#not sure what the best way to do ids is for comics so if i need major changes lmk

[hintcoined]

emmy thinks about this statue every day

[themyscirah]

This is technically a Diana's age poll but I framed it partially around Julia's rescue because that's the event I need to contextualize and whether or not Diana is a thing yet is p important for my purposes. I would keep the Pérez run and postcrisis continuity in mind when answering this bc that's when this is relevant but I'd keep in mind that even though Diana is very young there (like early 20s) we don't know I don't think if she ages differently as a child (esp as a themysciran AND being made from clay) and in some versions she is older than she looks and was made earlier

Edit: I accidentally logic-ed this out in the tags lol 🤦‍♀️but feel free to still vote however you want. Going to publish this anyway bc I think I made some good points later in my tags

[somerandomdudelmao]

can we js take a moment and talk about how flawless the way you present the whole comic is

like,,, theres always such a good ratio between humor and angst throughout the whole thing and the feelings each individual character goes through after every single event happening is more than accurate. for example, someone already pointed out how you allowed casey to feel sorrow and actually have a beef with one of the turtles from the present instead of making him forget all about his own timeline because the turtles from the present are 'the same people, just younger' (absolutely LOVED the way casey said 'maybe he was a version of you, but you are not him and these arent yours'. there is so much to say about that and you worded it in the best way possible). another thing to point out is that you make sure to not let the turtles, and any one who also appears in the show for that matter, get out of character and manage to think of the right thing they would say or do in certain situations. ive seen people do that with a lack of accuracy, including myself, but you just do it in such an amazing way and make it seem so easy.

one last thing id like to mention which is already pretty much obvious is that you always make sure the comic is entertaining for the reader to go through, never once have i read the comic and went like 'okay whatever idc what happens here can we go on with the next ep' which is honestly amazing. also when the opportunity arises, you never hesitate to leave us hanging after an update, which obviously does nothing but intrigue the reader and let them develop a biger passion/interest for your comic

hope you have a nice day btw cant wait for the next update🫶🫶

OHMYGOD THANK YOU SM

[opal-owl-flight]

No sign of Rain.

Not easy living with the fact that you hurt someone you just wanted to protect, isnt it.

More context under the cut!

Tldr: 3 realizes that forcing 4 away from the Platoon after Sploon2 the way they did wasnt the best choice. That forcing her to ignore what had happened had most likely contributed to her unable to cope with life beyond war.

(The comic above is from after Sploon3/SO! Situation described below is post Sploon2/OE.)

3 and 4 have been doing missions together awhile. 4s been able to handle herself well, but theres a moment where she trips up and gets hurt a lil more than usual. Like, its to the point where she needs to be taken off the field awhile.

3...

"|Im sorry.|"

"Heh? Three, if it wasnt for you, Id be dead. What are you saying sorry for?"

"|...if it werent for me going away when Octavio stole the Zapfish again...youd never have been dragged into this mess.|"

"Thats not your fault, Three. Cap'n called you away."

3 sighs... "|Still...you couldve been living a life where you never have to worry about your life being put in this much danger.

Or anyone else's life, for that matter.|"

4s the one whos quiet now, as she glances away. 3 does have a point... "...I guess so, yeah. But that wouldve meant that Id never have met you."

Silence sits between them awhile, until 3 grunts softly, to get 4 to look at them again. "|I want you to promise me something.|"

"What is it?"

"|When things settle down again, I want you to leave.|"

"....What?"

"|Live your life away from this. This danger, this war, this...everything.|"

"And leave YOU? Three, you cant do things alone anymore, you KNOW it!"

A clack of their beak. "|Im more capable than you think, Four. Dont think less of me.|"

"Im not- Im not thinking less of you!! Im just stating the facts!"

3s making a low gurgling noise. Its a similar sound an inkfish makes before spitting ink. A sound that says "dont test me."

"Three, Im not leaving. Its already happened... everything -- Octaria, the zapfish, the metro -- its all happened, and I cant just...go back after all of that."

"|Yes, you can. You still can. Youve a life outside this. Why else are you late enough that Marie has given up reprimanding you?|"

4 backs down...3s right. Again.

"...and what about you? Why dont you leave, too? Once...everything is stable."

3s ears droop. "|...theres nothing left for me. Ive thrown my lot with the NSS for as long as I remember. My team barely even recognizes me these days.|"

A silent beat goes by between them again.

"|So promise me. Promise me.| Rain." They rasp her name, making sure she gets the point. "|Promise me you'll live. Promise me you'll go back up there. You said you wanted to go to college -- go. Dont look back. Dont become like me.

I dont want you to become like...this.|"

They gesture to their scar. Their tentacles, forever stained marbled cyan.

4 can see in the gesture the pain they hid in their hearts. The regret. The guilt.

"...Tanara..."

"Live." they rasp, So quietly."Live. Promise me."

"I dont want to leave you alone."

"|Ive been in this war since Ive hatched, and Ive done things on my own before you were dragged into this. You deserve none of this bullshit.|"

"You dont deserve it either!"

3 grips her shoulders. pleading with her. "Promise me. Please promise me. That youll leave."

4 shakes her head. Resolute.

"Im sorry...I cant promise that to you. Youre my friend, Tanara. Im not letting you do this alone."

3... leans against her, defeated. Burying their face into her shoulder. Theyre shaking their head, clutching on her tight.

"...I-Im sorry, I...Ill be more careful next time. Okay? I can...I can promise you that much."

3 remains silent. Thats not what they want. They want her to be safe forever.

"...this really means a lot to you, huh?

Okay.

Ill...Ill think about it."

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

She does eventually decide to leave. Things were looking up for awhile, and missions are much lighter. She can dare to dream bigger now. That and...she cant stand seeing 3 looking so guilty whenever she says something abt her life on the surface.

None of it is their fault. Any of this. But they still feel that theyre taking her away from her "real life".

When she said that shes leaving the platoon, 3s look of jubilation both relieved and pained her. Then a thought hit her, right there.

"...Wait...all this time- did you just want to get rid of me? D-did you not want to be friends anymore?"

3 shakes their head. "|Rain, I asked you to live your dreams as a friend.

Your safety would be guaranteed. Youd be able to happily live your dreams without worry.|"

"...Will I ever see you again?"

3 sighs. "|...hopefully not.|"

4 gasps.

"|No- no-! Not because I dont want to see you-|"

"Tanara, youre making it hard for me to believe that youre doing this for me. What kind of life would I have if youre not there? Not a happy one, Im telling you!!!"

3s shaking as they sign. Trying so hard to keep their breaking mask tight.

"|Im a soldier, Rain. And Ill likely be one til the day I die.

I dont want to drag you back into this mess. I dont want you to get hurt, because of me.|"

Why is it that they always have a point? 4 despairs at the fact.

"So this means goodbye..?"

"|Weve got some days left. Lets make them count.|"

A smile. A bittersweet one.

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

These teenagers goddamn. 3 doesnt understand fully that shit still happened and one cant just leave and pretend nothing had transpired. Or maybe they felt they didnt deserve to have someone as good as 4.

Theyre ruthless in a sense that they know what their goals are. Their goal was to keep the world safe for everyone else to live. And if it means sacrificing their friendship with 4, so be it. If shes safe, their goal is met. Doesnt matter what either of them feel about it. (I suppose 4 getting injured really pushed them to make that choice.)

And 4... yeah, leaving was the smart choice for her personal growth, but agreeing with 3 to sacrifice their friendship wasnt the best choice to agree to. She felt like she cant argue 3 out of that decision they made for the both of them...so she just followed it.

