#ik i said last year i wanted to start making more original art when i had the time. and i still do.

[zelebirbo]

[nerdwaifuu-stories]

The Proposal

Happy (belated) Ninjago Oc Day! Ik I haven’t posted much on this account, but I figured it would be the perfect time to post something about my OCs.

Ig some basic info:

Word count: 4,966

Oc basics: the main two are Hisashi and Emon. Hisashi was a samurai/soldier who I have made Ronin’s (dead) uncle. Emon was a criminal who worked for Chen (although Hisashi doesn’t know about that. He just knows that Emon has previously done crime in his youth), but started to lose interest over time due to several factors. Another oc that’s mentioned is Lex. They are a friend of Hisashi and Emon’s, and they are actually an Oni.

Summary: Taking place roughly 25-30ish years before the Ninjago series, Hisashi is coming home from a mission. Since he and Emon have been together for some time, he figures it’s time to take it to the next step. He is one ring purchase and a ship and train ride away from trying to reach that next step.

If you want to know more about these characters, there’s some stuff on my art account @nerdwaifuu-art.

Hope you enjoy!

Cheers rang through the village as they saw the group in green armor entering the village. The soldiers marched through the middle, many with a look of victory on their faces contrasting the scuff, dirt, wounds, and exhaustion their bodies presented: all a worthy cost for a village's safety. Eventually their march and the cheering stopped as the chief approached the group.

"Oh great heroes, thank you! Thank you for saving us from those fiends! We will never forget what you have done for us! May the Creator bring you prosperity!" The chief cheered. Once he spoke his last word, the crowd of villagers' cheer erupted again, echoing the chief's message. From there, the chief and the captain went off to chat and the rest dispersed throughout the village. Some made their way back to the ship either to rest or prepare for the journey back to the city. Others remained in the village to chat or to explore. Amongst those exploring were two young men: a stout, short dark brown haired chatterbox and a long dark copper haired, silent listener. The two strolled through the village as one chatted away and the other listened while glancing at everything they passed.

"I wonder if the captain saw our hard work out there."

"Mhm."

"I mean we were kicking butt out there."

"Mhm."

"We should probably go to the medics to get our backs checked from how much carrying we were doing..."

"Mhm."

The stout man slowed his walk as he placed his hand on his friend's shoulder, "Hisashi, you good? You're quieter than usual, and it’s hard for you to be quieter than you already are..." He paused before he threw himself on track to a ramble, "Anyways, you just seem out of it."

"Yeah... Uh, yes, yes I'm fine, Shiro," Hisashi stumbled, "My mind's just on, uh, other things."

"Oh? Other things? What kind of other things?" Shiro questioned.

"You know... other things..." Hisashi kept scanning the surrounding stands and buildings.

"No, I don't know other things. How about you introduce me to them?" Shiro coaxed.

With a sigh, Hisashi stopped his mini search and said, "I'm just looking for some gifts..."

"Forrrr?"

Hisashi paused for a second, then said, "For my nephew-"

"Ah, why didn't you say so? No need to be so secretive with me," Shiro smirked, "C'mon, let's go find him something. One of these shops should have something he'll like" Shiro kept his hand on Hisashi's shoulder as he started to lead him. Hisashi resisted the push and said, "Actually, I know what shop I want to go to... I just need to find it again..." He looked around once more and then there it was: a small wooden stand run by a middle aged woman. The stand was covered with an assortment of items: jewelry, weapons, metal decorations, toys, metal sculptures, etc. He saw it the first time he arrived at the village and knew he had to stop by it.

"There it is," Hisashi took the lead and pulled Shiro with him as he approached the stand.

"Ah, hello boys~ Do you see anything you like?" The woman greeted them.

"My friend here is just looking, but I do see something I like," Shiro said, shooting a smoldering look towards the woman. The woman giggled and the two continued to chat (or Shiro commanded the conversation and continually bragged about himself). Meanwhile, Hisashi looked at the items. His eyes kept being pulled towards the actual reason that he wanted to come to the stand in the first place—a set of two matching rings sitting in a wooden ring box. Both were made up of a thick metal band that had a space cut in the middle where the gem was, making it appear as if the gem was floating. On the band, on either side of the gem, was a dragon carving colored gold. One ring had a black tinted band with a white gem while the other had a polished, silver finish and a black gem.

The woman noticed his interest in the rings and, once Shiro had taken a short pause, she shifted her focus, "I see that you've found something you like." She picked up the ring box and placed it in the middle of the table. Shiro shot a confused look at the woman and then at Hisashi.

"Oh, sorry, I was just looking at them. They're very beautiful," Hisashi admitted.

"Haha, no need to apologize for looking at what I'm selling, but thank you. My husband's... well, my late husband's father made them," the woman sighed, "Honestly the story is quite sweet. He came to this village and set up a blacksmith shop. A woman came into the shop one day and he fell deeply in love with her. He expanded his skills from weapon making to making small metal trinkets to give to her—" the woman glanced down at some of the other items at her stand before continuing, "She loved every single one and returned his love. Eventually, he decided it was time. He went into his workshop and began on his favorite project. The next time anyone saw him leave his shop, he went directly to the woman, took her somewhere nice, and proposed with these rings. She wore one and he wore the other..." A small smile formed on her face as she looked back at the rings, "Then they passed it down to my husband to use with me, and now here I am trying to sell them," she sighed, "I have no use for them now, and, even though I'm probably making some people roll in their graves, I need the money..."

"Awww, yeah that is really sweet. It's a shame you don't have a lady friend back at home, unless you and that Lexi girl have something~" Shiro teased Hisashi. Hisashi rolled his eyes. 'That Lexi girl' he referred to was Lex, but Hisashi only saw them as a friend. Instead, he had his eyes on someone else; someone else that he deeply cared about; someone else that he actually had something with.

"Plus we're here for your nephew. I don't think he'll have any use for these rings," Shiro reminded him.

"Um, right, of course..." Hisashi watched as the woman placed the rings back to their original spot.

"Oh, a nephew? Is he into metal work? Or I'm assuming he'll like the toys if he's young or the weapons perhaps?" The woman asked.

"Ah yes, a 5 year old who's into metal work-" Shiro quietly snickered. Hisashi shot a quick glare at him.

"Oh, he's quite young, scratch the weapons then," she chuckled.

Hisashi looked around the table some more and decided on one of the small metal figures and an old pocket watch.

"Ah, I'm sure he'll enjoy that," Shiro muttered sarcastically when he noticed the pocket watch was no longer ticking.

"He likes taking things apart and making new things, so yes, he'll probably enjoy this," Hisashi defended his choice.

"Is he trying to be an inventor?" the woman asked.

"I believe he does have an interest in becoming one. He's been fascinated with all the technological changes going on in the city. I don't understand it, but at least he's getting prepared for the future," Hisashi answered, starting to take out his money for his purchase.

"I forgot Ninjago City was going through all that. All the beautiful wood and clay buildings being replaced with tall metal buildings... It's insane."

"Yeah..." Hisashi and Shiro nodded along. While Hisashi searched for the right amount of money, he noticed that the remaining soldiers started to make their way back to the ship. He glanced back at the rings and turned to Shiro, "How about you head back to the ship while I finish up here?"

Shiro nodded, said his goodbye to the shop owner and left. As soon as he was out of earshot, Hisashi turned back to the stand and asked, "How much are the rings?"

The woman stated the price and said, "So you are interested in them after all?" Hisashi nodded as he took out the right amount of money for the rings, the figure, and the pocket watch.

"So is this for someone or just keeping it for yourself?" The woman wondered.

"I have someone at home waiting for me—"

The woman leaned forward, her eyes sparkling with interest. Before she could ask any questions, with a soft smile, Hisashi whispered, "I met h- uh, this person a while back and now we've been together for 5-6 years now... I figured I should do something special..."

"And decided it was time?" The woman asked at the same volume as him, with a large grin on her face. He nodded.

"Well, I hope the Creator blesses you both," she said, exchanging the items for Hisashi's money. He said his thanks and started to head off to the ship.

"Goodbye, may the Creator bring you prosperity and may the Great Serpent protect you on your journey!" The woman called out.

Hisashi turned around and asked "Great Serpent?"

"Oh, do people in the city not know this story?" Hisashi shook his head, so she explained, "According to some stories I've heard, there's a serpent that sleeps deep in the sea. She apparently used to rule the sea and was the reason for the waves and the storms, so people used to pray to her and give her offerings to keep her happy. Unfortunately that's all I know from the top of my head, and it's all probably just a story."

"Huh, sounds interesting. Thank you," Hisashi said before departing.

Laying his bed, Hisashi could feel the ship rock back and forth and hear his roommates chatting instead of sleeping, excited to be one step closer to home in the morning. But none of it blocked his focus on reading. His brain refused to let him sleep as the nerves have finally got to him. He had a ring in his possession, and he was hopefully going to give it away once he got to the city. To try to calm himself down in the safety of his bed, he took out some letters he got in the past few weeks. Each one started with "My Dearest Sai," and ended with "I can't wait to see you again. Love, Emon Sharma."

It was odd to think that these letters used to be closed off with a "Sincerely" or a simple "From," and "Love" was never a closing he had seen until 5 years ago. Even though it's been years, Hisashi's heart still flutters when he sees the word in Emon's handwriting. It still feels like such a new feeling, especially when he never acknowledged that such feelings could exist in him when he was growing up. Even when his brother tried to describe them when referring to himself and his now wife during high school, Hisashi never understood. Now he did.

After rereading each of the letters, he held the paper close to his chest. He tried picturing everything that Emon described. He tried remembering each random ramble that he sent him that Emon responded to. He silently laughed at the idea of him trying to make sense of everything Hisashi tried telling him. If he tried sending similar letters to anyone else he knows, they would just skim through everything and ask about how he is and how's work, avoiding to say "please tell me more about this random thing you learned ." Emon would be one of the only people who would say that.

The chatter in the room quieted down and the remaining lights started to disappear. With a sigh, Hisashi caught one more glimpse of the contents of the letters before it went completely dark.

"I can't wait to see you again. Love, Emon Sharma."

He softly smiled, folded the letters, and placed them under his pillow.

"I can't wait either..."

"Ah finally, land!" Shiro exclaimed once he and Hisashi got off the ship. Carrying their stuff (armor, weapons, supplies, letters, etc.), the two swerved their way through the crowds of people. Fellow soldiers were pouring out of the boat, being welcomed by their loved ones, going to a nearby inn or bar, or already beginning their ways home. Hisashi looked around at who was there, but he knew that his loved ones were in the city, which was a train ride away. He smiled at the thought of coming off the train to them, and clutched the ring box that hid in his pocket.

"Are you sure you don't want to stop for a drink? Or even for a snack?" Shiro asked, following his 6 foot friend to avoid getting lost.

"Yeah, I'm sure. Gotta make sure I catch the train," he said, glancing back to make sure Shiro wasn't too far behind.

"But the train's not going to leave for a bit," Shiro said, puzzled.

"I know, I just..." Hisashi trailed off and stopped in his tracks, leading to Shiro bumping into him.

"Oof- what's going on?" He asked, but got no answer. Shiro looked past Hisashi to see what was ahead, but it didn't click due to so many people being around. It wasn't until he saw two people: a short, medium tanned, black haired man with a scruffy beard and a towering, brown-skinned, short brown haired (hidden under a hat), female presenting person. The man noticed them and started to wave, then stopped and started approaching quickly while dragging his companion with him. Hisashi gripped the hidden ring box tighter as he started walking to lessen the distance. Once he was within a foot of the man, the man threw his arms around Hisashi and nearly lifted him off his feet within the first few seconds of the hug while saying, "It's so good to see you, Sai!"

"Woah, easy Emon. No need to break me," Hisashi chuckled, wiggling a bit to loosen Emon's grip and free his arms. Once they were free, Hisashi returned the hug and pulled Emon close while Emon buried his face into Hisashi's shoulder. Hisashi wished he could stay in this hug forever. He also wished he could just give Emon a big kiss, but he had to wait until they were in private; until they were in the city...

"Wait a minute—" Hisashi pushed Emon out in front of him, keeping his hands on Emon's shoulders—"What are you guys doing here?"

"Lex and I just figured that you deserved a welcome party as soon as you arrived," Emon confessed.

"And Emon really missed you and wanted to see you as soon as possible," Lex added.

"Yeah, that too," Emon chuckled, nervously rubbing the back of his neck. A smile stretched across Hisashi's face as he tried to hold in a laugh. His hand left Emon's shoulder and almost caressed his cheek, but he then remembered Shiro was watching from behind and they were surrounded by other people. He slowly pulled his hand back and hid it back in his pocket, trying to ignore the longing look in Emon's eyes. He then said, "Thank you, I missed you so much too. I couldn't wait to see you again..." Emon responded with a soft smile.

"Well, I missed you guys too," Shiro barged in, now standing next to Hisashi.

"Yes, it's good to see you, Shiro," Lex mumbled.

"I thought you would be much happier, Lexi," Shiro snickered. Lex's eyes were shooting daggers, but they tried to hide their gaze behind the brim of their hat as they said, "We best be going now. Don't want to miss the train." Before anyone could say anything, Lex had already turned around and started towards the train station.

"Ah what a shame. I wanted to talk with y'all more," Shiro sighed, "Well, see y'all back in the city tomorrow!" After an exchange of goodbyes, Shiro disappeared into the crowd.

"Well then, let's go," Emon said, linking his arm with Hisashi's. The two then followed behind Lex, trying to keep up.

"What was all the hurry about Lex?" Emon asked them.

Lex turned their head away from the train window and said, "Just didn't want to get stuck in one of his rambles. You get him talking and you'll probably end up hearing too much about what happened during the mission. I'm just not in the mood to hear how he 'sliced one man's head off' or whatever."

"That's fair," Hisashi said, also looking at the passing land outside the window. He was there when all of it happened, and he didn't need to hear about it again. He only wanted his mind on one thing and one thing only.

"Speaking of which, how was the mission?" Emon asked.

"Oh, just a typical mission. The thugs were playing hard to get for some time. Fortunately, we stopped them before anything too bad happened, and we didn't have many major injuries this time around. Just some scratches here and there," Hisashi answered quickly. He took one last look out of the window before sitting up and facing Lex and Emon on the other side of the table, saying, "But, despite the mission, the place we were at was very lovely." Emon leaned closer, interested to hear more.

"It was a small village by the ocean. Whenever we had a break, it was so calming to be on the white beach and just listen to the calm waves. And the village was really lovely too. It was filled with small shops and stands, and the people there seemed nice. They were very welcoming and always closed the conversations with something about 'the Creator' blessing you." Hisashi said. Lex perked up to full attention towards the end.

"The Creator? Like the creator of the town?" Emon asked.

"Or the Realm..." Lex muttered quietly, but, when they got confused looks from the two men, they said, "World. I mean world."

"Oh right, that makes more sense," Emon chuckled.

"Yeah, they often referenced them, but I guess they have plenty of other stories too. Before I was leaving, a nice woman at a shop said something about a Great Serpent—" Hisashi then recited what the woman had told him. Both Emon and Lex were leaning in close to hear every word. When Hisashi finished, Emon, with excitement in his eyes, and Lex, looking like they wanted to say something but decided against it, looked at each other, then back at Hisashi.

"Woah, that's so cool! Bet that was fun to hear about right before getting on a ship," Emon snickered.

"Yeah, but it's merely just a story," Lex uttered, leaning back against the seat, "Nothing to worry about."

"Have you ever heard of it?" Hisashi asked them. Lex hesitantly nodded, "All I know about it is the same as what the woman told you..." Hisashi could tell that they knew more, but he didn't want to force anything out of them. He could probably try finding a scroll or a book with more information.

"Anyways, overall the place was really nice. If we didn't have work and other stuff to deal with, I would say we should go there sometime," Hisashi said, mainly glancing over to Emon when talking. The idea of just leaving the city, getting on a ship, and sailing somewhere to explore sounded so pleasant, especially if it was with Emon and even Lex. He would even want to take his nephew once in a while. Just the 3 and sometimes 4 of them on a ship, seeing what the world offered. But their lives didn't allow for that. Hisashi had soldier duties to take care of while Emon and Lex had their own responsibilities, and there was just too much they would be leaving behind. Maybe one day in the future it could become a reality.

"Yeah, that would be nice," Emon said, smiling. Then the table went silent. Lex went back to looking out the window while the other two sat silently. Hisashi started to fidget with the ring box in his pocket, only bringing back the nerves. He looked up at Emon and could see he was shifting in his seat, shooting glances at both him and Lex. He wondered what Emon could be so nervous about.

Lex turned their head and sensed the nervousness sitting next to them and across from them. They shot a "say something and get it over with" look at both Hisashi and Emon.

"Sai—"

"Emon—"

They both paused and tried continuing, only further interrupting each other, "Sorry, go ahead—no you go ahead—no I didn't have anything to say—no please, I interrupted you—"

With a sigh, Lex barged in, "So, do you guys have any plans for today?" The two paused and looked at each other, waiting for the other to say something.

"I heard the weather is going to be super nice today. Maybe you guys can go to the park," Lex suggested.

"You are such a mind reader. That was what I was going to suggest," Emon said.

"I was actually going to recommend the same thing," Hisashi nervously laughed. He's so glad that he wrote Lex about what his plans were, or he would've just chickened out and waited to do it.

"Hah, perfect. Maybe we can get some lunch too. You're probably starving. I know I am," Emon said with a grin.

"Sounds good," Hisashi replied with a soft smile. He turned to Lex and mouthed the words "Thank you."

They smirked and mouthed back the words "You're welcome."

"Man, no matter how many times I come here, I always forget how good the food is," Emon exclaimed as he finished paying for the food. In defeat, Hisashi watched the check and the money leave. Him and Emon literally went back and forth about who would pay the bill only to find out that Hisashi had left his wallet at home due to him rushing to get ready and look nice for the day, so Emon came out victorious.

"I claim to pay the next check," Hisashi uttered while they got up and left the café.

"Haha, we'll see if you remember your wallet next time," Emon snickered, "Although it's not like you to forget it at all. Are you feeling well?"

"Yes yes, I'm fine," Hisashi chuckled, "Just adjusting to being home that's all..."

And just being a big ball of nerves, he thought to himself. At least he had the ring with him, or his whole plan would have gone down the drain because of one silly mistake.

"How about you though? You seemed nervous on the train," he asked Emon.

"Oh, uh, yeah. Um, yeah I'm good now. It was just being on a train. Y'know I don't really go on them," Emon said. Hisashi raised an eyebrow, but decided not to  further question him.

The two continued to chat as they walked towards and into the park. Circled by the new skyscrapers, the park sat at the center of the entire city. Full of green hills and growing trees, it was one of the few areas of nature in the city. It was still a work in progress as workers were busy with putting in new buildings, benches, and pathways, but it was still a nice place for a stroll and a proposal.

The two walked through the park, chatting and enjoying the scenery. While listening to Emon, Hisashi scanned the area, trying to find the best area. It needed to be a private area with no one around, but also needed to be a beautiful area.

All of a sudden, Emon grasped Hisashi's hand and said, "Come with me, I know a good place you need to see." He then started leading him up one of the hills, looked around, and then continued pulling him along. Down the hill, across some of the grass, and up a slightly taller hill. Once they reached the top, Emon stopped and tightened his hand around Hisashi's, looking out at the view of the entire park.

"Wow," Hisashi marveled at the view. It was beautiful... and there wasn't anyone else around... it was perfect.

"I know right. I came here all the time when I was younger. When I had no where else to go, I would just come here..." Emon's grip loosened, so Hisashi gently pulled his hand away and backed up slightly. He pulled the ring box out of his pocket and took a deep breath as he went down on a knee. This was it. It was time.

"It's crazy to think that I've come all this way," Emon continued, still looking at the view, "I used to come here as a young thief just trying to survive. That's all I thought my life would be until the day I died. But you've changed that..." Hisashi watched Emon go grab something from inside his jacket, but he couldn't see what. "...You've shown me that there's more to my life. Life is not just about trying to get by. It's about learning and experiencing new things. It's about love. It's about so much more than I know, So, I took you here in hopes that I can leave the lonely, barely living thief behind and enter a new chapter of our lives. Hisashi Arima, will y—" Emon turned around, about to kneel down, but he stopped halfway. In his hands was a long, wooden box with a black finish, kept shut with a golden latch. He quickly stood up and hid the box back in his jacket, his eyes not leaving Hisashi. He ran one of his hands through his hair as his face started to flush red. "Sai, I— oh my god..." was all he could say.

Hisashi sat there frozen, unsure what to do. He had planned this for weeks, but now everything just jumped out of his brain.

"Were you about to propose..."

Emon lips formed an embarrassed smile as he quickly nodded. Hisashi's mouth hung open and he looked down at the ring box, unsure what to say. Should he just try to stick to his plan or let Emon continue?

"Forget about me, go ahead," Emon whispered, gently pulling Hisashi's chin back up.

"Um, well," Hisashi cleared his throat and took a deep breath in, looking into Emon's eyes. They had a sort of calming aura about them now. Hisashi's lip curled up slightly as he gathered his words.

"I guess to play off what you've said, you have changed my life as well. Before I really got to know you, I probably seemed like a stone cold guy whose only purpose was to work until he no longer could. You have added more purpose to my life... so much more purpose. And, despite trying to understand everything, love was never one I could get a grasp of. Now I feel like I know at least a tiny bit about it from the past few years, and I'm willing to learn more with you. Emon, I love you so much. I will love you until the day I die. Even beyond death, I will always love you..." Hisashi took a pause, trying to catch his breath from speeding up towards the end without taking a moment to breathe. During the pause, he decided to open the ring box, resulting in a quiet gasp from Emon. He glanced up at him to see the reaction. His smile was bigger, but was being slightly hidden behind one of his hands. His calming eyes started to tear up as he looked up from the ring to Hisashi.

"Will you... would you... uh..." Hisashi started, but his mind was back to blanking out. Improvising clearly took all his brain power. It was his turn to blush red.

Emon chuckled, took Hisashi's one hand that wasn't holding the box, and asked "Will you marry me?" Hisashi couldn't help but laugh along as he quickly nodded. Emon then took the polished silver ring and slipped it onto one of Hisashi's fingers, and Hisashi put the other one on Emon.

"By the way, that was my line," Hisashi joked as he gave Emon his ring.

"Technically it was supposed to be mine," Emon said before pulling Hisashi up and into a kiss with his arms around his neck. Once they both pulled away, Emon held Hisashi close and rested his head against his shoulder.

"I love you so much Sai, and thank you for the ring. It's absolutely as beautiful as you are..." Emon said, then remembered his proposal gift. He let go of Hisashi, grabbed the box, went down on his knees, and held the box up.

"This is what I was going to give you... I hope you don't mind it not being a ring..."

Hisashi took the box from him and unlocked the latch. He lifted the lid to find a ornate dagger inside. It had a pale green jade hilt with silver sheath decorated with floral motifs and pale green and red gemstones. He gently picked up the dagger and unsheathed it to reveal a silver, double edged blade.

"This is beautiful," he said in awe, sheathing the blade and placing it carefully back into the box.

"I'm glad you think so. As soon as I saw it, I figured it would be a perfect gift," Emon said, smiling.

"It definitely is. Thank you," Hisashi said, giving Emon a quick peck on the lips.

"Well, should we get out of here and start the next chapter of our lives?" Hisashi asked.

Emon took a hold of Hisashi's hand and said, "I'm ready whenever you are."

They took one more look at the view, and Hisashi started to lead Emon.

"Let's go."

