#of course it all hinges on the idea that the robots are created by another race and therefore all blame can be shifted to /them/

[sevenines]

the framing of gems-as-robots is one of my favorites. the role of biologist and engineer are the same! gems directly interface with their technology!! they glitch when hurt and have circuitry as veins!!! the are born, programmed, with a purpose!!! they call other life organics—they are not!!!!! white diamond is the equivalent of the tetris ai that paused to avoid losing at all costs, hiding herself away in her head as to never be wrong about pink-rose-steven and the nature of gemkind!!!!!!

[kaen-ace-of-diamonds]

Impending Paternity

Word Count: 3900+ (oneshot) [AO3]

Genre: Humor/Angst/Hurt/Comfort

Pairing: Peter B. Parker/Mary Jane Watson

Characters: Peter B. Parker, Mary Jane Watson, Spider-Man Noir, Peter Porker, Gwen Stacy, Peni Parker, Miles Morales

Summary: The closer the birth of his first child gets, the more Peter’s old fears of fatherhood resurface. Fortunately for him, he now has universes of parenting advice to call on and prepare him.

Written for the @dimension-zine.

~0~

Waking up in a cold sweat wasn’t something at all new to Peter B. Parker. That didn’t make it any less unpleasant.

What was new to him was registering the feeling of MJ’s arms around his waist as they slept, the flat press of her chin by his shoulders. Once again, they shared a bed: small, but more than enough room for them to lay pressed up against each other, legs entwined, skin on skin. It was almost enough for Peter to forget what had caused him to sleep more restlessly than he had in a very, very long time.

Even in the dark of the bedroom, the damn pregnancy test is staring directly at him from the mesh metal wastebasket, with its solid pink eye. He’d stared down monsters, mobsters, and maniacs of all sorts without blinking, and yet this damn near ignites his old “curl up in the shower and hide” instinct. MJ’s stomach doesn’t show any signs of change yet, doesn’t feel any different against his back...But there’s going to be a tiny person in there very soon. A person that he helped create. A person that he’ll have responsibility to.

MJ can’t stop smiling about it — this is what she’s wanted for a long time — and her joy is very nearly infectious. Peter had agreed to this, of course he had. It was time for him to quit hiding away from the fears that he couldn’t dodge or punch away so easily. But still, he isn’t sure if he can say he’s wholeheartedly looking forward to it, and still be telling the truth.

He’s never had younger siblings or cousins. He has long since lost Uncle Ben and Aunt May (knowing that other versions of them exist, even meeting them, doesn’t erase the sting). MJ hasn’t said a word to her own parents in years, and Peter has never had any problem saying flat out how unhelpful he’s sure they’d be anyway. So he has nobody to fall back on if he has questions or confusions or fears — aside from MJ, and while he loves her and trusts her judgment in all things, he can anticipate there may be times when an uninvolved third party will be invaluable. 

All of a sudden, Peter freezes, eyes going wide. He has the sudden impulse to jump out of bed that always used to come with a brilliant idea, which he feels are too few and far between nowadays. Obviously he can’t do that now, at fuck o’clock in the morning with his wife’s arms securely around him. It’ll have to wait until the morning, but oh, he can’t wait to explain to her over breakfast what he’s planning to do when he grabs enough free time over the next few months. She still hasn’t heard everything he’s had to tell about his little dimension-hopping adventure...

~0~

“So!” Spider-Man Noir slams this finished egg cream down on the table just as fiercely as he has the past eight glasses. “You’re finally becoming a daddy!”

“How...are you doing that through your mask?” Peter asks hesitantly, sipping on his one half empty glass of the drink. 

“I remember my childhood fondly,” Noir goes on as if Peter hadn’t spoken, gazing nostalgically out his window. He had wanted to take Peter bar-hopping, initially, but a guy walking around all in color attracted too much attention on the streets, and they had agreed that Noir’s apartment would be best for a private conversation. “Don’t remember my own mother or father, but my Aunt May says that she and my Ma used to trade parenting tips out of pamphlets when I was just a grub.”

Peter perks up slightly. “What kind of tips?”

“Well! First one’s for your future mama...Ah, how’s your place looking?”

Peter blinks. “It’s...fine. Better than living alone, no offense to you, but — ”

“No, no, you don’t get it. Is it all pretty?”

“Huh? Pretty?”

“Somethin’ Ma and Aunt May picked up from my granny,” Noir explains. “If a mama with an unborn baby sees ugly things, that ugly beams itself into her brain and straight down into her womb, and gets right into your baby. So you gotta be sure to keep her around pretty things to look at, you see? You want a nice kid, don’tcha?”

“Uh...Y-Yeah! I sure do!” he says, trying to keep disappointment off his face. Noir talks with absolute conviction in his beliefs, but what Peter had forgotten was that these were the beliefs of 1933. Even earlier, if he’s getting this stuff from older relatives. None of it’s going to do his twenty-first century self any good.

So the first chance he gets, Peter slurps down the last of his egg cream (surprisingly tasty, he’ll have to look up a modern recipe to compare sometime) and leaps up from his chair, sauntering back over towards an opening portal. “Thanks so much, Noir, but I gotta run! No telling when I can catch the next portal, y’know?”

Noir waves, unperturbed, pouring another drink. “Stock up on lard! You got to give baby’s first bath with it, get all that scum off ‘em!”

“Sure! Lard! No problem!” Peter calls over his shoulder, nearly diving into the portal.

~0~

Though Ham assures him that the natives find him much stranger and more unsettling than he finds them, Peter never quite gets used to being a real guy in a cartoon world. The lurid colors hurt his eyes, things move too fast and sound is constantly blaring, and for some reason he’s very, very suspicious about the contents of those hot dogs. But the veggie wraps are surprisingly good, and he chows down with one hand while typing at breakneck speed with the other. 

“Hot dog, you’re fast enough to kick some butt at the Daily Beagle!” Ham bounces up and pats his head happily. “Granted, we’re more story-ey than sciencey over there, but you get the point! That file-hunting stuff’s really not giving you any trouble?”

“Nope,” says Peter through a mouthful of tomato and lettuce. MJ’s newly emerging cravings were much less of a pain than either of them had expected: they consisted mostly of something rich stuffed into something bread, and he wished he could bring something from here back for her. “The rules are pretty different from the re -- uh, from my dimension, but surprisingly easy to memorize. I should be able to retrieve what you’re looking for in...maybe two minutes?” 

“Faaaaan-tastic!” 

“Can you keep them busy that much longer?”

“Sure can!” As he speaks, Ham is already whipping a comically large wrench out of his pocket and hurling it at the helmeted boar goons trying to break through the barricaded door. “Take that, you @#$%^&*!”

Peter still isn’t sure how Ham manages to make those sounds instead of swearing, but no matter. As far as he’s concerned, no questions equals smooth sailing. 

Well...of course he does have one. 

“Hey, Ham, this might be a weird thing to ask, but...what would you call ‘good parenting?’”

“Huh, I’m not sure. My parents passed before I was hatched, but Mom made sure her sac was settled in a nice place! My web was in May Porker’s lab for months before I transformed! Good thing, too, I was coming up on the tail end of my lifespan!”

“Oh...Y-Yeah, real good thing,” Peter stammers, fingers momentarily freezing on the keys as he processes that whole spider-turned-pig thing one more time. He’s privately quite glad that he’s never seen what’s under Ham’s mask. 

“I consider myself real lucky, actually!” Ham laughs. There’s a crash, and the metal door starts to squeal off its hinges, the enemy scrabbling to all get through the cracks at once. Ham promptly yanks out a machine gun and lets fly at them. Peter chokes down a laugh at the toy rat-a-tat-a-tat noises it makes. “Aunt May’s the best aunt a Spider-Ham could ask for! Bakes a mean apple pie, talks my ears off about her tech, supports me in all my endeavors. And you know, I can barely even see the bite scar anymore!”

Peter chokes on tomato. “The what?”

“Oh, Aunt May was the radioactive pig that turned me into Spider-Ham in the first place! My memories are slightly muddled around that time, but oh well! Doesn’t matter! Though neither of us had any idea it would do that, soooo...maybe just be extra careful about where your teeth go?”

Peter huffs, right-clicking the elusive file he’s found and downloading it to Ham’s flash drive, which is unsettlingly shaped like a bacon strip. “Yeah. Great advice. Don’t bite my kid. Next you’ll be telling me to keep my window open for the delivery stork to fly in with ‘em.”

“Well, sure, that’s just common courtesy! If ya really want to be nice, you give your stork a nice big tip!”

Peter swallows a groan from the deepest depths of his being, along with the last of the wrap.

~0~

“Six months and I still can’t believe you’re going to be a dad!” Gwen shouts, gracefully backflipping over another laser beam. “Like an actual dad!” 

“Almost seven, actually! And yep! Can’t believe it either!” Peter answers somewhat breathlessly, through his own leaping and punching of the armored thugs rushing in through the legs of the gun-toting robots. “Any ideas for names? Because MJ and I are way out!”

He hears Peni’s thoughtful humming through the speakers of her newest prototype: SP//dr, Mark Three. “Hmm...I don’t know much about historical naming conventions, but I also don’t think they’ve changed very much...Chief Stacy, what do you think?”

Safeguarded inside SP//dr’s cockpit from the onslaught targeting him and remaining remarkably calm about it, George Stacy considers it. “Hm. My daughter’s name is Gwendolyn. I’ve always thought that was the nicest name.”

Peter smirks under his mask, and gently elbows Gwen as she passes him. “Whaddaya think, Spider-Woman?”

He physically feels Gwen rolling her eyes. “It’s fine. Why don’t you just name him after you?”

“There’s millions of me! Maybe more! And besides we don’t even know if it’s a him, yet!”

“What about Ben? Or Benjamin?” Peni suggests. “To honor your uncle!”

“Oh, come on! Doesn’t anybody have an original idea!”

Gwen wrenches a robot head off and lobs it straight into a goon’s chest. “You know what, those will probably be a little easier to come by after we finish getting shot at!”

“Agreed, ma’am,” Chief Stacy says. “Excellent throw, by the way. Hey, Man-Spider, machine gunner at three o’clock!”

No matter how short and no matter how many people fight beside him, Peter’s various battles always seem to last forever as they happen, but the memory of them only lasts a blink of an eye. So it’s slightly dizzying when just a couple hours after the attack has been dealt with, Chief Stacy secured, and a plan for Gwen to hunt down whoever had ordered it outlined, the three of them are sitting on the roof of a skyscraper, eating cheeseburgers while the sun rises before them.

“I can’t even imagine eating a burger with pickles on it,” Gwen says. “You’re really telling me that’s the common thing instead of chili peppers where you’re from?”

“Yep,” Peter confirms, washing a large, hot bite down with a quarter of his soda. “I mean, I’ve had jalapeño burgers before, but they’re like a specialty thing.”

“We eat pickles on our burgers, too, but they’re all deep fried,” Peni puts in. “Crunchy.”

Gwen laughs, the breeze blowing her hair back. After hearing the story of how she’d acquired her undercut, Peter always finds it funny that she’d gone ahead and kept it after all. “So weird.”

“I’ll take that as a compliment,” he says. “Entirely unrelated, if you need any more help with your dad, you just let me know.”

“And me!” Peni adds, SP//dr waving a leg in agreement. 

“Thanks, guys.”

“Hey...Speaking of dads...” Peter pauses a moment to think before continuing, “What would you call your dads’ best qualities? Like, as a dad?”

“You’re looking for advice again?”

“A little template would be nice, sure!”

“All right, then...” Peni taps a French fry on the burger box. “I always loved how smart and loving my dad was, and that he had faith in me to continue his work when he was gone. Dad always believing in me helped me to believe in myself, when I might not have otherwise.”

Gwen nods. “I feel pretty similar about my dad. He doesn’t know about me being Spider-Woman, and he doesn’t really get the whole rock band thing. But he makes sure I know that he loves me no matter what, and that he’ll support me in whatever I decide to do. Provided I’m not, like, becoming a supervillain or anything, but I’m doing the opposite of that, so...”

Peter feels the urge to start taking notes. “Sounds good, sounds good, and...don’t take this the wrong way, but is there anything they do, as dads, that makes you not like them sometimes?”

Peni giggles. “Of course there was! I didn’t like when he’d work late and not get home on time, or when he’d make me stop reading comics and go to bed, or something like that. I’d get annoyed with him, but I still loved him.”

“My dad kind of runs the house like he does the police station,” Gwen adds. “He can be super strict, a bit like Miles’ dad. Ironclad rules and curfews for me and my brother, endless lectures when we break them. If I were a normal girl, it’d be pretty stifling, but since I have this life that I have to keep secret from him...it can be really hard sometimes.”

“Yeah, I...I can see that. I don’t really know if I should keep who I am secret from my kid, though. Would it keep them safe, or...just make them resent me? Or both?”

Gwen sighs. “There’s really no right answer, I don’t think.”

“You’re worried about being perfect.” Peni pats his shoulder. “But you don’t need to be. Just use your best judgment.”

Peter looks glumly at the street below. “I wish that was something I trusted.”

~0~

There’s a hollowness inside his chest. 

The only light on the wide, empty street are from the street lamps, ghastly white against the pitch black. He moves as if underwater: swinging, roundhousing, throwing his barely-pulled punches. His heart is pounding, but the rest of him and the world feels numb. Cold sweat soaks the inside of his mask, and heavy dread washes over his skin. 

Peter’s fighting shadows, human-shaped pillars of darkness. His strikes go right through them, when he can reach. But everything they land on him feels like being pummeled by a cannonball, and he’s not sure how long he can endure it. 

The end comes out of nowhere. One spectral arm flashes up, there’s a glint of silver, and a soundless explosion that makes the whole world ripple. It hits his chest like a tidal wave, slams him into the concrete. He can’t get up again. In the world of muted, swimming colors, the gushing of blood from his shot-open heart is sickeningly vivid. 

“DAD!”

Everything in him jolts. He lifts his spinning head to see a kid sprinting towards him, as fast as they can but not fast enough to reach him. He can’t tell how old the kid is, or whether they’re a boy or girl. But he recognizes MJ’s bright red hair and blue eyes, and his own expression of utter, gut-wrenching horror and heartbreak. 

“DA-A-A-D!”

He tries to say he’ll be okay and coughs up blood instead. His rib-punctured lungs won’t let him speak. Panic engulfs him: his death is going to be burned into his kid’s eyes forever and there’s nothing he can do, nothing he can do, nothing, nothing, nothing —

“Peter! Peter, wake up, it’s okay!”

The darkness is blue, striped by the thin gold light through their bedroom blinds. His eyes fly open and he grabs for his bare chest: intact, bloodless. It’s soft and safe around him but he still can’t catch his breath. MJ is awkwardly rolling over in bed to stroke his hair and try to hug him. 

“Peter, you’re okay. You were dreaming. Just dreaming...”

She’s no stranger to dealing with him like this, and the guilt stabs deeper. “I...s-sorry, I...”

“Deep breaths. Slow breaths. I’m here.”

“I won’t be,” he chokes out.

“Peter — ?”

“I-I dreamed that someone shot me, killed me, r-right in front of our kid. It...God, it terrified them, ruined them for life, I could feel it, and it was all my fault!”

He rolls over to look at her face, to anchor him to the real world. He half-expects to see irritation in her eyes at his weakness. Instead there’s love and sympathy. 

“It wasn’t your fault. It was just a dream. That doesn’t mean it will happen.”

“It happened to every parent I ever had. It happened to me. What if I do that to my kid? I can’t — I don’t — ”

Trembling, Peter places his hands on MJ’s belly. Their kid, determined to make sure that their mom sleeps as little as possible, kicks a drumbeat against his palms. They don’t know what fear, pain, or loss is yet. How can he be the one to bring it into their life?

“I’m not running away again,” he assures MJ, as her fingers run through his hair. 

“I know you won’t. Don’t worry.”

“I don’t want to leave you. I don’t want to leave our kid. I never did. I want to be there for you for the rest of my life,” Peter forces out through his tightening throat. “B-But that choice could end up not being mine, after all of this. The things I do, the people I fight, I could die anytime! I’d leave you again. Both of you.”

MJ cups his cheek, leans in to kiss his forehead. “I can’t tell you that nothing bad will happen, Peter. But I can tell you you’re not alone. Like, I worry about the same thing happening to me that happened to my mom. Dying before our baby can even remember me.”

Peter’s heart lurches; he’d forgotten about that. “I’m sorry, I-I didn’t —“

She cuts him off with another kiss. “We’re both afraid, Peter. Your job is probably the most dangerous one out there, but you don’t have to go through this alone. All we can do is what every parent has to do: our best.”

“What if my best isn’t good enough? What if I fail, and they hate me?”

“It’ll be more than enough for the people who love you. Always.” MJ smiles. “And they would never hate you. I never could, no matter what.”

Tears slip down his cheeks. He wants to tell her thank you, but he can’t seem to speak, only hug her as close as he can.

~0~

He has one place left to visit. Something he hasn’t been able to face until month nine.

Aside from this world’s MJ, Miles is the most common visitor to Perfect Peter’s grave. After the first time, he’s never surprised to see Peter B. here too. 

“Hey,” he says as Peter walks up, morning dew soaking his sneakers. “How’s it going? Is MJ doing okay?”

Peter nods. “Her due date’s in two weeks. All smooth sailing so far as the doctors say.”

“Awesome.” Miles half-smiles. “So...you had a question for me?”

