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popculturebuffet · 27 days ago

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Batman: No Man's Land Retrospective Part 1: Cataclysm

Hello all you happy people. This project's been brewing for a while now and i'm so happy to finally get to dive into it. For the next two years, i'm taking a look at one of the biggest and most influental batman stories ever. This is a story that's been adapted four times, introduced a batgirl, a story massive in scope that gives batman a problem that no amount of money, no amount of punching and no amount of batarangs can solve.

No Man's Land follows Gotham after it's utterly destroyed by a massive earthquake and the goverment "shockingly" decides rather than repair the crime pit, to let it burn and let anyone who can't afford to move or dosen't want to leave to fend for themselves. It puts Batman in his darkest hour: he failed his city, and now he and his allies have to find some way to save it. It's a massive story that i'll be reading as we go, reading each volume before I cover it. I know some spoilers, the story's 27 years old and a lot of it impacts later bat stories and i've read it's direct sequel new gotham, but as for the fine details and how things evolve.. that i'll be figuring out just before you do.

Before we get to the government abadoning Gotham like it'd later do with Riverdale, we have to get to the why: the massive and excellent event cataclysm. Yes there's an event that leads into the event.

Cataclysm is intresting in that while super villians do show up, this is gotham after all, their not the main threat. The main threat.. is simply a massive earth quake that most of gotham was warned about, but only Bruce took seriously. And even then.. i'ts not enough: While Bruce's holdings and headquarters are saved, most of gotham is totaled and the bat himself is left in the one building he couldn't quakeproof: his home. Our heroes are left desperatley trying to help or play catchup as the world falls apart and even as they try to save everyone they can the truth hangs ominously over them: Gotham.. may not be able to come back from this. So join me won't you for an epic unlike any other, a story of dread, hope, and quakemasters, this is Batman Cataclysm

We begin with Detective Comics and a prelude issue. As is standard for an event this size we're going to be jumping around a LOT of books today, along with three one shots. Every book in the bat family is touched and a ton of major bat writers left their mark on this one.

Unfortunately the one who does the most.. is Chuck Dixon

So for those less familiar Chuck Dixon is one of the biggest batman writers ever: He wrote Robin and Nightwing and defined Tim Drake and Dick Grayson as a result. His run on Nightwing is why I became a massive fan of the character and why I tend to prefer bat family books to the bat himself.

He's also a huge asshole. Absolutely giant in the industry of being a dick. I'd like to thank @brotoman-exe for the background here as while I knew Chuck Dixon was a conservative prick, he gave me some helpful info to explain why he became the bitter lemon he is now.

So Chuck as you can tell was a big writer: he wrote most of batman after all. He then got blackballed from the big 2 in the early 2000's. From his perspective, it was for being conservative and he went full right wing asshole before it was cool. In reality.. it seemed he was just a dick. He had a weird tirade about a tounge in cheek Marvel MAX, their mature leaders line, series about the rawhide kid that recast him as a macho camp gay man, and made the bold assumption the writer of the book, a vetran artist, was tricked into it. He sunk his own career and blamed the woke media for it. He bounced around in other companies, as early IDW apparently was fine with his bullshit, but eventually he ran out of options and ... well he made this

Yes that is Chuck Dixon, batman and gi joe writer making an off brand gi joe comic about Q from Qanon. I swear to god this is not something I made up. This.. this happened. You can even buy it on amazon

Look is it fun to dunk on Chuck Dixon making a comic about the quannon conspiracy starring the titular q as an action hero. yes. I mean I could do it all day. But my larger point is that Chuck Dixon sucks dirty ass in thunderstorms, is an objectively bad man. Not sex offender bad, but while the bar for being shitty in comics is high, it's not so high that "being mad a character was made gay and making action hero comics about an active and dangerous conspiracy" dosen't rate.

So I have the unfortunate duty of being objective about his work here. I do not like this man, but he was an objectively good writer. It does not, as he seems to thinnk, excuse him from being a piece of shit. I simply can't avoid talking about him as of the 7 batman titles at the time, he wrote three of them: The afformentioned Nightwing and Robin, along with detective comics.

Since I need to wash the taste out of my mouth and this will be easier than mentoining every writer as they come up, let's meet the rest of our writers room who as far as I know haven't written qanon: the continuing adventures. I wonder if the villian is joe biden as cobra commander. Perhaps bill clinton. Clinton Commander.

Writing the flagship Batman comic is Doug Monech, one of many longtime batman writers on this project. He wrote some in the 80's and what i've read of his run, which has sadly been undercollected or only half collected in the case of one collection I have as he wrote both detective comics and batman up to crisis on infinite earths, is excellent. Well done stuff that helps build up batman's world and his relationship with jason todd. I prefer post crisis jason, but he still does a good job with batman's struggle to let the kid in. He's also the one responsible for blessing the world with Harvey Bullock.

For Shadow of the Bat we have consumate Weirdo Alan Grant, a british writer who afraid to ask "You want nuts. Well let's get nuts". His stories i've read are decent and kind of weird, and fittingly he created my faviorite Batman Villian, Scarface, aka the puppet what bullies his owner/other personality. Grants work here is impecable, as is everyones even ass face and made me want to check out more of his 90's shadow of the bat run. He's got a weird poetic style to him.

For our spinoffs we have batman legend Dennis O'Neil, who with Neil Adams redefined the character. he was also editor and wrote large chunks of other bat mega crossover knightfall. He's awesome and I miss him dearly.

Finally we have Devin Grayson who wrote Catwoman and does a decent job with it. She's the only one besides Chuck Q Dixon to have a bit of infamy though rather than be for being a raging asshole, she simply wrote something what bad. She followed him up on nightwing and while the better person, decided to have Nightwing join the mob for a while, and had him get assaulted by fellow vigilante the tarantula and said assault not treated lik ea big deal because a woman did it.

She's fine here but it's hard not to think about that run so bad I refuse to ever touch it when bringing her up.

So with our writers room assembled let's talk about the issue. It's a fun one off as I said: a criminal brags to his buddies about beating up batman. It's also here where a fairly stupid choice by dc edtorial comes up: At the time batman was to be considered an urban legend by gotham. It's a period I mostly remember for getting mocked in the pages of young justice as Peter David has never met a stupid decision he couldn't take the piss out of and Linkara doing the same in his march of the titans retropsecitve.

Since this does come up with several citzens proclaming batman dosen't exist, I... have to dive into all the ways this is nonsense. So here we go: batman has been on at least three superhero teams, none retconned out by crisis on infinite earths; he was on the justice league of america, left tha tgroup to found the outsiders after political red tape prevented him from going on a rescue mission, and after leaving them rejoined the league as it's leader for the justice league international era. He left soon after to keep his profile low.. but waas still seen on news interviews and coverage and was still publicly on the roster for some time. And by this point he's REJOINED the JLA and was part of them thwarting an alien invasion, an invasion of angels and other very public disasters. On top of that his former sidekick Nightwing was famously part of the Teen Titans as robin, leading two incarnations up to this point. The New Teen Titans in paticular were a very public group, famous in new york and most notably saving the world from Trigon and getting a giant ass parade for it. He also operates as Bludhaven's hero at the time of this book and unlike batman isn't nearly as stealthy.

On top of this the Joker has been a very public meance, killing dozens, fighting the justicfe league a few times, fighting batman in a bi plane at new years and most notably after killing Jason Todd, he became ambassador to iran

The point of this long detour is that it makes zero sense that batman is seen as a "legend" at this point who "dosen't exist". While he does stick to the shadows and is defintely the most standoffish of the justice league any time he's a member, there's enough public tracks to make him being some sort of mythical figure laughable. I try not to be this pedantic in a comics review, writers slip up, canonical mistakes happen. Even now when you can google things. But this isn't a simple mistake this is a weird status quo shift that made things awkward for other books for no real reason. Batman's already feared as a larger than life figure. Just because crooks know he exists dosen't make him less terrifying or them less prone to exagerate.

Thankfully the bulk of attitude , at least for now, from most of the writers was

Most of it is lip service with only two big moments, this one and the other where it's relevant to the plot. Most of gotham tends to know batman and co are out there.

Okay now we can FINALLY get to the issue which again is fun: the criminal embellishes the hell out of the story and we see both his inflated version where it's an ocean's elven style heist and where he goes to to toe with batman.. and the reality: his crew was whoever he could get, he got the info from being a janitor, the heist went sideways fast and both batman nad robin tore his ass up. This is confirmed to his friends when batman swoops over and scares the shit out of the guy. A fun simple story.

