#same for my hulk blog

[kwanisms]

Kinktober 「10:13」 — w.junhui

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➮ shapeshifter!Junhui × fem!Reader wc: 3k summary: Jun is a witch and has been practicing his shapeshifting. He’s excited to show Y/N his new trick which has an unintended reaction. genres/themes/au: angst/fluff/smut; supernatural, horror, thriller; non idol au, monster idol au warnings: adult dialogue, female reader, supernatural and horror themes, mentions of: witchcraft & magic; sexual content (18+ mdni), see smut warnings under the cut! taglist has been moved to reblogs join my taglists! kinktober taglist is CLOSED! Strikethrough means I cannot tag you.  MINORS WILL BE BLACKLISTED & BLOCKED. AGELESS BLOGS WILL ALSO BE BLOCKED.

a/n: a special thank you to June and Jupiter for your help with the mechanics of this! I love you both muah muah. This came pretty easily and i’m not opposed to revisiting this couple in the future. We shall see. Thank you for reading! The next part is vampire!Wonwoo which will conclude week two of kinktober! as always, this is a work of fiction and all characters are not reflective of their respective irl counterparts. for entertainment purposes only. 

smut warnings: teratophilia (aka monsterfucking), mutual masturbation, voyeurism (f receiving, m receiving), use of pet names (bao bei, babe, etc.), unprotected sex (but reader is on birth control), soft dom!Jun, switch!Reader, non-human genitalia (Jun can shapeshift all parts of him, including his dick lol), cum inside, dirty talk, it’s pretty simple but if I missed something let me know! kinks: Mutual masturbation + voyeurism dialogue prompt: ❛❛ Lay back and touch yourself, I’m going to watch. ❜❜

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When Jun first started learning witchcraft and practicing, he was most excited about shifting. Being able to turn into anyone or anything was the most fascinating and exciting part of magic for him. He’d worked his way up from changing his hair color and facial features until he was able to start shifting into entirely different creatures. The first time he swapped his ears for dog ears he was beyond excited.

Of course, he had rushed at the opportunity to show you, his best friend.

Ever since then, he always came to you to show you his newest tricks, no matter how big or small. In the beginning, you showed as much enthusiasm as he did but over time, most of his tricks were the same and while you were happy he was excited, you didn’t exhibit the same enthusiasm anymore. Something Jun noticed as he stood in front of your bed.

He had just shifted into a blob-like creature, translucent green in color. It was impressive as he’d never managed to get the translucence consistency correct. “Oh neat,” you said as he shifted back, getting up off the floor. “You’ve never gotten the translucence down before. It looks believable!” you added encouragingly.

“And check this one out!” he said, giving you a smirk. You watched with mild amusement as he transformed into a hulking form covered in gray fur, a mass of muscles under his skin. He panted heavily, drool hanging from sharp teeth as yellow eyes stared at you. The pointed ears on top of his head flicked in the direction of different sounds.

“A werewolf?” you asked, holding back a smirk. “You’ve shown me this one before,” you told him, picking up your phone and scrolling through your feed. His brows seemed to furrow in disappointment, the ears laying back against his head. “But look!” he pouted, his voice the exact same.

You raised your eyes as he turned, showing you a large bushy tail that curled up towards his back. “I couldn’t get the tail down before!” he explained. You chuckled, returning to your phone. “Very cute,” you said as you resumed scrolling. Jun let out a low huff and growl before shifting back to his human form.

“Fine, what about this?” he asked, making you look up as he transformed again, his body elongating as scales erupted all over his skin. The lower half of his body transformed into a snake-like body, his torso staying mostly the same except for the scales on his sides and shoulders. His eyes were very viper-like, bright orange with vertical slits. He opened his mouth, a soft hiss escaping as a forked tongue peeked out.

“You’ve shown me that one, too,” you replied. “You usually go for the venomous snakes,” you added. “I’ve never seen you do a constrictor.” Jun’s shoulders slumped as you returned your focus once again to the device in your hand. He changed back, adjusting his shirt and pulled his jacket off, tossing it on the end of the bed.

“Alright,” he said softly. “What about this?”

You looked up, unamused at his antics as he changed again, into a towering figure with a vaguely humanoid shape. He wore a black suit, skin white and massive tentacles writhing from his back. “Slenderman?” you asked, sounding unimpressed yet again.

“Come on, man,” you whined. “I’ve seen all of these before!”

One of the tentacles shot out, wrapping around your ankle but you barely flinched. “Get your slimy tentacle off me before I cut it off and feed it to my cat,” you said without looking up. The tentacle retracted slowly, wiggling off the bed as they all returned to his body and he changed back into his human form. “Seriously?” he asked, running his fingers through his hair frustratedly.

“I’ve seen all these before!” you countered. “You haven’t shown me something new in a long time.”

Jun stared at you, wracking his brain as you scrolled through your phone. An idea popped into his head. He shifted again, a pair of brown cat ears poking up from his hair as a brown tail sprouted from his back, sneaking down the back of his shorts.

“What about this?” he asked, making you look up.

Your eyes met his and a smile spread across your face. “Oh, how cute,” you said as he crawled onto the bed. “A tail too?” you asked as he sat back on his heels, showing off the tail. “Yeah!” he said. “It’s not entirely impressive,” he said. “But normally I do entire body transformations to wow you,” he said. “It’s not every day I do these small ones.”

You chuckled as you leaned forward, reaching up to scratch one of the ears. Jun leaned into your touch, a purr rumbling from his throat. “Cute,” you said again as you reached out to allow the tail to slide through your palm. “What if I change into a werecat!” he said suddenly and moved to get up but you were tired of him constantly changing and just wanted to hang out with your best friend.

You hadn’t meant to pull his tail but your hand closed around it and you tugged lightly. Jun let out a moan and you stared at him, eyes wide as his own wide eyes met yours. Silence fell over you as you stared at one another trying to figure out what just happened.

“What was that?” you asked softly. Jun’s cheeks flushed as he tried to snatch the tail away but you pulled again, another moan slipping past his lips. “Oh,” you said, your mouth forming a perfect circle. A smirk took over as you tugged again, the moan even louder. “S-stop!” he stammered, grabbing the tail from you and glaring as he changed back, the cat ears turning back into his human ones and the tail shrinking until it disappeared.

Your eyes followed the tail as it retracted into his loose shorts and it was then you could see the outline of his semi-hard cock. Your eyes continued up, meeting his gaze. “Enjoyed that a little too much, did you?” you asked. Jun glanced down at his crotch and quickly grabbed one of your plushies, using it to cover his lap. You let out an indignant noise, snatching the plushie from him.

“NOT MR. SNUFFLES!” you shouted, taking the elephant from him and glaring at him. “You pervert!” Jun glared at you. “You’re the one who looked!” he retorted, trying to cover himself with his hands. “Not my fault,” you said as you leaned back against your pillows. “Your shorts don’t exactly keep things contained. Are you even wearing underwear?”

Jun glared at you. “Now who’s the pervert?!” he asked, cheeks turning even redder. You shrugged as you lifted Mr. Snuffles to look at him before tossing him off the bed with the pile of your other plushies. “I’m not wearing any underwear,” you added as if you were discussing the weather.

Jun felt his cock twitch in his shorts. He was wearing underwear but now he couldn’t stop thinking about the fact that you were not. “Wh-why did you tell me that?” he asked, turning his head to look at the pile of stuffed animals that lay on the floor in the corner of your room, their lifeless black glass eyes staring back at him.

“Can you change your dick?” you asked suddenly, making him choke on his own spit. He turned to look at you, finding your curious eyes staring back at him. “Wh-what?!” he asked incredulously. You rolled your eyes before asking again.

“When you transform into, like, a werewolf or even that cat hybrid, does your dick change too?” Jun stared back at you in awe of not only your confidence but your audacity. “N-no,” he answered, shaking his head. You clicked your tongue in disappointment, picking up your phone.

“I mean,” he started, gulping. “I’ve never purposefully done it.” You glanced up at him. “I-I could try.” A smile spread across your face. “Would you show me if you did?” you asked. Jun couldn’t believe his ears. You, his best friend, was asking him to show him shapeshifting his cock.

He glanced down at his crotch briefly before looking back up, eyes scanning over your shorts.

“I’ll show you mine if you show me yours,” he said suddenly, catching you off guard. “I can’t shapeshift,” you said in return. Jun merely shrugged. “Doesn’t mean I don’t wanna see. If I’m gonna show you my dick, you gotta give me something in return.”

You stared at him, considering your options. When you took too long to answer, he was afraid he’d crossed a line but then you locked your phone, setting it aside as you got up onto your knees. “Okay,” you answered, pushing down your shorts and sitting back to kick them off, keeping your legs closed and your pussy hidden from view.

“Show me,” Jun ordered and you let out a giggle, shaking your head. “You first.” Jun narrowed his eyes before he got up, pushing his shorts and underwear down in one motion, his cock springing free as he let the material fall to the floor. He stepped out of it as your eyes followed his cock.

It wasn’t what you were expecting. It was a good five or six inches in length, maybe about five in girth. The shaft was a lighter tone of his skin, like his skin was in the winter when he didn’t go outside, the head was a darker peach, a small bead of precum already forming at the slit.

He sat back down. “Alright,” he said, drawing your attention from his cock. “Your turn.”

A smile crossed your face as you parted your knees, giving him a direct view of your cunt. Jun let out a strained noise that sounded like a cross between a groan and a gasp. His eyes continued to look, drinking in every detail. “Spread,” he said simply. You hesitated, tilting your head to the side before you obliged, spreading your feet on your bed, knees bent as you slid a hand down and spread your folds, giving him a view of your very wet pussy.

His lips parted slightly as he stared, taking in even more detail. His thoughts were interrupted as you let out a giggle, teeth digging into your bottom lip as you watched him. “Like what you see?” you asked in a low breathy voice. Jun swallowed the lump in his throat but said nothing. He wanted so desperately to touch you, curl his fingers into the plush of your thighs as he tasted you, as he sank his cock into you and fucked you against your pillows.

“So can you make your dick change?” you asked, drawing him from his thoughts. He looked up to meet your gaze. “What would you like to see?” You pondered his question for a moment before giving him a devilish smile. “What would it look like if you transformed into a werewolf?”

Jun licked his lips before focusing his attention transforming only his cock. You watched as the color and shape changed before your eyes. The head became more pointed as the entire thing turned reddish, two knots forming a bulbous base. “A knot, huh?” you asked, giving him a smirk, one of your brows raising.

“I mean,” he started, glancing down at it. “Wolves are canines,” he continued. “And dogs have very distinct genitals.” He glanced back up, noticing that your fingers were playing with your clit slowly. “Are.. are you touching yourself?” he asked, eyes widening. “Why?” you asked. “Do you want me to stop?” you asked, fingers stilling.

“N-no,” he said softly. “Keep going.”

You resumed moving, your fingers dipping down to your slit only to drag back up, spreading your folds so he could see your wet hole. “What else can you change it into?” you asked, nodding towards his cock. He glanced down and back up. “What else do you want to see?”

