He had the arrogance his name gave him, Madame Dorina had once told her, that she never let anyone in whom he didn't like.

Monsieur and Madame Hawa were an Arabic couple that had emigrated to France in the 80`s, they were a delight in the dinner table. Madame always knew a brand new recipe and a way to change a dish flavor by using a tiny amount of spice, and Monsieur Hawa could spin the best of stories, like a magician speaking magic.

For Edelweiss it was beautiful, there was never a dull moment. But compared to all those people who were there, even her own parents she was completely ordinary. Even her schoolmates weren`t excluded. She heard there were many talented and even a famous model at her school. She had yet to meet them or learn their names, but compared to them what did Edelweiss had?

A tiny passion for singing? What a joke.

The brunette girl sighed as she had looked out the window to the sky. It was a lovely day, that she had spent helping Madame Beauchamp with her prized flowers, and a small bouquet of fragrant blossoms sat on her desk.

So deep in thought was Edel, that she didn't notice when a beautiful white butterfly fluttered into her room, and after a moment of flitting around the space before finally resting on her chest and disappearing in a glow of white.

The moment that happened Edelweiss felt a drowsy slumber overtake her, so closing her eyes she dreamed a dream filled with wonder and beauty. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The next day rose bright and early, and Edel was already bustling through her room. She was up and couldn't make herself go down stairs yet. Her parents Eric and Christine, yes she knew how ironic those names were, she had watched Phantom of the Opera. It didn't help that her folks had quite the pipes on them, or were avid music lovers.

She had the idea to try and sing a song, maybe it would make her feel better.

I want to be extraordinary Not just extra-ordinary She began singing, before shrugging her shoulder, sitting down on her bed.

It seems like everywhere I see People far more interesting than me I know the changes kinda scary But maybe I should try to vary She remembered the tenants and all their talents and hobbies, all so very different and new and interesting.

Some minor details A small degree A slightly different version of me Looking out her window, she began to imagine the possibilities.

Well I could learn to cook vegetarian Or take fashion workshop Meditate, calculate Learn to knit a tank top She did notice that her imagined scenes were far more realistic looking than usual, like she was actually trying these thing, albeit for a brief few seconds. The cooking, the fashion, meditating, calculating and knitting. All of them, but she still continued to sing.

Yoga, hula Clogging, jogging Walking on a tightrope Take a correspondence course And learn to make my own soap Even more activities she cycled through.What was going on??

Jumping on a pogo stick Standing in a wheat field Going on a snipe hunt Gonna keeps my eyes peeled Take a little time to really decorate my door And change my hair to black and then I'll dye it even orange She could feel the texture of her hair changing, she wansn`t imagining these places she was making them appear. How was she doing this?!

Underwater taxidermy Shopping for a suitcase Peeling tangerines while placing second in a sack race

Lion taming, online gaming Try'n to win a prize fight Appear in a talk show Dress-up like a water sprite She really started to go into the song, liking her scenery changing after her voice.

Yeah! I'm gonna be extraordinary I'm gonna stand out from the crowd And shout out loud You'll see That it's a brand new me!! Finally she finished her song,going through several other hobbies before she was back in her room, breathing slightly hard. Looking around she couldn`t understand what happened, how did she do that? The burst of confidence that song and that experience gave her was so good!

‘I`m glad you like it.’ A voice whispered and she shrieked in surprise looking around for the source.

‘Wh-what the!! Who, who said that?!” She asked aloud, but no one was up there.

Here it is if you wanna read it: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13883553/chapters/31944003

[judgesabo]

A Year of Theory

One year ago today I posted my Classpect Analysis, my first serious attempt at theorycrafting for CaNWC. Now seems like the perfect time then to look back and see what has changed. What old questions have been answered, and what cool and new questions have been raised?

Classpects

I am absolutely delighted by the progress that has been made here. My original classpect post has essentially been confirmed in full, and we’ve made plenty of new discoveries as well. Jhon is the Boss of Wheels, Hecka is the Mus of Time, and Rose is the Lord of Space. Beyond this, Lord Spanish/Lord English has also been confirmed as the Lord of Time, and Papaya/Kanaya has been confirmed to be the Sylph of Space.

Hecka has also made significant progress in inspiring people for war, even convincing Dabe to fight against his daddy. He’s also demonstrated an intuitive understanding for all matters related to time, showing an even greater understanding than a sprite. As yesterday’s update demonstrated, Hecka is able to skillfully use this in the fight itself, creating stable time loops on the fly.

Rose continues to follow down the path of the Lord of Space, giving a greater analysis of the Corruption and working tactically off of that plan. Jack Noir has also offered an analysis of Rose which is very similar to my own.

Lalonde isn’t someone you want to cross. It’s bad enough that each of the heroes has the ability to manipulate an aspect... Not to mention that she now has the horrorterrors doing her bidding, and she has an above-average intelligence, even for a woman uncorrupted. And you’re not one to give out compliments lightly.

If anyone can get this awful reality back to normal, it’s her.

New difficulties have arisen for each player though, and the bids for power will be intense from here on. Hecka Jef’s main goal of killing Jhon has already been completed, so for this moment he’s fighting for nothing. Rose has been officially recognized as a horrorterror herself, so her command over their entire forces is now more explicit, but they are also clearly preoccupied with their own fight for survival against Lord English. Jaed is also likely going to lose control of Prostit soon, facing challenges from both the Blapck Quen and Fresh Whyte Germysprite. But Jack is also pushing to gain control of Durst himself, which may gain Rose new control over the Dark Kingdom. Major changes to the balance of power are due.

Enough with the old, on with the new. Jhon has been given the title ‘Boss of Wheels.’ Since this is a fanon class and aspect, instead of using the classpect to analyze Jhon, we will use Jhon to understand the class and aspect.

The most obvious thing about the title is of course that "Boss of Wheels” is essentially a rewording of “RollerCoaster Tycoon.” When Jhon did the ‘wheely thing,’ he caused a roller coaster to rescue him from lava, seeming to simply will it into existence.  Bg’ogubmom’ibulsprite explicitly confirms that ‘control of theme park rides’ is a power of the Boss of Wheels.

The aspect ‘Wheels’ should be taken as referring to roller coasters, or possibly any kind of transportation. Taking it even more broadly, it could even be taken to mean ‘velocity,’ fitting in with time and space as a fundamental force. Or perhaps it is meant to represent technological progress and advancement, as the invention of the wheel often marks the dawn of civilization.

Wheels are a common symbol across many cultures, but the most famous is the Wheel of Fortune. The Rota Fortunae represents the ever changing and tumultuous nature of fate, spun at random by Fortuna, the goddess of luck. Dynasties are built and they collapse based on its movements.

This concept was adopted into the tarot deck as the tenth card of the Major Arcana, representing destiny, fortune, and success, and reversed represents troubles and negative forces outside of your control. Incidentally, the Homestuck tarot deck shows a god-tier John looking up from his planet as Skaia.

And, of course, the Wheel of Fortune was also adopted as a popular game show where people solve hangman-style word puzzles to win money. A little less mystical, that one, but it strengthens the “money” theme.

Jhon’s own destiny in saving the economy of the Land of Dollers and Danger from President Obana. The LODAD economy is centered around the millions of small businesses that populate it, which are now facing a depression under Obana’s rule. Jhon’s quest will be to become an extremely powerful business owner and build a theme park so awesome it will save the economy before facing Obana in the Oval Offace. So obviously fortune and wealth play a big part of Jhon’s life already.

