#nothing interesting happens in my life so i guess this is what i make comics about

[apostatehamster]

For me?

For ME!!!

[sgiandubh]

My curious and random thought: Why ask about Shat and why now? It’s ancient fandom history. Is it only because Star Trek has been an iconic IP at the comic cons, or could there be some clean up planned to close out the last 11 years. And if so what other interesting nuggets might be next.

Dear Ancient Fandom History,

What a #silly, #silly way to minimize/discount something so tragically wrong and so embarrassing to many luminaries across the street! What this sad, cheap troll did to many people is borderline mystifying, if you ignore (I said that before, I will probably say it again) that his leverage was based on the fact this was an almost exclusively feminine fandom and an ageing one, at that. It is my understanding, after reading what happened then, that nobody managed or even wanted to properly put him in his place. His empty threats (and, as a legal specialist, I know what I am saying) terrified and even traumatized many, but also served other trolls, who wanted to either portray themselves as victims, or invincible.

People who were embroiled and/or affected by this had no idea things could go that far in a fandom, an environment that seems absolutely benign (and a bit #silly, too, to be honest) to a perfect outsider. That made the shockwave even more violent .***, Shatner and the gossip press are all guilty and/or tainted by this. They tacitly tolerated, even condoned this troll's abuse of an entire fandom. Why? Because it was convenient, at the time and, on the long run, because OL's PR repeatedly proved itself to be tone-deaf and blatantly incompetent when it comes to crisis management.

Sock puppetry is a fraud (see US courts' jurisprudence, such as United States v. Drew, People v. Golb, etc). Doxing people is a crime, still insufficiently sanctioned by the US legislation (the Interstate Communications Statute and the Interstate Stalking Statute), unlike South Korea or (soon to be) Australia, just to take two random examples. The reasons why they still happen probably are public complacency and lack of proper information, spare the sketchy legislation, allowing many loops.

There were consequences to this. People were hurt, dishonored, despised and shunned. And for what? A not so uncommon love story? This is so wrong, in so many ways, I could be only glad, Anon that some light has been finally shed on this heavy, toxic garbage. Kudos to S for being brave enough to open up Pandora's box. I have to say I was surprised: makes his honesty even more valued.

Why now? Because we are slowly reaching the end, when nothing else matters, as Metallica once famously sang (still one of my favorite ballads, mind you). Will there be more interesting nuggets? Logically yes, but at this point in time, my guess is as good as anyone else's.

Not even sorry for this very long answer. I tend to get very invested in this, reminds me of a former professional life of mine. Happy days.

[Later edit]: forgot to answer your first question. If you think these discussion topics are not discussed before recording and vetted, you are naive, Anon. Very interesting, huh? There was nothing organic in that episode. Nothing.

[darqx]

Some BP/HH/General asks

That mood when you want to share all the things but also want to keep it under wraps for the actual thing haha! Thanks very much anon!

As for your questions, I can't actually be specific cos there's no definitive number I have in mind for either. Basically there are a number of sectors (you can consider them their equivalent of countries - they have less than what we do though), and a number of species of demon of which I've designed about seven of. The ones I've shown before are these guys (and do you think I could find this pic again? No, I had to recreate it cos for the life of me I couldn't remember what ask I'd previously stuck it in lol):

One day when i have enough species and stuff out there I want to make a proper field guide \o/

Thank you very much for the interest! ∠( ᐛ 」∠)＿ I would actually love to for BP, but before I jump the gun there I have to get the comic out first lol. That being said I have made mini-games before featuring the HH versions and some other characs alas they are all lost at the moment to the sands of Flash becoming obsolete 😩

Me and Gato do still collab sometimes (and send each other Xmas presents)! °˖✧◝(⁰▿⁰)◜✧˖°

I have been working on one off and on for a while actually! Hopefully I'll have some pages to post next year or so*, I've been doing a bit of thumbnailing recently :D

*that is the plan but i also don't know where people find the time to do anything with a full time job lol.

Hullo! Glad you are enjoying the snippets of BP I've got here and there :D Here is an older ref on Izm back when i first got the idea (at that time i didn't really plan to do anything with it, it was just an AU. Now it's my main project haha. Anyway the ref is a little bit out of date in that regard.)

I used to have a "field guide" which was also made quite a while ago, unfortunately the death of Flash kinda killed it. Here's a screenshot of some relevant info from it though.

That's an interesting one as it's questionable how sentient souls are after removal 🤔 In my mind its only form is the smoke light, it can "see" to some degree and MIGHT be able to talk (but in a very no one can hear them sort of way, a la i have no mouth and i must scream. So i guess it can think "aloud"). The more time passes the less sentience it has.

It could try, though it wouldn't really get anywhere if it's in Rire's collection. He might just eat it lol.

.D: Good with kids, will be fine in all aspects.

Izm: The fun dad however needs a partner that knows what they're doing to ensure the child safety during shenanigans.

Marcus and Zeke: Also would be good parents though might be more helicopter out of protectiveness/worry when first starting out.

Ren: Geek parent very good for homework help. Some Asian parent tendencies eg "ah see, i told you not to do that right? Now you see what happened."

They are similar to our known society for this! So basically, there are some good families out there (eg Zeke - who is a demon - is from a pretty average loving family), and there are some bad families out there who only care about power or having an heir or whatever.

HH Rire is a human. I differentiate between him and Demon Rire because they are two different characters...even though they are also technically the same character lol. You can consider them as alternate universe iterations of a base "Rire" concept.

I actually half jested this in an old comic lol

I am sorry to inform you that a HH webcomic doesn't actually exist 😅 I did a lot of art, animations and one shots (such as the HHJ comics) with them, but nothing actually planned or serialised or anything. Whatever's currently on my DA or here is basically what exists.

Bringing this image back cos it's relevant lol.

You spelled it correct there though! XD

[dalishious]

I'm actually not done comparing the development of Baldur's Gate 3 to Dragon Age: Dreadwolf's yet I guess...

As @purahs mentioned in the replies to this post, Larian has been actively engaged with fans throughout the entire process. They have been transparent as hell about everything they're doing, because it's pretty clear they highly value and respect the people interested in their game. This has earned so much excitement and fan activity even before the game's full release!

You know what happened when I pointed out that it would be a good idea to let the player character call out Astarion's racism towards Gur, to make it crystal clear that he is in the wrong in that dialogue? Larian added that option in the following patch. Just like that, I felt more validated and taken more seriously than I have ever in my life been treated as a veteran Dragon Age fan. My voice mattered.

I guarantee without any shadow of a doubt that if I were to suggest the same to BioWare, I would be met with either complete silence or a total blacklist.

BioWare has put the Dragon Age franchise through development hell more than once now, and it is a testament to the fans that we're still sticking through it. It'll be an actual decade since the last Dragon Age game before we see Dreadwolf come out. Why? Because EA/BioWare were fucking around with that Anthem live service garbage that every game studio's so greedy for nowadays, eager to churn out as much money from people's pockets as possible, in the middle of a capitalist hellscape economic crisis.

It's been almost ten years now, and we know next to nothing about what this game is going to be like. BioWare is relying entirely on just spamming returning character names like Varric and Solas to try and gain excitement, and that only goes so far. Hell, I've gotten more excitement out of the Tevinter Nights novel, comics, and cartoon at this point than I have the actual incoming game.

What I'm saying is, I will always prefer engagement and transparency over secrecy. BioWare could learn a thing or two from Larian.

[noxer]

"Getaway - from hero to zero"

DISCLAIMER: Everything expressed is a subjective opinion that does not claim to be true or significant, I am not justifying anyone, and all this is necessary to simply examine one character under a magnifying glass.

I really love Getaway as a character because you can endlessly interpret him and his actions, even though he only appears in MTMTE and LL, which I remember were written by the same writing team. Getaway is interesting as an antagonist, especially since at first he is presented as a rather likeable character, and at the time of the events of MTMTE his motivation is still quite understandable. And the fact that it's getting such a negative reaction shows how well it's written (or how much people like Cygate). And he’s so pathetic that I want to tenderly bite his head off. So I want to put together what we have on this special agent and see what he’s like. After all, despite the fact that he is revealed to us in comics, we can only guess about many details, since the writers could not show everything as it is, so as not to disrupt the intrigue.

First steps

The only thing we know about Getaway's past is his telling Tailgate about his first battle, from which the newly activated Getaway escaped. I don’t want to analyze specifically the act itself, because it is quite difficult to judge whether this escape was justified or not (pro - what else did the Autobots expect from a newborn?; con - the other MTO, it seems, remained to fight). I want to talk more about the impact of this act on Getaway's personality. Because Getaway is definitely ashamed of what happened, since it doesn’t fit into the image he wants to create. The only reason he shares this story with Tailgate is to a) make Tailgate feel sorry for him; b) instill in Tailgate an even greater sense of hostility towards Decepticons; c) a kind of therapy - he needs to share this with someone, and he doesn’t feel an emotional attachment to Tailgate, that is, he doesn’t care what he thinks about him, plus, Tailgate still has to die according to the plan, which means he’s already won't tell anyone anything.