“Hmm,” you hummed as your legs spread more, giving him a better view of you playing with your pussy. “Surprise me.” Jun glanced down, watching as the pointed head changed, flaring out as the shaft grew, a thick ring forming in the middle. Your eyes widened. “Horse?” you asked. Jun looked up at you, letting out a low groan as your fingers sank into your heat. “That’s not fair,” he whined.

You let out a giggle, nodding towards his cock. “No one said you couldn’t touch yourself,” you reminded him. He glanced down at the transformed cock. “I’d rather have something else wrapped around it,” he murmured. You let out a giggle. “Touch yourself first and I’ll let you fuck me,” you retorted. Jun met your gaze. “Are you serious?” he asked, excitement bubbling in his chest. “Yes,” you answered. “But you have to touch yourself first. Until I say so.”

“Fine,” he answered, quickly grabbing the back of his shirt and removing it. “But you have to take the rest of your clothes off.” You did as he said, withdrawing your fingers long enough to pull your top off and toss it aside, revealing your bare chest to him.

Jun leaned back, resting his hand on the bed behind him as he wrapped his fingers around the base of his shaft. “Now,” he said as you stared back at him. “Lay back and touch yourself. I’m going to watch.” You leaned back against the pillows, spreading your legs so he had an unobstructed view of your cunt, fingers spreading your folds for him.

“Fuck,” he groaned, hand working up and down the thick shaft of his transformed cock. “What I wouldn’t give for a taste,” he said as he watched you play with yourself. “Sink your fingers in that pretty cunt again. I want you to touch yourself with both hands. Play with your tits, yeah?” he ordered, hand moving up and down slowly.

Your free hand found purchase on your breast, squeezing and kneading as you sank your fingers into your heat, letting out a satisfied groan as you started to slowly pump them in and out of you. You kept your eyes on Jun’s face but every so often, you’d glance down at the horse cock. You wanted him to fill you with it, wondering if it changed the amount of cum he produced.

As you stared at it, Jun let out a chuckle. Before your eyes, his cock changed again. This time it changed to a bright blue, the head of his cock elongating to a point while ridges appeared along the shaft, a thick vein appearing on the underside. You wanted so badly to have him shove all of it inside you. “What’s that?” you asked breathlessly. He shrugged. “No idea,” he answered.

“I made it up.”

You let out a moan, walls clenching around your fingers as you threw your head back against the pillows.

“You want it inside you?” he asked, a surge of confidence as his hand moved faster along his cock. “Yes,” you gasped. “God yes, Jun!” Your hand moved faster as you pinched your pert nipple, rolling the bud between your fingers, digging the heel of your hand into your clit as your hips started to buck.

“Yeah, babe?” Jun asked breathlessly, his own hips starting to buck as his cock changed again into a more human-like one. “Want me to fill that tight little hole? Fuck you like you deserve?” You let out another moan, back arching. “Yes! Please! I want you inside me so bad, Junnie,” you whimpered. Jun let out a groan as he felt his cock twitch in his hand. He was losing control of his transformations as his climax neared. “Would you let me cum inside you?” he asked suddenly.

You nodded eagerly. “Yes,” you gasped. “I’m on birth control!” Jun let out a groan. “Fuck, M’gonna cum,” he groaned as your own orgasm came even closer. “I’m close, Junnie,” you whined. “I need m-more. N-need your cock!”

Jun stifled a moan, hips bucking up as he fucked his hand. He wanted to be inside you so bad but he couldn’t bring himself to move. “C-can you move?” he asked in a breathy voice. “Wh-what?” you asked. “Come here,” he said quickly. “Come sit on it or I’ll make a mess all over your nice clean bed.”

You scrambled up, quickly crawling over to him and straddling his hips as he held his cock still. You slowly sank down on him, both of you moaning in unison as his cock stretched your walls. “F-fuck,” he said with a tremble in his voice. You started moving quickly, bouncing on his cock as his hands grabbed your waist. “Change,” you said simply.

“What?” he asked, looking up at you as rode him, breast bouncing in his face. “Turn into that cat boy, quick,” you moaned, hands finding purchase on his shoulders. Jun obliged, the ears and tail returning. “Come on, bao bei,” he groaned, urging you on, his thumb moving to your clit. “Cum for me.”

You let out a cry of pleasure as your orgasm washed over you, your body shaking as you sank on Jun’s cock, taking all of it in you. As your walls spasmed around him, he bucked up, releasing inside you with a moan as his head fell forward onto your chest, his arms wrapping around your waist as he pumped you full of his cum.

You let out one final moan as you wrapped your arms around his neck, combing your fingers through his hair, the cat ears twitching and flicking as his cum spilled out of your hole around his cock and dripped down onto the inside of his thighs and the sheets under him.

You tried to regain your breath as you stroked his hair, gently rubbing the base of his cat ears. A gentle purr sounded from his throat, making you giggle. He nuzzled further into your bare chest, you felt his purring vibrate against you soothingly.

“M’tired,” he murmured and you scoffed. “You barely did anything!” you admonished as he giggled against your skin. “Well,” he continued, pulling back to look up at you, blinking softly. “Give me like five minutes and I’ll show you what I can do.” You took his face in your hands and leaned down to press your lips against his. 

“Use that horse cock from earlier and you got yourself a deal, catboy.”

©️ kwanisms 2024 | all works on this blog are protected under copyright. Do not repost, continue, or translate my works. All graphics made by me.

[redflagshipwriter]

Red Hot Ghouls chapter 13 part 2/2

masterpost

Given that Dr. and Dr. Fenton had taken him on a drive around town that legitimately climaxed with an on-foot chase of a hulking ghost who did not care to comment for their family blog, Jason thought that was actually kinda probable. If the Drs. had that technology, their kids would probably have access as well.

“Why not?” Tim said, sounding a bit defensive. “We know for a fact that there’s a few undead out there, zombie boy. And there’s a ghost affiliated with the JL.”

All solid points.

‘But there’s no way the good Doctors would be able to convince a ghost to do anything they wanted. Would the daughter have any better luck?’

Jason covered a laugh in his fist.

His ghostly experience so far consisted of:

Danny Phantom, who was very annoyed that Waters was trying to pay him tribute and not happy to see Jason, either.

The mysterious collaborator who hadn’t even wanted Jason to enter his tower.

Skalker, who spent the length of their acquaintance screaming and flying away at what appeared to be his top speed while Jack Fenton whooped and Dr. Fenton shouted questions from a megaphone.

“I get the vibe that they don’t really care to interact with the living,” Jason said, before Tim could get his knickers in a twist. “So my skepticism is in regards to the likelihood of a ghost agreeing to collaborate.”

“What, you think they’re all the same?” Tim said. His tone made it seem like he thought that was such an embarrassingly unintellectual idea that Jason should sink through the floor.

“I think there’s pretty good reasons there might be a trend.”

Tim made an unconvinced sound and changed the subject. “Since they have a similar area of interest, I want to look for a connection between the Fentons and Waters. They could be- Why did you laugh?”

A neon sign lit up across the street, sending a wash of purple light through the air. Jason shook his head. “The Fentons- the Dr.s Fenton, at least, strongly dislike Jeremy Waters.”

“Why did that come up?”

“No reason,” Jason lied airily. “Anyway, that’s not it. Could be some kind of rivalry. But I doubt they’d want to visit Waters in Arkham to give him their sympathies.”

Tim chewed that over for a moment. “Could be a rivalry. I gotta go, O’s hitting my line.”

“Stay safe out there.” Jason cut the conversation and settled in to think. He stuck his hands in his pockets and wished for something to fiddle with that wasn’t a weapon. It had poser vibes to stand around on a rooftop alone playing with a knife or a gun. If Oracle caught you on video, she would tint it blue, set it to some humiliatingly emo soundtrack, and send it around the hero community.

Not, uh. Not that that had happened to him.

He called in. “Hey, O, good evening.”

“Good to hear from you, Hood.” She sounded as serene as ever.

Jason fidgeted a little. “Anything I could help with?” He toed the front of his boot back and forth on the cement ledge for a moment, killing time by idly calculating how many seconds he’d have to engage a grapple if he fell from this height.

“Good news for Gotham, it’s a quiet night.”

He sighed.

“I know, I know,” O said sympathetically. “You got all dressed up in your dancing shoes-”

“And there’s no one to go out with,” Jason agreed. At the back of his mind he vaguely remembered that that…might not be true, actually. He made a dramatic sigh. “I might call it a night, then. No point staring at the city like some bat-eared creep. I don’t have any monologues to work on right now.”

“Oh, you got those all done? Good for you, little buddy.”

Jason resisted the urge to flip her off. She wasn’t even here.

“Stay safe,” he said, because the idea of ending a call without saying that always filled him with a terrible premonition that this would be the time the other person ended up shot in the head and gone forever. He blew out a long, slow breath when he was finally truly alone and reconsidered the thought he’d had earlier.

‘I haven’t messaged Phantom all this time. It might be a good night for it. It’s been most of a week. He won’t be annoyed that I’m checking in now.’

Yeah… Yeah, okay. Jason grappled down and made his way to where he’d stashed his bike. He got into his current residence and stripped out of his gear. He got out his phone and shot Phantom a text before he went into the shower. Not much, he didn’t wanna come across as desperate. Just a nice, casual, “Hey, what’s up? Just checking in. Any luck so far? I finished my books!”

[the-most-humble-blog]

The Predator’s Size Reveal: My WTF Moment as a Kid

When My Kid Brain Realized the Yautja Is a Walking, Hulking “Holy S--t!”

Alright, let me set the stage for you. I was just a kid when I first watched Predator, sitting way too close to the TV, probably eating something I wasn’t supposed to. The movie had me hooked from the jump: explosions, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jesse Ventura chewing scenery (and probably tobacco), and this mysterious alien stalking them like it had beef with their entire gene pool.

But then the climax hit. And I saw it. The Predator. The full Predator. And let me tell you, my brain short-circuited.

My Reaction: “WAIT. HOLD UP. THIS THING IS HOW BIG?!”

1. They Didn’t Warn Me About This

For most of the movie, the Predator was just... there.

It was cloaked, hiding in trees, making creepy-ass clicking noises. You didn’t think about its size because it didn’t need size. It was scary enough as a shadow.

Every time it killed someone, it was quick and surgical. Boom—someone’s gone. No need for brute force.

And then, just when I thought I had the Predator figured out, it dropped its weapons, took off its mask, and stood up. And all I could say was, “WTF.”

2. The WTF Realization

You know that feeling when something goes from scary to “oh, we’re all doomed”? That was me.

The Cloaking Lies: This thing had been sneaking around the jungle like a ghost, and suddenly it’s towering over Arnold like a damn tree.

Arnold Looks Tiny: Let’s be real—when you make Arnold Schwarzenegger look small, you’re not just big. You’re stupid big.

The Mask Drop: I was already freaked out by the size, but then the Predator’s face entered the chat, and I was done. Those mandibles? That growl? NOPE.

WTF?: “How the hell did this thing fit in the trees? Was it doing yoga up there?”

