#this current arc is great but also they did not take that break up well

[xxtrixster]

Really hoping the morning star gets a my ex broke up with me arc and we find him in some awkward situation where he's got some buddy comedy misunderstanding going on where he's gotta like save a town bakery and also stop the church creep

[midnight1nk]

So, this week's episode...

[Spoilers below cut]

Past Ink: Guys, it's fine. This isn't a serious episode, it would be too soon for another arc. It's just gonna be another silly Saturday.

Current Ink: ....

(the following is my live reaction:)

[*unholy screaming*] FOUR NOOOOOOOOOOOO

WOW WHAT A GREAT START TO THIS EPISODE, SCRATCH EVERYTHING THAT I SAID ABOUT THIS BEING A "NORMAL" EPISODE

NOPE I NEED TO PAUSE, I NEED TO TAKE A WALK BC I'M NOT GONNA GET OVER IT, DO YOU KNOW WHAT THIS COULD LEAD

they're not gonna do it in this episode BUT the fact that goop!4 is being acknowledged in every way possible, we might just have a sequel in our hands

NO NO NO CUT THE INTRO, I HAVEN'T EVEN FINISHED THE EPISODE YET AND YOU WANT ME TO MAKE A THEORY ON IT ALREADY? HOLD YOUR FUCKIN HORSES, I'LL GET THERE GEEZ

anyway, we have to press play...

I'm pretty sure someone already has done a pirate au (no I'm not over what I just watched) and anyway, artists: here's pirate SMG4

Four, you should've read the file name before downloading it [*shakes head*]

Wait, is this going to be a parody of computer buddies? That's actually pretty fun..... OH NO NO NO

Ah, so we are doing computer buddies

Actually, yeah, can we have Mario as president please

love how it says "no one even compares to mario. especially smg4 who sucks booty cheeks [or ass] and mario doesn't"

Observe as the SMG4 fandom gets terrified of the word "perfect" [*screams*]

MARIO MARIO NO NO NO HE DIDN'T SAVE

I felt that in my core omg

as a graphic designer, this hurts

apparently, there's a whole new dimension in our computers, Only in the SMG4 Universe [*cheesy thumbs up*]

We really are getting all the computer buddies, huh? I wonder if KinitoPET will appear

[*silver the hedgehog voice*] It's no use!

BRITISH SMG3

wow what a funny bit... WAIT HOLD UP WAIT A MINUTE, LOOK AT THE MEDIA BOX

the eyes....

w̷̹̓e̷̼̽ ̸̯́n̴̩͆e̵̝̓v̴̼͑ë̵̤r̴͓͛ ̷̭͝l̵̦̎e̴̞͗f̵͉̐ṯ̴͗

and the left eye too... oh god, the EYE OF RA— [*gets shot*]

honestly, Four, you improved your aim ever since Western Spaghetti (ik you also did for PV but that's not the point)

I knew they were gonna bring in buff Luigi again

I'M SCREAMING

THERE IS NO WAY THE TEAM JUST DROPPED THAT ON US, THIS CAN'T BE REAL

ok first off, the fact that Four has a folder labeled "Super SECRET Spicy Memes" is giving "totally homework" folder energy (and I don't want to even think more about that)

hey, Four did say that Three brings some spice into his life (yeah, "rosemary to my bread" and all that jazz)

SECOND, the fact he has an image of SMG3 with him saying "whats the matter smg4 kun?"

THEN the "I know what you are" audio clip...

Four, buddy, you're down bad aren't you?

like "woah smg4's bisexual, I didn't know that", the closet is out of GLASS so we been knew but I DID NOT expect this

having Three be a tsundere is one thing, but FOUR....

🫵🏳️‍🌈⁉️

"they're dating behind the scenes" at this point, yeah

we have to keep going... [*secretly puts this clip on the fridge*]

I hate this so much /silly

[*chaos ensues*] [*sips my coffee*] just another tuesday saturday

GOTTA GO FAST GOTTA GO FAST— [*gets tazed*] i can never catch a break c'mon man

oh hey Swag!

four dollars is four dollars, you got yourself a deal

ok, I'm gonna need everyone to see Four's cute little hops here:

look at him go, my silly little goober :) oh, now you have? then let's keep going

holy shit, this fight scene is so well animated!!! LET'S GOOOO

never thought I'd see the day of seeing biblically accurate bonzi in an SMG4 episode and yet here we are.

SCREAMING CRYING THROWING UP

THIS IS THE MOST BEAUTIFUL THING I'VE SEEN IN MY LIFE, I'M ASCENDING

"...but they hugged before" NO YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND

A normal hug, where two people cross each other and are unable to see the other's face since it's over their shoulder, is just as it is: a normal hug. It can be seen as platonic and/or romantic.

THIS is a lot more intimate. 3 and 4's heads touch while they hold each other by the hand. This type of hug is reserved more for romantic partners when the situation leads them to a devasting end, where they face each other to look at and remember what their partner looked like, one last time before they die.

In this case, it makes sense as the computer is collapsing within itself.

"It's not actually them tho." Yes, they're digital copies of 3 and 4 but that's the thing: they're COPIES, acting on what 3 and 4 would actually do

SMG34 shippers, we are eating GOOD today yum yum

but then, that begs the question: would there be a moment where 3 and 4 would reveal their feelings for each other at the worst possible time?

(you guys are not going to be ready for my next episode concepts) What, who said that?

uh anyway them 💙💜 gotta put it on the fridge

I feel for you, Four, but I have a horrible feeling about this

...

Foreshadowing is a literary device—

no seriously, I feel like this could be part of a future arc where a past villain would ruin everything Four has and would offer up a deal when Four would be the most desperate. There's always a catch. Hmm, why does that seem familiar...?

Your life's work or your friends, it's your call, SMG4

:)

HELL YEAH FOUR, THROW IT AWAY (omg just like how he chose Three over the USB, I'm crying dude)

also congrats to Ourstor08954957 for the lovely art in the end credits 🎉 such cute doodles ❤️

.・-: ✧ :--: ✧ :-・.

Oh boy, what an episode. I feel like I'm in another plane of existence right now. Everything was absolutely incredible, great job Team!!

Everyone, say THANK YOU to whoever put the SMG34 crumbs in there, we shall treasure it for the rest of our lives. I'm gonna put those moments on my fridge. OH I would love to see the artists draw the SMG34 hug or pirate Four!

Love the fighting scene right by the end and the little details they have added in there. I guess it's "Torture Ink with the Idea that Goop!4 May Happen" day but hey, I'm so normal about it (no I'm not). I've been a bit stressed since finals are coming up so I'm thankful for anything this episode for me.

(If anyone is curious, the WOTFI website is still up and yes, I am logging its status just in case.)

I'm sure everyone is going crazy over this...

"They gay fr :3" [BenJoJoGV, Twitter]

🧍

BEN YOU CAN'T JUST SAY THESE THINGS—

[partycatty]

i had a vision and drew it - and even better, i got a fic idea from it!

johnny cage > discovery

johnny discovers his new powers unexpectedly. maybe he wasn't as ordinary as others thought.

warnings: johnny thinks he's dying and gets all crisis-y, established relationship

notes: imagine instead of activating his powers in a life or death situation, it randomly bodyslams him like a heart attack - and it scares the hell out of him. also i hope u like my silly sketch :3

masterlist <3

• johnny's life was crumbling. his movies were flopping hard, and people were starting to forget his name. his spending habits were out of control, and you two were arguing about it so much that you grew tired of hearing your own voice. most days were the cold shoulder or shouting matches. things weren't looking great.

• it was during one of these matches when the shouting on his end abruptly paused, and he doubled over. your anger was shoved aside as you dashed forward to inspect his current state. but, just as soon as it started, it was over in a flash. johnny was startled, to say the least. his eyes were wide and he was panting.

• you guys assumed the stress was taking a toll on him, a physical toll. out of respect for his well-being, you held your tongue from that point on. or at least, you tried to. everything was relatively quiet until a mysterious yakuza member demanded the sword on your shared mantle. you would've thrown it at him if given the opportunity since the damn thing sent you back millions. johnny, however, wasn't as willing. fortunately for your safety's concern, he was the ultimate home security system, tying up the man after knocking him unconscious.

• we all know the rest. "what in the actual-" "i am the god of fire" "get your damn hands off him" "that's no special effect" "change the arc of your lives." blah blah blah. it was all a weird blur. apparently, you, johnny, and this new "friend" of yours were all chosen to fight for something bigger than a malibu disagreement. you were a fighter alongside your husband, but you did it competitively. johnny did it for the cameras, which isn't to say he's worse naturally. he could kick ass, and so could you, just in different directions.

• liu kang warned everyone that training would take months, as the tournament was far down the line. johnny grew impatient, and you grew tense with his lack of eagerness to actually train. regardless, you sparred and took the monk's advices to heart.

• johnny wouldn't tell you at first, since he didn't want to distract your own progress, but he would oftentimes catch himself feeling... funny, for lack of a better phrase. during meals, his eyes would unfocus and his hearing sounded underwater. at night, he'd toss and turn for hours in the cot beside yours. something felt wrong, really wrong. his chest felt fluttery and cold, like a sprite weaving between his ribs. it scared the holy hell out of him, considering how prone is family is to heart attacks.