Shame in most cases leads to anger, either at oneself or at others. Getaway chooses the second, and begins to slowly accumulate resentment and anger towards both the Autobots and the Decepticons, that is, towards those who started this war and thus forced him to be born as a soldier. In addition, the feeling that he is now forever branded a coward lays the first bricks of Getaway's exorbitant ambitions, as a way to make amends for his initial transgression. Let's add to this the very status of Getaway as literally a consumable item - the fact that he could die in the first minutes of his life was quite expected. Then attempts to become something big become a matter not only of ambition, but also of banal survival, because a specialist is less likely to be sent directly under fire than an ordinary soldier.

Diplomatic corps

We know almost nothing about Getaway’s work in the special unit. What I want to highlight here is Getaway's attitude towards Prowl. He clearly has a certain respect for him, and we have no reason to believe that this respect is feigned, if only because Getaway's behavior is in many ways a copy of Prowl's, only a little more inept. Getaway tries to manipulate like Prowl, tries to scheme like Prowl, but since he has less experience being the one who plans the operations rather than the one who executes them, things do not go entirely smoothly. Honestly, I can't get out of my head the image of Prowl berating Getaway not for attempted mutiny, but for how clumsy it was.

I mean, his entire plan rested on one Tailgate, and if something happened (and it did), all, literally all the threads would lead to Getaway. Getaway tries to be smart and accurate, but in the end his actions still amount to brutal blows to the head (sometimes literally), simply because that's how Getaway is used to acting. He is an operative, not a tactician or strategist. He acts here and now, with small goals like “kill X”, “successfully escape”, “survive”, and when fate confronts him with the need for long-term planning, Getaway simply cannot cope. No matter how manipulative the scriptwriters make him out to be, for the most part Getaway behaves almost instinctively. I highlight this this way because a similar pattern of “a small person (bot) trying to seem like something big” is clearly visible in Getaway’s behavior almost always. He tries to be an Autobot, but escapes from his first battle. He tries to be an "evil genius", but in the end, all his plans fail and he gets through only through luck and evil chaotic throwing, in the hope that something will work. He wants to become Prime, but does everything to ensure that his name is associated with this title as little as possible. Getaway may be a villain, but he's primarily a failed villain, not a villain with a plan.

"Primus apotheosis" - or similar symptoms?

I'm actually very wary of the whole "primus apotheosis" situation, because it was only added in LL, and therefore there are some doubts and inconsistencies with MTMTE, but more on that a little later. What do we know at all: there are certain signs that distinguish Prime from among ordinary bots, and Getaway, having discovered them in himself, becomes fixated on this. Why is that? Back to the “I’m-more-than-I-seem” pattern. For Getaway, it is important to be more significant than he is, so much so that he is ready to cling to semi-mythical descriptions just to feel better. In fact, these signs are no better than some “aryan standards” - they are just an easy way to gain superiority over others. For Getaway, “primus apotheosis” is only a consequence of his ambitions and inferiority complex, which took this form due to the war surrounding him and a certain “cult of Prime” that reigned among the Autobots. Since 1) i am a doctor not in the field of psychology, 2) we have no information about the Cybertronian psyche, 3) Freud’s diagnoses is not the most reliable, in principle, it is difficult to say whether Getaway actually has such a disorder, but if yes, it fits perfectly into his image.

Also, the “primus apotheosis” fits into another aspect of Getaway’s personality – his rather contradictory relationship with their god. The Autobots, unlike the Decepticons, in some places still retain a somewhat functional attitude, as well as faith in Primus. From this point of view, Getaway is in a rather unenviable position - he is a MTO who ran away from his battle, that is, in some sense, did not fulfill his function, he is constructed cold, that have long been considered second-class, he is a murderer, no matter what he said. And Getaway simultaneously hates Primus for who he created him, who he forced him to be, and longs for recognition and forgiveness from him. Becoming a Prime was about affirming that he was worthy, that he was forgiven, that everything he had done was right. Because if sinners like Optimus and Rodimus could become Primes, then so could Getaway.

Mutiny

We already know that Getaway hates his origins, and this anger is constantly projected onto others, but especially Megatron. The logical chain is as follows: “if you had not started the war, I would not have been created as MTO, I would not have had to become what I became, I would not have had to prove my right to life, I could have been like others.” For Getaway, Megatron is another obstacle to being as valuable as the others. He dared to start this war, and made Getaway's life like this. I also wonder if Getaway might see killing Megatron as some kind of “redemption”? "I killed the greatest monster in our history, something previous Primes couldn't do, I'm not that hopeless, right?" However, even if you remove the specific reasons, Getaway will still have the motivation to get rid of Megatron, because of whom many, many cybertronians died. Removing the one who started and supported the most destructive war of your species away sounds like a good reason. And Getaway does everything for this purpose, at least until the ill-fated events of LL.

Crucial moment

The difference between Getaway MTMTE and Getaway LL is quite noticeable. In MTMTE, Getaway is motivated precisely by his hatred of Megatron as a military leader; his “primus apotheosis” was only added into LL. In MTMTE, Getaway really was a mini-Prowl - he had a completely understandable and even justified motivation - to get rid of an objectively dangerous crew member - which he solves in a not the most humane way, using Tailgate. Getaway in MTMTE has a lot of likeable traits until we are gradually introduced to his slightly less pleasant sides, making it difficult for us to know how to feel about him. Yes, he put one of the beloved characters in danger, but he did it for a reason we can understand. We get asked a pretty tough question, which is great, right?

Now forget all this. Because in LL, Getaway does terrible things for terrible reasons, and his “primus apotheosis” is revealed, and it just becomes difficult for us to respect him at least as a villain.

But why is this even the case?

Doylist explanation

It was vital to the writers that the core cast was Always Right™. In MTMTE, it was quite easy to sympathize with Getaway (unless you are a fierce fan of Tailgate and Cygate). And since the main goal was the redemption of Megatron, Getaway had to be removed. Because Getaway's character asked this question: "Maybe Megatron can redeem himself. Maybe he deserves it. But what if we, who suffered from his decisions, are physically unable to forgive him after all? Don't we deserve our good ending?" And the writers didn't have an answer to that question (because there's no right answer). And they had to make Getaway much worse so that readers would not have the slightest desire to understand and and accept his ideas.

Watsonian explanation

Getaway has really, truly gone crazy. He has currently spent some time in a cell, unable to move or speak, having previously been held captive by Tyrest for an undetermined amount of time. Yes, Getaway is an operative, his psyche must be prepared, but everyone has their own limit of strength. Getaway later leaves the team at the mercy of DJD because they were the ones who threw him into the cell, even though he was doing them a favor by getting rid of Megatron. Thus, he allows his partner and friend to die, which is also unlikely to contribute to mental health. And as time goes on, Getaway's actions become increasingly desperate and insane in an attempt to survive and reach Cyberutopia, where he hopes he can find forgiveness for all the terrible things he has done. In the end, his last actions are, in order, 1) an attempt to blow up the ship along with himself; 2) unsuccessful suicide attempt; 3) an absolutely senseless attack on Cyclonus, either out of desperation or in the hope that he would kill him; 4) he lost his sense of reality so much that he believed the illusion created by the scraplet colony. By the end of LL, Getaway is more of a hunted animal than the calculating saboteur he was in MTMTE.

Bottom line

So what do we get in the bottom line? Getaway was destined from birth to become a bargaining chip in a conflict to which he had nothing to do. His unsuccessful "debut" began his quest to become something significant, in the hopes that others would forget who he was. Prowl gives him this opportunity, which is why Getaway begins to see him as a role model, adopting his worldview, ways of acting and attitude towards others. At the same time, Getaway “grows up” in an environment where some stereotypes and prejudices, including religious ones, still persist, and there is also an idealized figure of Prime. Since his promotion to special agent has hardly changed anything for Getaway about himself, he becomes fixated on the supposed signs (perhaps with the occasional intervention from Skids), although most of the time he "keeps it under control" until something serious happens. Getaway has loyalties and principles, he can have feelings towards others, and I don't believe his attempts to kill Megatron were always purely selfish. But Getaway puts these feelings aside in favor of “more important things,” because the fear of being a nobody again, of being just MTO running away from battle, is stronger than all his attachments. Getaway is a terrible (and rather unhappy) bot, not because he has always been like this, as they tried to present it in LL, but because between real significance - being important to someone - he chooses false significance - being important to everyone, which the same as being important to no one. It is still easier for Getaway to run away, chasing something illusory, than to fight for something important. And no one is to blame for this but him.