"|Look alive, Rain. Your brand new life awaits you.|"

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

Thats why theyre so flabbergasted and upset that she came back. It felt like that time they spent alone, that sacrifice they made, was all in vain...

"Im sorry, Three. It sucked being away from you. It really did. I failed to live there...maybe my life is really meant to be lived here. On duty.

With you."

Are they disappointed that she failed her brand new life? No, never. They gave her the chance to run away from it all, but she came crawling back after doing so. If she felt that her life is here, after trying something else, so be it.

Thats what convinced them enough to allow 4 to return to duty. Theyll keep her safe another way. They also cant hide from themself the fact that theyre happy to see her again after so long.

[azurefaire]

> watches an entire video rant on how chibiverse is a online content farm created by disney (id say there is some good things or at least an attempt in those early parts and i do like the art style actually but yeah it is), and lowkey messes with your mind cause disney has screwed over many of the shows they featured and they have free range to use any characters they own without the involvement of others (hailey's, woy, toh etc)

> disney releases a new episode of said show that literally pays homage to older/forgotten shows picked from a bag and puts them underground in a cave

> finds clips on youtube

> pepper ann is there my baby!!! seemingly portrayed in the best light compared to bonkers, billy dilly, maggie etc

> they GOT pepper ann

> remembers the time i thought about a month ago "what if pepper ann nicky and milo were in this show, that would be impossible especially since the chibiverse thing is all a tiny land of modern series. they are probably in a distant land, or somewhere underground"

> reminds me of the time i had an idea of cartoons qliving a double life when they arent airing, within a multi channel cartoon crossover called "under the airwaves" sort of like wreck it ralph but cartoons from tv. literally would incorporate so manyy real shows into this idea, including this shit cause it has facinating implications and i remember a glitch when it first aired lol

> enough of my garbage au/crossover shit!! oh wow shes so cute though!! my baby!!!

> THEY GOT PEPPER ANN'S BABY CLONE IN A CAVE UNDERGROUND EATING DIRT WITH CLAMANTHA FROM FISH HOOKS??? IN THE UNDERVERSE??? SHE'S EATING DIRT??

> BUT FISH HOOKS HAS BEEN relevant out of all these shows especially on tiktok and specifically shellsea. so i guess clamantha. sure. certain comic relief characters people dont care about. has anyone truly cared for clamantha when jocktopus exists? really...

> penny and kim were very lucky to have continued relevance. they could be eating dirt! not all up in disney's weird ass fantasy living neighborhood gen z ifed

> now realizing this is when many characters havent spoken for literal years return... and how thats kind of cool in some aspects. but i think ppl wanted more animated version kim possible years ago...

> realizing if they didnt pick the funniest characters to do this, they could literally piss off so many fans of like motorcity or like randy cunningham maybe. i mean they probably did with penn zero for like two people.

> who picked them and why. also vince from recess took me a while to get why cause he didnt seem like the lead. but i'm assuming he's the most "underrated" or underutilzed one

> bonkers, spitting image of "obscure disney cartoon" - even watched a video on that... has a line where he says chibi. maggie the fly that everyone loves to hate has lines. i dont know why everyone hates her, she's self absorbed or something.

> i dont care about star vs but star is so cute in this and her dynamic with vasquez is funny...

> the primal desire for crossover content and the joy it brings is real. the uncontrolled desire to say "i didnt know i needed this" is real. i didnt need this! in some ways i hate this! in some ways i dont want this! but i like it anyway. and i cant stop it!

> chibi pepper ann also implies the existence of a chibi moose or a chibi cissy or trinket or gwen or alice kane or the teachers or trinket or lydia or steve the cat or mark hamill or alex trebek or effie shrug... chibi stewart waldinger....

> no cartoon is safe. chibi nightmare ned. chibi weekenders. chibi fillmore.

> watch them acknowledge house of mouse very soon in a very tongue in cheek way that will piss everyone off cause this show and that show are often mentioned together online. they probably look online to get script ideas idk maybe. something something ppl might say about tarnishing legacy of older cartoons cause every ip (😔) is at risk here. but they lay one finger on hom?? people are very protective of that show. carnage.

> hurt/comfort nickyann 500k fanfic in the underverse nicky going "i miss my family pepper ann. i miss them a lot."

> gonna watch the whole thing now.

[veinsfullofstars]

“What? I never said knighthood was easy.”

(ID: Kirby series fanart comic of young Dedede and Meta sitting side by side on a circle of grass, having a conversation about leadership and the future. Transcript below the cut. END ID.)

More childhood friends AU. Guess I’m on a role right now. Too many ideas, not enough time!

Started 10/10/23, finished 10/12/23, updated 03/11/24, updated for color correction 11/02/24. NOTE: This was originally posted on my deleted account on 10/12/23. | Childhood Friends AU Masterpost

---

Transcript:

Panel 1

Dedede: *sitting grumpily* Hmph! Stupid Ms. Squishy and her stupid group projects. Who does she think she is callin’ me a bad leader?

Meta: *gazing lazily skyward* Well, you did kinda make the other kids do all the work for you, so…

Panel 2

Dedede: *holds arms out in exasperation* Hey, it got done, didn’t it? That’s already better than, like, half the class - they didn’t even finish their dioramas! We’d’ve flunked for sure if it weren’t for my excellent direction! And my awesome ideas!

Meta: Didn’t you get a C, anyway?

Panel 3

Dedede: *holds arm up confidently* You’ll see, Meta! Once I’m big and strong enough, I’m gonna be the best leader this town’s ever seen! No - better! I’ll be the King of Dream Land itself!

Meta: *looks uncertain* “King”? Hmm. I dunno, Dee. Sounds like a lot of work. (And you and work don’t exactly get along great…)

Panel 4

Dedede: *arms behind head, eyes shut, confident* Psh! Nah, bein’ King’s easy! All ya gotta do is sit on a throne and look regal all day! It’ll be a breeze, ‘specially since I’ll have you as my first knight.

Meta: *turns sharply to face Dedede, tiny wings perked up in surprise* Wh- Me?? A knight?

Panel 5

Dedede: *smiling and winking at Meta* Uh, duh! I mean, who else would I trust to keep me safe while I rule? Only someone as strong and cool and brave as me, that’s who!

Meta: *smiles and hides bashfully behind his hands, little wings curled around him* O-Oh… Uh, heh. Well, when you put it that way… (He think’s I’m brave?)

Panel 6

Meta: *looks skeptically at Dedede* Wait. If being King’s so easy, then what would I need to keep you safe from?

Dedede: *staring skyward with a straight face* Assassins, mostly.

Panel 7

Meta: *sweating, wings drooping, eyes shrunken in fear* …

[king-of-a-kingless-world]

oy yoo joonghyuk, your looking kinda rough there. you good blud?

ok i really like this because i feel like previously the comic had an issue with making me care about yjh regressions. like theyd say they happened but didnt show it in a way that made me actually care but like with this now i understand and i can care about the pain his character went through more rather than just 'oh yeah the regressions happened hes sad about that but your not gonna get to see why and any of the pain he went through'

WHAT FHE FUCK WHY DOES IT HAVE A MOUTH. WHAT FHE HELL NKOOOOOO I DONT LIKE THIS

oh gohd. i. i dont like this.

YEAH. YA SHOULDVE. ok so i didnt take screenshots for a while but i think its really funny she got eaten. i dont like her. i know she tried her best and was going through a tough time but when your a parent trying your best isnt enough. you are raising a human being obviously your not going to be perfect but being a bad parent and trying to excuse it with 'i tried my best' is crazy. any other situation trying your best will always be enough because thats all you can do but a parent should do more than their best. i just. ugh. i think shes a very interesting and compelling character and a very realistic and human one at that but if she was real id want to fist fight her.

