#i love when comics are ridiculous like this lmao

[bluestrawberry7]

definitive height ranking of the main ten bg3 characters

im right they told me themselves

10. last place is minthara lmao she's 5'3" (161cm) max. I love her being tiny and feral. still absolutely ripped, don't get me wrong, just... on a smaller scale. also drow are canonically the shortest elves (drizzt is 5'4"/162cm), and I know women are taller than men, so she'd still be a little under average, but its more middling in menzoberranzen. and she's still above goblins and stuff. but then she joins the party and is just towered over by all these men and surface elves and she is compensating

9. shadowheart is 5'6". she is the physical embodiment of y/n. I guess this is a little short for elves, because of the gender thing, but I just cannot see her being defined as "tall" or "short". like she's short, in comparison to the other companions, but that only emphasizes their enormity because she is so perfectly average.

8. I like wyll being 5'8"/173cm or so bc he just so thoroughly embodies short king energy. think of that marcello hernandez bit where he's like short kings put in the work, not because we wanted to, but because we had to. I'm sorry but wyll is just way too kind and good at dancing to have lived his whole life over 5'9". bro is tom holland. (his dad is comfortably over six feet. this is definitely not a source of contention)

7. astarion, I think, is canonically 5'9"/175cm, which is tall for male elves, but not by a ridiculous margin. i think it fits into him being like, default-ly desirable, where he sort of fits into a lot of different relationship molds without it looking weird, because its a whole part of his character than he's conventionally attractive. like the vampire stuff is the interesting part, but without that he looks averagely, disposably pretty, which is why so many people see right through him.

6. gale is exactly one inch taller than astarion. I like him being a kind of remus-lupin tall, where he like slouches a lot and doesn't super recognize it, which is amplified by the fact that he spent the majority of his adult life exclusively around tara and a literal goddess. he doesn't really grasp the social implications.

5. lae'zel ends up around gale-height (5'10"/178cm). I know some people swear by shortzel, but I like the idea of githyanki being gangling and alien. her in-game model doesn't look like it should be that tall, but her limbs are just a bit too long. I like her walking around camp in an uncanny valley way, where she looks so clearly 5'6" until she's standing right next to you.

4. I picture jaheira in her prime as taylor swift with elf ears. she's just under six foot, or ~181cm. its that whole thing about presidents/authority figures tending to be taller, because people like to literally look up to their leaders for some reason. she just has that confidence. she's not like outrageously tall, and she's totally comfortable with minsc etc being taller than her, but she's just. six feet tall.

3. karlach!! is 6'2"/188cm!!! (not including horns). I've seen people say she's a little more than that, but I don't think most people are grasping how tall 6'2" is, especially if you're like fully built. like, rhea ripley is 5'7". karlach is a UNIT. anything above 6'2" is reaching freak-of-nature status, where height is like. the only thing you see when you look at them.

2. speaking of freaks of nature, minsc is 6'4"/193cm, and he has been since he was like 13. he has lived his whole life being taller than 97% of people he meets. he had to be pulled aside in gym class and warned that he couldn't wrestle the other kids anymore because he might crush them. and he was heartbroken!! because he's like!! a great dane!!!! and he just wants to play!!

1. halsin is comically large. ≥6'5"/196cm. he is a statistical anomaly. i think he canonically assumes he's part orc, but I think it's funnier if he's literally just an elf. his parents are 5'6". he's never even worked out. doctors hate him.

the only race-related halsin theory i'll accept is that he's a bear who turned into a human and not the other way around

[vintagerobin]

Just remembered that there's another example of Dick and Bruce still having a bond across space and time (something established in a Golden Age comic that's occasionally been referenced in comics since then) that I haven't seen talked about very much - in Dark Nights: Metal: The Resistance.

As he says, all of these visions are of things that have happened (or is currently happening/will happen in one case) to Batman, both his own and the Batman Who Laughs. They're definitely being enhanced and increased by a wound from dark metal, but this is much more intense, far reaching and specific than the kind of insight even constantly wearing dark metal gives any other character. He's also apparently able to sense when the Batman Who Laughs is nearby, and that his own version of Bruce isn't in the place they'd been looking for him.

[krysmcscience]

Don't mind me, just slacking on a big Billford comic by making other far more ridiculous Billford comics and also some AU art (please excuse my slapdash human!Bill thank you please, also before anyone asks the art style is messy and all over the place because idgaf LOL)

This started out as an excuse to design a Bill Cipher-inspired "wedding" dress, but then spiraled wildly out of control. Various rambles and a bunch more human!Bill arts under the cut, including another silly little comic at the end! (Feel free to skip the rambles, I won't be offended. I know I'm bad at shutting up. XD)

I may or may not write some comedy stuff for this AU, which I'm calling 'For Better Or Worse (But Mostly Worse)'. While Ford DOES remember getting sloshed enough for one thing to lead to making out with another after karaoke, neither he nor Bill remember this wedding, At All. The Love God did nothing to dissuade them from going hog wild on their marriage spending, either, so it got...uh. Exorbitantly Expensive. As in, the grand total could probably buy the entire fucking MOON sort of expensive. (It's fine, don't worry, Bill's good enough at crime to be able to afford it.) Also, because the logic of this AU is mostly dictated by Rule of Funny, the Love God's powers are close to unlimited when it comes to matters of romance, but ONLY when it comes to matters of romance. (Like weddings!)

Want an empty human vessel to smash the soul of a triangle into for date nights or when it's convenient, or perhaps even when it's NOT convenient? Easy peasy! Want the marriage to be recognized in every corner of the multiverse from now until the end of time, thus making any potential future divorce nigh-on impossible? Can do! Want to buy an entire beach for the ceremony and honeymoon and in general, and totally not at all because it would be Super Hilarious to prevent any specific movies from being made on that very same beach in the future? Fine, whatever, it's not his finances he's ruining!

Does the Love God also provide special rings that just so happen to turn incorporeal as long as the "happy couple" doesn't remember that they barged into his dreams to bully him into presiding over their marriage? ...No comment!

He spends the next thirty years trying and failing to get in touch with either of them for payment. This is why you should always demand half the money up front, my guy!

Also it's absolutely a traditional Jewish wedding, because I like the idea of Bill demanding all the keepsakes from the marriage that he paid for, and being completely confused when one of the things he's handed is a fancy container full of broken glass. He gets it later, but in the moment, he thinks the Love God is just fucking with him some more.

Ramble over! Here's the full dress that caused the comic to happen, along with what Ford wound up wearing at the wedding (and begrudgingly agreeing to put on again later for Reasons), aaaaand also a close-up of Bill's ring:

I may have forgotten to draw Bill's hair floofier when drawing the back of the dress, lmao

Since double ring ceremonies have been leaking over into Jewish wedding customs for a while now, Ford also has a ring, but his is the much more traditional plain gold band. There's definitely a message engraved on the inside - embarrassing, cringe, or incriminating somehow - but I haven't decided what it is yet, so use your imagination for now. XD Bill, on the other hand, saw the phrase 'traditional plain gold band' and said "No Thank You" before proceeding to embellish his ring to his liking. And because he's a secret sap who adores Ford's extra fingers, the triangle points add up to twelve, as do the engraved stars. Yes, they're stars, not dots, I just got lazy. There's also six lashes on the eye gem, and probably an eye engraving on the inside with another six lashes. (Bill's got it BAD, okay? We all know this.)

Here are the initial scribbles of Bill's custom vessel in more casual attire, please ignore the wonky anatomy and the fact that I flat out refuse to ever draw him with a proper top hat:

He does actually need a cane in this vessel; since Bill tends to possess men and especially Ford more often than not, he's used to having a higher center of gravity when in a human body, so his ability to balance is pretty garbage. (He may or may not topple over with concerning regularity.) As for his empty eye socket, his bangs don't do much to hide it since he's so high-energy (dude is constantly on the move), and he also refuses to wear a patch over it, because 1.) why bother, and 2.) it's more fun to freak people out.

