#martian chess

[thepringlesofblood]

Zarcana Rules

(both as "rules for the game Zarcana" and as "Zarcana RULES!!!")

the board/card game Zarcana is maybe the most obscure shit I've ever played. my friend from middle school introduced it to me, from an out of print board game box found deep in the back of the sci library.

If you're familiar with Looney Pyramids (and the associated games such as Ice House, Martian Chess, Zendo, and Pyramid Arcade), this is one of thems.

It isn't sold. You can't buy it. You can get some Looney Pyramids, and if you have the pre-existing knowledge of how to play it you can get a tarot deck and do that. You can buy Gnostica, which is the more widely used adaptation of Zarcana. You could find Pyramid Arcade on eBay (it isn't in print anymore) or buy the pamphlet on looneylabs.com which includes Zark City, another adaptation, and recommends Gnostica on the back of the pamphlet. But to the free market, Zarcana does not exist.

It only exists in archives. Websites from 1999-2002.

I want to put all the information on Zarcana I can find online in one place, bc it's really hard to find a concrete set of rules online bc of how old it is, and it's really really fun.

Cheatsheet

Rules (it says you need to buy a special deck of zarcana cards but you do not, you just need a complete (78 cards) deck of tarot cards)

This lovely website that has links to articles about the development of Zarcana and Gnostica, as well as pdf printable stickers you can put on your cards so the rules are all on there.

If you don't have Looney Pyramids, I figured out how to macgyver it w coins of different sizes but it's v hard and complicated. will put under the cut.

so each person playing needs 5 small, 5 medium, and 5 large pyramids.

personally, I was able to replace them with 5 pennies, 5 nickels, and 5 dimes.

as a game piece, the things a pyramid needs to do are

be 3 different sizes (you can use 3 different denominations of coin)

be distinguishable b/w players (if it's just 2 of you, you can do heads & tails, if not you'll need either more denominations of coins or some way to mark coins as belonging to a certain person (nail polish, stickers, poster putty, beads, sticky notes?)

point in directions (instead, you can put the coin on the edge of the card that it's pointing to, or in the center for standing up straight. alternately, you could use the heads/whatever symbol on the coin to point to different directions and then due tails as standing straight up)

also here's the urls directly copy-pasted in case the links break or some shit

[evilhorse]

Justice League of America #1 (Facsimile Edition)

[star-lights-up]

OKAY OKAY OKAY BUT: Cherik "The Martian" AU

So I'm rereading the martian today because i am sick again, so obviously I need hard science fiction to combat the existential dread, and my brain just kept latching onto dialogue bits and going "CHERIK! MAKE IT CHERIK"

My thoughts are:

Charles and Erik were friends at one point, maybe during college, maybe at the beginning of training, IDK, at some point they had a bit of a falling out. They're civil enough to still get put on the mission together but it's well known they don't get along.

Though there was that one night, where they were both kinda drunk, and they got together......... ("We can't do this again." Erik said, angrily, in the morning. Charles left without so much as glancing at him, let alone responding.)

There's a sandstorm on sol 6, and the team is trying to evacuate (probably the first class team because that's just easy. Hank = pilot. I bet you moira is the leader lady, lewis, military trained or whatever. And everyone else is there too, but i'm on my asthma medication so I can't think clearly, so they don't get specific roles)

The radio dish comes off, impales Charles, he blows backward while unconscious (lower gravity or some shit idk physics) and crashes into Erik, who then gets hit by more debris. The thing that impaled Charles also impaled his biotelemetry reader, and Erik's got crushed on impact/by the debris, so both of them read as dead to their crew members, who have to leave or else they die too.

Erik wakes up first, since he's not actively bleeding and his suit's not impaled and loosing air. The sandstorm is over, the HAB (think space station/tent) is intact (yay!), but the MAV (think small spaceship good for like, a round trip to and from a larger vessel) is gone (fuck).

He tries to wake Charles up, but ends up dragging him back to the HAB on his own. He takes out the antenna that impaled him and sews up and bandages the cut, while Charles is semi-conscious. It's painful for now, but he'll live. Erik's exhausted, so he goes back to his own bunk and falls asleep, kinda hoping this is all a nightmare.

It's not gone in the morning. He's still stuck on mars in a glorified tent with limited resources and his least favorite person on the team.

They talk to each other, Charles thanks him for helping him, and they decide that they're just going to have to work together to get off of mars alive.

Charles = botanist, erik is the engineer (basically gonna have them split the original main guy's braincell. They already share one anyway).

Potato farming

Along the way, they kinda sorta start becoming friends again. They're relying on each other to survive, they're the only people each other can talk to... They play chess on the computers and watch Moira's awful 70's television and listen to disco that she brought along with her. They farm potatoes and jerry rig rovers and then oops, they fell asleep in the same tiny bunk watching tv together. Oops, they hugged after the potatoes germinated. Oops, they kissed in celebration when they finally made contact with NASA again.

Just like that, they've fallen into a new rhythm. They still argue a lot, but now there's also a good amount of kissing and little fleeting touches while they work together and they put their bunks together and fall asleep in each other's arms ("Do you realize," Charles says one night, Erik curled against his chest, pressing slow kisses to his collarbone, "We're the only people to have made love on a planet other than Earth?" Erik snorts softly, "NASA's not going to be hearing about that, if I can help it." "You realize that the HAB's always recording us, yes? They'll get the footage when we get back to Earth." "...Right. Huh." Erik frowns, then shrugs, "Worth it." Charles laughs.)

Erik gets stuck inside the airlock when the HAB deflates and they loose all their potatoes. Charles is in the rover and, for a while, was convinced Erik was dead. Until he saw the airlock start to roll towards the HAB, and then he started steering the rover over.

After they got the HAB back up, NASA tells them they're sending a supply probe called "Iris." (Transmission goes like this: [08:31] JPL: Keep us posted on any mechanical or electric problems. By the way, the name of the probe we're sending is Iris. Named after the Greek goddess who traveled the heavens with the speed of wind. She's also the goddess of rainbows. [08:47] LEN/XAV: Gay probe coming to save us. Got it. Erik heads back to the HAB. "Hello, darling. How's Houston?" Charles says, not turning from his soil samples or whatever the fuck he's been doing for three days. "They're sending us a pride-themed probe full of granola bars." Erik answers, shoving off his EVA suit. Charles turns to give him a quizzical, are-you-joking kind of look, then bursts out laughing upon seeing Erik's dead serious face. "Well, it's certainly fitting," He says, walking up to Erik and wrapping his arms around his neck, pulling him down for a kiss.)

Anyways. Iris doesn't make it, shit keeps going wrong, BUT eventually their team catches wind of a plan -- a risky plan, but one that could save cherik. So, without houston's permission, they pilot their ship on a course back to mars. They'll do a flyby, and if Charles and Erik can get to the site of Ares 5 and the MAV for that mission, retrofit the MAV, make it to their team's ship without dying/miscalculating and shooting off into the depths of outer space, they can get to that ship and on a course back to earth by sol 549.