YAH KILL HIS ASS. her only saving grace in my eyes. the only thing ill ever say she did right. but then she went and put dokjas traumatic childhood on blast to the whole world while he was still a kid without his permission so i still dont like her 😋

honestly outside of writing the book and not getting dokja away from the abuse eairlier she was actually an amazing mom, she taught him many important things and even here always taught him the right lesson. BUT WHY THE FUCK YOU WRITE THAT DAMN BOOK-

also she basically abandoned him in a sense so hate her for that too ✌️

WHAT. HOLY FUCKING SHIT. I WAS NOT EXPECTING THIS. ok most big twists i was already spoiled for but- ARE YOU TELLING ME DOKJA WAS THE ONE TO ACTUALLY KILL HIM?!??!!? OHHHHHH OH MY GOD. ok thats gonna fuck up his psyche to remember that but good for him yes kill that dude. also more points for her your slightly less of a shitty mom in my eyes you took the fall for him thats wonderful thats good parenting there (not the murder the being willing to take the fall in this situation)

thats actually insane because that means there was a reason behind the book. the book was to make sure no one ever thought it was dokja. i mean i dont think anyone wouldve suspected that so still she prob didnt need to write it but. THAT MEANS THERE WAS A REASON FOR THE BOOK. MY WHOLE ARGUMENT HAS BEEN THROWN OUT THE WINDOW I LOVE BEING PROVEN WRONG OHHH THIS IS AMAZING AND CRAZY. i still have my annoyances with her parenting but like. +50 parent points for this you go girl AND YOU GO DOKJA MURDER HIS ASS

oh. LMAO. DUMB ASS WAY TO DIE FUCKER. HAHAHAH DOKJA DIDNT EVEN MURDER HIM THIS DUMBASS SLIPPED AND FELL ONTO THE KNIFE AS DOKJA WAS HOLDING IT LMAOOOOOOOOOO THATS SO HILARIOUS. FUCKING IDIOT. so neither of them actually killed him thats hilarious thats so fucking funny pathetic death for a pathetic man.

ok but objectively letting him die was the good choice. like. mf deserved it.

[femmeleatherface]

i know the accepted origin for monsieur mallah and the brain's epic gay romance is doom patrol V2 #34, and that's certainly the first time it was really explicit for sure, but has anyone else read the V2 swamp thing annual #3?

it was published in 1987, 3 years before #34, as a tribute to all the DC comics gorillas, so mallah gets a lot of attention in it and he is EXTREMELY gay coded. it ends up making his feelings toward the brain get presented in a very un-heterosexual way. and it's all tied in with the themes and structure of the annual's story so closely that it feels very, very deliberate.

[ ID: the cover to the swamp thing volume 2 annual #3. a golden gorilla sits menacingly in the center, looking directly at the reader. a torn white shirt is clutched in its fists and dangling from its fanged mouth. in the leaves and grass in front of it are the remains of the rest of a stereotypical safari outfit, including a rifle that lies propped on the gorilla's right arm. swamp thing's face is in the background, the red eyes glaring at the reader above the gorilla's head. end ID. ]

basically, the plot of the annual is that gorilla grodd has figured out a way to weaken the shackles of his mind prison in gorilla city, and he's using his telepathic powers to summon all the dc comics gorillas to free the rest of him and take down solovar through lightning magic. swamp thing... is also there. he doesn't do much. the annual is more preoccupied with the gorillas than its titular character, who's primarily busy having relationship drama with abby.

this drama is what the annual opens with. in the previous issue swamp thing apparently made a "merely human" comment toward constantine, which hurt abby's feelings since she is also human. this sets up the main ongoing theme of the story, about humans in relationships with non-humans.

this is very closely tied with the portrayal of gorillas in certain medias, particularly from the early the 20th century. the annual explores this very extensively, leaning heavily into the sexual implications...

[ ID: a series of three comic book panels featuring b'wana beast in his alter ego, mike maxwell, with his companion/girlfriend, djuba. maxwell is a blonde white man and djuba is a red-furred female gorilla.

panel 1: smiling, maxwell pushes an extremely phallic sticklike thing into djuba's mouth while she takes off his hat. their arms are around each other and their faces are very close. maxwell says, "don't have to play macho man with you... nooo. gimme a drink. gimme a drink..."

panel 2: maxwell and djuba's faces are touching now, their heads turned so they are cheek-to-cheek. djuba feeds maxwell a red bottle she has around her neck, and he sips from it. maxwell says, "just a tiny bit now... i have to drive our friend back... that's it..."

panel 3: a closeup of maxwell and djuba's mouths, basically touching. djuba's lips are parted and maxwell says, "ohhh yeah... that's it. i can feel it... i can feel it..."

end ID.]

[ID: a single panel of congorilla in his gorilla form. he has golden fur and is looking behind him to some bushes, where the heads of two black-furred gorillas are popping out. congorilla thinks, "i'm picking up the overpowering scent of females in the grove below and my blood's starting to boil. it feels good. too good." end ID.]

[ID: two comic book panels in gorilla city.

panel 1: sam simeon, a more anthropomorphized gorilla with human-style white skin, black hair, and visible chest hair, speaks to solovar, a non-anthropomorphized gorilla with blue fur.

sam says: "lemme tell ya... here i could do my best work! y'know, get into a little self-publishing, maybe put on a comic convention or two every year... i bet we could get thousands of atilla gorilla fans!"

solovar says: "umm, yes, of course. i see that your human friend is enjoying her stay here, too..."

panel 2: angel o'day, a thin white human woman in a strapless black bikini with her white hair pulled up, smiles at a crowd of four gorillas clustered around her. they all smile back at her, enamoured. one gorilla holds her hand and another writes something in a small notebook. solovar and sam watch on in the background. sam looks confused, maybe even hurt. he says, "angel...?"

end ID.]

this is primarily where the humor of the comic is supposed to come from. it's honestly a bit uncomfortable because most gorilla media--particularly ones with this sexual element--draws upon a lot of extremely racist and eugenist ideas when utilizing these tropes.

the annual mostly ignores this; except for a white savior-y joke with b'wana beast's introduction early on, race never really comes up and it's primarily just wacky horny shenanigans with white people and gorillas with zero interrogation or even acknowledgement of where those tropes come from and why they exist. since the comic isn't all that interested in acknowledging the questionable racial elements at play, i'll just leave the discussion at that so we can get moving along to the fun part of how mallah and the brain fit into all this, but i did want to point it out because uh. yikes.

anyway. moving on!

mallah and the brain are the first non-grodd gorilla-related team introduced, right after the relationship drama is set up with swamp thing and abby. while they are on their way to commit international terrorism and kidnappng, a lackey harasses mallah by asking him if he wants to have sex with lois lane. mallah spends the entire conversation looking completely dead inside.

[ID: a single comic book panel. roland, a white human man with orange hair holds a newspaper. he leers at monsieur mallah, an auburn-furred gorilla. mallah stares back at him blankly while smoking a cigarette. roland says, "whaddya say, mallah? how'd you like to get between the sheets with superman's girlfriend? y'think you're more her type? you got animal magnetism, don'tcha?" a speech bubble from the brain off-screen shoots back: "enough, roland!" end ID.]

so our entire introduction to mallah as a character is dependent upon him experiencing a microaggression deeply rooted in heteronormativity, and he is very clearly having none of it. interesting!

at this point, grodd's mind control beam reaches mallah. he kills all the lackeys who were picking on him, which the brain is really only mildly annoyed by, something that, sidebar, is absolutely hilarious. he could be more supportive of the whole microaggression thing, but ultimately he's just like: "why did you do it NOW? you should have waited until later!"

