#the first time that social anxiety was used to defeat a supervillain

[thebibliomancer]

Essential Avengers: Avengers #119: Night of the Collector

January, 1974

Oh gee, I wonder who the mystery villain this time is going to be?

Bonus points for the Collector using high tech pins to literally pin up the Avengers like they were insects. Although he was nice enough not to stick the pins through their flesh parts.

A villain did that to Hank Pym once. It was not pleasant.

We start off our issue with the Avengers having to bum a ride from SHIELD since they hitched a teleport from Dr. Strange to the Los Angeles battle. Along for the ride is Loki, ‘mind-drained’ as a result of having Dormammu blasted right through his brain in the penultimate issue of the Avengers/Defenders War.

There’s some casual conversation that serves to keep some plot points active. Cap reassures Vision that anyone can freeze up in a moment of danger like Vision did with the quicksand. Mantis worries about Swordsman’s wounds but he says he just feels a little weak. Iron Man privately hopes Scarlet Witch isn’t still on her anti-human kick after how she blew off Nick Fury’s thanks.

And there’s immediately an action scene as the Avengers accidentally set off their own defenses like idiots. I guess because the SHIELD jets were not recognized?

Everyone except Black Panther gets pinned down or blasted in some way. Black Panther manages to make his way to the door and activate the security panel and deactivate it.

Wanda is still in some mood so she criticizes Thor for how easily he was blasted, saying he’s no better than a human.

But since they’ve all just been through a stressful situation, Cap advises to just let it go.

Thor isn’t really that concerned since he has other things on his mind. Like what to do with Loki. Well, he’s gonna keep him.

Can’t return him to Asgard. Odin banished him. And I guess he won’t change his mind just because of a little Dormammu-brain-blasting. But in his childlike state, he can’t just be left to wander free. So Thor is going to confine Loki to a special top-security chamber. But he’s going to get Jarvis to make sure its a comfortable top-security chamber.

Gee! Thor as Loki’s keeper sure is going to change things around here.

Meanwhile, Black Panther pulls Mantis to the side to speak with her on a little one on one. But its nothing serious. Its just... well, nobody knows anything about Mantis’ background and that is a potentially interesting subject to the young absentee king.

During his studies, he was mostly interested in what Western technology could do for his people and never had time to study Eastern philosophies.

According to Black Panther or rather Steve Englehart speaking through Black Panther, Africa is neither Eastern nor Western but as an emerging continent able to profit from the knowledge of both.

So he just wants to know where Mantis studied and what she studied. Stuff like that.

She dismisses her story as an uninteresting recital and slips into some I’s. “As I have said, I am nothing to speak of.”

An answer that a caption highlights as evasive.

But no time to probe deeper. The plot is calling!

Mantis goes into a trance and gets a premonition of sorts that there’s.... danger! In Rutland! Tonight! Halloween!

Oh Rutland. You’re always with the danger on Halloween.

But also, Rutland is where Loki and Dormammu met. It could be connected!

Luckily, Iron Man and Vision had already finished taping a report on the ‘why everything went to hell for about an hour’ crisis for the news networks.

So off the Avengers go, to that most insidious hive of black magic and evil forces. RUTLAND, VERMONT!

And Jarvis watches them go in dismay. He had just finished cooking them a celebratory banquet with individualized dishes for everyone. And now they’re probably just going to stop at McDonald’s on the way.

Poor Jarvis. The forces of evil and sometimes the Avengers just don’t appreciate the work he puts in (Dude is really an unsung hero).

Anyways, Rutland! Its where the Rutland Halloween Parade takes place. Remember it? I talked about it before? It was a famous event organized by real life guy Tom Fagan? It appears in comics frequently and was home to one of the first unofficial crossovers between Marvel and DC?

Rutland!

The Avengers arrive and are greeted by Tom Fagan (dressed as Nighthawk in a little goof that he always dressed as Batman in the real life parade). He wonders if they’re here to join the fourteen annual Halloween Parade.

Scarlet Witch and Vision beg off. There’s danger here and they can find it more easily by themselves.

Swordsman and Mantis beg off too. Mantis doesn’t like the limelight and Swordsman gets itchy when there’s trouble afoot. But they might stop by the party at Fagan’s house afterward.

To that, Tom Fagan smiles deviously and thinks to himself that they have all walked into his most deadly trap! The caption box gets a bit panicked at its old buddy being so sinister.

You and me both, caption box. You and me both.

Thor, Cap, Iron Man, and Black Panther can’t think of an excuse to duck out. Or probably more likely, they love to help out and stand on a thing and wave at crowds. And that’s what they do for the next two hours.

Plus, they had also hoped that a public appearance in the parade would draw out the phantom menace. Which. I mean. Don’t use a parade as bait, you guys. So many bystanders. I shouldn’t have to tell you this.

With the parade over and the townspeople gone, Tom Fagan suddenly turns on the heroes! Just like foreshadowed in that panel on the previous page!

He throws down some pellets which grow into living animal hides that attack the Avengers!

Ostensibly the legendary coats of Hercules (‘from which no truly mortal being can break free!’). The animal hides wrap around the four Avengers and pin them down in what must be a snug, cozy embrace. They work a lot like constrictor snakes apparently. Tightening whenever they Avengers take a breath.

Hmm... who do we know that likes to use crap from mythology as a weapon?

Is Tom Fagan really Hercules in disguise?

No, that would be silly. Although, having the actual Hercules as a recurring character does kind of make it a bit weird to be busting out his wardrobe.

Tom Fagan is really and astoundingly the Collector in disguise!

He’s on the cover. And he’s the one that likes to use mythological crap as a weapon. It was not a hard conclusion to draw.

He was using the tendency for superheroes to show up in Rutland for Halloween to his advantage. Really, he just wanted to capture any superhero to use as a lure for the Avengers but having the Avengers themselves show up just simplifies the plan really.