They spend a bunch of time retrofitting their rovers for the trip, and so begins the classic cherik roadtrip -- martian style!! (I just want to mention that there's like no space, so just picture them cuddled up for a good night's sleep on the front bench of the rover. there. cuteness among the science).

They flip at one point. I could add details but it's been a while of me writing this and my brain is slowly dying and i'm tired so. that's it.

They make it to ares 5, they retrofit the MAV, then they do The Riskiest Space Flight of All Time. Random shit goes wrong, everyone's improvising, it pretty much seems like they're done for...

They get back to the big ship. They're safe!! (well, as safe as you can be in space.) But they get a hot shower and full meals and much more comfortable bunks (in separate rooms, technically, but Erik refuses to leave Charles's side so they end up in one bunk that first night. Usually they'd try to be a bit more discreet, but what the fuck. They've been stuck on mars. They almost just died. They deserve to fall asleep in each other's arms.)

They are HEROS back on earth. They get married almost immediately -- it seems quick to a lot of people, but they're so trauma bonded that, like, it's necessary. they go to paris on their honeymoon and get lots of free stuff. They never go to space again lol (and gladly)

THE END (fucking finally, it's 12:00 am on the dot and i've been writing this for 45 minutes.)

EDIT: some art I did for this au

EDIT: I fucking did it. I started writing it. Oops.

[jesncin]

did you see that deniz camp was announced as the writer for absolute martian manhunter?

I woke up to this news and many of my friends pinging me (thank you friends I love you all)

let's get the elephant out of the room: WHY IS HE WHIIIIITE WHY I HATE IT

I mean I get why he's white- it's part of the pitch that this alien is the ultimate outsider possessing the ultimate insider, so it looks like they're leaning towards a buddy cop scenario instead of J'onn shapeshifting into and impersonating a dead human but. Isn't that just Halo. An Alien possessing a human? I get that there's some crossover with impersonating the dead here but this isn't technically a new concept.

I thought the appeal of the Absolute and Ultimate lines was rearranging the chess pieces of a Superhero's story and showing how even when you make drastic changes, they can still feel quintessentially Batman, Spiderman, Superman, etc. Bruce can be working class but still Batman. But right now this pitch feels like disregarding Martian Manhunter lore entirely except for the most superficial parts kept intact. Also DC seems so allergic to racebending for their Absolute line compared to Marvel. We get Polynesian Hulk and Native Two Spirit Hawkeye (from Deniz Camp also!!), but this line can't even give us Black Martian Manhunter? Part of why Black!J'onn resonates with so many people is because it grounded his character by making his marginalization as an othering alien (especially compared to Superman) relatable to humans (the whole point of stories). Trading that humanizing element of J'onn for more sci fi wackiness is only going to make J'onn struggle in the long run. It's such a bummer.

I've had a suspicion that instead of DC taking Martian lore and rearranging it into something new that could revitalize J'onn, that they just don't have the creativity to see any potential in the mess they made of him, so they'd just toss it all out. And that's disappointing. If you told me this was a Tom King pitch, I'd believe you. Because what is this.

[1-xo-xo-xo-7]

The JLA meets The BatFamily gone wrong. ^^

___

Superman : Good morning, Batman -and Agent A! I see you have brought company-

Batman : Nightwing. Red Hood. Red Robin. Robin. Signal. Spoiler. Orphan. Oracle. There, do your meet and greets. Let's go, Agent A. [Very dramatically flaring his cape before exiting with Agent A]

...

Flash : Wait... Did Bats just call her an orphan-?!

___

Wonder Woman : Hello, children of Batman! I am-

Red Hood : Wonder Woman.

Wonder Woman : Ah, I see you already know who I am. Now, I would just like to give my appreciation for agreeing to meet up with us, I know you all have a very hectic schedule-

Red Hood : Wonder Woman.

Wonder Woman : Yes. That is I, my boy. [Is smiling like a ray of sunshine, regally standing with her hands to her hips, and a flutter of her midnight hair]

Red Hood : Wonder Woman.

Nightwing : Please, excuse him. He died once, it's gotten to him.

Flash : WHAT?!

___

Flash : Sooooo... Hi.

Red Robin : [Is practically like a zombie with his eye bags and coffee-stained mouth, nevermind he just got shot but it isn't really relevant right now] Hi.

Flash : Are you ok?

Red Robin : Peachy.

___

Green Lantern :...

Robin :...

Green Lantern : You're scary.

Robin : Good.

___

Aquaman : [Is actually having a great time chatting with Signal, just yapping about his knowledge about different sea creatures before-]

Signal : Can skinwalkers shift into sea creatures too? Since, it IS confirmed merpeople are real, y'know? [Is looking up at him with eyes filled with genuine and innocent curiosity]

Aquaman : Uh... Uhm, I guess?...

___

Martian Manhunter : *Please... Stop. Speaking...* [ Is about to combust after having to hear about Spoiler's 30th recounting of her latest fight with a goony]

Spoiler : And so I suffocated him with my cape! You can't blame me Mr. Martian Manhunter! I'm just a girl and he was about to hit me with a BAT! Do you get my joke? But seriously, our goon WAS about to hit me with a bat and-

Martian Manhunter :... I am happy for your victory, Miss Spoiler. [Is practically close to a BRAIN ANEURYSM]

Spoiler : Aw! How sweet, Mr. Martian Manhunter! But you can just call me Spoiler. Anyways—

Martian Manhunter : T<T *Stooooop...*

___

Flash : So, you're not really an orphan? You're just NAMED Orphan?

Orphan : Sure.

Flash : Ha. Ha. Ha. Haaaaa...

___

Green Lantern : So, what's your favorite color?

Orphan : Triangle.

Green Lantern :...

___

Superman : Hello, Nightwing. I am glad to see you again.

Nightwing : Hey, Supes! And me too you.

Superman : Oh, where's Oracle? Wasn't she just here?

Nightwing : That was a hologram. She's with Robin now.

Superman :... [Tweaking...] What?

Nightwing : She's with Robin-

Superman : She was a HOLOGRAM? [He didn't even NOTICE she was a hologram despite him being SUPERMAN]

___

Wonder Woman : I must say, Robin, it is quite rude to not acknowledge a friend who is right in front of you.

Robin : Are you a friend? No. No, you're not. [Is continuing to play online checkers with Oracle on his IPad]

Red Hood : YOU LITTLE SHIT! DON'T TALK TO WONDER WOMAN LIKE THAT-! [Is getting held back by both Nightwing and Red Robin]

___

Red Hood :...

Red Robin :...

Nightwing :...

Red Robin : How?

Nightwing : I don't know, Little Wing.

Red Hood :... [Grumbling] That's unfair...

Robin : [Is being held by Wonder Woman as she snuggles on his head of surprisingly soft, spiky locks, now playing online chess with Oracle] I command you to stop.

