#i however don't think i have any new ideas for comics around it though

[wcspriter]

As mentioned before, I spent an entire week and countless hours across a version of Undertale as told by dedicated fans who spent seven years developing a massive love letter to Toby Fox in the form of Undertale Yellow. With the game turning one year old today I thought I'd weigh in my thoughts on it.

So I came into the game with an unusual task; to learn about this alternate world's lore for @vyletbunni's The Last Amalgam series (as of this post, parts one and two are officially up, part three is currently still in development). Not only did I get what I asked for but alongside @deltatraveler, it was something I think I actually needed to play. I've spent so much time on open online games that I forgot how nice it was to take it slow with something far more one-player that doesn't have a massive checklist of things for completionists. No achievements, no online mishaps, no stream system, just me and a game that took up one-fifth of a gigabyte on my drive.

The amount of work that went into this game is insane. Things that would take a pair of sprites to convey were stretched into pixel-sized animations that shows the additional lengths this team would go to telling their story. The music? I'm still going through the soundtrack on my commutes. Of course BEST FRIENDS FOREVER! is my top-most replayed song. And the (non-canon) lore? This no doubt opened the door for tons of people to make all kinds of new Undertale work and speculations off of it.

It's actually kinda hard to nitpick something super specific because I can't remember any flaws through all three playthroughs. I guess the only thing I can say is that Yellow through a curve-ball making me think that I need to first do the Neutral route on my first playthrough when "Surprise!" you're already on-route to the Pacifist ending instead. I don't know…the reveals Flowey gives you on the Neutral ending may or may not feel like required context for when you take that Pacifist route first. But that just might be the original Undertale talking to me; so some beats can be shaken up.

I do wonder how this game was handled. Seven years of development time, Toby Fox making Deltarune alongside them, most of the...admittedly weird fangames that just boil down to the fights. Actually, come to think of it, one of those Yellow devs had previously worked on Undertale Red (Red as in the fan character who made a cameo in Yellow) ended up working on base Deltarune itself!

So closing thoughts: Yeah, this DID take 7 years to make. This is a team of people who didn't get paid to work and completed a near-canon Undertale experience that captures the original game almost perfectly. The battles, the animation, the music that didn't have to hit so hard but they hit it out of the park...all in all, I kinda wish I paid for this game because the devs can still take Yellow as a stepping stone for bigger projects in their future.

...huh...I wonder...

...

...

...

...yeah, I'm keeping this lmao

[nthspecialll]

A lot of blame is put on John for being a negligent father to Jack, but would any of the other gang members have reacted differently had they been the father?

This is assuming John is already the father of Jack, which… he is. Javier joined too late to be a possibility and Bill is implied to be gay, so I don’t believe it’s realistic that any other person could’ve been—but I think it’s an interesting thought.

This isn’t a theory, I just want to see your thoughts on the other gang members. Personally, while John was absent during Jack’s infancy, I don’t think any of the other men would’ve acted differently despite their ribbing (besides Arthur). I don’t think the issue of being a poor father is specifically John’s, but a shared trait amongst all the men in the gang.

I actually think Javier would make a good father. He shows a lot of love for his family, literally starting a whole revolution because they got mistreated, fleeing a country for them, so on and so forth, and he mourns having lost them, suddenly having a child would give him a new family, someone new to fight for and he would fight for them. He also loves to fish and is eager to share his tricks with Arthur, so there is a bonding moment idea.

Bill.... Bad father I think, would be protective and would probably love but I don't think he would know how to handle being a father and would end up in some way fucking it up.

Dutch would love his child like he loves Jack, he loves them because he is expected to love them and it heightens people's idea of him. Aka he loves them not as an individual but as their use to him, but when that is he would be a great father.

Hosea... Depends. He is a big lover, we know that, but in the past he was a big menace and he was unable to break his criminal ways, he would steal and he would kill and he believed it to be right. While he would absolutely love the child, he would be a danger to it like John was to Jack. If it was old man Hosea however, fantastic dad, amazing advice, good balance of protective and loving.

Charles (unrealistic due to timing but we just talking how they would react to being a father in this envioment) quite similar to Hosea. Noshir hints at Charles having been quite a violent man in the past, like with the newly dropped bomb that he did something probably very bad to his father or his interview at the New York Comic Con stating that Charles is seeking redemption. That kind of man, I would be careful, very careful, especially considering that he was a lone wolf so I don't know how present Charles would be. The Charles we know in game though? He wants a family, he would be a good father and I think he would be amazing at teaching his child all nessesary life skills.

Micah, watch out for the daddy issues. Would likely raise his child like he was raised, Micah Bell Jr Jr or something, life of crime with no mercy and the wheel keeps rolling.

Sean, I don't think he would know how to act. He shows great love to Jack but I think the idea of having his own would be very confusing to him and it would take a long adjustment period.

Lenny would be a great father and would make sure that his kid knew how to handle racist remarks by making them the smartest person in the god damn county, loving man who would protect both child and mother.

That is what I believe just looking at how they talk about their families, how they act around Jack and so on, but we will never know.

[ntls-24722]

cloesona

Featuring @artastic-friend's Kofruth and Atzurae! HOOH I've been thinking about doing this meme for awhile I'm glad it turned out so nice

breakdown:

So, I had the idea that from time to time in the comic, or when the perspective shifted, it would shift onto the artstyle of the respective species, here's how things differed.

Kofruth opens the scene in cave painting medium, cave painting that is notably lacking in Blue! Blue dye is a fairly cheap, common dye and Debu love blue, but it's sometimes excluded from cave paintings designated for fire rooms, which is... where most of their paintings are. Debu caves are completely dark except for the room dedicated to having fire, their fire room, which also happens to be the one they display their art in - because it's the one room you'd be able to see it! However, due to the lack of any other light but their fire, and the color of the cave wall, it's extremely orange in the fire room, which dulls out the blue color from their art. So, sometimes, they do away with it entirely.

Also, why is Atzurae just a bunch of lines?

Debu, due to their size, have the quirk of drawing most things from the top view, since that's how they see everything - especially the 2-foot-tall zebraelves! To them, they just look like big spiders. So they draw them as fat little spiders.

Also, Atzurae's cloesona! It's... not a zebraelf cloesona?!?! It's been given Debu anthropomorphic traits - tusks, and big nostrils! It's almost like it's kofruth's cloesona instead...🤨

I turned off the multiply blending mode to better show this - So, despite zebrapeople, especially zebraelves, championing dye production in the early history of Bolur, they only really make reds and blues. That's cuz it's all they can see! They could make a yellow due to paint something, but why do that when it looks pink, and they have red and white right there in their disposal?

There's also the art style - I originally went a completely different direction with this. My inspo was initially ancienct Chinese art since I saw the parallel of how popular the medium of ink and paper had gotten between both societies, and I had juuuust gotten to finishing before (and you can kind of tell where I was, at the scars around Kofruth's eye) realizing where I should've taken zebraelf art.

Zebraelf's aesthetic attraction is for geometry, and curvilinear designs! It's the same for zebramen too, somewhat, though not as strong as it is for zebraelves. Zebraelves LOVE making things with one stroke and they try to do it as much as possible since it resembles the uniformity and cleanliness of their stripes, though the exaggerated fur was fun (since they express emotions with their fur) so I tried to keep that, too.

There's also the anatomical inaccuracy of giving Debu teeth gaps. Debu notably Do Not have them in their front teeth, and find the seperation of said tusks creepy.

But that anatomical inaccuracy is far less egregious than the one in the next frame:

A closed mouth!!!

Debu's front teeth do retain some vestigial appearance of looking seperate through the gums and the striations, but their lips physically cannot close like this. Zebrapeople can close their mouths, though with a little effort since they have a natural grin, but Debu mouths are too tight, period.

Also, I think a zebraelf might give Kofruth a monobrow! Monobrows are seen as beautiful (due to the singular, aesthetically pleasingly unbroken line), so while not as common in Debu, they might still give Kofruth one.

Not much to say here other than this is easily my favorite frame!! The sclera are shown here since they're often shown in distress, and the white is drool, which are Bolur tears

Most "vertebrates" don't have sad tears, they have sad drool, and i've decided the new reason for that is because their saliva has chemicals with a mild painkilling + soothing effect, so when they're upset their body kicks the saliva-making into overdrive both to calm it down with those chemicals, and to slow their own breathing by having to stop and swallow their own saliva

That and there's the very cool detail (in my opinion) that Kofruth is implied to be semi-animated - Marc Azéma and Florent Rivère made the claim that a lot of cave art was made to be animated under the flickering light of a fire, and that's why a lot of cave art seems to be a lot of animals abstractly juxtaposed on top of one another. (he also made a video showing this off)

Also, here's the GORGEOUS bull from the Cave of Altamira i based the cave paintings off of. STUNNING <3333

[theaudientvoid]

So, since both DC and Marvel are currently launching initiatives to created "simplified" continuities in a bid to attract new readers, I should probably do a periodic reminder about why efforts to "simplify" continuity almost never work, and even if they did, I don't think that simplified continuity is nearly as laudable goal as many people seem to thing.

In practice, attempts to simplify continuity almost always end up making continuity more complicated. Let's take the Marvel's current attempt, relaunching the Ultimate Universe. This is meant to be a new universe that readers can pick up of the rack without having to worry about decades of continuity baggage. So far, so good. The problem is that this is the second time that Marvel has done this trick using this exact name. So now, any time a prospective new reader hears about Ultimate Spider-Man, well which one are they hearing about. The old one from the 2000s who was a teenager, or the new one that's, like, 35?

The fate of the original Ultimate Universe is instructive. It went on for over a decade, and by the end had built up its own convoluted continuity, such that Marvel eventually decided to just pull the plug and merge it over into the main universe.

Now, keep in mind, the "New" Ultimate Universe is selling like hot cakes. Ultimate Spider-Man is currently out selling the main Spider-Man book. But how much of that is from "simplified" continuity, and how much of that is because Marvel editorial is committed to maintaining a status quo for the character in the main universe that many readers find uninteresting? (They still haven't undone One More Day.)

It's also instructive that Marvel chose to reuse the "Ultimate" name. If they really wanted to excise continuity baggage, presumably they'd pick an entirely new name, to prevent any threat of namespace collision. But that's not what they did. Presumably, they were hoping to capitalize on any residual good will associated with the Ultimate brand left over from the original Ultimate universe. Which new readers, who supposedly hate continuity, won't have.

All that being said, though, is "simplifying" continuity even all that worthy a goal in the first place? I'm not convinced it is. So, like, the thing to keep in mind is that Marvel and DC's business model is oriented around selling single issues to a small pool of collectors at exorbitant prices. Once a issues initial print run(s) end, it becomes an afterthought from the standpoint of the decision makers at the big two.

So, from the perspective of convincing randoms off the street to buy the latest issue of Batman, that decades of continuity baggage probably is an impediment. But, I would argue, it's not nearly as big an impediment that as the fact that single issues are a) expensive as fuck, and b) only sold in specialized stores. If you want to grow the population of comic readers, the biggest things you need to do are lower the price, and sell them in places that normies actually go to.

DC recently, with relatively little fanfare, started an initiative to sell collected additions of a handful of classic stories from their back catalog in regular book stores. Importantly, however, these special collections all collect 12 issues, and cost only $10. For comparison, ordinary trade paperbacks collect 6 issues and cost $17. Single issues run you $4 or $5. This is an okay start, but not nearly enough. If I was in charge of DC or Marvel, I would start by aggressively marketing our back catalog to non-comic readers at significantly reduced prices. Note that this would still allow us to continue selling single issues to super fans at full price, while also having a realistic prospect of growing the market. Because the idea that Marvel or DC can get people into comics by convincing them to walk into a comic shop off the street and pay $5 per issue for the latest crossover event is just absurd.

[knickynoo]

what do you think alternate 1985 Marty was like?

Ok, so, I LOVE thinking about 1985A Marty!! We see him for a bit in the "Biff to the Future" comics, but I've mentioned before that I feel like they sort of dropped the ball there. There was so much they could have done with Alt '85 Marty, and they honestly didn't do much. He was just...Marty. And while I like the idea that a lot of who Marty is remains the same no matter the timeline, I have a hard time believing such an awful upbringing wouldn't impact him in some way. Some thoughts!

• I do think there would be that element of "Marty is Marty," even with growing up in '85A. At his core, Marty is kind. He's protective of his loved ones, strives to do the right thing, and puts others first. I don't think that would change.

