#me vs 2024 and late 2023

[rye-kin]

Im sick again but here’s an ugly dr Jekyll doodle

[wolfnanaki]

Can you sum up the Goodbye Volcano High vs Snoot Game controversy? I don't know shit and you seem like the most knowledgeable person on it.

Okay. Summary time.

Developed by Canadian indie worker cooperative studio KO_OP, Goodbye Volcano High is a cinematic narrative/rhythm indie game about a group of dinosaur teenagers dealing with the impending end of the world from an asteroid. It features predominantly queer characters; the main character is an AFAB nonbinary pterodactyl named Fang.

GVH was revealed as part of the PS5 reveal lineup back in June 2020. From there, it experienced a few delays due to COVID, rewriting the story after the original writer was let go, and dealing with anti-LGBT harassment. It finally came out in late August 2023 to positive reception and some awards. It didn't sell a billion copies but it's been gradually growing its fanbase for over a year now.

A few days after GVH was first revealed, a group of 4channers, under the developer name "Cavemanon", decided they'd do their own visual novel using GVH's characters to spite GVH before it even came out. This VN, Snoot Game, came out in June 2021. It's a story where a featureless human male named "Anon" becomes Fang's friend and eventually boyfriend. It has an extremely anti-trans narrative, along with racist humor, promotes eugenics, has a school shooting ending if Fang doesn't detransition, and more.

Snoot ended up becoming very popular and spread around the internet, developing its own fanbase across social media. The worst parts of its fandom downplay Snoot's harmful rhetoric while harassing GVH's fans and developers. When GVH came out, they shared a pirated copy, called it the worst game ever, and encouraged people to support Snoot instead. I spoke out about all this and got doxed.

Snoot's success lead to Cavemanon hijacking a fan project from its original developers and making it into a spiritual sequel sold on Steam, called I Wani Hug That Gator!, released in February 2024. A few weeks after it came out, a former developer released a dossier speaking out about Cavemanon's working conditions, lack of compensation, and extreme right-wing views, to which Cavemanon responded with a hitpiece attacking everyone involved in the doc and linking my dox on Kiwifarms while mocking me for being trans.

To this day, mainstream gaming press outlets have refused to cover this story in any meaningful way, and Cavemanon has not faced any consequences for anything they've done. Wani has sold very well on Steam, and Cavemanon has opened their own web store and patron-supported developer blog, where they give terrible game dev advice and rant about "grooming operations" and the like.

So... that's it, really.

[shapelytimber]

Art vs Artist 2024 !

[2022] - [2023]

Well.... Let's hope 2025 will be better haha... ha. But on a brighter note I'm very proud of my Tarot game I managed to self publish this year :D Thanks again to everyone who participated in the kickstarter campaign <3

Also ig my stupid Star Wars au took over my life just a little bit- a little bit being like half of what I drew this year :))) anyway !

Link to the posts with the full arts and the sickest pic anyone ever took of me vvv

Danger Diabolik brainrot

Pathologic pixelart

A taste of faith (technically 2023, but I made it after last year's recap so it counts)

Fave character portraits

Strictly professional working relationship

He slept rather soundly for a murderer

Late night kebab

Salmon Mindset Mspaint

Haven't been blond for a while now, but if I ever make an hyperpop ep I sure know what the visual would be !

@quijicroix effortlessly taking this sick ass picture while on the over swing with a shit disposable camera fjdkkd my pic of them was not as good let me tell you-

[kolbisneat]

MONTHLY MEDIA: August 2024

The days are getting shorter and the nights are getting cooler. The summer is waning. But the monthly media posts carry on. Here's how I spent the month of August.

……….FILM……….

Wendell & Wild (2022) I don't want this to be one of the last major stop-motion film to ever be made, but the filmmakers put so many stories into this that I wonder if they thought this was their last shot. Essentially a 12-course meal from a great restaurant: the accomplishment is impressive but the whole is overstuffed and some of the smaller portions were undercooked.

Love Lies Bleeding (2024) The lightly surreal elements of the movie were great, but there's a point late in the story when that surreality kills all of the momentum.

Spice World (1997) Still holds up.

Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves (2023) Still amazed at how well this pulls off what it seeks to do. But maybe I'm biased because I love practical effects, puppets, and action scenes that serve the narrative. We may not get another D&D movie but I'm glad we have this one.

Deadpool & Wolverine (2024) Based on other live-action multiverses, I went in with modest expectations, and this was a pleasant surprise. Maybe it's because it continues to do what Deadpool does well. Thoroughly entertaining in the moment.

……….TELEVISION……….

Neon Genesis Evangelion (Episode 1.14 to 1.20) It's been a couple of years since I stopped watching (mid season!) but luckily one of the episodes was essentially a recap of what's happened so far. Really ramping up in the abstract and the philosophical and I'm a big fan. These kids are meeeeeeeessed up.

Made for Love (Episode 2.01 to 2.08) I only really caught the first season in pieces but I knew enough going into this season that it really clicked! It hit me the same way early Black Mirror episodes felt, only with more humour, depth, and nuance. It's a real shame there's no plans for season 3.

……….YOUTUBE……….

I think this will be a Short Video by Matthew Colville A really great reflection on making art in the social age, the algorithm, communities/audiences, and how these can clash with the natural impulses of creativity. VIDEO

I'm What the Culture Feeling (The full story of Kendrick Vs. Drake) by F.D. Signifier Almost 3.5 hours but for someone like me (who knows next to nothing of this world, these artists, or this conflict) it expertly breaks it all down to paint a complete picture. Really great watch. VIDEO

……….READING……….

Cards On the Table by Agatha Christie (Complete) Top-tier Christie. The premise is so fun, and while I know the multiple detectives appear in other stories, it's a nice introduction to these characters. This book made me want to learn how to play Bridge.

The People of the Black Circle and A Witch Shall Be Born by Robert E. Howard (Complete) I have this collection of Conan stories and after a years-long break, decided to read a few more. Both great! The latter puts Conan in an almost supporting role and it's fun to see him take on a secondary role to the story. Keeps it interesting. And the former is such a classic pulp story (cults, magic clothing, a giant snake) that I can't help but love it.

Delicious in Dungeon Volume 14 by Ryoko Kui (Complete) It's been a 6-year-long journey for me and while I couldn't be happier with how it ended, I'm sad that it's over. Still so impressed with how well it stuck the landing for me. Do I wish there was more of a wind-down with these characters? Sure. But I really respect an artist who knows what they want to say/do and says/does it. Very excited to see what Ryoko does next.

Hellboy Library Volume 1 by Mike Mignola with John Byrne (Complete) Without being hyperbolic, this is one of my favourite contributions to the craft. So confident and fully-formed right out of the gate. Excited to reread this series.

……….AUDIO……….

The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess by Chappel Roan (2023) Technically I started listening to this at the end of July. I saw a positive review, figured I'd check it out, and it felt like that was at the same time everyone else in the world was talking about her. Love an album with such a focused perspective.

Currents by Tame Impala (2015) In recent years I've been really enjoying Tame Impala's one-off songs (Barbie and Dungeons & Dragons soundtracks, their collaboration with Gorillaz, etc.) so I figured I'd really dig into this album. Easy to listen to both casually in the background and with a magnifying glass just pouring over the lyrics. Love it.

……….GAMING……….

Neverland: A Fantasy Role-Playing Setting (Andrews McMeel Publishing) Only got a few sessions in this month but the crew is still reassembling the skeletal pirate they trashed years (real time) ago. Now they're about to face a big electric centipede to recover his legs.

Oz: A Fantasy Role-Playing Setting (Andrews McMeel Publishing) The Mof1 crew split the party and one half casually shopped and planned while the other half discovered a secret testing facility full of captured magic-users.

Wonderland: A Fantasy Role-Playing Setting (Andrews McMeel Publishing) We got in a single session of Wonderland and it was a small party but a lot of fun! Also the first true character death of our playtesters. Luckily we had backup characters though character 2 ended the session losing their arm. Hey that's Wonderland.

And that's it. See you in September!

[klappertart]

As a vtuber observer since 2020, let me recap all the dramas that pop up in (especially) big vtuber corpos since 2024, or maybe some started late 2023:

Mel's termination (hololive)

Rushia/Mikoneko vs Mafumafu in court (ex hololive)

Pomu graduated just 2 weeks notice (Nijisanji EN)

Kyo's graduation announcement (Nijisanji EN)

SELEN'S TERMINATION (Nijisanji EN)

Elira, Vox, Ike speak up about the lawsuit etc (literally today, Nijisanji EN)

Something something happened with Scarle (literally now, Nijisanji EN)

I most likely forgot about something. How can I remember all of them anyway?!

[coimbrabertone]

Le Mans vs. Daytona, Two Sides of the Endurance Racing Coin.

A bit of a belated blog on the 2024 24 Hours of Le Mans, how it compares to the other major 24-hour race - the Rolex 24 at Daytona - and how IMSA and WEC differ.