[msmargarita]

✨🤓Johnathon/🕳️ Spot Headcanons✨

These are some headcanons I wrote for my two fics:

i'm not going to turn into a cosmic anomaly and leave you forever

and

i'm really serious this time, baby

It has !!spoilers!! for both of those fics!

It's basically an AU unless I somehow foresaw the future and guessed what happens in BTSV!

Beware the keep reading button. This is HUGE.

🤓 Johnathon HCs!

HE IS A GEMINI. Like come on. Talks a lot, nerdy, silly guy. He is a canonically silly guy! In his first fight with Miles he pretends to have hurt his nose (he doesn’t have one) to trick him. So silly! I would bet there's Capricorn somewhere in there too. And Pisces. I’ll make this man’s whole birth chart if you dare me. Just dare me. I’m insane.

Jason Schwartzman used to be in a band in the 00s. I think it would be cool if Johnathon also had some sort of interest in music. I think he would have tried to learn guitar in college but only got a few chords in before life got too chaotic and every now and then he thinks of picking it back up. 

He is also one of those guys who fanboys over old ass music, especially from the 60s and 70s. Loves Jazz, Funk and Prog Rock. Look at this man and tell me he is not a prog rock guy. He is a nerd, he might even be *shudders* a math rock guy. I also think he would have one completely random favorite artist that has nothing to do with the things listed above, like, idk Lizzo. Or Princess Nokia. He just looks like the type.

I think everyone agrees Johnathon is at least in his thirties, but I put him down as thirty-three in the end. I did that because Olivia is thirty-five tops in ITSV (according to Peter) and since he was her subordinate it makes sense that he would be just a little bit younger than her. 

“But hey! That's too young to get a PhD!” you might say, but I think Johnny is an overachiever. I think he was one of those super genius kids that got in early in college and lived for academia. A teacher's pet even.

He is a workaholic, so when he quits his job he gets really lost and doesn't know what to do with himself. He might have a new job soon doing what he loves, so you’re going to need to be on his ass so he doesn’t fall back into his old habit of overworking. 

I like to think that Miles would get an internship under Johnathon a few years in the future and they would learn a lot together. Jonathan would probably take a week to figure out he is Spider-Man and would cover for him when the boy needs to disappear. This actually sounds like a fun drabble to write about.

Johnathon may be a genius, but like he said, he is not too familiar with relationships. I think he might've had one or two in the past, but everything slowed down when he started working at Alchemax. “I’ve been told” is referring to those past relationships, in which he was probably told that he works too much and never has time to spend with his partners. He’s not been with anyone for a long time and his game consists of buying the first comic book he saw on a shelf in order to ask you out.

But that doesn't mean he is cold. Quite the opposite really, Johnathon is very touchy-feely. He hasn't been with anyone for a while and misses touching and being touched. He is most comfortable when being at least 70% curled around you. 

He smokes Dunhill Carltons (he likes to feel fancy), but less now that he isn't as stressed from work. Like he said, he used to go on walks to smoke and pass by the comic book store you work at before you guys had even met. I like to think he developed a little crush back then.

Had his tattoos done in college, so they are very faded now. He doesn’t think of redoing them because the mere thought of having to stay seated for hours in the same place feeling pain stresses him out. He was a lot more easygoing when he had them done.

He did have a superhero phase when he was a kid. He would fantasize a lot about having superpowers and flying away when the bullies showed up. Never thought about fighting back. Before becoming the Spot, he wasn't the confrontational type. The hero thing fizzled out as he grew older, but he would always dream about being stronger. Being a better version of himself in a kinda superficial, but understandable way.

He still has a bunch of action figures, he thinks they look cool. If you give him one, he won't even care if he knows the character or not, he just likes them.

Even though Johanthon says he is “good-looking”, he does add “for a scientist” in the end. I think he tries to mask his insecurities with humor, always putting himself down with a joke, always saying he’s too old, too corny, too nerdy. In the back of his head he knows the hair and the glasses are kind of a look, but he doesn’t feel handsome. You help as much as you can, but that’s an obstacle for him to overcome by himself. I think after i’m really serious this time, baby he gets better at this.

🕳️ The Spot HCs!

For clarification: the story of i’m not gonna turn into a cosmic anomaly and leave you forever stretches the plot of ATSV to a few weeks instead of a day. Just think of it like Spot taking a little longer to power up instead of a few hours.

Since he was forced to do crime to survive, I think he would've thought to himself: "Well, since I have to go rob a store anyway, might as well be that one where that cute cashier works at." 

Yes, Spot starts tracking and following you after you two meet. He uses his computer nerd powers for evil. A very unhealthy way of dealing with a crush, I think.

Spot can eat but he doesn't get any nutritional value from food. When you drink wine together or when he burns his tongue (?) from tea it's just a placebo effect. I like to think that Johnathon's mind is still inside The Spot's body, so he eats just for habit. He says he gets hungry all the time, but it's actually a deep need to consume everything around him. The little rascal.

As he powers up, Spot gets more confident in himself. He thinks the stronger he gets the further away he gets from Johnathon, his old self. Which, in the end, turns out to be true.

I think at first you don't really believe Spot is an actual supervillain which is why when you see him after the fight in Mumbattan it's such a shock. In a way, you did the same thing Miles did when he underestimated him, even if for whole different reasons. I think even though he knows you care about him, Spot knows you don't see him as a threat and that makes him want to impress you more. 

Spot knows that the reason you keep getting new jobs is because his own crazy supervillain life keeps interfering with yours, so he tries to keep it as much hidden from you as possible. He thinks what you don’t know can’t hurt you! As Johnathon, he feels guilty at first that you’re changing your whole life to go with him to New Jersey, BUT this time it was your choice! Not because of supervillain shenanigans!

He does love you (even if it was too early to know) and wants to be with you, but his head is so lost in the supervillain game, he thinks he can’t stop now. You never really realized how serious he was about “being stronger”. Which is why you never tried to stop him.

I chose I’d Rather Be With You as a theme song because I think it’s a song Johnathon/Spot would enjoy. But I also like how the lyrics match both their feelings towards you, in both fics. He wants to fly away with you once he gets all powered up, he loves your smile, etc. He does want to be your friend until the end as the Spot, but as Johanthon he is really committed to work on his bad habits in order to be with you. We gon' make it this time, baby! I cry, damnit. 

It’s also a surprisingly gender-neutral song, with no physical descriptions in it! Anyone can put themselves in the lover's place. Bootsy Collins is cool like that.

I like to think that, in the end, Spot didn't erase himself from the timeline. He just reloaded an old save. Does that make sense? Like you said, your relationship will always have happened, just in an old, non existent dimension. And since Johnathon and you still get dreams and deja vu about the whole thing (think of it as dimensional residue or whatever), you do have all the EXP of the old save. Johnathon, after going through the literal end of all existence and then forgetting about it, feels something compelling him to finally take a chance and enter the comic book store. It’s like when your body goes through something and it remembers later, even if your mind doesn't. Here's a (hopefully) comprehensive timeline:

the end.

Thank you for taking an interest in my weird AU! I would kill for you 💖

[deecotan]

I found this art and it's yours but I can only find it on pinterest and it's consuming me pls show me the original post or just give me a backstory I am Haunted

https://images.app.goo.gl/NU3FarXZQHfRyE258

Ahhh, Zoro Gets Violent the comic. One of my most reposted artworks ever. You can find my original post here. (Also on twitter.) Honestly I'm more upset about the fact that the reposters always seem to leave out the second part of the comic whenever they reposted this, cause like if you want to steal something at least steal the complete set, no? :/ (Sarcasm.)

The basic gist of the comic is basically Sanji got captured and held hostage by a bunch of bad guys, and Zoro got so furious that he barged into their lair, slaughtered the hell out of them, and had to have Sanji calling his name and murmuring reassurances to him just so he can calm down.

I did intentionally keep the backstory ambiguous because, well, I like to keep the interpretations up to the viewers to decide. But my original intention is that there is a reason why Zoro in here is so uncharacteristically violent - even more than usual, knowing how much faith he put in Sanji's ability to hold his own. And I tried to show... or rather imply that, through one of the panels of Zoro hugging Sanji (or Sanji hugging Zoro?). Sanji isn't wearing anything below his waist. Zoro, upon finding him like that, had assumed the worst.

