#supherhero

[paullovescomics]

Cassandra Cain gets her own series again! She's an awesome character. I'm not familiar with the writer, but I've always liked Takeshi Miyazawa's art. Looks like i'll have to add this to my list.

[swampflix]

The Not-So-New 52: Justice League vs. The Fatal Five (2019)

Welcome to The Not-So-New 52, your digital Swampflix comic book (adaptation) newsstand! Starting in 2007, DC Comics and Warner Premiere entered the direct-to-home-video market with animated features, mostly in the form of adaptations of well-received event comics or notable arcs. This Swampflix feature takes its name from the 2011 DC relaunch event “The New 52,” and since there are (roughly)…

[calisources]

B92// THE LINE UP. a psd inspired by supherhero muses.

this psd will be free to download in one week time (by July 4th). for the time being it's under a payhip wall.medium soft. fcuses on cyans and blues, tones down yellows and greens turn into cyan.

this psd is poc friendly. reminder you must use the adjustment folder to correct the color and light on each screencap (i recommend toying around with color balance/levels/selective color).

remember to reblog if you save/use. credit has to be visible on your carrd/doc if you use. (reblog, not like. please.)

consider donating through paypal or buy me a coffee through ko-fi.it truly helps me a lot. i am currently in the need of some cash so if you can spare a dollar, that would be great! if not, please just spread the art!

this psd is FREE or 5 DOLLARS VIA PAYHIP. if you only use one panel, still has to credit me. i'm specially in need of cash this month, so any donations count, please!

can be found on DEVIANART .

[scarlet--wiccan]

Do you have any thoughts on Wanda and Hank (McCoy’s) relationship? They seem like decent friends when they’re on the avengers together (and they both kinda dated wonder man), but idk where they stand (and have stood) post m-day.

Things are obviously even more complicated with beast being a fully blown supervillain now, but they also all-but-declared evil x-force villain Hank a different character than avengers Hank. I know it was a throw away gag, but I so wonder about that email from him to her in strange academy. What were his intentions there?

I'm going to be completely honest, Hank is one of those characters I just don't think about very often. I'd have to re-read a lot, and I mean a lot, of comics to make any kind informed statement about his relationship to Wanda prior to M-Day, so I'm not gonna do that.

I will say, though, that out of all the original X-Men, he definitely has the closest relationship to Wanda by virtue of proximity. He's certainly known her longer than most people, and we can definitely infer that they had a friendship just based on how well Wanda usually gets along with her teammates, and of course, their mutual affection for Simon. In fact, I'd say they have the potential to be great friends-- they're both people who are very good at overlooking differences, and at one point time, they were both written as very outgoing, charming individuals. She probably responds really well to his overly-genteel manner-- when Hank addressed her as "Dearest Wanda" in that email, I was like, "oh, of course this is how they talk to each other."

After the Decimation, Hank threw himself into researching the cause and trying to develop a cure. This was a big turning point in his life, as he ended up working with Dark Beast and crossing a lot of moral boundaries. His search actually led him to finding Wanda when she was living as an amnesiac in Transia, although it's not clear whether that was actually her or the Doombot. Although he certainly holds Wanda accountable for M-Day, he didn't betray her location to the X-Men, and later, during Children's Crusade, he was actually sympathetic to Wanda's circumstances and wanted to help her use the Life Force to undo the Decimation. Compared to most of the other Avengers and X-Men, I'd say he was one of her very few allies, and he's on the short list of mutants that I would expect to advocate for her, if only because he believed she'd be part of the solution, not just the problem.

Avengers: Children's Crusade #15

The thing with Hank's psychic backups is really weird, but it gestures at some of the more philosophical questions that Krakoan resurrection poses-- or at least, the questions it would pose if the writers would actually commit. If the "self" is a replicable, modifiable computer file, then the idea personhood begins to lose coherence. One of the things I find frustrating about the Krakoan era is that they don't often follow through on the bigger implications of their world-building, and this is one of those subjects where they'd clearly rather divert into cape-comic genre beats then get into the speculative philosophy. It's probably for the best.

Anyways, Beast. In Wolverine #31, we learn that Hank has built his own little clone lab and taken charge of his own resurrections. To that end, he basically stole his backup files from the Cerebro system, but, weirdly enough, he left the records of his time with the Avengers untouched. It's not clear whether or not the backups Hank is using to clone himself include that period, but we do know that if the Five wanted to resurrect him at this point, they'd be bringing back a version from before Krakoa-- which is to say, a version which hasn't yet taken the same moral downfall. If I had to guess, I'd say this is the loophole that they'll use to bring the character back without having to worry about "redeeming" him or reconciling his actions. This is a staple move for supherhero comics-- come up with an excuse to for the character to say "that wasn't really me"-- but I don't think we've seen it played straight with Krakoan resurrection yet.

Oh, and as for the e-mail-- I wrote a bit about it here, but I genuinely think he was just trying to test out whether the gates would recognize her. It came across as very sinister at the time, since this was before Trial and Wanda was still basically an enemy of the state, so inviting her to the island definitely felt like a trap. At the time, I said that this page was probably non-canon, but then the exchange between Wanda and Magneto ended up being a lot more prescient than I could have anticipated, so I guess we should take it seriously.

[darker-than-darkstorm]

I love supherhero media, but Marvel is just not doing it for me anymore. Most superhero shows are not these days.

I enjoy superheroes the most in short-form media (episodic TV or single-issue comic stories), not as multi-part multi-year "events".

people talking about how hard it is to not watch disney/marvel movies in 2024 live in different worlds than me. it's like if your favorite food ever was banquet microwave pot pies

[emiarainewrites]

Okay, I need to talk about Earth vs The Spider (2001) real quick…

•It’s not really a remake of the 50s movie, just shares the name.