[ID: a single comic panel. cigarette still in his mouth, monsieur mallah kneels on the ground, holding the lifeless arm of a dead white man. the leg of another dead white man lies on the ground in front of him, and there are puddles of blood everywhere. standing in the corner and covered in blood, the brain says: "sacre bleu! mallah, what has come over you? why have you slaughtered them? couldn't you have waited until they had outlived their usefulness?" end ID.]

at this point, though, mallah turns on the brain and breaks his life support chamber. the brain is fine, but feels betrayed, and in his first line mallah explains his behavior simply by saying "c'est la vie!"

[ID: two comic book panels.

panel 1: the brain and monsieur mallah inside a tank. monsieur mallah sits at the controls with his cigarette, still a bit blank-faced but looking more relaxed. the brain stands in the corner, his dome broken and a burst of elecrosparks. he says, "y-you betray me, monsieur... crackle pop... i... i who created you... fitzz fitzzz. why, monsieur... cracklcrackpop... tell me, why??"

panel 2: an exterior shot of the tank zooming off through the desert, treads and billowing dust behind it. a speach bubble coming from the tank reads: "c'est la vie!

end ID.]

this ends up being a running gag in the annual, where the brain tries reaching out to mallah but the mind control is so strong that mallah just continues torturing him. it's poetic justice, since the brain's entire plan before the mind control happened was to kidnap a child and torture them, but it's also buildup to something at the end. we'll get to that.

first though, they pick up sam simeon and angel o'day from the angel and the ape comics. throughout the annual angel has been used as the designated "white woman all the male gorillas go bananas for," but i want to note that we never see mallah as one of those gorillas. we never see him interact with angel at all, in fact, except arguably once, where even under gorilla grodd mind control he is more polite than angel's friend sam:

[ID: a single comic panel of monsieur mallah, the brain, sam simeon, and angel o'day inside the tank. monsieur mallah is at the open tank hatch, lowering himself inside. next to him, the brain pops out of his life support chamber as a mess of wires and cerebral matter. sam simeon is at the tank controls, angrily clutching the wheel in one hand. angel grabs sam's shoulder, looking worried.

mallah says: "look! it is ze sign we have been waiting for! attack, mes amis!"

angel says: "sam?"

sam says: "shaddup!"

the brain says: "fzzt."

end ID.]

it's like the cracks the lackey made about mallah and lois lane earlier and how apathetic he was to the conversation. this mallah is shown to just be SO disinterested in human women compared to most of his male gorilla counterparts. he also doesn't show any interest in b'wana beast's gorilla companion/girlfriend, djuba, when she shows up, which one might expect considering the raging gorilla horniness and grodd's own brief flirty remark to her. but why? why is mallah so disinterested in all these women?

obviously it's because he's gay as fuck, but is that what the comic is actually trying to imply? i'd say yes! that is where the ending comes into play, and why i feel the gay coding in this comic is intentional.

after grodd is defeated by frying his own brain, we get one last scene between mallah and the brain. it's only a page, so i'm just going to paste it here, because all of it is... amazing...

[ID: a full comic page layout.

panel 1: a closeup of the brain lying in the grass. he is little more than a mess of cables and metal being stepped on by monsieur mallah's bare foot. a sound effect reads, "plltch!" the brain cries: "aakk!"

panel 2: monsieur mallah and the brain in the jungle at night. mallah picks the brain up from under his foot.

mallah says: "monsieur brain! what luck zat i have found you! come, we must move quickly! ze coup has failed and ze soldiers of solovar are after us. apparently he did not take kindly to my little uzi love taps."

the brain says: "m-mallah? ooooh-nooo..."

panel 3: monsieur mallah cradles the brain to his chest and runs through the foliage.

the brain says: "n-non! please, monsieur... leave me be... or better yet, kill me now! i can't take zis torture any longer!"

mallah says: "kill you? monsieur, you offend me! mallah owes you his own life, many times over! one of our old hideouts is nearby. i'll have you safe and snug in one of your spare life support modules very soon, wait and see!"

panel 4: monsieur mallah huddles under a large leafy plant, hidden by that and the grasses with the brain close to his chest. mallah looks out cautiously, watching as three shadowy gorillas walk by with flashlights and metal helmets. the outlines of mallah and the brain's dialogue boxes are dashed to indicate they're whispering.

the brain says: "y-you will? but i thought... i thought you wanted to destroy me?"

mallah says: "nuzzing could be furzer from the truth, monsieur. i am here to help you and care for you, to protect you and serve you in any way i can!"

panel 5: mallah races through the foliage, holding the brain tight. the gorilla soldiers are walking away behind them.

the brain says: "b-but... why?"

mallah says: "c'est l'amour!"

panel 6: abby arcane, a young white woman with white hair that has black streaks in it, lies on the ground. she is in a fetal position, her eyes shut. behind her, a lake stretches out in the great yellow moonlight, the great trees of the swamp further beyond that.

end ID.]

JUST. SO MUCH EVERYTHING GOING ON HERE.

the mind control is gone at this point, so this is the only point in the comic where we get to see monsieur mallah fully as himself and how this version of him would normally interact with the brain. and it's so... passionate and sweet? he just basically says that he's going to be always there for the brain because... because of love? whAt???? did he just straight up tell the brain that he loves him??????? oh my god.

and just... the way the comic has spent so much time sexualizing the relationships between humans and gorillas, and how the ending scene with abby and swamp thing after this is also so freaking horny, and here we get a human/non-human relationship where one of the parties doesn't have a body and they cannot be physical, and for them in this comic at least... it doesn't matter. because love. the way this explores and subverts the horny gorilla tropes in such a unique way. oh my god.

and it's treated as a joke, for sure. the entire punchline for the running gag of mallah treating the brain like shit for the entire story is "he loved him all along!" which. uh. questionable in so many ways. but the entire origin of the brain and monsieur mallah as a gay couple came from a joke in a one-off doom patrol comic, so really this is all in the exact same "mallah and the brain as a big gay joke" vein. it honestly makes me wonder if grant morrison read this annual and that's where it gave them the idea for #34. but idk.

ALSO. that closing panel with abby waiting for swamp thing? yes, that's setting up a transition to a new scene, but it's also a reminder of abby's previous scene. swamp thing temporarily got hit with the grodd mind control beam and actually went to go impact the plot of his own annual, and she had her own big speech about her feelings:

[ID: a full comic page layout.

panel 1: abby stops at the edge of a lake, looking down at it. she is in a swamp with tall trees and a ramshackle cabin behind her. she says: "i don't understand, alec... i just don't get it at all. something's wrong with you... something's terribly wrong."

panel 2: a closeup of abby's hand touching the surface of the lake. she says: "one minute you're perfectly fine, the next you're unraveling. it's almost as if your personality were coming apart piece by piece... you don't have alzheimer's disease, do you? no, i don't think a plant can get that..."

panel 3: abby sits sadly huddled on the ground. her knees are pressed to her chest and she's stacked her fists on them to support her chin. she says: "it was probably what i said, wasn't it? i shouldn't have acted like that towards you, i know... sometimes i'm such a spoiled brat."

panel 4: a closeup of abby looking sadly at the water. she says: "i just wanted you to know that my feelings were hurt, and that we should work on what we have, alec... but i'm a stranger to you now, and that hurts worse than all the stupid remarks either of us could ever make."

panel 5: a distant shot of abby sitting and holding her knees while she continues to look at the water. she says: "i don't pretend to understand it... but i--i know where i belong... right here, waiting for you to come back. even if it takes forever. you are coming back, aren't you, alec? i mean... what would i ever do without you?"

panel 6: swamp thing under the water. moodily, he sits squatting with his arms crossed over his knees. a tire is half-buried in the sand next to him.

end ID.]

