#ultimate spider man feels much more like a world and a place than a lot of the rest

[artbyblastweave]

So I’ve finally been reading all of the original ultimate Spider-Man. And what’s interesting is, you know, I’ve read the ultimates, parts of Ultimate X-Men, and from there I can pretty easily understand the stance that that everything in the ultimate imprint except for Spider-Man was a write off. But honestly, I’m quickly developing the stance that there are ways in which the ubiquitous, unrelenting bleakness of the setting as a whole are a major element of why Ultimate Spiderman is so good

[pico-digital-studios]

Into, Across and Beyond! Cast: Errorverse Sonic

Replaces: Metro Spider-Man / Raimi-verse Spider-Man

WARNING: A major spoiler for Undertale Yellow is present in this post. A strikethrough will be used where the major spoiler is.

"Looking at the ground and thinking about how everything could go wrong will only slow you down, bud, and I'm sure your Sonic hates slow. Just keep looking for a way to fix the problems you see ahead of you. That's what I've been doing! Things look grey now for sure, but there's still a world- heck, a UNIVERSE of colour out there just waiting for us to explore. You just gotta know where to look!"

This version of Sonic comes from the same universe that my own character, Nitro, does; the Errorverse. He's pretty much seen all the adventures we've expected him to. The storybooks, the Solaris madness, the race across space and time, the great Eggman war, all of it!

That said, he has had his own twists and turns along the way that make him stand out as his own character. He's one of the few Sonics to be self-aware of us, his viewerbase, be it good... or bad. He underwent a period of depression leading up to the Great Eggman War, but thanks to the support of his companions, alongside Eggman himself, he was able to keep fighting forward.

After the initial war, Sonic and Tails stumbled through an abandoned lab of Eggman's, coming across somebody that would change Sonic's life forever.

(Nova owned by BroadwayBash123)

A young teen girl named Nova was sealed in one of the test tubes of the place. Knowing she really needed a happy life, the duo freed her and helped her adjust to the world around her. As time went on, Nova developed her own hobbies, personality, and strong love for her friends. She even got to meet Nitro and Amy along the way.

There was definitely a lot of romantic tension going on between the two, and though Amy was happy for Sonic and Nova, she felt torn between him, who she had loved for a while by now, and Nitro, who was developing his own feelings for her. It ultimately took Sonic expressing his sibling-like affection for Amy for her to finally make up her mind.

These bonds continued to flourish when Infinite returned, more dangerous than before, to overpower Eggman and conquer the world on his own. It took plenty of effort, but the heroes still managed to save the day. And it got Eggman to stand down for a little while to make up for his troubles.

Concerning Sonic.EXEs, Errorverse Sonic had gone through three of them; Executor Vermillion, Phaton the Phantom Hedgehog, and, well... Toxinfect. He handled the first two like a champ, but Toxinfect almost ruined his life entirely, having the WORST impact of the three and almost conquering ALL of Mobius if not for Nitro's intervention.

It took five months for Sonic to escape from purgatory alongside an ally he made there, who is the guardian of a floating city in another dimension, but once he got out with Toxinfect on the loose again, he helped tie up loose ends and put an end to the monster's tyranny once and for all.

That said, the whole ordeal shook him up a lot, which contributes to how more concentrated on their goals Team Sonic are in Frontiers. The gang do get the time to do their own Twitter Takeovers on the SEGANet, which helps them lighten up after any particularly rough cases.

As time went on, Sonic and his friends got to meet up with the cast at the dimension said guardian came from, known as Calteron. The guardian's name is Kyuzi, and he had been defending his city for a while, alongside his best friends, Enzo, Lean and Reemah.

Many more adventures ensued with time, with more universe links being established to form further bonds, which led to More than One Universe, where the gang got involved in helping OMT!Tails and the Blur Gang put things right. Sonic also wasn't afraid to get emotional and sob in CU!Sonic's arms about his own tragedies.

Things only got darker for them from there, and the most recent supernatural threat, which was responsible for causing Bently to split from the base timeline, caused the death of Kyuzi, his life being mourned for greatly.

After one of the most recent outings, a strange phenomenon caused the entire Errorverse to undergo a hard reset (or "rewrite"), creating a fresh new timeline where the old one was erased. Think the Super Genesis Wave, but without any legal mumbo-jumbo. Several things were different for this new Rewrite Errorverse:

The Puhoi Curse stuff never happened, so Audrey, its main host, co-exists with the rest of the cast without it.

Amongst characters, only Reemah, Kyuzi, Enzo, Nitro, MC, Amelia and Errorverse Team Sonic (alongside all self-aware characters, Time Stone holders, the Blur Gang and the Quill Society) remember all that went on originally.

In the original Errorverse, Eggman redeemed himself and became Mr. Tinker. Here, though, Eggman and Mr. Tinker are split into two separate characters in Errorverse Mobius.

Evo and Sid Chang had started their own science group that a now-sweet and stable Seak (who was once an insane psychopath) often attends.

In this rewritten timeline, Many More Heroes onwards is able to occur, due to the Quill Society being formed there.

All failed timelines prior to the point we pick up at still happened, but their denizens are all safe, whether in the OMEGA Universe or co-existing with the regular Errorverse crew.

In the Rewrite's Undertale/Deltarune timeline, Clover (our bean from Undertale Yellow), after giving up their soul for the Underground, got it back after Asriel shattered the barrier for good, courtesy of Frisk coming back to help them out.

Due to their interactions with canon (or "Prime") Sonic, Exester and Nameless both recall the events of a peculiar time when the ORIGINAL Sonic and many Sonic.EXEs clashed. Though that's a story for another day.

To begin with, only Nitro, Reemah, Amelia and EV!Sonic retained their memories of the old timeline, but thanks to a special orb holding those memories, the other aforementioned characters got their memories restored.

Prior to this point in the Rewrite Errorverse, EV!Sonic ended up encountering Tekno, who had also been caught up in multiversal craziness. Together, the duo formed the Quill Society via getting help and support from other heroes of all kinds of Sonic universes. He even rescued OMT!Mina and gave her a much-needed support network out of it.

And unlike Lost Memory Sonic, EV!Sonic got his rights to be the leader of the Quill Society, which has several key rules in place:

Having fun or at least enjoying yourself when in the support network is highly encouraged.

As long as it isn't hurting anyone, humour and harmless quips are perfectly alright between Quill Society members.

Even if a member isn't explicitly from a Sonic dimension, they're more than welcome to contribute music for the elevators. (LM!Sonic took offence to Somari's suggestion, by the way.)

No "canon event" nonsense is tolerated in the Quill Society, as while set events might've shaped some heroes, many more won't have those to cling to.

Calling anybody an "anomaly" (yes, this even extends to all the captive villains; those incapable of redemption are cited differently) is outright illegal in the Quill Society if it isn't by accident or is simply in discussion, as EV!Sonic actively dislikes that term, and it risks permanent exile from the dimension.

(Pictured above: NES Sonic, Hefty (D-Sides Nitro), OMT!Tails, Jake (Reclassified Sonic), LM!Sonic and EV!Sonic)

After OMT!Tails managed to help BK!Amy out of making a sadistic choice, EV!Sonic was more than happy to invite the kid to look around Gust Planet and see how the Quill Society operated. Needless to say, OMT!Tails was really excited for this opportunity, and marvelled at just how many people were here, likely in the hundreds.

(Pictured on the top row: Lord Mortis (Sonic II Special), Bluckles, Boomer, Ashura, Atomic Sonic, NGPC Sonic and Socket/Minute) (Pictured on the middle row: Candy, NightAkio, Creamy and SunFIRE) (Pictured on the bottom row: Gerem (Sonic Chrono Adventure), Nameless (The Glitch Chaos), Alicia Acorn, Game.com Sonic and Yeth) (Pictured in the foreground: Hedgehog Maria, OMT!Tails, EV!Sonic, ZX Sonic, Curse (my take) and EX!Alice (with her new mech and Chao companion) (Lord Mortis was recommended by NightAkio himself)

EV!Sonic was undeniably proud of this version of his sidekick for ratting out LM!Sonic, gladly assisting himself in apprehending the rogue blue blur and giving him an appropriate scolding before sending him back to his dimension.

During that point, of course, he got seriously pissed off at LM!Sonic for citing OMT!Tails, Antho AND Nitro as anomalies for supposedly breaching "canon" (the formermost didn't even HAVE any fault in that to begin with), and made sure to hammer it in for his crueller self how much of a mistake that was.

For now, that's all I can really say about EV!Sonic.

Sea-Production (Lord X sprite; Lord Mortis edit by BEC)

Sonicfan32 (Boomer sprite)

EXEcutor-The-Bat (S2 Sonic/Ashura)

Jay201 and CK57 (Creamy sprite)

BrandonPrower (SunFIRE sprite)

NikoGlitchArts (Nameless sprite)

Cylent-Nite (Alicia Acorn sprite)

hyperturtle32 (Maria sprite)

Jon Gandee (ZX Sonic sprite)

Dolphman (SWAT Bot mech sprite)

DeltaConduit (Alice sprite)

Jon Gandee and Plokboy (NES Sonic sprite)

Louplayer (Ohshima Sonic/Jake sprite)

PixelMarioXP (SMB1 Sonic sprite)

Froggy Mudd (Custom Amy sprite)

khalifax10 (Mania Shadow sprite)

AkumaTH (Tiara sprite)

[thevindicativevordan]

Following up on my question about the world as remade by the Maker, do you feel like the worldbuilding of the new Ultimate Universe is a bit… odd? Correct me if I'm wrong, but the North American Union was dissolved and anexed by three different territorries and there is no apparent political repercussion on the streets. In Ultimates #1, the moloids seem to be a persecuted species, but in Spider-Man #8 we found out that the Mole Man works for the Kingpin, who ultimately works for the Maker. I don't know, but sometimes it also feels like the Maker changed the world but not by that much? Like, it seems similar to ours but the narrative sells it as an all different world, with the heroes (initially) wanting to go back to how things should be. What do you think?

They want to have their cake and eat it. As you say, on one hand it's a world that has a widely divergent history from ours, but also it's recognizable as similar to what life is like for us. Yes it's a bit disappointing that there hasn't been a lot of Krakoa style data pages from Hickman to flesh out what life is like, but you would have to make that the focus of an entire book to do it justice. Besides, Hickman knows that the people who rushed to get USM are more interested in character relationships than the political dynamics of the North American Union. I think Camp is doing a good job showing us what life is like on Earth 6160, but I do wish we had gotten a book focused on the Council. If we had, that would have been the best place to explain how exactly this government system Maker created works in terms of how exactly do you split up North America between foreign powers without people rebelling.

[liugeaux]

The Best Games of 2004 | 20 Years Gone

A long time ago, in the late 00s, I REALLY wanted to be a Video Games Journalist. I was writing and podcasting for local tech website Techpedition and we even worked our way to E3 2009. I was able to parley my mask of legitimacy into getting a couple dozen free games from publishers, but was never able to break into the "business".

It's fine, I've still paid super close attention to the industry and have a handful of podcasts that I follow. One thing that I missed out on was creating the end-of-year best-of lists that have become so popular with pundits of video games. Partially because I didn't have a big enough outlet for it to matter, but more so because I didn't have the resources to play all the relevant games within their release years to render a judgment.

I typically get around to playing all the games I'm interested in, but it usually takes me about 2-5 years. It's partially a time thing but mostly a budget thing. So, what this is, is the beginning of my trip through the last 20 years of video games. I'll be creating a top 10 list for the last 15 years and going forward, I'll post a new list every year of the top 10 from 5 years ago. That is assuming I keep up with it, lol.

