#its just like! maybe read the one singular comic issue youre about base your entire interpretation on the fanon version of

[daisybell-on-a-carousel]

Theyre going to think I like canon and purely canon if I keep going on like this

[backtozeon]

Dear Fans of Watchmen, Hello there. My name is Damon Lindelof and I am a writer. I am also the unscrupulous bastard currently defiling something that you love. But that’s not all that I am. I am a twelve-year old boy being handed the first two issues by my father. “You’re not ready for this,” he growls with a glint of mischief in his eye. My parents have recently divorced and he has gone rogue, so there I am in my bed, flashlight beam illuminating pages, watching the Comedian fall again and again and again. The old man was wrong. I am ready for this. Because this was written just for me. I am thirty-eight. A man offers me the opportunity to adapt Watchmen for television. The filmed adaptation came out less than a year ago, but that doesn’t matter. I tell him I am not interested and that perhaps he should let sleeping dogs lie with hopes they will eventually be run over by a car tire, bursting their stomachs. He does not get the reference. I am watching my father haggle with a man in a wheelchair. I am fifteen years old and we are at a comic book convention in New York City, long before attending a comic book convention was something anyone wanting to ever have sex with another person would admit to. I definitely want to have sex with another person. My father finally harangues the merchant down to thirty dollars for a guaranteed authentic screenplay of Watchmen, soon to be a major motion picture! Now, he reads aloud from the script as “The Watchmen” battle terrorists at The Statue of Liberty. Something is wrong. The old man’s brow furrows, scanning the text in a mixture of disappointment and rage, a child who has just been told that Santa didn’t bring him presents this year, then robbed the house and beat up his parents. “What the fuck is this?” my father mutters. It is the first time he swears in front of me. Another man offers me the opportunity to adapt Watchmen for television. I am forty now. I tell him someone else asked me to do this a year ago and I declined. He inquires as to why I said no. I tell him that Alan Moore has been consistently explicit in stating that Watchmen was written for a very specific medium and that medium is comics, comics that would be ruined should they be translated into moving images. The Another Man pauses for a moment, then responds – “Who’s Alan Moore?” I am twenty-three and living in Los Angeles. My father flies out from New Jersey for my birthday and gives me a present, a new edition of the “graphic novel” that is Watchmen. He explains to me that this is the publisher’s way of retaining the rights to the characters. He tells me that Dan and Adrian and Jon and Walter and Laurie are all serfs, working the land for a Feudal Lord that will never grant them freedom. My father is more than a little drunk.. More so, he is a hypocrite for buying me the new edition. “I know, I know…” he says, that same mischievous glint from years ago obscured by now thicker lenses, “But it’s so goddamned good.” Yet Another Man offers me the opportunity to adapt Watchmen for television. “Just a pilot,” he says, “Let’s not get ahead of ourselves.” I am forty-three now and I am thinking about something I read about Orthodox Judaism. While most religions are cultivated by evangelizing and conversion, Orthodox Judaism doesn’t solicit. If someone from another faith wishes to become an Orthodox Jew, they are rejected. If they are stubborn enough to ask again, they are denied even more harshly. But should they have the audacity to ask a third time? The door cracks open. And if they’re willing to invest an immense amount of time and effort and sacrifice and faith, they are embraced into the fold. Why am I thinking about this? I have said no to Watchmen twice now. This makes me Orthodox Judaism. I crack the door. And now I’m a hypocrite too. I am standing over my father’s hospital bed. I am twenty-nine, the last age at which I will consider myself “young.” The breathing tube was removed two hours ago and they said he wouldn’t last longer than fifteen minutes. It’s a cliché. I’m living a trope. He is unconscious and unable to impart final wisdom nor tell me he was proud all along, even though he never said it out loud. There is no beeping machine showing his weakening heartrate. My father is beyond machines. I hold his cool hand and try not to pray to God because he detested the very idea of God so instead I pray to his gods. I pray to Cthulhu. I pray to 42, the Eternal Cosmic Number. I pray to Dr. Manhattan, far away in a galaxy less complicated than this one. The television is on and the Lakers win the championship. My father never cared about basketball. He didn’t even know the rules. When he dies, I finally understand that I don’t know the rules either. No one does. I am forty-five and I am writing a letter to the fans. The fans of Watchmen. It’s unnecessarily wordy and an exercise in oversharing, but nothing gets people on your side more than telling them about the moment your father died. Sharing such intimate details with strangers feels needy and pathetic and exploitative and yucky and necessary and freeing. I am also looking for an elegant way to escape from this device of quantum observance, a device appropriated from Mr. Moore so that I can speak to those fans from the bottom of my cold, thieving heart. Perhaps I could switch from referring to them in the third person and shift into the second, thus bringing them closer to the first? Would that be amenable to you? First and foremost, if you are angry that I’m working on Watchmen, I am sorry. You may be thinking I can’t be that sorry or I wouldn’t be doing it. I concede the point, but I hope it doesn’t invalidate the apology, which I offer with sincerity and respect. Respect. That’s second and twicemost. I have an immense amount of respect for Alan Moore. He is an extraordinary talent of mythic proportion. I wrote him a letter, parts of which are not dissimilar to this one, because I owed him an explanation as to why I’m defying his wishes and to humbly ask him not to place a curse on me because he knows magic and apparently, he can do that. His response, or whether he responded at all, is between he and I. Suffice to say, even before I sent it, Mr. Moore had made it abundantly clear that he doesn’t want anyone to “adapt” his work. To do so is hubris. Worse yet, it’s unethical. There are a million ways to rationalize unethical behavior – I could argue that Mr. Moore’s partner, the brilliant artist, Dave Gibbons, is equally entitled to authorize access to his masterwork and that he has been kind enough to offer us his blessing to do so. Or I could offer that Mr. Moore cut his veined teeth on the creations of others; Batman, Superman, Captain Britain, Marvelman (he’ll never be “Miracleman” to me), Swamp Thing and The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, not to mention The Charlton characters upon whom his Watchmen characters are based… So am I not allowed to do the same? No. I am not. I am not allowed. And yet… I am compelled. I am compelled despite the inevitable pushback and hatred I will understandably receive for taking on this particular project. This ire will be maximally painful because of its source. That source being you. The true fans. I once said that if one were a true fan of something, they weren’t allowed to hate it. A prominent writer took me to task for such heresy, arguing that just because one was the creator of a show, this did not permit them to pick and choose who was and wasn’t a fan of it. The writer went on to win a Pulitzer for television criticism. I went on to get snubbed by the Razzies for Prometheus. As such, I concede this point, too. After all, even the most fervent lifelong fan of, oh, let’s say the New York Jets, is allowed to shout at the top of his lungs, “YOU SUCK OH MY GOD YOU SUUUUUUUUUCKIII II” and do so while wearing a replica Namath Jersey he purchased for an ungodly sum of money that may or may not have constituted his entire first paycheck on Nash Bridges. But the point. The point is, you love Watchmen. That gives you the right to hate it, too. Because no matter what… You’re still true fans. But to quote the immortal P.W. Herman… “I know you are… But what am IT’ What am I? I’m a true fan, too. And I’m not the only one. What I love most about television is that the finished product is a result not of singular vision, but the collective experience of many brilliant minds. I have the pleasure of sitting in a Writers Room each and every day that is as diverse and combative as any I’ve ever been a part of. In that room, Hetero White Men like myself are in the minority and as Watchmen is (incorrectly) assumed to be solely our domain, understanding its potential through the perspectives of women, people of color and the LGBTQ community has been as eye-opening as it has been exhilarating. We’ve committed to doing the same in front of and behind the camera. And every single person involved with this show absolutely adores Watchmen. But in the spirit of complete honesty, we also sorta want to… uh… Disrupt it? Except I hate that word because now it’s not disruptive anymore. And how can I present as punk rock when I’m now cozy in bed, spooning with Warner Brothers, HBO and DC? Truth be told, everyone there, particularly Geoff Johns (who is as true fan as it gets) has been extraordinarily supportive. Sure, it’s fun to kick around the comic corporate overlords for exploiting writers and artists, but we all know what happened to Jack Kirby and we’re still first in line for every Marvel film. So… how do we answer the challenge of when it is appropriate to appropriate? Which brings us to the most important part. Maybe the only part that really matters. Our creative intentions. We have no desire to “adapt” the twelve issues Mr. Moore and Mr. Gibbons created thirty years ago. Those issues are sacred ground and they will not be retread nor recreated nor reproduced nor rebooted. They will, however be remixed. Because the bass lines in those familiar tracks are just too good and we’d be fools not to sample them. Those original twelve issues are our Old Testament. When the New Testament came along, it did not erase what came before it. Creation. The Garden of Eden. Abraham and Isaac. The Flood. It all happened. And so it will be with Watchmen. The Comedian died. Dan and Laurie fell in love. Ozymandias saved the world and Dr. Manhattan left it just after blowing Rorschach to pieces in the bitter cold of Antarctica. To be clear. Watchmen is canon. Just the way Mr. Moore wrote it, the way Mr. Gibbons drew it and the way the brilliant John Higgins colored it. But we are not making a “sequel” either. This story will be set in the world its creators painstakingly built… but in the tradition of the work that inspired it, this new story must be original. It has to vibrate with the seismic unpredictability of its own tectonic plates. It must ask new questions and explore the world through a fresh lens. Most importantly, it must be contemporary. The Old Testament was specific to the Eighties of Reagan and Thatcher and Gorbachev… ours needs to resonate with the frequency of Trump and May and Putin and the horse that he rides around on, shirtless. And speaking of Horsemen, The End of The World is off the table (THE LEFTOVERS! NOW STREAMING ON HBO GO!) which means the heroes and villains — as if the two are distinguishable — are playing for different stakes entirely. The tone will be fresh and nasty and electric and absurd. Many describe Watchmen as “dark,” but I’ve always loved its humor -worshipping at the altar of the genre whilst simultaneously trolling it. As such… Some of the characters will be unknown. New faces. New masks to cover them. We also intend to revisit the past century of Costumed Adventuring through a surprising, yet familiar set of eyes… and it is here where we’ll be taking our greatest risks. Risk is imperative. I need the feeling in my stomach before I leap from a great height without knowing the depth of the water below. If my body should shatter upon impact, at least it was in pursuit of glory. And let’s be honest… Isn’t there a small part of you that wants to see me explode like a fleshy watermelon? But hopefully, there’s also a part that wants to experience something sort of amazing. As for what I want? I want your validation. I also want not to want it. I’ve given up the opioid highs of Twitter, but continue to score my methadone in the threads of Reddit and the hot takes of morning-after recappers. I’ll be reading and watching and listening to what you have to say because even though I wish I didn’t… I deeply care about what you think. Which brings us, Thank God, to the end of the missive. Endings. I’m GREAT at them. A wise, blue man once said that nothing ever ends. But maybe he wasn’t wise. Maybe he was just scared and alone and sad that he would outlive everything and everyone he ever loved. So I hope this isn’t the last time we correspond, fellow fans… after all, it’s just a pilot and we don’t want to get ahead of ourselves. But maybe… if everything works out the way I hope it does… and if you’re willing to give me a chance, it’s not the end at all… It’s the beginning? With Respectful Hubris, -Damon