•Was produced by STAN WINSTON as a part of his Creature Feature set of films (which I have not seen outside of this one, though I am trying to track down a copy of She Creature -otherwise known as Mermaid Chronicles part 1: She Creature (for some reason)-).

•Has some AMAZING practical effects (and some iffy CGi, but that’s thankfully used sparingly)

•And is just an all around fun monster movie that hardly anyone talks about, but considering it’s kinda difficult to find I think that’s understandable to some degree

If you look this film up (especially on YouTube) you’ll pretty much find a few trailers, a review here and there & the specific fact that Pedro Pascal is in it. Yeah, no kidding, THAT Pedro Pascal. He only has a few lines and is in one scene, so don’t get too excited. He’s real young too, and decked out in goth attire (though not as adorable as Robin Lord Taylor in The Melancholy Fantastic, a film I need to finish).

I find this lack of attention to be a complete shame. The movie is fun and interesting.

If I were to boil it down for a simplistic pitch, I’d call it basically ‘The Fly but for Spiders’ / ‘Spider-Man version of Brightburn’ (a darker take on a well known superhero concept). Or perhaps a light cross between the two.

The movie stars Devon Gummersall as Quentin Kemmer, a security guard at a high-tech biochem lab who, after a break in and the tragic death of his partner, gets injected with an unknown substance that will hopefully grant him superpowers based off spiders. This train of thought coming from the fact that he’s a big comic fan (specifically the movie’s own version of Spider-Man ‘The Arachnid Avenger’ - oh, and his dog’s name is Thor by the way). He has the hots for his apartment complex neighbour, Stephanie (Amelia Heinle), a nurse, who very much reminds me of an other-world Denise Richards. Stephanie is a nice lady who can stand up for herself and him against some street trash who often loiter outside their building. Their romance is sweet and personally I wanted them to make it through everything.

Now, considering I brought up The Fly before, I don’t think their relationship is as emotionally driven or memorable as the one between Seth Brundle & Veronica Quaife, but for an essentially made-for-tv movie, I think they did pretty good.

Dan Aykroyd is also in the movie as well. He plays a grizzled cop named Jack Grillo, who’s been copping (hah) some sh!t from some of his peers because of an incident involving the death of his own partner, which still has him shaken. Theresa Russell plays his alcoholic and entirely-too-flirty-with-other-men wife, Trixie, who’s all but having it off with another officer (an officer that is the main source of ire for Grillo - or, in the words of Marty McFly “he’s an asshole!”). Theresa Russell also made an appearance in Spider-Man 3 as the Sandman’s wife, so there’s that weird little connection.

Oh and John Cho is here also. Another young face. He plays the owner of a comic shop and is Quentin’s only other real friend.

The movie follows Quentin as he undergoes his metamorphosis.

At first he tries to go the Spider-Man route by going after nasty people and saving Stephanie from being assaulted. He sets up a hidden security camera outside his apartment door and even starts sleeping on a hammock, mimicking spider/superhero behaviour. His senses become heightened and hell, he shoots webbing (not out of his hands/wrists though). But he also begins to get hungry and go through physical changes and his story slowly devolves into fighting with his nature and his humanity.

As previously stated, really none of the concepts in this movie are particularly new. You’ve seen it from The Fly (man is turned into big-ass humanoid insect and loses himself to it) to even Brightburn (what if Superman was evil and his gifts actually had a sinister nature to them?). Basic stuff when it comes to inverted Superhero stories.

However…

The way the movie itself goes about things is what makes it interesting, at least to me. It holds a 4.3/10 on IMDB and I don’t believe that’s entirely fair.

Horror, sci-fi, superhero flick with a dash of action and a mandatory splash of romance. With a little bit of cop stuff thrown in for good measure.

Now, I don’t know about you, but that sounds like an awesome time to me. Right up my alley.

The way the movie opens and how the music is initially orchestrated makes it feel very much like early Spider-Man comics. Kinda cheesy, very light and fantastic. And that’s how Quentin himself goes about everything at first. It’s only when he begins to change and the spider within him starts to emerge that the character and movie follow suit with its tone. Like everything becomes a tad pricklier as events goes on.

I won’t spoil the whole thing, not yet. I’m planning on making a video about it at some point (once I get my YouTube Channel up and running - please go and follow me, I’ve only got my early editing videos up right now, but I really would appreciate it, especially for what I’ve got coming up!). I’ll only go over general things for the moment.

Dan Aykroyd is really good in this. It’s a serious role for him, and he carries it so well. There are times when he has to get emotional and he performs it really well. You feel for him, especially when he’s interacting with his wife who has severely fallen out of love with him (to put it lightly), but he hasn’t given up on her yet. You kinda just wanna give him a big hug and tell him to drop her, cause she’s holding him back and he can do better. He plays the grizzled cop who isn’t seen as top notch anymore convincingly too. He carries a unique authority with him but there are elements of vulnerability when he lets his guard down behind closed doors. Honestly, Dan Aykroyd as an actor would not be the first person I would think of for a role like this off the top of my head, but he truly does excel here. Especially when he could’ve coasted and probably would’ve been fine. Not like this movie is something terribly high end.

Then it comes down the the main character, Quentin. The actor, Devon Gummersall, does an absolutely terrific job here. Before this, I hadn’t seen him in or known about him from anything else. He was in the show ‘My So-Called Life’, which I’d never heard of and has appeared in film and tv here and there, but, from what I can tell, nothing major. This is one if his, I believe, few starring roles and he really does do a magnificent job.

You believe him as this nice, kinda shy, very soft person who just wants to make a difference and gather up the nerve to ask out the chick down the hall who he’s been crushing on.