Jhon’s class as Boss also takes a distinctly economic focus. A boss of course refers to a supervisor, someone in charge who manages a business, directing their employees. The word boss was taken from the Dutch word baas, meaning ‘master.’  Looking at the synonym of tycoon a bit more, while the English definition simply means a powerful person in an industry, the word itself is a corruption of the Japanese word ‘taikun’ or ‘great lord,’ referring to a shogun.

An important question here is whether a Boss would be a standard class or a master class. The word itself certainly wouldn’t be out of place as a master class, except perhaps for breaking with the Medieval theme, but it’s unclear if master classes could work like that. Calliope certainly seems to indicate that there are only two master classes, and marks them as distinct for being the furthers on the passive/active scale. If a Boss is a master class, what is it’s pair, if it has one, and what relation does it have to other classes? It could also be a standard class of course, the existence of which  beyond the twelve we know having always been a solid maybe.

Looking at Jhon’s behavior, this class is also likely connected to Jhon’s role as a ‘daddy’ in CaNWC. Jhon is considered the daddy of Dabe Stidrer, Momi, Dadd before he met Dacronian Dignity, and made two independent offers to be a daddy to two different crocodiles mere moments after meeting them. LODAD might also be a reference to this, being the Land of DAD.

I would argue that Boss is an active class, assuming that scale applies, possibly with an interpretation of ‘manager of their aspect’ or ‘one who manages via their aspect.’

Interestingly, a video game boss is typically the main antagonist of a series. o has explicitly stated that he’s already building up Rose’s side as being the villains of the series.

Rose’s Time Powers

In addition to her space powers, Rose has been shown to have some degree of control over time. At the moment there is little explanation for this, although we do know that it is not part of her power as Lord of Space. AR and Bg’ogubmom’ibulsprite both seem to be aware of the source of these powers and imply that Rose will discover this source during her quest. As of yet we do not even know what her quest is though, which makes theorizing about it rather difficult.

It is worth noting that Rose’s time power is marked by her signature color, while her space powers uses the traditional green sun shade of green. The fact that it’s her color does seem to indicate that it is some kind of innate ability, or at least one tailored to Rose specifically.

Contrast this to Hecka Jef’s own symbol, which is marked with the Time red, rather than his more pinkish red.

Any answer to this question will likely be of o’s own invention, and certainly doesn’t seem to match any existing Sburb mechanics. The closest incident that comes to mind would be items related to an aspect, such as Caliborn using the Ring of Void, or John using the Fear No Anvil, but those aren’t exactly innate. For the moment I will simply concur with Jack’s own conclusion that this has to be cheating.

For the sake of sheer speculation, I’m going to guess that Rose got the time powers from Lord English in some kind of exchange, or perhaps as a reward, for freeing him and the rest of the Felt from the corruption. Rose has been confirmed as a Lord of Space, so I’m standing by my own classpect analysis to say that she will be the explicit cause of why some characters have been enhanced. As a Lord of Time, it could make sense that Lord English would grant her time powers even before she makes the exchange.

Troll Players

The next bit of news is that we have learned that Nepeta is indeed trolling the humans, and we can see her corrupted handle. This leaves Eridan and Feferi as the odds one out as the only two characters that haven’t had their handles revealed.

Of course this isn’t definitive proof that they are the two non-player trolls. In fact, it’s basically nothing. If Dabe can be in the human session without being a player, the trolls might have brought the two odd ones out with them as well. Still, it’s best to keep track of these things. Plus we already know that Eridan is, ahem, tied up at the moment anyways, which is a much better reason to think he’s out.

Considering that the background for Act 5 contains all twelve astrological symbols, we should expect to see the full cast of trolls.

Coulor and Darknes

We finally have some indication as to why the trolls are harassing the humans. According to Kraket, the reason they are looking for vengeance is because their “winners door” has been stolen, which I am happy to say I predicted.

Unlike what I predicted however, Kraket claims they are still being killed by a pair of demons from Earth, one of color and the other of darkness. In addition, Kraket extends this blame to Dabe, even though he’s not a player, claiming that he has known both demons for years, and emphasizes Hecka Jef’s blame over others.

In canon, Karkat never had a good grasp on how long a year was meant to be, so who knows how long he’s really talking about, but it’s fair to say that this is significant.

Lord English makes the most sense for being the Demon of Color, especially considering we already know he has the door, but that leaves an obvious problem with the rest of Kraket’s description. Dabe doesn’t know Lord English. He likely knows Lil Cal, but that’s a fairly weak connection. Caliborn is technically from Earth, but not from the session that the trolls are viewing.

The evidence so far also heavily indicates that Caliborn is indeed still Lord English. We know that Lord English is the Lord of Time from another session, that he leads the Felt, that Lil Cal exists, that the Cairo Overcoat exists, and that it travels through time via sarcophagus.

The Demon of Color might still be some other minion or version of Lord English, like Union Jack in Homestuck. This makes both Dabe’s Bro and the Big Man likely candidates.

The Demon of Darkness on the other hand could work for Rose, further contrasting her to the Lord of Time. Her connection to the Horrorterrors is already well established. Assuming it’s not her personally though, a few more options open up for who this could be since the Queen’s Ring turns people into creatures with the powers of the head of the noble circle.

The fact that Hecka Jef prototyped Rose’s grimoire also makes Kraket’s blame all the more appropriate. That’s an action that very explicitly puts the blame on him.

The bigger difficulty with this theory is that the Queen’s Rings do not work on humans, which makes it difficult to see who Dabe could have known all his life, yet still use its power. One possible answer to this is that since each ring is also prototyped with Dabe’s life-long friend Germy, Kraket may be placing the blame on him. So while a carapacian will still be wearing the ring, Kraket will blame Germy.

Final Thoughts

And there you have it. One year later and CaNWC is still going strong, with plenty new and cool content, art, and music. I’m looking forward to another year of content in the future and all the new facts and theories to come.

[hermanwatts]

Sensor Sweep: Irish Horror Writers, Robert Jordan, E. C. Comics

Indie Fiction (Jon Mollison): Given that indy comics are shouting into the gale-force winds of multi-billion dollar marketing campaigns.  It’s hard to get noticed, and every little of help that I can offer my fellow creatives is time well spent.  These reviews aren’t just the writings of a fan, they are recommendations to help you choose the best works to fill your time.

    Fiction (Matthew Hoskin): I was reminded of this poster recently, reading my Oxford World’s Classics edition of Ludovico Ariosto’s Italian Renaissance epic, Orlando Furioso. The cover depicts Ruggiero rescuing Angelica, mounted on a winged steed (bird? hippogriff? I don’t know yet), lancing a dragon from atop his mount. Angelica is nude.  This led me to start thinking about Howard and Ariosto. Now, I’m not saying that Robert E. Howard ever read Ariosto (or Boiardo’s Orlando innamorato).

  Gaming (Kraken Originals): Four more Mythical Mystics are ready to be released into the wild. Mermaid, SaberWolf, Unicorn, and Yeti will be available for sale at 6pm PDT on 10-24-19. The different ink options give each set a very unique and different look from their counterparts, and with our Naked sets the outcomes are endless! Don’t miss out on completing your collection with these 12 or 14 piece sets.

Currently there are no Naked Fairy sets available, but the other four sets are available in all ink options. 12pc Set is $19.95 and the 14pc set is $24.95, a $3 savings from buying the 30mm and 15mm alone.

  Fiction (Goodman Games): So even when Joe Goodman suggested doing some Appendix N Archaeology articles, I had not thought of the Bard of Baltimore until he suggested revisiting Poe. And in retrospect, decades from those dreaded reading assignments, I can think back, remember stories like The Pit and the Pendulum, The Masque of the Red Death, and The Telltale Heart and realize that he was, more than Hawthorne or Stoker, the father of modern horror fiction. Before Poe, there were horror stories and novels like Varney the Vampire or Geoffrey Lewis’ The Monk, but the majority were more morality stories than anything else or ended, Scooby-Doo-style, with the villains unmasked as mere charlatans.