THE PARALLELS. the being hurt and hurting someone you care about but being determined to stay by their side because you love them. what. the fuck. what the fuck. this has got to be intentional and more mallah/brain fans need to be aware of this comic and add it to their lexicon because what! GAY!!!!

[stevie-petey]

I know your inbox is probably full but if it's alright I'd like to send a lil something something in.

Could we see a little blurb about the sleepovers between Jonathan and reader? Like them hanging out together, asking stupid hypotheticals, reading comics, stuff like that?

" okay but if one day you turn around and I'm just a horse, what would you do?"

" why would you be a horse?"

" why are you dodging the question?!"

pls never hesitate to send me stuff my dear !! i will always gladly answer so no apology needed <3

i LOVE this blurb request and im kinda bummed i cant squeeze in sleepovers due to plot so this is purely self indulgent and i so hope u enjoy <3

“pssst bee.” you shouldve been asleep hours ago.

a sigh. “bug—”

“psssssssssst,”

“bug im so tired—”

“pssssssssssssssssssst,”

jonathan flings up from the beanbag. “okay. fine. im up. yes, what do you need?”

“what would you do if one day you turned around and i was a horse?”

you cant see his face too clearly in the moonlight, but you swear you see jonathans eye twitch. “when i agreed to sleepover—”

“you invited yourself, actually.”

“i thought we’d be asleep by like two. max. it’s now four in the morning and im about to cry from exhaustion.”

you scoff at him. “weak. weve stayed up later before.”

“sure, but we’re supposed to be up in like three hours for school and—”

“why are you dodging the question, jonathan?”

he sighs again, knowing he cant do anything else but play along. as if he’d want to do anything else. he had only been complaining to get you to roll your eyes at him and use that mock stern voice that always makes him smile.

“if you suddenly became a horse, i would feed you the best apples around.”

you rest a hand against your heart, oddly touched. “youd really do that?”

“of course.”

“aww. see, now i feel bad for keeping you up—”

“that way i can then hop on your back and make you take me everywhere. can you imagine how much money id save on gas?”

you hear, rather than see, your pillow collide against jonathans face.

giggles erupt in the room afterwards. theres no doubt youre both deliriously tired and will regret staying up so late once morning comes, but for now youre so happy you could melt into your blankets and float away.

“can i sleepover tomorrow, too?” jonathan asks, his voice laced with sleep and warmth.

you hum, your eyes drooping as you roll over and get comfortable in bed. “of course, dummy.”

“cool.”

“goodnight, bee.”

“goodnight, bug.”

[lunarsilkscreen]

Kingdom Hearts (Kairi and Aqua)

Most Japanese Media, Games, Cartoons, Comics, what have you are heavily inspired by [Studio Ghibli]s approach to help children understand depressing subjects..

Today, some of the older cartoons stand the test of time despite not having any of the context of yesteryear. Which can really mess with ones understanding of an art piece for sure.

In the Opening Sequence we see Two of our Main characters, one of whom doesn't get mentioned until the sequel.

Both of them are falling into the [Sea] {maybe star sea} through opposite directions. Roxas falls from the Dark side into the light and Sora the opposite; meeting in the middle.

We never get any clarification on what this *should* mean. It's an abstraction from the [jump]. And it's only ever extrapolated on in KH:BirthBySleep, when we actually deal with the three protagonists from that game, that were technically always around I guess. Doing stuff.

Here's where it starts getting dark and abstracted to the point where you're not supposed to understand it *until* [it] makes sense to you.

What that [it] might be? Take it up with Stephen King. I disassociated myself with all things [it] after having watched the original movie.

Id deep dive into [My Neighbor Totoro] which is supposed to help an audience with a sibling or family member who just [isn't] anymore.

Some soul taken into the catbus for their next trip through reincarnation.

Why is this Important ?

When we Get to Aquas Story in BBS which doesn't complete until KH:3, Aqua is the one who fell through into the [dark sea] where [Sora] and his [best soul friend ever][Ventus] caught each other in their riptide.

I ask because in these kinds of series, you start wondering why certain characters are relevant to the plot at all. Because, at a certain point, Kingdom Hearts *stops* being about trying to defeat the darkness [Game 1s Premise] and more about... Just existing.

How certain people take certain paths because they're uncertain about who or what they should be or should be doing. And you can't immediately tell which side is right and wrong despite having two clear sides at war.

This question frequently asked in Shonen, Action and Adventure Games, and [whatever else]; Are we doing the right thing? Are we fighting for the right reasons? Do we actually want to be fighting at all?

The Older Cast in Kingdom hearts games, missing from KH3 cast from other SQEX games, and ectra; really take the form of a good method of teaching children what to expect from life.

KH3 specifically presents our [Hero on his own for Once] Sora. (Isn't Sora always alone?) No. And yes..but mostly no

All his friends see him as the pink pillow princess he really is.

Stories like these take great lengths to ask players "Who is the company you keep?" And "Which company would keep you?"

We started fighting against the organization and yet were always portrayed alongside them.

Entwined, interconnected in a way that no non-combatant, could ever hope to be.

And here sits Aqua, at the bottom of the Dark Heartless Sea, lost alone, and for all intents and purposes... [not alive.]

And she faces off against her own self trying her hardest not to succumb to just jumping in and letting go of everything else.

The end of KH3 depicts [The Emperor] and [Luke Skywalker] playing with the souls of the protagonists like a chess set.

It turns out... Perhaps it was only ever a game.l played between two masters of opposing aspects, and getting so enraptured into *that* [Game] that nothing else matters...

It's just that... The Console Game; Kingdom Hearts; ends. Each entry has a conclusion. It's not the [Infinite Game] that the key blade masters are playing.

All of these souls entrapped, like In Jumanji, on opposing sides, but only because their leaders are putting them against each other.

If you ever just find yourself craving some of that delicious looking blue salt-water Ice cream that Uncle Scrooge shills ... This is why. I think.

[ziallslvr]

wRoNg: chapter one

warnings: swearing, lots of making out, other than that this is the tamest chapter.

“I dunno, Ed. I guess I’m just nervous. I’ve never really been in a big group, y’know?” Niall was pacing back and forth in his small dorm room, his roommate lying comfortably on his twin bed. He paid no mind to his stressed out roommate. Louis was good at minding his business.

The two had just met when they moved in, but they got along just fine. They had met on Instagram through a roommate finder page, and the rest is history. They also had a lot in common, including both being some sort of LGBT. Niall hadn’t quite figured it out yet.

“Yeah, I get it man. You gotta put yourself out there, didn’t Louis get bidded on too?” Ed replied after a quick pause. He was referring to the frat they had rushed for, and spoiler alert, they both got bidded on. Niall was chosen by the self-proclaimed “leader” of the group, Zayn? Niall wasn’t sure about the name. Louis got bidded on by Zayn’s presumed boyfriend. He didn’t know that name either. The two had concluded the night before that they solely got bidded on for being foreign, because Zayn and his boyfriend were too.

“Yeah, he did. I guess you’re right. We have to go prepare for our initiation soon. I’ll call you back, alright?” Ed said okay, and Niall quickly hung up before throwing his phone on his bed. He eyed Louis, who still hadn’t looked up from his phone. The only problem Louis had was clearly selective hearing.

“Hellooooo?” Louis snapped back up from his phone, setting it down next to him to focus his full attention on Niall.

“Sorry, what were you saying?” Louis had a cocky smirk plastered on his face. Some people would describe Louis as a handsome devil. Conceited, yet one of the prettiest guys you’ll ever meet.