These will be written as if they were published the year of the list, so there will be no references to future games or better sequels, etc. Let's get started. Travel with me back to the year 2004 which, news flash, is now 20 years ago.

#10 - Metroid: Zero Mission

Not only is Zero Mission a solid remake of the classic original Metroid, but it succeeds at both making it feel modern and ultimately super-playable, which isn't something you can say about the old NES game.

#9 - Prince of Persia: The Warrior Within

Much more agro than its predecessor, The Warrior Within builds on the foundation of the standout Sands of Time and smooths out a lot of the jagged edges, specifically in the combat department. Your mileage will likely be tied to how much you like Godsmack-itude, but POP2 is a great sequel.

#8 - Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door

Paper Mario was a weird novelty and shadow follow-up to Super Mario RPG, but despite its clear creative direction, it was missing the character needed to fully succeed in the RPG space. The Thousand-Year Door has character in spades, and it will charm your staples off.

#7 - Sly 2: Band of Thieves

Making Sly Cooper into an open-world heist game took what was a decent platformer to the next level. Where the first game was a solid third place behind Ratchet and Clank and Jak and Daxter, Sly 2 makes the argument that it's a top-tier Sony series. Each mission matters and each of its characters is special.

#6 - Pikmin 2

Better than its predecessor in every way, Pikmin 2 shows the first game's primary game loop wasn't a fluke. The addition of Louie, as a second playable character who's played simultaneously with Olimar, adds a heightened level of stress, making each recovery mission a manic exercise in task prioritization.

#5 - Halo 2

Is Halo 2 as impactful as Halo: Combat Evolved? Not really. The story isn't stellar, and the surprise Arbitor missions are little more than a pallet swap, but dropping the proven Halo action onto the Xbox Live service is game and industry-changing. I'm not a multiplayer guy, but I enjoyed the single player and I recognize how important Halo 2's success is to gaming as a whole.

#4 - Mario vs Donkey Kong

Donkey Kong '94, on the Game Boy, is secretly one of the best games of 1994. Mario vs. Donkey is Nintendo fleshing out that idea and making an addictive puzzle platformer. It starts out simple and sweet and ends hard and satisfying. Had this been the direction the Donkey Kong franchise went rather than Rare's DK Country series, SNES games may have had a very different trajectory.

#3 - Spider-Man 2

Licensed games always suck. Movie tie-in games always suck. Spider-Man 2 is an anomaly on top of an anomaly and it's 100% powered by the Swinging mechanic Treyarch built for the web-crawler. It feels SO good to swing around NYC that it's hard to believe Spider-Man as a character wasn't created specifically for video games.

#2 - Ratchet & Clank: Up Your Arsenal

R&C3 is undoubtedly a great game, I'd even say damn near perfect, but its placement this high on the list may seem a bit weird. That's where my opinion comes in. I'm a huge 3D platformer fan, it's probably my favorite genre. With that factored in with the depth and polish of this shiny new Ratchet game, #2 on the list doesn't seem so outlandish.

#1 - Half-Life 2

There's always talk of "importance" when it comes to works of art. Abbey Road is important, Michelangelo's David is important, and even A Clockwork Orange is important. Video Games, a medium that's still technically in its infancy, has only a handful of important titles. I'd say Half-Life 2 fits the bill. It's use of physics as a gaming mechanic is as technically impressive as it is clever. It's an FPS but it's not "just an FPS" and the mood and tone established throughout are as compelling as that of Blade Runner. Half-Life 2 is a stunner that will be studied for years.

Notable Omissions:

Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas - I've never liked GTA games. I respect their scope and ambition, but when it comes to playing them as games, GTA titles just stink.

Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater - I've never gotten into the Metal Gear games and the more people yell at me to play them, the less I want to.

The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap - This one technically came out in North America in 2005. So, with me being from the US, It will hit next year's list.

Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II - The Sith Lords - I might end up playing this one eventually, but as of 2024 I have not.

What are your favorite video games from 2004?

See you next time. Cheers!

[ciaossu-imagines]

ultimate spider-man Adrian toomes relationship headcannons! ps I have never done this before so if im doing something wrong let me know.

Oh my gosh! I finally got a request for this fandom! You have no idea just how insanely happy this makes me, my lovely anon! Thank you so much! You did nothing wrong at all, and I really appreciate the request and hope you’ll enjoy!

I do think Adrian would be very hesitant to get into a relationship to begin with. He definitely would have the attraction and the romantic feelings and he wants it, but there’s a large part of him that is so preoccupied with everything else going on, with his search for his past, with reconciling who he is, with all his insecurities and self-doubts…and he’d honestly have a hard time even believing that he was worth being in a relationship with or that someone could like him that way. I do see him as someone who doesn’t initially like himself, or who sees himself as less than in a lot of ways, and I think that’s where a lot of the hesitancy would come from. He doesn’t even really know, initially, who he is so how can someone like him for who he is??

Anyone interested in Adrian is going to have to be patient and willing to wait for him to get to a place mentally where he feels he can properly be with them. They’ll have to put up with his moods and his self-esteem issues. They’ll have to show him support, build a bond with him, and gain his trust before he’ll be comfortable getting into a relationship with him.

I do see Adrian as being very much someone who does take relationships seriously though. He does consider dating someone as an important, serious thing and he’d be a really dedicated and loyal partner. To him, at times, he will make it a very much ‘it’s me and them together against the world’ and he’ll make them very much a huge part of their life, though he can fall into putting them on a pedestal at times.

Expect lots of bad poetry because he’s definitely going to be that emo kid who writes lots and lots of it for his partner. He’s a huge fan of Edgar Allan Poe’s poetry, but his own will be more free form, though it’ll still have the gothic feel to it. His partner will find surprises, little love notes and poems, slipped into their bag in his attempt to ‘cheer them up’ throughout their day, whenever they discover it.

Adrian really isn’t a fan of crowded places or being around people so a lot of his dates will be very low-key and will focus on spending alone time with his partner. Expect a lot of night-time dates, picnic suppers on the roof of a tall building, where he’ll want to take in the nightscape, the moon and stars and city lights. He’s surprisingly well versed in some of the old Greek myths about the constellations, especially the more angsty ones, and he’ll love sharing them with his partner.

[ben-talks-art]

My Favorite versions of Peter Parker

Spider-Man has been adapted a lot in the media over the years. Japanese Tv shows, movies, games, animated series, and so on.

It's hard to settle what would exactly be the "ideal" version of Peter Parker since every writer who tries to handle him offers their own spin on what Spider-Man should represent and why he's such a good character.

I myself wouldn't say that I have a definitive Peter Parker, but I do have several versions of the dude which I gravitate towards the most. Be it because they capture the sense of tragedy, the sense of getting up after being knocked down, the sense of friendliness, or even just the sense of humor that appeal to me so much, so I felt it would be fun to talk a little about my favorite versions of him and why I enjoy them so much!

So let's do exactly that...

Ultimate Spider-Man

I'll admit I never read much of the comics of the classic 616 Spider-Man, but I did read the entire run of Ultimate Spider-Man by Brian Bendis, and I honestly really liked it.

This Peter is what I would describe as the "Puberty Spider-Man." This is a Spidey that represents what's like to be a teen trying to be a hero and slowly learning how the real world works and... how much a lot of it sucks.

It's a Spider-Man that's being challenged into continuing being a hero even though he's constantly getting disappointed by the adult world around him. Doesn't matter if it's villains, heroes, allies, teachers, or his own boss, this is a Peter who keeps being exposed to how selfish and self-centered people can be, how ready they are to use or throw away others to fulfill their goals, and how now that he turned himself into someone important, he needs to decide who will he allow to use him or if he will allow it at all.

It's kinda depressing cause you see this young boy just going into this hero thing and being all "I'm gonna save people!" and then learning that it's a lot more complicated than that.

But that just makes it all the more impressive that he does keep going and doing the right thing, even with the bureaucracy of the adult world trying to swallow his motivation.

He's the Peter that was forced to grow up, but still managed to grow up as a good person who knows how to do the right thing, despite how hard the world around him tried to convince him otherwise.

Peter B. Parker

This is the "Almost lost cause Spider-Man." One of the great themes around Spider-Man is that he never gives up, never quits, never stops doing what's right, but in this case we have a Peter that almost, ALMOST indeed gave up.

Due to a series of unfortunate circumstances, this Peter ended up reaching his lowest point after losing nearly everything he cared about and feeling like there was no reason to keep going. And yet, despite everything that happened to him and having all the reason to give up and let go of the mask, he still managed to bounce back.

All because he ended up meeting a little boy that needed a hero, and thanks to that little boy he managed to find in himself the will to be that hero once again resulting in not only helping him, but the boy helping Peter as well.

And now, because he decided to try one last time and take the risk with one last "leap of faith" this Peter managed to find happiness once again.

He is a guy that managed to get up after reaching his lowest point, and not only managed to bounce back but went even further and achieved a happy life with the family he never knew he wanted and needed after being inspired by a confused boy who was also just trying his best to find his place in the world.

This Peter shows how healing helping others can be, and why even when there are times you think nothing else matters there will always be something that matters.

He shows that you're never too old to learn or too lost to find yourself.

Insomniac Peter

This is the "Friendly Spider-Man." The best way I can describe this Peter is that he's incredibly wholesome and kind.

He's the dude that actually tries to chat with the people of the city and make them see that he's just a guy no different than any of them, a very humble dude, the kind you want to hang out with because you know you two would get along super well.

You can even see in his type of humor like when he's fighting Vulture and Electro and making jokes about Rocky and getting excited that one of them got it. Or in the DLC where he tries to get a high-five from Silver Sable. This is a Spidey that wants to get along with the people around him.

He's not just a hero that punches bad guys, he wants to actually help them out. It's the one that comes to my mind when I think of "Friendly neighborhood Spider-Man."

This is the kind of dude you want living in your city, cause you know you can count on him when you have a problem, and this is exactly what a superhero should do, make you feel like you're safe and in good hands.

Amazing Spider-Man

This is the "Struggling Spider-Man."

He's the one that you feel sorry for because everything that could possibly go wrong with this guy always go wrong, and yes, being miserable is a thing that happens to every version of Peter Parker... But something about the way this Peter responds to it really works for me.

It's the fact that you can tell he's trying to keep his problems inside while still doing the job that needs to be done. He's not pretending his struggles don't exist or letting them completely take over him, he's just trying his best to keep going since he knows Spider-Man is needed, even if life may not be so kind to him.

Each live-action Spider-Man handles how they react to their struggles in their own way. With Tobey you can really feel how it destroys him inside sometimes and with Tom it feels like he hasn't even processed the severity of what happened until it happens.

Andrew's Spidey feels like he's trying his best to stay optimistic, stay on the right path, keep fighting the good fight, despite the fact that inside he might be carrying a lot of pain.

He's a Spider-Man that I really respect because he captures the harshness of facing these struggles but also the strength to face them and keep going.

Spectacular Spider-Man

This is my favorite version of Spider-Man. Is it perfect? No. Does it capture the essence of what makes Peter Parker Peter Parker? Who knows. But when I think of Spider-Man, this is the first image that comes to my mind.

He's the "born leader Spider-Man." The kind of guy that will jump into battle with 5 different plans already formed in his head, and if they all fail he'll just come up with another 20 more because he knows he has a job to do and people to save.