[eddycurrents]

House of X #2 kind of broke my brain. It changed the rules so thoroughly and basically tore up the map we thought we had that trying to correlate different information now might be an exercise in futility. It’s fun, but it could all just be steam and dust, floating on the wind. In one issue, Jonathan Hickman, Pepe Larraz, Marte Gracia, Clayton Cowles, and Tom Muller changed the game and made us realize pretty much anything was possible. And not to necessarily believe our eyes because anything was possible.

Powers of X #2 was more subdued. Not as brain-breaking, but still makes you wonder about how all of the pieces come together and what exactly is going on when and to which iteration.

We continue on here building out a more logical progression of story within the various time periods, even while working within the new framework. While the scope of the story being told remains massive, it’s at least being delivered in manageable and entertaining chunks.

RB Silva, Adriano Di Benedetto, and Marte Gracia gives us possibly some of the most beautiful artwork to date on this story. The composition and colour in the opening pages is just exquisite. It seems like as the story unfolds into a gigantic, almost living organism itself, the art is keeping up in pace. The visual storytelling is integral to the increasing huge ideas presented in the tale.

This continues to be an incredible, must read story.

There will be spoilers below this image. If you do not want to be spoiled on Powers of X #2, do not read further.

SPOILER WARNING: Below I’ll be discussing the events, themes, and possibility of what’s going on in Powers of X #2 and beyond. There are HEAVY SPOILERS beyond this point. If you haven’t read the issue yet and don’t want to be spoiled, please stop reading now. You’ve been warned.

PREAMBLE | First Impressions

As I stated above, because of what happened in the last issue of House of X, I really don’t know what to think any more. The tapestry of introducing Moira’s multiple lives and the variance of the time frames means that it’s no longer clear what’s happening when. There’s no concrete information provided in text as to what life we’re on, or even whether or not the different time periods we see are even the same life. 

Hickman and his collaborators have essentially rigged the story where it’s still possible to go deep, overthink and analyze everything that’s going on (and I mean, this is fun as hell thinking of all of the different possibilities), but it’s almost at the point where you should just sit back in awe of what’s going on and let it unfold. Our frame of reference has shifted and our understanding of the universe has been called in to question.

It’s incredible storytelling and it puts you on edge for what’s possibly coming next because it feels as though anything is possible.

ONE | The Long Con

A question is raised through Moira’s revelation to Charles and then to Erik of her status as a mutant, and the combined history of her previous nine lives, when it comes to how this fits, or even if this fits, within our current understanding of the existing 616 Marvel universe continuity.

Though there are possible permutations, I feel like there are two primary possibilities for what we see from the knowledge that Moira X imparts on the two “old friends”. The first is fairly simple, Life Ten and what we’re seeing in X0 and X1 are new. They’re offshoots that are similar to the mainline continuity that were accustomed to previously, but that it’s a new timeline. That Professor X and Magneto working together in this fashion is something new (quibbling about how what’s presented in X0 not entirely lining up with a Year One since Charles is in a wheelchair now and Magneto has his island notwithstanding) and the collected mutants are operating based on the knowledge that Moira has shared to achieve supremacy goals.

The other option is that Xavier and Magneto have been lying to their friends, students, and fellow mutants for countless years, playing at being enemies, and keeping the truth of the nature of reality and the man-machine/mutant conflict a secret for countless years. Though certainly plausible, especially given the other retcons that we’ve seen regarding the deadly genesis and how many times Magneto’s mind has messed with in one form or another, it seems a bit like a jerk move. Controlling certainly fits with the excesses of some of Xavier’s narcissism, but it’s a retcon that kind of makes them more villainous. I think if we’re aiming for a “best possible world” scenario that unlocks a Life Eleven, running a long con on everyone would potentially be detrimental to the scheme.

Also, at the very least the X1 version of Cyclops seems to be marginally aware of a broader plan as Xavier and Magneto are discussion the timeline’s manifestation of NIMROD. Granted, that could be a deliberately dropped misleading reference to make us think that Cyclops is in the know (given that he’s faced NIMROD before and could just be taking it as a reference to a future that he already knows), but in a story where time, space, and reality matter, it feels more like a hint.

There is, of course, a kind of monkey wrench thrown in the idea, though, in that we’re left wondering why now for the decision to move to Krakoa, to plant the seeds, and to claim their own piece of the pie. What’s the catalyst to drive the new world order? Why not do it before in terms of placement within Marvel’s timeline.

TWO | Beyond Good & Evil

There’s a very complex morality at play in this story, starting with Magneto’s guided tour in House of X #1 through to the conflicting and contrasting ideologies of Xavier and Magneto that are at least attempted to be bridged in the opening scene from  X0. That there needs to be a redefinition of what’s good and evil in context of the full survival of mutantkind.

It’s interesting that Hickman is using Magneto here as the arbiter of good and evil, both from his own history, but also from the various Jewish ideas and connotations that have been seeded since even the opening pages of House of X and the tree. Here we’re getting moral philosophy by way of Nietzsche and at least a feeling of ressentiment in relation to mutant society continually being beating down.

Xavier and Magneto coming together suggests breaking a repeating cycle of blame and failure, of counting one as good and one as evil, rather counterbalancing one another’s natures to achieve something greater. It recontextualizes the struggle into something else and the knowledge that Moira brings to the situation demands breaking the previous cycles and old patterns. It necessitates them thinking of the conflict with man as something else.

And I’m not sure we’re there yet. While at this point there may be a reconciliation and cohesion between the visions of Xavier and Magneto, there’s still an external bogeyman in humanity and their machines that triggers the overall schism between one people and another. Even if mutants are united, they’re still at odds with man who want to destroy them, perpetuating the deleterious cycles.

But there seems to be a third way outside of Xavier or Magneto’s traditional positions of integration versus domination. In  X2, in the future Apocalypse is still contemplating survival of the fittest as mutantkind on Earth has dwindled to barely more than a handful and all of existence seems to be threatened by the Man-Machine Supremacy guided by NIMROD. It feels like in the future presented here mutants have already lost. Even with the possibility of maybe recreating either of the forms of breeding pits, it feels like the genetic diversity to support an entire population is dead.

So, we’re left wondering why we’re seeing this dystopian future, other than just playing with similar themes to X-Men comics. Personally, I think it’s trying to tell us that there needs to be a merging of the philosophies of Xavier, Magneto, and Apocalypse, a true transcendence of previous divisions and a synthesis of their ideologies.

I get the impression that X2 is Moira’s Life Nine, rather than the future of X0 or X1, and we’re learning something that should be applied in Life Ten. Of course, I could be completely wrong. Also, like with the shaggy tree thing seemingly being a composite of Krakoa and Cypher, rather than Black Tom, and the possibility that Green Magneto isn’t Magneto, I don’t know what to think any more.

This also ignores X3, which is the point at which I tap out. The structures of societies and the ideation of hive minds is beyond me. Me trying to interpret it would be like your dog trying to explain red. I’m not sure how it fits, since, to me at least, absorption into a singular mind, minus individuation, while it is some people’s conception of godhead, sounds like a nightmare.