3. Why It Was So Effective

Even now, as a grown adult with bills and existential crises, that size reveal still sticks with me. Why? Because the movie played me like a fiddle.

It Hid the Truth: For 90% of the movie, the Predator is more of an idea than a physical thing. It’s all about fear, stealth, and mystery.

The Payoff Was Huge (Literally): By holding back its size until the end, the movie made the reveal hit like a brick to the face.

4. My Inner Monologue: A Play-by-Play

Watching that final battle felt like running through the stages of grief—but with extra WTF energy.

Denial: “Nah, it’s not that big. The angle’s just weird.”

Anger: “WHY DIDN’T THEY WARN US ABOUT THIS?!”

Bargaining: “Maybe Arnold can still win, right? Right?!”

Acceptance: “Okay, we’re all screwed.”

Kid Thought: This thing could bench-press Arnold and the entire squad without breaking a sweat. And here I was, barely able to carry my school backpack.

5. The Real WTF Moment

Here’s the part that really messed me up:

The Predator wasn’t just a brute. It was smart. Like, scary smart.

It dropped its weapons and went hand-to-hand with Arnold, as if to say, “I don’t just kill—I dominate.”

Kid Logic: “Wait, so it’s huge and it knows kung fu? Who signed me up for this nightmare?!”

6. Why This Moment Stuck With Me

Years later, I’ve watched a lot of monster movies, but Predator still holds up. And it’s not just because of the size reveal—it’s because of the way it’s delivered.

The Build-Up: You spend the whole movie fearing what you can’t see.

The Payoff: When you finally see it, it’s bigger, badder, and more terrifying than you imagined.

I Wasn’t Ready

Let me be clear: when I watched Predator for the first time, I wasn’t ready. The Yautja’s size, its intelligence, and that final showdown completely blindsided me. And even now, every time I rewatch it, I feel like that same kid, sitting too close to the TV, whispering, “WTF.”

So, if you’ve ever felt the same way—like the Predator just punked you with its sheer size and power—you’re not alone. It’s not just a movie moment. It’s a WTF moment.

Still reeling from the Predator’s WTF size reveal? Follow The Most Humble Blog for more unapologetic movie takes and hilariously sharp nostalgia dives.

[madaman0]

Can we see a half shifted or fully shifted monster Tom design from you?

sure.

His half Monster form's pretty standard. I always liked the typical fanon look, so that's basically the same. You can see a few older sketches of him throughout my blog.

His full Monster form's different. I'm not a big fan of Monster Tom's canon design, but I try to keep myself at least a bit within its scope. This big hulking body, these big arms. He reminds me a lot of a bear. Here I leaned more into a dinosaur look, but that's just because I really like dinosaurs. He alternates between walking on his hind legs and all fours.

[seedsofagony]

Secret (KnY ♡ Hotaru)

Cherrytober Day 29: Dirty Little Secret // Love Bites

Series: Kimetsu no Yaiba

Characters: Haganezuka Hotaru

Word Count: 1,404

Summary: Swordsmith Village au, noncanonical character death, x reader (f/gn), light horror themes, ghosts, angst, grief, monsterfucking/spectrophilia, unprotected sex, no pregnancy 

Notes: A couple of things. First, I feel like "monsterfucking" and "spectrophilia" are pretty strong terms for what goes on in this one shot, but I also feel like I need to include them for anyone who may be upset by that sort of thing. Second, since everything is green and growing when the Swordsmith Village arc takes place, I took the liberty of assuming that six months later would be winter ⋅˚₊‧ ୨୧ ‧₊˚ ⋅

Disclaimer: Underage, ageless, and blank blogs will be blocked. For everyone 18+, FUB free or filter my unique tag for this event: #sweets🍒24

Hotaru died six months ago.

But you know he never left.

It's a secret you keep to yourself because who would believe if you told them? The sad ravings of someone who'd lost their love.

In the dark, abandoned streets of the old village, nature has already started to take over. Dry leaves whisper in the alleyways and weeds, now withered, hunch in the dirt like beggars. Glowing eyes peer at you from the shadows, nighttime creatures that replaced the people not long after they'd left.

You raise the collar of your hanten against the cold, surrounded by the billowing white clouds of your breath. Even in the dark, you know exactly where you're going. You've walked these streets so many times, and you could find the workshop with your eyes closed. You're not even afraid anymore—not since the first time you came back. Back then, you were just desperate to find anything that reminded you of him, anything he'd touched. But now, you know what to expect.

The workshop emerges from the gloom, a hulking shape beneath the twisting bare branches of the trees. It's exactly the kind of scene you've been warned about since you were a child—there are things that lurk in lonely places—but it's only the cold and the night, only four walls and a chimney.

You lean on the doorframe and blow into your hands. The moon hangs high overhead, full but for a sliver. It won't be long now. An owl calls somewhere in the leafless woods. A twig snaps beneath a misplaced paw. Leaning your head against the wall, you can still detect the faint, charred smell of the forge.

Then you see it—mist rising on the road, the path where you'd only just tred. It wavers and begins to coalesce, slowly taking the form of a man. Hotaru. He walks toward you with purpose, a pale shape closing in with long strides. You watch as he breezes past you into the workshop, as indifferent as the winter wind. Pushing yourself off the wall, you follow him inside.

The workshop is mostly how he left it—or how it was left on that night half a year ago. The hardpacked dirt floor is littered with splintered furniture, the forge broken and cold. There's no trace of his broken mask. You picked up those pieces the morning after, holding them forever dear.

Kneeling in the center of the room, you close your eyes, listening to Hotaru bustle, unseen, around you. You can hear the roaring of the fire, the splash and hiss of hot metal quenched in water, the scrape scrape of a blade being honed. You can't help but smile when the angry muttering begins—to anyone else, it would be absolutely terrifying, but to you, it's just him. Just Hotaru. The same in death as he was in life.

An icy chill brushes over your cheek. You open your eyes, Hotaru's face, unmasked, inches from yours. He's never appeared like this before—startled but unafraid, your heart still beats a little faster.

"I miss you," you say, your voice loud in the empty room.

You don't expect an answer. In all this time, he's never once answered you, no matter how much you called to him, cried, cursed him. And yet, there's something in that ghostly visage that seems to solidify. His eyes become a little clearer, a dreamer awakening. But it's only for a moment, not lasting.

Pressing your hand to your heart, you try again. "Hotaru…?" You reach for his arm, but your fingers brush through him as if through smoke.

Anger wells in your chest. "It's not fair," you mutter through gritted teeth. "It's not fair!" Hot tears spill down your face. "Why can I see you, but you can't see me? I love you…"

That icy chill strokes your cheek again. Eyes blurred with tears, you scrub your face with the cuffs of your sleeves. When are you going to stop trying? When are you going to stop stealing away to this godforsaken place? When are you going to stop talking to shadows?

"... cry…"

You inhale sharply, jerk back.

"... –'t cry…"

Hotaru cups your cheek in his cool hand, "...don't…"

"Hotaru?"

You stare as his body comes in and out of focus—the suggestion of a man, the man brought to life. Finally, he solidifies, not as he was on that night, bloody and broken, but from some other, happier time.

"Why?" your voice catches in your throat. "Why now?"

He furrows his brow, pursing his lips in a pained smile. He holds out his arms to you, beckoning, welcoming. Your Hotaru.

Your hands slowly ball into fists, nails digging into your palms. "Why here?" you ask, hoarse. "Why here and never to me?"

You don't wait for an answer—you're done waiting. You pound your fists on his chest, but Hotaru only cups your elbows, accepting the abuse. You know—in your heart, you know—he can't tell you. It doesn't matter. You sob and let your fists come to rest against him, clutching his collar.

Hotaru folds you into an embrace. There is no rumble in your ear, no breath, when he speaks. "...n't… much time…"

You pause. You never considered that, now that he was here, he would leave again. That this might truly be the last time. Gripping his collar, you yank him toward you, crashing into his lips.

Compelled by the same force, Hotaru kisses you, hungry, desperate. Your hands tangle in each other's hair, his fingertips icy against your scalp. You fall back onto the floor, Hotaru following after, chasing your lips.

His body has real weight as he crouches over you, and you can feel the curve of an erection pressed between your legs. Pulling him closer, you deepen the kiss and grind your hips against him. It's been so long, and maybe it will never be again. It doesn't even occur to you that what you're doing should be impossible or that it might be wrong. All you want is your lover again.

Hotaru groans. He fumbles with the hem of your clothes as you tear at his—the most mundane of hindrances amidst the most supernatural of moments. Then, with nothing left between you, he kneels at the altar between your legs and enters. You wrap your arms around his neck, kissing his jaw, his chin, his lips—whatever you can catch—as he thrusts, urgent, into you.

There were other times like this. In the spring, beneath a cherry in full bloom. In the summer, when the cicadas were loud, but your cries were louder. In the warmth of the onsen when the autumn air was first becoming crisp. You fell down together and made love—slow in the morning's first light, hurried at the end of a long day.

Now, as it sometimes did then, it doesn't take long. It never does when you're starving. You writhe as your body spasms around him, as he throbs inside you. You clutch each other, buffeted, till the last waves of pleasure ebb away.

Hotaru lowers his face to yours and kisses you softly. "I've missed you, too," he says, his voice full, substantial. "But I have to go."

You shake your head, helpless. "Will I see you again?"

But he doesn't answer—just another lingering question. You watch as his face grows pale, then transparent. The weight of his body begins to evaporate until there's only a chill lying over you. He smiles, sad, and then, there's nothing at all.

You lie there in disarray, wondering what just happened, waiting to see if it will happen again. But nothing stirs in the room—no phantom sounds, no shape, no Hotaru.

Pulling yourself to your feet, you draw your hanten tight around you and smooth your hair from your face. For some reason, your hands are shaking. You stumble to the door and peer into the darkness. The moon shines high overhead and the mist on the road vanishes in the breeze. The night carries on as if you'd only been dreaming.

Maybe you had been.

You set off down that road like a sleepwalker awakened, unsteady, unsure. The cold air stings your eyes and rouges your cheeks, but clears your mind. You can never tell anyone what you saw tonight or what you did. But you will go back, you will always go back, no matter how many times it takes to see your lover again.

[stevetonyweekly]

SteveTony Weekly - October 13 - Week 41

Happy weekend, friends! I haven’t read much this week because work has been super busy and I’ve been reading client books. BUT! I have some fun recs for you today and some other news. 

If you’ve been in the Marvel or Stevetony fandom for any length of time, you’ve probably heard of @marveltrumpshate a fandom charity auction that takes place every October for the past several years. (If you haven’t, omgosh, go check it out!!) ANYWAY--this year, the rec blog is getting in on the action, and you can bid to win 12 curated rec lists--any tropes, best of, holiday centric, whatever--from yours truly. You can find more info about the auction and the Stevetony Weekly listing HERE. It’s preview week, but I’ll give y’all a heads up when the auction goes live and of course, feel free to send an ask to inbox, if you have questions! 

Ok, now the recs! 