This Spidey is the embodiment of confidence. Anytime he sees someone in danger he instantly goes into "have a job to do" mode and starts formulating how to best deal with the situation while making full use of all of his skills and gadgets while also taking full advantage of the environment and even his own opponents as he learns about them.

He always feel like he's in control of the situation, and even when he fails he's quick to adapt to the situation and try the next thing. He doesn't just dwell on his mistakes, he accepts them, learns, and moves on like an adult.

I love this Spidey because he at times feels like the ideal version of what a mature Peter would look like. You sense no hesitation or fear when you look at him, you just feel that if you're in trouble and he shows up you're gonna be okay because this guy always gives 200% to get the job done.

Even though this is one of the "jokiest" Spider-Mans, you still know he is taking his job of saving people completely serious. If he falls, he just gets up. If a plan fails, he thinks of another one. If the enemy is strong, then he just starts acting smarter. He always has his head in the game and always sure that he has what he needs to save the day.

And I think that's it. Confidence, friendliness, growth, persistence, hope, strength, humor, intelligence, kindness, there are a lot of things to like about Spider-man and a lot of ways to adapt this character into the media while focusing on his several qualities.

These were the ones that stood out the most to me and these are the qualities about them that made them stand out so much.

I know Spider-Man might be going through some rough times right now in the comics, but I still love the character, still think he means a lot to me, and still hope to see more of what makes him so great in the future as well!

[asm5129]

Flash Thoughts ⚡ A New World Part 4: Finale

Well, here we are. The last episode of the flash, and a farewell to the arrowverse–at least, for the foreseeable future. God damn, i’ll miss it. I don’t care what anyone says, this world, these characters, they’ve meant so much to me. They’ve been by my side through the worst moments of my life, through into a better time where I feel more fulfilled and happy, I feel genuine joy in my life, my family is healthier, and my pain, while not gone, is lessened. That kind of reliable companionship, whether through a human or a story, is rare. And I will treasure it, always. My hope remains that in a few years, people will start softening on the Arrowverse the way they have Andrew Garfield’s Spider-Man or the Star Wars prequels, and maybe all the work that was put into this world–ten years, 6 shows not counting Superman and Lois or Stargirl–can get a bit of a resurgence. It’s already built out the most complete multiverse brought screen after all.

 But anyways. The finale. I liked it a lot. It was imperfect to be sure, a bit rushed, and it really wasted it’s returning villains. But I liked it. It was really lovely and hopeful. And I know Grant Gustin pushed for a hero’s death, but I actually stand with Eric Wallace on this one. The Flash, long before Wallace was showrunner, was about hope, and love. We can argue whether he took it to places it didn’t work, but that was always what it was about. Barry brought a light Oliver couldn’t. That was established in the pilot episode. So him meeting a similar end to Oliver I think, as epic as it may have been, wouldn’t have made sense in the grand scheme of things. No, ultimately, it was the right call to make The Flash’s final episode about hope, and love, and family, and–most importantly–coexistence. 

 While I liked Khione, her inclusion had no real grounded logic to it. There’s no reason what Caitlin did in the season 8 finale should have created Khione. Yet regardless–I think she was the perfect vessel for the message of coexistence. As long as Thawne was the Avatar of the negative speed force, there was no chance for coexistence. There was no path forward with him. But the NSF screwed up when it chose to try and corrupt a good man. This is, genuinely, the first time Barry talking a Big Bad down worked in Eric Wallace’s Flash, because Eddie was a good man who was in pain. He hadn’t chosen to be cruel, so much as he felt he had to make someone cruel happy for him to be happy. But it wasn’t natural for him. And while it was a bit rushed, I think it worked well.

 There will always be those we butt heads with, those standing in our way. But if we’re smart, and we’re kind, that doesn’t always mean there has to be pain. Conflict and contrasting viewpoints are healthy and important, as long as it doesn’t spiral out of control. Barry could have sworn off Eddie as just another Eobard, but he knew Eddie. He knew there was more to him than the pain and the fear that was pushing him to these extremes. So he chose peace, and let Eddie see the man he was becoming. I know it’s very idealistic, but fuck it, there are a billion other stories that refuse to entertain the idea of coexistence, that have the heroes just murdering whomever they consider a threat, or even just getting mad and pursuing vengeance without any care for the lives of others. There’s maybe ten mainstream stories that entertain the idea that maybe some people could change and that could make a better world. Less, most likely. If you wanna expend your energy getting upset over that, god, what a waste.

 I also really, really like that Barry’s choice to let Thawne kill himself ended up really mattering here. I felt that was very strange in season 8 and the beginning of season 9 because such a big deal was made during Armageddon about saving him, even though he was only a victim of his own actions just as he was in the S8 finale So for Barry to know the same thing could happen to Eddie and being desperate to not repeat his choice in season 8 was a great payoff to that. You can argue whether it’s rational to want to save those trying to kill him and his loved ones, but it’s who Barry is. He values every life. Every single one. We need hope. We need idealism. We need kindness. And The Flash didn’t always execute it right, and it’s failures at it deserve criticism, but I don’t feel this episode was one of those failures.

 Onto some criticism though… As I mentioned, I think this episode absolutely wastes its returning villains. 

 The first episode of A New World really oughta have been the last appearance of the Reverse-Flash I think if this was all they were gonna do with him. I don’t think this episode cheapened that one at all, but it still felt like a much less satisfying final appearance. And Chester having black hole powers that protected him from being murdered by Thanwe was just cheap. 

 Savitar did almost nothing, and everything that made him interesting from season 3 was gone. 

 Godspeed was just…ugh. He did less than nothing, because he did something and it had zero impact on anything and then Cecile just knocked him out with a thought. Godspeed really was the most underwhelming of all of them, he was mediocre in season 7 and mediocre here, and I wish his slot was filled by the Red Death, just to at least connect her to the rest of the season somehow. Bart finally got a mention in the last 15 minutes or so, but he wasn’t part of the episode despite Godspeed supposedly being “his Thanwe”. I guess the actor just wasn’t available or something, but God it’s so weird that they have spent so, so much time this season on Nora and there was just a single mention of Bart all season. and Zoom was eh.

 Did kinda enjoy all their egos clashing and their grandstanding, and I did appreciate the tension between Eobard and Eddie. Honestly what I might have done instead of these villains would be to have Matt Letscher’s Thawne and Tom Cavanaugh’s Thawne be recruited together. Could have made for some fun dynamics, clashing egos and both Thawnes hating that they were recruited by Eddie–plus finally seeing the two Thanwes onscreen together would have been a great way to say farewell. 

 Ah well. Not sure how I feel about the return of Caitlin, but I did very much like that her and Barry got a chance to talk again and reconcile what happened between them. So regardless of how I feel about the fact that she’s suddenly safe and sound, I do like something we got from it. And Frost still being dead at least makes this not a total about-face. I do like Chester and Allegra together, but I do think the will they/won’t they didn’t need to go on as long as it did. I did however adore Joe FINALLY proposing to Cecile. There were times I had to actually look up whether they were married or not, since they were dating so long, living together, had a kid, etc 

 And after Joe having such a hard time with love before Cecile, in retrospect I actually really appreciate that she didn’t push him. Sure, the ring and everything is nice, and it’s made clear she wanted it, but she clearly didn’t need a ring or a binding piece of paper to know that Joe was in it for the long haul. It was a really, really nice moment for the finale. Nora being present at her own birth, and even holding herself as a baby…yeah barry was right, even for the Flash family that’s a lot. 

But I really appreciated all the moments with baby Nora, especially Joe singing with iris’ memories flashing across the screen and Barry asking baby Nora to believe in something impossible. 

and actually on that note, let me close out by saying–I fucking love that that line, the very first line of the pilot episode, was at the core of the finale. “I need you to believe in the impossible.” It began as a way to describe a world of metahumans, aliens, time travel and multiverses. 

 But here, it’s about believing in a new world, a better world, one that doesn’t accept that a cycle of pain and violence could ever pass for the natural order of things. And I dunno–maybe it’s also a little message that the Arrowverse might have a future some day. That it will get it’s due. Some say that’s impossible, but maybe I’ll listen to Barry on this one, and believe in it anyway. 

 Thank you for following my Flash Thoughts during this final season. It was really enjoyable to write them up for folks. Chat soon folks. You’re all wonderful. stay safe.

[kaithonks]

So I’ve had some Thoughts about Folklore and Wifwulf

I ended up reading Wifwulf this week, and it got me thinking about how much of a natural fit folklore and comics are. Hell, Wonder Woman, Thor, and Shazam have roots in mythology. And in a lot of ways it makes sense, as Scott McCloud points out in his Understanding Comics, The Codex Zouche-Nuttall and the Bayeux Tapestry is a proto-comic. And while those are more historical records, the point I'm making is art has always been a way to capture the culture of the time. I know people make jokes about historians of the future thinking Spider-man is a deity, but it feels not too far off the mark. Though future historians will likely have more context around Spider-man and more detailed records of his history. But comics are a more traditional medium than they're often given credit for.

Wifwulf is original but in some ways feels very classic. It's very much a werewolf story, but it's not a "man" wolf; it's about a "woman" wolf. And what I like about Wifwulf is its subversion. Typical werewolf stories are about losing control and becoming a monster; Wifwulf is about becoming free. It makes a lot of sense since our society is patriarchal. So the "man" benefits more from fitting in, so losing that and becoming a "wolf" is a loss for them. But the "woman" only gains. In someways it reminds me of My Favorite Thing Is Monsters (particularly the first volume) where Karen is always drawn as a werewolf and connects to people through 'monstrosity' which ultimately is just humanity and kindness.

Now there is even a bit of subversion in the art. Mostly the panel structured. All of the panels with Charity in the wood are not really squares; the outside of the panels actually looks like a tree. But when in the city, it takes the more rigid structure, which again fits with the Wifwulf gaining freedom and connecting not only to nature, but her nature through the art. The only place where this diverges a bit is at the end when the panels become more fluid-looking but keep the free feeling.

Ogden's art in general is a highlight of Wifwulf, as it's just really a treat to look at. And while I find the story a little short, it does a lot with that short read. And what is nice with the paperback is all the guest art and extra little treats at the end. I know I don't talk about those much, but I do always enjoy them, and I think they are a little extra special, especially here, especially for the plant guide it gives at the ends because it motivates second reads to look for where the plants are placed.

Sometimes what I enjoy most about comics is when they get me thinking about comics as a whole. Wifwulf is a nice twist on a traditional folktale and uses that format to talk about the current world.

[ducknotinarow]

03/07 Michelangelo - All Symbol Headcanons please uwu

| Send me a symbol and I will write a headcanon about…  For multimuse blogs, please specify!

MIKEY!!!! I love Mikey ;3; he's such a good character. I lowkey nah no what I Highkey absolutely hate how much fandom can or rather will initialized Mikey. Or reduce him to the comic relief of the group. Mikey is such a good character. Yeah Mikey is funny, witty and even annoying but he is very empathic. He very often is the only one who can understand where one of his brothers is coming from such as being the most aware of the burdens Leo carries that well they sort of put on him. Unlike in 2012, Leo is an unofficial leader. Mikey knows because Leo dose take to that role placed on him though it give the rest of them freedom Leo can't really have. His skill often get over looked despite the fact Mikey is actually the most athletic of his brothers he just lacks focus it's often shown and stated if he did? He would be quite the force to deal with in a fight.

𝓕 : My muse’s handwriting. (Is it good, bad, difficult to decipher, do they prefer writing by hand or with the help of some form of machine, e.t.c.) 