It is neat, however, how it incorporates more traditional Marvel and X-Men history as it suddenly makes the Phalanx and the Technarchy important again. Even with a bit of rejiggering of their various statuses.

CONCLUSION | A Fool on a Hill

So where does that leave us?

With four different time periods that we don’t succinctly know how they’re truly connected. A game plan from Magneto and Xavier that might lead to salvation, but possibly ruination again. And a whole lot more questions as the series continues to unfold in unexpected but exciting ways.

Also, Marte Gracia’s colours are gorgeous. If nothing else, even as the story threatens to fracture your mind with its implications and twists, it’s beautiful to look at.

d. emerson eddy is prepared to have everything he’s written here be proven wrong again come this Wednesday. It may well be an exercise in masochism.

[bigskydreaming]

Tbh, my policy on pirating is pretty simple. I honestly dont give a fuck one way or another w/movies, TV shows and even comic books, bc the former two have managed to account for pirating in the way they pad their expenses and tbqh they dont really hurt for it. And with comic books, okay if you pirate indie or creator owned content you kinda suck, not gonna lie, you have NO idea the kind of effort and upfront costs that go into producing comic books without Marvel or DC backing you up, not until you actually try it. Its obscene. Especially if you’re not able to do all the art AND story AND inking/lettering/coloring yourself, and have to either pay other members of your self-assembled creative team upfront or on the backend. 

And this includes comic books published by Image (at least the ones without big name creators attached), because contrary to popular belief, Image has nothing to do with assembling the creative teams of most of their creator owned books, and they certainly don’t pay them any kind of wages or salaries. The way Image is set up is creators basically submit a complete first issue, all the art, inking, lettering, coloring, everything already done, to see if they’re interested in publishing. 

(Technically, you only have to submit the first eight pages in order to get a response, and theoretically its possible that Image has in the past greenlit books based on the first eight pages of the book, which then allows the creators some leverage in convincing the entirety of their creative team to put in the upfront work to complete the rest of the first issue still without payment, but at least trusting now that their work will see publication, but like, this doesn’t really happen much from anything I’ve ever seen or heard or experienced).

Anyway, point being, Image takes submissions and then greenlights the books they see as potentially profitable, but again....they in no way ever pay creators themselves. Creators only make money via the actual sales of their books, once published and distributed by Image...and only AFTER Image takes their cut, which is a flat fee deducted from the sales of individual issues. Its actually a good thing in some ways, that they only take a flat fee (their cut is for publishing and distribution costs, Image NEVER owns any part of the intellectual property they publish, unless they’re part of their ‘shared Image universe’ which tbh is just like, publisher Erik Larsen’s little sandbox for him and his friends and who even cares, those books suck, Savage Dragon is lame, Erik, and everyone knows Shadowhawk was a blatant rip-off of Darkhawk, and look, I love Darkhawk with all my New Warriors fanboying heart, but of all the characters in the world to rip-off, who the fuck considers Darkhawk worth being derivative of? So weird. BUT I DIGRESS. ANYWAY.) 

So in some senses the fact that they only ever take a flat rate is good, because in the rare cases of runaway books that really take off, the way Invincible and The Walking Dead were back when Robert Kirkman was still a no-name indie creator, like...the creator has the potential to make BANK. Which is exactly what Kirkman did, and why he’s now every-fucking-where, ruining all our other faves like who the fuck thought HIM producing a Chronicles of Amber show was a good idea, ewww. He’s gonna dial up the incest to 100, isn’t he? Sigh. UGH WHOOPS ANOTHER DIGRESSION, LOL YOU SEE WHY MY ADHD MEDS ARE ESSENTIAL, I ASSUME. 

Ahem. 

BUT in most cases, the fact that Image takes a flat fee off the top is like....shitty, because the last I heard - and tbf, this was years ago so its probably not the same anymore, but that means it could be worse - it was something like $2000 per issue. Which means the vast majority of indie creators you’ve never heard of before or after they published a six issue mini or whatever through Image never saw a cent. I’ve never heard of Image putting anyone in debt, like that’s not how they work at least - if your book doesn’t even make up to $2000, its not like you owe them for the remainder, but again, you just....never make a cent off it. So like....the reason a fuckton of Image books never make it past issue #6, if they even make it that far, is that the creators literally just can’t afford to keep producing out of pocket, financing the actual creative production costs of each issue themselves without making any profit on the backend, if they’re not ending up selling more than $2000 worth of issues once on the shelves, physical or digital).

So don’t fucking pirate Image comic books, plz. Just don’t do it. Unless they’re Erik Larsen’s. Pirate away, who gives a fuck, I hate that guy. LOLOLOL I’m such a petty asshole, ugh. Whatever. I blame my childhood.

ANYWAY. As I was saying, I don’t really give a shit about pirating from Marvel or DC, which maybe is bad of me because its not like those creators necessarily make bank either, unless they’re one of Marvel/DC’s faves and like, have their pick of titles at any given moment. But the way most of them are paid is Marvel and DC pay their creators actual salaries based on rates per page, and then Marvel/DC keep all the actual royalties themselves. The only exceptions to this are when issues sell more than 50,000 copies - that’s 50,000 individual copies of physical or digital issues, not $50,000 worth of sales like with Image. Once a creative team’s book sells more than 50,000 copies of a single issue however, THEN they start getting a cut of the royalties, as like a bonus incentive type thingie. But tbh, its pretty rare in today’s market for a book to move that many issues monthly, and only the top sellers of both companies end up in that rarefied air....and most of those books’ creative teams are the favored writers/artists anyway, the ones who have a degree of job security and never tend to lack for titles to shift to after ending a run on one book. Sooooo, they’re kinda the reverse of the creators who could actually use a cut of their books’ back end profits, but whatever.

So like I said, fuck Marvel and DC, like...corporately or whatever. Of course there’s no doubt that pirating has some definite correlation to how few books are able to move 50,000 issues monthly, but both companies have always been notoriously shitty to creators, and that’s not pirating’s fault, and less pirating honestly isn’t going to change that b/c the ones to benefit from less pirating first and foremost are still going to be the same ones who aren’t really that hurt by it currently....loooooooong before the lower rung creators start to see an uptick in profits as a result. And let’s be real, if Marvel & DC suddenly started seeing a surge in profits due to a marked reduction in piracy, they’d find some excuse to shift payment structures around again in order to still keep a lion’s share of the new profits while cutting the lower rung creators (read: new/just starting out/niche/lacking leverage creators) out of seeing much additional profits. Because the problem with creators making money off Marvel and DC IPs isn’t really pirating, its Marvel and DC not wanting to share the money made off their IPs, even with the people most responsible for those IPs generating revenue.

That’s the part of the pirating convo that most people miss, IMO....a rising tide just DOESN’T lift all boats, if one or two boats in particular are specially designed to make the most of any tiny uptick in a rising tide while all the other boats are made of the leftover shoddy materials and are undermanned or understaffed or whatever and can’t actually DO anything productive with any of the lift generated by the rising tide.

And if that made no sense, eh, idk, don’t blame me. Its not my metaphor.

ANYWAY. So that’s why I don’t really give a shit about pirated movies or TV shows or Marvel or DC books, though I do still think you suck if you pirate indie content including lesser known Image creators. You guys have srsly no idea how much harder indie comic book creators have to work compared to like, any other medium. It makes me wanna cry. Its ridiculous. It would take too long to explain just WHY its so much more of an ordeal/effort to produce indie comic book content than just about any other form of indie content save like, running an entire webshow with one or two people wearing all the hats while funding everything out of pocket and overseeing everything production wise and also being a key creator involved in creating the actual content.

BUT as I was saying in the last post, pirating novels is an ENTIRELY different thing, and I have vastly more opinions there than I do with other mediums. Because the publishing industry was designed to exploit and capitalize off the intellectual properties of INDIVIDUALS, unlike all those other mediums that are inherently collaborative and thus usually involve the combined efforts of several to dozens of people.

So at the end of the day, individual authors will ALWAYS suffer more from pirating, looooooong before publishing companies ever feel a ding in their profits. Because they designed it that way. Specifically SO that they, the big companies, would be protected. Its set up so that individual creatives, the authors, NEED publishing companies more than publishers need any singular author. Obviously the rise of indie publishing has changed this somewhat, but not as much as you might think.....because the thing is, indie authors are really only successful and profitable by the grace of Amazon. By the fact that Amazon can afford to pay authors 70 percent royalties on any sale as opposed to traditionally published authors who are lucky to get a ten to fifteen percent royalty rate on sales, with them not even seeing a cent of those royalties until AFTER their advance has already been paid back, if they ever even sell enough to make that happen at all.

And so like....its a very dangerous, precarious, and not at all trustworthy situation that allows for indie authors to CURRENTLY be profitable in ways or to degrees that a lot of traditionally published authors can’t be. 

But that’s only because Amazon is taking a loss on most of the books they publish, due to this payment model. Because Amazon CAN. They can afford it. They make enough from all their other departments and revenue streams to buttress those losses. And Amazon has been using this, and using indie authors, to leverage traditional publishers into giving up more and more of THEIR profits from THEIR books, by giving Amazon even steeper discounts on the books they distribute to them, to be sold to consumers by Amazon.