“We need to leave soon. Did you forget about initiation?” mumbled Niall, clearly annoyed at Louis.

“Imitation isn’t until tomorrow. Tonight’s just our warm up. Plus, do you really want to go? You’re not a big drinker.” Niall didn’t know why Louis was being so flaky, but he ignored it. He wanted to go out tonight and break out of his shell. He had been at college for nearly a month and his only friend remained Louis.

“Maybe I want to tonight,” shrugged Niall, walking to his closet and pulling out a t-shirt. It was plain and white, but Niall didn’t want to wear something nice in case he did get plastered. Louis, on the other hand, was going all out with a tank top and probably the tightest skinny jeans in his collection.

“Whatever,” Louis picked up his phone and went back to endlessly scrolling, “If you get wasted, I’m not carrying you back.” Niall rolled his eyes before fixing his hair in the mirror, making sure he looked perfect for the night ahead of him. He was hoping he could find someone to take home, but that didn’t seem too promising. Back home, he only had one girlfriend. They promptly broke up once she found out Niall was going to America for his studies.

“Wasn’t going to ask you to,” Niall laid his head on the edge of Louis’ bed in a way to intimidate him into getting ready. Reaching a hand onto Louis’ leg, Niall tried his best to seem calm. Sometimes he did this just to mess with him. It was comical to see Louis get hard from it.

“Stop looking at me like that,” said Louis, clearly annoyed, “And you know I don’t like when you do that.”

“Do what?” Niall had a fake look of innocence on his face, and Louis hated every second of it. On rare occasions, he enjoyed when Niall would mess with him, but recently he has been disliking it more and more. It felt like he was a laughing stock to Niall, even if he knew that was not the truth.

“Touching my leg.” Louis got up off the bed, the blond’s hand falling in response. Niall huffed, sitting down in his desk chair to wait for Louis. He spun slightly in the chair

Louis didn’t need to do much, just fix his hair and throw on a pair of shoes. Shortly, he finished, and Niall rose up and grabbed his school ID.

“Do you have your ID?”

“Yup,” He said while directing his eyes to his pocket. Louis opened their dorm’s door, letting Niall go ahead first. It was a small gesture, but Niall appreciated it. It made him feel like a princess, in some weird, gender-bent way. Louis locked the door and followed the boy in front of him. You really could never be too careful on a college campus, especially one as big as their university.

The walk to the frat house was mostly silent, with only the night breeze and other party goers making noise. Niall was too nervous to even speak up, and Louis respected that he didn’t want to have a conversation.

“I’m so nervous,” whispered Niall as they approached the house. Music was already echoing outside and several drunk patrons were slowly leaving.

“Don’t be,” Louis soothed, grabbing Niall’s hand and squeezing it. They had a weird dynamic, but they had been helping each other a lot through their first semester.

Niall smiled and dragged them up to the house’s ‘bouncers.’ They were just the frat’s sophomores, but they were intimidating enough to scare off the weird people. Getting in went smoothly. The bouncers, Luke and Ashton, recognized them and didn’t even check their ID.

“Finally,” a voice said, making Niall jump in surprise. Louis stayed still, eyeing the boy talking to them carefully. It was Zayn, and his boyfriend that Niall still didn’t know the name of was behind him.

“Did we keep you waiting?” Louis grinned cockily. Niall sighed and let go of his roommate’s hand.

“We have to introduce our new pledges,” Zayn said, patting Niall on the back.

“Right,” the Irish boy spoke up, “Sorry we were late! Louis is just… bad at time management.”

“No problem, lad,” Zayn turned to his boyfriend and signaled him over, “This is my boyfriend, Harry. He’ll be partnered up with you Niall for initiation. Louis, you’ll be with me.”

“Perfect,” said Louis, quickly leaving Niall’s side and walking off with Zayn. The blond was scared to be left alone with Harry, but it couldn’t be that bad. They both seemed nice enough, considering their position.

“Niall Horan, right?” Harry set a hand on Niall’s shoulder in a comforting way. Niall nodded and smiled, goosebumps running up his spine.

“Why don’t we take this upstairs? So we can talk about initiation?” Niall didn’t say a word, instead walking up the stairs slowly behind Harry. Maybe he was just scared because Harry was an attractive guy, Niall thought, but that was just him trying to rationalize his behavior.

Now that he was thinking of it, Harry was one of the most gorgeous men he had ever seen. His curls laid perfectly on his head with a cute bandana wrapped around it. Not to mention, he was muscular and had tattoos. He was the whole package.

Harry had dragged Niall to one of the bedrooms that he could only assume was Harry and Zayn’s. There weren't many decorations, but by the clothes on the floor, his idea checked out.

“So, what do I need to do to prepare for tomorrow? I know frats doing hazing and stuff but I know you guys don’t,” rambled Niall, sitting down on the bed. Harry smirked, brushing past Niall and sitting next to him.

“Me and Zayn both have different ways of initiation,” said Harry, resting a hand on Niall’s leg, “And I hope you know if you want to be a part of this group, you’ll have to do this.”

“And what is that?” He gulped, staring down at his thighs to avoid any eye contact with Harry.

“It may sound stupid, but have you ever had sex with a guy before?” Hearing that question made Niall’s head flood with thoughts. Even though he knew he had some sort of interest with men, he had never really done anything with a guy. Sure, he messed around with Louis sometimes, but that was strictly platonic.

“No…? I had a girlfriend until I got here,” Niall tried his best not to sound judgemental, but what Harry was implying was, to put it lightly, insane.

“Shit, I forgot about that,” Harry didn’t dare to move his hand away from Niall, instead tightening his grip on his leg, “Well, I’m happy to be your first. If you’re okay with that, of course.”

“If that’s what gets me in…” Niall paused, debating if he should really go through with this, “I guess so.” He smiled softly, finally making eye contact with Harry. The latter smiled, leaning in and giving Niall a kiss on the cheek.

“Okay. I’ll see you tomorrow. Go find Louis, yeah? He’s probably looking for you.” And with that, Niall left the room to go find Louis. That didn’t take long, he was waiting by the front door for him.

“We need to go,” Louis said with pleading eyes. Niall raised an eyebrow, but took Louis’ hand and walked outside. Fighting the incoming crowd, they finally made it away from the house.

“What’s wrong?” Niall asked, walking down the concrete sidewalk. Their dorm wasn’t too far, only about a ten minute walk, but they could cut it down to seven if they walked fast enough.

“What the hell did Harry ask you to do?” Louis was obviously in some sort of distress, his eyes looking wilder than Niall had ever seen before.

“Uh, depends. What’d Zayn ask you to do?” They both picked up their pace, seeing familiar buildings in the distance.

“Sex. That’s what he wants to do! I’ve never done anything like that before unless, you know, it’s with a girlfriend-, or boyfriend. The specifics don’t matter!”

“I guess that’s how their relationship works…”

“Wait,” Louis stopped in his tracks and turned to look Niall in the eyes, “Harry asked you the same thing?”

He slowly nodded. It was too embarrassing to say out loud.

“Did you say yes?” Niall let go of his hand and walked forward.

“Niall, tell me!” Louis sounded like he was begging at this point, desperation lingering, “If it makes you feel better… I did too.”

“Yeah, I did,” Niall was still speeding up, wanting any memory of Harry to leave. This can’t be real, Niall thought, this has to be a dream.

“Have you done anything with a guy before? I know you and Ellie we’re together for a long time.”

“Louis, we can talk about this when we get home. This isn’t a conversation to have in public.” Louis respected his wishes, grabbing his hand once again and matching Niall’s walking pace.