  Gaming (Nerd Stash): Destiny plays a major role in Call of Cthulhu as well. Your choices have a lasting impact on the world and Pierce and will make all the difference in the final moments of the game. Choose to betray a character’s trust and they may not assist you in a key point of the game. While helping them with something will earn you a reward later on that may get you to a different area or give you a new piece of lore. I’m a huge fan of pen and paper roleplaying games and Call of Cthulhu plays out exactly like one. That’s excellent seeing as it is based on the same mechanics as the RPG of the same name.

D&D (Skulls in the Stars): UK4: When a Star Falls (1984), by Graeme Morris.  We start today with another of the UK-produced modules, which tend to have a very different flavor and welcome quirkiness when compared to their US counterparts. The fact that this module is written by Graeme Morris is a good sign: Morris was an author or co-author of many excellent modules from the TSR UK office, including Beyond the Crystal Cave, which I’ve written about before!

  FIction (Cleveland.com): But it wasn’t “Star Wars” or Atari that made the biggest impression on the Cleveland author growing up. Thanks to his father, Bruening grew up reading the pulp fiction of the pre-World War II era, the noirs and adventure tales and Westerns and aviation tales that kept earlier generations rapt. “My father was born in 1929, six months before the stock market crash, his childhood was defined by the Great Depression and then war,” says Bruening. “He read all of the adventure classics, Kipling, Dumas, Edgar Rice Burroughs, cowboy stories. He was really enamored of that whole type of entertainment.

  H. P. Lovecraft (DMR Books): Edward John Moreton Drax Plunkett—better known as Lord Dunsany—passed beyond the Fields We Know on this date in 1957. H.P. Lovecraft, was, without a doubt, one of the foremost Dunsany fans to ever walk the earth. Below is the poem he wrote in tribute to that titan of fantasy literature. As far as I can ascertain, HPL’s ode to Dunsany was written in 1919. Lovecraft would precede his idol to the grave by two decades.

“To Edward John Moreton Drax Plunkett, Eighteenth Baron Dunsany”

  Fiction (From Dundee’s Desk): Back in the 1992 – 94 time period, under the pen name Adam Rutledge, James Reasoner wrote a six-volume series of books for Bantam entitled THE PATRIOTS. As the over-arcing title suggests, these stories are set during the Revolutionary War years when young America rose up and won independence from England.

  Fiction (Don Herron): Far be it for me to sit on my beanbag when you guys are having all the fun with the Siege of Malta. This inscription is from The Knights of St. John (1932), a novel by Paul L. Anderson which — while I haven’t read it — undoubtedly deals with the siege. Just check out the Dedication. Anderson of course is well-known for his stories of prehistoric man which appeared in issues of Argosy during the early 1920s. These stories were obviously enjoyed by Robert E. Howard, and influenced him when he wrote tales such as “Spear and Fang.”

  Culture Wars (Brian Niemeier): Merely mentioning a Disney/Marvel property, even to negatively contrast it with a superior indie work, just gives the Devil Mouse brand social proof as the one to beat.

Refusing to feed the beast doesn’t suffice by itself, though. We also need positive messaging that promotes superior alternatives. Freeing Gen Y fanboys from the nostalgia trap has also proven more of a challenge than even I anticipated. Studying methods professionals use to combat addiction and deprogram cultists may be in order.

  Horror (Ireland XO): The people of Ireland have a reputation for their skill as storytellers with the nation producing some of the most lauded novelists, playwrights, and poets that the world has ever known. The genre of horror is no different, as three of the great early authors in the field had either immediate or very close connections with Ireland.

Horror (Digital Bibliophilia): There is a point while I was reading The Spirit by Thomas Page that I had flashbacks to the fairy tale Goldilocks and the Three Bears. I won’t spoil anything, but if you read the novel, or have already read the novel, it might happen to you too. I read the re-print version by Valancourt Books, which has come about via the enormous success of their coffee table reference book Paperbacks From Hell by Grady Hendrix with contributions from Will Errickson.

  Comic Books (Goodman Games): In fact, it’s also fairly easy to see how Gary Gygax, the main co-creator of Dungeons and Dragons (and an entire gaming industry) would fess up to being influenced by the art and storytelling found within the comic books of his formative years. But they are not just any old comic books that he mentions; Gary took the time to single out the creative output of one particular company among the veritable sea of comic books being printed at the time. Yes dear readers, the creeping tendrils of Tales from the Crypt, Weird Science, and Vault of Horror have been christened part of the root system beneath the mighty sequoia that is Dungeons and Dragons.

Westerns (Brandywine Books): The scene above, (involving lost luggage) near the beginning of Owen Wister’s novel, The Virginian, seems to me to foreshadow a major theme of the novel. This is a panorama painted on a canvas a thousand miles wide. The landscape itself is a character in it. It’s a slow book, episodic and discursive, but that’s because everyplace is a long way from everyplace else, and travel takes time.

Robert Jordan (Every Day Should be Tuesday): Decades ago James Oliver Rigney Jr. wrote a book.  That book allowed him to break into the publishing industry.  He sold it several times.  It established his working relationship with Harriet McDougal, who would become his wife.  It led to his first published book, The Fallon’s Blood (as Reagan O’Neal).  It led to a gig writing (eventually seven) Conan pastiches for Tor, this time as Robert Jordan, the pseudonym he would make famous.  It also heavily foreshadows themes and elements from The Wheel of Time, his landmark work of epic fantasy.  It was not, however, published before his death.

Pulp Magazines (Mystery File): Have you ever received a book in the mail and immediately stopped what you were reading, stopped whatever you were doing and sat down and read the book? This is what happened when I received Queen of the Pulps. I had seen Laurie Powers work and do research on it for several years and finally here it is! She must of gotten sick and tired of me nagging her about the book and asking for progress reports.

Writing Philosophy (Rawle Nyanzi): The post — and the novel it reviews — asserts that good and evil are real, and that with great struggle, good can overcome evil. The novel in particular asserts that the Christian God is the source of this good, and that through Him, all things are possible. On the other hand, the tweet decries those who find the Joker film to be too nihilistic. Its writer asserts that the movie did well because heroism is dead. According to him, no one wants heroes anymore because society is corrupt and collapsing, with nothing to look forward to.

Sensor Sweep: Irish Horror Writers, Robert Jordan, E. C. Comics published first on https://sixchexus.weebly.com/

[aion-rsa]

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse - Complete Guide to Marvel Easter Eggs

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We're tracking down every Marvel Universe Easter egg and reference in Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. Help us out!

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Books

Mike Cecchini Gavin Jasper

Marvel

Dec 14, 2018

Spider-Man

Animation

This article consists of nothing but Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse spoilers. We have a spoiler-free review right here if you prefer.

Well, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse absolutely delivers everything a Spider-Man fan could possibly want. Who needs the Marvel Cinematic Universe when you've got a movie that tell such a wonderful, compelling story on its own, and one that draws so heavily purely from Spider-Man mythology, right?

And for those of you who want to dig as deep as you can on everything Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse has to offer, we give you this (mostly) complete guide to Easter eggs in the movie. If you spot something we missed, mention it in the comments, or give Mike or Gavin a shout on Twitter...and if it checks out, we'll update this and credit you!

Now, let's get swingin'...

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse Characters

While the multiverse is, of course, infinite, this movie focuses on a handful of key Spider-people.

Miles Morales

Miles Morales was created by Brian Michael Bendis and Sara Pichelli. He originally appeared in Marvel's (now defunct) Ultimate universe, as the replacement for a very dead Peter Parker. Sound familiar? He's currently part of the main Marvel Universe, though.

read more - Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse - Who is Miles Morales?