• "great session! whaddya say to a well-deserved break?" he'd announce out of concealed desperation to the other earthrealmers, hoping that someone would agree and he'd be able to excuse himself to loosen his collar and sit down for a moment. it was after the fifth time asking in a day that you approached him with genuine concern.

• "honey, are you alright?" you asked gently, putting a hand on his shoulder. his eyes followed your touch and he sighed, moving your hand to his chest.

• "i-i'm afraid," he'll confess quietly, glancing behind you to make sure nobody was overhearing his moment of worry. "i haven't been feeling well, but i can't just drop everything and leave. not when my career's in the shithole. we've got nothing to return to. this fire god guy needs me, needs us, and i know damn well you'd follow me out if i stepped back from all of this."

• johnny's tragic worry struck a chord in your heart and you couldn't help but agree with his words. you advised him to ask a monk about decongestant tea, or some other simple remedy that would keep you at the academy.

• things died down, or at least, johnny's pain wouldn't be verbalized for a while. you and the boys were actually gaining significant strength and conditioning with the brutal training regime liu kang assigned. when he felt everyone was finally prepared to choose a champion, he assembled a king of the hill type of tournament on campus grounds.

• you stood between johnny and kenshi, a palpable tension on your husband's shoulders. his jaw was clenched tight, as were his fists. he looked... terrified. this wasn't a normal expression for the star.

• "johnny?" you whisper to him, reaching down to intertwine your fingers with his. before you could fully articulate your concerns, he speaks up.

• "i don't feel well," he murmurs in return, eyes fixated at the platform in front of you all. he visibly pales.

• liu kang calls you to the platform as the first contestant, and you obediently oblige with a bow, waiting for further instruction. your eyes danced across your potential competitors — raiden and kung lao, the humble farmers. kenshi, the enigmatic swordsman... and your husband, who looked as if he was shitting himself and moments away from puking.

• "you will face (reader), johnny cage."

• "a-are you sure? because that's my spouse, and i'd hate to—"

• liu kang frowns. johnny puts his hands up in a surrender motion, a pathetic attempt at remaining playful, and hoists himself to the platform across from you. his position readies, as does yours.

• though he may be visibly under the weather, the technique is still there. johnny's fighting style is unique and calculate, effortlessly playful and charismatic, just like him. even so, the match becomes quite even as you're familiar with his style. you parry many blows, mirroring others. the crowd is pleased and excited by the potential outcomes.

• you land a good kick to johnny's face, sending him spiraling in the air and landing on his back with a deep thud. the color in his face returns (due to the bruising) as he stares up at you, licking his lips before flourishing his way back up.

• but then, he lets out a strained cry.

• johnny clutches his chest, clawing at the layers of fabric across his body as if they're an anvil sitting atop his torso. his face twists as he doubled over in complete agony.

• "by the elder gods!" liu kang shouts, standing from his spectator chair. others let out their own concerns and shouts, but you're the first one rocketing to his side. you get to his level to inspect his face. you make a desperate attempt to push his damp hair from his face, but his neck snaps the other way as his body tries to expel this sudden onslaught of pain.

• as the fear that a heart attack is imminent, a sudden glow of green burns bright even past johnny's robes. it spills out like an angry cloud, seeping through johnny's fingers as he cries out in the worst pain he'd ever experienced. it is here that liu kang tenses up, then relaxes. he steps to the side, and does nothing but watch blankly. you come closer and part his clothing, giving yourself access to his bare chest to inspect the source.

• shockingly, the problem is... internal. his veins are glowing a bright green shade and when his eyes aren't deeply clenched, you sense a faint trace of emerald in his irises. right where his heart is, is a rhythmic flashing pattern.

• "make it stop!" johnny begs helplessly, and you reply on the verge of tears that you don't know how to help. however, almost as if on cue, he takes a deep breath inward and sits upright, eyes wide and jaw slack. and, just like that, everything seems normal again.

• you run your hand frantically across his bare skin, trying to feel for abnormalities as he catches his breath. you're crying now from the fear, and you catch a glimpse at his watery eyes.

• "are you okay?!" kung lao asks, putting a hand on his back to help him stabilize. "what was that?!"

• "i don't know..." johnny breathlessly replies, reaching a hand up to fix his hair nervously. however, as his hand traveled upward, he noticed the same emerald aura clouding around his hands, and he shouts out and scurries as if he's trying to run away from his own arm. as it's outstretched, it shoots a ball of energy outward, frying a mannequin that sat innocently off to the side. the crowd's eyes go from the mannequin and back to the celebrity. your fists ball up on his back, fistfuls of fabric keeping you upright otherwise you'd fall back from shock.

• "that is not how i anticipated that happening this time," liu kang muttered, coming closer to inspect johnny's palms. johnny stares at his hands like they grew overnight. his eyes shoot to the fire god, incredulous.

• "what the hell do you mean, 'this time?!'"

[purplecherries]

Things that Happen in my Mystreet Rewrite that just make sense…✨

First of all, Laurance did not discover where Aphmau lived and decided they should move in across the street (bc holy shit that’s creepy). They had already lived across the street and told Aphmau, Katelyn, and Nana about the listing. They agreed bc it was closer to wear they all worked.

Nana DOES NOT HAVE A SHIPPING SHRINE.

Aphmau works as an editor at a publishing company, Katelyn is a teaching assistant going back to college, and Nana is a waitress/baker at a popular bistro in the city.

Garroth and Laurance are very much still in love with her but Aphmau really just doesn’t notice.

Aphmau is an aspiring author writing a fantasy novel. She will get anyone and everyone to look over chapters and read them (Nana is a current victim of this)

Speaking of Nana I’d like to start her backstory early. We’d meet some of her siblings and we’ll see her ignoring calls from her parents. The secret is that the Ashida’s are a crazy rich family and Nana wanted to make a name for herself without the Ashida name. So much so that she started going by K.C. instead of the matriarch grandmother’s name she shares with her.

Nana is a chronic overworker, she’s so sweet but she does not know how to take a break.

Katelyn is the pseudo mother to her 3 brothers (Kacey, Kaden, and Kenneth.) She will call them to make sure they are alright as well as her father, who assures her that she can live her life without worrying about them so much.

Since there are a LOT of love potion hijinks in the series, the neighborhood play they put on will be A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

In that arc, the relationships of Garroth, Laurance, and Aphmau will be explored, but also the drama of Nicole, Dante, and Nana.

Zane is more of a businessman with the whole suit and everything. He can talk great business but never make him form actual connections with people bc he has no clue how to do that.

Aphmau and him do still become very good friends and they stay like that for the rest of the series.

Travis is just some very awkward guy who makes up for it with a lot of confidence. If someone flirts back he starts to silently panic.

Most of the relationships like Garlaurmau/Zana/Travlyn will be slow burns in their own way. At the end of the first “season” Aphmau will open up to the idea of dating them both.

Man I didn’t realize how much I rewrote until I typed this out lol

[tropicalcryptid]

Ok y'all I have a confession.

...Tigerheart/star is my favorite living warrior cats character and I'm tired of pretending he isn't XD

He was a questionable boyfriend, but he's an excellent husband, father, and leader. He's far more like Firestar than Bramblestar ever was. He's proactive and is willing to break rules for what he believes is right. He gave up territory for SkyClan when no other Clan would. He willingly takes in and shelters cats who are unfairly banished from their own clans--Icewing, Harelight, Mothwing, and most recently Frostpaw (geez RiverClan). He stood up for Rootspring and Bristlefrost's love and advocated to change the warrior code to allow cross-Clan relationships. He will go to any lengths to protect ShadowClan and especially his children--but he seems truly motivated by love and not a desire for power. He takes amazing care of Shadowsight and stands by him constantly. Most recently, his "invasion" of RiverClan was shown to be 1) actually necessary, and 2) he did, in fact, keep his promise and back out when his conditions were met.

His decisions aren't always the *best,* but he's motivated and active (and delightfully meddlesome) in a way that no leader since Firestar has been. I LOVE that. I love him! Big stupid hot-headed well-meaning stripey man! Go invade RC again and kick Splashtail's, well, tail! <3

Also! ASC! You made ShadowClan the best clan how did that happen??? I'm so mad that Sunbeam is in ThunderClan now because I don't caaaaaaaare about TC lol I want more SC perspective.

So this is a lineup of my fav cats from the current arc: Whistlepaw (your honor I love her), Frostpaw (you're doing amazing girl, sorry about all the trauma), Icewing (hopefully next leader of RC come on WC team), Fringewhisker (full-time ass-kicker), Tigger boy <3, Shadowsight (my poor bby you're so good), Puddleshine (when did you get to be such a likeable character?), Bayshine (what a bro, seriously), and Harelight (we stan a supportive mentor, sorry about "Wind" buddy).

Honestly ASC is great so far. Can't wait for the finale. Also let the lesbian medicine cats kiss omg. I don't really bother shipping warrior cats because *gestures wildly* but nah, Whistlepaw and Frostpaw are the cutest lesbians and you can't tell me the "It was all worth it if it was for you" conversation in "Wind" WASN'T the most sapphic thing ever. Break ALL the boundaries girls be BOTH gay *and* nuns. We stan.