~

For You by viklikesfic (v_angelique)

Tony Stark is one of the earlier adopters of KinkTok, just as he was for Kinstagram, Fetlife, Grindr, and Kinkspace back in the day. It’s practically part of his job, as one of the most high-profile submissives in the country.

Steve pauses as he watches several loops through the same brief clip of Tony just slowly licking his lips and then letting his mouth fall open as he head tips back ever so slightly. #heydaddy #herewaiting the captions read, with a devil emoji.

the street finds its own uses by hollyandvice (hiasobi_writes) 

When Tony's syncmate implant (and no, Rhodey, it's not a soulmate implant, no matter what pop culture calls it) starts emitting signals five years after it was implanted, Tony thinks he can ignore it. He's wrong.

Tony Learns Something New by RiotFalling

In which Tony finds out that his tiny artist boyfriend is not a nice boy. In the best possible way.

Dragon Choices by tsukinofaerii

When a childhood accident leaves Tony with a remarkable ability to hear dragons, he finds out that on Pern, the dragon chooses. Whether it comes to being a dragonrider or becoming Weyrwomanleader, he has a bumpy flight ahead.

The Good or Bad Thing by petreparkour 

“It’s the metal suit,” Thor informed Steve, his normally-booming voice tinny over the SHIELD comms. “What did Stark call it—Iron Man?”

“But he’s down here,” Steve protested as the Hulk roared in Stark’s face, startling him into waking with a shout. “How could—”

“It’s damaged,” Thor reported. “But it looks different. More advanced. And he—ah. He’s carrying you, Captain.”

“Please tell me nobody kissed me,” Stark breathed out, and then Stark’s voice suddenly came over the comms, but the man lying next to him hadn’t moved.

“Guys, come on, you’re killing me here. What is it, 2012? God, I hate time travel. First, I'm fighting Thanos. Now, I have to deal with my past self and Thor's bad haircut? Oh my God, Cap, yes I hacked their comms, they’re my comms.”

Steve nearly opened his mouth to protest that he hadn’t said anything when he realized that this replica of Tony Stark wasn’t speaking to him.

[teapot-tyrant]

Overblot Theatre - The Maiden from Afar

Word Count: 2,916

This is to pair with (and serve as sort of the resolution to) the overblot event I'm currently running on my roleplay blog (@night-raven-miscellany).

It's much like my prev twst drabble (re: the Riddle Overblot Scene One) and is based around the exact same headcanons for that, just... slightly different, hehehe.

Anyways... um... enjoy, I suppose?

When Yuna awoke, she found herself inside of the strange, monochromatic theatre once more.

No one had seemed to understand her the very first time she shared her experiences about the place, and she had accepted that perhaps this was her own little mind palace of sorts - one where she could obtain a deeper understanding of her peers, despite not remembering a single thing she had heard or witnessed of their stories, save for a few small details.

"Huh…" She mused aloud to herself. "Wonder who I'm gonna get to see this time… considering the circumstances, of course…"

Even though she hadn't entirely been herself through the whole thing, she was fully aware that she had somehow accomplished the necessary requirements needed for one to overblot. She still wasn't certain as to how she accumulated blot, or even wound up unleashing it in the first place, but oh boy. She knew she had overblotted all too well.

The screening room at the end of the hall, she noted, was different, too. The last few times she had been here, there was always some kind of "movie" playing, and the audio could be heard from a ways away. There was typically some manner of light escaping the room as well. But this time, there was neither light nor sound coming from the screening room, which filled Yuna with an odd sense of dread.

She sighed, and decided she was to observe her surroundings this time around. Usually, the theatre had been clean. Pristine, even, with minimal clutter or decor aside from posters that decorated the lobby, depicting scenes from times far gone. But this time, the lobby was dripping with a liquid that Yuna assumed was ink, but the greyscale look of everything made it hard to tell.

Additonally, broken mirrors and roses that had been stripped of their petals lined the walls and floors, making Yuna feel as though she had perhaps wandered into a dungeon of a video game instead of what she was generally familiar with.

She took a deep breath, attempting to mentally prepare herself to enter the room, and as she did, the familiar sight of empty velvet seats all around gave her an odd relief.

Until she noticed the sole occupant of the room.

It was a massive, hulking thing, with gnarled horns that twisted like brambles, and claws that could have easily crushed her skull with one wrong move. It had a head that resembled a broken vial, and from the cracks on it leaked the same dark, inky substance she saw in the lobby. A cape was wrapped around it like a blanket, like a child who was afraid of monsters in the dark.

A phantom. Her phantom.

"Why…?" It groaned as she entered, hesitantly taking a seat beside it. "Why wouldn't you let me protect us?"

Yuna wasn't sure how to answer the question posed. She thought for a minute, wondering just why she allowed herself to return to her senses.

"Well… for starters, I didn't want to die," she chuckled, which earned her a low huff of disapproval from the phantom. She cleared her throat awkwardly before she continued.

"That… and… I was wrong."

The phantom tilted its large, bulky head in confusion.

"About what? As far as I'm concerned, we were entirely justified in our anger…"

"Yes, but…" Yuna contemplated. "…We were totally acting like a child. And we took our anger out on people who didn't deserve it."

Yuna flinched as the phantom raised its hands in anger, but it seemed to notice this, and recoiled.

"But… they did! It was their fault we were so angry!!! Minerva betrayed us, and the others? Well… they didn't even think to check in on us when it all happened!

"We never gave them the chance to, though," Yuna began to point out, but she was interrupted by the phantom.

*"But what about all the times before that? Even then, nobody seemed to come and ask us if we were okay?"

"And again, I say, we never really gave anyone the chance to. We just… cut ourselves off from the world for a bit before returning like nothing happened."

"Well," The phantom had to consider for a moment some other way of arguing with Yuna. "Well… what about the fact that they were always better than you? Or the fact that some of them would only come to you with ulterior motives?"

Yuna had to concede the first point, at least.

She was always lesser than her peers. Even before coming to Twisted Wonderland, she had been seen as lower than the people she had in her company. She was completely average in her appearance and her grades were only a bit above average. She had absolutely no magic to speak of, though, and was less than able to hold her own in a fight for the longest time, always having to rely on others to help her.

She was, to put it plainly, a total nobody.

The film began rolling on the screen as she thought.

-

"Yuna? Is she a student here?" A student asked, meaning no harm, but to hear the question alone stung Yuna deeply.

"I've heard she's the plain girl that hangs around Wilomena and Minerva all the time." Another student replied with a shrug. The word 'plain' was so innocuous, but it had always bothered Yuna to hear it in reference to herself.

"Really? Those two? But they're like… so popular!"

"*I know, right? Why either of them would keep her around is a total mystery… she just kind of keeps to herself and doesn't talk to anyone! It's totally creepy, if I'm being honest. Not to mention the fact that she doesn't even really have anything going for her, either. Compared to Wilomena, she's totally average in terms of her grades,"

"And what about Minerva?" The oblivious student asked, once again innocently, but in a way that made Yuna squirm.

"Psh- It's no contest in the least! I wouldn't be surprised if Minerva just kept her around to make herself look better, to be honest."

Yuna cleared her throat as she tried to interrupt the conversation.

"Um… excuse me," She stammered, trying to get her classmates' attention. "That's not a very nice thing to say about someone…"

The student who had been insulting her scoffed and shook his head.

"It's true, though," He said, throwing his hands up in a 'whatever' sort of gesture. "No one says it out loud, but everyone thinks it. If you saw her, you'd probably agree, too."

Yuna was shocked, and raised a finger to protest, stammering, but the two students just looked at each other, the one rolling his eyes.

"Whatever… Let's get out of here. I'm not gonna let myself get policed by some total nobody."

Nobody.

That was the word perpetually affixed to her identity.

It wasn't the first time she had run in with the gossips of her school, nor was it the first time she had been blatantly insulted to her face.

Amongst her peers, she was no one, not even a blip on their radars. Always left in the background, the shadows, even when she was there.

Even with her friends, she was left in the dark. She was a mere rumor, a concept, even, that only existed to make them shine brighter than they already were.

She was… Nothing.

"See?" The phantom said. "You never had a place among anyone… not here, not there, not ever…"

"But I-"

"We weren't even someone to our own family, Yuna."

The film reel began rolling again, not even giving Yuna a chance to speak.

-

When Yuna was younger, her family was… perfect. The most heartwarming idyllic scene one could imagine was what her childhood was like - playing piano with her father, watching silly princess movies with her mom, chatting around in the kitchen like nothing was ever wrong in the world. She loved her parents, and her parents loved her. And that was the end of it.

About six years, ago, though, shortly after Yuna had turned 10, was when everything changed.

"I feel like you don't even care about us anymore, Mat! All you ever do anymore is come home from work, eat dinner, and go to sleep! What about me? What about Yuna? She misses you so much, you know?"

"*I can't do this, Isabelle. Not again. I told you, I can't control the workload I've been given and I've told you we shouldn't be arguing while Yuna's still awake."

"You can't do this again, Yamato? What about me? Do you think I want to be arguing with you like this, night after night, and not reaching any kind of resolution?"

"I'm sorry, Isa. Really. But this just isn't something I can keep doing. I can't just quit my job to make myself magically more available, and I can't just magically fix everything up."

"I understand that, Mat… but that's why I've realized that maybe this isn't working out anymore. I can't keep myself together anymore… The only reason I keep doing this is because of Yu…"

"I know, Isa."

"I think it's time we finally wrapped things up."

"I'm sorry, Isa."

Her parents had split apart and her father moved out. Something about work-family conflicts and falling out of love.

It hurt Yuna, sure, but she knew her parents still loved her. She was able to visit her father as often as she could (which was rarely, if ever), and her mother was still kind and understanding. She just felt… sad.

It wasn't until that man moved in with her mother that she started feeling lost in her own home on top of everything else.

"Yuna, darling, I love you, but you need to get over yourself. It's been six years since your dad moved out and a year since Robbie moved in. I've moved on and you need to as well…" Her mom sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose as Yuna mopped a mess on the floor left behind by her so-called 'step-father'. "For everyone's sake."

"I've perfectly well accepted that dad has left us," Yuna grumbled. "But the last thing I'm gonna accept is that that asshole is my new dad. Haven't you seen how he treats us? How he treats me? We're nothing more than a moneybag to him!"

"Do NOT call your stepfather an asshole, Yuna," Her mother scolded. "He's doing his best, even if he doesn't always show it in the best ways most of the time… And I'm trying my best, too. I don't want us to be fighting like this all the time."

"Clearly you aren't doing enough!" Yuna snapped. "Day in and day out, he just lazes about watching his stupid games and makes us do all the work, practically forbidding us from setting foot outside the house unless we have work or school.

"*He just wants to make sure we stay safe and happy, Yu-"

"Safe and happy, my ass! You saw how he threw that bottle on the ground earlier when I told him that I didn't want to just come home and do nothing all the time. That I wanted to perform in the school recital? Shouldn't a dad be supportive of my interests and not be throwing shit around recklessly if he wants me to be 'safe and happy'?"

"Don't talk back to me like that, Yuna-"

"Honestly, I'd rather be dead than have to consider him my dad and have him consider me his daughter…" Yuna began.