Wonder Woman : Aren't you cute, My Little Prince? [Is chuckling, fondly]

Oracle : Your move, Little Prince. [Is, most definitely, smirking in delight at Robin's current predicament]

Robin : Hmph! [Is very much scowling and unamused]

___

Pennyworth : Master Bruce, you are quite cunning.

Bruce : Admit it, Alfred. A day without my children making chaos left and right, is a day filled with rest and relaxation. [Having a spa day and is currently sun-bathing by HIS FOOTBALL COURT-LENGTH POOL]

Pennyworth : Hm. [Is playing golf with his specially made golf clubs and golf balls implemented with an 'A'] Do you want to play with me after your sunbathe, Master Bruce?

Bruce : Sure, Alfred.

___

Basically, Bruce made The JLA babysit his already grown children and I'm here for it. ^^

ALSO,

Green Lantern : So, what's your favorite color?

Orphan : Triangle.

Green Lantern :...

This bit was from a JLA meets BatFam Fic on AO3 but I forgot what. T-T

I've read too much fics I can't differentiate anymore...

[sonosvegliato]

To an Athlete Dying Young: Deleted Scenes Pt 2

Since Ao3 is down :(

Occurs after McCrispy incident of Part 1

Still unedited; feast on my under the couch cushion popcorn 

“All you did was make us look like fools,” Superboy mutters. His fists clench and unclench at his sides, like he can’t decide to be angry or resigned. It’s late; Tim’s still in the suit. He practices slipping in front of the heavy bag—he’s avoiding Bruce’s room tonight. Avoiding him will convince Bruce that there’s something Tim’s ashamed of. 

“When I left, what did Superman say to you?” he asks Superboy.

“That I’ll never measure up to him and I’ll be trapped in this prison block forever.”

Tim stops the bag and looks past it at Superboy.

“It was implied,” Superboy protests.

“I’m sure,” Tim says disbelievingly. “And how did he look at you?”

“The same way he always does. Like I’m a dead mouse his cat left on his doorstep.”

“You’ve got to be more specific,” Tim says. “At what angle were his eyebrows? Were his pupils dilated? How often did he blink?”

Superboy scowls.

“Did he look like he was trying to X-ray vision you?” Tim restates. “Because that’s not pity. That’s concern.” He points an expert finger at Superboy. “That’s your start.”

###

###

Bruce speaks little the next day. 

But there’s a wrinkle between his eyebrows that only shows up when he’s been studying a particularly elusive case file. It deepens when Tim speaks little, too.

###

###

“What are you doing?” Superboy asks.

“Finding solace in you.”

Superboy’s nose wrinkles in disgust, and he moves away from Tim. 

“No,” Tim hisses, pulling on his arm. “When Batman’s at the Hall, he and Martian Manhunter play chess in the rec room—” he points to the room down the corridor— “every day before dinner. They’re set to come by any minute now. Look concerned, think about me.”

Superboy scowls.

“You just look constipated,” Tim complains. “Just—” he hears footsteps rounding the corner, and quickly morphs his expression into one of panic. Superboy’s face twists in confusion, but it’s close enough. Tim’s still holding onto Superboy’s wrist.

“Robin,” Bruce says curtly, and Tim whirls like he’s surprised. He drops Superboy’s wrist and crosses his arms.

“Batman,” he greets, making sure to look higher than Bruce’s chin, and then replays You’ve disappointed me you’ve disappointed me you’ve disappointed me until when he breathes his chest shudders with the weight of it. 

Bruce walks past him into the recreation room. Martian Manhunter looks back at Tim before following him inside. 

###

###

Tim is retelling Wonder Woman when he got his suit when he catches Bruce in the corner of his eye and trails off. 

“Well,” he says, getting up and keeping his eyes trained on the table. “We’ll see how long I can keep it. I, uh. I just remembered I’m supposed to meet Superboy. We’re going to spar.”

He shoulders past Bruce. He walks all the way around the corner before doubling back. Bruce has disappeared, and the breakroom’s conversation is muffled and low. He edges closer until it’s just within his earshot.

“Why does your protege suddenly slink away from you like Odysseus hiding among the sheep?” Wonder Woman asks.

Bruce must sigh, because Wonder Woman’s next words are, “What did you do?”

“Nothing,” Bruce says, but the rest stumbles out like he’s been waiting for someone to ask. “He—and I—I don’t know.” Metal creaks as he must pull out a chair. “He…he avoids me. When there’s something wrong. Dick only avoided me towards the end, and Jason—” a long pause—“Jason never avoided me.”

“You cannot compare him to his predecessors,” Wonder Woman says severely. 

“You think I don’t know that?” Bruce replies sharply. 

Tim flattens himself against the wall, but Bruce’s voice turns muffled, like he’s talking to his hands. “I’m sorry.”

“I am not hurt,” Wonder Woman replies immediately. “Only concerned. And curious.”

“I’m terrified of him,” Bruce says. “And what I’m going to do to him.” 

“So this explains why you avoid him, too.”

“I don’t avoid him.”

“Letting him walk by you while he looks at you like you’re the pit into Tartarus is avoiding him,” Wonder Woman argues. “When did this start?”

“Four days ago. After he left without my permission. We had a discussion.”

Wonder Woman says nothing.

“It was a discussion,” Bruce presses. “He—he thinks he’s ready for the streets. I told him he’s not.”

“And that was it,” Wonder Woman says after a beat.

“And that was it,” Bruce affirms. 

“What were your exact words?”

“Diana.”

“I want the truth from you, Bruce.”

The chair creaks again, Tim hears the soft scrape of the weights in Bruce’s cape on the floor. “I said, ‘You’re not ready for the streets,’” he recalls tightly. “He said, ‘At least let me start shadowing you’. I said, ‘No, we’re not discussing this.’”

“Bruce.”

“I meant about shadowing me,” Bruce protests. “He revealed himself. The whole world knows he exists, now.”

“To the world, there’s always been a Robin,” Wonder Woman explains. “You’re the only one that knows the truth.”

“He disappointed me,” Bruce says.

“You have very high expectations; it’s not very hard to disappoint you. In fact, I’m sure he will disappoint you a hundred more times by the time he’s sixteen. And you’ll disappoint him two hundred times.”

“I know,” Bruce says softly.

“And he’ll still look up to you,” Wonder Woman continues. “He’ll still do his best for you. That’s love.”

  “He—”

“He loves you,” Wonder Woman says firmly. “Give him time to grow into his mistakes.”

“I can’t,” Bruce says. “He thinks I’m overbearing, but—I can’t bear the thought of something happening to him. I’d rather him hate me than be hurt because of me.”

Tim’s stomach flips.

“You’re so self-sacrificial,” Wonder Woman sighs. “Pandora’s box has already been opened, Bruce. There are countless evils in this world; you cannot hope to protect a boy from them all.” A pause, the clink of metal cuffs sliding across the table. “No matter how much you love him.”

It’s okay, Tim thinks frantically. It’s okay. There’s still time to fix this.