The real meat though is in the ending: We meet Jolene Relazzo a character introduced just for this storyline for two reasons: to set it up and to serve as a plot point for the ongoing arc. She's a seismologist, one who warned Bruce Wayne about an inevitble disaster years ago: Gotham is on a fault line and while it hasn't had a quake in living memory, i'ts due and should. Given who she was talking to, Bruce set to work: as the issues after this reveal Bruce quakeproofed every wayne holding except the manor, and fired his board of directors when they all said it was too expensive. Is this a lot to just. .have on exposition? yes. But it shockingly works: I didn't realize Jolene debuted here till I looked it up as she feels like a natural fit: Bruce isn't stupid. He's batman. He prepares for shit. So it makes sense he knows a decent amount of scientests. As Homer Simpson will tell you bruce is one, but while he's a master of a lot of things, he specializes in forensics. He's not a super genius, and thus him listening to experts makes sense. And given his preparedness it makes sense his first action would be "quakeproof my shit". And given the cost he does so for the reasons he does anything: it's the right thing to do. It saves him money sure, but as we'll find out some of these holdings are apartments or hotels. Innocent people could get hurt. employees could get hurt. Bruce could never allow that if he can help it. And as the quake arrives.. Jolene can't reach bruce whose in his cave.

To the writers credit, paticuarlly alan grant who writes the explination there's a simple reason for why Bruce coudln't quakeproof the manor: the batcave. he coudln't risk someone finding out about it. As for "Why didn't he ask steel or another super hero to do it", Clark and Wally could probably speed read the info and john henry is a former construction worker, so it's possible .. but it'd draw too much attention. I'll see how plausable it is as we go as to why the rest of the league stays out, i'm betting not so much but here.. I get it. It's way too many questions to easily answer and might upset unions in town. Batman simply COUDLN'T get the mansion quakerpoofed. Now the fact he had no plans for if the quake happens is a little stretch.. but Batman has to plan for a lot. He probably thought he'd get forwarned or the cave would hold.

It does not. The mansion collapses bringing alfred down to the cave, trapping bruce and leaving Bruce's home gone> it's a truly shattering scene and well done by alan grant, underlying just how sudden this is: like any disaster it just htis and in a second everythings gone. Batman does wiggles his way out and trie sto go for the car or one of the exits but everything collapses. He's truly trapped.

Meanwhile Harvey Bullock was tailing a local criminal bamed "Billy Wildman" but the quake happens. He's forced to team up with Anarky, who as the name gives away is an angsty teen who dressed like an adult. They work together as Bullock quickly realizes he needs the help to help civilians. And that's the big part here: most of the hero work done.. is search and rescule. Batman's not above that and has saved many a person but their usually hostages or kidnap victims. This is the kind of emergency work brave first responders do every day and that while batman will do in a pinch is outside his element.. but he and the other heroes of gotham do. Anarky is a street punk.. but gladly helps.

Finally we have Barbra Gordon, at this point oracle, batman's eyes and ears who after being shot by the joker traded in her batgirl suit for being a computer genius and tech whiz for any hero who needs it, mostly the bat family. Her own Clock Tower base was shaken but is otherwise fine. Naturally it was one of bruce's quake proofings and Barbra presumably bought it from him. She goes to see what's going on but sees the situation as it is.. and takes command. While she takes a second to let her terror at what could've happened to her love ones out, she instantly takes charge of the police she finds, convincing them not to go fleeing for their loved ones; She's sympathetic: her boyfriend, dad, stepmom and batdad are all out there, but they need to help those who need it. So she gets what resources they have and gets to work. It's one of my faviorite scenes in this event: When crisis hits, Barbra is the first to respond and the first to make a dent in the nightmare Gotham is facing.

Batman is having less luck on his end. He does manage to pull a spider man, escaping the wreckage.. albeit instead of just with pure will expert timing. He reunites with Alfred.. but there's no exit. Their truly trapped. The only way out is a bunch of underwater currents Batman never mapped. And I do like this: yes you could say "this is the same man who quakeproofed a city, why didn't he map these tunnels or have an exit" And the simple answer given and one I accept.. is that he never got around to it. Batman has backup plans for his backup plans.. but I like this batman who simply, as a human does, lets things slip. The Quakeproofing was easier: It was an imminent threat, and something he could deligate. Batman really NEVER deligates batman stuff and until recently didn't have any full time staff for the cave itself. If somethings low priority like say exits on the offchance the quake does hit and he's inside or mapping the cave systems he'll ignore it. Batman's a workaholic with control issues: the only things bruce deligates in costume are the stuff Alfred and Barbra are better at, cleaning the house, cleaning wounds, and doing computer stuff. It makes sense SOMETHING would give.

So with no other option he plans to surface and if it exposes him so be it: there's no second guessing, no other option: he's going to save his dad. And as he dives.. he gets hit with an aftershock.

So while batman might be batdead in this 7 part event that has his name, let's check in on the rest of gotham. The first tie in was earlier and in the pages of Nightwing. It's an excellent tie in as Dick hears about the quake during his night shift at the bar he works at, working at a cop bar to get info.

At this point Nightwing is the hero of Bludhaven, which is gotham but worse. Which yes is possible. Less super crime at first, but more street crime. It's everything gotham was pre batman and our hero fights with no real allies and only the right thing on his side. Still he books it the second he finds out what's happening and TRIES to find Barbra and Bruce... but being the hero he is dick gets sidetrack, finding people in distress and putting himself at great risk to save every last person, including a mom who gets her daughter out but nearly dies. It's a heartwrenching issue as you follow these people from the start, and see just how far Dick will go. It's one of the big pulls i've mentioned of cataclsym: Seeing our heroes against impossible odds they normally don't face this way.

As Dick heads off to go find his dad and girlfriend, well sorta girlfriend I forgot it's more of a situationship at this point and we'll get to the actual hookup in this very crossover, but that's for later.

For now we check in on another hero: Azrael. For those less aware, Azreal was the center of one of batman's biggest events and one I might cover someday: Knightfall. To make a very long story short after loosing his first bout with Batman, super genius and roidy mcgoo Bane studied his foe, then released every villian in arkham and blackgate, arkham for the criminally sane, and let batman wear himself out. Then Bane broke into his house, broke his shit and then broke his back, and rather than choose his actual son, Batman choose Jean Paul Valley, a 20 something who he'd resecued from a cult. This.. didn't go well as Jean still hasn't fully got the cult out of his system and went all grimdark and 90's and didn't hand the mantle back when Bruce was better. Bruce kicked his ass, but still let Jean Paul operate once he was deprogrammed.

So JP is currently taking Bane back to the arms of Saran Essen and.. some other guy. Sarah is comissioner Gordon's wife and Barbra's step mom. With him is Nomoz who I had to google as.. he's an actual troll. He was in the same cult Jean Paul was and why he put on costume again but eventuallys witched sides. I think he's neat. It's just.. neat to have an actual troll in the middle of this pretty grounded story. Well grounded for a former cult member fighting a luchador pumped up on steroids.

Bane escapes and a chase insues, but Bane wants Jean Paul to rule with him as "we're not so diffrent you and me' Jean defies him and that's that for now. He just.. kinda vanishes for the rest of this part of the crossover. All it does is explain where Sara was. It's a solid issue and I like this kind of detour: seeing how the rest of the batfamily handled the quake and it's a neat way to weave it into what was going on with Azreal at the time.

Back at the main plot, barbra gets some good news as when Bullock gets back, he decides to go look for her dad when he finds out no one's been sent as what people they have are busy putting out fires in both senses as gas manes have exploded. But her quiet relief when Bullock goes says a lot as does his saving Jim. Babs and Jim's reuinon is also touching.. he tells her to keep working, as it's important.. but is VERY proud of her.

The next issue covers batman's underwater adventure, as he tensely navigates currents. While he's doing that, we get one of my faviorite plots as we follow the Huntress, who had the misfortune.

Huntress is another vigilante in gotham.. and one of the few not given the okay by Batman. She was the daughter of a mob family that got wiped out in front of her eyes and grew up to become both a dedicated teacher and a hunter. The problem is Helena will ABSOLUTELY go for the kill at this point in her life and Batman has a thing about that. Maybe you've heard. And look I can get tired of Batman's "YOU CAN'T OPERATE IN MY CITY WITHOUT MY SAY SO"

Shtick. It's mostly for Stephanie Brown, who we'll get to. But this is a plot i get and like: Helena wants to do the one thing Bruce just CAN'T allow. He can't have a killer in his city claming to do what he does.

This event adds a wrinkle to it though: how justified is his no kill code when there's no prison to take the villians to? When things are hardest how can he possibly justify this? The answer is that he has to, that it's who he is... but does EVERYONE have to stick to it?

In this case Huntress has to help a bunch of people on the same subway car, complicated by some asshole with a gun taking hostages not knowing how bad it is. She manages to rescue his hostage and save the day.. but an aftershock leaves the guy pinned. And she.. leaves him. In the clutch.. she can't hold up to some code she dosen't belivie in. I belivie in it, I get why bruce does, it's a good code.. but where's the line? It's a fascinating thing to dive into... why should Helena keep this up when things are this bad and one more criminal is not going to black gate, but is going to make things so much worse.

The answer of course is just becaue things are hard don't make it right, but I love this situation pushing that. While i'm in the court of heroes not killing unless it's absolutely necessary, I like testing them. Helena falling into it first makes sense but i'm curious as this goes how far batman can be pushed by the horrors that await.

Speaking of the Bat he emerges in teh bay.. and screams in horror, letting out a big no as he sees the full situation: his city is dying, on fire, torn to pieces, the skyline gone.. and there's little he can do.