- The genetically modified spider that gives Miles Morales his powers has the #42 on it, this is straight out of his Ultimate Spider-Man comics origin, as is the stuff about Miles getting into the private school due to winning a lottery is taken from the comics.

- Miles is often seen reading a comic called True Life Tales of Spider-Man. The name and the logo recall an actual Marvel series called Untold Tales of Spider-Man, which came out during the 1990s, and told stories that happened “in between” important moments in Spidey’s early career. One of the covers is an obvious callback to Amazing Fantasy #15, the first appearance of Peter Parker.

- Names in Miles’ phone include B. Bendis and Sara Pichelli. He'd better have those names in there...they are the people who created him! The pair get another shout out later on, as when Miles accepts who he is, the comic book cover mentions Bendis/Pichelli.

Meanwhile, Miles' Dad’s phone has Peter Parker co-creator Steve Ditko on speed dial. Of course, Steve Ditko wasn't really fond of taking phone calls, but it's great to see him referenced here (and of course, Stan Lee has his traditional, but first posthumous, cameo).

- Miles wonders how two Spider-Men could exist and for a second we see a comic cover of “Two Spider-Men.” Spider-Men is the first crossover between 616 Peter and Miles.

Peter Parker

- This movie takes place about 10 years into this world’s version of Spider-Man’s career. To fill in the blanks, there are loads of visual homages to the three Sam Raimi Spider-Man movies during the scenes establishing who this world’s Spider-Man is, including the restaurant/taxi/spider-sense sequence, the famous bit where Spidey stops the subway on the elevated tracks, the upside-down kiss, the horrid dancing from Spider-Man 3, and more. Later in the movie, Spidey’s “broke my back” joke is both another Spider-Man 2 reference and a callback to Tobey Maguire’s back problems/negotiating tactics between the first two movies. There’s also a visual homage to him pulling the Staten Island Ferry together from Spider-Man: Homecoming.

read more - Every Marvel Easter Egg in Spider-Man: Homecoming

- Peter Parker and Mary Jane are divorced in the older Peter’s world. This is rather surprising to see if you were following the character back in the mid-00s. Joe Quesada really did not like the idea of the two being married because he felt it made Peter too hard to relate to. He had to go through the stunt of having them sell their marriage to Mephisto (the Devil...but from space!) to create a retcon that they never got hitched. Why not just have them straight-up get divorced? Quesada claimed it would age Peter too much and would make him even harder to relate to. Meanwhile, this movie makes a 40-year old Peter Parker going through a midlife crisis as easy to relate to as any version of the character in history, but whatever.

Spider-Man Noir

- Spider-Man Noir comes from a brief line when Marvel released miniseries that reimagined their characters as grounded 1930s-1940s counterparts. For instance, X-Men Noir was about a group of grifters with special gifts (ie. Rogue’s ability to perfectly steal someone’s identity) opposing a corrupt police force. Spider-Man Noir received two miniseries and appeared to be the only hero of that line to have actual powers. His origin is rather ill-explained, where he’s bitten by what appears to be mystical spiders and hallucinates seeing a spider god.

Spider-Gwen

- Spider-Gwen made her first appearance in Edge of Spider-Verse #2, created by Jason Latour and Robbi Rodriguez. There are a lot of differences in her reality, but one of them is that Gwen Stacy was the victim of the radioactive spider bite instead of Peter Parker. The gist of her quick backstory from the movie very much lines up with the comics. This includes the fact that her boyfriend Peter turned himself into the Lizard after being broken down from constant bullying. Spider-Gwen fought the Lizard a little too hard with the offense and ended up killing him by accident.

She also plays in the Mary Janes, a band also made up of Mary Jane Watson, Betty Brant, and Glory Grant.

She'll return in an animated spinoff of her own, so don't you worry.

Spider-Ham

Peter Porker, the Spectacular Spider-Ham (typing that will never, ever get old) first appeared in a one-shot comic in 1983 called (seriously) Marvel Tails, and then went on to headline his own book. He is exactly what you expect.

For more on Peter Porker, the Spectacular Spider-Ham, well...we have his complete and weird (and completely weird) history right here for you.

Peni Parker

Peni Parker and Sp//dr first appeared in Edge of Spider-Verse #5, and they were created by Jake Wyatt and My Chemical Romance's own Gerard Way.

Believe it or not, this is only a small sampling of the Spider-Men of the Spider-Verse out there. We have a complete guide to all of them right here.

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse Comics Easter Eggs

- Throughout the movie, there are loads of great references to printed comic book storytelling, like using the captions as thought balloons, Ben-day dots for effect, sound effects on screen, and more.

read more - The Making of Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse

- On a monitor when Kingpin’s scientists were turning on the particle collider during the Spider-Man vs. Green Goblin fight, there are different Earth numbers mentioned like “E-616” and “E-1610.” 616 is the designation for the "main" Marvel Comics Universe.

- Is it us, or does Mary Jane in this movie look like J. Scott Campbell art?

- The shot of Uncle Ben “dying” looks an awful lot like one of the covers of Ultimate Spider-Man: Death of Spider-Man where we see Peter and Ben walking into the afterlife together.

- The pink-haired girl from Miles’ old school might be a reference to the Ultimate Comics version of Kate Bishop, who dated Miles for a bit.

- The revelation that this Spidey is blond feels like a slight nod to the Ben Reilly era of the character. Essentially (hoo-boy) in the ‘90s Marvel had this awful idea called The Clone Saga. In it, Peter Parker retires as Spider-Man and is replaced by his clone, who, to distinguish himself from Peter, dyes his hair and takes the name Ben Reilly (Ben after his Uncle, and Reilly being Aunt May’s maiden name).

- Peter plans to take Miles under his wing, but dies. In an issue of Ultimate Spider-Man where Miles and his friends discuss how things probably would have worked out if Peter survived, Miles admits that although he never got to meet his universe’s Peter Parker, he feels that Peter would have been his mentor.

Spidey's Secret Headquarters

- In Spider-Men, 616 Peter does visit Ultimate Aunt May’s home. Although things work out in the end, her initial reaction is to attack him until Miles (who she knows) explains that he’s the real deal. Bonus! Aunt May appears to have her furniture covered in plastic. That's a nice detail for anyone who has an elderly relative living in the boroughs of NYC. It's basically standard issue.

- Pretty sure you can spot “The Rose” on the wall with the chart of the Fisk family in Spidey’s hideout.

- The infamous Spider-Mobile is on display in the late-Spider-Man’s lair. The Spider-Mobile was always a merchandise-driven creation, the irony being that Peter Parker didn't actually know how to drive. Why? Well, for starters, he lives in New York City. If you grow up here, there's little reason for you to drive. More importantly, he got his powers at 15 or 16, and the driving age in New York is 16. Why bother learning to drive when you can web swing?

- Suits in the lair include the video game costume, Iron Spider suit, stealth suit, MCU suit. The caped one is from What If v.1 #19 (he stopped the thief and remained an entertainer). One of them is Spider-Man from Exiles, coming from a world where Peter Parker wore the Carnage symbiote.

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse Villains

Now, let's talk baddies...

The Prowler

- There have been several characters to assume the identity of the Prowler. The character has been kicking around the Marvel Universe since 1969 (as Hobie Brown), before a guy named Rick Lawson took over the role. But neither of those are the guy on screen here...

It was the Ultimate Universe Prowler who was Aaron Davis, Miles Morales' uncle, and he didn't come around until Ultimate Comics: Spider-Man #1 in 2011.