Mikey is for sure the more creative one of his brothers and he dose show he thinks differently than any of them do often his plans come as a surprise to the rest because of this. Of course this creative trait is due to Mikey being a free spirit and artistic to a point. Mostly his hand writing is hard to read often you can at best only make out the first letting of ever word he wrote because his brain actually thinks faster than he can react at times. When he sits and focus on writing of course he wants to make it out to look fun and pretty uwu

✈ : My muse and  traveling. (If they do it frequently and why, if they never left their home town, e.t.c.)

"Man I've been to all sorts of places, buuuuuuut clearly it's how i traveled to the top and became the battle Nexus champion!"

Mikey travels a lot but it is not by choice believe you and me. But because of a lot of things him and his brothers happened to find themselves suddenly apart of a lot of weird things. I mean hes gone to the future and other worlds but I mean furthest? has to space right?

✿ : My muse and nature. (If they are an ‘outdoorsy type’, like the sound of bird’s singing, if they have never set foot in a forest, e.t.c.) 

"Ehhh I mean its nice I guess buuuut I rather be home with the ultimate tv view experience."

Yeah Mikey is for sure a home body this is a turtle that took to the modern convince of technology and has the hardest time dealing without it. It's not he dislikes the outdoors he can take to it pretty well when he has too of course and that's the wording that should be focus on here. Mikey really likes watching tv after all and tends to find anyway todo so even skipping on training to peep in on someones else tv. But He doesn't dislike nature he loves animals and plants in fact. Luckily he was born with a green thumb even.

Mikey kind of likes that something is reliant on him and that he can make something from his own hands. Helping a plant thrive because of his care is sort of rewarding. Considering Mikey is often always being made to feel like he always the one depending on others which he dose but hardly dose his brothers seem to see him as able to do the same back. So he sort of gets that from his interest in plants.

☼ : My muse’s first memory. (Where it was, who was with them, how this memory makes them feel, e.t.c.) 

"hmm first memory? uhh I guess when I got the first comic book that got me hooked? It was an issue of Spider-Man and boy was it a fun read!" Mikey was up on the surface on Halloween, it's been said that Splinter always took the boys up on the day since they could walk around without fear or worry at the time. They stuck to a more small rural area just to be cautious still. In this neighborhood there was a lot of smaller shops so as a community they ran a sort of trick-o-treat event where kids got their candy and such from the store owners. A cookbook show was on this block and often they gave out free comic books and this is how Mikey got a lot of his comic collection started. The first he got was of course a Spider-Man Comic. A wise cracking hero? Who often distracts his villains with his smart ass mouth? Yeah someone just may have been a tad influenced.

Mikey fell in love with comic books after this he loved the stories and the plots. He wanted to be a super hero so bad. Because in the comics the humans loved heros no matter what. From humans dressed in spandex, to Aliens that took home on earth hell even mutants or meta-humans were loved by humans. So why can't that be the same for him and his family?

Of course Mikey knows being a hero comes with being selfish too and in part keeping to the shadows is something him and his family may have to do forever with no single thanks given hell even acknowledgement. Sure maybe being a hero should drive from helping but sometimes Mikey can be self severing doesn't mean he also doesn't see he has the ability to help. He often swallow his fears to step up or gets involved when he really doesn't have to. Common traits from his favorite heros.

☙ : My muse’s favourite food. (Bonus: A memory, be it good or bad, associated with said food.)

"Uh hello? Pizza?" Of course it is Pizza Mikeys favorite food to him Pizza is the best human food to ever come to be because of what all you can do with Pizaa. You don't even need to stick to marinara sauce for the base like in the case of BBQ or Chicken Alfredo Pizzas. Mikey of course like the different styles thick crust, thin crust, even stuffed. Mikey being a true Pizza lover has also tried out from Chicago style to Colorado style but of course New York style is his go to favorite. He is a new yorker through and through and they are known for having good pizza.

Mikey even likes to push the limit on what toppings he eat on a pizza and often? nothings to far out there for Mikey this boy should be on fear factor honestly.

♬ : My muse and music. (What type of music they like listening to and in what context, what music they would never listen to, e.t.c.)

"hmm I like all kinds of music really? Rap, Techno, Surf, Jimmy Buffett."

As is Mikey he is flexible on many things even when it comes to his taste in music this applies to. Mikey just likes music with energy is what it comes down to in the end. Sure Rock music is one that could fit but it's not quite the sound he is looking for he wants a more bouncy sound when he listens to music.

Mikey may be a new yorker but likes be honest this boy would thrive of Cali's vibes and just oozes the setro type of a California person. From how he talks and carries himself not to mention his Cali accent is hard to miss. Surf just ties into all of this Mikey if he could would love to surf! is why he loves to skateboard so much and loves the half pipe Donnie made just for him. He wants so badly to catch the waves! Sometimes when he's skating in the Sewer tunnels and theirs some water on the ground he likes to imagine hes out on the ocean.

↺ : My muse and the past. (Do they live in the past and struggle to let go of past grievances, or move on more easily, is there anything in their past they want to forget, e.t.c.) 

"live in the past? Why do that and why worry about whats to look forward too? Nah all about the now and current vibes" This might sound like good advice but in truth Mikey actively tries to avoid the past and all the mistakes that follow. So you can say there is a lot he wants to forget he likes to cherry pick in a sense one could say. Winning the Battle Nexus? Of course he remembers that and hangs on to even seeing it as the real only achievement he has ever been able to make happen which has been an issue seeing as he rode the high of the win for a long time even to a point Splinter saw an issue with Mikey's egos due to the win.

Mikey also isn't the best about thinking about looking ahead it fills him with anxiety in truth because he just doesn't know. It's like he is being surround by mountains of work and all he can do is focus at those peaks and how high they reach. He has no clue where to start because its just all to much.

Going where he is now? it's easier he can sort of tell whats going to happen. Him and brothers will wake for breakfast. Hell annoy Raph as they make their way to the kitchen where Leo is likely already at. Don will follow soon lured by the smell of coffee that Raph got ready for them. Mikey will start on breakfast and then They will head to the dojo and train once clean up is over. Don will go back to his lab to work, Leo may do some one on one work with Splinter, Raph might stay home or sneak away up top. Maybe its junkyard day and they head out to look for stuff. It may be friday so Mikey will call up April and such to see who wants to join movie night. some things change here and there but over all it's the same and he take comfort in all of this.

Even when things changes routines are still there, Don and Raph move out and have kids but they come by and Mikey gets to play the babies. The whole family still gets together here and there it just easier to live in his current point. It often why his mistakes can catch up to him like his mistake of joining the foot clan. Donnie asked him about his future and it set him off. He struggles with who he is and what use he even has with his family looking to the past is littered with mistakes but to the future is uncertain and open ended answers.

☾ : My muse and sleep. (How much they sleep, how much they wish to sleep, if there is something that never fails to put them to sleep, e.t.c.) 

"Gotta get those z's every now and then, early to sleep early to rise or stay up late to get more time." Mikey is someone who goes to bed at a somewhat decent time it just kind of depends. he always likes to settle down with a movie or comic and tends to pass out when his eyes have tried out this isn't always the same time every night. Sometimes hes out early sometimes hes out late. He doesn't have much trouble sleeping unless there's a lot of noise like the times he had to share a room with Raph who snores loud. But to everyone one annoyance I feel no matter how tried Mikey is? He don't have an off switch he can always seem to just get a second wind and be well Mikey.

✧ : My muse and art. (If they have an artistic side or not and why, favourite artist if they have one, e.t.c.) 

"I love it! well I mean I like street art at least and painting my skateboards, so i got a few for that reason."

Mikey loves art but he's not versed in it's history type of art lovers. So he doesn't know the classics he knows him and his brothers were named after artist but he doesn't known much about them just that they were old artist guys in the past but will make reference to his name sake at times. Art isn't a big thing for him he's always colored with crayons as a kid and ate them of course. Like to give some character to things such as the decks of his boards and he has tried his hand at nail art. Something that improves over time if he has the right supplies that is of course.

❃ : My muse and social media. (If the muse is/would be on social media and why/why not, their general opinion on it, e.t.c.) 

"Course I use it, how I find out about comic releases and catch up on story lines."

Mikey was able to see the start of alot of more know Socials today. He had an account on friendster mostly for the games later on till it shut down. He had a myspace and loved to customize his profile with all sorts of widgets.Hasn't touched it in years! He went on to forums mostly and 4chan of course for comics so he could track down issues he was search for and there was always someone online who could offer help on how to get it. He's part of a few online friend circles from comics books to people who have seen glimpses of the turtles and talk about it online, he thinks it's funny and sometimes messes with them. He'll see them pick up common locations they spot them and will go there to just give them more to share. It's a harmless prank on his end and something he keeps to himself he don't need his brothers ruin his fun after all.

Mikey also has a twitter account mostly for comic related stuff but he likes to post pictures of the weird stuff in New York most people know weird creatures come around in the city since the Tricerton Invasion so it's harmless.

✉  : My muse and others. (If they social and outgoing or more introverted, and why. If they prefer communicating with others face to face or in written form, e.t.c.). 

"I love meeting new people! Those other turtle can be tots annoying sometimes ya know? Gotta shake it up."

Mikey is very social if he dosen't vibe with someone right off the bat there usually a good reason even monstrous creatures like Leatherhead or Quarry where Mikey understandable was scared of them when first meeting them. Was able to see the good in Leatherhead and try to befriend him and soon saw Quarry wasn't like the other mutants if annoyed by how much of a scardy cat they could be ironic considering himself. Or like with April where he was first to openly speak to her with out any hesitation. Mikeys pretty good about befriending anyone really shown when it comes to the superhero charaters in the show. Mikey was able to Befriend Sliver Sentry with ease even with them feeling he was getting in the way and even the more aloof Nobody. His friendly welcoming nature just seems to be a natural draw for a lot of people no mater the species.

Dosen't mean he gets along with everyone he meets but he can at least up to points stand some people a be a bit more tolerable. Takes a special someone to be annoying to mikey *cough* Casey *cough*

Mikey is just very very social and he craves interaction because of it. Which can get annoying for his older brothers who are all more independent and such. Mikey will often just go into a room with one of them and linger about of course not quietly he just needs to be around someone is all. Like when hell go into Don's lab and rant on about something stupid in his comics he knows they aren't listening or care much he just likes that Don will let him do it. He loves spending time with his brothers the most, so those Friday night movies are always his favorite.

When it comes to talking Mikeys prefers it be face to face. Likely due to him having a lot of empathy for others it just easier for him to gauge the other person's feelings. Written or text is hard for him to convey a tone from. Hearing their voice, seeing their face? He just feels the best way to communicate is face to face. This is also why he is willing to step back from Ariel when she got upset with him and wait for her to come to him. He wouldn't have that talk any other way with her. It's why he and Summer never had this blow up her Dad's made sure to make her feel she can express her thoughts after all and in a way she has taken one some traits from Mikey because of this. So they had their own talk she knows Mikey regrets what he did and knows how torn up over it he is as well. It why he dose the same with each of his brothers when serious things come up those one on one talks are just too important.

▶ : My muse and level of education. (If the muse has some form of education, what education they perhaps wish they had, e.t.c.). 

"uhhh I mean whatever Splinter teaches me I guess?"

And yet Mikey isn't even the worse of Splinters students. Mikey is for sure that kid who learns in a different way than most. He has the most raw talent out of his brothers and he knows the same things they do like Chi Gong breathing techniques when they went to space. But as show during the Ninja tribunal season Mikey is a active learner being told how to do something or reading it doesn't work he man retain the information like when he and Splinter were dealing with mr.touch and mr. Go he showed he could in fact use his mind when it came to a fight and come up with some good plans. He just has to apply it in ways he can understand.