Now for another interlude and a fantastic one. Catwoman was just casually robbing a department store for the thrill of it. She could just buy goggles but admits in narration ther'es just something about gotham.. something wild that makes someone want to do crazy shit. She loves this stupid city.

The quake hits and no one has any idea what's going on.. but Selina helps. it's a great show of her character: Yes she's a thief and this is long before her protector of those who society forgot schtick I love so much.. but she's a good person. She'll steal shit.. but she'll also help, guiding a group of survivors through the wreckage. She does try to bolt.. but when she sees her city torn to shit... she doubles back and helps and then goes and helps who she can. Despite her protestations... she can't help but to help either.

We then get Robin's tie in.. which is only a few pages long. Yeah Robin was overseas, throwing hands with a dictatorship apparently and at the tail end of this arc returns home.. just as shit gets real. Robin at this poitn is Tim Drake, the third robin and one of the best. Tim was made a contrast to the previous two robins: He wasn't an orphan, he has a family that apparently live right next to Batman at this point, and he leans more into the detective side having figured out who Batman and Nightwing were and urging Nightwing to become robin again in the wake of Jason Todd's death at the hands of Ambassador Joker.

So onto the next chapter, a one shot Blackgate: Isle of Man. We follow a death row inmate Jared Manx whose execution gets delayed.. by act of god. Jared says he's innocent, that he didn't do what he did and despite every attempt was still going to get the chair. He protects his lawyer and a nun brought ot comfort him as things go pair shaped and a riot breaks out with many a criminal escaping, including KGBeast, exactly what that sounds like, who kills whoever's in his way. It's a well done issue especially since it marks Batman's come back. Hearing what's going on Batman SWIMS OUT TO BLACK GATE despite everything he's just been through, and quickly goes john mclane on their asses when he gets there. A few do escape and we'll catch up with them later, but batman's able to help the police helicopters land and clean house. Sadly.. jared does not make it. He sacrices himeslf to save his companions and claims "actually I did do it". And I like the ambiguity left: was he lying the whole time or, and this is what i go with, was he just lying to save innocent people. He died.. but he got to go out on his terms saving innocnet people and wether he's a murderer or not.. he won't be forgotten for that.

Back to the bat proper and the next issue is another banger as Batman grapples with just how hopless it feels... he can stop criminals but.. this is something else. Alan Grant does a damn good job as he waxes poetic about the devistation and how batman feels.. and how he presses on anyway. Saving who he can. He does realize he can only do so much, and thus goes for help: From the Penguin. At this point Penguin's settled into his modern role as a fixer who keeps his hands clean and more brokers crimes and has his men do them than actually get arrested again or try and use a penguin blimp to blow up the Gotham mint or some such. Batman gives him an ultimatum: don't fucking loot, instead help whoever he can since he has the resources to. Given the circumstances batman has nothing to bribe Pengy with... but he can still do threats okay. If Penguin loots Batman WILL come for his ass when thigns are done and will not stop making his life hell. And since he became a shady mobster to avoid that Penguin agrees. His men would be shot on sight anyway and the faster things get closer to normal the better.

We catch up with Tim who can't get back into the city: Roads are blocked and while most would be fine with just having to lodge in Bludhaven, showing you just how bad things have gotten when that's the GOOD option, Tim has no time for that and steals a motorcycle leaving an iou and tearing it up to get back to the city.

Jolene is having a less rad time, as while her building is safe she wants to get to bruce to help.. and instead gets kidnapped by some shady crooks. and "coincidentally" right after things get worse as a mysterious villian calling himself the Quakemaster, real missed oppertunity to call himself the aftershockmaster but whatever, sends a message to the police and a tape to the media: He caused this, and he'll destroy what's left unless he gets his ransom.

We take a break from this newly introduced baddie who will surely last longer than the length of this review for an anthology issue. Batman Chronciles is a batman series I was unaware existed before reading this trade, a quarterly book to help add extra stories. This issues stories really hone in on this event's strengths that while , as always batman is the center, we get a lot of what the rest of gotham is going through, boots on the ground as everyday civilians and other vigilantes deal with this nightmare.

Our first story is the contract, an okay tale that features a kid who belivies in batman. You know batman leader of batman and the outsiders , the justice league, the league of international heroes. That mytholgical figure. It does have a fun twist on the kid waiting for batman to save them: he dosen't.. but a bunch of criminals contracted to do.. contracted by Bruce Wayne. It's a brilliant twist in an otherwise okay story.

The rest are all shorter tails either spotlighting various victims or setting up things to come: Ras Ah Ghul gloats in his evil lair that batman's lost the city.. and he will finally have him as his heir forgetting the no murder thing. The Penguin saves people... but only those he finds useful and only for a favor down the line. A man tragically calls out and is trapped... and is not found, robin finding someone else instead. Two Face's henchman plan to turn him in for reward money. It goes as well as you'd expect. And a little boy waits , having lost his parents.. but finds Dr Leslie Thompkins, who once again comforts a young orphan.

Onto Nightwing. Dick finally makes his way to the clocktower, where Barbra has returned to help cordinate things. The two are relived and as usual are adorable together. Before things can get a bit more serious Tim shows up to kill the mood. Babs is at least still happy to see him as, to my shock, they hadn't met before this. Neat little moment.. that becomes less neat when all involved realize NONE of them have heard from bruce.

Bruce himself is busy in a new identity: Detective Hawke. I love the look as Jim is naturally suspcious of a random officer showing up, the last thing he needs is a supervillian attack fucking now... until it hits him. He's been through so much and i'ts only getting worse so it's likely a huge relief to find that batman is back and doing all he can.

As Batman saves lives the rest of his team look for him.. but find the giant cratered manor, utterly horrifed. While it's not mentioned on text, the art does a good job showing how devistated dick is.. he's trying to hold it in but it's clear seeing his home for some long gone .. it's a lot. He goes in to check on the cave and Alfred, while Tim goes to check on his dad, who hugs him tight, a sweet moment and one of the few bits of hope we've gotten so far.

Dick finds more as Alfred is fine along with Harold, who came in with some digging equipment giving the two an exit now they have help. Harold is batman's mute tech man, forced into working for the penguin till Batman rescued him and gave him a home in his creepy basement. I mean granted who dosen't want to live near a giant robot dinosaur that was used to hunt men for sport?

The next issue deals with quakemaster; The police have doubts about his claims.. but are going to give him the money in case as there's no way in hell they can survive another quake. Batman does his thing investigating, going to find Joelne Relazzo... and finding she was kidnapped. Since Bruce is a distrustful batstard, he does check to make sure she's not a villian.. but isn't and comes to the correct conclusion: the quakemaster kidnapped her for her knowhow to make himself seem more credible.

Batman relays with Gordon and the two try to trap quakemaster.. but like any good villian he sent henchman to collect the money. They have no idea who the guy is and our heroes have no real leads.

So Batman goes back to the cave and brushes off his son and sidekick who were worried he might you know be dead, or lost. Same with his father. I get tensions are high but even for Batman this is a dick move. It's about an 8.. not quite "slapping robin in the face" or "war games" , a comfortable quiet or papa spank.

Batman does put together that Quakemaster is lying

The facts he has are all wrong.. which Batman reads as a clue. Jolene is feeding him bullshit to make it clear no one's in any danger. He still worries for HER, as kidnapped scientest is not a long lived profession.

Time for another side story, and this one is one of my faviorites. Sadly another Chuck Dixon joint but hey. This follows Huntress again this time with Spoiler

Stephanie Brown is the daughter of Cluemaster, aka tenmu riddler . When she found out what her dad was, she became Spoiler, determind to "spoil" his crimes by tipping off Robin. She soon became attracted to him and at this point is currently operating but only when he lets her as Batman is not a fan because "I DIDN'T TRAIN HER AND I'M NOT GOING TO YET BECAUSE BLURRRRRRRRRR". As you can probably guess by now I hate this look for batman. For chuck it was probably "Well it's his city of course he am the god he am the god". For me i'ts being a dick to a teenager who just wants to impress her crush and has a genuine talent for this and making Robin's life harder because shut up. Ther'es a line between "batman dosen't understand people's emotoinal and will often make decisions on pragmantism and not what''s necessarily the emotionally healthyc hoice " and "batman is a giant asshole who wants everyone else to be like him." and this feels like it's crossing it. Maybe it's better in the individual issues I don't know it just feels.. off to have Stephanie HAVE to get the permission of robin or feel like she needs it and I prefer the later her who when given similar dickish paramiters by Barbra when Steph became batgirl, instead just... proved her worng when she could. And Babs gets more of a pass as while she was being a tad condescending this was also after Steph's previous career left her seemingly dead. I put that "death" more on Batman than her, but tha'ts a whole other mess. My point is he had no reason to not take her in then and there, see if she had it then cut her loose like huntress. With Helena i'm more understanding as .. they can't kill people. That's a line they can't cross. I'm understanding in this circumstance, but in regular day.. no. They can't just kill people because their bad people.