To better align with Ford's attraction towards the strange, the vessel was designed with super minor shapeshifting ability - Bill can look like a perfectly normal human, but he can also make the teeth and fingers sharper whenever he likes (which is mostly just when he's angry or being more of a menace than usual), as well as slit down the pupils or outright ditch the irises altogether. He can also have whatever he wants in the downstairs department, just because I'm an indecisive bitch on that front, lmao. Maybe he can have boobs if he wants them, too, but I ain't drawin' tits on no triangle, nuh-uh, no sir. His powers are otherwise limited down to what humans can do, because for some reason, the Love God doesn't trust Bill to not snap into Immediate Apocalypse Mode if he's given a physical form that's actually all his and no one else's.

Due to the body being all his and no one else's, it's also not really a standard possession so much as it is just...Bill being temporarily human. He's a lot more aware of and in tune with his human body's senses than he ever was with his "puppets", which makes things like pain a lot more intense. (He is mostly fine with this, because he's a fukken masochist.)

A bit more fashion stuff, including beach and party attire~

The beach outfit was mostly me trying and failing to nail down his body shape, which is still not bottom-heavy enough. I then decided to slap a bikini on it, before making it supremely unsexy with a pair of fugly shorts, because Bill's fashion choices are not allowed to be conventionally attractive. Meanwhile, the party outfit was mostly me looking at the casual attire I designed, asking 'how would Bill make this Worse', and then drawing the result. The mismatched thigh-highs are killing me inside! :D

No, his vessel can't actually summon fire, I just drew it for funzies before I decided on said vessel's limitations. Yes, the gold brick tattoos are absolutely a reference to the fic 'Knowing Me, Knowing You' - I simply could not resist.

I also HAD to draw Bill in one of his canonical(?) shirts, just made tank-top'd:

He is absolutely about to over-correct and fall backwards after this. USE YOUR CANE, GOOFBALL!!! (I meant to draw Bill closer to this degree of bottom-heavy in the other images, but. Alas. I am bad at anatomy, LOL)

And, last but not least before More Comic Time, I attempted to draw him closer to Gravity Falls style:

Jury's out on whether or not I succeeded, but - hey. I tried. Now have some Handyman Bill AU, but with my goofy human design, instead:

Hey, it's a 'mystery snack', and the guy wanted A BITE to eat - the joke was right there, guys!!! (Based on this post, because it just screamed BILL CIPHER to me.)

whoops i forgor bills ring and cracks ahaha too late now

I WILL SHUT UP AND STOP RAMBLING NOW K THX BYYYYYE

[yakichoufd]

Is it weird that I don't feel excited for the Deadpool and Wolverine movie?

I feel like X-Men 97 already scratched that X-Men itch and obsession in my head. Plus I feel satisfied with artists like you making Wolverine polycule fanart and fancomics.

Is something wrong with my head???

I think your feelings are valid cause you don't need to watch something else if you already feel satisfied. I am hype for that movie because I enjoyed the first two Deadpool movies. I am not expecting to fall in love of Logan there, or the other x-men we might see. I am expecting to watch a ridiculous movie with silly jokes and funny action scenes. I am hoping Scott will have a cameo but I think it won't happen. I've never been a super fan of Logan movies. He is fun and interesting (plus the actor is very handsome so my eyes are always happy when he is on screen), but his big lone wolf energy was a bit too much for me. Maybe he is too handsome and awesome and in the animated serie, he is a grumpy short king who has a lot to say and his lone wolf personnality seems more understandable to me. I really enjoy how unhinged he is in the 92 show and how he was in 97. It satisfies me a lot. I think you can take whatever please you in any adaptation and play around that. You don't need to enjoy every new adaptation from a franchise you like. There are some X-men comics where I find Scott really boring and not interesting at all. I enjoy very specifics things about him and therefore it makes me very picky about how he is portrayed. I still think I am a fan. I am a picky fan, but a fan regardless. Even if I mostly know the animated shows. I am tired of that childish fight "Oh I am a better fan cause I read the comics!" it is not a competition lmao! Enjoy whatever you want!! I personnaly read the comics cause I want more Scott content. That's my personnal reason. I want to know everything about him haha! I think we are many to be tired of the Jean/Scott/Logan drama ( where they are rivals instead of lovers) cause that rivality, usually, has a layer of misogyny and sexism. Jean is the prize and the 2 males love interests can't think straight and have to claim her. As if Jean has no choice but to accept the one who fight the hardest. I'm sorry but that is really stupid, and not how feelings work imo. That kind of relationship is based on something so weak, it will break at the first issue they would meet . I personnaly find that kind of writting insulting for every character involved, and it breaks the sincerity and depth of the romance. It removes all kind of feelings, character development and personnalities. It makes them so immature too. The polycule road on the other hand shows they could build something different. They could break the rules and be free to make their own. And as mutants, they don't care about humans society stupid rules. The can write what works for them and gain maturity over their relationship and sexuality. I am not saying every couples have to become a polycule to be mature. But for Scott, Jean and Logan it seems like a better fit for them. They can still act silly and fight over randoms things, but removing that very unhealthy incomplete love triangle and make it an actual love triangle, where each individual have romantic feelings for each other is better for them imo.

[spoopdeedoop]

hi i have some disorganized thoughts/hcs abt the found family human doctor au

(one of the thoughts being i should really give it a better name. another being YES this is only the nuwho doctors atm bc that's the only series i've watched so far apologies. if i ever get around to watching classic who i will add them trust)

BEHOLD my random, not at all in-depth headcanons

nine is the only one with a car out of all of them. they all keep bugging him to drive/pick them up from places -- he has mixed feelings about being the assigned taxi driver

both twelve and eleven are teachers -- college professor and preschool teacher respectively. twelve's students love them because he will say the most stupid, hilarious shit with a straight face without even knowing and eleven's students love him because he is the only teacher at the school that will dance with them during musical chairs (he doesn't even play the game. he just dances)

i want to make one of them an actual doctor but i don't think any of them could handle it unfortunately

they all share an an apartment flat on the same level -- nine, twelve and fifteen live in one room, ten, eleven and thirteen live in the one across from them. of course there are other people in the building too but they're all used to the strange loud hyperactivity of that particular flat. i think i'm using the right terminology here. yall know what im talking about

(i'm so tempted to make some companions be their neighbors)

nine and ten are the most insomniac of all of them, so they're used to bumping each other in the dead of night on their way to raid each other's respective fridges or something. very rarely thirteen will join them and they're like "WELL FANCY SEEING YOU HERE"

twelve does sleep, but like. he's nocturnal

eleven and ten hate each other in a sibling kind of way (see: day of the doctor). they are constantly sending each other death threats or tripping each other over. everyone is sick of it

sometimes when they're out shopping you'll hear ten yell "GET OUT OF THE FROZEN FOOD YOU NUMPTY WE ARE NOT BUYING FISH FINGERS" over the aisles and you'll hear eleven whine "WHY DO YOU HATE ME SO MUCH" back

(if you're lucky you'll be able to catch fifteen mumble "why did we put them in the same apartment. are we asking for an eviction notice")

eventually eleven will pick a random stray cat off the side of the road, take her home, and name her bowtie, which is a stupid name, so everyone just defaults to calling her kitty

kitty's favourite person is twelve, to eleven's absolute despair

(my original idea for this was to initially have ten hate the idea of living with a cat, since he's stated full on in the show that he doesn't like cats, but apparently there is some very obscure doctor who comic run in which he falls into a depressive spiral and adopts a cat whom he names rose-the-cat, so he might actually like cats idk?)

anyway ten hates her until he doesn't lmao. he vents to her when there's no one else home and she will Stare at him back and it is a very nice friendship

kitty and nine watch shitty romcom together

they have a joint groupchat together -- half of it is just thirteen and fifteen assigning everyone outfits they find on pinterest and the other half is eleven asking where everyone went (he keeps getting lost when they go out)

nine doesn't know how to download pictures off the internet and so resorts to manually editing memes together to send to the groupchat and everyone's like "girl that's so much more effort........."