Kingpin

It's kind of amazing that this is Wilson Fisk's first big screen appearance, especially given the popularity of the character both in the comics on TV. Liev Schrieber manages to deliver a different enough performance from Vincent D'Onofrio's to make it his own, though.

- Kingpin is haunted by the rejection and deaths of his wife Vanessa and son Richard. In the comics (and especially the Daredevil Netflix series), Vanessa is a lot more open to Wilson’s dark dealings. In the main comics, Richard was an adult and hated his father, though never sure whether to usurp him as a villain or betray him as a hero. In the end, he was shot dead by Vanessa.

- The closest counterpart to the movie’s depiction of Richard Fisk is in Punisher MAX, where he was an 8-year-old boy. Wilson Fisk coldly allowed him to die in a hostage situation rather than give himself up to an enemy and Vanessa forever hated him for it.

- Kingpin’s bodyguard is Tombstone, otherwise known as Lonnie Thompson Lincoln. Created by Gerry Conway and Alex Saviuk back in 1988, Tombstone is an albino with the strength and fighting skill that makes him capable of trading blows with Spider-Man. He tends to exist as a mafia figure for the most part instead of a cackling supervillain and has indeed worked for Kingpin in the comics once or twice.

Doctor Octopus

- Dr. Olivia Octavius is an original character. Or as original as you can get for being a gender-flipped Otto Octavius. That’s kind of the point of the twist is. That said, there have been at least two female versions of Doc Ock in the comics. The most famous one is Carolyn Trainer, who took the mantle back during the Clone Saga days after Kaine snapped Otto’s neck. More recently, the Web-Warriors gained an ally in Octavia Otto, a member of the Young Avengers from a world where Spider-Man is the villain.

- Dr. Octavius talks up alternate universes and describes them as “WHAT IF to Infinity,” referencing Marvel’s famous alternate history comics as well as their most famous crossover events (and live action movies).

- The version of Green Goblin seen on the screen in this movie feels very much like the Ultimate version of the character, where Norman Osborn had actually mutated himself into a hulking green beast, rather than dressing like a goblin.

- This is a different version of Scorpion than we've seen in any movie, animated series, or game. Any ideas where he's pulled from? In any case, this is Scorpion's first shot at the big time on the big screen, although there's an excellent chance he'll appear in a future live action Spidey movie, as Mac Gargan was played by Michael Mando in Spider-Man: Homecoming.

- During the sequence showing off Spidey's villains (most of whom make more substantial appearances in the movie), you can see a quick flash of Rhino at one point, but he doesn't seem to appear anywhere else in the movie.

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse Video Game References

- The shot of Peter Spider-Man crawling upside down towards the viewer looks exactly like the cover to the great PS1 game.

- Spidey does the “finger guns” like he does in the amazing PS4 video game.

Miscellaneous Spidey Stuff

- When Miles goes to his Uncle Aaron’s house, the episode of Community (“Anthropology 101”) with Donald Glover in a Spidey costume is on TV. This visual was one of the main inspirations for Miles Morales’ very creation. Glover himself has voiced Miles on Ultimate Spider-Man: Web-Warriors and played the live-action version of Aaron Davis in Spider-Man: Homecoming.

- It’s not an Easter egg, but this movie has a terrific use of Black Sheep’s “The Choice is Yours,” a guaranteed party starter whenever it drops anywhere. Later in the movie there’s an appropriately cheesy use of “St. Elmo’s Fire.”

- Billboards in Times Square include: From Dusk til Shaun (the Shaun of the Dead sequel we deserve) and John Mulaney and Nick Kroll in “Hi, Hello.” Also a cartoon called Clone College (uh-oh...don't say "clone" around Spider-Man fans) and a toy called Mr. Tomato Head.

Elsewhere in New York City you can spot signs that say “Bendis” (another nod to Brian Michael Bendis, Miles' co-creator) and “Romita Ramen” (for John Romita Sr. and Jr...both of whom have made their mark on the Spidey mythos...but especially sr.)

- The shot of Peter sitting behind the desk, up to his shoulders, is from the ‘67 cartoon and lives on in meme form. This includes the infamous “And I’m just sitting here masturbating” memes, which was specifically referenced in a Web-Warriors comic when Spider-Gwen visited that cartoon’s world.

- Miles’ Spider-Man costume Halloween mask looks exactly like the old, cheap plastic Ben Cooper mask, right down to the nose holes.

- Did you know this movie almost featured a Doctor Strange cameo? Well...it almost did! More details here!

- I couldn’t tell for sure, but a piece of art in the underground area looked an awful lot like Leon: The Professional.

- Spider-Ham’s “That’s all folks!” is...well...you know where that's from. Wait...is he even allowed to say that?

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse Post-Credits Scenes

The initial end credits include at least two references to Spider-Man ‘67 stills that became popular. One is an image of Spider-Man sitting behind a desk while the wall behind him is covered in framed photos of himself. Another is the “hay” image, where Spider-Man was laying down on a train track. Despite the intent of the animated scenes, the way he’s posing makes it look more like a sexual invite. Earth-67 is where the 1967-1970 Spider-Man cartoon takes place. The footage originates from the season one episode “Double Identity.”

Spider-Man 2099

Spider-Man 2099 is Miguel O’Hara, an Alchemax employee from the future who accidentally gave himself spider powers. Taking up the mantle of Spider-Man, he was the first of many hero reprisals from that era. He has teamed up with his past counterpart on various occasions and has taken part in his share of dimensional team-ups.

Funny enough, the movie had set up Spider-Man 2099's appearance way earlier, as Alchemax was introduced in the Spider-Man 2099 comics  as a mega-corporation that does everything from pharmaceuticals to privatizing the police force. Only recently has Marvel created a modern-day take on the company, revealing it to be Liz Allen’s Allen Company after absorbing Oscorp and Horizon Labs.

We went into much more detail about those post-credits scenes right here.

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[swipestream]

Conan: The Tower of the Elephant

Come, reader. Let us continue the review and commentary of the Conan stories of Robert E Howard. This episode is Tower Of The Elephant, first appearing in in Weird Tales, March 1933.

Conan is young here. The internal chronology of the stories is subject to some guesswork. But it is fair to say that this is the second or third tale in Conan’s career, taking place after Frost Giant’s Daughter (1934). We see him for the first time in what will be his signature costume: “naked except for a loin-cloth and his high-strapped sandals.”

I found, as I often do, that not only is Robert E. Howard a better writer than I was able, as a callow youth, to see he was. He also easily surpasses the modern writers attempting to climb his particular dark mountain. From the high peak, brooding, he glares down at inferior writers mocking him, and, coldly, he laughs.

Particularly when Howard is compared with the modern trash that pretends to be fantasy while deconstructing and destroying everything for which the genre stands, he is right to laugh.

Let us list the ways.

Howard, as many pulp-era writers had to be, is a master of structure.

The Tower of the Elephant is divided into three chapters. The first introduces the set-up. In the most lawless quarter of a city of thieves, in a stinking tavern where rogues and lowlifes gather, rumors are spoken of a silvery tower that looms above the city in an isolated garden on a hilltop. In it is a gem of fabled worth and eldritch powers, that is the talisman of a sinister wizard. The tower seems strangely unguarded, or, rather, guarded strangely.

The wall is low, the way is not difficult: but none of the famous thieves will dare approach it. Our very own Conan (whom last we saw as a king) is here a barbaric lad who asks about the tower and the gem, is rudely answered, and rashly vows to make the attempt. Words are exchanged, and a fight ensues. We soon see how tough Conan is.

The second chapter is a heist. We are introduced to Taurus the Prince of Thieves. He and Conan join forces, attempting to elude or outfight the dangerous or unchancy defenders, human or otherwise, guarding the treasure. When even the Princes of Thieves is unable to overcome a particularly strange peril, a second fight ensues. We soon see how tough the Tower is.