[gas-station-trackphone]

Fic Recs/Mandatory Reading for Reddie fans

Here is an incomplete list of some of my favorite Reddie fics on ao3, because i cannot get over the sheer talent of this fandom’s wonderful writers! A lot of these are the Greatest Hits that you’ll find on almost every fic list, but that’s why I consider them mandatory reading. like if you haven’t read some of these, what are you doing?

the years go by like days by georgiestauffenberg, rated M

the 27 years in between, but better because richie and eddie stay together. every time i think of this fic, i think of that lady gaga meme where she’s like “brilliant, incredible, amazing, show stopping, etc” and maybe it’s bc this is one of the first reddie fics i ever read, but this one is always gonna be my favorite

broken record by spunknbite, rated E

the mother of all time loop fics. every reddie veteran gets chills at the phrase “the house on Neibolt was still standing”

literally everything by stitchy

like seriously just clear a few days bc you’re not gonna want to stop reading this author once you start. no other author has made me literally fucking cackle in one paragraph and sob in the next like this one, pls do yourself a favor and devour all their works like i did 

the night we met (take me back) by camerasparring, rated E

ch2 fix-it where eddie shows up at richie’s door alive and with no memory. great slow burn with a wonderfully conflicted richie, 10/10

let’s hear it for my baby! series by cloudings, rated E

OOOOOOOHHH boy! a modern teen!reddie grindr AU that’s both steamy AND sweet?? more like a fucking blessing amen hallelujah

a heart that laughter has made sweet by marjaani, rated E

another lovely teen!reddie fic that’s got it all! sweet, stupid boys, humor, a teeny bit of angst, and some 5-alarm fire smut with some top eddie, as a treat

keep talking. i’ll keep walking toward the sound of your voice. by theappleppielifestyle, rated T

angst with a happy ending is my favorite, and this one is just fantastic. so sweet, so sad! and stan is featured as eddie’s afterlife buddy and idk about y’all but i cannot get enough of stanley uris in my reddie fics. read this, then read all this author’s reddie fics, they’re all amazing

collateral by loosecannon, sheepknitssweater, rated E

a post-ch2 fic that i guess could be classified as fix-it, BUT with some very interesting twists. they beat the clown, everyone lives, but no one really gets the tropey happy ending. the WIP sequel is also incredible and i live for the updates.

the greater fool  series by mischiefmanager, mostly rated T with some E

this is a series i’ll reread a lot bc it’s so fucking good. follows young reddie into early adulthood, mostly a bunch of cute shit where they figure out themselves and their relationship. also contains the single best teen reddie fic in existence, he came in through the window, but reading the whole series is a must

brokeback derry and everything else by Amuly, rated E

27 years in between, richie and eddie reconnect in their 20s and meet back up in derry twice a year to remember and love each other before going back to their lives and forgetting. so much pain. there’s a lot of sweet stuff in there, but you can see shit’s gonna get complicated from miles away and the anticipation almost gave me stomach ulcers (in a good way). ultimate angst with a happy ending.

let me name the stars for you by playedwright, rated M

speaking of angst with a happy ending...Martian AU!!!!! this one fucked me up in the best way, i literally called my roommate at 2am to vent to her about my emotions after reading it. i go back and reread chapter 8 just to be overwhelmed by it, and it makes me cry every time. plus, there are awesome sequels/companion pieces in the series! read this, i beg you!

walk through fire for you by hyruling, rated T

unwind after all that angst with some cute, drunk, confused eddie being very upset when he finds out richie is engaged. richie only teases him a little before pointing out the matching ring on eddie’s finger. 

in the heat of the summer (you're so different from the rest) by kaboomslang, rated E

post-ch2 slow burn with tags that really say it all, including but not limited to: eddie moves to california and richie is a mess, Eddie Kaspbrak’s Hot Girl Summer, and cute middle aged man dates

pivotal moments by danfanciesphil, polypocket, rated E

high school reddie has a sort of fwb thing goin on, but emotions get in the way. featuring wonderful bevchie friendship, hella miscommunication, cute double dates, high eddie, and a happy ending

like a bullet in the back by jerry_duty, rated M

adult idiots in love! a personal favorite trope of mine! slow burn with a fair helping of angst but a really great ending. richie stays with eddie in new york while he’s there on business, and it takes these losers SO LONG to figure it out but the way they dance around it is very cute

no sense of living without aim [WIP] by liesmyth, rated E

richie and eddie meet on grindr in the 27 years between and hey, whadda ya know, they fall in love! i really love this fic but i’m pretty sure it’s been abandoned. i’ve had it open on my phone browser for like 3 months with no update but i still check it regularly bc i’m pathetic and this fic is just so good i’m DYING to know what happens next so read at ur own risk

a strange sense of familiarity [WIP] by Katranga, rated E

another “they meet and fall in love without remembering” fic, and even though it’s not complete yet, it gets regular updates. oh, also, i’m obsessed with it. they’re long distance fuck buddies who can’t admit they’re in love, and then they get hit with the childhood memories! and everyone lives! what’s not to love!  also PLEASE read kisses take like mint and every other reddie work by this author, they are all fantastic

adult friends by sudowoodo, rated T

AU where adult reddie meet at a first aid seminar for work (immediately fall in love), become friends, become best friends, and finally get to be happy. has some super repressed eddie and intensely pining richie, which is always fun, and genuinely made me laugh out loud. also please check out this author’s other reddie fics, there’s some super sweet kid reddie in there that really warms the heart

the mind's a funny fruit by joldiego, rated T

eddie wakes up barely alive in derry, has 0 memory, calls himself richie, and moves in with some lesbians. an absolute must read that ought to be on every reddie fic rec compilation. i read this a long time ago and just thinking about it makes me want to read it again.

now what i'm gonna say may sound indelicate [WIP] by IfItHollers, rated E

it took me entirely too long to find this fic since i joined the fandom, and it’s truly a fucking masterpiece. it’s almost at 200k now and still unfinished, and the slow burn is excruciating, but this is a legendary fic for a reason. eddie spends the first chunk of this fic in the hospital recovering from the massive chest wound, and then he and richie move the recovery to ben’s cabin in the woods. the author’s notes for each chapter are a story in themselves

signs of a new lifetime by swordfishtrombones, rated T

one of the sweetest, most romantic reddie fics i’ve ever read. a fresh take on a classic concept: post-ch2, they’re in love, they haven’t said/done anything about it yet, BUT!!! it’s not angsty! they are all cute and giggly like “you say it first!” “no, you say it first!” and it makes me fucking MELT

broadcasting tower by swordfishtrombones, rated E

back-to-back recs from the same author! bc i love these fics so much! sort of similar to the last one in that they both know what’s up and just haven’t said it, but this one’s got the angst! i didn’t know when i read it that it was the same author as the other fic, and i thought how funny, i found another reddie author that perfectly captures this pair in such a wonderfully romantic way! i also just noticed there’s a follow up to this so now i have to go read that immediately

eurydice; the original comeback kid by Vulcanodon, rated M

for the love of god please read this and the other work in this series. it’s a ch-2 fix-it with some intense action sequences and major pining, and it has haunted me since i first read it

love on the telephone by tempestbreak, rated E

okay this one is really just 30k of pure smut but it’s also so sweet and features a mini sexual awakening for eddie and some insecure richie with an emphasis on how much they love and trust each other. also it doesn’t hurt that the smut is fire, like does anyone else want that twink obliterated, or is it just me?

the boy who loves you by candlejill, rated E

eddie lives, richie confesses, things are chill and then they’re not. richie’s career flourishes, which is always nice to read and is what ultimately catalyzes eddie’s gay awakening and realization of his love for richie. it’s got some sad angsty parts and a very sweet ending, and it up there as one of my favorite reddie fics of all time

richie and eddie break up [WIP] by skeilig, rated M

a refreshing and realistic take on life ch-2 for the losers, because being in love at thirteen doesn’t mean you can fall into a perfect relationship at 40. i’ll admit, i’m hoping this will ultimately be a “richie and eddie get back together” fic, but it’s still a very good read (and often very funny in the second chapter) at the moment in the midst of their break up

september 1989 and everything else by pineapplecrushface, rated T

cute kid reddie figuring it out and making me smile. the follow up to this and the after derry series by this author are also personal favorites

go west by ssstrychnine, rated T

road trip fic! an absolute work of art slow burn with teen reddie in the 90s. it’s so beautifully written i just wish i could go back and read it for the first time again

the edification of eddie kaspbrak by tozier, rated M

character study with some incredible fucking prose, my lord it gorgeous. explores how eddie learns about love as he grows up, and it’s super fucking sad sometimes bc the poor boy doesn’t know how to have the things he wants and i just want to give him a hug, but it’s really a spectacular fic

circular motion by sinchronicity, rated M

soulmate!AU that follows book canon and even though it’s been a long time since i’ve read it and the details are fuzzy, i remember absolutely loving it and thinking it was incredible

tell me you know by RichiesToesHurt, rated E

college losers with some severely pining and jealous richie with a lovely ending 

predicament bondage [WIP] by dgalerab, rated E

i resisted reading this fic for so long, recently broke and binged all of it, and now i’m like frothing at the mouth for updates. richie’s a closeted actor/comedian who meets eddie, a professional Dom, when he needs help researching a role. they become friends, they develop crushes, richie realizes he’s a sub, and it’s just so much fun to read

there’s a lot more fics to rec so i might add on to this in the future, but in the meantime my biggest tip for for reading fanfiction that took me embarrassingly long to figure out: focus on the authors! if you read something you like, check out the rest of the work by that author bc odds are you’ll like that too. i mentioned it in a few specific works above, but check out the authors catalogues for these fics. if i included every work by these authors that i loved, this list would be miles long

feel free to add on any great stuff i missed, there’s sure to be tons of it!

[popculturebuffet]

New X-Men Xtrospective Part 1: E is For Extinction “They Will Need Us”

I am SO fucking excited for this one. As might not be obvious to ALL of my readers but should be obvious to some, I fucking love the X-Men. They are one of my favorite superhero teams period as are several of their spinoffs such as X-Factor (All versions), New Mutants, and Marauders. I love the wide cast, the hugely vast universe within the already vast and wonderful marvel universe, and the sheer amount of GREAT stories. I own all 11 movies, have several action figures, and two posters from Jonathan Hickman’s current and utterly dynamite run right above me right now as I work, as well as a marvel 80′s themed poster behind me that’s at least half x-men for good reason. I love this gang of mutants and I have not talked about them enough. 

I”ve done some X-Men stuff sure: I’ve talked about hickman’s time as head writer of the books a year in earlier this year, I did a few scattered reviews back when I did single issues of comics, and then we get to the one I beefed big time: covering ALL of X-Men evolution. While it’s a noble endeavor I freely admit to overexerting myself: I recapped the episodes way too closely, gave myself no real schedule and did so while I was already covering two shows a week at the time. My point is it was a good idea, but the timing was REALLY fucking bad and if I do it again, I intend to do it right and iwth a proper place in my now properly paced schedule. I also planned to do the movies which, unlike evolution, I have solid plans to do once I clear out some of my projects. Point is I burned bright and then exploded and took a whole projecet with me phoenix style. 

I had until this moment yet to do a really big x-men project, something digging into the comics, something that could help fans both of the comics and not get familiar with something really good, and help me dig into both the good and bad of something. I jsut needed the right start. 

Then Christmas gave me that spark, that project that gave me the idea for a butload more x-men content on here and was the perfect starting point for some. See my friend Marco lives in Honduras, and so since i couldn’t afford to send him anything for christmas in the mail, as i’m not exactly rich, I instead offered him three reviews of anything.l He still hasn’t taken up two of them, nor one I gave him for graduating college, but the first one was a doozy, something he hadn’t read due to not liking the art, which is fine as I have some art in comics I don’t like everyone has diffrent tastes, at least for the first arc, and something VITALLY important to x-men as a whole and that’s the backbone of hickman’s current run: the first arc of new x-men, e is for extinction. And given New X-Men is one of my faviorite comics of all time I not only lept on it.. but decided fuck it I’m covering the whole thing. So every so often on here from now until I finish, i’m going to be covering Grant Morrisons ground breaking, mind shattering, status quo destroying run on the children of the atom. This.. is going to be fucking awesome. Buckle up. 

New X-Men came about in 2001. Stop me if you heard this one: The X-Men, once marvel’s best selling title and one of i’ts most beloved, had been set adrift in a seal of editorial bullshit, bad writing, bad storylines and a stale continuity where not much could change or grow and things always reset to about the same place it was last week. If this sounds familiar it’s because it somehow happened AGAIN thanks to Ike Perlmutter’s bullshit, hence the current hickman run, but we’ll get into all of tha tsome other time. Point is as it was in 2018, so it was in 2001: The x-men were in bad straits and marvel reached out to a host of various creators to swing for the fences and find a new direction, something to bring sales and life back to the book. To my shock they actually took a LOT of diffrent pitches in before Morrisons won and from huge names: Geoff Johns, who had not yet returned to DC never to leave, Alex Ross, Keith Giffen.. all huge creative types. but in the end the best man won.

For those unfamiliar with him, Grant Morrison is a gloriously batshit scotsman with a long, storied and delightfully insane history in comics, mostly at DC before and after this comic. This is for good reason: DC scouted Morrison specifically because of his early work at 2000ad. See at the time Alan Moore had hit it really big with Swamp Thing, taking a d list, so so book and making it into an utter masterpiece and giving it thoroughly interesting mythology. Given it was a blockbuster hit that’s still widely loved and discussed, as it should be today, DC decided to repeat the strategy of asking British indie comics creators to come do the same to another property. This same experiment is why Neil Gaiman’s The Sandman exists, so.. yeah it was actually a great strategy and naturally Grant had their first big hit with Animal Man, a metafictional take on a b-list hero that made him a loveable family man, while also putting him through hell and playing with the medium and dc’s vast history, the last two being Morrison’s trademark from then on out.

 They’d next go on to reinvent one of my other faviorite teams: THE DOOM PATROL!  The patrol are a bunch of victims of strange accidents who got powers out of them that are basically curses... and Morrison solidified that concept, taking over after a weak run that ironically enough was trying to imitate the x-men’s success at the time. Instead Morrison just went all out with his weird shit for the first time and made them a team of broken but likeable people with weird powers fighting just the weirdest most incomprehensible shit, a run i’ll likely be digging into eventually along with the team as a whole. It’s also, along with Gerard Way’s recent run, the bedroock for the current and utterly masterful doom patrol series I need to catch up on. They also apparently once wrote a satrical comic starring and lik mocking hitler... a fact I somehow JUST learned but naturally doesn’t surprise me at all. 

Morrison’s career at dc, after doing some creator owned stuff there when Vertigo opened up, hit it’s peak in the late 90′s as they were given the go ahead to reinvent the Justice League, with the wildly successful and awesome JLA, another book I probably need to take a look at that put the big 7 back into the team.  And by now your probably getting the point of me covering his career pattern.. besides giving morrison the praise they deserve, and they’d have some really great runs after this.. and some terrible ones but no one’s perfect. My point is that at this point in their career Morrison’s greatest skill was taking something that had grown stagnant or been forgotten, blowing it up and reworking it into something glorious and new. Taking what worked, scraping away what didn’t and on the whole making something fucking glorious out of it. So here we are. The X-Men needed a new coat of paint and uncle grant had their lcd laced psycadelic paint bucket and brush shaped like a pidgeon at the ready. And for better, way better and admitely sometimes here and there worse,they changed the x-men for good. Some changes were rolled back out of spite, others finally got their chance after said rollback recently, and some were just outright thrown on the grown and smashed with a hammer. But for the most part Grant left a huge impact on the x-men and i’m here to show you why, warts and all. To me my x-men, this is new x-men.  Now naturally there’s even more exposition but i’ts more in what COULD’VE been. Originally while Wolverine, Cyclops, Jean Grey and Professor X were all part of the team the other two members of the slim roster for this run, Beast and Emma Frost.. weren’t. Originally Morrison was going to have Colossus and Moira Mactaggert, long time team ally, token human until very recently, and now thanks to hickman one of the most important x characters peirod and long before that a fan favorite of mine, on the team, with Moira taking over for beast. 

This.. didn’t pan out since Marvel apparently either didn’t give a shit about their plans or already had things in motion as the climax of the longtime legacy virus storyline killed both off. Colossus until Joss Whedon, bastard he may be, brought him back for his terrific Astonishing X-Men, and Moira SOMEHOW stayed dead until House/Powers of X. See this speaks to one of the big roadblocks morrison faced: Jonathan HIckman currently has absolute power and all his writers working in concert, a new way of doing things comic companies shold honestly copy en masse as it’s really working wonders. Grant.. was just one of many writers and one of three main x books the others being Chris Claremont’s XTREME X-MEN, basically “let the legend do what he wants since he can’t get freedom on the main book” and another writer on uncanny... before eventually chuck austen took over and I will tackle that horrible mess some other time. Point is while Morrison was setting the tone, costume style and making the big waves, they still didn’t have full power and thus had to play nice with eveyrone else.  So their next idea was Rogue, making mer more like her x-men evolution version.. except Chris wanted her, so that was out, though being a decent enough guy he willingly gave up Beast since the moira thing meant Morrison needed a science person. As for Colossus replacement, as it turned out a fan had suggested Grant do something with Emma Frost since Gen X was canceled and while Morrison had zero intention for it clearly Emma clicked with hthem and she was soon both a main part of the cast and one of their biggest contributions to X-Men as a whole.

As for what I think of the needed changes.. they ended up being for the best. I do like Moira... but Hank ended up being a much better fit for the team dynamic wise and power set wise, while Emma was the same. While Colossus, Rogue and Moira are all fantastic characters, I think what we ended up with was just a better mix overall. I DO think the team is incredibly white, but that’s a general x-men problem, even with having an assload of diverse and intresting characters, so it’s not entirely his fault. All in all it’s a fantastic roster: four of the x-men’s best, their leader in the field for the first time in forever, and a new and intresting wild card. IT’s a nice ballance of characters and we’ll get more into it as we go. Now all the expositions done, we can finally dive head first into new x-men. I hope you survivie the experince under the cut. 

After an utterly gorgeous and striking cover, the one used up top, we get one solid page to introduce us to Morrison’s mission statment, how  they feel and how good Frank Quitely’s art looks

I cropped it best i could for tumblr but this one image immidetly says a lot. Our heroes are just.. easily taking down this sentinel, an old model... the same one we’ve seen a dozen times. What were once the grim, possible destroyers of an entire race of beings in days of future past and devistating killing machines in the present.. had become stale easily defeated murder bots There had been noble attempts to really make the sentiinels work again like the horrifying omega sentinels, humans forcibly converted into sleeper agent killing machines, during operation: zero tolerance, but otherwise they were mostly just a prop for the x-men to knock down. And that.. really is morrison’s whole point. Lampshading and mocking the fact the x-men had grown stale, things hadn’t really progressed.. and that it was time to move on. But to Uncle Grant’s credit, they not only uses this as a mission statment but it’s plot relevant: this mission will both be explained soon and explains why Logan and Scott are out and about enough to end up where the plot will soon need them. It also helps, via the sight of the syndey opera house establish something Morrison made a staple of their run: the X-Men going global. While the x-men were never really NOT global post claremont, Morrisons run has them handling rescue missions and what not worldwide far more often than most runs before it sans Claremont, and really made it feel like they weren’t just another super team but a global force of good with a specific goal and mission. More on the global aspect next time, as that’s where it really comes in but I felt it was important to show it was there for minute one. 

So yeah before we move onto the first full scene of the run, let’s talk about the costumes. 

We’ll talk about Emma’s later since she’s not introduced to the story for a while but yeah. There’s a sharp, obvious and immediate change just in the outfits, which take after the movie’s more military look, having the x-men not only look more like a unit but more like a professional orginization. Someone to come and help when needed. While this would take on more siginifigance in a bit, we’ll get to it, it also fits Morrisions own views that the x-men were less of a traditional superhero team and more something different on the edges that fought things out there, sorta what like he did with doom patrol. And it’s honestly a valid interpretation as the x-men are often seen as outlaws and misfits by society for beingn well.. mutants. Not as trusted as the avengers. So having them adopt this look played into that: Having them look more professional and focused as The X-Men have a less blanket mission statement than the avenger.. but also mildly threatning. Something to alarm the humans. It’s an utterly brilliant look thrown best together by the big yellow x’s, still giving it a nice flash of color to show off and show this is still a comic and this is still damn colorful.. this just isn’t your AVERAGE supherhero comic or the x-men your used to. IT’s a real shame the only fox x-men movie to use it was fucking dark phoenix.. a film where it didn’t even fit as xavier was getting flashier and more reckless so why wouldn’t he have more garish and colorful and more traditional superhero outfits. They did look good in their variants in first class though. Props there. Point is this is a classic, utterly stunning look, and tha’ts coming from someone whose fine with goofy superhero outfits and perpetually bitter hawkeye is almost never allowed to wear his actual comic outift and is instead stuck with shades instead of you know.. a mask. Or anything resembling an actual good looking costume. This though this is how you do a less superheroy costume: practical and realistic, but still cool looking and comic book friendly. 

We cut to a mysterious lady, we’ll come to know her as Cassandra Nova and while I know her origin... i’m saving it for later as the comics themselves explain it eventually, and a simpering dolt she brought with her, Donald Trask, a distant relative of the creators of the sentinels who, via holograms she’s showing cro magnons slaughtring the neanderthal. Her point is that Mutants are going to do this and she’s clearly fearmongering him and trying to talk him into genocide: to wipe them out before they wipe out humanity. And it’s here we get one of hte most important plot points of Morrisons run and one of the most intresting: according to cassandra’s research Humanity will be no more in 4 generations. Mutankind is on it’s way to overtaking them at last.. i’ts still a few decades off.. but it’s coming. It’s sometihing that the whole decimation nonsense sadly snuffed.. and John Hickman has thankfully brought back. I’ll get to his run once i’ts complete in a few years, but point is it’s an utterly marvelous plot hook: Humanity, whose already attempted genocide a few times, is now in real danger of what their petty, racist, fearful attacks have been about: being replaced. It’s one of the central themes of the work the other two being “Just what IS mutantkind and what will it be”. WHat are they as a people? We’ll dig into these as we go but the threat of exctincion is the backbone of this arc... and will lead to something truly ghastly. 

It’s then we get our title page.. which nothing really to add it just looks really good and helps show off who are cast is and what they can do with striking simple art. 

And since we’re already talking the art of the book, let’s take a moment to discuss an intresting detail of this run: despite it’s short length there’s quite a few diffrent artist, who we’ll talk about of course as we get to each one. The most common and notable though is Frank Quitely. Frank Quitely is one of Morrison’s closest and best creative partners, having a unique, squishy art style.. i.e. the one my friend didn’t like which is why i’m covering this. And while I like the art style quite a bit, I do get why it’s not everyone’s cup of tea: His art is squashed, weird, and admitely some faces can be good god no incaranate. But it’s also why I like it: his characters feel unique, each body and figure feels like it was custom made and thus feels.. real. Like this is a person before you. And given comics can often surrender to having everybody look the damn same, this is nice. His faces may sometimes look similar but his bodies are where the action is. But while having a realistic feel his work also has a weird alien quality that perfectly fits Morrison, and thus his run on x-men. I will say while I love All-Star Superman, his art fits less there in the more hopeful silver agey story, so he’s not an artist for EVERY STORY OF EVERY TYPE.. but when it comes to sci fi weridness, he fits it like a glove so i’ts unsuprising he and morrison are practicaley soul mates, nor that his art sets the tone perfectly for the run: this is something new, diffrent and strange.. and what says x-men at it’s best more than that?

So after our opening titles we cut to the mansion where Hank is showing off his latest and greatest invention: Cerebra. Cerbebra is a massively upgraded version of Cerebro, aka Professor Xavier’s iconic helmet that allows him to track mutants to help them out.. and covertly backup their conconousness for his long game plan, but shhhh, don’t tell anyone yet that’s not going to be retconned in for a few decades. Though i’m damn certain if Morrison has heard about the current era of x-men and how it both builds on what he built, shatters the status quo and is incredibly weird, he’d be damn proud. As for how it’s diffrent Cerebra not only has a large dome around it but said dome allows the machine to amply Charles powers to a global reach. He can now see mutants all over the world anywhere in the world, something I didn’t realize wasn’t ALWAYS a thing because it seems so simple. It’s also likely to bring it more in line with the movies. And while marvel has done TERRIBLE with bringing things in from the movies or in line with them in recent years, i.e. making star lord more like his movie self while forgetting that’s how he already used to be in canon before later writers thankfully did hte better step of merging the two, Hawkeye’s outfit, Cap’s outfit or Nick Fury Jr.  But for every mistep there’s also been tons of times it’s worked out really well such as here, as well as bringing hulk into the avengers for the first time since the founding, making tony stark more like the mcu version and less like a nightmarish self righetous dicktator who rightfully gets beat up and called out a lot, making Scott Lang prominent since he became prominent in the MCU, Wakanda being a major force in the marvel universe as it always should have been and various titles that have popped up to tie into movies, often bringing back a team or property that hadn’t had a book in some time like Ant-Man, Black Panther, and Shang Chi just to name a few. It’s not always hawkeye looking all jeremy renner is what i’m saying.. though thankfully comics clint isn’t that uninteresting. Hopefully the series will change that. 

So yeah along with a bigger shinier cerebro we’re also introduced to a big change in Hank whose taken on his lion form rather than his classic gorilla with a weird haircut or his return to that except bald. Here he’s more like aslan in a human body and I.. love it. It looks great, helps sell hanks delima of being brilliant while looking like a beast and makes sense: he kickstarted what was likely his own secondary evolution by drinking the potion that made him bestial, so it only makes sense his body wouldn’t be all that stable even if it took years to change again. And even that makes sense as hank was breifly turned back to his original hairless ape mutation during x-factor, easily one of the books.. worse decisions honestly and one that louise simonson thankfully later undid. That probably bought him some time hence why it’s only mutating further now.  It also adds an intresting wrinkle which the run will explore further: how far does this go? Will he regress? and how much hank will be left? And how will society treat his new form? 

For now he’s actually extatic. While he’s going through hormonal changes, and giving out some excellent banter with Jean

Which also includes one of the greatest lines in comic book history, one that’s been in my head for decades and made me absolutely love henry mccoy. 

He’s just great is what i’m saying. As you can tell it’s stuff like this why i’m glad Moira fell through. While I love her.. Morrison’s hank is just a delight and one really questionable subplot aside, we’ll get to that, he’s one of the highlights of this run with an intresting internal struggle, and great chemistry with EVERYONE. And that is the main reason i’m glad Moira fell through as his history with everyone but Emma, who he still has a great raport with, means each interaction has weight. He’s close friends with both scott and jean and thus serves as their needed confidant, while still being able to buddy and banter iwth good old weapon x, and speak with his mentor charles as an equal. While I love moira... Beast just fits into the cast too perfectly and I 100% suspect Morrison was only using her because, while she’s awesome, Claremont wanted her and thus gladly snapped her up when he no longer had a science person. I’ll get into his Jean soon enough but she’s likewise fantastic and easily my faviorite version of the character.. not that until very recently there was much honest competition. 

So Cerebra fires up showing a massive cloud of mutants, showing just how much of a huge spike theirs been with Xavier wondering what it all means.. and Hank seeing a weird flare on the mointor for just a second with his special eyes. But since Xavier isn’t stupid and isn’t the kind of idiot who just dismisses it as a fulke, and since Scott and Logan are in the field, he decides to confrence call them in to see if they can go take a look. 