When he first clambered into the Batmobile’s passenger seat, in the stolen suit with his face stinging from a brick Two-Face threw at him, and Tim said, I’ll be your Robin and Bruce had grunted one of his we’ll see grunts, Tim never considered—he wants Bruce to like him, sure, of course.

He can’t let Bruce love him. 

That’s Jason’s place, not his. And if Tim is going to—if he’s ever going to get out of this imitation game, he’s got to prove he’s not Jason Todd. He’s got to figure out why Jason Todd is Hood. 

And he’s got to keep the Dark Knight in the dark.  

“He wants to be by your side,” Wonder Woman continues. “I think he only avoids you because he thinks you want to avoid him.”

“But—”

“You gave him the suit. Don’t stop him from the thing you’ve trained him for.”

“But I—”

“No butts,” Wonder Woman says, with a note of amusement. “They’re inappropriate for a table.”

Bruce grunts. A moment later he mumbles, “I don’t like his choice of friends.”

Wonder Woman laughs. “They’re around the same age, in theory. You didn’t expect your protégé to be entertained by us for this fortnight, did you?”

“This could have been avoided if I let him bring his Xbox,” Bruce says morosely. His voice raises. “What if I bought a gaming station for here? Xboxs. Playstations. Wii Sports Resort. We should put it in the recreation room.”

“You can’t prevent Robin from being friends with Superboy.”

“You don’t know what MarioKart is.” 

“Bruce.”

“Why him?” Bruce asks. “Tim is a good kid. He follows rules. Mostly. The clone is—is—a punk.”

“I think they make a surprising pair,” Wonder Woman admits. “But without surprises, you would never have penicillin or super glue or chocolate chip cookies.”

“I don’t want them to invent something together,” Bruce says darkly.

“That’s not up to you. But it does give me a good idea.” Wonder Woman’s voice lifts. “What if we partake in a friendly wager?”

“I don’t gamble,” Bruce says with distaste.

“Then it can be a statistical observation exercise, with risks,” Wonder Woman replies back. Without waiting for Bruce’s response, she explains, “I have instructed your protégé in proper battle technique. Why not put it to the test against me?”

“No,” Bruce says.

“Robin and Superboy both. If they make a good enough team, as I think they will, they’ll find a way to incapacitate me.”

“No,” Bruce repeats. “Diana—”

“Why not?” Wonder Woman continues firmly. “Because you do not trust Robin, or you do not trust his mind, or you do not trust his choice in allies?”

“That’s not—”

“He’ll surprise you,” Wonder Woman says.

Bruce releases a weary sigh.

“Yes,” he says finally. “I know he will.”

###

###

The plane is crashing again. Jeremy sits in the copilot seat, slumped and bleeding over the controls.

Tim yanks the yoke.

###

###

“Tim,” Bruce says, then coughs to cover his surprise. 

“Yeah, it’s me,” Tim says flatly. The door hisses closed behind him. He slumps at the bottom of Bruce’s bed, picks up a piece of chalk. 

“Goodnight,” Bruce says, softly. His arm shifts so it’s hanging off the bed. His knuckles brush the space besides Tim’s ear. 

“Goodnight,” Tim says, leaning away from him. He starts sketching a very wonky shielded S. He waits a very long time for Bruce’s breathing to even, then erases it and draws out a plan.

###

###

(Tim can do this).

###

###

“Tim,” Bruce says, just as Tim’s about to leave. Bruce’s floor is smeared softly white. Tim’s shirt is covered in dust. It’s all over his hands, his knees. He’d worn the stick of chalk to a fingernail’s width of a wedge.

Bruce gets out of his bed. He walks over to Tim. He reaches out to touch.

Tim jerks his chin. 

Bruce’s hand falls before it can find Tim’s skin. 

“You didn’t sleep well,” he says flatly.

“No,” Tim says, equally expressionless. “I did not.”

He presses his chalky fingers to the back of the door, steps out into the corridor. He leaves his hand on the side of the metal door before it can separate him and Bruce. 

“I am sorry,” he whispers. 

“Talk with me,” Bruce says. “I—your actions disappointed me, but I’m not disappointed in you. Sometimes I forget—that you’re only—and—”

“We’re partners,” Tim says.

Bruce sighs. “Yes. We’re partners. And I don’t like it when you hide from me.”

“Old habits die hard,” Tim replies. 

Bruce’s mouth turns up. Tim mimics it, then drops his hand from the door so it can slide back into place. When he hears the metal lock, the last swathe of air ghost the back of his neck. He walks stiff and purposefully back to his room. He can’t clip the cape at his shoulders. His fingers tremble. He curls them into his palms, the cape a pool of black around his feet, until the shaking stops. 

By then, he has convinced himself that the ache in his bones is sleeplessness, the smallness in his stomach is pre-breakfast hunger, that the knot in his throat is righteous fury. When he latches the cape at his neck, he is Robin and nothing else.

(But Tim is terrified for Bruce, and of what Tim will do to him.)

[mugman64]

Heroes of the DC universe but it’s only about fishing.

Aquaman- No, nope, not happening, he hates that shit.

Batman- Too rich for this, if it isn’t a Sherlock novel, chess, or one of his kid’s events he doesn’t do it

Superman- Grew up fishing with Pa, really wants to be good at it. Isn’t.

Green Arrow- Same as Superman but it’s doubly insulting because Dinah is so good at it

Black Canary- Insanely good, like made Diana think she was related to Poseidon good. Growing up around the retired JSA members wears off I guess.

Wonder Woman- Refuses to fish ever since she challenged someone to a fishing competition and lost

Doctor Fate- Expert angler, fishing was the common pastime of the JSA, taught Dinah how to bait a hook

Wildcat- Same thing as fate, but he taught Dinah better

Martian Manhunter- Enjoys fishing, finds it almost meditative, him and Dinah go out once a month

Hawkgirl- While she hates the waiting it’s all worth it when she finally gets the chance to reel in a big catch

Flash- Wally hates it, with a passion. Barry loves it and introduced J’onn to it. Bart doesn’t have the patience for it and was banned when he caused a hurricane to send all the fish on shore

Artemis of Bana-Mighdall- Won a fishing contest against Diana back in the 80’s when she was Wonder Woman and has never let her forget it. Takes Bizarro out fishing as often as she can, he enjoys it.

[just-an-enby-lemon]

I was thinking and I got the conclusion that stalker!Tim works as an AU not because Tim is (while not a stalker) canonically a weirdo (he is) but because Bruce is canonically even more of a weirdo.

We know that just like his reaction to the fake uncle shit, after dealing with the shock that this kid figured out his identity and bonding more with his new Robin, Bruce would just compliment Tim stalker abilities and give him new ones.

