#i do have to finish it im up to vol 6

[killjoy-prince]

Birthmas manga and merch haul

[5-pp-man]

another tierlist because ppl actually liked that first one;

the crème de la crop;

the first 2 eps i thought it was fine, but it didnt really captivate me as much as id hoped. but then ep 3 changed everything for me. i started to think "how could living armour work logically? everything so far has been edible, so this must be too, right?" i actually managed to think of the exact thing that this series did. that really made me realise the worldbuilding in this was something unique, and it only got better and better with each episode. its really managed to captivate me and i look forward to "delicious donderdag" every week :)

ANIME ORIGINAL LETS GOOOO absolutely bonkers show that almost slipped by me because it initially tried to fool its audience into thinking it was a regular dramatic military show. it still is but theres also a giant robot who plays by saturday morning cartoon giant robot rules. if that sounds like tonal whiplash to you, trust me, it is. and its amazing. have i mentioned how homoerotic this one is as well? yeah. originally a tier below this one, but immediately after finishing this post i watched the newest ep. i had to make an exception and edit the list because ep 9 changes everything. i havent been gobsmacked by a show this hard in a while.

(return of the) show(s) that execute their own premise very well;

i havent read the manga for yubisaki to renren so i cant compare, but the quality of this adaptation has been very consistent. you need a little sweet romance every once in a while :) this is one of those series where the characters really grew on me the longer it went on. im always a fan of mixing realistic struggles with romance and this one has been doing it well so far

adaptations that are ok (i read the manga for both of these);

i've been a mashle fan since before s1 aired. and the anime has some good changes and additions here and there! but its not very consistent in terms of quality, it does that shonen thing where the animation quality suddenly spikes for certain action sequences, but it also frequently had a lot of scenes where they recycle shots a lot and nothing interesting happens on the screen for a considerable amount of time. still! its a fine adaptation. and yeah the op for this. blew tf up lmao? very strange to see happen in real time

i actually rlly like the manga for this one. i read the whole thing up until vol.6 before the season started (all that was available back then) and it made me cry multiple times throughout. i was sort of missing that connection with the show, though some of the later episodes still hit. its mostly to do with the animation quality, which isnt that great unfortunately. the voice actors are knocking it out of the park though

wghere am i;

is this show good? i. uh. will you hate me if i say yes...? objectively, i know its not that good. especially in the animation department. but if you like other Umatani shows, you'll like this one. it's got the same brand of goofy reactionary humour mixed with gimmicky tacky characters and crazy stupid plot twists. ive been faithfully watching this one each week and I'm afraid i've become very invested. overscientific indeed

bro you fell off...;

i was so beyond excited for this one. i replayed the op a million times, watched each preview, rewatched multiple episodes. and then. ep 5 happened. and i started to realise. oh this show kind of sucks doesnt it? the pacing of the first ep was great, but the rest? way too fast. it became clear with ep 6 that theyre trying to do a double cour show with half the length, which is why they started hauling ass plot-wise. now. i was an arajin apologist for the longest time. but at that point i honestly started to loathe him. even when he stepped up, his praise still felt sort of unearned. and to top it all off, shindou's motivation sucked so he felt like a lousy antagonist. ep6 was better than 5, but it really made me lose my enthusiasm and hope for the series. and right as we were talking about them probably not having time for a filler ep, ep7 happened. feels like a waste of time to do an ep like that when you've still got a whole 2nd arc to go through. but who am i

it started off pretty good honestly. but then chris went to the hospital and it kind of just dwindled from there. this season does so much with characters that have not even been properly introduced like how am i supposed to care about these people if i barely know who they are. the stuff with finn and leo respectively was good though. but the lore dump? lord help me. also vijay just kind of. exists to be there in the background huh? i would not call him a main character they never give him any attention. wendy had another ep again and he didnt get shit. again. also i think finn was stupid as fuck for not listening to lala but again. who am i. i know we cant destroy high card because we need a show but. cmon man.

i am severely behind on these;

reason why im behind is because most of the eps are a bit heavy so i kept. not watching them. its starting to get rlly interesting though so i'm def gonna catch up this is one of those robo-racism shows so i have to really watch out to see where its going. dont want another marginal service situation...

sorry this is just. a little too boring for me. its charming, sure. but i think this wouldve worked better as something with an 11 min timeslot instead of 23 min. theres just a bit too mu- or well, too little for me to rlly get into this. i think reading it would be more fun for me personally

[theultimatenonbinarynerd]

March 2024 Reading Wrap Up

The Calendar

Another incredible reading month and I'm so glad I managed to keep my streak this time despite still recovering from illness. It's been a scifi packed month and I absolutely will do my best to fix that next month. I'm one of those people who want to do their best to diversify their TBR. I'd also dub this the Aftermath month as I decided to reread Aftermath to prep for reading Life Debt. And despite the still obvious flaws im so grateful I decided to give Chuck Wending a second chance.

The biggest excitement of this month is that I'm proud to announce that after three agonising months I finally finished Black Spire. When I re-read it in the future I can absolutely assure you that the read will be shorter. I don't know what happened it just took absolutely ages to read. It was a fairly decent novel and I adored the themes of Rebellion and Resistance. I just wish the other characters were fleshed out more as Vi and Archex are the only ones that are. 10th of March was the best day ever as I was just so glad to be finally rid of this side read as I have a whole block of other side reads I wanted to get too.

The High Republic comics are an absolute delight and I definitely want to get more of them in the future but they're still not my focus. The High Republic Adventures Vol.1 was incredible, I borrowed it off my brother and was really excited to read it and it was incredible. Lula and Zeen are an absolute power couple. The story telling was super enriching and fun. I definitely want to get my hands on Vol.2 sometime as I've also weirdly already read Vol.2. After I've read Fallen Star I definitely will need to re-read Vol. 3. I'm not suprised it took five days as that's normally how long comics usually take for me.

And then to finish off my side reads I managed to miraculously finish Vol.5 of the Animal Crossing New Horizons Manga. Vol.5 was really good and I loved how it incoperated the final 2.0 update and the dlc. Especially since Dark seems to be my reading mood preference I always love to incoperate a few lighthearted reads in there to save my shattered heart cos lord I need it, need it massively. This series is awesome and i'm happy it's gone on to have nine volumes but im definitely only sticking to eight of them thank you.

Then we have of course the Doctor Who Big Finish audio dramas. I'm very close to the end of The Eighth Doctor Adventures Series 1 now and have really enjoyed the series. It's gotten me deeply into Big Finish. Phobos and No More Lies were very fun and easy listens. I think unless it's a box set I'm definitely gonna be able to listen to single Big Finish stories in one day as you can tell by the calendar.

March has been fun but I really wish I'd read more than scifi and I hope April will be the chance to improve upon that.

March Stats

I'm using all my stats and log templates from LEEBEE_READS from now on as their all beautiful especially this flowery March theme. I've also got the hang of using it better so it looks neater. So here's a breakdown of all my stats for March from left to right.

I "read" 6 books in total this month. Four physical books and two big finish audio dramas. I didn't expect to read as much as I did in February due to missing my support group and getting another FNAF book off my friend but I shouldn't have been as I still have a lot of side reads I need to get through. Pages was good too as I didn't think I'd reach 1000 pages but I did. This March I read 1047 pages only 47 more than March 2023. I don't care about beating records but I still find that quite the achievement. For listening it went as well, I managed to listen to 2.43 hours. A number that will go up as I listen to the longer audios. We'll see what April brings but I'm very proud of myself.

Genre was very scifi this month. The only none scifi book I read was the Animal Crossing Manga which just cracks me up. Scifi is an amazing genre and I've love all the scifi stories I've listened too and read but I feel like it doesn't hurt now and then to go outside of the box. After hopefully getting to Brotherhood I have 3 none Star Wars books to help break this spell which should hopefully balance out the stats. So my genre's ended up being very simple with only Scifi, Fantasy, Video Games, Manga and Graphic Novel. 5 Scifi listens and reads is just mind blowing its definitely helped me understand and figure out what my favourite genre indeed is. With what I have planned for April I'm very curious how my genres will look.

Mainly reads like I said last time is budging as I'm into very adventurous books that are dark and also have mystery. I also still adore 300-499 page books and that's never gonna change but we'll see.

March was a very interesting month for moods as last year I only logged three moods but this year I've managed to log eight moods. Through out my reads and listens I've managed to pick up the moods, Adventurous, Tense, Mysterious, Lighthearted, Hopefully, Funny, Dark and Challenging which is in my opinion the most impressive streak of moods so far. Adventurous is always gonna take the top spot but im really happy at how balanced this chart is. I read a pretty Dark Comic in terms of The High Republic Adventures Vol.1 and then balanced it out with Vol.5 of The Animal Crossing manga series. People may want to read all dark reading month but I still think it's super important to balance things out with lighthearted stuff as Dark books are dark for a reason as they can be super heavy. Really curious about how April's stats will turnout.

Finally the Star Ratings which shocked me as for the first time ever I remembered quarter star ratings existed and rated too reads/listens 4.25 stars. In the future I'm definitely gonna try remember quarter star ratings and be more critical about how I rate books. I had two 4 star rated reads one being a re-read, two 4.25 star reads/listens as both were good but had flaws which meant it didn't quite deserve 4.5 or 5 stars and one 5 star read. That resulted in and average rating of 4.33 stars. Which is the same average rating I got a year ago. Haven't got an average rating below 4 yet but we'll see what happens.

Overall a very good month for stats I'm very intrigued to see what April shall bring.

Reads/Listens

Looking at this lineup is hilarious and amusing for me because you can tell the Animal Crossing Manga is the odd one of the group. It's giving and Peggy 🤣. I'm still proud of the lineup but I'm disbelief at how much sci-fi I've consumed.

Phobos and No More Lies were really good listens I'm super impressed at how talented the Big Finish team are. The Eighth Doctor Adventures Series 1 was definitely the best place to start as from Blood Of The Daleks it's only gotten better. I enjoyed both stories due to how experimental they were. No More Lies hit me right in the feels once the explanation for the timeloop was revealed and Phobos gobsmacked me at how dark it got. Judging on my journey I think I might enjoy the stories with orginal villians more.

I deserve a medal for how long it took me to read Black Spire I'm absolutely gobsmacked that it took me 42 days to finish this book especially since some of the chapters were short. Sure I took breaks so I could read my main reads and recover from being ill and it sending me into a reading slump. I did enjoy this book for the most part it was just a drag to get through. I'd still recommend it as it's themes are really deep and relevant for today. I loved the characters of Vi and Archex and definitely want to get my hands on the Phasma Audiobook so I can understand the story better. Good birthday present.

Oh the High Republic is my comfort franchise and I love it. I never planned on picking up the comics but when an opportunity presents yourself you take it. Very much enjoyed this volume and loved the themes of found family. Considering Zeen is queer it was very purposefully metaphorical that her friend betrayed her and disowned her after she had to out herself as a force user to save people. I also think it fleshes out the Nihil recruitment process and shows how easy it is to turn to the wrong people. I hope in the future I can get to reading Vol.2 but I'll definitely be re-reading Vol.3 of the High Republic Adventures that's for sure. Vol.1 was a delightful read and hit me right in the feels its well deserving of 5 stars.

Aftermath after mistakingly picking up the book as my first Star Wars read I was absolutely done with this novel. I knew I'd have to continue the Trilogy as a completionist but I was absolutely done with Aftermath as far as I was concerned. Having completely forgotten the events of the book though I knew it would be best to Reread Aftermath before I dug my teeth into Life Debt so I did and it helped a lot. Reading alongside Marc Thompsons narration on audio gave the book so much of the life it needed. It was a much more pleasant experience on Reread. I thought I'd hate it even more but the rating did not change. Infact it got me in the mood for reading Life Debt. Glad I gave Chuck Wending a second chance and I hope Empires End is even better than this book.