“Yeah. I just need...one more hope boost before this thing really gets started. Feel free to tell me to kick rocks back to my own dimension if you don’t want to talk about it, but...” He gestures to the gravestone. “This Peter. Your uncle. What was it like to lose them, because of their line of work? I’ve made my life so damn risky, am I doing something wrong bringing a baby into it with me?”

Miles is silent for a long time. “I don’t have a solid yes or no to that. I...I’ll always wish things were different for them both. That there was something I could have done to save them. If I let myself think about it too hard, or too long, I’ll lose myself in it.”

Peter winces. But then Miles goes on.

“I’ve just got to tell myself, what happened, happened. Can’t change the past. The best thing I can do, for them and for me, is keep moving forward. I miss them like crazy and I wish they were still around, I always will. But more than anything, I remember the lessons that they taught me. That they were good men, that they cared about me. It’s the same with you and your uncle, right?”

“I...I do remember him that way. Yeah. But I was going into college when Uncle Ben died. I wasn’t...just a kid. I chose this life, MJ chose to stay with me, our kid didn’t ask for this kind of life.”

Miles shrugs. “I worry about my dad every day. He’s worked a dangerous job in a dangerous city since before I was born. I don’t hold it against him, because I know why he does it. I’m one of the people he’s trying to protect, after all.”

“Yeah, but — ”

“Peter. Come on.” Miles turns to look at him then, with a knowing smile. “You don’t know all of what you’re doing. No one does. What matters is that you’re a good man, and that’s what’ll be most important to your kids, whatever happens: that their dad loves them and would do anything for them.”

Peter feels the same rush of pride and affection for him that he had back at the reactor, along with a sense of security around his heart. He’s surprised to find himself laughing. “You’re the best, kid, you know that?”

Miles’ grin broadens cheekily. “Oh, I know. I try.”

He wraps an arm around Miles’ shoulders and pulls him in for a hug. “Yeah, just keep trying, future godfather.”

It takes a second for the word to hit Miles, and then he spins around to stare at him with huge eyes. “I — their godfather?! Me?”

Peter laughs. “No one out there’d be better than you. Only the best for my kid.”

~0~

After the twenty-seven most stressful hours of their lives, Mira Penelope Watson-Parker emerges into the world with a long, indignant screech. 

Illuminated in the noon sun, in the soft yellow hospital room, both his wife and daughter look like angels in Peter’s eyes. He doesn’t even care that he’s about to cry. “You did amazing, hon.”

MJ grins. “Helps to have a husband whose hands I could squeeze as hard as I needed. C’mere and hold her. I’m sure she wants to meet her dad.”

Peter tries so very hard not to tremble as MJ passes their blanket-wrapped daughter into his arms. He’s never felt anything so delicate in his life. 

“She’s...so tiny,” is all he can manage.

Mira’s hair is her mother’s bright red, just like in his dream. But the dark hazel eyes staring curiously up at him are all his own. 

Peter smiles at her, cradling her close. He really would do anything for her, he knows that already.

“Hey, sweetheart. Hey. Dad’s here.”

[mobius-prime]

239. Sonic the Hedgehog #171

I Am

Writer: Ian Flynn Pencils: Tracy Yardley! Colors: Jason Jensen

This is a fantastic story, and a great example of the kind of storytelling Ian is capable of in comparison to his predecessors. Shadow is pissed that Eggman was leading him on all this time, holding onto both Eggman and Snively and coldly interrogating them on the location of Gerald's diary. Eggman is furious, claiming ownership of both the diary and Shadow and demanding that Shadow put him down, but Shadow merely turns his attention to a terrified Snively instead. Snively gives up the information out of fear, and Shadow rips off the six solitary hairs on his head as punishment for "wasting his time." As Snively freaks out, Shadow heads to Eggman's private study to locate the diary.

Well that's a weird bait-and-switch, hiding a disc in a book like that. Shadow makes for Knothole, while Sonic enters Freedom HQ next to Knuckles, still frustrated about not being able to find Fiona. When he mentions her recent disappearances, Tails becomes distressed and runs out of the room, confusing both Sonic and Knuckles, as Sonic had thought they'd resolved their disagreements over him dating Fiona despite Tails' infatuation. Before they can discuss much more about Fiona's absences, however, Tails comes running back in, this time with news about Shadow's approach and Eggman's robots giving chase.

This is why you wear clothes, Shadow. Clothes with pockets. Shadow swallows his pride and begs Sonic and Tails for help, knowing that this disc is his final hope to find out his true purpose in life. Sonic cheerfully agrees, but once Tails gets a good look at the data on his computer, he says that the combination of damage from the attack and the age of the disc has corrupted a lot of the data, meaning that if they try to dig around on it the entire thing might become unusable. Nicole chimes in with an idea - namely, that she pull Shadow into the disc in a kind of virtual reality simulation, which might give them a chance to sift through the relevant data more quickly before everything falls apart. Sonic insists on coming along into the disc with Shadow, while Tails and Knuckles stand guard in the real world. Soon, they're in, with Sonic pleasantly surprised to see Nicole standing next to them in her lynx form, complimenting her on her "look." I feel like a compliment like that goes further when you're not just talking about someone's outfit, but their entire body that they designed themselves from scratch. They begin to wander the digital halls, which look like the halls of the ARK, but right as a figure in a dress approaches them, alarms begin blaring within Freedom HQ. Tails and Knuckles realize somehow they've been tracked here, and turn as one to look at Snively's six stolen hairs, discarded on a nearby table. Yes, that's right. Snively put trackers on his hairs, apparently for just such an occasion as this, because he's insane. Great use of your uncle's technology, Snively! Tails remains behind to keep an eye on the digital travelers while Knuckles races out to hold off Snively.

I've often thought myself that a potential friendship between Shadow and Knuckles has been severely neglected within the games. After all, Shadow's had quite a few life experiences that would likely strike a chord with Knuckles, and vice versa. I like that Ian actually acknowledges some of this here, and that Knuckles takes Shadow's search for a purpose personally. In the diary, Shadow is stunned to find himself face to face with a digital version of Maria, who happily greets him. When Shadow tells her that he's been locked away for fifty years and is still searching for his life's purpose, Maria leads them into an adjacent room, where Professor Gerald awaits. Unfortunately, the data is fragmenting more quickly by the moment, so Gerald quickly explains the true circumstances of Shadow's creation. Those who have played his titular game already know it all, but I'll give a brief summary here for those who haven't - Gerald was searching for a cure for Maria's rare and fatal disease, Neuro-Immune Deficiency Syndrome (this never got a name in the games), and ended up with the idea to create an immortal life form to research a potential cure. However, without the necessary knowledge to create such a being, he ended up seeking the help of Black Doom, the head of the Black Arms hive mind, who donated his own DNA to go towards Shadow's creation. However, the price was that in fifty years he and his race would return to the planet to eat every living being on it, so Gerald ensured that Shadow was also equipped to be a savior of the world, with all the abilities necessary to fight off the Black Arms and save Mobius. At this point, the diary begins to degrade in earnest, and Nicole insists that they have to leave immediately.

I love that in the comics, Shadow actually gets this final moment to say goodbye to Maria. I mean, a huge part of his past with her is meant to hinge on how sudden and tragic her death was, but this ultimately allows him some closure, even if he's only saying goodbye to a digital facsimile of her. Sonic and Shadow emerge from the digital realm, and a panicked Tails informs them that Knuckles is losing his fight against Snively outside, as Snively is still pissed about the loss of his hair. Shadow, without a word, snatches up the hairs from the table and rushes outside to smash Snively's mech and deliver perhaps the best version of his "I Am" speech in any Sonic canon, ever.

You go, Shadow! After everything he's been through, he deserves this moment of certainty and power. Sonic, Knuckles, and Tails watch, simultaneously proud and amused, happy for him but also sure that he'll be back to brooding after all this is over. Sonic then says that now that that's taken care of, he's going to go find Fiona and finally figure out why she's been disappearing on him so much lately. Good luck, buddy, cause I have a feeling we already know why…

Separating this story and the back-up, we have not just one or two, but four pages containing data files on various aspects of Mobius! In order, they cover the Master Emerald, power rings, Chaos Emeralds, chao, and Flickies. As is common with these data files, most of the information is stuff we already know from previous issues, so there's no need for me to recap here. The info on chao is mostly taken from the games, particularly the information on how they grow up, reincarnate, and express their emotions. The only real new info we get is that apparently, recently, some Flickies have been spotted around Knothole, and no one is really sure if this means that the portal to their home dimension has opened back up, or if there's another flock of them out there somewhere that hasn't been discovered yet. Ian has a distinct penchant for planting plot seeds and bringing back plot points from much earlier in the series, so you can be sure that they'll be coming back at some point in the future.

Enforcers

Writer: Ian Flynn Pencils: Tracy Yardley! Colors: Jason Jensen

In contrast to the previous one, I have… some problems with this story. Well, I suppose it's not with this story in itself, but rather some details shown within it that have an effect on the comic's larger plot as a whole. If there's one big criticism I do have of Ian, it's the fact that he seems very eager to get rid of a lot of Penders' old worldbuilding, or at least render it useless. Case in point: despite one of Penders' final issues depicting Echidnaopolis being rebuilt after the dingo occupation, apparently it's been razed once again, and the few survivors have relocated to some random wilderness clearing and built suspiciously-Knothole-esque huts and named their crappy little village "Echidnaopolis" after their fallen city. How can a city that once contained over a hundred thousand people have fallen so far as to be represented by a dozen huts? Well, apparently over 90% of the city's inhabitants were killed during the occupation, either in concentration camps or otherwise in the Egg Grapes! I actually actively dislike this quite a bit. Of course not all of Penders' worldbuilding was stellar, but I was fond of a lot of it, particular the intricate interactions between different factions that defined a lot of his work. By wiping out both the city and most of its population, Ian has quickly rendered most of that build-up completely meaningless, and the ensuing plots that involve the echidnas feel oversimplified, because they're missing a lot of that rich backstory that once defined them as a race. Unfortunately, this isn't a one-time thing, as future plots are not kind to the echidnas either. I can't help but feel that a storyline that combined Kenders' worldbuilding skills with Ian's storytelling skills would have been utterly fascinating, but alas, that's not what we're getting here.

Well, no use moping about it I suppose. "Echidnaopolis" is under attack from yet another contingent of dingoes, who threaten Lara-Le and Wynmacher along with their baby, but a warp ring suddenly appears and the Destructix emerge from it. They begin fending off the attacking dingoes, and a nearby Locke, watching but not helping (asshole) is surprised to see them fighting for his people, as he only knew them as villains before now. Finitevus then appears behind him, and despite Locke's surprise at seeing him again, he explains that the Destructix work for him now and he truly wants to help his people. Locke is naturally highly suspicious, so Finitevus brings in a familiar face to vouch for him…

Well, I suppose this explains Dimitri's comments from the revised M25YL timeline! Nice to see you again, Dimitri! Remember, the last time anyone has seen him in this timeline was right after Knuckles saved his life at the cost of his own before the Tossed in Space time skip. Finitevus offers Locke one of his warp rings, so that Locke can leave and continue his hunt for his missing family members, promising that he'll look after things here. Locke continues to remain suspicious, voicing his intentions to come back to frequently check up on him, but eventually, is swayed by Finitevus and accepts the ring.

Wow, we never saw a betrayal from Finitevus coming! Dimitri follows Finitevus through yet another warp ring into the Chaos Chamber, disgusted with himself - apparently Finitevus convinced him to lie to Locke in return for some mysterious favor. Finitevus approaches the Master Emerald, and reveals his true intentions - he plans to use the emerald's power to bring back Enerjak, once again transforming Dimitri into his superpowered, deadly alter ego. I'm sure that will go well…

[hellzyeahwebwielingessays]

Superior is INDEFENCIBLE Part 2: Odds and Ends

Part 1

As a little follow up to this post I want to wrap up some defences I have encountered for both Superior #2 and the Superior storyline in general.

To start with we have more hypocrisy from the man I once admired as he tried to defend his position on Superior.

He was challenged on his primary argument that Peter and MJ’s separation justified her obliviousness now that they are back together; for further details see the above linked post.

In response to this challenge he said:

“I think there is more to my argument then "They've lived apart for a year" and her relationship with him during that time doesn't have to hold relevance to their relationship after being apart.”

Like…this guy was for fucking real.

OF COURSE their relationship back then is going to hold relevance to their relationship after being apart.

Obviously with the benefit of hindsight Nick Spencer’s run proves this to be the case. And you can refer back to my prior post where I dive deeper into the topic.

However, in that post I was talking about the specific nuances of Peter and MJ’s relationship.

What’s mind boggling is that in the above quote he’s making an even bigger reach. Jesus Christ OF COURSE their past relationship is going to hold relevance for their then-current one.

That’s how relationships work!

FFS, romantic or otherwise everyone’s relationship with everyon else is shaped by the past. This is like arguing Peter hating Norman for killing Gwen Stacy doesn’t have to be relevant to their relationship after his return to the Clone Saga.

I mean shit dude, Peter’s high school romance with Betty Brant was relevant to their romance after he graduated college!

This is how all types of relationships work. You don’t just jump in after awhile, start fresh and then nothing from the past has any bearing on the present. Even in the most positive of scenarios the fact that you are getting together again  would still be shaped by the fact that you liked each other in the first place.

And for the life experiences those two shared that’d go a thousand fold.

Now let’s move on to some over miscellaneous comments sent to me a  looooooooooooong time ago.

I’ve had this stuff in my drafts for years! 

For the sake of catharsis I’ve decided to clear it out. It revolves around Superior Spider-Man and the comments I’m responding to were made before the original volume ended in 2014.

“Rob Wrecks wrote:Why would Aunt May even react to it? She doesn't even know the identity of Spidey now.”

In Civil War she was able to tell that the Chameleon, a MASTER of disguise who was being more subtle than Otto was, was not her nephew.

Whilst she might not know he is Spider-Man she knows her nephew so she should react and become questionable regarding his change in demeanor and behavior. What’s the old saying ‘A mother always knows’.

“As for MJ, they aren't even married anymore either. Sure she remembers who is under the mask. But I doubt she's gonna bring trouble on herself for prying.”

I address a lot of this in this  post.

Basically, not being married anymore has nothing to do with it. This woman lived with this man for years (five to be precise) and had a very close relationship with him which involved countless tragedies and traumas. That doesn’t just go away. This is to say nothing of the fact that she has known this man for about 10 years and has been his friend and girlfriend during that time. In fact in Stern’s run when she knew who he was but didn’t let him know, she was depicted as knowing him better than anyone and was able to read him as a book. This was back when they weren’t as close as they are now, hadn’t known each other for as long and she didn’t know him as intimately as she would later come to down the road. In ASM #290 Peter himself says MJ knows him as well as he knows himself and this was before the marriage.

Even in Slott’s run this depiction of Mary Jane knowing Peter better than anyone else was highlighted in various stories like Spider Island, a time travel arc, Alpha, and a Lizard arc at HORIZON labs. 

In JMS’ run Peter and Mary Jane were shown to be somewhat in synch even though they were separated at the time and had been for a long while going back. This was showcased in ASM V2 #50 and they had been effectively separated with minimal interaction as far back as ASM V2 #13; arguably even issue #1.

And yet she understood him and knew him very well, falling back into synch with him when they reconciled. Yes there was some awkwardness and them getting to know each other again but it was not on the same level of Otto guzzling champagne, creating spider bots, talking in a manner which was unlike the way he’s ever spoken before and MJ just wondering passingly then dismissing it. This woman has lived through the Chamelon, robot parents and clones and lives in a world where friggin Skrulls have invaded.

This out of character behaviour should send off alarm bells. She DOES clock something is off in Superior #10 but only when he says a phrase she’s never heard him say before. He was doing shit MUCH more out of character before then and she was dismissing it.

Later she was STILL dismissing the notion that Peter wasn’t himself as merely crazy on her part.

Again this woman knows Peter can be/has been cloned  repeatedly. This woman even for awhile believed Peter himself was a clone so she knows even memories can be replicated. But Peter is acting so obviously NOT himself that it’s practically SCREAMING at her that she should get this. In fact Peter’s ghost point this out which is Slott lampshading the situation. That doens’t make it good writing that’s just pointing out how bad your story is.

“Hasn't she (I'm guessing he's referring to Aunt May?) been focused lately on her new marriage though? I don't read enough of Spidey these days so I'm only going with bits and pieces I've read about here and there.”

What does being married recently or focusing upon it have to do with anything?

In Civil War she was focused upon not dying because Peter’s ID reveal had upended her life.

If you are someone’s MOTHER and have raised them all their life you will absolutely  be able to tell when something is wrong, when they are in fact not the real deal.

“As for MJ, who would she go too? Not like anyone would likely believe her unless she had a telepath scan her mind.”

Who would she go to? I dunno maybe the fucking Avengers or Fantastic Four who are Peter’s friends and team mates. Or maybe not go that far why not go to Black Cat, Human Torch or Daredevil . These are all people whom she knows (at least vaguely in regards to Daredevil) personally and have access to technology that can prove things one way or another.

Even if you argue that it’s not fair bringing in the wider Marvel Universe, Black Cat, Carlie, HORIZON labs, the Bugle staff and Scarlet Spider are all Spider-Man franchise characters.

“Now there could be a possibility she's making a list of his behavior and the like and is just waiting for the right time to say something when she knows she's less likely to die from it.