But once again I’ll curse flawless latex masks. They should turn everyone in the Marvel universe into helpless trembling balls of paranoia.

Kinda impressed that the Collector could fit his dumb outfit under a skintight disguise.

We cut to the Collector already having the four Avengers pinned up in his trophy case. Yes, like on the cover.

And since he failed to get the Avengers twice before, he’s been preparing a long time for this. He acquired Tom Fagan’s old house in Spring and has been modifying it since.

Like most villains, the Collector loves talking to himself.

He explains to the unconscious Avengers that he has spent his lifetime secretly collecting the greatest prizes throughout space and his interstellar ship stores the best objects of all possible worlds.

But apparently what he really needs to highlight his collection is the Avengers. And he’s not picky. He’ll just take the current roster. Which does mean he’s missing four Avengers before he possesses the crowning trophies of his triumphant career.

But enough of that nerd and his shifting motivations (later it will turn out that he wanted the Avengers for a specific task and not just because they’d look neat on his mantle but y’know what they would look neat on his mantle).

We have to meanwhile over to see what Scarlet Witch and Vision are up to. And they are being accosted by fans who want them to sign shit. And Wanda is fed up to here with being harassed so she blasts them away. Probably non-lethally.

Swordsman decides that outburst of violence is as good a time as any to give Wanda and Vision some alone time and skedaddle.

Alone, Wanda rants to Vision. Yes the way she handled the crowd was probably an overreaction but every human always overreacts to them. All she wants is the same rights humans get. But she feels she’s just treated as a thing. Loved as a hero, hated as a mutant. With nobody seeing her as a real being with real feels. She’s just sick of their bigotry.

She wishes that she and Vision could just find an island somewhere and escape the rat race.

Vision replies that running away never truly solves anything. And Wanda says that he doesn’t understand her very well. Humans have been trying to get rid of her all her life and now she’s ready to take them at their word and go. And she thought that Vision would feel the same way and want to come with.

CUTTING AWAY FROM THAT AWKARD, lets see what Swordsman and Mantis are up to. They spend a little time talking about Mantis’ team-up with T’Challa against Dr. Strange but what Swordsman really wants to talk about is them.

“Let’s talk about how much your concern and faith have meant to me in my new life -- how much I’ve come to rely on you, when I never relied on anyone before! I love you, Mantis!”

Awww.

She says she loves him too. And starts to say that all her life she has wanted a strong, heroic man when the smooching couple is interrupted by muffled groans.

Yup. Definitely muffled groans. Swordsman has spent enough time in dark places to know what a gagged person sounds like.

(Swordsman brings so much expertise to the table!)

And they find... the real Tom Fagan?! Just tied up and left in the woods. The Collector, that is no way to treat Tom Fagan.

Mantis cuts Tom loose while Swordsman calls over Vision and Scarlet Witch for a huddle.

Tom confirms that he wasn’t the Tom Fagan that welcomed them to the parade. Tom apologizes. By starting the parade that superheroes would hang out at, he accidentally created the perfect opportunity for a trap. Unfamiliar country, surrounded by people in costumes, superheroes known to chillax here. It was only a matter of time before a supervillain capitalized on it.

But Vision says Tom has done nothing wrong. He provided pleasure for thousands of adults and kids alike. But someone tried to pervert that pleasure for evil and Vision will not let that stand.

He takes Halloween parades very seriously. He practically ‘in the name of the moon’d’ that.

But he also has a plan.

We jump forward twenty minutes later as the Collector prepares his trap. His foolproof plan goes thusly: disguised as Tom Fagan, he invited the Avengers to his party, the Avengers don’t know that Tom moved houses during the past year and that the real party is elsewhere. So they’ll come to this trap house and get trapped.

And he has just the trap for them. Four birthstones that will produce half-mythical Vultures of Nepenthe! (How can something be half-mythical?) But anyway, their electrically-charged talons means that even Vision will fall before them.

And when someone knocks on the door, the Collector prepares to greet his prey...

Tom Fagan?! And a bunch of children? Possibly some drunk adults? What’s going on here?

Well, the party-goers decided to bring the party back to its origins.

And the Collector is immediately besieged by his secret weakness. SOCIAL SITUATIONS (hahaha right there with you buddy)!

Party-goers surround him and insist on shaking his hand and complimenting his costume and trying to share anecdotes with him and

Nope. Nope nope nope. The Collector can’t take it anymore. He flees into the back room.

“Now more than ever, I know why I chose the life of a Collector! It is a solitary life!”

Right there in the black and white. The Collector is an introvert.

He doesn’t want to waste his mint-in-box arsenal on party-goers so he decides he’ll just lock himself in with the trophies and wait until the other heroes arrive

Oh. Hey. Hi guys. Um. Kind of awkward.

Okay. Yeah. Realizing now this was all a diversion.

“YOU THINK YOU CAN COLLECT THE COLLECTOR, DO YOU?”

And he pulls out some infinite bat rocks and bangs them together to summon thousands of vampire bats.

The bats will destroy Rutland unless the heroes let the Collector escape. And just to make sure they don’t get any funny ideas about taking the stones from him, the Collector drops them down a secret shaft. Its all bendy so nobody can climb down it but also wired to explode if the Vision tries to pass through the walls. There’s another secret way to stop the bats but its known only to the Collector. Checkmate, idiots.

Mantis has a counter offer.

And just kicks him right in the face.

She’s been kicking a lot of old people recently.

Mantis tells the other Avengers to protect people from the bats while she climbs down the shaft.

Because. Total bodily control means she’s really flexible.

Meanwhile, Iron Man rewires part of his armor to create an ultra-sonic signal to blanket the area and confuse the bats echolocation and possibly somewhere Matt Murdock has the worst minute of his life. But the power drain is bad so Iron Man can’t keep it up for long.