(yes he doesn't know how to press save image to camera roll but he knows how to use a photo editor flawlessly. such is the logic of the idiocy of the doctors)

eleven and thirteen get along very well i think. they're the only two of the group to play video games and so they bond over that. they also have ridiculously similar clothing taste

sometimes they'll succeed in getting fifteen to play pokemon with them and then they'll proceed to not see him until the next day when he comes out of his room and goes "you didn't tell me plusle couldn't evolve i've been levelling it up all fucking night"

friday is assigned movie night (it's always big hero 6)

eleven is the only one to actively seek out physical affection, usually really abruptly like clinging to thirteen's back as she passes him in the hall or bapping ten with the palm of his hand until he sighs and gives him a hug. he does expect a platonic kiss on the forehead from anyone before he goes to bed and will complain if he doesn't get one

anyway thats it i'm sick in the head and really sad. if this keeps up i may be forced to actually write a fic

[theblogwithoutfear]

karen page is so annoying in the show...is she better in the comics somehow or is she just like that

So I've actually wanted to talk about this forever, but I kept forgetting to make a post about it. Your ask is a perfect opportunity to write down all my thoughts. Brace yourself, because I have a lot to say. Sorry in advance lmao

I actually prefer Karen in the show. To be fair, I have not finished all the comics, but so far I think her TV counterpart is a lot better (I still like her a lot in the comics tho, don't get me wrong). The NMCU version of Karen Page also has a lot of Kirsten McDuffie (another comic book girlfriend) in her, which is great in my opinion.

A lot of people find her annoying, but to me it's her flaws that make her such a fantastic character. She isn't a caricature, stock-girlfriend character pulled from a box of tropes; she's a well-rounded individual, extremely realistic, a mirror of Matt Murdock, and a woman with real agency. Her actions have major consequences on the plot. In my opinion, a lot of superhero girlfriends (in comics, movies, TV, whatever) are written more like props than characters, and they don't have any agency or actual plot relevance. Which is why, when a lot of them die, their deaths feel so cheap and inconsequential. That's where fridging comes from. It's been a problem with superheroes since their very inception; and a problem in storytelling at large. So often in fiction, women are flat and unrealistic.

So to me, Karen's heavily-flawed character is refreshing. She is extremely impulsive; she's deeply intelligent, but makes such stupid decisions; she can be hypocritical, self-destructive, and petty. Sometimes she manipulates people, even unintentionally. She's very well-meaning, but constantly makes mistakes. And it's these mistakes that move the plot forward, and reveal important things about both her and Matt. Her actions have real consequences for the story, and she undertakes her own journey throughout the narrative. She is almost as much a protagonist as Matt is, in terms of her character development and growth.

For that matter, every one of the flaws that I listed are things that Matt does too. They are almost perfect mirrors of each other; people who are immensely concerned with justice and compassion, people who care for the truth, and people who want to make their city a better place. However, as they go about it, they stumble and make mistakes and endanger other people. They're hypocritical and contradictory and impulsive. They constantly have to call their own moralities into question, because they almost never live up to their high ideals.

(Also, as a side note, I think many of Karen's flaws—as with Matt's—come as a direct result of all the trauma she's been through: her mother's death, her brother's death, her alcoholism and drug addiction, her dad cutting her off, being framed for murder, almost getting murdered in prison, etc. So I think it's fair to give her some grace.)

But what makes both Karen and Matt so lovable, imo, is that they keep trying. No matter what mistakes they make, they get back up and try again. They do everything they can to atone for the blood on their hands.

I think also (and I'm not accusing you of this, just a certain subset of people in the fandom) that people are more willing to accept Matt's flaws than Karen's—because there's a lot of misogyny built into our society, and there's this ingrained idea that women have to be paragons of virtue. Women, both in fiction and in reality, tend to be put under a microscope and dissected, while men can get away with a lot more. So Matt and Karen have identical flaws, but only Karen gets hate for it, which makes me very sad.

It may be the writer in me, but imo flaws are what make a character—and a story—meaningful. A well-flawed character can take a ridiculous, implausible story and make it feel grounded and real and impactful. A well-flawed woman even more so. I love Karen for the same reason I love Jessica Jones and Wanda Maximoff; or, to go beyond Marvel, for the same reason I love Jo March and Katniss Everdeen and Miss Haversham and Katherina Molina. They all elevate their respective stories beyond the initial premise and plot. Flawed female characters are realistic and impactful, and therefore empowering.

Obviously, to each their own. Some people just find her annoying and don't like her personality, and that's fine. But for me, that's what makes her feel real, and that's why I love her.

[kissitbttr]

I LOOOOOVE ur frat Miguel au but I gotta know. Where is Miguel getting his money from tho, cuz he’s got money to spoil his cheerleader? Is it from his dad like the comics? Or something else?

so glad you like it bby!!

and yes, of course! that man is rich rich lmao but he doesn’t exactly tell a lot of people about that. maybe beck but that’s only because he trusts the guy with his life already.

i can see miguel being the richest of all of em, his parents like to send him 3k-5k for his monthly allowance and he uses that shit to buy booze and greens for the party along with… gym wears or new football gears (typical)

miguel never really thought about getting a job to earn his money. because what for? his parents already back him up with that. sure he’s ridiculously smart, that guy could probably get five jobs offer during his third semester but he figured he could use his spare time with other stuff. party and football.

even when he was dating dana and xina he would take them to somewhere more cheaper. nothing extra or something. never been the one who initiate dates anyways unless they the one who wanted to

howeverrr when you came into his life, it’s all 180 and now he wanted to do better. to become better

he started to applied for jobs regarding tech or auto repair shops. saving up so he could take you to an expensive restaurant or a date to an aquarium (you’ve been eyeing at the penguin and dolphin plushy so he’s planning to get you both)

multitasking between double jobs, gym, college and football definitely not easy, but he’d do anything for you. and you don’t even have to ask. even if you protested, miguel just wouldn’t listen

‘miggy, you don’t have to do this. i do not want to see you get exhausted. i’m fine working with what we got’

‘i want to, princesa. just let me take care of you. don’t stress it. if italian is what you want then italian is what you get’

‘you know i’m good if we just settle with picnic by the park?’

‘I don’t actually. so, margherita and tortellini en brodo for two sounds good?’

he leaves no room for a debate after that. and your heart actually swells at his love language. is this how it feels to finally be taken care of? to be loved? sometimes you wonder if he’s even real,

miguel loves working now. because that means he’s doing it for you. he loves seeing the smile on your face, it gives him pride.

so when his dad asks him about why he wanted his allowances to be stopped completely, miguel just shrugs nonchalantly and replies,

‘gotta learn to earn my own someday when i marry my girlfriend’

his dad didn’t know his son had a girl

[lambergeier]

2024 book post

this was simply not much of a reading year! middling start, uneven from month to month, slight revival during mine and emma's scotland trip in august, and then a HARD stop after which i gave up even trying and comics took over in full. the comics will be a separate post lol. recs in bold! except if they're from my vonnegut streak at the start of the year, in which case it would be ridiculous to attempt to recommend or not-recommend individual vonnegut books. it's vonnegut. you know what's up.

JANUARY

Sirens of Titan - Vonnegut (i loved pieces of this book in high school and didn't understand the rest of it and picked it up again to see if maybe a second attempt would assist. really funny bc as it turns out the pieces i didn't understand were like 80% of the book. catie age 15 knew this book was good but didn't know ANYTHING else that was going on. really good and funny and sad--shocking, it's vonnegut. inspired me to start reading the rest of his stuff in publication order)

The Book of all Books - Roberto Calasso (book length of cultural criticism on the subject of the bible, almost wholly the old testament, by a man I had not previously heard of but was apparently a monumental figure in european literary criticism prior to his recent death. as a cultural christian who was raised with truly 0 contact with christian faith at any point, this was a fascinating way to learn about some of the actual events of the old testament--as described by an incredibly impassioned old italian man, and with a whole chapter dedicated, suddenly, to freud. i skipped the freud chapter, but the rest of the book was intensely interesting and, huge credit to both calasso and his translator, beautiful. check that opening paragraph. also made for some engrossing conversations with my beautiful jewish wife who did have some religious education growing up and was extremely helpful in laying out what was more mainstream thought on david and solomon and what was mr. calasso getting On some Shit.)