It is neat to team the two up though: Steph tries to honor the code while Helena.. does not, but Helena also shows her a bit more repsect.. she's gruff but unlike Robin or Batman dosen't seem to dismiss her. She also relates to having a parent who sucks, as Steph has to confront cluemaster. Cluemaster DOES want to get money to treat Steph's ill mother.. but can't understand why this upsets her. That in the middle of a disaster when at the very least after escape he could've just... fucked off and gone on with his life or helped people.. he STILL chooose to steal money. Steph dosen't let Helena kill.. but still dosen't make it out of the situation cleanly, having once again been fucked up by her dad. It's deeply engaging and while a lot of i'ts probably just being a fan of Stephanie Brown's later apperances as Batgirl, it's still deeply engaging and since Steph was in a mall when the thing happened another nice boots on the ground story.

We'll finish the story in a second but for coherence sake i'm going to save the penultimate chapter of the quakemaster saga to do alongside the finale for Cataclysm as inbetween them are two unrelated side stories that just.. break the flow. Ic an't blame the trade for including them, but instead of moving them after the steph story for better reading their kept when they came out.. wedged inbetween a massive cliffhanger in the Quakemaster plot.

So i'm covering them here. First is catwoman which is.. not a great issue this go round. It should be, it has Catwoman fighting Poison Ivy who plans to retake the city for plants and is written okay, and has a good moment of selena going back to rescue her latest victim she honey trapped.. but it has a LOT of Catwoman slut shaming Ivy. I mean Ivy shouldn't kill and brainwash anyone of any gender, but the framing of it is just.. bleh. I do like Catwoman having to team up with Bullock and Ivy's own spores getting on her face.. and WANTING them to keep growing even if she dies, but this is forgetable and if I read this again, which I likely will, i'll defintely be skipping it over.

The next one's a bigger disapointment: the concept is brilliant: at arkham the power goes out... just as Killer Croc's cage is open so he escapes and Joker convinces him to let him out. He also lets out scarecrow , riddler and two new characters Vox and Witch.. who only show up here despite being given intresting backstories. THey kidnap an unfortunate guard and decide to play a game: whoever tells the best story kills the man.

Unfortunately, the stories are.. eh. Only vox and riddler's stories stick out, vox for her tragiclaly imitating her mom smashing her father in the head with a beer bottle on her brother and the freaky art style and Scarecrow for the fucked up ending where some puppies eat their owners alive. The rest are forgetable. It's a lesser attempt at the BTAS episode "Almost Got Em. The ending, joker delcaring they all one and all of them carving up the poor bastard and leaving him alive but his mind broken, is horrifying.. but the issue is a wasted opprutnity not helped by where it's awkwardly wedged in

So onto our finale: Robin investigates quakemaster as do Renee Montoya and Bullock. The latter two eventually find his hideout while Robin. .figures out who he is. I knew due to the guidebook I mentioned, but it's still a neat way as they give you the clues.. you just don't realize it. Quakemaster tends to do two things: pause mid sentence to rethink his words.. and not use any words with b in them.

While Jolene hopes her clues are getting through, Gordon goes to meet mayor Marion Grange, who seems to be one of Gotham's few competent mayors.. but is tired and pissed having to deal with 80 problems. And she gets an 81st as armed goons burst in to demand the ransom money. She informs them the city.. is broke, another devistating blow but understandable: gotham had two pandemics back to back before this.

As they prepare to kill her the rest of our heroes find quakemaster.. and his hostage, Mackinzie Bock, recurring detective the wiki didn't have much on.

So we come to the end of Cataclysm. Robin.. decides to mock quakemaster, daring him to say his name. Suprisingly this dosen't end in Bock's death, but in Quakemaster loosing his temper and going after our heroes. This allows the detectives to free bock and go fre relazzo whose greatful and gives harvey a kiss on the cheek. Awww.. now she has scabies.

Meanwhile Bock and Robin really rock tonight as they find the Quakemaster... and Arnold Wesker's hand up his ass. Wesker is the vintriloquist, a tragic supervillian and my favorite batman villian alongside his usual partner, Scarface, a chalk white gangster puppet and his other personality. Quakemaster is another of Wesker's personas, forcing him to do this scheme just like scarface.. nad not much else. It's a clever twist and I love the fact that the only super villian to have a major role in this .. was Scarface. The rest were one offs.

The two try to flee but BOck has a clever solution.. he won't shoot wesker.. while the issue is a bit iffy on Robin blaming wesker when he clearly has DID and his alters are the criminals, he doesn't want wesker killed. And neither doe sbock who instead shoots Scarface in the head while poor wesker calls for a medic. It's tragic as it is brilliant. He can't hurt an innocent.. but scarface isn't an innocent.

So with that the day is saved. Nightwing goes to save gordon, Wesker is taken in. Yet.. it's far from a happy ending. As Dick notes.. the city MAY not recover and while batman assures them it will and they at least won... it's very clear gotham.. isn't okay. They saved the day, prevented another disaster.. but like all the victims they've saved.. it's only so much triage. Gotham is bleeding out and there's only so much surgery batman can do before it flatlines.

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special-mooon · 6 days ago

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To my love and deepspace players! I wanted to showcase what my account looks like as a somewhat-dolphin player and what exactly I was able to get with the amount I’ve spent so far! If you’re curious to how much I’ve spent and what money put in this game can get you, stay tuned in :D

Basic information: What’s a dolphin player?

A dolphin player is generally someone who buys weekly/monthly packs if they're worth it and generally only spends on pulling if they really like the character and/or breaks the games current meta.

Don’t confuse this with a whale player! A whale player is someone who treats cash as just another resource. Theyll spend to keep pulling the newest units just for the sake of having them, spend to bump their stamina during a grind session, always buy their characters costumes the second it’s released, ect.

This is information I’ve learned from the years of gacha I’ve played but if i say something wrong pls correct me!

My Info: Dates/Time/lvl/etc

I’ve been playing this game since it first came out but I did not officially start spending money till Feb 3 (2024) and still spend to this day!

I’m currently maxed lvl!

I am a Rafayel bias so I only spend a heavy amount of money on him! Caleb as well but since he’s still somewhat new i haven’t spent much on him just yet!

Also here is all my lvls with the boys :D

Items: What do I have :0

These are all the cards I’ve gotten so far and their current levels! Remember I only focused on Rafayel until just recently with Caleb!

Purchases: what exactly do I buy? How much do I have/get?

Currently I have the Aurum Pass and Annual Pass! On certain occasions I also spend on the Aurum Pass packs!

So each month I get 100 gems + 60 energy with the pass

The Annual pass gives me 120 gems and 1 golden ticket every Monday for a whole year!

As of right now I have 6072 gems (40 pulls) and 900 of the purple ones

I also have 34 pulls saved! So in total I have 74 pulls!

Money: How much do I spend?

Every month I spend $5 on the passes, $10 on the promise, and $7 on the Aurum Pass Packs

When Rafayel is on a banner, my budget is $150 but I usually only have to wast about $40-50! (I’m really lucky and win 50/50s)

My goal is to collect every Rafayel card no matter what!

My budget for Caleb is only $50 and I’m not too focused on getting all his cards.

I do not focus on getting the cards more than once unless I really like the alternative outfit, I’m okay with just r0!

I do not spend much money on the outfits in the shop! Unless I reallllly like them.

Extra Info:

I do not play much in the Hunter Contest

I do not play much in the Deepspace Trial (still have the tutorial)

I do not play much in the Core Hunt

I do not play much in the Abyssal Chaos ( have finished it once )

Every game currency I’ve gotten has been through either events, card lvl up, or bought.

(I’m too lazy T0T)

The total: How much have I spent!

Last Year I’ve spent in total $546 and this year so far I’ve spent $149!

So to end this all, this is what an account of $695 looks like! :D

If you have any questions feel free to send me a message to my inbox or in the comments/reblogs!

#love and deepspace #lnds #l&ds #lnds rafayel #lnds xavier #lnds zayne #lnds sylus #lnds caleb #gacha games #lnds mc

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adobe-outdesign · 10 months ago

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Earning NP in 2024: A Quick-Start Guide for New and Old Users

I feel like there’s a lot of people that struggle with making NP nowadays, both due to shifts in what is/isn’t profitable and a lack of clear direction for new players, so I thought I’d put this together to see if it helps anyone. (This was originally written for Reddit, but I figured people over here might find it useful as well.)

IMPORTANT: This guide just tells you what to do, not how things work. I’d recommend looking up more in-depth resources if you would like to understand the specific mechanics.

Also, please note that this guide is just what I’ve found most effective. Feel free to sound off in the comments if you want to add something you think is useful.

Part 1: The Big 8

The Big 8 are the dailies that I’ve found to be incredibly profitable; just doing these each day will earn you tens of millions of NP over a few months, and they’re pretty fast to complete. If you don’t do anything else, do these.

Bank Interest

Click the “collect interest” button.

Always collect your interest before you do anything else—remember, you can’t collect after depositing or withdrawing NP.

Note: Upgrade your account type (at the bottom of the bank page) as you save. This permanently increases your interest rate.