◐ : My muse and animals. (If they like animals and treat them well, do not care for them at all, e.t.c.). 

"I love animals I don't know what I do with out Klunk and Klunk jr."

Mikey is a lover of cute animals one could say like cats and Chickens of course like Sonny and Cher ;3; Mikey is also a sucker for his pet cat Klunk who is for sure Mikey's furbaby. Klunk knows hes got a nice gig in the lair so never strays far from them and for sure has kept other rats away from getting into the lair since they got a cat around. He often lets his brothers pet him or sets him on thier laps because he knows animals are good for mental health. Which is why he is so attached Klunk became her emotional support animal after some time. And im sure as you can tell by a mention in his comment there is a second Klunk in his life.

Sadly even with the life of luxray Klunk lived with the turtle Klunk wasn't going to live forever. Based on color alone I would say Klunk is and orange Tabby and they can live for 20 years at the latest. Most only 10 to 16 years. Roughly well say it was 2004 when Mikey found Klunk whoe was just a kitten at the time so Klunk could live and be around a god long while. And as BTTS showed Klunk was still around then. But not in the 07 movie and based on how I sor tof timeline things here 03 -> 07 -> FF/BBTS (?) this would in a way make a gap with out a cat and just hit harder on Mikey being lonely. But Klunk was a alley cat in a sense and was free to roam as they got bigger. Met female cat and Im sure you can see where I leading to. Mikey soon finds a cat that looks just like Klunk and take them in as Klunk jr.

❒ : My muse and gifts. (If they are good/bad at finding gifts, good/bad at receiving gifts, good/bad at wrapping gifts, e.t.c.) 

"I mean I love getting them that for sure."

I feel Mikey is pretty decent at giving gifts hell recall something someone said they liked before and come across something similar like say April mentioned as a kid she loved a certain character and Mikey happens across something of that old character so he brings it to her. It was a passing comment but he tends to hang on to that information.

☘ : My muse’s relation with their family. (If they speak with each other and how much, if they are close or estranged, e.t.c.). 

"I love them really all there is to say on that, I know my brothers and I fight. I know they fight. I know we make mistakes but...I also know we always have each other and always will have each other." Mikey is the baby of his family through and through and sometimes it can be annoying since his brothers often look at him as younger. Sure over time they learn to see him on their own level. and even seems to earn their respect. Mikey dose look up to all of his brothers in different ways and for different reasons and in a way he sort of idolizes them.

Don kind of Spoils Mikey because he dose give into thier whims a lot and its kind of made Mikey feel Don can fix anything from whatever tech issue is going on to other problems as well like when Mikey is feeling Don it's Donnie he goes to. Mikey needs interaction so bad or he gets kind of down and Donnie is the less likely to be annoyed with him so he fixes Mikey in a sense.

Raph and Mikey can have a sort of love hate relationship. Mikey being the annoying little brother and Raph the disgruntle older one. Mikey dose know Raph cares about him and knows he will protect him and look out for him. Raph can mess with Mikey but anyone else tries? They are dead.

Leo Ive said it alot here but Leo is who Mikey is closest to. Leo is often the only one who dose have faith in Mikey's abilities and acknowledges his talents but often has to be stern and tell mikey to focus. Mikey loves heros and to him Leo is his own personal hero for those reasons alone and it's why he listens to Leo not to mention why he is so close to them.

Splinter He is dad and Mikey is good about listening to his Dad sometimes. Mikey dose sometimes feel he isn't always measuring up well compared to his brothers and must be failing his dad. But he feels close enough to express these worries to Splinter they have a very good relationship and Mikey spends hours talking to Splinter. They often crack jokes together honestly they might be an awful combo because of Splinters savage ways.

Casey is the one person in the world that can actually annoy Mikey and that is a thing to say XD However Mikey dose see Casey as another big brother of his sometimes his favorite outside Leo. Cause Casey will often listen to Mikey's complaints seriously unlike his brothers will. If he whines about not being able to find a comic Casey suggests a place that may just have it and offer to take him. Casey also tends to play along with Mikey's antics at times very much how an adult will be wowed by a younger kids statements to match their energy. But Casey pretty much a big kid himself it's why he can match Mikeys energy it seems. its why he trs to be there for Casey during the break up.

Yvonne is someone you might think wouldn't get along to well with mikey due to her serious nature but she is Mikeys gal pal. They like to trash talk over whine and watch chick flicks. They have girls night along with April and later the girls when they are teens. Von is also kind of the branch that helped Mikey more embrace his feminine side shes kind of like a safety net in a sense. Because she has a habit of needing to use example and such it helps mikey see that him feeling like he genderfuild is not werid and dosen't make him different its just another thing that make him Mikey. He was one of two who really wanted him to get together with Don but because it meant she would be his sister.

Summer/Ariel- Ill drive more into stuff on Summers answers but over all Mikey loves his nieces and used to take part in kidnapping them both when they were babies. Often the last option as babysitter but it was more like playdates. he might be thier uncle/aunt/auncle but it follows more th logic of im the older kid between them. Mikey always had very good friendships with the both of them. He's sort of like this break from adults because like what Casey did for him i feel he dose for his nieces offers them someone they can talk to in a way they can't other adults. It why he was shocked by Ariels turn on him he just felt everything was fine because as stated Mikey is someone who needs to talk to know whats going on but Ariel is too much like her own parents and it didn't help that everyone seemed to just mov eon from everything. So when she snapped at him sudeenly of course it hurt him a lot. He didn't know how much what he did would effect her nor was he ware how it affected Don. He loves her and of course wanted to fix it but because he loves her he gave her the space she seemed to need at the time. Dose make him wonder if they were as close as he thought they always were.

[xtruss]

Charles III! The Slightly Creepy King Who Talks To Trees and Spent His Life Waiting.

— By Imogen West-Knights | May 05, 2023 | Assessment

A facsimile of King Charles III on Friday in London. Finnbarr Webster/Getty Images

People have been wondering what a Charles III reign will look like for a long time. They’ve had a lot of time to do it: He’s the longest-serving heir in British history, having spent 70 of his 74 years next in line to the throne.

It has been unclear what Charles ought to be doing with his time on earth. His job has been, more than anything else, to wait, and to wait for something both monumental—becoming a king—and ghoulish—the death of his mother. The pitfalls of not quite finding your place in the world as a member of the royal family and kicking your heels on top of a near-limitless mountain of wealth are very clear: You get a Prince Andrew situation.

So how has Charles been passing the time? In the mid-’70s, when he was approaching 30, he began setting up charities, and he kept at it: He held a summit in 2009 with the intention of protecting the climate and reducing deforestation that saw Hillary Clinton and U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in attendance. He’s a keen agriculturalist, and believes that industrial farming is an environmental travesty. He has his own organic farm in Gloucestershire, where he keeps up traditional farming techniques, and where he hosted the “National Hedgelaying Championships” in 2005. He’s also spent much of the past couple of decades getting involved in politics through what became known as his “black spider memos,” after his scrawling handwriting: letters he would write to government ministers on subjects like urban planning and education. He’s been vocally in favor of overhauling the “honours system,” whereby titles such as “Commander of the British Empire” are handed out to the rich and powerful, a designation he has said is bestowed on “the wrong people” for “the wrong reasons.” He’s subsequently been accused of interfering in political matters to an undue degree. A critically acclaimed play called Charles III premiered in London in 2014 and went on to Broadway. It depicted Charles meddling with freedom-of-the-press laws, sparring with Parliament, and ultimately having to abdicate in favor of Prince William. A more sympathetic portrait came on the TV series The Crown, on which he was recently played by Dominic West, but even there, he was most memorably portrayed as an ambitious but ineffective royal conniver.

There’s also the slightly woo-woo stuff—a hippie-ish bent. In 2010, he gave a now-famous interview to one of the U.K.’s foremost celebrity gardeners (yes, we have several of these), Alan Titchmarsh, in which he said he talks to the trees on his estate, something he asserted keeps him “relatively sane.” It’s not accidental that the official invitations to the coronation featured an illustration of the Green Man, a sort of pagan vegetation spirit associated with ancient English folklore (although it’s not actually as ancient as many people think). He co-authored a book on his beliefs about the environment and the “magical” rhythms of nature in 2010, too, called Harmony: A New Way of Looking at Our World.

“Charles Won’t Be Allowed To Express His Opinions On Things Anymore, But In Some Ways That Doesn’t Matter. It’s Too Late.”

But the truth about Charles is that he is a traditionalist, really. He famously hates modern architecture, and seems to long for a return to a romantic idea of a pre-industrialized England, of farmhands working the land and feeling a deep connection with their local and national community.

What’s he like personally? We know the ins and outs of his rocky marriage to Diana and their subsequent divorce all too well. His current wife and now Queen Consort, Camilla, admits that he can be obstinate, describing him as “pretty impatient.” “He wants things done by yesterday,” she has said. “That’s how he gets things done.” It is also undeniable that he is a little bit creepy, perhaps just by virtue of being necessarily so out of touch with normal life, coming out with statements like “Mummy laughs and cries with us all,” about the late queen, which sounds like something a haunted doll would say before its head spins all the way around.

The thing about becoming king is that the role of a monarch is strictly defined in the U.K. They must act with political neutrality. In other words, there will be no room for black-spider memos, none for backhanded comments about political machinations in the country he reigns over; no room, ideally, for personal opinion at all. He knows this well. In 2018, Charles gave a television interview to mark his 70th birthday, promising he would not be a “meddling” king. When he was asked whether his campaigning on various issues would continue, he put it bluntly: “No, it won’t. I’m not that stupid. I do realize that it is a separate exercise being sovereign.”

But that doesn’t mean his reign is going to feel much like his mother’s. Charles is, by default really, the most modern king the U.K. will have had. He’ll be the first monarch to have been to school. He’ll be the first monarch whose life has been subject to tabloid scrutiny, whose failures and foibles are already well known to the public before he ascends the throne. Elizabeth II had an appeal that extended beyond people who would consider themselves royalists—she was a fixture in national life, thought of by many as a sort of benign grandmotherly figure and, based on the very little information people ever got about her, quite widely liked in the U.K., as monarchs go. She intentionally kept her private self hidden. Unlike Charles, she almost never gave a televised interview, and although she agreed to let a BBC crew chart the lives of the royal family in 1968, she reportedly felt when the subsequent documentary came out that it had opened too wide a window on the inner lives of the royals. She is said to have personally had it scrubbed nearly out of existence, other than in a few physical archive locations. By contrast, if you want to, it’s all too easy to find out perhaps too much about the king’s intimate personal history via, for example, Googling the words “Prince Charles” and “tampon” together.

Charles won’t be allowed to express his opinions on things anymore, but in some ways that doesn’t matter. It’s too late. We already know them. And his conduct before taking the throne will probably dictate his popularity during his reign more than anything else. Opinion polls have consistently shown him to be less popular than Queen Elizabeth II, or his son Prince William. Anti-monarchist protests are now a fixture at his public events. He’s been egged. Charles III may be a more modern monarch than his mother was, but he will be ruling over a very different country than the one she looked out on at her coronation in 1953—and the judgment of his reign has been underway for most of his lifetime.