Finally Animal Crossing. One of my favourite video games and I think this manga series has not only faithfully adapted what made New Horizons charming but also actually added personality and life into the npcs and villagers. Vol.5 was a welcome suprise as I didn't think they'd add the 2.0 update and dlc into the series but its a very nice and welcome suprise. This manga series is just a nice breath of fresh air and I can't wait to get my hands on Vol. 6, Vol.7 and Vol.8. I seriously haven't enjoyed an entry in the series this much since Vol.2. Rumba does a wonderful job.

Conclusion

After the end of February's reading took a down turn I'm proud I managed to pick myself back up again. March was very interesting and I'm glad even if mainly Sci-fi that I managed to read and listen to a good bunch of stuff. I'm very optimistic for April and think it'll be just as good. I do know that the Calendar is for sure gonna be interesting.

If you want to see my full reviews for the audios and books featured in this post you can find me on The Storygraph and Goodreads.

Goodreads: Melody Soundy

Storygraph: melsage1823

Well this has been March's reading wrap up until next time...

-Melody-

They/Them

[monzabee]

i was wondering if you associate any songs with the drivers? other than the obvious ones like smooth operator or that one friday song. just more like “this is written about them” or “this song is their vibe”

there’s this song my boyfriend loves called CHERIE by darius and it reminds me of charles. also taylor swift’s sparks fly for some reason? i think it’s the green eyes lyric. plus feather by sabrina carpenter and karma by taylor. HES TAYLOR CODED TO ME??? and im honestly not even her HUGEST fan so idk why. anyways, these are more songs that remind me of him then ones he’d listen to.

adele reminds me of lando cause i can just fully imagine him knowing every adele song. also greedy by tate mcrae, never be like you (idk who that’s by), blame it by t-pain (i literally have no reason for this one😭), meet me halfway by the black eyed peas, and we found love by rihanna. oh and fireball by pitbull

dangerous woman by ariana, fetish by selena gomez, and moonlight by kali uchis for carlos

voulez-vous by abba and mamas boy by dominic fike (maybe cause it says maxa maxa million or maybe cause the sad tiktok edits) for max.

the real slim shady and without me for seb vettel

5SOS always gives me danny ric but i think that’s cause i accidentally mentally mashed all my fav aussie’s together. also life is a highway and this one rap song i actually got FROM him that’s so stupid but it’s like “i feel real good today.” paper planes by m.i.a and sunflower vol 6 by harry.

i have so many more but this is too long already. i’ll end it by saying i genuinely think the entire sport of F1 gives viva la vida and that “all the birds of a feather” rio song

👻🤍

OKAY WAIT THIS IS A PRETTY GOOD LIST??

i do totally agree that charles is taylor swift coded, but i was listening to folklore the other day and he's so mirrorball coded and it definitely breaks my heart, but i also feel like mirrorball can also be fitting for a lot of other drivers😭 he's also so fearless coded if you know what i mean😭 but i feel like adele is more charles' lane because he's a sad boy at heart and he said he does enjoy her music👀

GREEDY BY TATE MCRAE IS SO LANDO CODED AND I WILL NOT SHUT UP ABOUT IT EVER😭 for some reason i do associate a lot of olivia rodrigo's songs with lando, at least the upbeat ones, like i feel like he's just a teenage girl at heart and i love him for that. also, in a weird way unwritten by natasha bedingfield reminds me so much of lando, i guess he also gives me romcom vibes🫠

i've been saying this for months, i even have fic based off of it that i have to finish but maroon by taylor swift is carlos coded!! i do have to finish that fic but yeah😭 also, he's so lana coded?? like million dollar man, off to the races, lust for life... HE EXUDES OLD MONEY ENERGY FOR SOME REASON (probably because he kinda is)

there's this one song that my dad used to play for me called sun goes down by david jordan and i associate that song with seb a lot, but honestly he can be anything coded really?? taylor swift? fits. eminem? also fits because he used to be a little menace. i also kinda think panic! at the disco and seb could be a vibe🫡

to me daniel is definitely country coded and that's it😂 like i'm talking dolly parton😭 9 to 5? definitely his anthem. also, PITBULL😭

OKAY THIS WAS SO MUCH FUN SO THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR MAKING ME THINK ABOUT THIS BESTIE

[mikarchive2]

what i read in february 2023 📚

1. teatro grottesco by thomas ligotti - ★★★★ - picked this up because i randomly read one of his short stories on a train once and was so enamoured ... a short story collection centered around a subtle existential sort of horror that is less about gore and violence and more about something unknown but dreadful lurking in your peripheral vision . some of these, especially the ones from the deformations section, felt very welcome to night vale . delicious . makes you feel like a kid listening to scary campfire stories . i enjoy hanging out in the world created by this narrative voice so much

favourites: purity, the town manager, the clown puppet, my case for retributive action + in a foreign town, in a foreign land

2. the raven and the reindeer by t. kingfisher - ★★ - i think what im doing here is trying to read a fairytale retelling every month 👍 ... this really did not work for me though . the writing style felt so childish ( this could have been a book for twelve year olds ) + the story did not go anywhere and stayed extremely surface-level throughout the whole book . yeah sure there were lesbians but no actual substance whatsoever . the reading process was somewhat enjoyable because the humor was alright, but thats pretty much the only redeeming quality

3. the world keeps ending, and the world goes on by franny choi - ★★★ - i believe this is a case of ‘its not you its me’ because even though the way the author plays with language is straight up fascinating something about her poetry never clicks with me . i had the exact same issue with soft science as well - there is a certain detachment and coldness to her style that doesnt allow me to properly process the poems on an emotional level . still, i really liked the fourth section, it was so imaginative and full of the kind of resilience that is only born out of utter hopelessness

4. the passion by jeanette winterson - ★★★ - unfortunately i have the same issue here as with franny choi - something in me just always refuses to click with jeanette winterson . the author is trying to lead me somewhere by the hand but she is always slightly out of reach . this is my third book by her and while i can see and appreciate her craft it just never leaves a lasting impression on me its so strange ... i enjoyed the imagery + the philosophical ideas about love and passion but the story itself ... i dont know

5. the sandman: world’s end ( vol. 8 ) by neil gaiman - reread - i am not rating these god bless and putting them in the review post is probably not a good idea either since i ramble about them enough as is . what can i even say about a series that pretty much formed the way i understand the world and the human condition . stories within stories within stories . the foreshadowing here is insane and probably unnoticeable unless you are rereading . its hard to say what the writing process here was actually like perhaps it was way more spontaneous than i imagine but it all seems so meticulously and purposefully planned its just stunning

( + two books i left unfinished last year because of my broken ebook reader and decided to finish this month: )

6. wyrd sisters by terry pratchett - ★★★ - ( looks above ) my reading order here is very ‘frequently bought together’ ‘do not separate them’ huh ... this was very shakespearean which was fun but not ideal for me personally because it means some things definitely flew right over my head . i think i enjoyed equal rites a little more ? however at the end of the day its just your typical discworld novel i laughed i witnessed some well-written women and losermen i laughed some more . what else could i ask for

7. when i grow up i want to be a list of further possibilities by chen chen - ★★★★ - wonderfully heart-warming and radiant and witty and has the power to restore your belief in love and tenderness at least for a moment . this kind of literal and confessional american poetry usually isnt for me but miraculously chen chen made it work ! basically the hype is well deserved

up next: im actually not sure im trying to slow down since i need to get through some college textbooks 💔 ... + im sure want to finish the sandman which is really enough for the next one thousand years . considering mrs. dalloway by virginia woolf too someone called it a spring read once and ive wanted to read it during this season ever since

[falsebooles123]

Confessions of a Recovering Genre-Phobic 02/04/2024

Hey Whores;

God what is this week? Well work has fucking sucked. People calling in sick, one of the refrigerators going down. Also one of my favorite work friends has left the chat to go on to green pastures and I just need to get out of there and move on with my life right?

In terms of love IDFK right? Ok here me out why bitches got to take so long to text you back and I get that its probably me just being triggered and having filters or some shit but also bitch. Treat me like a king. act like you want to be with me or some shit. I think its a lot were when people don't text me back its cause they have a life and our doing things and I distract myself with dumb shit because I hav eno goddamn friends. Anyway thanks for reading this prime example.

IDFK. Thanks for listening here are my dumb bitch thoughts on music and also Lelslie Hall has 5 albums and its homophobic you never told me...................................emrwopirjaksdlfjasklfjasdlk;fjasdlkf.

Footnotes For the Spring (2015) - Eliza Rickman

Genre: Folk, Baroque Pop? Length: 43:15 (11 Tracks)

Ok gurl I'm bad at describing genres Eliza Rickman is somewhere between Florence Welch and the Unwoman. She's what evermore Taylor wishes to be. Just imagine a feyish women in a white chiffon gown in a field of daisys singing baleful songs that are maybe sexual???

I don't have a lot to say about this album. If you like Eliza Rickman your gonna like this. She has a certain sound and I love it because I love beautiful esoteric women.

3.5/5 (I'm starting to feel like my number ratings don't mean shit.)

Too Young To Be Sad (2021) EP - Tate McRae

Genre: Pop, R&B? Length: 17:32 (6 Tracks)

All The Things I Never Said (2020) EP - Tate McRae

Genre: Pop, R&B? Length: 15:00 (5 Tracks)

Ok I think I was confusion Addison Rae with Olivia Rodriguez. and then confusing her with Tate McRae. I'm really sorry pop girlies.

When I first heard Tate McRae I was up at a ridicoulas hour in december and felt like I should be hip with THEE YOUTHSSSSS.

I vagualy remember her as a bedroom pop girly singing these sad piano ballads and honestly did I jsut mix her up with another singer. Cause like I distinctly remember her doing like sad piano ballads and this ain't it. Which is a great thing because I actually kinda love this.

Like lets be real this is pretty standard what I think R&B is. WHich gurl how did I forget a complete genre of music. and you know what im ok with this being a bit generic because I don't know the genre and I'm vibing.

Ill have to check out her full albums and sorry for the shit I was talking earlier.

4/5 for both EPs.

Hot Buttered Soul (1969) - Isaac Hayes

Genre: Soul Length: 45:24 (4 Tracks)

Ok so apparently this is a seminal album in the Soul Genre. Which ok. I'm sure it is but I feel like I'm do much of a dummy to get it.

IDK bitch you know what soul music sounds like? well good this has a 20 minutes Track in it so do with that information what you will.

2/5

Home Vol. 1 EP (2012) - JohnnySwim

Genre: Folk Length: 18:48 (5 Tracks)

I don't have much to say about this album. Have you heard any 2010s folk music? This is it. We have beautiful voices. Clapping, and stories of love and heartbreak. I mean what more do you want babygirl?

3/5

Ambient 1: Music for Airports (1978) - Brian Eno

Genre: Ambient Length: 42:20 (4 Tracks)

So I don't actually know if I ever finished this album.

Mostly because this album was meant as an instullation piece where it would be looped ad naseum but suffice to say.

BItch do you know what Ambient Music is? Its like music thats more about a calm and chill tone then it is about being energetic or attention grabbing. Its music thats designed to be ignored. The elegance of design.

This is fantastic. Sexisest Airport Music I would stick in my gob anytime.

4/5

Uptown Special (2015) - Mark Ronson

Genre: Funk, R&B Length: 38:50 (11 Tracks)

Uptown Special is probably most known by the layman for being the album that made Uptown Funk which is ft. Bruno Mars. I was already under the impression that it was the other way around. So I have learned and so have you.

I don't have much to say about this album. Think about funk music. Now imagine is someone made a really solid funk album with a bunch of fantastic guest artist including Stevie Wonder??? Thats crazy.

If anything Uptown Funk is one of the weakest song on this tracklist definetly worth a listen.