• However, I see '85A Marty maybe having to hide those characteristics under a bit of a hardened shell. This is out of necessity and a result of being exposed to a lot of horrible things from a young age. He was so little when George died, so likely all he remembers is a world where Biff is his step-father, his mother is miserable, and violence is a daily occurrence. That good heart is still there, but Marty figures out pretty quickly that he's got to keep it under wraps a bit if he's going to survive.

• It's interesting because while our Movie!Marty is a fairly anxious little guy, I don't see '85A Marty as really having any significantly higher anxiety levels. I mean, you would think he'd be a barely functioning anxious mess, but I actually think all the pressure and stress and fear would force him into a state of "I can't waste TIME worrying." He becomes a very take-charge person. Focused on whatever situation is currently taking priority while the anxiety takes a back seat.

• As Alt Biff says in part II, Marty is absolutely a "little hothead." He tries to be careful, and he's able to tread lightly when needed, but it's just not possible in certain situations. Mainly, these are situations involving his mother's safety and well-being. If she's being threatened or hurt, he just does what's needed to help, even if it means he's going to pay for it after.

• Though Lorraine does her very best to protect and care for Marty, there are times she simply can't. And when it gets to be too much and she's lost in the sadness and alcohol, Marty steps in to be there for her. In a way, he learns how to act as a parent of sorts from a young age, guiding and taking care of his mom when she needs it. With Dave and Linda's own issues (and the fact that they're rarely around), he's often all Lorraine has.

• The moment Marty was shipped off to his first boarding school, he started acting out and doing whatever he could to get himself kicked out. He knew it was Biff's way of getting rid of him—taking away Lorraine's main source of protection—and wasted no time in sabotaging the plan. In some ways, it was hard for Marty because he really had to do some bad stuff (and it tugged solidly at his conscience) but he had no choice. He had to get back to his mother. So, every time Biff sent him somewhere new, Marty immediately got to work making himself a Nightmare Student. He gets very good at causing trouble. I think he also forms alliances with other students who become aware of his situation and help him to get kicked out as well.

• So. I have this hc that just popped into my brain where Biff actually tries to like...mold Marty into taking after him when Marty is little? Because Marty is so young and impressionable when George dies and Biff enters the picture, I can see Biff being like, "Maybe I can get the kid on my side." And it's not even that he likes or cares about Marty, he just sees someone he can turn into an heir of his twisted empire. Even have it be a slap in the face to George's memory to have his youngest son turn into a mini Biff Tannen. But Marty is stubborn, loyal, and sees right through Biff, so he resists every act Biff tries to put on to impress him. In turn, this makes Biff hate Marty even more in the long run.

• In the comics, there's a secret resistance group that keeps trying to find ways to take Biff down. George and Doc were both part of it, and I like to imagine that Marty gets involved in some way as well. He's a source of valuable information since he lives with Biff, and I think Marty also does a whole lot of sneaking around to keep up to date on what Biff is up to. He doesn't tell Lorraine about his involvement, though, because he doesn't want to put her in danger if Biff grows suspicious, but Lorraine definitely knows. She just turns the other way and silently prays nothing bad will happen.

• Marty has a tough time in terms of how the citizens of Hill Valley see him. He's disliked by a lot of people automatically because he's Biff's stepson, and they're wary of him. They don't know if he can be trusted. Others simply assume he's a spoiled brat living a cushy life with a rich family and resent him for having it so good while the rest of the town crumbles. So, he has very few friends.

I'm sure I could go on, but I'll stop there. I'd like to write a fic someday that focuses on 1985A Marty because he really does fascinate me. Thanks for the ask!

[loopy777]

A lot of fans have been saying that Kiyi is the Avatar version of Ahsoka. What are your thoughts?

I think that says a lot more about the people saying this than Kiyi. And those people are strangely hung up on Ahsoka.

As far as I've been able to identify, the only similarity between the two is that they're young/teen girls with more raw power than most other people in their settings. Some people (not me, as I prefer the 'author insert' definition) would call that a Mary Sue.

However, even the way they manifest that power is different. Ahsoka, when she was introduced as a Padawan who could hold her own against General Grievous, was established from the start as an exceptional student, thus earning her the privilege of being assigned to a top Jedi master. Kiyi, by contrast, is a strong Firebender without any kind of training, and her strength completely came out of nowhere.

And in every other aspect (aside from being girls), Kiyi and Ahsoka are completely different. Ahsoka was a retcon to the existing Star Wars prequel saga, a sister-like figure to Anakin even though he had never mentioned her in any of the stories supposedly set afterward. She was snarky and challenging to the established characters, with cute quips and nicknames. She had two lightsabers, always a sign of a lack of artistic integrity. ;) She was also, not to put too fine a point on it, a female character aimed at a new demographic and younger age than the rest of the prequel cast. She was an oddity in the prequel era until she basically took the era over and shaped it around herself. I admit that I was kind of annoyed by the retcon-aspect of Ahsoka at first and still think the lack of any mention of her in Revenge Of The Sith makes no sense, but I've come to enjoy the character more than I need verisimilitude in my Star Wars.

Kiyi, however, is none of those things. She's not funny or snarky. She's not a retcon. She's not shaping any story around herself; the story of the gAang is over and she only appears in low-stakes sequels (and not even all of them), nor is she doing anything that would make it odd for Korra not to mention her. She's not designed to draw in a new audience; Avatar already has plenty of powerful female characters, and the same age range already has much more vivid characters like Toph and Jinora and Ikki inhabiting it- all of whom share more similarities with Ahsoka. Even the comic focused on Kiyi is, at least from the previews, at least as much about Mai if not moreso.

That's not to say I think Kiyi is a good character. I think she's an interesting idea that has been completely wasted by Gene Yang and used in a dumb manner- but I could say the same thing about all of Yang's original characters, and I could say the 'dumb' part about everything he writes for Avatar. XD The only thing Yang has really done with Kiyi is contrast her to Azula and use her as a prize for Zuko.

Ahsoka was no prize to anyone, and I don't think she's more of a contrast to Anakin than Obi-Wan. Or Luke. Or Padme. Or a bunch of Expanded Universe characters no one cares about now.

So yeah, I have no idea what comparison these people are drawing, unless they're saying Ahsoka and Kiyi are both female characters the complainers don't like.

And I'm just going to say that it seems really sexist to lump them together like that. Or else these people don't watch anything but Star Wars and Avatar.

[raycatzdraws]

Love your Wind as a humming bird comic. Any ideas for what the others would change into?? (I think Time as a kitten or something adorable would be funny)

Thank you! Wind as a hummingbird is such a wonderful idea and I have to thank and give credit to @/winkwonkblog for the prompt! I didn't really do Wind as a hummingbird justice when it came to like, drawing him well, but I had fun playing with the idea of it.

As for dark world forms! The fandom's done a great job exploring this and I really like a lot of (at least what I think are?) the more common takes! My preferences have been influenced by all the pieces of fanart, fic, and discussion I've seen - so many pieces that are tried, true, and tested! - so I don't have much to add! I like what the fandom's come up with and enjoy seeing new interpretations. It's a great big collaboration with a bunch of coexisting ideas and I love that.

These are going to be familiar lol (and I'll include some recs too, as one does!)

Time - I agree that Time being a cat or something cute and fuzzy would be funny because it would clash so much with how he's presented in the comic! Let him be something soft and unassuming so he can use it to his advantage for shenanigans! Like Legend though, I think he'd dislike being so fragile. He needs claws or something. To be honest, the hero of time being a golden wolf has never really felt right to me. I see general oot/mm Link as more of an an owl or fox. However, his characterization in LU makes it fit and I appreciate that. It's gotten me to come around to it some.

Twi - Wolfie, yeah

Wild - coyote or deer

Sky - Remlit, goose, or dove (Failure and Fortitude by sister_dear and this art by luwyv, and Untitled Goose Fic by theScrap_Witch)

Warriors - Wars as a weasel or ferret! Something with very nice and pretty fur and very sharp teeth. The thought of Legend holding him up and slinkying him around is amusing. (it's much-too-late'o'clock for me so I get to make up words)

Legend - Rabbit (read this if you haven't !!!-> Not half Pawd by SongMina, as well as Tiny Adventures by Lightning of Farosh)

Four - Hummingbird, mouse, or cat (All of @/chrispy-chimkin's LU Wing AU! Just look at Four!!! Look at him!!! &lt;3 &lt;;3 <3 See also Feline Fatale by Seeking7 and Usagisama68)

Wind - Seagull! (Again, Chris' wing au, but also @/layraket's creatures gang, and A Pear and a Portal by glowingjellyfishtreelights)

Hyrule - I'm not really sure! My joke answer is an okapi. Maybe a badger! idk! he's a dragonfly-winged fairy idk about an animal form for him. A coyote or gray fox, a brown-colored medium sized bird, something like that. Sorry I don't have the most inspired answers haha. I imagine Hyrule's Hyrule (in Zelda 1) as california chaparral so I think he'd be some kind of creature that lives there. I can tell you what kind of tree he'd be!!! Hyrule would be a ribbonwood tree (aka redshanks)! Ribbonwood bounces back quickly after wildfires, with the leaves sprouting again even after being all burned off. The bark that falls away from the tree comes off in strips or "ribbons" that are soft but scratchy and brittle when dried out. that give the tree a kind of whipsy appearance. It's wild and wiggly (I'm all out of adjectives at the moment) and very much a part of the landscape, a piece that ties it all together. The smooth bark underneath is a deep red and cool to the touch. The earthy red and vivid yellowing-green color is suiting. If you cup the leaves in your hands and breathe on them they release a soft rain-like smell. I'm just really passionate about Hyrule and this tree and ecosystem ahsfdhas do you see the low shrubs and parched dirt and the scrambling rocks and the mountains!!! the dry and hot and high altitude and dense shrubbery impassable to find hidden paths through! so much green no stranger to fire!!!!

[thirstnotes]

| Rivals To Lovers - Clark Kent - Part Ten - Competitive Clark, (Feat. Bruce Wayne)|

Pairings: Clark Kent x AFABBlackCurvyReader

Warnings: possessive Clark, jealous Clark, Clark Kent in love, Petty Clark, "Morals? What Morals?" Clark, language, smut, minors DNI, dirty talk, mild exhibitionism, general pettiness, oral, Dark Manipulative Bruce, pure nonsense and rambling thoughts tbh, thirst

If you don't like it, don't read it.

"Hooking up" with Bruce and "fake dating" Clark had you feeling a little bit like Archie

Yeah the redhead in the comics and that one CW adaptation

Except your Betty and Veronica were tall, hot, unusually fit men that felt the need to be quietly petty

Like you hadn’t notice

"Bruce!" you squealed with a laugh as his lips attacked your neck. Penthouses were a new source of entertainment ever since that man entered your life.

He was very insistent upon them

Maybe it was just that rich dude life

Maybe he was constantly trying to impress you

Maybe he just liked to fuck you against the window without any repercussions

At the moment, however, he was very insistent upon being cute on the balcony with you

You never pictured Bruce being warm and fuzzy, but he'd surprised you many times before

Besides. You liked seeing this side of him

"Y/N," he purred back, broad hands smoothing past the silky opening of your robe. You slid your hands over his and pulled them back out, during which he used the leverage to weave his fingers with yours.

"Will you stop tryna show the metropolitan area all my goodies?"

"If they were able to see you, I'd have you inside," he hummed back with a smirk. You rolled your eyes and pecked his lips.

"Maybe they can. I know people that fly news choppers."

Not to mention people that can fly without the use of a helicopter.

"Aren't you shy all of a sudden," he purred up at you, his eyes holding yours with an unspoken knowledge that made you feel more exposed that you wanted to admit. "It's kind of cute."

You stuck your tongue out at him and he touched the tip of his to it. You scrunched your nose at him and he laughed before attacking your neck with kisses again.

You had no way of knowing Clark was watching

You also had no idea he was beyond head over heels with obsessing over you

You were getting ya groove on, Stella

Bruce just be petty

Anyway. Clark was just as bad.

"Hey Bruce," you fumbled out, trying your best to ignore the sexy superhuman making a meal of you.

"Busy?" he asked, the intentional question missing you entirely as your focus was on Clark's warm, swirling tongue tickling your clit.

"I...not particularly," you said, your eyes meeting his. A smirk played at his lips, eyes rolling back to his work. He'd absolutely heard him and he was being pretty petty about it. Particularly when he'd deliberately sucked the sensitive bud of your clit into his mouth just as you were responding.