Now I tried showing it through Sanji's dialogue, but if it wasn't clear enough, nothing really did happen. Whether that's because Zoro had arrived soon enough to stop anything from happening, or because of any other reason, that's up to you. Why the bad guys captured Sanji in the first place is also left to interpretation. The main focus of the comic really is just the depiction of Zoro's mind slowly coming back from a mix of pure, unadulterated rage and gut-wrenching fear when faced with the reality that Sanji (might) got hurt - with only Sanji's voice guiding him away from that frenzy. It was to show the utter desperation behind Zoro's eyes when he sees (or rather believes) Sanji got hurt, and contrast that with the bloodied carnage Zoro left behind - the only evidence from what happened before Sanji is able to get Zoro to calm down. Zoro is one of the most level-headed characters in the series, and he always has faith in Sanji's ability to hold on his own. Putting Zoro in a situation where the admirable steadfastness inside himself shatters because his lover is in danger is a really interesting subject to tackle.

Gotta admit, when making this comic I was actually in a pretty low place, hence why the outcome became pretty dark. Maybe a bit edgy. And I guess also kinda personal. But it did help me process whatever emotion I was feeling at the time, and reading other people's receptions of it had honestly helped me go through a difficult phase in my life. Three even wrote a fic based on this art which still made me giggle and kick my feet to this day. I love reading people's interpretations of my art, and receiving a wholeass fic about it? I'm over the fucking moon. (Go read it, it's an excellent fic).

So honestly? I still consider "fear" as one of my best artworks of all time. And while I was obviously bummed about the fact that it got reposted a lot of times, if it means that some people might be curious about the backstory enough to find my account? So be it. I'm glad people are able to enjoy my art, in any way they can.

(Still, obviously, don't make reposting art into a habit. At the very LEAST ask for the artist's permission. Respect your fandom creators, people.)

[aqua-dan]

What are your thoughts on preboot Garth vs reboot Garth? You seem to be one of the only people who like reboot Garth. What is appealiong about him?

Well, "like" might be a strong word.

It's really no surprise that I'm saying this, but Reboot Garth has NOTHING on Preboot Garth. Let's not kid ourselves and pretend that Preboot Garth isn't superior in literally every conceivable way.

Preboot Garth is such an incredible character. He is kind, gentle, smart, and powerful. He is emotionally impactful and occupies a space that is so specifically Him that no other character could fill it. He is so compelling, so relatable, and frankly he's downright adorable too! When I have been at some of my lowest points in life, he's been a character that I've grown up alongside and used as an example of emotional strength to help me stand back up and carry on despite the anxiety and sadness and pressure. Truly, he is one of my comfort characters of all time. His story and the things he can do are also extremely interesting!

Physically strong ✔️

Control over water ✔️

Magic ✔️

Eye blasts ✔️

Diplomacy ✔️

Like 50 other things that he forgot to mention that he can do, but totally can ✔️

So you may be wondering then, why I still like Reboot Garth who is… hardly at all like what I just described. And my answer to that is: I don't know.

You would certainly be right to say that for the most part*, Rebirth Garth is nothing like his pre-n52 counterpart. (*World's Finest: Teen Titans was the closest we've gotten. It was kind of nice in regards to Garth, with the exception of a few gripes I have here and there.) And you'd be right to be upset about it. I know I am. Quite often, to be honest.

But for some reason I just can't bring myself to fully condemn Rebirth Garth. At the end of the day, I'm in fandom to have fun, you know? And if I spend all my time hating something that's out of my control… well what good does that do me? At this point, I feel like I've resigned myself to the knowledge that I simply will not be getting what I want in regards to Garth, and so I've turned to becoming a bemused spectator at the things happening in current comics. I can still become excited about it when I DO manage to find a bit that I like. There was a post a while back that went something like,

"N52 and Rebirth suck except the parts that I like. And those bits I'll toss into a blender, puree, and mix in with preboot canon."

Yeah, that. Basically, when it comes to Reboot Garth, (in my own head) I ignore the reboot and then blend up the little bits I enjoy to create the utopian world of Canon+. And from my little imaginary perch, I can choose to still enjoy this character who has taken my blorbo's name, but sadly isn't really him.

With how changeable comics are as a medium though, I do also believe that there will be a writer someday who is willing to do the legwork necessary to bring Garth back around to being the blorbo I once knew. Some currently canon things will definitely have to be tossed out, but hey, that's the nature of comics!

That said tho, I think another one of the things that prevents me from disliking him is (surprisingly) the design. It's a controversial take amongst Garth fans for sure, but I honestly like it for the most part. There are a few things I'd tweak to make him look like more of an extension of Preboot Garth (CURLY HAIR, PLEASE), but there are a lot of elements that I just so happen to find aesthetically appealing and thus don't really mind. That isn't to say that Garth didn't already look fucking incredible, because he ABSOLUTELY did. I'm just not that bothered, I guess haha!

[soviet-supersoldier]

Character Examination: Omega Red

Part 2: X-men (1991) #4

It's been a while since I've taken the time to do a deep dive on Arkady, but at long last, I've decided to tackle the most important Omega Red story: his first full appearance. Without this issue/arc, we wouldn't have our favorite supersoldier, and right out of the gate, we're hit with this cover:

Not too much to comment here about other than the cover is a pretty solid introduction. We're teased with his image, the full reveal to come on the inside of the pages. But one can already tell he has a unique design, the Omega symbol emblazoned on his glove, the tentacle you can see extended from his wrist, those are all visuals that make him already stand out from other foes the X-men had faced in the past. No one had a design quite like Arkady’s, and it's a hard one to top. Omega Red has a very iconic appearance.

Moving on to the interior, here he is right on the first page of the comic:

So, breaking down what we see here and what we already learned from where Arkady had come from in X-men (1991) #2, Matsu'o had to have taken Arkady’s frozen body to a remote location to have him revived. Given all the technology we see around him in the facility, as well as the medical jargon tossed around by the doctors they have bundled up in personal protection equipment, it's clear that Matsu'o is sparing no expense on getting Arkady back up and running. They did their research beforehand.

At this point, it's clear that Arkady was unthawed for the procedure to bring him back. One question to ask, though, about how all this works is why didn't Omega Red wake up the moment he was unthawed? Why was this magic ceremony needed? My best guess? He's so low on energy that he's essentially gone comatose, needing an outside force to inject life in, rather than him draining it out passively like one would expect. More on that in a moment. The Hand use their magic here to transfer the energy, and I find it interesting that it's not just a 1-for-1 exchange. 20 people have to die here to bring Arkady back. He must have had an incredibly low battery and required a lot of juice to jumpstart him.

It's up for debate whether or not it was the magic itself, Arkady’s powers, or an unholy mixture of both that caused the 20 men who sacrificed their life force to revive Arkady to disintegrate like they did. Arkady’s powers themselves have always seemed to be rather inconsistent in they way they affected his victims, with some people just collapsing, while others turned into shriveled corpses. I suppose this is all up to artist interpretation rather than a 100% accurate representation of what happens when Omega Red uses his powers. If there was more consistency in the display of his powers, this would be an easier moment to comment on.

Taking a moment to pick through what the doctors are saying here, the first thing I'm going to note is that they're speaking English. In fact, everyone in this scene ends up speaking English. There's a small part of me that was initially bothered by that, at least, coming from Arkady, since his native language is Russian, and one would think that would be the language he would first use after being revived. But then, I thought about it some more and realized that despite how he's likely feeling right now (probably like crap), Arkady has an incredible amount of situational awareness. He's able to pick up immediately from the moment he's revived that these doctors are speaking English and is able to quickly adjust accordingly to show no outward signs of disorientation the moment he actually starts talking.

There's always been these sorts of little details with how Arkady behaves that snowballs into a consistent character trait the more appearances of his you read: he doesn't like showing any form of vulnerability. If he's uncomfortable, he's not going to say so directly unless he has the power in the moment to forcefully get what he wants. Otherwise, he'll say nothing, adjusting his behavior to make it appear that he's unaffected and unbothered by the changes around him. It's a defense mechanism, one that really adds to his terrifying persona for anyone who isn't willing to look deeper than surface-level with him. People see the lack of reaction to something that would visibly affect most people and are intimidated by it, which is Omega Red’s intention. It's a rather effective way to cover for any weakness, and I think it's a rather unique character trait, the way he consistently presents himself to others. He's a very private individual and protective of his core individuality, memories and past, telling no one about his life or tastes unless the situation forces it or he's made incredibly comfortable with revealing a personal detail. There's an image Arkady is willing to present to the world, one that is darker than who he really is, and if that's the way people see him? He's not going to contest it. Better to keep people unaware of your vulnerabilities and insecurities rather than broadcast them for people to exploit you further with. It's not difficult to figure out that his life experiences hammered home that lesson rather quickly.

