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softgrungeprophet · 3 months ago

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Radiant Black Rundown

(aka: Nadia is going to make a rec post for something that isn't Spider-Man or Spider-Man adjacent for once)

(aka "Please read Radiant Black")

(Radiant Black #10)

This is all subjective, obviously, but for me...

Positives:

All the characters are adults, ranging from their 20s (Eva), to 30s (Nathan, Marshall, Satomi), to 50s or 60s (Wendell)

The characters are specific. They have specific personalities, backgrounds, priorities and expertise. They are people with emotions and flaws and lives.

The main characters (Nathan and Marshall) are codependent vaguely homoerotic best friends with a slightly imbalanced dedication to one another (unrequited love?), plus some jealousy (drama!)

Despite occasional clunkiness, does a decent job at mixing humor and seriousness, angst, drama, etc. "Are you an angel?" "No, ma'am, I'm a millennial" did make me laugh.

Diverse characters and creators: Some co-writers include (but are not limited to) Cherish Chen, Melissa Flores, streamer Meghan Camarena, and Chicago local Laurence Holmes, and they're all very skilled at collaborating with each other and with Kyle to breathe life into the characters and their motivations.

And all of the Radiants are brunettes! (lol)

Not a lot of crossovers (basically none) despite being part of a larger universe (the Massive-verse), and not a ton of issue hopscotch (still some).

The stakes are often very personal (most of the time). These characters may have to save the world but they're also all kind of fuck-ups in some way, and are still mostly dealing with their personal and private lives and loved ones, which grounds it.

"Officially," only Eva is queer (afaik) but to me, Marshall also reads as pretty strongly gay or bi-coded, and Satomi gives off some kind of gender thing (to me). With a mix of actual queer WLW/lesbian romance in Radiant Pink and some interesting subtext in the main Radiant Black comics, plus whatever Radiant Red's got going on, I think there's a lot to sink your teeth into in that regard, or at least to go "AUGH" about LOL

Also there's real cool art—

(Radiant Black #17)

(Radiant Black #10)

(RB #10 again — issue 10 whips ass, okay? I have the UV-reactive fluorescent ink printing of this issue... and I don't own a blacklight, unfortunately 😂)

(Costa is the main artist for all of the above panels, with colors by Triona Farrell (#17) and Igor Monti (#10), but I'm a big fan of Ferigato's pencils on the Marshall-focused issues too, plus Lafuente and Muerto's work in Radiant Red is killerrrrrr)

Neutrals:

All the Radiants' eye markings are animated/emotive (except Yellow). Personally, I'm mixed on expressive masks and helmets. (Big shock, I know 😂) I don't dislike the animated eyes, and I get why they're useful, but I prefer the less animated helmet "faces" so far.

Cosmic world-saving stuff — If you know me, you know I tend to prefer street-level superhero stuff, but I think the high-stakes action works in Radiant Black because it's still grounded in the personal and still has that street-level element, so I'm not too bothered by this. (I also like sci-fi, which helps)

Negatives:

Some people over-emphasize just how groundbreaking and different Radiant Black actually is. Like I get it, hype it up, but sometimes it is a little funny to be like "this has never been done before!" and it's like, idk about that 😂

Occasionally it does lean a little into referential humor and quips, but it's got plenty of actually funny jokes, and the dialogue flows naturally most of the time and isn't just a vessel for snappy one-liners, thank God. But if you're like me, sometimes you may roll your eyes.

It takes some time to find its feet (imo), but even then it's still generally engaging. To me, issues 9 and 10 are where it really hits its stride and not long after that is where it takes off running.

There is some issue/series hopping — While there's not a ton of issue hopping, there are some minor details that make more sense if you have read some of the auxiliary issues/miniseries. Luckily, it's not a huge amount of reading.

Prison is where you go to atone 🤡 I didn't like it in Spider-Man: Redemption and I don't like it here lol but Eva seemed unimpressed in volume 4, so I'm hoping it'll have some nuance as I catch up.

Wonky numbering. It's not too bad (and if you read the trade paperbacks, it's a non-issue) but there is a plot thing that happens that means all the issues after #24 (until #30 and #30.5, afaik) have special numbering

(Radiant Black #11)

Radiant Reading List:

Note: here is a really great, in-depth, incredibly precise Massive-verse reading list put together by a fan — It has issue-by-issue and page-by-page instructions for the real chronology sickos out there, and is just a generally fantastic resource/timeline reference.