[gamesception]

Sception Reads Cass Cain #42

Batgirl (2000) #21 - December 2001 Writer: Kelley Puckett……….Pencils: Damion Scott Inks: Robert Campanella…..Colors: Gregory Wright

My short break turned into a 6 month hiatus, but the first issue of the new Cass Batgirl run releasing tomorrow (at time of writing this) has finally given me the push to start this project up again. While this isn't the most consequential issue to come back to, it is a good one, and it has Stephanie in it, and references og Cass's initial dynamic with Shiva, which is topical since the new book will at least start with a focus on modern Cass's relationship with her mother.

Most of the usual team here this time, only we have a different Wright on the colors than usual. Which did give me a brief moment of panic that I'd been attributing colors to the wrong person, but no, most of the previous issues specifically credit Jason Wright, but this one specifically credits Gregory.

The issue opens with Cass preparing for a training routine, and I have to point out that the evolution of Damion Scott's art style that I brought up in a reply to a post that was going around recently (link) regarding inconsistency in Cass's appearance was already well underway by issue 21 of her ongoing.

The training sequence itself is pretty extreme as Cassandra demolishes dozens of dummies and a few (potentially load bearing?) stone columns in her cave...

Before nearly taking Spoiler's head off and making herself sick with the effort of stopping her own punch and/or the realization of what almost just happened. It's a cool-then-funny sequence which also reinforces how Cassandra is capable of absolutely destroying people, but that she very much doesn't want to actually hurt anyone, traits that will of course be key to events later in the issue because Kelley Puckett is just good like that.

Anyway, Steph is here because Babs sent her to get Cass and bring her to the Clock Tower, since Cass wasn't responding to calls while engrossed in her hours-long training regimen.

*I wish I didn't have to, Mirthful Mike.

But yeah, this issue is a sort of tie in to Joker: Last Laugh, a miniseries / crossover event from 2001 that frankly I didn't much care for. Unfortunately we'll have to look at an issue from the main miniseries run next time, but for the moment Bab's summary is all that needs to be relevant for the current issue.

The more interesting thing going on in the same panel is the little exchange between Babs and Cass about whether Cass has been studying her super villain files. With Cass answering 'no' in a kind of embarrassed way, which Barbara reads as Cass being embarrassed about not doing her homework, something Babs obviously things Cass ~should~ be doing but that she's kind of given up on Cass ever caring enough ~to~ do, with Cass just not caring about the part of the job that she's not good at / the part of the job that Barbara does. It's a whole thing., and a point of tension that at this point in the comic is slowly building and then later will be forgotten about and unmentioned for a huge run of issues and then even later than that will explode out of nowhere. Again with my recurring comment about this book being fantastic on the build up of character arcs and not as great on the follow through.

BUT ANYWAY, Babs is completely misreading this situation, because Cass isn't embarrassed because she think she's been caught not doing something she should, she's visibly embarrassed (love the art from Scott here, again with managing a very expressive Cass despite being in the full face covering mask) because she thinks she's been caught doing something she shouldn't.

One of the first rules Bruce gave her was 'no costumed criminals'. She's not supposed to be fighting supervillains or metahumans or any other weirdos with special abilities or gimmicks that might invalidate her body-reading ability, which we've already established is her primary and near only defensive skill. At least, that's the in universe justification for why this book mostly avoids big scenery chewing bad guys who would otherwise distract from the intended tone and core themes.

Now, Bruce would have intended that as "don't fight them, but absolutely study them so you know what you're dealing with if you have do", but Cass is very much the sort of kid who would have heard that as 'supervillains are entirely off limits, I don't want you to fight them, or look at them, or even think about them', like the whole subject is a taboo - one she'll absolutely break, but that she'll feel guilty about breaking and try to hide from authority figures, because that's how she deals with guilt in general, lying (poorly) about it, trying to hide it. Because she doesn't think she deserves to be Batgirl, so she's completely insecure about it and sure she's going to be fired the moment anyone sees through her.

And that's especially the case given the reason she's been so carefully studying the particular supervillains she has - super powered martial artists. The same reason she's been training so hard that she's destroying her cave, missing calls from Barbara, and nearly killing unexpected guests who wander into her sessions, but that's a subject the comic comes back to later.

This habit / character flaw / broken coping mechanism of lying to hide guilt (misplaced or otherwise) is just so compelling to me. The way the lies taint every relationship, distancing the character from anyone they should be able to rely on, the way the they inevitably build up as the character feels guilty about the lies themselves and makes up more lies to hide that, like a matryoshka doll, or a tower of cards waiting to fall, the way that by the time other characters start pulling on the strings thinking they know what's going on there's a usually a cascade of revelations each more shocking than the last. Alphys in Undertale is a prime example of this.

The disaster when everything falls apart is usually the best part of this dynamic, and sadly Batgirl (2000) will choose to subvert that part (again, fantastic set up, but never quite following through), but we aren't there yet.

Anyway, it's just a couple short lines of dialog across as many panels sharing space with a blunt info-dump, but it's a really good character beat speaking to both Cass's flaws - the whole lying and hiding anything she feels guilty about - and Barbara's - assuming she already knows what's going on and not digging any further or following up (which only enables Cass's lying and hiding) because the reason she assumes makes her annoyed and angry (which Cass of course picks up on, reinforcing her feelings of guilt and insecurity).

It's a complicated and unhealthy dynamic between two people that otherwise genuinely love each other, and the tension and angst that comes from that is also fantastic.

The original Cass Cain Batgirl run was full of this drama that comes from making these variously maladjusted characters care about each other and exploring the fraught relationship dynamics that result. That more than anything else is what made Batgirl (2000) great and that post-flashpoint Cass has been lacking (the parts I've read anyway, still need to get around to that Outsiders run). Even my constant complaints about the flanderization of latter day David Cain basically boil down to this, because original Cass's relationship with Cain was overflowing with this sort of tension.

Anyway, that's a ton of talk about two panels, lets see if I can rush through the rest of the issue a bit more quickly...

...

So Babs gives a reason why Cass and Steph aren't wanted in this otherwise all-hands-on-deck emergency situation, a reason that's a little bit dumb, but way less dumb than the reason we'll get next time, and Cass says she's fine with it, which takes Babs by surprise. You can see the fight she was ready to have about it, you can see how confused she is when Cass just says OK, because again Scott is just so good at these facial expressions. Babs, or at least this version of her, is susceptible to making inaccurate assumptions about people, about Cass in particular, but she's a smart enough cookie to notice when Cass acts outside of those assumptions and start questioning whether something else is going on.

So Cass goes to train in Bab's star trek holodeck (I admit that thing was a bit too sci fi for a gotham book for my tastes), and refuses to let Steph sit in, which calls back the scene earlier to reinforce it in the readers memory before what happens later.

The power goes out, and Cass comes out sheepishly, this miserable look on her face (again! So good!), because she thinks she broke the holo room, and there's no way to hide & lie her way around that, but the problem isn't Cass...

It's this guy, Shadow Thief (jokerized), a villain I know nothing about and have never seen or read outside of this comic. He's got some weird tech that, I think, drains electricity from nearby devices to make himself (but not his weapons) intangible?

Scott draws him in an extra exaggerated, cartoony, and rubbery style, which works here to emphasize his weird powers and/or jokerization, but does kind of foreshadow how all of his comic art starts to look more like that over time - which again isn't bad (as you can see in the panel here it actually looks pretty cool), but I still prefer the earlier style.

Anyway, Shadow Thief also a notable supervillain martial artist, so Cass actually has been studying his files, and knows exactly how to deal with him -

Catching the throwing stars he throws at them with her fingers (look at her smile! She's loving this!)

Throwing out some cocky banter to play on his ego

Grabbing his very tangible sword to draw him to the roof so Babs and Steph aren't caught in their fight.

All great stuff.

And yeah, Barbara has absolutely picked up that somethings going on with Cass. Eventually it will be revealed that she just already knows about the fight with Shiva, and I don't think we ever see how she found out, but this is pretty clearly where she started to suspect something and it's not too much of a stretch to jump from that initial suspicion to just knowing everything, at least not with this character.

Even without his sword, Shadow Thief has special martial arts techniques that somehow let him sort of hit things despite his Shadow Field making him intangible....

And now Cass does, too.

One of the usual principles of early Batgirl (2000) - no supervillains - serves to keep the focus tight on the more emotional themes of the book. Cass is so far out of the league of any of the typical criminals she runs up against that fights are always over in a flash, keeping action scenes short and punchy and leaving more space in the book for other things. But it is nice, every once in a while, to make an exception for a more drawn out and elaborate fight scene like this, where Cass can really show her skills.

But the real drama of this issue happens when Babs finds a way to remotely deactivate Shadow Thief's intangibility field mid battle. That 'oh, shit' face is so good.

All Cass's joy gone in an instant. She was having so much fun. She was so happy to have a real opponent she could cut loose on instead of inanimate dummies or holograms. Someone good enough to keep up with her, and with a defensive ability effective enough that she could put her full skills to use without having to worry about actually hurting them. Yeah, Shadow Thief's a villain, but they were playing with each other, trading banter. Having fun. Despite Shadow Thief's murderous intent, this was almost more of a friendly sparring match than a real fight.

But once again she gets a stark reminder of what her skills were originally meant for, what she was originally meant for. Earlier in the issue Cass was throwing up at the thought that she even could have hurt Stephanie, and now she probably killed this guy. And there won't be any hiding this - forget what might happen if Bruce finds out about the guy she murdered as a child, he 100% is going to find out about this man that she murdered, on the roof of Barbara's safe house, while wearing his symbol. Her entire life is falling apart, here.