And naturally we get to see what their up to and get context for what the hell happened in the first page. Our heroes were on a rescue mission to save Ugly John, tha’ts what people called him, a three faced mutant who ends up passing out as they head out of the atmosphere for a second. Wolverine is regenerating and smoking out of his neck becaue he could still smoke back then before marvel decided “he’s setting a bad example”.. in a comic meant for teens and adults. 

I mean I get it on some level as the x-men cartoon was a huge thing in the 90′s and Ben Grimm is basically a giant children’s toy with the mind of a surly 40 year old jewish man from yancy street, but stilll it’s just.. why. I may not like smoking but it’s not like it was SPIDER-MAN saying

It’s a grown man.. whose not a sterling roll model and who Claremont went out of his way to have Logan point out his healing factor means it really dosen’t hurt him in the long run and when Kitty, an actual teenager, tried one of his cigars she choked. I know it’s a weird thing to get hung up on but while i’m all for keeping kids from smoking, this was a really clumsy way to try and hehlp that that made no sense and will never make any sense. 

One tangent later we find out that Cassandra was showing Trask a simulation on a flight to, unsuprisingly, south america, to a sentinel blacksite. Between covertly funding civil wars as they do, the US Goverment naturally founded an experimental sentinal project, and a second master mold during the production of the first line... when larry trask asks where it could possibly be well...

Subtly was not the trasks strong point.. or common sense... or.. not realizing their creations would dominate humanity too or not dying. 

Anyways we then cut back to the x-men, as their having a psychic zoom meeting with Charlie giving one of his patnted big speeches.. and like a lot of this comic it’s too damn good not to use 

The reason I couldn’t should be obvious: This one speech sums up the x-men, why their great and why their necessary in a nutshell: in a world full of prejucided morons.. there’s plenty of scared kids who NEED the x-men to protect and guide them, and with a surge in the mutant population, their needed now more than ever. We also get a good explanation in universe for the uniform change: Charles had them in the superhero outfits hoping humanity would accept them if they were packaged as something they know. Since that clearly hasn’t worked he’s trying new ways to reach out and thus going with a diffrent more rescue team approach to the uniforms. He assigns Wolvie and Cyke to go check out the flair as you’d expect and the meetings over. On the blackbird we get our first hint at a subplot as Logan noticed Cyclops couldn’t wait to get out of there, and is being a tad distant to his wife. He actually has reasons for being kind of cold for once instead of just bad writing as he just came back from being possed by apocalypse. Yeah that happened. So the experience has rattled our boy some what. More on that as we go. But Jean ducks the subject with hank but does breach the fact that Charles has been going kind of crazy with the spending, new uniforms and ambition lately. Hank explains it perfectly: After all the death, suffering and misery the x-men have endured lately, the aforementioned deaths I talked about that took Colossus and Moira off the roster, have lionzed Charles to make sure it was all worth something and look towards the future. 

But enough hope time for horror as Cassandra makes her first direct move, trying to take over Charles brain , make his body her own and use cerebra to kill lots and lots of mutants. We then get one of the best moments of Morrisons run with Charles response to a horrifying monster trying to take his brain

While it is shocking to find out Charles has a gun..it’s a grim but kind of understandable precaution. The guy once got fully taken over by a brood, assembling the New Mutants in part because the brood wanted to create more of i’ts kind with more super powers. You’d be paranoid too if some of your beloved students were brought together partly due to your good intentions and partly because a space monster wanted to make more space montsters out of helpless teens, and even horribly gaslighted one of them. We’ll get to that some day. Point is Charles brain is one of the greatest weapons on earth and if the wrong person got a hold of it, it’d be the end of said earth. Thankfully Charles does not need plan gun, as Jean yanks Cerebra off him but the sheer HATE Charles felt from Cassandra, the sheer power has rattled him.. and also told him she’s in Ecuador and his X-Men need to be warned NOW. It’s a great way to set up just HOW powerful Cassandra is.  Speaking of which as our first issue of the arc ends, we find out two things: Cass faked being int he government but really just used dead soldiers as prop.. and just what kind of sentinels are out there.. wild sentinels. Easily my faviorite variant of the old killing machines and one that’s barely used despite being really damn awesome. Their adaptive killing machines, designed to mutated just like their pray and take tech from around them, as a result they look like a jumble of guns and parts.. but not only does it give them a unique, cool look.. but it makes them ten times deadlier as instead of being big bricks of robots that while intimidating, the x-men know how to kill... their unpredictable variable killing machines. You can figure out how to kill one sure.. btu the next might be entirely diffrent. They are one of morrisons best creations and I hope someone uses the idea again.. aka hickman. Please use it jonathan I know your focused on nimrod but come on. 

And we end on one of the best lines of the entiire run as we close out the issue

Yeah it goes without saying but i’ll say it anyway; Morrison is really damn good with dialouge and being damn quotable. 

So we open with another great quote “When I got up today I didn’t expect to kill 20 million people”... and Cassandra being aware Wolverine and Cyclops are on their way and sending the Wild Sentinels to dispatch them. Also our heroes brought Ugly John along while while a dumb move, Wolvie does point out how dumb it was to divert to Ecuador with a civlian in tow.. after the plane crash of course. As for “wait what plane crash’, the sentinels attack and start picking it apart... and since letting them have such good tech is a terrible idea, Scotty blows up the damn plane. So to recap our heroes are stuck in ecuador, surrounded by murder machines, and oh look their there and knock off cyclops viser. Fantastic. So yeah our heroes are fucked. And naturally captured by the enemy.

The rest of the x-men are doing SLIGHTLY better. While beast makes a note for his girlfriend, more on that later on, Charles is in bed, half alive, explaning the rationale I gave for why he has the gun with Jean refusing to let him get back out of bed and you know.. put on the device that just nearly killed him. But when beast announces they lost contact with our boys.. yeah that ceased being an option. 

Back in the Ecuadorian Genocide Factory, Cassandra does the obvious and kills donald trask as his real purpose..was to stick around and be stupid for a bit while she copied his dna so she could have full control of her new murder toys.She soon uses them, having a horrifying death chamber slaughter john.. or at least flash fry him. Wolverine takes it how you’d expect and since the sentinels need to “perserve trask dna”.. they can’t fire on him without killing her. Scott escapes.. and in a heart wrenching scene mercy kills john.. before getting badass. 

To anyone who says Scott Summers is boring, unintersting, or a stupid asshole idiot head I present exhbit shut the fuck up. Morrison gets scott just right, deconstructing his emotional suppression, while showing him off as a dedicated, companionate man who gets the job done and who seconds after tearfully having to mercy kill an innocent mutant whose death was partially his fault, wastes no time making it painfully clear to the person responsible she WILL die if she tries that again. Logan however realizes she’s already won in some fashion as she’s grinning.. and yeah never a good sign when a genocidal madwoman is grinning like a loon.. and when we find out why.. it’s even less good>  We cut to Genosha. A lot of you probably know what happned to Genosha but in case you don’t know what it is it was once a horribly racist country that genetically enslaved mutants and used them for slave labor. It was freed, but still struggled to truly move on.. till Magneto showed up, took the country for himself and made it a home for all mutants. When we last saw him he once again tried to take over the world leading to Logan seemingly killing him. Right now though Emma Frost finally enters the scene teaching some mutants.. when a young one named Negasonic Teenage Warhead.. yes that one and yes she was entirely chosen for deadpool for her name, reveals, via precognition, that their all going to die.. right as the sentinels attack. 

Genosha.. is gone. In an eyeblink 16 million mutants are dead, a possible future gone, and one of their greatest leaders is no more. Yeah Magneto WAS alive.. but paralyzed so he could do nothing when his island was utterly slaughtered. Only a handful of mutants will be revealed to survive. Humanity had done a lot to mutants before .. but for once.. they’d succeeded in wiping a massive chunk out. What was an x-men location for DECADES at this point.. was now a smoldering crater. A what could of been that would hant the x-men ever after, even now into utopia it remains the darkest day in mutant history outside of hte decimation. It is a truly horrific moment.. and if the changes already hadn’t made it clear this is morrison saying “NO character is safe, nothing is safe, and nothing will be the same and I damn well mean that”. In one act of hate the world has changed. And it hasn’t finished changing yet. 

Issue Three opens hammering in things, as Jean and Beast are in the ruins of genosha, with Xavier having found ONE surivor among the rubble, and our heroes sturggling to find even them, though Jean eventually picks them up and uses her TK to sift through the rubble. 

They find Emma who emerges from a bunker in shock, clutching NTW... and not realizing she’s dead until later and revealing she now has diamond skin, her own secondary mutation. Secondary Mutation was a birlliant idea, new powers sprouting up within established mutants.. it’s just morrison barely used this great idea as did hardly anyone else. Only X-Men Blue ever really dug into it and those were artifical at that. IT’s a great idea..it’s just barely used and at most heavily implied to explain changes in powers like Jamie Madrox Multiple Personalities later on or Doug Ramsey’s vast increase in power. Disapointing. 

While Charles takes in the tragedy and the fact his old frienmie is dead, the x-men wonder what the fuck Cassandra is and what to do with her.. why did she kill 16 million people, and what the fuck is she. I mean I know, but as I said i’ll explain that when the story does.  IN the other room Beast tends to Emma who wants none of not fucking killing Cassandra.. and is utterly right. Bitchy, because i’ts Emma, but right: she killed 16 million people. Say what you want but while it may not be up to the x-men to kill her.. she shoudln’t be living much longer. She commited genocide. Emma decides fuck that and prepares to leave summoning a cab and making peace with being a glorious living fabrige egg. Emma did apparelty change in generation x.. but Morrison is responsible for returning her not only to being a bitch, but a gloriously delightful one And really I don’t think they reset her character entirely: she’s not the heartless monster she started out as: she has empathy, grace, and caring.. she just buries it under a lair of absolute bitch and after you know, surviving a fucking genocide who can blame her? And honestly.. I love their verison of her. She provides a nice contrast to the more idealistic, even logan, x-men and a nice contrarian voice in the room without being obnoxious and her style and sacrastic swagger makes her endlessly entertaning. Thanks to morrison she’s stuck around to this day and went from a pretty good character.. to a great one. And what makes her this way, or as jean puts it “such a bitch?”

With that settled, Hank explains what Cassandra is: a competing species. As he puts it sometimes evolution takes a quantum leap forward.. and Cassandra is the result. Thus she wants to wipe out the compettition and is so far above humanity, she dosen’t need them... especially since she knows what Hank now knows: humanity is at an end. As hank puts it we have an E Gene, one that basically shuts off a race.. and thus the x-men now know what we learned earlier and that cassandra wasn’t lying: in 4 generations there are no more humans and something has to repalce htem. And Cassandra wants it to be her. 

Before Logan can do what he does best, and asks why she looks like charles, Cassandra escapes, and Scott briliantly urges them to fight only on instict as she’s a telepath. A damn awesome fight insues including Cassandra donning Charles Psoonic battle armor, Scott being put in his black bug room and the general good looking chaos you’d expect from a superhero fight. While this goes on Emma has an ephinany and realizes she likes to teach, the x-men have a school.. and she shoudln’t give up on helping kids just because of what happened and turns around. 

Cassandra is near victory, slipping her way to Cerebra.. and planning to kill only one mind before getting to the millions she wnats, a horrifying slug manifesting around her.. only...

So the x-men accept this and cassandra rises.. seemingly saying “I am charles” Huh... and then charles uncaracteristiacally shoots her saying things must change

We’ll get to what all of that means next time as we close on Jean and Scott in bed. Scott explains why he’s been so distant as what I said earlier: fighting off apocalypse stripped away a lot of illusions about himself and he’s having a hard time walking back from that but Jean is willing to help.. but before they can resolve their  issues.. charles has an annoucnment to make and grant has one last whopper of a suprise to end his opening arc on, and just like genosha...it’s a game changer of titanic proportions

No longer is Xavier’s School hidden. Their walking into the light now and so is charles. Hope they surivive the experince. Obviously this move is brilliant: while it removes the veil of saftey the x-men had it also brings on tons of new possiblities and unlike secondary mutation, this one not only stuck but would impact the x-men for good: no longer would they hide and cower.. their mutant and proud.. and their here to stay.  E For Extinction is one of the best x-men stories period. Blisteringly paced, full of great character, great concepts and utterly terrifying and terrific moments that would impact the x-men all the way to present day. It’s beautifully drawn, well paced, and a masterwork. I highly recommend it and it’s a great kickoff to a great run. Shame the run couldn’t of ended on this kind of high but.. we’ll get to that. For now this is a masterclass in how to start a run and if you haven’t read it do so NEXT TIME ON NEW X-MEN: A bunch of weirdos try to harvest mutant organs, the x-men get a brain in a jar and a new teamate, and Scott maybe cheats on his wife. Until then, goodbye goodbye goodbye. 

[yessoupy]

the @imetyouonljpodcast episode this week gave me lots of thoughts and feelings about star wars. more like, reminded me of all my thoughts and feelings around my first fandom. thus, I decided to write my own journey into and throughout star wars fandom, and what it means to me. buckle up, this story spans decades.

my very first memory of anything star wars-related is a yoda puppet that my grandmother had. it had to be from the original run of the movies, because I was maybe 4 in my first memory of it, and i was born in '86. my sisters and I loved it, and one of our cousins was deathly scared of it so we'd chase him around the house with it.

my second memory of star wars was going to the movie store with my dad and sisters and seeing our favorite yoda on the cover of a VHS. "yoda yoda yoda! daddy, it's yoda!!! can we get it?" we were holding up the display cover for return of the jedi. dad said no, we couldn't get that one yet because we had to watch them in order. so we rented a new hope and all I remember was falling asleep while artoo and threepio were trundling across the tatooine desert sands. at five I guess I was too young.

in early 1997 the special editions of the original trilogy were aired in theaters and I was in 4th grade. dad took us to see one of them (I think empire, at some point we'd finally finished a new hope). at school that grading period I sat next to a boy named mark and he noticed I was drawing little x-wing silhouettes on my paper. "you like star wars too?" he asked. when I said yes, he declared that because of my name, he was going to call me skywalker. that's the name on the back of my high school letter jacket.

in fall of 1998 I started the 6th grade and I came home from school one day to a hardbound book my mom had checked out for me from the library. heir to the empire by timothy zahn. mom pointed out where it said on the cover it was a trilogy, and I could get the other books when I finished this one. she hadn't found the young jedi knights series for me. she'd checked out a GROWN-UP star wars book.

in spring of 1999 the phantom menace came out and my parents' friend took me to see it on opening day because neither of them were free and I HAD to go that day. later on that year she took me to a star wars exhibit at the museum of fine arts. that was also the first time I saw a monet and a renoir. the exhibit had costumes (real costumes!!!) from the original trilogy and the newest prequel. I bought a book about the myth of star wars in the museum gift shop.

I read every expanded universe book our local library had, which was a lot. I had a lot to catch up on, too, since heir to the empire had been published in 1992. you never saw me at school without a star wars book. I read while walking in the hallways, even. in 6th grade I read during lunch, since I was in varsity orchestra with 7th and 8th graders and was terribly shy. they'd tell me I should socialize at lunch, not read my books, but... I wanted to read. I had a lot to learn. I have a lot to know.

I was in 7th grade when I read vector prime, the first in the new series. my first class of the day was science, and the boy I had a crush on was in that class. we had DEAR time at the beginning of that class - drop everything and read. not a hardship for me. that day, I read the part of the book where chewbacca was killed. I looked up, astonished. heartbroken. I locked eyes with the boy I liked. he nodded at the book and I showed him the cover. he nodded sympathetically. "they killed chewie," I whispered. he said "I know."

I wrote original characters in star wars fan fiction when I was about 13. I had an internet friend named rachel who lived in brisbane. then there was dave and 'roswell' who gave me ideas for my story. I loved being able to talk about the wide world of star wars with other people. we used aol instant messenger and email. my username in those days had 'skywalker' in it. I am pretty sure we met in an aol chatroom. I didn't find much of use on the official star wars site and I have probably visited it fewer than 10 times since 1999.

I read those books all through middle and high school. they were my christmas presents and my birthday presents. I moved into our family beach house after college. it sounds really nice but I didn't have running water because it was the summer after Ike hit. I would go to the used book store on 23rd street and buy a stack of star wars books and read them while I waiting for calls to interview for a teaching position. weekends I'd go into town to stay at a friend's house and help her with wedding stuff. I'd shower there, too. that's where my new stash of star wars books started, with me catching up on the legacy of the force series I hadn't read in college and then finishing up through the fate of the jedi as those came out. I felt that I had grown up with these characters. I remembered when kyp was just an orphan han rescued, when jacen and jaina were five years old, when corran horn had no wife, no kids, and was just finding out who his family was. I had capital o opinions about what color lightsaber i would have and why (silver; bc corran), I knew the geography of the galaxy and where everyone was from and my favorite planet was dathomir because women ruled it. I knew all of these characters' histories and motivations and the difficult decisions they'd made and had to live with. I loved them.

i never ventured into the online fandom space for star wars, even after I'd found other online fandom spaces, because I didn't feel like there was anything anyone could add to it for me. I was satisfied with all I'd gotten. sure, favorite characters had been killed (after chewie, the one who stung most was Mara, luke's wife), but people die. and in such a long-running series spanning so many years and trillions of miles of space... you come to expect it.

people would ask me ALL THE TIME when the sequels were coming out and I said never. then, disney bought star wars. initially I was excited (tears of joy happy) to have sequels confirmed. my mind raced, imagining a trilogy centered on the events surrounding jacen's descent to the dark side. the original actors would be the right age for that. who could play jacen?

then, the announcement came that the canon was now 'legends' and they wouldn't be taking any of it into account when writing the sequels BUT that didn't mean we wouldn't see old canon favorites. they announced adam driver as the villain and I thought "jacen." I held onto the idea that this knowledge I had, these years of knowing these stories, would still be worth something. that I'd be able to add new information to my mental bookshelves and maps. that my universe would expand further.

the force awakens was a bitter disappointment. I was upset from the crawl, leia's title making it clear to me that she wasn't chief of state, she wasn't the mother to three children, han wasn't her husband, and all of her history I'd grown to love really was gone. what I saw was the older version of a woman I'd met when she was 18 and hadn't seen her since her early twenties. I didn't know her.

I didn't know the galaxy, either. starting with the new jedi order series, a map of the galaxy was included in the front of each book with the planets named so you knew where everything was happening. the new galaxy was bare. it was small and knowable. while the hosnian prime system was destroyed in the movie, I'd never known it, and all the planets I DID know were similarly blasted out of memory. where was dathomir and its fierce warrior witches? if their planets were gone so were their people.

as the movie trudged on, a retelling of a new hope, I kept thinking, "at least let his name be jacen." I hung my hopes on this sith character being han and leia's son and sharing that name of the boy I'd known and the man who'd grown up to turn to the dark side. at that first shout of 'BEN!' I was angry. Ben?? that was the name of LUKE'S son! that was MARA'S child! Ben??? with three letters jacen solo and ben skywalker were also dead to the galaxy.

I know, I know. I should get over it. I AM thankful for poe dameron. the x-wing books were always my favorite. poe was familiar to me the way other new characters weren't. he was part of the new republic navy. I knew what that was. he flew an x-wing. I knew what that was.l and what company manufactured them. he was from yavin IV, I knew where that was and what it looked like. finn was a stormtrooper, yes, but the empire had not stolen children to be raised as stormtroopers. they were recruited like any other position. his story wasn't real to me, it wasn't something I could easily accept. and the idea that the new republic just LET the first order rise? leia's new republic would NEVER. but leia wasn't chief of state in this universe. leia hadn't had that power.

I read a lot of articles about the force awakens and the reactions to it, and never saw myself in any of them. the star wars fanboys whom I'd never known were painted as being angry because their fan knowledge was useless and "boo-hoo poor widdle fanboys" they would be mocked, rightfully. but that's why I was angry, ultimately. everyone I knew and loved was dead. worse, they'd never existed. "what do you think will happen?" some unsuspecting coworker would ask. I'd shrug, but inside I was yelling "who the fuck knows! my favorite characters don't exist anymore. nothing I know as this person you know as SKYWALKER means anything anymore."

it only got worse from there. One day I spent four hours figuring out how far the casino planet was from the drifting ships in the last jedi and doing math to figure out how long it would REALLY take to get there, using old canon star wars physics. I couldn't suspend my disbelief during that movie. everything was wrong. (the other space physics quibble I had was from TFA when poe is using comms while in hyperspace, and dropping out on a command and not... when nav told him to?? you'd fly right through a star!! were they HOVERING in hyperspace? none of it made sense.) I knew too much and too little to enjoy it.

TROS was a narrative mess already retconning new canon and I decided that I would only keep what I liked about the new canon (poe and his family) and pretend the old canon is all there is. one day I'll write the story of poe being part of the storied rogue squadron being sent by leia's new republic to put down the fascist upstarts at the edge of the unknown regions. one day.

one more quick story -- i met my college friend’s three kids for the first time when the oldest was 6. i’d sent a toy lightsaber as a gift when he was born, because i believe every child should get their first lightsaber from a skywalker, and his father had shown him the movies when he turned 4. when i walked into the house i said hello and he said, “i have some questions about star wars.”

we sat on the couch with the tfa visual dictionary, a book he’d gotten out of the library. every question he had was an excellent question, and i couldn’t answer any of them. “why does his lightsaber look like that? and why does he have the extra blades?” 

“well, kiddo, let’s see what it says here about how lightsabers are made. i used to know all about it, but they changed everything on me.”

---

what i love about star wars since disney bought it:

poe dameron, cassian andor (and all of rogue one, i got over the fact that the movie wouldn’t be about rogue squadron it was PERFECT), solo (a fucking DELIGHT), the mandalorian, and i’m sure the cassian andor live action will be amazing and i’ll love it. 

[hellzyeahthewebwieldingavenger]

The Anti-Spider-Girl Agenda within Marvel

In 1998 Tom DeFalco, former EIC of Marvel, created Mayday Parker/Spider-Girl. Her debut did gangbusters and a first edition of it still fetches a lot of cash. She got a solo series in 1999 which launched an entire interconnected universe of characters, the MC2 universe. 

The universe ultimately wrapped up in 2010 but throughout that time Mayday was being regularly published in one format or another, she was even the FIRST ever Marvel character to get a digital ongoing series before it went to print. An impressive accolade to add to the fact that she still holds the record for the female Marvel solo protagonist with the longest running continuous series. That is to say no breaks or relaunches, just over 60 straight monthly issues...

... And THEN she went another 40 straight issue for good measure before finally being continued in a relaunch. 

So, given how the anniversaries of both her debut and the debut of her series/the MC2 universe have come and gone I have to ask...why has there been 0 acknowledgement from Marvel?

We’re in the middle of a 2099 celebration, and that imprint (that lasted less time and was arguably less successful) was an on and off presence between 2013-2017.

We’re going to get something acknowledging Iron Man 2020 a character who is hardly in the zeitgeist of Marvel fandom to the same extent as Spider-Girl.

Now in fairness both of those examples are reliant upon the literal names of both properties. It does make a certain amount of sense to celebrate the 2099 line in a year ending in the number 9, thus bringing us ever closer to the real life year 2099. Equally it makes sense to revive Iron Man 2020 during well...the year 2020.

But then you get to Marvel celebrating the Earth X stuff. Now for all you out there who haven’t read the Earth X stuff I want you to ask yourself a question and be very honest with yourselves. How much do you actually know about the Earth X universe just via osmosis, without having read it. I’m willing to bet it ain’t much if anything and what you do know probably amounts to:

It was Marvel’s answer to Kingdom Come

Alex Ross did art for it

MAYBE you know Norman Osborn was the President

Oh and you probably remember that really cool Venom/symbiote looking character who was a version of Spider-Girl!

Golly, it’s almost like if Marvel are going to celebrate the not-that-well-remembered Earth X line (which like 2099 also lasted for less time than the MC2 universe) then they should do SOMETHING (beyond releasing some trades) to mark EITHER of the appropriate anniversaries for Spider-Girl and/or the MC2 universe as a whole.

But no. We get some trades and also Mayday appeared in Spider-Geddon for a few issues...at no point being solely in the spotlight...

This my friends is simply the latest in a very, very, very, very, very long list of instances where Mayday/the MC2 brand is mistreated.

  And a lot of that mistreatment I think is due to Tom DeFalco’s hand in creating Mayday and the MC2 universe. Because frankly, in particular relation to the MC2 universe, DeFalco’s work has also been mistreated in recent years.

  The facts are: 

Mayday’s ongoing (Spectacular Spider-Girl volume 2) was turned into a mini in spite of solicits 

She was cancelled so Anya Corazon could get the name Spider-Girl 

The very next time she shows up her Dad is killed off, thus fundamentally wrecking the whole premise for her character 

The guy who killed her Dad proceeded to treat her as an abused babysitter 

That same guy finished things off by removing her unique name and costume 

That same guy (Slott) in the same run before and after Spider-Verse wrecked other elements from DeFalco’s ASM work AND threw shade at his origin for MJ, calling it reductive 

Slott also was hired by DeFalco and had to uncomfortably admit he’d conned the man. Which combined with everything else makes me wonder if DeFalco maybe threw some shade Slott’s way back when he was an intern. Like he looked upon him as underhanded and unworthy of his place in the company, and Slott knew that and resented DeFalco for it. And again, being EIC earns enemies and DeFalco was the EIC when Slott started 

Slott also wrecked Ben Reilly a character DeFalco did not create but had strong associations with. 

During secret wars the story focused HEAVILY upon Hope Pym, Stinger and Ant-Man at a time when coincidentally the Ant-Man movie was happening. 