And that's to say I need more of stalker Bruce creeping people up. We already have him knowing all JLA secret identities without them telling him. But we need more. I want him knowing Hal Jordan's favorite ice cream flavour or Diana's birthday or Dinah's food alergies without no one telling him. He figures Ollies favorite fucking arrow and Zatanna's favorite Barbie movie, he discovered Arthur favorite snack and how exactally Martha Kent made her fried chesse to give a perfect copy to Clark when he was missing Smallvile during a space mission. He discovered Barry's competitive pokemon team! Everyone on the JLA is freaked. They think he has a secret mind reading/guessing superpower he might not even know about but is just stalkish paranoia. The only person he can't figure things out (and it keeps he awake some nights) is Captain Marvel (he is still the first to discover Billy is a kid). Martian Manhunter is the only one that knows Bruce is just weird but he knows he has good intencions so he doesn't care.

And it isn't only with the League. He makes extensive background checks in all his kids friends. The Teen Titans (both Dick's and Damian's) are freaked out by it. The YJ is actually fine 'cause they are used to Tim and it makes sense Bruce would be like that. The Outsiders (both Jason's but also Cass and Duke's) make their personal quest to mislead him. Not to mention the civilian friends. He is less obvious about it but the kids know and it freaks them up. Steph has a serius discussion over bondaries the day Bruce asks about Crystal's dentist visit and Babs is annoyed af when he just knows things about Alysia. And not only the kids all the other batfam members! The Birds of Prey straight up told him to stop multiple times. Helena once asked Sage's help to trick Bruce, Kate just used Alfred to order him to stop. Barbara interceded in name of Montoya as if she wasn't even in the paranoid stalker game with Bruce and Tim (Babs is worse than Bruce actually). Jim Gordon thinks is cool actually. But Lucious Fox is just "kid, I love you, but Alfred needs to teach you bondaries" and "how did you know Tam's baby tooth was starting to fall before me??" (Yes Bruce does this stalker thing since he was a kid/teen)

He also does it with the Rogues. At first they don't notice it because it's normal that their oponent knows things about them but starts to get weird. Selina freaks out when Bruce tells her to say happy birthday for her cat n12 (Dollie, he called it by name) when she hadn't even introduced him to her cats yet. Riddler had a genuine breakdown when Bruce just gave him the exact perfect copy of his glasses prescrition and all to replace his broken ones during an interrogation (he needed Riddler's help against a copycat). Harley punched Bruce in the face after he correctly pointed out she had just started her period and offered heater packs for her cramps, a chocolate ice cream and some snacks while driving her to Arkham, Penguin stopped doing crime for a whole week after he had almost fainted (being a crime lord is hard) for not eating the whole day and having high blood pressure for stress reason and Bruce just gave him a snack, a bottle of water and his meds (except it wasn't his meds, Batman just had a pill of Penguin's prescription in hand and wtf), Scarecrow recomended him therapy when he somehow figure out Jon's favorite candy bar and tried to use it as a bargain for information, Joker felt very flaterred that Bruce not only knew that he made his own dye using two pre existing dye products and a mix of chemicals but had the formula including the recomended brands for everyhing.

The only person who had no reaction was Clark. Clark sees Bruce being a weird stalker as just a fact of life and no one knows how to deal with it. (It's better than Tim "I wanna be like that" and Babs "cool but I'm better " aproaches at least). Talia Al Ghul used to consider it impressive and have a flirty competition to see if Batman could figure details about her. After they stopped being an item they respected each other enough that he just stalks Talia if is related to Ra, crimes, Damian or the League.

[blogger360ncislarules]

The season one finale of The Agency ends with Michael Fassbender’s Martian in nearly the same emotional space as he was when the show began: longing to be reunited with Dr. Samia Zahir (Jodie Turner-Smith), the Sudanese anthropology professor he fell in love with while stationed as a CIA operative in Ethiopia.

However, their inability to be together is no longer just a matter of distance and duty to one’s country, as it once was when Martian ended their relationship upon returning to his post in London to resume life under the cover of Paul Lewis. It’s now one of life and death, as Martian’s failed attempt to recruit Samia to the CIA has not only put her life in danger but also his own when he agrees to become a double agent for the U.K.’s Secret Intelligence Service in an attempt to save her.

The episode, aptly titled, “Overtaken by Events,” is an action-packed ending to a slow burn of an inaugural season that saw the CIA nab a major win by successfully executing Operation Felix and facilitating the return of Coyote (Alex Reznik), an agent who was held for ransom by a Russian mercenary group when his cover was blown in Belarus. Daniela “Danny” Ruiz Morata (Saura Lightfoot-Leon) also completed part one of her mission to uncover Iranian nuclear engineers, landing in Tehran, Iran, with her professor (Reza Brojerdi) where she’ll continue to work undercover. And Martian, who spent the season going rogue to satisfy his own personal interests, must now exist in a world where he ultimately answers to senior MI6 official James Richardson (Hugh Bonneville), who exploits his desperation for Samia and manipulates him into being his mole.

“This is a world where everybody’s playing chess against everybody else,” says John-Henry Butterworth, who co-created the Showtime espionage thriller, which is based on the French series Le Bureau des Légendes, with brother Jez Butterworth. “Martian treats [James] as a friend and asks him for a favor, and instantly this man weaponizes it and uses it against him. He sees Martian having a personal vulnerability and he uses it as a professional weakness and suddenly he’s on him, he’s controlling him and he owns him, and Martian has to try and get out of that trap in order to survive.”

Below, the Butterworths talk with The Hollywood Reporter about Martian’s decision to betray his country and what it symbolizes. They also dive into plot points for season two, following the show’s early renewal, including whether they’ll explore the global issues currently unfolding with the incoming U.S. administration.

***

Going back to the early stages of developmen, why did you choose to set the intelligence agency in London versus the U.S.?

JEZ Originally it was going to be in Italy.

JOHN-HENRY It was always about a foreign station house, so it was always not going to be in the U.S.

JEZ It was the U.S. abroad, and so we looked around for where it could be, and, of course, looked everywhere except on our own doorstep, and then discovered that it felt like the best place to set it for a whole bunch of reasons. One of them was that it would happen on our doorstep (laughs), but the main thing was this is based on a French original and when you’re looking for events and locales, it felt like it came into focus when we looked at it through a London lens.

One of the big changes from Le Bureau was bringing the global issues The Agency deals with into the present day. Were there any other major changes you made from the original in season one?

JOHN-HENRY There’s a huge, huge change geopolitically if you’re writing about America instead of France. The stakes are much greater. The effects that America can have, the shadow they have and the different theaters they’re interested in are much greater. So it becomes a very different story and it was that opportunity to write about places that were in the news right now. Like Ukraine and places that I felt quite strongly should be in the news and weren’t being covered enough in the Western news, like what’s going on in Sudan, that I think that we are seeing more coverage of now, but certainly when we sat down to write this wasn’t on the front page.

In season two, you’re heading into Iran where Danny’s journey as a new officer will continue. What might you explore there?

JOHN-HENRY She’s a really interesting character. Saura, the actress who’s playing her, is superb, an enormously talented young actor and the part has kind of been grown around that bit of casting.