Thankfully, Mantis has finished wriggling through the mystery tunnel and brings out the two bat stones.

She slams them together and the day is saved, all thanks to Mantis being super flexible.

Afterward, Tom Fagan thanks the Avengers and wonders if there’s anything other than a parade the town can do for them. And Thor does think of something.

So after less than one day of being Loki’s ward, Thor dumps him off on Tom Fagan and Rutland to take care of. Perhaps the life of an Avenger is too hectic for the brain-wiped Loki, perhaps the peaceful cool forests of the Northlands will be a better environment for him, or perhaps Thor just didn’t want to be his brother’s keeper.

Seriously. Thor just passes responsibility for his brother off to Tom Fagan.

Geez, Thor.

Overall though, I really liked this issue. This is one of my favorite appearance for the Collector. Dude doesn’t want to rule the world. Dude just wants the best stuff and the best stuff includes the Avengers.

Also he’s an introverted nerd who uses random mythological crap as his weapons. He’s always doing new stuff because his abilities are only limited to his collection and his collection is only limited by the imagination of the writers which is probably why his stuff tends to be from Earth.

I like this Collector better than when he has an ulterior motive for trying to collect the Avengers or when its revealed he’s an Elder of the Universe, a secretive cabal of old people engaging in weird schemes. I like him as this super old guy, probably an alien, who collects random deadly knickknacks.

I fear that if he tried to collect all the Avengers these days, he’d have a coronary. Almost everyone has been an Avenger at some point now.

[howtohero]

#248 Countdowns

00:19:59

Well, it finally happened, somebody is trying to kill us. I suppose it was only a matter of time really. After all, we teach superheroes how to be superheroes. You could probably trace every foiled evil plot and captured supervillain from the past two and half years back to us. In fact, I recommend you do that right away. Any time evil has been defeated and the world has been saved is on us. We just haven’t been able to say that because we didn’t want villains coming after us, but like we said, somebody is trying to kill us.  (If you are a crime-fighter and take offense at the notion that all of your successes should actually be laid at our feet, please, stuff it, we’re the ones who are about to be killed. The least you could do is let us have this.)

00:19:34

About 26 seconds ago, we received a bomb at our offices. Well, technically we don’t know when the bomb was sent here. We are not good about checking our mail. We’ve all got our excuses. Parenthesis Guy is not allowed within 300 feet of any mailman in our city. (I got turned into a dog once and I was pretty jazzed because finally I could express my utter ire and hatred for mailmen in a socially acceptable fashion. Unfortunately, my colleagues here managed to break the curse just as I was about to pounce on our mailman.) Curly adamantly believes that if the Devil ever comes to collect on the debt Curly owes him, that he will do it through the United States Postal Service. {And I’ve yet to be proven wrong!} Lawyer Guy is a very lazy, good for nothing freeloader who can’t be bothered to pick up a few envelopes off the floor. [I… I don’t work out of your office. Are you guys ok over there?] No, we’re less than 19 minutes away from dying. Dr. Brainwave hasn’t been allowed to touch the mail ever since he built that army of origami robots out of envelopes with our address on them. <Honestly, even I was surprised that no superheroes came to take me away from here after that one.> And me? Well, I refuse to open the mail because I have a crippling fear of inadvertently starting a countdown on an explosive device. Validation has never tasted so sweet. (You were the one who opened it!) It was just my birthday and I thought somebody had sent me a present! {That seems fair actually, it did “Happy Birthday” on the package.} (Ok, but the “birth” part had clearly been crossed out and the word “death” had clearly been written above it.) I thought It was a hilarious gag! But honestly, this is fine. We can make this work for us. Today, for what may very well be our final post, we’re going to talk about countdowns.

00:17:03

I’ve often seen people wonder why supervillains would even include countdowns on so many of their evil schemes. Wouldn’t it be better not to give the heroes a clear timeframe for when their evil plot will be perpetrated? Would it not be better to simply show up, blow something up without warning, and call it a very evil and very successful day? Well, yes and no. While blowing something up with no countdown might result in a very successful and agonizing explosion, it causes the villains to miss out on being able to inflict an additional level of psychological torture on their victims as well. Think about all of us here, huddled around this bomb, watching it countdown. Why, we’re going positively mad. (We’re using this time to talk about the relative value of countdown clocks instead of doing anything productive to actually stop it so, yeah, that’s pretty batty.) Exactly! The mindset of villains is that their victims will suffer from fear, anxiety and desperation as the clock ticks down, and then they’ll get blown up! <Plus, countdown clocks are not really as useful of an early warning system as you seem to think. Most of the time, the numbers displayed on them are inaccurate and the explosive will go off much sooner than you think it will.> (Wait what?) [Seriously, do you need me to call someone?] Maximum torture. Maximum evil. {It’s maximum evil that our office is about to be blown up and you still won’t let us go home early for the day.} You should’ve thought of that before you used up all of your vacation days back in May! {For the thousandth time. I was mugged and in a coma.}

00:15:19

Curly makes a valuable point though. Few things are worth your life, and if you can get out of where you are, you definitely should without wasting any time trying to diffuse the bomb in the time you have left. One of the fun things about having foreknowledge of an impending explosion is that your adrenaline is going to be pumping through the roof. This means that many of your pain receptors will be dampened and you can get away with doing things you would not normally be able to. So you can hurl yourself out a nearby window. Kick down a door. Punch a wall down! Shrink yourself down and flush yourself down the toilet! When there’s a ticking time-bomb in your midst, any way of getting out is going to be safer than sticking around. (It should be noted, dear reader, that ever since our Escapology post all of our doors now lock from the outside and we have to come up with increasingly absurd ways to escape our own offices every evening. So we’ve very much backed ourselves into a corner here.)