The final chapter is pure awesomeness. The weird and supernatural secret of the Tower reveals itself. Even bold Conan, who fears no mortal blade, is petrified, if only for a moment. The dire and supernatural revenge which follows those who meddle in the outer secrets unfolds.

Howard is also the master of the one trick that always seems to elude postmodern writers. He knows how to pen a proper ending: As in a fairy tale of old, Conan is wise enough to obey the supernatural being when it speech, and a pathway to safety is opened for him. He escapes with his life.

What becomes of the mystic gem that decrees the fates of kingdoms? Read the tale yourself and discover: my lips are sealed.

Howard knows that every story must have a moral core. His particular genius, which was the genius of an era where men were weary of the civilization, and yearned for younger, simpler days, yes, even more savage days, was to call on a Pagan moral core rather than a Christian one. There is no mercy, no faith, no forgiveness in Conan’s world. There is, however, courage and honor, even among thieves. The Conan stories glamorize the barbaric while denigrating the corruptions that dog civilized life.

The writer’s task consist of telling, not merely the events of the tale, but the deeper truth they hide, including odd bits of wisdom:

Civilized men are more discourteous than savages because they know they can be impolite without having their skulls split, as a general thing.

Or:

A civilized man in his position would have sought doubtful refuge in the conclusion that he was insane; it did not occur to the Cimmerian to doubt his senses.

The writer includes not just the world, but the worldview of his tale. In Conan’s world, civilized religion is rotten because civilization is rotten.

He [Conan] did not trouble his head […] he knew that Zamora’s religion, like all things of a civilized, long-settled people, was intricate and complex, and had lost most of the pristine essence in a maze of formulas and rituals.

He had squatted for hours in the courtyard of the philosophers, listening to the arguments of theologians and teachers, and come away in a haze of bewilderment, sure of only one thing, and that, that they were all touched in the head.

Barbaric religion, on the other hand, is forthright  and manly.

His gods were simple and understandable; Crom was their chief, and he lived on a great mountain, whence he sent forth dooms and death. It was useless to call on Crom, because he was a gloomy, savage god, and he hated weaklings. But he gave a man courage at birth, and the will and might to kill his enemies, which, in the Cimmerian’s mind, was all any god should be expected to do.

An absurd sentiment, and anyone raised in a Christian era knows better, or should. On the other hand, one need not agree with the worldview to admire how well it fits the world to which it belongs, and fits the tale it means to tell.

A world where more was expected of the gods would not be one as savage, wild, spooky, and strange as the Pre-Cataclysmic Age of Conan. The whole point of a ‘noir’ story, a picaresque tale, or a yarn about rogues and evildoers is to see antiheroes beat up villains more savagely than Christian knights allow. It is vacation from Victorian uprightness the reader wants. Real gods, or even real fallen angels aspiring to fatherly authority, like Zeus or Odin or Vishnu or serene Buddha, would spoil the fun.

I cannot show how Howard is the master of prose without quoting him at length. He is more fluid and poetic than the barebones style favored these days, but not so florid as H.P. Lovecraft nor as elevated and wry as Lord Dunsany or Jack Vance. The prose, like Homer, is direct, vivid, manly.

Here are the opening lines. Next time you try to run a Dungeons and Dragons game, try, just try, to establish the mood of danger, riot, and lawless liberty of your tavern setting so quickly and clearly. You will find it is not so easy.

Would be writers take note of which senses are engaged an in which order: sight, sound, smell, and in the adroit final metaphor, feeling.

TORCHES flared murkily on the revels in the Maul, where the thieves of the east held carnival by night. In the Maul they could carouse and roar as they liked, for honest people shunned the quarters, and watchmen, well paid with stained coins, did not interfere with their sport.

Along the crooked, unpaved streets with their heaps of refuse and sloppy puddles, drunken roisterers staggered, roaring. Steel glinted in the shadows where wolf preyed on wolf, and from the darkness rose the shrill laughter of women, and the sounds of scufflings and strugglings.

Torchlight licked luridly from broken windows and wide-thrown doors, and out of those doors, stale smells of wine and rank sweaty bodies, clamor of drinking-jacks and fists hammered on rough tables, snatches of obscene songs, rushed like a blow in the face.

Howard is also a master of the art of ‘camerawork’ that is, knowing what not to say. This is from later in the same scene:

‘Heathen dog!’ he bellowed. ‘I’ll have your heart for that!’ Steel flashed and the throng surged wildly back out of the way.

In their flight they knocked over the single candle and the den was plunged in darkness, broken by the crash of upset benches, drum of flying feet, shouts, oaths of people tumbling over one another, and a single strident yell of agony that cut the din like a knife.

When a candle was relighted, most of the guests had gone out by doors and broken windows, and the rest huddled behind stacks of wine-kegs and under tables.

The barbarian was gone; the center of the room was deserted except for the gashed body of the Kothian. The Cimmerian, with the unerring instinct of the barbarian, had killed his man in the darkness and confusion.

Howard also can make a minor character, one stage for but half a chapter, spring to life, such as when the Prince of Thieves schools young Conan with sound advice about his trade:

We’ll strangle old Yara before he can cast any of his accursed spells on us. At least we’ll try; it’s the chance of being turned into a spider or a toad, against the wealth and power of the world. All good thieves must know how to take risks.

A writer not only must set the stage and bring the characters to life. He is also the prop-master. Howard creates a world where even ordinary objects are overlaid with dark glamour. As example, here is the tale of an ampule of poisonous powder:

‘Because that was all the powder I possessed. The obtaining of it was a feat which in itself was enough to make me famous among the thieves of the world. I stole it out of a caravan bound for Stygia, and I lifted it, in its cloth-of-gold bag, out of the coils of the great serpent which guarded it, without awaking him. But come, in Bel’s name! Are we to waste the night in discussion?’

Or a climbing rope:

‘It was woven from the tresses of dead women, which I took from their tombs at midnight, and steeped in the deadly wine of the upas tree, to give it strength.

A writer knows when lure the reader onward with a bit of dark mystery:

Gingerly the barbarian ran his hands over the man’s half-naked body, seeking a wound. But the only marks of violence were between his shoulders, high up near the base of his bull-neck—three small wounds, which looked as if three nails had been driven deep in the flesh and withdrawn. The edges of these wounds were black, and a faint smell as of putrefaction was evident. Poisoned darts? thought Conan—but in that case the missiles should be still in the wounds.

Howard is a master of mood. Some things are just way cool, but one is likely to notice only after reading more of Howard’s world:

‘You are not of Yara’s race of devils,’ sighed the creature. ‘The clean, lean fierceness of the wastelands marks you. I know your people from of old, whom I knew by another name in the long, long ago when another world lifted its jeweled spires to the stars.

The creature is remembering Atlantis. According to Howard’s background, Conan comes from the same long bloodline as Kull.

Finally, Howard is a master of the genre than he makes his own.

And sometimes you stumble over the threshold of strangeness, and realize you are in a science fiction and not a fantasy world, not, or perhaps you realize that the two genres are not two at all, but one. Who told you that imagination was different from speculation?

I am very old, oh man of the waste countries; long and long ago I came to this planet with others of my world, from the green planet Yag, which circles for ever in the outer fringe of this universe. We swept through space on mighty wings that drove us through the cosmos quicker than light…

Howard is a master of the craft. Small wonder these stories are the best remembered of all his prodigious output. Looking at the publication dates, I notice the first three Conan yarns appeared in the pages of Weird Tales in four months: December, January, and March.