But Stephanie is here. And helps Cass save him. Helps her save herself.

And of course Cass wants to hide what happened from Barbara. And of course Stephanie, being a good friend, keeps her secret, even if it probably would have been better to talk to Barbara about what happened and what Cass is feeling about it. Then again, if Babs knew it might have gotten back around to Bruce, and that ~wouldn't~ have been a healing conversation.

And the issue ends with a Flashback to Cass agreeing to fight Shiva, a real fight, to the death, using all of their killing skills. An bargain struck many issues back, so this is the reminder to readers that the fight is coming up soon, only a few issues away now. The final page is this panel of Cass back in her cave, with Shiva's file open, a video recording of her fighting on loop, as Cass sits with her face in shadow. She isn't going to fight to kill Shiva. She can't. So Shiva is absolutely going to kill her.

So yeah, a strong issue to come back to, catching us up on the overal serial plot of the book at the time, but also strongly grounded in original Cass's core emotional themes and the intricate dynamics of some of her core relationships, including now to Stephanie, with this being a huge early moment of vulnerability from Cass and support from Steph pushing them from like work friends who pal around some times to real friends who rely on each other.

And despite making exceptions to include a super villain and extended fight scene and callback to an ongoing serial narrative arc, this issue still mostly adheres to the core early Batgirl (2000) playbook.

It tells a complete story in a single issue; tightly focused on Cass's core character themes, motivations, and frought, layered relationships; expressed mostly through the artwork with relatively minimal reliance on dialog and even less on narration, with an overall sombre or even tragic tone punctuated with moments of levity or heartfelt human connection.

I'm writing this before having a chance to read the first issue of Cass's new ongoing, but more than anything else, more than reverting her canon to the pre-flashpoint history (which I don't even want, post-flashpoint Cass is a new character and I'm sure she has fans who care about her as much as I cared about original Cass), even more than restoring the original version of David Cain, what I hope for most from the new book is a return to this kind of storytelling.

[nayru-s-clay-tablet]

Comic Retrospective: How They Met

What is it about?

"How They Met" is the 16 page comic of how Link and Navi met -- right after Link's uncle was killed.

It begins with Navi being convicted for theft by the Fairy Queen herself. Her punishment? She must go on a quest to help the current hero (aka Link) defeat the Sorceress. Basically as community service.

Ganondorf doesn't appear, so Navi is basically taking his place. All three of those goals discussed in earlier posts in this series are being met:

Exploring an aspect of their personalities

Looking at something new about them

Playing with their weird dynamic

A recipe for success... mostly.

Where did the idea come from?

These two have such a weird relationship, and I knew that they met each other under really insane circumstances. So, this comic has always been an idea in the back of my mind.

Navi is severely under-prepared for her role as guide and mentor -- however, even though Link is going through a lot, he's pretty easy to please. She just has to be sufficiently nice, give some direction, and appear confident.

In contrast, she had rather high expectations for him:

^ This dream was very short lived.

Favorite things about it?

First, the unusual color palette. It was based off of the different colors that fairies came in OoT and MM, as well as the Great Fairies and Fairy Queen in WW.

Also... Fairy Court.

The fact that it exists, the fact that it is called Fairy Court, which is probably the silliest name it could have... It vibes with me.

Would I make it again?

Yes, though I think I'd revisit a few of the jokes. Most of them are fine, but I was doing this very soon after Ghost Stories and the Christmas special in 2021. That was a lot! I needed to take a bit of a break in order to give the script a little more time.

But is this story canon?

Yes, and not only that, but there are a couple important details in the comic that will be in the final story arc of the main comic. If you can read or re-read this comic as the final storyline approaches, it'll pay off!

As a final note... while this comic had its up and downs, I am glad that the final panels are also some of my favorites:

[itsnothingofinterest]

Hey, Hope you're having good Holidays? 👋

Do you think there's going to be a big twist coming up in bnha?

Or maybe a twist big villain or something?

Because all the other villains have been taken out of commission and there's still doesn't seem to be any way for deku to save/defeat shigaraki. (Nothing that we've been shown so far.)

Because shigaraki does seem to be more powerful than deku and even if they do FINALLY start talking, deku seems to be in the same place 'ideal wise' as he was several arcs ago.

Like what could deku say that could prove his point (not that he really has much of a point, as he still hasn't really even thought about trying to fix hero society's giant flaws) to shigaraki now?

Even more, what could deku do, since he's still focusing on the crying child inside shigaraki and not what made the crying child?

Well my answers about the same as it's been for a long while now; I agree Deku's not in the right headspace to save Tomura and probably can't cram the character development to get into that headspace in at the last second before/during his metaphorical final exam here. He still needs to further develop his own views on things if he wants to challenge & change Tomura's views. Maybe Deku could convince him the entire country's not a lost cause and he shouldn't destroy it within a few chapters, but there's a massive gap between that and actually saving him the way we usually mean. The fact the other villains have not really been saved either so far doesn't really help my opinion of Deku's chances.

So yes I do expect a big twist and, same as ever, I expect that twist to be that this is not the final arc and we'll get a My Hero part 2 after Hori takes a long break. It's basically the only real meaningful twist I can think of at this point that'd resolve this time conflict without rushing resolutions that should not be rushed. Especially with Kurogiri (& maybe Machia if he’s alive) still left as dangling plot threads that could potentially recover the villains.

(Though I would not hate it, half just because I think it'd be funny, if the HC president came out of nowhere to reveal she survived clone-stro and is taking over as big bad so that Deku...idk, reevaluates the system he's protecting or something.)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Although while we're discussing where Deku is, ideal-wise, I have been meaning to go over my current criticisms with him for a bit; which to discuss below a cut:

Is mainly that he’s kind of just All Might again. He's like All Might in nearly every way that counts and his only aspiration is to be All Might 2 and save everyone he can like All Might did. I mean I’ve seen people sometimes say "no Deku’s totally different and better than All Might in this or that way" but those ways often seem to assume All Might was a lot worse, less kind, and more independent than he really was.

(And also that Deku is less independent than he really is; just compare this arc to Kamino, where they both work alongside their hero peers...until they feel the need to take on the final boss 1v1.)

Like, as someone critical of the hero society All Might built, I’ll bet I often come off as thinking All Might wasn’t a good hero. But that’s not so, I think All Might did the best he could have done, and moreover the best anyone could’ve done trying to fix things the way he did. I doubt anyone could've hero'd much better than him. If Deku were sent back in time to replace All Might, the best he could’ve done is about what All Might did. And if All Might faced all the hurdles Deku has, at the same power level for each, I believe he’d have managed at least as happy an ending to every arc.

So the great hurdle of this all is: All Might was the greatest hero he could possibly have been...but he also wasn't enough. The various ways the League were driven to villainy to form the group at all is proof of that. And that's why a rehash sequel to him won't be enough either. I understand why Deku and everyone else admires All Might, but he can't be doing the same things expecting much better results. If he does, then even if he does save Tomura here in the same way the rest of the League has been "saved" so far (a tall order already when Tomura's made clear he doesn't want another All Might), I fear he'll just face another League led by another Tomura in the future; another Tenko who was failed by Deku this time.

[amelikos]

Spinel posting.

Something, something, Spinel observing his surroundings and using people's traits, qualities, and feelings against them. I think I brought it up a while ago, but I just love how much this whole situation shows that Spinel knows people, and in this situation Amethio... that he has observed him enough, and knows him well enough, that he knew that if he trapped Amethio and Liko together, Amethio would set their beef aside and work together with Liko to escape. Which means that Spinel would have the blackmail material to frame him. I think it's great. Spinel is aware of his surroundings, but in a bad way because he'll use that against you (he used Amethio's kindness against him!).

I still have questions about him and I wonder what's wrong with him (affectionate). My interpretations are challenged every time and with the whole "Amethio is special to Gibeon so he was bound to get in our way" (from HZ064) and the PR posting about "Spinel seems to show loyalty towards Gibeon, but is hostile towards Amethio", I'm not sure what to think anymore. Something I thought about is that maybe Spinel was taken in by the Explorers, and just wants Gibeon's love for himself. I don't know. This whole situation with setting up Amethio feels like Spinel is jealous of Amethio's grandson status and wants to reclaim Gibeon's attention and love for himself. I'm not saying that's what will happen of course, just a thought I'm throwing out there because that crossed my mind. Or he just wants to break families apart because it's his hobby. Who knows.

Anyway, I hope they'll depict more of Spinel's character in the future, and hopefully we'll get to know more about his past or his circumstances. Let's hope he doesn't end up boring and that he'll have no "reason" for his nonsense lol. By boring, I specifically mean TR levels of boring or like the early villains in the franchise. They make me yawn. The kinds of characters who have nothing going on under the surface, with nothing to find there or to scratch. Being like that is one of the worst things a character can be for me. I just want them to make me think or try to understand what's going on with them (that's personally what I find appealing in characters). He can be fucked up idc, but he can't make me yawn basically ww (I'm just writing this out just because, this is not meant to be imagining the worst.)