00:14:01

If you can’t leave the room you’re in, perhaps the bomb can. Bombs are often much smaller than humans. (Shrinkers notwithstanding. Honestly, if you have access to shrinking technology, you should probably shrink the bomb before you shrink yourself and flush yourself down the toilet.) If you’re able to move the bomb, and you’re fairly confident that nobody around you will be injured, try throwing it out the window, or chucking it down a trash chute, or flushing it down the toilet! <Fortunately, our office is nestled in between two preschools, so no matter which direction we throw the bomb, we win.> That is obviously incorrect and we’re not going to do that, but there isn’t a preschool floating above us. (Wow, good thing we moved last year.) So what we’re going to do now is just pick up the bomb and throw it as high as we can. Worse comes to worst we accidentally blow up a bird or something, but honestly, they’ve had it too good for too long anyway.

00:05:59

Well that was a terrible idea, we should not have touched the bomb and we certainly should not have thrown it through our skylight because it fell right back down and we are 6 minutes closer to death and destruction. <Again, it’s going to be less time than displayed actually.> [Why do you guys even have a skylight that opens?] (When we first started How To Hero, we operated out of a car that had a dope sunroof and we’ve been chasing that high ever since.) If throwing the bomb doesn’t work, or it causes the timer to speed up, you might want to look into alternative methods of stopping the bomb from going off. Thankfully, we live in a world of superheroes and a world of superheroes is a world of fantastical science! We could use a time-dilation bubble to slow down the timer forever! We could open up a portal to a dead universe and drop the bomb through it! We could send it back in time! We could send it forward in time and make it tomorrow’s problem! We could use a technology neutralizer to neutralize the technology in the bomb! We could call upon our bomb-diffusing robot, Todd! The possibilities are endless! Well, not for us. Unfortunately, we keep our time-dilator, portal generator, time machine, and technology neutralizer in an offsite storage unit that is at least an 8-minute walk away. (Plus we’ve locked ourselves in.) And unfortunately, Todd the bomb-disposal robot is a disco convention in Tallahassee (he is a robot of many interests!) and it will definitely take him more than 4 minutes and 33 seconds to get here (and he has definitely been screening our calls).

00:04:29

If you can’t get rid of the bomb using the power of science fiction, you might have better luck simply disconnecting the timer from the bomb. If the timer isn’t connected to the bomb the bomb won’t know what time to explode and it probably just won’t! Maybe! I don’t know, we’ve only got 4 minutes to save ourselves. (Readers are encouraged to start playing “4 Minutes” by Madonna……….. Now!) If the timer is attached to the bomb with screws unscrew them. If it’s scotch taped just cut through the tape. If it’s a series of different colored wires… ah, hm. Which wire are you supposed to cut? Does anybody know? (Blue.) {Green.} <Chartreuse.>  So, no. Guys, come on, you’re looking at the bomb, you know none of the wires are those colors. Ok so we can’t remove the timer, we can’t move the bomb, and we’re stuck in here. (And Todd the robot who diffuses bombs won’t answer our calls.) Right, and Todd the bomb-bot won’t pick up the phone.  (Can’t really blame him though. You know how much he loves disco. He probably didn’t even bring his phone.) He is a robot his phone is in his head. {So, where does that leave us?}

00:03:30

If you can’t remove yourself, the bomb, or the timer from the situation, another thing you can do is to contain the bomb, and thus, the ensuing explosion. Look around you, see if there is anything that you think is powerful enough to lessen the effects of the explosion. You’re going to want something durable, so no glass display cases or wooden music boxes.  (Wait a minute... Something durable... Like something that can contain, among other things, unholy sky liquids, eternally damned souls, and all powerful cosmic artifacts?) Oddly specific but I guess. (Does anybody have one of Jerry’s Homegrown Condiment Jars????) Are you kidding me! (Do you have a better idea?) Well I guess not! Does anybody have a Jerry Jarman jar? {I’m pretty sure he blacklisted me after I yelled at him.} <Personally, I believe he’s the one who sent us this bomb!> Ah gosh.

00:00:50

(You know what? It’s really weird that “4 Minutes” by Madonna is only 3 minutes and 10 seconds long. Now what are we supposed to do? Just sit in silence like a bunch of idiots?) {Maybe one of us can eat the bomb?} Nobody’s eating the bomb! That’s stup- Wait, Dr. Brainwave’s Greatest Shame! (What?) {What?} <NO!> What, this can work! <You dare invoke that name!> Look, we’ve got a giant monster in our backyard that I’m reliably informed will eat anything. In my experience if something will eat me there’s little it won’t eat. She’s 38 feet tall, and a mile wide and an adorable abomination of science who I’m pretty sure will be fine if she eats this bomb! (I don’t know...) What other choice do we have! {Did you forget about the fact that all of her internal organs are sentient beings and musical theater professionals? We can’t risk them getting hurt in the explosion!} Oh, you’re right. I did forget about that. <That’s all right, I’ve figure out what needs to be done.>