JEZ It’s great fun, isn’t it, when somebody does it better than you imagined? And by the way, this is happening across the board. We are spoiled by our fellow storytellers. It just seems ridiculous when you think about it. You’re writing scenes for Jeffrey Wright, you’re writing scenes for Richard Gere, you’re writing scenes for Jodie and she’s bringing stuff to it that is so much greater than we imagined. We’ve had that experience before, but I don’t think to this intense and concentrated across-the-board degree. Sometimes, if you’re writing a film, you encounter that. But you never get the chance to revisit it. We’re already into the thick of writing season two, and it’s absolutely been informed by the talents and the magic that we’ve been presented with in season one.

In episode seven, Dr. Blake (Harriet Sansom Harris) suggests Naomi (Katherine Waterston) has romantic feelings for Martian that have blinded her ability to accurately assess his actions. Is she right?

JOHN-HENRY I think there’s a sense that a character like this in this environment has in different ways charmed and manipulated and created an attachment that is controlling with almost everyone he comes into contact with. Some of it is conscious and some of it is unconscious, and I’m fascinated by writing those types of characters. I think you keep changing your mind about what is and isn’t intentional with Martian. What’s an accident? What’s him playing the notes like a puppet master, what’s him just being able to move on the fly really fast and change his direction? I think that’s a fascinating question of who has fallen for him or what he’s doing and, is it real? I think that’s what’s at stake between him and Samia for the whole of their relationship: is what they experience the real thing?

JEZ That’s really at the heart of any good espionage, isn’t it? It’s the question mark of, did you mean what you just said or are you just saying what you just said? Is that truth or is that for effect? How am I being manipulated here? And that’s why people come to stories. I think stories are puzzles, the way you learn to spot lies, and spotting lies is almost the most essential tool you need in life, and it’s the hardest.

What does it say then that Samia wasn’t willing to betray her country to save her relationship with Martian, but he ultimately agrees to in the finale?

JOHN-HENRY I think there’s a purity to their relationship that she is the torch bearer for and that he spends, certainly most of the early stages of this story, trying to live up to and trying to bear the responsibility for in an honest way. And he’s not used to it. He’s not been living an honest life, he’s not been living a whole life, and he suddenly encounters this person who is, and it changes him.

JEZ This story equates betrayal of your country with becoming human. If you are willing to do that, you are willing to recognize the human in yourself. That’s what it kpresents you with. And then it throws up all the complications of that because at that point, your humanity is costing everybody around you and your country. So it’s a really, really phenomenal ambiguity where you can position drama endlessly.

Is Samia dead, as Osman (Kurt Egyiawan) claims in episode nine?

JOHN-HENRY I don’t want to spoil anything for anyone.

Henry (Jeffrey Wright) can sense Martian’s personal life is going off the rails a bit but he also gives him a lot of rope with which he somewhat hangs himself.

JOHN-HENRY It’s such a great relationship. I love the way that it develops. I love that it’s got deep roots and you sense that there’s a history between these men and that at some point [Martian’s] been a protégé of Henry’s and he’s somebody who’s taken him under his wing and taught him the ropes of this world. Then they start to come into conflict, and, as the story goes into season two, there’s more of an antagonism there. For much of season two, Henry’s actually hunting for him, trying to prove what’s happened towards the end of season one actually did happen. And it’s just another way of showing this conflict that Martin has running through his character like Brighton Rock.

I was having an early conversation with Michael Fassbender and I said as a sort of throwaway phrase that he loves his country, this is why Martian’s doing what he’s doing, and Michael just blinked and went, “but he met something he loved more,” and I suddenly felt goosebumps go up the back of my thing as he understood this on such a deep level that that’s what this story is about. I think Henry’s character sits there to remind you of the Martian who loved his country, that that’s where he comes from because Henry still will do anything for the agents. He is as pure as it gets in terms of his commitment to what’s going on and his self-sacrifice for the greater good. And what he starts to see in Martian is someone who maybe has a personal agenda that conflicts with that. That’s something you’re not allowed in the CIA.

That’s an important perspective because with each passing episode, I thought more and more, who would want to do this for a living in real life?

JOHN-HENRY That was one of our intentions. There is a genre out there, which is the spy movie or the spy show, and the second you meet real spies and real people who work in intelligence, you realize it bears no relation. We’ve got an advisor on this who actually was in the CIA for a while, and we were laughing about this. He’s like, “what is the spy genre?” There isn’t one really, because as soon as you’re driving a tank through Moscow with everybody chasing you, like happens in Bond films, you’re not a spy anymore. I don’t know what it’s called, but it’s not this. By its very nature, it’s secret and it’s quiet and it’s subterfuge, it’s second intentions, and trying to portray that is fascinating to me. Trying to portray the human cost to them. This is what they’re so good at, this group of actors, showing you that all of these other things that you’ve seen, there’s a different thing going on out there. And as we move into this period where all these countries that we are part of and are frightened of are all in conflict with one another, there is a group of men and women who are out there who are prepared for reasons I fully don’t understand to do this.

You said you’ve written most of season two already. Do you plan to implement aspects of what’s presently happening with the new U.S. administration into that?

JEZ We’re offset by a couple of years.

JOHN-HENRY There’s an offset, but the forces that have come to create what’s just happened there, it’s a definite factor. I think it’s dangerous to try to guess what’s going to happen next in the world with a show as fast as we’re doing it; it still takes a while to come out and I don’t think we’re trying to look into any crystal balls and work out what’s happening. It’s been enormously gratifying to see that the work that we did do hasn’t been superannuated or made inaccurate. I think that’s the challenge with writing a show that’s set in the last five minutes.

But I think it’s fascinating what’s happening in America at the moment. It’s going to have a big bearing on everything. I grew up in a period in the ’90s and, internationally speaking, it was quite boring. The golden age of espionage that John Harry wrote about was over around 1989 when the Berlin Wall came down. But we’re entering another golden era. Espionage now is more important than ever. I thought that human espionage was going to stop when technology caught up with everybody. But I think that being able to disappear off a grid where everyone’s under surveillance, got it in their pocket, is now the most valuable thing in the world.

Have you heard any feedback from Éric Rochant, the creator of the original series, or anyone else who worked on it?

JOHN-HENRY I met the producers in London, and it was nerve-wracking that he was going to be watching it because there’s a responsibility to the original show, which we both thought was wonderful and we wanted to live up to, and he was delighted.

JEZ I sat next to him at the premiere in New York and the lights came down and he did not double his fist and punch me in the face. That was a relief.

[penrose42]

One of my comfort pastimes is listening to horror game OSTs and lately I've been delving into both the music and secrets of P.T. since I wasn't really on the pulse when it was in the zeitgeist, and I gotta say I love the implication that either

The Order, which has fully operated a wholeass town and drug ring for years and has worked with government officials, believes the 'War of the Worlds' prank broadcast was real and that their only salvation was their God OR

The 'War of the Worlds' broadcast was real, and it was later placated to be a prank by the successful Martian invaders to subdue any and all resistance while they took over covertly and politically, meanwhile this cult in bumfuck Maine knows somehow.