First things first, sports car racing in general is at a peak right now.

The largest prototype fields in decades, interclass competition of sorts with LMDh/GTP cars on one end and Hypercars on the other, and equally diverse GT3 fields to go with it. It's not a competition between IMSA and WEC as far as I'm concerned, both series collaborated on these regulations and that has benefitted endurance racing as a whole.

That being said, I've noticed some differences between the two, and I've had some discussions with friends about it lately.

The crux is this: the Rolex 24 at Daytona is the curtain raiser for the racing season, where drivers from every discipline from Formula One to NASCAR to half the Indycar field, plus all the regular cast of characters from endurance racing come to play. It's all within the confines of a 2.5-mile oval with big grandstands and clear sightlines, and the lights are all over the track, meaning you can see all the action pretty well. It's also in Daytona Beach a few weeks ahead of the Daytona 500.

Daytona is a party, a celebration of motorsport to kick off the next season of racing.

Le Mans, meanwhile, is a beacon of history. The start-finish line is where it has always been, the Dunlop Bridge has outlasted Dunlop itself making racing tyres, and it's an old school reminder to when those types of circular bridges were all over racing. Then onto the Mulsanne, the long, dark highway, with bits of civilization interspersed with woods, a theme with continues in the back half of the track. Some corners are named after historic tracks, like Indianapolis, others are named after the marques which defined era of Le Mans history - Corvette, Porsche, and Ford in particular.

Corvette, which has dominated GT racing at Le Mans for decades now.

Porsche, which is the most successful brand at Le Mans, and

Ford, who went back-to-back-to-back-to-back in the late 60s with the GT40, and then returned with the GT1 and GTE models in more recent decades.

That dedication to history shows in the broadcast too, with the broadcast often cutting to Tom Kristensen for interviews or by harkening back to similar events in Le Mans' past. Obviously, that's something that comes up in all racing broadcasts, but it was very apparent at Le Mans this year.

For the record, I'm not saying that's bad, this blog is proof that I'm a massive nerd when it comes to racing history, and I love that, I'm just noting it's a difference.

The crowd burning a couch in celebration after the 12 Hours of Sebring? Fans celebrating the misadventures of the Sean Creech Motorsports American flag Ligier LMP2 with its many cautions at Daytona and now Watkins Glen? You don't really see that at Le Mans.

In fact, there was one very fun thing from the 2023 Le Mans that was missing this year: the Garage 56 NASCAR. Now, i understand that was a one-off thing, and I do get the impression that the hydrogen car they showed off before the race - which was numbered #24, just like the NASCAR had been - was supposed to be a G56 entry for this year but they couldn't quite get it working yet, so I know that it's a bit of an unfair criticism to levy against Le Mans.

Still, 2023 had the big Camaro memes, the V8 sound, all those Freebird on the Mulsanne edits, it made Le Mans more fun.

And of course, Le Mans is fun even without those things - ferris wheels, fireworks, and, you know, the whole twenty-four hours of motor racing thing - all make for appointment television for racing nerds like me, but it is something I've noticed coming out of the 2024 race.

So does Le Mans need to change? No, i don't think so.

I like seeing cars coming down the Mulsanne, I like seeing the Ferrari hypercar racing against Toyota in addition to all the cars that do both IMSA and WEC, I like the announcers getting increasingly delirious as it gets into the night stint, and I like the fact that Valentino Rossi is now a BMW GT3 driver who competed at Le Mans.

The Rolex 24 at Daytona is probably more fun that Le Mans and its position on the calendar probably lets it get a handful of one-off drivers that may not be able to do Le Mans, but Le Mans also attracts plenty of unique talent as well. Ferrari doesn't do IMSA, nor does Toyota, nor does Valentino Rossi.

Would I like them to? Absolutely.

Am I fine with just having two different, successful endurance racing series on either side of the Atlantic? Absolutely. It's like the modern version of CART vs. Formula One as far as I'm concerned, only this time, I'm in a position to enjoy it.

So yeah, there are some things I prefer about IMSA, but there's plenty I love about Le Mans as well.

Hell, the fact that after the sister Ferrari won last year, we got to see the #50 Ferrari of Nicklas Nielsen, Miguel Molina, and Antonio Fuoco win. Both cars have now won Le Mans, and this means that last year's Antonio Giovinazzi, and this year's Antonio Fuoco - two drivers I've followed since the mid-to-late 2010s when they were actively in the open wheel junior series - are both Le Mans winners.

That's cool. I love the fact that drivers can fulfill their dream of winning for Ferrari, not just in Formula One, but now at Le Mans too. It's a great time to see, and between this and Indycar, I'm developing a lot of hope for talented junior drivers without F1 prospects.

Hell, on that very note, Felipe Drugovich raced at Le Mans for Action Express Cadillac this year, which seems to be his first time back in a major racing series since his F2 title campaign. Glad to see him back behind the wheel, just wish it went better for him.

Anyway, this last weekend of racing was a bit of a dud for me and I find myself busy yet again, so I'll leave the blogpost here, but do let you know what you think!

[timephcbia]

2024 vs 2023!!!

I know I’m super late for his birthday please forgive me AAAAAA

[whatwordsmiss]

Maddie! Will you tell us more abt your Spotify Wrapped this year? Top artists? Most surprising stat? How different was it vs 2023's??

my god this is so late IM SO SORRY!!!!!! but i absolutely love talking about my music taste so i am Thrilled you have asked me

we'll start basic lmao:

top artists: sammy rae & the friends chappell roan paramore fleetwood mac sleigh bells top songs: thieves (sammy rae) rich girl (hall and oates) red wine supernova (chappell) please please please (sabrina) rill rill (sleigh bells) minutes listened: 14,000 minutes exactly lol

SO. while i am infinitely disappointed that spotify did not provide genres this year, i can say overall, it was definitely the year of the pop girlies. that being said........ i also love listening to 70s music and also divorced dad rock and elder emo music.

tbh i think the most surprising stat was rich girl being #2 lmao i didn't realize i listened to it so often --- but i guess it's a staple to any 70s/80s playlist ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ i was really expecting something from chicago, like maybe 25 or 6 to 4, or saturday in the park. but i can't complain that much lmao

ALSO THOUGH i think it's very cool of me to have never released my grip on sleigh bell's treats album. music in 2010..... something else, entirely

and then i guess the biggest difference between 2024 and 2023........ 2023's wrapped had been taken over by my various dnd character playlists lmao. like, the top ten were just the first ten songs from one of the playlists. mostly because i have to drive an hour for any games in person, and i'm a volume up all the way in the car kinda gal

[riacte]

https://www.tumblr.com/riacte/768678532323966976

100% agree and you can see it on hermitcraft regarding with who bases with who or collabs more often (Eg the Cherry guys vs the neighbourhood or team PET vs Ren hanging out with False, a non lifer, the most out of everyone)

He’s not the king of the server anymore, people moved on from that storyline quite quickly and with him not returning throughout 2023 and the only life season being in late 2024, that’s quite a bit of time for people to turn their heads away from Ren.

Never realised how his closest allies in the series is non-hermits until now :O but yeah agree

I'm really glad the king storyline got some closure in the form of King Cleo and the museums, but I really wished it could've last longer ;-; I know it's to fit in the crossover and Ren sabotaged himself on purpose and they got a good finale, but still.

The case of Ren re: Life Seriesification is so INTERESTING because firstly he has different collaborators for different occasions; his two special guys are split in SMPs (Martyn and False), and this season he's been making an effort to hang out with more the Neighbourhood people. Maybe things would change if Martyn got in HC or False got in Life Series (both very unlikely things to me, sorry Ren), but for now, he can split his collaborators pretty damn well. You can't uwu trope-ify him because he's already done it himself— he's always played characters and gave them distinct personalities/voices. He's a theatre kid. He calls himself a theatre kid. Everyone knows him as a theatre kid. He already does ship bait, but he manages a good balance of Treebark bait and not making all of his interactions about his juggernaut yaoi ship. He's been away for two seasons and stuff happened (*cough* his clout dropped *cough*) and he hasn't won yet so it affects him less. Ren's unique meta as a CC and style has given him some strange partial immunity to this rampant fanonisation because he kind of has control over it? He talks about Gigacorp lore and keeps to streaming Hermitcraft. He has a clear vision of his (and his characters') narratives.

Fun fact: Renchanting (and by extension a bit of Dogwarts) is the only group in 3L made out of people who didn't really know each other! By extension Skizz came from Impulse's friend group, BigB from Grian's, so parts of Dogwarts kind of knew each other, but Ren and Martyn got to know each other through 3L. I'd always liked how Ren would find some way to talk/connect to BigB through all of his seasons. He also cozied up to the new member of LL (Lizzie) that he didn't already know. Like, unless it's a competitive situation and 💖 Falsie 💖 is around, he's pretty damn willing to explore.