Player Piano - Vonnegut (vonnegut's first book. good, even great at times, but lightly overwritten by normal standards and incredibly overwritten by what would become his own standards. the leap from this to sirens, his second book, is astonishing. NEVER stop writing, at ANY time you could go from writing perfectly interesting spec fic to producing some of the greatest american fiction of the century. also very interesting to read as a book about automation now, in the time of Newer automation. i think possibly nothing ever changes!)

Mother Night - Vonnegut (i really should have taken more notes at the time lmao. emma says i thought this one fucked. that feels correct. discussion of ww2 and the holocaust and the consequences of both are so eminently more valuable when written by people who lived through them, shocker. and, again, when those people were some of the most observant writers of their generation lmao. the israeli contempt for holocaust survivors that became obvious to me, christian american lady, only within the last year or two, is front in center in the mother night frame story. kinda want to read this again right now. what can individual guilt and responsibility even mean in the fact of all that death?)

Cat's Cradle - Vonnegut (REALLY should have taken more notes!! emma says i didn't vibe with this one. i believe her, but would love to remember why. i read cat's cradle in high school as well, but apparently it didn't click this time. who knows!!! not me, the dummy who doesn't write things down!!!)

God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater - Vonnegut (this one washed over me a bit. vivid memories of senator rosewater decrying deodorant as a liberal feminine luxury propagated by those fairies on madison ave, which was sooooooooo fucking interesting to me. bro sometimes the past just LEAPS out at you when you least expect it. this was probably also a masterpiece, i should read it again.)

Slaughterhouse-Five - Vonnegut (exactly as good as it always is. i should also read this again. idk i really should have taken more notes because i think i would have had more things to say, but once again all i really remember is the emotion, which is: man! the children's crusade!)

The Dawn of Everything: A New History of Humanity - David Graeber and David Wengrow (OKAY GREAT NOT TALKING ABOUT VONNEGUT ANYMORE SO I CAN GET REAL. I LOOOOOOOOVED THIS BOOK. I THINK EVERYONE SHOULD READ THIS BOOK FOOOOOOOR REAL. this is graeber and wengrow over and over again taking the wildest most cherry-picked possible interpretation of the archaeological evidence and being like okay so this is what this pre-history civilization could have been like. and you're like okay well hold up guys. and then they prove that the traditional, mainstream conception of these civilizations is EQUALLY wild and cherry-picked, so why the fuck shouldn't we consider their thing! if we're doing cherry picking! and it fully just opened my third eye re: other/non-western/non-modern-western modes of society building and i love it. i was already uninterested in books that conceive of Society and Nature as deeply opposed forces that can never mix without one or the other being destroyed, and this book really put the nail in the coffin. there are so many other ways to live. people did them. people still do them. it's time to incorporate SEASONALITY into our PARADIGMS!!! anyways please read this book.)

FEBRUARY

American Midnight - Adam Hochschild (emma talks about this one as well, she recommended it to me, but just a fantastic history of american democracy under wilson/during and after ww1. spoiler: it was weak, threatened, and overall bad. fuck wilson and fuck teddy roosevelt fr! i listened on audiobook, but still what i would call a very readable style by a very smart guy.)

MARCH

We Both Laughed in Pleasure - Lou Sullivan (a birthday gift from @brella that i really loved but that i think was still a bit too repetitive in the middle for me to recommend to all comers lol. the collected and abridged diaries of lou sullivan, a trans man originally from the midwest and living in san francisco in the 80s and early 90s (he was killed by AIDS in '91), who was a trailblazing community organizer mostly, by his own admission, because he was a guy who was willing to organize zines and meetings and etc for other trans men before anyone else thought to. the repetitiveness is the fault of the diaries' curators imho--they focused primarily on pulling the passages that focused on sullivan's trans and gay identity and his experience with his own sexuality which was, don't get me wrong, hugely fascinating, but also this guy had a lot of sex and wrote a LOT about it, so eventually it was like. well i think i've read about this particular sexual partner of yours for a few pages now, maybe we could get something else going on? still really loved it. the opening passages, from when sullivan was like 13, focus on his intense, intensely fannish love for the beatles. the paul mccartney do-be problem: it never goes out of style!!)

APRIL

The Traitor Baru Cormorant - Seth Dickinson

The Monster Baru Cormorant - Seth Dickinson

The Tyrant Baru Cormorant - still dickinson, yeah (traitor i read in college, monster i read when it came out, tyrant i BOUGHT when it came out but never read, and so when we went out of town in april for passover i was like fuck it. i'm finally reading tyrant. ALAS: it's not that good. traitor is good on a functional level if not the most compelling: gets through its story with limited uneven-ness, characters are barebones but interesting, story itself is interesting, etc. monster is my favorite: nuts, deeply compelling, but not necessarily good. the plot's a bit of a mess but every character leaps off the page--not just baru, but ever side character introduced as little more than a name in traitor is suddenly vivid, breathing, sexy, homosexual, and deranged. srivakir you will ALWAYS be famous. tyrant, unfortunately, is deranged but so so too long. plot throughline is muddled, action is jumpy and erratic, characters are still great but just can't overcome the lumpen nature of the story. i'll still read the last book, but i'm not surprised tyrant took dickinson so long, nor that the fourth book has been so long in coming. svirakir and your lover and your non-sexual throuple and your child and your lightning madness fr call me when you are free tho.) (WAIT ALSO EVERYONE WHO ACCUSED TRAITOR OF HOMOPHOBIA FOR BEING KILL-YOUR-GAYS WAS FOR SURE A HATER THO. EVERYONE WHO THOUGHT THAT CRITICISM WAS WRONG HAVE BEEN PROVED VALID AS HELL. TOXIC YURI STAY WINNING!!!)

The Spear Cuts Through Water - Simon Jimenez (refreshing in that it believed very badly that prose should be beautiful, but i do not think the prose was actually beautiful. huge huge points for trying. pacing in the first half actively bored me, second half picked up, and the metanarrative twist at the end got me good. i don't recommend it recommend it, but i do recommend it on the basis that jimenez should for sure get credit for trying)

Solitaire - Kelly Erskine (read this bc my wife mentioned it and it was like, really funny. good, but then not good? intensely interesting, but then went somewhere else entirely that was like super normie and boring? sci fi written by queer women who really fully believe in the uplifting power of corporatism and MBTI specifically. three short stories mashed together than only vaguely have any relationship to each other. still had a good time.)

MAY

The Saint of Bright Doors - Vajra Chandrasekera (loved this loved this loved this. there IS good debut genre fiction out there. we just have to believe!!!)

JUNE - nope

JULY

Out for Good: The Struggle to Build a Gay Rights Movement in America - Adam Nagourney and Dudley Clendinen (political history of the american gay rights movement pre-AIDS. had some fascinating insights into the history of lesbian separatism/animosity towards the mainstream gay rights movement (turns out, in the 60s and 70s, between the male-dominated gay rights movement and the mostly-straight feminist movement, one of those things was offering more personhood to lesbians than the other!), and how the gay rights movement failed to respond to AIDS when the first warning signs started to appear. that was crazy. having moved in gay political circles myself, one can really see why everyone did what they did, and it sucks, because it resulted in a lot of death. recommend if political history is an existing area of interest, it wasn't a standout (like last year's Coming Out Under Fire) otherwise.)

Night Theater - Vikram Paralkar (really good, honestly not as depressing as i thought it would be. but only because emma tricked me thinking it would be even worse!)

AUGUST

Meet Me by the Fountain: An Inside History of the Mall - Alexandra Lange (cultural history of american malls. interesting, but towards couldn't decide whether it was history or cultural criticism or architectural criticism or what. happens all the time. made me think more kindly towards malls as community spaces at least, and the short history of pre-mall shopping and the social forces that led to the creation of urban malls/department stores in 1800s france (including, among other things, paved streets!) was really interesting.)