00:00:10

<By my estimate we’ve got about five seconds left before this thing explodes and takes all of us with it. I don’t know about the rest of you but I find that completely unacceptable.> Yeah, the rest of us aren’t exactly pleased Brainwave. Though, if I’m honest. If I’m going to get blown up, I couldn’t imagine a better group to spend my last few minutes with. (Awwwwwwww. You love us.) {I think I’m gonna cry.} <All of you idiots shut up now. Listen, none of you are going to die. None of you can be allowed to die. You were right, this guide has saved the world, seemingly by accident, more times than I can count. And I’m a doctor, I can count pretty high. If you die here today, if this guide dies today, well that very well could be it. So I can’t allow that to happen.> What are you doing Brainwave? (I cannot believe it hasn’t been five seconds yet.) <Well, I guess you can say I’m saving the world.> Hey! Put that bomb down, every time we touch it it speeds up! <Well, t-minus three seconds then.> What are those? Rocket boots? Have you been wearing rocket boots this whole time? <I read what you said about air superiority being crucial, and it’s a good thing I did!> {Wait, you actually read this guide?} Put that bomb down right now. <Of course I read the guide, do the rest of you not read it?> (Only the parts I’m in.) {That doesn’t even make sense, your parts are all commenting on the other parts!} Brainwave, I don’t know what you think you’re doing but if you’ve really read through the whole guide then you know how stupid I think heroic sacrifices are! <Well, I guess it’s a good thing I’m not a hero then.> You are missing the point! <Thanks for letting me live in your basement. The mutant alligators will need to be fed. Tell DBGS that I love her, and tell Professor Brain-Scrambler that he’s a hack and that he can suck it.> Frederick wait! (Whelp there he goes. Right through the skylight. The skylight that we just said is retractable. He just went right on through it. Pretty baller actually.) How likely is it that this whole thing was just some big prank? {Pretty likely I’d say.}

00:00:08

00:00:07

00:00:06

KABOOM

[Guys? Guys what happened?] Oh god. He’s dead. [Who is? What’s going on?] Brainwave- Dr. Brainwave... He... He sacrificed himself for us. That idiot. (Oh god oh god there’s- There’s blood and glass everywhere.) (Who better to clean up all that blood and glass than Jer-) NOT NOW! [Is it true?] Yes. Dr. Brainwave is dead.

[miss-writers-block]

A Yuri on Ice Miraculous Ladybug AU

Yuuri Katsuki

The Katsuki’s moved to St. Petersburg when Yuuri was three. They started an authentic Japanese style hot springs hotel and have actually done quite well. Well enough to send Yuuri to Madame Lilia’s with a partial scholarship. He has grown up being a part of two worlds, with both his Japanese heritage and his Russian upbringing influencing him. Yuuri is a sixteen year old student at Madame Baranovskaya’s Ballet Institute. He is in Madame’s advanced class but doesn’t feel like he deserves to be there (but he actually really does). He works hard to keep up with the rest of the class even while battling his anxiety. He absolutely loves to dance though and dances quite beautifully when alone. He is shy by nature and doesn’t have a lot of friends. And the worst part of everything is that he is in the same class as his crush and idol, Victor Nikiforov. But Yuuri has an alternate identity. He is also the superhero called Ladybug. The ladybug miraculous is inhabited by a cute little kwamis named Minami. He uses his miraculous to save those in trouble and to defeat people who have been corrupted by an evil akuna. While he’s ladybug, Yuuri transforms into a confident and brave (and sexy) crime fighter. While he’s ladybug, he slicks back his hair and doesn’t need his glasses.

Victor Nikiforov

Victor is the son of Andrei Nikiforov, a fashion designer and secretly Hawk Moth, the supervillain and holder of the butterfly miraculous. Victor’s mother is dead and his relationship with his father is often contentious and on-the-rocks. Victor is seventeen, one of the top dancers in Madame Baranovskaya’s Ballet Institute, and a model on the side. Victor is confident and flirty and gorgeous all of the time. He’s popular in school and on social media. But although he is surrounded by people, he is prodigiously lonely. People are always either intimidated by his perfection, rivals for his top spot, or way too obsessed with him. Victor also has an alternate identity. He is Black Cat, the holder of the cat miraculous. The cat miraculous is inhabited by a temperamental kwamis called Yuri. Victor uses his powers to fight alongside Ladybug on their mission to fight evil in St. Petersburg. While he’s Black Cat, he feels like he can be more like himself and not the perfect doll that everyone expects him to be when he’s just Victor. Victor is literally in love with Ladybug and longs to know every part of him.

Phichit Chulanont

He is 16 and Yuuri’s best friend and is a social media icon. He is also a wonderful photographer and his favorite subject is both Yuuri and Ladybug, who he knows is the same person. Yuuri is a bad liar when it comes to his best friend. Phichit is also Crimson Vixen, the holder of the fox miraculous which is inhabited by the sweet kwamis, Guang-Hong.

Christophe Giacometti

He is seventeen and Victor’s best friend and also a model. He is very comfortable in his sexuality and always has a boyfriend, his current one a first year university student named Masami. He is also Queen Bee, the holder of the bee miraculous, who is inhabited by argumentative twin kwamis, Sara and Michele.

JJ Leroy

He is sixteen, the son of the mayor, and sees himself as Victor’s rival. But he is almost as lonely as Victor is and all he really wants is to have some real friends, but his personality is often abrasive. He is also Green Shield, the holder of the turtle miraculous, inhabited by the stoic kwamis, Otabek. 

[neurologicallydisturbed-blog]

Autism...Weakness or Superpower?

There are many things that Autistic people do differently. For some people, the differences are small and, in a way, invisible to others. There are other people who have much more extreme differences in many different areas. Every Autistic is completely different and we each handle our differences in different ways. It is now driving me nuts that I've used "different" so many times in this post already. :)

It's true though. I have a very hard time in pretty much any situation where there are more than 3 or 4 people - even if they are all friends/family! To me, that's a weakness. Other people who struggle with the same thing, may see it in a completely different way and view it as a superpower. I hit a point, if there are enough people, say...75-100+ people in one room/area, that I get so stressed about that many people, that I actually do GREAT public speaking and presentations. I can focus all my nervous energy into what I want to say and talk about...to me, that's a superpower.