"Odd. I thought Kent would be hovering around you like he always is," was Bruce's snide reply, though it was Clark's light snort that made you laugh a bit.

"You sound a little jealous," you taunted lightly, aiming the comment at the both of them. Clark's eyes cut up to you again and he pulled back with an intentionally obnoxious smack that made you bite your lip and hope your phone didn't pick that up.

"I am a little bit. He seems a bit taken with you," Bruce laughed softly. It took all in you not to swallow your tongue when Clark had shifted to press his thick shaft through your folds.

"You think so?" you exhaled casually, glaring weakly at him as he loomed above your face, arm resting above your head.

He was so fuckin petty

His eyes held yours as he swept into you with smooth, deep thrusts, warm, dry lips dipping to peck yours every now and then. It was too fuckin good to feel bad about the pout in Bruce's voice.

"You're right. Maybe I am a little envious since he gets to be with you all the time."

"Valid. But you know, you're worrying an awful lot for somebody who's not my boyfriend either," you purred with a cute laugh, though it was more from Clark's lips brushing yours. His hand shifted your leg to angle over his as your hips rocked together. It felt like a reward.

Bruce let out another breathy laugh and you felt a little guilty for how much it turned you on. Especially when Clark started quietly competing for your attention by nibbling on your neck.

These fuckin men

"Is that an invitation?" he purred at you, leaving a pause for you to take for your own use.

"...Are you asking for it to be?" you swallowed, the delicious pressure of familiar pressure building steadily as Clark picked up his pace. You felt him throbbing inside you, probably just as excited as you were about your naughty antics. Of course he was getting off to the fantasy of fuckin Bruce over.

"Answering a question with a question. Touché."

"I'm ruthless, remember?" you laughed, testing the waters on both ends with yet another sassy question. In truth, you were trying to swallow the groan that was working its way into your throat. Because Clark's thrusts were greedy now. You quietly gasped when one of his thrusts hit a particularly sensitive spot. You were really getting the sense that he wanted you to hang up now.

"I noticed. Why else would you be gasping and groaning in my ear like that?” You paused, your blood running a bit cold.

"I'm not judging you for using your toys, but to do it when I can't touch you. That's low," he continued, light humor and longing in his voice.

You swallowed, eyes meeting Clark's. You knew he'd heard that. The wicked smirk was evident enough. The way your body reacted made you hate yourself. It felt entirely too fuckin good.

"I...Um. I'll talk to you later."

"...Do you have to?"

You paused, thumb so close to the red phone on your screen.

You could've pretended not to hear him.

Just could've hit the damn button and hang up

But nooooo

"Bruce Wayne. Are you telling me to touch myself to the sound of your voice?"

"That too far?" he asked, amused. Clark stroked you idly now, carefully studying your reaction. He made you sick sometimes.

"Can't lie. It's kinda hot," you said aloud, though you weren't certain who you were even talking to at that point, but both seemed to be very pleased by your reply. Clark kissed your neck with lingering pecks, destroying your train of thought. "What are you doing right now?"

"About to go into a meeting," he said casually, the background voices testament to his claim.

"You're incorrigible."

"You haven't hung up yet," he purred, the smirk evident in his voice.

Your eyes rolled shut. You were already starting to tighten around the Dick of Steel. You weren't gonna last much longer if they both kept this up.

"You're gonna be late."

"Then cum or hang up."

You wanted to smack him

Well

It was kinda adorable and hot

Clark's strokes slowed to a dangerous crawl, the tingling pressure of being on the edge rising in your loins. You tried to buck a bit to make him speed up, but his hips held you in place. You were gonna die. You let out a frustrated laugh.

"Well?" Bruce said, his tone matching the daring look Clark was giving you. The dangerous look in his eyes making you throb. You swallowed, giving him quiet permission to keep going.

"I...."

You let out an audible gasp when he pressed deeper into you, the wave of edging enhancing every roll of his hips into yours. A friction that was steadily increasing in speed. He was eager. Needy. Starving.

You couldn't lie. So were you.

It didn't take him any time at all to have you making desperate, wanton sounds. Gasping and groans that you barely recognized as your own slid past your lips as you clung to him, hanging on for dear life as he pounded you mercilessly into the mattress. There was absolutely no chill. Just pure 100% concentrated pettiness.

You knew it was to make a point. Without even saying it, he was laying claim to your pussy. It was his. He knew this. You knew this.

The lady in 2B in the apartment below probably knew it at this point...and she wore a hearing aid.

You were gonna have to apologize for that later

With wine

The mattress squeaked unforgivingly beneath you, making you briefly wonder about the integrity of your bedframe, but that soon left your head when it all hit you at once.

A pleased hum shook from your throat as he rode you through your orgasm, chasing his own. Your body twitched a bit from over stim, but you didn't want him to stop. He was making you see stars.

Bruce breathed a small, breathy laugh, reminding you he was still there. "I liked that more than I'm willing to admit."

He sounded a little frustrated

But your mind was still dizzy with ecstasy

You barely even registered what he said while Clark was filling you to the brim

These fuckin men

"I know you did," you gasped out with a satisfied laugh, laughing a bit louder when Clark rolled so that you were resting on top of him. He smiled up at you, pecking your lips gently. "Now go to work."

"I will when I see you this weekend," he smirked, hanging up before you could respond.

Fuckin Bruce

Clark rolled his eyes, but he was too damn smirky to take seriously

Afterwards, you saw him off before having a quiet day to yourself, having a nice hot bubble bath and catching up on your favorite shows.

Your phone started ringing and vibrating, prompting you to get up with a smirky groan. You weren't sure which one was calling, but.

But.

The masked man in your room, holding your phone was neither of them.

"Let's go for a little ride."

(Part 9)

(Part 11)

[damianbugs]

saki i'm sorry i don't know much about DC comics, but i have been confused about something recently when seeing fan comics — are Bruce and Two-Face (Harvey?) still friends post-whatever happened to him? I think they were friends before, maybe, but some fanon has been suggesting to me they might still be, so I was wondering about that. Opinions on him, too, maybe? I know fuck all about him but he's so quirky

i wouldn't say they're... still friends exactly. let's do some background real quick.

i think the really sweet and close friendship bruce wayne and harvey dent had prior to his acid attack, that inspires a lot of fancontent — is from Batman: The Animated Show. in this iteration of their history, they're close friends who obviously mean a lot to each other, which is why the guilt batman feels for two-face is only more painful.

(of course in much earlier comics and harvey's original introduction (detective comics #66) bruce and harvey are friends too. though, it's not often referenced as his origin much anymore.)

in the comics however, the friendship starts and unfortunately ends with batman. batman, (captain) jim gordon, (DA) harvey all work together to try and solve the case in Batman: The Long Halloween.

they grow close and personally, i think bruce was really starting to form a close bond and trust with harvey throughout their partnership. this really shines through when after harvey becomes two-face (which is a long and sad story), bruce still has somewhat of a belief that harvey can still be good.

though, we know now that two-face ends up having a permanent spot in gothams rouge gallery, but i suppose it's because of this history of trust that batman continues to encourage harvey to turn his life around (a sentiment he has with a lot of his rouges, but something that is especially prominent in his relationship with two-face).

as for what their origins are in the new 52? i have no idea! moving on.

for what their relationship is like currently;

the most recent interactions i think they've had is in ram v's current Detective Comics run (which is FANTASTIC) and out of all the harvey and bruce comics i have read, it is probably my favourite. they're not even the main focused relationship, but it is such an important one for the theme of this arc.

in this run harvey is at war with himself, struggling between being 'good' and being 'bad' — but also struggling to simply have a choice at doing either. bruce is also facing a similar turmoil. so we see this really wonderful parallel in the midst of a battle where harvey is debating whether or not he wants to save bruce or leave him to die, and bruce is battling whether he wants to give in or keep going.

two-face does end up saving bruce. this is something very important to both of their characters.

it shows bruce that the man he befriended is not lost and it gives harvey a sense of autonomy that he's been stripped of for a long time. it's a short but very moving subplot about hope.

that being said, harvey isn't doing this because he wants to be friends with bruce again. or well, two-face isn't. it's complicated.

i don't think i could do the writing justice (there is also like, an insane overarching plot going on). once he drags bruces half dead body to safety, he threatens him, leaves bruce there and is currently, on the run.

so friends? not really. enemies? also not exactly. really tragic story about missing someone you once knew, wondering if you ever really knew them in the first place? ABSOLUTELY.

there is also some insanely obvious queercoding taking place in their story, but i focused on their friendship side of things.

it's one of bruce's more complicated rouge relationships, and probably the best one thematically. harvey is such an interesting character and if dc wouldn't use the same green headed dumbass as the villain in all their batman stories, two-face would definitely be the most compelling rouge for bruce.

i don't know if this actually made any sense, and also apologies for taking so long to answer this! here is probably one of the best detective comics covers ever made as an apology (it is bruce standing in the middle of a split two-face carved golden door with a batman shadow in the back. this shit is marvelous).

[elbdot]

Jesus christ so hey congratulations on completing tha dubs! Excited to experience them later this month 😄

I do want to take this opportunity tho to ask about your overall thoughts on S&V? Like what you think of the stories, characters, and....Paldea's possible inclusion in these comics 👀?

Excited to hear your thoughts!

OKAY I've gotten a bunch of Pokemon S&V Questions since November and now that I FINALLY played through the game I can FINALLY answer them HERE WE GO

POKEMON SCARLET AND VIOLET IS... GOOD

IS REALLY GOOD

It has some really nice storylines, some weaker, some stronger, I REALLY liked the characterization of all the Team Star Admins (even though the team's backstory is a bit all over the place), Arven was my favorite, followed by Nemona and Penny is- Penny is certainly there 😶

Geeta is not really a memorable champion...I don't really care much for her, but I do find it interesting that she's apparently quite unpopular amongst the Gym leader for her strict management. I don't think we ever had an in-universe unpopular Champion before.

My favorite part of the game was undoubtedly exploring the region with my Pokemon! Taking on the Gyms was more of a chore I had to do to be able to catch and train higher leveled Pokemon but I gotta say, the Gym challenges were always really fun and sometimes I reseted my game just to play the mini-games again :D

But I THINK I spent the most time trying to take selfies and pictures of me and my Pokemon whenever something fun happened or I found a really nice location or the sun was about to set. Taking photos is a HUGE hobby of mine and games that give me this kind of freedom with the photo-option are a HUGE plus in my book (You have NO idea how much time I spent in the USUM Photo Club Mini game)

I gotta say tho the Pokemon of this Region...?

BIGGEST weak point in my opinion. WEIRDEST bunch I've ever seen. Weird doesn't always have to mean BAD but in this case...yeah no there were a lot of weird AND bad ones in there, sometimes great concepts but VERY STRANGE execution that left a lot to be desired for me personally.

I was very open to what kind of Pokemon I would catch in this game. I ended up having only ONE new Paldean Pokemon on my team. And it wasn't even an all new Pokemon, it was Paldean TAUROS :'D Gotta say tho, I never cared THIS much about Tauros before. REALLY love my big black bull (ye I have the regular one, the rare ones are cool but I fell in love with this big fella)

I had a Kilowattrel and Amarouge on my team for a bit, but I switched them out after a while, I was really hoping I'd click with Amarouge more, but in the end I gave space for old and familiar faces instead. Kilowattrel I really like tho! But the fact I could walk around and interact with some of my favorite Pokemon overworld made me SO obsessed with adding them onto my team, THIS is the kind of Pokemon experience I've been waiting for for quite a while :DD

I haven't played through post game yet and I haven't finished all of the school classes yet, but I'm looking forward to complete them, as the cast of this game is really vast and fun!

In case of the comics however, just like with Galar I don't think we'll see an inclusion of this region within the story. Given the narrative of Scarlet and Violet, it would also be difficult to tie in its story with those of EAA and to be honest - I know you guys want to see El and her friends in other regions, which is very sweet, I'm happy you care so much about her that you want to see them travel around the world! But...I NEVER felt the desire to make this comic a world travel tour and I don't really understand where this idea came from that so many people expect El to leave Alola any time soon :'D

"El's Alolan Adventures" will continue to be about El's Adventures in Alola :'D I still love Alola and since El is currently Alolas Champion, she doesn't have any plans to leave the region any time soon and there are still SO many stories to tell with the cast of the Alola region! DON'T FORGET Gladion's Arc I still need to finish!!