[catboygirljoker]

What were your thoughts about KHearts before you got into it vs Now having been into it? Also late welcome to the community hope you've had fun!

thankyou :D!! i have had fun, sitting in my little crevice and exporting my xigbar images and xigbar posts. im happy that people have connected with it in some way :]

thoughts about KH before i got into it:

for some reason i was under the impression that the games were about a boy who has dreams about disney worlds. and he has regular size feet in the real world and only has big feet in the dream world. i also think he traveled with mickey and not donald or goofy

also for some reason i was under the impression that ventus was sora's dad. it was not until i actually watched the cutscenes in birth by sleep and saw lea and isa that i realized OH. this is NOT as far back on the timeline as i thought it was

images of a spiky red boy and a spiky blond boy and a black haired depressed girl eating ice cream together with lots&lots of people sobbing in the replies. (REALLY emphasized the slow creeping emotional dread of that game for me. like golly i sure hope i dont get emotionally destroyed like all those other people! and then i , was)

when i was in middle/high school i had friends who were super into it, but i was never able to play it because my parents had a policy of No Consoles. we were allowed to have handhelds, though, because my family took frequent road trips, so when i found out that there was a KH game for DS i said to a friend "oh, cool! dyou think id be able to play it without playing the other games?" and she looked at me, and looked at her copy of Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days, and said "........no"

only ~15 years later do i realize how funny of a question that was

thoughts about KH as i was getting into it:

too numerous to count. i shall attempt to keep it moderately brief

last year my husband listened to a podcast called "lore dump" where people explain the lore of different media to each other, and they did an episode/series on kingdom hearts, and i heard some pretty WaCkY sTuFf (i specifically remember them explaining what the recusant's sigil is, in the context of xigbar explaining that they'd been tracking sora and riku through the story of DDD)

found a vod of one of my favorite streamers streaming 1 and 2 to benefit abortion rights in texas, and i was like, well, here's my chance, heh, im gonna understand all of the WaCkY LoRe

i start up the stream. within the first 15 minutes i Get it. like it feels very dated in a lot of ways but i instantly understood what made people connect so strongly with this series. even as someone who didn't grow up with any attachment to it, and was a little put off of it even by how into it my friends were, to me kh1 is just pure high octane nostalgia. the tone is so specific and warm and bittersweet. i cried multiple times during the ending. it just really got to me! i was hooked!

when i fixate on a media property i like to have a hot person to chew on. i really. really thought it was gonna be axel. he is exactly the kind of character i would've fixated on when i was younger, when i had friends who were into KH. older mentor figure character who takes younger characters under his wing. associated with fire. projects brash confidence. k,ills people. he's a really good character! i love him a lot! every time he appears on screen i get on all fours and start barking! and there's all this fanart and merch and...then i got distracted......

hey blake in early 2023. it's me, blake in late 2024. have you heard of kingdom hearts. yeah. yeah youre gonna get really into it. yeah youre gonna have the longest running blorbo since you mega-fixated on the tenth doctor when you were 14. yeah. yeah um. you know the clip where the guy says "me? i'm already half xehanort!" and sora says "that's..nuts!"? yeah that guy? yeah. yeah. that guy. the half xehanort guy. yeah youre gonna make a fool of yourself online for that guy.

[chevelleneech]

This comment (and many others on their videos tbh) really prove that as fans, we don’t know shit, lol.

I am not a fan of MewTul nor know anything about their lives prior to them coming out and confirming their suspected relationship to be true, but lately I’ve been watching older videos of them just to see where speculation stemmed from and how people who knew of them reacted, and it’s a pretty large consensus of people who disliked them in favor of believing Mew was with another Thai actor.

I’d heard of that other ship name before, plenty of times, but I didn’t know things ran as serious for their shippers as they did. To the point where them no longer interacting in public was taken so hard. People spewing hatred and claiming they’re lying and are still secretly a couple.

It of course reminded me of Jikook and Tkk, and while I am not even slightly comparing these ships, the above comment really stood out to me, because of how certain the commenter was. Which says so much on both sides of the Jikook vs Tkk “debate”.

In 2023, this person believed without a doubt that Mew was a liar and desperate for attention. They asserted their believed fact that Tul would never be anything other than open and honest about being queer and in a relationship, and that the other man Mew was heavily shipped with was a better person and actor all around.

Fast forward to 2024, and Mew and Tul have announced their relationship, and it’s been stated that Tul was the more hesitant one about making their relationship public.

This comment stood out to me, because on both sides of this J v T debate, so-called fans swear up and down that their opinion is the correct one, based on “I know my fave best!” logic, which is crazy. We don’t know them and certainly have no clue what it is they’re truly feeling.

Again, this has nothing to do with whether or not Jimin and Jungkook ever officially come out. I’m not expecting them to, with or without each other as partners. I just think that comment highlights how stubborn people can be about ships they both love and dislike. Even if it’s staring you in the face, because just from the videos I’ve seen, they were pretty obvious. Which, in my opinion, falls heavily into the box where-in it’s necessary to remember that people not being out ≠ them being closeted.

Mew and Tul clearly posted themselves traveling together and so on, despite the posts being on different days. Mew also spoke about his “lover” in ways that (again, based on what I’ve seen so far) pointed pretty solidly toward Tul. A fact that fans who loved them and hated them, but kept check on them, would easily be able to see. So I think people were just in denial due to how BL is consumed as a genre anyway. They like the relationships on camera, and like the idea of the queer male characters existing in our versions of reality, but not to the point where they have autonomy. They don’t like the actors going “off script” with an outside partner or even a partner they dislike, even though they really just living their daily life.

(Editor’s note: I fell asleep in the middle of writing this, and sort of slept-wrote the last two paragraphs, lol! But surprisingly there weren’t many typos to fix.)

Anyway, hopefully my point comes across. As much as we think we know what we know, there is still room to be wrong, and buckling down and spewing hatred is unnecessary. Plenty of people believe themselves correct, and like MewG’s situation, that belief may not pan out. The MT shippers who were around prior to their confirmation are surely happy though, but so far from what I’ve seen, they weren’t on Twitter and on youtube calling people names for not believing. Which is what all shippers should do. Ship what you ship, but don’t be an asshole about it if people disagree with certain aspects. Unless they’re an asshole first, at least.

Also, I do have to be honest and say it sort of surprised me how similar MewG fans are to Tkkrs. They @ Mew (or whoever runs the account with his name on it) all types of rude shit, they belittle his friendship with Tul, and claim it’s all fan service. They call Tul ugly and some even turned on Mew for being desperate for attention. That doesn’t mean Jikook will follow MewTul’s path, but I just found it kind of crazy how the more hateful sides of a person stuck in the middle, basically match up.

[seaplusglass]

Alright, lets talk about Leon's design

As mentioned in a previous post, I find the progress of my OC Leon’s design very interesting, as they have been a character I’ve been consistently using for the past 7 years. Because of that, I thought it might be interesting to share these insights with everyone else. So that's what this post is about!

It should be noted that although Leon is a character I’ve had since 2014, I’m going to be focusing on 2017 and onwards, as their concept before this could practically be considered a separate entity. 

Initial concept

Leon was originally made for a 1920s horror roleplay group, and his concept was to create an antagonistic character who would eventually be killed off. When I made the previous post discussing Leon’s design, I said the following:

I don't entirely know what my inspiration for them was at the time (I think I just wanted them to look sophisticated, British, and ocean-themed??)

Although it is true I don’t fully know what my inspiration was, I think those words also give the impression that I didn’t know what I was going for at all, and that isn’t the case either. Rather, a better description of what I was trying to achieve with the design is simple, and the amount of initial thinking I did doesn’t compare to the work I put into his character later on. 

His design could easily be boiled down to 3 words; Gentleman serial killer. He was supposed to look composed and charming but with something darker brewing under the surface. I gave him a tailored 3-piece suit to make him seem put-together, and gloves to make him seem clinical, as if to create a barrier between him and other people. I made him tall for the intimidation factor, and although his body type was described as lanky, I struggled to show that within the limitations of my work at the time.

Leon wasn't meant to last long in this setting at all - I had planned for him to be a pretty one-note villain who was meant to be killed off pretty quickly. But plans changed, and Leon ended up pivoting to becoming my main PC for a time. 

2018-2021

Adapting Leon to being my primary PC meant I also had to change things, as there were several things about Leon’s design that didn’t work with my art style at the time - Primarily, his hair.

(some examples of Leon’s hair from 2018)

It was meant to be messy, wavy and slicked back, which did achieve the vibe I was hoping for, but I didn’t know how to draw it properly.

(2018 vs 2024)

This still bothered me at the time though, so I started experimenting with different hairstyles. Eventually, I settled on a voluminous, wavy haircut with a tousled fringe and tapered sides.

This was also to give Leon a more youthful appearance, as Leon despite their greys was supposed to be in their late 20s. (Their age is more ambiguous now due to character lore, but they retain the grays.) 