— Slate.Com

[azullumi]

the minecraft experience with them — various characters ☆彡

summary — in the world wherein the blocks are square, the sun is square, the moon is square, everything is square, how will they live and survive?

characters — kaveh, zhongli, childe, tighnari, cyno, wanderer, alhaitham, ayato (w/ gender neutral reader)

tags — fluff, modern, just some headcanons i thought of while playing minecraft; headcanons

word count — 1137

a/n — god my heart is melting seeing my friends act like couples in minecraft.

KAVEH — It’s obvious, guys, come on. He focuses on arts and the beauty of architecture and would most definitely take on the role of the builder and the designer of the world. He’s the type to build the most beautiful and extravagant house, create an underground base, and have a fully functional and pretty home that it feels literally out of the world. He consumes a lot of resources though and would spend more time gathering the things that he needs more than the time he spent on building. He’s the primary reason why the forests are bald in your world because of the amount of wooden logs he needed. There was also the time wherein a creeper came to his home and blew it up, ultimately destroying it, and he was in despair. Alternatively, if you threaten to destroy his base, hell will break loose.

ZHONGLI — The most efficient and lucky miner of all, as well as the gatherer of materials and resources. He’s the type of player to immediately venture out and look for a cave with a wooden pickaxe on hand. Nobody complains though because he’s extremely lucky at finding ores and getting the things you need early-game. Progress is easily made with him on your side because of how fast he can mine things and because of that, it feels like he’s an expert on the game even when he doesn’t play that much nor has any prior experience. Oftentimes, he’ll immediately find diamonds but doesn’t have the appropriate pickaxe to mine it but it’s not a problem however as he’ll find another one so easily. ‘I came looking for coal but found diamonds instead’ type of beat.

CHILDE — An all-rounder. He can be the miner, he can be the explorer, he can be the gatherer, he can be the farmer, and most especially, he can be the fighter. We don’t talk about his building skills though, this man would build a 5x5 house made out of wood and call it a base then reasons that this is much more effective and saves your resources. Well, whatever makes him happy, I guess. He often accompanies you wherever you go especially when you go mining as he’ll protect you from the mobs. He’s the kind of person to believe that placing a bed on nether and sleeping on it will give you a huge buff. He’s the adventurous type of player, the reckless and careless kind, and is the reason why keep inventory is switched to true.

TIGHNARI — FOOD. FOOD. RESOURCES. FARM. ANIMALS. FOOD. Food is the essence of life and is really crucial in the game. He’s in charge of anything related to farming and alike. You’ll find dozens of chests fully stacked with food and animal products, especially bread and baked potatoes. He’s the main supplier and giver of food, as well as, potions in your world. He’s the type who loves collecting flowers and has his home decorated with plants and vines because it looks pleasant and not like anyone complains because it looks good. He’s also the builder type and just one look at a reference picture for his builds, he knows how it is done even without watching a tutorial. Definitely doesn’t like spiders because of the way it looks and how it can climb up structures and invade your home.

CYNO — The fighter and bodyguard to the farm. He’ll take on the role of the protector as he protects the base and farm from creepers that threaten to approach, blow up, and destroy any form of hardwork and kill annoying skeletons that shoot at you from afar and hide underneath the shade of the tree to avoid being burnt and dying. He often uses the weapon, Trident, and would go even at the ends of the world just to attain it (since it’s a rare drop). He does whatever he is asked to and would often go explore to gather materials or get what is needed. He occasionally finds lush caves and would tell you about it, asking you to come to these specific coordinates if you can. You won’t need Iron Golems and anything to protect your home when you have Cyno.

WANDERER — Just like his name suggests, man is the player incarnation of Dora the Explorer and would rather focus on looking for those rare and hard-to-find biomes than settling in on one place. He takes days just for adventuring and sometimes it can last up to weeks or months in-game. He goes out to venture and seeks for strongholds, mansions, and villages, then once he’s satisfied, he’ll come back with good loot and hard-to-get items on hand. He pulls an uno-reverse card on enemies and would raid them, blowing up mansions and taking everything that he can. He knows how to come back to your base or wherever he came from though no matter how far it is. You really don’t have to worry about him getting lost since he understands how coordinates work and if you don’t, he’ll make fun of you for it but will teach you afterwards.

ALHAITHAM — An explorer and expert in gathering. He has tons of materials stored in his chests that he doesn’t use and only chooses to fight when he needs to but he somehow has his character on a fully enchanted diamond armor with enchanted tools, either iron or diamond. You need a stack of clay? He has it, it’s on the chest on the third column at the top. How about some cactus or snowballs? He has quite a lot of those. He also has a collection of leaf blocks and vines that you might like as decorations of your home. Of course, since he has those unnecessary things, he also has a ton of importance that are often really hard to get and find, especially the slimes. Because of this, farming and gathering wasn’t something you’ll have to think of when you play with him.

KAMISATO AYATO — Exploration? Mining? Fighting? Gathering? Farming? Building? Whatever you mention, he knows how to do it and is even good at it. He immediately becomes an expert on the game from the very first few times of playing, saying that it’s just like life itself with some weird mobs and a square world. However, he only gathers and collects precious and rare materials and items that, majority of the time, he ends up not using. He would never touch copper because he thinks that it has no use— it’s true though. He doesn’t do a lot of work and wouldn’t invest that much time in doing such trivial things and tasks so his base is mediocre, not big nor small, only made for functional and competent use, and his chests are filled with only items that are needed for late-game.

— navigation | masterlist

[makeste]

I like Bakuguo but his attitude is starting to really piss me off. He's talking about Daku as if he's just ~crazy~ and as if he isn't partly to blame for Deku's toxic self-worth issues. It's infuriating to watch. If Bakuguo doesn’t admit out loud and in front of his friends that his bullying of Deku played a part in Deku's current destructive state and if he doesn’t verbally apologize and reaffirm Deku's worth then I can no longer like Bakuguo's character or Hori's writing.

tbh I don't really know why this is the discourse of choice for people all of a sudden, but this is already the second ask I've gotten about it, so I might as well address it lol.

I think fandom is conflating fanon!Deku and canon!Deku here again. fanon Deku is of course much more sensitive and woobified and has much shakier self-esteem. fanon Deku is the one that turns evil in so many AUs because of Kacchan's bullying. fanon Deku is the one that actually jumps off the roof in so many fics, as opposed to fishing his notebook back out of the pond a few minutes later grumbling about how Kacchan needs to think before he speaks or else he could land himself in serious shit one day if god forbid anyone actually does take his cruel words to heart.

and just to clarify before I get any further, I am not saying this to excuse Kacchan's actions in any way, because what he did was still completely terrible and unacceptable and WAY over the line, and what's more he knew it, too. the bullying was still shitty and horrible and awful, and definitely impacted Deku and made him miserable. I fully acknowledge that, and that Kacchan has a lot of atoning to do for it. this is not a "Kacchan did nothing wrong" post.

but that being said, I don't think canon Deku's reckless self-sacrificing nature actually has anything to do with the bullying. I think they're two completely separate things. canon Deku actually has pretty decent self-esteem in spite of everything Kacchan did to him. canon Deku doesn't think he is useless. canon Deku had a wholeass fight with Kacchan less than 10 chapters into the series in which he explicitly spelled it out for Kacchan that he had a lot of worth, and was going to prove it to him. canon Deku was persistent in wanting to become a hero and hoping and believing that he could find some way in spite of being quirkless. canon Deku never let go of that dream even when no one else supported it. I don't think he would have even given up on it after being told no by All Might, tbh -- we just never got to see how it would have played out because of everything that happened with the sludge monster shortly afterward. but he's not the type to ever give up on something that easily, and we've seen that. canon Deku never thought he was useless, but rather wanted to prove to everyone else that he wasn't.

the drive that Deku has to save and protect others even at the expense of his own safety is something entirely separate from that. he doesn't break his body for others simply because he has no self-esteem and thinks that his own life isn't important. he does it because he can't stand the thought of someone else getting hurt, and knowing that he could have done something to prevent it. it's as simple as that. like, Spider-Man has the whole "with great power comes great responsibility" thing, right? and he doesn't have low self-esteem; he simply believes that if he has the ability to help someone else, then he has a responsibility to help them. it's a personal creed. and Deku is based on Spider-Man. his philosophy is based on that philosophy, which was one of Horikoshi's core influences and is one of the core creeds in superhero fiction.

Deku is self-destructive not because he doesn't value himself, but because he is literally physically incapable of standing back and doing nothing if he knows that he can do something. he's the type of person who sees a car speeding towards someone and leaps in to push them out of the way. NOT because he wants to get himself fucking pancaked by a speeding car, but simply because he can't sit back and watch the other person get hurt without taking action. his body moves before he can think. and that's where the whole "doesn't take himself into account" thing comes in -- the fact that his thought process simply stops at "get them out of the way of the car", and never extends beyond that to "hey, and maybe I should try to find a way to do this that doesn't involve me getting hit in their place." to him, that's simply less important than the first priority, which is getting the other person out of the way.

and regarding that last part, while that may seem like a self-worth issue if he's prioritizing everyone else above himself, I think what it actually is just selflessness taken to extremes. like for instance, when a parent sacrifices themselves to save their child, them placing the child's life above their own isn't necessarily because they don't see themselves as having value. rather, it's that they love the child so much that they place their well-being even above their own. and that's what Deku is like as well. except that in his case he cares about EVERYONE, and so is willing to sacrifice himself for anyone. and that selflessness is his defining character trait, and simultaneously the most admirable and the most terrifying thing about him. it's both his greatest strength and his greatest weakness, which I think is fascinating to explore.

but anyway, so that's also why we never really see anyone thoroughly chewing him out for this behavior either. because the thing is, it is admirable how selfless he is. it's just that there's also a reason why most people are at least a little bit selfish. and that's because too much selflessness will ultimately and inevitably wind up getting you killed. at some point you either have to learn when to put the oxygen mask on yourself first, or else find yourself a loyal group of friends (or classmates) to watch your back, and make sure that mask gets on you when you need it. and maybe help you land the plane too while they're at it.

anyway so that was a lot of rambling, but basically it all boils down to three things:

when Deku berates himself for being useless (for instance at the end of the War arc), he's doing it out of frustration for not being able to push the others out of the way of the metaphorical car. that's the kind of uselessness he can't stand. the sitting-back-and-doing-nothing uselessness.

Kacchan's bullying was terrible, and it might have indeed played a part in Deku's choice of the word "useless" as a way of berating himself in these instances, but he is not the one who gave Deku this mindset of taking himself out of the equation. that's something that was already inherent to Deku from day one. (but that said, Kacchan has a lot of things to apologize to Deku for anyway, so if he wants to add this to the list I certainly won't stop him. he gets mad about Deku's suicidal attitude because it worries him, but that doesn't necessarily mean that he doesn't feel responsible for it. people underestimated his feelings of atonement before 284/285, and I think they're still underestimating him now.)

and lastly, one last important note, which is that Deku's current "saving" mindset isn't wrong, just as Kacchan's "winning" mindset was not wrong either. the lesson to be learned here is NOT that being selfless and wanting to save other people is bad. rather, it's the fact that he's trying to do it alone that's got him all fucked up right now. basically when you think about it, selflessness is really just selfishness on someone else's behalf. which means that in order for Deku to be saved, it isn't necessary for him to change his outlook or his selfless attitude, even if it is pretty crazy lol. rather, all he really needs is a good group of friends who are willing to act selfishly on his behalf in return. protecting each other through mutual selflessness lol. teamwork as self-preservation. hence why the U.A. kids are here now.

anyway so yeah, I think that's everything. sorry this got so long and out of control lol. this is just a very specific nuanced thing that's hard for me to express, but which I feel is very important when it comes to Deku's character. Kacchan didn't unleash Depressed Nomad Deku on the world (or at least not in this respect). but that being said, he and the others will hopefully be the ones to nudge him back on the right course again.