The interest rate does NOT go back down if you dip below the required amount after upgrading.

Shop Till

Technically this is just collecting the money from items you’ve sold, but if you follow this guide you’ll likely have a tidy sum to collect each day :)

The one is listed second because you can jump straight from here to Trudy’s, as the till’s old layout will make the Trudy’s notification appear if it hasn’t already.

Trudy’s Surprise

Click the “play” button.

Do this each day for 25 days to collect a 100K prize.

Note: Trudy’s also gives out Basic Gift Boxes, which are useful for NC trading.

Quest Log

First, check your weekly prize. To do this, click on the slider button to switch from your daily prize to your weekly one. Check the price of the prize.

If you like your weekly prize:

Complete all of your daily quests.

When all daily quests are complete, click on the NP bag to collect your 20K reward.

HIT REFRESH WHEN DONE. The clock at the top-right corner will disappear. This has to be done or the completion may not take.

Repeat for the week, then click on your prize at the end of the week to claim it.

If you do not like your weekly prize and want to change it:

Complete 4/5 of your daily quests (whichever ones are most profitable)

For the last quest, click the red “skip quest” button and confirm.

REFRESH THE PAGE. Once again, this is important.

The next day you should have a new prize. Continue skipping a quest per day until you get an item you like.

If you want to reset your weekly prize but already completed some days:

Follow the steps above. When you return the next day, your progress will be reset but your weekly prize will be the same.

Follow the steps above one more time. When you return the next day, you should have a new weekly prize.

Stock Market

To buy shares:

Go to the bargains page above.

Look in the right-hand column titled “curr” and find a stock with the number 15 (the cheapest you can buy shares at).

Copy the four-letter ticker symbol in the left-hand column labeled “ticker”.

Click on the “buy” link above and enter paste the ticker symbol into the first box, then enter “1000” into the second box (this is the max amount of shares you can buy per day). This will cost you 15K NP.

Repeat daily. Remember to diversify your portfolio (which is a fancy way of saying buy shares for different companies to increase your odds of getting a payout).

After you have bought a stock, go to the “my portfolio” page and look in the “current price” column.

If the number there is greater than 15, you have made a profit.

It is up to you to decide when to sell the stock. Waiting until 40–60 is average, but you can decide your own preferences here.

DO NOT ever sell a stock under 15. The stock market no longer crashes, so a stock that drops down has no choice but to eventually bounce back up.

Note: The stock market is a long-term investment. You may need to wait long periods of time before seeing a profit depending on how often you sell.

Food Club

Unlike other dailies, Food Club rolls over at 2:15 p.m. NST.

At 5:00 p.m. NST, a few Food Club board will automatically go up on this subreddit.

Click on the board and pick a betting table you like from the comments. I highly recommend u/nsheng’s standard or aggressive sets.

Once you have your table, submit your bets. To do this:

Click on “place a bet”.

Start with row 1 of your chosen betting table. On the “place a bet” page, select one pirate from each drop-down menu, then click the far-left checkbox for each.

Enter your betting amount. Your max bet is listed on the “place a bet” page, or you can enter a different amount. MAKE SURE THE AMOUNT IS THE SAME FOR EACH BET.

Hit “place this bet!”. Repeat this process ten times for all ten rows of your chosen betting table.

At 2:15 the next day, click “collect your winnings”, then go back to the “place a bet” page and enter that day’s 10 bets once the betting tables are posted on Reddit.

Note 1: How much you can bet (and by extension, make) depends on your account age, so this may be less useful to new players. It’s free passive NP either way however.

Note 2: There will be days you experience losses with Food Club. On average you will make back much more than what you invest as long as you stick with it, but with that said, make sure you’re only betting amounts you feel comfortable losing.

Battledome

The Battledome is unique in that you have to put some time and money into it to get something out of it, but the rewards are usually pretty high (making 100K+ a day isn’t uncommon).

To get started, you will need to train your pet and get them some weapons.

For training, follow the steps at the bottom of Battlepedia’s “Beginners’ Guide to Training” here.

For weapons, pick a beginner’s set from Battlepedia’s “Beginners’ Weapon Recommendations” here.

Once you have a basic weapon set and some beginner training, you’ll need to pick an opponent. Not all opponents are worth fighting!

/~SeasonalAttackP breaks down the stats, but the shortened version is that you’ll want to fight these opponents in this order, working your way up as you go (for difficulty, chose the hardest level you can manage for each opponent).

For premium users:

For regular users:

The end goal is to get to the point where your pet can 1-shot your chosen opponent with a single weapon without taking damage (this allows for the fastest dailies run possible). To do this:

Train your pet up to level 50 and give them the lens flare ability. This prevents opponents from attacking.

Give your pet a powerful bomb-type weapon. I recommend Varia is the Bomb, which currently goes for 3–5 mil and does 25 icons.

Train up your pet’s strength. How high your strength needs to be for a one-shot depends on what opponent you’re focusing on and if you’re using one or two weapons; you can use Battlepedia’s damage calculator here to get an idea.

You can earn up to 15 items a day; how many items you get per battle is random. DO NOT stop battling until the “You have reached the item limit for today! You can continue to fight, but no more items can be earned” message pops up.

(Note: You can continue to earn items after the “You have reached the NP limit for today” message pops up. It’s only when the item message appears that you can’t earn anything more.)

Stock Your Shop

Do this last so you can price any items you obtained from the previous 7 dailies.

Try to do this once per day, which will prevent massive backlogs of unpriced items taking up space in your shop.

Note: If you already have a backlog, you can use Jellyneo’s shop price checker to get an idea of how to price things—but use caution and double-check prices when appropriate, as the checker may not always be accurate.

Part 2: Optional Dailies

These won’t make you nearly as many NPs as the above, but if you’re in a hurry to earn NP these are useful additions. All of these have been vetted as low/no risk with either a decent daily reward or a slim chance at a very large reward.

Daily Puzzle (Note: Answers are posted on Jellyneo)

Rich Slorg

Anchor Management

Forgotten Shore (Note: You need all 9 map pieces for access; just buy them on the SW, as they’re dirt cheap)

Coltzan's Shrine

Deserted Tomb

Grave Danger (Note: Need a petpet attached to one of your pets for this one)

Fruit Machine

The Discarded Magical Blue Grundo Plushie of Prosperity

Tombola

Mysterious Negg Cave (Note: This one has a little puzzle to solve)

Faerie Caverns

Wishing Well (Note: Place 7 wishes @ 22 NP every 12 hours; you can use the recent winner’s list to get an idea of expensive items you can wish for)

Buried Treasure

Ye Olde Fishing Vortex

Part 3: Assorted Tips

Make sure to place any large amounts of NP into the bank immediately to protect yourself from random events. (I recommend keeping around 30K–50K on hand.)

Likewise, put any expensive items in your SDB or shop immediately.

It’s easier to make NP if you have NP. Try to save past your goals before making a large purchase so you have a “cushion” left over—it will save you a lot of time in the future.

Restocking used to be a good way to make NP, but currently bots snatch up all the valuable items. You can do it on the side and make a small profit by focusing on less profitable items, but it’s generally a time-intensive low-profit option.

Likewise, (traditional) games are a huge time sink with almost no profits (only 3K/game). Don’t bother unless you just want to play for fun.

For older players: You can use Jellyneo’s SDB Price Checker to find expensive items in your SDB to sell. Remember to double-check the prices on the SW/TP before selling!

Also for older players: Don’t forgot to check for unneeded Battledome weapons, old TCG cards, Neohome items, NeoDeck cards, and unused plot points.

It’s generally a good idea to sit on items from plots/events for a little while before selling—the price usually goes up over time (don’t wait too long though or it might be re-released!).

Always participate in plots and events when possible. Not only are they engaging, but the prizes are usually worth a decent amount.

And most importantly, remember to have fun!

#neopets #neotag #outdesign posts things #apparently copy/pasting bullets from reddit allows you to keep the indents on tumblr?? okay

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hanafubukki · 1 year ago

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So my friend said she was gonna date the next card she pulled and that gave me the brainworms tm

OT3 obv

But what is nrc did a raffle and had a date with mc up. Who buys tickets, who tries to rig it, and when did melanoa get here

Pls chaos to the max

[Masterlist]

Hello Ladyzsgolla🌻🌺🌷

Okay, but you need to tell me what card your friend pulled and who she ended up dating 😂🫶

Please, this brought back so many memories of the times where this type of trope would pop up in books and shoujo romances. The chaos is always always hilarious as it is and then we add in the diasomnia crew? NRC can’t catch a break.

The only way YN ended up in the auction is because Crowley somehow tricked them or set them up because I doubt certain people would let it happen.

At one point, I think diasomnia squad would be, “Want a date with YN? Fight me.”

You sighed as you stared at the chaos in front of you. You don’t know how you ended up in this situation, but you were sure Crowley had something to do with it.

Unsurprisingly, Sam and Fellow Honest had convinced the headmaster about having a festival to raise school funds. Azul had also supported the idea for monetary gain and knew what buttons to push.