I know Autistics who absolutely hate the fact that they have Autism. Yes, there are things that make daily life a struggle because of it, but, honestly...being human is a struggle. Having Autism is amazing. I get to see the craziness of this world in a way most people don't. I get to see all the silver linings, all the hidden blessings, the subtle beauties that are hiding in nature and throughout the world we live in. Yes, there are things I wish I didn't have to deal with or put up with, but not having Autism wouldn't change that! It would just be different things I'd dislike about myself. Plus, I wouldn't have my superpowers.

I went through a phase for a year or so when I first started college where I tried so hard to hide the fact that I had Autism. It was my first time away from home and my first time seeing how different I really was from other people my own age. It drove me nuts at first...and then I realized that it was a good thing. I was able to offer insight into situations for others that were incredibly obvious to me but seemed almost invisible to others. I found my love for writing, music, photography, science, and research. I discovered so many things about myself once I fell in love with every part of me. Hating a part of yourself is so destructive...you cannot accept only a part of yourself and be happy.

That being said...I still go through times where I hate who I am. I hate that I can't be like everyone else. I hate that I can't just...get it. I hate that I don't want to be social, that I want to leave the house, that I want weird foods that don't go together, that I can't handle texture in my foods, that I have tons of energy and want to deep clean my house at 2:39 am, that I'm too afraid to start a new project because it's overwhelming... you get the idea. When I go through this funk my anxiety spikes, I get irritable and cranky, I tend to get depressed and, probably the worst part, I take it out on my husband and those closest to me. That's not fair and it's definitely not right.

As you can see, even though I love and cherish the Autism that makes me who I am, there are two sides to every person. Just like a superhero or a supervillain, you choose how you are going to use the power and passion that you have. You can choose to hate who you are and let your Autism be a weakness.

I choose to embrace each and every awkward part of it and use my superpower in as many little ways as I can....except for defeating Darth Vader...sadly, my powers do not include being able to use the force...oh, well!

[thecloudlight-blog]

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Everything you need to know about Injustice 2 on Android

Although the unique cellular Injustice recreation boasted stunning visuals that intently resembled those of the console model, it didn’t maintain its big brother’s extraordinary tale mode. That modification with Injustice 2. The new recreation’s tale can be introduced episodically over the years, but we’re going to finally get the overall narrative on mobile.

NetherRealm took the actual fashions from the console sport (which appearance outstanding, some ordinary dress designs aside) and optimized them for cellular devices. That raises a few concerns about storage space, for the reason that Injustice 2 capabilities a complicated narrative with plenty of completely voiced cinematics. The first bankruptcy of the story (which features Batman) will certainly be built into the game at launch, however future chapters ought to doubtlessly eat up a lot your phone or tablet’s storage. NetherRealm is currently debated whether or not to make new chapters to be had as non-obligatory downloads or via streaming. Whatever they determine, gamers may not be compelled to download the overall story simply to play the game.

What will the tale be like? Injustice 2’s expansive story mode takes area rapidly after the closing game.

Having defeated the evil High Chancellor, Batman and his group of heroes retain fighting to rebuild the Injustice international. Meanwhile, Gorilla Grodd (an evil, super-sensible gorilla, and nemesis of The Flash) forms a group of supervillains called The Society in an try and take over this struggle-torn international.

Grodd’s Society is handiest the first threat our heroes face. Eventually, both facets need to cease hostilities to stand a greater risk: Brainiac, the extraterrestrial android bent on taking pictures or casting off all existence in the universe. Soon Supergirl, additionally an alien, turns into embroiled in the struggle. She plays a key component in the new tale, NetherRealm tells us.

The cellular model of Injustice 2 will function most of the characters from the console model at launch, with each character coming in a regular model in addition to 1-2 elite variations with extraordinary clothing and stats.

NetherRealm took the actual models from the console sport (which look terrific, some peculiar costume designs apart) and optimized them for mobile devices. The result is characters that function an exquisite stage of an element for a mobile recreation. Playing the preview construct on a pill, I truly couldn’t spot any apparent visual downgrades to the characters.

Cigarette Smoking Makes Everything Worse

The list for things that cigarettes make better does now not exist. The list of factors that are not laid low with smoking is a totally quick one, and apart from the brief hit of dopamine you get from a smoke, I cannot absolutely think of whatever else to add to that list.

Physical Cost

And even the texture correct dopamine receives overshadowed through the pressure hormones that observe. There is a simple manner to recognize how smoking makes the whole lot physically worse. Inside each artery to your body is a lining called the endothelium?

Every time you smoke a cigarette it disrupts the endothelium for up to four hours. This means that critical energy developing and anti-oxidant chemical compounds which include nitric oxide do not get produced in the right amounts.

So each artery covers a hundred% of blood flow delivering vitamins to every mobile in your body, so sincerely put, the toxins from a cigarette cross everywhere and affect the entirety.

Emotional Cost.

It’s tough to a degree the emotional price of smoking, however, the simple biochemical truth is that each cigarette reasons you to create the stress hormone cortisol. The proper quantity of cortisol gives you electricity, however too much depletes your power, reasons bodily ache and can contribute to anxiety and melancholy.

Cigarettes offer an only brief length of rest before the pressure kicks in. But even worse is that by way of hiding your pressure at the back of cigarettes you do not face your stress and it simply builds up and makes you sick.

Financial Cost

Smoking makes your financial scenario worse. I recognize that many clients tell me that the cash does not remember, but there are fooling themselves. After all who could clearly choose to waste thousands of dollars each year on tobacco while that identical money might be spent on something else.

Injustice Against Wildlife: The Need For an Exhibition of Kindness To Pets and Other Fauna Species

The animal state has always co-existed with people for untold generations. The symbiotic relationship between a guy and the fauna species within the surroundings has been interdependent. However, the current injustice towards animals is at the high rise and as such should be addressed. Animals that have been followed as pets face home violence, issuing from their proprietors who are impatient towards the weaknesses of those frail species. As such, a few disclose them to the harsh climate condition which includes rain and the intense heat from the radiant rays of the solar. Other people starve their pets thanks to the reality that they destroyed their high earned assets out of sheer lack of understanding. These pets have to not receive this domestic violence.