And again, like I said before, its the individual creators, the bottom rung authors, who take the hits here first and in the biggest ways, because it remains true that the publishers have designed their payment structures so as to use the profits of individual authors to compensate for their own dip in profits.

And Amazon isn’t doing any of this for the little guy’s benefit. They don’t care about giving indie authors a leg up, an alternative to tradition publishers. They only care about CURRENTLY making indie authors need traditional publishers less than trad publishers need them, for a change.....but ONLY so that Amazon can rake in the increase in profits first and foremost.

Because here’s the kicker. The thing I worry too many indie authors and readers don’t account for.

INDIE AUTHORS STILL NEED AMAZON MORE THAN AMAZON NEEDS THEM.

Amazon is VOLUNTARILY taking losses on their book sales, and have been almost from the start. Because they don’t NEED that department in particular to be profitable for them NOW. They’ve been angling for a long time to get as close to an actual monopoly on the book market as is possible under current free market laws. So the thing is....unlike traditional publishers....Amazon doesn’t need ANY indie authors OR sales. Like, AT ALL. They could shut down their entire indie book model tomorrow, and not really be any worse off for it.

And the second Amazon doesn’t need indie authors even as LEVERAGE to pry more profits out of traditional publishers....you better believe that 70 percent royalty rate is going to vanish literally overnight. Because there’s absolutely nothing in Amazon’s business model or legal obligations to indie authors that requires they maintain it, or protects indie authors from having it suddenly dropped to a five percent royalty rate at Amazon’s whim.

So the second the scales tip far enough that Amazon decides they really don’t need or want to milk anything else out of traditional publishers, they’ve gotten as much of a price cut or a monopoly as they’re going to get or want to get without forcing publishers (and by extension their own ready made product that Amazon then distributes) out of business.....Amazon is going to quite happily STOP taking a loss on the sales of all these indie titles, and say well, we don’t need you as much now, so we’re gonna just give you ten percent royalties, take it or leave it. Its not like you have any better options at this point.

So whether traditionally published or indie published, pirating books hurts individual creators in very real, tangible ways that creators in other mediums aren’t affected, or are supplemented or buttressed against.

I say all this not to guilt anyone, but simply to provide information. Because there’s always so much discourse going back and forth around legality of pirating and ethics of pirating and so much stuff that’s not even consequential or relevant if people don’t even understand the MECHANICS of how pirating affects various mediums. So they can then make INFORMED choices on how they feel about pirating certain content versus other content.

As I was saying at the start of all of this....I have my own personal stance on pirating, and I don’t expect it or need it to be anyone else’s personal model. Like I said, I don’t really care about other mediums, and when it comes to novels, I’m against it as much as possible, but with caveats. Lots of people, including authors, describe novels as luxury items, and as such say that nobody’s justified in taking one for their own personal entertainment just because they WANT it. I differ from that POV because I honestly don’t consider books a luxury. I consider them to be absofuckinglutely as essential to the survival and THRIVING of the human condition as food or rest. Far more so than TV or movies, which not everyone has access to, or finds as easily accessible. Bottom line.....I fall in the category of arguing that its not enough just to survive. People have to have reason to survive, to live. Things to look forward to. Things to enjoy. Feeding the human spirit, as cheesy or whatthefuckever as that sounds, is every bit as essential as feeding the body. I would not have survived my childhood without books. I would not have survived my twenties without books. Hell, I would not have survived this YEAR without books.

So, even as an author myself, and yes, I have written stuff that’s been pirated (I made a fairly decent living for a couple years as a self-published indie author of m/m erotica and m/m erotic romance short stories, novellas and novels, and those particular genres/markets get the SHIT pirated out of them. So trust me, I am VERY much putting my money where my mouth is on this subject).

But yes, even as an author myself, I have zero problem with people pirating stuff because they honestly, truly legit can not afford it otherwise. Its not a lost sale. If you don’t have the money, you don’t have the money. It doesn’t mean you still don’t need, let alone deserve, to have something to take your mind off your poverty, your stresses, your issues. And even if you technically have the money to afford a book, I’m well aware that doesn’t always mean you ACTUALLY have the money to afford it in any meaningful way. If you have five bucks to spend for the day, and a choice between a book and a bagel, or like, an actual sandwich and drink, that’s not a fucking choice that ANYONE should have to make. Use that five dollars to buy yourself a fucking sandwich and just pirate the book, I say. You can pay it forward when you get the chance. You find yourself with more money at a later point, by all means, go back and buy a legit copy of that book, your money’s still good then, and having had that book to enjoy at an earlier, more stressful time in your life might very well have contributed in even the tiniest of ways to you getting to a place where you had better finances and more spending money.

Yes, obviously, I am a big fan and proponent of libraries, and I think you should always go there first, if possible, to get your free literary content. Libraries are great, and they have a LOT more content, and more of a range of content, then a lot of people realize.

I am however aware that libraries are not necessarily practical for everyone. Sometimes you just plain can’t get to one, you have transportation or mobility issues or live in a household where your reading habits or interests are frowned upon or even penalized, because sometimes, parents are awful. Sometimes libraries just don’t have the content you’re looking for. Content is subjective, depends on staff, geography, community. LGBTQ+ kids shouldn’t have to risk being seen looking through the LGBTQ+ section of the library or checking out a book, if they’re not out at home or school or in their community. By all means, I would much rather a kid in that situation pirate the fuck out of their comforting, soul-sustaining LGBTQ+ themed books than risk upsetting a currently safe and secure status quo. Again, just pay it forward when and if you can, at a later date. And so on and so forward.

BUT, again, there’s caveats there, because with books, I consider it a case by case basis, and the case in question is the individual consumer. The above scenarios IMO are based entirely on the genuine, sincere situation of not being able to afford a book in any practical way, and not having a library as a valid option for getting that or any book.

This is an entirely different situation from HAVING the spending money, and being perfectly capable of dropping five bucks on a book versus five bucks on one of those much-talked-about-in-pirating-convos Starbucks’ lattes that you don’t NEED any more than anyone supposedly NEEDS to read a particular book. 

If you CAN afford to pay full price for a book without dipping into funds intended for other practical necessities or hurting or even inconveniencing you in any meaningful way, if you CHOOSE to pirate a book you can access or download through legal channels with just as much ease as you can pirate it...(again, I’m aware that due to bullshit territory laws, not all content is legally available in all areas at all times, and this isn’t what I’m talking about).

I’m talking about if you’re NOT in a bad - not just slightly uncomfortable - but BAD, financially tight, thrifty, constantly stressed situation where its honestly a Sophie’s fucking Choice trying to decide if you’re gonna shell out your money for the sequel you’ve been waiting on pins and needles for for a fucking year and its been the only thing getting you through some days....or if you’re gonna like, eat today....

THAT’S when I have no patience for your piracy, specifically. Not when it comes to novels and the bottom lines of individual, hard-working authors, most of whom have to spend their lunch hours or come home after work to soak their blood, sweat and tears into the manuscript that becomes the book you just pirated. I know what I said about indie comic book creators having it so much more fucking tough than anyone else knows or realizes, but that doesn’t mean that midlist and lower than that authors don’t work DAMN fucking hard on their product, even after working forty hour weeks at some minimum wage job that’s every bit as soul-crushing as the worst job you’ve ever held.

And you’re not a fucking rebel or revolutionary if you’re taking money out of THEIR pocket, when you don’t need it yourself, just because you can. You’re not sticking it to the man, or teaching greedy capitalist publishing pigs the error of their ways. They don’t care, and you’re just being a dick.

Entitlement isn’t always a bad thing, I believe, because we ARE all entitled to certain things. A broke, disabled person with transportation issues and disability benefits that aren’t even enough to cover their actual living expenses is IMO every bit as ENTITLED as anyone else to a nice, stress-free, enjoyable read they picked out because it was precisely what they were looking for and not because it was the only thing out of ten available options that looked halfway decent. I will never ever judge or condemn or disparage someone for pirating in a scenario even REMOTELY close to that.

But that doesn’t mean that gratuitous entitlement doesn’t always exist, and isn’t obnoxious as fuuuuuuuuuuck. You’re not entitled to whatever you want, whenever you want, for as little as you feel like paying for it, just because you WANT it. And just because you can GET it, consequence free. If THAT’S the defining motivation or influence behind pirating the debut novel of a single mom working sixty hours a week to support her kids PLUS hanging onto her dreams and pounding out her novel over the course of a year and a half on her lunch hour.....then yeah, you fucking suck, and you know it, you whiny little shit who identifies with this paragraph and goes "who me? YOU DONT KNOW MY LIFE!” Yeah, I do. We all know someone like you. You’re not special.

Just like I know that author profile I just described there was not grabbed out of my ass, but describes someone very real and not at all embellished, and she’s not even the author I know in the most stressful scenario-whilst-writing. She certainly wouldn’t even consider herself in the Top Ten. And her publisher passed on the option for her sophomore novel, because her much-pirated book never made back the $25,000 advance she was paid over the course of three installments, which meant after taxes, she got an extra $10,000 bucks spread out among three eight month intervals, or just under two years.