"Yuna, I suggest you stop while you're ahead." Her mother warned.

"And since you seem so dead-set on making that happen," Yuna sneered "I guess you want that, too."

Yuna was not one for cruel words very often, and when she said that, she gasped, covering her own mouth.

"I- that's not…"

"How dare you speak to me that way, young lady!" Her mother cried, tears brimming at her eyes. "*Did I fail you, somehow? Did I raise you to be so disrespectful?"

"No, mom, it's just-"

"*Because I have no idea where you would ever get such ideas in your head! You've changed so much recently… it's like I don't even know my own daughter anymore!"

Yuna deeply regretted her words, now, but it seemed she had only dug herself a hole and could only go deeper from here.

"…Well maybe you never did, then. Because clearly, you don't know me anymore… Not in the least."

"You have no idea what you're talking about! I've raised you since you were small to be kind and understanding and compassionate! Not… not whatever this is!" Her mother gestured at Yuna, who in turn dropped the mop she had been holding.

"I hate you." Yuna spat, suddenly unable to keep her thoughts from spilling out now, as the hole kept growing deeper. "I wish I went with dad instead. Sure, he wouldn't be home very often, but at least he'd value me over some asshole like Robert."

"I- you-" Yuna's mother sputtered, unable to properly formulate a response to her own daughter. "Go to your room, Yuna… I'll finish cleaning this up. Just get out of my sight, right now."

Yuna had run away the next morning.

The last words she had said to her mother were about how much she hated her, but that couldn't have been further from the truth. She missed her mom… she missed her mom so much. She wanted nothing more than to go back home, even if it meant having to deal with a scumbag for her stepfather for the next few years until she could move out.

-

"I… "

"And then, we came here." The phantom said, gesturing around the empty screening room. "For once in our life, we were so close to thinking we were someone, even when we started out with nothing! No money, no magic, no reputation. We thought we had made friends, but everyone, and I mean EVERYONE wanted something from us! We were nothing more than a pawn in someone else's game. You liked it, at first. We were someone to them. We could help them. We could become someone through all of these meaningless tasks!"

"But…?" Yuna asked, wincing at the phantom's- no, her own brutal honesty.

"But we were wrong. No one here cared about us! No one there did, either! We spent our whole LIFE hearing about how everyone should be loved, how everyone DESERVES to be loved. But not once did we ever feel that way when we got older…"

Yuna remained silent, and let the phantom continue to speak.

"It makes sense, though. We- no… I deserve it. Because who could ever want to love a beast- a totally awkward, good-for-nothing, magicless nobody like me?"

"My name is Yuna Sid. I am a nobody. My name will not be written in any history books. I will not be remembered fondly, if I am even remembered at all. I am nothing and no one. And that is my legacy."

It was the phantom's turn to fall silent, massive pools of ink dripping down its face like wet tears as it cried.

Yuna was crying, too. This was her, after all; it was her deepest thoughts, her deepest fears and insecurities made manifest. How could she not feel just as hurt and upset as the phantom did?

She leaned against the monster, but looked away from it and the screen in front of the two of them.

"It hurts so much," She choked, "And it isn't fair to us at all…"

She grabbed the phantom's hand and wrapped it around her shoulders, like a comforting blanket.

"But… we were wrong. There are still people out there who care about us… we aren't a nobody."

The phantom sniffled, tilting its head in confusion.

"Like… to the guys in Heartslabyul, who had no reason to give a shit about us, but would lay down their lives to save us. Or the ghosts in Ramshackle," she continued. "Or Grim."

The phantom began to let out a soft sizzling sound.

"Or the guys that overblotted before us, who we managed to become sort of friends with after we gave them a chance to be understood," Yuna wiped at her eyes. "The countless staff members and students who have come to our help with studying and learning about this crazy, stupid, magical world."

A dark mist began to fill the air as the scent of roses wafted throughout the screening room.

"And, of course, what about the people who came out to save us in the first place? Those daring trespassers who risked life and limb to make sure we would be okay…?"

The phantom let out a soft chuckle as it embraced Yuna.

"I do suppose you're right…" It said, its body slowly fading into nothingness. "Maybe we do mean something…"

Yuna sniffled as she returned the embrace, her own thoughts slowly becoming in tune with those of the phantom.

"I'm sorry." It said, as the last of its physical form dissipated into nothing as the screen slowly went dark.

Yuna held back a sob as she grabbed the remainder of the phantom's presence in her arms- a cape, torn nearly to shreds, the faint scent of roses lingering about the crimson fabric.

"…Thank you." Was all she said, as she carried the cape out of the room, ready to return to the waking world.

[lesbianspeedy]

Oooh what's orphan black? 👀

a part of me is worried that with the general. everything. of my blog that you're thinking im about to recommend a sick comic series, but im gonna hope you wont be disappointed when thats not what i do. though technically it does have some comics, shoutout to the 3 people other than me that have read them

Orphan Black is a show that begun airing a decade ago in 2013, it had 5 seasons, with 50 episodes overall! it's a sci-fi (technically listed as a thriller but. idk about that) show about human cloning and well, the ethics of science and human intervention.

Starring Tatiana Maslany (currently more known as she-hulk in the mcu) as, by the end of the show, about 8 different full time clones, with a few one-offs for good measure. each with their own personality, history, mannerisms, accent, look, and relationship dynamics. Tatiana's acting in this show is a genuine masterclass, you will forget and have to remind yourself she is playing all four characters in a scene you're watching constantly. how does she have chemistry with herself. what is happening

on a wider scale the show is about nature vs nuture, family and man's interference in human evolution, and also gay people. a lot of gay people. i dont really know how to get further into it because its a show i really really dont want to spoil.

i'd recommend giving at the the pilot a shot, its (in my opinion) very compelling, and if that doesn't hook you, give it up to episode 3 before you give up, i think thats really where you get the best first look at Tatiana's acting prowess.

if you do enjoy it, theres an audio sequel Orphan Black: The Next Chapter with Tatiana back as everyone, and after that there's Orphan Black: Echoes, set 30 years after the show and following a whole new story, though explicitly set in the same world, thats not technically out anywhere but australia yet.

now. the worst part of this is that unless you're british and you have access to channel 4, i have no idea where you can watch it. it used to be on netflix but was taken off a few years back, and afaik it hasnt been put on any streaming site. so. my recommendation is well, if you want to watch it, Do What You Gotta Do.

[charles-leclerc-official]

I know you're a Ferrari blog but I've been thinking about RB and how they fucked themselves over with toro rosso/alphatauri/whatever the hell is their name now for ages now! I've got loads of thoughts! They've historically mismanaged the fuck out of that team and drivers but 2023 and this season it feels glaringly obvious. Nyck being out of a seat so early into last season was a bit sketchy, but if they really felt it wasn't working out, it was their prerogative to find another driver to put in that seat. Choosing Danny Ric to fill that seat was not a smart move, personally, because the whole objective of a junior/sister team is to develop younger drivers. They should've put Liam in that seat last year, and the repercussions of that wrong choice will haunt the team for years to come. (They're already haunted by it) Danny, sad as it is, no way he's getting a seat in a top team ever again. Checo is doing his best, but his best is not enough if RB wants to compete against Ferrari lineups, both this year and next. RB won't even consider Yuki (criminal, given how well he's doing) because he's a Honda pick. They're also fucked because other potential drivers were either a) booted from Toro Rosso/alphatauri or b) historically haven't gone along with Max. In short, a masterclass on how to win in the short term and lose long-term! (I still believe they should've signed up Hulk because he's doing well + he's friendly with Max). Sorry for the ramble and feel free to add your thoughts!

First, this may be a Ferrari blog, but it is also just an F1 blog, I am interested in talking about any driver and any team that are doing interesting things in the sport. Now I am not as informed of the in depth goings of teams that aren't Ferrari(like I know the general things going on at Sauber, but I am not a wealth of knowledge about all the car issues and personnel over there), but I know the top teams very well.

My very long way of saying any F1 questions about any team are encouraged around here <3

Now on to your question. I have been having very similar thoughts. I think Red Bull are about to fumble two of their talented young drivers in Yuki and Liam because of their unwillingness to actually use that team and have faith in their younger drivers. Yuki isn't going to just be in VCARB his entire career, and Liam is not going to keep buying that if he waits long enough he'll get a seat. Other teams are going to swoop in and steal them eventually.

And no shade to Danny, he's certainly a skilled driver. However yes, his placement in the junior team is odd. I get they want him around for marketing etc, but he could just be a brand ambassador right? He'd be great in that role.

If Danny were pulling the performance that Yuki has been this year Red Bull would have almost assuredly signed him. Which is insane to me that they have Yuki and refuse to use the talent they have been building up for years. They are going to lose him if it's made clear he has no shot at the top team.

Red Bull have had seat issues for years. They also seem to be very quick to discard drivers, we saw this when they were on the hunt for a new teammate for Max. I do think Checo is a good compliment to Max in many ways. I think one reason they want to keep Checo is that he is a known quantity and he gets along well with Max, 2024 is already more competitive than expected, and 2025 will be more so, especially with the new Ferrari lineup. The constructor's is going to be a battle for sure. They don't want to risk someone new in that seat during a year like that. But honestly I think Yuki would be able to do it.

I will say that Checo is a better driver than a lot of people give him credit for. Max makes those Red Bulls look easy to drive. But they are really challenging, sensitive and Checo has been able to drive those cars and get good results. I don't think a good half of the grid would be able to drive that car to the same results as Checo. Yes his results have been mixed, and probably are not going to be enough for the constructors unless they get that car figured out. But I just wanted to note that because he is better than most people give him credit for, is he perfect? No. But, his skill in wrestling that rocketship often is invisible.

If I were Mercedes I'd be stealing Yuki in a heartbeat. And Liam will likely go to any team that offers him a seat, he wants to be in a car, he doesn't want to waste years on a maybe.

I hadn't considered a Max - Hulk lineup, but that is pretty solid now that you mentioned it. I'd personally be going Yuki-Max, but I can see that Hulk-Max would be good as well. Very interesting.

And where does this leave them. As you said they are fumbling both their young talents and they don't seem to care. But in a few more years when they need those young drivers they won't have them, and then what?

I think that Max being such a strong winning bullet for so many years now has made them hesitant to change things. But things are changing around them, and one driver cannot carry a team forever.

[thebestofoneshots]

firstly, I absolutely adore your blog!! <3 ur so cool

secondly im curious to know- what marvel superhero would you assign to each of the marauders? I personally think sirius would love ironman, he’s so tony stark coded

AH, you're combining some of my favourite fandoms, babe! Which is why I might end up writing a way deeper analysis than I need to lol. But let's go through it one by one.

My darling James, the golden boy of his era, he is 100% Captain America. He is hell-bent on protecting those he loves, and he would do anything for them. Also, he's been in love with one girl for all of his life. It's just so fitting for him, I feel?

But also, I feel like James could also be a great Spiderman (and that is probably his favourite superhero), especially younger James, with his charm and charisma and how he is loved and cherished by his people. Also, he is totally in love with a redhead.