HOWEVER

I THINK it's a fair assumption that you'll definitely see SOME fanart from me for this region :D In fact, you can already see my first (ANIMATED) piece on patreon! ☺️

AND I'll show a few more of my "travel pictures" as I've taken...A LOT of them... BUT YEAH Pokemon Scarlet, best main-line game since Sun and Moon for me!! OH and Legends of Arceus was REALLY FUN too of course

[x-manson-annotated]

X-Manson Annotated Chapter 4 - Part One - CABLE AND COLOSSUS

This section will primarily focus on Cable, but what little it tells us about Piotr and Illyana Rasputin will be discussed throughout this section. Not to bet around the bush, but this section's as rough as it gets. Trigger and content warnings below:

tw rape, tw animal death, tw cannibalism, tw necrophilia, etc.

The first quote here makes me think of a thing Warren Ellis said in his book, "Planetary". He described people who come from this background, this grey, unknown quantity as being "Twilight People".

Piotr's abilities are potentially tied to where he was born? So, mutations have an environmental factor that is associated with the physical makeup of where they were born/raised.

This is coupled with radiation. It seems that this is taking it's cues from the Silver Age interpretation of mutation where they're created by radiation rather than it being evolution/a latent gene.

Illyana Rasputina.

Not Piotr's bio sister.

Possibly not his sister in any sense.

This is the first time she's been mentioned?

Is it possible she is his sister and she simply didn't die at the site? Or at all?

Possibly all of them?

Cable and The Six Pack.

If this is going by the comics their group would have consisted of:

Cable

G.W Bridge

Garrison Kane

Grizzly

Hammer

Domino

The only surviving member is of course, Domino as we'll later see. However, this is somewhere that I fall short. I don't like 90s marvel. 90s Cable is a blank spot for me.

But from what i've learned, Only Cable, Grizzly and Domino are mutants.

Hammer, G.W Bridge, and Garrison Kane are human. Garrison being a human-cyborg.

So, this opens up the possibility of people having cyborg enhancements in this setting. though, this all might take place before Kane had the opportunity to have his limbs replaced.

Domino, Neena Thurman. I'm not sure if her name was given by the time of this being written in 2000.

Twelve Years. Earlier on into the story we have Kitty's narration say that she's lived in her room in Canada for over ten years.

I have some thoughts about why Domino is being held under such strict imprisonment outside of the cult.

First, there's the matter of her power. She has supremely good luck, is it possible that she wants to be here? Do they know about this and have been trying to arrange things so she can't escape?

Then there's what she knows. She's one of the few people involved who survived everything, without being executed by the state. She's also limited in what she can talk about with the Interviewer (possibly a different interviewer than the one we've been seeing).

I think she knows more about a Weapon X-like program that created Logan, Kane, and perhaps even Cable than she's letting on.

See, she's not officially allowed to talk about certain things. I think this last comment is her saying that it doesn't matter if she says anything about them, they'll both be killed by higher ups in the government.

Okay. Here's a breakdown of what I've got concerning all of this.

*Sometimes from the future, sometimes from the past - Comics Nathan being born in the present, but taken to the future, only to return as an adult.

*Canaan. New Canaan is the dominant nation in the future he was raised in.

*The personal space station from and to the future is Graymalkin.

I kind of hate Cable, even in comics.

The first highlighted portion makes me think of this joke by @waitingforthet:

It seems that Cable is making up his whole deal as he goes along.

Feels like a comment on the nature of 90s anti-heroes that were springing up in the wake of characters like Cable and X-Force. Deniable, murderous mercenaries. Disposable ideas. Characters like tissue paper.

Grant Morrison has a quote about this in their book Supergods where they discuss how it was kind of born out of a time when there wasn't an active war that the U.S was participating in. I wish I had a physical copy of the book with me because they explain it more eloquently than I can.

It tracks that people would develop anti-psi protection in a world where psychics are a known and dangerous quantity. I want to know more about this tech that Cable's got. I think him being from the future is kind of bullshit, so I want to know where he's gotten it from.

Also, Jesus christ! I think if broken down, you might be able to see this as Doctor Benway inserting shock for the sake of shock. This becomes a lot more frequent later in the story. But, Jesus.

Nathan count continues to stand at 2.

Joseph being an alias he used feels interesting. I don't know if i'm close, but the interviewer's reaction makes me think that it has some connection to Joseph the clone of Magneto. Maybe some version of him exists, either not as a clone or completely unconnected to Erich.

*The part about him being both the messiah and the messiah's dad will unfortunately come up again later.

*En Sabbah Nur. Also coming up later.

The Four Horsemen:

Erich Lehnsherr - (War, because he's actively trying to stop war.)

Gabrielle Lehnsherr [Haller] - (Famine? Because she was trying to help relocate refugees into the U.K?)

Amelia Voght - (Pestilence because she runs the W.H.O)

Various - Death.

Candidates for Death:

John Kelly

Daniel Cohn-Bendit?

The Professor.

Let's get Cohn-Bendit out of the way, I think this is referring to him:

he was an active politician around when Benway was writing, so it's possible he would have known about him. I don't know if he was included because of Cohn-Bendit's writings from the 70s or from the accusations of him raping minors.

Skipping past all the real world awfulness, I'd like to turn our attention to The Professor:

I think that this isn't in reference to Xavier at all. But in reference to Truett Hudson/Professor Thorton of Weapon X.

Luck Powers in action.

See, i've been saying this from the very beginning about the damn Pate and sausages. They aren't vegetarian. That Grundy woman from chapter one and everyone at the open house ate people meat!

*This is what makes me suspect that it isn't the same interviewer.

**Here, I've developed a theory about why Cable is acting like this:

What if. He is half right and Scott and Jean are his parents. And he is from the future and all that other horseshit. But, here's the rub: He isn't Cable he's Stryfe.

*That was creepy? Not the cannibalism or the animal death, or the multiple murders? Cable and Xavier being weird at eachother with sentences was creepy?

Also, another random shock moment that doesn't really do much for the story. It's terrifying, yes. It's deeply upsetting, yes. But what is it actually doing for the story?

[angelichavenhasideas]

Age headcanons for the LU boys

So, for Gift Of Family I need to know all of the boys ages for when they're adopted and when the last of them is adopted. However, this meant that I had to figure out not only their age order but how close I could get the boys to their canonical ages as possible. So, I'm going to share with you my findings of not only how old I think each Link is in Jojo's comic but also how old I think they are in each of their games based on vibes, official nintendo art, Jojo's art, and Jojo's past QnA stuff. Let's begin.

Time

Time is both the easiest and trickiest. To avoid the trickiness, I decided to ignore his mental age and just focused on his physical age.

For Ocarina of Time, I've put Time as 9/16. First of all, we know he's a kid, maybe the youngest of all the Links, though I doubt it. But most of my reasoning for putting Time at 9 when he starts his adventure is simply because, ever since I was a kid, I thought it was a canonical fact that Time was 9 when he left Kokiri Forest. I don't know where I got this information, I can't find any proof of this being true, but nostalgia is very good at her job and I haven't seen anything from Jojo disproving this fact. So Time starts OoT at 9 and travels seven years in the future, making him also 16 at the same time.

Majora's mask was much easier. I hadn't made Time age up from 9 to 10 during OoT and, when MM opens, Time is actively trying to hunt Navi down. So i don't believe Time can be any younger than 10 when he runs into the Skull Kid. In fact, I believe he is ten during the entirety of MM, seeing as it only takes three days and Time doesn't really look any different then he did in OoT except maybe a little bit more maturity in promotional art. So, Time is no younger then 10 but no older then 12.

During LU I'd bargain that Time is exactly 30 years old. Jojo has stated that not only is Time the physically oldest of the Chain but she's also stated that it's been around 20 years since the end of his last adventure. I took the 20 year limit literally and decided that it'd been exactly 20 years since MM ended. And since I figure that Time was 10 at the time, Time is now 30 years old. I can see an argument for both 29 and 31 but there's not much of an argument outside of that.

Warriors

Canonically the comic's second oldest Link, Warriors is also one of the oldest heroes in his own game. Asuming that his only game inspiration is Hyrule Warriors, Definitive Edition not included, we can assume that Jojo's statement of Warriors being "about 6-7 years" out of his initial adventure is the only numbers we need.

We'll be basing Sky and Twi off of Warriors age scoring too but Warriors age actually came down to US military ages. While you can join the military at 16 (as far as I understand it) most people in training are 18 or older. While Hyrule is a fictional nation, we can assume that their age of maturity is either 17 or 18, seeing as BotW is very dependent on the Calamity arriving on Zelda's 17th birthday because she can only go to the Spring of Wisdom at the age of 17.

So with the numbers 17 and 18 to work with, my new moto was established. "When in doubt, go for the higher number." With this moto in mind, I decided that, as a recruit/trainee/whatever Warriors is at the beginning of his game, he's probably 18. And, with the idea that HW took around a year to finish, if not longer, then Warriors would end his adventure at 19.

So with Warriors at 19 by the end of his adventure, we can take Jojo's higher break number (BN for short), Warriors would have had 7 years between HW and LU. So one simple math problem later, I've figured out that the most likely age for Warriors to be is 26. I would have personally liked him to be a year older so he can be even closer to Time's age but he's more likely to be 25 than he is 27, so 26 it is.

Twilight

The third oldest, this is the first big age gap of the Chain (not taking Time into account because there was always going to be a large gap for him). Now, despite how old he seems in TP, I don't actually think he reaches the age of maturity, which, for the context of the Chain in particular, we will not be counting as anything younger than 19 because of Jojo's words early on in LU's existence.

I don't believe it's Nintendo canon but when I was younger I'd heard somewhere that Twi's age was 16 and, later on, learned that he was more likely 17. So I decided that 17 was the number I would be going with. Twi's BN was 4-5 so I took the 5 and made 17 into 22. Therefore, Twilight is the easiest Link to figure out and sits as a young adult which, yes, contradicts some of Jojo's earlier statements but I've taken Jojo's latest QnA as gospel for most all of my headcanons and anything that contradicts that is free game to be thrown out the window. Besides, it's not all a contradiction for Twi because...

Sky

Sky was another big dictator for the Chain's ages as a whole for one big reason. Early on, Jojo had considered Sky and Twi to be of similar age but Twi was probably older because he acted more mature. So, for a long time, I just considered them being the same age but, after doing the math, I have come to realize that Jojo has a little more grounds in saying that Twi is not part of the young adult gang. Not a lot more ground, but still more.

My first clue to this was that Twi's BN was 4-5 while Sky's was 1-2. This seemed like a large problem but then I remembered that Sky is one of the oldest canonical Links, if not the oldest in canon games (not counting Wild in TotK, who is an actual adult).

My next clue for Sky's age was the Knight's Academy. Though I could have gone with military age like I did with Warriors, as Sky is a newly minted knight, I decided to go by the educational system. In the US, high school ends at 12th grade, which makes most every student 18/19 when they graduate. For the Knights Academy I compared it to your average boarding school with high school grades. So that would make Sky, at youngest, 18 at the start of his adventure. And, to stay with my moto, I decided he could age to be 19 during his adventure.

With Sky now at 19, we can now add two years to make 21. Not as old as I would like Sky to be, as I love thinking about Sky and Twi being twins, but it's a lot closer then I could have hoped for in any form of canon.

Wild

The Chain's perpetual middle child, he is both, very technically, the youngest and the oldest of the heroes depending on how you look at it and how you count his age. However, since we're going for physical age, it's actually easy to figure out Wild's age.

Though there's an argument for everything from Wild being 16 during BotW all the way to being around 20, I believe he's actually 18 when he wakes up in the shrine. This is for three reasons.

The first is that Wild can't get a noble pursuit, so at the very least he is not past the age of maturity.

The second reason is that he is allowed to go to the Spring of Wisdom with Zelda. While he doesn't go into the spring himself, I doubt he would have been allowed near it if he wasn't at least 17. We've seen that Zelda had other people to travel with when Link was unavailable, as seen whenever she's in Gerudo Town without enemies pursuing her. It's clear no one was expecting the Calamity to start on Zelda's birthday, so there wouldn't be an immediate need for Link to break tradition just to protect Zelda.

The third reason is that adults flirt with Link after he wakes up. This may seem strange to point out because flirty characters are in many Zelda game but in BotW it's almost like there are no weird connotations, it's just adults interacting with each other. Still suggestive but it's silly and relaxed in most cases instead of a gross joke or something to appeal to teen boys. This implies that Link is at least recognized as an adult. And since, in BotW, the age of maturity is 17 at the youngest, I went a year higher and decided Wild was probably 18, maybe being 19 by the end of his adventure.