The movie starts with him getting ready for work, feeding his dog, chatting with the local homeless drunk and talking with Stephanie. He gets embarrassed when she does much of the biting back at the resident hoodlums who harass them and walks off on her (admittedly kind of a ‘really dude?’ moment). He feels like he doesn’t have any power or ability to truly fight back. And when his partner is killed during the break in at their work, he is completely devastated as he was quite close with the man. In an almost daze he walks into a destroyed lab that he and his partner had surveyed earlier (musing on the spider experiments), and lets himself get injected with the unknown stuff that the scientists had been pumping from one spider to another.

Not a great plan, typically.

Dude doesn’t know if that stuff would just completely melt his insides or give him a super-disease or what.

But, either way, the transformation is a slow one and, jumping ahead here, when we finally do get the physical parts, they’re pretty goddamn incredible.

I honestly wish there was more of them. They come in close to the third act and he doesn’t go full-spider until the last maybe fifteen minutes.

I wanted more. But hey, that’s just me.

The Fly doesn’t have a complete monster spectacle until the last ten minutes and that was pretty friggin’ awesome. But, I think the reason why I wish there was more in Earth vs The Spider, is because the transformation isn’t physical for the longest time here. Unlike The Fly. Not saying that’s a detriment. But I would’ve loved for the Stan Winston team to have flaunted their fantastic practical work a little more.

You see corpses in here too, emaciated like the fluids have been sucked out - they somewhat resemble mummies. This was cool and I definitely wanted more of it. Hell, a character even shoots himself to avoid this fate (being eaten). But we never see Quentin feed. We only ever see the aftermath. Personally, I would’ve LOVED seeing Quentin completely lost to his new and terrifying nature, feasting on helpless victims. I’m a sucker for monsters, what can I say?

The use of CGI, like I briefly mentioned at the start, is a little off, but thankfully applied sparingly.

As an example; there’s a moment when four Chelicerae (fangs, jaws, pincers - according to Wikipedia) forcibly grow out of his mouth. He’s looking in the mirror when this happens and we see it head-on in a really weird and fast CG effect. When we next see him, the actor has two practical appendages attached to his mouth (moving too). I’m happy they don’t rely on the CG. They employ it only when necessary.

All throughout the movie, Quentin makes you feel sad for him and even root for him much of the time. Sometimes you have to give him an eye roll or two, but for the most part, you’re on his side. And it is sorta heartbreaking when he starts to change (his behaviour, namely).

One criticism of Brightburn is that the personality change in the main character comes a little too swiftly, and there’s not enough transition.

I don’t believe that’s necessarily the case for Earth vs The Spider.

It’s not nearly as emotional or, for lack of a better term, deep as The Fly, but Quentin does start off as such a sweet person who’s just that little bit frustrated with life and his role in it. He’s innocent.

Even during his transformation, you can tell he’s fighting it and is frightened. He sends his dog to Stephanie at one point because he doesn’t want the little guy hurt.

There’s even a point where he asks out loud (to no one in particular) for someone to stop him. He’s hungry, he’s changing. He doesn’t want to hurt anyone but he’s slowly losing himself to his new nature. He hangs on to his humanity for as long as he can, but that doesn’t stop him from webbing people up and killing others.

On a somewhat lesser note, I feel like this guy could really thrive in the general Monster Fandom. Especially Monster Fkers. He starts out as a really sweet and bright-eyed guy, only to turn into a viscous creature who is tormented by his own self. His character is perfect for sympathy but also the thrill of fright.

Or maybe that’s just me.

[Wouldn’t completely classify myself as a Monster Fker, but I try not to discriminate either. Far as I’m concerned, enjoy what you enjoy - just don’t force it on others or bring others down because you don’t agree - so long as nobody’s getting hurt everything’s cool.]

((And if you’re into more submissive men like I am, that little moment in the movie when he’s lying down on his bed worried for Stephanie who’s trying to get into his apartment and his shirt is open so you can see he’s actually got chest hair and isn’t waxed…does certain things to you -just setting aside the fact that his stomach is mutating and pulsating and doing weird sh!t (lookin’ like a baby alien got lost) ~ or maybe you’re into that, I don’t know-))

Anyway, on another side note, been thinking of writing something for him.

Actually, been thinking of writing stuff for a ton of characters. I started out my internet interaction days writing FanFiction (no, I’m not going to direct anyone to it, I’d prefer to live in my preteen-to-teen shame by myself so that I don’t die early of embarrassment).

And I always enjoyed it, writing I mean, but I’ve been wanting to try my hand at actual reader inserts for the longest time.

My tastes in fictional men have tended to fall towards the severely underrated kind. So much so that there’s either nothing or very little for them out there (the movies or the characters).

I actually wrote a Duane Bradley from Basket Case reader insert little over a year ago. That’s another guy who doesn’t get nearly as much love as he probably should. It’s probably really clunky, but if anyone wants to read it, definitely let me know.

But yeah, anyway, back to Quentin.

I feel his character would do well in the monster loving community.

Doesn’t hurt also that the actor is pretty easy on the eyes too.

I personally did my Ace (Grey?) thing where I didn’t notice how cute he was until I started to like the character more (after watching the movie for the third time).

I’ve reached this point where the movie won’t leave my head and I’ve begun casually looking through the actor’s filmography to see if there’s anything else that piques my interest.

But yeah, anyway, I think that’s the majority of what I wanted to get out here.

The movies pretty damn good and I highly recommend you track it down.

I have the same need to bring this film to people’s attention as I do for Dead & Breakfast (2004) (that’s another fun flick).

So I will definitely end up making videos about both movies.

Hell, I might even do another breakdown post for Dead & Breakfast specifically just so I can get my core thoughts off my chest.

So, Earth vs The Spider (2001)…

What do you think about it?

Have you seen it?

Do you want to?

By all means, let’s discuss.

I’ve really come to love this movie and I hope I can bring it to more people’s attention!