2021-2023

Leon’s design stayed mostly consistent after this point, even as I used them for various other projects, but I did start to make little tweaks to their design, as I got a better handle on the fundamentals. I started defining Leon’s hair better and drawing it more consistently, and by 2021 I have what I’d consider the basis for Leon’s current design.

By this point, Leon had pivoted entirely from the concept of ‘gentleman serial killer’, as it didn’t fit with most places I wanted to use them, especially if I wanted to play them as a good guy - And so their backstory was entirely reworked from the ground up to be a little more fitting the direction I was taking them in.

But changing their foundation also meant changing their design. 

Because of this, I tried to give them a more approachable appearance and demeanor, and I opted to dress them in lighter colors to also reflect this change. It’s also around this time I depicting them a camera - Leon was always written to be naturally curious, but I wanted to add more facets to the character that made them seem interested in the world around them. This is also reflected in other works from the time where they're depicted, which often emphasize travel.

Then, in 2022, I started experiencing increasing dissatisfaction with their design. I think this could be attributed to a variety of factors, but most of all themes of queerness surfacing for the character. 

Since mid-2019, I had been playing around with the idea that Leon wasn’t cisgender. I wasn’t entirely sure how I wanted that to be expressed for the character (I played around with labels such as androgynous, demi-guy, etc.) but eventually settled on genderfluid, as that felt most fitting to how the character themselves felt about their gender expression. I experimented with various looks and styles, for the most part settling on a shoulder-length haircut, and retro 1970s suits to match.

(It's... Different, that's for sure!)

I admittedly liked the style and the change in fashion, but I consistently returned to the hairstyle they originally had because the hairstyle was difficult for me to draw and often did not fit their remaining wardrobe the same way their old hair had. I continued to experiment with their looks into 2023, but I still struggled to settle on a look. It wasn’t until the end of 2023 that I decided to scrap most of these concepts and decided to return to their 2021 design.

2024

Reverting to Leon’s old design still left much to be desired, however. I was sad because I had a lot of concepts for the character that I wanted to explore, but no proper way to encompass them into a full character.

It turned out that this wasn’t true at all. I just needed to lay the foundation for the character a bit differently. As an off-hand idea, a few friends suggested that I try adapting Leon to the World of Darkness universe, as I had began to have a budding interest in the universe. Applying the concepts I had for Leon into one linear story rather than concepts out of sequence, allowed me to put them into place in a way that allowed the concepts to all be present throughout a journey instead of being present from the get-go. 

This leads me to Leon’s current design.

Leon can be depicted in a myriad of different ways, as their design is meant to encompass a journey - One of self-discovery, transition, and self-acceptance in a time where they barely have words for what or who they are. It’s difficult to entirely nail down a design for how they dress, but I think it’s fun that I can use the excuse to dress them up.

There is a common thread in most of their depictions though. They retain the voluminous, wavy haircut and their round glasses, and I make a point not to change their build regardless of what they’re wearing. I think it's much more interesting how the right cuts and clothes can change a character, and at this stage, I’m incredibly happy with their design and the versatility it gives me.

Conclusion

Do I have a way to really conclude this? Not particularly. I just think it's cool to see how far the character has come given their origin. From a character meant to be killed off to one of my dearest OCs is a massive progression, and I think it's interesting how much they have changed, and how much has stuck around despite these changes. It makes me ecxited for what they might look like in another 5 years!

[felassan]

Do you think were going to see a Dreadwolf reveal trailer at Dragon Age Day or at the Game Awards?

hello!

I'm not sure, and I'm also hopeful/excited (so.. a regular felassan state of affairs hh..). if it's in a place where they feel ready to show it to the world more then that'd be neat, it'd be cool to see what's being worked on. and ofc anything said here is only speculation.

it's been at TGA before (2018 trailer, 2020 trailer), the last time being 3 years ago in 2020. if the 2024 internal currently-aimed release window mentioned in error on a dev profile recently is indeed still current (I'd guess that the change to "TBD" won't have been because the aim changed since the dev put that there btw, it'll have been because there isn't supposed to be any public info about the currently aimed release window yet but the games press noticed it on the profile, prompting BW/EA to ask the dev to change it. separate note: this being the case doesn't mean that there's no possibility that the window will slip more though), appearing at TGA 2023 wouldn't be a shock. maybe it depends on whether the possible 2024 release window is in early (but still after April 1st 2024 because of the fiscal quarter & FY24 slate stuff) 2024 or late 2024? as if it's later in 2024 (like say November) I could see a world where it isn't at TGA23 but is somewhere in the summer video game event/news expo period instead, because of the recent trend that's been observable in the industry generally and commented on by a former bioware dev re: an industry move towards shorter marketing periods (like more in the realm of a few months-6 months than a year). it's been said that the policy for this for a lot of AAA games has become a lot shorter, tending towards a lot shorter and louder marketing campaigns.

jeff grubb recently said on DA:D, "The Game Awards 2023 sounds right to me, they’ve done stuff at The Game Awards before. I’m expecting them to be there. If they’re not, it better be soon after, because Dragon Age: Dreadwolf, was, you know, there was a chance Dragon Age: Dreadwolf could’ve came out this year. Obviously it did keep moving internally, as I’ve reported before. It’s now, they’re looking at, you know, by the mid of next year, something like that.” and "The reality is, we very well could get Dragon Age: Dreadwolf content at The Game Awards. They’ve had teasers there before, it would make all the sense in the world for something to show up there." [link] this is interesting bc i'm pretty sure I remember a tweet from him last year about TGA22 where he straight up said "no it won't be there" or something basically when he was asked about it.

what I would say is that if it's gonna happen in a substantial way (as in not a codex entry and a blog post) in early December 2023, it'd likely be at TGA, not on DADay. this is based on how it was done previously and also on what's been said about DADay (an unofficial fan holiday event that just happens to occur very close to when TGA is held, thereby being overshadowed by it in terms of scale) vs TGA (a massive industry-wide high publicity event). DADay has seemed to have been more of a community-focused thing, a place to announce something smaller in scale like a tv show or a new book or to have something smaller highlighted like short stories or a codex. it's more of a 'today we are announcing we will be at TGA' with a new trailer-type [hypothetically] context rather than a 'here is a new trailer that isnt an ingame cinematic' type context, if that makes sense. saying that if it isnt going to be a 'big' trailer at TGA23, maybe there's something at DAday like last year where they showed an ingame sequence, which is smaller than a 'big substantial trailer' but still a video.

(idk if this post/ramble made sense but there you go). guess we'll find out in < 3 weeks. (❁´◡`❁)

[karla-the-elemental-dreamer]

🪢 KH-OC Week 2024 🪢 - Day 3 Package

Prompt: Would You Rather: Riku vs. Terra edition

With there being two dream guides from Kingdom Hearts, and the fact that both (but especially Terra) played an integral role in making a home for me, Dinh-Yu suggested a variation of the 'Would You Rather' game. But instead of picking two different scenarios, a scenario is given, and I'd have to choose if I'd prefer to do it with Riku or Terra... Tough choices!

---

Q1: Go skateboarding in Twilight Town with...

A1: This is a hard one. Riku would likely be better at it, but I wouldn't want us bumping into Roxas and therefore witnessing those two having issues... IF they haven't already sorted it out. Terra may not be as good, but would provide a more stress-free experience. Skillwise, Riku. Because imagine if I needed to be taught how to ride it in the first place.

---

Q2: Opening the mysterious book in Hollow Bastion/Radiant Garden with...

A2: Terra. Because not only would we get access to 100 Acre Woods, but I could participate in Command Board challenges with him (and Aqua and Ventus if present). However, I think Riku deserves to have fun with Pooh and friends some day.

Leaning more towards Terra.

---

Q3: Trapped in Castle Oblivion with...

A3: I can't give a definitive answer for this one. Riku has vast experience from KH-CoM, but do I want to deal with Ansem and the Replica? And with DiZ catching me up in his occasional psy-ops towards Riku? Come to think about it, either Xehanort or Maleficent would torment Terra in the castle and make him succumb there if not in BBS. So maybe Riku, because again, more experience, and he's over his darkness ark.

Terra does get over it, but later in the KH timeline.

---

Q4: Participate in a musical in Atlantica with...

A4: Okay, so apparently Terra can't sing, but he really needs to improve his confidence, especially in himself. Cue him also being quite repressed and silent for most of my 2024. He needs to come out of his shell, pardon the pun... This conversation got recorded in real-time when Terra found out about this decision:

Terra: "Aww, noooo!".

Riku: "Well, it looks like she's chosen you, Terra".

Terra: "What the hell am I going to do in a musical?".

---

Q5: Have a dance at the Royal Ball (Castle of Dreams) with...

A5: Terra as he’s got a sweet and charming character. If he was insecure and shy around girls, it may not work out to begin with. But once he gets his confidence on the dance-floor, or he already knows the girl well, he’d be an excellent dance partner, especially if it were to some sort of classical or slow music. And with the way Terra has been looking after and looking over me since late 2021, he wouldn’t say no to dance with me and may rather be thrilled. Additionally, he knows the Castle of Dreams really well due to his KH-BBS stint, so he may even bump into Cinderella again and THIS TIME be able to have a dance with her as well.