4/5

Cool Patrol (2018) - Ninja Sex Party

Genre: Comedy Rock? (thats what it says on Wikipedia will get into it) Length: 37:28 (15 Tracks)

OK did I like? Ninja Sex Party or was I just kinda horny for the vast majority of 2010s LP's. (I don't think I'm gay for Markiplier.... but)

So Ryen? What the fuck is Ninja Sex Party. ok. So its the 2010s, youtuber is full of comedic music videos and a star is born somewhere in the conceptional space adjacent to acts like LMFAO and Wierd Al. NSP is a comedic music duo consisting of Danny SexBang who is that guy in the spandex and Ninja Brian who is the mall ninja guy. SexBang likes to fuck and Brian likes to murder people a lot.

Most of the songs are these comedic sex jokes filled with dick puns and the music style is very 80s glam rock or power ballad. There not wrong when you call it comedic rock but its very limiting. Its very much a parody of those kinda corny 80s love ballads but NSP also dips there toes in Space Opera, comedic skits and so on and so forth. There pretty fun. If your a fan of like Leslie Hall or Key of Awesome or any other 2000s - 2010s comedic music artist then youd get a kick out of them.

This is pretty fun. Its like a dirty weird al yankovic album. Its not that deep fan.

3/5

[mrowsters]

Well, i dont have all the answers but i really think it depends on which iteration of transformers you wanna pull from to compare to Transformers One. I have some I know about as well as some speculation as to what Orion could have meant below the cut. (I got a bit carried away. Im sorry in advance) i hope it helps tho! :3

Bayverse Transformers (the movies) have all life come from the Allspark, which holds literally all life and knowledge of the planet. (Which is why Sam goes a bit insane when he touches it). This includes anyone who lived and anyone who will ever live as a Cybertonian. A bit catch-all relic, really. That is why it's such a big deal in the movies. It has the knowledge to revitalize Cybertrons people, to create new life (ie sparklings, or baby transformers) and to restore the planet itself. The Allspark, in this iteration, creates sparks, thus creating new transformers from the planet itself. From what i understand, transformers don't come out lookin like lil baby blobs but rather fully formed bots who come up from the Well of the Allspark.

In the IDW verse we have this scene from Cliffjumpers spotlight in "Transformers Galaxies Vol. 6"

This is just me pulling from my own collection here. Im sure there is a more detailed description of how bots were "born" but here a bot comes from the planet itself. (You can see here that they throw a huge party, but ehh, not for Cliff 😔) Now, im not sure if an artifact is involved with the creation of bots in this iteration or if they simply come from the well. I'm still learning and there is a LOT of ground to cover.

It is standard though, that a "sparkling" gets a mentor(s) which we see with Gauge, Greenlight, and Arcee in Transformers Galaxies vol. 7-9 and Transformers A Bold New Era issue 18. The basic premise is these Mentors guide the sparkling in life until they reach a certain age. (Sidenote- i recommend these they are very good if you want to see mentors and sparkling relationships).

This isn't something that was done in Transformers One. Which was surprising to me personally because, how the hell are they gonna learn what they need to know? Until we have more information, I'm assuming they are trained after they emerge from the Planet, (however they do so, but I'll get into that in a minute), and the rest is just from institutional knowledge from their fellow miners.

Here, in this reprint of the Gen One comic i was able to get my hands on they say life came from "interactions with naturally occurring gears, levers, and pulleys that miraculously brought forth sentient beings."

Now, full disclaimer here, I'm very new to Gen 1. So this is all I feel confident enough to say since I'm still learning about the series itself. ( I just finished season one of the Gen1 cartoon yesterday:3). But it seems that here it was pure chance. But again, take me with a grain of salt.

I believe sparklings come from the Well in Transformers Prime, but I haven't rewatched that series yet. From what I remember, they come from Primus -> to the Well -> then emerge in the temple (surrounding the Well) into Cybertronian society. But again, please fact check me its been a minute. But basically, once their planet died so did the chance of having any new sparklings come from the core of the planet. No energon means no Well, which means no new sparks.

This is a theme you seen often in Transformers. Cybertonians are intrinsically tied to their planet, so when the war kills the planet it also signs the death warrant on their species since they themselves come from the planets core, (which in most iterations is Primus but thats another bag of beans).

Transformers One doesn't give us a lot to work with when it comes to definitively saying where newsparks come from but it Does give us clues.

I think the biggest clue we have is the relationship between the Matrix of Leadership and the Well where energon flows throughout the planet. Orion and the miners, and presumably others, were all forged while the Well was dry because the Matrix was missing. This means that no new sparks are tied to the Well. Or more aptly, energon does not have to be flowing from the Well for Newsparks to form. Now, newsparks are still tied to the planet, most definitely, because they rely on energon to survive, etc, etc.

Another clue is the archive Orion breaks into. It states the Primus forged the 13 primes and such. Its been a minute since ive seen the movie, but they are most likely stating this as a literal fact. Primus most likely did form the Primes with his own two hands.

Now from here on out is where I speculate as to what "born" may mean. That being said, it is likely that within the lore of Transformers One that a holy site, (like the Great Pyramid above), tied to Primus is where newsparks are "born." It is likely, based on context clues, that Cybertronians believe they were also forged by Primus himself, and thus "born" from the spark of Primus (aka the core of the planet we see when Optimus is revived) -> maybe pass through a (currently) unknown relic -> to a temple -> released into society

I, personally, believe newsparks spawn at a site within Iacon. Let's call them Hotspots, where they emerge from the heart of Primus, are assigned a mentor, and then free to live in society.

What Sentinel did was go into these hotspots, no doubt a sacred and holy site where sparks are first lit, and took, randomly (i hope), the transformation cogs of sparklings yet to be "onlined" (or born) from the core of the planet.

I suppose a more literal translation from Orion saying born would be him saying Onlined. The very act of their sparks being lit, how we dont know as of yet but presumably from Primus' hand like the Primes, and emerging into Iacon is the act of "birth" he is referring to.

Another sidenote-

Another thing that seems to have taken a major blow is the lack of mentors seen in the movie. The miners, mostly if not all newsparks, have no mentor to tell them right from wrong. Which makes them extremely easy to control which Sentinel took advantage of.

I'm hoping to see older bots (aside from our dearly departed Alpha Trion. RIP) come into play in the sequel. That is, if they aren't all killed by the Quintessons or Sentinel's reign in Iacon.

Also, this is barely scratching the surface. There are a lot of ways Transformers come into being throughout the franchise. (I know i missed a ton). A good bet, though, would be that Transformers One will go for a mixture from the older iterations and make something new from it. I'm kinda excited to see where it goes, honestly.

Okay, Transformers fans, I need your help with a question that has been plaguing my mind since I watched Transformers One:

How are Transformers made?

Optimus at one point claims they're "born" but what does that mean? Does it literally mean pregnancy or is it a Blue Sky's Robots situation where they're made in factories or something?

To my knowledge we don't see child transformers on Iacon so that makes the most sense but I'm still not fully sure because I've heard in other Transformers series that there are half-human-half-Transformers out there so how the hell does that work?!

[sineala]

Tony Stark and Arthuriana

Coming to you by special request, a very long post about 616 Tony's interest in Arthuriana, with a focus on all of Tony's run-ins with Morgan le Fay!

I feel like I should disclaim the extent of my knowledge here, which is that I still haven't managed to read anywhere near every issue of Iron Man -- at least, not yet, anyway -- so I'm just going by the things I know I've read, and Morgan le Fay's Marvel wiki entry is frustratingly under-cited, so it's very possible I've missed something relevant, but I'm pretty sure I've got the big stuff down. My other disclaimer here is that I'm not as big an Arthurian nerd as Tony is, which is to say that most of my familiarity comes from modern retellings -- T. H. White's The Once and Future King, Marion Zimmer Bradley's The Mists of Avalon, Mary Stewart's The Crystal Cave, Rosemary Sutcliff's Sword at Sunset -- and not so much the usual classic sources on the Matter of Britain, though I've read bits and pieces of them.

(This is because I wanted to read versions of them that were as close to the original as possible but so far have not ended up finishing any of them because, well, that's hard. So I've never read the Mabinogion because I do not know Welsh. I've got the Norton Critical Edition of Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur, which is probably the best student edition if you're looking for something without modernized spellings, as I was. I've also got -- well, okay, it's my wife's but I'm borrowing it -- a relatively recent Boydell & Brewer edition (ed. Reeve, tr. Wright) of Geoffrey of Monmouth's Historia Regum Britanniae (History of the Kings of Britain), which is, you guessed it, in Latin with a facing English translation. I haven't gotten very far in it because, in case you didn't know this about Latin texts, the beginning is pretty much always the hardest, so I gave up and read some Plautus adaptations instead. Anyway, if for some reason you too want to read Geoffrey of Monmouth in the original Latin I'd recommend that one, but I can't recommend any particular English translations because I've never read one by itself. I bet you didn't think you'd be getting Latin prose recommendations in this post. I mean, maybe you did; it is me, after all.)

Okay. Right. King Arthur. Here we go.

We've got:

Flashbacks to Tony's childhood in late Iron Man volume 1

A brief discussion of Morgan's origin story and Avengers #187

Iron Man vol 1 #149-150: Doomquest

What If vol 1 #33: What if Iron Man was trapped in the time of King Arthur?

Iron Man vol 1 #249-250: Recurring Knightmare

Iron Man: Legacy of Doom #1-4

Avengers vol 3 #1-4: The Morgan Conquest

Civil War: The Confession

Mighty Avengers vol 1 #9-11: Time Is On No One's Side

In terms of universe-internal chronology, we know from Iron Man #287, from 1992, that Tony has been a fan of King Arthur since childhood. This is an issue of a fandom-favorite arc which features Tony having a lot of childhood flashbacks, including the famous "Stark men are made of iron" line (in #286) that for some reason MCU fandom decided it loved; I mean, seriously, I've seen that quoted in way more MCU fic than 616 fic. But slightly later, in #287, we get an entire page devoted to Tony's love of King Arthur.

The narration reads: "Over the next few years, I learned as my father intended. Discipline of body. Strength of character. But in what free time I was allowed, I worked my way through the school's library. At thirteen, I discovered Mallory [sic], who showed me a whole new world. A world of dedication to a cause greater than oneself. Of chivalry and honor. And the fantastic deeds -- of armored heroes."

The art shows Tony as a child sitting under a tree, reading a book labeled Mort D'Arthur by Mallory [sic] -- no, don't ask me why nobody at Marvel checked how to spell either the name of the book or its author -- and daydreaming of King Arthur, the Sword in the Stone, knights, et cetera. Just in case you somehow missed the extremely blatant hint that we are meant to understand that Tony's knight obsession heavily influenced him becoming Iron Man as an adult, we see one of his armors mixed in with all the drawings of knights. So, yes, canonically Tony is Iron Man at least partly because he's a giant King Arthur nerd, which I think is so very sweet. I love him. He's such a dork!

(This issue is currently in print in the Iron Man Epic Collection War Machine, should you need your own copy.)

This isn't actually the only reference to Tony as a King Arthur fanboy in this era of canon, either; a little later, in IM #298, we see that one of Tony's passwords is actually "Mallory." (Yeah, no, they still couldn't spell. But it's cute.)

But in terms of actual publication order, this is definitely not the first time we have seen in canon that Tony is into Arthuriana, as I'm sure you all know. I would assume, in fact, that giving Tony a childhood interest in Arthuriana is because Doomquest is one of the most beloved Iron Man story arcs of all time, and that all started at least a decade before IM #287 here was published.

The villain of Doomquest -- the one who isn't Doctor Doom, at least -- is Morgan le Fay. Yes, that Morgan le Fay. Yes, Arthur's evil half-sister Morgan le Fay. Yes, all of this King Arthur stuff is canonically real history on Earth-616. Morgan's first appearance in Marvel, per the wiki, was in Black Knight #1 (1955), which I have not read, and judging by the summary I feel like this is probably just supposed to be a straight-up comic retelling of Arthurian legends for kids; I don't think Marvel really had the whole Marvel Universe in mind as a concept in 1955, so I'm not sure this was meant to connect to anything else. I feel like this is another one of those instances of Marvel discovering that they can write comics about characters in the public domain for free -- like, I'm pretty sure that's how we also ended up with, like, Norse, Greek, and Roman mythology wedged into 616.