Regardless this further implies that the Order sent out the radio message in Swedish because they believe Martians can't understand Swedish and that somehow the average American can, or that Martians legitimately cannot understand a lick of Swedish at all and have no means of understanding it faster than the average American, even though the Martians would have regulations over all radio stations and would be able to detect a pirate signal and circumvent it before the whole message would be able to get out if they controlled the government.

I'm just saying I know the Order isn't presented as the most competent group of people on the planet, but for the sake of any and all preservation of face they either gotta be right and playing 4D chess with the Martians or just high as giraffe pussy on their own supply at all times.

[kwebtv]

Character Actor

Vaughn Everett Taylor (February 22, 1910 – April 26, 1983) Film, stage and television actor. He became known for his roles in many anthology series, including Kraft Television Theatre (1947–1957) and Robert Montgomery Presents (1950–1954).

Taylor portrayed Horatio Frisby on the comedy series Johnny Jupiter. He was also a regular performer on Montgomery's Summer Stock, which was a summer replacement for Robert Montgomery Presents from 1953 through 1956.

In his many television appearances, Taylor was cast as Julian Tyler in the 1957 episode "The Chess Player" of the CBS crime drama, Richard Diamond, Private Detective, starring David Janssen. He appeared too in several episodes of CBS's Twilight Zone, including the role of the salesman in the episode "I Sing the Body Electric". He also appeared in "Time Enough at Last", "Still Valley", "The Incredible World of Horace Ford" and "The Self-Improvement of Salvadore Ross".

 His other television credits include:

Wanted: Dead or Alive

Cheyenne

The Untouchables

The Man from Blackhawk

Colt .45

Bourbon Street Beat

Tate

Coronado 9

The Real McCoys

The Hathaways

Death Valley Days

The Investigators

The Rebel

Mrs. G. Goes to College

Perry Mason

The Outer Limits

The Invaders

The Cara Williams Show

My Favorite Martian

Get Smart

Bonanza

Petticoat Junction

The Ghost & Mrs. Muir

(Wikipedia)

His complete IMDb listing

[supercantaloupe]

happy sleepover Saturday Sasha!! I hope you’re having a lovely day, I’ve been unironically loving your food blogger arc. Do you have any books you reach for to recommend to people (whether or not they’re your personal favorites?) 💕

happy sleepover saturday :) don't encourage me sola or i'll become even more obnoxious and start posting pics of everything i eat...

fiction wise: i read a lot of sci fi so this is going to be mostly that. the martian is probably my all time favorite novel and i will always recommend it. i also really liked andy weir's other novels artemis and project hail mary, the latter of which i just recently reread and the former i think i might over the winter. the sparrow (mary doria russell) is another book i absolutely love, a friend in my group chat got me into it a few years back and it's been really fun seeing other people in the group chat one by one read and fall for it with us. i'm not wild about its sequel children of god though. finally i don't necessarily recommend this one per se cause i think it's a very acquired taste of a series and definitely won't be for everyone, but if you want to dip your toes into something Different and Dense and kind of high concept, you might check out the terra ignota series by ada palmer. it took me about a month to really get through the first book, the experience of which i likened to "watching a chess game being played in the dark," but once it was through i finished the next three books in about a two week span, so. if this one is for you it'll definitely be for you

nonfiction: the anthropocene reviewed is a wonderful essay collection and easily my favorite of john green's books, speaking as a big fan of his YA novels in my t(w)een years and a still current fan of his writing style. tara westover's memoir educated has been stuck in my brain for like four years now. ingredients by george zaidan is a pretty good and entertaining primer on some of the chemicals we use in our everyday lives, and even though i'm secretly a bit of a chemistry geek i think the way it tackles the science-y stuff is very approachable.

[ask meme]

[yourboardgamepal]

Brief Collection Tour

Hey everyone! Thanks for following :] This’ll be a collection of some of the highlights of my board game collection; I don’t have that many physically right now, but I’m hoping to expand it if I find any more games that sound good and are reasonably priced in the future!

We’ll start off with my Catan games, regular Catan and Star Trek Catan. Star Trek Catan’s still in shrink since it’s been a bit hard to find a day and enough people to play it, but I have played another person’s copy of the game numerous times.

Catan was actually the first board game that I actively picked out for myself. My family bought it for me after asking what I wanted for my birthday one year, and we’ve played it a few times since.

One of the first board game that I bought for myself, though, was Retrograde—a newer game that I got a few months ago when the board gaming hobby truly gripped me. See picture and more games below the cut.

I bought Homeworlds with it, but mostly use the pieces to play another Looney Pyramids game: Martian Chess.

All three of them are fun space themed games, though I haven’t gotten to play Homeworlds proper yet. Maybe I’ll try it on BGA though if I can’t find someone to play it with irl 🤔

And lastly I wanted to show you all my Fluxx game, one of the newest games in my collection! I haven’t gotten to bring it to game night yet, but I’ve already played it over 50+ times on BGA and am dying to introduce it to my irl game group since Martian Chess was such a big hit with them already (and these two and Homeworlds were all done by the same company).

Boop. Here’s Fluxx:

It’s pretty neat. Probably one of my favorite games right now. As much as I want to buy other versions of Fluxx though I’m putting myself on a temporary purchasing ban because I’m realizing these games cost SOOO much money lmao 😂😂😂

So for now, those are some of the highlights of my collection currently as is. Have you ever played any of these games, gang?

[missenvyadams]

𝙰 𝙻𝚎𝚊𝚐𝚞𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝙴𝚡𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚘𝚛𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚊𝚛𝚢 𝙶𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚕𝚎𝚖𝚎𝚗 𝙰𝚄

__**INFO**__

- 3/3/3 18+ Mature Rating. **Jcink Premium.**

- AU Victorian Era setting, with a lively Early 20th Century world.

- Soft Activity Check system, and adaptable writing.

- Blending early versions of Espionage, superhero types, with the themes of Lovecraft, H.G Wells, and other paranormal/supernatural spots.

- World full of OCs and characters from a wide range of sources, most importantly, 19th/early 20th century literature.

- Extensive lore, and a world built, full of OCs and unique takes.

- Extraordinary Times have 5 chapters worth of content already posted.

- Keeping writers and creators on their toes with our Public Domain/Copyright Guidelines, in spirit of the original graphic novels by Alan Moore & Kevin O'Neill.

- **No knowledge of the graphic novel source is needed, helped by our extensive timeline.**

- Well-built site and server, with a lot of content for such small user-base.

__**WHAT IS?**__

Set during the turn of the 20th Century, the year 1900, Extraordinary Times is within a backdrop of geopolitical chess and espionage.

Britain has become more tied with a facist government handling more control since the bombing of Cornwall dispelled the invading Martians, which worked like a charm, destroying the North Devon area, and killing thousand, including Alann Quartermain, Hawley Griffin & Dr. Henry Jekyll of the League.

Britain now faces a threat of which it's not sure of, a global threat called Cadaver which has infested British Intelligence and Government.