---

Q6: Go snow sledding in Arendelle with...

A6: Sledding is different to skateboarding/skiing. It’s sitting and you don’t really have to be taught anything except if you’re the one driving the sled. It’d be a more cozy experience with Terra and it would also be funny to see his reaction if we fell off the sled and into the snow. May end up in a snowball fight.

---

Q7: Traverse the Sleeping Worlds with...

A7: On initial thought, I’d choose Riku as he obviously went through the whole of KH-DDD and made it out ‘alive’, also ending up as a Keyblade Master. So he’s like the expert of sleeping worlds and would be able to safely escort me through them and intervene swiftly if there was trouble, knowing the tricks and turns of any infiltrators. But I am curious to see how Terra would function in the sleeping worlds. If it were pre-BBS, I’d be a bit concerned about this combo. But if it were post-BBS, or how Terra was in 2022/2023 as a dream guide, I say he’d be quite skilled at navigating me through, but still not as much as Riku IMO.

---

And with August 3 rolling around, it's Terra's birthday (what he's disclosed)! Here is a pic from last year's celebrations. As he apparently doesn't like too many sweets, he just got a cupcake:

---

And here's another part of the puzzle that just got revealed to me TODAY, as to why Terra's connection might be under stress this year. Terra didn't get an organic pair of teddies as it were. At the start, he was only there for Riku but became interested and started to integrate himself into my life. He wasn't going to get 'mentors', rather, he got 'friends' from the teddy High School Peer Mentorship program to be his companions and increase his confidence, but maybe they're not skilled enough to identify when things get challenging and intervene in a sense

And here's the thing I've just recently realised. Nasha (ESFP) and Sibella (ESTJ) DO NOT get along. ESFP is like the most free, laisses-faire of Carl Jung's MBTIs, whereas ESTJ is almost the polar opposite (not letterwise). So think of someone like Vanitas or Demyx, and Eraqus or Donald working together. Nasha and Sibella focus more on each other rather than their relationship with Terra, even though they do respond to him and are courteous with him. Additionally, whereas Selvian and Sierra seem to go where situations take them, Nasha and Sibella have not left the Land of Departure ever since they were sent out back in Year 10 with Terra. And tend to remain in the closet as it were.

Nasha and Sibella had their first official problem-solving instance earlier this week (convo recorded in my writing book), but it didn't seem to end well. Instead of Sibella making Terra feel better, she unfortunately started to blame him in a sense. Nasha called her out for not being nice but then the two girls got into a fight and Terra passively backed away. So that was an interesting tidbit that was revealed to me.

Snippet of convo from 31/07/24:

---

Sibella (ESTJ): "Then do you think she's maybe going through it again? Like being energetically suffocated?".

Terra (INFP): "I don't know... I've been out of touch with her for so long that I don't know what's going on, and I don't know what to say to her".

Sibella: "That's just it, Terra. You're too scared to start the conversation. And because YOU left it for so long, you don't know where to begin".

Terra: "She said she needed more time to go after Cricket".

Sibella: "He looks pretty stable to me now".

Nasha (ESFP): "Oh my God. Stop being so mean Sibella".

Sibella: "What? Just because my accent sounds like a Spanish b****, I'm not being nasty to him. I'm simply getting to the point as to why he can't reach out to Karla".

Nasha: "But you're making everything sound like it's his fault".

Sibella: "Well then what do you have to say to him, Nasha?".

Nasha: "What you said makes sense, Sibella. Just word it nicer".

Selvian (INFJ): "Okay who called? And why aren't you two cooperating? Sibella seems to know what's going on and so she has an onus to tell Terra so that he knows what to do from here on out".

Nasha: "But she's just being mean to him and has gone from identifying THE problem to identifying his problems. Like that is sooo uncool".

Selvian: "I agree with Nasha in this case. And this is why I'm here. Now so we don't send Terra into a breakdown for nothing, I'm going to sort this one out with him".

-- Continued in book --

Selvian again cleaning up everyone's messes 😂😂😂

I think that's why Selvian and Riku get along so well and have found something in common to bond over.

---

Oh gosh, I found a sketch just now from 2023 that exposes them XD

[tuttle-4077]

The 2024 Papa Bear Awards Nominees Continued

Best Portrayal of a Canon Character

Carter in A Brother's Bond by PicassoPenguin

Newkirk in A Deserved Gift by Cardinal Rose

Klink in Ashes by LightShiner14

Newkirk in Autumn Winds by Fear-Of-The-Cold

Kinch in Card Games, Vampires, and a Very Late Letter by TheSailingRabbit

Newkirk in Cracking the Vault by Sierra Sutherwind

Hogan in Decoration Day by Abracadebra

Newkirk in Drop Bears by dust on the wind

Carter in Exit, Pursued By A Bear by pronker

Klink in Klink's Brother by Sam Worth

Kinch in Mama Bear by PicassoPenguin

Newkirk in Once Is Enough by Abracadebra

LeBeau in Operation Mother Hen by Tuttle4077

Hogan in Sergeant 'Don't You Sass Me, Hogan' Wilson by whatisthismandoinghere

LeBeau in Spring Flowers by Tuttle4077

Newkirk in The Assassin by lonewolfette9846

Newkirk in Uneasy Company by dust on the wind

Hogan in Well and Truly Got by Cardinal Rose

Klink in Yoga Session by Deepbluethinking

Best Portrayal of a Canon Extra

Lagenscheidt in A Brief Moment by TheSailingRabbit

Gertrude Linkmeyer in In Too Deep by Crystal Rose of Pollux

General Burkhalter in No Rest For the Weary by Frau Wilhelm Klink

Hochstetter in Of Defectors and Strawberries by Hochstetter's Lady

Marya in Once Is Enough by Abracadebra

Wilson in Sergeant 'Don't You Sass Me, Hogan' Wilson by whatisthismandoinghere

Hochstetter in The Major's Malaise by Vintronics

Olsen in The Pigeons Strike Back by TheSailingRabbit

Lagenscheidt in Uneasy Company by dust on the wind

Marya in Unfair by PicassoPenguin

Wilson in Words of a Wise Wilson by whatisthismandoinghere

Best Original Character

Kurt Vedit in A Gathering of Friends Old and New by TheSailingRabbit

Lothar in Cracking the Vault by Sierra Sutherwind

MacDonald in Drop Bears by dust on the wind

Veidt in Focus by TheSailingRabbit

Adam Jones in Heroes by Sam Worth

Aunt Millie in My Dear Bob by Dabbled-at-Euchre

Karl Unger in Of Defectors and Strawberries by Hochstetter's Lady

Sasha in Once Is Enough by Abracadebra

Pitts, Potts, & P. 'Gregory" Putter in The Murder That Never Happened by Khebidecia

Reiger in The Pigeons Strike Back by TheSailingRabbit

The Pigeon with the Monocle in The Pigeons Strike Back by TheSailingRabbit

The Wind in The Winds of the World by Fear-Of-The-Cold

Best Story of 2023

Decoration Day by Abracadebra

Drop Bears by dust on the wind

Heroes by Sam Worth

Once Is Enough by Abracadebra

The Winds of the World by Fear-Of-The-Cold

Uneasy Company by dust on the wind

Well and Truly Got by Cardinal Rose

Best Multimedia Entry

Bullet Proof Vest by taylorsshitposts

Englishman in New York by Vielmouse

Every Group Needs by beej-machinations

Gin by Benevolenterrancy

Go Ask Mother by Benevolenterrancy

He's Blue by taylorsheroes

Hogan's Sea Shanty by Vielmouse

Hogan's Senses by Vielmouse

Marya: Unstoppable by Oconee Belle

Newkirk's Cap by Benevolenterrancy

Reality Vs Perception by Frau Wilhelm Klink

Rewired by Vielmouse

Subterfuge by Benevolenterrancy

Here's the rest of them! Congratulations to everyone, and thank you to those who participated in the Nomination Round. Please join us for the Voting Round. Votes are due April 21st. You can fill out the ballot found on the website and send it to papabearawards@yahoo.com or send it via PM to the Papa Bear Awards FFN account. Or you can fill out this easy-peasy survey.

@benevolenterrancy @beej-machinations @frau-wilhelm-klink  @whatisthismandoinghere @rose-of-pollux @radarsteddybear

[popculturebuffet]

Wanna Make Something Of It?: A Justice League International Retrospective: Justice League #1 Review

Keith Ian Giffen 1952-2023 "I"m sick of Darkseid, Darkseid has been passed around the DC Offices like a Bong"

Hello all you happy people and happy birthday to me. Each year either on or around my birthday, or in this case a month later because the end of 2023 was a cold and carpal tunnel hellscape and 2024 opened with bronchitis, I take a look at something special to me, something that means something: From the first apperance of the Legion of Substitute Heroes, to the first volume of Scott Pilgrim, to Scott Pilgrim Vs the World , to last years look at the uncanny x-men's rebirth with Giant Sized X-Men #1, i've always set aside my birthday to reflect on my past and celebrate it with something I truly love.