So yeah. That’s where I fall. Soundly in the same camp I fall in most things: Actions have consequences, and you should always make an effort to be informed on what those consequences are before deciding whether or not you take action.

Let’s be real, no one’s effectively policing whether or not every individual consumer on the web pirates casually, extensively, or religiously, if at all. Its not likely EVER going to be an issue for you. That someone can actually keep you from pirating because you’re genuinely afraid of legal consequences.

But you shouldn’t need the threat of legal consequences, the question of can I get away with this or not, to police your own actions.

And at the risk of giving anyone whiplash, I for sure don’t give a fuck about the legality of taking away from the bottom line of massive, multi-million dollar corporate interests if I can get away with it. I’m just as entitled to keeping my five bucks that I worked DAMN FUCKING HARD FOR, as the people most likely to see that money even though they didn’t log a single actual hour on producing the content they’re charging five bucks for, IMO. I’m perfectly aware there’s a shit ton of people who’d call that rationale self-serving bullshit and hypocritical, but bite my lily-white Irish ass, I don’t give a fuck. I’m comfortable with my own morality.

But part of the reason I’m comfortable with my own morality, is that it tells me that even though there are times when I think I’m entitled to certain things I can’t necessarily afford, there are also times when I know I’m NOT entitled to things I may just not WANT to afford. Any time you’re able to justify ALWAYS having things your way without it ever costing you any kind of concession, I think that’s usually a good sign it might be time to stop and take a second look at yourself. Nobody gets to have everything their own way, to their best liking, all of the time.

But the flip side of that coin IMO, is that nobody should be penalized to NEVER having anything their own way, to their liking, ANY of the time. And if that’s the situation you’re in at some point in your life, and pirating’s the only available option to giving yourself a break from your regular monotony or currently-shitty-reality? Like, who the fuck am I to tell you not to pirate that feel good book or movie that has the chance to let you go to bed later with an actual smile on your face for a change? Who the fuck is anybody to tell you that?

*Shrugs*

There’s my two cents: The Ten Volume and Unnecessarily Long Saga.

[news-mashable-yahoopartner-blog]

Out-of-context Twitter accounts keep your favorite shows alive online

The joy of Parks and Recreation will never leave me, not even in the dark corners of Twitter. It’s a strange yet reaffirming thought for me and the other 166,000 people who follow the "out of context parks" account.

As its name suggests, the account takes scenes from the beloved NBC comedy and posts them without any context, leaving it up to the reader to interpret the meaning. 

pic.twitter.com/J9LiNdUEFj

— out of context parks (@nocontextpawnee) January 30, 2019

While not affiliated with the network or the show officially, it is still part of a burgeoning trend on the social media platform. Pop culture-based out-of-context accounts have been popping up all over the place in the last few years. 

From iconic TV shows like Buffy the Vampire Slayer to critical faves like The Good Place, from Marvel movies to recent Oscar nominee The Favourite, there are out-of-context pages devoted to all kinds of entertainment.

SEE ALSO: Crush Twitter proves that sometimes subtweets can be good

The basic principle boils down to the same thing: posting close captioned screenshots without additional comment. The jokes really just needs to be taken at face value and are actually the perfect buffer from a sullen cycle of bad news and bad tweets. 

Why wouldn’t I want to be interrupted by Leslie Knope and Ben Wyatt in the middle of my mindless Twitter scroll? As a lover of obscure board games and Adam Scott being nerdy, Cones of Dunshire will always warrant my attention.

pic.twitter.com/sH1CZswCsx

— out of context parks (@nocontextpawnee) January 15, 2019

Kaysi Long created the Parks account in the summer of 2017. She told Mashable she was inspired by a similar account dedicated to cult favorite Buffy. 

"I thought it'd be fun to do the same thing for a TV show I love," she shared via email. She noticed the engagement started picking up heavily within the first 6 months. 

Long binged the show and took several screen caps along the way. "I have a ton saved up now so I haven’t had to spend too much time watching it again and again. How I decide what to post is usually pretty random," she said. The exception is when there's really something timely to share. 

pic.twitter.com/2Tr7K4xzys

— out of context parks (@nocontextpawnee) January 22, 2019

The allure of out-of-contexts as they pertain to movies, TV, games, comic books or even people (who can say no to even more ways of taking in John Mulaney's humor) stems from the need to consume content repeatedly and quickly.

It's also the simplest form of a throwback. 

When I discovered the out-of-context account for The Office, another all-time favorite, I spent a joyous 15 minutes laughing as I recalled the specific details of every post. This post got me so much that I immediately felt the need to revisit the opening of Season 4's "Money" and listen to the opening music, which is indeed very cheerful. 

pic.twitter.com/1XQxBykdqn

— out of context the office (@officecontexts) January 10, 2019

The concept of sharing a singular moment of dialogue goes way back. First it was posting quotes or even lyrics without any context on AIM or Facebook, and now it's as Instagram captions. It's ~cool~ and fun. 

Twitter out-of-context humor is a whole other ballgame. It can be fleeting and varied, taking the most basic lines and proclaiming them to be entertaining.

For example, @NYTMinusContext tweeted nothing but random verbatim phrases from various New York Times articles. It amassed 205,000 followers in it's almost 5 years of existence. It's easy to see why. 

seriously, I will tear my hair out and eat it. HA-HA-HA

— NYT Minus Context (@NYTMinusContext) February 23, 2018

everything on planet Earth is falling apart

— NYT Minus Context (@NYTMinusContext) March 10, 2018

In its more recent wave, this format gets a visual and cultural makeover. The image elevates the comedy, and it speaks to our need of dissecting pop culture at a minute level.

Twitter provides the means to do this easily. 

A scene stripped down to its barest form will still come off as amusing. Emma Stone's maniacal "Fuck! fuck! fuck! fuck!" is a real mood, regardless of whether or not you've seen The Favourite. 

pic.twitter.com/gsr7aaBRdx

— the favourite out of context (@tongueinsideme) February 14, 2019

Out-of-context accounts indirectly share a purpose: to reel you in. I started following "out of context bojack horseman" early last year without having ever seen BoJack Horseman. After liking enough tweets, I knew I had to prioritize checking this comedy off of my Netflix queue. 

If just the screenshots were enough to crack me up, the entire show would definitely win me over, right? Reader, it did. 

pic.twitter.com/h0Dgid7Cp7

— out of context bojack horseman (@nobojackcontext) October 13, 2018

It proves out-of-context humor can please anyone and doubles as a great way to lure you into learning more about its original source. 

This formula even got an official Netflix stamp of approval. To promote its original witty teen drama Sex Education, the streaming platform created a verified no context account for this extremely quotable show. 

They wanted the scenes to resonate with fans and to make the people who hadn't seen the show feel the FOMO. It's a great way to keep the fandom growing, as the account's 98,000 followers show.

I WAS W A I T I N G FOR THIS QUOTE URGHH ICONIC

— Anna ❤️💍 Charlie (@zahartovana_) February 4, 2019

Famed comic book writer Gail Simone, known for her work with Deadpool and Birds of Prey, is a Twitter aficionado who has created several "ridiculous" conversation-starter pop culture hashtags, including #lackofcontexttheater in 2017. 

"I love that you say something absurd, and soon, hundreds, maybe thousands of people who get the joke jump in and add to it," she told Mashable.

In this case, she wanted to point out the weird writing of comic books that, devoid of contextual panels around it, sometimes hint at mysterious psychosexual horrors and kinks. "There’s an entire 1940’s story where Batman and the Joker spend the entire issue talking about boners, and you can’t help but laugh."

@GailSimone can't forget this legend #lackofcontexttheater pic.twitter.com/L71O9hC66e

— jodi❗️❗️ (@AbyssalOdin) January 8, 2017

@GailSimone #LackOfContextTheater I don't think this scene will make it into Homecoming. pic.twitter.com/VFiB5ktVII

— Tomb Svalborg (@tombness) January 8, 2017

@GailSimone Found another good one for #LackofContextTheater pic.twitter.com/610TR8Dcu1

— Juan Carmona (@JDCarmona91) January 10, 2017

Simone didn't think her hashtag would blow up the way it did but even after a couple of years, the underlying trend holds up. "I went back and read all of the tweets and they made me laugh all over again," she shared. 

"It’s simply a matter of seeing something familiar and wholesome and imagining there's more to it." 

It is funny to imagine an unseen world where Batman is really obsessed with Joker’s constant boners. That's why folks are so involved with the hashtag. And that's why they're so involved with the entire trend of pop culture out-of-context accounts.  

Everyone gets to be in on and enjoy the joke, even if they're not fully familiar with its genesis.

WATCH: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is giving Twitter classes to fellow Democrats

[pepperstrawberry]

Oh god...

So, took a break from drawing and worked a little on a fic I was playing with...

First thing: I actualy have a working Fan Theory on just how the head Sailor Pluto from Sailor Moon’s Gates of Time work, why they were made, and exactly how the timeline works in that whole series... and I came to a sort of horror realization about it all.