Once he's brought back, Arkady’s first action is to kill the doctors. Here, it is shown that personal protective equipment does nothing to negate his powers, but later comics will, on occasion, become inconsistent on this as well. From Arkady’s perspective, this action always read to me as more of an instinctual response, almost akin to taking a deep, shuddering breath of air after nearly being drowned. So here, he's killing these men to assure himself that he's even alive. This is only reinforced when you see him on the next page in all his naked glory:

The first words out of Arkady’s mouth are: "I... live?" Firstly, note the use of English. Arkady picks up on his surroundings fast. Secondly, note the questioning tone. He seems surprised to have been brought back. This is where the usage of the ceremony comes full circle. Because, when you really think about it, just how did Arkady end up naked in a freezer? He couldn't have been shoved in against his will, otherwise, where's his clothes? Why didn't he come out pissed? Instead, his first words were an expression of surprise, immediately followed up by a question of who had brought him back. He clearly knows someone else was responsible for his return. So what happened before this?

Given the way we see top Soviet brass try to manipulate Arkady into doing their dirty work in later issues, it's not too far of a stretch to imagine that they somehow convinced Arkady that it would be better for him to go into stasis than to keep him online. From their point of view, it was likely a decision done out of fear -- fear of losing control over him -- but there was probably some nugget of truth in their argument. At this point, Arkady’s powers and condition are really in flux, and Arkady was like very aware of his deteriorating condition even before being approached with this solution. With no easy cure, Arkady likely was easily convinced that going into stasis was his only chance for surviving long-term. But it didn't come without risk. Once again, note Arkady’s first question. He's surprised to be alive. There was probably a high chance that stasis wouldn't work, and he would end up dying anyway. No doubt he was told of the risk, but was convinced that locking himself away was for the best. Off with the clothes and into the freezer.

The next thing I want to point out on this page is Arkady’s appearance. Now, I'm well aware of the jokes made about Arkady’s manhood on this panel, but I'm also well aware of the lengths comics will go to cover up a man's nudity, so once again, something that's more of an art style/choice for censorship than anything I ever put any stock into. What I wanted to focus on is the visible cybernetics we can see all over Arkady’s skin here. From the head down, he's got patches of these little squares on his body. Besides the cybernetics we see on his face and head, we don't ever really see the full body cybernetics ever again. What was their purpose? How much of him was mechanical on the inside? We never are told, and his skin goes to the pure white color we always see afterward, the body markings disappearing completely, never to be seen again.

After Arkady asks his question, we see Matsu'o, hiding himself behind a protective glass. Now, one thing that always confused me about Matsu'o, especially when I was younger and reading these comics for the first time, was how much Matsu'o looked like Logan. I mean, same hair color, same hair style. They look like twins, and I used to confuse them a lot. I'm honestly surprised that Arkady didn't immediately jump him and demand the C-Synthesizer, I think those two look so much alike. So Matsu'o has some real guts showing up with that face and expecting Arkady to have a normal reaction, photograph of Logan or no. He also seems to really be relying on Arkady having good eyesight here, as you can see how small and far away Matsu'o is from Arkady’s perspective when he pulls out that photo that's the size of his hand (and that he's half-covering with his fingers).

He's really riding on quite the chance that Arkady has a great memory (and eyesight) to no only be able to tell that Matsu'o is not Logan, but also be able to call out Logan by name despite only ever being shown to have met him once before this, and maybe having heard Sabretooth shout out Logan’s name at that time (if he was lucky). Once again, Arkady’s amazing observational skills are on display. He picks up names fast, and that is another consistent character trait of his over the years: he picks up names quickly and never forgets who they belong to.

We hop to the X-men for a good chunk of the comic, and we next see Arkady when he's crashing Gambit and Rogue's first date:

You really have to wonder what those three would end up saying to each other if they met again at this point. I doubt Arkady cared that this date would end up being important to the foundation of their future relationship, and I doubt that Gambit and Rogue, even to this day, are happy with their first date being ruined in that way, but I'm sure that it would be an interesting conversation regardless (if they ever met again). Gambit and Rogue are now married. I'm sure an argument can be made on Arkady being instrumental to such young love getting the chance to form, even though such a realization would likely sicken him.

After he's disposed of the two lovebirds, Arkady goes after the rest of the team next:

Arkady drops Beast and Jubilee rather quickly, but Logan remains standing. Is his healing factor negating the effect and keeping him up longer than the others? Based on the way Logan is talking here, focusing more on Arkady’s scent than any taxation on his healing factor, that doesn't seem likely. Arkady likely used whatever limited control he has over his powers to attack just Beast and Jubilee, leaving Logan alone for more personal payback. It has been shown that he can do that, though it's not a trick we see him use often, especially these days.

After declaring that Omega Red should be dead, Arkady responds:

I find it interesting that Logan uses Arkady’s name here rather than his moniker of Omega Red. One would assume Logan got the name from an intelligence file Team X was given before their C-Synthesizer raid, so does that mean that Arkady wasn't known as Omega Red at that time? Possibly. Honestly it's actually more surprising that Logan even remembered Arkady’s name in the first place, since his mind at the time of this comic was worse than swiss cheese (this comes into play a lot in the future). However, smells have been scientifically proven to be some of the strongest memory connections a person can have, so Arkady’s scent was probably enough of a trigger to jog Logan’s memory. He must have made one hell of an impression on Logan’s scent memory.

So that concludes Arkady’s first full appearance in Marvel comics. There's three more issues left in this arc and they're likely to be even longer than this breakdown here, as there's a lot more to go through in those issues that ties Arkady into Team X. This arc does a lot to establish Omega Red into Marvel comics and where exactly he fits in relation to Wolverine and his foes. It's a rather interesting dynamic they all end up having.

[t-5seconds]

i'm doing a hunger games simulator of @comicaurora ! you may recall i already did one of these in 2020, but the cast of the comic has changed since then and i want to do another one.

the game is under the cut! (most of it, anyway. due to tumblr image limit, the ending is in a reblog.)

here's our tributes! only one can win. place your bets now

not much happening here

theia falls in a hole and dies! sad, i like her. tarren breaks kendal's nose?? i did not think they could do that. primordial life falls in a lake and drowns! not how i expected her to go out.

nobody else dies at the reaping. onto day 1, then

vash dies of hypothermia. not as dramatic as how he died in the comic but they can't all be winners

are my eyes deceiving me or are the void and light dragons getting along?? also, trusk dies trying to escape the arena. considering his canon backstory i think that's understandable

theia, life, vash and trusk all died of natural causes, so nobody has any kills! as such nobody is in first place yet

tynan kills his own teammate! i guess that's on me for making them teammates. tahraim kills kendal! tess kills jolon! lots of death on night 1!

caliban kills dainix! what about that vague project?? i guess in the hunger games you have to make sacrifices to win. onto day 2

erin pushes the paladin champion off a cliff! i thought he could fly, but i guess not.

tess kills the light dragon! caliban tries to kill tynan, but fails.

6 deaths today, those being zuurith, kendal, jolon, dainix, the paladin champion and the light dragon. with kendal dead, district 1 is out, and so is district 5 with the loss of the paladin champion! only lady huracan remains to represent the paladins. with 2 kills, tess is now in first place

nothing really exciting on night 2. i would love to know what kind of ghost stories the void dragon tells, though

erin spares ilia! tess forces shrike to kill tynan!

first the light dragon, now lady huracan?? did the paladins and the void dragon form an alliance while i wasn't looking???

only tynan died today, but his death marks the end of district 10. tess remains in first place

nothing too interesting here

erin tries to poison alinua and accidentally poisons himself. he was the winner in the first aurora hunger games, but it seems he won't be that lucky twice!

lady huracan tries (but fails) to kill shrike. everyone else just kinda wanders around

erin was the day's only casualty. tess remains in first place

no deaths on night 4, but lots of holding hands, snuggling, and questioning one's sanity

caliban kills the void dragon! that's the main antagonist dealt with.

shrike refuses to kill falst. weird, i would've thought she'd jump on the opportunity

acid rain! alinua lets caliban die! lady huracan lets tarren die! tess kills shrike! gleicann dies! tahraim lets lady ilia die, even though she is made of water and i would've expected her to be immune to acid rain, but i guess not!

6 deaths today! the void dragon, caliban, tarren, shrike, gleicann and lady ilia are all out! with their deaths, districts 6, 7 and 8 are out as well! tess is still in first place. can anyone defeat her? there's only 5 people left to try!

an uneventful night 5. how does tess have an infection if she's made of metal? is she rusting??

the feast! falst falls in a lake and drowns. don't worry falst, it's not that embarrassing. life went out the same way

an uneventful day 6 with our remaining 5 tributes.

falst was our only death today. district 4 is out. tess is, as always, in first place. i've just hit tumblr image limit, so the conclusion to the games will be in a reblog!