But a date auction? With you? You wondered who came up with that daring idea.

Honestly, you were surprised at the amount of people trying to win a date with you, especially given your connections and your relationship status.

Though you wouldn’t be surprised if some didn’t know or were using this opportunity to get info about others. You were pretty sure some were doing it just for shits and giggles too.

Well you weren’t worried, at this point, the bets mostly came down to your friends and family having a higher chance of winning.

…you wondered if you can get a participation fee, after all, you were the main prize and you should be able to get some of that money.

You didn’t need it of course, but you wanted to see certain capitalists suffer.

Lilia: You think you can win against me? I have centuries worth of madol.

Meleanor: You mean the money that I paid you? I can freeze your accounts. That prized date will be mine.

Lilia: Meleanor! When did you get here! Stay out of this!

Meleanor: Do you know me at all?

Malleus: I do have some money saved. I can take YN on a gargoyle exploration. It’s been a while since I last had a stroll with them.

Dawn: …I do have money set aside during my days as a commander. The interest on it should have reached a sizable fund.

Levan: The steward is going to cry again.

The riggers:

Sam, Azul, and Fellow are going to figure out a way to sell more tickets despite the odds against others. I wouldn’t be surprised if certain charms and even magic was used.

Other Betters:

Floyd and Jade: I can see them getting just to make the pool larger lol

Rook: He might find this type of challenge fun, especially with such a prize. He also has the money for it.

Idia: it depends how close you are with him and the date he would like honestly. He might just not do it because of the potential headache.

Leona: literally just to mess with diasomnia.

Kalim: he is having fun and thinks it’s going to a good cause. Jamil has to stop him of course at one point.

That poor steward/accountant of Briar Valley 🫡🤣

#answered #🌺Ladyzsgolla🌺#twst knight of dawn #twst knight of dawn x reader #twst knight of dawn x reader x lilia vanrouge #lilia vanrouge x reader #the knight of dawn #lilia vanrouge #meleanor draconia #levan draconia #general lilia vanrouge

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snakeunderyourboot · 19 days ago

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*looks at Chloe and Sabrina* what if I make them intresting. what if I make them complicated and messy

kind of like AU??? Not canon certaintly

Chloe, who always got everything she wanted. She can have as many fancy jewelry, trendy clothes, new boats, and gorgeous accessories as she wants. She lives in the most prestigious hotel in Paris, if not the whole of France. Her room is bigger than the flats of some of her poor classmates. She has money, and so she can have everything she wants, as long as she can buy it.

Except subjects. She doesn't have subjects. She has hotel staff, she can order around some of her classmates - and yet it's not...It's not right. It's not the same. She wants...She needs a personal devotion to her and only her. She needs subjects that are loyal to her and not for her money. She doesn't really understand the difference but she knows that she can buy whoever she wants, but they won't be hers.

Her butler is the closest she has to the right servant. He knows what to do before she can even say it. When Chloe has a bad day, he gets her ice cream and puts on her favourite TV show. He drives her around to the most prestigious shops and holds her bags with new and expensive clothes. He stays with her even when she fires him.

Chloe believes it's because of her money. But deep down, she knows it's something more. She has known Jean-Luke since she was a small baby. He sees her more than her father does. Sometimes, he feels like more of a parent than a butler.

And then she meets Sabrina.

Sabrina, who stays with her no matter what. Who executes her plans - perhaps not always successfully, but nonetheless with no judgment. She plays all stupid games with her, she goes to the same shops as she and she carries her bags. She knows her favourite colour and that she doesn't like strawberries. She knows she likes honey crackers, despite them being cheaper than what she usually prefers.

Sabrina devoted to her - just the right amount. Just the right loyalty.

***

Since she was a little kid, Sabrina knew that the world is a cruel place. You are either born into a good position, or you aren't. You may stay at the bottom of the things or you can claw your way into a good position, that always will be worse than those who were born into it.

Sabrina is unlucky: her mother died when she was young. She is shy and doesn't have a lot of friends. She isn't particularly crafty or academically smart: her grades are just above the average, just enough to fool everyone that she is still smart enough. And she is. But not the Max-computer-genius smart

But Sabrina is also lucky: she knows how the world works and she doesn't have the same stupid optimism as her classmates, that if you believe hard enough you will get everything you want.

She also understands people. She knows how they work and for what reason they behave. She senses the true identity behind the everyday masks people put on to fool everyone and themselves. And in certain circumstances. If she plays her cards right. She can use those people to get a better position in life.

So, when she sees Chloe - she devotes herself to her. Because she senses that Chloe tries to buy off her loneliness with material objects. She knows that it doesn't always work, not to the extent Chloe wants. Sabrina knows that what Chloe wants and needs - is a loyal friend.

And Sabrina becomes this friend.

Soon enough, her father gets a promotion. Soon enough, her wardrobe is full of expensive clothes that Chloe doesn't wear anymore. Soon enough, she is invited to all the places she wouldn't even dream of visiting.

And well...she also gets to see a rare sight of Chloe, that no one, not even her father or butler have ever seen. And this side - this poor, crying mess, that believes that no one will ever love her - this is perhaps the best gift of them all.

Sabrina stays loyal to Chloe. Chloe gets a loyal subject. This is what everyone sees. This is not what it actually is.

#as you can see I am a huge fan of miraculouses side effects #cuz its such an intresting topic to me. how magic jewelry that is connected to the ancient powers of universe can influence the human mind #also projecting my unhealthy codependance of audio podcasts characters onto miraculouses you know how it is #I feel like this is an au. it's not actual miraculous. chloe doesn't bully sabrina she acts more apathetic and judgmental over her #especially on public. but when they are alone #what if they are monarch and subject but this is concensual. what if this is a fucked up friendship. or love. whatever floats your boat #for me here they are friends but with a weird friendship #miraculous ladybug #chloe bourgeois #sabrina raincomprix #miraculous au

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bambifornia · 11 months ago

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to be honest with you guys, I'm kinda torn on whether or not swindle would be a chronic-overspender or a massive cheapskate

I mean. I get it: swindle is flashy. swindle has expensive taste. swindle dreams of being spoiled, of a house full of lavish things with a belly full of high-grade energon. and he damn well has enough shanix and credits to buy said things.

but would he be so bold as to spend his money on it?

a part of me says yes. I mean, swindle is living through wartime. maybe a part of him thinks that if he doesn't treat himself today, he might not live tomorrow to enjoy the comfort of his wealth. hence all the fancy mods, beautiful furniture, sleek spaceships, etc.

besides, it helps with stress. gives swindle a rush of dopamine when he purchases something costly. it's a symbol that all of his crimes and hard work have amounted to something. that what he's done is justified (at least to him). let all the glorified "morality-policing" bots clutch their pearls at his greed, at least swindle can AFFORD to indulge

that's something many bots can't do nowadays

besides, swindle is kiiinda conceited and DEFINITELY self-entitled. with a mech like that, who's surprised that he has some alarming spending habits?

but another part of me argues that BECAUSE swindle is in a war, he'd be even more stingy with his money. after all, I think it's a fair assumption to say swindle uses his wealth as a leverage. it places him in the lap of luxury. it buys him out of danger. it gains him intel from bots with loose lips. it keeps bots in debt to him. it silences his opponents. it fetches him bots willing to do favors for him (ex. mercenaries and such). apart from his wit and words, money is one of swindle's deadliest weapons

and if he spent that money on something expensive, then swindle would, by extent, be risking his life

I kinda find the latter idea more compelling

though, he could be somewhere down the middle. some weeks, swindle can't seem to stop spending. hes maxing out his credit card, filling his cart to the brim with meaningless items, piling and piling on more debt.

the next few weeks, swindle is under a strict budget, skimping meals, stressing over the amount of debt he's collected and overworking himself in order to compensate for it all

he's stuck with this dilemma. and he can never seem to get out of it. he WANTS to be able to spend on himself, wants that life of comfort he craves. but he can only spend so much before his consciousness takes over and chastises him for being reckless. the only way he ever slips back into spending is when his greedy nature comes in and encourages swindle to work harder on his business. scam a couple of bots. plan some heists. that'll get the credits rolling in. and after a nice little profit or two, swindle will be able to treat himself again, after weeks of processor-breaking hustling.

it's an endless cycle of overindulgence and abstinence. there is no middle ground. he's always on either side on the spectrum. swindle's greed might make him successful, yes, but it's also destroyed his relationship with money

I dunno. feel free to share your thoughts. I just like the idea of swindle's greed creating more problems for him, even though he argues his life has gotten drastically better ever since he out himself and money first

#tfa #transformers animated #transformers #tfa swindle #swindle #tf swindle #transformers swindle #ramblings #this is like. part of the reason why i dont enjoy seeing swindle being a gambler for like. the shits and giggles #because that idea could be SOOOO much more interesting #swindle would say hes done with gambling. plans to never steo inside a casino again #and then hes seated at the table again. deck in servo and optics glued to the cards being shuffled around #the chance of easy money is too tempting. he cant resist #but when he invetitably fails swindle will always beat himself up for it #and thus continues the cycle

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mourreon · 8 months ago

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I wouldn’t let up an opportunity to rant so…

I was recently wondering where the frick David got enough money to buy the campers all those gifts in the Christmas Or Whatever episode. And come to think of it, David seems to have a good amount of money. Max always manages to find cash in his wallet even though David barely gets paid working at Camp Campbell.