In order to understand what I thought up (and maybe I wasn’t the first one on this, but still), the first thing you have to understand is about the theoretical (hypothetical? how far deep is science in on this concept? my brain is mash and everything I’m about to type is crap I have been repeating for all sorts of story hooks, but also ruining a lot of my thoughts on stories with time travel bs) concept of dimentions of the universe.

(Before I go on, I have to go and watch @flavoracle‘s video post reacently. He tagged me on thoughts of exsistential horror, and this therory thing hits right in where I think he was going with his vid... which Is why I probably haven’t watched it yet... I should watch it just to make sure... probably after sleeping and after I finish the commission mini)

idea, plot bunny and then what I ended up spending several hours on because my freaking muse decided it was time for me to cry... like a fracking lot. Like a baby, are all under the cut

Okay, so the first thing we need to cover is: Do you know about sailor moon?

Well, if you don’t and google will be too much work (amusingly it can be when you don’t want to get distracted, so this isn’t judgement XD ): Sailor Moon is a magic girl anime. Hearts, magic, evil, romance, the works. I would be surprised if any of my followers hadn’t at least heard of it.

(sidenote: knowing of Ranma 1/2 is helpful, but the thing I wrote linked at the end of this has the character there, but nothing touching on what that character means to the story beyond what you can just read, so it’s extra, but unimportant... google it if you want. fun series, important to me as a person, moving on...)

NOW, each senshi (save moon) is named after a planet. So naturally there is a Sailor Pluto (the jokes where already done years ago, no time for pedantry right now, moving on). She is the Senshi of Time and Guardian of the ‘Gates of Time’

They are basically the series ‘time machine’. sorta. There is more, but bleh, so much to get through to get to my point.

Okay, so, during the second season/arc of Sailor Moon, a group called the Black Moon clan come back in time to wreck stuff (google for synopsis. they don’t matter to this post save for the detail i’m going to mention) They fully loose. And really, it makes sense. They are lack info, and more importantly, they are trying to change the past.

Paradox is a nono. So they auto fail. (i don’t know how much of that is canon explanation, but it’s basically what happened if you boil it down. They were doomed to fail cause they had already failed)

SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Thing is, in reality, there is this concept in things like Quantum Physics known as the Multi-worlds theory. Short version: Not one time line, but infiitte of them, branching from every choice, every change, that has ever been and will ever be.

It goes further then that. There is figuring that the entire of existence (that is, even beyond our universe, like way beyond) is composed of about 9 dimensions, kinda 10 ish...

Okay, lets get the easy part of this out of the way, cause depending on your familiarity with the rest, things get bonkers fast.

You know the first 4 dimensions actually rather intimately. Height, Width, Depth, Time (duration).

So we have the base 3 dimensions we all know, and time (spacetime), which is how things move, change, the works. Now its easier to consider ‘Duration’ instead of time, because we aren’t just taking forward, but a line that goes start to finish. That is the 4 dimension.

Okay, so 5th dimension, what is it? Actually not too hard to explain: It’s all the branches that the Multi-worlds concept dips into.Did you chose to make eggs and coffee this morning? Or had some Rice Crispies instead?

Trick question: You did both. Not you you, but You (the one you are currently experiencing) AND the other you that is not you. They exist, but not in any real way that matters to the you that is YOU.

6th dimension? it’s kinda the past through of all the branches. Okay, so Back To the Future? You watched it? Especially the second one? Okay, Marty and Doc Go to the future. Old biff takes a thing, goes back, changes time. In order to fix it they had to go back to when biff was in high school in like the 50s (not caring about details, just follow the plot line here)... BUT before that, they went back to their normal time... but it wasn’t. It was a changed 198-whatever.

Thing is, as much as people laud the series for it’s solid take on time travel... this actually doesn’t work. They should have traveled back to their own time, since they were still in the fiture of -their- time line. What did they do?  They pasted through the sixth dimension, bridging the gap between time lines. Normally, like a stream, you would have to go back to where the change could have occured and then travel back up along that branch to get to the new future. But the freaking Delorian is more OP then folks realize.

What are dimensions 7-9. Weeeel to this thing I wrote, they don’t matter as much and are a bit harder to wrap your mind around.

I mean, the 7th is just ‘Our Universe’. Like the whole thing. Every time line, all the rules. Everything that has, can, and will make every iteration of us.

The 8th is like the 5ht, in that, they are different universes with different rules. Like, one might have less gravity or something.

The 9th is simply put as the ‘bridge’ between the multiverse. (wait, we are mtg fans mostly here? Planeswalking! XD ... sorta)

and the potiential 10th is just that. POTENTIAL.The ‘everything’ a drop of everything becomes a something that is anything. A blank slate that given definition is no longer a part of the blank slate.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOK

Assuming that: 1) i didn’t ramble too incoherently and  2) you all wrapped your heads around Dimensions 4-6, then we are ready to tackle things

Okay, onward: THE GATES OF TIME

This is an artifact in the Sailor Moon universe that is Guarded by Sailor Pluto, Senshi of Time. (yes, senshi can mean guardian, so redundant, but screw you, i like the term ‘senshi’ XD )

The show, the manga, nothing that I know of really goes into what this thing is about. To be honest, I feel like this is one of those things like the Time turner (harry potter) that open more plot holes and issues then they fix any...

UNLESS!

Okay, here is where that dimensional guff comes into play.

Remember when I mentioned the Black Moon clan’s inevitable failure? It implies there is NO 5TH DIMENSION IN THE SAILOR MOON UNIVERSE.

How so? Well, what if someone could see the future. All those timelines, all those choices. Sure Sailor Moon defates Beryl in one timeline, but in another she looses. So what is the point?

Someone had that much existential dread and access to incredible magic and artificery that they slapped this baby together.

So what are the Gates of Time then, and why am I using plural instead of singular when there is clearly the one?

It’s a 6th dimensional device that locks all timelines instead of one. Being a multi dimensional object, we can’t see all sides with our 4 dimensional senses, but in reality, there are infinate gates, all but this one locked, sealed, and forever hidden from view.

What does this mean for the Sailor Moon timeline?

It means that every choice sticks. Thats it. You chose coffee and eggs today. Yep. That’s it. it’s locked in. there is no other timeline or possibility.

This means that the Black Moons Clan’s defeat was as inevitable as them going back in the first place. Because it happened, it will always happen.

And the gates are one of the only ways to potentially by pass that. Maybe (the other thing I can think of is a thing called the Galaxy Cauldron... but don worry ‘bout it)

---------------------------------------------------------------

Okay, so we got most of this together.. You read this far? Whoa. Okay, so This fic my muse gave me after I was just thinking on the concept of the Gate for another fic idea (because my fracking muse hates me right now and it’s hard to concentrate on my comic for the moment. will be working more on that during the weekend)

So, I love crosses. It’s me, Pepper, so base is Ranma, with the common cross of Sailor Moon (obviously), and I do love cannibalizing a third cross to make the adversary if I can’t think one up myself (most plot bunnies are Kamen Rider crosses for the Tertiary.). For this one, I used a sort of Hild (and the norms, but evil) from Ah My Goddess.

It’s not clear from the first few scenes of this (really the real meat of what I’m posting is a page an a half down from the start), so let me give you the quick breakdown of that this story is about:

Start: Norms and Hild are wrecking the Senshi’s day. Pluto is hiding at the gates to protect the artifact. With out a (literal) Special key, only she can usually enter it. Hild’s goal is to change something fundamental about the universe, but in her quest to do so, she has gotten pretty mad and taken a few minor goddess down with her. Hild finally gets tired, and figures, she just need to change history. She would perfer the Gates, but she is a freaking Deity (fallen of a fashion, I know how silly that sounds given the character, but I’m not going into all that right now, I’m just using it as short hand, k?). So HIld goes, ‘Girl’s, you keep doing good, me? I’m going to make the laws of physics my chew toy”

So she forces herself back in the past.

Chosen target? Sailor Pluto at the fall of their magic kingdom (again, don’t know, google, I’m hip deep right now). She intends to right the dying senshi’s power to the Gates back then (which would be a mess of things on so many levels) Accept, Pluto of the past returns the favor. Hild had forced herself through time, so she is already messed up and pretty near death. Could have recovered, but a magic girl blast through the chest kinda stops that from being an option.

STILL, Hild succeeded in the first part of her plan at least. Og Timeline, Pluto excaped and hung out at the Gates guarding them for a -very- long time.. This pluto?

She ded.

And she is reborn... as Ranma.

Thing is, there is a cascade that wreaks havoc on a timeline not meant to move or change. Three things stay anchored, one of which cases backwards ripples. 1) That key that was mentioned before. Sailor moon had it, inactivated for safety. Sailor moon is not anchored, but the key is... it ends up somehow in the hands of Ranma, cause destiny, single timeline, reborn Pluto, you get the idea)

2) Pharaoh 90 (third season/arc) was locked way by the Gates. That moment -can’t- change, but since it can’t, timeline figures easiest path is that dude didn’t even exsist (lots of effects from that that I would explore in story proper) 3) The norns (the goddess with hild) get ‘washed ashore’ at the point in time just when Chibi Usa (moons future dautgher, sent back as a part of that whole Black Moon clan thing) would have shown up (because of shift in time, future is currently being rewriten as Ranma lives it... Fixed point idea thing)

OOOOOkay, last thing you need to know before I actually drop this stupid thing on any one with the insanity to read it: OG Pluto still lives at the Gates (outside normal time so effectively untouched by cascade... but it means she can never leave to go to any point after her death, and she can’t chance going back before that moment)

Are you really still with me? Did you make any sense of that? All that so that you might understand what I wrote. Context is everything.