[iantimony]

duesday

listening: idk, stuff on my phone on shuffle. some more coral bones youthemism i guess. friends at the table sangfielle, episode 3; i might not actually relisten to the rest of the arcs i already did and just skim the transcripts.

no children (ska remix) by sad snack: im back in my ska era. really funny song to have an upbeat ska tone.

the mountain goats deserters fan album: have not listened to the whole album yet but god, what a cool and unique thing that i don't think could really exist for most other bands. Five Fucking Hours

reading: Polynesian Tattooing Tools, linked from Fairhaven comic

why gen z is obsessed with point-and-shoot digital cameras: it's funny because a few months ago i was considering getting a cheap point-and-shoot to fuck around with. looks like i am not the only one who was thinkin about it.

i'm working my way through le guin's 'the left hand of darkness'! i bounced off it the first time i tried reading it a few years ago but last year i read a le guin short story anthology that had some stories set on karhide and i think that gave me a good enough primer on the world/her writing style to get it to stick this time. i'm enjoying it! it's a good book!

watching: mina le - booktok & the hotgirlification of reading: some good background video for crochet etc. bernadette banner - hand sewing regency stays should be quick...right?: oughhhhh so pretty. bernadette banner - this regency court gown is probably my favorite project ever: i won't lie i got a little misty-eyed at the artisans getting to sign their names on the robe.

rewatched the gay and wondrous life of caleb gallo. i forgot how good it is, it really holds up and is still funny

also, continued doctor who watch/rewatch. i'm ngl i think the way rory and amy were shoved off screen was...really stupid. "he can't go back to that specific year in ny :(" ok, before amy gets zapped back you just go "yo go to new jersey in a few days" and go pick them up. really silly imo

playing: fallow. did buy miserichord, omori, and slay the princess in the steam summer sale. i have signalis, voyager 19, and a short hike in my cart as we speak. more games that i haven't played to feed the steam library let's goooo

making: crocheted some granny squares.

pattern for the yellow one is this lantana square...if anyone has any interesting looking granny square patterns that would be good in one solid color send em my way!

thinking of getting this pattern too.

i realized this past week that my urge to Make has been very stale and derivative the past few years, if that makes sense. like i don't feel Creative, i see something and mimic it - i do paintings based on photos i took, i follow knitting patterns, i come across something ceramic and decide to make one of my own, i find reference images to copy. but no actual, like, Inventing on my own end. i think that's why i haven't done a lot of fanart or fanfiction as well, just no ideas. i know that's just part of the cycle of creativity and i'm just in a "hunter-gatherer" period of amassing skills and references but idk. i'm tired of it. i want to create more meaningful things but i have no actual ideas, the well feels dry, and i'm not sure how to fix that.

eating: fallow

misc: stares at my mom and brother doing politics doomerism re: supereme court ruling in the family group chat. looks away. chants 'nothing ever happens' to myself like a mantra.

[howlingday]

since we're talking about a dc rwby au, i actually had an idea for jaune in gotham learning under cat woman on how to be a thief. at first it's mainly because he's desperate to help his family who're struggling to make ends meat. but after a while he really starts to enjoy the thrill of his job. right up until he manages to get himself caught up in some supervillain bullshit and now he's a known entity to both sides.

taking the name Tom Cat as his persona his main ability is his bullshit luck and improv skills, he always seems to find the perfect way to get out of a situation.

might be fun to keep rwby as superheroes also pyrrha as wonder woman, nora as hawk girl (but with a hammer), and ren as green lantern.

meanwhile jaune's neither hero nor villain. the guy just wants to make some money and dip out but finds himself fighting both sides to save the world (mainly because he keeps all his stuff there)

Hm, interesting. For now, though, let's explore the Jaune Arc as Catwoman's apprentice angle. And now, without further ado, I present unto you...

TOM CAT

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

Gotham City wasn't perfect. In fact, it was the exact opposite of perfect. One could argue it as the physical manifestation of Murphy's Law. What can go wrong out here, will go wrong out here. Even in the suburbs on the outskirts of Gotham proper. But it was still my home.

Home. It's weird calling it that. I don't even know if I'm from this world. Mom took me in after a job gone wrong, and I'm just the one stray who hasn't ran off yet. Well, me and Cleocatra, but I still have all my teeth.

But back to the important business, I'm not from Gotham. In fact, according to Mom's b- I mean, Mr. Wayne, I'm not even from Earth. Something about my "genetic makeup" is similar, but completely different from other humans.

But that doesn't change the fact that I'm my mother's son. Sure, we may not look exactly alike, but she's still my mom. She taught me everything I know. I learned how to walk, talk, know my directions, and even how to crack a ShelLock safe blindfolded!

All the important life lessons for a future up-and-coming world-class thief. Just like Mom.

"36... 24... 36..." It wasn't actually that, but I saw it on TV, and it's been stuck in my head ever since. Mom doesn't like it, but she never told me why, so I figured that if I'm going solo on a job, I might as well keep saying it. What's the worst that could happen?

CLICK!

"Don't move, Cat."

Oh, right. Remember Murphy's Law? Well, it's here, and it gets better. Jaune heard a click, and the man muttered away from him. Yup, this party was about to get bigger. But Jaune had it under control. Really.

"Can you order a pizza while you're at it?"

"Shut the hell up. Do you know who's safe that is?"

"If I guess right, what do I win?"

Ah, right. The ol' gun to his head. A classic, never out of style choice. Personally, he would have preferred a comic book, but beggars can't be choosers, right?

With a spin, the gun was knocked to the air and a fist nestled deep into the goon's gut. Flick of a wrist later, and the gun fell to the ground. A headbutt here, a backfist there, and the thug was down.

No time for witty one-liners. Cash, jewels, and whatever else was in the safe was shoveled into the bag. Even found a neat folder inside. Wasn't a comic book, but it'll do.

Hop, skip, and a jump later, and the room was free of both cat and cash. Now for the long trek home. Thankfully, it wasn't too bad a run. All he had to do was get to the train station and-

Oh no.

Either there was an eclipse was tonight, or everything was about to get so much more complicated. Jaune could've stopped and let the nice Batman go easy on him, or he could keep all of his hard-earned loot. Decisions, decisions.

Never was good at making the smart choices.

Leaping across rooftops, being chased by a legend himself is no easy task, but nothing Jaune wasn't used to. As his face met the hard ground of the rooftop, he wished he could say that.

"What are you doing out here?"

"Would you believe me if I told you I was sleepwalking?" A thumb pressed into Jaune's hand. "OW! OW! OW! OKAY, I WAS DOING A BURGLARY!"

"Who did you steal from?" Jaune felt the pressure ease up, but the thumb remained where it was.

"I dunno, some guy's place!" Jaune felt the thumb press a little. "No, really! I don't know! All I know is he had a security guard or two!" The thumb pressed more. "AGH! OKAY! IT WAS ARMANO MORETTI, OKAY?!"

The thumb was lifted off, and the legend turned Jaune to meet him face-to-face. Pointed mask and near-snarling grimace confirmed Jaune's worst fears.

"Does your mother know you're out here?"

"No, she doesn't."

Ice filled his veins as his blue eyes widened. Jaune glanced to the side and saw his mom walking up to him. He recognized her walk, too. It wasn't her usual, "teasing Mr. Wayne" walk. No, this was her "Mama Kyle" walk, as in what she did when Jaune screwed up.

"H-Hi, Mom."

"Hello, Tom." She growled. Jaune felt so small under her glare. "So this is you 'hanging out at Tony's later'?" Jaune gulped as she sighed. "What did you steal?"

ZIP!

The bag came open, and the loot started getting rummaged through. Stacks of bills. Deeds, diplomas, and permits. Pearls, emeralds, and so many golden trinkets. All swiped from one place. However, of all of the loot, only one stood out from the rest.

Without a word, Batman took the folder and opened it. Swiping and flipping through the pages, he tapped the side of his mask. He shut the folder and set it back in the pile.

"Leaving so soon?" She asked.

"You already have your hands full. And now, so do I."

And there he goes, off as silently as he arrived. Y'know, before he smashed into the pavement. Still, it was hard to believe he was letting Jaune go AND leaving the loot! What a great night!

"Tom," Jaune gulped as he heard that warning tone of her, "we have a lot to talk about."

'However do you mean, sir?'

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

"The file contained a list of assassins, Alfred. Some of whom I more than recognize."

"And I myself as well.". Alfred replied through communications. "I seem to recall a similar gathering with these exact individuals as well.".

"Falcone is hiring assassins, Alfred; assassins who are going after rival crime bosses."