Remus Lupin is a complicated one. You know, I feel like Hulk is quite fitting, since you know he gets angry and turns into a green monster, which kind of relates to Rem in a deeper level. Having said that, I think his superhero would be Moon Knight and I'm ready to diе on this grave.

Hear me out, it's about the deep-held emotional trauma and the way Steven and Jake came into existence to protect Mark, he would absolutely love, love Moon Knight, especially the Disney+ version of him. There's also the lack of control the multiple personalities entail (which is very much like Remus' turning into Moony) and the moon theme. Besides, Rem would totally have a mini crush on Oscar Isaac.

And for Sirius, I agree, he is definitely Iron Man coded and would love Tony, I mean it's in the daddy issues they share with each other, the family background, the rich kid persona and all that. But I also think Sirius would love, and I mean LOVE Peter Quill (StarLord).

StarLord also has family issues, but he grew to become an absolutely charming character, sharing his love for beings with Sirius (aka they're both a little bit of heartbreakers) and he is super funny, which I feel Sirius would love. They both love music, and Sirius would praise Starlord's taste every single day of the week. Something else Siri would love about StarLord is his found family. He met the Guardians of the Galaxy and they all adopted each other, in the same way, Sirius adopted and was adopted by James and Remus.

Reggie is Bucky Barnes (and this is one of my favourite Marvel characters). Bucky was brainwashed and tortured by Hydra, in pretty much the same way Reggie was by his family. He shared that traumatic past and his absolute desire to be better, and to improve, he doesn't want to be a deatheater anymore and he fights for what's good. Also, if he is Bucky and James is Cap, we can have a bit of Starchaser hehe.

Lily loves Spiderman, and not because James does, nah, Lily has been a fan since she was a kid, she loves his sense of justice and how he fights for what's good. Spiderman's motto "With great power, comes great responsibility" is literally Lily's bible.

Marlene is into Black Window, and not only bc she has a massive crush on her, but because she thinks she is the most badass character in the entire fucking Marvel universe, no joke. She can stand against beasts three times her size, and fight alongside the most powerful superheroes on earth by being just a human woman? She is INCREDIBLE!

Mary gives me Vision vibes, I'm not sure why, but I totally see her reading Vision fanfiction and writing some too.

Barty is a Loki kid, you cannot change my mind. I mean, forgotten and neglected child who has to be exceptionally good at everything to get the attention from his dad? He becomes evil bc he thinks it's the only way he'll get Odin to see him? This to me screams Barty, and he would love Loki.

And lastly, I think Evan likes Quick Silver. Firstly, he thinks he's super hot, but he also loved his relationship with his sister, and he loves Pietro's charm. There's just something about him that he can't stop thinking about. I also feel he would like Mystique, but that's due to her complicated past, and her ability to become anything anyone she wants. He feels it would be so freeing to do that.

PS. Didn't I say I'd go crazy with this analysis? Aaaah I'm such a nerd...

[puppyfox-girlfaux]

! ! ! NSFW FOREWARNING ! ! !

I'd prefer everyone here be completely aware that this is NOT a place for minors. There's sweaty, muscled girls with greatswords twice the size of their bodies, swinging hulking mass of metals at their foes atop an endlessly razed ground here ; and on that very same mudstained graveyard, we've got ME - your resident feral chimera foxwolf BASTARD - biting on some poor whimpering soul's neck like she's dinner while committing a series of acts you wouldn't dare write out in even the most heretical of literacy.

I like humping things, I like knotting things, I like mating and breeding a variety of objects and things ranging from inanimate to animate - from people to creatures to everything that I can get my stupid little paws on. I'm suuuper open to talking with people, feel free to dm me! I'll block you if your age isn't on your blog when you follow me.

I'm unapologetic with my wants, fetishes, kinks, and desires. If this sort of thing isn't your cup of tea, feel free to leave.

[samwell-snark]

I see many fan casts for Jack like this pretty little twink. Bro. No. He'd look like Patrice bergeron but with blue eyes.

I am aware you are likely just saying this to commiserate, but I seem to have picked up a reputation as the fandom overanalysis blog, so allow me to add my two cents on the matter.

I have observed a larger trend in fandom spaces of male characters tending towards – what we would colloquially refer to as – “twinkification”, in which men of broad, muscular, at times even fat stature are portrayed as increasingly more slim and slender as fandom runs their course with them. It falls into a particular style of portrayal that is popular especially with female audiences, drawing from shōnen manga tradition and finding increasingly extremely stylized success in the art style of cartoons such as Hazbin Hotel. If you put any character in front of an audience, no matter their build, people will tend to portray them as slimmer when they reproduce the character in their content (be it art, fancast, writing).

I see this as part of a larger cultural trend that devalues fatness and glorifies thinness, but I think there is an additional layer when it comes to fandom spaces specifically.

As I’ve said above, I suspect this is especially a trend among female audiences, and no wonder: when one looks at what women attracted to men at large find attractive in those men (and also a large subset of the gay male population, in my anecdotal experience), there is a clear tendency to value slim-fit men over overtly muscular men.

My explanation for this is that this body type of man is perceived as less intimidating and comes with the added bonus of it being easier to project stereotypically perceived feminine traits onto those men. One must think no further of the broad appeal of characters like Draco Malfoy with nail polish and earrings to see this point in effect. Such portrayals are of course highly gender-conforming once one gets to the bottom of it, and I think the through-line of the comfortableness with which women especially are drawn to such portrayals of characters is the purification of them. As in, they appear more harmless than a hulking six-foot-four athlete with a gruff beard and a conventionally unattractive face.

Which brings me back to my favorite topic, the constant undercurrent of purity politics in fandom, in which portrayals tend towards more sanitized and pure/wholesome portrayals over time. People come to fandom to find comfort, and what better way to achieve this than ridding characters of anything that makes them unnormative? Out with diverse body types or skin tones, in with the same skinny white guy of the month fancast in every fandom between Court of Thorns & Roses and Teen Titan. Timothée Chalamet is not the soft uwu boy you think he is, and he is not your friend.

To loop it back around to Jack Zimmermann, I think what is especially worrisome (but this trend is also observable with larger hockey culture on Tumblr) is the sanitization of the perception of hockey players through this process. Once the characters are twinkified and purified, the process can be applied to real players, and suddenly it becomes all too easy to overlook that hockey is a highly toxic sport, and players are complex and complicated men in a very traditionally masculine sport locked in fraternistic bonds. In Jack Zimmermann, it is just the fundamental misunderstanding of a character, but in real players, it is the deliberate glorification of real people who are not saints by a long shot.

[ladyofthewolfsbane]

They’re Made of Meat: How the Texas Chain Saw Massacre Forces Us to Confront the Horrors of Slaughter

This will be an analysis focusing on my interpretation of TCM and how it criticizes the meat industry. 

11/8/23 note: I originally posted this on my old horror blog. Since I privated my old blog, I wanted to post this here.

Disclaimer:

Three things before we start. First, given the nature of this analysis, I will describe the deaths of animals (as well as their mistreatment) and the fictional deaths of humans. I will use some images of animals in making my argument, but I’m not using images of dead animals.

Second, I am a vegetarian for ethical reasons, so my perspective will be undeniably biased. If me just mentioning that bothers you, this might not be the analysis for you.

Third, I’m not saying all of these things were intentional on the director’s part. This is simply my interpretation of the movie.

All that said, let’s begin.

You enter a dim room, and something feels … wrong. You have spent the last several hours in a hot metal vehicle, cramped with your companions. Now that you’ve left the vehicle, you’d hoped that this new place would provide some help and relief.

But this new place is dark and smells of decay.

You hear a sound and call for your friend. You come forward and walk up a ramp towards a strange room, and —

A hulking figure appears from nowhere and strikes your skull. You collapse, your feet flailing and clattering against the metal ramp. The hit downed you, but you still remain conscious. It takes two more strikes before you lose consciousness.

What I just described is the death scene of Kirk from The Texas Chain Saw Massacre.

What I just described is also the hypothetical destruction of a cow that entered a slaughterhouse and was improperly stunned with a captive bolt gun and who had to be stunned twice before being rendered insensible.

The Texas Chain Saw Massacre criticizes the meat industry by performing the very same trick I just played — by forcing the characters and the audience into the perspective of livestock. It accomplishes this by putting the characters in the position of animals sent to slaughter when each character encounters the Sawyer family.

Themes of slaughter and the meat industry enter the movie early on. Within the first 10 minutes of the movie, the characters pass cattle awaiting slaughter. At least one of the animals is clearly suffering — the audience is given a quick shot of a cow panting and frothing in the unforgiving summer heat.

Franklin then begins to describe how cattle were previously slaughtered with a sledgehammer, but a captive bolt gun is now used to stun them prior to bleeding. During his description, the ethics of meat is explicitly questioned.

Pam says, "People shouldn’t use animals for meat." From the beginning, Pam is essentially setting up the thesis of the movie — animals suffer for meat consumption, and we shouldn’t do it. She has heard the information and come to a conclusion.

However, Sally simply wants to look away. She says, "Franklin, I like meat, please change the subject."

Sally does not want to confront the reality of where meat comes from and what animals go through to provide her the meat she enjoys. Ironically, she will eventually be almost put through the slaughter process that she originally refused to confront.

Soon, the protagonists pick up the first member of the Sawyer family — the Hitchhiker. (Note: I know the family members are given names in TCM 2, but since I’m only talking about the first movie, I won’t use those names here.)

The confrontation of meat production continues as the Hitchhiker describes how his family has historically worked in the meat industry.

These two scenes being set at the beginning of the movie and the detail they go into about cattle slaughter frame the movie as a criticism of meat production.

Now, I’ll go into specific scenes. It won’t be a blow by blow recap of the movie, though I will go in order of events.

The first to be killed is Kirk. Kirk’s death closely parallels that of the slaughter of cattle. He enters an unknown area and travels up a metal ramp, not knowing what fate awaits him. His death occurs with little warning and is performed dispassionately. As mentioned at the beginning, his legs flail and kick before he dies, similar to cattle struggling during improper stunning in undercover slaughterhouse footage.

Leatherface’s weapon is even a sledgehammer — previously used in slaughtering cattle, as discussed at length by Franklin and the Hitchhiker.

Additionally, the sliding metal door that Leatherface slams is similar to the sliding metal door of a knock box that cattle are herded into so that they can be stunned.

Indeed, the entrance to Leatherface’s room is even surrounded by what appears to be cattle hides.

Soon after Kirk’s death, Pam comes to find him. She stumbles into a room covered in chicken feathers and filth. The floor closely resembles the living conditions that broiler chickens are forced to deal with inside factory farms. They are packed closely together and stand in layers of feathers and their own filth. In that room, there is even a chicken held in a small cage, perhaps paralleling the tiny battery cages factory farmed chickens have been kept in.

When Leatherface finds her, he treats her just as dispassionately as Kirk, and he hangs her on a meat hook like a side of beef.