So, what if David had a secret second job that helps him pay bills? Hence this AU

Max, Nikki, and Neil follow David into town again for a reason I’m not creative enough to figure out. David had left in the “Campmobile” about twenty minutes ago, so they decided to walk to town. They noticed that David has been getting a lot of afternoons off recently. They asked themselves if he had found a new girlfriend.

After a good laugh, they finally make it to town. They begin to look around for David’s car, and when they do, they’re shocked to find it parked outside a bar with sounds of laughter coming from inside.

The trio goes inside, not at all suspecting to see David on stage.

No, but seriously, imagine standup comedian David!! To the trios surprise, his material is not very David like (Which is why he keeps his second job a secret)

David probably wouldn’t be too famous, but he never fails to make the audience laugh. I imagine his standup routines to be a lot like Taylor Tomlinson’s. I just find the idea of David expressing himself and how he truly is on a stage for money HYSTERICAL.

Oh believe me I'm so glad someone actually decided to rant about their AUs in my asks !!

I've also briefly wondered where all that money comes from, I settled with thinking that he just saves a bit during the year so he can spend what he's been keeping on the side over the kids.

I've also figured he'd have another job at least outside of his summer job at the camp but the idea of him being a stand-up comedian is SO fun and fitting imo!!

Maybe the reason the kids follow him into town again is actually that they get suspicious he's getting time off so often, you know? I feel like they're curious enough to want to find out what their counselor is doing :p

This also made me think of those camp camp animatics people used to make on youtube - with bits from comedians (or vines) and the characters animated over them. If you're an artist that's just a fun idea of something you could get around to doing for your AU xP God why did I get into CC so late...I could've had it all...imagining 13 yr old me waiting for new silly animatics HDJSK

Anyway!! Thank you so much for sharing your little AU idea :D It was very entertaining to think about!

#camp camp #camp campbell #cc #cc david #camp camp AU #AU #alternative universe #ask #answer

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embrosegraves · 1 year ago

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𝔸 ℕ𝕖𝕔𝕜𝕝𝕒𝕔𝕖

Max Verstappen x Reader Max just wants to show his love for you

A pre-graduation gift!

Part 1 of a very fluffy 2 part Fic. I've decided to put all of my Sugar Daddy fics (because there will be more) into their own universe. I dub thee, The Sugar -verse!

Max was a man of his word. This meant that if he said he was going to do something, he would do it. Even if he said he would leave you alone to study. Of course he would pout a bit but he would leave you to do your thing. Most of all it meant that he absolutely would NOT change his mind after he utters the words “I’m going to…” when it came to spoiling you.

In order to avoid the wrath he was sure to incur from you, he would often say it under his breath or he would think them so as to avoid you hearing them. Because Lord knows what you would make him promise if you heard the things he was to purchase for you. In his opinion the laptop was nowhere near expensive enough. It made you happy though so he didn’t complain. Too much.

Now however, Max didn’t see the problem in spending as much as he could on you. You were graduating with your degree after years and years of hard work. You deserved to be given whatever it was you wanted to have. And despite what you said, Max was very aware of his spending habits. Which is why when there was only a month until your graduation, he bought extra cabinets and shoe racks for him to build.

Closer and closer the date crept up until it was the day before you graduated. Max had made sure that when you came home in the evening, there was a hot bath ready for you to soak in, a glass of your favourite wine and a plate of your favourite dinner meal ready on the bath tray. He was prepared to dote on you for however long you let him. Before you went to bed that night, Max decided that it wouldn’t hurt to give you at least one gift now.

“Schat, I have something to give you.”

You turned around in his arms so you could look at him properly. Times like this, when you would just be surrounded by him in comfort, were always your favourite thing. You would probably trade all the money in the world if it meant you could keep Max for yourself. Max wouldn’t make the same trade because that would mean that he couldn’t spend anything on you like he thought you deserved.

“I’ve already been given so much tonight, My Love.”

Max frowned a little when you spoke. He hadn’t given you anything yet. What did you mean you had been given so much? Seeing Max’s confusion you elaborated a little.

“I’ve been given an entire evening to spend around you. I’ve been given all my favourite things and now I get to just lay here with you, which I think is the greatest gift of them all.”

Max was thankful that most of the lights had been turned off. He could feel his face heating up. He buried his face between your neck and shoulder, giving you a light kiss.

“I want to give you something you can wear tomorrow.”

“Max.” Your voice was stern.

“It’s something small, don’t worry.”

“Just because it’s small doesn’t mean it wasn’t expensive, Max. What did you buy?”

“A necklace.” Came Max’s muffled reply. He had been placing soft kisses to your skin the whole time.

You closed your eyes to enjoy the feeling before you gently grabbed his face and moved it to look at you. Protests of “I wasn’t finished kissing” fell through Max’s mouth as you did.

“Can you justify it?” You asked. Max looked like a pouting child, but he nodded.

“I bought it because you’re graduating tomorrow and it’s a simple one so you can wear it every day and not just at fancy places.” It was a simple justification, but dammit he was right. You playfully scoffed but allowed him to get the necklace so he could give it to you. You felt an indescribable amount of love when you saw him get up with a big grin on his face.

When he gave you the box for it, he sat in front of you like a kid waiting to show their parents a drawing they were proud of. Opening the box, you gasped and covered your mouth. The necklace was beautiful. A dainty gold chain with Max’s initial and your birthstone.

“Max, this is beautiful.” Your voice was barely a whisper. You could hardly speak. It was simple, like he had said, but it was easily one of the most gorgeous things you had.

“Will you wear it tomorrow?” Max seemed almost nervous as he asked you to wear his initial around your neck.

In response you flung your arms around his neck and hugged him tightly, tears welling up in your eyes. His arms circled around your waist in reflex to keep you steady.

“I’m never taking it off.” You breathed near his ear. A few moments later you detached yourself and held the necklace towards him.

“Put it on for me?”

Neither of your smiles left your faces, even as you eventually succumbed to sleep.

The necklace looks similar to these necklaces I saw on facebook lmao

#f1 fluff #f1 x reader #formula 1 x you #max verstappen x reader #max verstappen fluff #max verstappen x you #max verstappen #formula one #sugar daddy max verstappen #sugar baby reader #Welcome to the Sugarverse #written and loosely edited and then posted in one sitting

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n7lebron · 5 months ago

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The HG Witch From Mercury line continues!

I've unfortunately been sitting on this for a while now with life getting in the way but I'm back with more p-bandai exclusive Witch From Mercury high grades, this time it's the pair from the Prologue, the Gundam Lfrith Pre-Production and it's witch-hunting counterpart the Heingra!

Obviously there's a lot of shared parts with their retail versions but the Pre-Production definitely gets more of the love here. Quite a few new parts go into just the backpack and other than the lights for the Gund-Bits (which there are a lot of poorly fitting stickers for) it is perfectly color separated and opens as it does in the show. Shout-out to them actually making new molds to get the yellow in the chest part separated too. Beyond that you get it's very cool beam rifle, a few activated Gund-Bits and the same great articulation as the retail kit.

The Heingra is bit more boring by comparison, with it doing it's best GM impression. The Grassley suits are probably my favorite grunts from the show though so I'm a fan of it anyway. It's got another great beam rifle and a bigger shield than it's later variant, the Heindree Sturm. Speaking of, you do get nearly the full loadout from the Sturm as extra parts, only missing a part to complete it's shield, so if you want to you can give the Heingra a mix of equipment.

Again two great kits from this line which, at the moment of writing, are both available to buy right now on p-bandai, and they're in-stock (which means they will ship out immediately)! Well in the US at least, but still great news for anyone looking to get either one of these kits.

I do have one more kit to show just below the cut if you're interested...

It's the Gundnode! And I got two of them, how else could I create my own little data storm? Well in reality I think you would need like 300 plus of them to match the amount that created the storm towards the end of the show but 1. I do not have that kind of money and 2. they've only had two runs of it on p-bandai so far with a max of six I could have at this point. And yes it is another p-bandai exclusive.

Despite that fact it's an amazing kit, really nailing another one of my favorite designs from the show. This is very much a flying suit so there's not many ground poses it can do well, with that in mind though it's articulation is in line with the other WFM kits, which means it's great and really helps it shine in the air (also it does come with a stand).

The sticker sheet is a decent size to include the full range of Permet Scores to pick from, I have the deactivated black ones on here but you can also use Red (score 2+) or Blue (score 6+). Not too many accessories here, some long and short beam blade effects and again another great beam rifle (with an extra gimmick I didn't know it had), but the star of the show is the effect parts to make the connected data storm. Even with just two it takes up a good amount of airspace, any more than that and I wouldn't know where or how to display them so for now I'm okay with just the two.