"I see. And what of the other names on the list? They certainly don't appear to hold the same criminal element.".

"No, but it's still lives at stake."

The names raced through his mind like an assassin's bullet. Tomorrow night, the hubt began, and four names caught his attention the most.

Bruce Wayne

Selina Kyle

Tom Cat

Batman

[mothpile]

mes's webcomic recommendations

do YOU like webcomics or want to read some ? here are some i think are good NO im not gonna put my own here even if i think its good. -_-

starting with . i Think these ones are popular and well known..?

Paranatural - A story about paranormal ghosts and stuff. It's a real fun time, and the story is really good. The author's art progression is really impressive, truly skilled with paneling and such. It does eventually shift into a webnovel format with drawings as the author couldn't keep up with doing pages like before, and the quality of goodness of the story stays strong 👍👍

Tiger, Tiger - Story about the importance of sea sponges. Also a fun time, sea faring adventure about, again, sea sponges and how important they are nothing else OK? promise. (liar) PHENOMENAL artwork, very pretty to look at.... 👍👍

The Property of Hate - I need to reread it because i forgetted a lot but its such a cool looking comic and sooo interesting OK?! i swear. It's about a kid being a hero.

Vainglorious - a fun comic about a dragon facing Hubris Consequences. The main trio is real fun, the world is cool, all in all fun comic okie !!

Sakana - Slice-of-life comic about some folks working at a fish stall in a fish market. Real fun. Been on hiatus for four years, but is gonna make a comeback soon (author is working on building up buffer pages And then... ! ) But yeah! real fun.

Witchy - ... one i have to reread, it's been on hiatus since forever as the author was working on another comic (thatllbe out... in a while?), though i assume when that's done they'll come back to this...? Anyhow, I remember it being a very gripping story, and beautifully drawn... Also it's about witches. if. you . couldnt tell by the.. title...

NOW, onto ones that ... i dont Think are super well known ... ?

EcopportunityX - An interactive stick figure limited color palette comic about a facility where bad shit has happened ! uhoh! What the hell happened here! Follow the protagonist on their journey of learning what happened, and escaping the facility. Also, space pinball and ball pit beast is there. 👍👍👍

Eye in the Sky - And it only feels right to bring it up as well, but this is a fancomic of ecopportunityX ! ... Contains eox spoilers, so perhaps read the original first! This one features original characters and takes place a bit before eox, it's nice ok i like it :]

Gold Scissors - One of my all time favourites TBH. The art is nice, I love the story, the world is so cool i love it a lot... do yourself a favor and read it...

Midnight Connection - Finished! by the author of Gold Scissors, it's a short comic that takes place in the same universe, you can get through it in one sitting!! sniffles.

Brainchild - Comic about girl seeing weeeeeird stuff. Ghosts?! who knows. Tis a cool one OK read it...

Fairmeadow - "i hate being on the hippee comune they are always telling me Peace and Love on planet earth , orc lady, Peace and Love, and they do not leave me alone" - true real 100% words said. you can read it and youll see. Very pretty looking, ...

Holly & Macy and Everyone Else - comic about two teens learning about HOMOSEXUALITY and being a witch and its a very sweet .. i like it ok? it's also on tumblr @/ hollymacycomic

Falling to Far - i thiiink? its kinda just getting started, its about two star kids that just arrived to the planet of Far, and they are just checking how things are here rn. okie! its nice ITS ON TUMBLR! my fellow tumblr-hosted webcomicers lets gooooo

Daisy in DREAMLAND - ........ not a .. webcomic. Tis more a webnovel, i believe. It has pictures. Very cool looking guys, love the style, someone drench this cat in a bucket of water.

Needleminder - because fuck it we put webnovels here too I GUESS. it has pictures sometimes. haven't caught up with it recently tho BUT it's Very interesting and gets weird with it in cool ways...

Star Impact - comic about boxing! fighting! and people have gloves that give them a gimmick power tis pretty fuckin cool!

Kitty Corner - Comic about someone who sees ghosts. this ones kiiinda just getting started i think..? put its been promising so far, i like it ANOTHER TUMBLRHOSTED WEBCOMIC LETS GO BABY!

PISS HOLE - The greatest comic ever drawn with a broken trackpad.

Going Home - a comicabout a kid who has t *red dot appears on forehead* *sweats**starts to go get the link to the comic* *snipers pull the t

[ms-cartoon]

a

Seen the few sneak peaks of some upcoming episodes of HB. We might meet Moxxie’s family (mainly his father). Sorry if I’m being nitpicky, but I was kinda expecting his father to be a little bit different from his son, as well as have a different voice. It’s like he’s a literal clone of Moxxie but slightly taller with a deeper and cunning tone in his voice. And from what I’ve heard, he’s supposed to be a mobster or just apart of some kind of dangerous gang (correct me if I’m wrong). So yeah, I think his appearance should be a little bit different, more tough if anything.

Blitzo stays an a**hole to his co-workers I see. Even after that DeEp and HeArTwArMiNg conversation, he had with Moxxie back in season 1 ep 6 (Which didn’t hit deep at all). You think that after he humiliated himself in episode 7, he’d dial it back with his behavior. But I guess Viv can’t have a comedy without someone unnecessarily being a jerk.

We finally get to hear Andre’s voice. He actually sounded exactly how I imagined; almost deep and haughty. I guess it’s made clear that he and Stella have a good relationship. I’ve seen some comics that show that Andre was possibly very mean to Stella during her childhood which probably would explain her behavior and why she acts so cynically. 

He and Stella are having a discussion with Stolas, and Andre brings up that Stella deserves something since Stolas cheated on her?? Which makes no sense to me?? Cuz, yes, Stolas did cheat, but why would Stella even care?!! The show already made it clear that she never even liked Stolas from the start. She didn’t even like being married to him and was only throwing fits and getting him killed simply because she was petty and liked tormenting him. What exactly does Andre and Stella hope to gain from this anyway? Neither of these two even out-rank Stolas. And what exactly has the divorce done that caused any harm to the Goetia’s. When Stella confronted Stolas, she made it seem like the divorce was gonna be a huge issue, but as far as I know... it did nothing. And they already had Octavia who’s in her late-teens, so what’s the threat here??

If they’re gonna keep bringing up the cheating, then maybe they shouldn’t have retconned Stella as a character and kept it to where she is only pissed about the affair. Maybe not have her be an evil b*tch since birth and hate Stolas for whatever reason?

Idk man!! Make it make sense!!!

We also finally get to see Barbie, Blitzo’s sister. I thought those two had a decent sibling relationship as most of us did, but it turns out... those two had a falling out as well. Barbie says, and I quote “Come on, Blitzo! Haven’t you f*cked up my life enough already??”

Jeezus!! Another one?? 

First, it was Fizz, then Verosika, and now his own sister!!? I mean, it’s expected, cuz Blitzo is an a** and he definitely deserves it, but is he seriously that much of a bad influence he screwed up his own sister’s life? Like, is she just over-exaggerating it?? What did he do that was so screwed up, she started to despise him? Hopefully, she won’t be like Verosika or even Stella; just straight-up petty and b*tchy for no reason. I know I’m wrong though.

Also, I see that she and Moxxie are fighting... wonder what that’s about. Probably something dumb.

And I also see that Blitzo and Fizz are having a talk. Not sure what it’s about. It was only a few seconds of Fizz talking. But from what I can assume, they might be discussing their relationship as friends (or ex-friends), maybe having a slight argument? Don’t know if those two are ever gonna reconcile in the end. All I know is that this kind of arc should’ve been explored way before we got into Stolas’s backstory with Blitzo (which we clearly don’t give the slightest sh*t about.) What happened with Fizz and Blitzo that caused the two to split up seems way more interesting than how Stolas and Blitzo met.

Here’s another thing that caught my eye (and y’all this one’s my favorite to laugh at). Stolas is shown being kidnapped by Striker, tied up n all, and even stabbed with a dagger!?

.......

I’m sorry, but are we just gonna forget that Stolas is a POWERFUL FREAKIN’ DEMON??? The same guy that can do this -

And this -

And even turn into THIS -

..... Like, are we sure he’s more powerful than Alastor??? What’s the point of him being a powerful demon prince if all he’s useful for is being a damsel in distress??? Less than 3 times Stolas is shown to be powerful when the plot says so, which is almost NEVER!!! It’s irritating!

Ugh! I just know I’m gonna go through hell watching this (no pun intended). And I’ve already seen the last few recent leaks to these episodes. This just adds on to the ridiculous bull.