Others who’ve insensitive to the needs of their pets, especially health care

Leaves them in the cold hands of the treacherous diseases like Lyme, Canine Parvovirus, Diabetes, Arthritis, Rabies and many others. These animals are lifestyles retailers who need steady scientific checkups as human beings do. They should common to veterinary facilities for them to be tested on new fitness danger developments in order that they may be attended to without delay.

A balanced food regimen is a demand for the fitness advancement of each lifestyles agent. Animals in our care have to be recipients of well-nourished meals eaten at proper times and durations in the day. They should have enough rest and must no longer be subjected to any form of pastime that would waste away their strengths. Starving pets as a punishment is a madness on the part of owners because its goal would no longer be achieved, after all, they are now not intellectual sellers like humans who can effortlessly confirm the ethical classes of such actions. In no manner must people tamper with the rights of animals!

Some sense that spending untold sums and resources for worrying for animals is a trifling drain on one’s economic system

However, this assertion isn’t always justified. The advantages earned from these fauna species are astronomical and this write-up can not exhaust they all. Aside from they imparting activity, physical safety, and organization, these exquisite creatures offer religious protection and can ward off evil assault targeted to a selected family. Cats, puppies, parrots and different fauna species are charged with unique religious protecting powers. They can give symptoms of forthcoming risks of their surprising alternate of mindset which a responsible owner can easily recognize. This ought to incite humans to constantly take care of the animals in their care.

As pupils, we glean many powerful classes from these animals in our surroundings if we cautiously examine their manner of existence. For example, we learn how to protect our wards and guard them against all feasible dangers from how the hen goes all out to shield her chicks. The eagle tutors us on perseverance and determination to be successful or even the tiny ant, teaches us on the need for advance education for stormy days!

Yes! The natural world in our houses and in our surroundings have to be included, cared for and shown kindness. Let us combat in opposition to the injustices closer to our own indigence, our animal own family to acquire a better world of nonviolent co-life

Benefits of an Android TV Box

The Android TV box is a beneficial piece of kit that connects to the TV thru the HDMI port to provide maximum of the features of Android. This sort of set up is very flexible and easily connects to maximum TVs with the right port and is a lot cheaper than a clever TV. Here are most of the blessings of the use of the Android TV box:

Endless apps

One of the maximum liked advantages is the potential to apply and install the countless apps which are now available on the Android operating system. By visiting the Google Play shop the use of the net connection, it’s far viable to put in the present day apps associated with now not only multimedia content material, but also audio modifying programs, video games, books, magazines, sending e-mail, or signing into social media bills, including Facebook and Twitter.

TV aid

By connecting the Android TV field to the TV at home via the internet; it’s also viable to connect to other gadgets inside the home, inclusive of people who make use of technology like Airplay, Miracast, DLNA, or others that characteristic with Android. This makes it very bendy to proportion diverse types of multimedia with the TV. For example, it’s miles viable for an Android well suited tablet or smartphone to interact and manipulate the TV at the same time as additionally giving the option to share files with a laptop or maybe watch a downloaded collection or a film on the big screen. Overall, this kind of setup offers a simple gateway to get the net on the TV.

[howtohero]

#214 Forcefields

Whenever you’re a public personality it’s a given that whenever you do anything anywhere somebody is going to try to throw something at you. Sometimes it’s harmless: a compliment, a smile, a huge wad of hundred dollar bills (if you don’t specifically know that that large number of non-sequential unmarked hundred dollar bills was acquired illegally you’re allowed to keep it pass it on!). Other times it’s a bit rude but it’s still not really gonna affect your day since you are a superhero and you’re plenty powerful: an insult, a tomato, flaming garbage. But sometimes it’s really dangerous stuff that you do not want to hit you: a hex, a heat seeking missile, a really big rock that has your name scrawled on it in permanent marker. (For a brief period the villain The Defacer was going around scrawling the names of superhero’s on different large rocks in the hopes that a stronger villain would eventually come along and use their superior strength to hurl the rock at the designated superhero. She was quickly defeated but her legacy lives on! Many of her rocks are still out there and every so often they do get thrown at the named superheroes.) You may be thinking, “woe is me, am I forced to live a life where people can just throw things at me every time I go out to the field???” and the answer to that is a big fat KIND OF. We can’t stop people from throwing things at you but we can sure as heck stop those things from hitting you in the face and ruining your day! In fact, eagle eyed readers may already have noticed that the solution was actually carefully hidden within that question. (Bat-eyed readers may already have noticed that the solution is up top in very large letters). We’re referring of course, to forcefields.

Forcefields are a superhero’s best friend. A good one will protect you and your loved ones and your home from all manner of outside attacks and unwanted solicitors. Forcefields can be used to shut out all of life’s problems. Boss on your back about the quarterly financial reports? Forcefield! He can’t bother you now! Also your computer just flew into a wall so you couldn’t get that done anyway! Birds giving you anxiety because the fact that they’ll always be a little bit better at flying than you due to generations of inborn instincts? Forcefield! Birds can’t even get near you now. Also you’ll stop getting feathers in your teeth every time you accidentally fly into a bird at lightning fast speeds. Supervillains keep launching nuclear missiles at your hideout because you accidentally posted your location on social media? Forcefield! Which will also conveniently protect you from all the nuclear fallout that I guess is just gonna annihilate everything around your hideout. Er, don’t worry, they make big forcefields! You can just put one around the whole city!