During Secret Wars the same writer who wrecked her in Spider-Verse COINCIDENTALLY happened to a story about the daughter of Spider-Man who was born during the 1990s, but it was his own OC 

During Secret Wars, Mayday appeared on the cover of one of the ongoings she was set to appear in, but it was then revised to be Anya 

Mayday when she began appearing regularly in a new title was seemingly killed off early into it and didn’t appear for awhile, not getting much spotlight when she did

Mayday had to share her spotlight moments in Spider-Geddon with Anya (again), still wasn’t allowed to be called Spider-Girl again, and the story was mostly about Annie not her. 

She was going to appear in the USM cartoon but then that was totally changed to be a gender flipped Peter Parker

Eric Masterson/Thunderstrike, another well remembered DeFalco creation, has also gotten little-no attention this decade despite it being a 20th/25th anniversary of him too. One of the more notable acknowledgments of his character was turning him into a Neo-Nazi for Spider-Punk to beat up.

Spider-Girl’s VERY SUCCESSFUL digests were discontinued but conveniently other digests for other Marvel properties either continued or started up after Mayday’s were discontinued. 

The ‘complete’ Spider-Ham trade paperbacks ‘conveniently’ do not include Spider-Ham’s equivalent character for Spider-Girl, Swiney-Girl

Gee that’s an AWFUL lot of coincidence, especially when you consider fucking Spider-Ham has been getting more attention from Marvel than Mayday; and that was BEFORE Into the Spider-Verse came out.

I’m sorry, but it’s really, really, really, really, really, really obvious that there is an anti DeFalco/Spider-Girl/MC2 sentiment within Marvel.

But why you may ask?

There are a few reasons for that. The biggest one though is that Tom DeFalco is the former EIC of Marvel comics.

At the time of me writing this, Axel Alonso recently stopped being EIC of Marvel and no bad words are muttered about him. People in the industry equally have little bad to say about Joe Quesada, especially those within Marvel.

But then again...Joey Q is still working for Marvel and in a position ABOVE the EIC. He never stopped working for Marvel even when he stopped being the EIC. And Alonso, one of Quesada’s right hand yes men conveniently took over for him and do you know he didn’t run the company all THAT differently to his former boss. Funny that right?

It’s almost as funny as how other former EICs of Marvel absolutely don’t have the same treatment. Jim Shooter is routinely BLASTED by countless fans and creators, especially the ones who worked under him, even though he oversaw arguably the height of Marvel comics’ creative history. Bob Harrass and his decisions are often talked about less than flatteringly. Tom DeFalco meanwhile had a whole disparaging phrase named after him.

Yes. That is is a real life Marvel letter page from the mid-2000s literally using the term ‘DeFalco’s Folly’ in reference to a former Marvel EIC and outright BLAMING HIM for their bankruptcy in the 1990s.*

When you are the EIC you make enemies. It’s rare that the boss of any business isn’t resented on some level by their employees. And your words take on much more meaning that what you simply say, being subject to misinterpretation.**

But now imagine you are the boss of a bunch of creative nerds (for most creators of superheros are nerds). Creative people A LOT of the time tend to be fairly sensitive as is, it’s likely critical to their craft. Nerds historically have tended to be sensitive (that’s neither a good nor bad thing). If you are the boss of those people, hoo boy will you ever make enemies. Tom DeFalco in fact once told a fellow editor that an innocuous comment about how an artist under said editor’s employ drew a character was being taken by the artist as an insult to their whole career.

NOW imagine all that and also under your tenure the company goes bankrupt and a lot of people lose their jobs?

Enemies. Enemies galore. 

Even if it wasn’t necessarily your fault, you are the most visible person in authority so you get the blame. If the internet wasn’t that much of a thing do you really think that Ike Perlmutter would be the guy who got the blame for deep sixing the X-Men and F4 in the 2010s? Hell no, it’d have been Axel Alonso and/or Tom Brevoort.

So yeah, Mayday was DeFalco’s baby and the MC2 universe more than anything was the logical extrapolation from the Marvel universe as it existed under HIS tenure as EIC. It’s very much seen as representative of DeFalco himself. Thus if people have an issue with DeFalco, they’re not going to do all that much positive as far as his stuff is concerned, in particular if it gives him anything like royalties.

But on top of all of that I think Spider-Girl and the MC2 universe simply conceptually lean against Marvel’s ‘party line.

I didn’t notice this, but it was pointed out to me by an acquaintance that the MC2 universe is VERY similar to DC’s Earth 2 concept, wherein the classic heroes are older and/or retired with their immediate descendants picking up their mantles. Marvel and DC have this petty and asinine pissing contest between them, with many within Marvel even outright hating the fact that they have numbered universes like DC. It’s likely (definitely) the reason Earth 616 was rebranded as ‘Earth Prime’. This of course won’t stop them ripping off DC if they think it’ll make bank

The MC2 universe was a universe of OPTIMISM. In particular in the 2000s, and this attitude has definitely lingered, there is this emphasis upon cynicism and at best Pyrrhic victories within Marvel. Partially this is due to a misinterpretation of what ‘realism’ means, but partially this is due to  misguided belief that controversy sells and pissing the fans off makes bank. 

The MC2 universe is very old school. It’s deliberately designed to be nostalgic and feel Silver Age in it’s sensibilities. this is why the violence is not all that gory, the sexual references are at best reserved and tasteful and there’s that optimism I talked about. not to mention it kicks back hard against the decompression/writing for the trade storytelling model Marvel typically employs and has typically employed for almost 20 years now. Whether it’s simply because the universe doesn’t conform, or because Marvel views anything ‘retro’ as bad because it isn’t ‘modern’ (with no inspection of whether the modern trends are a GOOD thing) the end result is that the MC2′s sensibilities are not in line with how Marvel WANTS their comics produced.

Then you have Mayday herself. Mayday is a living symbol of both the Clone Saga and the Spider Marriage. Whilst Marvel are NOW willing to more openly reference the Clone Saga, few people i any kind of positions of power look upon it (or even aspects of it) with anything but disdain and embarrassment. Dan Slott for instance openly hated it. As for the Spider Marriage...I mean do I even need to explain that one?

I’m sure a frustrating fact for Marvel during Spider-Girl’s publication, and something likely passed down to Axel Alonso when he was handpicked by Quesada, was that the book refused to die. Spider-Girl was scheduled for cancellation multiple times and defied the odds multiple times. Marvel 90% of the time won’t kill a book if it’s making a profit (especially in a day and age when they were still feeling the fallout from bankruptcy) so they kept Spider-Girl around, but because it was so against the party line I’m VERY sure they’d have LIKED to have had the justification for killing the title. That’s likely why they shuffled her onto a digital platform in 2009. Amazing Spider-Girl did poorly enough to justify cancelling it but not so poorly that they couldn’t still make money from it. Another relaunch would’ve boosted sales for the series, but making it a digital series at a time when hardly anyone read digitially (let alone PAID for it), now that’s a shrewd manoeuvre. You make SOME money from it, you pay lip service to keeping it alive and appeasing very upset Spider-Marriage fans, but you’ve essentially guaranteed it’s failure long term.

Part of that annoying success was those incredibly successful digests that were possibly indoctrinating a lot of young impressionable readers on a character/brand Marvel wanted to bury and aspects of their flagship character (read: a married older Peter Parker) that they wanted to bury. Hence Spider-Girl digests disappeared but conveniently there were still digests for Ultimate Spider-Man sold featuring a young, buffoonish, Avengers worshipping Peter Parker.

Oh...and she also had the incredibly brand sexy name ‘Spider-Girl’ that Joe Quesada wanted for his own precious pet OC character, Anya Corazon. In fact Mayday was going to be rebranded as Spider Woman in Spider-Girl #75, specifically so that Anya Corazon could be given the name Spider-Girl. Years later Mayday was cancelled specifically for that purpose.

tl:dr There is a VERY OBVIOUS anti Tom DeFalco/Spider-Girl/MC2 agenda within Marvel.

My hope is that it’s rooted out, hopefully as a result of the 20 year nostalgia factor kicking in sooner of later (her series was most prevalent in the 2000s) and more female creators coming into the industry.

*Which is very much unfair. There is rarely one singular decision that results in bankruptcy. So whilst DeFalco making a single purchase might’ve been a contribution (emphasis on ‘might’) the idea that it was THE ultimate cause of Marvel’s problems is ridiculous.

Marvel were heading for the shitter the moment Ron Perleman purchased it in the 1980s. They were the victims of a ‘pump and dump’ scheme wherein sleazy yet clever financial people showed up, created a bubble to make a load of money, then moved on to the next thing when the bubble burst. To my understanding a similar thing occurred with baseball cards.

** In fact DeFalco’s friend, Ron Frenz, has spoken about how he was witness to DeFalco saying one thing and the people listening to him hearing and acting upon it in a totally different way than was intended.

The same happened to Stan Lee when he made an aside about Iron Man’s lack of a nose, which resulted in his employees believing Stan wanted them to give Iron Man a nose.

P.S. You know in the 1990s when all the 2099 books got cancelled sans Spider-Man 2099, they never got a second bite of the apple.

But between the late 90s and 2000s the MC2 universe was seemed successful enough that around 2006-2007 both Spider-Girl AND the wider MC2 universe were given second volumes, even the ones that only lasted like 6 issues.

Since then there’s been at least 3 attempts to revive the 2099 universe, we’re living through the latest one. 

And yet Mayday doesn’t seem to even be worthy of a spotlight issue in the current Spider-Verse series. 

[lokaneiscanon]

Mighty Thor in Thor: Love and Thunder rant

Seeing Natalie Portman returning to reprise her role as Jane Foster, nevertheless wielding Mjolnir, finally getting the treatment this character deserves, was surreal to say the least. I had just started reading Lords of Midgard, the 8th issue of Mighty Thor (2015 - 2018), and had fallen in love already. But I didn't suspect at all that Taika Waititi would pull this card in Thor: Love and Thunder, considering Jane was barely mentioned in Ragnarok. The news about my favorite actress portraying one of my favorite characters coming out of the blue - you can imagine the excitement. Alas, I quickly remembered what the fandom thought of that comic (at least on tumblr) and imagined it now growing tenfold, cuz not everyone in the MCU fandom reads comics but pretty much everyone wants to watch another Thor movie. And yes, many fans weren't ready for this step, still recovering from Sam Wilson getting the shield in Endgame. Which is completely fine. We're not obligated to like everything Marvel throws in our faces, we're allowed to criticize and express our opinion on the internet or wherever. What is not okay is mindlessly hating, and even worse - using false facts to support said opinion.

I have seen some people using the argument that it is one of Marvel's worst selling comics. Which has already been proven wrong by multiple sites, including Comichron, just Google it, as I did myself. I read multiple posts, ones saying how good Jane is doing as Thor in sales, others disproving this, so I checked for myself the numbers at the site mentioned above month by month to be sure. The comic truly had its downfalls as the story progressed but in my opinion it's normal for the 1st issue to have more sales than the 21st. If we compare it to Unworthy Thor, which started running a bit later and followed the now unworthy Odinson, the data shows the latter had more sales. But then again, while Might Thor was at its 17th issue, Unworthy Thor was at its 2nd. Also, they later crossed paths, shared comic issues, it's fair to say they go hand in hand and Jason Aaron, the author, probably doesn't want us to compare them, as they complete and compliment each other's stories. Still I decided to check the comic that made Thor unworthy in the first place - Thor: God of Thunder (2012 - 2014), which seemed to me more "comparable" to Might Thor (2015 - 2018). *I keep putting the years it was being released so as to not be confused with previous Mighty Thor issues, whole Odinson was still Thor, please bear with me* So yes, the numbers were pretty close, but from what I saw, Mighty Thor had the upper hand if we compare first issue to first issue and so on. (In defense of Odinson, we have to take into account that this data is only from the US and does not include digital sales. Also, he's been around since the 50s. We could argue Jane was a breath of fresh air that some Marvel fans were indeed ready for. As a non-American, and also a person without a hint of knowledge in economics I cannot take into account inflation and whatever else has prevented or enabled Americans to get their hands on the comics or has affected prizes through the years. Bear that in mind.) Moreover, from what I saw on Comichron, both comics had much competition - God of thunder was released along with Avengers vs the X-men, the Uncanny X-men, pretty popular at the time, and the Goddess of Thunder faced Civil War 2 and DC Universe Rebirth (yes, DC is in the game too), also dominating with tremendous sales for the longest time. Yet I stick with my original statement - both Thors are valid and shouldn't be put against one another regardless of profit. Because at the end of the day what will matter the most is the story. And boy, what a story it is.

Now, I haven't read the Thor: God of Thunder, but as I was doing research I found one very well written summary and explanation of Thor's arc and his becoming unworthy and I will post a link below, because I honestly feel I wouldn't be doing this comic a favor by describing it without having read it. Which I plan to do in the future, tbh. It's a fantastic prelude to the Mighty Thor (2015 - 2018) that I've come to love. First, I'd like to ask you all to stop hating on the comic without having read it first. It doesn't make any sense and being petty for the sake of being petty won't benefit neither you, nor anyone, really. Now, about the comic itself - the art is magnificent. It's just gorgeous. Mighty Thor isn't , thank all the gods, sexualized, she is pretty buffed and generally looks like a warrior. As it is with the other characters, I dare say. The background truly captures the essence of every world Jane finds herself on. Action scenes are just the right amount and balanced with dialogue well. On a side note, it's pretty funny to read/listen to in your head the Shakespearean English cursive in which Jane talks as Thor. The plot line branches beyond this comic, starting from Thor: God of Thunder and leading to the War of Realms. And it is elaborately built in every issue. You don't know what to expect, yet it makes sense when it happens. Which leads me to the characterizations. My God, what a treat Loki is in this. Clearly, my opinion is kinda biased, since he's my favorite character, but you never know which side he's on. What his motivations are. And it just feels so... Loki. His writing is brilliant. Almost makes me forget what the MCU did to him. Also, he gets some daddy time with Laufey (not as kinky as I make it sound). Frigga/Freyja is just as awesome as in the MCU, even more, at least in the comics she calls Odin out on his shit, who btw is I guess an asshole in every version and universe. Malekith, the main villain, is unbearably despicable, I want to tear every page he is on. He really was mishandled in the Dark World, if you want some true action with the dark elves, you are welcome to enjoy. I saved the best for the end - Jane Foster/ Might Thor. Now, if you think Dr. Foster spends her time boasting about her worthiness and how Odinson is just called Thor, but she is Mighty Thor, you are horribly wrong. She just... does her job. Because the hammer chose her. Because there's no one else to do so. That's it. If you think there's some feminism involved, yes, there sure is, but it certainly isn't the reason Jane became Thor in the first place. It was not the creators going SJW because it's trendy, as such a mindset is honestly offensive to any descent creator with any self respect, but a well thought out story arc, which, I repeat, you have to read the comic to understand. Jane is not at all whiny about the hate she gets in-universe, not only from foes like Odin and who-not, but from Shield and generally people whose asses she's saving. Her having cancer is not something they pulled to provoke sympathy and make her look like a victim - on the contrary, she is a damn hero and a victor. I don't want to give out spoilers, but her being Thor is actually a giant sacrifice that no one really appreciates (both in-universe and in the fandom). She is not Thor to prove she can be, or just to prove "women can be heroes" - she doesn't have to. She is simply needed by the realms and so she does her job, even though she is called a thief, persecuted and generally hated. All that matters is that the hammer finds her worthy - the beauty and simplicity of that fact you will find out, for the last time, if you read the comic.

I'm not making you read the comic or watch Thor: Love and Thunder. I myself don't know what to make of this film yet because there's barely any information about it. I only know it will be based on the comic so that's a reason for my hopes to be up already. On the other hand, since I didn't like Loki's characterization in Ragnarok, I'm not sure what to expect from Taika. There are valid reasons to not like the idea of Jane returning to the MCU as Thor, which you are entitled to. However, reasons such as "why does everything have to be political these days" are not. Because if I had to make a list of everything politically related in the MCU, it would take forever. Steve Rogers kills nazis is the most blatant example. Make of it what you want. But I think we're far enough into the 21st century to realize art and real life are not that separable. It's undeniable that art affects people and that is to say, people everywhere. And they all have different opinions and aren't gonna like everything media is offering to them. And I wish I could simply tell you not to watch the movie but I'm a Marvel fan too and I understand that I can't just take away Thor from you because I want Mighty Thor as well. But none of us can stop Marvel from producing it. So, to quote an image I saw recently, I don't know how to explain to you that you should care about other people. Let the rest of the fandom enjoy what they want to enjoy. Yes, ik I can play around with the tags and avoid posts that unnerve me but, for example, I'm looking up Mighty Thor fanart, which obviously isn't anti-Mighty Thor, yet I get attacked in the comics for anticipating a movie that doesn't even have a full cast yet. Ik I'm not asking for too much when I wish to get the same internet experience (not only tumblr, but also insta, YouTube, Twitter, any site) as the Thor Odison fans, for example. I'm aware I cannot stop all the toxic fans and the trolls but I hope this post has inspired those of you who simply can't envision Jane as Thor, or don't like Natalie Portman in the role, or whatever eles personal preference that doesn't involve political issues and isn't harmful to the community, not to attack every post on your dash with hate. The movie is called LOVE and Thunder, for God's sake. (on a side note, is a franchise that is too afraid to show LGBT characters for more than 1 minute so as to not lose profit from China, THAT politically correct)

Anyway, that was a veeeery long rant, sorry to whoever reads this but, like, please, I put effort into this, hoping this time around I won't be the only positive reviewer of a movie, like I was with Solo: a Star Wars story (yes, I'm still bitter about this), which was boycotted for no apparent reason but was a decent film in reality, and I'm only bringing it up because it has a similar experience to Love and Thunder for getting hate before even being released. I'm not defending a billion dollar company that flopped in box office once, I'm defending the viewer's right to media they are interested in. If you don't like the character, remember - that's your opinion, not a fact that the character sucks. Kudos.

Not very easy to navigate, I advice you to do the research month by month individually for comics you'd like to compare. Also, if you happen to find more reliable data, pls say so in the comments.

Here you have the summary and explanation of the greatness of Thor: God of Thunder, Jesus, I'll go bankrupt if I buy this one too.

Yes, I want to end the sales dispute once and for all, I'm tired of seeing it on my dash. This guy probably explains it better than I did.

@awesomejenlawrence you said you'd like to read this and I delivered

[zerochanges]

50 Years of Dororo - Mushi Pro’s Dororo 1969 vs Studio Mappa’s Dororo 2019

2019 marks the 50th anniversary of Mushi Pro’s Dororo anime adaptation, the last anime to be made solely in black and white. The 1969 original Dororo anime is a cult classic, with high accolades from the diehard community and still holds up incredibly well to this day. Yet that didn't stop Studio Mappa from creating their own adaptation of the manga, which has finally released just this week. So the real question is, how do the two of them compare--well let’s get into it.

But first, a little background. The original Dororo manga, created by prolific manga creator Osamu Tezuka, ran in Weekly Shonen Sunday for about one year, from August 1967 to July 1968, where it then entered a hiatus for a brief period, before finally shifting to the Monthly Adventure King magazine in 1969 where it was serialized for about 6 months (May to October ‘69) and finally “concluded”. I say concluded but the manga mostly just abruptly stops before the characters accomplish any of their own goals, and things are more or less just left open in case Tezuka ever wanted to come back to the series (he didn't). Despite this Dororo has remained to be an incredibly beloved property by Tezuka and seen its fair share of retellings and adaptations from video games to live action films, and of course to anime.

So now let’s talk anime. The original 1969 adaptation of Dororo was created by Mushi Pro, Tezuka’s own animation studio that he started half a decade back in 1963, and as said above was the last anime to be created solely in black and white. By this point in time color TVs were finally becoming widespread in Japan, and most anime have already started to be created in color. This was not an easy process, and was more time consuming for the production, which is why the decision was made by Mushi Pro to stick to the work pipeline they had and produce Dororo in black and white, a decision that really went on to define the entire series. Mushi Pro's Dororo has a very crisp look, with some great animation for its era, but beyond that also manages some incredibly terrifying and equally breathtaking moments because of its beautiful artwork mixed with the black and white aesthetic. There’s just something about black and white, the atmosphere it creates is otherworldly, ask any movie buff and they’ll tell you the effects it has on the horror genre is undeniable. I think these late black and white 1960 era anime hold up so incredibly well, and may in fact be even creepier nowadays (the 1968 GeGeGe no Kitaro comes to mind). 

Dororo (1969) episode 4: The Scroll of Bandai Part 2

Time marches on however, and after 50 years it’s time for another studio to take a swing at Dororo. Mappa is a small animation studio established in 2011, founded by Masao Maruyama, producer and co-founder of Madhouse, who left Madhouse to pursue his own passions and took some staff with him. Maruyama would later leave Mappa in 2016 unfortunately, but the studio to this day has still been producing hits since. The staff behind their current Dororo adaptation is helmed by Kazuhiro Furuhashi as director, Satoshi Iwataki as character designer, Yasuko Kobayashi in charge of scripts, and Yoshihiro Ike composing the music. Background animation is handled by Studio Pablo. Dororo is produced by Twin Engine, a production company with its main focus being the creators of the medium. Founded by Kouji Yamamoto, Twin Engine wishes to let young artist focus on creating anime, ignoring popular trends instead pursuing only the art of the medium; often commissioning work from studios to keep them financially afloat. Dororo, like a large majority of Twin Engine produced series, streams worldwide on Amazon Prime.

My final aside before diving into some thoughts on how both adaptations compare is that when it comes to adapting Tezuka’s iconic designs to the form of animation there are often changes made. The more Disney-esque look of his drawings can be hard to pull off for action animation, and well, giant noses, and bushy mustaches are well and good, but when you’re trying to sell hideous monsters chomping people into bits, maybe they are not that fitting for this story. That’s why both the 1969 Mushi Pro and 2019 Mappa series have their own takes on the design of the characters. Mushi Pro sorta goes for making protagonist Hyakkimaru more buff, and adult looking, whereas Mappa makes their Hyakkimaru slim and more ikemen. I think both approaches work fine for the story at hand, and are interesting time capsules of themselves for their own eras.

So let’s compare the first episode of both series!

Both episodes start in a similar fashion, with Feudal Lord Daigo Kagemitsu making a deal to 48 Demons and sacrificing his then unborn son in the process. However even this early on we can see differences between the two adaptations. 

In the 1969 Mushi Pro version Daigo willingly offers up his own son to the demons, and does so for power, asking them to grant him all of Japan under his rule, whereas in the 2019 Mappa version Daigo only offers the demons anything they want in return, never directly giving them his own son, and asks for the demons to give him the power and prestige he will need to rule over Japan. 

At first I felt that Mappa may have made Daigo a bit more sympathetic, him seemingly asking for his own province to be granted protection from disease, famine, and war is certainly something we haven’t seen out of the character, but were perks he does enjoy later in the story regardless. As I ruminated on it however, I realized it’s more of an attempt to round out his character and add some extra depth to him. Sure those may have been great things for a Feudal Lord to ask for, but Daigo really only cares about one thing, and that’s ruling Japan; this has yet to change. Daigo still has no qualms about his own son Hyakkimaru being born a hideous freak and still throws away the newborn baby to die in some river while yelling at his wife to make another one to replace it.

One Buddhist monk starves to death while bemoaning the state of Japan while another is slain and bemoans the current state of affairs in Japan

Then there’s Daigo killing a Buddhist monk. This scene does not exist in the 1969 Mushi Pro version (but Daigo does murder the monk albeit under different circumstances in the manga) and I have quite a bit to say about that. Daigo’s conversation with this monk, again, shows him off to be a bit more well rounded. He’s still selling his soul to the devil, but we can see his own level of commitment to his ambition when talking to the monk. The monk also plays another role that mirrors Mushi Pro’s first episode. In Mushi Pro’s debut episode Dororo comes across a starving Buddhist monk that can do nothing but beg for food and pray, and eventually succumbs to his starvation and dies. Both monks remark about the horrors of the current sengoku era being like Hell on Earth, and are meant to communicate to the audience that this particular time in Japanese history is perhaps one of the cruelest. 

1969 or 2019, Daigo is still a dirt-bag and makes his wife suffer.

Let’s talk about Hyakkimaru’s birth as I think it’s a pretty interesting contrast between these two adaptations. In the 1969 Mushi Pro version Daigo already knows his son should be born a monster so upon seeing the hideous freak that is his baby boy, he proudly declares “My end of the bargain is fulfilled!” The demons have accepted Daigo’s offer and he can’t be happier. In the 2019 Mappa version Daigo is not aware of what the demons will take until a bolt of lighting strikes the room his wife is giving birth in. Upon seeing the baby up close (something not seen in the 1969 version until the second episode) Daigo realizes what has happened and orders the baby killed. We then get a conversation about a Buddhist statue that happened to break in the same room. The wet nurse believes it sacrificed itself in order to save the baby, giving a sorta strange implication that perhaps the deal wasn't to take 48 body parts from Hyakkimaru but to take everything from him, including his life. In fact we never really even establish if there are 48 demons, or 48 body parts missing, so the number may vary, and the kind of curse could be different. If that is true, it is certainly a unique approach to the series.

The image of baby Hyakkimaru from Mushi Pro's 1969 Dororo adaptation is taken from the second episode as it was not shown in the first episode.