[crimsonkenjii-writes]

Congrats! Can I ask for A and C on Rengoku and Reiner please 🤗

I’m so glad you asked for Reiner!! I haven’t written for him yet and I love him so much!! I’m excited to write for him :)) tysm for the request! .｡*ﾟ+.*.｡(❁´◡`❁)｡.｡:+*

⭑･ﾟﾟ･*:༅｡.｡༅:*ﾟ:*:✼✿ 🔥 ✿✼:*ﾟ:༅｡.｡༅:*･ﾟﾟ･⭑

⭑･ﾟﾟ･*:༅｡.｡༅:*ﾟ:*:✼✿ 🔥 ✿✼:*ﾟ:༅｡.｡༅:*･ﾟﾟ･⭑

A - Arcade:

Kyo would not be a poor sport at all!! He’d find games really really fun and just be happy that he gets to spend time with you! He wouldn’t understand why someone would get so upset over losing. It’s just a game?? You could win next round??? He just doesn’t understand

“What’s this game?! How do you play it?! AHA! I DIED!!”

In a modern au, I can see Kyojurou not knowing shit about games lolol so he’d learn it all from you if you knew more than him

“A game? About ghosts?? Why would you want to scare yourself like that?”

Games I can see him really enjoying is Mario Kart (or any mario game lol), any fighting game (like street fighter, mortal kombat, ultimate smash bros, etc), Wii Sports, maybe some PC games like Valorant, Minecraft or League of Legends but his knowledge is pretty limited and would depend on the console(s) you have

He’s sound like a parent when he asks you about your games lmao

“Y/N, my dear! Is that the crossing of animals?! How do you win the game?! ....You don’t???”

“Could you pause the game really quick, My Dear? I need your help with something. You can’t pause it? Why not? Isn’t that button usually the pause button?”

He can’t remember titles for the life of him! Making him sound even more like a parent with your games

“Duty That Calls!” “Man of Spiders for the PX4!!” “Thievery of a Grand Auto?! That’s what it’s called, right??” “Redemption of the Dead!” “The Last of Them!!” “Zelda’s Legendary???”

C - Cooking:

Surprisingly an amazing chef!! He cooked a lot for his father and brother so he knows a few tips and tricks that make him an excellent chef

Although, I can see Kyo failing miserably at a recipe he’s never done before. But the second time he makes it, it’s like he was a professional at that recipe for seven years

He’s also willing to explore other cultural foods and learn how to make them, especially if it’s from your culture! He loves to explore new things and learn about them so you opening a new door to all different kinds of foods excites him

“Oh, this is something you always ate as a child? Do you know the ingredients? I’d love to try making it!”

I can also see Kyo being pretty sloppy in the kitchen while he’s cooking. He’s just so in the zone he doesn’t realize he spilled some sugar on the floor, wiped his flour ridden hands on his forehead or knocked over the salt and let it spill all over the counter

But he does a very well clean up afterwards and leaves the place looking like he didn’t just create a mess for two hours straight

He’s always excited to hear your input on is good so that he learn how to improve it and make it taste even better

You guys typically switch on a off with cooking and he loves the way you cook. Even if you fucked up the food a little, he’s still love it because he can feel the secret ingredient of love in the cooking

Even if you’re so terrible that all you can even make is cereal, Kyojurou would literally gobble that shit up as if it’s the most tastiest thing in the world

“You poured me this cereal, Y/N?” *ANSOOQNFIFHAIOWO* “IT TASTES SUPER GOOD!!!” “DELICIOUS! DELICIOUS!!”

⭑･ﾟﾟ･*:༅｡.｡༅:*ﾟ:*:✼✿ ⚔️ ✿✼:*ﾟ:༅｡.｡༅:*･ﾟﾟ･⭑

artwork by: twitter.com/AFpocketbee

⭑･ﾟﾟ･*:༅｡.｡༅:*ﾟ:*:✼✿ ⚔️ ✿✼:*ﾟ:༅｡.｡༅:*･ﾟﾟ･⭑

A - Arcade

In a modern au, I could totally see Reiner loving games

He got a lot of the consoles when he was a young boy so the older version of consoles are super nostalgic to him

And since he dabbled in a in all the consoles, his range of games is real large so he plays almost any and every game on every console

If you’re not into games, he’ll try his best to get you into it as well so that it’s something you both could share together he just wants to do everything with you 🥺

“Here, Babe, look. This one is easy! All you have to do is aim at the target and shoot. Try it!” you failed miserably “Oh... no no you did good!! Just... keep practicing and you’ll be an expert in no time!!”

And honestly, this guy’s a little bit of a poor sport. Not to a toxic level but enough for it to be kind of cute. If you beat him at one of his favorite games, sheeeeesh he’s gonna pout so much!

“What?? No. You got lucky. That’s not - I - you - ANOTHER ROUND!”

He will literally keep playing you until he wins then turn off the game as if he “doesn’t wanna play anymore”

He would definitely beat you up a lot in a new game you’ve never played before and not even teach you the controls or give you time to learn them. He’d just beat you up.

He’ll get his fill of victory though and then start to teach you and take it slow. He’d even let you beat him a bunch so that you can start getting the hang of it. But once you do, beware. He will not hesitate this time, he’s going all out.

C - Cooking

Oh dear... oh gosh... this man cannot cook. Get him out of the kitchen. Please, he’ll start a fire.

There’s like literally only two things he can cook and that’s French toast and pancakes. Maybe Kraft Mac and cheese.

But he makes some really good French toast and pancakes, he loves making them for you when you wake up

But other than that, he’s so bad. He’d manage to burn the outside of the chicken and the inside be raw

But if he really, really practiced, I think Reiner would end up be a pretty good cook

Now, if you can cook, you can bet your ass this simp would act so extra when he eats your cooking

“It smells SO GOOD!!” “Mmm!! Oh my god!!! BABE!! MMMMMMM!!! MMHHMMMM!!! SSSOOO GOOOODDDD!!!”

“Reiner, stop simping with your mouth full.”

He always looks forward to your cooking and is literally drooling the entire time waiting for it to be cooked. Let’s just say he’ll be a very well fed man because that’s how much he asks for you to cook for him and how much he eats, not even the left overs are safe

[thevindicativevordan]

Comics this week ? (like WW #12)

Superman #17 - The good Absolute Power tie-in of the week. Glad to see Clark is pissed about Jon and not handling it well. He’s much more aggressive and short tempered here, with Zatanna playing the cool head. An underrated aspect of Superman is that when he loses his powers he also tends to lose his patience and his restraint. Something to unpack there about how much of the cool-headed friendly personality we normally associate with Superman is an act. But of course I am not unbiased when it comes to Superman and Wrath…

World’s Finest #30 - Waid managed to write a story that even the Wondy fans enjoyed, truly a Herculean feat given the grudge they bear towards him for his self-admitted tendency to misrepresent Diana. Themyscaria came off well, they had advanced tech, kangas, and not all of the Amazons were hostile to the World’s Finest trio.

Wonder Woman #12 - Bleh. Good to let Sampere get ahead so that the actual story has consistent art, but these AP tie-ins from King are not hitting.

Green Lantern: War Journal #12 - Loved the ending. Finally have a stand-alone story for Stewart that I can recommend. I'm not sure about keeping Ellie around as her own entity. I interpreted the bit about John's Mama being preserved in the ring as John rewiring his ring to be based on his mom's personality rather than literally preserving her soul or what not, and that interpretation strikes me as very touching. Montos for Stewart is what Reis was for Hal, what a shame we can’t get a 50 issue run on Stewart from this team.

Jenny Sparks #1 - Judging by the complaints, it’s seems like this was a lot of people’s first exposure to the Ellis style of sneering bastards making fun of “capes”. King captured that tone perfectly I’d say, even if some of Spoke’s imagery was heavy handed. Old bearded white guy feeding the birds for no reason other than he wants to (God as a benevolent provider) contrasted with Atom saying he wants to kill and eat the birds because he can (God as a terrifying force of destruction) was not subtle at all. Will King bring up the High is my biggest question. After all it was the High who in a way caused Jenny to form the Authority in the first place, since she seems to have a negative opinion of Superman here I want to know what her history is with High/Superman. Especially in a post-S&tA world (even if it is an Elseworld) you could wrong some interesting stuff out of Superman and Sparks talking about the Authority.

Ultimate Spider-Man #8 - If my clothes started smiling at me I would simply never wear them again. I would also set them on fire. If it wasn’t obvious, the picosuit is 6160 Venom. I loved how ominous this entire issue read, even without any major action you can feel the swords dangling over the cast. AI Peter is already referring to himself as his own entity, he’s focused on the kids just like regular Peter, he’s teasing that he can do stuff Peter doesn’t know about, how long until he starts trying to “take the wheel”? Maybe we’ll get a version of Earth X Venom where the suit tries to bond with either Richard or May in an effort to protect them.

Harry meanwhile gets a small humiliation in that Maker didn’t even consider him worthy of notice, which is only going to fuel his need to prove himself. Been going back and forth on if Richard or Jonah would be the ones to die, and after this issue I bet it’s Jonah. Killing Jonah would affect both Richard (with whom Jonah bonds in one of the best Jonah moments ever) and Ben (who is clearly lonely after his wife’s death and Jonah dying could push Robbie to join Ben or Peter to jump ship too). Kingpin gathers his Sinister Six, and I loved how Mysterio is shown to be playing mind games with his fellow villains.

[hellyeahheroes]

Miles Morales’ Clone Saga: Overview and Analysis

tl; dr: Miles Morales: Spider-Man’s Clone Saga is a return to form to Ahmed’s high narrative quality that he had prior to the Outlawed crossover. This arc continues to keep the focus on Miles’ supporting cast as well as checking in the emotional struggle of the character dealing with Spider-man. It benefits from learning the mistakes of the previous and infamous Clone Saga in that it is succinct and clear in that Miles’ Clone Saga is more akin to Jordan Peele’s Us than Peter Parker’s Clone Saga which centered around identity. The Clone Saga isn’t a stand alone event, but a culmination of Ahmed’s Spider-Man run up to this point that sets up more relevant stuff in the future.

It’s been awhile since I have been able to cover Miles Morales as enthusiastically as I want to. I am preparing for a move and being a good boyfriend that I have been reduced to chiming in on stuff instead of making these lengthy ass posts.

Sorry about that.

Regardless, I can’t necessarily blame my personal life struggles with my lack of enthusiasm in the comic. I could have made time to talk about this comic, but honestly, the comic has been going through a bit of a lull period since it has been embroiled in back to back crossover events in which Saladin had to juggle pushing his own narrative within MM:SM while servicing the crossover event that absolutely no one honestly cared too much about because it was undercooked due to the political climate at the time as well as the Pandemic(Outlawed) or it was just fucking terrible and basically hypermasculine fanfic self-insert porn(King in Black).I am just glad that Miles is allowed to return to the good old basics of just being Spider-Man.

The Prologue of the Clone Saga: What is Going on in Miles’ Life prior to it?

Aww Ahmed, you somehow managed to be topical without actually trying to be.

As someone who has dealt with Slum Lords and shitty Land Lords and living in Florida, this was cathartic.