If you are wondering, the February issue for that year had stories by H.P. Lovecraft and Clark Ashton Smith, so I am sure the readership yearning for weird tales in Weird Tales were not disappointed. It was a golden age.

Why does our own age seem to have so much tin, which corrodes other metals it touches, so much brass, and so little gold? It may be that a gloss of nostalgia brightens some of the old works. But it also could be that we are not trying to write golden works. We have among us these days men who are the opposite of alchemists. They turn gold into base metals.

Here is the secret to why so much modern fantasy fiction is not just bad, but extremely bad, deplorably bad, deliberately bad: modern fantasy on the whole is morally repugnant, intellectually flat, and viscerally disgusting.

Too many modern fabulists are not friends of the Perilous Wood where dangerous shadows dwell, alarming monsters, fair maidens, and sights fabulous and strange. They are foes. They follow not the tradition of fairy stories reaching from Weird Tales to 1001 Arabian Nights, and the Song of Roland to the Odyssey of Homer. They follow the fashionable nonsense of Marx and Nietzsche and Hegel and Hume, who believe that reality is optional, all morals are manmade hence arbitrary, and that life is merely the endless Darwinian struggle between oppressor and oppressed.

The mind (using the word in a loose sense) of postmodernism holds that reality is merely a story, a narrative, the strong tell the weak in order to oppress them, and that true enlightenment consists of realizing that there is no truth, hence no story to tell.

Postmodernism holds that there is neither good nor evil, neither high nor low, neither fair nor foul, neither virtue nor vice.

But story-telling consists is telling literal truths in figurative ways: metaphors, similes, images and examples. Even the shallowest boy’s adventure tale contains a soul. The story makes a world, and therefore holds a worldview.

In every worldview, there is something uplifted as high, the peak of what is desired and sought, and something else depressed as low, the pit of what is fled. The nature of the drama, whatever the drama is, consist of the struggle of the main character to climb from pit to peak. In tragic stories, his own flaws make him stumble, and he slides down. In happier stories, he struggles and climbs and finds the peak. He wins the girl, or learns a lesson, or saves the kingdom, and returns home and puts his child on his knee and smiles.

And in tales that are deeper, that is, more truthful, we find that after the struggle, the bruised but unbowed hero stands aloft but is surprised that he ends up with a different victory, atop a different peak, than he saw looking up from below, when he started.

But postmodernism is a worldview that says all worldviews are false. One man’s peak is another man’s valley, therefore there is no innate meaning in life, no gods, no moral law, no Aesop’s lesson to be learned, no victory and no downfall. There is no height, and no depth. There is nothing but a flat and featureless plane, reaching endlessly to no horizon, with no water, no shade, and no directions.

Stories of any genre, even if they copy all the furniture of fantastic tales, told in this worldview have nothing to say, and contain no drama. They are executed like graffiti, merely to mar what other, more skilled hands, have put in place.

Now, a well-crafted tale, on the other hand, even if it holds a worldview not to the reader’s taste or liking, the reader will like and admire (and, if that reader is as I am, will adore) any tale whose worldview is not flat and meaningless. A pagan tale of what a pagan calls high and low I may think to reflect a worldview that is only half the truth, but that half is half I can love, if the teller of the tale knows his business.

And Howard knows.

Conan: The Tower of the Elephant published first on https://medium.com/@ReloadedPCGames

[totesmccoats]

Batman: Lost #1

A 78 year old Bruce Wayne reads his granddaughter a story from his adventures as Batman, the very first story: The Case of the Chemical Syndicate.

Except, this isn’t Bruce Wayne. Bruce Wayne was sent into prehistory, where he drew a bat on a wall in a cave, inspiring a tribe of followers.

But that’s not Bruce Wayne either. Bruce Wayne is Batman, and he is trapped in the Dark Multiverse, shown visions of the past, future, and alternate dimensions by the dark god Barbatos to break his psyche. Barbatos taunts Batman through these visions, telling of how Batman had summoned him from the Dark Multiverse, and how he had molded Bruce Wayne from the dawn of history to one day take up the mantle of the Bat and swing open the door for his conquering of the multiverse.

If you have the prerequisite knowledge to understand all the places in from the Batman mythos that this issue plays with and connects, then you will love this issue. Barbatos presents his unified theory of Batman as he drags Bruce deeper in deeper into his own stories, trapping him in inevitability. He breaks Batman by taking away his agency, his ability to prepare, his confidence in his own experience and memory. He confronts Batman with futility. And as readers, Snyder, Tynion, and Williamson take us on a whirlwind tour of Batman, from his beginnings to multiple possible ends.

The team of artists, Mahnke, Paquette, and Jimenez on pencils; Mendoza, Paquette, and Jimenez on inks; and Quintana, Fairbairn, and Sanchez on colors, give each iteration of this Batman story it’s own distinct look and feel, from the golden-age pulp noir throwback of the Case of the Chemical Syndicate, to the hyper digitally-effected detail of a possible future where Damien leads an army against his father. This book is gorgeous from cover to cover, as rewarding just to look at as it is to read.

  Mister Miracle #4

Orion decides to hold a trial for Scott, and appoints himself judge, jury, and executioner, to find out if he is an agent of Darkseid, possessed by the anti-life equation. It’s as much a kangaroo court as it seems, with Orion forcing Scott to answer only in “true” or “false,” but nevertheless, Orion may be onto something. As his questioning becomes more and more leading, he probes into Scott’s serious depression, including his suicide attempt, and posits that he may be feeling as he does because of the anti-life equation.

Honestly, part of me would hate it for a comic that seems to be so sympathetic to the mental plight of those affected with depression to explain it away as a side effect of an evil god armed with an magic equation that makes you hate yourself; but also, Darkseid and the anti-life equation have always been a metaphor for our darkest impulses and weaknesses. “Darkseid is” the part of you that hates yourself and others. “Darkseid is” what causes antisocial behavior. And that’s why the heroes can’t let him win. At the least, you can’t argue that making depression a dictator god who hates the concept of freedom itself is undercutting what it actually feels like to live with depression.

King continues his streak of making comics feel surreally domestic, this time with the simple addition of a veggie platter that Scott and Orion pick from during the trial; and the image of the new gods, in full costume, squeezed together on a couch in Scott and Barda’s living room. And Gerad’s use of repetitive panels in a rigid 9-panel grid masterfully builds suspense, and smart use of distortion effects to emphasize moments where things get particularly tense or revealing, is a masterclass in doing more with less. Despite taking place almost entirely within a living room, this issue of Mister Miracle may be the biggest turning-point in the story yet.

  Ragman #2

The demons – who call themselves the Ruah Tum’ah, Hebrew for “impure soul,” – capture Rory, and try to psychologically break him by pressing into his survivor’s guilt, so that they can claim the rags. But, with some help from the souls of his company, who are trapped in rags and who are the people that Rory feels guilty over surviving; he’s able to see past the ruah tum’ah’s illusions, and absorb them into the rags before they can hurt anymore people.

With the demons contained in his rags, Rory tries to interrogate them for information, but is told that doing so drains the power of the other souls trapped in the rags, which would mean losing his friends a second time – so he plans to get to the bottom of things using other methods.

This issue gives us a bit more explanation to what the rags are and how they work, and I always appreciate a story with some jewish mysticism in it; but the book’s biggest weakness continues to be a failure to tie in Rory’s PTSD with the rest of the story in any meaningful way, and also failing to give Rory much of a character outside of his trauma. Rory’s fighting outer demons, but so far his inner ones remain underdeveloped.

Miranda and De La Cruz are illustrating the heck outta this book, giving Ragman himself an interesting and creepy figure and ways of movement and fighting, but again, without a firm anchor for Rory as a character, none of it really coalesces.