As far as I can tell from the wiki, the first time Morgan tangled with the Avengers (or indeed the larger 616 universe) in any way actually predated Doomquest -- it was in an early arc in Spider-Woman (#2-6) and then Avengers #187, which came out in 1979, actually right when Demon in a Bottle was happening over in Iron Man comics. If you read #187, Iron Man is not in it because he's off the team due to his drinking problem and also his accidentally murdering the Carnelian ambassador problem. So Wonder Man's filling in instead. This issue is part of Michelinie's rather sporadic Avengers run, which makes sense, I guess, considering where we see Morgan next.

Anyway, Avengers #187 is the classic issue where Wanda is possessed by Chthon, but what you may not remember from Chthon's backstory (I sure didn't!) is that he was summoned by Morgan le Fay because she was the first person who tried to wield the Darkhold to summon him. As you can imagine, this did not work out especially well for her and her followers and they had to seal Chthon away in Wundagore Mountain, which was where Wanda found him. (The Spider-Woman stuff is only slightly earlier and also appears to be about Morgan and the Darkhold; the Darkhold is not one of the areas of 616 canon I am especially conversant with, alas. It's on my to-read list.)

Doomquest, as you probably know, was a classic Iron Man two-parter in Layton & Michelinie's first Iron Man run that set up Tony and Doom as rivals; Doomquest itself was IM #149-150, in 1981, and then in their second IM run they came back and did a sequel in 1989, Recurring Knightmare (IM #249-250), and then the much later four-part sequel to that was the 2008 miniseries Iron Man: Legacy of Doom, which was also by Layton & Michelinie but generally does not seem to be as popular as the first two parts. They've all been reprinted, if you're looking for copies; I have a Doomquest hardcover that collects the first four issues and then a separate Legacy of Doom hardcover. Currently in the Iron Man Epic Collection line there's a volume called Doom, which confusingly only collects the 249-250 part of the storyline (as well as surrounding issues), because for some reason the first Layton & Michelinie run isn't in Epics yet but the second one is. So the beginning of Doomquest isn't currently in print, as far as I can tell. I'm sure you can find it anyway.

So what's Doomquest about? Okay, so you remember how Doctor Doom's mother's soul is stuck in hell for all eternity? Well, Doom's obviously interested in getting her back, and the strategy he has embarked on is to try to team up with other powerful magicians who can help him out, and he thinks Morgan le Fay would be a good choice, for, uh, his quest. Doom's quest. A Doomquest, if you will. (If you've ever read Doctor Strange & Doctor Doom: Triumph & Torment, you're familiar with the part where he later ends up waylaying Strange for this and they go to hell together. And if you haven't read Triumph & Torment, you really should, because it's amazing.)

So Doom is off to his time machine to go team up with Morgan le Fay and Tony thinks Doom is up to something -- Doom has been stealing components for his time machine from a lot of people, including Tony -- and he follows him and it turns out one of Doom's lackeys has a grudge and wants to trap Doom in the past forever, and Tony gets caught up in it. Now they're both in Camelot. Surprise! #149 is actually all setup; they don't get to Camelot until #150.

IM #150 begins with Doom and Tony thrown back into the past; there's a fandom-famous splash page of them locked in combat, only to realize that they have found themselves in Camelot.

They are then discovered by knights; Doom would very much like to attack them, but Tony, who naturally would be happy to LARP Camelot forever, persuades him to play nice. Also Doom thinks Iron Man is only Tony's bodyguard so he keeps referring to him as "lackey," much to Tony's annoyance. Somehow everyone thinks they're sorcerers. Can't imagine why. The knights take them to meet King Arthur himself, and Tony has clearly had his introduction all ready to go, as he introduces himself in a timeline-appropriate manner, says he's here to apprehend Doom, and demonstrates his "magic" by levitating Arthur's throne. Doom's response is essentially "I'm the king of Latveria," which is, y'know, also valid. So they're guests at Camelot for the night while Arthur figures out what to do with them.

We then have a page devoted to Tony alone in his room, musing sadly about how alien he feels, how he doesn't know if he'll ever get home, how he could never fit in here without his beloved technology. Then a Sexy Lady shows up to keep him company for the night, and he decides maybe it's not all bad. Thanks, Marvel. I guess they can't all be winners.

Doom is using his evening much more productively; he compels one of the servants to tell him where Morgan's castle is, because he's still interested in having that team-up. Then he jets off. Literally. He has a jetpack.

The next morning Arthur's like "one of you is still here and one of you has punched a hole through the castle wall and flown off to join Morgan so I guess I know which of you is more trustworthy." He then explains to Tony who Morgan is, because Tony professes ignorance, because clearly we had not yet retconned in Tony's love of Arthuriana. Tony offers to go fight Doom and Morgan with Arthur; meanwhile, Morgan and Doom have teamed up and Morgan has offered to help get Doom's mother out of hell if he commands her undead armies against Arthur because for Reasons she can't command them herself anymore. So that's a thing that happens.

So, yes, it's Tony and Arthur versus Doom and Morgan. Fight fight fight!

Tony tries Doom first but then decides to hunt Morgan down, and in the ensuing fight we get what I think is Tony's first ever "I hate magic," a complaint that we all know he still makes even to this day.

Anyway, Tony freezes a dragon with Freon (mmm, technology) and Morgan gets upset and disappears, so the battle comes to an end, and of course Doom is extremely mad at Tony because he blames Tony for Morgan not sticking around to save Doom's mom, because I guess Doom trusted her to keep her word? Weird. (Like I said, for the next chapter of Doom saving his mother, go read Triumph & Torment.)

Doom says if he and Tony work together, the components in both of their armors can send them both home. So Tony has to trust Doom. Which he does, because he really has no other choice. They build a time machine and Tony makes Doom agree to a 24-hour truce when they get back, so they can both get home. So it all works out okay, and they end up in the present, and Doom tells him, ominously, that they will meet again. Okay, then. That concludes the original Doomquest. It's fun! You can see why fandom likes it.

So that's all well and good, but you might have noticed that Tony's ability to get home hinged on Doom actually being trustworthy. And Doom was. But what if Doom hadn't been? What if he'd just stranded Tony in Camelot forever As you may have surmised from the form of that question, that is in fact a question Marvel asked themselves, because, yes, there's a What If about this! What If v1 #33 is "What if Iron Man was trapped in the time of King Arthur?"

The divergence point from canon, as you can probably guess, is the very end of Doomquest. Instead of Doom bringing Tony home, he deceives him and leaves him in Camelot. And since Tony cannibalized a lot of the tech from his armor to make the time machine, he doesn't have a way to go home.

This is not a story where Tony comes up with a way to go home after all. He really doesn't get to go home. But instead of drowning his sorrows in mead -- because, remember, Demon in a Bottle has already happened and Tony is sober now -- he decides he might as well just play the hand he's dealt. So with what's left of his armor, he defeats some enemies that Morgan rounds up to send against Camelot. And for his services, he's knighted. He is now Sir Anthony.

Tony acknowledges that he is both living the dream and would also like very, very much to go home.

He does end up having some fun in Camelot; it's not all miserable. But he obviously doesn't want to be there.

So if you're at all familiar with King Arthur, you know how this goes, right? Arthur fights Mordred and Mordred kills him. And that does happen in this version. Except Tony is right there, and with his dying words, Arthur asks Tony to rule Camelot... and Tony agrees.

So, yes, Tony Stark becomes king of the Britons after Arthur's death and he never goes home again. The end. Man, I love What Ifs.

Heading back to main 616 continuity, there is still more of this arc to go. The original Doomquest was only two issues, yes, but it was popular enough that Layton & Michelinie did a sequel a hundred issues later, in their second run of Iron Man, and that's Iron Man #249-250, Recurring Knightmare. (In the intervening issues were Denny O'Neil's IM run, specifically the second drinking arc (#160-200), and then Layton & Michelinie came back and most famously gave us Armor Wars (#225-232). I would have to say that Armor Wars is definitely the standout fandom-favorite arc of their second IM run; for their first one, I think a lot of people would have a hard time choosing between Doomquest and Demon.) But anyway, yes. Recurring Knightmare.

Recurring Knightmare is... well, the best way I can describe it is "a trip." It is definitely a sequel to Doomquest, and it is also definitely not a sequel you  would ever have expected to see for Doomquest.

Much like #149, #249 is pretty much just setup. Fun setup, but the big action is in the next issue. We open with Doom in Latveria, on his throne, pondering which of his servants he should have disintegrated. Anyway, he's just hanging out there when a mysterious object appears. In California, Tony is suited up and entertaining the crowd at a mall opening when the same object also appears! He takes it to his lab. Please note that this is after the Kathy Dare incident, so Tony is still recovering and is walking with a cane. Doom sees on the news that Iron Man has found the same object, which cannot be carbon-dated, and he shows up at Tony's house. He criticizes Tony's taste in art.

Anyway, Doom basically orders Tony to work with him. Tony refuses, and then Doom sends some robots to attempt to steal Tony's version of the object because he thinks if he has them both he will be powerful. Doom manages to steal it, and when he puts the pieces together, both he and Tony disappear.

So where do they go, you might ask? Camelot?

Not exactly. The future! There is a great callback to the Doomquest splash page.

It turns out they are in London in 2093. Merlin brought them there. Tony still hates magic. And in the future, King Arthur is still there, except he is now a child, because he has been reborn. But he does remember Tony from Doomquest, at which point Tony kneels. Doom, of course, is not impressed. He asks why they have been brought to the future.

The answer is that things are going wrong in the future. If you do not personally remember United States politics in the 1980s, I need you to google the words "Strategic Defense Initiative" right now. I'll wait.

Back with me? Okay, so this is a future where Reagan's Star Wars program actually happened the way he wanted it to, and the satellites are still hanging around the Earth in the future and messing everything up, and Arthur and Merlin need Tony and Doom's help to stop them. Doom once again flies away with his jetpack, of course.

Tony is game to help, but he's not in an armor that can stay in space for long. This is when Merlin takes him and Arthur to the mall and Tony manages to get everything to upgrade his armor at Radio Shack. You see what I meant about this issue being weird.

Tony is out in space trying to disarm the SDI platform, which is where he runs into his future descendant, Andros Stark, who is in armor you will probably recognize from Iron Man 2020. He is referred to as "the resurrected spawn of Iron Man 2020" so I assume he's actually directly related to Arno rather than a direct descendant of Tony; Wiki confirms that Arno is his grandfather. This is all from way before Arno was contemporaneous with Tony in canon. Anyway, he's fighting Tony.

Oh, by the way, Future Doom exists. Future Doom would like to rule this future Earth and for some reason Andros would like to help him. Meanwhile, Present Doom finds out from Merlin that he can't leave except by magic and he can't leave without Tony, so he is reluctantly on Tony's side.

They need help from the Lady of the Lake, except the lake has been paved over and is now a parking lot. Merlin makes the lake come back and then of course they get Excalibur. Arthur is a kid, so he can't wield a longsword; Doom assumes he's going to take it because he is basically a king, and he's pretty grumpy when the sword picks Tony. Tony then uses Excalibur to destroy the space lasers, and I bet that is a sentence you never thought you would read. It's pretty cool. Tony concludes that magic has its good points. Tony stops Andros and Doom stops, uh, himself, and the world is saved and they get to go home. Also, Doom finds out Tony is Iron Man, but when Merlin sends them back he conveniently erases their memories, so neither of them remember anything about this and Tony's secret is still safe. And that's the sequel to Doomquest.

And if you think that's weird, wait until you see Legacy of Doom.