The underbelly of London is rife with gangs, and thieves, only protected by some night-time vigilantes. The rest of the world tells similar tales.

Everyone is harking for the same goal, some peace and quiet, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen is all but dead but needed more than ever.

It may not be the League's story that is told around the campfire at the end of the world, could it be yours?

> Based upon the works of Mr. Alan Moore & Mr. Kevin O'Neill, Extraordinary Times is an AU roleplaying game set in the extensive world of **The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen**, from the caustic streets of Victorian London, the changing America, to the tumultuous space of India & the British Raj, and all in-between.

**Chapter Five is live, and we're welcoming new players for the first time!**

Discord: https://discord.gg/RzB2JHayE3

Site: https://extraordinarytimes.jcink.net/index.php

[jesncin]

What’s your impression on the absolute DC line?

I like the general idea of the Absolute DC line and I'm very curious with these new takes on such established characters. Impressions on everything we know rn:

Absolute Bats: I'm enjoying it so far! Its main appeal comes from looking at how all the Batman mythos chess pieces have been re-arranged more so than substantial themes FOR NOW. There's hits, there's misses (that epilogue) but so far the spectacle of the changes are really fun to see. Not the most accessible standalone story cuz it still requires basic Batman knowledge to enjoy the changes, but overall it feels like what Caped Crusader wishes it could be if it was more committed to bigger changes.

Absolute Supes: All I've heard so far from this sounds really boring if I'm honest. I'd have to see what they do before making any judgements but I'm not hooked on anything they're selling me. Sounds like re-mixed Martian Manhunter which is not a good thing.

Absolute Wondie: I'm listening and intrigued. The visuals are really popping on this one. I'm not a WW scholar enough to be able to judge the changes, but I'm interested in this very out-there take.

Absolute GL: Haven't heard enough but I'm intrigued by how the pitch was an immediate green light (pun intended) on the editorial front. I'm not the biggest fan of the artist's comic work but perhaps they've improved by then :p

Absolute Flash: Wally West looks like a butch so that's an uncritical 10/10 for me. Hyped about the artist for this one!! I am again intrigued by the premise.

Absolute Martian Manhunter: Where are you it's been so long since I've seen you. Can we get anything concrete or some art soon (<- I keep saying this, hoping I've baited the universe into proving me wrong and that hasn't happened yet)

Otherwise! I'm seated for what else is announced. This is kind of my first time reading along on an ongoing event and I love the communal reactions from everyone.

[etes-secrecy-post]

Hi, before I explain my post, I want to say something important.

• What you see my blog has become a major overhaul. And despite the changes, I decided that my 2nd account will be now my artwork blog with a secret twist.

⚠️NEW RULE! (W/ BIGGER TEXT!)⚠️

⚠️ SO PLEASE DO NOT SHARE MY 2nd ACCOUNT TO EVERYONE! THIS SECRECY BLOG OF MINE IS FOR CLOSES FRIENDS ONLY!⚠️

• AND FOR MY CLOSES FRIENDS, DON’T REBLOG IT. INSTEAD, JUST COPY MY LINK AND PASTE IT ON YOUR TUMBLR POST! JUST BE SURE THE IMAGE WILL BE REMOVED AND THE ONLY LEFT WAS THE TEXT.

⚠️ SHARING LINKS, LIKE POSTS, REBLOG POSTS, STEALING MY SNAPSHOT PHOTOS/RECORDED VIDEOS/ARTWORKS (a.k.a. ART THIEVES) OR PLAGIARIZING FROM UNKNOWN TUMBLR STRANGERS WILL IMMEDIATELY BE BLOCKED, RIGHT AWAY!⚠️

😡 WHATEVER YOU DO, DO NOT EVER LIKED & REBLOG MY SECRET POST! THIS IS FOR MY SECRET FRIENDS ONLY, NOT YOU! 😡

Okay? Capiche? Make sense? Good, now back to the post…↓

#OnThisDay: Sept 23rd, 2009

Title: Cuteness ACE 3 the final retro

IMPORTANT NOTE: Umm... Before I shared my throwback, I just wanted to say, I'm still not okay from yesterday [CLICK ME!]... 😞😔 I'm still had jealousy feeling from my siblings owing to their own jobs and I DON'T HAVE ONE. My cure from depression is going albeit slow... But, I'll try to dust myself off and standing my two feet. Maybe a nice morning walk will make myself a little better, like what happened in 2022. 🚶

Anyway, enough of my sorrow, let's moved on to my Monday's throwback:

Here's a fun fact of me playing video games: Did you know, 15 years ago, I've played the SUPER underrated mech-based game gem called "Another Century's Episode" franchise exclusively on Sony PlayStation consoles/handhelds (specifically, PS2, PS3 and PSP; PlayStation Portable)? 🤖����😁 Yup! It was a lot of fun, at the time when PS2 still going strong (over the new PS3).

• For those who don't know, this Japanese exclusive video game 🇯🇵🎮 was created by the old gaming publisher/company "Banpresto", the same team behind the "Super Robot Wars" franchise (formerly known as "Super Robot Taisen") before Banpresto was merged with "Bandai Namco Games", now called "Bandai Namco Entertainment". Now, ACE (short for "Another Century's Episode") wasn't your typical mech-based chess strategic game like the aforementioned "Super Robot Wars", ACE had a different approach using "Third-Person Shooter" game where you played different mechs based on Japanese most memorable TV Anime Mecha shows like of course "Gundam" (which we're never forget in our hearts as a fan), "Martian Successor Nadesico", "Getter Robo" series, "Eureka Seven" series ,and more... Heck, they even collaborate with Banpresto and Atlus (well known for "Shin Megami Tensei" and "Persona" series) creating their own mechs and characters for the 3rd ACE installment, and its SUPER DOPE in a good way! 😃

BTW: let's not forget "From Software", who also developed the said underrated mech series. Which, you may known today behind "Soulsborne" genre, like the over popular "Elden Ring". ⚔️🏰

• And as you can see, I draw Pocoyo 🔵👶 armoring the "Exblau Form H", along with Kirby ⭐ armoring the "Burning/God Gundam", and two Muglox faries of Mirmo 🪇 and Murumo 🥁 armoring the "Gundam Double X + G-Falcon" and "Freedom Gundam", respectively in a colored-retro style! 🤖😁

If you want it more, then please go to these provided links 😉👉 [CLICK ME! #1], [CLICK ME! #2], [CLICK ME! #3].

Pocoyo - POCOYO © Zinkia Entertainment Kirby - Kirby series © Nintendo, Hal Labs Mirumo & Murumo - Mirmo! © Hiromu Shinozuka/Shogakukan, TV Tokyo Armor - Another Century's Episode © Bandai Namco Entertainment (BANPRESTO) Armors (Mobile Fighter G Gundam, After War Gundam X, and Mobile Suit Gundam SEED) - Gundam series © Bandai Namco Filmworks, Inc. (SUNRISE), Sotsu