[webcomics-out-of-context]

Source: [Spinnerette]

[elcuervoborracho]

Today’s warmup sketch, I felt like this one was good enough to post today, further elaborating on the design of an NPC from the superhero game I’m running.

Augury is the insanely wealthy leader of The Masquerade, a Swedish superhero team that favors control over direct fighting. Many of their ranks are double agents, infiltrating several international villain factions.

“Why fight some villain’s thugs when you can just hire them?” 

[cassiekayscreams]

Striped: Prologue and Chap 1

Striped

A Marvel OC Fanfic by Cassie Kay

A03 link

Prologue

     Tokyo, Japan. 1990.

Elegantly dressed guests chatted amongst themselves as they sat in a beautifully decorated grand hall. Servers in white button-ups, black vests, and slacks moved quietly between their tables. One, a young woman with dark red hair, got a few disapproving looks from the guests. Dyed hair was considered trashy. Many of these high society guests wondered how such a server had been allowed into this classy event. Even despite this, most of the guests ignored her, as they did the other servers. 

A man took the stage and tapped on a microphone, getting everyone’s attention. He began speaking about the awards ceremony and thanking everyone for joining them. The guests clapped. The man then began announcing winners, who would come up to claim their rewards, bowing to both the announcer and the crowd. A few awards in, a beautiful woman - an actress - was called up. She smiled as the crowd cheered and made her way to the stage. She bowed to the audience, then to the announcer, but was interrupted before she could be handed her reward. 

A figure leapt onto the stage from somewhere up above. They wore traditional kendogi, complete with armor. Instead of the typical protective helmet worn for the kendo sport, the figure wore a red hannya mask. And instead of a bamboo sword, they wielded a far more deadly katana. 

Chaos erupted in the elegant hall. The masked figure shouted at the actress and threatened her with the sword. Guests and servers alike fled out of the hall. Security rushed in, though they seemed unsure what to do. In all of the activity, no one noticed the red haired server calmly slip into a side hall. 

The announcer struggled to reason with the mask figure, causing them to direct their katana at him. The announcer fell quiet as the sharp blade was pointed at his throat. But before the figure could do anything else, a loud roar was heard as a different figure landed on the stage. The first turned to face the newcomer, their voice frightened as they murmured “Tora no On'na.” 

The new figure wore traditional aikidogi and a mask that depicted a tiger’s face in the style of a traditional Gigaku mask. Unusually, however, the figure also had tiger ears atop their head and a tiger tail that emerged from their lower back. The feminine figure’s long hair looked much like a tiger’s fur. 

The one called Tora no On’na lunged at her opponent, swiping with clawed hands. The kendo hannya tried to fight her off with their sword, but the newcomer was too swift for them and was able to dodge away from these attacks. The kendo hannya became progressively more and more frustrated. This was ultimately their downfall. Tora no On’na struck their hand, causing them to drop their katana, then swept their feet out from under them in a smooth motion. The hannya mask fell from their face as the would-be attacker hit the floor, revealing a young woman. The actress gasped as she recognized her assistant. Tora no On’na held the katana pointed at the assistant’s throat. The young woman looked up at her in shock and fear. 

The security officers no longer seemed unsure of what to do and rushed onto the stage, taking the fallen kendo hannya into custody. They tried to capture Tora no On’na as well, but she turned and vanished behind the stage curtains. A few officers followed, but had lost sight of the vigilante. All they could find was the kendo hannya’s katana.

Chapter 1

     Seattle, Washington. 1996.

Students bustled into West Seattle High, seeking shelter from the drizzling rain typical of a Washington February. Tora entered one of the three arched doors and walked into the entrance hallway with its arched ceilings that sort of reminded her of European catacombs. She supposed the architectural feature was also probably used in buildings made for the living, but the pictures of catacombs had stuck with her. She made her way to her locker, opening it up and unpacking the books she’d need for the day. 

“Tora!” 

Tora turned to see a dark-skinned girl with her hair pulled back in a high ponytail approaching. “Hey, Alaina.” 

“Did you hear?” Alaina asked as she came to stand by Tora. 

“Hear what?” Tora shut her locker. 

“Last night Tigress caught another group of Snatchers.” 

“Ah.” The two started making their way down the hall. 

“She’s made more progress gathering those thieves up than the police have made in the past ten years.” 

“I’m sure the police were doing their best. But they’ve got limitations and checks and balances and stuff. Tigress tends to just go and do as she pleases.” 

Alaina rolled her eyes. “Tora, please don’t tell me you’re one of those ‘Tigress is breaking the law and needs to be brought to justice’ types. She’s doing a lot of good.”

“No, I mean, I’m not against Tigress, I’m just saying that police have a lot of rules - and for good reason - that Tigress doesn’t have,” Tora replied. “I’m saying we shouldn’t totally discount the police. Tigress can do a lot, but I don’t think she could take over the jobs of all the police officers and detectives in Seattle.”

Aliana nodded. “That’s fair, I guess.” 

Aliana kept talking and walking, but Tora was no longer paying attention; she’d been distracted by something down an adjacent hall. 

“Tora?” Aliana asked, turning to look at her. 

“Hey hey, stop! Here’s my lunch money, okay, just take it!” 

Tora scowled and stalked down the hall to where a tall blonde kid wearing a football letterman’s jacket had pinned a smaller freshman to the lockers. 

“Rick!” Tora said loudly. The bully turned to look at her. “Why dontcha leave the kid alone and pick on someone your own size.” 

Rick looked her up and down. “What, like you?”

Tora shrugged and smirked. “Sure, if ya wanna embarrass yourself again.” Rick glowered, and Tora’s expression turned hard again. “Let the kid go, Rick.” 

The two stared at one another for a moment, then Rick released the freshman’s shirt, shoving him slightly as he did so. “Whatever, I’m done with him anyways.” 