Maybe Slott's just got something going that'll eventually be revealed? Who knows.”

Oh boy, that didn’t stand the test of time did it?

This is just shitty analysis on principle. It hinges upon blind faith and writing stuff in your head about what characters are doing behind the scenes.

There was NEVER an indication MJ was doing anything like that and her actions actually contradicted event he idea of her doing any of that stuff.

The net responses are to the statement that Doc Ock was a gentleman who would treat women with respect.

“Keyword there, 'was' a gentlemen. I can imagine after years of defeats at the hands of Spidey, certain habits would change and he wouldn't care anymore.

It could have just been a subtle change that no one really noticed. He did try and end the world before #700 if I recall right.”

You need to SHOW those habits changing. The last major Doctor Octopus story before BND was in JMS’s run when he was very much a gentleman. You can’t just say his illness and defeats suddenly transformed him into a would be rapist. It’s utterly out of character for him. It’d be like bringing back Ben Reilly and making him a mass murderer. WHY is he a mass murderer.

(Fun fact. The stuff I bolded about Ben Reilly was something I wrote at the time. I kept it in because of how sadly ironic it wound up being…fuck Clone Conspiracy seriously)

Ending the world before #700 is one thing IN Doc Ock’s character. He is egotistical and wants acknowledgement of his genius.

Superior depicted him going against a character trait he’s always had. In his origin story, when he was ‘courting’ Aunt May, when he was involved with Stunner and Lady Octopus and the like he has always been show to have a respect for women and not had to resort to cheap ploys to woo them.

In Superior he was trading off of MJ’s relationship with Peter and Peter’s memories to basically abuse this woman. That is beneath Doctor Octopus. He is an intellectual a man for whom such actions are debase, the realm of the common thug whilst he is much more he is DOCTOR OCTOPUS.

BTW in Web of Death it was established that Doc Ock probably would not target MJ or Peter’s family even though he knew Peter’s identity.

So for him to suddenly switch to ‘I’m gonna fuck his girlfriend to get one over on him” is again utterly out of character.

‘Web of Death’ was co-written by Tom DeFalco btw, who established Otto’s origin. Thus the argument is flying in the face of someone who helped define the character with no explanation at all.

Slott had done this with other characters like Ashley Kafka.Suddenly the most naively compassionate woman in the world who believed she could redeem CARNAGE is saying this lesser serial killer is a complete monster. That is piss poor writing.

Even if Slott WERE to establish and show how Ock went from one extreme to the other it doesn’t make it a good idea. Doc Ock would be rapist is a lot less interesting than Doc Ock the lone super villain who is part gentleman and part humanitarian with a respect for women. If this was Norman Osborn in Peter’s body, or Electro, or Shocker I’d believe these actions.

The topic then changed to Carlie Cooper’s depiction in Superior as a goddam idiot who isn’t even telling MJ Peter might  be evil. “Red Hood wrote: Carlie and Wraith followed Ock’s paper trail because she knows for fact that peter parker doesnt have the money to fund his own private army, the reason she hasnt said anything is because it's not such a good idea to go pointing fingers without absolute truth, remember eddie brock and how he was so sure about the sin eater?”

Carlie’s investigation was going incredibly sloooooooooooooooooowly. Not only was it dull reading, but it made her completely unsympathetic. Why not warn Mary Jane by saying “Look before he died Doc Ock told me he and Spider-Man had swapped bodies. I’m not saying Peter IS Doc Ock but just....be careful MJ”.

Or why not inform the Avengers or Fantastic Four about this. Sure the Avengers gave him a physical but they wouldn’t know what to look for. And why is Carlie Cooper all of a sudden saying “Wait I KNOW Peter doesn’t have this kind of cash so this is a big clue that he isn’t himself.” When her first big clue should have been that time Spider-Man SHOT SOMEONE IN THE FACE!

“also peter and mj arent married anymore.”

See above.

You don’t just suddenly fall out of knowing someone if you’ve been THAT close to them and known them for that long just because suddenly you are not married anymore. She has deduced subtle differences in the Chameleon and clones before this but Ock is NOT being subtle whatsoever. He isn’t even talking the same way he normally does. And Mister Red Hood even says so himself, Carlie can tell right way. His co-workers whom he’s known for LESS THAN A YEAR can tell something is up. But the woman who’s been closer to him than ANYONE in his life, she can’t tell. That is bullshit of the highest order.

“1. mj and peter arent married anymore, idk if they were married in identity crisis but remember how after the deal with mephisto they were separated for x amount of years before she even came back to new york, i can see her not being able to tell peter is acting different at that point. aunt may and the avengers though don't get a pass especially when carlie who knew him the least could tell right away.”

See above.

You don’t just suddenly fall out of knowing someone if you’ve been THAT close to them and known them for that long just because suddenly you are not married anymore. She has deduced subtle differences in the Chameleon and clones before this but Ock is NOT being subtle whatsoever. He isn’t even talking the same way he normally does. And Mister Red Hood even says so himself, Carlie can tell right way. His co-workers whom he’s known for LESS THAN A YEAR can tell something is up. But the woman who’s been closer to him than ANYONE in his life, she can’t tell. That is bullshit of the highest order.

When you separate from someone you’ve been that close to those feelings don’t just disappear. This is especially true of people who’ve been through immensely traumatic events together. Soldiers often find that only fellow soldiers, specifically ones who were with them in combat, can truly understand what they went through and how they felt. It creates an emotional/mental bond. Same thing here. Peter and Mary Jane went through Venom, Kraven’s Last Hunt, the death of Harry, Gwen, aunt May, Ben Reilly, the clone saga as a whole, Civil War, Peter’s OWN death, Maximum Carnage and so on. They’d have that kind of connection I was speaking about, you don’t just forget it to the point where you let MASSIVE differences in behaviour slide, especially massive differences in behaviour which are different to the way he was acting LAST WEEK!

“3. Also i don't think his  [Doc Ock’s] actions are entirely out of character, i mean he was dead, then revived, beat down for several years into a dying body. given time to think about all the things you would do if given another chance i dont think its out of the question for doc to say "great, second chance at life with a movie starhottie gf". also if you'll threaten the city, then the world, then mind swap with someone i dont think having sex is that big a stretch.”

See my comments above why this IS out of character for Doc Ock. Again this isn’t just him wanting to get laid this is him potentially date raping an innocent woman. You need to SHOW the progression of that change

And rape in comic book fiction is understood to be worse  from the reader’s POV than the various Saturday Morning Cartoon style crimes he’s pulled.

The next comment was in response to the public’s indifference towards Spider-Man shooting Massacre in the face! “7. As far as no one caring about massacre, didn't he break out a few times and inflict his namesake? no one is going to care that a killer like that gets shot, humans aren't dignified at all. i can see aunt may saying something but no one else is going to be like "oh great that killer is back in jail, too bad all criminals break out" no they're going to be like "finally someone put down this thug, maybe my life or someone i care about will be spared from him at least in the future" and maybe it was caught on security cameras or phones but maybe they deleted it, i mean spider-man just shot a dude in the face and if he wanted there would be nothing anyone could do to stop him from putting the hurt on someone else”

This is just rubbish.

No one is going to care? For God’s sake the police in real life get reprimanded for using unnecessary force.

The law is the law you CANNOT publically execute an unarmed man. And my point was no one, not even Mary Jane or Jonah, were reacting to this mind-blowingly out of character action on the part of Spider-Man. Maybe they do not care that Massacre was killed but they should be wondering “Jesus that’s not like Spider-Man at all”. This was Spider-Man becoming absolutely EVERYTHING Jameson ever falsely accused him of and no one reacted. And I am sorry but the attitude of ‘human’s aren’t dignified so they’d react like THIS” is extremely broad and generalised. This would be a major talking point and a major issue. This is EXACTLY what the entire ‘Civil War’ debacle was about. Super heroes running unchecked doing as they pleased. It’s been what, a year tops Marvel time since Civil War? If that stuff was deleted YOU NEED TO SHOW IT. The cover story is that EVERYONE in that massive crowd covered for him. That is in no way shape or form how humans actually act. And who would there be to stop like a teenager or a kid or a lone person in the crowd from tweeting “OMG Spider-Man just shot this dude” or uploading a video or picture. They were CHEERING him on they wouldn’t be afraid of him being reprimanded. Once something like that hit the internet it’d spread like wildfire, it wouldn’t be something that if immediately taken down would die away, especially when THE NEWS was stating Spider-Man had ‘neutralised Massacre’ and then Massacre shows up dead, WTF would the public THINK happened?

“Aaron Alexander Luthor wrote: Superior is an excellent title, but I feel you approached it having already made up your mind. Doc Ock NEVER attempted date rape, and I don't know where you get that from”

Boy, I wonder where I got the idea of Otto trying to rape MJ from? What an obviously ‘excellent’ title.

Trying to sleep with Mary Jane whilst tricking her into thinking he is Peter Parker then that is categorically trying to date rape her. He didn’t go through with it because he discovered he could just wank off to her memories (I can’t believe I wrote that) but that is exactly what he was trying to do. Maybe to HIM he didn’t think of it as rape but yeah that’s exactly what it was.

“He ripped off his own shirt, not hers.”

I honestly have no idea what he’s talking about here btw.

“Mary Jane had/has mentioned several times that there is something wrong with him and that she thinks there is something strange going on, he also hasn't spoken to her in weeks in the time frame of the comic.”

Yes MJ has noticed passingly things are wrong but then he feeds her a line and she buys it or otherwise she dismisses it herself. This in monumentally out of character for her given her history and makes her incredibly stupid, which is the ONLY way this title could have worked out. Again, she lives in a world of Skrulls, clones, LMDs and shape shifters one of which is literally an enemy of Peter’s and has tried impersonating him multiple times (targeting her specifically twice). But she either doesn’t clock anything is wrong or doesn’t really react when she does. And he HAD spoken to her within weeks by the time or Superior #2.

“Same goes for Aunt May, he visited her the first few weeks as Parker, and hasnt spoken to her since. He is basically ignoring the people in Peter's life, and they have taken notice.”

See my response about Aunt May not knowing. Again, this woman RAISED him and she could tell when the master of disguise who was being a lot more subtle about impersonating Peter was not her son/nephew.

Also he wasn’t exactly ignoring  the HORIZON labs staff was he?

“When he killed Massacre, some of the civilians were shocked and appalled, but when the police investigated all the officers on the scene lied for Spidey, because they think he did the right thing. That is why the only officers still interested are Carlie Cooper who does know, and is ACTIVELY trying to prove it isnt Peter, and Captain Watanabe aka The Wraith”

My point about NO ONE taking photos, tweeting, facebooking or whatever still stands as does the security cameras thing and the fact that Massacre was TRYING TO GET PUBLICITY. Again with Carlie why is she not warning SOMEBODY at this point. It isn’t like they wouldn’t believe her after Massacre. It isn’t like Spider-Man isn’t acting weird. It isn’t like body swapping is a legit THING in the Marvel universe. For God’s sake this happened to Captain America!

Kaine, the CLONE of Peter Parker with identical memories and everything. In the Sibling Rivaly crossover between Scarlet Spider and Superior Team-Up even HE couldn’t tell that Peter. Was an imposter This guy doesn’t just know Peter well, he IS Peter. And Otto was ranting none too subtley about how Kaine has bad blood with HIM. He doesn’t say he’s Doc Ock but he’s conveying unsubtly to Kaine that he is not Peter Parker and he is not TALKING like Peter Parker either. When his CLONE is still operating under the delusion that he is Peter Parker that’s put it beyond doubt this was ridiculously contrived.

“BTW, Carlie and MJ have talked about the suspicious way Pete has been acting, Carlie just hasnt told MJ directly.”

WHY didn’t Carlie tell MJ! And WHY were she and Peter noticing Peter’s different actions yet being totally blasé about them.

FFS in ‘Kraven’s Last Hunt’ MJ and Peter had been married for just 2 weeks and in that time she was able to deduce from his actions that the guy in the Spider-Man suit was NOT Peter. In the Mark of Kaine an identical clone of Peter approaches her and she is ultimately able to tell (twice) that he is not her husband. And she did this whilst pregnant and stressed out from a life or death situation to say nothing of the fact that Aunt May had recently died which would be weighing on her mind. Yet in Superior her mind was clearer and she was still buying this was Peter. This is enormously bad out of character writing for her

“As for the Avengers scans, it wasnt that no one could read them, its that they all came back NORMAL.”

No, the scans DID NOT come back normal at all. Doc Ock looked at the scans and could TELL something was not normal because he saw ghost Peter was in his mind. Yeah there was a tiny inconsistency in the brain waves but why the heck weren’t there people on the Avengers team that day to take note of stuff like that. Cap, Wolverine, Black Widow and Thor are obviously NOT going to be able to properly read this scientific equipment like Iron Man or Hank Pym or the Beast. ANY of those guys would’ve been able to tell but no only the Avengers who categorically would not be able to properly read the brainwaves were there. Why? Why get the unscientific Avengers? Because of plot contrivances is why.

And where were the telepaths? One telepathic scan from SOMEBODY should have told all. And again these tests come back normal....no one thought he could be a clone? Spider-Man has joked to these people about his clones, they know about them. Correct me if I am wrong but at the time of the Avenger’s physical of Peter wasn’t there a character involved with the Avengers who was supposed to be the living universe? SHE couldn’t tell Doc Ock is Spider-Man? The universe literally didn’t know this?

“Even Dr. Strange and Wolverines tests all came back regular.”

If Dr. Strange with all his power wasn’t able to deduce the truth that’s even MORE contrived!

And what the heck were Wolverine’s test? That he smelt the same? Of course he would.

“There was a tiny inconsistency in the brainwaves, it wasnt that no one could read it, its that it was so small that no one would even take notice of it, except for Peter or Ock if they were to look for it.”

See above for why this is bullshit.

“And the Avengers are STILL very suspicious, if you read the current titles.”

At the time a ‘current title’ was  Superior Team Up #1.

In it the Avengers told him they were wrong to put him in probation and are still just ‘suspicious’ when he INVADED SHADOWLAND WITH AN ARMY!. Because THAT’S so usual for Spider-Man right?

“You're entitled to your opinion, but you cant just make up facts and call it a discussion. I get the impression that you a)Havent read the whole series; b) Had already made up your mind before reading the issues you have read; and c) Havent read the companion stories (i.e. Avenging Spider-Man, Superior Team-up, Hickman's Avengers titles). If you look at the story as a whole, its actually quite good.”

Said the guy who got all the above information I outlined WRONG.

From a technical point of view it doesn’t make sense, it uses contrivances and out of character writing to keep it going. You want to write Doc Ock as Spider-Man. Okay then don’t surround him with people who should be able to figure this out. Or say there is some kind of device redirecting their attention.

Don’t have Doc Ock not act like Doc Ock because that defeats the point of the exercise. Don’t go for deliberate sensationalism or crass storytelling which was essentially everything revolving around him hooking up with Mary Jane and then the oh so lovely page of the Superior Spider-Wanker.

That issue in particular even resolved itself in a contrived manner. Doc Ock begins uttering gibberish which recalled One Moment in Time about “we cannot be together because it’s an unsolvable equation blah blah blah”.

Basically he is saying “I can never be with you because of the danger I put you in”; which is Slott using the character as a mouthpiece.

In the next issue Otto began courting a student at his college because consistency rocks. Even Ghost Peter is out of character at this moment “WOW Ock you did the one thing I could never do and walked away from Mary Jane”. Peter is right he probably can’t walk away from Mary Jane but...does he WANT to? Where the heck is this coming from? What is worse is that it’s so unnecessary. There was a MUCH better explanation for Ock breaking up with MJ. If Ock were in character he could just come to the conclusion that sleeping with MJ under these circumstances would be wrong and beneath him hence he wouldn’t go through with it. If Ock was out of character as he was in their issue but still vaguely in character he could just come to the conclusions that since accessing Peter’s memories he’s begun to have genuine feelings for MJ and doesn’t just want to fuck her, it would involve him having a relationship with here which at this point in time he is incapable of, he doesn’t know how to handle it. I will wholeheartedly admit I was not jazzed about the concept of Superior from the outset. If nothing else I want to read about Peter Parker not Doc Ock and if I did want to read about Doc Ock AS Doc Ock, not as Spider-Man and not as an rotting body.

An arc in a comic is one thing doing this long term all the problems I foresaw have come up as well as some I didn’t even predict. This could have worked if Doc Ock was separated from Peter’s supporting cast who should be able to tell something is amiss but then that defeats a lot of the point of the story. It was a lose-lose situation.

People can enjoy garbage if you want but don’t call it gold.

Part 1

[duhragonball]

Dragon Ball GT Retrospective (5/7)

[Note: I originally wrote this on January 14, 2013.]

The final arc of Dragon Ball GT is one big slap in the face of anyone who held out hope that it would somehow get better.  I remember when Funimation promoted the last round of episodes premieing on Cartoon Network.   "The Shadow Dragons Saga".   That just sounds epic, right?  They couldn't possibly screw that up, right?   I mean, Shadow Dragons have to be awesome, whatever they are.   It's probably a law or something.   Well, someone call the cops, because Toei found a way to take a concept like "Shadow Dragons" and make it suck. 