  Wonder Woman #34

Wonder Woman finally meets her long-lost brother, Jason; who was raised in secret by Glaucus (who, wasn’t an Argonaut. Don’t know why this issue insists he was.) to protect him from Hera’s jealousy. He reveals to her that he also has powers, including flight; and the two fly off his boat to a small abandoned island for some sibling bonding time.

When discussing family resemblance, Wonder Woman mentions how she wishes she were taller, which, given that she’s supposed to be a like, over 6-foot Amazon, doesn’t exactly track. Also, I really hope I’m not the only one who thought their discussing seemed to be a little too flirty for brother and sister, because I really don’t want that sorta thing to be projection.

Regardless, at sundown, Jason reveals that he was just keeping Diana busy so that Grail could set up an ambush! Because surprise, Jason’s evil! He and Grail manage to overpower Wonder Woman, Grail pinning her with her sword, and Jason promising to kill her himself.

Feels like this issue spent way too much time spinning its wheels before it’s Jason’s heel-turn reveal. Like, this is the first time we’re meeting Jason; there’s no way that we can learn to care for him enough in the space of 2/3rds of an issue where him being evil would feel like a huge betrayal. Either spend more time building a relationship between him and Diana, or reveal that sooner, you know? Really not the sorta thing you can half-ass.

  The Flash #34

Meena is back, and Barry and Wally are happy to have her, even if Wally is still having a hard time trusting people. But Meena’s return isn’t all good news; she tells Barry that the negative-speedforce is killing him from inside, but adds that if she can study it, she may be able to find a cure.

The three speedsters go to the demolition derby so Barry can let loose and create data about the negative-speedforce for Meena to collect; but quickly loses control over his powers and becomes to scared of the repercussions to continue. But despite Meena telling him that sometimes losing control is helpful, she did get all of the data she needs; and promptly reveals that she’s been working with Black Hole the entire time by ambushing the Flashes with a small army. And then she steals the negative-speedforce from Barry…which, despite giving her more power, might have also saved Barry, so…yay?

Meanwhile, the rest of the CCPD inform Kristen of the mysterious new crime boss moving in on Copperhead’s territory.

There’s honestly just not that much going on in this issue. I’m not even sure if Meena revealing that she’s with Black Hole is even a twist, because I’m pretty sure we knew that a few months ago. Same goes for the negative-speedforce negatively affecting Barry. And the Copperhead turf war. Really, the only thing of consequence this issue happens in the last couple of pages, and even then, it’s more a return to status quo than anything else. And yeah, now Barry considers Meena an enemy, but before this issue, he thought she was dead so…I mean, alive is still technically better, right? After how much I’ve enjoyed this series, this issue is really disappointing.

  Moon Knight #188

The new Moon Knight is off to an amazing start, and its first issue doesn’t even have Moon Knight in it. Instead, we follow Dr. Emmett, a psychologist at Ravencroft Asylum working on the case of a nameless man, Patient 86, a pyromaniac who burned his fellow army officers to death after they bullied and tortured him.

Emmett also has a preoccupation with Marc Spector, and believes that just as he was able to focus his multiple personalities through the symbol of Khonshu to become Moon Knight; 86 may benefit from a symbol to focus on, and chooses the Egyptian sun god, Amon-Ra. But she may have succeeded too much in duplicating Marc Spector’s circumstances.

This is one of the most novel approaches I’ve ever read for a first issue, but one that works incredibly; introducing new readers to the idea of Moon Knight by having his origin told by-proxy through the creation of a foil. Dr. Emmett doesn’t succeed in curing 86, only in creating a second Marc Spector. And by showing us what 86 becomes capable of, it hints as to the abilities and mindset of the Moon Knight that Bemis has yet to introduce.

It also helps that Bemis’ dialogue and narrative monologue are electric, lending Emmett an edge to her professionalism, and giving 86 a personality that gets colder as he identifies more with Ra.

Burrows’ art with Lopes’ colors reminds me a lot of Davis-Hunt’s work on Clean Room and Wild Storm, especially the way they illustrate burned skin, and red-haired women doctors. Sorry, too glib. The comparison is a compliment, and the issue looks great.

  Ms. Marvel #24

Ms. Marvel is able to push the runaway train onto a different track at the last second to prevent a collision, but she and Red Dagger remain unable to stop it on it’s briskly paced run through Jersey. And while they think of what to do about this slow emergency, Dagger notices that Ms. Marvel seems exhausted, and not just because she just lifted a train. He suggests that she take some time to take of herself instead of everyone else.

Ms. Marvel checks in on the engineer, who lets her know that they’ve made the news, which reminds Kamala that she’s no longer Jersey’s favorite hero. But, looking at the railroad map of Jersey also inspires her with an idea to stop the train; guiding it to a hill-heavy corridor and let gravity do all the work.

It’s a great plan, or it would be if Ms. Marvel had factored in the speed gained by the train going downhill before going back up. But she’s prepared for that – mostly.

Ms. Marvel, the character and the series, continues to feel a little lethargic this arc, with the high point of the issue being when she’s forced into reacting by the train accelerating as it goes downhill.

The other bright-side to the issue is Olortegui and Herring’s art. Dagger describes Jersey as magical, and though Ms. Marvel is hesitant to agree with him, the art in the book; which illustrates America’s armpit with a golden-hour glow, and at a scale both intimate in terms of showing small towns, and sublime as the train joggs through open expanses of forest.

  Unbeatable Squirrel Girl #26

I can’t believe that Ryan North and Erica Henderson have made me purchase a Jim Davis product of my own volition, with my own money. You monsters. And the first strip he illustrates is just the first Garfield strip, but with Galactus and Silver Surfer instead of Jon and Garfield! Vile.

Despite that, this is still a very fun issue, and I honestly hope becomes an annual thing. A bunch of bad-guys recently destroyed a library, so Squirrel Girl rounded up a bunch of her friends to contribute short comics to a zine she���s selling to fundraise for repairs. All but one of this issue’s ten stories are written by North; the other is written by Henderson, and each is illustrated by a different artist, ranging from, yes, Jim Davis, to Chip Zdarsky, Michael Cho, Anders Nilsen, and Rahzzah.

Each mini-comic is a burst of the same humor found in a typical issue, but from the perspective of this series’ unique take of characters from Spider-Man, Wolverine, Howard the Duck, and Galactus. There’s even a fake letter’s column, where Tony Stark and J. Jonah Jameson write in. It really is a treat, and a not completely cynical take on the resurgence of zine culture and small-press comics and stuff.

  Injection #15

The Spriggans have opened the Cold House wide open, using it as a portal to this world to slaughter as many people as possible, but Brigid has a plan to stop them. It’s not the smartest plan, but effective: drive back to the Cold House, hoping the car continues to act as a faraday cage protecting them from spriggan attacks, and then slap a construction vehicle into one of the Cold House stones to break it.

Unfortunately, once that problem is taken care of, another one emerges. Maria tells Brigid that Morel has cut off FPI, making everything she just did illegal, and making her an enemy of the state. She and Emma decide to run to Ireland together, but surely that won’t be the end of their adventures.

Barring the opening pages of the spriggans indiscriminately slaughtering people, this really could be the last ten minutes of a Doctor Who episode, with the final pages especially tipping Ellis’ hand. It’s an issue long mad dash implementation of a plan that was made up as the heroes go.

Bellaire owns this issue, coloring the climax of the book entirely in three colors: black, white, and a light blue that make it one of the most bold and striking comics of the week.

Comic Reviews 11/8/17 Batman: Lost #1 A 78 year old Bruce Wayne reads his granddaughter a story from his adventures as Batman, the very first story: The Case of the Chemical Syndicate.