Hyakkimaru’s birth between the two versions shows how both mirror each other--we have less subtle writing but more subtle animation in the 1969 Mushi Pro adaptation, and more subtle writing but super over-the-top animation in the 2019 Mappa adaptation. I find this maybe the best way to compare these two anime entirely so far. There is no huge lightning bolt smiting the room Daigo’s wife is giving birth in with the Mushi Pro version, instead you hear the mother scream in terror upon Hyakkimaru's birth as she breaks down and cries. Daigo and his wife's expressions of horror at the baby is the only clear indication of Hyakkimaru's hideousness instead of just showing the baby like Mappa did. But the Mappa version is trying to give some more depth to its characters, and maybe even to its own world with added bits such as the Buddhist statue maybe protecting Hyakkimaru. Both adaptations seems to have reverse on what they want to be subtle about and what they want to be over-the-top about.

In the 1969 Mushi Pro version Daigo and his wife send Hyakkimaru down the river in a basket themselves, where as in the 2019 Mappa version Daigo orders the wet nurse to drown Hyakkimaru in the river, but she pities the baby and places him in an abandoned boat then pushes it down the stream. And then a demon shows up and murders her out of nowhere and is slain by the blind monk Zato (a character that didn't appear until Hyakkimaru narrates his past to Dororo a little later in the story). Yeah, that was a really weird addition to the story Mappa made. It’s certainly more over-the-top and gets a bit more action into an episode that amounts to basically all set-up, so there is that, I guess. Still really weird to see Zato show up like this.

Both Zato and Jukai don't make their introduction until Hyakkimaru explains his past to Dororo in the second episode of the 1969 Mushi Pro Dororo.

Speaking of adding in characters earlier than before, Mappa included scenes that would interrupt the episode every now and again that focus on a doctor who gives prosthetics to dead maimed warriors so they can rest in peace. These scenes did not exist in the 1969 Mushi Pro version, which didn't show Jukai until episode 2 where it tells the story of how he saved a baby in the river he found, Hyakkimaru, and gave it prosthetics.

The introduction to Dororo is pretty similar in both versions, but more drawn out in the 1969 Mushi Pro adaptation. As discussed above with Daigo and the Buddhist monk, there was a scene where a starving monk begs Dororo for food before succumbing to his own starvation and dying, this was not present in the 2019 Mappa adaptation. Dororo gets more time to just do some general hijinks and mess around in town in Mushi Pro's version as well, before finally stealing food from some lowlifes and getting the crap kicked out of him by the riverbank.

In the Mappa version instead of stealing food from lowlifes Dororo steals their cargo and tries to pawn it but is caught then beaten at the riverbank. I imagine Mappa was just trying to streamline Dororo's introduction here for time constraints so they did their best to get across that he’s a thief while also making sure he ends up at the riverbank right away. Either way both adaptations lead to this slime looking monster appearing out of a pile of garbage in the river and eating the lowlife. Mappa’s more over the top animation has the monster swinging around its arms wildly until eventually grabbing said lowlife and making a snack out of him, where Mushi Pro has it slowly slither on top of the lowlife and then melts him. Ouch, that’s kinda way more messed up.

The lowlife gets melted by the monster in the manga too.

From this point on both adaptations are pretty much entirely the same, with just differences in animation quality being really all there is to comment on. The fight scene between Hyakkimaru and the slime in Mappa’s version is fantastic, with Hyakkimaru performing incredible acrobatics, jumping all around the bridge and slicing the whole thing up until it collapses on top of the slime killing it, where Mushi Pro … well they did their best, okay.

The real big difference is that Dororo seems a lot more intelligent when approaching Hyakkimaru in the 2019 Mappa version. Dororo was very quick to notice that Hyakkimaru is blind, and that his body is made up of mostly prosthetics. The 1969 Mushi Pro Dororo ends up getting terrified in the very next episode upon the realization that Hyakkimaru’s eyes are fake (he admittedly popped his glass eyes out of his head though to scare Dororo away).

The 2019 Mappa version has it that the riverbank monster was apparently one of the 48 demons Hyakkimaru needed to slay in order to regain his body parts, this one giving him back his skin. Hyakkimaru was actually born with his skin in the 1969 Mushi Pro version (as well as in the manga), and the monster was not the first demon he needed to kill but just a run-of-the-mil yokai that awarded him no regenerated body parts. Hyakkimaru actually worded it as "the dead", which have no true shape of their own and just latch onto anything, in this case the garbage in the river--thus making the slime monster we saw. Again I think Mappa was trying to kill two birds with one stone and get the audience acquainted with the series quicker since the general plot is essentially Hyakkimaru slays monster, Hyakkimaru grows back lost body part. This was a good way to streamline things, and it was with a body part that he wasn't missing before so it takes away nothing from later parts of the story.

And this is the biggest difference right here at the end of the episode, Hyakkimaru has yet to talk. He may not be able to speak at all until he’s slain enough demons to get this ability back. The Mappa version has so far seemed to point to Hyakkimaru being mute, deaf and blind, and completely cut off from the world. The Mushi Pro version had Hyakkimaru lack his eyeballs, his mouth, and his ears, but he could still speak and hear (just like in the manga). I always assumed it was just his outer ear missing but he still had all his inner ear like his eardrums, and well, you can talk without lips, so there was that too. The Mappa version seems to fully commit to Hyakkimaru being born without all his senses, and if it’s true it will be a super interesting take on the character to be sure. It will also be hard to pull off considering how much he speaks in the original story; he's a very vocal character, so if it is true, until he regains his ability to speak Dororo has to be the one to carry the duo in conversations entirely now which will lead to major shake-ups in the plot.

What do you think of the newest anime adaptation of Dororo. Are you excited to see the classic come back for modern times? Do you wish it was more like the manga or are you enjoying all these attempts to create something more modern with the source material? Do you think Hyakkimaru will speak in the next episode or do you think he's actually going to start the show as a mute? Are you looking forward to keeping up with this new adaptation of Dororo?

PS - Shout out to Mappa for putting a dog into their first episode that resembles Nota, the mascot character invented for the 1969 Mushi Pro series in a vain attempt to prevent the children that were watching it from being emotionally scarred (it probably didn't). 

[angstyteeninthegayscene]

Punk Goes Pop-Klance au

I’ve got a lot happening in the next few weeks, so I’ll try to get pt 9 up in the next day or so, so y’all have something in case I don’t have time to write. Enjoy!

First-Previous-Next-AO3

Pt 8

The rest of the day was spent playing video games and eating junk food, allowing Shiro to let loose and Keith to feel a bit of normalcy after his stressful weekend. It neared 9 when Shiro called it quits, so he could grade a few papers before bed. Keith powered down the X-box and retreated to his room to go to bed early, so he could maybe get a decent amount of sleep.

PJ-clad and ready for bed, Keith crawled under the covers and unlocked his phone to pull up a podcast to listen to. He remembered Hunk telling him about the new video from his “internet rival” and switched from his podcast app to Youtube to check it out quickly. He looked through the comments of his Rihanna video and sure enough there it was.

BlueTailor69: I warned you, Brogaynes <www.youtube.com/fakelink>

He snorted and clicked. The page redirected to the video and Keith shook his head when he saw the title, smiling at its ridiculousness, Bring Me To Life Evanescence Remix- also known as Brogaynes is a terrible person and I hate him.

The song opened with an instrumental bit, heavy with anticipation, the beat gradually growing through the first verse. After the first line of the chorus, it dropped hard into a stretch of classic dubstep. The song repeated that pattern, slow build with samples of the original song and heavy drop, one more time before ending on a synthetic trill.

If Keith didn’t have a predisposed hatred of all things dubstep, he would have liked the song. He clicked into the description expecting another snide comment like last time, but it was empty. He scrolled through the comments and saw nothing there either. He thought that was a bit odd and out of character, but dismissed it because they’d never interacted, so there was no reason for him to know anything about this person’s character or be concerned.

He switched back to his podcast app, pulling one up, and closed his eyes. Before he knew it, the hosts said their outro an hour later and Keith was still very awake. He groaned and rolled over to grab his phone. He debated playing another one, but he didn’t feel anywhere near falling asleep, so he opened Twitter with the hope that some mindless scrolling would do the trick.

The racing in his mind gradually slowed as he went through his feed. He passed a list of recommended users, quickly scrolling back up for a double take. No way, he thought, his mind fully alert again, and clicked on the user profile. Sure enough, there it was. BlueTailor69 had a twitter and it was exactly what could be expected. The profile picture was a black background with Fuck You, Brogaynes in white Comic Sans and the description read, I exist solely to spite Brogaynes. Besides, he started it.

Keith couldn’t fight the disbelieving laugh that bubbled up as he scrolled through his tweets.  They were pretty much all replies to Keith’s tweets, consisting mostly of various snips and jabs at the songs he covered. He looked again at the most recent tweet, linking to his Evanescence cover, his brows furrowing as he read the caption. Had a shitty weekend so cut me some slack. I can still hate you in any headspace though @BrogaynesMusic ;) That must have been why there was no sarcastic commentary on the video.

Before thinking it through, Keith hit the message button and typed out a quick You ok? Once it sent, he realized that that was probably a bad idea. This guy was likely some troll who just enjoyed fucking with people because he had nothing better to do with his life and wasn’t worth Keith’s time to be worried about. Before he could fully second-guess his decision, his phone pinged.

BlueTailor69: ???

Keith stared at the message bubble, just as confused as to why he was messaging this guy as he was.

BrogaynesMusic: You said you had a shitty weekend. Just asking if you were ok

You stalking me now brogaynes? Was ruining Beyoncé not enough for you?

No, you popped up in recommended and I was just trying to be nice. Sorry for caring. Keith huffed indignantly as he typed the message and sent it.

Dude im kidding lol

… oh

Sarcasm doesn’t translate well over messaging lol knew I should have used an emoji To answer your question, not really? I found out some stuff that upset me and then I was a dick about it Still need to apologize for that

I had a bad weekend too if that makes you feel better

You want me to revel in your sadness to cure mine?

No? just trying to sympathize

ik I was kidding again I really gotta use emojis with u dude

leave me alone

you messaged me broski

…fair sorry I shouldn’t have bugged you

Nah youre good man cant sleep anyway

same

we can talk to each other til we fall asleep, how romantic!! Rivals to lovers! They can make a movie about us! I totally ship it

why are you like this

I didn’t get enough attention as a child im sleep depraved and lucid I hate myself and veil my insecurities with humor take your pick

-_-

:D

(－‸ლ)

Oooooooo fancy how u do that??

skill, you scrub

rude

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

That’s it ive decided your emoji game is too fly for me not to be in love w/ you

k?

I just declared my love and all you have to say is k? K?

k?

you bastard to think I ever loved you

are you always this dramatic

I was an attention-starved middle child. I learned fast

Makes sense going to school for acting then? wait, you’re not some creepy 56 year old who preys on people on the internet right??

Lol im a sophomore in college, music production major actually and I bet you really insulted some lonely 56 year old who scours the internet for companionship to fill his empty soul

Just checking

wbu? You’re not some 56 year old who lures people in with his deceptively youthful voice are you?

Nope, college sophomore too

See! That can’t be a coincidence, we were meant to be together!

Youre weird

Thx I try what are you in for?

Performing arts

Imma take a stab and say singing?

Yep

Nice you could go far with that

I thought you hated my music

Subject matter, not quality you have a really good voice

Thx

Youre supposed to say, you too

Fishing much?

I have a fragile ego and no concept of self worth, I need constant validation

Relatable I hate dupstep, but you’re not terrible

That was painful for you to say wasn’t it

A little, not gonna lie

Well Ill take it anyway :) u tired yet

Keith stifled a yawn as he got the last message.

Yeah a little

Im that boring huh

Shut up, you asked

ik lol feel free to sign off if youre ready to sleep

nah im goodigeudjlflllllllll

you feel asleep in your phone didn’t u lol good night dude

[sotnosen93]

Making a new version of my Fantasy AU post containing both the abridged version and the more detailed version, for simplicity’s sake. Abridged version can be found below, full version under the read more. See also these two posts for more details on the Creek parts.

The Elven and Human Kingdoms were in peace until the Grand Wizard King Cartman decided to invade the elves for reasons I honestly haven’t figured out myself.

The Prince of Elves Kyle managed to escape the attack with his little brother Prince Ike, his bodyguard Stan Marshwalker and the Royal Bard Jimmy.

The four took refuge in the forest and have now formed a small rebel group out to overthrow the Wizard King, also consisting of Tweek (secretly a runaway noble), Craig (adopted into a group of assassins when he was a baby), Timmy, and Dovahkiin (the Wizard King’s former chief assassin, I will always fight for the New Kid’s inclusion in fanworks).

On the Wizard King’s side is Butters, “Princess” (actually Prince) Kenny, Bebe (a traitor to the elves), Heidi, Token (the King’s very unwilling new chief assassin), Wendy (leader of a mercenary group, only on his side for money), and Scott.

The Wizard King is currently trying to negotiate an alliance with the dwarves, of which Clyde is the prince and Dougie is a prominent engineer and inventor.

Full version below.

Contrary to human popular belief, elves aren’t actually any more naturally long-lived than humans. They do, however, have access to a magical potion that can greatly slow down aging, along with other powerful magical remedies. However, since this potion requires some very rare ingredients, it’s only affordable to the royal family and their closest circle. Thus, most elves actually live lives very similar to those of the humans. Since the elves are rather reclusive and stick to their own business, the royals are the only ones the general public would even hear about, so they assume what applies to them applies to all elves.

Cartman is the Wizard King, who invaded and razed the Elven Kingdom prior to the start of the story, after he was made king. Unfortunately, I don’t have any real ideas regarding him, what life is like under his rule, or why exactly he attacked the elves. Only that there was peace between the elves and the humans before, and that he was the one who broke that peace for reasons I’m not sure of myself. Possibly to get to the magic remedies mentioned above?

Kenny is the “princess” of a matriarchal kingdom allied with the Wizard King. He’s actually a prince, but as the people wouldn’t accept being ruled by a king and his mother was too fragile health-wise to survive another pregnancy, it was decided that he would be raised as a girl instead. He lives in the Wizard King’s castle along with his handmaiden Lady Karen, who is one of the few people who know his secret. They grew so close that they decided to unofficially adopt each other as siblings.

Prince Kyle is the oldest son of Queen Sheila and King Gerald of the elves. When the Wizard King attacked his kingdom, he barely managed to escape capture along with his younger brother Prince Ike, his lifeguard and childhood friend Stan, and the Royal Bard Jimmy. He now lives in the forest with a small group of rebels, constantly moving to avoid capture and trying to collect allies wherever he can in the hope of one day ending the Wizard King’s tyranny and rebuilding his kingdom.

Stan is a human who was found abandoned in the woods by Randy and Sharon Marshwalker, an elf couple close to the royal family, as an infant. They took him in as their own and he was raised to be the crown prince’s playmate and lifeguard. He has as his battle companion a wolf-dog named Thunderbolt, whom he nicknamed Sparky.

Paladin Butters is the Wizard King’s right-hand-man, captain of the guards, and enforcer. The King manipulates him into doing his dirty work by taking advantage of his idealism and chivalry to paint his enemies as “villains” who need “smiting”. He’s also starting to grow quite a bit of affection for the beautiful foreign “princess” staying in the castle, whom he was tasked to protect whenever he is not out on missions.

Craig is the biological son of a soldier and a young, naïve priestess said soldier had an affair with on an excursion to a distant land. Said priestess was part of a bloodline said to possess a certain monster-repelling magic… When the soldier returned home, he took the baby with him so he could have a “civilized” upbringing. As you may have surmised by now, dear reader, this soldier was a bit of an asshole, and soon after he came home he found himself targeted by assassins after disgruntling the wrong people. He barely survived the first assassination attempt and gave the assassins after him the baby in return for his own life. Though they originally intended to raise him just as an apprentice, they soon came to see him as their son. Many years later, the elven prince, feeling he needed all the help he could get, used some of his last remaining resources to hire young Craig to steal and fight for him for a year. After the year was over, Craig chose to stay with the group on his own accord, as he was starting to develop a strong bond with a certain archer…

Thomas and Laura are members of a group of assassins for hire who are also trained in the arts of theft and straightforward battle. Thomas is a poisoner while his wife works with blades. As he grew older Craig decided he felt more comfortable with his mother’s way, though that’s not to say he doesn’t know a thing or two about poisons should he need to use them. They grew so fond of their new role as parents that they a few years later decided to have a biological child together. Tricia (or to call her by her code name, Ruby) prefers her father’s methods.

Tweek is the son of a pair of nobles who once got separated from the guards who were supposed to be watching him during a trip to the city when he was a child. He found himself in the poor districts and was shocked to discover how some people were suffering while he was living in luxury. Even after he was found, he never managed to put those images out of his head. Whenever he mentioned his concern to his parents, they just told him he should spend his time thinking about more important things, like the family business. As his teens began and he got more involved in the family trade, he started feeling even more ashamed when he found out his family had an indirect hand in what the people were going through. This eventually became too much for him to handle, and he started secretly making some survival equipment and an outfit modelled after the hero in one of his books. He pretended to have a picnic in the garden one day (carrying his outfit/equipment in the basket and having hidden the bow in a bush earlier) and, as soon as he was out of sight, climbed over the wall and ran away before anyone knew what was happening. After a few very tough months of learning to fend for himself in the wilderness, he started stealing from the rich and giving to the poor as a way of making up for things, staying in the shadows and trees or otherwise hiding his face to avoid being recognized whenever he robbed someone who might have seen him on social gatherings. He eventually came into contact with Prince Kyle’s rebel group and decided to give his services, figuring that it would be a good way to help people on a larger scale. In battle, he still keeps to the trees and provides his friends with support via arrows.

The Tweaks are nobles loyal to the Wizard King, and aid him by distributing a mild mind control serum that makes the people more loyal to him and less likely to rebel. They’re currently working on a new, stronger version, trying to figure out how to make it work without people losing all sense of self and capacity of advanced thought, which is rather inconvenient if there’s no-one to tell them what to do or if they’re needed for learned skills, knowledge, or art.

Jimmy was the Royal Bard at the Elven court, and one of the founding members of the rebellion. He generally prefers staying at camp keeping people’s moral up, though when he does go into battle he can use his lute to cast magical spells to aid his allies and weaken his enemies.

Token is a prince from a distant land (not to be confused with the distant land Craig’s biological mother is from. This is a different one.) trained in both stealth and medicine, working as the Wizard King’s chief assassin after the last one deserted him. However, he actually holds no loyalty towards the King whatsoever. The only reason he works for him is because his wife Princess Nichole is held hostage in the dungeons.

Clyde is the Prince of Dwarves and, as part of his royal training, follows his father to all political and diplomatic meetings to watch and learn. He finds this extremely dull. However, one day he came with to greet a diplomatic delegation there to discuss a possible alliance between the dwarves and the Wizard King. It was there he first laid eyes on Bebe of the Blood Elves, and was instantly captivated by her beauty, grace, and boobies.

Bebe is the leader of the Blood Elves, a splinter group who betrayed the Elven Kingdom and joined forces with the Wizard King, enticed by the promise of wealth of status. However, as she finds herself growing closer to the Prince of Dwarves, she starts to have second thoughts about what she really wants in life…

Wendy is the leader of the Shieldmaidens, an all-female mercenary group in the employ of the Wizard King as his elite battle forces. She once captured Stan Marshwalker, or Stan the Great as he’s more commonly known, and delivered him to the Wizard King. As she guarded him in the dungeons, the two started small-talking to pass the time, and hit it off right away. When the day he was scheduled to be executed came, they had gotten so close that Wendy got cold feet and freed him at the last minute, lying that he must have outsmarted her somehow and escaped.

Dougie is a dwarven engineer who spends much of his free time working on new inventions. During the alliance talks, he struck up a friendship with Paladin Butters and agreed to make inventions for his use exclusively, in exchange for Butters taking care of the potentially dangerous field testing.

Dovahkiin (Dovah to her friends) is the Wizard King’s former chief assassin, who deserted him after Prince Kyle managed to show her all the harm the King really does. She joined the Elven Prince instead and is now part of his “Illicit Acquisition Force” (his thieves) together with Craig and Tweek. She actually possesses an unexplored magical power, unknown even to the King, allowing her to win people’s loyalty through barely any effort of her own. Her parents smuggled her away and raised her as a boy in an attempt to fool a politically neutral group of wizards out to exploit her power for their own means. Whenever she’s part of a big job, she likes to snatch a piece of jewelry or other trinket to take with her as a trophy. She’s childhood friends with Paladin Butters and to this day he’s still the most important person in the world to her (though they have no romantic feelings for each other). She’s very reluctant to do anything that might have negative consequences for him, and wishes he could be convinced to join Prince Kyle like she was. Would probably have a lot to talk about with “Princess” Kenny, if talking was a thing she actually did. She secretly envies Tweek and Craig’s relationship and wishes she could have something like that.

Heidi is the Witch Queen, wife of the Wizard King. Before she was arranged to marry Prince Eric, as he was known then, she had a burgeoning romance with Prince Kyle, back when there was still peace between the elves and humans. He still secretly holds a candle for her. She does genuinely have feelings for the King at this point, but this is mainly because he hides the more morally black things he does, while explaining away the morally gray ones as “unfortunate necessities”.

Ike is Prince Kyle’s younger brother. He’s considered a prodigy in matters such as tactics, mathematics, and art, but couldn’t inherit the throne, being the younger heir (plus some rumors that he may not be biologically related to the royal family). Now, he’s the rebel group’s chief tactician and planner. He managed to save his favorite horse from the attack on his kingdom, and fights from its back with a lance whenever he has to get involved in battle.

Scott is the Wizard King’s Royal Keeper of the Stables, which is a fancy term for “he takes care of the animals”.

Timmy is an old friend of Jimmy, who invents new tools, weapons, and other improvements for the rebel group. He even made himself an old-timey version of a wheelchair that also functions as a miniature catapult, with which he throws spiked balls, potion bottles, and other small projectiles. He also takes care of the more basic upkeep, such as sharpening and cleaning, of the reserve weapons.

[deviouslyartistic]

Hime’s Backstory

Trigger warning: This backstory does contain sensitive content that others may not be comfortable with. Viewer discretion is advised.

Beginning Childhood and Elementary School Life

Hime Rachel Rengouka was born on May 14th, 1981 (in the presence of Final Fantasy 7 REMAKE, she is 26) in Sector 7 to a Shinra customer assistance employee and a housewife. Since Hime attended school, her father would take her to school on the weekdays since it was on the way to the work building.  Hime was much known for her purple eyes, which were very rare to see. She originally had brown hair and didn't have any bangs. She usually wore a oversized bright pink hoodie over her school uniform to keep herself warm in the cold classrooms. Her hair was kept in pig-tails and small bows accented it. She fit in with most of the girls in class since they all wore the same uniform and almost same hairstyle. She was not a straight A+ student but she did get decent grades. At the beginning of her 5th grade class, she learned that she had the ability to draw, which lead her into a small group of friends that were artists too. They all drew different things, and Hime drew clothing. Skirts, shirts, dresses, shoes, she loved it all.

Middle school

This is when things started to go downhill for her. Not even a week into school and people started to make fun of her physique, and how different she looked. People called her “paper b*tch” and “Ms.Flatterson” due to how she didn't grow a lot of curves like the other girls had. The girls were able to rock the crop tops and shorts while Hime stuck to oversized hoodies over her uniform and tights under her school uniform to feel better at least a little bit. She lost a lot of confidence and not even the puberty acne helped. She started to keep her hair in a bun and keep her hoodie to block her face. 

A 4 months later, a transfer student joined her class. It was a person, a nice person to be exact. Their eyes were cyan and they were beautiful. The new student sat next to Hime, The student curious about Hime’s silent state, they started to talk to her. The student, from what they said, was Nicci Johanson but wanted to be called Nick (since they are non-binary). They said they transferred from the slums after their parents started to work for Shinra. Nicci had reddish-brown hair, they were an exquisite human. Hime was very interested in what they came from and were. Hime never left Sector 7 so the slums are a new topic to her.

Hime and Nick became close friends and eventually became best friends. Hime started to actually grow a feminine body and Nick bought Hime her first crop top. Hime, out of generosity and kindness, bought a binder for Nick since Nick could not afford one. They each assisted and bought each other things that they wanted and could not get or afford. This happened, even to high school where Nick bought Hime art supplies and Hime bought Nick a guitar to pursue their music making career. 

High school and College

Hime and Nick went to high school together and since Hime and Nick became their true selves, they fit in more yet stood out in identity. Hime became the girly girl with all pink items and a artistic nature for fashion while Nick became the tomboy with a ambition for music. Both were accepted even with different interests. Nick had cut their hair too so they felt more comfortable.

Hime eventually faced a depressed time when she heard her father left to work and never came back. He suffered a heart attack during work and never lived enough to reach the hospital. Her mother also faced a depressed time and now had to struggle to find a job since her husband was the one making the money. Hime evidently got a job and worked after school. assisting her mother as she kept trying to find a job. Even if Hime had many fights with her father in the last 2 years due to his excessive drinking issue and her “showy” outfits, she still loved him and wished he was around more to resolve the fighting.

After high school and when her mother found a job, Hime and Nick went their separate ways. They still kept in touch though telephone communication but they went to school for different reasons. Hime went for art and fashion while Nick went for music and composition. Hime loved what she did, especially since she was devoted to make fashion for the world.

Career and Present Day

Hime finally finished college after 3 years and decided to get a job. Hime found a position in Shinra’s Tailoring Department as the Head of it. Hime applied and beat 12 people out of the position, which lead her to get the job. Her mother actually gifted her the crown that she wears today as a gift for always being by her side and getting the job. But sadly, her mother died right after when she fell asleep and never woke up, which lead Hime inheriting the house and keeping it as her own. As she kept making her money, she made enough to rent out the house to people and live in an apartment to which she is currently living. She has grown a bratty attitude ever since she jumped from man to man. She eventually bleached her hair to a reddish-blonde color.