Actually, Spinel makes me think a bit of green-haired villains we got in Precure recently. Which I'm bringing up because I keep going on about Horizons being a shoujo and a magical girl. Spinel makes me think of Narcistoru and Battamonda (both from the Precure franchise), green-haired ikemen who got very good arcs btw (not saying Spinel is exactly the same, just that he reminded me of them in various ways). They did villainous things in the context of their shows, and literally had to learn to be kinder ww I was satisfied with their arcs. Battamonda, especially, was a character who terrorized the main characters during an arc but there was a lot to scratch under the surface and his development beautifully connected with the wider themes of the series and with one of the main character's. Anyway, not to keep going on about Precure, but Horizons feels more like modern anime in terms of characters and trends and I see that a lot in the Explorers, in a way. They don't feel like the villains we usually got in the past games? Some of the characters in the Explorers (notably Sango, Spinel and Agate) remind me of other characters in other anime airing currently, so I feel like they are aware of stuff like this. (And I also keep going on about them knowing exactly who they are targeting with Spinel's character so...)

Anyway, where would we be without Spinel. Every time he gets involved, we get good stuff (Liko and Dot moments, and now Liko and Amethio moments).

I hope we'll learn more about him eventually... it's hard to predict what will happen or what direction they could take. They really could be going anywhere.

[thecomicallytragicgangle]

[[Alright so I'm new around these parts, may someone pleaaaase sum up the juicy lore for me?]]

-grateful anon

[ominous bell toll]

[It is time (lore summary time)]

[and. and this time. WE'RE GOING OVER ALL THE LORE!!!!!!!!] [i'll probably pin this so people can find the lore easily]

[LORE UNDER THE CUT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!]

[Alrightttt so. IMPORTANT BITS!!]

[gangle has an ai version of herself thats meant to represent her subconscious: "s-gangle" who is currently .. missing right now]

[gangle used to be friends with kaufmo (before he abstracted)] [related comics and art here:] [comic, art, art,

[gangle hates an anon named "hammer anon" who has attacked her multiple times] [i'll cover that momentarily]

[i'll also include some other blog lore at the end, but right now we're focusing on gnagle lore!] ------

[so, starting off from the very beginning: the first important event was when gangle borrowed one of jax's keys, secretly accessing kaufmo's room. she wanted to find a way to move on from what happened. it did not go well . heres the series of comics relating to this: comics here]

[kaufmo's blog got introduced around this time, making gangle freak out (because she couldnt really comprehend the fact that kaufmo was just. back] [but she didnt want to deal w/ her emotions, so she forced herself to wear her happy mask for an extended period of time] [which, according to blog lore, kind of helps suppress her emotions]

[anyway, obviously thats a horrible idea] [so she kinda suffers for the next few asks] [like this ask, this ask, this ask, and this ask!] [yeah turns out the mask aint holding up very well. uh oh.] [yikes.]

[this is where hammer anon comes in! in this post, he breaks gangle's mask, resulting in all her emotions flooding in (this post). wahoo, i suppose? (not really)]

[the anons comfort gangle in this post, and eventually she recovers. yay!] [gangle is happy for a bit] [shes watching over kinger's fortress while he erm. goes through his own arc (here)] [anyway while watching over the fortress she has movie night! which results in this art here]

--------

[unfortunately. another arc happens. Jax literally abstracts! thats right. jax abstracted. gangle is. not feeling great about it! (comic)] [so yeah]

[unfortunately for gangle, things get worse when hammer anon decides now is a GREAT time to see if gangle has a third mask!] [art here!] [so she erm. flees! to the ferris wheel !] [cause remember, this may be a circus but theres also the fairgrounds!]

[anyway. gangle is cornered. and over the course of some asks impending doom slowly approaches her!] [related art here, here, here, and the comic begins here!]

[anyway. yeah! turns out! there is no third mask. which glitches gangle. yikes. whoops.] [shes out cold for a while] [and one of the anons takes her inside so she can rest (art here)]

--------

[gangle eventually wakes up (art here)] [and has a bunch of errors all over her face! cause. you know. her masks.] [she freaks out a bit over it but dont worry she calms down eventually]

[also, not exactly lore important? but someone decids to taunt her for being a coward n such so she throws a fish at them in this comic]

[one extra thing as well: erm. jax DIED. like not even abstracted hes straight up dead due to one of the abstractions named dyno. yeah.] [or well he WAS dead at this time]

[caine is informed about what's happening, but unfortunately he isn't able to do anything about it (art here)] [honestly, gangle's tired of all this (especially considering the literal ai who runs the circus cant do anything to help) so she heads off to the lake. and SURPRISE!!!] [zooble appearance]

[heres the series of art/asks] in chronological order] [art 1, art 2, art 3, art 4, art 5, art 6, art 7, art 8,] [theres also a little break inbetween; one of the anons attempts to fix gangle's mask (it goes horribly wrong) related art here and here] [anyway continuing the zooble arc] [comic 1, comic 2, comic 3, comic 4, comic 5, and the animated finale]

[smth funny thats unrelated to lore- a CERTAIN ANON (cough) /silly was predicting all of my story ideas. (art here)]

[one more important thing regarding zooble: abstragedy/google ship is not canon, please don't joke about it/talk about it-] [im pretty sure zooble's mod is uncomfortable with the ship] [so.. yeah!]

----------

[now: smth i'd like to mention, there were 2 story arcs before the finale of the comics related to zooble:] [the computer files arc and s-gangle's introduction arc]

[the computer files thing was a little event i set up for everyone, where they could look through gangle's character files] [heres 2 silly asks that aren't lore related: 1 and 2] [ANYWAY lore related stuff! heres some of the important stuff: C&A, The Magician, and Memories]

[the one of the most important things though, from the files, would be the logs:] [here is log 1, log 2, and log 3 (with some art!)]

[anyway, s-gangle.exe is booted, and bam! s-gangle is introduced! (<- link here)]

[most of the asks are normal, but heres some lore important asks: flowers 1, flowers 2, copycat, red, poem (the poem ask was made around the time gangle returned)]

----------

[anyway! wahoo, after a while, gangle's back, and she now has to deal with All the Anon Chaos that's happened. poor gangle] [anyway. heres the important stuff!: an anon decided to curse s-gangle with a physical body, resulting in s-gangle immediately running off (comic here)]

[and.. theres also some silly stuff going on with the kaufmo blog. for context; during the jax dying situation, kaufmo used the chaos as a chance to escape the cellar and hid in his room for a while]

[kaufmo, learning about the whole "error" situation with gangle, wants to do something about it. (comic here)] [andd.. heres the final part relating to that! (comic here)]

[apologies about the final section of lore, especially the kaufmo part, considering it had to be rushed on christmas day due to the ask i recieved]

[and. y.y eah. thats everything! i'll try to actively update this lore as time goes on. wow this is a lot.]

[starwalker03]

Im curious about your Ric arc rewrite. Would you share of ideas you had for it?

man. it's all loose soup in my brain rn hang on lemme get a ladle.

So let me preface this with the fact that I actually haven't read the Ric arc. And I also haven't read a lot of comics over all (cause there wasn't a comic book store in my hometown and comics are not exactly easy to get in to).

So first, a quick recap of the RIc Grayson storyline:

Dick Grayson is shot in the head by KGBeast, which does not kill him but does send him into a coma. during his time in the hospital, a member of the court of owls becomes his doctor and uses a fancy magic crystal to alter his memories. this is what causes the amnesia.

The intention was for the memory alterations to become a means of changing his memories so that his grandfather, William Cob, could manipulate him into becoming a Talon.

He leaves behind the family and the title of Nightwing and becomes a taxi driver in Bludhaven who, according to wikipedia, "frequents bars" which is just another way of saying "became a borderline alcoholic with no real social life".

Eventually, Cob gets a hold of him and does, in fact, make him a Talon, and he breaks out of it after a group of people take on the Nightwing mantle and he comes across them in battle. He spares one of them cause they have a family/kids or smth.

After this, Joker gets a hold of the crystal and uses it to make Dick think he's Joker's adopted son "Dickie Boy" so he can use him to fight the bats.

Alright, we're all caught up? splendid. Along the line here he gets a girlfriend named Bea, as well, but nothing of particular note is coming up about her in the summaries I've found.

So my main points to change/alter/extrapolate on here would be:

make Bea a real character with agency

Not use every comic book means necessary to turn Dick into a stereotypical cliche of a toxic man

change the Dickie Boy storyline

make Dick stay stuck with the family a bit longer so the impact to the dynamics of the fam can actually be explored

So let's begin.

Dick Grayson is a character that constantly has to act as a middle ground or source of morality or otherwise emotional support to those around him, especially the batfamily. We're seeing currently the way the gotham war of Batman/Catwoman is being affected because Dick has finally decided that he is done trying to fix Batman's stupid angry controlling traumatized brain because frankly Bruce won't let him and better yet Bruce doesn't want him to. And if that's how it's gonna be than Dick has now realised it'd be better off if he just took care of his family, sans Bruce, and did his best to keep Bruce in line (not killing people out of uncontrolled anger).

I think the Ric Grayson storyline could be a really good part of him coming to this decision.

Dick wakes up in the hospital with amnesia, that would stay the same. I think it can also stay the same that the Court of Owls could be at fault for that (maybe this time not with a bogus magic crystal though). Dick is shown throughout comics to have trouble sometimes struggling with anger, but nowadays he can usually control it. with amnesia he cannot.