Louis rushed inside the moment they got back to their hall. Niall was basically humiliated, his face flushed a faint maroon. He really didn’t want to talk to his roommate about his sex life and personal preferences, but they were going through the same thing, and Niall thought they could help each other through this tough decision.

The elevator ride up to their floor was quite awkward, especially with how many girls and guys were in there with him. Their hands never left each other, though, it was oddly comforting. The elevator finally stopped on their floor, level six, and Louis led the way to their room.

“Finally,” said Louis, staring at the 0607 on the door. Sixth floor, room seven. Their untwined fingers parted.

“To answer your question, I haven’t. That’s why I’m so anxious about tomorrow,” said Niall, climbing up onto his bed, not bothering to change, “I haven’t even kissed a guy. Do you know how embarrassing that is?”

“Hey, don’t worry,” Louis laid his head on arms that were crossed on Niall’s bed, “You’ll do fine. I’m nervous too, not gonna lie, but I’m sure it’ll be fine. I really need to get into this thing. I want to have friends.”

“You’re going to have friends anyway,” spat Niall, “You made it on the soccer team. I have nothing. I have to do this.” Louis nodded slowly, climbing onto the bed. He seemed more at ease, Niall noticed, a jarring difference from his behavior before.

“You’re really likable, Niall, remember that. Your best friend from highschool still talks to you. Mine completely forgot about me.” Louis laid down next to him, wrapping his arms around Niall’s waist.

“Yeah,” He sniffled, “I guess you’re right. It wouldn’t hurt to try things out? Even if it means we’re getting involved in their weird open relationship thing.” He flipped himself over, staring at Louis. More importantly, staring at Louis’ lips.

“I knew you would agree. If you need any help, I’m here, okay? And I’ll always be here. You’re like, my best friend now,” Louis leaned in, giving Niall a quick kiss on the forehead. Thankfully, Niall wasn’t blushing as bad as he was before they made it up here.

“Yeah. Can I do something real quick?” The other shook his head to signal permission, and with that, Niall softly kissed Louis lips. The brunette put his hands on his cheek, pulling him in closer. Heating up, Louis intensified the kiss with a lick to Niall’s bottom lip. Niall let him in, accepting what was going to happen.

Louis parted the kiss, leaving the other painted with disappointment. He smirked, climbing on top of Niall, his knees resting next to his hips. His hand snuck his way up his shirt, pulling it up to reveal Niall’s stomach. Ignoring the gasp from the boy under him, Louis leaned down, peppering his stomach with kisses.

Louis bit down, sucking on the skin roughly. Niall groaned, feeling as flustered as ever. That didn’t stop Louis, though, and he continued his attack on his stomach. After what felt like forever, Louis stopped and parted with Niall’s torso.

Looking down, Louis smiled at his work and pecked Niall on his lips.

“We can practice with each other,” Louis said, “We’re going to need it if this is how the frat works.”

“Y-Yeah,” Niall said nervously, his face red and sweaty. He wasn’t hot, but the overwhelming atmosphere made him sweat.

“Are you okay? I didn’t take it too far, right?” Louis asked cautiously, making sure he didn’t cross any boundaries. Even if they were just roommates, he cherished the friendship they had, and he didn’t want to ruin it.

“No, you didn’t,” Niall leaned up to be face level with Louis, “I liked it. I’ll return the favor soon, okay?” He didn’t just like it, he loved it. Getting flustered was just something Niall was good at, and he wanted to save Louis from his worries.

“Don’t worry about it,” Louis kissed him once more before climbing off the bed and hopping into his. Niall frowned, feeling lonely the moment Louis got under his covers.

The rest of the night was pervaded with silence. Niall had gone to bed a little bit after the practicing, as getting that hot and bothered exhausted him. He didn’t even get to relieve himself, but that was okay. He still appreciated what Louis did.

Louis stayed up, unlike his roommate. Staring at the tiled ceiling, he thought about the initiation tomorrow night. Was Zayn really wanting him to do this? Just to get into a frat? It wasn’t anything he had ever before, but maybe frats were a lot different than what he heard back home.

Louis couldn’t lie to himself and say that the idea of having sex with Zayn was disgusting, because it wasn’t at all, but he barely knew the guy. Zayn was mysterious, leaving a lot for the imagination. He was nice enough to bid on him, and that’s where the association ended.

Before falling asleep, Louis glared at Niall’s sleeping body. He looked so at peace, so calm, and Louis couldn’t help but smile at the resting boy. Surely he had never seen anyone as cute as him in his life. It made his stomach flutter, but he chose to ignore that part. Far too late into the night to start overthinking.

“Goodnight, Niall,” whispered Louis, rolling over in bed and throwing the sheets over himself.

[soupandflowers]

What are some headcanon you have for China?

oh man, you've opened a can of worms!! note, that a lot of my headcanons derave from deep china discussions i had with wonderful friends on discord.

my favorite one is that i think of him as aroace!!

don't get me wrong, im still able to enjoy ships with him (i do like rochu a lot!!), but in the grand scale for what i think of what is the best romantic relationship for him: none at all!

i just can't see him that way. when i first thought about the best ship for china, closest thing is rochu but even then, it never felt right. and i love my aroace china headcanon, because even after all this time, after everything that has happened, you don't need romance in order to truly live, but rathermore, love. in whatever form that is outside of romance. i consider his familial ties to be one of the most important things to him because of that.

and also it's really comforting to me, because even as a bi person, it's good to know that romance is not a necessity in order to enjoy life

another favorite is that i headcanon that he sends packages of food to kiku at least every chinese new year. ive been having a lot of discussions in regards to yao and kiku's enstranged relationship, to one point in time where they just don't know how to interact with each other especially after ww2. kiku would no longer be there at family reunions or celebrate chinese new year. id imagine there would be zero contact for the first few years after the war and then one day, kiku just get this random package at his door from an anonymous sender and no return address. inside, is his favorite snacks and ingredients for him to make a meal for the lunar new year. japan wouldn't say anything of course, but yao continues to send it year after year.

that said, id imagine food would be a crucial love language for yao. i have a cantonese friend who really emphasized on this fact about chinese culture. food is literally one of his best ways to show that he cares. a package to an enstranged kiku. a street snack at hong kong's doorstep. baked treats for macau. a recipe for taiwan. feeling down? let's have some dim sum and talk about it. its subtle, but it goes a long way. especially since he is an amazing cook.

and also he DEFINITELY has raised more nations than the current east asian family in the past. new nations come and go all the time, so not only he has raised them, im pretty sure he outlived a lot of them.

last one, but i also think a lot about when he was young. we do know from the davie comic that nations don't exactly realize they're.. different from humans at a young age. id actually imagine china to be raised by humans first rather than nations. id imagine when china first came to be, he'd rathermore wander amongst his people and their villages and got to spend time with the landscape before actually coming in contact with his government. of course since he is a child, people would take him in. as the people around him get older and he doesn't, the phenomenon around him starts to swirl and word gets out and that's how i imagine him coming into first contact with his government. and also isn't it canon that if you spend too much time around a nation as a human, you'd go crazy? that will def have its effects as well. just this poor baby yao that like.. has no clue what's going on and why he is so different from everybody else. and id imagine this is something he had to figure out on his own instead of other nations guiding him. id imagine it would be a while until je met someone else just like him.

thank u for asking!! this was very long but i hope this suffices ^_^

[somerandomdudelmao]

hiya! friendly grammar anon here to shwo my appreciation for the new comic the only way i know how, by doing my best to help with it :]

on the third page, where Leo says "Well, then you better be planning some time travel machine" its technically correct, but its much more clear if you change it to "some sort of time travel machine" or if you want a shorter more direct version where leos suggestion feels less like a joke, "planning to build a time travel machine" would also work.