With the added fact that LU starts a handful of months after BotW, Wild can be no younger than 19 in LU. However, as the moto goes, older is always better and, because I think BotW takes nearly two years for Wild to finish, I decided that Wild was more likely to be 20 by the beginning of LU.

Legend

The last of the young adult squad, this guy was a challenge to pin down. He's done so much and it's so tricky to just choose time periods for him, it was nearly impossible to decide where to start or end. However, to make things simpler, I decided that each adventure takes a year to complete and the next adventure will only start around a year later. the exception to this is me mixing OoS/OoA/LA together for one long year of crazy adventures.

First thing's first, let's start going backwards. Jojo says it's only been around a year since Legend's last adventure, which is where I took the 1 year BN rule from. So, with that in mind, I wanted to find a number that kept him as young as possible while still making him undeniably an adult in the LoZ canon. So, 19 was my ending number for his age in LU.

After that was ALBW. Subtracting one year, he would be 18 by the end of that. And because of all that goes on in the story and that fact Legend is still very close to Ravio, I decided they knew each other for at least a year during that adventure. That puts Legend at 17 when he first encounter's Yuga and Ravio.

Subtracting a year from that, we get LA and Legend is now at sweet 16. This was honestly a surprise because I thought for sure Legend would be too young at this point to feel genuine feelings of romantic love but when I did the math I got 16 and it finally made sense why Marin would have such a big impact on him. As a person who struggles to have an understanding of romance, 16 was when I started understanding why people got crushes in the first place. So this makes perfect sense to me and matches Jojo's Legend sketches from this time period, as well as Jojo's design of Marin.

Now subtracting a year, which I will explain in a moment, we have Legend at 15 for the Oracle games. This came as a relief to me because seeing Din and Nayru for the first time, I immediately thought they looked too old to be shipped with Link. However, this feels slightly less creepy, but only slightly. Now, I subtracted a year because I had lumped these games together, and combining that with the two ocean travel times, decided that the ocean trifecta games had probably passed his birthday before he ever got back to Hyrule. So Legend is 15 when he lands in one of the countries.

Subtracting a year, we're all the way to the beginning with Legend being 14 when he defeats Ganon for the first time. However, I wasn't satisfied with him starting at the age of 14. Despite Nintendo's official art having Legend look like a teen in ALttP promotional material, art for later games in his story have him looking vaguely, if not noticeably younger. So I decided to play it safe and hack off one more year from the poor guy, making him unlucky 13. I honestly thought he would be twelve but him landing on a notoriously unlucky number just felt right and, honestly, it felt like it was destiny. Legend probably hates the number 13 now.

Before you ask me where Triforce Heroes comes into this mess, please don't. Not only does that game have three Links, not just Legend, Jojo has confirmed that Legend is not one of the heroes from Triforce Heroes. So let that mess stay in it's own little corner of the universe. We can question it another day.

Hyrule

For Hyrule, I actually have a semi-canonical age to work with. I can't find the evidence anymore because I forgot where it was, but in AoL, Hyrule is 16 when he saves the sleeping Zelda. And with Jojo's confirmation that LU takes place around two years after his adventure ended, that makes Hyrule 18. Hyrule is the entire reason I have such a weird maturity line, because Jojo categorized him as a teen but he's more likely to be considered an adult in Hyrule by now. Whatever.

The tricky one is the original LoZ. In promotional art he looks significantly younger but there's no way to cross reference this with Jojo's work because all of her Hyrule art is from AoL and after, as far as I can tell. So I had to get creative.

The age I think of for most Links in the LoZ universe is 12. This is for a specific reason I won't get into (Wind) but essentially all of the Links look like kids and teenagers, especially the toon Links and the pixelated Links. So I debated putting him at twelve but, when comparing the official art to the 12 year olds in my life, I decided he looked slightly older and settled on him being 13.

Four

Our next age gap, Four is a tricky one. He acts super mature and confident for his age but he's also super small for his age. So literally any age could be argued for him. In fact, I've seen arguments for everything from 12 to 30. So I had to start from the canon.

Jojo has stated that it's been two years since Four finished his last adventure. From this point forward, because Four knows who Ganon is, we'll be assuming that FSA is one of his adventures. So, assuming Four took one year between adventures, Four starts adventuring at 14. This is the oldest Four could be when he started his first adventure, not considering the times it took to complete his adventures and considering that out maturity age line is 19, Four being categorized as a teen with Hyrule and Wind.

Moving on with the number 14, I decided to start adding the adventure times. MC canonically takes a day, so that was out of the equation already. I don't know the canonical time progression of the FS games so I decided that they would each take half a year because they're rather short games. This now leaves our highest number at 13.

Now, unlike Legend, a one year break between games doesn't make sense for Four. He's more relaxed then Legend, with his confidence coming from him working on himself rather than from experience like Legend. So Four probably had a little more free time. So I added another year for each of our two free break periods. This now brings our biggest number down to 11.

Still, I wasn't satisfied. Four didn't strike me as being 18 when reading LU and he didn't strike me at 11 when studying MC's promo art. He looked younger. Much younger than any other Link, even considering the toon style and naturally short figure. So this was when I decided he was around Time's age when he started. But, to make things funny, I decided Four was 8 during MC.

Now with a starting age and two year BN rule established, my job became simple. Four would be 10 at the start of FS and, for the fun of it, I said he could celebrate his birthday halfway through, making him 11 by the end. Then, for FSA, Four would be 13 at the beginning of his journey. That leaves him at 15 by the time of LU. Maybe if we push he could be 16 but I'm not going to because I've already fudged his age enough for the hell of it.

Wind

Absolutely easiest of the bunch, we already have all of his canon ages. In WW and PH he's 12 years old, Nintendo certified and everything, seeing as WW happens on his 12th birthday. By the time of LU, Wind is canonically 13, going on 14. He is the last and smallest age gap for the chain but that just makes him even younger in all of their eyes. No wonder the chain tries to baby him. He's nearly a decade younger than Twi and nearly two decades younger than Time. Geez kid, slow your role! You don't need to keep defying the laws of the universe to show the other heroes how cool you are!

And that's the list. Honestly, I have more ages I could share, specifically the two Links we haven't met yet that I think I already know the identities of, including which hidden Link is which of the remaining Links in the timeline. But I'm not gonna do that because those two have little to nothing confirmed about them and trying to give you anyone else's ages without any Jojo support at all would have me pulling my hair out within seconds of researching. Therefore, this is where I end it until more information is available. Though I can tell you that Legend and Ravio are basically twins in all but blood and Malon is likely to be a year or two younger than Time because of her in game models in OoT. That's all I've really got though.

I hope you enjoyed this rant and have a lovely day!

[laboratory-for-peace]

Hello, yeah, same anon as the one before. Because the comics had included Stealth Black that it's another reason why I think it's too early to conclude that they're recent. It's possible that in the previous generation the suits were already in action, and so that was where the papers knew the name "Stealth Black".

I mean, it's also possible that the cards has typos. There has been cases where the cards contain wrong information, and had to be fixed in a newer edition of the card. I don't know if old cards are ever reprinted to fix the information. And if the unofficial translation is somehow wrong, then it's another problem entirely.

Yeah, that's why I'm not sure myself! None if it is really a "conclusion", it's definitely in the realm of speculation.

It is true that Vivre Cards get reprinted to fix information, Caesar's age being a good example! Usually however, I think these corrections are made by Oda himself after he introduces something new in the story that changes the facts. So for Caesar for example, if he was still 40 as he was initially listed (instead of 55 which is his current canon age) then we would have been well... 1 Years Old when he joined MADS. In this case, it's clearly a retcon caused by Oda coming up with the idea of the group after he initially introduced this character and deciding "oh hey, I want him to be a member of it too".

In this case, Judge's Vivre Card came after the story and Yonji's speech chronologically, so it's less clear on which one is the mistake out of the two, since there hasn't been any new information to contradict the Card. If anything, the shift of focus towards MADS in the comic itself via cover stories & Egghead, seems to imply that Oda prefers the ideas in the Card probably. But as always, this is just speculation and definitely not certain!

Sanji also does say that his Suit only works/activates for him because it probably detects his "bloodline elements", and we know for sure those hadn't been discovered before MADS. It could be that Judge just upgraded the Suits to have this feature though after he received them, so you could still be right!

I guess for now we'll just have to wait for Oda to confirm things further, because as of now it's still very unclear. I have a feeling that Sanji's narrative around his family just isn't over yet, combine that with the creation of Neo MADS, I wouldn't be surprised if we're not fully done with the Vinsmokes.

I guess it's kinda of a two-part question chicken-and-egg issue where we'll just have to wait to find out whether the Raid Suits or the Comic came first, and when/by who were the Suits truly created!

Personally, like I said, I don't think the comic itself is recent, but rather that the current villain characters in it are, but that's pure headcanon theory land, for sure. I'm not claiming that's confirmed haha.

[s10127470]

X-Men: The Next Mutation (Revised)

I'm sure some of you reading know by now, almost a year ago, as one of my earliest posts on this site, I shared an idea I had for an new cartoon based around the X-Men titled "X-Men: The Next Mutation"

And people really seemed to like it.

But looking back at it, while I don't think its bad by any means, I do feel like I could've gone into more detail on a few things.

So in honor of the recent release of the long-anticipated X-Men '97, I've decided to revised the concept and make it a little more fleshed-out.

So without further ado, let's get started!

A lot of my previous points from my original post still stand, but just to recap....

This series would essentially be a spiritual successor to Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

Just like that series, it feature will an all-new take on the X-Men. Though they wouldn’t nearly as drastically changed. Along with that, the series will make the X-Men more powerful than most of their other iterations through Secondary and Tertiary mutations.

In the comics, from what I’ve read, additional Mutations are rather rare, only happening to few mutants.

Essentially this series will be expanding on the concept of Secondary Mutations, as in this universe, they’re far more common among mutants, with about 90% of the population often experiencing them during early adulthood.

Tertiary Mutations, however, are a lot rarer, with only some mutants experiencing them in their lives.

Though on this case on Mutations, they would be categorized and labeled in a similar fashion to the Quirks from My Hero Academia.

The animation for this series would be done by Flying Bark Studios, the same studio that not only did the animation for Rise, but also other shows like Glitch Techs and Monkie Kid.

And I mean….you seriously wouldn’t want a Marvel cartoon with animation like this?!

I can already feel the whiplash people would have after seeing something like this (and X-Men '97) after having spent a decade with Marvel cartoons with stiff and cheap animation.

As for the art-style, in contrast to the more realistic (and obviously MCU adjacent) style that Marvel’s previous cartoons had used during most of the 2010s, X-Men will have a far more stylized and exaggerated.

Originally, I choose ArtFrenzyBoris as the one do the art-style for this show.

But after thinking about it, I feel like fellow Deviantart artist Garth2The2ndPower would be a perfect choice as well.

Her art-style just screams that it would translate well to animation.

The best way I could describe her style is like a perfect fusion between Japanese anime and Western cartoons.

Its look is quite reminiscent of anime, but you can clearly tell hat it was made in the West.

Plus, it looks like it came straight out of an action cartoon from the mid-to-late 2000s/early 2010s.

Another awesome thing about her style is just how incredibly expressive it. I love when animated characters are allowed to actually feel, well, animated.

It just makes them feel more alive in my opinion.

And given the animation studio Garth would be working it, that’s a must.

Anyway, here’s just some of the art she's done….

Similar to Rise of the TMNT, the series will sport a more comedic, light-hearted tone than its previous iterations and be more episodic with some story arcs sprinkled about. I know some people are gonna have a problem with the first detail thanks to one particular show that I’m not gonna mention making people think that anything remotely comedic involving long-existing superheroes is automatically bad. But similar to Rise, despite being more light-hearted and comedy focused, it won’t shy away from dramatic or emotional moments. As for the latter, that won’t be problem since the 90s show and X-Men Evolution did the same thing as well.

Also, might be a bit controversial, but the way mutants are viewed in this universe is a bit more neutral than most iterations. While some of humanity still hates and fears them, others are actually fine and even like them. I’ve always liked it when the X-Men actually had human supporters (or at least humans who actually appreciate what they do), which most adaptations almost never really explore.