I think it would be important to settle on an actual point in his life that he remembers up to, namely his parent's death. After his parents died he was filled with the need for vengeance, and when Bruce took him in he was able to learn to redirect that into trying to make sure that no other kid had to feel the way he did. Vengeance versus Justice/honouring your parents memory. regress his memory to having just watched his parents die, then he's raw enough that the court would, in fact, be able to do something with him.

In fact, get rid of the ex machina of memory loss altogether. some vague handwaving about head trauma and surgery and court sciences to say that they ruined his memory, and that's it. There's no fancy tool that you wave around and excuse everything.

This would be a great way to welcome new readers too! because you could start the stroyline with a recap/redo (allowing for any retcons to his origin necessary) of how Dick became Robin. Then it opens on him waking up with the amnesia. He has to remeet everyone important in his life, which means new readers would be able to very quickly get the gist of who all these people are (and comics have little boxes for references to things, so they could include references like *see [insert comic title and number here] for [insert character name here]).

He's struggling, because the last thing he remembers is his parents dying. He's able to relearn a lot of things quickly, like motor skills, langauge, other such general things (which they do briefly show in the comics I think, so props to that) but the actual memories still allude him.

Bruce says he's going to spend time with the family in the manor, then, which he figures is fair enough. It's not like he has a lot of other options.

Over the course if his time in the manor he is constantly bombarded with information, and people keep looking to him for emotional support/regulation and expecting him to fill a role he no longer can. this all boils over in an argument between Dick and Bruce, because Bruce needs Nightwing back, he's far too important of a piece in the overall machine that is this family, but Dick can't give him that.

Eventually he goes it alone, and he meets Bea along the way.

So now, he is revisting his first trauma without the emotional development that allowed him to move past the idea of vengeance, he doesn't remember any of the people he loves, and he also has a sour taste in his mouth about them all because they keep expecting him to just be better. all his bridges are burned.

This becomes a new origin of Nightwing, for the new readers, and a means for old readers to see something new in something old.

I'd give Bea a real backstory, and she and Dick both bond over their wish to get closure over something that happened in their youth. they lean on each other, so the eventual romance has a good grounds to build on.

In Dick's newly fueled urge to get revenge on Tony Zucco, the court would have plenty to work with. When he's eventually taken by William Cob, I'd have Bea follow clues about him and his belongings to find his family so she can save Dick from whoever it was that kidnapped him.

Additionally: Bea could be one of the civilians who, in the wake of crime in Bludhaven skyrocketing from Nightwing's absence, decided to try their hand at being Nightwing. Which would be an interesting foil for Dick, who has left it behind. And would also make for a funny moment when she inevitably reveals this to Dick and he has to explain everything.

The person Dick spares could then be Bea, which adds more tension to the romantic subplot, and would be how she figures out who/what kidnapped him. Which is when she'd go and track down Bruce and the fam and make them come save Dick.

Things could reach a climax by the court bringing in Tony Zucco. Have William dramatically explain to another guy 'years ago, Batman convinced Dick not to kill Tony Zucco, and he became a hero with such deeply set morals that we couldn't hope to manipulate him. But now we have stripped him of that, and he will have another chance to make this decision. And this time he will choose the right one'

Dick will, of course, not kill Zucco. It is at this time that the fam comes crashing in to save him. he frees Zucco, realising that it was never Bruce who made him a good person, never Bruce that he owed his morals and his good heart and his emotional strength, but himself, he had it in him all along, and he knows that killing isn't the right thing to do.

wham bam thank you ma'am story over. Some loose threads to tie up about Dick becoming Nightwing again and everything, but that's okay, that's what the next issue is for. It sets up a perfect sequel that is still beginner friendly but also has enough to it that long-time readers could enjoy it. Dick has managed to start getting his memorie sback now but he's still coming across flashbacks here and there, he's moving back into Bludhaven, he's redetermining what it means to be Nightwing, and he's cleaning up Bludhaven from the crimes that have skyrocketed in his absence.

He also then has the civillians who took up the Nightwing role, including Bea, who can act as a cast of new friendly faces as opposed to trying to drag up old Nightwing side-characters and reintroduce them to everyone.

The Dickie Boy storyline can be changed. Dick doesn't need two different comic lines of him being manipulated and mind controlled into becoming a glorified servant for the bad guys one after the other. one is enough. this also means the Court is cemented as Dick's bad ending/angsty backstory/villain persona stuff, y'know?

You know which robin already has a story as being Joker's adopted son? Tim! Tim already has that! Joker Junior is a thing! and people loved it! Let him do that.

Joker has stated in comics before, I believe, that the reason he hates the first robin is he could never get his paws on him and hurt him the way he did the other robins, which is such a fun way of having a different relationship between Dick's robin and joker as compared to the other robins! keep that! you don't need to change that!

And also, it means Dick gets a moment, fresh out of his amnesia arc, where there's a really bad awful thing happening to his family, which could be the catalyst for him remembering more things.

[i-heart-hxh]

If/when Killua finds out about Gotoh dying do you think it would matter to killua that it was Hisoka who killed him? Or angry that Illumi probably called for him? And do you think Killua is the type to consider revenge if he get the chance once he’s strong enough or would he feel too responsible to even care about who did it?

I'm sure if/when he finds out he would be angry that it was Hisoka, and that Illumi was involved as well. (Though I definitely think he would blame himself to some degree at the same time.)

I lean towards thinking he wouldn't seek revenge, however--he has a good idea of how dangerous Hisoka is, and, well, he's watched his close friends end up in horrible situations TWICE now specifically because of revenge, so I think that might dissuade him from falling into the same trap even though I'm sure the loss will be personal and hard for him to accept. Plus, he has Alluka to protect now, so risking his life seeking revenge against someone like Hisoka is not wise at this point, especially because that could undo the value of Gotoh's sacrifice in the first place if it didn't work out well. That said, I feel like his anger about what happened to Gotoh could possibly end up as part of a larger situation, especially with regards to Illumi, and with Killua trying to break away from the Zoldyck family once and for all.

Because both Illumi and Hisoka are currently on the Black Whale, it's also hard to say what will happen with them, though my current guess is that both might survive this arc ultimately (as usual, take this with several grains of salt because Togashi is unpredictable).

Great questions, thanks! It's interesting to think how this whole situation could potentially play out later down the road. I definitely think Killua will be upset at the involvement of Hisoka and Illumi at the very least.

[flower-boi16]

King is my favorite character from The Owl House - Here's Why

So The Owl House is a show I quite like. While I don't think it's exactly perfect, it's a great show with good animation, an interesting fantasy world and magic system, great emotional beats, great characters, and great LGBT representation. It's definitely a great show. There's one thing I do like about The Owl House the most though, and that's the characters. Sure, most of them are very rough in season 1 but in seasons 2 and 3 they get quite well-written and compelling. From our main protagonist Luz, to Eda to Amity or Hunter, the show has some solid character writing. But which character is my favorite? Well you've already seen the title of this post so let's talk about this little guy:

In this post, I am going to explain why King is my favorite character in The Owl House, by talking about his arc throughout the series and his development. This post WILL contain spoilers for The Owl House, so you have been warned.

First talk about the smaller reasons I like King before I talk about his development. First, I like how King acts as sort of a little brother to Luz. Their dynamic is a super sweet sibling-like bond. And also, King is just very funny mainly in season 1. His whole gimmick of thinking he's a king of demons somehow never gets old and is very funny. Plus it sets up his development in season 2. Alright...now I'm done.

So...let's talk about the reason why I love King, that being his development throughout the series, more specifically his development in season 2. I don't have much to say about King in season 1 other than he's a funny and cute comic relief character in that season.

Season 2 however is when King became a great character, starting with episode 3: Echoes of the Past. In this episode, Luz, Lilith King and Hooty go to an island that King claims he came from so he could prove that he was the king of demons. While they explore the cave and look at a bunch of murals, King in this episode tells the others a bunch of stories of what he did as the King of demons, saying that he was cursed by someone into his current tiny form. They get chased down by this rock monster thingy and Eda comes to rescue them.

Eda then explains the reason why King always acted like he was some kind of overlord. Eight years ago, while Eda was looking to hide from the EC while it was boiling rain she went to this island when she was looking for shelter. She went into the cave and found King when he was just a little dogo. Also...

Can we appreciate how adorable Baby King is? Like, awww just look at him he's SO cute!!! Okay so erm, anyway, she took King from the cave because that monster in it was going to kill them both, and she took home with her. When they got home, King was building a bunch of stuff out of random objects, and after Eda makes a remark about him being a "king amongst his subjects", it makes King wonder what a king really was, and Eda tells King what a king really means and that's how he got the idea that he was some kind of overlord.

After that, King's entire worldview kinda of crumbles. He begins to realize that all this time his memories of being a king with feasts, subjects, and all that stuff were all just memories of him as a baby pretending to be a King. What I like here is how this episode takes what was once just some running gag throughout the first season and recontextualizes it in the second, adding some context to why King thinks he's some kind of ruler.

For years King thought that this fantasy that he was some kind of king of demons was real, and that he was the king of demons that lost his memory. And now that he knows it's all been a lie, he breaks down. It also shows that King is still a little kid, which is why he believed this fantasy for so long; he's a child who thinks that he was this awesome amazing ruler who was feared and respected by all, only for it to be a lie. Anyways, back to the episode, King runs away to somewhere and Eda Luz and Lilith all go to find him on the island.