(now since ik some of the people that know Hime well are gonna ask where did Reno come from then- here we go)

Meeting Mr.Sinclair

this is an actual mini story time)

Setting: Two years before FF7, Shinra Tailoring Department Office.

Hime met Reno after he continuously passed by the Tailoring Department office to flirt with some of the female’s working there. One day, he was flirting with one of the employees and Hime decided to interfere since her people had to work (ik this b*tch has the audacity to do that) and caught his attention. “Hello Sir, what brings you here to this department?” She ask him, her voice a little high pitched but mature. Reno looked at her, up and down. Curious about who the hell she was and what authority he had to interfere, he questioned her. “Who are you?” Hime, wondering who doesn't know her, answered in a bit of a cocky tone. “I am the head of this Department, Hime Rengouka but people call me Princess. Who are you and what are you doing here? I have never seen you around here and I don't believe you work here.” She bombarded him with questions. Reno raised a brow at her then answered back. “Well if you need to know, Princess, I am Reno, one of the people that work for Shinra’s Turks-” “So why aren't you back with your co-workers?” She interrupted him. Reno stayed silent, looking back at her. “I am on break, and why are you over here?” He questioned her back. “Cause’ you keep coming over and conversing my workers, they are getting distracted then they don’t get their work done. So please don’t come over here... “ Reno gently grabbed one of the blonde bangs she had on the side of her face. A small blush came to her face but she quickly snapped out of it and moved his hand away from her face. “... don't distract me too- it wont help your case. We can speak more in my office- distracting others doesn't help anyone.”

Reno sat across from Hime’s desk as she looked at him. Her purple eyes were interlocked with his turquoise ones. “ So a Turk, huh? Wonder if you are the most annoying one of the bunch.” She joked a bit, a small smile coming to her face. He just looked at her, a smirk growing on his face. “So the Head, huh? I have heard of you around the office. They say you had 5 different boyfriends in the last 6 months.” He stated, chuckling a bit. She couldn't help but stay silent since that was the truth. Her cheeks grew a bright pink before she looked away. She then looked back at him. “This place is a gossip madhouse. Don't think about cheating with one of these people next to you. They know how to pass shit around like chewing gum.” She warned him. Reno laughed. “You think I don’t know that shit, dollface? Its a known fact!” He laughed before she scoffed. He looked at her, the same annoying smirk at his face. “Better wipe off that smirk before it gets you in more trouble. How old are you anyway? You act so childish!” She asked him, leaning into her desk, her crown staying on her head. Reno replied, a little attitude in his speech. “26, you?” He asked. “24, lucky number 24.” She told him, a chuckle glided across the room between the two of them. They kept talking and eventually later that day, Hime got his number and they hit it off. 

[yup-ng]

7 Richest Actresses in Nigeria (Photos)

That Nollywood money. For so many, becoming a Nollywood star is a dream. They look up to their favorite actors and actresses and say to themselves "I can do that" but when they get to those sets, they see that 1.) The act of acting itself especially in front of a camera and on a professional set is difficult, and 2.) Acting by itself especially for an up and coming actor or actress doesn't pay as much as they think. In fact, if you want to know what the realities of an up and coming actor in Nigeria looks like (and note: these actors are even moderately popular, talk less of the ones no one knows yet), then watch the documentary series Being in Nollywood available on IrokoTV. You'll see very quickly that Nollywood money isn't what you think AT ALL. So then, how did the actresses on this list get as rich and successful as they did? Well, stick around and I'm going to tell you about each one. This list is not ranked meaning that although the list will be numbered, it is not from top to bottom or bottom to top, there is no specific order because last last, none of us actually know how much any of these actresses actually have inside their bank accounts. Are you ready to jump into this list and find out who the richest Nollywood actresses are? Alright then, let's go! **Be sure to like and follow my Facebook page so you don't miss out on any new and interesting stories, lists, and articles that I post every single day. I run a really fun page. If you like it, you will have fun to. So what are you waiting for? Like this page and join in on the fun! 7. Omoni Oboli

Omoni Oboli is a hardworker. As we've already discussed, being only an actress won't give you the kind of money that Omoni Oboli has, you have to aspire for more. And that is what Omoni Oboli did. After spending some time in the earlier years having her first stint in acting, the actress actually went away for quite some time. In that time though, she wasn't idle. She worked hard. She went to the New York Film Academy and studied digital film-making. When she came back, she started out once acting easing her way back into Nollywood but once her feet were finally firmly on the ground, she took it up to where the real money is and started producing her own movies. Earlier in 2002, Omoni and her husband Nnamdi, created Dioni Visions Entertainment, a multifaceted company with entertainment at its core. A production company. This became pivotal to the success that Omoni has now because as soon as she got strong footing in Nollywood, she started making her own movies. In 2014, she produced and directed her first movie, Being Mrs Elliott. Following that she went on to produce blockbuster after blockbuster including The First Lady, Wives on Strike, Okafor's Law, and more. Because Omoni Oboli is the director AND producer of these movies, she collects majority share of the revenue the money makes, way more than she would ordinarily be collecting if she was only an actress. Thank God for her, her moveis also sell BIG. Her 2016 movie, Okafor's Law made N89,740,576 in the box office, Wives on Strike made N71,300,000 and 2018's Moms At War made N65,000,000. Remember, Omoni takes majority share on all of these movies so let your math tell you how much Omoni is raking in. In addition to all of this, Omoni is also a published author. She is is the owner and brand ambassador of ageless by Omoni 3D mink lashes. She is one of the brand ambassadors of Pedini Nigeria. Nunu Milk endorsed her as one of its brand ambassadors, and she is an ambassador of Royal Caribbean Nigeria. Omoni Oboli is GET-TI-NG PAID!

6. Chika Ike

Chika Ike is another actress who isn't just an actress alone. Like, Omoni Oboli, Chika made the smart decision to actually go into producing her own movies in order to earn majority share on them. However, although Chika's movies haven't reached the level of success that Omoni Oboli's have reached, it doesn't mean that she's still not making bank. In fact, her 2020 release through her production company Flip Script Entertainment, Small Chops made N24,924,700 and as of the time of writing this article is the 58th highest grossing Nigerian film. Through her production company, she has also been able to produce other movies including Miss Teacher, Happy Ending, and Stuck on You, all of which are now housed on IrokoTV (who of course paid Chika for these movies). She also had the African Diva Reality Show which was free to view on Youtube. The videos were monetized and the channel has amassed 400,003 views as of the time of writing this article. According to this Youtube Views to Money calculator, it means that Chika made an estimated $$1,600 which isn't great, but isn't too bad also. That's almost N600,000. She is also a UN Ambassador, author, Bullet Energy Drink Ambassador, and CEO of Fancy Nancy Collections, a fashion store which deals in female clothes and accessories. Chika in her book also said that she's into real estate and this is one hustle she says that gives her a whole lot of money.

5. Mercy Johnson-Okojie

Mercy Johnson-Okojie's major thing in Nollywood is acting. She didn't delve into movie production until 2020 when under Wale Adenuga Productions, she produced her very first movie titled The Legend of Inikpi. The movie went on to make N29,955,335 and because Mercy is credit as a producer, got a higher share on this movie than she would normally get only acting. Yes, Mercy hasn't been as actively acting as she did in the early days of her career. No, it doesn't mean that she's still not on the scene. The actress is a host on her TV show, Mercy's Menu. She currently acts as an ambassador to Mr Chef Salt and Household manufacturing giant, Virony. She is also currently the appointed Senior Special Assistant (SSA) on entertainment, arts and culture to Governor Yahaya Bello of Kogi State. One of her major sources of income is Mercy Magic, a weight loss tea that sells a whole lot. At any given moment, the site is usually sold out and the teas are not cheap either, ranging from N10,000 to N30,000 per pack. One way or another, Mercy Johnson is getting paid.

**Don't forget to like my page. Never miss out on the fun. 4. Mary Njoku

Mary Njoku's major source of income is undoubtedly IrokoTV. Her husband, Jason Njoku founded the Nigerian streaming platform and since then, Mary has assumed the role of chief content officer of IROKO Partners. In addition, she is the director general of ROK Film Studios, a Nigerian film production company that makes a lot of the content that's on IrokoTV. In 2019, French television company Canal+ has acquired the ROK film studio from VOD company IROKOtv for an undisclosed amount. Canal+ Chief Content Officer Fabrice Faux speaking on the phone with TechCrunch said: We are acquiring the talent of Mary. We will provide administrative support, finance and equipment, but otherwise it is our intention to give Mary maximum autonomy and creative freedom. According to their report, Mary had produced more than 540 movies and 25 original TV series for ROK as of 2019. This is what her husband, Jason, had to say about the sale of IrokoTV and Mary now earning more than him: Whereas I can’t disclose the number due to sensibilities in France for Vivendi Canal Plus, it was, at least to my knowledge, easily the largest media transaction / deal in West Africa history and possibly Africa (outside of SA). Mrs Njoku didn’t sell her shares, Vivendi Canal Plus acquired IROKO Ltd shares in the ROK Group, so she retains her stake. This is a fantastic exit and considering ROK was only 6-years old and required Wow! Talk about a hardworker. Mary Njoku is doing IT.

3. Genevieve Nnaji

Genevieve Nnaji is now on a different path. When she first started out in the industry, she was just an actress with a simple wish and desire to do her passion: act. Now that dream is bigger and Genevieve is going for the whole pie. Around 2015, Genevieve quietly created her own production company, The Entertainment Network (TEN). Through this company, she has produced 2 movies: the first one, Road to Yesterday went on to gross N30,000,700 becoming the 53rd highest grossing movie in Nigeria, and Lionheart which made N21,319,102 in the local box office run. Lionheart was also acquired by Netflix on 7 September 2018, making it the first Netflix original film produced in Nigeria. What does this mean you ask? It means that Genevieve got PAID! But that's not all for the actress. Although movies are a huge money maker for her, she also launched a clothing line called St. Genevieve in 2014. It was later relaunched in collaboration with Jumia, a Nigerian online retail store in 2016. That's not all. Genevieve also has a sizable investment in real estate. The actress has property in prestigious areas in Lagos, Abuja, and reportedly, even Ghana. Genevieve is very much AL-RIGHT.

2. Omotola Jalade-Ekeinde

The summary of Omotola's achievements is listed to you by Omotola herself as soon as you open her Instagram. Her Instagram bio reads: Dr Omotola Jalade-Ekeinde, MFRActress,TEFFEST,Artistic Dir,Singer,UNwfp Amb,Amnesty Int activist,Oyep,Time100 Most Influential in the world,Academy Voting Member,Philanthropist Wow! Talk about a resume. This also very much sums it up but just to expand a little: Yes, Omotola is an Academy Voting Member meaning that she votes for the Oscars. In 2013, she was in fact honored in Time magazine as one of the 100 most influential people in the world alongside Michelle Obama, Beyoncé and Kate Middleton. She is an activist, ambassador, and everything she listed in her bio but her main source of income comes from 3 things: 1.) Acting. Omotola commands a high rate to act in her movies. She chooses what she acts in and she supplies her rate. If you can't afford it, good bye. 2.) Endorsements: Omotola is a brand ambassador for A LOT of companies including Scanfrost, Knorr, and Pampers. 3.) Real Estate: The actress if you follow her on social media is majorly now invested in property and real estate. This is a huge money maker so we're assuming that this is where Omotola is devoting a lot of her time right now. Yes we don't see Omotola on screen as much as we'd love to anymore, but rest assured that Omosexy is still very much getting her paper regardless.

1. Funke Akindele-Bello

A woman who makes the majority of her money simply from Nollywood which by the way is very very rare is none other than Jenifa herself, Funke Akindele-Bello. Why? Because she is a smart business woman. When Funke Akindele-Bello begun producing the Jenifa Diary's series specifically, it was a huge money maker for Nollywood streaming company, IrokoTV. Funke saw this and capitalized on the new streaming age. She created SceneOne TV, her own streaming network on which she still produces Jenifa's Diary amongst a host of other TV shows. You might not know this but Jenifa's Diary is a HUGE money maker for Funke Akindele, so is SceneOne TV. The subscription price is N600/month or N7,000/yr for individuals and N2,000/month and N20,000/yr for families. According to metrics, SceneOne.tv gets an average 113,630 visits per month. When you realize that SceneOne isn't a free website meaning that these visits are usually made by paying customers, then you can let the math start happening and you can understand why Funke Akindele doesn't plan on ending Jenifa's Diary anytime soon, and you can get an estimate of how much money she's making. It's a lot. Plus when you tie in her endorsement deals and partnerships with Lagos State Inland Revenue Service, Iroko TV, Vitafoam, Western Lotto, 1960 Bet, Keystone Bank, Amen Estate, and more, you can understand how Funke Akindele is actually a real life gbo gbo big girl!

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[bfknj]

tags masterpost (?)

I was tagged in a few tag games over the past few days and instead of posting them all separately I decided to just put them all on one! If I tagged you feel free to do any or all of these (including people who tagged me!!) As always, don’t feel any pressure to do any, I just think these are fun and wanted to share :)

- - - - 11 questions tag - - - -

Rules: 1. Make sure to post the rules!! 2. Answer the questions given to you by the tagger. 3. Write 11 questions of your own. 4. Tag 11 people

these questions are from @moonmyun !! michaela you had me stRUGGLIN OKAY YOUR QUESTIONS WERE HARD but ily still bless you for the tag you angel :”)

1 who is your bias group? why?

BANGTAN SONYEONDAN AKA MEME SQUAD !!!!!!! honestly they just make me so beyond happy wow holly nobody ever says that about their favs ur original a LOOOT of music is centered around love these days and not to say bts doesn’t do that with a lot of their music but they also tackle a lot of societal issues and I really respect them for that. From 21st century girls w politics, spring day mv and the ferry sinking, suicide in the I need u mv and many other things I feel like they take risks for the sake of portraying what they hold true to their hearts/morals not necessarily what will sell best and I can’t name many other groups who do that as well :( also my boys cute af I love those dweebs IM SO WHIPPED HAH

2 which kpop video do you find the most aesthetically pleasing?

this is hard :(( idk my number one but I really like seventeen hip hop unit’s check in, red velvet’s one of these nights, ladies code’s galaxy, kim lip of loona’s eclipse and crush’s fall ! they don't all match my aesthetic but I feel like they match the songs really well!!! watch them okay 3/5 of them are hELLA UNDERRATED bye

3 if you could instantly learn one choreography, what would you pick?

something by either gfriend or bts?? love whisper or not today or blood sweat tears?? OOOH or red flavor by rv!! tbh though I’m really skinny so my limbs look weird af with a lot of dances rip

4 who do you look up to as a role model (in the kpop community or not)?

there’s no person in particular that really sticks out but I will say I’ve always admired jungkook, and really all trainees for that matter, who leave their families to start training really young because its a process thats hard physically, emotionally and mentally for late teen/early twenties trainees but there’s sO many kids who enter in their pre-teens and idk how they survive also I realized this doesn’t answer your question at all I'm sorry its 1:28 AM I’m just waiting for the DNA mv to drop

5 whose concert would you go to if you could and why?

DAY6 DAY6 DAY6 DAY6 !!!!! THEY INVENTED LIVE SHOWS DONT FIGHT ME ON THIS or shoot maybe dean or crush or heize?? I LOVE TOO MANY TALENTED PEOPLE also I would say bts but although there are countless amazing beautiful armys there are def some crazy scary ones that are known to be horrible at concerts so

6 if you could pick one idol to be best friends with, who would it be and why?

OK YALL IVE THOUGHT ABOUT THIS A LOT IN MY DAILY LIFE SO S/H TO MICHAELA FOR ASKING ILY either boo seungkwan or ahn heeyeon!! I feel like hani would be so fun to have girl time with bc I feel like we’re really similar in some ways ?? IDK I LOVE HER bUT overall I’d say boo seungkwan because istg we are 100000000% the same person only he has a weenie ok just trust me I am boo and boo is me

7 would you want to be a part of a kpop group if you had the opportunity to be?

I’d absolutely love to be in the entertainment industry and I think the staging, costuming, group dynamics and publicity (variety shows, fan service/interations) in the kpop industry are all really cool but I honestly don't think I have the mental strength to do it lmao idols go through so much and I don’t think I could handle it regardless of how much I enjoy singing/dancing/performing etc.

8 what languages do you speak, and which do you want to learn?

english and some spanish??? I understand a lot because quite a bit of my family speaks it but my conversational skills have gone downhill recently because I haven’t had a lot of opportunities to practice :( with that said, I’d like to be fluent in spanish and - BEFORE YOU COME FOR ME READ IT ALL OK - I’d like to learn korean BECAUSE!!!!! when I was little before I moved I would go to a farmers market by my house and a lot of the older ladies there spoke korean and little holly though it sounded so pretty and I always wanted to chat w them ok THATS WHY I’m not a creepy koreaboo this has been a thing since before I even knew what a kpop was ok bye 

9 what song cheers you up when you’re sad?

fire by bts bc I get hella turnt to that song its a pROBLEM also jackpot by block b, baby/puss in boots by astro, chained up by vixx, not today/bst by bts, knock knock by twice, i think I love you by sonamoo THE LIST GOES ON I HAVE A WHOLE PLAYLIST OK

10 what things do you associate with your bias?

dimples!! pretty hands, closing one eye in selcas, ootds, happiness so cheesy ik sORRY, ryan, studying, awkward dancing, open mouth laughs, second hand embarrassment, sentimental rants

11 what’s your favourite thing to do in your free time?

cry over namjoon tbh I’m one of those people who is constantly listening to music so I’m always doing that and singing along regardless of if its free time or not HAH then I really like reading and catching up on my youtube subscriptions

my questions!

what is your dream job?

favorite book of all time?

what is your current fashion like and what is your dream fashion?

if your best friend was cloned, how would you know which one of the two was your best friend?

what song got you into kpop?

which idol do you think is most similar to you?

favorite kpop lyrics?

if given the opportunity to collaborate with any group/soloist of your choice, who would you choose and why?

what is your favorite physical and character trait of your ult?

which underrated groups/soloists do you believe deserve more recognition? any song recs?

do you read fanfics? if so, what are your favorites?

- - - - song title game - - - -

I was tagged by @kihani, your song choices were 12/10 

rules: spell you your url with kpop songs and tag ten people! (all of these happen to by song recs too so listen nd be happy friends)

mysterious - hello venus

i think i love you? - sonamoo (a fav ok listen pls)

life in color - beenzino

knock - knk 

jelly - hotshot

only u - daze

out of sorts - vixx

night rather than day - exid

she’s a baby - zico

- - - - get to know me tag! - - - -

1ST RULE: Tag 10 people you want to get to know better.

2ND RULE: BOLD the statements that are true. tagged by @sleepysugarmoon, thank you friend!! APPEARANCE: I am 5'7" or taller I wear glasses (or contact lenses) I have at least one tattoo I have at least one piercing I have blonde hair I have brown eyes I have short hair My abs are at least somewhat defined I have or have had braces PERSONALITY: I love meeting new people  People tell me that I’m funny   Helping others with their problems is a big priority for me I enjoy physical challenges I enjoy mental challenges I’m playfully rude with people I know well I started saying something ironically and now I can’t stop saying it ABILITY: I can sing well I can play an instrument  I can do over 30 pushups without stopping I’m a fast runner I can draw well I have a good memory I’m good at doing math in my head I can hold my breath underwater for over a minute I have beaten at least 2 people in arm wrestling I know how to cook at least 3 meals from scratch I know how to throw a proper punch HOBBIES: I enjoy playing sports I’m on a sports team at my school or somewhere else I’m in an orchestra or choir at my school or somewhere else I have learned a new song in the past week I work out at least once a week I’ve gone for runs at least once a week in the warmer months I have drawn something in the past month Fandoms are my #1 passion  I do or have done martial arts EXPERIENCES: I have had my first kiss I have had alcohol I have scored the winning goal in a sports game I have watched an entire season of a TV show in one sitting I have been at an overnight event I have been in a taxi I have been in the hospital or ER in the past year I have beaten a video game in one day I have visited another country I have been to one of my favorite band’s concerts RELATIONSHIPS: I’m in a relationship I have a crush on a celebrity I have a crush on someone I know I have been in at least 3 relationships I have never been in a relationship I have asked someone out or admitted my feelings to them I get crushes easily I have had a crush on someone for over a year I have been in a relationship for at least a year I have had feelings for a friend MY LIFE: I have at least one person I consider a “best friend” I live close to my school My parents are still together I have at least one sibling I live in the United States There is snow right now where I live I have hung out with a friend in the past month I have a smartphone I have at least 15 CDs I share my room with someone RANDOM SHIT: I have breakdanced I have had a teacher with the last name that’s hard to pronounce I have dyed my hair I’m listening to one song on repeat right now I have punched someone in the past week I know someone who has gone to jail I have broken a bone I have eaten a waffle today I know what I want to do with my life I speak at least 2 languages I have made a new friend in the past year

tagging some mutuals bc ily and why do you even follow me I'm a wreck tbh OK i tag: @kihani, @21jd, @lapatronakim, @94seulqi, @gayoongi, @springdqy, @medina-kim, @15minss, @je0n, @cottontae, @taebaeul, @booty-baekery, @lalisl, @babekhyun, @voidpjm and anyone else who wants to try any or all of these!! 

[herotheshiro]

i didn’t know where to post this -- here or on my other blog where i’ve moved my fandom ramblings but i’ve decided to put it here since it kind of touches on more personal topics/feelings. jk i wrote it all out and i didn’t really touch too much on personal stuff so into the fandom blog it goes. also putting it under a read more bc it ended up being pretty damn long wow

recently had a sort of issue/not-issue on twitter where i kind of openly expressed my dislike for this one character. no essay backing up why i dislike them, but i do have my (valid) reasons and i tend to be kind of semi-serious w my hate so i didn’t think too much abt swinging my opinions around. and also since this twitter is a recent development, i’m more used to tumblr where even if you openly express an opinion, you have a ton of character space to utilize to explain your opinion so you tend to explain yourself anyway unlike twitter’s limited character tweets where you basically just express your opinion and that’s it. anyway i might have gotten a little carried away since i don’t really interact w anyone in fandoms anymore and only w my fam member who we enable each others’ opinions and put my opinion on my bio and i think that along w my tweet trail led to potentially being vagued abt by a twitter account that mostly posts abt that fandom. i still have reason to suspect that /i/ wasn’t the sole target of the vagueing (if even) bc they said some stuff abt this character’s negative opinion that apparently someone expressed that /i/ never overtly said (like he’s evil and bad simply bc of how he treats this one person but i never said that, just implied that he’s a general asshole and maybe his relationship w this one person isn’t as good as i’ve seen previously from the fandom which is what i’ve deduced from reading canon content). since they never mentioned names or twitter handles explicitly, i purposely made some tweets (still being open, no censoring on purpose) to try to get a direct response and also low-key targeting the vaguers (out of my paranoia that they were indeed talking abt me which honestly prob not but also it’s a relatively small eng-speaking fandom involved w this character so they have to have stumbled upon me at one point). i did get a response (not from the vaguer(s)) from someone calling me out for not censoring my open dislike of this one character. but i also suspect they knew abt my dislike of this one character stemming from their interactions w another character bc they started talking abt shipping even though i never mentioned a ship in those tweets (but i did mention the latter character though not in conjunction w the former). anyway i felt the familiar heat of embarrassment upon seeing that notif of their callout but i almost immediately felt better abt the entire situation bc i finally got the direct callout i was waiting for and i knew what i needed to take down. direct and clear action

in hindsight after i made a series of vagueing tweets last night lol i feel like this entire situation is just me creating unnecessary drama and wildly hitting even ppl not even involved at all (as noted by the callout which was supposedly having non-involved randos in mind) just to make myself feel better or something which isn’t really respectful in any way (and i was totally open abt me just swinging wildly after the callout and my ensuing taking down of posts. this isn’t even a private twitter where ig it’s apparently socially acceptable to talk abt shit like that). and also makes me think maybe i never really learned anything from being online for almost my entire life. a weird part of me has always wanted to become fandom-famous online but i’ve never succeeded in doing so nor have i made an online group of friends i can bounce my opinions and headcanons off of. so i’ve never really developed an online community, i’ve always just been on the fringes and yelling into the mass without getting much attention. now ik that apparently twitter does indeed chuck your opinions well into that mass (good and bad i suppose), it’s a bit surprising to actually get “attention” ... i also mentioned this in my tweets last night but i really really dislike getting vagued abt which my psychoanalyzing brain was like “that’s bc you don’t like not knowing what others think abt you irl” and yeah if you got an issue w me i’d prefer you to tell it directly to my face rather than pretend you like me (which is totally hypocritical bc i do the latter to others but also i tend to just swerve ppl i dislike so it’s not like i go out of my way to pretend to be nice to them).