City-wide forcefields are actually growing to be pretty popular in states or countries with a large super presence. You’d be surprised how many evil schemes could be foiled by just erecting a giant forcefield around a city. Superheroes have been able to retire just thanks to the presence of city-wide forcefields. Unfortunately though, supervillains are nothing if not creative. Some supervillains have used forcefields of their own invention to trap entire cities in impenetrable domes. It’s the ultimate hostage situation. (At least until somebody figures out how to make a large enough forcefield to hold the entire planet hostage.) <Say that gives me an idea!> Supervillains use these forcefields to cut off cities from the rest of the world often causing them to descend into chaos and anarchy within a matter of minutes. It’s a classic scenario with no clear and simple solution but don’t worry we’ve got a couple of absurd and complicated ones that’ll get you right out of that problem!

You’re a superhero, you should have no less than thirteen different secret passageways that can get you in and out of the city undetected, but if you don’t it’s time to make some. Fire up your Drills for Thrills drill tank and start heading down. If your supervillain is any good they’ll have thought of that and their forcefield will extend into the ground and you won’t be able to simply dig a tunnel underneath the forcefield. But who cares about, we’re not going under, we’re going to circumvent the problem entirely. Simply keeping on drilling downward until you get to the Earth’s core. Now, if you’ve splurged and paid for the Drills for Thrills deluxe package this won’t be a problem. Your drill will be 100% guaranteed heat resistant and you can just keep on drilling through to the opposite side of the Earth without any fear of being burned, melted, or convected to death. If you didn’t pay for the deluxe package, well, turn around I guess, this is not the option for you. 

No forcefield is perfect (generally this is unfortunate but in this case it’s quite handy!) they tend to have at least one weak spot somewhere. To exploit these weak points you need to contact a friend on the other side because the two of you need to exert an intense amount of force on either side of the weak spot in order to compromise the structural integrity of the entire forcefield. If the forcefield is blocking any signals from getting out, preventing you from contacting your allies on the outside through conventional means, worry not, your city has been trapped in an impenetrable city by a supervillain, there are going to be cameras. You see, one of the reasons supervillains take hostages is for a ransom, a city’s worth of hostages is probably worth a lot of money so you can be sure that they’re going to be making a ransom video. And if they’re not even doing it for the money they’re doing it for the bragging rights so they’re still going to want a recording of what happened. All you need to do is get your markers and your glitter glue and make a big poster and stand in the camera shot. If your friends are watching the news or follow the supervillain on social media they’ll see your message and the two of you can attack those weak spots and save the town together. 

Turn your entire city invisible. Get some industrial scale levels of invisible paint and just paint everything invisible. Or project a hologram of an empty field over the entire city. This will make the bad guy think that your city was a transdimensional city that simply blipped out of this plain of existence. Supervillains know better than to trifle with the unknowable forces that control transdimensional cities so they’ll probably just pack up their forcefield and call it an early day. 

Dress up like a different supervillain, one who the offending villain hates. This shouldn’t be too difficult, most supervillains wear masks so you don’t even have to horribly scar your face or paint your skin blue or anything. Then, once you’ve perfected your costume, go up to the forcefield and laugh maniacally. This is sure to catch the attention of the villain who has trapped you who will, at first, join in with your laughter. Maniacal laughter is quite contagious. There’s your medical fact for the day. Once the laughter dies down though, the villain will most likely ask what the heck you’re laughing about. Supervillains are a questioning and inquisitive lot. And also remember, he hates you, he does not want you laughing. Now this is the most important part, and you better be able to carry out with the utmost confidence. You need to convince the supervillain that you have trapped them within a forcefield. This is not going to be easy but it’s also not going to be as difficult as you might think. All you have to do is convince the villain that your master stroke was to trap the entire world except for your city, which is actually secerelt your supervillain headquarters, within a giant forcefield. It’s the ultimate scheme, remember, no villain yet has managed to trap the entire planet in a forcefield so the entire planet bar one city will be seen as quite the feat. The real villain isn’t about to let you take credit for doing something so amazing which you didn’t even do! They’ll bluster and rant and rave and accuse you of lying and repeatedly claim that you are mistaken and that they trapped you within a forcefield. This is where you have to make sure you stay your course and stay calm. Just shake your head and say something like “Oh Demolistructor you simple minded fool, can’t you see? You played right into my hands! Oh you poor thing, you don’t even realize how thoroughly I have bested you. I guess now there’s really no question of which of us is the greatest villain!” I guarantee you that’ll get their hackles raised. If you get them mad and flustered enough they’ll shut off the forcefield to prove to you that it’s theirs and then all you need to do is punch them in the face and steal their forcefield projector. 

If you’re using forcefields as a superhero in order to trap criminals, remember that this is not a permanent solution. Forcefields are useful to stop a villain in their tracks, or to isolate them from their weaponry or machinery, but they cannot be used as full-time prisons. For one, they’re (more or less, see above) impenetrable, which means you can’t give your prisoners things like food or a clean, less on fire set of clothes. There are also no bathrooms in forcefields. So make sure you get those villains to actual prisons before long. Also, if you’re creating a full forcefield bubble, you need to make sure that air can be circulated. You don’t to suffocate yourself or others by creating a full air-tight forcefield. Superhumans with the ability to create their own forcefields are often endowed with the secondary power of choosing their permeability. They can allow carbon dioxide and oxygen to pass in and out while shutting out harmful gasses or water or oxygen-sized shrunken assailants. But if you’re designing you’re own forcefield you’re not going to be able to be as exact, so keep that in mind when deciding to use forcefields in different scenarios. 

Forcefields can be a highly useful asset in any superhero’s arsenal. They can be used, to protect, repel, or even trap enemies, but they can also be used against heroes in the same ways. So know your forcefields, know their capabilities, their strengths, their weaknesses. And remember, regardless of which side of the forcefield you find yourself on, nothing is ever truly impenetrable, so be ready to get creative.