The Future - Naomi Alderman (wanted to be a cure for tech-poisoned futures, but was itself still too tech-poisoned in its understandings of power/individualism. oh well!)

The Bartimaeus Trilogy, Books 1-3 - Jonathan Stroud (posted about these more extensively at the time--adored them in middle school, read them again for the first time as an adult. still so good. of middling quality all the way up until the end, at which point you are struck dead by god. emma can confirm. got struck dead by god on the train between glasgow and edinburgh. i was there.)

Call for the Dead - John Le Carre

Murder of Quality - John Le Carre

The Spy Who Came in from the Cold - John Le Carre (first three books in what was intended to be a much longer le carre read, and which i should really get back to. call for the dead is a debut, murder of quality is a rightly abandoned attempt to go the classic murder-mystery route, and then spy who came from the cold in is, much like described above, a sudden psychic assault by god. brutal fucking spy fiction, and the only kind of spy fiction worth reading, as in so cynical as to be basically suicidal. spies have never solved a problem they didn't create themselves and perpetuate by means of, at minimum, five innocent lives. NEED to read our game. love and kisses to mr le carre!!)

Martyr! - Kaveh Akbar (love is REAL and so is POETRY and is so fucking your GAY ROOMMATE! very very lovely.)

SEPTEMBER - also nope

OCTOBER

Long Live Evil - Sarah Rees Brennan (svsss retelling meets fe3h character dynamics, fumbles the best elements of both, creates a great premise (brennan grappling very publicly with her own near-death to cancer is the best part of the book and makes for a great framework for an isekai protagonist) but the execution can't keep up with the ideas. alas! not the best book to finish out the year on, but what can you do. at least i read something!)

and that's the end of books for the year!!! 29 total (one not listed here), so a low since 2021, when i only started reading again in like august of that year following a cool post-depressive episode no-reading-spell that lasted several times longer than the actual depressive episode did lol. i have not recently been depressed so i think the dry periods this year were simply dry periods. and, especially the comics started happening, it's not like i've been lacking things to spend brain power on. now those things are just american superhero comics! which is a whoopsie! even a whoopsie-doodle! but i've got a tbr pile as tall as my hip so hopefully i circle back to real books at some point next year. and if i don't, i don't!

[metallicaislife]

Kirk Hammett Headcanons

A/N: Two posts in a night? Soft relaunch back into this? I have no self control lmao enjoy!

Requested by: Jewel Anon aka @r0syr3a

Genre: Fluff

Warnings: none

SFW Headcanons -

You were at a Metallica gig supporting your cousin Cliff

You met a really cute curly haired guy in the crowd, you recognized him as the guitarist for Exodus

He was really bashful but so freaking sweet

The two of you hit if off really well

But you forgot to exchange numbers so you sulked a while and slowly told yourself to move on

Months had passed and you were going over to the Metallimansion to hang out with Cliff and the guys after they had finished recording in New York

Your heart did a somersault when you ran into Kirk

You had been out of the loop and had no idea that he was the new guitarist

The two of you were ridiculous around each other at first

The ease you felt the first night was gone and the two of you would stumble over words and blush at the littlest thing

The others were amused, even Cliff

You both got comfortable around each other and it was known from the start you two liked each other

So the friendship stage was short and quickly started dating

It all felt really natural though

Kirk is the sweetest human being and makes you melt with all the little things he does

One of your favorite things to do with him is go to the comic store with him, he’ll pick some out and you will too, then when you get back to his place you get to lay your head in his lap while he reads the comics aloud to you eee 

Lots of snuggling always

Like he may be a little bashful in front of others and will only hold your hand 

As he grows more confident in himself and the relationship he will have a hand on your waist, or over your shoulder with your hand up to interlock with his

In private though, you take turns holding one another and being the big or little spoon just whatever the vibe of the day is- all you know is there is not a place in the world you would rather be than his warm embrace

The first time he said ‘I love you’, you literally thought he was working his way up to break up with you bc he had been distant and then said ‘we need to talk’

Really he was just STRESSED and didn’t know if he should do something special or just blurt it out, he only got to do the first one once, and he didn’t trust the guys input, you were the first person he wanted to tell

“So I've been thinking about this for a while, and I just didn’t know how to bring it up… I love you.” 

You unintentionally let out a loud sigh of relief 

Kirk just kind of looks at you funny so you quickly respond

“I love you too, sorry I sighed, that was a sigh of relief, I thought you were breaking up with me.” 

“Why would you think that?” Kirk asks as if you have two heads

“You were distant, and mumbly.” You say

“Because I didn’t know what the right way to say I love you was.” 

You laugh sweetly and tell him “Any way you tell me is the right way.” 

He smiles and kisses you deeply

You two are just the cutest thing and everyone ships it!

Thank you for reading! Requests are closed but feel free to chat :)

[fractualized]

Zdarsky’s run on Batman ends soon, thoughts? 🎤

lmao I feel like I could either toss out a dismissive one-liner or rant for like a dozen paragraphs. Guess I'll go with the latter.

We'll, I'm certainly not going to miss him at the helm. I read Batman: The Knight, and even though I agree with the criticism of the end, it showed competent storytelling with a good emotional core, which is the most basic of standards, but let's be real, this is comics, I'll take competent any day. And when his Batman run started, I had caught up on Snyder-King-Tynion Batman and was excited to follow a run in real time.

I'd say I stopped having a good time when Bruce got sent to the alternate universe. Penguin faking his death was fun. Bruce being pursued by a dramatic robot version of himself was fun. Bruce again fretting about protecting the family was… par for the course. Calling back to Zur-En-Arrh didn't bug me because I hadn't read that full storyline yet, so it felt like a gateway to digging back into lore. Bruce surviving a fall through the Earth's atmosphere was too fucking ridiculous but the kind I can look past. (Imagine you're a DC writer. You have the idea: lol what if Batman got out of this by surviving a fall from the moon. You have opened that door in your mind. Do you have the will close it or would you be like FUCK IT LET'S DO IT?)

The Red Mask universe, however, dragged any momentum at that point to a stop, and I honestly don't care enough to dig deep into all the reasons why, which I guess gets at the core of what was wrong with the Red Mask universe. (Skeleton Jim Gordon was the most interesting thing but he was just a temporary side effect or something? Whatever.)

But, of course, since I'm a Joker fan, Darwin Halliday was a major sticking point as the most boring Joker to never joke. Nearly everything Zdarsky did with Joker was a major sticking point.

It still drives me crazy that from Snyder to the Zdarsky run, we had a Joker who tried to force Bruce both away from the batfam and Selina and back to basics multiple times, so their battle could be one-on-one again. We had a Joker who, after Bruce left him to die, was notably depressed and suicidal at the end of Joker 2021. He is still that way at the start of The Man Who Stopped Laughing.

And you could follow from that with the basic beats of what Zdarsky did. You could say Joker is disillusioned with his relationship with Batman, and that's why he turns to Zur-En-Arrh, a real Batman. But no, everything has to be too fucking complicated. We have do yet another retcon of so much other stuff and say that Joker always was looking for Zur. And we have to a weird take on Three Jokers because people were really biting at the bit to get a real answer within canon like a decade after Johns wrote that nonsense?? I don't know, I don't do marketing research, but I'm pretty sure if they just quietly never addressed it, it would be fine.

And the freaking Captio stuff. Ugh. UGH. I really just. I feel like this is a product of overthinking. "Well, Batman is so thoroughly trained, it only makes sense that Joker had at least some of the same training to beat him." No. Fuck that. We don't need that. Joker rivals Batman out of sheer audacity. I like that it doesn't really make sense that a clown pushes him to the limit. I like the juxtaposition of Bruce having to do so much training and learning to survive, but Joker is a cockroach revived by the narrative. I like Joker being a plague and a mystery that Batman cannot resolve. I like Joker being essentially absurd. No, it doesn't make sense, but he's here to stab you out of love and you better know how to dodge.