But here is my personal (way less precise) reading list for Radiant Black plus its auxiliaries, minus all the other stuff:

Radiant Black v. 1 (#1-6)

Radiant Black v. 2 (#7-12)*

Shift #1-4 (not #5)*

Radiant Red (#1-5)*

Supermassive (2022)**

Radiant Black v. 3 (#13-18)

Radiant Black v. 4 (#19-24)

Radiant Pink (#1-5)***

Supermassive (2023)

Radiant Black v. 5 (#25-27.5)

Radiant Black v. 6 (#28-30.5) (issues #30 and #30.5 will be out in October 2024, so volume 6 tpb probably not until the holidays if I had to guess... unfortunately for me 😂)

Shift #5****

Supermassive (2024)****

Notes:

*Okay, so.... parts of Shift and Radiant Red technically occur simultaneously w/ each other and also overlap some w/ Radiant Black #9 and #10, so you probably actually want to stop at Radiant Black #9, then do Shift and Radiant Red, and then return to Radiant Black at #10, but in my opinion, all that really matters is you read Shift before Radiant Red, whether you slot them between Radiant Black issues 9 and 10, or just read whole trades at a time, whichever you find more practical or convenient. I... did both lol

That being said: don't read Shift #5 until… later, as it was a very recent addition for the Shift collected edition and takes place significantly later in the main plot.

**Supermassive 2022 is a pretty simple single issue crossover mini-event/annual with Inferno Girl Red and Rogue Sun, and doesn't really require reading the others' stories nor does it really affect any real plot, but it does offer a tiny bit of context to Radiant Black's main storyline that I found kind of crucial lol — like is it Necessary? No. Does it clarify one (1) little detail? Yes.

***Radiant Pink can probably be read at any point after Radiant Black issue #12, but I happen to be reading it in this order lol

****The in-depth Massive-verse reading guide I linked earlier says to read Shift #5 in the middle of Radiant Black #28.5 and Supermassive 2024 between Radiant Black #29.5 and #30, so ideally... during volume 6, but since 30 and 30.5 aren't even out yet... well. Good luck!

After 30.5 is out I believe the Radiant Black team will be taking a hiatus iirc, which is reasonable.

There is not yet a Radiant Yellow mini, and idk when one will be released. There have been a couple of delays in the Massive-verse over the past year or so, for a variety of reasons (it's massive!), and I'm guessing Yellow's solo got pushed back. Hopefully it will be out sooner rather than later but we'll see! Obviously the teams creating all of this have been working their asses off so, you know, it happens LOL

Personally I'm subscribed to Kyle's newsletter, which is probably one of the best ways to get updates. It can and often does contain spoilers, but you can do what I do and just scroll really fast past them lol

In practice you can just mainline Radiant Black and ignore everything else and be fine, but I think the other Radiants, Shift and Supermassive offer useful context as far as character motivation and juicy stuff like that goes— Especially since Shift deals with the origins of multiple antagonists, and Radiant Red has some main plot implications for Satomi. Useful to know, etc.

Anyway. That got long, but hopefully not too long to be useful.

Stay Radiant ⦵

(Radiant Red #3)

#tried to make sure i used cool art without being OVERTLY spoilery #some of it's still *technically* early spoilers but not in a way where it's like ''oh no!! now i know the plot!'' lol #nadia reads comics #nadia reads radiant black #nadia's recs #apparently if you put a word in angled brackets in a tumblr post and save a draft... it will remove the entire word #same for copy pasting lol #IT'S NOT HTML pls tumblr i'm not even in the html editor view #radiant black

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itsohh · 1 year ago

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A/N: Thought this went without saying but, this is an act of fiction. Minors are never welcome on this blog, this is for entertainment purposes only and god wtf is wrong with you that I have to say this but this is not for sex education? If you're not mature enough to know a work of fiction is simply a work of fiction and not 'miss information' you're not mature enough to read smut.

Summary: After months of being unable to properly be together, you have worked up quite an appetite for your lover. It's a shame he's not really in the mood. However, states aren't always permanent and he never could resist you when you sounded like that.

Word count: 3226

Warnings: Smut

AO3 Masterlist

There was only so much you could do, there was only so much you could handle. The pair of you hadn't had any time together for what must have been months, mission after mission, constantly separated, so intimacy was out of the picture.

So when the pair of you finally had time off together, you knew exactly what you wanted. It seemed he knew exactly what he wanted as well. The pair of you had only been home for about ten minutes and he was already in the bedroom. It always made you smile, how in sync the pair of you were. Or so you thought, until you opened the door.

Gaz had turned his switch on and Stardew Valley lit up on the tv. Your smile dropped, only for a second. His gaze shifted to you and he smiled kindly at you.

"Hey wanna come play?"