Luz finds King sitting on a log and goes to talk to him, and he's still upset. There's one line here that stands out to me;

King: Eda was right wasn't she? I'm not a king, I'm a nobody

Earlier the episode showed that this fantasy that King was the king of demons was very important to him, as shown by how he reacted when Lilith mocked his stories earlier in the episode. This line implies that believing this fantasy that he was some all-powerful king made him feel special in a way, and now that he knows he was never really a king, he thinks he's a nobody.

Alex Hirsch also does a great job voicing King here, you can hear the emotion in his voice during this scene. Luz says that maybe some of King's memories were real, and King goes and tries to remember some of the memories that were real. King reluctantly agrees and they go rejoin the others and they go back to the cave. After avoiding the monster in the cave, Luz shoots some fire at the hole blocked off by the rocks and they go up to the hole.

There they find some rooms that King finds familiar. He gets some of his memories reawakened and it's revealed that the monster thingy was trying to protect King, as it stops when King orders it to. The memory is King hatching as wil ol baby and then crawling to open the door, the rock monster carries them and they fall down the hole as they hear a roar sound. King says that the roar meant "son", which means that it was his dad. King says that he wants to find out who his dad is and they go back to isle leaving the island. Thus, an arc for King is set up about finding out who his father is.

So this episode was great! Like I said earlier, it takes a running gag in season 1 and recontextualizes it in a way that's interesting. It also does a good job of setting up King's arc of self-discovery this season.

The next two episodes I'll talk about are Eda's Requiem and Knock Knockin' on Hooty's Door. In Eda's Requiem King wants to win a race so he can record a message so his father can see it. They didn't win the race because King puked and they got 6th place. They do still record a message and post it online, and his dad does end up seeing it..or at least someone who looks like King's dad sees it. Before we continue...let's talk about this brilliant piece of subversion here.

See this guy? The first time you would see him you would instantly think that he is King's father. I mean, he looks a lot like King with the skull and general body shape, so it's very easy to assume that this is King's father. Buuuuuuut as we know now, he isn't King's father, he's a part of a certain group which I'll mention once I get to episode 17, Edge of the World. Anyway, the next episode I'll talk about is the one right after Eda's Requiem, Knock Knockin' on Hooty's Door.

This episode has Hooty trying to help Luz, King and Eda with some of their problems. Let's talk about the scenes with King, because...well this is a post talking about King lol. So here King really wants to know who his father is and Hooty tries to help King find out by trying to figure out what kind of demon he is.

After some funny scenes with Hooty trying (and failing) to figure out what kind of demon King is, he takes some of King's blood and runs a test. Turns out, Hooty still doesn't know what kind of demon King is and he says that King is "him". King is disappointed by this, and then King gets upset because he still can't know who his father is, as he's never responded to his message or wanted posters, and he thinks that maybe his dad is gone. He then gets upset that his dad was never there for him, that he supposedly disappeared and never talked to his son.

This scene definitely hits pretty hard as it shows King getting more desperate to find his father, and it's also when King ends up unlocking his powers. Basically, King shoots some yellow ring wave things whenever he roars or does the "weh" sound. And at the end of the episode we see this figure again and send a note to King, though Hooty eats it once he sees a bug on it.

This episode did a good job of continuing King's self-discovery arc and introducing his new powers. Now, let's skip to 9 episodes later in episode 17; Edge of the World. The episode's plot revolves around Luz, King and Hooty going to an island which transports them to the other side of the world to meet his dad. They do end up finding the same figure that sent the note to King, whose name is Tarak, though unfortunately, he isn't his dad. However, Tarak is one of the people in a village of Titan Hunters, witches who, as the name suggests, hunt titans. Later in the episode, Luz and Hooty meet the leader of the titan hunters, Bill. When Bill describes what a titan is, they realize that King is a titan, and that he is in big trouble.

They go to tell King that he is in danger, but when Bill finds out that King is a titan he sends a bird phone to tell Tarak about it and King gets taken to a ceremony where Bill almost kills him with a dagger. Luz and Hooty stop them before they could do that though and they run away. King gets enraged by this and says that the titan trappers weren't gonna hurt him. He also says that they "get him", and that they know how it feels to be left behind, and he also says that he knows that Luz is gonna go back to the human realm eventually, and that he is preparing for a life with them. Luz however tells King that he's a titan, and obviously, King is shocked by this revelation. The titan trappers eventually catch up to them but they end up escaping and destroying the way through. And the episode ends.

So this episode did a good job of concluding King's arc of self-discovery and wrapping it up. I like how King knows that Luz is going to leave the demon realm one day and go back to her mom, and that he's going to not be able to see her again, and King does care about Luz like an older sister so this would hit for him, and that the Titan Trappers would be his next family after Luz when she leaves. That gives more depth to King and I like that.

So, King is my favorite character in The Owl House. He's funny, he's cute, and his arc in the second season was great. There are other things I could talk about here, such as episode 19, but this post has gone on for long enough. Anyways, this is why I love King, so...bye.

[andreal831]

The pacing for season 4 and especially season 5 seemed extremely rushed to me. I’ve always thought the show could’ve used a season in between season 3 and season 4 to pace it better.

What are your thoughts about this? What do you think would’ve and/or should’ve occured had this of happened?

I couldn't agree more.

In fact, all of the fics I've written in the TVD universe have been fixing that period, (subtle plug for my fics) so I can tell you exactly what I would have done. This will have spoilers for my fics so feel free to go over to AO3 or Wattpad and read there first!

They could have done something so amazing. As someone who watched the shows from a young age, it almost felt like we grew up with the TVD gang, and then were watching Hope grow up which would have made Legacies so special to watch her come into her own. But we didn't get that. Instead, Hope grew up in the blink of an eye off screen. For a show about family, it seemed to constantly put the family aspects on the back burner.

They did all of these major time jumps simply because Julie Plec wanted to move on to Legacies. She liked the idea of what I just described but didn't have the patience to actually do it effectively. From what I've heard, The Originals was supposed to be like 6 or 7 seasons. Instead, we essentially got 4.

If they wanted to shorten the seasons, I would have scrapped season 5 completely. It was honestly a mess and didn't add much to the overall story. If you want to read how I would do that, I've written a story called The Last Sacrifice which shows season 4 as the series finale. SPOILERS for my story. Essentially, instead of splitting the Hollow in four, Elijah takes it all and sacrifices himself. To me, this gives Elijah a kind of redemption arc while allowing his family a chance at happiness.

Now my current work in progress, The Great War, starts in the beginning of season 3. I love season 3, but I think this is where things start to get messy. We see these constant character arcs and then destructions throughout this season. Deep traumas are brought to light and then quickly moved on from. The characters are all going through massive trauma but as an audience, we don't have a second to truly feel the impact because the next thing is already happening.

Then the show does a 5 year time jump and we don't even get flashbacks of Hayley trying to save the family or raising Hope on her own? It wasn't just the Mikaelsons missing out on Hope's life, but the audience as well. We finally get them reunited for about a week and then they are all forced to go their separate ways. And they cave in so easily. The Mikaelsons I know, especially after being separated for so long, wouldn't have gone down without a fight. Hayley sending Hope off to boarding school makes no sense. She fought so hard to keep her child with her only to send her off? Also, why couldn't Rebekah and Marcel have stayed in New Orleans than since Hope would never be there? Or Klaus for that matter? Elijah erasing his memories made no sense. Freya not working endlessly to destroy the Hollow and reunite her family for 5 years made no sense.

Then finally we get the mess of Season 5 and they all just give up. There's nearly no fight in them. Why can't they all just split up again? Why can't they send the Hollow to another realm? If you want to see how I would have written season 5, check out Don't It Just Break Your Heart. Essentially, how did Klaus not just force Elijah's memories back when everything started falling apart?

The last few seasons were rushed and poorly written because the writers were done, the actors were done, and Julie Plec didn't care.

But if you're interested, The Great War is planning to follow a lot of the cannon events but slowing things down a lot. I do have an added character to try and control the Mikaelsons slightly, but I'm trying to keep it true to how I see the events actually taking place if the characters are staying true to their character arcs.

As for the season between season 3 and 4, this is a little bit of spoilers for TGW, but yes, there definitely needs to be a season there. The time jump is ridiculous and we miss so much good character development.

Thanks for the ask! Sorry some of this is vague but I don't want to spoil TGW too much!

[lumenflowered]

Hello. My name is Maria—nothing more, nothing less. I am a Faller hailing from a place known as Yharnam, though I am currently in the Johto region. It is a less harsh place than what I am used to; I would not recommend requesting further information regarding Yharnam unless you are mentally prepared.

Out of a lack of anything better to do after falling here, I embarked upon the Gym Challenge. At the time of writing this, I bear seven of the eight Johtonian badges, and intend to attain the eighth as soon as I have recovered enough to travel.

As of less than a week ago, I have been Chosen as a champion of sorts by Ho-oh, a Pokémon with power tantamount to the gods of my former world. While I still have rather complicated feelings regarding the matter, the gods of this world are considerably kinder than those I am used to, and doing this allowed me to put an end to Team Rocket's machinations once and for all.

My team is as follows: Rakuyo (Meganium, X) Hunter (Furret, F) Molotov (Arcanine, M) Adeline (Gengar, F) Evelyn (Seadra, F) Eileen (Honchkrow, F)

Adeline, my Gengar, rather likes to steal my device and make posts for herself—she is considerably better with this world's technology than I, so I have no qualms with this—and her commentary can be found in purple.