So much of Batman comics now are not about telling a fun Batman story. They're stories about Batman stories, just circling back and cannibalizing each other into a total fucking mess, and putting the city on the brink of destruction so much that those stakes no longer have meaning. There has to be a writer out there who wants to get back to just telling a smaller action/detective story that makes the reader give a shit about what's happening instead of feeling like maybe they're just not getting it, like they missed homework.

And I say that as someone who started reading Morrison's full run when Zdarsky's started so I could have the Zur background. I had to pause when Morrison's writing got to be too much (for the bad reasons!). I intended to jump back in again, but then Zdarsky's run nosedived and the effort no longer seemed worth it.

Especially when everything paused for Gotham War. Jesus Christ. The only good thing to come out of that was Rosenberg's second Red Hood issue. But speaking of Gotham War, I do wonder if there'll be an article years from now that will reveal Zdarsky had to deal with too much editorial fiat. He had to interrupt his Zur story not only with the badly executed Catwoman plot and the Knight Terrors, but cram in a Three Jokers explanation.

And speaking of Rosenberg, I can't end without mentioning that because he started TMWSL around the same time Zdarsky started on Batman, and they both had their protagonists dealing with other versions of themselves, man, there was such potential for a crossover event. Me and my pals had lots of fun theories about how these series would converge, because the idea that they wouldn't seemed ridiculous. There were two Jokers in TMWSL, and at the same time in Batman #131, Halliday seemed to have created three of them. I didn't like Halliday, but still, what did that mean? It would be ridiculous for those developments to be unrelated, right? RIGHT?

Joke's on us, as usual. 🤪

[oroontheheels]

TF2 comics chapter 7 negativity 😎

Ok so I’m seeing everyone being happy and grateful for last chapter, but I’m old salty woman so I think I want to express my negative opinion and maybe some of you might feel validated in your negativity by seeing it as well.

Spoilers alert!!

Negativity alert!

Ok so….yeah. I’m not impressed. Big focus on hetero romance, nothing but hints for homos. Pauling being the most obvious (if not only one tbh). And as I’ve said many times it’s always fairly easy to put wlw romance into big franchise especially with attractive feminine female characters. So I am NOT applauding to this. They could’ve done more.

Next I love Announcer so much she’s such a queen and big part of the chapter is dedicated to her, but then she just dies because she’s lost/gone full bananas with her revenge and there’s nothing anyone can do to help her. I hate that kind of endings. I hate them soooo much but ok. She’s a villain and she dies. Very Disney-esque ending.

I also think not giving any explanation to anything and then being like “duuuuh that the point violence is senseless” is also LAME AF. But ok. Again it is just a matter of taste and I can’t say it’s “bad” story choice. But it is bad in my own opinion because I find it boring and very idealistic. Same message was with Gortash and Karlach in BG3 but at least we knew how Gortash was abused in his childhood. So it was way better.

Ending. Hate with passion that Scout don’t know that Spy is his dad still. I generally disliked when they made Spy Scout’s dad in comics, but oh well.

I also wasn’t touched by the ending lmao. “Thank you for being here for 7 years”. I wasn’t there for 7 years because you didn’t do anything to fix the fucking game and it is still unplayable and filled with bots.

And making people wait for 7 years for this was absolutely ridiculous they could’ve hired another writer or another artist (I forgot what their deal was) 6 years ago. Or maybe 5.

Scout with kids? Cute and funny. Heavy and Medic? Cute but nothing of substance. Valve have nothing to loose, they could’ve give us more GAY. But they didn’t. Ok.

(Could’ve put rings on their fingers!!)

I also hoped for Announcer/Pauling (I shipped them so much) but nope. Not much there either (something is there for sure, just not much).

Overall? Meh. I’m glad I lost my patience for new chapter 5 years ago so I was able to read new chapter with cold head. If I was actually waiting all these years I would’ve been so furious lmao.

No offence to Valve, writers, artists, ect.

That’s just my personal opinion.

P.S. Unmasked Spy looks very nice. 👍

P.P.S. Yeah, yeah, I understand overall message about letting go and growing old. I just find comics itself a bit meh.

[blackbatcass]

If it’s okay could you recommend comics for the flash fam? I really want to start reading them but I have no idea where to start 😅

YES I ABSOLUTELY CAN ANON!! reading flashfam comics can change your life for the better fr, unlike batman comics which usually change your life for the worse. Flash comics are honestly very simple to get into? for the most part you can just pick which era you want to start with, hop on that mainline ongoing and read from there.

this got kind of ridiculously long (i ramble about flash sorry)

i am not by any means a well-read silver age fan so I'll just skip right over those LMAO. if you want to read barry's run i assume you can just read flash v1 up until crisis. if you're interested in reading wally as kid flash he's featured in backups throughout a lot of v1 iirc!

unsurprisingly, my number one rec for the flashfam would be the flash volume 2 (1987). it's got pretty much everything you need. it introduced the speed force, basically created what we think of as the flashfamily, reintroduced & created beloved characters, and built up wally into the loser we know and love today<3 at its core it's the story of wally's journey from the very start of his career as the flash, learning how to fill barry's shoes and be a grown-up. it starts when he's this insane cringe 20 year old loser and ends with him as a full adult who's married with two kids LOL. it does soooo much work for wally as a character it's unreal.

but to keep it real flash v2 is......very long. like Incredibly long. it is 200+ issues and ran for over 20 years. so i can break it down into some smaller pieces & try to provide a roadmap so it's maybe a little less intimidating

the bad news is that the first guy to start out on the run fucking HATED wally for some reason lmfao and it shows. it's painful to read. the good news is he only stayed for the first 14 issues lol so honestly you can just skip those and start at #15 where william messner-loebs took over. now......the messner-loebs era is also not perfect and can be a bit of a slog. I love it in the fond 'wow wtf was all that' kind of way but it is definitely not a masterpiece. there are a lot of unmemorable, bland (occasionally batshit & ridiculous) arcs and he introduces a whole army of mostly forgettable side characters. credit where credit is due there is a lot of good stuff in there, he set up some stuff that is foundational to flash lore (like LINDA!! and hartley!) but it's not for everyone. if you want you can jump in at #31, where wally moves to keystone, or if you read some of it and it's not for you it's honestly fine to just skip to #62 where waid's run begins. #62-65 are a flashback retelling of wally's origin story (basically flash year one) and it's sooo good. essential wally reading.

the waid run is definitely the best section of the comic. it's classic it's iconic it builds the flashfamily it creates the speedforce it introduces bart allen. it's phenomenal. if you are interested in characters like bart, the garricks, johnny & jesse quick, and max mercury they are all integrated into the flashfam over this run. if nothing else i would recommend reading this part. oh and SPEAKING of bart allen, he gets introduced in issue #92! he hangs out in flash for a bit, zero hour happens, and pretty soon after his impulse series starts in 1995.

this is my #2 flashfam rec! if you have been in these tumblr circles at all then you've heard us rave about impulse 1995. it's simply Thee comic of all time. everyone on earth needs to read it im not kidding. it follows bart's life living with max mercury and his daughter helen, trying to adjust to normal life in the past. it's just. it's the best. it's 89 issues long, but honestly it goes by SUPER fast. i would recommend doing what i did and reading impulse and flash in parallel, just to get that organic experience & context. they cross over several times until impulse eventually ends.

ok back to flash v2. once geoff johns takes over..... i mean i won't say it ruins the comic and there is definitely stuff worth reading but i love waid infinitely better. it's really up to you. waid also comes back now and then to write a few chunks.

the flash series doesn't end until 2008. the next big thing after would be flash: rebirth, which. i am not a fan of for obvious reasons (get back in that coffin barry) but it's essential to understanding the plot so i have to include it lol.

i honest to god have no idea wtf was going on during flashpoint & new52. I will not pretend to understand that era. however if you are interested in the modern flashfam & the introduction of characters like ace west and avery ho, there are a couple good places to start! if you want to read williamson's run, you can start at the rebirth flash run (flash v5 #1). wally is eventually reintroduced (thank god) during this run.

if you want to start at the jeremy adams run (which features lots of members of the flashfamily) you can start at flash #768, which runs all the way to #800.