“Rick,” Tora said, her tone making the football player pause as he’d started walking away. Tora held out her hand expectantly. “The lunch money.” 

Rick glowered but handed over the crumpled money before walking away. 

“Are you okay?” Aliana asked the freshman, helping to gather his things. 

“Y-yeah, yeah I’m good,” the kid replied nervously. 

“I don’t think I’ve seen you around before,” Aliana commented. 

“Yeah, uh, I just transferred. Today’s my first day here.” 

“I’m sorry that had to be your first introduction to our school,” Aliana said with a slight wince. “I promise not everyone’s like that. I’m Aliana Carter, one of the senior class reps.” She held out her hand and the kid hesitantly shook it. 

“Bryson Hewitt.” 

“Nice to meet you Bryson.” 

Tora nodded to him as she handed back his lunch money. “Tora Amatsumi, official Rick wrangler.” She nodded in the direction of the aforementioned bully. “If he ever bothers you again, you let me know.” 

“How can you help?” Bryson asked doubtfully. 

“He’s scared of me,” Tora answered. “He tried picking on me our sophomore year. It didn’t go so well for him.”

Bryson looked surprised. “But why would he pick on you?”

“Well, I’d just moved here from Japan. My accent was thicker, my English was a little unpracticed. But my reflexes didn’t suffer. Seriously, he gives you trouble, I’ll give him more.” 

Bryson nodded. “I’ll keep that in mind. Thanks.” 

“Do you know where your first class is?” Aliana asked. 

Bryson pulled out a folded piece of paper. “Yeah, uh, science with Mr. Bolton, room 107?”

“Oh Mr. Bolton’s a great teacher, one of the only science classes I actually understood,” Aliana replied. “Come on, we’ll show you where it is.” 

////

Tora sat in math class, a newspaper open, folded so that both it and her notebook could fit on the small desk. She was reading over today’s main article: “Tigress Captures Yet Another Group of Surrealist Snatchers.” But she was less focused on the notes about Tigress’s activities the previous night and more focused on the notes at the end:

“The annual Alistair Art Gala is being held this upcoming Friday night. Detectives from the Seattle Police Department assure all guests that there will be increased security and an increased police presence, so as to ensure this high target event will remain safe. As always, anyone with any information about Surrealist Snatcher whereabouts is encouraged to call the following number.” 

Tora jotted down a few notes. The Alistairs were high society art collectors, and every year they put on a grand event in central Seattle to show off some of their favorite artists. It, of course, seemed like an obvious target for a group of art thieves. But that was the problem. It was too obvious. Especially with the increased police presence, there was no way the Snatchers would actually strike there. But it also created another opportunity. With all of the law enforcement focus on the gala, it would be a perfect time for the thieves to strike elsewhere. Tora turned the pages of the newspaper, scouring it for any sign of other art events this weekend. 

“Miss Amatsumi.” 

Tora looked up from her research to see her math teacher, Mr. Vincent, standing in front of her desk, looking cross. “Yes, sir?” 

“While I am pleased to see you are trying to be an informed citizen, this is a math class,” he replied, scowling at her newspaper and notebook - all of the notes written in Kanji, which her teacher most definitely could not read. “You are to be spending this time working on your homework.” 

“Oh, I know, I finished it,” Tora answered, pulling it out from under her notebook. 

“Finished it? Already?”

“Yes, sir.” 

“And you double checked your work?”

“Triple, actually.”

Mr. Vincent squinted his eyes at her suspiciously. “Then you won’t mind if I check over your work?”

“Not at all,” Tora replied, handing him the paper. “And if you don’t mind, I’ll go back to becoming an ‘informed citizen’ while you do.” 

The teacher appeared to not enjoy having his own words repeated back to him like this, but he took her assignment and returned to his desk at the back of the room. Tora went back to searching the newspaper. 

Some time later, the bell rang, toning the end of class. 

“You’re dismissed,” Mr. Vincent called. “Except you, Miss Amatsumi. Please come see me.” 

Tora grabbed her stuff and made her way to the back of the room, ignoring the looks her classmates were giving as they left. “Yes sir?”

Mr. Vincent looked up at her disapprovingly. “I’ve graded your homework assignment. It is 100% correct.”

“I know it is, sir. Are you worried I’m cheating or something?”

He sighed. “No, I’ve looked over your work and I’m confident it’s your own. You switched into my class at the start of the semester. For the past several weeks I have seen you in here, completing your class and homework assignments early, then using the time to do other homework, or nap, or scribble nonsense in that notebook of yours.”

“Actually, sir, it’s kanji. The written form of the Japanese language? Not nonsense.”

“Yes, of course, my apologies. Still, my concern is that you are bored.”

“Oh, no sir, I’m not bored at all. In fact, I really enjoy your class. It’s an excellent time for me to relax, catch up on sleep or other homework, become an informed citizen, and of course scribble rather entertaining nonsense.” 

Mr. Vincent pursed his lips and stared at her for a moment. “Miss Amatsumi, you are an intelligent student, and you are especially good at math. I think that perhaps you should be in a higher level math class, rather than toiling here in something that is clearly below your level.”

“Oh, no thank you, sir. That’s kind of you, but as I said, I do rather enjoy your class. But I appreciate the compliments. If you don’t mind, I really need to be going now. We only have half an hour for lunch, and it’s pizza day.” 

Mr. Vincent gave a long sigh. “Very well.” 

Tora gave a slight bowing nod to him, then left the room. 

Aliana was already waiting by Tora’s locker when she got here. “Hey, you okay? You normally beat me here.” 

“Yeah, Mr. Vincent just asked me to stay after.”

“What for?”

“Oh, you know. He just wanted to tell me that I’m good at math and should look into moving to a more advanced class while also insulting my entire culture.” 