[serenedash]

I'm sure a lot of people have. Feelings. to put it lightly, about Xehanort's role in khuxdr. I absolutely do and there's just this thing that really bugs me about it that just rubs me the wrong way. This is gonna get a little long winded before I make my point-- but call this a Xehanort character analysis

So to ignore khuxdr completely for a moment, here we have Xehanort: the main antagonist, a man who has seemingly worked out every possible scenario and prepared for each and every one because just when you think you've defeated him he comes back like a hydra (idk insert a coliseum joke here but it's very literal with the way he uses other people). And one thing I've always loved about kh as a series is that there's this constant message of "you don't need to be special, you can just be you" because there's Sora-- who's not "the chosen one" and he knows that, he says it, and says he's proud to be apart of the people the keyblade did choose. This nobody kid who for all intents and purposes should've just been the side comic relief character and he's THE hero. And there's Xehanort, the big bad he's fighting who seems to be so all powerful that Sora is nothing against him. But kh does this interesting thing where we learn Xehanort is from Destiny Islands, he's just like Sora, Riku and Kairi. He was just a kid wanting more out of life and got more than what he bargained for.

I really enjoyed dark road giving us more insight into his past and motivations and how that shaped him because I think all of that and especially the final face off with Baldr and meeting MoM, 100% was the turning point for who he became. And I think that's really interesting that this kid form an island became so much more. And I enjoyed the kh3 secret reports greatly when we got to see writings by a younger Xehanort comparing himself to Eraqus and it really hammers in that Xehanort, like Sora, was just some kid thrown into this world that was far larger than he expected. And I think there's a lot of great parallels between Sora/Xehanort and Riku/Eraqus, which is interesting given that I feel like initially these parallels are set up to compare Riku to Xehanort when that really isn't the case at all!!! And kh3 definitely hammers it in more when Xehanort passes the x-blade to Sora; there was a lot of great discussion of that moment when the game released and the comparisons between the two.

But. then we get to khux. And don't get me wrong, I love khux I LOVE khux and I also actually really don't like Xehanort. But he's a really interesting and well written character. And it felt like there was all this development for Xehanort that happened and with the end of kh3 you really just, come to terms with it all I guess? and I think we can all agree that extra scene at the end of khux with baby Xehanort felt like a real slap to the face. It just felt really odd to turn around and say Xehanort isn't actually from Destiny Islands; I mean he basically is literally being raised there almost from birth but he's really not ESPECIALLY when it's added that he's a descendant of Ephemera. It was an odd choice, it really was. And it feels weird to know that and then see the kh3 secret reports where Xehanort shares feeling inferior to Eraqus due to Eraqus being a "blue blood." Like you are too???? And it's like I wish I could say Xehanort just didn't know that but we literally see Player 2 telling him this. Xehanort knows, has known, and he's smart so there's no way he got to Scala and heard all about this amazing Master Ephemera and didn't have all these realizations. Of course, I don't think Xehanort told anyone about his connection to Ephemera, but he knew. and We know. and it just kind of takes the wind out of my sails I think that this interesting character was set up and the context of his actions feels changed by the circumstances of his birth/childhood. Like I don't think he needed to be from Scala, to be related to Ephemera. I really don't think that had to be added in order to explain why he was obsessed with the keyblade war. Like Sora, Riku and Kairi knew nothing about any of that but they still wanted to go out into the world. Why does Xehanort need that justification for leaving?

Like. it's fine I guess and it all still makes sense and it's still interesting to see these characters tied together like this, but it was already set up so perfectly I think in relation to Sora and it feels so much lesser now and it's kind of like. oh okay this is what's happening now. But hey, at least khdr made me actually like xehanort a little lmao

[azulas-daddy-kink]

Alright so I know I’ve made some of these points before but now I’m compiling all of my thoughts about Ozai and Ursa’s relationship in one post.

People who do not see Ursa as a victim of Ozai’s abuse and/or delusionally ship Urzai on the basis that Ozai “really loved” Ursa legit fucking scare me.

Ozai did not love Ursa, in any capacity. Ozai does not love anyone. Except maybe himself but he flip-flops on that one, even. 

Ursa did not love Ozai. She was terrified of him. She was taken from her home and forced to marry him - and no, she did not have a choice, not really. Her “choice” was marry Ozai or he kills the love of her life right in front of her. She had about as much of a choice there as Jigsaw’s victims. Starve to death or hack your own foot off, yeah, complete free will.

Then once she married the bastard, she was told she belonged to him, and that she could never see or speak to her family ever again. So romantic, right?

What about this screams “Yes, Ozai, I love you and I can’t wait to have your babies!”

Speaking of, this is more or less implying that Zuko and Azula were conceived as the result of marital rape but y’all ain’t ready for a deep dive into that. Anyone who thinks Ursa could fully consent in this situation needs to have their head examined.

Now backtracking a bit to “she was terrified of him”, let’s not forget this panel!

This is what Ursa looks like when she sees a PORTRAIT of Ozai. A mere portrait. I rest my case.

But alright, I know what some of you are probably thinking. The comics are not canon (except when you want them to be), the comics “retconned” their backstory, or whatever else. I disagree on the last point in particular because that’s not what retconning means. There is nothing, absolutely zero, in the show that contradicts Ozai and Ursa’s comic backstory, or Ozai’s behavior during all of that.

Ozai, in canon, is a genocidal, child abusing, egomaniac. He is shown to have very little regard for others’ feelings, wants, or needs, and only seems interested in his own desires and lust for power. Never once do we see him treating someone with basic respect and consideration, not even his precious favorite, Azula. He manipulates her, he tells her what she wants to hear so that she remains loyal to him but ultimately he views her as a possession - an extension of himself rather than her own person. Which is very typical of narcissists.

Given the way Ozai treats literally everyone else he interacts with, what reason do we have to believe he treated Ursa any differently?

None.

“B-b-b-but what about the fountain?”

Look, I don’t know what it is with this fandom and viewing literally any little thing a character does behind shipping goggles but it is certainly quite annoying.

So here in Zuko’s flashback, we see Ozai standing in front of the fountain, the morning after his father died and Ursa was subsequently banished.

And for some reason, this is used to prove that Ozai loves and misses Ursa which.... what?

A lot just happened over the past 24 hours. Ozai and Ursa murdered his own father for one, and for two, Ozai is coming to the realization that everything he’s ever wanted is now within his grasp. Is it not possible he’s just thinking or clearing his head? I guess that would make too much sense. Is it not also possible that he is mourning the death of his father?

I know, I know Ozai killed Azulon... but it’s complicated. Up until this point, he had desperately been trying to please him. Think of the scene in the throne room, where he’s trying to show Azulon why he is the better son and more worthy of Iroh’s place in the line of succession. And he used AZULA to do it. The child he named after Azulon, his favorite. Declaring that she was “a true prodigy, just like her grandfather for who she is named”. 

Y’all, if this doesn’t scream “Please be proud of me, Daddy!” then I don’t know what does.

It was a bitter pill for Ozai to swallow, I’m sure, that no matter what he accomplished in his life that he would always play second fiddle to Iroh, and that his father would never give him the respect and approval he so desperately craved...

So yeah, gonna go out on a limb here and say this is what Ozai was thinking about. The father he had spent his entire life trying to please was now dead, and he had to close that chapter in his life for good.

Now, before anyone comes at me about the “original series bible”, yes, I am aware that it exists and what it says about Ozai and Ursa. The claim is again that the show and/or comics “retcon” this but I really don’t see how when all that was changed was that she was low-born rather that high-born and/or nobility.

I suppose it’s because people like to cherry pick the line “She was the perfect match for Prince Ozai and soon became his wife.”

Here is the thing about royal marriages - they’re not perfect because they’re love matches, they’re perfect because they are politically savvy and present a certain image to the public.

And not for nothing but these early character concepts and the old Nick website say A LOT of weird shit that never made it into the show or is blatantly untrue but even still, nothing in the above passage disproves the following statement: Ursa is a victim of domestic violence.

Ozai abused Ursa. Full fucking stop. There are no ifs, ands, or buts about it...

HOWEVER...

...the point of this was not to say that people can’t ship Ozai/Ursa or that they can’t have their own headcanons or whatever. The point of this was to say that nothing in canon supports Ozai and Ursa’s marriage as being one of love and mutual respect and in fact, most of what is shown proves the exact opposite.

Ship what you want, it’s okay. Just call a spade a spade. None of this is healthy, loving, or wholesome but it IS sexy. Nothing wrong with that.

Now before someone tries to say I’m a giant hypocrite because “ew you ship Ozula, your opinion doesn’t count”, you’re still completely missing the point here. I would be the first to say that parent/child relationships are abuse, grooming, non-consensual, and morally reprehensible. I’m not out here trying to say this is an ideal relationship or that this is okay to do.

And that is the difference.