Iron Man: Legacy of Doom is a four-issue miniseries from 2008, also by Layton and Michelinie. Even though it's from 2008, it's set during a much more classic time in Iron Man, continuing on from where we left off in this Doomquest saga. We start with a framing story in 2008. Tony, who has Extremis now, is busy scrapping some of his older armors and reviewing his logs when he suddenly remembers that there was a whole thing with Doom that happened that he seems to have forgotten about until right now. So the whole thing is narrated by Tony in flashback.

Tony's in space fixing a satellite when a hologram of Doom shows up and summons him to Latveria. It's not really clear why Doom needs Tony's help in particular here, but Doom tells Tony that he's discovered that Mephisto would like to bring about the end of the world, which Doom finds, and I quote, "presumptive." So Doom has his Time Cube, and with it he takes Tony to hell.

(Yes, I promise this is relevant to Doomquest. There will be some Arthuriana shortly.)

Doom brings Tony to Mephisto, and it turns out it's a setup! Doom trades Tony for an item he wants from Mephisto, leaves, and Tony's going to be trapped in hell forever! Oh no! (I mean, he's not. But it's quite a cliffhanger.)

At the beginning of issue #2, we find out what the Arthurian connection is, which is that we learned that after the events of Doomquest, Morgan had been granted sanctuary by Mephisto in exchange for a shard of Excalibur that she had somehow stolen. Doom still wants Morgan's help with some magic -- he doesn't mention what it is here, but he says he needs someone of Pendragon blood, and that'd be her -- so he traded Tony to Mephisto in exchange for, I'm guessing, Morgan and the Excalibur shard.

I have probably mentioned this elsewhere, but Legacy of Doom #2 is one of my favorite issues of Iron Man ever, solely because of the next scene. We return to Tony in hell. Howard Stark is also in hell, and he is now a demon, and Tony has to fight him. Mephisto brings popcorn and watches. This is the one time in canon when Tony actually confronts his father, and okay, yes, it's a fistfight in hell and Howard is a demon, but that's comics for you. Howard spends several pages insulting Tony -- specifically insulting his masculinity, but that's a whole other essay -- until he finally insults Maria too, and that's when Tony fights back, because his mother taught him to be good. Honestly if you're a Tony fan I'd recommend this issue just for that scene.

Anyway, we go back to the Doom and Morgan plot, and Morgan casts the spell Doom wanted, which was fusing the Excalibur shard with Doom's armor. Then Doom sends her back to Camelot rather than hell, because he's still mad that she never helped him get his mom out of hell like she said she would.

Tony freezes Howard with Freon -- yes, the same trick he pulled on the dragon back in Doomquest -- and tells him, "You're no father of mine." It is immensely satisfying.

(I had been going to mention that I thought it was a shame that neither canon nor fandom seems to have really engaged with this confrontation, and I know canon never believes in narrative closure but fandom sure does -- and then, anyway, it occurred to me that since the framing story of Tony remembering this is set when Tony has Extremis, there's a very good chance that he no longer remembers remembering it. Goddammit, Marvel.)

(If I got to retcon one canon thing about Tony, I think "the entirety of World's Most Wanted" is up there. I mean, okay, a lot of things are up there, but WMW is definitely on the shortlist.)

Okay. Tony has now engineered his way out of hell, and he's back with Doom in Latveria. Doom has Excalibur. Doom would very much like to fight him. While wielding Excalibur. You get the sense that this is going to be bad. Another cliffhanger!

Legacy of Doom #3 opens with Tony destroying Doom's lab to buy time and running away from Doom and Excalibur. I should probably mention that Doom still doesn't know Tony is Iron Man (anymore), so he thinks he is dealing only with Iron Man, Tony Stark's lackey. Meanwhile, some scientists at SI think there's something weird going on with space. Meanwhile meanwhile, Tony is in a forest taking a breather when a mysterious old man walks up to him.

It's Merlin! Surprise! Merlin wants Tony's help to stop Doom from doing whatever he's doing with Excalibur. The sword makes you invincible and the scabbard makes you invulnerable, so Merlin sends Tony to Scotland on a fetch quest for the scabbard. Doom has now magically sent the sword in search of the scabbard, so the sword flies away to meet it and Doom follows. Turns out the thing that's wrong with space is a thing that's going to hit Earth at the exact place Tony and Doom are. What a coincidence! So Tony and Doom get trapped in a stone circle and fight some stone warriors and then Tony ends up with the scabbard. And by "ends up with," I mean it fuses to his armor. Next issue!

Legacy of Doom #4 is when things really, really get weird. A giant demon made of eyes (???) appears, and this demon is apparently what Doom had been preparing to fight (because it's mad that Doom stole one of its spellbooks), and now he can't, because the sword and the scabbard aren't together. Thanks, Shellhead.

That's when Merlin shows up and says all is not lost. They can defeat the demon... if they put the sword into the scabbard.

"But I'm the scabbard now!" Tony says, uncomprehending.

"Yes," Merlin says. "You are."

Then Tony gets it.

So, yes, Doom has to, um, penetrate Tony. With Excalibur. I love comics. I love comics so much.

So that's a thing that happens.

And then Tony flies off and, I guess, resolves to never, ever think about any of this again.

We head back to the framing story, in which Tony, now having remembered all of this, flies to Britain, buys the land the lake is on, and paves it over, presumably so it will be there for Merlin to bring back in Iron Man #250. The end.

Whew.

Okay, yeah, I know I didn't have to summarize the whole thing, but Legacy of Doom here really is one of my favorite Iron Man miniseries. And I just want to share the love. Please read it. It's great.

But the Arthuriana fun doesn't end there! In fact, now we get an Arthurian-themed arc that actually isn't in Iron Man comics. It's in Avengers! Iron Man is involved, though.

(There is also apparently a Morgan arc in Avengers #240. I actually haven't read it. It seems to be yet another Spider-Woman arc. I get the impression that this isn't really Arthuriana other than having Morgan in it fighting Jess, though, so it doesn't seem quite as relevant. Morgan also apparently has some appearances in FF, Journey into Mystery, and Marvel Team-Up, but those seem like more of just basic villainy. Also, probably not involving Tony.)

Kurt Busiek's 1998 Avengers run, volume 3, is in large part the kind of Avengers run that is a nostalgic love letter to older comics. Heroes are heroes and villains are villains and good triumphs over evil. The Avengers all live in the mansion and are BFFs. I love it. It does assume that you are already a fan of the Avengers, because it starts out by summoning pretty much everyone who has ever been an Avenger and is available to the mansion, and that is... a lot of people. Thirty-nine, by my count. Also, when the entire team is magically whisked away, we are treated to the following narration, as Steve disappears: "And Captain America's last thought, as the world goes white around him, and he with it -- is that Iron Man would hate this."

The narration doesn't tell you why Iron Man would hate this, or how Captain America would know that Iron Man hates this. This is not explained later on. But if you have read comics -- or if you have read the above summary of Doomquest -- you know that Tony is absolutely, one hundred percent, thinking, "I hate magic." And Steve knows it.

The reference is not relevant to the plot; if you don't get it, you'll be fine. But that's what I mean when I say this is a nostalgia run. There are definitely Easter eggs for people who have read a bunch of comics. Busiek does this a whole lot in his work -- there's a reason you can buy an annotated edition of Marvels -- and, yeah, it happens here too. Just know that there will be references you're not getting, if you're new to comics.

Anyway. So Busiek's run actually starts out with an Arthurian arc, #1-4, "The Morgan Conquest." The name is a dead giveaway. Yes, Morgan le Fay is back. Again. For once, Doom is not involved.

The Avengers are all back from their sojourn on Counter-Earth after fighting Onslaught -- don't worry about it -- and mysterious things are happening. There are a lot of monster attacks. So pretty much everyone who has ever been an Avenger is summoned to the mansion, at which point we learn from Thor about some mystical artifacts that are being stolen. (They are the Norn Stones and also the Twilight Sword. That sounds like something from a Zelda game, doesn't it?) The Avengers go to try to stop this, end up in Tintagel, and then they run into Mordred. He wants to capture Wanda, presumably for Magic Reasons. Morgan le Fay casts a spell on all of them, reshaping reality. Yes, all of them. Surprise!

So now all the Avengers are living in a medieval castle and/or town; Morgan is their queen, and thanks to the power of mind-control they are all basically living in Ye Olden Times. The Avengers are all some variety of knight, except for Wanda, who is chained up in the dungeon so Morgan can steal her magic and use it to fuel all this reality-warping.

Wanda calls for help, and that snaps Steve (Yeoman America!) out of the mind control (or altered reality or whatever you want to call it) pretty fast, because Steve's always been very good at resisting mind control, and then Steve promptly goes and snaps Clint out of it, because I guess Steve is also good at inspiring people to snap out of mind control. "Oh, man!" Clint says. "Not another alternate reality! Not again!" (I assume he's referring to Counter-Earth? Maybe?)

So Steve and Clint go around reassembling the Avengers and orienting them as to reality. They get Jan and Monica easily, but then Steve insists on trying to get Tony because, I guess, he likes Tony and would really like to hang around Tony, who is half-naked and asleep in his bedroom, and certainly I am reading nothing whatsoever into this. Clint tells Steve it's not going to work. Tony has historically been fairly susceptible to mind control; it was only pretty recently at this point that he'd been doing Kang's bidding in The Crossing. But the more serious impediment is that this is Tony Stark and he would obviously like to LARP being a knight forever and ever. Tony, therefore, does not believe Steve, and throws him and Clint out of his bedroom and into the barracks.

"Iron Man's a good guy, normally," Clint says. "But he's waaay too into his whole nobleman/lord of the manor trip. That spell musta hit him right where he lives!"

Clint speaks the truth, clearly.

Anyway, they go around and manage to make pretty much every Avenger in the room other than Tony snap out, and attempt to rebel against Morgan while Tony is stil fighting them because he is Still A Knight. There's a lot of punching, because some of the Avengers still aren't free; they weren't ones Steve found.

The day is saved when Wanda manages to channel Wonder Man and break free. This gives the Avengers a fighting chance against Morgan and the Avengers are all lending Wanda their power when Tony finally snaps out of it and is on the side of good. 

Then they take Morgan down, go home, and attempt to figure out which of these thirty-nine people should be on the active Avengers team. Hooray.

But that's not the end of Morgan le Fay showing up to screw around with Tony's life! There's more to come! Not much, but there is one that I know of, and at least one more memorable reference. 

(I haven't read all her appearances or anything, but one of them definitely involves Tony; I can't swear that he doesn't appear in any of the other books Morgan shows up in, but it'd be a cameo for him, because I only know of one more arc that she's in in a book that Tony stars in.)

In a few more years, we have now entered the part of Marvel Comics history where Brian Michael Bendis writes all the Avengers books at the same time for, like, seven years running. It was sure A Time. There were a lot of word bubbles.

And the thing about Bendis is, Bendis looooooves Doomquest. If you're familiar with the very end of his tenure at Marvel where he made Doom be Iron Man after Tony got knocked into a coma in Civil War II, you have probably figured out already that he likes Doom. But he also likes Doomquest, specifically.

I mean, if nothing else, the giant splash page in The Confession where Maleev redrew the climactic Doomquest fight while Bendis had Tony talk about how deeply meaningful to his understanding of the world this all was -- and how it allowed him to predict Civil War -- was probably a big clue, right?

As far as I am aware, Morgan le Fay makes exactly one more appearance in Tony's life. And that's in Mighty Avengers vol 1 #9-11. Only one of those issues is named, so I'm going to assume the arc is named after it: Time Is On No One's Side.

You remember Mighty Avengers, right? The deal with the Avengers books at the time was that after Bendis exploded the mansion and made the team disband in Avengers Disassembled, the main Avengers book was no longer called just Avengers. Instead, the main Avengers book was New Avengers, and that was the only Avengers book. Then Civil War happened, Steve got killed, and New Avengers became the book about what was left of the SHRA resistance (i.e., Steve's side) after the war. So about halfway through New Avengers, Mighty Avengers starts up, and Mighty Avengers is about an extremely fucked-up and grief-stricken Tony Stark trying to run the official government-sanctioned Avengers team, with Carol's help. This is the comic with the arc where Tony turned into naked girl Ultron. You remember.