Oh yeah, I was listening to this on repeat while writing, and part of why i was crying (yes it’s kingdom heart. honest I give not two figs about the game, but the music is beautiful.)

I give you the end of a fic that my bonkers muse gave me the idea for that may or may not ever see a posting and thus, I want someone to take some joy in what I wrote rather then hiding it. (warning, I’m a hack of a writer. Better then most Fanfic writers. Would Put myself in the top 10%.... but then again, that is not saying anything good. XD or maybe I’m more garbage then I think. But hey, 1) rough draft writen low on energy and 2) if it gets the emotions right and is clear with what i’m going for, then victory, right?) 

(this post is long enough, so this is a dropbox link that I hope works) (and yes, the title has some plays on words that hopefully make more sense when you put all the themes and especially the ending together) (remember, actual stuff that matters the most is after the page and a half mark. the other stuff is rough chapter one stuff)

And now, without further adieu, “Once Upon a Time https://www.dropbox.com/s/bytc8x9xcw01w81/Once%20Upon%20a%20Time.docx?dl=0

[studentsofshield]

2015 Comics Holiday Gift Guide Part 2 - All the Rest

By Vincent Faust

(This was originally published on December 14, 2015)

Everyone loves Marvel and DC’s movies and television shows. But maybe you’re looking for something different. Not simply some source material (all the sources are better though, just like novel to film adaptations), but something wholly original that you can’t get anywhere else. 

Comics are a singular medium with its own advantages and disadvantages in conveying art and telling a story, just like prose, music, film, video games, etc. If you ask a creator or fan of comics, the motto is that this is the medium with an infinite budget. On a surface level, the only constraints are an artist’s illustration abilities. The special effects are free. Superheroes can fight aliens in space. Dragons can romp around a battlefield of thousands of soldiers. There are no bounds, only as far as imagination can push us. 

Here are some more colorful suggestions to show off how comic books work, the heights they can reach, imaginative independent books and some low key Marvel gems.

10. Understanding Comics

You love the Marvel Cinematic Universe and Nolan’s Batman films. You would love to get into comic books. The only problem is you don’t fully understand how to read these weird picture books. What do you do with double-stacked left side panels? Are Bendis’ dozen speech bubbles confusing you? Are you always hung up on figuring out the progression of time in comics storytelling? I don’t fault you. Comics can be incredibly intimidating, even putting aside the “volume 6 issue 21” and crossover/tie-in messes that plague superhero books. 

You need to pick up Scott McCloud’s Understanding Comics. Think of the most fun and informative textbook you’ve ever used in school. Then add character to it and make it about a topic you give a shit about. That is Understanding Comics. McCloud’s book is the go to for both industry newcomers and veteran academics. It belongs on everyone’s shelf. 

McCloud wrote two sequels, Reinventing Comics and Making Comics. They’re just as informative and interesting as the original. However, they are less of a 101 and delve into the specific advances of their respective times. Reinventing attempts to cover digital comics, but from the perspective of 2000 when it was written. Some of it doesn’t hold up as well.

11. All-Star Superman

Do you think Superman is boring? He’s an alien that we can’t even relate to. He has dozens of powers that would be sufficient by themselves on any other superhero. He wears underwear over his tights. His secret identity concealing glasses are dumb. He reversed time by flying around the planet. He’s in a shitty Zach Snyder movie. Not even Bryan Singer could make him work. He belongs in the past where he comes from. He isn’t cool like Batman and Spider-Man. Right?

Well, guess what? You are objectively wrong. Superman is the forefather to all modern superheroes. He was the big leap (literally) that fused Greek mythic heroes and early 1900s pulp heroes. Hercules and Odysseus meets The Shadow and The Phantom. And he isn’t an archaic idea that should have been left in the 1940s. 

One of the greatest comic writers of all time, Grant Morrison, said this about the big blue boy scout, 

“Because it all derived from Superman. I mean, I love all the characters, but Superman is just this perfect human pop-culture distillation of a really basic idea. He’s a good guy. He loves us. He will not stop in defending us. How beautiful is that? He’s like a sci-fi Jesus. He’ll never let you down. And only in fiction can that guy actually exist, because real guys will always let you down one way or another. We actually made up an idea that beautiful. That’s just cool to me. We made a little paper universe where all of the above is true.” 

Supes is about our idealism, everything we can and should be. He’s an alien stronger than all of us, but he chooses to serve us and desperately wants to be one of us. 

Morrison wrote a twelve issue deconstruction of The Man of Steel called All-Star Superman. Each issue covers another part of his character, whether it’s his love life or his villains. It is a nearly immaculate piece of comic book storytelling. Morrison’s meta writing is complimented perfectly by Frank Quitely’s pencils. If you read this book and still think Superman is dumb, fine. 

The sad thing is that for whatever reason, DC has struggled with putting out solid Superman stories in his ongoing titles for the past fifteen or twenty years. I attribute it to them not understanding the essence of their own character. They’re constantly trying to make him edgy or tear him down. He is currently missing his powers in one book. Why?

12. Multiversity

Whaaaaaaaat? 

All-Star Superman is actually one of Grant Morrison’s more approachable works. He is more known for metafictional stories that make your mind hurt. He does a lot of drugs. Allegedly he was abducted by aliens. Or contacted by a spiritual force. I don’t really know and neither does he. His art is usually better for it though. 

In 1990, he had Animal Man acknowledge the readers and freak out. The readers freaked the hell out too. I almost wish I had not said that and spoiled the moment. But I kind of don’t care. It’s also a “I am your father” kind of moment that everyone in comics knows about whether they’ve read it. 

His most recent big metafictional piece is called The Multiversity. Here’s the concept: each issue is an individual done-in-one story presenting a different alternate dimension, all drawn by different artists. The issues are book ended by The Multiversity #1 and 2, connecting the story. At some point in one issue, a character will be reading a comic book that showcases the adventures of the previous issue. 

The Just is about a generation of spoiled superhero grandchildren obsessed with fame. Pax Americana is Morrison’s take on Alan Moore’s Watchmen, which is to say a deconstruction of the Charlton Comics characters DC bought in the 80s. Mastermen is an alternate history Earth where Superman (now called Overman) lands in Nazi Germany and is raised by Hitler. Ultra Comics is the most meta of them all, covering a fictional superhero created by “memesmiths” to defeat a “Hostile Independent Thought-Form.” Yes. It is that weird. It all works though. And by the end, an inter-dimensional team of heroes defends the entire multiverse.

13. Batman: Noel

Not much to say here. Batman: Noel is fitting for the season. Something with a theme to actually fit the Christmas spirit for those who are Christian or enjoy the celebration and aesthetic regardless. 

Lee Bermejo writes and draws this story loosely based on Charles Dickens’ evergreen novel A Christmas Carol. Catwoman, Superman, and the Joker all play the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Future respectively. Bermejo’s art is really pretty. He’s otherwise known for original graphic novels on the Joker and Lex Luthor. Both worth looking into if you like Noel.

14. Saga

Brian K. Vaughan already got a spot earlier in the list for Doctor Strange: The Oath. Here is his mega hit Saga, mentioned in that entry as well. Saga just hit a magic vein in the industry that catapulted it to stardom. All the pieces are fabulous. 

Brian K. Vaughan is a gifted writer that can flesh out worlds as seen in Y, Ex Machina and Lost. Fiona Staples came from relative obscurity and turned into a top three artist overnight on the book (and she colors it too!). 

It’s ultimately a love story. Alana and Marko are from opposing races that have been at war forever. To complicate things further, they have a baby they have to take care of. Part of its appeal is the crazy shit they get into. A race of aliens have televisions for heads. There is an infamous splash page of a dragon fellating itself. 

You can get the first trade here. There is an oversized hardcover that collects the first 18 issues (three trades). It’s worth it for Fiona’s beautiful art alone. However, you are going to want to keep reading the series as soon as you finish it and the second hardcover probably won’t drop for a while. So here are volumes 2, 3, 4, and 5.

15. Ms. Marvel

Media representation and diversity have increasingly become a focus in media studies and the discussion has become an increasingly mainstream topic every day. Comic books have unfortunately been pretty lackluster on these fronts for decades. 

In the 1930s through mid 1950s, there was some diversity in comics. Girls read Supergirl as much as boys read Superman. Romance comics were popular with women, while Archie, Betty and Veronica were a co-ed teenage sensation. There were some problems from the start, like most things in the naive post-war era. A lot of the different genres, books, etc were explicitly gendered. The audience was there though. 