The story begins with the fallout from the Super 17 Saga.   Goku and his friends gather the Earth's Dragon Balls to repair the damage caused by the Hell portal, but when they find the balls, they're all cracked.   Unsure how to proceed, they decide to summon the Eternal Dragon anyway, and to their horror the whole thing goes pear-shaped.   Smoke billows out of the cracks of the balls, and the dragon that emerges is completely different from the Shenron they usually deal with.   This dragon smokes a big cigar and he mocks the heroes when they ask to make a wish.   The Smoke Dragon then takes the Dragon Balls away and dissipates.   At this point, the Elder Kai contacts Goku and explains what the hell just happened.    The whole issue stems from a throwaway line from the end of Dragon Ball Z.   Then, the Elder Kai disapproved of using the Dragon Balls to revive the victims of Majin Buu.   He trusted the Namekians with the power of the Dragon Balls because they refrained from using them, but he felt that frequent wish-making would interfere in the "natural evolution" of the universe, or something like that.  At the time, everyone just assumed he was being conservative, but this Smoke Dragon is what he had been worried about from the beginning.   The short version is that the Dragon Balls have side-effects.   Each time you make a wish, it introduces bad karma to the balls.  They store the negative energy until they can't contain it any longer, and if that happens they crack and release an evil dragon that can destroy the world.  Normally the safety valve for this is that the Dragon Balls scatter across the planet after each use, and they take centuries to find again, which is plenty of time for the negative energy to dissipate.   But Bulma invented the Dragon Radar, which has allowed her and her friends to gather the Dragon Balls multiple times in a matter of decades.   This latest attempt was the straw that broke the camel's back.  Bulma quickly shifts the blame to Goku, since she never would have been able to gather the Dragon Balls without his help, and Goku decides that the only way to make things right is to go kick some evil dragon ass.  Pan tags along with Giru (the robot who assimilated the Dragon Radar), and that's the status quo for the next several episodes.  The Smoke Dragon separates into seven evil Shadow Dragons, each with a Dragon Ball embedded in his body.  Giru locates them with the radar, Goku fights them for a while, repeat seven times.   As you might have anticipated, I have several problems with this premise.   First, the Dragon Balls aren't some magic talisman that appeared out of nowhere.   Granted, they didn't come with an instruction manual, but over the course of the story, we learn how they were created and how they work.   The Namekians essentially "invented" the art of making Dragon Balls, and the general rule is that a set of balls is only as powerful as its creator allows it to be.   Thus, the Earth's Dragon Balls could resurrect the dead, but they were helpless against Vegeta and Nappa, who were stronger than Kami, their creator.  The Namekian Dragon Balls could grant three wishes, but they could only resurrect one person per wish.   Dragon Balls can also be "transferred" from one creator to another.  When Kami merged with Piccolo, Goku recruited another Namek, Dende, to reactivate his Dragon Balls.   Dende not only accomplished this, but he took requests, and rearranged the wishing power of the Dragon to grant two wishes instead of just one.  As a bonus, you could just make one wish, then come back and make the other four months later instead of waiting a full year.  When Guru, the creator of Namek's Dragon Balls, died, Moori became their new caretaker, and he removed the whole "one resurrection per wish" limitation.   The point I'm trying to make here is that the "technology" of the Dragon Balls is pretty well understood, and while it might seem magical to the uninitiated, experts like Dende, Mr. Popo, and Moori were always happy to answer questions and explain the rules.  So why didn't they ever say anything about the dangers of overuse?   When the Smoke Dragon appears, Mr. Popo mentions how an evil dragon destroyed an entire star system once.   Why didn't he say anything about this before?  Of course, it's not like the good guys used the Balls frivolously.  Most of the time it was kind of an emergency, or a matter of stopping a bad guy from using them first.  But still, at some point they should have come forward and explained the risks.   "Look, we seriously have to stop using the Dragon Balls or else." Second, assuming the Dragon Balls were designed with this limitation in mind, why do they only turn to stone for a single year?   Whoever wrote this episode of GT never considered the fact that the Dragon Balls already had a safety valve in that they can't be used continuously, even if you have the means to re-gather them all.  If the safest course is to use the Dragon Balls only once every 100 years, as Elder Kai says, then why not fix it so the Dragon Balls remain inert for a full 100 years?  This is the same problem I had with the Black Star Dragon Balls destroying the world after each use.   Why would anyone create something so inherently dangerous?   This would be like Sauron forging the One Ring and if he doesn't take it to Mars and polish it exactly seven times on every seventh Thursday it blows up and kills him.  No, that's dumb.   He made it convenient for himself.   If he loses it, it'll find its way back to him.   It's indestructible unless you take it deep within the heart of his own territory.  That's not airtight, but it's pretty safe. I could accept that the Black Star Dragon Balls were a flawed, overpowered creation, but this "negative energy" idea holds that any Dragon Balls are flawed and overpowered.   What good are they if you can only make one wish every century, and there's no one around to enforce that rule? Third, no one ever brings up the Namekian Dragon Balls, which were used almost as often as the Earth's set.  If each wish contaminates the Balls, then a set that grants three wishes a pop should be even more dangerous.   Worse, the Namekian year is roughly one-third of an Earth year, so the Namekian Dragon Balls can be used three times more frequently.  The Namekians themselves had little need for that many wishes, but after the battles with Frieza, Buu, and Baby, they had to use them to help out the people of Earth at least five times.    That's fifteen wishes, dammit.  So where's their evil smoke dragon monster?     No one even attempts to explain this, which just makes the premise that much harder to believe.   I'm not saying Dragon Ball or Dragon Ball Z were free of plot holes, but Akira Toriyama worked pretty hard to establish the rules of the story and keep them straight.  With GT they just do whatever and hope the audience doesn't think about it too hard.   Fourth, why don't they just kill Dende?  The deal is that if the Dragon Balls' caretaker dies, then the Balls and the Dragon both go inert.   Usually this is a obstacle to be overcome, but in GT the Dragon Balls seem to cause more problems than they solve.   Piccolo sacrificed himself to prevent the Black Star Balls from being used again, so why doesn't Dende take one for the team and end this Shadow Dragon crisis before it starts?   Of course, he doesn't have to die, he could just use his power over the Dragon to deactivate it, right?   Again, I could live with this as long as someone on the show offered an explanation why this won't work.   The whole premise seems to hinge on the idea that the negative energy contaminating Shenron is much stronger than the powers of Shenron himself or his creator.   But why should that be?  If the negative energy is a backlash to the energy used to grant wishes, then shouldn't evil Shenron be exactly as powerful as regular Shenron?  He can be despicable and uncontrollable, but physically he's no stronger than before.   King Piccolo killed Shenron with one hit, and Goku's like a million times stronger than that in GT. And yet the Shadow Dragons are strong enough to give a Super Saiyan 4 a hard time.   I can appreciate the poetry of the Dragon Balls themselves being the final boss of the Dragon Ball mythos, but it just doesn't line up with everything we've known about the Dragon Balls leading up to this.  For all the hype, Shenron was never omnipotent, and he's actually pretty fragile when you get down to it.  His main role is to solve problems that can't be fixed with punching or explosions, so putting him in a situation where he has to trade punches with Goku is kind of dumb.   Toei tried to solve this problem by beefing up Shenron, effectively turning him into an unrecognizable set of characters.   Instead of one giant dragon who looks pretty scary, we get seven humanoid-looking goofs who are supposed to be insanely powerful, but most of them just suck.   More than half of the Shadow Dragons are pathetic.  I'm not saying that to insult the concept, I mean they are literally pathetic characters.   Goku shows up and they go all to pieces, mostly for the sake of bad comedy.  Then they use guile and treachery instead of strength, and Goku only wins when he finally stops screwing around.   I suppose this was a deliberate plan to make the Shadow Dragons feel like other groups in Dragon Ball.   Each Shadow Dragon is stronger than the last, and the real challenge is to beat the one at the end.   Fair enough, but why would Shenron divide himself so unevenly?  For that matter, why do the good guys play along with that?   Goku wants to fight them all by himself and no one has a problem with that?   Considering how weak most of the enemies are, they would have been better off sending Goten or Majuub to wipe out some of them while Goku handles the tough ones.   Anyway, the worst part about the Shadow Dragons is that they each get at least one whole episode to show off how much they suck.   The Two-Star Dragon: Funimation gave each Shadow Dragon a name, and they called this one "Haze Shenron" because he deals in pollution.   He's the weakest Dragon, but his pollution powers make his enemies even weaker, so that's why it takes twenty minutes to beat him.   This is dumb, because all the heroes in the show are adept at sensing ki, the life energy everyone uses for shooting fireballs and flying and so forth.   Goku can tell that Haze Shenron is weak just by looking at him, but for some reason he can't sense his own power fading.  Of course, if he'd just destroyed Haze at first sight, he could have avoided the entire issue, but they had to stop and talk to him first.   Haze's weakness is his overconfidence.  Once he has Goku and Pan beaten, he tosses them into a polluted lake, thinking the acidity would corrode their flesh in minutes.   Instead, Giru (who is unaffected by pollution because he's a robot) rescues them and drags them to a cleaner part of the lake.  Not only does this clean water revive them, but they stay down there for like five minutes without drowning.  Now that they have a second chance to beat Haze, they take him out with one hit and recover the Two-Star Dragon Ball.   The Five-Star Dragon: This guy was named "Rage Shenron", which doesn't make sense unless rage has something to do with electricity, which is his power.  Rage looks like a deformed bird fetus, and he controls purple slime that feeds on electricity.  He's not much stronger than Haze, so he uses all of his electric slime to create a giant replica of himself to ride around in.   Goku turns Super Saiyan 4 to fight him, but his attacks are useless against Rage's slime, which can absorb ki blasts and redirect them.   Rage's weakness is his overconfidence.  Once the battle starts going his way, he gathers so much electrical power that his slime body grows to the size of a small town.   Goku and Pan are helpless against him, but fortunately it rains.   Rain short circuits the slime, destroying it, but Rage's body is so large that he can't take shelter.   Goku and Pan literally float in the air and watch the dumbass beat himself because he was too sloppy to check the weather forecast.  Rage makes a fake surrender ploy at the very end, so Goku blows him away with a Kamehameha just for good measure.   The Six-Star Dragon: They called this one "Oceanus Shenron", although he seems to be more of a wind elemental than a water one.   At this point, the continuity starts to get fuzzy, because it seems like Goku and Pan have only been at this for one afternoon, but by the time they track down Oceanus, he's already established himself as a local legend in this fishing town.  His tampering with nature somehow causes fish to fly out of the ocean and onto dry land, and the villiagers gather them up instead of fishing like they're supposed to be doing.   For no apparent reason, Oceanus assumes the form of a green woman called "Princess Oto", but Goku and Pan see through the disguise immediately.  Oceanus mostly spams this one attack, Whirlwind Spin, which resembles a hurricane.  Even though Goku once broke a mountain in half with his bare hands, the air pressure it strong enough to pin him down.   He could power up to Super Saiyan 4, but he doesn't.  I have no idea why.   Oceanus' weakness is his overconfidence.  Pan is too stupid to figure out the flaw in Whirlwind Spin, so a seagull demonstrates it for her.   Like a hurricane, the center of the attack is relatively calm, so if you fly in directly overhead, you can get in a free shot.  Pan hits Oceanus with a Kamehameha, and Goku uses his own for good measure, and that's it.   The Seven-Star Dragon: This one is named "Natron" or "Naturon".  I don't even know what that means, since he's a body thief who digs tunnels.  He hot dogs it for a whole episode just so he can pretend to lose and trick Pan into taking his Dragon Ball.  This allows him to take control of her body, which he uses to become much stronger (his first body was an ordinary mole, so it's a big step up).   Pan's not that strong in Dragon Ball Z terms, but apparently Pan + Natron Shenron is somewhat impressive.   It's kind of hard to tell how strong he is, though, because Goku keeps holding back for fear of killing his grandaughter. Natron's weakness is... his overconfidence.  Goku plays possum near the end, and Natron taunts him by allowing Pan to partially emerge from his body.   Goku yanks her out, leaving Natron stuck in his true form, which is somehow even smaller and crappier than the other three Shadow Dragons we've seen so far.  For some reason Goku's totally cool beating up this sad sack in his SSJ4 form, even though he barely bothered to use it against the other three.  Kamehameha, and we're done.  They spent two episodes on this bullcrap, so I especially hate this one.   The Four-Star Dragon: This one has fire powers, so Funimation named him "Nuova Shenron".   I don't know why they spelled it that way, unless it was for trademark purposes.  They didn't call the Two-Star Dragon "Haiz Shenron" though.   Nuova looks pretty dumb, but compared to the first four he at least looks like a worthy opponent.  He's also the first one who can actually fight worth a damn.   So of course Toei introduces him just as Goku's inexplicably weakened from hunger.   It's not like they're in the middle of nowhere.  Goku could fly back home in a few minutes and grab something to eat in between dragons, so why did he walk into Nuova's turf unprepared?   The result is a whole episode of pointless stalling.  Nuova wants to play cat and mouse with Goku, even though he seems to be able to kill him in a toe-to-toe fight, thanks to his heat powers.  Goku scampers around and whines about how hungry he is, and Nuova calmly walks around looking for him, apparently forgetting that he can a) fly, b) fly at super speed, and c) melt anything in his path.   If Goku punches Nuova, he'll only burn his hand, so the only hope he has is energy blasts, which he can't use because he's too hungry.   Nuova's weakness is sloppy writing.   Even though Goku just got done complaining that he's too weak to fight with energy blasts, he turns around and starts harassing Nuova with energy blasts.  The idea seems to be that he can't land a heavy blow, but he can whittle him down with hit-and-run attacks.  This leads to Goku using the sewers for cover, and when Nuova chases him into the sewer, he's briefly stymied when he runs into a dead end.   Blocking Goku's path is some sort of giant ventilation fan.   He doesn't want to fight Nuova in close quarters, but that fan you guys.  It's turning at speeds exceeding 3rpm.   It must weigh at least twenty pounds, and it's probably made of solid aluminum.  How can Goku possibly get past it?   Well, he digs down deep, and somehow finds the courage and skill to time a perfect jump through this enormous, slow-moving fan that probably wouldn't have hurt him even if he missed.   What's more confusing is that Nuova didn't just shoot him dead while he was waiting for the right moment.  Once they're out of the sewer, Goku then decides to fight Nuova as a Super Saiyan 4, even though he was too weak to do anything else for most of the episode.   Intermission: Now, in the midst of all this, Vegeta's back at home having a midlife crisis.   This is probably the best episode of Dragon Ball GT, simply because it's roughly 50% flashbacks of cool scenes from DBZ.   Vegeta's frustrated because he hasn't gotten to do anything for the whole series, mainly due to the fact that he never advanced beyond Super Saiyan 2, while Goku is two levels above that.   He wants to help round up the Shadow Dragons, but Bulma warns him he'll die.   Look, maybe he's not the strongest guy on the block anymore, but I'm pretty sure Vegeta could have taken out the first four Shadow Dragons, and I'm really sure he could have blasted apart that ventilation fan that stymied Goku.  Also, Pan's a lot weaker than Goku and she managed to stay alive this long.   Anyway, Bulma figures out how to turn Vegeta into a Super Saiyan 4 so he can join the battle.   I'm kind of surprised it took this long for them to try it, since her plan is to just use the same technology that turned Vegeta into a Golden Great Ape during his possession by Baby.   Cleansed of Baby's contamination, Vegeta can repeat the process, and jump from Golden Ape to SSJ4, the same way Goku did.   Come to think of it, Vegeta could have just undergone the same procedure Goku used to grow his tail back.  It's been like a year since SSJ4 was discovered, so it's not like he hasn't had time to work on that.  What sucks about this episode is that they spend the entire time teasing SSJ4 Vegeta, but we don't get to see it until several episodes later.   The Three-Star Dragon: While Nuova Shenron fights SSJ4 Goku in a halfway decent battle, his comrade "Eis Shenron" shows up and interferes.  See, he has ice powers, so Eis=Ice, or something.   The gag with Eis Shenron is that he's Nuova's brother, and while Nuova's been teasing a face turn during his battle with Goku, Eis is a cowardly opportunist.   He uses Pan as a human shield, has no qualms about using dirty tricks to win, and when Nuova refuses to help him, he feigns surrender and blinds Goku with a.... You know, actually, I have no idea how Eis blinded Goku.  He's on his knees surrendering, he surreptitiously dips his fingers into a frozen puddle on the ground, and then he swipes at Goku's face.  The implication is that Goku's eyes have been poisoned somehow.   I mean, is it poison ice? That doesn't make a lot of sense.  And yet, afterwards, Goku washes his eyes out with water, and Nuova gives him a small bottle of "antidote" (where did he get it?).  So I don't think we're talking about frostbitten corneas or whatever.  The point is that Goku spends the next four episodes or so with his eyes shut.   Eis' weakness is that Goku can kick your ass with his eyes shut.  He stupidly assumes that blinding Goku "halves" his strength.   Except Goku can sense his enemies' ki, so he can still fight just as effectively without looking.   This has been demonstrated countless times in the past, so I don't know why Toei would pretend to ignore this years later.   Eis and Nuova are supposed to be the strongest enemies Goku has encountered to date, but they fight like amateurs.  Goku punches a hole in Eis' body and follows up with Super Dragon Fist, which would have been satisfying if he hadn't waited so long to use it.   Nuova Shenron decides to withdraw, feeling that it would be wrong to fight Goku until he regains his sight.   I find Nuova's change of heart ridiculous.  The Shadow Dragons entire reason for being is to destroy the world.   When Goku meets him, it's in the ruins of a city he presumably attacked and destroyed.  He claims to have a code against hurting innocents or the defenseless, except he's made from evil energy and his ultimate goal is to destroy the world.  Goku never questions him about this apparent conflict of interest, and it doesn't really matter because Nuova gets killed before it really becomes an issue.   Just as he gives Goku the antidote to Eis' blinding attack, both he and the medicine are cut down by.... The One-Star Dragon: This guy doesn't have any elemental powers, so Funimation just called him "Syn Shenron".   He's easily the strongest one, which begs the question of why he didn't just come after Goku from the start.  He no-sells all of Goku's attacks, and leaves him battered and unconscious.  Seems like a winner, right?   Syn's weakness is GT Logic.  Just when all seems lost, Goku's family and Trunks show up to help him.   Gohan, Goten, and Trunks agree that they're not strong enough to fight alongside Goku, but they plan to donate their energy to Goku so he can recharge to full power.  Majuub tries to hold off Syn Shenron, but to no avail.  Despite the fact that Syn dominated a Super Saiyan 4, the boys manage to hold him off long enough.   So if they can do that, why can't they just fight Syn directly?  And if they really are no match for Syn, how are their combined powers sufficient to re-energize Goku?  Of course, this whole paradox is just a retread of the last time SSJ4 Goku needed a recharge, back when he was fighting Baby.   Goku insists on taking more energy from the boys than is safe to use, because he needs extra juice to cope with Syn's power.   This is irritating, because it really isn't clear what the risks are in this situation.  Gohan and the others are no worse for wear, in spite of giving "all" their energy to Goku, and Goku doesn't seem to get much stronger for the boost.  It's just a lot of sound and fury signifying nothing.  Goku does manage to get the upper hand on Syn, although it seems less like Goku is stronger and more like Syn just overdosed on stupid pills.  Even though we've established that Goku can fight just as effectively while blind, Syn still tries to exploit the weakness by throwing a clockface from a tower at him.   Goku then blows him away with a Kamehameha-Super Dragon Fist combination.   The only catch is that it doesn't get the job done.  Though beaten, Syn absorbs the other six Dragon Balls, transfoming into "Omega Shenron", the final final boss of Dragon Ball GT.   Hoo-boy. NEXT: The Omega Glory