So, anyway, there's this Mighty Avengers arc where Doom is Up To Something (there are symbiotes and a satellite involved) and somehow Tony and the Avengers end up in Latveria, punching Doom. Also, by the way, Doom is visiting Morgan in the past because he likes her. The Avengers attacking his castle made him have to come back to the present, so he's kind of cranky. And he fights Tony, and in the course of the fight, his time platform explodes and sends Doom and Tony and also the Sentry to... the past.

This is one of those times where you should definitely look up the comics if possible because the way the past is visually indicated here is that it's colored with halftone dots the way you would expect old comics to be colored, although they have modern shading and color palettes. It's very charmingly retro.

So the three of them are stuck in New York in the past, and naturally they would like to leave. There's one person in this time who has a time machine and it is, of course, Reed Richards. Doom and Tony have a lot of banter in this arc; I think it's entertaining.

Sentry has to be the one to break them all into the Baxter Building because of that power he has where no one will remember him. So they do that, travel forward in time, and end up in Latveria in the present again except Doom is gone and also things are currently exploding where they are.

Doom, of course, has made a side trip to visit Morgan again and he asks her to help him build an army, because I guess this is what their relationship is like. So the rest of the Avengers are captured by what look to me like Mindless Ones and are in a cave in magic bondage, because comics. Jess comments that at least they aren't naked, because she too is remembering that memorable New Avengers trip to the Savage Land. Doom threatens Carol in some creepy sexist ways and eventually it turns out that Tony and the Sentry are fine and everyone kicks Doom's ass. Business as usual.

And the last page of the arc is Morgan alone, wondering where Doom is. So technically Morgan and Tony don't come face to face here, but I think she counts as being at least partially responsible for ruining Tony's day here. And then Secret Invasion happens and Tony has a very, very bad day.

There are a few more Morgan appearances after this, but, as I said, I don't think any of them involve Tony. She shows up in Dark Avengers, apparently, which was one of the post-Civil War Avengers titles I didn't read, and I know that recently, on the X-Men side of things, she's been in Tini Howard's Excalibur one, which I have only read a little of. No Tony there. Just a lot of Morgan and Betsy Braddock and Brian Braddock and the Otherworld.

If you are interested in Morgan's other appearances, you might like this Marvel listicle that is Morgan le Fay's six most malicious acts. I pulled some of the Darkhold backstory from their discussion, but it's not really focused on Morgan and Tony.

So there you have it! That's everything I know about Tony's love for King Arthur and every run-in I know about that he's had with Morgan le Fay! One of two terrible people in Tony's life named Morgan! Actually, I don't think we've seen Morgan Stark in a while. I wonder if he's alive. There should be a Morgan & Morgan team-up. I should probably stop typing and post this.

The tl;dr point is that you should all read Doomquest and its sequels, especially Legacy of Doom. They're great!

[fancyfade]

any essential rebirth comics?

okay so first of all do not feel compelled to reply this is mostly me getting my list in order and I probably will research later myself. Its just if you WANT to blabber about comics go ahead and use this as your excuse

I’m making my way through some DC rebirth in the hopes of catching up on whatever’s going on.

So far I’ve read (at various points)

first 8 issues of hawkman (was really only reading this because my friend’s a hawkman fan, so when they stopped reading I stopped)

first 4 volumes (so... 20-30? Something) issues of Green LanternS (with simon and jessica). planning on buying vol 5 and 6 soon

~30 issues of detective comics (stopped when i got bored)

first 4 volumes of superman (got bored around manchester black plotline)

first 6 issues of nightwing and then the nightwing must die plotline

first 12 issues of teen titans (got bored and it was just so weird with beast boy and raven aged down)

supersons

a few issues (like 3) of justice league after hawkgirl joins. I got really bored with the batman who laughs stuff

like 20-30 issues of wonder woman (got tired of it swapping present and past every other issue, if i want to read it again its gonna be on physical copies not DC Universe)

anyway

character’s im most interested in are

damian wayne

cassandra cain (She shows up in batman and the outsiders right? Is she allowed to do anything cool or have good character development? I Love her but was not impressed with detective comics)

jaime reyes (I know he got a solo title i need to get the energy to try to read it im just so. blah about the decision to reset his character yet again)

simon baz and jessica cruz (already planning on finishing their duo series)

barbara gordon but NOT as batgirl and NOT able bodied. So I think I’m still SoL

Dick Grayson

I have heard a lot (not good) on Tom King’s Batman run* and glass’s teen titans run so I am NOT INTERESTED IN THOSE

my only real questions are

does damian appear in anything that is good or at least readable that I haven’t already read?

Is Cass done justice in Batman and the Outsiders?

Do Jaime Reyes fans consider it worth it to read the rebirth blue beetle?

Do Dick Grayson fans consider it worth it to read the nightwing rebirth? Alternatively I think he also appeared in a titans series?

*actually I did try to read 1 issue of this and closed it out of disgust

[haritrash]

traveling wilburys tag game

thanks @mostarkey <3333 sorry im taking so long to go through my mentions .

rules: answer the questions, then tag as many people as you'd like to.

1. how did you get into the wilburys?

vh1

2. favourite wilbury?

george

3. vol. 1 or vol. 3?

---1

4. favourite traveling wilburys song?

if you belonged to me but also the wilbury twist

5. favourite roy song?

cant say i know a lot . running scared is phenomenal, though .

6. favourite bob song?

it's a different one every week . but visions of johanna .

7. favourite george (or beatles) song?

who can see it

8. favourite jeff (or elo) song?

don't have one

9. favourite tom (or heartbreakers) song?

dont have one (i dont do echo-y 80s rock, soz tom mutuals)

10. which wilbury would you most like to meet?

i wouldnt be able to handle meeting george and i know meeting dylan would kill the magic . tom would have been my choice . he seemed approachable, plus we'd have our love of george in common .

11. which wilbury would you most like to see in concert (or, have you seen any of them in concert)?

im not that big a fan of jeff's and dylan in concert is always a mess . if only i could see george...

12. favourite story/fact about the wilburys?

the various stories about george making things happen for them :

wilburys : 'we don't have a studio' g : 'bob has one'

ws : 'we dont have a title' g : 'there's one right on that box'

ws : 'we dont have time' g : 'no time at all ? not even one day ?' ws : 'sure, we have one day but what good is that?' g : 'if the beatles made get back in two weeks, the wilburys can make three songs before noon'

13. favourite wilbury ship (or friendship)?

dylan-harrison (i forget how the ship name is spelt)

14. what's one thing you wish you knew about the wilburys?

i would love a tv show where they review new music while slightly high and sat around the kitchen table at friar park .

...

bonus round! which wilbury do you think...

1. is the funniest?

george

2. gives the best hugs?

george

3. is the best cook?

george

4. has the best fashion sense?

george, but roy gets miss western sympathy and jeff gets bonus points for the wide range of shades .

5. has the best hair?

GEORGE

6. has the best smile?

objectively, tom . but i love me fave's smile...........

7. is most likely to binge watch tv?

bobsy needs his tv . he has to know everything about everyone's business at all times . he's always watching . he's on my shoulder rn .

8. would be the best at making memes?

george . the traveling wilburys were a hari-made meme from start to finish .

9. would google themself?

dylan . every day .

10. would dress up as another wilbury?

tom . i wouldnt put it past george to get his dylan on, but tom was the official fanboy of the group .

tagging : im sure most wilbury blogs have done this by now but, if you love the rocknroll grandpas and see this post, you should just steal and post it and tag it and let us know you're out there <3

[killjoy-prince]

Novel and manga haul from yesterday

[svtshuastruck]

hello! this is very late but here's my monthly wrap up for the month of november!

(just a lil note: i read books to escape cause reality sucks and i rate them on the basis of my enjoyment ^^)

with a complete 27 books read, im lowkey speechless lmaoo-- i'll try not to dive too deep but no promises ;)

1. instructions for dancing by nicola yoon

rating: .⭐⭐⭐.75

this is my first nicola yoon book and it was quite a pleasant surprise honestly! it was easy to read and i had a pleasant experience overall.

2. arsenic and adobo by mia. p. manasala

rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

this book was the month's pick for the subtle asian book club and holy moly was it fun. i read it in a day and i was so hungry the whole time (even though at points i had just finished a meal.) the food descriptions are elite and that mixed with the complicated family dynamics and the mystery? *chef's kiss* this was also that kind of book where you just know everything is gonna be alright towards the end and yk you can just sit back and take it all in. overall a super fun read!

3. and 4. these witches don't burn duology both by isabel sterling

rating: ⭐⭐⭐ ⭐and ⭐⭐⭐.75

sapphic witches. that's all you need to know. it was fun to read, pretty fast paced, complicated characters-- this was the break i had been looking for after a gazillion assignments.

5. and 6. komi can't communicate vol. 3 and 4

rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

continuing with the buddy read. it was a fun time as usual. you cant go wrong with a cute mc and really nice side characters lol

7. crying in h.mart by michelle zauner

rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

i was kinda skeptical about reading this book-- more scared than skeptical. i knew how the topics the book deals with were very likely to bring up my own past. i was afraid it was gonna trigger me mainly because from my past experiences with cancer, i hadn't taken it well. the whole time reading it, it was me basically going, "if this bothers me, i'm not gonna hesitate to put it down." i was surprised to find the book-- almost as a comfort piece. with me relating to michelle so much to the point where i just wanted to hug her and tell her that she's not alone, though our experiences with it are so widely different. (didnt make me cry but left a gaping hole in me. metaphorically)

8. heartstopper vol.5 by alice oseman

rating nothing less than a ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

do i even have to say anything for this?

9. liar game vol.1 by shinobu kaitani

rating: ⭐⭐⭐

this was a read this for the host book club >< i didn't haate it but neither did i love it. instead, i found myself finding it to be very similar to squid game which later, i found out that this book had inspired squid game :mindblown:

10,11,12. monster vol.1,2,3 by naoki urasawa

rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐.5, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐, ⭐⭐⭐⭐

oof. now wasn't this fun. for one, i'll most definitely be continuing with the manga but tbh i didn't have high expectations going in. mainly because the plot sounded wayy out of my league. the only problem i have is how when i read it, i lose track of time and go on reading it and when i do put it down, i dont wanna go back to it cause i wont stop reading until idk when.

13,14. spy x volume vol. 3,4 by tatsuya endo

rating: did you expect me to rate it below 5 stars? because if you did...

need i say anything? anything? if you haven't read this, this is your sign (also your warning).

15. radio silence by alice oseman

rating: didnt give one

where do i start?? this books means so much to me. the way alice portrayed them, (not hesitating to hide their flaws but also not rubbing it onto our faces) was so utterly beautiful. im still in awe for how this book played it self out. wasn't lyrical in terms to writing nor was it a pretty picture. but yet, it holds so much within itself. i didnt give a rating cause 5 stars wouldn't provide justice. i could relate to every single character, each in a slightly different way and *sigh* idk what else to say.

MEME BREAK!!

16. bluets by maggie nelson

rating: ⭐⭐⭐

what a beautifully written book. the author talks about the colour blue and how it plays a part in her daily life and honestly? if it hadn't taken the time it took for me to finish it, it would have been a five star.

17. pashmina by nidhi chanani

rating: ⭐⭐⭐

twas cute.

18. carmilla by j. sheridan le fanu

rating: ⭐⭐⭐

lesbian vampire story that inspired dracula? i was hoping for a lot more than the book actually provided haha-- my expectations were a little too high compared to how it actually played out.

19. in my dreams i hold a knife by ashley winstead

rating: ⭐⭐⭐.5

a psychological thriller about a closely knit high school reunion after one of the member's unsolved murder. read this for the late night book club! amazing. wonderful. i loved loved loved how psychology played a role in the story. the reveal didn't necessarily blow my mind away but following the little clues and smiling at the realisation that it was a red herring was fun. also highly recommend watching the author interview done by the late night book club cause im obsessed with that video lmao.