Your feet were slow on the carpet as you slowly slid onto the bed next to him.

"Mmm, I had a different idea of what we could play." Your voice purred out and his eyes went back to the TV.

"Oh we could play Animal Crossing if you like, or maybe Mario Party but I'm not sure how fun it's going to be just the pair of us."

"I'm thinking more along the lines of Smashing." Your fingers hovered over the centre of his button-up for a moment.

"You hate Smash though- oh." His eyes shifted towards you and he swallowed when your fingers popped open his button and slid your hand on his chest.

Kyle cleared his throat and caught your hand before he pulled it away. "Not tonight, just wanna play. Maybe tomorrow?" The rejection hurt, just a little. But what really snapped was the burning desire that had slowly built up over the months. You pulled your hand back as if he burnt you, the reaction didn't go unnoticed and he let out a small sound.

"Babe, you know it's not like that. I'm just not in the mood and pretty tired I still love you-"

"Kyle, it's fine." Your head lifted and you gave him a reassuring look "You do your thing and I'll do mine." Gaz's eyes looked away from yours but he nodded. A deep breath exhaled out from your lips and your eyes snapped to your side table.

Gaz tried not to stare at you the entire time your hands fumbled with the drawer. Shaking from pure desire, it wasn't easy for you to find the vibrator hidden away in the storage. Eventually, your finger made contact with the soft touch of its velvet bag and you yanked it out. A moment of silence ran between the pair of you when you sat down at the edge of the bed. When you looked up you saw that Gaz's eyes were on yours. Then they went down to the bag in your hand.

You couldn't help the heat that formed over your cheeks. Now that he was watching you with a complete lack of desire or arousal, you couldn't help but feel a little shamed at the fact. He had seen it many times before, walked in on you, even joined you time and time before but this was different, this time you were dirty and he wasn't.

"I'll- I'll head to the living room." You pointed with your thumb and abruptly got up and practically ran out of the shared room. The door behind you was slapped closed and your back made contact as your heart raced. His blank expression raced in your head, mixed with the sting of rejection, both had you let out a small groan that turned into a whimper.

That shame couldn't control you for long, slowly you looked down and the vibrator slid from the small bag and reminded you of that crushing core that demanded attention. Vibrator in your right hand, your left hand slowly drifted down to your clothed cunt. Your eyes closed and you bit your left pointer finger.

Tension left your shoulders and they dropped when your hand slipped the waistband of your pants. Just that little touch gave you so much. Your eyes snapped open towards the open curtains and you ripped your hands away from yourself.

You needed relief and you needed it right there and then. The curtains were promptly snapped closed and you threw the toy on the couch so you had free hands to remove your clothing. First, you removed the t-shirt from your body and then the sports bra that had you let out a little sigh of relief. Next came your pants which were dumped on the ground.

Almost completely bare, you flopped down on the couch and grabbed the vibrator. A quiet him started from the toy and you placed it against your clit with only your thin underwear as a barrier. Your eyes shut and your mind wandered to the way that Gaz would touch you. He would start off slow, his gentle hands on the outside of your thighs. They would run up and down, feeling you up as his tongue would dance over his teeth.

He'd plant his hands firmly against you, indenting your flesh with his fingers. With his nice grip on you, he would pull you into his lap slightly. Kyle would be slotted between your thighs while your back would remain on the cushions. The thought of his clothed cock grinding against your cunt had you mew out. An admittedly rather loud moan as one of your hands went to grace your hard nipple.

The pair of you would stay like that, grinding against each other. Kyle would have that pent-up look on his face, mixed pleasure due to the friction between the pair of you. The grip on your thighs would tighten and he'd curse out before doubling down and grinding even harder.

You arch your back and continue your breathy moans while the vibrator works on your clit. The grip on the vibrator becomes a little tighter as you feel a wave of pleasure spread throughout your core, it's not there for very long but it has you relaxing deep into the couch.

The vibrator slips under your underwear and you slowly start to tease your entrance with it, your clits far too sensitive to continue. It would only need a couple of moments before you could return to it.

Lost completely in your imagination, you didn't notice the bedroom door open.

The dip in the couch had you gasp out and your eyes flung open. Kyle stared into your eyes as he mounted you slightly. Your legs were between his knees while he supported himself with the couch using one hand. Gaz leaned over your body and his face was directly above yours.

"Kyle?" You were still a little hazy, confusion written across your face.

"Hey." He paused and his eyes flashed down for a moment. "You were being a little loud there."

"S-sorry I'll uh try to be quieter." True to your word, your voice practically vanished at the end of your sentence.