This year I decided on that.. for reasons that still break my heart. On October 9th at the ripe age of 70 Comics Legend and personal inspiration of mine Keith Giffen.. passed away. He had a long, good life and created countless amazing stories and characters.. but his loss will be a void that can never quite be filled.

For those who hadn't heard of him, Keith was a comic book writer who's best known for his work at DC, having helped redefine the Legion of Super Heroes and Darkseid with the legendary Great Darkness Saga alongside Paul Levitz, created the main man Lobo, the fourth wall breaking before it was cool Ambush bug, the incomprable Jamie Reyes whose first arc I covered this year, and of course, the one punch, the only, the bwahahah-ey Justice League international.

If your asking why it took this long to eulogize him if I respected him so much, the answer is simple: I didn't know. In an age where if someone dies it's usually blasted onto my news feed, even if I don't exactly google that person every day, I had NO idea Keith was dead till reading an amazon review.. which is the kind of sick irony he'd find hilarous, so I have that, but not exactly the way to find out one of your personal heroes died. So I scrapped my original birthday review plan (Letterkenny's Three Wise Men For the Curious) and decided to start a project i've been mulling over for a while now. So welcome folks to Wanna Make Something Of It: A Justice League International Retrospective, an ocasoinal look at this long run.

JLI has an intresting history to it so if you'll sit down i'll tell you

The Not Really Secret Origin of the Justice League International

It was the late 80's and DC Comics had just undergone a massive reboot with Crisis on Infinite Earths, the first true big event comic as we know them with tie ins and a massive reboot in the end as Editorial had felt the various alternate earths had made things too complicated. So a big blue murder man named the Anti Monitor tried to wipe out all of creation, leaving only five earths: Earth 1, where most of the action took place, Earth 2 where the heroes of the Golden Age, the Justice Society of america and their various successors lived, Earth 4, where the recently aquiried heroes of Charlton Comics like Blue Beetle, Peacemaker and Captain Atom resided, an earth not concidentally introduced for this crossover, Earth S, home of the Shazam/Captain Marvel Family, and Earth X, a world where the nazi's won WWII and only the freedom fighters stood in opposition. Basically any heroes DC felt like keeping and their shiny new toys.

The result was a new one world earth with a fresh coat of paint to let in new readers. It wasn't without issues: several corners of the DCU got torn up with my beloved Legion of Super Heroes getting some of the worst of it, with every resonable attempt to fix the retcons or bring characters back.. being shot down AFTER the story had already been started or happened, eventually leaving such a giant mess they rebooted in the 90's, while many a hero was left without an origin or clear history, Donna Troy having to have her origin redone again now her connection to wonder woman was gone, Hawkman became a hawk mess in part thanks to this very book, story for another time, and much more I don't have the time or patience to get into right now.

There was a lot of good in it though, as the reboot left room for new heroes like self promotional himbo with a heart of gold, Booster Gold, the now DC flavored Blue Beetle, and more, and for some the fresh start was badly needed, revitalizing Superman, and giving Wonder Woman and out and out reboot that, while taking her history away, exchanged it for one of the best runs on the character ever via George Perez. And eventually, after some growing pains, it gave us room for an all new flash after a lengthy murder storyline left Barry running out of steam. For all the damage it did i've learned over the years, the crisis still did a LOT of good and helped a lot of characters find their place in this brave new world.

One property vital to DC that needed this was the Justice League of America. A few years before the crisis, DC had noticed the sales of the League were down, and tried to revitalize it: the result was a book I hope to read and cover one day.. still called Justice League of America bu tknown to most as Justice League Detroit. The IDEA was good: feeling the league was a bit scattered after a martian invasion destroyed their iconic satalite headquarters, Aquaman called for them to disband and only those who could commit full time rejoin, leaving it with just him, Martain Manhunter, Zantanna and The Elongated Man. They soon added some fresh recurits in the cyborg steel, the horribly named in hindsight but loveable for her father daughter relationship with the Martain Manhunter, Gypsy and the sterotype tastic Vibe, who'd later be heavily reworked for the better by the flash tv series.

The idea was good but even from what defenders I could find after googling the team, the book had the good IDEA of making the team more of a surrogate family like the Titans or X-Men, but simply didn't seem to pull it off. It's part of why i'd love to look at it some day: the roster is good, with even the rookies being intresting Even Vibe at least had intresting power, a low income background not really see in the Justice League at that point, and cool shades.. even if him break dancing was very much

So I do really want to read this run and possibly cover it and if you'd like me to, let me know. It intrests me.

But while it intrests me now, no one at the time was really biting so DC decided to pull the plut. It really didn't help that , thanks to the crisis.. DC now had a wide buffet of characters they could suddenly ad to the league like Captain Marvel, the Charlton gang, and Dr. Fate.

So the team got the axe in the ties ins for Legends, DC's next big event that was also designed to bring the new team together. Legends has another really cool concept: Darkseid, god of evil and dc office bong , wanted to break earth's heroes for defying him so he could finally claim it and thus came up with Operation: Humilation. He sent his lackey Glorious Godfrey to earth , becoming tele-evanglist and far right loon G Gordon Godfrey, inspired by the times and sadly still relevant. Godfrey lit up an anti superhero fervor, causing Ronald Regan to ban superheroes while Godfrey spread the message of hate, helped by Godfrey setting up Captain Marvel to seemingly kill one of Darkseid's minons who was in fact a robot designed to die and scar a 12 year old for life.

The problem is the series is a bit too fast paced for it's own good, taking a message on how hate movements like this spread oh so easily with the power of tv, and speed running it so we go from Godfrey using real life hate tactics that are chillingly relevant, to the point we get scenes with a crowd nearly killing a 12 year old jason todd or a cop killing his partner after said partner lets Black Canary go then blaming her for making him do it, to ... him making people into murder dogs and storming the captial. In three issues. You have to nearly burn the country down to get people to do a insurrection everyone knows that.

On top of that like many an event after.. a lot of it's about setting up tie ins instead of it's core story so we get stuff like Jason being saved happening off panel or Darkseid deciding to take superman off the board.. and then doing it in a tie in.

That brings us to Justice League where one of the biggest fallouts of this event.. happens entirely in it's own book. I'm split on this as on the one hand, the end of the Justice League of America should happen in it's own book.. but on the other given they brought in another writer to end the book, I don't see why they didn't just cancel it early and say "To be continued in legends" and have Godfrey tied into the league's ultimate end instead of Amazo.

Alas instead Amazo and Despero clean house leaving the league battered, demoralized and in the cases of Vibe and Steel dead. Everyone whose left leaves.. .everyone except the person it means the most to, the person who almost never left and whose the heart and soul of the league for the Martain Manhunter vows it'll live on.

Cue the finale of Legends: With things escalating quickly, Dr. Fate, DC's Resident Mysterious Magic Man, gathers a bunch of heroes together to put an end to this: Batman, Martian Manhunter, Blue Beetle (Ted Kord), Black Canary, Green Lantern (Guy Gardner), The Flash (Wally West), Beast Boy (Going by Changeling back then), Mister Miracle (Scott Free), Superman and Captain Marvel (The future Shazam) to put an end to this, with Jonn clinching the heroes return to legality by coming in the save and Wonder Woman making her debut to the superhero community post-crisis by jumping in to help. The day is saved , and a new justice league is formed from the ashes of the old.

So you may be asking: Why this roster and why aren't Wonder Woman, Superman, the Flash and BB on the cover? Let's explore that under the cut as we delve into why this roster, the creative team for the actual book, and the first issue itself shall we?

Roll Call:

So you'd probably think given how team books work nowadays that future writers Keith Giffen and JM Demattis picked this team themselves, with maybe a member or two picked by dc editorial. It's what I assumed.. but nope, DC picked the team themselves, which .. does kinda bother me. A creator should really pick their own roster as chemistry is VERY important to a team book. It speaks to Giffen, DeMattis and Macguire's talents that, even dropping a few members in issue 7, the book comes off as natural as it does and said drops come off less as "this person we were saddled with isn't working" and more "they simply didn't fit into the group so we used the big rebrand to shuffle them out". DC may of picked the roster, but to their credit they choose well. As giffen himself put in the introduction of a collection of the first few issues back in 2008 "That call was DC's to make and as it turned out.. not too shabby"

So before we got into the actual book and who made it, I wanted to take a second to explore this roster as I wanted to show WHY DC might have choose them as I couldn't find any info on why this roster was picked, and simply have my edcuated guesses to go on

First who WASN'T added despite being front and center in legends: Each of the four members cut from the roster so to speak have good reasons for not being in the team. Beast Boy is the most obvious: he was never going to be in the League to begin with, they most likely wanted a titan to represent their flagship book for the crossover and choose one of the most popular.