20. the murder of roger ackroyd by agatha christe

rating: ⭐⭐⭐.5

i mean, i love poirot as a character and with a small town setting, you couldn't possibly go wrong. i swear though, as i was listening to this while writing notes for class at 2 in the morning, some of the reveals just gave me chills. because people kept saying the reveal would shock me completely, i kept thinking about what ultimately would blow my mind and ended up predicting the ending correctly :/

21. and 22. my lesbian experience with loneliness by kabi nagata and i married my best friend to shut my parents up by naoko kodama

rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ and ⭐⭐⭐.5

both of them were enjoyable reads tho i definitely preferred the second one for tackling the topic of loneliness so well. also i wish the second was longer just to have spent more time with the couple.

23. a catcher in the rye by j.d salinger

rating: ⭐

why.

24. the magic fish by Trung Le Nguyen

rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

i loveeeeeeeeeed this!! the complicated relationship between the mother and son was explored so well! also the fact that it is explored through fairytales??!

25. every morning the way home gets longer and longer by fredrick backman

rating: didn't give one

i think this was spectcularly done. the way the memories were presented with the little metaphors and the relationship between the family was done so well for such a short book. i really really enjoyed it.

26. the picture of dorian gray by oscar wilde

rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

do i have to say anything? because even if you expect me to, i'm going to hold my silence until you realise.

27. one of us is lying by karen m. mcmanus

rating: ⭐⭐.75

meehh i don't see the hype. didn't like anyone but nate and the ending was lowkey disappointing ://

okieeeeeeeee we're done!! im not gonna say anything cause im tired asf. sorry if nothing makes sense lol

[help-i-need-a-cool-username]

JNPR Berries Week 2020

Day 6: Alternate Universe

Okay guys i hate aus and i always avoid au days for ship weeks but i actually have so many Pyrrha Lives/Fall Maiden!Pyrrha AUs and i got carried away i wrote almost 2k in bullet points

@jnprberriesweek

After Fall of Beacon Pyrrha has two options: 1) enroll at Haven with JNPR and continue to chase her Huntress dreams while paparazzi continue to make most things she does public, indirectly informing Salem where she is at all times. 2) drop off the face off the Earth both to avoid Salem/Cinder and to continue the Fall Maiden's job

Pyrrha being Pyrrha (self-sacrificing) goes with option 2

JNR decides there’s no way they’re going to let (a freshly discharged) Pyrrha go running into unknown with no friends or backup

She’s worried about putting them in danger (even though that’s the Hunter job description) but Goodwitch reminds her that she’s only at half power so she should accept the extra protection, and friends since she’s about to leave her whole life behind to live as a nomad which makes making friendships difficult to create and maintain

(Pyrrha doesn’t mention that she’s pretty sure she sees all of them in the more romantic light)

JNR help Pyrrha change her whole appearance. Which is very important since she’s also famous

She looses her iconic armor and has to leave her weapons behind

JNR tries to convince her to cut her hair but she’s worried about not being pretty

Jaune unhelpfully reminds her that that’s probably a good thing considering they’re trying to make her as non-noticeable as possible (poor boy just meant she’s so pretty already she'll probably never be able to blend into the background of any crowd)

Ren is actually the one who has to go "Pyrrha you’re gorgeous shorter hair isn’t gonna change that at all"

Then Ren goes "look at Nora she has short hair and she’s stunning for all we know you’ll look even better with short hair"

Pyrrha and Nora are practically speechless because Ren thinks they’re beautiful

Pyrrha is like okay but I won’t let you cut it any shorter than here (gestures to mid-chest level). (JNR tries not to look at her boobs)

Nora then tries to get her to dye it. Pyrrha holds out

JNR end up in Vol 4 outfits

Pyrrha makes the difficult choice of deciding to fake her death. She makes sure her friends (she unfortunately is unable to contact Blake or Weiss) and family still know she’s alive (but they still grieve her as if she’s dead. They most likely will never see her again. The only ones likely are her parents) but to the world Pyrrha Nikos is dead, killed in the Beacon Massacre

JNPR sets off through Vale (Fall Maiden's territory)

Pyrrha has a hastily made vaguely similar weapons to her last set. She may be a professional but she’s a professional with her chosen weapons and semblance, not most other weapons

JNR sees how Pyrrha dies inside every time a little kid or random citizen tells her "did you know you look a lot like Pyrrha Nikos?"

Pyrrha is also now getting hit on without her celebrity pedestal to keep people at bay

The first few times its truly pathetic how Pyrrha responds

JNR doesn’t intervene because they remember how sad she was about no one asking her to the dance

What JNR thinks is they’re coming into rescue her only occasionally. The truth is Pyrrha is getting rescued every time by a different member and lots of times one of them will step in before anyone even approaches her

Most of the time she’s happy one of them intervened

Some times she’s mad that no one will let her handle this herself (no one has realized that yet)

A lot of the time she feels all warm and fuzzy because for a few moments she gets to pretend. She’s given a free pass to slow dance with Nora, or to lean into Ren when he puts a arm around her waist, or get away with kissing Jaune on the cheek

(JNR are also very happy when they get these excuses.)

Jaune typically intervenes because he’s a nice guy and watching Pyrrha flounder is horrible. Ren and Nora always intervene because they’re either being protective or jealous (Ren has perfected the evil eye. People will back off before they even finished crossing the room)

They almost always camp out but when they stay in town they usually share beds to save money

Originally they were doing girls in one bed boys in the other but Nora is the whole kicking, sprawling, blanket snatching package so they typically pull straws on who gets to share with her

Sometimes even her bed buddy will leave in the middle of the night and see if they can squeeze in with the other two

On the other hand Jaune drools, Ren sleeps like a vampire, and Pyrrha snores

With Pyrrha, Jaune, and Ren all pushing six feet whenever two of them pair up touching is unavoidable

Most of the time everyone but Nora (who can fall asleep instantly) stay up freaking out about being so close to their crush. Ren actually freaked so much the first time he moved to the floor and activated his semblance just so he could sleep

Pyrrha is a side sleeper so she always ends up tangling her legs with her bed buddy. She’s always embarrassed but tries to stay in that position as long as she can (its the only selfish thing she allows herself)

Winter however quickly forced JNPR to start sharing sleeping bags

They always zip both bags together but all decided spooning is the way to go after too many cold nights. They also bought a tent just big enough for the four of them in order to trap escaping body heat

Jaune is dying from so much close contact. Was it not bad enough he has to see all of his (recently discovered) crushes get changed twice every single day? Was accidentally seeing Nora's abs and walking into a door frame in Beacon not enough?

Nora and Pyrrha on the other hand are loving it (when its not absolutely freezing)

Ren has caught all three of them arguing over who gets to sleep with him that night several times. Apparently he’s the best big spoon

A pack mule joke turns into them actually looking into getting one

Originally they wanted a horse, but when they actually were looking they ran into the problem of 1) its too tall for Nora to pack the bags 2) horses are massive and JNPR quickly realize they're scared of them

So that leaves either a pony, donkey, hinny, small mule, or llama

They end up with a donkey and name her Betty. Nora wanted "Bessie" but Ren refused to give in on the basis that she’s a donkey and not a cow

They also take this opportunity to purchase more bulkier items that would make their life more comfortable that they were unable to carry by themselves before (tents, pots and pans, extra shoes, more jackets, books)

They're over a year in when Ren of all people gets high and talks about his feelings

He thinks he’s talking to Betty but really he’s been talking to a tree stump for the last hour

He got high by taste-testing the mushrooms he was cooking

The team came back from getting firewood and unpacking Betty to find him laying in the mud giggling at the sky with their questionable mushrooms burning on the fire. It was pretty clear what happened

JNP have been making sure he wont hurt himself but mainly they’re enjoying the show

"Psst Betty. Betty. You wanna hear a secret?" JNP lean in "I’ve managed to fall in love with my entire team. You can’t tell anyone though. I don’t think I’ll ever tell them either. Im not good with feelings, and that would probably make me a terrible boyfriend"

He then goes on about what he likes about each person. He goes off on a tangent about someone’s eyes for seven minutes. He talks about his favorite facial expressions everyone makes and the best parts of their personality. Nora's been red for awhile now, Jaune is leaning so far forward Pyrrha's worried he’s gonna catch on fire, and Pyrrha is actually tearing up

He says how he feels guilty whenever he cuts in on whoever is moving in on Pyrrha, that he feels guilty about being jealous but also about sending someone away when he knows Pyrrha wants that experience, and how he doesn’t realize he’s already moved in to stop the person until they’re walking away

That he feels like he could mess up everything he has with Nora, not by going into a relationship with her but by being unable to open up any more emotionally than he is now which he knows she'll expect (they’ve talked about being “together-together” before)

He laughingly mentions that one time Pyrrha said she wanted a guy taller than her because Ren gets it now because when he’s bunking with Jaune in the winter he’s found he really likes being held by someone taller than him

Ren then goes "oh no. No no no its bad enough I’m talking about my feelings out loud I’m not going to tell you who has the best ass. Aren’t donkey's also called asses? What’s it like being a donkey?" And everyone is laughing

Pyrrha is the first to break after they fall back into listening. She looks at the fire the whole time. She admits she feels the same way about all of them, that she also planned on never saying anything.

Then Jaune pipes in that he just figured it out for himself pretty recently. That at first he was worried it was either teenage hormones or that he was reacting to a vastly shrunk dating pool and therefore the feelings weren’t real. (Unlike Ren and Pyrrha his feelings didn’t begin romantic and then expand his started sexual until realized what he thought was strong platonic feelings might actually be romantic)

Nora is still red with her hands over her face but eventually she says that she’s been attracted to all of them since team JNPR formed and "since we all clearly feel the same way about each other can we stop with the super embarrassing love confessions and makeout already"

When Ren wakes up that morning he remembers very little since he doesn’t know what were dreams and what were hallucinations. He has a dehydration headache and rolls over but Pyrrha sees he’s awake and she comes sits next to him. Ren doesn’t uncurl until she started playing with his hair. "How much of last night do you remember?" "Mostly just colors." "Ummm okay. Remember anything anyone said?" "I think I had a conversation with Jaune about rocks." "That was to Nora actually. But you did think she was Jaune." "Mmhm." "So last night there was a development, but since you were high I wanna ask you again now that you're sober." "Okay." "So ummm, we're kinda all dating now? But if you wanna back out now that you're sober you totally can." "What do you mean by 'kinda all'?" "All four of us." "And you all want to date me?" "Yeah, you don’t remember all the love confessions that happened last night." "Oh. Did my rock conversation interrupt all that?" "No. You actually confessed first." "I WHAT."

[dialovers-translations]

DIABOLIK LOVERS MORE, MORE BLOOD Vol. 6: Sakamaki Reiji [Animate Tokuten] ”Living a Normal School Life For Once!”

Original title: たまにはまともに学園生活!

Source: Diabolik Lovers More, More Blood Vol. 6 Sakamaki Reiji Animate Tokuten Drama CD [CD not owned by me]

Audio: Here

Seiyuu: Katsuyuki Konishi

Translator’s note:  This CD made me laugh so much, I forgive Rejet for fucking up his After Story now. Reiji has actually hinted at being interested in ‘kyara-ben’ or ‘character bentos’ in one of his Tweets before, so I wonder if that’s where they got their inspiration from. I’m not gonna lie, I was 100% expecting the MC to lift the lid of the lunch box at the end, only to find the food inside completely scrambled. They did run around the school building after all. However, it seems like they went for a more ‘fluffy’ approach rather than a purely comedic ending, which is fine with me as well. uwu

This track was requested by @aroseinthe-storm​! If you would like to request a translation, please contact me through IMs or drop an ask!

The car arrives at school before everyone gets out.