The series will also feature various romantic relationships. Some iconic, some rare, some that were set up but never explored, some popular with the fans, and even some that have never really been considered. Also, there will be no relationship drama (or at least drama that isn’t melodramatic or shit). Yes…that does mean you-know-what will be not featured in the series in any kind of way…..and I think we will all be better off for it. 

As for the X-Men themselves, the roster is a little smaller than I initially shared for the first post.

And unlike the first post, I'll actually be diving into their characters apart from their powers.

But before I do that, I do want to bring up this cool detail.

The X-Men in this series (at first), will be wearing team uniforms similar to their teen years.

And this is what they'll look like.....

Done by TheScarletMercenary, I've always felt these outfits were a perfect modernization of the classic X-Men outfits from the 60s.

Also, there will be some variations on these outfits for some of the X-Men.

Anyway, let's go ahead and actually talk about the team themselves, starting off with the leader himself and the first X-Men, Scott Summers, codename: Cyclops.

This Scott is quite similar to his Evolution counterpart, being far more confident, outgoing and optimistic than most of his other iterations. But he does still have that great sense of discipline and responsibility (which could be the result of his father being an Air Force veteran), that made him the perfect person to be the leader of the team.

Scott himself hails from Anchorage, Alaska, is 18-years old, stands at 6’0 and weighs 187 lbs, has fair skin, a slim (almost gangly-like) but fairly lean build, shaggy brown hair in a curtains style and his eyes are usually covered by either his trademark yellow visor with red lenses or his pair of ruby-quartz sunglasses.

As for his backstory, it's largely the same as in the comics, with only two notable differences.

His younger brother Alex (who I'll touch more on a little later), wasn't separated from him and they actually got to grow up together.

His childhood wasn't tampered/monitored by "you-know-who".

As for what he's capable of....

Scott's Primary Mutation is Optic Blast, which grants him the ability to shoot powerful beams of ruby-colored concussive force from his eyes. However (like in every other iteration), he can’t exactly control them due to a childhood injury. So he has to always wear either his visor or sunglasses in order to keep them at bay. But he does have enough control over them to control the trajectory, size and even density of his beams. From being wide enough to demolish a wall, to light enough to bounce off surfaces. He’s also a surprisingly skilled tactician for someone his age, possesses an uncanny sense of spatial awareness and is trained in hand-to-hand combat.

His Secondary Mutation is Energy Channel, which grants him the ability to harness the energy of his optic beams throughout his body. As you would expect, this grants him new abilities. These including being capable of augmenting his speed and strength to superhuman levels, granting himself the power of flight, and shooting his concussive beams from other parts of his body beside his eyes like his hands and feets.

As for his voice actor, Scott will be voiced once again by his recurring VA, the ironically named Scott Porter.

Next we come to the second member of the X-Men, Jean Grey, codename: Psyche.

Jean is what would expect from any version of the character: spunky, outgoing and caring, she’s sort of like the big sister of the team.

Jean herself hails from Trenton, New Jersey, is 18-years old, stands at 5'5 and weighs 130 lbs, has fair skin, an hourglass figure with a bottom heavy build, red hair in a bob-cut, green eyes and red lips.

As for her backstory, it's largely the same as in the comics and other iterations of the character.

Jean's Mutation is Psionic, which grants her various telepathic and telekinetic abilities. Apart from the obvious reading the thoughts of others and moving things with her mind, she can also project psionic energy (which is colored pink) in the form of concussive blasts, use said energy to also create various constructs and use telekinesis to grant herself the power of flight.

The reason I didn't put down her Primary (which was Telepath) and Secondary Mutations (which was Telekine) is because Psionic is essentially a combination of the two.

Yep! Jean is one of the only two members of the X-Men at the start of the series that already has their Secondary Mutation, since just like in the comics, she was an early bloomer.

As for her voice actor, Jean will be voiced once again by her recurring VA, Jennifer Hale.

Now we come to the third member of the X-Men Henry McCoy, codename: The Beast.

This Henry (along with the 90s animated Henry) is a true return to the Beast we know and love.

He's intelligent, well-mannered, and one of the most mature and level-headed members of the X-Men, due to him being one of the oldest members. But he still has the wit, playfulness and wisecracking nature of a teenager.

Henry hails from San Diego, California, is 19-years old, stands at 6'2 and weighs 302 lbs, has fair skin, a broad and muscular build with a posture and figure akin to that of an ape, abnormally large hands and feet, long blue hair that was tied up in a ponytail and blue eyes.

We also have the first X-Men with some difference to their uniform!

Henry's wouldn't wear any gloves or boots and his uniform wouldn't have any sleeves.

As for his backstory: Henry’s Mutation awakened the earliest out of all the X-Men, with him having it since the day he was born. This unfortunately led Henry to have a rather sheltered childhood. But during his teen years, he would start sneaking out and secretly playing as a star quarterback for the football team of the local high school. But once he joined the X-Men, he finally got the chance to experience life outside his home without having to do it in secret.

Henry's Primary Mutation is Primate Atavism, which granted him the pinnacle of human intelligence along with a body akin to that of an ape, with the physicality to go with it. His physical capabilities seem to be an amalgamation of various primates. He has the strength of a gorilla, the speed of a monkey, the dexterity of a chimpanzee, the agility of a gibbon and the flexibility of a orangutan.

His Secondary Mutation is Genetic Atavism, which allows him to switch between different animalistic forms whose capabilities are an amalgamation of the animal family they represent. These forms include a feline form, a canine form, a bovine form, a bear-like form, a boar-like form, a pachyderm-like form, and a rhino-like form. But his primary form and the look he'll be rocking for the entire series once his Secondary Mutation awaken would be a sasquatch-like form.

This form would grant Henry a muscular, sasquatch-like build, blue skin, blue fur all over his body, large clawed hands, large feet, sharp teeth, pointy ears, long messy blue hair and blue eyes.

It would also increase his height from 6'2 to 7'2 and his weight from 302 to 402 lbs.

The form would also keep the abilities of Henry's Primary Mutation, but enhanced to far greater levels.

As for his voice actor, Henry would be voiced by Yuri Lowenthal, who I've always felt would be perfect for a younger version of the character.

No offense to his recurring VA Fred Tatasciore, but I don't think he has quite the range to pull off an convincing voice for young man.

Next we come the fourth member of the X-Men and the second-in-command Ororo Munroe, codename: Storm.

This version is a mismatch between her typical portrayals and her Ultimate iteration. Being one of the oldest members of the team, Ororo is quite mature and surprisingly wise for her age. She also has a street-smart and witty side to her as well. And for someone who spent most of her life on the streets, Ororo has this odd sense of regalness and composure. These traits have made her essentially the second-in-command of the X-Men.

Ororo hails from Cairo, Egypt (but was originally born in Kenya), is 19-years old, stands at 5'11 and weighs 145 lbs, has dark skin, an hourglass figure, white shoulder-length hair in the form of braids, blue eyes, gold lips, a black headband and gold lightning bolt earrings.

As for her backstory, it's largely the same as in the comics, except she never got worshipped as a goddess among a tribal community.

Ororo's Primary Mutation is Meteorological, which grants her the ability to manipulate all forms of weather. From thunderstorms and tornadoes, to blizzards and tsunamis. She can also generate and manipulate electricity, manipulate wind, water and ice/snow, alter the temperature of an entire environment at will and her own body temperature depending on her current environment, use wind currents to fly, has an uncanny sense that allows her to predict weather patterns, and thanks to her time as a thief, is skilled in picking locks and physical combat.

Her Secondary Mutation is Element Phase, which grants her the ability to transform her entire body into either an electrical, wind, water or icy form. This not only makes her nearly invulnerable to damage (as most physical attacks would just phase right through her), but also enhance her physicality in some ways. Her electrical and wind forms would grant her superhuman speed, agility and reflexes, her water form would grant her elasticity, and her ice form would grant her superhuman strength and resilience. She can also create physical constructs out of the elements, even with her own body, the Secondary Mutation grants her much greater control over the weather than before, and she can even turn into an elemental giant by absorbing the elements (like the air and water) around her.

As for her voice actor, she would be voiced by previous recurring VA, Danielle Nicolet.

Now we come to the fifth member of the X-Men Wren Worthington, codename: The Angel.

You may have already noticed that I referred to Angel as Wren Worthington instead of his full name, Warren Worthington III.

Well that's because in this series, Angel is a female rather than a male.

The reason why I choose to do this is because seen a lot of recent fan reimaginings of the X-Men having Angel either being a female or non-binary, and I thought that would an interesting change to do for the character.

Personality-wise: she’s spirited, carefree and often has her head in the clouds (both figuratively and literally).

Wren hails from New York City, is 18-years old, stands at 5'11 and weighs 145 lbs, has fair skin, an hourglass figure with a muscular build, long blonde hair, blue eyes, sky blue lips, black bird earrings and a pair of big white wings on her back.

As for her backstory: Wren was born into a life of wealth and privilege. However, everything change when her Mutation awakened, which brought her into conflict with her father Warwick, the CEO of Worthington Industries and a hater of mutants. He desperately tried to keep the fact that his daughter was a mutant under wraps. This led to Wren having something of a sheltered life during her adolescence. Thankfully, the X-Men came along and Wren was finally able to be free.

Wren's Primary Mutation is Avian Flight, which granted her bird-like wings that allows her to fly. Her body is also naturally adapted for aerial transversal, can fly at superhuman speeds and possesses enhanced lung capacity and eyesight.

Her Secondary Mutation is Healing Light, which grants the ability to manipulate a special kind of light with healing properties. She can also use the light in an offensive manner and thanks to its properties, Wren also has an accelerated healing factor similar to another member of the X-Men.

As for her voice actor, she would be voiced by Grey Griffin, who I felt would be perfect for a female version of Angel....or any character voiced by LOB.

Next we come to the sixth member of the X-Men Kurt Wagner, codename: Nightcrawler.

He's what you would expect from any version of Kurt: kind-hearted, well-mannered, caring, and a devoted Catholic.

Kurt hails from Germany, is 17-years old, stands at 5'7 and weighs 164 lbs, has blue fur-like skin covering his entire body, a slender build, shaggy dark blue hair, full yellow eyes with no visible pupils, pointy elf-like ears, slightly fanged teeth, three fingered/toed hands and feet and a long pointy demon-like tail.

As for his backstory: Kurt always had it rough. Ever since he was born, he was cursed with the appearance of a demon. He was able to make the most of it by becoming the star of a traveling circus, which made people believe his appearance was just part of the act. However, when the public discovered that wasn’t the case….they didn't really take it well to put it lightly. Luckily, the X-Men came in time to save Kurt him from a slow and painful demise.

Kurt's Mutation is Shadow Move, which grants him the ability to teleport anywhere in a limited radius through a cloud of black brimstone. Thanks to his peculiar physiology, he’s also naturally agile and flexible, can become nearly invisible in shadows, has night vision and is a skilled swordsman.

Yep, Kurt is gonna be showing off his swashbuckling skills here! Three-Sword Style BABY!

As for his voice actor, he'll be voiced again by his recurring VA, the previously mentioned LOB, Liam O'Brien.

Now we come to the seventh member of the X-Men Piotr Rasputin, codename: Colossus.

Piotr is want you would expect from any version of the character: a gentle giant with the heart of the artist.

Piotr hails from Russian, is 17-years old, stands at 6'9 (7'4 in steel form) and weighs 260 lbs (495 lbs in steel form), has fair skin, a broad and muscular build, black hair in a flat-top almost buzz-cut like style and blue eyes (full grey when in steel form).

Also, just like Henry, he doesn't have any sleeves on his uniform.

As for his backstory: Piotr used to live a simple life as a farm boy. But after his Mutation was exposed, he and his family found themselves in great danger. But thanks to the X-Men, the Rasputins found a new home here at the Westchester District, where they could remain safe.

Piotr’s Mutation is Organic Steel, which grants him the ability to convert his flesh and skin tissue into a steel-like substance. This steel form grants Piotr incredible strength and resilience, and when matched with his use of hand-to-hand combat, makes him the team’s resident powerhouse.

As for his voice actor, he'll be voiced by his recurring voice actor, Chris Cox.

Next we come to the eighth member of the X-Men Bobby Drake, codename: Iceman.

Bobby is what would expect from any version of the character: playful, fun-loving and a bit of a prankster and show-off.

Bobby hails from Boston, Massachusetts, is 16-years old, stands at 5'4 and weighs 135 lbs, has light skin, a slim build, shaggy brown hair and light blue eyes.