For the Flash, Wally's a bit more of an actual misdirect as given he hadn't shown up since his decision not to take up the mantle, this was his big coming out party as the flash, with Wally deciding to embrace his mentors roll. It's also why he didn't take it up in story and likely out: he just put on the tights and didn't feel ready for the league just yet and the character would need some time in his own solo before it made since to plop him in a team book.

For Superman and Wondy it's also simple: Superman was being rebooted: He still had a LOT of his history, but major parts of it like his time in the Legion as Superboy or his cousin Kara were cut out, major villians were revamped, and his world was reshaped for the 80's while Diana was flat out rebooted by George Perez after sales had pretty much died pre-crisis, with said run now being one of my favorite comics and one I can't wait to complete some day and share with you all.

So that left the All New, All Diffrent Justice League with a roster consisting of Batman, The Martian Manhunter, Blue Beetle, Captain Marvel (Now known as the Captain or Shazam), Dr. Fate, Black Canary, Mister Miracle and Green Lantern (Guy Gardner). So for those of you less familiar with some of these guys, let's get aquanited, as well as figure out why DC choose them.

Batman: Batman is here because he's batman.. I could end it there but that'd leave the question of why Bats was okay to go but SUperman and Wonder WOman weren't. The answer is simple: Batman.. didn't get rebooted by Crisis. Things were changed like Jason Todd's backstory, some villians erased, some bits of history tinkered with, but that was standard for most post crisis heroes. He'd have a new defentiive origin with Frank Miller's year one, but Denny O'Neil had already soft rebooted batman back in the 70's, so he wasn't in as big of a rut. Crisis took out weird shit from the silver age that I love but understand why maybe it's best reinstated as a drug hallucination, thank you Grant Morrison, and Earth 2 batman, but it really didn't change who Bruce was, his status quo etc. Batman was selling well, Dick Grayson was super popular over in New Teen Titans, it was something DC knew wisely not to fuck with. Granted I haven't gotten as hands on with just after the crisis batman as I have Superman or Wonder WOman, so I could be wrong, but most of the changes were to villian backstories, stuff that was necessary and handy, but not things that really shook up who Batman was or what stories were going on with him like Superman and Wonder Woman. And since Batman is a lisense to print money, for better or worse, they stuck him on this team.

Martain Manhunter: The Martain Manhunter is Jonn Jonzz, a cop from mars who got accidently kidnapped by an old man to earth and took up resdiense as a detective. Jonn would get a full mini establishing who he was post crisis I have not read by Giffen and Dematties but i'm now dying to now I know it exists. Jonn was a founding member of the justice league and a big hero during the silver age, and comes off as the JLA equilvent to the Avengers Wasp, not in terms of character, Janet and Jonn aren't like each other in the slightest but I do think they'd hang, but in being a hero who has a storied career almost entirely tied to one of their unvierses big super teams, but not much solo wise. The former has meant he's been bounced around a bit and even left out of the team in the new 52 for cyborg, but also means he's a treasured part of it, an elder statesman who gives the team a sense of a heart among a floating lineup. He also gives the team a power house, having most of superman's powers PLUS telepathy and shapeshifting. Jonn is one of my faviorite DC heroes owing to the justice league cartoon

Guy Gardner: Guy is an odd duck in that both John Stewart and Hal Jordan were wearing the ring, this being the first time all three earth lantern's wore it, so WHY Guy was chosen out of the three was a mystery given JOhn was, as far as I know, popular even then and Hal was the old reliable, back before everyone was sick of that and wanted them to remember they had 7 or so people more intresting. Guy was Hal's understudy. He literally didn't get the ring.. because Hal Jordan was closer, and thus was picked to become a space cop later. He was depicted intially as a school teacher before being resculpted into a jingoisitc asshole by Steve Engleheart, something that was cemented and fleshed out here. He also has a three stooges haircut, something I feel adds to his asshole charm and feel had to be brought up at some point.

Dr. Fate: Dr Fate is kent nelson, a vetran of the JLA's predecessor, the Justice Society of America. Originally the JSA was part of Earth 2, but was merged with Earth 1 so now they simply.. existed before our heroes, retired due to Mcarthyism, then came back into action when the new age of heroes launched, with deaging and such used to explain how their still around. Fate was chosen likely because he looks neat, they needed a magic guy, and they wanted a JSA rep on the team. He.. didn't really quite fit as it was clear DC didn't know quite what they were doing with him yet.

Blue Beetle: My boy ted, who I've already covered on this blog before, but this is his shining moment. For those less familiar or who missed the underated blue beetle film, Ted is an inventor who found out his uncle was planning to take over the world with an army of robots, and enlisted his close friend Dan Garret, who turned out to be the OG blue beetle and sacrificed his life to stop Ted's Uncle, passing on the mantle but not the magical alien beetle. Ted compensated by building a ton of gadgets, having plnety of quips and generally being plesant. Ted was part of Charlton Comics, a company DC had bought recently, and having his own series at the time, being fairly popular, and having an outfit created by Steve Ditko himself, he was a shoe in and a nice pick from the b-list. Grante di'm biased and this series is entirely WHY, but Ted's a fresh face in the dcu who comes in hot with plenty of experince and a cool ship for the group to fly around.

Black Canary: Dinah Lance was changed by the crisis, going from an immigrant from earth 2 to the daughter of the original. She was also made a founding member of the justice league to replace Wonder Woman because she as the only prominent dc heroine who who would've been active at the time. And yes she's wearing THIS for her time in the JLI

And honestly it's.. meh. I think they were trying to give her a less casual look, but the fishnets and black leather jacket just fit. Sometimes a superhero just needs something anyone could wear in the right order to have a super outfit. I'm not against civlian style costumes if it fits the hero and dinah's just.. fits. This one just dosen't suit her as it's a bit too bombastic.

Dinah's likely here both for her new jsa connection and new jla founder status. She's also here because the team needed a female member, alongside dr. light, who we'll get to later.

Captain Marvel: Billy is easy. While DC had aquiried their former rival Fawcett back in the 70's, and thus one of the best superman immitators there ever was and ever will be, Billy had been on earth S since they bought him, and like Dr. Fate is there to show off how the earths are all merged now. He's also another power house, and was someone dc was trying to push. DC.. never really knows HOW to push captain marvel and i'm hoping his current series by Mark Waid helps. If you haven't read it check it out, it's possibly the characters best that i've been able to have acess to (Since DC hasn't reprinted the golden age stuff quite yet). For those who haven't heard of him, Billy Batson is a ten year old who was chosen by a wizard to become his champion and thus can act out the movie big but with superman powers whenever he wants. I love him dearly and wish DC knew how to market him.

Mr. MIracle: Last but not least Mr Miracle is Scott Free. Scott is part of the new gods, Jack Kirby's big contribution to DC that also included bong of evil Darkseid. To keep the peace Darkseid and his counterpart Highfather did a son swap, HIghfather getting Darkseid's angsty son Orion and Darkseid getting Scott, who he gave to Granny Goodness, the God of Child Abuse, who gave him othe name to mock how he'd never be free. Naturally this strategy backfired as it only fired up young Scott to escape, becoming the escape artist, hero and wife guy mr miracle. The last part came courtsey of big barda, another one of Granny's charges who came to take Scott back, but was convinced that maybe hellpits weren't the best place to live, and married him in Kirby's last issue on the two. Scott is here to emphasis the new gods,s something DC was playing with more post crisis. His manager Oberon, a cheery fella with Dwarfism, is also here because Demattis and Giffen had a lot of material for the guy it turned out and Oberon is essentially the team's guy in the chair.

So with this motely crew assembled let's see what this dynamite creative team did with them as we begin the storied history of the justice league international... the international part comes later.

Starting with the cover. While usually i'll skip these in an analysis, it's both a habit I need to break and would be a criminal act here as the cover for Justice League #1 is my faviorite comic book cover of all time and my faviorite to see an homage of.

It's simple, but it's perfect. The group shot is well deisgned, showing everyone off, but in a way that's diffrent from the usual action poses we get. Their clearly ready to kick your ass then their gonna fuckin kick your ass, but it's in a way that's unique, shows the team's unity. It also is taken so seriously here.. that it makes it ripe for jokes later in the series. The wanna make something of it ffrom guy both echoes the tough image their going for.. but fits the goofy tone the series is really going to have as it settles in. This comic has been homaged to oblivion and rightly so. Even Keith's memorial image dc put out is this but with Keith and all his creations.

We open the issue proper with a declaration.

It's one of my faviorite opening pages in a comic: It's beautifully drawn by artist Kevin Maguire, sets up the setting well and sets up guy as having his head firmly up his own ass.. it's why he has the bowl cut you see, helps him get it up there nice and tight.

The issue smartly introduces the cast one or two at a time, letting each character get a proper introduction and seeing how they bounce off each other as they file in.