Aliana shook her head. “But why don’t you switch to a more advanced class? I mean, it’d at least get you away from Mr. Vincent and his immense cultural sensitivity.” 

“Honestly? I like having an easy class,” Tora answered, putting her books away. “I know most people use electives for that, but all of my electives are gym classes, and I can’t really nap or catch up on homework during those. It’s like having a free period. Besides, we’re several weeks into the second semester. There’d be way too much to catch up on in another class.”

Aliana shrugged. “Fair enough. Come on, you know the lunch line’s gonna be extra long today.” 

They made their way to the cafeteria and eventually got their food, going to sit with their friends. 

“Hey guys!” A tan, ponytailed blonde happily greeted. 

“Hey, Crissella,” Aliana replied as she sat down. 

Tora also sat, eyeing Rick, who had his arm around Crissella. Rick opted to ignore her. They were an odd couple. At surface level, it made sense; the football player and the cheerleader. But she was just so sweet and nice to everyone, and he was… Not. 

“Did you guys have a good weekend?” Crissella asked. 

“Yeah, I went and saw that new Tom Cruz movie,” Aliana answered. 

“Isn’t he so dreamy?” Crissella mused. Rick scowled, but Crissella quickly turned to him, putting her hand on his arm. “Oh don’t you worry, honey. I’d always pick you over him.”

“You kidding?” Aliana asked. “You’d pick Rick over a hot, famous, rich actor?” 

“Sure, he’s nice eye candy and I enjoy his movies, but let’s be real, he’s a little old for me,” Crissella replied. “And I love my Ricky.” She kissed his cheek. 

Tora rolled her eyes at the lovey-dovey couple. “Get a room, why dontcha.” 

Rick looked annoyed but Crissella only giggled. “How about you, Tora? Did you have a nice weekend?” 

Tora shrugged. “It was fine. Ya know, just hung out at home with my parents… Nothing special…” 

“Come to think of it, I don’t think I’ve ever met your folks,” Aliana commented. 

“Oh, well, ya know, they’re busy,” Tora said, focus on her pizza. “And their English isn’t super great. They’re kinda embarrassed about it.” 

“I’m sure they’re lovely,” Crissella said, smiling. 

“Oh yeah, real nice,” Tora murmured. 

A few others sat down at the table, bringing with them new discussions, and thankfully turning the focus away from Tora and her well crafted lies. 

////

Tora unlocked her front door and walked in, promptly shutting and locking the door behind her. She made her way through the simple living room, passing the kitchen, and headed down the hall. She passed the first bedroom, which was set up like a home gym. She then entered the second bedroom, which was a little more peculiar. There was a corner desk in the middle of the opposite wall, making it so part of the desk followed along the wall and the other stuck out into the middle of the room. A computer rested on it and it was otherwise full of papers. On the wall to the left was a large cork board with various pictures and news articles pinned up, along with notes written in kanji. Red string drew connections between some of the items. To the side of that, hung on mounted hangers, was a costume, complete with a mask that rested on top of a small shelf. The wall opposite of that one had a TV set up. 

Tora dropped her bag, turned on the tv, and walked to the opposite wall. She paused to look in the mirror that hung between the costume and the corkboard. She took a deep breath, then gave a low growl, and her appearance in the mirror began to change. Deep red hair turned to a tan-orange, accentuated by black stripes. Her ears shifted to the top of her head, becoming larger and covered in fur. A tail sprouted from her lower back. Medium green eyes became bright, her pupils becoming slits rather than circles. 

Tora let out a relieved sigh, pulling her hair out of its ponytail and rubbing her neck. “Much better.” She turned her attention to the corkboard. The newspaper clippings were all focused on Tigress and the Surrealist Snatchers. The Snatchers were an art thief ring that had been terrorizing the Seattle area for nearly ten years. Occasionally members had been caught, but it’d never been enough to get more information. The group frequently held jailbreaks for their captured members. And even if they weren’t broken out, they seemed content knowing that the group would still be there when they got out. None of them turned on the other Snatchers. The leadership was unknown. Over the past couple of months, Tigress had been slowly wearing down their numbers. The costumed vigilante with tiger ears, a tail, and striped hair would get to the thieves before the cops, beat them up, then deliver them to the police. Of course, she was able to get information out of them before handing them over. Unsurprisingly, they were a little more willing to talk to a rogue vigilante than rule-abiding police. 

Tora pinned up today’s article, along with her new page of notes. Their numbers were dwindling. The leaders would have to get involved in the dirty work soon. She was sure of it. After finding no new revelations in the corkboard collage, she crossed to the desk, sitting down and starting to sort through papers. 

“More sad news as detectives report the latest in the string of murders terrorizing Washington state,” the news anchor was saying. Tora paused her searching to look up at the tv. 

“Yes, for those unfamiliar, there seems to be a serial killer making their way through The Evergreen State. The body of Catherine Everett found this morning is the seventh connected to this same killer.”

“Thus far detectives have been rather tight lipped about the serial killer’s methods. They have said that the killer seems to be using homemade guns and artillery. They also caution everyone to be smart; as always, be sure to lock your doors and windows at night. If you see anything suspicious or have any information on the killer’s wearabouts, please call it in.” 

Tora tapped her desk as she kept watching the report. This serial killer was definitely a serious deal. She wondered if the detectives actually knew much more than they were sharing, or if they were really at a loss for leads. Either way they could surely use some help. She sighed. The Surrealist Snatchers were almost wrapped up. Just one last capture. Then she’d have them. And then she’d deal with this serial killer. Just one more mission. 