He also has short sleeves and pant-legs on his uniform, wears no gloves or boots and rocks a black durag with a red X-Men symbol at the center (similar to his Ultimate counterpart).

As for his backstory: Bobby lived a fairly normal life with his family. But when his Mutation awakened, fearing that his family would be put in danger because of it, he ran away from home in order to keep them safe. But he eventually found a new home here at the Westchester District.

Bobby’s Mutation is Moisture Freeze, which grants him the ability to convert the moisture around him into ice and snow. Apart from the obvious freezing objects and creating ice and snow, Bobby also possesses a high resistance to low temperatures (so much so that he can coat himself in a flexible armor of ice) and can create various constructs out of ice. These include the likes of shards, shields, pillars, melee weapons and slides (the latter of which he uses to travel quickly across long distances).

As for his voice actor, he would be voiced by Jason Marsden. I've always felt Jason Marsden would make a great Iceman, and he did a good job as the character in X-Men: Destiny. And chances are, he could've become a recurring voice of the character if Marvel hadn't enter their "the X-Men don't matter anymore" phase because they were huffy about the move rights.

Now we come to the ninth (and the last member of the X-Men with a Secondary Mutation) James Howlett, or Logan as he prefers to be called, codename: The Wolverine.

Personality-wise, he's pretty similar to his iterations from Evolution and Wolverine and the X-Men.

Where still keeps his gruff and tough nature, but he's far more responsible, level-headed and laid-back when compared to most of his other iterations.

Logan hails from Canada, stands at 5'2 and weighs 295 lbs, fair skin, a stocky and muscular build, black hair in his trademark devil horn style, a five-o'-clock shadow and blue eyes.

As for his outfit, it's practically the iconic yellow and blue suit. Mask and all!

Backstory-wise: Most of his past is completely shrouded in mystery to the characters and even himself. But they do know that he’s by far the oldest (in spite of his appearance) and most experienced member of the team, having fought in some of the biggest wars of the 20th century. Not too long ago, Logan was once their enemy, constantly trying to take us out. But after finding out that he was being forced to do so in order to save his family, the X-Men decided to help him and out of gratitude, he joined them team.

Logan's Mutation is Healing Beast, Model: Mustelidae. Similar to Jean, it's the combination of Primary and Secondary Mutation. Initially, this granted Logan an accelerated healing factor, which allows him to heal from injuries much faster than the average human, superhuman physicality, enhanced animalistic senses and a pair of razor bone claws that he can eject from his knuckles. But thanks to Weapon X, government genetic research facility project, Logan was made even stronger than before. His healing factor has made so powerful that he’s able to quickly heal from even the most fatal of injuries, his physicality and senses have enhanced to even greater levels and even his claws are now coated in the near-indestructible metal known as Adamantium. A few years later, his Secondary Mutation finally awakened, which granted him the ability to transform into a man/were-wolverine, which enhanced his physicality and animalistic senses to even greater levels. And even more so with the berserker rage the form gave him. Unfortunately, Logan barely has any control over his form, which puts everyone around him in mortal danger, so he rarely ever uses it.

As for his voice actor, you already know who I have in mind.....the one.....the only.....STEVE BLUM!

Now we've made to the tenth and final member of the X-Men Kitty Pryde, codename Shadowcat.

Kitty is what you would expect from any version of the character: an intelligent social butterfly whose also a massive lovable nerd with a passion for computers.

Kitty hails from Chicago, Illinois, is 14-years old, stands at 5'0 and weights 95 lbs, has slightly tanned skin, a slim and slightly petite build, long curly brown hair tied up in a ponytail, hazel eyes, pink lips and multicolored braces.

As for her backstory: Kitty was a near straight-A student and an expert at computers. However, this often made her the target of bullying, which only got worse after her Mutation got exposed in public. But luckily, she found a new school to attend.

Kitty's Mutation is Phase Shift, which grants the ability to make her entire body intangible, along with anything she touches.

As for her voice actor, she would voiced by Jennie Kwan, who you'll known best as Suki from Avatar: The Last Airbender and Chun Lin from Street Fighter 6.

And accompanying her is none other the little dragon himself, Lockheed!

It's actually to think that this series would mark his first major adaptation in anything.

It's weird how despite being the companion of one of the X-Men's most prominent players, they've never had him appear in anything outside of the comics and video games.

It's sort of like the case of Franklin Richards, where despite being the son of the two of the members of the Fantastic Four and a major character in the cast, he's never made an appearance outside of the comics.

Anyway, Lockheed is what you would expect from any animal companion: Playful, mischievous and loyal to the nth degree.

As you expect: He's a purple dragon with full yellow eyes similar to Kurt, and stands at 2'6 and weighs 20 lbs.

Backstory-wise, it's pretty accurate to how it was in the comics.

Being that Lockheed comes from a race of aliens that resemble dragons known as The Flocks, who've been at war with the ravenous alien race The Broods.

Lockheed end up getting stranded on the Broods' homeworld and was being hunted by the aforementioned Broods.

During that time, he would encounter Kitty, who, along with the rest of the X-Men, were brought to Broodworld by force in order to be experimented on.

And it's history ever since.....

As for his voice actor, he would be voiced by everyone's go-to for providing animalistic vocals, Dee Bradley Baker.

Well that's all I have for now.

This is gonna be a multiple-part series.

For this first part, I did want to cover the recurring characters/allies, the villains and even some potential episodes, but I felt that it would make this post a little too long for most people.

So I decided to just dedicate this first part to just introducing the X-Men of this series.

I hoped you all liked this first part and if there's anything you want to know about this version of the X-Men, let me know!

[doomerpatrol]

Comic Log: The Year So Far

this does not include the assorted works of Grant Morrison which will get their own effortpost(s).

Astonishing X-Men by Joss Whedon: Truly rancid. Fundamentally does not work. I'm softer on the first and third arcs, while I think the fourth is a letdown and the second is abysmal. While Whedon's humor is characteristically hit or miss, and his characterization of just about everybody except Cyclops and Emma Frost is quite poor, what actually frustrates me is the way Astonishing squanders its opening ethos of reinvigorating the status of the X-Men as classic "traditional" superheroes (rather than the soap-operatic introspective subjects of Claremont or countercultural militants of Morrison). Despite this being the explicitly stated function of the ongoing series, it's only told and never shown. Instead we get a few different arcs themed around mutation and guilt, which is also fine, but again, those themes are barely fleshed out (the "mutant cure" that seems like it's going to be a really big deal and presents a lot of interesting thematic questions is summarily handwaved away).

Favorite arc/issue: "Torn" is a compelling exploration of Emma Frost's survivor's guilt, and the dynamic between her and Cyclops which extends into the final arc (which I otherwise loathe) is really great. Sad that it doesn't exactly get a real ending, just so the X-Men can go to space and endorse biological determinism, though!

Detective Comics by Greg Rucka: What could have been! This has some really brilliant creative decisions going on, particularly in the beautiful artwork which uses monochromatic color palettes based on the theme and tone of an issue, but ultimately gets taken out and shot by the event mandates of "Bruce Wayne: Murderer?/Fugitive." The central idea here is the fallout of the "No Man's Land" event, which shifts the social and political tensions in Gotham, and causes Bruce to get saddled with a new bodyguard, Sasha Bordeaux. Having a constant tail that he needs to be able to shake without exposing his dual identity is a fun idea, but I don't think it gets as much time as it deserves, and the treatment of Sasha as a character isn't my favorite either. She's basically turned into a disposable love interest by the events of Fugitive/Murderer and the way it all resolves left me really cold. Ultimately the best ideas here get picked up in Gotham Central.

Favorite arc/issue: "A Walk in the Park" which covers Poison Ivy's expulsion from Gotham City's park after the "No Man's Land" crossover, with some nice characterization for Bruce and Ivy (if you like a redeemed/sympathetic Ivy).

Wolverine by Greg Rucka: Inherits the Frank Miller treatment of a solo Logan as a sort of wandering ronin or cowboy. I have some complaints - I really do not like the characterization of fellow Weapon Plus victim "The Native," because it hews too close to gross racial stereotype, and the AFT agent that basically falls in love with Logan at first sight because she just loves a bad boy is CORNY. However! These three arcs have great action and tightly knit simplistic plots, which see Logan forced into morally and personally tight spots - a vengeance quest on a trafficking ring, a moral dilemma over how to deal with a pregnant cartel leader, Wolverine and Sabretooth begrudgingly teaming up against Weapon Plus as both of them look for the first opportunity to betray the other. It's not the most amazing set of stories ever, I don't think any of them would make a Top 10 Wolverine stories list, but it's very well-executed pulp fiction.

Favorite arc/issue: "Brotherhood," the first arc, which sees Logan hunting down a misogynist cult who sent assassins after one of its runaway victims, and its follow-up featuring Nightcrawler having a beer and shooting the shit about the soul. I love how squat Wolverine is drawn in this arc. That's not the deepest commentary but it is true.

Catwoman by Ed Brubaker: Pretty solid! Has some of my favorite creatives (Brubaker, Darwyn Cooke, Mike Allred) on board. This series brings Selina back into the DCU after some time away, trying to turn over a new leaf and reinventing herself as a kind of defender of the downtrodden in Gotham's East End. An excellent new costume, a new attitude, new supporting cast - it's such a step up from the 90s Catwoman book. To be honest, the art from Cooke and (terrible person) Cameron Stewart and the various colorists is the big draw here, turning this part of Gotham into something both vibrantly cartoonish and appropriately noir-inflected: alternatingly poppy and moody and sensual as the story necessitates. At issue #25 the art team turns over, and the tone of the comic shifts towards something more conventional and "realistic." This was pretty much my jumping off point - I think it loses a lot of its charm and heart at this point and then has the misfortune of intersecting with the "Batman: War Games" event (not to mention that the new art is, uh, quite bad). But up through #25, the stories are pretty solid with some fun heists and capers, with a strong supporting cast and central arc of Selina figuring out how she wants to exist in the world.

Favorite arc/issue: "Disguises" is a highlight, which sees Selina going up against crooked cops as she and Slam and Holly very actively get in harm's way in pursuit of the truth. I also like "Relentless" where Black Mask tries to very ruthlessly destroy Selina's life; it's exceedingly dark and definitely derivative of "Daredevil: Born Again" but I appreciated its bleak, expressionist qualities. And the road trip arc "Wild Ride" is also really fun and cute!

Hawkeye by Matt Fraction: A total treat. Interestingly bifurcated - the first half is slightly more episodic, putting a bunch of assorted pieces into play (our two leads Clint and Kate, the Tracksuit Mafia, Cherry the runaway mob wife, the Polish clown hitman, Lucky the dog, and the local community), with a domino effect from a particularly cruel death to our two Hawkeyes splitting from each other. From there, I do think the series spins its wheels just a squeak too long, as we alternate between Kate pounding the pavement trying to make some cash in LA and Clint steadily trying to figure out how to shoulder the burden of protecting his community, with some filler for good measure. But once Clint concludes he can't do it all on his own, and circumstances force the Hawkeyes back together - oh man! The last two issues are excellent, one of the most satisfying conclusions I've read in a comic in an age. I particularly enjoyed the communitarian theme. And the paneling and layouts and especially the artwork from David Aja and Annie Wu are all so delightfully creative and colorful and expressive. (The cover portrayed above is indicative of the kinds of spreads and layouts that we get throughout the book.)

Favorite arc/issue: definitely the two-part finale. Also loved the issue focused on the dog Lucky. The whole thing is immensely readable, it really works together holistically.

Punisher (and Franken-Castle) by Rick Remender: Starts strong with Frank trying to take a shot at the politically ascendant Norman Osborn, which is an inspired choice: it automatically makes Frank a touch more sympathetic because we know Osborn is a sadistic fascist, it gives him the motivation to really up the ante with a high-tech arsenal (so a little bit of a sci-fi twist), and it offers an opportunity to do some of that hack sociopolitical commentary on post-9/11 American society that Marvel loved at the time. But the series finishes super weak. Most notably, the Osborn plotline is unable to meaningfully advance because all the relevant players were under Brian Michael Bendis' purview, so the series quickly devolves into a dull supernatural slapfight with The Hood and throwaway villains, and then quite abruptly turns into the underwhelmingly odd "Franken-Castle." The action is solidly drawn but the plot wears thin because it hinges on shallow contrivances, and there's an odd refusal to commit to any big thematic ideas or strong emphases of characterization, like the main supporting character of Henry. Honestly, I don't think Garth Ennis' run is likely to be outdone, it really captured the only version of Punisher as a protagonist that I think is particularly tolerable to read.