[fandumb-thoughts]

I’m actually working on trying to finish chapters on things, look at me. (Now I just need to actually write follow up chapters…drat.) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Martha Kent had created quite a name for herself in the vigilante community. Not really the ones that were around in the present. She and her husband liked their little farm and sleepy town just fine without superheroes crashing in every few days or so–not including, of course, their son, their grandchildren, and their occasional guests. No, Martha Kent’s real name came from the time travellers. It became a mantra of sorts. “If you get sent anywhere in time, seek out Smallville. If it isn’t there yet, go to 38.19 N 100.13 W. You’ll know what you’re looking for when you see it.” Vigilantes murmured it to one another when it seemed magic could be involved, and yelled the coordinates across battlefields as sci-fi lasers began to fly, and mentioned it to every newbie that made an appearance. No one but those who actually needed them actually sought out the location for themselves, not after it had been vetted by some of the oldest and most experienced heroes. No one who needed them spoke of what they had seen there, because there was very little reason to other than to repeat the information everyone had heard a hundred times before. “38.19 N 100.13 W.” ~~~~~ When Martha and Jonathan Kent began to look into buying an old farmhouse and maybe a couple fields if they could afford it in the tail end of the seventies, they weren’t expecting to settle where they did. For one, the house was not nearly as derelict as Martha had expected it to be, nor were the chicken coop and garden shed. For another, there was a fully functional barn that only needed a few new boards and a fresh coat of paint before a couple of cows could be moved in. And the fields that it came with! Not that she didn’t want a large farm, but the three fields, the pasture, and the half-acre of yard space around the house seemed a bit much for their budget. “What’s the catch?” Jonathan had joked with the land owner, who had inherited it after his father passed. “I haven’t the faintest,” admitted the man. “My father had a might bit of trouble renting this place out after he bought it on auction back in ‘38. Lots of loonies come through here, and Dad was never quite able to find a buyer, and could only keep renters for a few years on average, if that.” Jonathan sent an appraising eye over the full view of the property. “Well, we might be just the people to get it off your hands. What’a’ya think, Martha?” “Hm,” she hummed, non committedly. The property was strange, and the last thing they needed after the debacle in Los Angeles was strange. One demon-infested apartment building was all the excitement she needed in the next few decades, if she had anything to say about it. Of course her husband, having only been her fiance at the time and living with a couple roommates a few blocks over, was none-the-wiser of the situation. She had thought it would have startled him too much, or that he wouldn’t have fully believed her. “Well, feel free to stop by the property a few more times this weekend to get a feel for the land. The house and barn will be locked up, of course, but you two are welcome everywhere else for the time being,” offered the owner. “That’s a great idea. What do you think of a walk and a picnic by that creek tomorrow, Martha?” “That sounds great,” she said, only partially lying. A nice day out in the countryside would be nice, after staying in Jonathan’s busted-up old junker’s backseat in search of properties for sale, or camping in the middle of nowhere in a ramshackle tent. Ever since the highs of her youth had passed, camping under the stars down an unfamiliar high road or sleeping in the car had really lost their appeal. “I’ll be in my office on Monday morning,” said the man. “Give me a call about how you’re feeling then.” ~~~~~ Saturday morning started alright enough. It had been a beautiful night, which meant a sky full of stars and no cramped backseat as rain forced them in, and they were both well rested. Jonathan had found a proper deli and made sandwiches, while Martha scrounged the corner store for some fresh-made donuts. The fields were a bit overgrown but promising. In their walk they saw a fawn nestled in a small grove of trees, and while darling, they quickly moved on as not to distress the mother who undoubtedly was nearby. There were wildflowers, and fresh air, and a nice breeze. The day was warm enough for the creek to be refreshing when they decided to go wading. And then the future-man appeared. Well, future-boy would be more accurate. He couldn’t have been older than fifteen. He came from the direction of the farmhouse, with an insane outfit that consisted of a red body-suit; black boots and gloves; a heavy-duty yellow belt and detailing at the front; a black domino-mask with white lenses over the eyes, like a horror-movie version of a masquerade costume; a black cape with a yellow underbelly; and, most bizarrely, what looked like black briefs over the pants. “Who are you,” Martha demanded. Despite being knee-deep in a creek and at a decline compared to the boy, she held herself confidently. The small handgun she always had tucked in her waistband finding its way to her hands certainly helped with that. Jonathan fell with a squawk into the water as he saw a) her gun and b) the boy she was aiming at. “I’m Robin,” the boy answered, hands held up in surrender. “I’m here for what’s under the shed.” Martha’s eyes narrowed. “And what on Earth would that be?” “Uh-fuck, am I really the first one to catch them unaware?” he muttered. “Stop with that mumbling, boy, and tell me what you’re here for.” The boy seemed to be having an internal struggle before he sighed. “Fuck it.” She shifted the gun to indicate her impatience. “I’m from the future. This farm has been an exit point back to the future for as long as we have documented history of it. Course, all these records only exist in my time, everything aside from a few weird things have been erased from the here-and-past. For as long as I’ve been in the hero-ing business this is the place the heroes have been told to go if they’re ever lost in time. It’s not the only way to get back, but it’s the easiest.” Jonathan, drenched and now standing slightly behind Martha, scoffed. “Likely story, kid. Look, take off the mask and we’ll drive you into town to sober up a-” “Prove it,” Martha said. Jonathan gaped. “Martha!” The boy–”Robin”–grinned. “Of course.” Jonathan fretted the entire way to the house, but Martha and Robin ignored him. She was intently listen to him ramble on, gun held much more loosely and with the safety on in her hand. “It’s always been here, and I once got sent back to 1843 and managed to get back, so it’s not like I really need your help with any of this. I just heard voices from down by the creek and thought I’d check in with you so I wouldn’t have to break and enter. I like you, well, future-you, so I didn’t mean no disrespect and I honestly expected you to have already known about this so it’s not fully my fault for being a bit messed up and letting the time-traveler business slip…” “How old are you?” Martha suddenly interrupted, midst a scattered recollection of the “alien robots” he had encountered that got him sent from the future. “Oh-I’m…probably not supposed to say. My…mentor will probably be upset…” “Just answer the question, kiddo.” “Fourteen.” “There’s a lot of kid’s fighting from when you’re from?” “Kind of? Look, usually us younger heroes are in teams, under the supervision of a couple of adults or with our own mentors, it’s not like-” “You say getting sent back isn’t all too uncommon?” Robin hesitated. “Well…no, not really.” Martha nodded, making up her mind just as they arrived back at the house, with the shed pushed far back at the edge of the yard. The shed was nondescript, hardly big enough for a wheelbarrow and a lawnmower to fit inside comfortably. The padlock on the door was attached to rotting wood, so it wasn’t hard in the slightest to pull it away. Jonathan held back while Martha followed Robin in. Nothing seemed wrong inside, per say, but the temperature was slightly too cool and the dirt floor was disturbed at the back. “How does this work?” she asked. “Here-” Robin knelt down without fear of the gun she still held at his back, brushing aside dirt to reveal an old blanket. He pulled it aside dislodging a solid layer of dirt. A metal sheet was lifted at it’s hinge, revealing something that was definitely from the future with the amount of blinking lights, lack of actual buttons, and glowy-ness. “I just gotta press a hand there-” he indicated a smooth glow-y bit, “and it’ll read my molecules and alert the people who can pull me back to when I belong, to tell them I’m in a position for an extraction.” “Go ahead, then.” ~~~~~ “Gone? Just like that?” Jonathan demanded. Martha shrugged. “Just like he said. However that machine in their works I don’t know, but it did whatever he expected him to and he vanished right before my eyes.” “How are you so calm!?” His voice rose shrilly at the end. Martha sighed. “Calm down, John. This is…actually, no, sorry, I was going to say this isn’t the weirdest thing I’ve seen but it definitly is.” He opened his mouth, undoubtedly to argue, but she put up her hand to cut him off. “But not by much. Remember that vampire in Oregon?” “I-he-he wasn’t a real vampire,” Jonathan insisted. Martha had to disagree. Supernatural things seemed to be drawn to her. Jonathan and her had been married for going on two years now, and dating for three before that, but he hadn’t seen nearly as much as she had. Things that couldn’t be anything but vampires, and werewolves, and ghosts, and demons. She wasn’t lying when she said that time travelling boys weren’t that far of a stretch. “We can’t buy this property.” “I thought you liked it?” Martha asked innocently, acting baffled by his declaration. “Martha,” he admonished. “Jonathan,” she challenged. He (slightly hysterically) attempted to stare her down. Attempted is the key word, as he had never managed to win a staring contest even when retaining all his sense. With an agitated exhale he threw up his hands, turning to pace a few feet. “Martha,” he pleaded. “It comes with three fields, a pasture, a barn–and it’s surrounded by a state-protected forest on three sides, with the closest neighbors owning so much property across the way that their buildings are all more than a mile away. It’s exactly the type of place we’ve been looking for. For really, really cheap.” “We weren’t looking for-for-for time travelers!” Martha gave him a look that never failed to convince men to give into her. It worked on her brother, her father, professors, cops, boyfriends and anyone in-between. “But-but-” “Jonathan, I’ll handle it if it ever does come up again. Trust me.” He struggled to protest, though he had seemingly suddenly lost his tongue. After a few minutes of floundering he buried his face in his hands and mumbled, “You’re crazy.” “I know, dear,” Martha positively beamed. She hoped that the distance from other people would at least allow her the leeway she needed if any sort of occult thing showed up. It wasn’t so bad that the list of occult things just had “time travelers” added to it.

[alexanderessex3dstoryart]

Household Robot - Lecture and Animation - 30/09/20

For today’s lecture and work from home, I worked towards the animation side of the household robot and starting to play around to how I’m going to present my character in a unique way within the time I have to animate it. But before I started animating the day before, I managed to rig the character from last week’s lecture in learning how to rig a model to animate it.

For the rigging side of it, there were a lot of parts that needed rigging due to the kind of household robot it was. These parts were: the wings, crushing block, head and the pipe in the middle of the character. I felt these were very necessary for the robot as he needs the wings to propel himself up and fly across the screen and the crushing block along with the middle hinge/pipe to help control the movement of the crushing block to convey a swinging motion. This means I’ll have to do a lot more animation and work into the character but on the upside if I can polish it enough, it will look really technical to watch just like a robot which will make the character much more believable. As a bit of experimentation, I also rigged the eyelids of the robot just in case I wanted to play around with them within the animation time I had to give the robot more personality. I think initially when I made the rigs, I was very pleased with them as they seemed to work well when I play tested them around before animating. But later on in the animation process, I experienced some issues that I’ll dwell into later on in the post.

In the lecture, I started to think about how the character was going to showcase itself on camera and it’s personality on screen. I came up with the idea of the robot coming from the side of the screen with the crushing block swinging along with him to the middle of the screen which he will then to proceed to drop down and power down to show his household robot function. To begin animating this, I first had the model pre-posed to how I imagine the model would swing into frame as I used the rigs to tilt the robot’s crushing block sideways as well as the head to start that momentum. Then once it reaches the end of the screen, that carried momentum would follow the robot backwards to the centre spot of the scene. To do this, I timed the rigging circles to fall back to minic how the crushing block would react to gravity. With the use of using ‘Auto’ animation, it made animating this scene much easier and quicker than doing it all stepped. Another example of using ‘Auto’ animation to my advantage was in the wings of the robot as I created 3-4 frames of the wings flapping up and down and then copy and pasting those frames over and over again to create constant wing movement almost like a dragonfly holding itself in position.

Watching the animation back, I do like the starting bit of my animation as the leaning to the side emulates gravity very well. However, the animation when it comes to the transition of movement is a bit weird and janky to look at which is something I may want to smoothen later on in the process. Despite this, I think the movement where it’s last left off and where the lecture finished is in a really good spot and something I would love to continue off from. I think overall in the lecture, I’m impressed with myself of how much animation I’ve been quickly been able to put out despite it looking a bit rushed. I think this was because of how much I was enjoying the process as despite not being able to animate too much over the summer, I feel I’m slowly getting back into the rhythm again in terms of animating in Maya again. 

After the lecture, I went to work on the animation a little bit more to complete the path so that I at least had something I could show to everyone for tomorrow’s tutorial. Going from where I left off, I wanted to try and fix the weird movement I created in the lecture which I did by completing the animation path first and then coming back to that change in movement and decrease the amount of frames I had placed in it to make it look a lot smoother to watch. In fact, it naturally made itself smoother in places because I finished the robot’s path that it all looked seamless to watch. In terms of finishing the path of the robot’s animation, I’m really happy of the little jiggle at the end with the head and the crushing block swivelling into the center as it personally looks really nice. In addition, the wings flap down really nicely following the speed of the robot going down to the ground.

However there were a few problems with the animation that I learnt like I initially rigged the model. The problem was I forgot to center the d-point of of the rig for that specific part of the model which meant anytime I wanted to adjust an angle with that rig, it would often bend way too much than I wanted it to do leading to problems in the animation if I wanted something a certain angle. In addition to this, it made pieces hard to connect to each other as if you pay close attention to the character, you can see where parts jumble around the model as I tried my est to connect them as much as possible to the moving parts. Finally I think what could really enhance the animation is a usage of a camera to help track where the character is going as I’m not a big fan of the perspective of how much you can see of the robot.

Overall, I’m still impressed with what I’ve managed to create in time for the tutorial as it helps illustrates my learning process and showcases my robot’s function. I love the movement of the character and is something I want to work more towards as well as showing more personality with the character later down the course. I think in the future based on the projects I’ll be doing, I would love to re-visit the animation and most likely, start from scratch with a new sequence I want to animate in addition to fixing the rigs and adding a camera that can track the character’s movements. Additionally, I would want to explore the rendering possibilities for the character and how he might look in a CG environment. 

[sherrybaby14]

Who Am I? Part Two

Chapter Summary: Locked away and you get a visitor

Pairing: Steve X Reader 

Warnings:  Smutty, smut, smut, smut,  Forced, Noncon Oral, Noncon/Rape, A/B/O

Words: 3500

Tags: @divadinag @ariwolff14 @mrssgtjamesbuckybarnes @marauderice @el-bucky

Sleep faded away and the shocking weight of reality came crashing down on you.  You popped up in a strange bed and looked around the room. Grey walls, grey sheets.  There was a huge window though.  You ran over to it. The sun was setting and you were at least one hundred floors up. The knot in your stomach caused you to crouch down.  It was probably seven, you’d slept for twelve hours and missed the last two of your doses.   You forced yourself up. You had to stay strong and find a way out of here.  

               The bedroom opened up to a living space. There was a television and a couch and a little kitchenette.  The main door was of course locked.  You guessed it was solid metal.  There was no chance at breaking it down.  You tried to stay rational, but there was a cloud of doom lurking over you.  An open door showed a bathroom and you threw yourself into it, kneeling in front of the toilet you drive heaved several times. There was nothing in your stomach to throw up though.