She sighed and went back to searching the papers. She paused to look more closely at an ad. “Madame Margerie’s Art Gallery announces a new exhibition opening this weekend.” Tora cocked her head, then turned to the computer, looking up Madame Margerie’s Art Gallery. It appeared to be a smaller, privately owned art gallery in downtown Seattle. The new exhibition focused on surrealist paintings. The paintings would be put up for auction after a period of being displayed. Given the starting bid prizes… It sure wasn’t a big art gala, but it definitely was a perfect target.

Tora’s realization was interrupted as a glassy orb floated up off her desk, emitting a melodic tone and a green glow. “Crap, is that today?!” 

Tora snatched the orb out of the air and walked around the desk. When she released it, it stayed suspended in the air. She tapped its surface a few times, then spread her fingers out across it before stepping back. A beam of light shone out of it, performing a full body scan. The glow then changed to blue and four holographic figures appeared before her. The figures were all were-tigers like Tora - they had the tiger-like ears, tail, cat eyes, and striped hair. 

The older looking woman spoke first. “Tora, darling!”

“Hi, Mom,” Tora greeted. 

“It’s good to see you, dear. I-“ She paused, looking Tora over. “Dear, what are you wearing? Are those- Rips? In your pants? Surely you can afford clothing that isn’t destroyed.”

“Oh, uh, I can,” Tora replied. “But ripped jeans are kinda the style here.” 

“You mean to tell me the Terrans are purposefully wearing ripped clothing?” 

“Yup. It’s all the rage.” Tora decided to leave out the part of it being popular within the grunge community, not necessarily all fashion. She didn’t really need her mom micromanaging her clothing choices from several light years away. “Just tryin’ to blend in.” 

“You didn’t really expect Terran fashion to be up to your standards, did you Mother?” A younger woman replied. She smiled at Tora. “Hi, Tora.” 

“Hi, S̄eụ̄x,” Tora replied, smiling at her older sister. 

“Yes, well, Tyhr, go get your father please,” Tora’s mother said. The smallest of the holographic figures - Tora’s younger brother - started to walk away, his attention on some sort of handheld device, as it had been during the conversation. After a certain distance, his hologram simply disappeared from view. 

“Now, Tora, how is school going?” Her mother said, looking back at her. 

“Oh, great. In fact, just today my math teacher was telling me how well I’m doing in his class.”

“You? Good at math?” The final figure, Tora’s older brother, scoffed. Tora stuck her tongue out at him. 

“Khla, be nice,” their mother chastised. Nonetheless, Khla stuck his tongue out at Tora when their mother wasn’t looking in his direction. 

“And what of your Magintan studies?” Mom carried on. “While the chance to learn and spend time on Terra is very exciting, you mustn’t fall behind on your proper education for when you return to your own planet.”

“I’ve still got like twenty years to finish all that,” Tora replied dismissively. “I’ll get to it.” 

Her mother didn’t like that answer. “Tora, you had better not be wasting your time partying. Remember why we decided it was best to send you there in the first place.” 

“No, Mom, I’m not partying. I, uh-” Tora looked past her holographic family, eyes fixing on her costume. How could she explain to her mom what had been taking up so much of her time? “I’ve been volunteering.”

“Volunteering, huh?” Her mom replied, not quite approving, but at least not disapproving. 

“You know, helping out people in need. It’s been good for me. Gives me purpose. Reminds me how lucky I am. And it’s fun. But it keeps me pretty busy.”

Her mother sighed. “Very well. Just make sure to get that work done before you come home. We can’t have you unprepared for advanced schooling just because you’ve been living on a primitive planet.” 

“Don’t worry Mom, I’ll get it done. I promise.” 

Tyhr’s hologram reappeared as he wandered back into view, still not looking up from his device. 

“Tyhr, where is your father?” Mom asked. 

“He said he was in an important call and he’d come later,” Tyhr replied. 

“Oh, for fang’s sake,” her mother said, exasperatedly rolling her eyes. “Tora, dear, I’ll be right back.” The hologram of her mother soon vanished, as Tyhr’s had. 

“So, Tora,” S̄eụ̄x said, stepping up to fill their mother’s spot. “You told mom all about how responsible you’re being. Tell me all about the fun stuff. Are you hanging out with friends? Any cute boys catching your fancy?” 

“Uh, no,” Tora replied flatly. 

“Oh, c’mon Tora,” S̄eụ̄x replied. “No one at all? No dates or crushes or anything?”

“Again, no.” 

“Seriously, S̄eụ̄x. Do you really want her going on dates with guys we can’t screen out for her?” Khla interrupted. 

“Oh, yeah, because you screened her previous boyfriends so well.” S̄eụ̄x rolled her eyes while Khla bristled.

“Guys, really.” Tora spoke up quickly before a fight broke out between her siblings. “I’m not really interested in dating right now. I’m pretty busy with the volunteering thing. Besides, it’s kinda hard to date when I live so much longer than everyone around me.” 

“I guess that’s fair,” S̄eụ̄x replied. “I just want to make sure you’re still having fun, Tora. Sure, you’ve gotta do the responsible stuff, too. But you can’t have all work and no play. You’re only 164 years old. You’ve gotta enjoy your youth.” 

“Don’t worry, I’m good,” Tora assured her. “I really am enjoying this volunteering thing. It’s a lot of fun. It’s actually more of a ‘fun’ thing than a ‘responsible’ thing.” 

“Alright,” S̄eụ̄x conceded, though she still didn’t seem super satisfied. 

The holographic figure of their mother reappeared, along with a new figure. 

“Hi, Dad,” Tora greeted. 

“Hello, Tora.” 

“How’s business?” 

“It’s going well. I’m trying to land a deal with Ylonda and-”

“Darling,” Tora’s mom interrupted. “I don’t think Tora wants to hear about work.” 

“She asked,” Dad said defensively. 

“I did,” Tora agreed. “I don’t see you guys much. I want to know what’s going on in your life.” 