idk where i was trying to go w this bc now that i’m writing it out i’m like wow yeah i’m still in the wrong huh. sometimes i am in the wrong like years ago when i got called out for grossly shipping irl ppl (which yes i will admit i did do once upon a time but now i no longer do it or am ok w it) but i don’t feel like i was in the wrong this time so i just feel a little frustrated abt the vagueing bc if i was part of the group they were vagueing abt then i was definitely painted as someone w no critical thinking skills which i do, i just don’t share their opinion which they think is right (and tbh i wonder if THEY have critical thinking skills bc they said some things in defense of their opinion which i don’t agree with esp if you’re interpreting canon content like that. are we even reading the same content). i do genuinely feel better abt the series now bc before i was literally anxiety whenever i thought of or even saw the related characters. my fam member was trying to talk abt the series to me and they weren’t even talking abt the related characters but i just wasn’t feeling it bc of this whole situation which i literally made abt me even though there was no indication whatsoever it was abt me. this all make me think that i really should take a good fucking long break from fandoms and social media bc it just gives me unneeded stress and anxiety abt cancel culture, trying to be likeable enough to become fandom-famous, seeing hot takes, etc etc. i’ve already been winding down in terms of strongly interacting w fandoms but my mental health has not been doing so hot recently bc of irl things and fandoms are not ameliorating it at all. ik for some fandoms do indeed make ppl feel better but that’s when ppl actually interact w them and they’re not stuck in a bubble of no response whatsoever while ppl may potentially gab abt them outside of that bubble. my issue is that i always feel the need to create when i really get into a fandom and when you create you want ppl to respond to your creations! so you need to interact w the fandom. but then i then want to actually interact w the fandom fr instead of just posting from time to time and staying out of it and you know where that gets me sometimes. i think it’s bc i had a good time in the pjo and warriors fandoms and i want something like that again in new fandoms i’m in but for whatever reason that’s not how it is now.

i didn’t jump into the vagueing tweet mess bc as i said i wasn’t directly called out and also better to just ignore it but i couldn’t get it out of my head. and that’s making me really consider leaving fandom social media and just create fanworks solely for myself without even posting them online. my works don’t really get much response anyway which is fine tbh even having 1 like these days is good enough so it’s not like i’d be losing out. but idk man ... sometimes you just want to share stuff w others. maybe i should just make my own website and put stuff on there w no expectation for likes or whatever. this has also made me re-evaluate whether or not i really do want to go into art professionally. ik this one situation is inevitable w putting your opinion out on the internet and i wasn’t even in the wrong i feel bc it’s not like i have a problematic opinion (racism, sexism, incest, etc) but it has put a damper on creating content to put online even if the content i eventually want to create is original and is in no way associated w fandoms. even as i write that out i realize it’s kind of stupid to have such a damper put on me. i should watch spiderverse again bc that was the film that really inspired me to create my own creative visual content again and also i’ve been feeling really uninspired lately. ik i shouldn’t let this kind of stuff get me down if i really want to create art in the future but it’s hard to deal w sometimes. honestly i really should be seeing a therapist but also wow now it’s delving into more personal territory so i’ll end it here.

tl;dr i need to learn how to chill on the internet and i think i need to create boundaries for fandoms fr and stick w those boundaries for the benefit of my mental health. maybe i shouldn’t have gotten a twitter in the first place lol even if all i made it for originally was just so i could message a proxy on twitter and not to actually get involved in fandom twitter. i didn’t even get the proxied good in the end anyway bc i was forced to cancel the payment by a third party bc the proxy had not sent me the good in months despite them updating relatively regularly on how busy they were as a student. hah that just how it be

also side note i was like to myself “ok you need to chill bc these series’ characters aren’t real. there’s no need to get so worked up over them” but then i realized even that opinion is “problematic” bc there are ppl out there who really use the characters as like idk a therapy object and i’m genuinely not trying to be an asshole i just forgot the specific wording you use. so even if i’m like ‘they’re fake’ there are others who are like ‘no they make me feel better so don’t hate !!’ which idk is a mentality which i think ppl should shift away from bc you can’t be in fandoms forever unless you’re a professional fictional content creator which is also an opinion i think a good number of ppl would disagree w (“they’re not bothering anyone and it’s their life so what are you to say what they should do??”). idk this is my hot take for the day i guess but it’s fine to be a fan of stuff as you grow up but i think it should become less of a focus/active part in your life as you grow older. i mean maybe that’s a cynical way of seeing things bc maybe creating fanwork is a good de-stressor for ppl but i think i feel that way bc i’m not going into creative content professionally career-wise but ... idk what i’m trying to say here. i guess i just have complicated thoughts on fandoms in general.

[tpaigeme]

just photos w original music

Dear Democratic Party.

I have a confession to make. The other day I slipped up and prayed.

Should I make a video confessing to my sin? In front of CNN? And the nation? And promise to never do it again? Should I resign in disgrace? An embarrassed look on my face?

I am guilty of party line violation caught in the act..of prayer and supplication to God.

Only you can save us oh great Democratic Party hacks —- the Saviors and Messiahs of our souls and our nation.  

I will meditate on you on a daily basis. Upon my little yoga mat I cross my legs and repeat the phrases, “cross my heart hope to die”,  forgive me for I

have sinned. How can I make amends?

Shame on me!  what kind of proper Luciferian prays, “our Father who art in heaven? Hallowed be thy name? Thy kingdom come thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven? Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us? And lead us not into temptation but, (and here’s the kicker), “deliver us from evil.”

Oops I said it again,  “deliver us from evil.”  

I guess that’s it for me and the Democratic Party. Think of the perks I will lose. But, the Lord I do happily choose, renouncing Satan. Only God can save our nation.

If they had taken one tinth of that energy and focused it half as much to saving mountains and streams...the land, as they do to an idea that is so wispy and unclear, “it depends on what is is”...we would still have mountains in WV.  

They destroyed your LAND people!! You were comfortable on your couch watching CNN. Your heart went out to a phenomenon a passing fancy the flavor of the month.  Were the mountains too white for you?  They were raping your mother “to keep the lights on” by destroying the fundamental physical composition of America...Dirt. And ripping it out from under you in front of your televised eyes.

But what threw you into overdrive, What woke you up and ripped the golden pacifier from your mouth ... wasn’t the destruction of the land, the beautiful forests streams and woodlands, it was your own private ultra specific war ... and you exploded! Over a freckle on a sub atomic particle’s ass! An undefinable utopian fantasy that defied sensory perception to all but the most mindful of and vexed by  the anonymity of human existence, the absence of cuddling, by your mommy and daddy who refused to adequately fuss over you who didn’t feel inspired to recognize the 6 year old genius wunderkind goddesses of the universe.  That’s right. you have waged war for 30 years for your right to rule in your happy little universe.  Correct utopian fantasy must be not just worshipped and adored but done so correctly.

That’s what  got you going, spinning sideways out of control ike a top that had run out of petro. Like a drunken Mexican on the streets of Arrested Development.

That’s right. Stop ignoring me or I become a raving mindful lunatic on a yoga mat with a bottle of spring water by my side.

****

Because....you’re sane and they’re not.  

For the first time in my life I feel like I am the voice of reason and sanity and moderation . Lol.  That should give you an indication  of how crazy they are. Theyve out crazied T Paige.    It’s a great time a great day a great time for all the unhinged, unglued mentally unstable nut jobs to come out of the woodwork. They have a platform! The worm has turned. For years 50 years at least detente was a good thing! Now the Sore Loser  in Chief, Hillary Clinton and her chieftains are outraged, they need someone to blame for their loss, to save face.  Why not Russia! ???   So they dig themselves in deeper and deeper. Little do they know it’s their own grave.

How does it feel James to be the sanest voice in the room? Kind a cool ain’t it?  God works in mysterious ways his wonders to perform!

Trumps approval  rating for July is higher than RR Jimmy Carter and tied w Bill Clinton.

The massive mainstream kgb style propaganda media, crooks, elite, and Facebook are, simply put, on the wrong side, behind the curve.  Congrats James.  Pat yourself on the back. Well deserved.

It’s very simple really. It’s all about practicality. If your ideas are so impractical as to beggar description, If you get inflamed and emotionally overwrought with other people’s responses negative impressions of your “solution”, step out of the echo chamber and into the light of reason. It is time for you to question.  Ask a simple question: what is this shit? Or just do nothing. The pressure to conform should be balanced by reason.

old tyme rockin gospel blues to make your drive more 'interesting' without taking your eyes off the road. or not. the visual is quite interesting too.  I may have stumbled on inter-dimensional photography...see if you can find the creatuers that inhabits these one of a kind photographs by t. paige.

Aug 24 and 25

Here is Jim- al X. Zones telling his side of the story. Oops sorry not available.  It’s been deleted since last night when I watched it.  It’s been removed from my YouTube history.

Go ahead try it.  Remember the Dixie chicks? How they were banned? This is no different. Madonna  says she wants to s*** Moamar khadaffi and f*** the guy in the Vanilla H *** but no  repercussions. Sorry Virgin Mary but Hillary blew him first.

It’s coming. Chinese style censorship.  I’m w the ACLU on this one folks. Unpopular opinions should not be banned any more than the library should ban  Catcher in the Rye.  Say goodbye to another freedom as we approach The NannyState.  Men have lost their cojones.  

Notice: You cannot NOT care. You must care.  For this thing right here. Not caring for this thing is not allowed.  You must care about women, minorities, etc because we say so. We don’t care but we’re hypocrites. That’s the difference. We’re all sociopaths. So that’s just how it works because...WE HAVE MORE MONEY AND we are IMPORTANT.  You, not so much. So you see it’s not really hypocrisy.  

ALSO, you are not allowed to care about your self you selfish Nazi racist bastard.

https://youtu.be/PtfAl6I4SM0

This might get me into trouble.

I posted Pray For our Country and got some anti trumpies comments.  They said  I’ll pray for that man in the WH.  Like he’s the only problem is the only one that we needs to pray about.

It’s starting to really piss me off.  Give them an inch and they’ll take a mile.  

Is there another reason to pray?  Is it because bombs are being dropped?  Is it because Obama decided we no longer have to declare war to drop bombs on people? Just pick a country. That we can bomb people anywhere anytime we want?  

Or is it because someone offended you?  Did it offend you when a convicted pedophile got a standing ovation from most of Hollywood including Meryl Streep at the Academy Awards? Or that madonna said she wanted to blow the White House up?   ( remember the Dixie Chicks! )

Or that Hillary Clinton got a child trafficer off the hook? When she kidnapped 30 children in Haiti? Or that this woman now is working for Amber alert? Under a different name? Is it because Muslim grooming gangs in England kept young girls around for sexual purposes for decades?  Is it because refugees from starving Africa are storming the beaches of Spain?  And roaming the streets of Italy with hatchets and machetes? Is it because there are approximately 1000 no go zones throughout Europe? Where the police do not dare go near?   Is it because there are towns in England that have been Muslimized, the churches and the pubs shut down. Is it because the plan under Hillary was to do the same here?

Is it because the real problem here is hypocrisy and fuzzy think.  Right and wrong no longer matter and is no longer discernible or desired by MSM brainwashed people.  Just don’t offend me ... my delicate feelings are all that matters... none of the above matters. But if you go off script, say something that offends me... ohmy! look out! I am on the warpath and I am marching on Washington!  

The problem here is,  “you awake?” is no longer the punch line of a joke about redneck foreplay.

I’m trying to add it all up.  I think I’m making progress:

What happened was nothing compared to what happens later. A descent.

But initially what happened? Each group made their point. Peacefully. Nothing happened. The fact that this had a good outcome, the three opposing groups had their say each in their moment and no one got hurt.

What happens a bit later, media types begin shaming....Your group is to blame. Blame blame blame.  

CNN set it up and dutifully the chorus chimed in. On cue just as we have come to expect.

There is something about creating impossible standards for people that sets them up for control. It’s a means of control and repression common among very manipulative types. (Sociopaths)

The real hurt came later. The attacks began. Now it’s a serious thing we are talking about.

Maligning to a certain extent one group or another.

Perhaps there is something to be gained from all of this. Certainly each group has something to say a point to make.

We see what is unreasonable, counterproductive. To some extent in it’s virulence, and unnecessary.

State your point, without bashing the rest of the world. Behave yourself online. Don’t make stupid comments. Don’t make hurtful comments. Don’t attack. Don’t vilify. Because that’s not what happened in the first place.

Through this lens ljust look at what happened. The boys do the school cheer. The blacks made their points however crude. The Native Americans intervene ostensibly prayerfully to create harmony. Good deal. The smirking white boy, an underage teen, was praying all the time for a peaceful resolution.  An end to the confusion. Admirable.

And guess what, prayers were answered.

Let’s be thankful for that.

Let these antagonistic voices reflect on their own motives, meanspiritedness, within their own souls and consciousness. Is what I am doing ugly, one sided and unfair? “I went off without hearing the whole story. And it devolved into a diatribe. For that I apologize. I got it wrong.”  

Later the Native Americans went to a church. During mass. They were not allowed to go in for fear that they would disrupt the services.

What if someone had come out and said you’re welcome to come in if you are quiet and respectful. Or you can wait and we will have a representative out here to listen to what you have to say.

Can you imagine ... Native Americans and Catholics outside on the steps harmoniously joining together in prayer?

Both sides believe in praying do they not?

Each side attaches solemnity to the act of praying. Then what is to prevent them from praying together?

That moment has passed but another moment is possible. We have had time to reflect, to process and come to a meeting of the minds.

The Pueblo Indians have a legend that some mysterious personage visited the tribe and told them of things to come.  

Thanks for listening.

Rainbows 🌈 and unicorns 🦄 4ever.  P.

https://youtu.be/RH8pseoLmC8

**

Hey John, I’ve seen some of your Facebook posts that come in my feed checked out your page. I knew your dad.

Just remember the words to the prayer, is my best unsolicited advice.  It touches us all and everything better than anything and believe me I’ve searched my whole life. It’s a condensation and distillation of things that are spiritually meaningful to all of us. Best of all they are not my words or anybody else’s of similar human consciousness. We know they come from a higher place and beyond ourselves and they lift us up to that level. That’s my experience which I’m trying to share in this song. People share lots of things on fb, right?

I believe you are musically gifted ... I heard from your dad and others.  I don’t know if we’ve actually met but I remember there was some good buzz when you were younger.  

I’m trying to spread the word and various people come up, in my consciousness, individuals who for one reason or another I really want to share it with.  

So I just wanted to share this with you.

And hope you have a good day. Hang in there John.

TY

P.

https://youtu.be/RH8pseoLmC8

****

There’s no reason to think that by the boys not being where they were supposed to be that there was ill intent on their part ... just wandering off.

Apparently these days just about anything no matter how innocent, like wandering off makes you a bad guy. That is very wrong in my opinion. Having white skin makes me a bad guy. It’s called identity politics, but it’s more like a circular firing squad.

And it’s orchestrated by the truly guilty, the fraction of 1% that control our minds. This control is exercised mainly through the Democratic Party these days but in times past it was the Republicans.

Neoliberals have emerged in the same way that neocons emerged and like a parasite have taken over the brain and diverted it 180° opposite from it’s original purpose and identity.

How can you get the majority of peaceful people to go to war without a pearl harbor or a Gulf of Tonkin or an assassination or a 911. Can you actually create a Civil War over an issue? They can. And they work on it day and night. Rust never sleeps.  

They have all of the tools and resources. Political power, the media, money.

When Mao was losing power he used his wife to destroy a culture.  I see the Clinton’s and their backers doing basically the same thing.  Any means necessary to retain power. Even if it takes down the whole country in process.  It doesn’t matter who you sleep with. Change the laws change the religion change the family destroy the family blame the culture, blame this one and that one, it’s all justified.  

But never blame those w the big $, the ones that have no allegiance but to power and who fund your group. Through their corrupt shell game, foundation/money laundering operation.

I guess what they want more than anything else at this point is civil war. They’ve taken civil disobedience and added violence to the mix and perverted Martin Luther King Jr’s. message or dismissed it.  

But most Americans still believe it. Most Americans don’t believe in what the neo liberals are pushing.  They have seen what the neocons did to this country.  And they are not buying this divisive “movement” to further divide us, either.  

It’s been around for quite some time, three decades at least. It’s never been about uniting us. It’s never been about us. And that’s what Bernie tried  to do and did! Unite us. And look what happened to him.

The DNC has been exposed and yet they keep on going in the same direction. They are still leading the charge off this cliff. Male against female, black against white etc. And these people the majority of them are good people and couldn’t care less. So they’ve come for the children.  

Look how CNN twisted what happened and turned on these boys. Got the whole nation  up in arms against them. Now they get death threats and have been docsed.  

Can you imagine CNN calling high school kids “school shooters?”  But that’s the side CNN took.  Against kids.  These are foul, evil people at CNN. They are supposed to be journalists and they are preaching hatred against kids.

Back to the wandering off bit.  If there was a group of native Americans demonstrating or protesting or just doing something interesting wouldn’t you want to watch? Maybe you might wander off too, to see what was going on? That was the whole wish and desire of the Native Americans.  They wanted that attention. So why were the boys at fault for wanting to check it out? It was interesting. How did they know what would happen next?

But it’s so easy in this culture to pin the blame on the innocent.  And even feel good about it because you are taking up for the “poor oppressed minority.”   But not the poor, oppressed white families faltering in this climate less and less which Bernie recognized. Austerity.

It’s not good judgment, or just, to do that but that’s what happens again and again.  

This time it happened to a group of teenage Catholic boys. Who I think behaved admirably.

Who targeted them?  The minorities that everyone is so quick to embrace even if they are in the wrong. Even if they are railroading an innocent person or persons. Or a whole country.  

I will embrace them too when they realize I’m not the enemy.  I pray for them because I have more in common with them than what divides us if they only knew that we have a common enemy. As long as we are divided the problems will become worse.  Our enemies would fall in a nanosecond if we all united.  

It’s CNN’s job to make sure we don’t. That’s their real mission, and their real job. Not reporting the news. That’s what they get paid for. Hit pieces against kids. Not reporting the news. Not reporting what actually happened.  

No, this time they came after our kids.  They’ve been after them for quite some time. Along with mom and dad.  But Mom and Dad are hopefully both fully awake by now and can see what’s going on.

It’s a whole new ball game when they come for your kids.

***

If they had taken one tinth of that energy and focused it half as much to saving mountains and streams...the land, God’s creation, over which we were to be “responsible stewards” not irresponsible psychopaths...as they do to an idea that is so wispy and unclear, “it depends on what is is”...we would still have mountains in WV.

But no, Hell no. They destroyed your LAND people!!

You were comfortable on your couch watching CNN. Your heart went out to a phenomenon a passing fancy the flavor of the month.  Were the mountains too white for you?  They were raping your mother “to keep the lights on” by destroying the fundamental composition of America...Dirt. And ripping it out from under you in front of your televised eyes.

But what threw you into overdrive, What woke you up and ripped the golden pacifier from your mouth ... wasn’t the destruction of the land, the beautiful forests streams and woodlands. No, hell no.

it was your own private ultra specific war ... and you exploded! Over a freckle on a sub atomic particle’s ass! An undefinable utopian fantasy that defied sensory perception to all but the most mindful of and vexed by  the anonymity of human existence, the absence of cuddling, by your mommy and daddy who refused to adequately fuss over you who didn’t feel inspired to recognize the 6 year old genius wunderkind goddesses of the universe.  In your laziness and intellectual dishonesty, you have elevated the smallest vexation and irritation to an Absolute. Your own little fiefdom where you sit, pompous and pussy-hatted on your throne and rule with an iron fist and a divine pussy hat with a clear mandate: Maintain by illogic ucharade-save the Wispies!

That’s right. you have waged war for 30 years for your right to rule in your happy little universe utopian fantasy where you are, not just worshipped and adored but correctly, perfectly.

That’s what  got you going? Spinning like a top that had run out of gas wobbling like a drunken Mexican?

That’s right. “Stop ignoring me or I become a raving mindful lunatic on a yoga mat with a bottle of spring water by my side.”

And I am infinitely mindful of your every infinitesimally small screwup and transgression.

Damn right.

Who knows? What you’re on about. Only you.  

But it’s got you going you up off your ass out in the street raving like a fucking lunatic.

Have at it, motherfucker,  have at it. We’ve already had our way with your mother so have at it!  

****

I wouldn’t say this if it wasn’t important.

Granted there are a lot of people upset about the election. It’s apparent that the democratic party though, has gone too far w their rhetoric. All this about Civil War, impeachment, and every other extreme Kathy Griffin type of nastiness, isn’t that what it is? You tell me? What is it?

Trump’s approval numbers for July according to Gallup, are higher than LBJ, Ronald Reagan and Jimmy Carter and the same as Clinton. Depressing isn’t it?  But keep swimming.  Keep up the good fight. But be careful about unintended consequences.  

There are people that actually voted for Trump. It’s not a crime. They were exercising their rights. Now you want to bash them. I understand. I’ve lived through Nixon and Bush and LBJ.  Mistakes were clearly made and lives were sacrificed.  At this point we have not reached that level of atrocity. Perhaps we should all remember sticks and stones may break my bones.  

There is good evidence that LBJ had Kennedy killed. He was in on it. Lone gunman ... I don’t think so. The Warren report was fraud a massive fabrication.

I’m saying this so that you can see and acknowledge that there is a Behind the scenes network. They carried off that coup . And they carried off 911.  They got Americans to believe a lie. Aided and abetted by the mainstream media.

Do you want to know the truth? You’re not going to get it by being outraged at everything that the mainstream media reports as fact. There is a truth community it is neither Republican nor Democrat. It is both.

I don’t know why Trump won. But Hillary was part of the reason. Number one the way she treated Bernie...Number two Hillary herself.  This whole thing of winning at all costs doubling down, Russian collusion, you need to investigate how that all started. It was a campaign hatched on day one. Opposition research that went too far just like everything that Hillary does.

You have to recognize that even when you protest the other side has a right to their point of you. You have to try to meet in the middle. I was an activist for 20 years before all this happened. One of the things that most of us realized was you can’t let anger take over your life.  You can be angry but use it in a constructive way! Our model was Gandhi civil disobedience discourse.

Also you need to look at George Soros from the other side. What they really want is a police state. They want to stifle dissent.  Which is ironic. You can’t have it both ways. You can’t call people racist who simply disagree on the way to proceed. The kind of solution on immigration etc.  I don’t care if you have the pope on your side calling people out as racists for wanting to enforce immigration laws that already exist that have existed for years in every country. Why would such a radical agenda as open borders be promoted?  Is that not a dangerous idea? Just open the borders to everyone? It would be nice if we lived in that kind of world. But there are bad guys and we don’t live in that kind of world.

There is so much wrong with the liberal agenda right now. It is diametrically opposed to historical liberalism. You hurt your cause w some  of the tactics that are used to promote your cause.  

You need to break away from all of that because number one where is it coming from? Consider the source. The mainstream media which is controlled by the CIA. It is heavily regulated by the CIA. If you would do your research you would find out that Gloria Steinem worked with the CIA.  So did Nancy Pelosi. Gloria Steinem by her own account in an interview went into great detail about those days. They funded Ms. magazine. Do you think that she was the only one? Do you think that practice has stopped?

Go to Ted talks on YouTube and watch the video of the reporter who defected from the mainstream media and is now a whistleblower. It is amazing how devious they are and have become.  

Sheryl Atkinson

https://youtu.be/-bYAQ-ZZtEU

Also look up Maria Kennedy Shriver on Krista Tippet’s “On Being” talk show on NPR.   She talks about some of the mistakes that folks on the left have made. She talks about her faith. It’s a very good interview. She has written a book.

Sorry for any typos, and lack of syntax. I’m typing with my thumb on my phone. 😗

It’s interesting how Hillary and her supporters. And many politicians.  Oh hell the worm turns. Which is exactly what Hillary Clinton is, a worm.  For at least half a century detente has been seen as a good thing by most politicians and Americans. But now, when it is advantageous to the Democrats to save face, they set up a new boogie man. Guess who it is Russia!Traditionally, it has been the Democrats who were prone to not take a hard line on Russia.  But now and at election time sadly we’re supposed to pay Russians! It’s our patriotic duty to hate Russians ... and lovee the cia!!! WTF.  But Hillary says... oh is it Hillary? Oh yes it is. It’s Hillary. Hillary says, and of course she is very objective here. She just lost the election but no matter. She can still remain objective about all of this. She wouldn’t be blaming the Russians to excuse her own failure would she? That would just be too coincidental too convenient.  Take her word for it. You’re w her.  The embattled and bitter Hillary Clinton. Thats a ship I definitely don’t want to go down with.  I never was on that bandwagon. And I am not now.

From the Hills and valleys mountains rivers and streams...A place called Appahchia (pronounced AppaLATCHia)

https://youtu.be/P0725bnDyJ0

*********

Electronic voting in the US is a huge problem.

#1. Both parties have hacked voting computers.  The DNC is famous or infamous for Voter fraud.

#2. They bus people to several locations to vote.   Remember the irregularities in Arizona during the primary? These people kNo there is a pot of gold at the end of anrainbow. Do you think a little thing like fraud is going to stop them?

#3. Diebold has been kicked out of Europe.  

https://columbusfreepress.com/article/diebold-indicted-its-spectre-still-haunts-ohio-elections

https://youtu.be/NFpLKc6S_-o

https://youtu.be/jH30e7YIKeQ

https://youtu.be/BNZTJeu9ddw

https://youtu.be/u4FPuLNjvAc. Fox

https://youtu.be/MoGeDGHmwJU

https://youtu.be/OvF213popIA. Flipped

https://youtu.be/_IAJ5fAm3Cs. Investigators

https://youtu.be/ibK4de85IKw. Calling Hillary Cunton

https://youtu.be/mEp0kUzmLns. 56 Diebold machines

https://youtu.be/VNzrJWIX5Fw

https://youtu.be/cy1IlAXeV30

Ron Paul.

https://youtu.be/Cx5YyiyWOH4

Princeton Diebold Study

https://youtu.be/hDc8PVCvfKs

Steallary Clinton

I’m trying to add it all up.  I think I’m making progress:

What happened was nothing compared to what happens later. A descent.