Now, I think it’s time to discuss the Sawyers a bit more. The Sawyer family treats the protagonists in the same way that they would treat any non-human animal. In the Sawyer’s minds, it makes sense. Humans are, just like any animal, made of meat. To them, there is nothing that makes a human different from a cow.

While the movie primarily focuses on the plight of the "livestock," there is also some focus on how the meat industry is toxic to the workers as well.

In one scene after Jerry has also been killed, Leatherface is visibly in distress. People have been coming to his home in quick succession, and he feels he has had to kill them.

Slaughterhouse workers are often pressured to increase speed on the line, resulting in stress for the workers and lowered welfare standards for the animals they kill. According to the article Meatpacking: A Closer Look Inside a Secretive and Dangerous Industry, slaughterhouse workers are at a high risk for anxiety and PTSD. 

Later, Leatherface is berated and threatened by the Cook because the Cook believes he has performed below the standards expected of him. This parallels the pressure and mistreatment slaughterhouse workers may face from supervisors. 

"Some said their supervisors screamed and humiliated them to keep up production speed," Meatpacking: A Closer Look Inside a Secretive and Dangerous Industry said.

Returning to the protagonists, there are many striking scenes with Sally. Of all the characters, her experiences put the audience most directly and vividly in the position of an animal meant for slaughter.

The most disturbing parallels begin after she has escaped the Sawyer house for the first time. In this section of the movie, she goes to the gas station and briefly thinks that she is safe. Of course, she isn’t. 

The Cook recaptures her and proceeds to treat her like an animal, such as prodding her and beating her with a broom to get her to go where he wants.  Slaughterhouse workers have been caught on undercover footage similarly beating pigs with paddles and sticks and using electric prods to herd them. 

Then there is the infamous dinner scene. Sally is tied to a chair, staring in terror and screaming while the family mimic her cries and laugh at her. Her screams of distress mean no more to them than the bellowing of a cow or the squealing of a pig. In fact, there are even the sounds of pigs squealing and grunting in the background while she screams. Intermingling her sounds of distress with the cries of animals cements that they have become one in the same in this scenario. 

There is a lot of undercover slaughterhouse footage that captures workers mocking and taunting the animals that are clearly in distress, paralleling the Sawyer’s mockery of Sally. 

This mockery and verbal abuse in the meat industry likely comes from what I mentioned earlier — the need of slaughterhouse workers to disassociate to do their jobs. This causes them to see animals as objects to take their frustration out on rather than living things that can suffer.

"The worst thing, worse than the physical danger, is the emotional toll," said a former slaughterhouse employee in Slaughterhouse: The Shocking Story of Greed, Neglect, and Inhumane Treatment Inside the U.S. Meat Industry. "Pigs down on the kill floor have come up to nuzzle me like a puppy. Two minutes later I had to kill them. … I can’t care."

There are moments when the Cook seems to have twinges of regret about what they’re doing, saying he takes no pleasure in killing, that they shouldn’t torture her.

But he believes the killing is necessary. He has to shut down his sympathy for Sally. Just like the former slaughterhouse worker quoted above, he can’t care.

Eventually, the Sawyers decide to allow Grandpa to kill Sally. They lean her over a bucket and hand him a sledgehammer, again using the same method to kill her as they would to kill an animal. All the while she screams and cries and the verbal abuse continues.

 The Hitchhiker uses misogynistic terms to refer to her, similar to workers using such terms for female animals trying to escape their fate.

And Sally does manage to escape her fate. 

I doubt this was intentional, but there is a striking parallel between her escape and the rare cases of cattle escaping from slaughter. She smashes through a window and runs for her life in any direction she can and ends up on a road where chaos ensues. 

There are cases of cattle escaping slaughter by breaking through a fence and running the streets, which causes similar confusion and chaos to Sally’s escape. A notable example are the "St. Louis Six," who were six cows that escaped slaughter and were later taken to a sanctuary. 

Sally, too, is helped by kind strangers. One of the most notable strangers who helps her is a cattle truck driver that throws a wrench at Leatherface. While his job is to transport cattle to slaughter, he has unknowingly saved a woman who has escaped the same fate as the cattle he transports. 

At the end of the film, Sally escapes in the back of a truck, covered in blood and laughing. 

At the beginning of the film, she said, "Franklin, I like meat, please change the subject."

By the end, Sally could no longer look away. She could no longer ignore reality of the meat industry, for she had been dragged to a slaughterhouse herself, now no different than the meat she enjoyed. And the audience, too, is forced to witness the terror of the slaughterhouse through Sally’s eyes.

[amazing-spider-man-book-club]

Amazing Spider-Man #1 (1963)

Published: March 1963

Containing: "Spider-Man: Freak! Public Menace!", "The Chameleon!"

Introducing: J. Jonah Jameson, John Jameson, The Chameleon (unnamed)

Synopsis: following the death of his uncle, Peter now has to leverage his identity as Spider-Man to find cash quick as a means of taking care of himself and his Aunt May. Various attempts to do so are stopped by his need to maintain a secret identity, his slandering by media mogul J. Jonah Jameson, and indifference by the public at large.

Read alongside us here:

@frankendykes-monster : After the better part of a year, material originally intended for Amazing Fantasy can now be taken off the shelf and published in The Amazing Spider-Man. For as much as these are two separate stories, our first one is divided into three parts and they chain together incredibly well with the new through-line of Peter desperately needing to make money.

Peter's origins are oh so quickly recapped in less than a page and transition immediately to the new status quo he finds himself in, at least for this single issue. Lee's narration on the title page is right, there hasn't been a character like Spider-Man yet, he can't even begin to worry about altruism or emotionally come to terms with his actual ongoing motivations (which will not come to a head for quite some time, keep following this blog!) because he needs to help cover the rent first. I think a lot of subsequent Spider-Man media neglect this lowest point of Peter's life now that I think about it; I'm not sure why, it makes for great material even if it isn't a "fun" read to see Spider-Man suffer. We get to see some nice stuff like Peter making a parachute out of his webbing, which at certain points in this run might feel more like a Green Lantern ring in terms of objects that said web fluid can be molded into. Spider-sense is also used several times, which is a power I've never been hugely into if only because it's convenient for writers to forget Peter has said ability whenever he needs to be punched in the face by someone right in front of him. Said ability was created by Ditko on the spot when asked by Lee how Spider-Man could see and fight people in the dark (just draw squiggly lines above his head and call it a day.)

I actually had no recollection of why Peter can't go back to show business as Spider-Man beyond the ingenious "you can't cash a check signed to Spider-Man" bit, but it's because of the debut of one J. Jonah Jameson. I mentioned in the post for Amazing Fantasy #15 that many of the plethora of characters "introduced" there would only become retroactively important after Ditko left the title...welp...can't say that here. Jameson will become arguably the second most important and frequently appearing character after Peter and immediately hits the ground running.

I think it's a popular interpretation of the character now to say that his thoughts on the subject of Spider-Man are misguided when he, a character inside the story, does not have the benefit of knowledge the we the readers do. It's fair game to say something is off about Spider-Man, this completely anonymous individual that can climb walls and swing across buildings and has already gotten into the habit of being a vigilante. Peter's relationship with Jameson isn't at all developed here, they don't even meet, but that will change soon enough.

Spider-Man exists in the same fictional space as other characters published by Marvel, huh, that was fast. I actually had to double check and see if this was published the same month as Fantastic Four #12, which guest stars The Hulk. It was. Truly the Marvel Age of Comics is upon us (I feel like I've already said this). My general thoughts going forward are...meh? Ditko is going to introduce enough characters and concepts that The Amazing Spider-Man isn't really hurting to team up with or fight other superheroes, but if they're here to stay for the time being, one of his get rich quick schemes being that he wants to join The Fantastic Four isn't a bad one.

And our first proper supervillain of the run, The Chameleon! The Chameleon isn't one of the "heavy hitters" amongst this rogues gallery, more a perpetual b-lister, but he mostly gets by on his excellent design; a blank canvas face that he can easily slide life-like masks over. Though, this is a concept that Ditko had already visited in Out of This World #6 (1957):

That would be the end of things for this issue, a nice transitional piece in the fallout of Spider-Man's origin, but some cracks behind the scenes are already starting to show. Even though the character is officially titled Spider-Man, with the hyphen, the text within the issue can't seem to recall if it's spelled that way or not. The second story has Peter referred to as "Peter Palmer" several times, though this isn't a blunder that would be repeated across several issues (see: Bruce Banner being referred to as Bob Banner). Ditko, upon being given the plot for this issue, reportedly hated the sequence wherein Spider-Man jacks a plane to save John Jameson in a plummeting space craft, comparing it to the likes of a high school football player joining the Super Bowl.

Where the plot that Lee provided Ditko came from is unknown, people looking into the subject like Stan Taylor and Stephen Bissette have come to the conclusion that they actually were provided by Jack Kirby to Lee to pass on to whomever ended up taking over Spider-Man, but the evidence isn't conclusive so I'll not state that that was the case. Ditko wasn't the type to be into flights to space, or making Communist villains like The Chameleon's motivations here, is what I will say. Ditko is clearly already developing very clear ideas on who Spider-Man is and where to take him, and any influence Kirby had on the conception of the character will quickly be shed. This will not be the last time we here of Ditko rejecting or altering ideas presented to him by Lee however.

@duel1971 : So very excited that we can start talking about J Jonah Jameson. In this story we see only one side of the man: a loudmouthed, ungrateful bully. He’s a perfect antagonist for Peter at this point in his story. Peter and his aunt are broke and desperate. Jameson is financially secure and has a platform that allows him to totally destroy Spider-Man’s reputation practically overnight. The fact that Jonah doesn’t actually know he’s targeting a struggling high school student at the moment is his only real defense.

The parallels between the Jameson and Parker families are something I’ll be writing more about as we go. John Jameson is successful and beloved where Spider-Man is shunned and hated, and Jonah has all the power in the world while Aunt May has almost none. Their similarity is in their loyalty to each other: part of Jonah’s hatred of Spider-Man in this issue seems to be fueled by thinking Peter was out to steal John’s glory in some way or another. (I say “seems to be” because it’s hard to take anything he says at face value.)

Second story: This one is really interesting to me because of how ambiguous Peter’s character arc is in it. He continually tries to do the right thing: first trying to impress the Fantastic Four in a desperate bid for a steady paycheck, and then aiding the cops in stopping the Chameleon. Both times, he is rejected and he remains an outlaw at story’s end. The last page features the Fantastic Four reflecting that someone as powerful as Spider-Man may well be a threat someday.

Of course, we know Peter didn’t turn to evil. But things aren’t going well! In spite of being powerful enough to take on the entire Fantastic Four by himself, he’s just a kid who’s worried about his aunt and doesn’t know why everyone hates him so much. It’s all too easy to imagine the path his life might’ve taken.

[goddamnwebcomics]

Webcomic Check: Winter 2025

Time, no beginning, no end, an infinite possession that humbles our mortality.

Las Lindas: Geecku and Hulk-Mora are having a sandwich eating contest and Taffy comes in the middle and what the fuck have they done to Taffy???