“Oh, well, in that case,” Mom said, smiling brightly, clearly excited. “Let me tell you all about our last show.” 

Khla shot Tora a “look what you’ve done” glare. Tora smiled and listened to her parents tell her all about their fashion show, with S̄eụ̄x chiming in occasionally.

Footnotes: 

S̄eụ̄x (Thai) is pronounced like “sue-ah”/”sua”

Khla (Khmer) is pronounced like a cross between “clay” and “claw”

Tyhr (Ukranian) is pronounced like “tear,” as in a tear drop, but with a bit more of a rolled R 

Next

[tenderribcage]

Fixed it uwu

[uglynavel]

You know what I'm just gonna say it. Fuck Captain Marvel

Tumblr can attack me all they want but Monica Rambeau was the first female captain marvel, and she was the first black female superhero to join the Avengers.

She was a dark skin woman with curly hair/locks and was a grown ass woman.

The fact that they made her a light skinned child (no offense to the actress shes beautiful) that "looked up" to Carol danvers is racist (since Brie Larson and all of tumblr wanna make Captain Marvel a political statement.) If Brie and marvel/disney really wanted to give opportunities to women of color, they would have given Monica the movie and a black woman the role.

Let's be honest. Carol Danvers is boring af and no one reads her comics. Shes one of the most bland female heroes in the marvel universe. So call me misogynistic or whatever the fuck but fuck Carol Danvers, fuck Brie Larson and fuck Marvel/disney studios for this mediocre ass movie .

Also Fury losing his eye because of the cat is fucking stupid.

[lovelytonys]

At the end of Into the Spider-Verse, Miles Morales told me that I could be Spider-Man so naturally I made my own spider person

[manofmanymons]

Dearly Beloved Supherhero Trope;

Survive did it better.

Piedmon is concerned about a real problem, their world collapsing, and naturally the annoying children won't sit still and die for them, and rudely complain about him trying to send murderous minions to kill them.

B U T

The annoying kids do save the two worlds (by merging them) so :P superhero trope

Shoutout to the Survive cast for stopping the bad guy but then also actually addressing and solving the Very Real Problem the bad guy was trying to fix instead of just going "I disagree with you therefore you are the ultimate evil and the sole thing I must defeat"

The heroes we deserve

[popculturebuffet]

TIME FOR ANOTHER POLL PEOPLE! 

After my previous Danny Phantom one was a success I decided to branch this out into other stuff. As such my next pic is the start of a new yearly tradition: 

For Valentine’s Day, the time of love and romance i’m going to review a superhero wedding each year! And YOU guys get to pick it! In addition as is now tradition for most polls, my wonderful Patrons get to each pick one of the voting options. So if you sign up today you too can add something to the mix or get to decide on the next poll. Patrons also get a FREE REVIEW ON SIGNUP of one issue of a comic or episode of a tv show (or tv special around that length), and 5 dollar backers get a review a month, and still get the sign on bonus. 

JOIN IT RIGHT HERE

But enough needed and shameless self promotion because I barely make anything, let’s get into the important part: what your choices are and what wonderful wedding clusterfucks you can vote on so i’ll review one of these lucky nuptials. Our Bridal and Gromal contestiants are...

The Vision and the Scarlet Witch and Swordsman and Mantis (Giant Sized Avengers #4, selected by Emma) : Everyone’s faviorite synthoid and witchy and kinda sorta mutant have a wedding fit for two loveable misfits: nearly getting killed by Dread Dormammu, getting married alongside a space goddess and the tree husband homncluus version of her dead boyfriend by a space-time wizard guy who fucks with Wanda’s head later because shut up. If that sounds confusing how do you think I feel having to make sense of it all if it gets picked hmmm?

Doc Ock and Aunt May (Amazing Spider-Man 130 and 131, selected by kev): It’s a tale as old as time: Boy Meets girl, boy keeps girl at his crime mansion , then plans to marry girl to get her atomic island but has to fight her Spider-Powered and a hammer headed dick tracey villian if he wants to get her to the church on time... the church he built in his crime mansion. 

Gambit and Rogue (X-Men Gold #30 and Mr and Mrs X #1): What happens when your big russian friend gets stood up by your slightly younger friend whose age is a constant question mark because comic books are a nightmare timeline wise? Simple you steal the wedding for yourself! After decades of ups and downs from Gambit being left for dead after being revealed to have oopsy daisy helped with a masss murder, to Rogue’s mom posing as a teen to try to seduce him, to Rogue choosing Magneto over him and everything in between, one of the x-men’s big power couples finally reunites and ties the knot. 

Mr Fantastic and the Invisible Woman (Fantastic Four Annual #4, selected by Tyler): The first major wedding of the marvel universe begins both one of it’s happiest and longest lasting relationships.. and the tradition of these weddings getting really weird and chaotic REALLY quick as Dr. Doom causes every costumed jackass in the marvel unvierse at the time to swarm on the happy couple as every superhero in the marvel universe at the time teams up to stop them. 

Titania and The Absorbing Man (Avengers Unplugged #4): Even criminals can have a nice, calm respectful wedding as long time She Hulk and regular Hulk sparring partners Titania and Absorbing Man finally say I do.. or at least try too as some misunderstandings lead to the avengers crashing this happy day. Will our couple end up together forever or apart behind bars? 

So you have your options, you have full info all you have to do is click the link up there and GET OUT AND VOTE. Winner will be announced in one week. LET’S DO THIS. 

[herosuffering]

So hot... the weapon master exhibits Superman as his trophy boy... cockily posing before the fallen supherhero, admiring his conquest and rubbing his bulge! Super hot!!!

[you-guys--are-losers]

i.t.b. masterlist

This is where you can find all content for my in-progress Supherhero!MJ AU, Into the Black. 

Playlist

Chapters: 

all hands on deck