“...Hold it, Laito! There is something I would like to talk about before you enter the school building. Care to explain your behavior from earlier? I believe I have told you to refrain from unnecessarily bothering her? 

...Furthermore, Kanato! I shall not prohibit you from snacking inside the limousine, but please be careful not to spill or make a mess. The seats will get dirty.”

Reiji turns around.

“Shuu! Where are you going!? That is the opposite direction from school...! You might intend to skip classes again but not on my watch!”

The others run away.

“Everyone, halt! I am not done talking to you all yet...!”

You walk up to Reiji.

“Good grief...Why does my family consist of nothing but troublemakers? ...Do you not feel the same?”

You try and comfort him.

“Oh well, I suppose it is fine. I am in a good mood today, so I shall leave it at that.”

You tilt your head to the side.

“Fufu...Your expression screams ‘why?’ right now. You caught a glimpse of it as well, did you not? The thing I prepared at home before heading to school today. ...I should have given one to you as well.”

You suddenly come to a realization. 

“Yes, seems like you noticed. Exactly. Today, I have put together lunch boxes modelled after their own faces! Of course, your lunch box is no exception. To put it into the words of the people, a ‘character bento’.” (1)

It was a struggle to utilize the ingredients to build their respective faces, but I am extremely satisfied with the quality of the finished product. I believe I captured their unique features very well, if I may say so myself.”

You seem a little in awe. 

“They were reluctant when I handed them over their lunch box, but I am sure once they see my workmanship, they must surely reconsider their attitude and become a little more obedient to me. Fufu~ I am looking forward to their reactions. 

...Well then, shall we head towards the building as well? You haven’t left anything behind in the car, riーー”

Reiji looks inside the limousine.

“Wha...!? This cannot be! Everyone forgot their lunch box!”

He gathers the lunch boxes. 

“No...I just cannot...I cannot let this happen! These are the lunch boxes I worked so hard on for their sake, so I shall ensure they eat them! I have to go deliver them at once!”

You offer your help.

“Yes, thank you very much. (2) My sincere apologies, but could I ask for your assistance? Please help me carry these.”

*Rattle rattle*

“Let us head towards the first-year classroom to seize Subaru first. Come on, off we go!”

The two of you run towards the building.

*TIMESKIP*

“...We made it to the classroom, but our target is nowhere to be found. It cannot be...Is he skipping class from first period already...?”

You tug onto Reiji’s sleeve.

“What is the matter? ...He’s in the hallway? What could he be doing without even entering the classroom? ...Oh? Why is he standing in front of the lockers?”

*Rattle rattle*

“He opened it and went inside, it seems...? I wonder if he misses his coffin even at school? Or perhaps entering narrow spaces has become a habit of his? No, whichever may be the case, it is of no concern to me. Either way, let us catch him!”

The two of them head out inside the hallway.

*THUD THUD*

“Subaru! I know you are inside of there! I want to talk to you! Come out!”

You seem a little worried about Reiji’s pushiness. 

“It is fine. If I do not apply this strong of a pressure, it will not get through to him. 

*THUD THUD THUD*

“Come on, Subaru! Hurry up and show yourself!”

*Rattle rattle*

“There you are, finally. There is something I want to giーー”

He snaps at Reiji.

“A scolding...? No, that is not the case. I am simply here to deliver your lunch boーー”

Subaru dashes away.

“...!? Where are you going!? ...Haah, no good. He did not seem willing to listen to me. I assume he misunderstood and thought I would lecture him.”

 You frown.

“Good grief...He always does things to make me scold him, which is what caused this misunderstanding...At this rate, we will not be able to hand him this important lunch box. Let us go after him!”

The two of you start running once more.

*TIMESKIP*

“...How foolish of us to lose sight of him! However, he should have run off into this direction...Without realizing, we have ended up right in front of the second year classrooms. We might as well make use of the opportunity and look for those triplets as well...”

He peeks inside the classroom.

“...Oh! Perfect! All three of them are here! Also, the fact they’ve stopped Subaru in his tracks could not work out better for us!”

Reiji steps forward.

“Ayato, Kanato, Laito! Bring Subaru with you and come here! I have business with the three of you as well!”

They flinch.

“What is the matter? Why do you all scrunch up your noses?”

The four of them run away.

“Wha...!? You guys are running away as well...!? ...But why...Why does nobody even try and listen to me!? ...Very well, at this rate, I shall make sure to catch them. Even if all four of them were to group together, that is no problem. After all, I am not on my own either! Exactly! I have you on my side! Let us work together and seize them!”

You nod enthusiastically.

“Fufufu...A fine response! Well then, let us go!”

*SWOOSH*

“...Watch out!”

*Rustle rustle*

*Thud thud thud*

“...A basketbal came flying our way. Are you not injured?”

You shake your head.

“That is a relief. However, it was still a close call. There is only one person out there who would throw such a thing...”

Reiji turns around.

“Ayato...! You might have been aiming for me, but what if it accidentally hit her instead!? Think before you act!”

*Crash*

“...!? What now!?”

The two of you rush out of the classroom.

“T-There’s a huge hole in the wall...! This is...Subaru’s doing without a doubt. So he forced his way through the hallway’s wall to make an alternative escape route? ...Unbelievable... At this rate, the school will force us to compensate for the restoration costs again! All the more reason to catch them as soon as possible!”

You ask if he has a plan.

“Yes. Capturing them should be no problem. They already got away twice, but next time it is finally checkmate.”

You seem puzzled by his confidence. 

“After all...I know exactly where they are headed. If they pummeled their way through the wall to escape, they will most likely end up there. We shall head there as well and capture them all. The five of them, that is.”

*TIMESKIP*

Reiji opens the door and steps inside.

“As to be expected, you’ll all reached the music classroom. And just as I predicted, Shuu was already here beforehand. ...You have been cornered, I shall no longer let you lot escape. From the moment you stepped out of the limousine to the present, there are plenty of things I would love to say to you all. Therefore...”

Reiji points towards the desks.

“You lot, take a seat over there! There is still time until classes start. Since you seem to love them so much, I shall provide with a thorough scolding.”

*TIMESKIP*

*Ding-Dongー Ding-Dongー*

“Perhaps it is because of the turmoil from this morning, but time seems to fly by today. To think it is already lunch break. That being said, I am glad we were able to seize everyone. We completed our main objective and handed them lunch boxes as well. This is all because of you. Thank you very much.”

You shake your head.

“No need to be modest. You helped me carry everything and above all...Stayed by my side. Even just that made me feel reassured. Well then, let us eat as well. Shall we take a seat over there?”

You sit down.

*Rustle rustle*

“I wonder if they are lifting the lid to their lunch boxes right now as well. I would love to see the look on their faces when they come eye-to-eye with such splendid handywork.”

You frown.

“What is the matter?”

You ask about his lunch.

“Ah...Actually, I got so caught up in making everyone’s share, I forgot to make my own ...To be honest, I am surprised myself. To think I would make this kind of blunder. Oh well, I suppose it is fine. After all, us Vampires do not need to consume food to survive. Please do not mind me and help yourself.”

You offer to share.

“...Eh? You’ll share yours...? Fufu...To think a glutton such as yourself would offer to share your food. I wonder if arrows will come raining down from the sky?”

You puff out your cheeks.

“I am joking. I appreciate the sentiment. Well then, it would be a shame to waste this opportunity, so I shall have some. Splitting a lunch box between lovers is a very human-like (3) act, it is simply laughable. However, when it is with you, I suppose it is not too bad.”

ーー THE END ーー

 Translations notes

(1) Often abbriviated as キャラ弁 or ‘kyara-ben’, these are popular Japanese lunch boxes in which the food is cut out and presented in a way to look like famous anime/manga characters such as Pikachu, Doraemon, Totoro, etc. 

(2) 助かります or ‘tasukarimasu’ which comes from the verb ‘tasukaru’ literally means to ‘to save/to help out’ but it can also be used as an alternative way of thanking someone. 

(3) There are many ways in Japanese to express the English suffix ‘-like’, but in this case, Reiji uses 臭い or ‘kusai’ which literally means ‘it stinks’, implying that ‘human-like’ is something negative in his eyes. 

[moontours]

your top five stevetony universe are all godtier!!! i'm so happy you have emh in your ranking because imo, they're super underrated. also, can i ask you your top stevetony moments? you can pick the universe and number to stop at

THANK U!!! and agreed omfg i love emh stevetony so much. they were literally so good i finished emh in the summer i think (idk i lost track of time) but they have so many good scenes and quotes i LOVE THEM!!! AND YES OFC ill do 616 :-)

1. the scene in new avengers vol 1 where tony got bagels for steve and steve was like ‘they didnt have-’ and tony was like THEY DIDNT HAVE SESAME SEED before he could finish. he was like i know ur bagel order dont doubt me like that lmfrhjbasjhda

2. avengers prime in its entirety BUT: steve and tony riding on a single horse together (anything to get me to hold onto you), the hug, the “im not half as good as anything as i am when im doing it next to you” speech. bendis might be a shit writer but he set out to remind everyone that steve and tony love each other in this and it worked

3. lmfao when they were joking about safewords in magneto not a hero omfg they’re so embarrassing like there are PEOPLE AROUND U

4. the fact that finding steve in the ice was the greatest day of tony’s life (also “i miss your battle cry”

5. the scene in avengers vol 4 where tony looks at steve and is like “when i look at u all i see are all the mistakes and all the-” OOF!!!!

6. the scene in avengers vol 3 where the world goes white around steve and his LAST THOUGHT IS LITERALLY TONY “IRON MAN WOULD HATE THIS”

7. in new avengers vol 5 when steve uses the override codes on the armor to find tony :-)

8. speaking of, their hugs and flies!!!!!!!

9. when carol was like “i know how much it would mean to you if captain america was alive” to tony also when she was like “how many times do i have to tell you that his death was not your fault” and he was like at least one more. pain

10. I HESITATE TO PUT HICKMANVENGERS STUFF ON HERE BUT I HAVE TO BC THERE REALLY IS SOME GOOD STUFF. “because of you, the world changed. i changed” THEYRE INSANE ???

11. tony making the password “this is captain handsome ordering you to rock and roll on that 45″

12. TOWARDS THE END OF AVENGERS VOL 4 WHEN THEIR MANSION WAS DESTROYED AND TONY WAS LIKE I KNOW THIS SOUNDS STUPID BUT I REALLY LOVED THIS BUILDING AND STEVE WAS LIKE. ITS NOT STUPID. WE REBUILD IT.

13. gaaaaaah i do have to include the scene in casualties of war where we got the “mr stark when i woke up in this world i had no one nothing you gave me a purpose somewhere to belong you gave me a home” scene

14. tony casually calling steve beloved and not a single person batting an eye

15. IT WASNT WORTH ITTTTTT

[ialwaysknewyouwerepunk]

Heyyy what about sunflower vol 6? I've been loving your rants and analysis on hs songs and this song is quite underappreciated imo and I love it. What do you think about it? Also, would you agree that FL as a concept is ab the stages of falling in love, the relationship itself flourishing ("mouth full of toothpaste before I got to know you") and then falling apart (falling and fine line)? That's sort of the impression im getting but I'd love to hear what you think!! Anyway, have the best day :)

hey babe!!! thanks so much for saying that! i LOVE sunflower vol. 6, it’s definitely one of my absolute favorite songs -- but then again, that whole album is. i’m planning a whole series of posts about fine line and then my overall analysis of the album as a whole, but my own experience of it atm is one very celebratory of love (golden, adore you), including the downsides (falling, to be so lonely), while still showing a deep, deep, persisting love (sunflower, canyon moon). at the very same time, it’s about self-growth and -discovery (lights up, she) and that self-acceptance is the crown of the album (tpwk, fine line). 

when i listen to fine line start to finish, i hear harry screaming from the mountaintops that he’s in love (and that he can be dramatic about it) and that he’s finally embraced everything about himself/themselves