Did a timeskip happen in Las Lindas verse and that is why Taffy looks like a 50's housemaid and Mora turned into the Incredible Hulk? Like, Taffy really no longer looks like the same character outside of those gigantic ears. Geecku still looks like her same old hideous self. And this comic still gives people goblin tusks like they did with Rachel.

I can't believe I am saying this but I am starting to miss Chalo's 2010's art. I know everyone back then looked like inflated moeblorbs but now? I can't even describe it. It's like Ask the Werewolves got diabetes. Oh wait I can describe it, never mind.

And this whole "Mora is gross and eats sandwich" joke is like straight of 1990's, I know Las Lindas is 20 years old but you can still make a comic feel modern.

Spinnerette: There is a NEW Spinnerette in town. One with eight arms. Oh cool, this comic has NEVER done a "Spinny has a rival" story EVER before. Like I mentioned earlier, this arc is clearly drawn by "Grey" which means the art is decent.

Anyways Spinny got saved by a new gun in town who has eight arms. Mecha Maid apparently got hurt AGAIN while trying to save Spinny from robot dogs. God, this idea is so fucking cliche. Spinnerette really went from a superhero parody to just another superhero thing. It's borderline soulless.

Monster Girl Academy: Zack has a new wife, a two headed squirrel. Are you fucking kidding me?

And even better, it's FAKE INCEST 2: ELECTRIC BOOGALOO. STOP CALLING ZACK A LIL BRO WHEN YOU ARE PLANNING TO FUCK HER. SHE HAS THREE FUCKING BREASTS TOO.

Oh never mind. This isn't fake incest, it's REAL INCEST

how the fuck is she your stepsister when she isn't even the same skin colour as you??? God, Kraw went from pretend freak to a real freak. Your comic sucks ass. Apparently she is an orthrus, and, ummm, no. Those are clearly squirrel tails, she is a two-headed squirrel.

WHAT IS THE FUCKING JOKE

Anyways I don't want to turn this into MGA rereading session. I just wanted to prove to you all that Kraw is now an incest-loving hack, moving on.

Carnivores: Ah, Carnivores. So pure, so innocent, and it's also so fucking back.

Speaking of being back, I'm 90% certain that character is just Dr. Whur's design recycled. Fuck it, I'm just gonna pretend Dr. Whur is back. All the favourites are here! Anyways I have no idea what is any of this about. Also, wait, I just noticed, Lab's gone through a subtle redesign! Is Austin's art....IMPROVING???

Alien Dice: We see Lexx resting, apparently he survived the attack of Orange Guy and his friend.

Man, the more things change, the more they stay the same. I really don't like how Chel has short hair and she looks more Riley sibling-esque now, also why does she have lips??? It's like...old Chel and new Chel are fighting for supremacy?

GOD, I know I recently revisited the worst of Alien Dice but...of all the comics currently on hold, I want to go back to it the most. I genuinely miss Lexx and Chel. These two are still yet to be topped as the best couple in this blog.

Legacy of Dominic Deegan: Is that...the Ink Witch???

And who the fuck is that??? Fishlips??? They look like a character from Carry On?

They seem to be talking about someone who I guess is Snout, apparently he has gone missing now? I guess that explains why there has been so much...dialogue lately.

Man, if I could, I would set up a blog where I could riff some of the comics on hold because I want to revisit my old friends Chel and Lexx, tear Kraw a new one for wanting to fuck his stepsister and being stagnant in Spinny, as well as figure out how the fuck Hulk-Mora transformation happened and then bleach all the pain away with Carnivores. But that would mess with the archives. I am expecting at least one of these comics to conclude by the end of the decade, and July is not too far away either.

[inkmimicry]

so-so luxo

A little drabble featuring XL from my @warncdandwiles blog! The first meeting between him and XO.

...

XO was almost inclined to ignore the alarm blaring overhead, and for a moment the little robot was tempted to go back to spraying the screen over his console with the anti-streak cleaner he'd borrowed. His chest compartment was open to produce a miniature glass-wiper, for good measure.

The longest Star Command place went without a proper red alert was a month, and that came with rumors throughout the galaxy that Zurg had contracted the flu. 

Habits are even hard to shake, harder still for robots, when programming sticks more than muscle. He sat back and peered about him to gauge the reactions of his fellow diagnostics staff, who all seemed equally unbothered.

Until a LGM came barrelling through a door, arms waving, a letting out a understated, but no less terrified yelp. Then people started ducking for cover.

On cue, the whole place shook. XO's in-programmed systems were alerted of a breach in the next sector, near the food storage. He didn't have time to dwell on such an unlikely location. Doubtful it was a simple wall malfunction.

He was wheeling himself along the hallway, his colleagues having scattered, and was bemused to find no Rangers in the area despite the alert.

Another screen popped up over his visual overlay;

WARNING, UNAUTHORIZED SIGNAL DETECTED

WARNING, POSSIBLE SECURITY BREACH DETECTED

He stopped wheeling, distracted, before the next door, and focused on the readings, trying to make sense of it. Had that alarm been - false? Or was his system picking up the correct one, and the Rangers were collecting in the wrong place?!

CONTACTING: THE X-PERIMENTAL RANGER

...

...

SIGNAL LOST

Well. XO could no longer focus on the text darting past his eyelids in torrents, as a strange noise was approaching him. A grating, clunking sound, repeating. A damaged mech of some time, a problem in the walls? His hand reached for the little console beside the door to enter to code to the inner sectors of Star Command -

When the smooth, reinforced metal was blasted open like tin toil. XO's sensors picked up something bulky, yellow and orange, encircled by a black-and-white caution pattern. The force sent him skittering back, and his wheel lost balance. He landed on his side, head rattling in its dome.

The object was an arm. And the hulking mech that pulled itself sideways through the remains of the door-frame was mismatched, chaotic in design, with it's head obscured by the light shining on the glass...dome.

XO's diagnostic overlay vanished; replaced with a profile image on the top right-hand side.

"XL?" He didn't know what possessed him to say it out loud. He'd been afraid before, but terror seemed to leak through his wiring like oil.

The torso dipped forward, finally yanking free of the door-frame, dislodging wires in the wall and leaving them spluttering. It was only then a pair of beady, mismatched optics spied him on the floor, tiny by comparison.

XL's brows flew up, and the pupils darted around.

"...You're gotta kiddin' me." The voice was as bizarre and off-kilter as the rest of him: loud, grating, somehow both gruff and high at once. XO had rightened himself, and scooted back as he brute leaned down.

"They made another one of you?!

It was a swift change from bemusement to fury. Robots shouldn't be able to grimace like this. XO backed up further, arms raised - but every bit retreated had XL taking a step, until they stopped in he middle of the hall-way.

"If another I - I, I take it you refer to XR?" XO didn't know why he felt like talking was somehow keeping things from escalating. He knew all the facts of the XL case, of course, and the antagonistic fixation he had on his replacement.

An obsession with betterment and revenge.

A very unusual insistent that an organic superior was a parental figure, and a robot in the same class as himself was a sibling.

A growing list of violent theft, attacks, and attempted murder.

"Technically, I am not a ranger in the same class as you and XR. I am a secretary droid. I am by no means another attempt to replace you."

He saw the stony look on XL's face and hurried to amend, "That is, XR wasn't so much a replacement, simply another...iteration ranger."

XL took this all in with a quirked brow and dubious glare.

"Hah. Pull the other one. I'm not a ranger of any class anymore."

He slammed his right arm into the wall. XO ducked. It switched functions into a chainsaw of some kind. That got a shudder out him.

"I wonder who's fault that is."

XO was not surprised to find his hands were trembling when he made a placating gesture. "...Th-there's no need to get aggress-"

Sharp, pointed fingers closed around his spindly middle and hoisted him into the air. XO was yanked so close his head-dome knocked uncomfortable against XL's, and he was treated to a full view of his disgruntled sneer.

"Aggressive?"

"Exactly that." XO managed to yelp.

"I don't think you understand how this works." He tossed XO up, momentarily releasing him His head rattled around in the dome when he was caught by the wheel and dangled upside down. "I guess I better initiate my - newest little brother in how these things play out!"

This again. XO managed a scowl, trying to pull himself right-side up by grabbing onto his own single leg. "We are robots. We do not have siblings."

XL did not answer for a few moments, glowering at him in an expression somewhere between a pouty child's, and a murderous killer's. XO's gusto vanished.

"Tip number one: interruptin' me during a monologue is a NO-GO!"

With that, XO was hurtled like a baseball across the hallway. His body was not built for such punishment, and he tumbled along, metal clanking like an empty tin can bouncing down a staircase. He finally skidded to a halt near the other doorway.

Warning messages began popping up in front of his eyes; usually an asset, now nothing but a distraction as he tried to drag himself up. He felt XL's heavy steps lumbering towards him.

"Don't worry. I won't crush you right away. I want the other pipsqueak and his do-gooder pals to show up first. So you n' me can get some quality time together!"

XO looked up, thankful for the cone hiding the majority of his face. His expression of utmost horror wouldn't be approvable on a Star Command Droid.

"I...have nothing to do with you," he argued, weakly. It appeared to be the wrong thing to say. XL's budding evil smile vanished, and he snatched him up again. The circuits in XO's main body were taking damage, and it was very unpleasant.

"Suuure. That's what everybody in this darn family says. Well don't worry," he was jostled once, "You won't be my sibling for long."

A cajoling laugh followed, low and grating.

XO's optic overlays were going insane. Trying to sort the failing systems in his main body, trying to contact the Rangers, attempting to make sense of the blocked channels. None of it was helping, and XL's grip was getting tighter, and his grin was returning in a most unpleasant way.

XO blinked with purpose. His overlay was deactivated, and for once in a long while, he saw only what any organic would have seen: his enemy's face behind the glass.

Glass.

XO stopped trembling. His chest latch opened and a tiny arm sprouted from inside, wielding his trusty anti-streak spray. XL had one moment to looked abashed before his dome was covered in strong, lemon-scented cleaner, and a dish rag was smacked over it like newspaper obscuring a window.

"Hey - what the - HEY!"

It was enough. The grip around his middle lessened, and XO landed on his wheel, swaying to one side as he took off down the hall way. He leaped the broken doorframe, sparks littering his shoulders.

His euphoria didn't last; XL's angry cursing followed him out of sight. "GET BACK HERE!"

A pair of double-doors split apart up ahead, and the blessed sight of a Ranger squad came stamping through, arms thrust out and lasers at the ready. They hardly noticed the little robot zigzagging through their legs.

"Wait until I get my hands on you, ya little worm! This ain't over!"

"XO!" Booster was at the back of the squad; and the only one to stop and address him as he collapsed against the wall, finally out of dodge. "Are you okay?!"

"I am...slightly damaged." XO shakily adjusted the collar around his glass-dome, now aware of several cracks running up the glass. "I feel I have made the wrong impression with XL."

The ranger laughed good-naturedly, and waved a hand, "Oh, nobody ever gets off on the right foot with XL. He woulda hated you just for being an X series! It isn't your fault."

His tone was truly, perfectly sincere and benign. XO sighed heavily, which went completely unnoticed.

"Thank you, Booster," he droned.