                 It was impossible to tell if your symptoms were withdrawal from your medication or because of the anxiety over your current situation.  You sat on the floor and steadied your breathing.  If one thing were true it was that you were realistic, getting upset would accomplish nothing.  You needed a plan.  A hot flash went through your body and you glanced towards the shower.  Cooling off and settling your nerves was a good place to start.

~~~  

               “You should have sent her away.”  Steve was pacing in Tony’s common room.

                 “I know.” Tony stood behind the bar and slammed a drink. “Trust me, I know. Clever girl though, Bruce would kill me. I’d rather hold off on that.”

                 “What the hell sort of omega tries to hide their makeup?” Steve continued to pace, ignoring Tony. “This isn’t 1940.  They have all the rights in the world. If she wanted to get her Phd, they would have let her.  I bet they would have created a program just for her!  This is insane.  There’s about one omega for every twenty alphas and she wants to hide? I don’t get it.”

                 “As soon as Bruce gets back she won’t be our problem anymore.” Tony poured Steve a drink and walked out from behind the bar. “Stay away from her. I don’t want you going all alpha because she’s around. She’s not effecting you is she?”

                 “No.” Steve shook his head. “Not physically at least. Morally she is.  Did you find out what was in those pills?”

                 “Pretty much a Frankenstein concoction of chemicals.” Tony handed Steve the drink. “She’s approximately [Your age]. Been taking those things since she was fourteen.  I would guess she took a couple years off her life span, dealt with a lot of side effects besides hiding the omega factor.”

                 The glass in Steve’s hand shattered.  Tony stopped talking and Steve slowly looked towards him.  There was no way the other man could understand how insulting this was.  He wasn’t an alpha.  Omegas were rare enough as it was, yet here was one killing herself for no reason.  

                 “Maybe we should change the subject.” Tony hit a keypad and a little robotic cleaner came out.  “Any word from your man? Did he find my man?”

                 “Not yet.” Steve shook his head. “I need to release some steam. I’m going for a run.”

                 “It’s almost eight o’clock.” Tony raised an eyebrow as he took another drink. “Relax, have a drink. We caught the bad guy yesterday. Enjoy it.”

                 Steve didn’t say anything as he left Tony’s. He wasn’t going for a run either. He needed answers and there was only one person who could give them.  

 ~~~  

               The best option was the door.  Even if you managed to open a window the drop would kill you.  It might be locked, but that didn’t mean you could not figure a way to pick it.  You knelt on the floor and examined the hinges. It would probably be easier to take them off than to figure out a way to open the lock since it was likely controlled by some electronic monitoring.  

                 The kitchen was filled with food, meaning there was no reason for anyone to check in on you.  No cameras were visible, but that didn’t mean they weren’t there. There was a telephone, but no numbers were on it and as soon as you picked up it connected you to a Stark tower prompt, meaning there was no way to get an outside line. The door was your only way out.  

                 While you examined the hinges a knock vibrated the metal.  You shot up to your feet and looked at it with confusion.  To your surprise the lock clicked and the door started to open. You took two steps back as a head peered around the opening.  Your lips parted in shock when another famous face looked at you.

                 His blond hair and blue eyes looked like the all American dream.  He was bigger in person and you felt small, wrapping your arms around yourself. His eyes ran up and down your frame and there was an obvious annoyance on his face.

                 “Hello Y/N,” He stayed in the door. “I’m Steve. Steve Rogers.”

                 “I know who you are.”  This was unbelievable.  Dr. Banner promised you that you would never meet any of these people.

                 “I wanted to check on you. See how you’re doing.” He rolled his shoulders back and it felt like he grew even taller.

                 The scientist in you wondered what the feeling was, then it hit you.  He was an alpha.  You immediately dropped your eyes to the floor, not wanting to study any part of him.

                 “I’d like to ask you some questions, but if you want me to leave say the word and I am out of here.”  His voice was so calm and focused.  

                 Every part of your brain screamed at you to toss him out, that it was a bad idea.  But you knew if you did nobody would come and see you again.  So far no omega instincts were kicking in, you didn’t have to worry about being alone with an alpha.  He was just a person to you.  A person you might be able to convince to let you out.  You held out your hand towards the sofa.  He shut the door behind him, and you heard it lock. So much for trying to hit him over the head with a frying pan and making a run for it.

                 “Trying to break out?” Steve asked as he took a seat.

                 “No.” You sat next to him, with the middle cushion empty.

                 “Then you decided to decorate with a butter knife and some pins by the door?” His blue eyes looked into yours and you saw a kindness.  

                 It made you uncomfortable and you looked away, spotting the pile of make shift tools you had at the door.

                 “This isn’t an ideal situation for me.” You pressed your lips together and gave him an awkward smile.

                 “You don’t look like an omega, you don’t act like an omega, you don’t smell like an omega.”  He was looking up and down your face like you were a science project.

                 “How did you find out?” You looked away again.

                 “Thor.  Apparently the Asguardian’s weren’t effected by your pills.”  Steve leaned forward.

                 “Nobody else has to know.” You gave him a meek smile. “You could let me out of here. Give me my pills.  I won’t bother anyone. Finish my days as a beta.”  

                 “Why? Why would you want that? Omega’s are extraordinary.”  Steve looked at you with hurt in his eyes.

                 You scoffed and turned away.  Typical alpha asshole.

                 “I don’t need anybody this way.  I get to be special because of who I am, not because of what I am.” This was not the way to go.  You needed another tactic. A way to convince him to let you out. “People love you because you’re Steve Rogers, not because you’re an alpha.”

                 “You could’ve still received your degrees and chosen an alpha who would have let you continue with your research.” Steve’s voice sounded closer.

                 “It wouldn’t have been a university experience. It would have been private tutors in one of those compounds, and the alpha I would have chosen would have let any omega choose him.  It wouldn’t matter to him what my hobbies were, dreams or goals, all that would have mattered was that any omega picked him.”  You turned and looked at Steve. “What sort of life is that?”

                 He frowned and leaned back on the couch.

                 “Not to mention if I let my hormones take over I might have lost the drive to get my doctorate. I would have been driven on instinct.  I see mated omegas, they only care about their families. I want more.” You could feel yourself getting on a soapbox. “I didn’t want to be a slave to my nature, so I did something about it.  I changed it. And now you people think you have the right to take that away from me.  To tell me what to do with my life. You don’t even know me. You don’t know what I’m capable of.”

                 “You’re getting upset.” Steve interrupted.

                 “Damn right I am.” Your breathing was getting heavy. “I didn’t do anything wrong. It’s my body. I should get to use it as I see fit. I didn’t live in fear.  I was happy.  Sure I was a little lonely and maybe getting bored at that teaching position, but I should have known better than to come here.  Then Dr. Banner promises state of the art equipment and a chance to help. To really help.  I was so stupid.  I should have demanded the lab come to me.  Then I wouldn’t be stuck in this mess.”

                 “You should calm down.”  Steve was still out of your line of vision.  It was like you weren’t even speaking to him.  

                 “Of course I’m going to try to break out of here. What sort of question was that?  This is a prison, and you plan on turning me over to an even stricter prison.  I deserve to be free.  Even if I was hiding, it was my choice of where I hid.  I am a person too…” Your babbling was interrupted when giant arms wrapped around your waist.

                 You let out a little scream as Captain America tossed you over his shoulder.  Your head hung down his back.

                 “What the hell are you doing?” The blood rushed to your head.

                 SMACK.  The only answer you received was a painful slap to your ass.  SMACK. A second one came and you let out a whimper of pain.  He responded with a growl and unceremoniously tossed you down onto the bed.  

                 You bounced and placed your hands behind you, sitting upwards.  He loomed over you.  That’s when you noticed it.  His blue eyes were gone, his pupils so dilated they looked almost completely black.

                 “Fuck.”  You scooted backwards until you hit the headboard.  

                 He leaned forward on the bed and started to crawl towards you.  You pulled your legs to your chest and debated on rolling off the bed.  Steve responded with another growl.  Your eyes went back to his as he stalked closer to you it was becoming more and more obvious that he was in predator mode and you were the prey. This was a fight you did not want to lose.

                 “SOMEONE HELP ME!” You kicked out and jumped off the bed. “PLEASE! I KNOW YOU CAN HEAR ME!”

                 You did not even make it to the doorway before his hands were on you again.  You screamed and kicked, but he held your back tight against his chest and brought his free hand over your mouth.  He let out a low rumble right in your ear.

                 “Shhhhh.” He squeezed you tighter. “I’m going to help you.”

                 Oh God. Your mind raced. You tried to remember everything you knew about alphas and omegas.  Over the years that information wore away and was replaced with information about biology and DNA.  You let out another muffled scream and started to thrash again.   The hands disappeared and you shrieked as you felt the fabric of your shirt tear in two.  You brought your arms up to try and keep it in place, but the movement gave him ample opportunity to pull your shorts and panties down.  

                 “Stop.  Please.” You let out a cry and ran forward.

                 You did not make it a step before the hands were on your hips picking you up in the air like you weighed nothing and tossing you onto the bed again.  You pressed your legs together and tried to use the shirt to cover your thighs and you retreated back to the headboard.  Steve pulled off his shirt and you saw the ripple of his muscles up close. A smile crossed his face as he undid his buckle.  He thought you approved of his body.  

 Running didn’t work so your eyes scanned the nightstand looking for a weapon. You picked up the alarm clock and turned to try and bash him over the head. He jumped on the bed and was right in front of you grabbing your wrist.  The playful smile was gone and the anger returned.  He squeezed hard and you dropped the clock.

 “Ahhh, please let go.  You’re hurting me.”  You locked eyes with him.

 His features did not soften, but he let go of your wrist and then your shirt was gone.  You moved your hands between your legs trying to cover yourself. His eyes followed your movement and he gripped onto each thigh, prying them apart and moving himself down.  

 “No!” You started to struggle, debating on whether to hit him or shield yourself.

 He glared daggers at you as he lowered his head between your legs.  His hands moved to your wrists and he pulled them off of you with ease.  He had a perfect view of your most intimate area.  He wrapped an arm around each of your thighs and moved closer. You shoved at his shoulders, but he was like a mountain.  His hot breath was right on you.  Fear flooded you and you started to scream again.

 “PLEASE HELP ME!” You yelled to nobody.

 “I am trying.” Steve responded.

 Then you felt it.  His tongue was licking up your slit.  You let out a gasp and tried to wiggle away, but he was like a vice.  He started to flick against your clit. You continued to wiggle, but your body was starting to betray you.  You let out another cry, he responded with a hum that made your bundle of nerves vibrate and you fell onto you back from the sensation.  

 You were almost hyperventilating as he began to work his tongue against you. He was sucking and rubbing his tongue up and down at the same time.  You had no clue why it was feeling so good and started to tremble.  Shame ran through you and you brought your hands to cover your face.  This was wrong on so many levels.

 He must have misinterpreted your movement as a signal of acceptance because he let go of one of your thighs.  Then you felt a finger tracing your entrance and another wave of resistance flashed.  You tried to sit up and close your legs, but only resulted in pulling his face further down on you.

 “Stop! I’ve never done this! Please.”  You cried.  

 He ignored you and you felt pressure as his finger started to slide inside of you.  It hurt. You let out a scream and threw yourself back down on the bed. He was moving slow. His tongue still working on you and you felt his finger slide out before re-entering with more this time.  You winced, with the strange foreignness of this all.  

 “Relax for me.” His words vibrated your core. “I’m trying to help you.”

 “This isn’t help you psycho.” You responded and tried to hit his shoulders again.  

 He gave another growl and you let out a moan.  What the hell?  You didn’t understand what was going on.  Why did you moan?  The question caused you to stop fighting and he started moving his finger in an out of you. Your eyes went wide as he picked up the pace and continued to tease your bud.  The tears started to dry up and to your surprise your hips started to move with him.  

 A strange feeling started to form.  Almost like an itch that desperately needed a scratch.  Your breathing started to get heavier and regulate.  Your heart raced and you let out another moan when he started to twirl his finger inside of you.  

 Then your leg was free and he was gone.  You popped up on your elbows and looked between your legs to see a glistening mess.  Then your eyes went to Steve.  He was standing up again and pulling down his pants.  His cock sprung forward and you turned away onto your side.  You had never seen a naked man before.

 The bed dipped and his hand was on your back, moving you to your knees.  He let out a grunt and in a split second your bra was ruined.  Now the two of you were completely naked and you knew what this position meant.

 “I’m a virgin.  Please don’t do this.”  You tried to plead.  “I can’t take you.  It will hurt. Just end this and let me go.”

 Steve placed a hand on your shoulder and bent you forward.  You were on your hands and knees with him behind you.

 “Beautiful.”  He kissed your back, his lips leaving butterfly touches down your spine. “Perfect.”

 Calling for help hadn’t worked, reasoning with him hadn’t worked.  

 “Stop. Please. I don’t want this.”  You started to cry again.

 “Shhh.” He pulled away from you. “I’m going to make it all better.”

 One of his hands rested in the small of you back.  Then you felt it. His cock at your entrance.  He started to push inside of you.

 “AHHH.”  Your arms gave out and you fell forward onto the bed.

 “It will only hurt for a few seconds.”  He continued to push inside of you.

 You bit down on the blanket and your knuckles went white as he slowly moved further inside of you.  

 “Relax for me.” Steve purred.

 You listened this time and tried to concentrate on your breathing.  He was huge, you felt like he was going to slide so far in his dick would pop out of your mouth.  Then you felt it.  He was in you to the hilt.  He leaned his body down over you and kissed your shoulders again.  He wasn’t moving, as if he was giving you time to adjust. You let out a little cry.

 “Doing so good.” He whispered. “Are you feeling alright?”

 What the fuck sort of question was that? You could not understand what the hell was going on.  He was raping you. Tears started to fall again.

 “I’ll make you all better.  You’ll see.” Then Steve pulled back, his chest no longer against your back.

 He gripped your hips and pulled out a little before moving back.  He did the same thing a few times.  The pain was gone.  There was a strange sense of fullness, but no pain.  Your body responded by relaxing a little and Steve noticed as he began pulling out further and moving a little faster.  The itch started to come back and you gasped.

 “Mmmmmm.” You couldn’t believe the noise came out of your mouth.  

 Then you realized you wanted him to move faster.  You wanted whatever feelings were forming in your body to be satisfied.  You started rocking your body against him.  He moved even faster and soon there was a whole mess of noises coming from you. You felt desperate as you moved against him, almost like you were begging him for something, but you didn’t know what it was.  As your rhythm increased the need only grew.  It started to almost hurt from the want until finally you felt it.  It was like your entire body exploded.  You were shivering and panting at the same time and then Steve was leaning over you again.  His teeth bit your neck and the mix of the pain and pleasure made a whole other explosion.  

                 Steve let out a grunt and your whole body collapsed as he stilled inside of you.  He didn’t pull out and instead rolled onto his side pulling your back to his chest. You were both breathing heavily. You shut your eyes as your body continued to feel like it was on a strange high, never wanting to give this feeling up.

[y02mustang-the-bard]

a look at kal / kara

After all the upset floating around today, I dove into fanfic and took this from a three paragraph idea to the 10 pages it is (finished) in a few hours.

Apparently anger is motivating?

I’ll put this up on AO3 in a few days, this is the non-beta’d version. I don’t know if this is really canon divergent since we don’t know much about the pre-Kara Supergirl universe, but it doesn’t exactly follow the Smallville timeline.

Summary: A short fic about before and shortly after Kara arrived on Earth. First chapter is Kal-El’s perspective, second chapter is Kara’s.

Chapter Two is here.

CHAPTER ONE

“What… Kelex, what do you mean? There was another pod?”

“Master Kal, the information in your pod indicates that your cousin, Kara Zor-El, was to follow you to Earth. Her pod would have been interlocked with the same coordinates as your own.”

Clark stared at the robot. “But… where is she? There was no other ship, the Kents would have told me. Kelex, can you scan for the signature from her ship?”

“Yes, Master Kal. I can trace the flightpath of your pod.”

“Do it.”

“It will take some time.”

Clark clenched his hands into fists and stared up into the crystalline faces of his birth parents. He had no memory of them but they were family, and so was this Kara. Another survivor from Krypton’s destruction. He wasn’t the last.

“Find her.”

“Scanning.”

Clark stormed out of the Fortress and took to the skies.

He landed in a field outside of Smallville and walked a few paces, cape folding as he crouched down, placing his hand against the earth, against the dirt where, twenty-two years earlier, his pod had crash-landed. His first taste of Earth had come right here, when Jon pried the front shield from the pod. His human strength normally wouldn’t have been able to remove any piece of the ship, but the rough landing, bouncing off at least one mountain, had cracked the metal near the hinges of the canopy.

Jon liked to tell the story of how Clark had blinked up at him, twice, and then simply started screaming. Jon reached into the ship, moving slowly in case there was some sort of defense mechanism, and collected Clark into his arms, baby blanket and all. If the pod from outer space hadn’t been a large enough clue, the strange material of the blanket and clothes he was wearing would have given his alien heritage away.

Jon walked slowly back to the truck where Martha waited, calling her husband’s name, and he just cooed to the baby, trying to soothe him. He had no idea that the nine-month-old was overwhelmed by radiation from the yellow sun and the child had no idea what to make of the feeling permeating every cell in his little body.

Clark grabbed a handful of the dirt and let it run through his fingers.

There were times growing up that he knew something was off, as his powers began to develop, and he knew it had been hard on the Kents. He had strength within a few days, Martha recalled, and at fourteen months, when he should have been beginning to feed himself with utensils, Martha had kept him on finger foods (which ended up being mostly smashed fruits and crumbs of anything else that he shoved into his mouth) and kept him distracted when trying to feed him with a spoon so he wouldn’t bite down and try to chew the utensil. It took him until two years old to be able to hold a spoon without crushing it.