So first in is Black Canary, who marvels at their old headquarters recent reneovations. Our heroes start the run in the Secret Sanctuary, the Justice League's first headquarters built into a mountain in Happy Harbor Road Island. And if it seems familiar to some of you, it should as after the JLI were done with it the Doom Patrol moved in for a bit during Grant MOrrison's Run. Most famously and lastingly, Young Justice, another team I have to cover at some point, made this their main hq, the only team to really make it a home that wasn't a justice league. And to prove that point the JSA also stayed here briefly. It's this weird go to for teams who need a headquarters for five minutes.

Anyways Dinah remembers the good times and all the ghosts, guy's a dick about it humming the twilight zone theme, and assumes he and Dinah will have a sam and diane thing and not a "Stay 50 feet away at all times thing".

Next up is Mister MIracle, whose nervous about the gig, not sure if he belongs there. Out of the leaguers Scott tends to stick to the back, not shy or afraid to speak up when needed, but not as outspoken as his team mates. This nicely contrasts oberon whose all too happy for the box office as even if this lasts a cup of coffee. He's less happy when Guy makes a shot at his dwarfisim and Oberon's grumbling is hilarious.. as would've been him decking guy but we still got a few issues till someone finally does that.

Billy zooms in, shocked by all the press, showing his naivitie: even after all he just went through... Billy is still a bit shocked by just how profile this is and happy to be there. Enter the boys, Martain Mahunter and Blue Beetle, with Jonn not forgetting the whole LEgends fiasco so soon, and having a bit of a mope... though he soon makes a valid point to ted as he turns on the computer.. and shows the Detroit League. It's a nice reminder that even if the team wasn't like.. they were still close and still Jonn's proteges.. and most most of them are dead and those that arent quit due to the trauma. So doing this, while something he feels is necessary. Cue Guy banging a gavel and declaring the meeting started

We then cut to the offices of innovative concepts where we meet the heart and galbladder of this run, Maxwell Lord, a mysterious man in a suit whose watching a row of tv's. Max isn't evil like he'd later be retconned into being.. but he is VERY shady at this point, watching all the coverage on the league and in one of my faviorite subtle little things scratching the "of america' part out of the legue's name on a pad of paper.

I want to take a minute to point out macguire's facial work.. i'ts incredible, nicely detailed, realistic, but still cartoony enough to have tons of personality. Just looking at max you get his smugness, ego and sense of control all at once with him having barely said or done anything. There's been plenty of masterminds sitting behind a row of tv's, but you get Max's vibe immedietly while still wondering what his deal is and what he wants with the team, the latter being the main mystery of the books first year. Back at the Sanctuary, Dinah and Guy argue as SHOCKINGLY the experinced vetran with an eye for the teams legacy dosen't want sylvester calzone here running things. Oberon TRIES to intervene on Dinah's beahlf but get's literally brushed off and Jonn trying to be an adult in teh room.. gets Guy picking him up and making a green giant joke, both funny, both well done.. and enough to get even JONN pissed enough to enter a brawl.

Cue the goddamn batman.. and dr. fate whose here too. That's.. really fate's roll for their time on the team, their just.. here. While Giffen and Demattis did really try to work with most of the roster they were given, seeing who worked and who didn't, Dr. Fate just didn't fit this team. As you can see already.. a key part of this team is disfunction. Some become true companions eventually, but it's mostly a bunch of personalities that barely function together, fairly normal people who put on tights. It's the charm of the series: instead of just getting along or having the usual angst, these guys just make digs at each other and amble along, but DO get the job done and do deserve to be called the justice league. It's just a version of said league that dosen't take itself seriously and has fun with it, and that treats this group like people. Normally the Guy Gardner in the group would just be ingorned but because he actually DOES have the power to toss people around (and props to the creative ways he does), it leads to an actaul brawl.

Fate... doen't fit into this. Fate is an enigma, mysterious and distant. So they simply.. don't work well in a jokey sitcom. It's clear the duo LIKE the character, they'd reinvent him soon enough, but he just didn't fit what they were going for.

So that begs the question how BATMAN does.. and he answers it, cowing everyone else into stopping it and getting guy to sit down before dryly reading out the charter. Bats is the boss in this workplace sitcom, and he's a mean one, being an utter dick to dinah at one point.

This moment horks me off.. but it's also a perfect encapulation of batman's leading style: shut up do what I say. Even someone whose his EQUAL , and who founded the team before him and thus has senority, he just tells them to shut up when she's making a valid point: their fidgity because this meeting is nervous nad because they just went through some crap. What I like is that despite having BATMAN.. the dream team dosen't glorify him. He's still batman, he shuts down the room with a glare, is a tactical genius and thus great at leading in the battlefield.. but it's very clear even this early on he simply.. can't lead this team well. He has a barking "do what I tell you style" and expects them to be good soldiers, treating them like a group of sidekicks instead of experinced heroes.

It's not something the group pull out of thin air either: Batman used to have a team of his own, the Outsiders, formed after Batman walked out on the league for refusing to let him rescue Lucius Fox and turned in his badge when Clark wanted him to sit this one out as a league member. He found a bunch of other heroes along the way, and choose to make them into a team, but it was very clear that the outsiders were partners, and weren't treated as full equals, with the exception of Black Lightning who Bruce felt was on his level. He wasn't bad to the team, helping find the younger amnesaic Halo a home, setting them up with day jobs, but his style is very much "listen to me or there's the door. "

The problem is while the outsiders were mostly fresh faces to being heroes or out of practice like metamorpho or black lightning, Bruce can't let that guard down even whent he heroes have more than proven themselves. It popped up in a crossover with the New Teen Titans where he started ordering that team around, with Dick eventually having to tell him to shut the hell up and let Dick lead his own damn team.

So while it's midly grating here it fits: Batman is so determined to keep this league together he's treating them like his backup i nstead of experinced heroes, two of whom HE'S BEEN ON THE LEAGUE WITH BEFORE.

Anyways Bats does have ONE good point in his leadership so far: he wants the team to keep a low profile. While it's hard given the army of camera's outside, the team dosen't know each other, hasn't trained together yet, and needs time to be in full shape. After all they just barely got superheroes back in the popular opinon: while Godfrey DID juice up people's emotoins, it dosen't mean it won't swing back to negative easily if they fuck up.

Unfortuantely for them... someone else has other ideas.. and i'ts not fate because their in the room. At the UN Kimyo Hoshi is in the bathroom puzzled by receving a JL signal device from Max and not sure if she'll accept. Kimyo is the second Dr. Light, a hero unlike her predecessor and a scientest from Japan who got her powers during the crisis. She.. wont' be here long as while the issue plays her up as a member on the cover, she never fully joins the league. More on that in the future. For now she exits the bathroom.. to find herself a hostage. Terroists have taken the UN. THankfully she activates the device and while Batman's very confused dr. light has one, rallies the team to go anyway.

Naturally Brucey Boy is cautious, having most of the team get in the bug, while he sends Fate and Billy to scout ahead. Guy WANTS to but Batman's response to the idea of sending a human bulldozer who barely listens to him into a tense hostage situation?

The team enters and despite the disfunction so far... it goes easily: Guy seals the premiters and probably invents some new swears, beetle does his best as the guy in the chair in the bug

And Fate.. well fate left and told Billy batman would understand and left the ten year old to explain this.

The league clean house.. but Batman notices a problem: these guys are ameture, clumsy and their equipment is oudated. Something else is going on here.

Time for that is passed soon though as Guy dive sin and finishes the job quickly. It's a nice sequence overall that shows the team REALLY is this good: this is a setup sure, but they don't know that. The lead terroists plans to detonate himself and batman... tells them to clear the room and let him, knowing somethign we don't as the man prepares to fir eon him and after they exit we get a wrapup via news as Max once again watches

So yeah SOMETHING made the leader kill himself, and max is behind anything. not a MASSIVE twist as the batman conversation set it up, but still a neat one: Max has plans for the league. I also like the focus on optics here: it's something I don't THINK the league had done before, the idea of how the media views a superhero team. This verison of the league isn't bad.. but Batman's refusal to talk to the press allows them to paint the narrative they want instead of the league controlling it. It's what gives Max a leg up on slowly wrestling control of it and makes him a compelling character from the word jump: Unlike Batman, he clearly gets optics, having set this up to force the league into the spotlight bright and early and removing the of america part to give the team a bigger calling. His tactics for doing this are also brilliant but we'll get more on them as we go.

For now this issue.. is as good as ever. Amazingly drawn, sharply written and nicely snappy, setting up the team, the myth arc with max and the situation their in all in one issue while modernizing thigns a bit: instead of space monsters our heroes are now fighting terrorists. Not that I mind fighting a godo space monster, but I get trying to give the leauge something diffrent and more part of the world. And part of the world is a major part of this series: putting the League more into our world an dhaving to deal with things like the media, other nations, etc. It's a brilliant start

Next Time: The last heroes of a dead world try to save ours while a greedy bearded man wonders who he can exploit this and the team gets some gold.