There was a playful look on his face and he leaned a little closer. Then his lips made contact with yours. The kiss wasn't gentle by any means. It was rough and wet, sloppy and full of desire, Gaz taking the lead. You moaned into his touch and clenched your fist to prevent yourself from latching onto him like a bear trap.

"I thought you wanted to play on the Switch." The words mumble from your lips the second he pulls back and you hear him laugh slightly and his free hand ran through his hair.

"Fuck, with you over here moaning my name like that?" Your brows raised, you hadn't even realised you had been doing so. "I'm only human, babe."

"Kyle you don't have to-" He shuts you up with the taste of his lips and you feel his hand wrap around yours -specifically the hand with your vibrator in it.

"Don't need this anymore huh? Ready for the real thing?" His brow wiggled and you bit your lip. At his assurance, you couldn't help but feel the joy bloom in your chest. That earlier pain of rejection washed away.

A playful smile broke out on your face as Gaz continued to hover just millimetres above your head. "I dunno Gaz, I think I might continue with this." Your grip on the toy tightened and you smirked at him.

"Cheek."

"Yeah? And what are you gonna do about it?" Gaz pulled back slightly and cocked a brow at your challenge. His strong arms wrapped around your waist and suddenly picked you up. Your hand dropped the toy in preference to stable yourself in his grasp. Gaz pulled back with you and got off the couch where your legs wrapped around his hips.

"Thought you were happy with your toy, seems like you just threw it to the side now eh?"

"Cause you picked me up you-" Your voice was cut off when Gaz's lips found your throat and messily kissed it, wetly kissing it as your head rolled back to give him better access.

"You said something?" He managed to muffle into your throat. A moan extracted from your lips was the only response he received and you could feel the way he smiled into your skin.

"You’re a bastard." The words left your mouth before he grabbed you and threw you onto the bed. You bounced a little and couldn't help the little laugh that escaped your mouth. Kyle had a rather predominant smile on his face before he kneeled down at the end of the bed.

Propped up on the bed with your elbows, you stare down at the man. He grabbed your ankles and grinned. A yank of your ankles had you surge forward where his hands kept your legs apart. Kyle's slender long fingers were stretched out over the inside of your thighs. Yet he didn't do much, he only rest his head on your right thigh where he took in the sight of you.

"You're gorgeous, you know that?" The devious smile on his face had softened and became one almost innocent. "Please don't take what I said earlier the wrong way." He clicked his tongue and glanced away for a second. "You're always super hot. I was just tired, you know? Felt like we never got a real break."

"Kyle…"

He pressed a small kiss on the inside of your thigh. "It's like a tiredness in my bones. I mean I got a second wind when I heard yah going at it-" He gave you a wink with his smirk. "-But it's still lingering there. Think it's gonna be good to have some time off."

"We don't have to if you're too tired darling. It's okay Kyle."

"Oh no, you're not getting out of this that easily." Gaz gave you little time to process his words before he turned his head slightly and bit down on the inside of your thigh. It wasn't very hard of a bite but the light pain on your soft tender flesh had you yelp regardless.

"You bitch!" You squeezed out and tore your legs from his grasp. Gaz's warm laughter filled the air as he climbed onto the bed after you.

"Oi get back here." He crawled up over the top of you and as his eyes made contact with yours, your movements slowed down until the pair of you were completely still. The smile on your face flattened and your lips parted slightly.

Gaz leaned in close to you, his skin brushed against your own. "Got you." At his whisper, his lips crashed against yours. Like a bear trap, you sprung and wrapped your arms around his neck. His hand found your waist and wrapped his arm around it while he ground down against you.

Kyle hummed against your lips, his moans muffled against you and he rolled the pair of you until he was on his back. He manoeuvred your body until he had your thighs split apart over his legs. Seated on his lap, the pair of you parted for a second so he could remove his shirt.

It was flung to the edge of the room and you pressed your hands against his chest. You leaned down and pressed your lips against his. Nose brushed against yours and your forehead rolled forward to rest against his. Kyle's lips were always so impossibly soft, somehow he could kiss so rough and messy but always feel so gentle.

An intoxicating taste that was so unique to him, his lips on yours was something that you could never get tired of. Every touch always felt like seconds no matter how long of a moment you shared.

You rolled your hips down on him and he tore his face away from you. Gaz elected a hiss as his head tilted up and his eyes squeezed shut harder. "Fuck you sure know how to rile me up huh?" His voice was breathy and you felt his hand on you tighten.