also on the third page, where Donnie says "Only if you don't mind taking apart Raph for some parts" its also technically correct, its just that the way you worded it more implies raph is a thing not a person? like, youd take apart your tv, but you'd take your friend out for lunch. "if you don't mind taking Raph apart for some parts" fits better in this case, unless you did intend for Donnie to refer to Raph in that specific way for ~Plot Reasons~ yknow.

last thing, kind of a nitpick, and im not sure exactly what grammar rule makes it look funny, but the last sentence in the latest update ("This will give you access to a spare battery of your arm") isnt quite right. my best guess is it has something to do with the words "a" and "of". id reccomend "a spare battery in your arm" (if theres more than one) or "the spare battery in your arm", since "of" kinda implies the battery is a part of his arm rather than being a piece inside it? its hard to explain properly, but it just reads better if you tweak it slightly.

overall, fantastic work!! for such a dialogue-heavy installment i only have a few small things to note :] ive been following the series since the robo-raph episode, and i can genuinely say ive seen a lot of improvement in your comics and writing, even though in my opinion they started out pretty fantastic in the first place. thank you for reading through this rambly, tangent-ridden ask, and for sharing such an awesome story with this silly little hellsite.

THIS amount of explanation OH WOW

Thank you so much:3

[lotusclans-luck]

Do you have any tips or recommendations for someone who wants to make their own comic based on their ClanGen save?

ooh man Well. take this with a grain of salt because i am definitely not an expert on storytelling Or clangen stuff lol ! but heres what id suggest/what i do:

log/write down what happens every moon, patrol, etc. personally i write down EVERYTHING (moons, patrols, some relationship events, and each cats personal status) so im certain i dont miss any potential details/scenes i want to add. however this does leave you with way more information than you'll need in the long run so feel free to just log what you want to! dont go overboard if you dont want to

when writing down everything make sure its organized in a way you'll understand later. for example, i use google spreadsheets and have all the information grouped into specific sheet pages; from there i list everything according to which Moon it happened in for timelines sake

if you dont like something that happened ingame and you want to void it because its inaccurate for the story, Void it. If you want to move an event to a different moon so it makes more sense in the story, Do it. you dont have to include every single thing that happens either, pick things you like or think would work best for the story. its all up to you and should be something you're having fun with!

make sure your character designs are ones you'll be able to draw over and over again– dont feel like you cant get creative with them, just keep in mind youll be drawing these characters so so so many times so make sure youre prepared for that

i cant think of much else off the top of my head.. i kind of just do what i Feel like doing theres no real rhyme or reason to it.. as long as you're having fun bringing these characters to life , you're doing it right !!

[sciderman]

do you ever think that maybe a lot older comics with nerdy main characters are just... The MCs just have high functioning autism but at that point in time autism was just viewed as kids acting out and being aggressive because of stigma so the writers wouldn't have written that they have autism because of how negatively it was viewed. Because looking back today I feel like especially in older comics from like the 80s, there's a lot of main characters who display signs of autism but they wouldn't have been considered as autistic behaviour because again of the stigma surrounding it at the time. Just a thought id like to share.

i think there's something there, for sure! i can't speak to every older comic about nerdy main characters - the only one i've read is spider-man and i don't think there's any doubt at all that he's a neurodivergent king. always has been. always will be.

peter's kind of always been victim to misinterpretation by people around him - kind of always having the desire to escape social situations - kind of just - yeah. i've always read him as autistic. and yeah, it might be the stigma, but i also think it's just - a lot of people go undiagnosed. and, well, you know, it's a spectrum, everyone falls on it, to varying degrees. and not everyone needs or pursues a diagnosis. i've been told i'm probably on the spectrum - even doctors when i was a tiny child observed my behaviours and thought i might be on the spectrum, but i've not had any sort of formal diagnosis and probably never will pursue it because - i guess i Am high-functioning and i feel like a lot of the problems i face are things i can manage.

i think that's the case for a lot of people in the world - not just me. that yeah, you recognise there are shortcomings you have that aren't always in your control, but you do your best to keep your head afloat. i don't think any brain is normal. and i think there's a benefit to having characters like peter parker who face these very familiar neurodivergent troubles but - without any sort of formal diagnosis. like, it makes me feel less alone when i see peter parker struggling in social situations because i see myself. and other people might see themselves. it's like, it's a nice access point.

i don't know what sort of impact it would make to talk about this sort of thing canonically - i do like characters that you can project onto. that you can interpret in different ways. i don't know what the world would be like if marvel decreed peter parker was canonically autistic. but i think most people do kind of think he is. and i think a lot of his fanbase love him for those traits because they see themselves in him. i don't know if making him canonically autistic and giving him a diagnosis in canon would help or hurt that - i think there probably still is a stigma, and i think marvel would be too cowardly to do it because - because once you put the label on it, you have to tread more carefully and do more research. if you keep it vague, you can't offend anyone. i know that maybe, if peter had an official autistic diagnosis there might be cries of oh! he's a bad example! he's too stereotypical, or he's too violent, or he's wah wah wah. maybe it's better to keep it vague. so everyone can see themselves in him, even if they're not ready to admit that their brain might be freakier than they think.

i think i love peter parker for being a character who definitely has a weird brain that trips him up constantly and still keeps fighting for his life, day to day. me too, buddy.

[todaysdocument]

Letter from Eugenia Y. Genovar Regarding Comic Book Censorship

Record Group 46: Records of the U.S. Senate Series: Committee Papers of the Committee on the Judiciary

[stamped] NOV 27 1953 [handwritten in red ink] Carl 1-6-5X [handwritten] ID 2-2 [crossed out in red ink, illegible] 271 St. George Street St. Augustine, Florida November 24, 1953 My Dear Senator Hendrickson, I see in today's Florida Times-Union that you have been appointed to head a committee for the investigation of juvenile delinquency. This is indeed a very fine idea for really a mother today lives in constant fear because of the awful increase in crime among the young, and especially the dreadful increase of sex crimes and depravity. My dear Senator Hendrickson as an American mother I offer you these suggestions. First, please read the article in the November issue of Ladies Home Journal on "What Parents Don't Know About Comic Books" by Dr. Frederick Wertham. I am positive that he has the right idea! If the mothers of our beloved country would unite to have these pernicious comic books banned I am sure it would be a great step forward in the control of the young, especially the young boys. Second, all the awful crime stories and murder mysteries sent out to pollute the air and corrupt the minds of our younger generation. I do not want to bore you with onerous detail but I have found that even though a mother is alert and does not allow her children to waste their money or time on these cheap and filthy comics, one's children can read them at the book stands or read them when they visit their friends. Third, reading all these lurid, highly colored comics ruins a child's appetite for good books as the better literature sounds too tame after this other highly seasoned diet. I believe that the P.T.A's all over the country could unite to have these comics banned, many cities have done this and as Dr. says, we have laws that prohibit selling poison, why can't we prohibit these people from selling poison to our children's minds? I do not think that it is necessary or just to conduct an investigation that will cause the long suffering, over taxed American citizen a great deal of money when the evidence is right in front of our eyes and the way to stop it is so very simple. Of course you will have educators (?) and others who will rise up and say these comics do not harm the minds of the readers but I think the proof that they do is right in front of us, in increased juvenile delinquency for as you know, we do spend a great deal of money on our schools, our recreation programs, ect, and the great majority of the parents are trying to bring their children up right, yet, in spite of all this we are appalled at what we read in the papers every day and hear from our neighbors, friends, nurses and doctors. I will not take up any more of your time. With heartfelt best wishes, I am, Sincerely yours, Eugenia Y. Genovar