I would personally recommend the current flash ongoing written by si spurrier! it is kind of a lot and I'm in the minority in my love for it but it's interesting, thoughtful, has a role for pretty much every character, and has a lot of really cool cosmic horror elements. i will concede that it is VERY complicated and technical but you can tell spurrier has things to say and honestly it's so rare that a comic makes me think these days that i'm eating it up.

there were also two recent flashfam miniseries that just finished, speed force and jay garrick: the flash! i enjoyed both. they're short and fun.

aaaand that's my list! it is by no means comprehensive and it is very possible i got some things wrong so I apologize in advance. if you have any more questions I will be happy to try and answer them. I hope this was at least a little bit helpful and not even more confusing lol!

[monsieuroverlord]

Some of the Pride Allies Variants are up

General housekeeping before I proceed with the Roast Fest

I want to make this explicitly clear: it is not my intention to hate on the artists themselves nor their art skills or anything along those lines.

Betsy Cola and Davi Go are both extremely talented and skilled artists. Support their work. Art is fucking hard and its even harder to actually get paid for it.

Betsy Cola is a queer Filipina and has an Instagram Page (but no online shop for prints). Lots of fun retro style (think 50s-60s-70s Pop Art)

Davi Go does have an INPRNT with lots of Marvel and DC Characters. Like nine different Emma Frost prints alone. A couple of lovely Laura Kinney and much more. For fine Art Prints, artists earn like 50% of the sale, I'm pretty sure.

I personally have no idea what goes into getting contracted to do any cover by Marvel, but I'm sure it was absolutely thrilling to get to do ANY work by a big company such as Marvel, where so many would get to see something I had made. I also have no idea how much an artist is told when they are contracted to make something. (Do they get told what it's for, or are they just given a generalized prompt? I truly have no idea)

I do know, that personally for me, doing ANYTHING of that caliber would be a dream come true. I've been reading comic books since I was five/six years old. While I only make shitty little fans arts and the occasional fanfic, if by some astronomical chance, I was offered to write or do a cover, I would absolutely jump on the chance. Or at least strongly consider it.

I am specifically critiquing Marvel's decisions as corporation to even come up with and sign off on something as obnoxious (and frankly, insulting) as "Pride Allies" for a variant series. Especially considering the overarching fact that historically Marvel has had its fair share of issues regarding its treatment of its queer characters -- lack of consistent appearances/storytelling, questionable treatment/writing choices, and blatant rainbow washing during Pride month to give a few generalizations (pick your favorite example, there's a lot). Sometimes its enjoyable to poke fun at company's ridiculous marketing ideas.

Much like the fact last winter they did a "Ski Chalet" variant series with skiing and snow activities, yet somehow didn't find an artist to do a variant of their ONE CANON OLYMPIC SKIIER.

But I digress.

In Summary: the act of creation is beautiful, don't be a douche canoe. Being punk is anti-establishment, not anti-people.

Thank you.

Now, ladies, gentlemen, and everyone in-between and outside thereof, first up we have:

Amazing Spider-man #52 by Davi Go

Davi Go does a pretty Northstar, I'll give him that.

But why is Spider-man here? What are they even doing? I know JP has canonically crushed on chatty dumbasses *cough cough* Iceman *cough cough* but I don't see the point of this pairing.

What are they even doing? Did Parker get lost on his way to the Pride Parade? Lmao.

Next:

Daredevil #10 by Davi Go

Rachel is very pretty. Looks very powerful here.

They both wear red, I'll give them that.

(I don't have much more to say on this one. I think my brain broke a little)

I genuinely do NOT see the point in pairing up a queer character with a random more popular Marvel hero. I repeat my question, who the hell signed off on this?

In my personal opinion, its just new lows in performative allyship and rainbow washing and whatever kind of marketing you wanna call it.

Source here for first two (directly from Marvel site)

[ozaitheestallion]

You said you immediately saw Ozai as being played as a drag queen?? PLEASE elaborate I'm so interested in the way ur mind works 🙏

Okay so maybe I’m just incredibly fucked up and deep down the queer horror rabbit hole (I’ve been watching a lot of Dragula, American Horror Story and classic horrors lately), but the second you start looking at Ozai through a drag, camp, “classic Disney villain” lens, it’s hard to see him any other way.

Like I watched this show as a kid when I originally aired and like basically everyone, I was absolutely terrified and sickened by Ozai, the shitty dad and ultimate big bad villain who is also not even really the main villain, right? Like that’s Azula or Zhao or whoever. That’s how basically all of us original viewers saw him and how a lot of new viewers still do. Fair enough. Not inaccurate.

However, I didn’t do rewatches of the show again, not until the revival in interest over COVID. I hadn’t rewatched it even once since it originally aired and so therefore I expected my viewpoint to change…but nowhere near as drastically as my view of Ozai did.

I’m not saying Ozai is written to be viewed as a drag character, because of course he isn’t, but as I said, once you start looking at him through that specific lens, you won’t be able to see him any other way.

He’s kept in the shadows unless we need a dramatic scary reveal. He’s constantly making dramatic, prose-filled speeches for the benefit of…like…no one lmao like most his scenes are one on one confrontations. He has a very dramatic design, being a conventionally attractive man yet has that fuck ass goatee, the best eyeliner in the country and more detail put into his hair than any other character gets.

He does his whole reveal as the Phoenix King that goes off without a hitch, perfectly rehearsed. This was a surprise to no one but Azula. He got every damn person in the palace in on this stupid reveal. They already know he’s going to become a new ruler with a new title. They already know. This isn’t for their benefit. He did an entire reveal just for the benefit of his kid. If there’s one thing a queen loves, it’s a dramatic unnecessary reveal.

As he fights Aang, he just keeps making these speeches that a child will either not be interested in or too far away to even hear or appreciate, yet he keeps going anyway.

Right up until the end and then going into the comics, he’s dramatic, bitter and playing everyone against each other even though he has absolutely nothing to gain anymore. He puts Zuko and Azula against each other and antagonises Ursa even though it will gain him nothing and do nothing except kill time. Insults for the sake of insults and mess for the sake of mess. The fact insults of far greater power can be thrown back at him in his position is something he doesn’t even consider. Just messy for the sake of being messy and evil for the sake of being evil.

Ozai would fit nicely alongside classic queer-coded Disney villains like Ursula, Scar, Hades, Maleficent and Captain Hook.

He’s so dramatic and so over the top with his cruelty, his crimes and his villainous actions, yet is completely and utterly committed to the bit he’s doing. There’s no self aware clever jabs like Azula or obvious moment of “look at how ridiculous he is” like with Zhao. Ozai and his writing are completely committed to what he’s doing and burning down the entire world literally by hand, and at no point is it questioned. It’s like watching Divine in a John Waters film. This is simply what the character I doing and you’re the ridiculous one for questing them.

Ozai takes himself so seriously and so literally and is so very offended and genuinely surprised when he’s questioned and called out, (like why on earth would he think burning his son’s face is a valid teaching moment or burning the entire earth kingdom will in any way be a good start to his new empire), that it becomes camp.

This is…extremely long and meandering and tbh I don’t think there’s any way for me to really clearly define why I view Ozai as an example of a classic queer/drag coded villain. If you don’t agree and do take his portrayal as an abusive father and an imperialist tyrant seriously and that’s how you prefer to view the story, then by all means do that. I’m not trying to change your mind.

I’m just saying that sometimes our views of things can change dramatically as we ourselves change as people, and sometimes those changes are extremely entertaining, nonsensical and fun to explore.

Like the IT remakes, some unspeakable horrors can also be viewed and enjoyed as queer adjacent comedies if you look sideways and saying. And sometimes the unspeakable horrors are better that way.

[danganronpadedication]

Request: Yasuhiro Hagakure x s/o general Headcanons

Yasuhiro Hagakure x GN! S/O General Relationship Headcanons -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Wow, I'm so surprised to see yet another Hiro liker! I think he's awesome, he's very good comic relief and he's got a heart of gold. Which apparently a couple shady individuals are after, but hey. Sorry about the wait on this one, I'm an active uni student lol. - Mod Tsumugi --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. Hiro is a very laid-back and relaxed person, and that carries over into your relationship. His easygoing nature helps balance out any tense situations you two might encounter. He doesn't get stressed over small details, and will often try to calm you down if you're feeling anxious. Granted, he's not the best when handling comforting other people, but he tries his best.