His free hand tapped twice on the outside side of your thigh and you knew exactly what he was asking. You pushed up in your shins and disconnected your upper body from his. Kyle's eyes shamelessly explored your chest while he snapped out his belt from his pants and undid his pants. A groan of relief left his lips when he finally allowed his rock-hard cock freedom from its imprisonment.

A smug smile that suited his face well graced your sight while he tapped the end of his dick against your cunt. "I would ask if you're ready for me but look at you, your dripping."

With a roll of your eyes, you couldn't help the smile that curled your lips at his teasing tone. You steadied yourself with your hands still on his chest and he aligned himself at your entrance. Gaz opened his mouth to speak but before he could say anything, you lowered your body and slid down around his cock.

"Fuck." He drew the word out and his hand flew to the side of your hip where he gripped tightly. "God, it's been too long."

"Uh-huh." You tried to make your voice light and humorous like his teasing but the strain in your voice just had it come out as a needy moan.

You went to move rather quickly but his hand gripped you tight. "Need a second?" You blinked down and he let out a breath.

"Feel like I'm a teen again getting my first hard-on, damn."

“Oh yeah? What was teen Kyle like huh?”

“Surprisingly naive.” He gave you a weak smile. “I don’t think I really started understanding how the world worked until I was, what like twenty-four?” His eyes trailed off. The back of your fingers brushed against his face and his attention was drawn from whatever troubled matter his mind set to.

“I bet teen you was a cute one.” With that sentence alone he let out a laugh and his hand let go of your waist. “Oh sure I was but something tells me that you prefer the way that I am today. You opened your mouth to speak but he made a small thrust up into you to emphasise his statement. It had you let out a groan and you took matters into your own hands. Settled in place you started to roll your hips on his cock, pleasure shared between the pair of you.

Gaz always somehow managed to fit you so well. He took up every inch inside of you. A deep sensation that you swore you could feel in your chest. That cock, too thick and long managed to push against that perfect sweet spot inside of you because how could it not? No space untouched, he filled you to your very core. With every bounce, the tip caressed your cervix. Not in any way painful but a deep pleasure that had you whimpering out his name.

The pace wasn't fast but wasn't incredibly slow either. Every touch was as intense as the last and had you practically trembling on his cock. "Made for me weren't you? That's it, baby." With both of his hands on the outside side of your thighs where he rubbed your skin up and down, coaxing you to continue riding him.

"Not gonna lie though, not sure how long I can last tonight." He admitted.

"Too much?"

"Been too long." He groaned and swallowed. "You’re insane if you think that we are only going one round though."

"Oh?"

"You wanted my dick, baby, now your gonna get it. Fuck." His hands gripped on purchase and he started to thrust himself up into you. Taking charge, you stilled your actions and allowed him to fuck up into you. He didn't push it in as deeply as you had under your control, that extra inch and a half being too much for you to take at such a hard and punishing pace.

He throbbed inside of you, pulsated inside of you. "God I really should slow down but, fuck, you feel so good." A determined look crossed his face but mixed with desperation. So close but so unsure if he should go over that edge.

"Cum for me Kyle." That purr of your voice had him groan out and lift you from his cock. Seconds later his wet dick smacked against your cunt and his seed burst.

It roped out over your stomach and chest. It wasn't just a little either. He painted your body white as his voice deepened in moans. Gaz never was the quiet type. Slowly, you wrapped your hand around his cock and gently pumped it, encouraging it to continue. Kyle cursed out your name and thrust into your hand a little, a mix of his cum and your slick coating the inside of your hand.

His dick stopped jerking and his body relaxed onto your shared bed. "Damn." He breathed out a laugh and ran his hand through his hair. "That's a lot huh?"

"You think?" You smiled back at him and brushed your thumb over the top of his member. He let out a shiver that ran across his entire body.

"Ah- too much give me a minute." His hand flinched towards your wrist and you let go of him. Kyle's eyes flickered down your painted body, fondness adorned his eyes and he couldn't help but grin at you. He was almost proud of himself in a way. He enjoyed the sight of you, that much was obvious but he enjoyed the sight of you so deliciously covered in his seed.

One of his hands reached up, his pointer finger extended out. With the flick of that finger, he smeared his cum over your nipple. A devilish look formed on your face and you grabbed the hand. You brought it up to your mouth where you sucked his finger clean.

Gaz's jaw parted and he let out a groan while his cock twitched with interest. "You're gonna be the death of me."

#gaz x reader #cod x reader #mw2 x reader #call of duty #modern warfare 2 #kyle garrick #alas the new text editor is forced on me so copying/pasting is a pain #means I have to use the html version from ao3 instead of just the raw text so formating is sllliiiggghhhhtly scuffed

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