Jeremiah and Eliza had been a godsend, a phrase Martha repeated anytime Clark asked questions about his upbringing. They couldn’t take him to a regular doctor, obviously, so Jon had carefully reached out to his friend Jeremiah in California and after a few vaguely “hypothetical” questions, brought the Danvers into their secret. Within a month, Jeremiah created a few baby toys that would withstand an alien toddler and the Kents offered the toys extensively anytime they interacted with Clark in order to redirect him from accidentally breaking human bones.

He winced. Apparently he’d broken Jon’s fingers the first time he grabbed them.

When the x-ray vision and super hearing became apparent, it was Jeremiah to the rescue, again, with a pair of lead-lined glasses to dampen the input. Well, several pairs, because teenage alien boys are just as forgetful and careless as other children their age, but the fifth pair had been the charm and was the set that Clark still wore when he was in his human persona.

Recalling the sensory overload that he suffered those few days while Jeremiah and Eliza tried to work out options, before they came up with the glasses, he exhaled slowly, feeling a little sick at the memory.

He’d had to manage all of this without any help from a Kryptonian, without having any idea what was going on with his body.

He wanted better for Kara. He’d take care of her when she landed. He’d find her, he’d watch out for her, he’d help her as she gained her powers. Super speed and flying had been fun - they could enjoy that together.

He imagined them bursting through clouds together and smiled.

He had a cousin.

He had family.

*****

Clark returned to the Fortress a few weeks later.

“Kelex, any update?”

“Still searching, Master Kal. No sign of the other pod.”

He sighed. “Keep looking.”

He studied the letters on the main panel in front of him, hesitantly choosing a few letters, pulling up his family tree. He wanted to learn more about his cousin.

Daughter of Alura In-Ze and Zor El. Zor-El was a scientist, like his brother, Jor-El, and Alura was also a scientist, but she focused more on botany.

Clark tried to pronounce a few of the names of the plants but moved on quickly. Kryptonian was still difficult, though he’d been trying to learn for the past several months. Maybe he and Kara could speak it together.

The records indicated she was just shy of her thirteenth birthday when Krypton exploded. He put his hands on his hips and considered that. She’d actually remember Krypton, she’d speak Kryptonian fluently… and she was probably expecting him to be a baby. Alura and Zor El probably sent her along to care for him on this new planet.

Well. He’d just have to take care of her instead.

*****

Clark continued checking on Kelex’s progress but when it became clear that it was indeed going to take a while, his returns to the Fortress became less frequent.

Forty-seven weeks after he’d first made the request, Clark landed in the Fortress and strode into the main chamber. It had been almost four months since his last visit and he sighed as he asked Kelex for an update, expecting the same “Still searching, Master Kal” he’d heard every time before.

“I have located Kara Zor-El’s pod, Master Kal.”

“Where?! What happened to her?”

“It appears the shock wave from Krypton’s destruction knocked her pod off course. There is a faint trail that indicates her ship has been lost in the Phantom Zone.”

“... what is that?”

“An area of space in which time does not pass.”

Clark felt the breath leave his lungs for a moment and he rocked back on his heels. “How do we get her out of there?”

“I am not aware of any manner in which to extract anything from the Phantom Zone.”

He growled. “Find one. We have to do something. Search the databases.”

“Yes, Master Kal. It may take some time.”

“It doesn’t matter. We can’t leave her there.”

He let out a slow breath and slammed his hand on the control panel, bringing up the entry on the Phantom Zone. There had to be something they could do.

*****

Seven months later, Kelex reported, “Master Kal, there is a development on Kara Zor-El’s pod.”

“What is it?”

“There is a new reading. The ship is exiting the Phantom Zone.”

“How? I thought you couldn’t pull it free.”

“I cannot, Master Kal. I do not know the source of the movement, but the pod’s engines are online and the ship is resuming its trajectory to Earth.”

Clark swallowed. “She’s on her way?”

“Yes.”

“How long until she arrives?”

“Approximately twenty-seven days, eighteen hours, and fifty-three minutes.”

He nodded. “Okay, that’s good. That’s great. I… I need to get ready.”

*****

When Clark landed outside his childhood home, quickly changing into Clark Kent’s normal wear of jeans and a long-sleeved shirt, grinning and wanting to tell his parents that they’d finally managed to find his cousin, Martha met him out front. That she’d been crying was obvious and Clark’s smile fell at the rapid beat of her heart.

“Mom?” he asked. “What’s wrong?”

She shook her head and he wrapped his arms around her, looking up at the house. She took a shuddering breath and just buried her face into his chest. He frowned and cast his hearing out around the farm. Besides Martha’s, the only other heartbeats he found were Shelby’s and other animals.

“... where’s Dad?”

She cried harder and it was only when he focused his hearing on her directly that he heard the whisper that he was gone.

*****

Clark reached out to the Danvers two weeks later. They’d attended Jonathan’s funeral and offered Martha and Clark sincere condolences and warm hugs but Clark hadn’t wanted to approach them about his Earth-bound cousin. It was only a week later when he realized that he was in no position to care for a twelve-year-old, blood or not, and that it was better that she grow up with a normal human childhood, like he did. Better than a struggling junior reporter living on his own in a small apartment in Metropolis.

He missed Jonathan and he wanted her to have a shot at knowing an Earth dad, too. Martha insisted she’d be able to help but Clark didn’t want to put that stress on her. She wasn’t sleeping and tried to hide it and he just couldn’t drop a Kryptonian pre-teen in her lap.

Eliza responded quickly, assuring him that they would be glad to help, that Kara would grow up safe and loved and they would help her understand her powers, that he would always be welcome to visit and give her that important family connection.

Clark thanked them and began planning for the day his cousin would land.

*****

It was mid-day and Clark found himself back at the spot where his pod had landed nearly twenty-four years earlier. The sun was high and he soaked up the radiation, wiping his hands on his cape idly, more nervous than he expected he would be.

He picked up the sound of the pod as it began to enter the atmosphere, the rumble and hiss as it broke into the stratosphere and, finally, the troposphere. It was just a minute longer before it came into view, rocketing through the sky, bouncing off the same mountain Clark imagined he’d ricocheted off as well, diving toward the ground. It rocked and skid to a stop some two hundred meters away.

Clark took a single leap and landed near the pod, grasping the shield and ripping it away, revealing the young girl within.

[isakthedragon]

A Dragon Sized Adventure Crash's Epilogue

Crash’s Epilogue

*Crash and the gang’s platform ride leads them to BONUS Terrarium. It was apparent that this is where Eggman, Cortex and others had put any gold, treasures, money, and anything else they stole. The place even had a golden shine that permeated the room, probably due to the extreme amount of ring piles.*

Spyro was astonished by the amount of treasure. “Wow…”

Cynder was in astonishment too. “Some dragons in our world have impressive hordes, but this… this would make them jealous.”

Shadow: “Too bad all of it’s stolen, huh?”

Spyro nods. “Yeah, but still…”

Sonic: “*Ahem*, maybe we should find those final gems so we can stop Eggman?”

*Spyro and Cynder shook themselves to their senses.*

Spyro: “Yeah.” *The purple hero takes the lead.*

—–

Level 101: EGG Rocket Zone

*ENTRY REQUIREMENT: 20 Relics*

Crates: 141

Time Trial

Sapphire: 10:00.00

Gold: 9:55.00

Platinum: 9:50.00

Sludges to Save: 5

Helping Partner: Amy

Badniks: Astronaut Lab Assistant Pawns: Don’t let their stupid look fool you. They may look clumsy in those astronaut suits, but they rarely miss with their shots. I wonder if Spyro’s Wing Shield could help… Shellcracker: GO, GO, GADGET CLAW! :P Chainspike: These annoying spiky stars have been upgraded to rarely miss their target. I’d attack them as soon as you’d see them. Clucker: *Bwak, Bwak!* *Pshew!* Watch those flying eggs!

Mutants: Sludge: A Chameleon + Boar hybrid but with a little twist. It’s a strange gelatinous creature created by Cortex that mimics anyone who tries to jack it (thanks to the Chameleon DNA). So, if Crash jacks it, it will look part bandicoot, and if Spyro jacks it, it will be part dragon. (You get the idea.) It can also copy some of the abilities of the jacker, so it acts like a second, more durable skin.

*Spyro and Amy find themselves on a launch pad.*

Spyro looks around. “Huh, where are we…”

Amy: “All that is noticeable here is Eggman’s rocket here in the middle of the ocean…” *She suddenly remembers where they are and pulls on Spyro.* “Come on! We got to hurry and get on that rocket!”

Spyro: “Alright…”

Spyro and Amy have went back in time to an old zone in Eggman’s history, the Egg Rocket Zone. Both of them must make their way up the rocket sections before the one below breaks off after 5 minutes. Of course, unlike before, Eggman has placed more dangerous badniks than last time that are here to strain you. Think you can ride up the whole rocket into space so Amy can make it to Cosmic Angel Zone?

Achievement Unlocked: Eggman’s Rocket Ride

-----

Level 102: Lost Forest

*ENTRY REQUIREMENT: 40 Relics*

Crates: 197

Time Trial

Sapphire: 3:50.00

Gold: 3:45.00

Platinum: 3:40.00

Sludges to Save: 5

Helping Partner: Knuckles

Badniks: Egg Flappers: It must be nice to jet around, and shoot shots and bombs at you. Forestry Egg Pawns: Shields, guns, and flying axes, oh my! Watch for those golden Egg Pawns, as they’ll kill the whole group. Egg Hammers: Round and round it goes, where it stops? Probably on you.

*Knuckles and Spyro land in a strange jungle/forest…*

Spyro looks about. “I’m guessing this place is in your world too?”

Knuckles nods. “It’s a huge forest with equally huge flora that can rival Angel Island.”

Spyro: “Hmm. I think I’ve seen some big flora in my world too, but not like this…”

Knuckles: “And then you have the frogs around here too. They can bring healthy and deadly rain to grow and kill the flora. Come on, let’s get moving.”

It’s another back in time trip, but this time to Frog Forest and Lost Jungle. Hope you don’t mind getting rained on, since you’ll be seeing, *ahem* ‘FWOGGY!!’ *ahem*, all around. Walk up to the green ones and they’re drop a pleasant rain that will grow the vines, trees, and plants so you can get around the level. But watch for the black ones, as they will make rain fall that will kill those same vines, trees and plants, making you have to take a different route. Can you make it through before you fall into the swamp below?

Achievement Unlocked: In the Jungle...

-----

Level 103: Haunted Towers

*ENTRY REQUIREMENT: 60 Relics*

Crates: 174

Time Trial

Sapphire: 1:50.00

Gold: 1:45.00

Platinum: 1:40.00

Sludges to Save: 5

Helping Partner: Tails

Badniks: Weather Wizards: Blue-clad weather wizards that shoot a trio shot of blue lightning to zap you. Tin Soldiers: Don’t lose your head as these guys are just as willing to hit you with theirs. Some also mimic move to block you. Gnorc-bot-adeirs: Small gnorcs that throw grenades about. Knight Pawns: Running around with a big lance should be incredibly dangerous, but not for these pawns. CHARGE!!!

*Spyro and Tails land on a group of islands with a big castle.*

Tails: “Wow… what is this place?”

Spyro: “Well, it is part of the Dream Weavers world, where the dragons there handle the dreams of others… Some are special with that power.”

Tails smiles until he sees the nearby suit of armor that was laying on the ground. “What’s that?”

Spyro: “Well… they’re meant to protect the castle, but the lay like this if they are not needed.”

*A faint chuckling can be heard.*

Tails: “Huh?”

*A rain of green magic comes close to the suit of armor and it comes to life.*

Tails: “AHH!” *He jumps back as the suit almost squishes him with its helmet.*

Spyro: “It’s alright, Tails, it’s just the gnorcs animating them. They are not haunted… although this place does handle haunted dreams...:”

Tails regains composure. “Alright…”

Spyro: “We’ll destroy them, but we need the power of a fairy’s kiss. Makes out breath stronger to destroy metal like that...”

Spyro and Tails have went back to an early time in Spyro’s life, when he went after Gnasty Gnorc who imprisoned all the dragons in crystals. We’re visiting Haunted Towers, a ‘haunted’ castle. Gnorcs and Tin Soldiers line the halls, trying to block your path. I bet if you find a fairy, they’ll give you a nice smooch and make you strong enough to destroy those armors. Can you make it through without getting blocked in?

Achievement Unlocked: Knightly Whack-A-Mole

-----

Level 104: Haunted Tomb

*ENTRY REQUIREMENT: 80 Relics*

Crates: 163

Time Trial

Sapphire: 2:00.00

Gold: 1:55.00

Platinum: 1:50.00

Sludges to Save: 5

Helping Partner: Rouge

Badniks: Mummy Rhy-bots: These mummies are incredibly annoyed about you walking about and will whack you into submission with their canes. Worse yet, they come back infinitely from their bouncing sarcophaguses. I wonder how you can break them… Jackals: Armored dogs that will charge at you endlessly. Better give them a nice whack back.

Mutants: Mummy Earthshapers: Odd beings made of rock, wearing mummy bandages, that are difficult to defeat. They can only be destroyed by the balls of explosive rocks they throw at you. I bet their explosive rocks can break those sarcophaguses too.

*Spyro and Rouge find themselves in a strange tomb…*

Rouge: “Oh? A tomb?”

Spyro: “Yeah, a tomb in our ‘Forgotten Realms’. It’s the home of those blue dogs there.” *He points to one nearby, who walks up to them.*

Dan: “Ah, yet more travelers who want our loot.”

Rouge: “Ah! How does he know I’m a thief?!”

Spyro: “Shh! They don’t know that, i think they just assume everyone wants to loot them.”

Rouge: “Oh, good…” *She smile and winks and gives a ‘pweh!’ look.*

Dan: “Well, if you want our loot, you’re going to have to make it to my friend over there-” *He points at the dog on a too high ledge* “-but you’ll have to make it through our tomb first.” *He points at the door with a glyph on it.* “And then you’ll have to solve a riddle.”

Rouge: “What kind of riddle?”

Dan: “ ‘I am a vessel without hinges, lock or lid, yet within my wall, a golden treasure is hid. What am I?’ But please, don’t answer the riddle now… you have to save your breath for the deadly traps ahead...”

Spyro and Rouge have moved a little bit forward in time to a realm Spyro went to when he fought the Sorceress. It’s a dark Egyptian tomb with some dangerous rhy-bots about. And worse off is that rocks sometimes fall from the ceiling. AND you need to figure out the answer to their riddle. Can you solve the riddle of their tomb to escape?

Achievement Unlocked: Mummies!

-----

Level 105: Down the Drain

*ENTRY REQUIREMENT: 100 Relics*

Crates: 250

Time Trial

Sapphire: 2:50.00

Gold: 2:45.00

Platinum: 2:40.00

Sludges to Save: 5

Helping Partner: Crash

Badniks: Welder Lab Assistant Pawns: They carry mini flamethrowers to weld the ceiling stuff, but they will turn it on you if you pass by.

Robots: Scrubbing Bubbletron: They patrol a set area, cleaning. Defeatable by any means. Hover Spike-O-Tron: They fly about, trying to poke you with their spikes. Quite difficult to defeat indeed.

Mutants: Sewer Rats: Rats, with spikes on their sides, that chase after you. Jump on top of them to defeat them.

*Spyro and Crash find themselves in a sewer system...*

Spyro: “Ugh, never thought in my life that I would enter a sewer…”

Crash: “It’s just sewers made by Cortex in an attempt to hurt me. Not that he did very well…”

Spyro: “I suppose… are we to head through these then?”

Crash: “We must, if we want to get out of here...”

Spyro and Crash are visiting the dank sewers Crash had once went through to find power crystals. The sewer is filled with enemies, dangerous contraptions, and NITRO boxes (Who flushes NITRO boxes?) Can you avoid death in a sewer and escape?

Achievement Unlocked: Not Your Average Sewer

-----

Once you have all of the relics for the time trials, you might just find one last gem in the center of the treasure room. Grab it to finish your collection.

Next Time: All good things must come to an end, thanks to a Finale.

[sparkpulse-blog]

Let’s Talk Headcanons: Sparklings, Part 1! How is babby formed?

Whelp! This is going to be a fun one! After having a blast explaining it to a few people, only to realize that my hands are cramping afterwards, I’ve decide to write out my personal sparkling headcanon for all to read. “Children” have existed, so to speak, in the Transformers franchise since about 1986, when The Movie introduced a few nameless robotic kids running around and laughing happily right before Unicron devoured their world (really, though, why did they show those kids...) and then, later in the film, an orphaned youth the Autobots found on Quintessa... Wheelie. While no explanation of Wheelie’s birth was offered, it’s fairly well-known that the official bio stated that his parents were killed when their ship crashed on the planet. Iiiinteresting...

Later on, the Beast Wars franchise made frequent references to “ancestors,” namely that Optimus Primal is actually a direct descendant of Optimus Prime. Bayverse introduced the idea that Transformers could potentially hatch from eggs... and then, in comic media, gave us breast-feeding Megatron... um? Let’s be honest here, the part of the fandom that is aware of that factoid... well, at least some of us aren’t sure if want. Transformers: Animated teased us with a glimpse of an infant-looking protoform that would become the techno-organic Sari... but never actually got to explain where she came from. And then IDW’s special Silent Light gave everyone a sudden flood of information compared to the brief touches of the previous continuities. We actually got an explanation of what Cybertronian babies could look like, how they could develop... but still no explanation of how they’re made. Well, we know me! That’s where my processors kick it into overdrive!