But initially what happened? Each group made their point. Peacefully. Nothing happened. The fact that this had a good outcome, the three opposing groups had their say each in their moment and no one got hurt.

What happens a bit later, media types begin shaming....Your group is to blame. Blame blame blame.  

CNN set it up and dutifully the chorus chimed in. On cue just as we have come to expect.

There is something about creating impossible standards for people that sets them up for control. It’s a means of control and repression common among very manipulative types. (Sociopaths)

The real hurt came later. The attacks began. Now it’s a serious thing we are talking about.

Maligning to a certain extent one group or another.

Perhaps there is something to be gained from all of this. Certainly each group has something to say a point to make.

We see what is unreasonable, counterproductive. To some extent in it’s virulence, and unnecessary.

State your point, without bashing the rest of the world. Behave yourself online. Don’t make stupid comments. Don’t make hurtful comments. Don’t attack. Don’t vilify. Because that’s not what happened in the first place.

Through this lens ljust look at what happened. The boys do the school cheer. The blacks made their points however crude. The Native Americans intervene ostensibly prayerfully to create harmony. Good deal. The smirking white boy, an underage teen, was praying all the time for a peaceful resolution.  An end to the confusion. Admirable.

And guess what, prayers were answered.

Let’s be thankful for that.

Let these antagonistic voices reflect on their own motives, meanspiritedness, within their own souls and consciousness. Is what I am doing ugly, one sided and unfair? “I went off without hearing the whole story. And it devolved into a diatribe. For that I apologize. I got it wrong.”  

Later the Native Americans went to a church. During mass. They were not allowed to go in for fear that they would disrupt the services.

What if someone had come out and said you’re welcome to come in if you are quiet and respectful. Or you can wait and we will have a representative out here to listen to what you have to say.

Can you imagine ... Native Americans and Catholics outside on the steps harmoniously joining together in prayer?

Both sides believe in praying do they not?

Each side attaches solemnity to the act of praying. Then what is to prevent them from praying together?

That moment has passed but another moment is possible. We have had time to reflect, to process and come to a meeting of the minds.

The Pueblo Indians have a legend that some mysterious personage visited the tribe and told them of things to come.  

Thanks for listening.

Rainbows 🌈 and unicorns 🦄 4ever.  P.

https://youtu.be/RH8pseoLmC8

**

Hey John, I’ve seen some of your Facebook posts that come in my feed checked out your page. I knew your dad.

Just remember the words to the prayer, is my best unsolicited advice.  It touches us all and everything better than anything and believe me I’ve searched my whole life. It’s a condensation and distillation of things that are spiritually meaningful to all of us. Best of all they are not my words or anybody else’s of similar human consciousness. We know they come from a higher place and beyond ourselves and they lift us up to that level. That’s my experience which I’m trying to share in this song. People share lots of things on fb, right?

I believe you are musically gifted ... I heard from your dad and others.  I don’t know if we’ve actually met but I remember there was some good buzz when you were younger.  

I’m trying to spread the word and various people come up, in my consciousness, individuals who for one reason or another I really want to share it with.  

So I just wanted to share this with you.

And hope you have a good day. Hang in there John.

TY

P.

https://youtu.be/RH8pseoLmC8

****

There’s no reason to think that by the boys not being where they were supposed to be that there was ill intent on their part ... just wandering off.

Apparently these days just about anything no matter how innocent, like wandering off makes you a bad guy. That is very wrong in my opinion. Having white skin makes me a bad guy. It’s called identity politics, but it’s more like a circular firing squad.

And it’s orchestrated by the truly guilty, the fraction of 1% that control our minds. This control is exercised mainly through the Democratic Party these days but in times past it was the Republicans.

Neoliberals have emerged in the same way that neocons emerged and like a parasite have taken over the brain and diverted it 180° opposite from it’s original purpose and identity.

How can you get the majority of peaceful people to go to war without a pearl harbor or a Gulf of Tonkin or an assassination or a 911. Can you actually create a Civil War over an issue? They can. And they work on it day and night. Rust never sleeps.  

They have all of the tools and resources. Political power, the media, money.

When Mao was losing power he used his wife to destroy a culture.  I see the Clinton’s and their backers doing basically the same thing.  Any means necessary to retain power. Even if it takes down the whole country in process.  It doesn’t matter who you sleep with. Change the laws change the religion change the family destroy the family blame the culture, blame this one and that one, it’s all justified.  

But never blame those w the big $, the ones that have no allegiance but to power and who fund your group. Through their corrupt shell game, foundation/money laundering operation.

I guess what they want more than anything else at this point is civil war. They’ve taken civil disobedience and added violence to the mix and perverted Martin Luther King Jr’s. message or dismissed it.  

But most Americans still believe it. Most Americans don’t believe in what the neo liberals are pushing.  They have seen what the neocons did to this country.  And they are not buying this divisive “movement” to further divide us, either.  

It’s been around for quite some time, three decades at least. It’s never been about uniting us. It’s never been about us. And that’s what Bernie tried  to do and did! Unite us. And look what happened to him.

The DNC has been exposed and yet they keep on going in the same direction. They are still leading the charge off this cliff. Male against female, black against white etc. And these people the majority of them are good people and couldn’t care less. So they’ve come for the children.  

Look how CNN twisted what happened and turned on these boys. Got the whole nation  up in arms against them. Now they get death threats and have been docsed.  

Can you imagine CNN calling high school kids “school shooters?”  But that’s the side CNN took.  Against kids.  These are foul, evil people at CNN. They are supposed to be journalists and they are preaching hatred against kids.

Back to the wandering off bit.  If there was a group of native Americans demonstrating or protesting or just doing something interesting wouldn’t you want to watch? Maybe you might wander off too, to see what was going on? That was the whole wish and desire of the Native Americans.  They wanted that attention. So why were the boys at fault for wanting to check it out? It was interesting. How did they know what would happen next?

But it’s so easy in this culture to pin the blame on the innocent.  And even feel good about it because you are taking up for the “poor oppressed minority.”   But not the poor, oppressed white families faltering in this climate less and less which Bernie recognized. Austerity.

It’s not good judgment, or just, to do that but that’s what happens again and again.  

This time it happened to a group of teenage Catholic boys. Who I think behaved admirably.

Who targeted them?  The minorities that everyone is so quick to embrace even if they are in the wrong. Even if they are railroading an innocent person or persons. Or a whole country.  

I will embrace them too when they realize I’m not the enemy.  I pray for them because I have more in common with them than what divides us if they only knew that we have a common enemy. As long as we are divided the problems will become worse.  Our enemies would fall in a nanosecond if we all united.  

It’s CNN’s job to make sure we don’t. That’s their real mission, and their real job. Not reporting the news. That’s what they get paid for. Hit pieces against kids. Not reporting the news. Not reporting what actually happened.  

No, this time they came after our kids.  They’ve been after them for quite some time. Along with mom and dad.  But Mom and Dad are hopefully both fully awake by now and can see what’s going on.

It’s a whole new ball game when they come for your kids.

***

If they had taken one tinth of that energy and focused it half as much to saving mountains and streams...the land, God’s creation, over which we were to be “responsible stewards” not irresponsible psychopaths...as they do to an idea that is so wispy and unclear, “it depends on what is is”...we would still have mountains in WV.

But no, Hell no. They destroyed your LAND people!!

You were comfortable on your couch watching CNN. Your heart went out to a phenomenon a passing fancy the flavor of the month.  Were the mountains too white for you?  They were raping your mother “to keep the lights on” by destroying the fundamental composition of America...Dirt. And ripping it out from under you in front of your televised eyes.

But what threw you into overdrive, What woke you up and ripped the golden pacifier from your mouth ... wasn’t the destruction of the land, the beautiful forests streams and woodlands. No, hell no.

it was your own private ultra specific war ... and you exploded! Over a freckle on a sub atomic particle’s ass! An undefinable utopian fantasy that defied sensory perception to all but the most mindful of and vexed by  the anonymity of human existence, the absence of cuddling, by your mommy and daddy who refused to adequately fuss over you who didn’t feel inspired to recognize the 6 year old genius wunderkind goddesses of the universe.  In your laziness and intellectual dishonesty, you have elevated the smallest vexation and irritation to an Absolute. Your own little fiefdom where you sit, pompous and pussy-hatted on your throne and rule with an iron fist and a divine pussy hat with a clear mandate: Maintain by illogic ucharade-save the Wispies!

That’s right. you have waged war for 30 years for your right to rule in your happy little universe utopian fantasy where you are, not just worshipped and adored but correctly, perfectly.

That’s what  got you going? Spinning like a top that had run out of gas wobbling like a drunken Mexican?

That’s right. “Stop ignoring me or I become a raving mindful lunatic on a yoga mat with a bottle of spring water by my side.”

And I am infinitely mindful of your every infinitesimally small screwup and transgression.

Damn right.

Who knows? What you’re on about. Only you.  

But it’s got you going you up off your ass out in the street raving like a fucking lunatic.

Have at it, motherfucker,  have at it. We’ve already had our way with your mother so have at it!  

****

I wouldn’t say this if it wasn’t important.

Granted there are a lot of people upset about the election. It’s apparent that the democratic party though, has gone too far w their rhetoric. All this about Civil War, impeachment, and every other extreme Kathy Griffin type of nastiness, isn’t that what it is? You tell me? What is it?

Trump’s approval numbers for July according to Gallup, are higher than LBJ, Ronald Reagan and Jimmy Carter and the same as Clinton. Depressing isn’t it?  But keep swimming.  Keep up the good fight. But be careful about unintended consequences.  

There are people that actually voted for Trump. It’s not a crime. They were exercising their rights. Now you want to bash them. I understand. I’ve lived through Nixon and Bush and LBJ.  Mistakes were clearly made and lives were sacrificed.  At this point we have not reached that level of atrocity. Perhaps we should all remember sticks and stones may break my bones.  

There is good evidence that LBJ had Kennedy killed. He was in on it. Lone gunman ... I don’t think so. The Warren report was fraud a massive fabrication.

I’m saying this so that you can see and acknowledge that there is a Behind the scenes network. They carried off that coup . And they carried off 911.  They got Americans to believe a lie. Aided and abetted by the mainstream media.

Do you want to know the truth? You’re not going to get it by being outraged at everything that the mainstream media reports as fact. There is a truth community it is neither Republican nor Democrat. It is both.

I don’t know why Trump won. But Hillary was part of the reason. Number one the way she treated Bernie...Number two Hillary herself.  This whole thing of winning at all costs doubling down, Russian collusion, you need to investigate how that all started. It was a campaign hatched on day one. Opposition research that went too far just like everything that Hillary does.

You have to recognize that even when you protest the other side has a right to their point of you. You have to try to meet in the middle. I was an activist for 20 years before all this happened. One of the things that most of us realized was you can’t let anger take over your life.  You can be angry but use it in a constructive way! Our model was Gandhi civil disobedience discourse.

Also you need to look at George Soros from the other side. What they really want is a police state. They want to stifle dissent.  Which is ironic. You can’t have it both ways. You can’t call people racist who simply disagree on the way to proceed. The kind of solution on immigration etc.  I don’t care if you have the pope on your side calling people out as racists for wanting to enforce immigration laws that already exist that have existed for years in every country. Why would such a radical agenda as open borders be promoted?  Is that not a dangerous idea? Just open the borders to everyone? It would be nice if we lived in that kind of world. But there are bad guys and we don’t live in that kind of world.

There is so much wrong with the liberal agenda right now. It is diametrically opposed to historical liberalism. You hurt your cause w some  of the tactics that are used to promote your cause.  

You need to break away from all of that because number one where is it coming from? Consider the source. The mainstream media which is controlled by the CIA. It is heavily regulated by the CIA. If you would do your research you would find out that Gloria Steinem worked with the CIA.  So did Nancy Pelosi. Gloria Steinem by her own account in an interview went into great detail about those days. They funded Ms. magazine. Do you think that she was the only one? Do you think that practice has stopped?

Go to Ted talks on YouTube and watch the video of the reporter who defected from the mainstream media and is now a whistleblower. It is amazing how devious they are and have become.  

Sheryl Atkinson

https://youtu.be/-bYAQ-ZZtEU

Also look up Maria Kennedy Shriver on Krista Tippet’s “On Being” talk show on NPR.   She talks about some of the mistakes that folks on the left have made. She talks about her faith. It’s a very good interview. She has written a book.

Sorry for any typos, and lack of syntax. I’m typing with my thumb on my phone. 😗

It’s interesting how Hillary and her supporters. And many politicians.  Oh hell the worm turns. Which is exactly what Hillary Clinton is, a worm.  For at least half a century detente has been seen as a good thing by most politicians and Americans. But now, when it is advantageous to the Democrats to save face, they set up a new boogie man. Guess who it is Russia!Traditionally, it has been the Democrats who were prone to not take a hard line on Russia.  But now and at election time sadly we’re supposed to pay Russians! It’s our patriotic duty to hate Russians ... and lovee the cia!!! WTF.  But Hillary says... oh is it Hillary? Oh yes it is. It’s Hillary. Hillary says, and of course she is very objective here. She just lost the election but no matter. She can still remain objective about all of this. She wouldn’t be blaming the Russians to excuse her own failure would she? That would just be too coincidental too convenient.  Take her word for it. You’re w her.  The embattled and bitter Hillary Clinton. Thats a ship I definitely don’t want to go down with.  I never was on that bandwagon. And I am not now.

From the Hills and valleys mountains rivers and streams...A place called Appahchia (pronounced AppaLATCHia)

https://youtu.be/P0725bnDyJ0

*********

Electronic voting in the US is a huge problem.

#1. Both parties have hacked voting computers.  The DNC is famous or infamous for Voter fraud.

#2. They bus people to several locations to vote.   Remember the irregularities in Arizona during the primary? These people kNo there is a pot of gold at the end of anrainbow. Do you think a little thing like fraud is going to stop them?

#3. Diebold has been kicked out of Europe.  

https://columbusfreepress.com/article/diebold-indicted-its-spectre-still-haunts-ohio-elections

https://youtu.be/NFpLKc6S_-o

https://youtu.be/jH30e7YIKeQ

https://youtu.be/BNZTJeu9ddw

https://youtu.be/u4FPuLNjvAc. Fox

https://youtu.be/MoGeDGHmwJU

https://youtu.be/OvF213popIA. Flipped

https://youtu.be/_IAJ5fAm3Cs. Investigators

https://youtu.be/ibK4de85IKw. Calling Hillary Cunton

https://youtu.be/mEp0kUzmLns. 56 Diebold machines

https://youtu.be/VNzrJWIX5Fw

https://youtu.be/cy1IlAXeV30

Ron Paul.

https://youtu.be/Cx5YyiyWOH4

Princeton Diebold Study

https://youtu.be/hDc8PVCvfKs

Steallary Clinton

old tyme rockin gospel blues to make your drive more 'interesting' without taking your eyes off the road. or not. the visual is quite interesting too.  I may have stumbled on inter-dimensional photography...see if you can find the creatuers that inhabits these one of a kind photographs by t. paige.

Aug 24 and 25

Here is Jim- al X. Zones telling his side of the story. Oops sorry not available.  It’s been deleted since last night when I watched it.  It’s been removed from my YouTube history.

Go ahead try it.  Remember the Dixie chicks? How they were banned? This is no different. Madonna  says she wants to s*** Moamar khadaffi and f*** the guy in the Vanilla H *** but no  repercussions. Sorry Virgin Mary but Hillary blew him first.

It’s coming. Chinese style censorship.  I’m w the ACLU on this one folks. Unpopular opinions should not be banned any more than the library should ban  Catcher in the Rye.  Say goodbye to another freedom as we approach The NannyState.  Men have lost their cojones.  

Notice: You cannot NOT care. You must care.  For this thing right here. Not caring for this thing is not allowed.  You must care about women, minorities, etc because we say so. We don’t care but we’re hypocrites. That’s the difference. We’re all sociopaths. So that’s just how it works because...WE HAVE MORE MONEY AND we are IMPORTANT.  You, not so much. So you see it’s not really hypocrisy.  

ALSO, you are not allowed to care about your self you selfish Nazi racist bastard.

https://youtu.be/PtfAl6I4SM0

This might get me into trouble.

I posted Pray For our Country and got some anti trumpies comments.  They said  I’ll pray for that man in the WH.  Like he’s the only problem is the only one that we needs to pray about.

It’s starting to really piss me off.  Give them an inch and they’ll take a mile.  

Is there another reason to pray?  Is it because bombs are being dropped?  Is it because Obama decided we no longer have to declare war to drop bombs on people? Just pick a country. That we can bomb people anywhere anytime we want?  

Or is it because someone offended you?  Did it offend you when a convicted pedophile got a standing ovation from most of Hollywood including Meryl Streep at the Academy Awards? Or that madonna said she wanted to blow the White House up?   ( remember the Dixie Chicks! )

Or that Hillary Clinton got a child trafficer off the hook? When she kidnapped 30 children in Haiti? Or that this woman now is working for Amber alert? Under a different name? Is it because Muslim grooming gangs in England kept young girls around for sexual purposes for decades?  Is it because refugees from starving Africa are storming the beaches of Spain?  And roaming the streets of Italy with hatchets and machetes? Is it because there are approximately 1000 no go zones throughout Europe? Where the police do not dare go near?   Is it because there are towns in England that have been Muslimized, the churches and the pubs shut down. Is it because the plan under Hillary was to do the same here?

Is it because the real problem here is hypocrisy and fuzzy think.  Right and wrong no longer matter and is no longer discernible or desired by MSM brainwashed people.  Just don’t offend me ... my delicate feelings are all that matters... none of the above matters. But if you go off script, say something that offends me... ohmy! look out! I am on the warpath and I am marching on Washington!  

The problem here is,  “you awake?” is no longer the punch line of a joke about redneck foreplay.

Hi Kathy, I'm sorry I upset you. We can agree to disagree? I'm sure there's a lot we agree on.

Number one we are in deep do. But we just know it now but i guess we always have been.  

They tried to kill us once already in the 60s, but somehow we fought back and we won. I wish we could have that kind of unity today. I think there's a way but we need to make certain tweaks. Remember it was all about civil disobedience and Henry David Thoreau.  Mahatma Gandhi.  Martin Luther King. Bob Dylan. And I believe that kind of a movement is still possible.  But they've taken away the music from young people and left them with Taylor Swift.  

Back then we felt that women had our backs. That's not true today. The feminist counter movement became obsessed with attacking men and advancing some strange agenda, apart from liberating women. It became part of the divide and conquer strategy.  

Every movement, is prone to a counter movement.  The countermovement is in many of these movements.  They take the energy from the movement and use it for their own devices and political purposes.  To garner support>votes>power not for the people but for themselves, those at the top of the countermovement within these movements.

There I go again.  But doesn't that make sense Kathy?  It really doesn't matter if we agree even on this. That is just one example of how we can agree to disagree and still survive. This has happened even in the church.  In every movement. Every movement that becomes a household word is fair game and a prime target to be overtaken and used and taken in a direction that it was not intended for. Sometimes the very opposite of that direction. This is true in the case of the church. The goal is to capture the heart. The closer it gets to the heart the more damage is done. If they can’t get to the heart from the inside they will destroy it from the outside as in the case of environmental assaults on our mountains and water.  

One of the tweaks I mentioned was allowing God to inform our decisions.  We have to do this first in ourselves.  We have to forgive for one thing. Remember we had Martin Luther King, a minister, a preacher a church person. Yes we do have to be careful. That’s why I say it begins in our own hearts.

*******

I really don’t mean to preach. I just think it’s important that we allow God at least allow people who have that in their make up to exist if that is their dream to have it as a part of their solution.  

Some people feel this is an outmoded form of expression.  It certainly can be abused and a means of control which is what God does not want. To me the Lords prayer is the perfect expression of God and also Psalm 23.   But there are many more. These are just two of the ones that have had a major impact on me.  

But I recognize that even in myself there is a war going on.  So sometimes I have to step back and re-center.  When everything is working properly within and everything is in balance that is the only time I really have anything to offer.  It’s really easy to fall off the wagon though.  Trial and error.  It’s not easy to get there.  

This morning I woke up and everything was fine. Then I thought of some injury or slight and immediately my happiness was gone.   Because my focus became anger.  Yes, I do have a lot to be angry about but I can’t focus on it. And I have to forgive from my heart if I want to be happy, is what I realized.  So i’m working on it. Lol.  OK?   Hopefully I’ll change. Become more mellow, lol. Bear w me ok?  It’s important to me to get along with people care about. I understand if you need a break from this deeply flawed person. I know I’m a handful. I try to shield people from my neuroses and unpleasantness, but sometimes it gets the better of me.  I’ve always been kind of an agitator at heart.  But I will always try to make it right.  Right now I think that people just need a break from all of my drama.   That’s the message I’m giving this morning.

Have a good day Kathy. I hope we can agree on more than just a little.

Here is the song that meant so much to me.  TY.

Paige

https://youtu.be/70D4pf6EH9M

[seanpatricklittlewriter]

Long Overdue Blog Update

I haven't written or edited a thing for myself in a month. Sort of feels good, but at the same time, I wonder if I'm in one of those downward spirals where my subconscious has given up on writing. (Don't worry, I always go back to it, eventually.)

I started a new job on May 7. That's a big part of why I'm not writing. Between work, commuting, and the gym, I don't have a lot of time left in the day. (And I hate the gym...)

I think another big part of why I'm not writing is the slow uptake on the last two books. LONG EMPTY ROADS did okay, but honestly--AFTER EVERYONE DIED is still selling more copies than LER. And for a two year old book, AED is not exactly burning up the charts. LORD BOBBINS AND THE ROMANIAN RUCKUS is more or less dead in the water. I had hoped for a boost after I did the interview at Airship Ambassador, but it did not help much. TB&TRR has barely sold any eBooks, and it hasn't sold a single hard copy since @TeslaCon ended. It hasn't generated any reviews, and as I've said before: If you don't get to at least 50, that means the book is dead. Right now, LER is at 35.

I should get back to writing and editing soon, though. My new job has summer hours. That means I work M-TH and have Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays off. This Friday, as of now, I'm anticipating revisiting Culver's, sidling into my old regular book, and jamming on the keyboard for a while. Come have a burger with me.

In other worlds, I've partaken of some pop culture, so here's some reviews:

Movies: DEADPOOL 2: Fun, funny, and a worth sequel. Was it as good as the first movie? No. Is it still a good movie? Absolutely. Ryan Reynolds has said they probably won't make a third, but he wants to see Deadpool as the sidekick in someone else's movie. I would any price for a ticket to the Spider-Man/Deadpool crossover. And if they made a Deadpool/Wolverine movie--oh, man...

SOLO: I thought this movie would be stupid when they announced it. It is a pointless movie to make. We know the three most important characters WILL NOT DIE. That really cuts down on the drama aspect. However, they made a fun heist movie that, despite having no real emotional impact, is still worth seeing. Go see a matinee. Pay less cash for the ticket, but still a fun film. I liked it better than ROGUE ONE or THE LAST JEDI.

SUPER TROOPERS 2: Funny. A worth sequel. As good as the first? No. But, I still laughed. Some of the gags were hilarious. And Rob Lowe's Canadian accent is worth the price of admission.

BLOCKERS: I went to see this because I had nothing better to do. I love Leslie Mann, though. And I've always liked Ike Barinholtz. And John Cena seems like a truly good dude. I went to an early show ($6 tickets!) and I had a good time. Is it a great movie? No. Is it funny and clever? Yes. It's a standard teen sex romp film, but taken from the female perspective. It had some fun with some tropes. Cena was great. I liked it far more than I thought I would.

TV: Series Finale of THE MIDDLE: I loved this show. I initially started watching because of my love for SCRUBS and Neil Flynn's Janitor character (Knifewrench! For kids!), but this show really grew on me. I was sad to see it go, but it was a fitting end to a nine-season run. I hear they're going to spin-off Eden Sher's Sue Heck into her own series. I'd watch that. I thought Sue Heck was one of the most original characters I've seen on TV in a while. Her optimism was uncrushable, and the world needs more of that.

Books: AGE OF ASSASSINS by RJ Barker: Just plowed through this novel, the first in the "Wounded Kingdom" trilogy. It was the type of book I love--fantasy, a young hero-in-the-making still in his apprenticeship, and a good, tight, political "find the assassin before he kills the king-to-be" plot. I enjoyed it enough that I jumped on the sequel immediately.

Music: The lead singer of Frightened Rabbit, Chris Hutchison, recently committed suicide. Tragic, tragic end to an amazing singer and songwriter. Depression is real. And it's horrible. I've been dealing with it for most of my life. My buddy, Matthew Eidson, introduced me to FR on his outstanding radio show, Old Dog, New Music (which you can listen to online tomorrow night). He called their sound "Sad Bastard Music"--which is fitting. And I love me some good sad bastard music. Go check out their record "Painting of a Panic Attack." There isn't a bad song on that record.The song "Get Out" is wonderful. And the video is art. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bBdsY_zsv_U Rest in peace, Chris. You are gone far too soon.

Podcast: I've been listening to Michael Ian Black's "How to Be Amazing" a lot lately. A lot of really interesting interviews. Black is a good host. He asks pointed, thoughtful questions and sits back to let the guest really talk. I enjoy it a lot.

Anyhow, enough for today. I'm not dead...it just seems like it.

Hope you all are well.

Tell friends to write reviews.

What are you all reading/watching lately?

Best, Sean