Fredric Wertham’s Seduction of the Innocent and the subsequent hysteria not only drastically shrunk the market. It also censored entire genres and pushed entire demographics out of the medium. For comparison, Japanese comics never experienced this censorship rallying cry and people of all genders, ages, etc read a wide array of manga. 

The lack of a significant female audience and the infatilization of the medium (no drugs, no sex, no suicide, no race issues, no vampires, etc) led to a “young male” stigma in the medium. Comics were “for boys.” The late 1980s and 1990s was probably the worst point of this, when artists ruled the industry and just wanted to draw scantily clad women. 

The late 2000s/early 2010s second (or third? 1. Cerebus, Usagi 2. 90s Image) explosion of independent comics has led to a diversification on both sides of the dollar. Marvel and DC have been trying to catch up in the past few years. Marvel particularly has made major strides with characters like Miles Morales. Sam Wilson, Jessica Drew and Carol Danvers have also exploded in popularity and exposure. 

The breakout new character of this trend by far is Kamala Khan. When Carol Danvers gave up her Ms. Marvel moniker to become Captain Marvel, the Muslim, Pakistani-American, Jersey City fangirl Kamala took up her idol’s old title after being exposed to the terrigen mists. 

Her writer, G. Willow Wilson, is a Muslim herself who has been praised for her believable teenage dialogue. Kamala’s signature artist, Adrian Alphona, made his name doing BKV’s teenage superhero book Runaways. Marvel and DC have introduced fairly few long term successful characters in the past decade or two. New superheroes cropped up every week in the 1960s, 70s and 80s. Kamala may be the biggest recent breakout for Marvel. 

You can read her series across, four, trade, paperbacks. There are also two oversized hardcovers collecting the same material. Her series has continued post-Secret Wars and hopefully will for a long time.

16. Noir Comics

Ed Brubaker wrote Captain America for years (as detailed in this list). He also did other work for Marvel and DC on Iron Fist, Batman, etc. All of those stories are great and I’m sure he enjoyed doing them. 

However, Brubaker’s true calling is independent noir comics. Hollywood doesn’t make many noir movies anymore. There are some neo-noir films that capture similar tones and aesthetics – a personal favorite of mine being Nicolas Winding Refn’s Drive. However, if you want sultry broads, men in suits and that dark, expressionist look, you’ll need to turn to comic books for your fix. That’s not a bad thing though because Brubaker and a small circle of artist buddies have pumped out a healthy library of noir comics.

I’m going to highlight Velvet because it reunites Brubaker with Steve Epting, the primary artist from his early Cap work. Velvet is a simple secretary on the surface. But she’s secretly the most dangerous woman alive. Isn’t that a juicy premise? 

There are two volumes of Velvet out. Brubaker’s usual collaborator on these books is Sean Phillips. The pair have produced straight classics together. The Fade Out is a highlight of their oeuvre. It covers the seedy side of Golden Age Hollywood.

17. Hawkguy

Hawkeye is a character with a deep history in the Marvel Universe. He started off as a villain of Iron Man’s under the influence of Black Widow. He later joined the Avengers as part of the famous “Quirky Quartet” when Iron Man, Thor, Ant-Man and Wasp ditched the team, leaving Cap with the responsibility of drafting a squad from scratch. 

Clint Barton for many years was seen (and saw himself) as a B-rate Captain America, always under his shadow. In the 1980s, Barton split off and led the West Coast Avengers brand extension. Around this time he interrupted his serial bachelor streak and got married to Bobbi Morse aka Mockingbird. This pairing is basically a parody/homage of Oliver Queen and Dinah Lance (aka Green Arrow and Black Canary). Hawkeye led the Thunderbolts in the late 1990s for a while. 

In the revolutionary Avengers Disassembled storyline, Scarlet Witch goes cuckoo and in the process Hawkeye sacrifices his life to save others. He comes back to life, but audiences aren’t aware of this for a while. He flips back and forth between the aliases of Echo and Ronin. Oh, and while he was dead a teenage hero named Kate Bishop takes on the Hawkeye mantle as a Young Avenger. 

In 2012, Matt Fraction and David Aja start a Hawkeye solo title. But, it’s not a solo book. The story tracks the street level adventures of Clint and Kate as the Hawkeyes. Mostly due to Aja’s simplistic art, their tenure is already a classic and the best thing to come out of Marvel in years. Issue 11, Pizza is My Business, is one of the greatest single issues of all time. It is entirely silent and told through the perspective of Lucky, Clint and Kate’s dog. 

For whatever reason, Marvel is offering a bunch of different formats to read the book in. You can get four trade paperbacks, two hardcovers or one omnibus.

18. Bitch Planet

With Ms. Marvel, I talked about media representation. Kamala tackles these problems by simply existing. Young Muslim girls, and anyone else who doesn’t fit the typical cookie cut out of “comic fan,” can see people that look like them in comics and feel more welcome in the community. There are scientific studies that show that representation affects ones self-esteem and other factors. 

However, some of the best media directly critiques and tears down these kinds of problems. In comic books, an example of this is Kelly Sue Deconnick’s Bitch Planet. 

Deconnick is the writer responsible for evolving Carol Danvers from Ms. Marvel to Captain Marvel. Carol’s getting a MCU film with her new moniker, so something worked there. Her stint on Captain Marvel gave rise to the Carol Corps, what Deconnick and Danvers’ new fans call themselves.  

Part of Deconnick’s success is her extensive self promotion and audience interaction on Tumblr. By the way, she’s married to Matt Fraction. Just like her husband, KSD has left Marvel behind to work on more personal endeavors (and ones she gets to actually make quality money from).  

Her other series, Pretty Deadly, has also been well received. It’s Bitch Planet though which has people getting tattoos inspired by it. It’s set in a dystopian future where misogyny is rampant and ingrained in the laws. “Noncompliant” women get sent to a giant prison in space. Deconnick uses this send-up of 1970s women in prison exploitation films to examine and critique issues of gender, sexuality, race, body image, etc.

19. Silver Surfer

#BasedMikeAllred. 

Mike Allred is known for his 1960s pop art style comic art. Here he is doing his thing on Silver Surfer, a character that complements the style well. He gets to draw Galactus’ funky helmet, aliens and weird intergalactic tidbits. 

Dan Slott, the longtime writer of Amazing Spider-Man, handles the writing and essentially does his spin on the Doctor Who formula. Norin Radd serves as the good Doctor, while he gets Dawn Greenwood as his companion. They explore space together. 

It’s a great little series. There are fifteen issues and three trades. You can fine them here, here and here. This series is also continuing with the same team in the new Marvel relaunch.

20. Fun Home

Most everything on this list was superheroes or “genre” fiction. What if I want something based in reality? Something autobiographical? Something that will make me feel empty inside? 

Then you are looking for Fun Home by Alison Bechdel. Independent comics have a long history with personal stories. “Autobio” books exploded in the late 1980s in the first boom of indie comics interest. Names like Robert Crumb and Harvey Pekar stand out from this era. Hell, Paul Giamatti played Pekar in the Oscar nominated American Splendor biopic. There’s something about someone letting you into their life that is so captivating. Especially if their life fucking sucks. These are often told in black and white, with deceivingly simple cartooning. Art Spiegelman, Eddie Campbell, Phoebe Gloeckner, David B, Marjane Satrapi, Jeffrey Brown, Craig Thompson and others have all made their livings telling their peculiar personal tales. 

Alison Bechdel started her career doing a strip called Dykes to Watch Out For. It was a mix of soap drama and topical commentary featuring a bunch of lesbians (as the name implies). Bechdel’s strip has been overshadowed by the “Bechdel test” A proposed test to test gender biases in media, particularly film. The test asks whether a work has at least two women who talk about something together other than a man. Theoretically, whether a film passes or fails has a judgment on whether it is in a way sexist. Unfortunately, the test has been broadly applied to label works as sexist or even make value/quality judgments. 

Bechdel has transitioned from strip cartooning to an author of autobio graphic novels. Fun Home parallels her coming of age and coming out story with her father’s homosexuality, pedophilia and suicide. It sounds tragic and twisted. It is. And it is one of the best graphic novels of all time. It has also been adapted as a Broadway musical, which is currently running. 

Bechdel has put out a sequel of sorts, Are You My Mother?, which covers her mother instead of her father. It’s still her work and spectacular, but doesn’t stand up to Fun Home.

I highly recommend www.instocktrades.com. They will offer almost all of these books cheaper than Amazon or brick and mortar stores will. Some of them might not be in stock on Amazon, or more obscure and harder to find in stores, and IST will also be more likely to have them available. Over fifty bucks, free shipping.

10. Understanding Comics, Reinventing Comics,  Making Comics 11. All-Star Superman 12. Multiversity 13. Batman: Noel 14. Saga – Vol 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 / HC Vol 1 15. Ms. Marvel – Vol 1, 2, 3, 4 / HC Vol 1, 2 16. Noir Comics – Velvet Vol 1, 2, The Fade Out Vol 1, 2, 3 17. Hawkeye Vol 1, 2, 3, 4 / HC Vol 1, 2 / Omnibus 18. Bitch Planet, Pretty Deadly 19. Silver Surfer – Vol 1, 2, 3 20. Fun Home, Are You My Mother?