So right off the bat I’m going to start by disappointing fans of pregnant robots or eggs... I do not subscribe to either, thank you very much, Michael. To me, part of the fascination of Transformers is that they are machines that live, and think, and feel... they are not organic beings, even though they have life. They are alien robots from another world. And I love looking at all the ways that they could be like us, but I also love the ways they could be different...and I feel like the differences should really, really take precedence when it comes to young. Fortunately there’s something I can hinge my theory around... the fact that a Cybertronian’s soul is synonymous with it’s heart, a real, physical thing it holds inside of itself. The spark is a source of fascination and, yes, some romanticism for me... and I see it as the inevitable source of any life that is created between two lovers. So let’s get started on how the babe is made!

If you read my post about sparkmates and sparkbinding then you might have noted, at the end, that I hypothesize that sparklings get their name because they come from interactions between spark-bound sets.This, of course, makes them more rare in some continuities than others, hence why Whirl needed affirmation that he was holding what he thought he was holding. The process starts thus; in the act of spark-merging/bonding/sharing/whatever verb you prefer, of course, energy gets passed back and forth between the two (or more) partners. It gets shared, it builds, it passes back and forth. If the push and pull of energy is even, with all partners contributing equally, then everything gets spread around evenly, a great time is had by all, and you have a happy couple or trine all curled up together purring and feeling loved by the end of it.

However, what happens when the push and pull is not even? Sometimes a partner can get too excited and either push into their bondmate or pull against them, trying to draw more of their lover’s energy towards themselves. When this happens, of course, there goes that lovely balance... one spark inevitably ends up taking in an excess of energy and gets a bit of a buzz. If the connection is broken before the balance is restored, one of two things will happen... either the over-fed partner will be highly energetic for a while, until the excess dissipates... or the excess will begin to concentrate on or around the spark, condensing to a point where it forms a bud. A ‘bud’ is a growth on the spark where the energy collected from the bond partner or partners hasn’t quite broken up. It’s a little too “solid” for the spark to break it down... but growing it from there is another story entirely. Essentially, once a bud forms, a Cybertronian has conceived.

Clearly this visual is totally unnecessary, because this is a pretty simple concept, but I was really having fun doodling sparks so there we go.

Now at this point a Cybertronian has conceived, yes, and can proceed to make a baby... but! They aren’t doing it alone! This isn’t like most organic species where the biological father of an offspring makes it to conception and then the mother takes it from there... a Cybertronian carrier cannot carry the spark to term alone, namely because a lone Cybertronian can’t generate the spark energy to feed the bud by themselves. Buds do not grow on their own. They stay the size they are for however long until more energy is given to them... and this, of course, is done by the Cybertronian sire or sires engaging in yet more spark-sharing with the carrier, this time more deliberately pushing energy into the carrying spark. The sire is now deliberately feeding energy to their mate, and only through that excess energy can the bud begin to grow. There is no set time for how long this can take. A bud that is not fed can last for years affixed to the parent, and will happily grow again once it’s fed regardless of time passed. On the flip side, if the parents decide they really, really want this kid out fast, well... the more contact, the faster it grows. At this point, it all comes down to planning.

As a note on planning, or the lack thereof rather, it is actually pretty uncommon for a Cybertronian that is part of a pair to conceive by accident. It can happen, but it takes one partner being either particularly pushy or particularly clingy, in excess, for that to occur. Accidents are a bit more common with trines, however, when two partners can overpower a third without realizing it.

So now there is a budding new spark, and parents to feed it and make it grow... but no body to put it in. And there will not be a body until one is provided... Cybertronians are not mammals, they don’t create tiny Cybertronians inside of themselves. This is where a bit of outside help comes in... as we discuss the birth and development of sparklings in the next post, because this one is fragging long enough already!

So before I round up part one, let’s have some random headcanons about carrying that hopefully won’t expand this too much...

Sparklings usually share a closer bond with the carrier, since they were more connected to that spark than that of the sire(s) while being carried. With that in mind, a carrier who puts more time and energy into a hobby while carrying is more likely to be able to share that hobby with their offspring later.

Carrier activity and stress levels are two of the most important factors that can influence the growth of a new spark. Because of this, while many Cybertronians would prefer a heavily-armored parent carry, just as often a smaller bot with a less stressful day-to-day routine will be the one to carry. Many Cybertronians believe that parents with high stress levels can lead to young with anxiety issues, so quite often the siring parent will go to great lengths to assure their partner’s comfort. Oddly, there is no actual evidence to support this.

A spark with a bud is really, really obvious when you look into the chamber. Like, visibly so. At the very least, it means less tests are required to determine if a spark-merging took... aiming a few energy readings at the bud is typically more than enough to confirm.

While the debate rages as to whether listening to classical music during pregnancy does anything for a human, for a Cybertronian it actually does seem to have a positive impact on the budding spark and how well it stabilizes itself as it grows. What nobody can figure out is whether this is because of the music itself, or if the bud simply picks up on the parent spark’s positivity about doing something good for the baby...

And that’s it for this post! I have no idea how long part two is going to take to prepare, so wish me luck!

[ginnyzero]

Project Runway Hanging by a Thread

(Originally Posted in 2018)

The future of Project Runway is in doubt. Back in November, after the Weinstein scandal broke, A&E rescinded their contracts for Project Runway, including a separate contract for a movie, and sued the company for breach of contract alleging that Harvey used the show as a way to gain access to young models (horrifying if true.) Because of the Weinstein Group going into bankruptcy and the lawsuit, the rights and licenses of Project Runway and all the spin offs are for sale. (A&E and another company both want to buy them.)

I have little doubt that Project Runway will go on in some form in the future. It’s a well-liked program with several major celebrities attached. It has been imitated but no other fashion show (24 Hour Catwalk, Launch My Line, The Fashion Show, Fashion Star and so on) has been able to duplicate its success.

There are two names that we can thank for Project Runway’s success, Tim Gunn and Heidi Klum.

I’ve been working on my latest fashion project (an expanded collection of my Little Red Riding Hood and Big Bad wolf club dresses) and the last day or two have had Bravo’s answer to Project Runway moving to Lifetime back in 2008 on YouTube in the background, The Fashion Show. And it wasn’t pretty.

From my list you can see that I’ve watched a lot of fashion competitions. All of them have been cancelled but Project Runway. Not that they didn’t have some good ideas to bring to the table competition wise. Most of them do not have the right mix of personalities of the hosts and mentors and judges to create a sympathetic viewing audience. Even the Project Runway spin offs have a difficult time coming up with a good combination of judges and a sympathetic mentor. Alyssa tries, she really does, but she’s still not as successful as Heidi.

Tim Gunn’s success hinges on his beautiful attitude that he wants everyone on the show to succeed. No other mentor I’ve seen can manage his style of honest sympathy and gentle loving critique. Tim Gunn cares for every contestant and when they aren’t doing their best, it upsets him because he wants them to push and grow and become better designers (and better people.) He also gives honest and helpful feedback that people even in their living rooms can understand because it’s not laced with industry terms or popular culture references. And he can do this because he listens. He tells the designers to talk to him and then he stands there and listens. (And his pose while he does this is very important because he’s thinking as he is listening.) Then, once the designer is finished, he gives feedback.

It was very telling to me that in the first season of the Fashion Show when Isaac Mizrahi and Kelly Rowland were being both mentor and judge (don’t do this darlings) that they listened and then didn’t give critique. Instead, they’d go and talk about it to each other out of ear shot of the designers and then wonder why the designs were so wrong and then have to say the same things again to the designer that they’d said to each other on the stage. It was like watching school girl’s gossip instead of watching a show about developing talent!

Many of the mentors that I see brought onto these fashion shows are brought on because of their connection to some part of the shows sponsorship or producing team with little thought or care about how these mentors come across on the screen. Production spends so much time screening the candidates for the show and then don’t take the time it feels to screen test or even test run the mentor they’ve selected. It’s the mentor that’s going to be there season after season and the candidates are always changing, so more care should be taken in selecting mentors and not less!

The host is just as important as the mentor. Heidi Klum can be controversial because she supposedly plays favorites, she shows too much leg and some still aren’t sure why she has any authority on fashion. But Heidi Klum manages to pull off that cheerful girl next door type of vibe. You could imagine living next door to Heidi Klum. She’s friendly. She fits in with her bubbly smile and her blonde hair and tanned skin. She’s that mother from your PTA. Americans like this. At the same time, being that she’s originally from Germany, she has a hint of “otherness” about her that also appeals to people. The expert is a stranger with a briefcase syndrome or in this case a German accent. She’s also very natural in front of a camera and can make canned phrases sound natural.

This is much harder than it sounds. Alyssa still has trouble with the cadence of Project Runway signature catch phrases. In the second season of the Fashion Show, they changed out Kelly Rowland for Iman and the poor woman sounded like a robot. (They also changed all the catch phrases and that didn’t help. You have to maintain brand.) Being in front of the camera for so many hours a day when things aren’t scripted for you is difficult!

So, soon there will be new producers and owners running this big franchise of Project Runway that (let’s be honest) is primarily geared to American audiences because it features American fashion. I know what I want to see.

More Tim Gunn and not less.

Forget drama in the sewing room. Back to basics, design and critique and mentoring sessions with Tim. And if they can’t get Tim to come in and mentor All Stars or Junior, then he honestly needs to be the major voice in choosing the next mentors that reflect his style that is the Project Runway brand. No more cold dead fish mentors. Ugh. I think the closest was Henry Roth of the first season of Australia. He had energy.

Speaking of drama in the sewing room. More talent. Less personality casting. I’m talking casting people like the twins from the latest season. (Serial reality show celebs should be a major no no.) Or people that only work in recycled materials. Or people that are so abrasive and egotistical that all they do is cause drama because no one wants to work with them and they don’t want to work with anyone else. Project Runway has never had a problem about diversity, thank goodness. They have a problem with bringing in designers of aesthetics that are so niche and so out of the box that they can’t connect to the judges or to the American audience.

Oh, and enough menswear designers already. Please, do a Project Runway: Menswear if you want to showcase menswear designers.

Models of all shapes and sizes. The last regular season of Project Runway did this as an experiment and it was a raging success. So much so, that the season of All Stars that aired right after it got criticized for not doing the same thing (even though the two shows had been taped at the same time. People forget this.) It’s time for more diversity and better body images presented on the runway and in fashion magazines and Project Runway has a national audience to push this change into the magazines. This is a huge step forward and may save us the embarrassing and cringe worthy episodes where designers don’t know what breasts are and say things like “Models are supposed to be walking hangars without curves to mess up the line of the clothes.”

Look, a model going down the runway is a standard size six. I’m a standard size four (six in outerwear) and that means I wear smalls, extra-smalls and size zeros in vanity sizing. This doesn’t expressly make me happy! Vanity sizing hurts people of all sizes, okay. If we can push that thin is best off the runway, maybe we can push the vanity sizing out of our stores and when I go in a size four will be a size four will be a size four everywhere.

More time.

The designers need more time to sew their designs. Period. Project Runway is becoming instead Project Pretty Dress. Things such as pants, jackets and shirts take time to drape, draft and sew properly. So instead of good two or three piece outfits, we get evening gown followed by a cocktail dress followed by an evening gown ad nausea.

Example, last season of All Stars (newbies versus vets) they did a distressing challenge. Meaning, they were to make new fabrics look like they’ve been through hell. And it was paired with the theme of Post-Apocalyptic Fashion, meaning Mad Max and waste landers. Of course, they were only given one day in the workroom to accomplish their feats of both making it look like it was after the end of the world and to make the fabric look torn, burnt or shredding or worn in some manner. (They were also to come up with a story. I laughed hysterically over some of them, a queen, really?)

It was a parade of evening gowns.

Look, the last thing you’re going to wear after the world has been devastated by a climate changing event is an evening gown. Now, some of these stories are “She was escaping from said climate changing event,” but still! (That’s not exactly what the brief called for either by the way. Post. Post. After! Not during!) Loot some trousers and find some running shoes! Protect your skin!

It made you wonder if they’d ever seen Mad Max. I wasn’t expecting leather and studs because that has been done to death. I was hoping for some thought about protecting my soft squishy parts and being pretty! (I like my soft squishy parts and I like being pretty.)

More time is especially important now that the judges are getting up close and personal with the designs. These designers are now being critiqued on their sewing skills as well as their design skills. If they’re going to do this, then give the designers the respect they deserve and give them the time to beautifully finish their garments. Those “It feels so unresolved” comments might go down too, if they have more time to actually finish their designs.

Less Sponsors.

The dreaded sponsors challenge. Does anyone remember the season where they were sponsored by a water company and ended up going “glamping?” Or the one where there was the burger company and they had to remake some really bad suits and got free endless fries? (That might have been the same season.) Look, doing Heidi’s stuff is bad enough especially since she keeps changing what she’s doing. But these companies that have nothing to do with fashion, err, Candy Crush, coming in and throwing money to get their name in an episode is ridiculous. I am even leery about the movie challenges. Just stop.

You know the great challenges are the challenges set by people like Isaac Mizrahi. I loved his color challenge because he was so careful in his selections. (He’s come a long way since The Fashion Show.) I love Nina Garcia challenges. Then there are the basic challenges, the unconventional challenge, the avante garde challenge, the accessory wall sponsor challenge, and the hair and makeup challenge. (Though better ones for those need to be found.)

Things like the black light challenges or the rainway that made the designers think about fashion in a new way. Those were the great challenges. I even liked the wind runway. Otherwise, get back to the basics of fashion. The JCPenny challenge with the menswear fabrics was great because it forced them to think upper moderate budget rather than ready to wear. Give them fashion categories, give them budget categories more than just a budget at Mood. Make them prove they know about fashion more than “I want to make clothes.” Yeah, can you make clothes for the everyday woman in their price budget or just pretty red carpet dresses? (Most can only do the latter.)

More fashion industry judges.

Enough celebrities. Please. Bring in buyers from Macy’s and Bergdorf’s and Saks, bring in magazine editors. I don’t know and I don’t care what a certain actress thinks about fashion because they’re most likely paying lots of money to be styled by someone who does know about fashion. So, I’d rather hear from their stylist. This is what I liked about Fashion Star. In Fashion Star, the designers presented to buyers and the buyers would right then bid on if they’d actually buy that item to stock in their store or not. Terron Schaefer of Saks was such a lovely person, bring in him. Bring in big name designers. Bring back Michael Kors for at least one episode a season by hook or by crook. Give the American Public people who are authorities in fashion.

(And keep Kelly Osbourne in the Juniors judges because I love how supportive she is to these young people. She is the exception to this rule.)

More team challenges.

Okay, the designers hate these. I think they’re good for them. That’s one thing about the Fashion Show that I really appreciated was the fact that the designers were at first separated into two fashion houses to create collections instead of individual pieces. This is how the real fashion industry works and nothing creates drama faster than a team challenge. (This is like makeover episodes on Top Model. The designers know they are coming but still cry all the same!)

If they do team challenges, they can create runway shows and do mood boards and have to present these to Tim to get approval and really show their vision as a team rather than the travesty that a lot of team challenges end up being. Another thing I liked about the Fashion Show is that they had to make and present mood boards. Mood boards are incredibly important in giving direction!

More Mood and Mini-Mood.

Because of sponsorships increasing in the show, the time spent at Mood has been less and less. And I understand that Mood isn’t expressly happy with the show either, because the entire store has to be shut down in order for the show to tape there and this loses them revenue in buyers. At this point, the viewing audience is used to and wants to see the designers using ‘real fabrics’ in order to make their garments. If there are less sponsors for “unconventional” challenges, then there would be more challenges where the designers need to go to Mood.

But Mood has provided Mini-Mood before. Mini-Mood was a room in the set where Mood put a lot of fabric for the designers to choose from. This way the designers were a) limited in choice but b) still got to use ‘real fabrics.’ And let’s face it, the designers need to be limited because there was almost an entire season of neoprene one year. (No neoprene in Mini Mood. No. Bad. Smack hands.) Or, if it is easier on Mood, then maybe provide Project Runway with access to their warehouse instead?

Or, they can do like the JCPenny challenge and have the sponsors provide the fabrics. This will once again ground the show in reality because there are processes where the designers choose from a selection of fabrics from a manufacturer to use for their products. It may also cut down on the “you only work in chiffon, choose something else” or just the random bad fabric choices or people being chewed out in Mood for picking fur and not realizing the show is “cruelty free.” (But we still use leather. Sure.)

Lastly, less scripting of the entire season.

People know the reality show tricks by now and they aren’t buying them anymore. If they show a designer calling their family or opening up, yep, that designer is about to go. Producers keep on bad designers for their dramatic personalities has to stop. Designers that repeat and repeat the same design need to be pulled aside and be told “Change or go home” much sooner than they are. Touting a win for “plus size” fashion feels hollow when the line didn’t have the creativity of the others (and next to no plus sized woman would wear it. The models looked uncomfortable.)

Authenticity is important. Project Runway can be good without having accusations of cheating or big fights in the workroom or bringing in styles that don’t mesh with the judges. Talent. Design. Good attitudes. Take a cue from Project Runway Junior and keep those positive vibes going even in the adult versions of the show.

And more group hugs from Tim. Because everyone needs hugs.