2. Hiro isn't the most reliable person, he's very scatter-brained and disorganized, so it's up to you to keep him on track most days. He doesn't often think things through all the way, but his heart is in the right place. Expect a sense of spontaneity in your date plans, as he'll try and surprise you at every turn. He might forget to text you back, but he'll make it up with a silly apology, and a heartfelt gesture.

3. As the Ultimate Clairvoyant, he'll always offer to do readings for you, especially when you're uncertain about something coming up. Though his predictions are pretty hit or miss, it's amusing to see how much he believes in his own fortune-telling abilities.

4. Hiro might not be the type to fight, but he is surprisingly protective of you. He would try to diffuse conflict with humor or by “predicting” the outcome to avoid danger. He’d do anything to keep you out of trouble, even if it means running away from danger together.

5. He believes in following your dreams and will always encourage you to pursue what makes you happy. He might not have the best track record with his own schemes, but he’ll always be your biggest supporter, whether you're trying something new or struggling with a big decision. Expect him cheering for you the loudest.

6. Hiro often ends up in ridiculous situations, which provide plenty of entertainment in your relationship. Whether it’s getting scammed by someone for the third time this week or showing up with a new “get rich quick” scheme, his antics definitely provide you with some entertainment.

7. Expect random hugs, silly compliments, whatever he can do to show you he cares in minimal ways. He's very casual about it, he won't be calling you over the top pet names, but you will definitely know he loves you.

8. He's a conspiracy theory nut, especially the outlandish ones, and will frequently go on rants about whether or not the moon is hollow or if lizard people run the government. He gets really excited when you humor him, and let him talk your ear off about it. While you may not always believe him, his enthusiasm is contagious.

9. He’s the kind of guy who thinks he's being cool, but in reality, he’s a bit of a lovable dork. Though he'll probably get pretty defensive about it lmao. Be nice to him <3

10. His love language is probably either acts of service, or words of affirmation. He's also a bit of a momma's boy, you will be hearing him talk about Hiroko (not me projecting cause I love Hiroko). In the rare case you get into a disagreement, Hiroko will probably be the one talking some sense into him lmao.

------------------------------------------------------------------- You sat on the park bench, watching Yasuhiro fumble through his deck of tarot cards with an exaggerated sense of importance. He was determined to give you a "perfect" reading, even though his last attempt ended in him predicting that you'd somehow bring the dinosaurs back to life?

"Alright, babe, this time it's gonna be 100% accurate," he said, shuffling the cards like a pro—or at least trying to. One slipped out and fluttered to the ground, and he quickly bent down to retrieve it, grinning sheepishly. "Whoops. Just the universe messing with us."

You couldn't help but laugh. "I don’t think that’s how the universe works."

He shot you a playful wink. "Ah, you just don’t understand the mystical forces yet." With a grand flourish, he laid out the cards, and after a dramatic pause, his face lit up. "Oh, wow! It says here you're about to have a sudden adventure with someone incredibly handsome."

"Really?" You raised an eyebrow, playing along. "Who might that be?"

"Obviously me!" He shot up from the bench, grabbing your hand with a grin so wide you couldn’t help but smile back. “C'mon, let's go somewhere fun. I don’t know where yet, but the cards say it'll be awesome.”

"Hiro," you started, laughing as he tugged you to your feet, "You didn’t even finish the reading!"

He waved a hand dismissively. "Eh, it was probably just gonna say something cheesy like, 'You're destined to be with the best fortune-teller ever.'"

You rolled your eyes, a wide smile on your face. Hey, who were you to tell the cards they were wrong?

[vani11a-ice]

So, any unpopular opinions about Star Wars Legends that you have? I'm perfectly willing to listen.

Lmao hi, I didn’t expect to see you here! I really liked your Mara Jade criticism/analysis, and I saw your thoughts about my silly little hashtags—off topic to the ask but yes I definitely agree it’s too late to do anything with Mara Jade now given her story already concluded in Legends/EU verse, not to mention Disney now own the rights so that couldn’t even happen. If she were rewritten however she definitely could be far greater of a character.

As for your kind ask, when it comes to Star Wars EU there’s a lot to unpack because there’s so much content, but I guess I can give an overall opinion to make it more concise (But brace yourself, I will be yapping quite a bit anyways on here lol).

I generally love Legends. I grew up mainly with the central Lucas canon many years before Disney acquired the franchise: obviously the movies and 2008 clone wars series, and then some small EU content such as video games and some children’s comics/books before I even knew what the EU was. Because of this, I think it’s easy for me and many others to look back on the old stuff and be nostalgic for it.

But now that I’m older and gotten back into Star Wars (after losing interest in it for a while due to the sequels), I now have a better grasp of Legends content as well as a lot of lore I didn’t know as a kid—mainly books about what happens post ROTJ—and one thing I’ve noticed is that the quality highly fluctuates. On the one hand you get some amazing stuff like the Old Republic era, some of the Clone wars comics, old Battlefield games, the Darth Plagueis novel, the Prequel novelisations, Thrawn, Clone Wars 2003 and ofc many more. On the other hand, you get some pretty ridiculous stuff too, like Dark Empire, Shadows of the Empire, the Force Unleashed (Ironically, I actually really like this game for the nostalgia, its gameplay, Galen himself, story potential and the memes but many events of the game itself do not realistically make sense lol) and many books post ROTJ (mind you haven’t read all of them, way too many lol) that kind of have plot points I’m not too happy with and I could go on forever about (and some others I probably haven’t thought of).

My main point is, many legends fans will always advocate that the solution to Disney’s less than stellar Star Wars works recently is doing adaptations of existing legends material. And whilst I do think that there is a lot of lore you can pluck from legends and reuse/rewrite for their potential (I mean Disney already does that with characters like Thrawn), I never would want a 1-1 recreation. First of all, Legends started before the prequels so a lot of it doesn’t make complete sense now anyways (Hot take, but post-prequel-movies legends has always been better overall in terms of quality. For this reason, Old Republic/Prequel era was handled better overall than New Republic era). Additionally, Legends just isn’t as consistent or good overall as people would like to believe. It’s a large universe with several different writers, there’s bound to be mistakes/bad works riddled throughout here and there.

I also don’t think there’s enough people that talk about (especially) the older legends materials’ problematic elements as well. I’m not always a huge fan of how certain writers treat female and even other minority/non-human characters in Legends. I’m sure you’re familiar with this with people like Mara Jade. One of my other personal main gripes just to list another example is Leia. I’ve always hated how sidelined she is because she was always my personal favourite as a child, and the writers throughout the continuity could not make up their mind on whether she should be a Jedi or not to the point where her skills largely varied between writers until they finally decided to make it official when she’s much much older. Even by then she’s already overshadowed by her children/brother. George Lucas himself didn’t always write her or other female characters in the best way either, but I always thought an EU continuity would be the perfect place to give her the attention she deserves, instead all we got was an inconsistent arc, especially after the Thrawn trilogy. Disney could have turned this around but unfortunately the exact same thing happened where they couldn’t make up their mind on whether she was a Jedi or not (and gave her the shittiest excuse for quitting—how ironic that both Legends and Disney write in immediate motherhood and marriage as a sexist obstacle rather than actually letting her character grow before/during these events).

Fanatic Legends fans will, however, unfortunately rarely agree or at least try to understand criticism of their favourite universe, and, in my view, this is no better than Disney Adults who vehemently reject criticism of some of the worst recent Star Wars media that’s been released.

To conclude this long ass rant, I just think Star Wars EU whether that be Legends or Disney could do with rewriting/organisation here and there. But that’s highly unlikely, so a more realistic solution is just to pick and choose the media you enjoy from both universes (or make up your own!) and just accept it as your own personal canon. That’s what gives me peace and mind anyways :)