Favorite arc/issue: honestly really didn't care for this one, but I'd say the first arc "Living in Darkness" is the strongest - it sees Frank brutalizing his way out of tight spots in some fun ways, and I really like Opena's artwork. But the ending (featuring the return of old Punisher supporting character Microchip) is just really lazy and uninspired.

JLA by Mark Waid: A rare Waid miss, unfortunately. I like the first arc, Tower of Babel, for its examination of how Batman's paranoia and isolation and obsessiveness can blowback without leaning into full-throated "Batjerk" characterization, but the "Ra's al Ghul destroys language" plot is a little underdeveloped for how high-concept it is. And the subsequent arcs, which emotionally center around Batman's reincorporation into the group, really didn't land for me, both because of the departure of Howard Porter as penciller and because the stories are just less interesting. I really did not like the "Queen of Fables" arc, which I found to be corny and overplayed (I feel like I've seen or read some version of this in cartoons and comics and speculative fiction media a million times), while the rest were just kind of middling. These later stories carry less thematic weight when compared to the parallel "communication breakdown" of Tower. It's not terrible, but just pales in comparison to the Morrison run that preceded it, despite trying to speak in a similar register. I hope that I will like Joe Kelly's run more!

Favorite arc/issue: Uh. Tower of Babel, if that wasn't clear.

[nebulousjoy]

Sonikal: In this essay I will-

This'll be my deep dive into the rare-pair Sonikal - Sonic the Hedgehog/Tikal the Echidna - that I'll refer to if/whenever people ask me why I ship it and how it even works.

If this ends up getting reblogged, please note that I'll probably refine the text here, making corrections n' whatnot, as time goes on! So be sure to check the original post if you want the most up to date version. Also, do remember that everything in this post is of my own opinions. You can agree or disagree with them, makes no difference to me.

If such a lengthy post for something like a ship seems weird to you, that's fine. I just like talking about said ship, in this instance.

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Why do I ship Sonikal?

I believe a functionally healthy relationship between them could and would work, with both of their characters remaining as true to their canon depictions (however sparse in terms of Tikal) as possible. Mind you, since Sonic hasn't officially had a romantic interest and has demonstrated an aversion to Amy's affections, one has to use deductive reasoning and context clues within Sonic's character to surmise how he would behave if he were to form romantic affections for someone. With Tikal, the same goes, though doubly so as more effort is necessary due to she hardly being present enough in SA1 for her full personality "range" to be hinted at. Headcanons for bridging gaps / filling in holes are unavoidable.

(I'm aware an element like this is unnecessary in the eyes of many of fandom's typical shippers, but I'm the kind of person who NEEDS plausibility in ships for me to care about them. So, this is important.)

I think their dynamic would be extremely cute and wholesome, for reasons I'll get into when I describe how they would interact with each other.

The gamecanon versions of Sonic and Tikal are the primary focuses here. I don't know enough nor care about the comic versions of either to consider them.

How does Sonikal work?

The pairing is only remotely possible if we choose to deviate from canon, and allow Tikal to exist naturally. In SA1, it's unclear what exactly happens to her or Chaos after the story ends, but it's obvious that they aren't actively around in the world's setting.

There's a few paths one can go to expand upon Tikal's new life, but I like to go with something a little contrived but not theoretically impossible: Tikal gets given her physical body back from the M.E., as Chaos' wrath being quelled means the seal on him has no reason to stay active. It's implied in SA1 that Tikal's physical body is no more as she roams as an orb of light, so with the seal now being void, why wouldn't she get her body back?

This is turn draws the questions of "where would she live?" and "what would she do?". My answers for both of these are...Chao Gardens! Taking care of Chao! It's obvious Tikal grew fond of them in the past, and I don't see any reason why that would fade in modern time. Since the city of her clan has been mostly swallowed up by the earth, crumbling to ruin, she doesn't have a stable place to live. I feel she would turn to Chao Gardens to be her new homes, where she can live peacefully alongside Chao and take care of them.

(It also makes sense for her to live on Angel Island with Knuckles, but to keep things simple, let's go with the Chao Garden idea.)

This scenario is satisfactory to me enough, as where Sonic and his friends themselves live are normally kept vague in the series anyway. Amy and Tails apparently have their own houses in the games, but it's never been explained how they obtained them or if they still have them, so *shrugs*. Suspension of disbelief is basically required for the Sonic world.

SONIC

Being devoted to maintaining and enjoying his freedom is a core aspect of his character. He just simply isn't Sonic if he lacks this trait. This getting sacrificed to make a ship involving him work is a BIG no-no to me. Additionally, the character isn't Sonic if he lacks his canon benevolence and intolerance towards injustice. He cares for the people around him and helps those in need if he comes across them, which has been demonstrated many times in the games at this point.

However, Sonic does not come across as the physically affectionate type in canon. That actually doesn't impact the depth a relationship can have though, as there's MANY ways someone can express affection without kissing and cuddling being predominant. Intimacy has multiple layers with multiple manifestations, and none are greater than the other.

It's always possible to have a relationship work for him where his needs still get met - *without* his partner's needs getting unfulfilled in the process. If Sonic somehow realized this, and met the *right* person, romance isn't out of the realm of possibility for him generally speaking.

TIKAL

It was clearly depicted in SA1 that Tikal is very compassionate. She was very gentle and caring towards the Emerald Shrine's Chao. She tried many times to dissuade her father from his power-hungry, warmongering ways. She stood firm against him when he stormed the Emerald Shrine with a group of warriors, up until she was knocked aside. The societal hierarchies of the Knuckles Clan have never been revealed iirc, but as Pachacamac was the leader of the clan (and had shown he cared about getting what he wanted even at others' expenses), defying him like that most likely had severe consequences. That didn't stop her from trying.

This implies Tikal has a strong will and sense of bravery. She hates injustice and does what she can to stop it. She cares so much about doing what's right, and protecting the world itself, that she choose to seal the rampaging Perfect Chaos away in the M.E. - using her physical body to pay the price. Since chaos energy "turns one's thoughts into power", I see that act as proving Tikal also has a strong sense of conviction, going hand-in-hand with possessing a strong will.

Lastly, from her talks to her father of how greed leads one down a path where they will mindlessly consume more until they likely meet an end of self-destruction, Tikal too has a sense of wisdom. Or, emotional intelligence. However you want to describe it.

Other aspects of her character have to be assembled using headcanons, but frankly, these traits alone hold enough water for the next section.

SONIC & TIKAL TOGETHER

They've interacted canonically, in the tail end of Sonic's story and the last story in SA1. Their moments were fairly standard and naturally revolved around the story, but still! It's neat that they have.

One interesting moment is after Chaos floods Station Square. Tikal beseeches to him that Chaos needs to be sealed again, but Sonic being as intuitive as he is shoots that down, knowing it wouldn't solve the problem of Chaos' anger in the end. This highlights Tikal's desperation in the moment, but also hints at a trait of she tunnel-visioning whenever her composure is lost. Maybe it was just in that moment, maybe it's a habit she has; who can say for sure?

But me bringing up them having met in canon goes into how they could interact if they were to meet up again. Sonic, being the caring guy that he is, would definitely be very keen on speaking to her more in-depth compared to before - seeing how she's been doing and all that.

I also think Sonic would feel genuine curiosity about her. He got glimpses of her life, rather the bad moments in it leading up to her clan's extinction, so I can see him wanting to get to know her better as a friend. Because, Sonic for sure would view her as a friend. He so easily befriends others that it makes sense.

Tikal would respond in kind. She must've formed a strong enough amount of faith in his abilities to have shown him those flashbacks, and it's natural that she would want to know him better too. They'd form a carefree friendship, both sides being cordial with one another.

Their Chemistry

It's their friendship that allows more to develop between them. Assuming Sonic takes a break from his usual globe-trotting to hang out with Tikal in a Chao Garden every now and then, they would spend a fair amount of time talking and relaxing together.

The kicker here is that they do have a notable amount of personality traits in common, and they're the ones most apparent; arguably important. They're both benevolent, dislike injustice, and stay true to what they believe in. Sonic of course harbors a love of life itself, and I do think the same applies to Tikal, as her sacrifice proves she cares deeply about the world and the life in it. She not only opposed her father to protect the emeralds, but to protect the Chao as well.

We've seen Sonic's playful and sassy side plenty, and while Tikal hasn't exactly shown the same sides in canon nor has anything signaled it, I doubt she wouldn't mesh well with it. I can even see Tikal being like Sonic's "hype girl" funnily enough, laughing at his jokes or having a "Oh you're so silly <3" reaction to them. It's even better if Tikal bounced off of Sonic's antics with her own secret playful side, and who knows, maybe she does have one (I like to think so personally). It wouldn't be out of place if she did.

In general, there's nothing about either of them that makes it implausible they'd form chemistry. They could bond over many things.

Their Feelings

I'm not sure who would catch feelings first, and it honestly doesn't matter. Both of them would form an attraction to one another without either realizing it at first, but I do have the hunch that Tikal would more quickly identify that she feels a certain type of way about Sonic, to where calling him a mere friend doesn't feel quite right. She'd hone in on this, while I can see Sonic just going with the flow in regards to his own feelings, not noticing the change in how he feels about her until it gets outright brought up in some manner.

Namely, Tikal could voice her thoughts just to get them into the air; off her chest. Speaking on how much Sonic means a lot to her, and she feels closer to him than she has with anyone else. Whatever time they do spend together fills her with joy. It's reasonable for Sonic to not catch onto the implications and be pleased that she does like being around him, or...his intuition kicks in and he starts to suspect something is there. What exactly, he doesn't know. But still.

That could be the first domino to fall, leading into a chain reaction. Maybe he starts to look at Tikal in a way different from before. Maybe he pays closer attention to how she behaves around him, and whenever Tikal can interact with his other friends, especially see how she is with them. Sonic is smarter than a lot of people give him credit for, and when he gets interested enough in something to pay close attention to it, he'll perceive a lot of things. Maybe Tikal notices this change, and she too starts to subtly "study" him to see what's up.

To hurry along and keep this already long post from getting even longer: eventually a boiling point would be reached. I do like the idea of Sonic being the first to properly touch upon their bond going to a different level. He'd need to have a more serious conversation over it, but once he sees that Tikal is on board, the ship sails.

Their Relationship

Tikal is very understanding. By the point they each learn of the other's feelings, she would know fully well that Sonic does not want to be changed. She would not want him to change anyway. His happiness would be extremely important to her, and he keeping to his love of traveling the planet is what she would want - first and foremost.

Sonic would recognize and greatly appreciate this consideration. A relationship to him had always symbolized he being anchored down and his freedom compromised (Amy and her habits of chasing him and wanting them to get married pinned that in his mind), but Tikal making it clear that's not what she wants would bring him immense relief. And would in turn make him feel like she does truly get him.

In a similar fashion, Tikal would remain committed to her role of nurturing Chao. She has overall less responsibilities to the world compared to Sonic and less of a perpetual wanderlust, but she does not want anything to come between her and what she wants to do. Not that Sonic would DO such a thing, he'll never boss anyone around, but still. They'd be on the same page. None of what they hold dear need to be given up to make things work, and the other's happiness is just as important as their own.

Above all else, they each would want one another to be a permanent part of their world. Nothing more, nothing less. That would remain set in stone, no matter how often they're far apart physically. Because, in the times they are together, it makes them that much more special.

Besides, Sonic would ABSOLUTELY bring Tikal with him during some of his travels. She's been out of commission for the last 3,000+ years after all, she's missed out on a lot! Sonic would be thrilled to help her experience new things in this modern era, be it sightseeing in countries or taking her to scenic places he loves. The girl would be pumped to see the world, and create new memories with Sonic that she can enjoy for the years to come.

This isn't even acknowledging some fanon theories about Tikal being immortal if she were to ever actually return & hang around in modern times, but that can be discussed in a different post.

TLDR: Sonikal works because both Sonic and Tikal can reasonably make the relationship work without sacrificing important parts of their characters, and their relationship would have a nice flair of true significance on top of that. They would have the kind of romance that's not over the top or even that conventional, but still very intimate.

So...yeah. My intentions for writing this weren't to "convince" other people to ship them too, just to shed some light on why I do. Thanks for reading all of this, if you did! 👋🏾