Though this has thus far only occurred once twice thrice, Ho-oh has utilized this platform and blog to communicate directly with me and others before, and they have done so in bold orange text. They have recently adopted another name in addition to their first: Solaire.

A very angry child named Silver, who inexplicably decided to form a rather one-sided rivalry with a grown woman, is unlikely to be on the blog again given how much the anonymous masses of Rotomblr set back my progress in having a reasonable conversation with him. However, while he was posting here, he used blue.

I am more than happy to discuss a great many things. Do keep in mind that I hail from a far deadlier place than this one, should you care to ask about my past prior to Johto.

...I still would rather like to know why and how I am here at all.

(OOC info under cut.)

Sup, it's still @ofstormsandfire getting perhaps a little too invested in my silly little blog where I throw a Bloodborne boss into the world of pokemon. I really wanted to make a faller blog of some kind, and promised myself that I could if I survived Nanowrimo, and... then I did. And went well, alright, Lady Maria's going to have a great time in Johto!

(That was sarcasm. Though honestly even a terrible time in Johto is an improvement over what she's used to.)

Do keep in mind that Maria is in fact a Bloodborne boss and as such will be unfazed by things that would disturb the vast majority of characters. I'll happily tag things as necessary, just ask if I've missed something you would like tagged.

Here's some navigational tags for y'all. If/when I actually reach the conclusion of this blog's story maybe I'll make more.

#firebird arc: I smashed together the Radio Tower plot and the Ho-oh plot, made the Kimono Girls more relevant, and also ramped up the stakes a little. Called that because Ho-oh is a firebird and also I'm 90% sure there's a kind of rocket called the Firebird. I like puns. I also put way too much effort into this and I regret nothing.

#the vampire allegations: A couple of people made jokes about Maria being a vampire. Admittedly, she is from Cainhurst which is the closest Bloodborne gets to proper vampires, and I thought it would be really funny to have her be allergic to garlic for legitimately mundane reasons.

#rainbow wings: That time Ho-oh showed up on the blog specifically to tell Maria to take a break. Same tag is used whenever Ho-oh turns up. (It's been like three times now.)

#what's with this sassy lost child?: The Silver takeover. For some reason the last couple posts just aren't showing up in the tag despite being tagged with exactly the same thing, but he got Pelipper Mailed bad memories of his dad and promptly dipped.

#hints to the future: Bits of prose foreshadowing things to come, because I got really into that one ask game with the gears.

[bluelockednyx]

" or for Isagi to stop looking at Rin's thighs whichever is easier" I- 🤣. ( this was so noticeable in that leg extension machine scene he had no reason to go and check up on him, stop him from overworking and prompt him to take rest but he DID)

I thought I was crazy for thinking that abt that one Rin panel but I'm glad I'm not the only one, since Kaisagi is rising in popularity esp w/ Hiori's comments abt the in-universe social media. Idk whether to lament over the lack of rinsagi or absolutely LOSE it over Isagi's reaction. Like it wasn't the kind of cute denial that Raichi was saying it was, bro was so OFFENDED. I can't.

Then again, it makes sense since public has seen more of Kaiser-Isagi than with Rin. I wonder what Isagi's reaxn would be if it had been Rin's name that had come like that 👀. Definitely not visceral disgust to this level.

Besides, recent chapters had carved a place for kainess in my heart and I feel like those 2 should cuddle and go to therapy. ( Any thoughts on recent chapters, that choking scene was disturbing...).

Do u think the light novels and profiles are not written by Kaneshiro? Bcz while they weren’t bad at all( they were quite great) there was this missing spark in them. Like with Isagi, they made him out to be able to see mosquitos across a room and note the temp change in the air as a BABY?? I-??????. I am very confused.

And in a profile, he has 200 level or smth eyesight?? Normal is 150 so.., idk maybe I am just being extremely dumb.

But to me, manga Isagi was so loveable and inspiring bcz he was a normal person who was willing to break and challenge himself to reach his goal, forging a will that was strong enough to withstand all the pressure. Not superpowers.

And in his profile, his type is someone who smiles a lot and it fits bachira but to me it sounds like another way to fit in to what people expect of him. There was a meta on Isagi and anger expression floating around in tumblr. And it says how Isagi loved Noa's style bcz of how brutal it was and through football he was able to exert anger in a socially acceptable way instead of being the peace maker and going along with Ichinan style football and just agreeing with Tada's decisions and blue lock is a release frm that. And like you said, isagi isn't as driven abt bachira as he is about him. Narratively too, that is a good thing, allowing bachira to make new connections and new bonds in Spain instead of being fixated with Isagi. And frankly, I don’t think it's healthy for Bachira to get with the first person to be his friend. Let him experience life first.

Well then, I am so excited for Pxg VS BM. The potential match ups, Kaiser most def knows Sae so some interesting conflict w/ Rin if he mentions that like Luna did. The Isagirin matchup, I'm just so excited. Also ,"# Stop looking at Rin's thighs challenge."

P.S. - I wrote a Rinsagi fic, so plz check it out.

How can I read your fic if you didn't send a link lol

Kaneshiro-sensei literally addressed the Kai//sagi shippers in the chapter: nope, not happening, no way, via Isagi himself. He may subvert this later on, but as far as I can tell, given the story's trajectory + Isagi's own character arc, it won't happen. Kaiser will most likely be coming back as a rival/enemy in the U20 World Cup arc too. There simply is no motivation for Isagi to ally with him at all.

Rin's spotlight and turn is coming up, so again, I'm not worried about the current lack of Isagi and Rin moments. It is supposed to be THE highlight of the NEL arc for good reason. And yeah, I doubt Isagi would be as offended if fans had been saying that about him and Rin. On the down low he really is fond of and respects Rin, whereas he despises Kaiser for just about everything besides his skill in soccer.

Truthfully, I've grown a little bored of the recent chapters. Not so much that they aren't good chapters, but more that there's a lack of variety to the characters. IMO Kaneshiro-sensei has hit a bit of a wall on character cast and variety - Ness' backstory is a touch too commonly seen for me to really get into, and feels lacking in effort, though tbf Ness is at best a tertiary character in-series who's there to prop up Kaiser's story.

No real thoughts yet on the choking scene. Currently it's only a sign of Kaiser's desperation to me. The throne he thought he had secured might well be about to collapse from underneath him due to Isagi's growing skill. Seeing how he'll match up against Rin is also interesting, seeing how Rin is actually very much self-sufficient as a striker, while Kaiser thus far seems quite dependent on Ness. I also believe that the PXG match will bring Kaiser into direct confrontation with Loki, who is posited as thus far the best U20 striker we've seen, given how he's a master for the PXG team, rather than simply a fellow player. Fingers crossed that Loki smokes all of them, including Noa, if he comes out to play too.

No, the light novel most likely isn't written by Kaneshiro-sensei, given what I know of the industry. The bulk of it is likely by Moegi Momo-sensei; with credit given to Kaneshiro-sensei because he's the OG creator of the Blue Lock series. That said, there's a good chance that Kaneshiro-sensei provided Moegi-sensei with story ideas and rough character backgrounds who then developed it into proper stories for novelization.

The character profiles are more likely to be done by Kaneshiro-sensei himself, though I am going to point out that it's published as 'supervised by', rather than 'written by'.

Emphasizing this: I generally don't care about light novels, character profiles etc. in terms of my interpretation of the story. To me, what appears in the manga is the only canon there is. Everything else that's official are canon-adjacent and supplementary; fun to read and get an idea of how the characters' personalities and relationships are off-page, but otherwise unimportant unless explicitly referenced in-story. Whatever is not depicted in the manga proper is free real estate.

As for Isagi in the light novel. Well.

He reads as autistic, from that apparent hypersensitivity + his hyperfocused interest in football, and as I've mentioned before: Isagi is also written very much as a tabula rasa, a blank slate of sorts, for target readers to be able to slip themselves into. I think that the emphasis is on Isagi having very clear vision, his personal advantage, amongst the rest of the cast, but again, to me, the light novel is not as important as what we see depicted in the manga proper.

No comments on Isagi's type in the profile, and how it could be Bachira. They're decently written together, and I understand why people would ship them, but they are also just kind of 'meh' for me. Kaneshiro-sensei may intend to write them as a pair, but they are a pretty run-of-the-mill standard MC + best friend ship, with the highlight being Bachira's personal growth via his relationship with Isagi. There are more satisfying ships for me in Blue Lock, and better romances in other animanga series, and while I am fond of shipping, I'm not reading Blue Lock for the shipping. It's just a nice bonus that I find Isagirin's relationship so damn interesting that I've stayed invested.

I haven't read that meta, but that's an interesting interpretation of Isagi's character. Blue Lock is somewhat of a meta commentary on the failures of the general Japanese culture's need to conform to societal pressures and not 'rock the boat', and how it has led to an under performance in football. Isagi as a whole has also been growing more assertive and more confrontational with others, though Kaiser's the only one whom he views with solid enmity.

In the light novel, Isagi's idolization of Noa stemmed from how Noa bypassed the opposing team one after the other, and then from how Noa would rather 'lose a game by a hat trick than win one with an assist'. And doesn't that sound quite like a certain someone, lmao.

Cheers to having PXG match to look forward to next year after the hols!!