With that I'm up to seven new WFM kits that are p-bandai exclusive, and with the Beguir-Beu Torche (a variant from the Vanadis Heart manga) coming soon along with the recently announced (and currently up for preorder on p-bandai) Desultor, we may end up with nearly all of the suits from the show getting a kit. Which is great! At the cost of them being p-bandai releases, which is not. Unfortunately I don't see that changing any time soon. Either way I'm happy we're getting these as kits at all.

Next time I'll have my most recent painted project, and it'll hopefully not take as long to post about. Until then, I hope you enjoy! ✌🏼

#gunpla #gundam #model kit #plamo #HG #witch from mercury #gundam the witch from mercury #gundam lfrith #heingra #gundnode

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frankscrank2 · 5 months ago

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Nerfe BACC Rules

The beginning.

This challenge takes place on an island or islands neighborhood.

Create as many as 8 sims in up to 4 households. Randomize everything.

Roll a d20 and a d10 (This maxes the amount of money each household starts with at 30,000 but can be as low as 2,000.) You can then use mortgage bushes for the rest of the cash.

I play my households for one season and then switch to another one, starting from founders cottage. This way it’s easier to remember when I should stop, pay taxes, etc.

Restrictions.

- no electronics, like tv’s, stereos, computers, alarms, etc. Only cheapest stoves and fridges are allowed. Your Sims can have a phone.

- no running water, so this means no showers & sinks.

- no cars, services or delivery services.

- no hobby and community lots.

- No fertilising gardening plots. The land is wild and has never been tilled before, and it will take a while before it can yield good crops.

- no townies. So this means that future spouses must be found on University, Vacations or among the settlers/unlocked townies.

Unlocking neighborhood add-ons.

Running water - at least one sim or two sims must have 6 mechanical points and 3 logic points. 10.000 $ must be paid from town funds. On every occupied lot must be placed at least one water collector. +1 new townie

Unlocks cheap toilets, sinks, showers, etc.

Basic electricity system - at least one or two sims must have 10 mechanical points & 6 logic points.20.000 $ must be paid from town funds. On every occupied lot must be placed windmill. + 1 new townie.

Unlocks simple & cheap stereos, lamps, phones, cash registors, etc.

Basic airport - unlocked with basic electricity system. A small airline decided to take a risk and land on the island. They need a clean land and lots of fruit punch, so 50.000 $ must be paid from town funds. + 2 new townie.

Unlocks non wood/stone wallpapers, furnitures, pets, etc.

Advanced electricity system & sewerage - available with basic airport. 50.000 $ must be paid from town funds for plans and skilled construction crew that will do all the dirty work. + 3 new townies.

Unlocks tv’s, computers, fancy lightning, stereos, toilets, showers, etc.

University - available with basic airport unlocked and every sim who wants to go on University must pay 10.000 $ from family funds.

Because this university is not owned by the town, you are allowed to create as many Young Adults, as you want/need.

Sims can build their own campus - 250.000$ must be substracted from town funds. With its built, University is free.

Downtown - 500.000$ - big island with lots of space for future lots (15 or more). Unlocks 15 townies.

Shopping district - 250.000$ small island or islands, with less than 10 lots. Unlocks 10 townies.

Community lots - like parks, playgrounds, bars, etc. can be build by Sims with basic electricity system unlocked. Lot value must be substracted from town funds if it is an unowned community lot. The mayor should buy the lot and then donate it back to the public (I have this donate lot mod for that purpose). Otherwise have a playable Sim purchase a community lot and run a business on it.

Vacations - unlocked with basic airport.

Clothes - basic clothing is unlocked with silver badge in Sewing (so its rather important to start working on this skill as soon as possible or your kids will be dressed in something game chooses ;) ).

Careers.

In most careers level 6 is the highest, before University is unlocked. I recommend using Cyjon’s Job Stopinator.

Some careers need special buildings to be built for certain amount of Simoleons. It can be either hood decoration or community lot. See list below for more details.

High priority careers.

High priority jobs means that when the specified condition occur one of available Sims must take a job & from now on in neighborhood must be at least one Sim, that works in such occupation.

Medicine - available when first Sim got sick and will spread his/hers disease to at least one Sim. 6 level is top, with Uni (Biology major) - all levels are unlocked.

When Sim becomes General Practitioner (6 lvl) he must build a Clinic.

Clinic - 15.000$, Hospital (available at 10 lvl) - 60.000$.

Law Enforcement - available when first robbery occur. 6 top, with Uni - all.

Building - 30.000 (standalone). Can be merged with town hall, office, court, etc.

Education - first spot available when at least one kid in neighborhood hits child stage. 6 - top, with Uni (any major) - all.

Simple playground (6 lvl) - 15.000$

School (10 lvl) - 60.000$.

Private school - available with airport built and every Sim must pay a fee of 2.000$.

Early openings:

Science - when first sim gets obducted by Aliens - first spot is ONLY available to Knowledge Sims. 6 top, with Uni (Physics/Biology/Mathematics major) - all. Available to Sims with predistined hobby in Science.

No special building needed, school will do.

Business - available to anyone when first player-controlled business hits rank 6. Only one slot per business. (so if in neighborhood there’re 2 player controlled businessess, 2 slots are available).

Military - available when at least 3 obductions occured and there was at least one robbery. 6 top, with Uni (History/Political Science) - all.

No special building needed, town hall or police station will do.

Natural Scientist - first spot available to a Knowledge Sim when at least one sim becomes a plantsim. 6 top, with Uni (Biology major) - all. Later it’s available to anyone with predistined hobby in Nature.

Paranormal - available when sim was scared by a ghost at least 3 times. 6 top, 7 and rest available with police station built.

Law - one spot available when for the very first time one sim gets furious with another (but NOT with burglar). 7 top, with Uni (History/Political Science major) - all.

No special building needed, town hall will do.

Adventurer - available to one sim from a start, but 6 is top. When airport was built - all. Only one spot available.

Journalism - available to anyone when first robbery, fire, childbirth, death and obduction occur. Basic electricity must be unlocked.

Hobby/skill points limits:

Athletic - first spot available when first sim gets 6 points in sport and with predistined hobby in Sport or Fitness. Later available to anyone with predistined hobby in Sport or Fitness.

Any sportground (can be merged with Gym).

Culinary - first spot available when first sim gets 6 points in cooking with predistined hobby in Culinary - he must build a restaurant to actually start this track though.

Restaurant - no money limit, after restaurant was built this track is available to anyone with correct predistined hobby.

Artist - first spot available to any sim with 6 points in creativity and with predistined hobby in Arts&Crafts with airport built. Later available to anyone with predistined hobby in Arts&Crafts.

Show business - first spot available when airport was built and to a Sim with high charisma AND creativity (at least 6 points each). Later available to anyone with predistined hobby in Arts&Crafts or Sport.

Music - first spot available to any sim with 6 creativity points and with Music&Dance predistined hobby with built airport. Later available to anyone with predistined hobby in Music&Dance.

Dance - first spot available to any sim with high creativity AND sport (6 points each) and with Music&Dance predistined hobby with built airport. Later available to anyone with predistined hobby in Music&Dance.

Population limits:

Criminal - available to anyone when population hits 20 playable sims and any aspiration failure occured.

Political - available since the beginning for one sim to be mayor of the island, available to other sims when population hits 20 playable sims - then one Sim with highest charisma gets a job (preferably most outgoing).with Uni (Political Science major) - all.

Town hall - 60.000, can be merged with office, police station, court, etc.

Slacker - available when population hits 20 playable sims and there was in neighborhood at least two sims who never got any job.

Gamer - available with unlocked electricity and at least 20 playable sims in neighborhood to a sim with predistined hobby in Games.

Entertainment - available to anyone when airport was built and there are at least 20 playable sims.

University only:

Architecture - available to anyone with finished Uni (Art/Mathematics major).

Intelligence - available to anyone with finished Uni (History/Political Science major) and with built police station.

Oceanography - available to anyone with finished Uni (Biology major) and with predistined hobby in Nature.

Taxes.

At the beginning households pay as much as they can, so neighborhood add ons can be unlocked. I don’t care if it is 500$ or 5.000$ per season. With basic airport build this thing is replaced with Nepheris’ rules:

Households are divided into tiers based on their total funds (check from neighbourhood screen): Upper Class (net worth $100,000+) Middle Class (net worth $50,000-$99,000) Lower Class (net worth $25,000-$49,000) Poverty (net worth below $25,000) Each tier earns the city tax per season based on the number of sims in that household: Upper Class: 1.000$/Sim Middle Class: 500$/Sim Lower Class: 250$/Sim Poverty: 100$/Sim

Sim Multiplier.

The SM is the number that you multiply your number of playable Sims by in order to get the city’s population. Servos count as playable Sims. Pets do not.

+1 for your first community lot

+1 when you reach a total of 5 community lots

+1 for every additional 5 community lots

+5 for your Business District

+5 for your Downtown District

+5 for your University

Rules are a mix of Kahlenas, Wildwoodheightsbacc, and Nepheris.

#Sims 2 #Sims 2 BACC #Nerfe #Nerfe Rules

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