But underneath this, there is this  overall point that Miles’ is succumbing to anger which was something he feared doing all the way back since Bendis was writing him. Miles’ is timid. He fears becoming like his father and Uncle and letting his temper go off. He restrains himself a lot versus Peter, who was generally an angry kid who was picked on a lot and might have gotten in fights. Miles isn’t some nerdy outcast recluse like Peter was. He didn’t want to be Spider-Man. Peter, on the other hand, was a pissed off misanthropic orphan who was angry at the world enough that once he got his powers, he immediately used them for personal gain until his selfishness came back to haunt him.

While Peter explodes into violent outrages from a place of hatred for his own inaction and taking collective responsibility, Miles hates that he is becoming like his Uncle the more he does this Spider-Man bit.

Keep this in mind that the struggle of Miles is the balancing of going too far in restraining himself or keeping in his shell and not dealing with situations and going too far expressing his rage.

I feel like I have to do some backstory because it’s been like, what, six issues since I covered this so I am going to have to backtrack to keep everyone who hasn’t been following along with the comings and going of this comic.

Alright, first, what has been going on in Miles’ social life. Where we last left off, Miles and Barbara broke up or were broken up. So how is the crew doing since?

First and foremost, Uncle Aaron Davis aka the Prowler is “dead” again or as good as dead. At worst, he got sent back to the Ultimate Universe with Ultimatum and the Maker. At best, he is dead.

Miles has a baby sister which I have covered, but she is important to the Clone Saga. Her name is Billie named after famous Jazz singer Billie Holiday, Yes, the naming convention of the Morales family to name their children after jazz musicians and singers.

And what about Ganke and his crew at Brooklyn Visions?

So during Outlawed, Barbara took a stand against the anti-teen vigilante law and conducted a sit-in. Judge and Ganke joined in the sit-in and ended up detained unlawfully. Luckily, their Congresswoman stepped in and called Captain America, a resident in her district, to sort out the Fascists. Ganke, Barbara, and Judge were released. And because Miles was dealing with his Spider-Man issues, he was too busy and not around. And Ganke took that as “great opportunity.”

I had this image under “GankeTheSnake.jpeg” lol.

Isn’t Ganke supposed to be dating Danika Hart? What happened to that? I swear if Ahmed reads this and puts a little aside in an issue instead a full blown appearance of Danika, I am going to be mad.

No, this has very little to do with bro code and a lot to do with general betrayal. First off, Ganke knows why Miles and Barbara broke up: Miles did not tell her that he was Spider-Man. This attitude towards revealing his secret was pre-imposed on him by Peter Parker and....wait for it...one Ganke Lee. It is snake like behavior because it’s like your best friend telling you to work super hard for that promotion and work extra hours. You take up that advice and you work super damn hard. Meanwhile, your best friend comforts your partner while you are out there grinding for that check. Your partner gets sick of it because they feel neglected, and your so-called best friend decides to comfort them a little too much. That is what Ganke did. 

I don’t blame Barbara because, again, isn’t Ganke’s best friend. She was never part of the clique. She is not bouncing off or being a rebound other than putting the screws to Miles. Ganke is supposed to not fall for that. Would you call Mary Jane a violator because she also dated Harry and Mary Jane? No. Barbara is a free agent and even she was skeptical of that until the Snake did retract. What is underserved is that it frames Barabara to look like a manipulator which comes from this sexist interpretation that women are two sided or two faced about relations. But that isn’t Ahmed’s point. He is pointing focus towards Barbara which a thing in both Miles’ and Peter’s Spider-Man is that since they are both first person perspective titles’ you don’t get a lot of introspection from other characters. Especially so in MM:SM where everything is in a thought bubble writings in Miles’ journal. Barbara could very well have some bad intentions but Ganke is the asshole. People thought Mary Jane was just a promiscuous party girl with multiple lovers and it turns out that she was raised in a broken home and witnessed two failed and abusive relationships between her mother and her sister. We don’t know enough about Barbara to jump to any conclusion. We do know enough about Ganke to know what he did was foul. In fact, Ganke was the one who introduced Miles to Barbara. That’s the fucked part of it. At least, Harry asked!

Second, Miles still loves her.

He mentions her twice on his friend date with Kamala Khan, another girl that Miles has admitted that he has a crush on. He refers to Barbara as “my girl” and yeah, it’s clear, in spite of shippers leaving out the text of these panels, that Miles still has feelings for her.

Ganke the Snake is messed up. But I love it. I love the melodrama. I thrive in it because that is classic Spider-Man as hardcore fans like @traincat​ can provide countless examples of some soap opera shenanigans like this.

To continue on from that, Miles decides to reveal his identity to Starling after the whole ordeal in Outlawed where she and Miles were on the run from the government for being vigilantes under 21.Tiana worked with the Champions on the run and she earned Miles’ trust.

And for those who were expecting Starling to act like Black Cat...wellllllll...

There was no confirmation or anything because Zoomers don’t believe in making things official apparently as I learned from Euphoria. We don’t know if Miles and Tiana are dating or not or are they doing that “We are not going to put a label on it” thing.Regardless, Miles basically pulled a Jay-Z “On to the Next One.” I am proud of my boy.

Ganke is still a snake though.

And last and certainly not the least important factor in Miles’ Clone Saga is the Assessor.

The Assessor was able to basically roam free after Miles’ first encounter with it. I am so mad that Ahmed allowed Slott to write an annual basically solving all the mysteries of the Assessor in fucking Iron Man. But that is for another post. Anyways, after the Assessor tortured Miles, Miles basically was too traumatized that he stopped being Spider-man for a month. While this is understandable, it allowed for the Assessor to continue with it’s project and create Burner Clones of Miles. This is a character flaw with Miles. As soon as being Spider-Man gets too tough, he quits and acts like the world is perfectly fine and refuses to resolve things. It happened when Miles first got bitten and instead of reaching out to Peter, Peter dies and now Miles feels emboldened to be Spider-Man because he was too scared. He did it after his mother was killed in the Ultimate Universe when he decided to retire for two years and this allowed a criminal child trafficking network run by corporations to capture and experiment on kids and thus creating super teens. 

Instead of dealing with it immediately, he recluses and hides until the issue becomes so big that he has to deal with it.

And that is what happened here. The Burner Clones attack Miles at his home and kidnap him again. The Assessor now has clones of Miles running around wrecking havoc and because Miles decided to wallow and do nothing, well we have the Clone Saga.

I think that is everything so lets begin with the Clone Saga.

Part 1

Miles comes home to concerned parents with the news that Spider-Man is kidnapping scientists. The thing is that Miles did not do that. Gee, it must be a clone.

Apparently the news is flooding with Spider-Man running amok all over Brooklyn.What we get here is the above situations mixing into one page. Miles is getting angrier at the world and while most of these instances are untrue, the story about the real estate agent/slumlord comes up and he is forced to admit to his parents that that one actually happened.

What was an instance of rightful vindication becomes framed as an out of control vigilante/criminal and that is the theme of Miles Morales Spider-Man. Things that Peter routinely got away with turns against Miles. Miles can;t get too emotional or be too angry because his anger is perceived as more threatening because of whom he is.

Then Ganke, who Miles thought was there to inform him of the happenings, arrives to tell Miles’ something, but immediately cedes his mission once a bigger and more important issue comes up. That’s suspicious. Miles and Ganke go up to Miles’ room as the former gets suited up to investigate the case of his doppleganger destruction. Miles notices Ganke’s phone buzzing and hands it to him.

You’d expect the kid with a giant box labeled Empathy on top of his work desk would be totally understanding that his best friend is dating the girl who he still have feelings for?

He doesn’t. Miles’ gets angry and rightly so, but he doesn’t do what I would have done i.e. web Ganke from a tall building and make him hope that I cool off in time to get him before the web evaporates. Miles stops himself from careening his fist into Ganke and apologizes(more than I would have done), and heads out to be Spider-Man.

And this is the theme of Miles’ Clone Saga. He fears that anger in himself so when he meets the literal personification of that rage and unhinged violence, he gets scared as he does now. He is becoming violent like his father used to be. Like his Uncle was. Like his grandfather that Miles never met and was so bad that Jefferson cast away his surname.This anger in Miles becomes manifested in the personification of his selfish rage: Selim.And Miles deals with the hypothetical repercussions of if he ever were to break bad or just lose it.

This is a reminder for Miles that Peter will definitely come for his ass if Miles were to ever go too far. And while it was fun watching the two tumble, Miles in the back of his mind has to realize that Peter is not against using violence on his successor. And this isn’t a something I’d hold against Peter because he does stop when he realizes that Miles is his Miles and always believed that Miles was not behind the kidnappings. Peter always believes in Miles Morales even when Miles doesn’t believe in himself and honestly, while I don’t think of Peter as Miles’ mentor, I do like that Peter gives a shit about the kid enough to give Miles and automatic benefit of a doubt.

But I digress. After Miles explains the situation to Peter but gets interrupted when they find the imposter. Or imposters since both Peter and Miles get ambushed from behind by another Miles’ clone while chasing another. They scuffle with the clone who can apparently shapeshift his body and is shock proof and successfully tie him up but the Miles’ clone escapes with a built in bio-color smoke bomb. Peter gets incapacitated by the smoke bomb so Miles has to give chase alone.

While Miles’ gives chase, he finds his clones.

Part 2

The Clones names are Selim, Mindsplitter and Shift. Selim, other than being Miles backwards, means undamaged in Arabic which also means that he is a near perfect clone of Miles. As you can see, Selim is elitist and also hyperviolent. This is an important quality regarding Selim and I’ve seen people compare Selim to Kaine Parker to which I say it’s a little different. Kaine, from what I know, was a defective Clone who had issues with his identity. Selim is sure of whom he is and has no misconception about whom he is nor does he want to be Miles. Selim is just hyperviolent Miles. And we are going to the meta-commentary of Selim in Part 3 and why it is a bit more sinister than Peter and Kaine.

The clones beat up Miles and gang up on him until Peter comes to the rescue and makes the obligatory Kilometer Morales joke. The clones escape again which leaves both Miles and Peter time to discuss what is going on. Peter imparts Miles with some crucial advise in dealing with Clones.

Peter advises Miles not to act hastily when dealing with Clones and he also advises that Miles take some life stock and get some rest. Miles reluctantly takes up Peter’s advise and the two part ways.

This is the last interaction for Peter in Miles’ Clone Saga. He is there to remind the reader that yes, his Clone Saga was a thing and he did go through it, but Miles’ Clone Saga is ultimately different because it is less about who is the original and grasping with the idea of identity and more about cloning as a means of weaponizing and tarnishing reputation. And while I am at it, it isn’t that the original Clone Saga was terrible but more of the fact that it was drawn out and melodramatic.While Miles’ is quick and painful, Peter’s confused audiences and red herrings of whom was the real Peter and had whiplashes out the  wazoo. And while it did produce fan favorites like Ben O’Reilly and Kaine Parker, Clone Saga suffered from inconsistent writing due to having multiple writers. Miles’ benefits from Ahmed seeing everything through and actively refusing to stick with one arc more than 4 issues at a time. It’s the classic Amazing Spider-Man pace. This isn’t to say that Miles is better. It’s say that Miles is allowed to take his spin on old Spider-Man stories and make them better because people can examine those stories and learn from them.

But I digress.

Miles goes back home and tries to take the advice, but can’t because Selim and the clones have chose to weaponize themselves against Miles in a different way.

While Ganke did immediately believe Miles, I think the important thing to note is how Selim chose to represent Miles in that text, but that is for part 3 because it is very intentional from his use of dialogue and his overall aggressive attitude. Regardless, made his point that Miles can’t ignore him. Ganke realized that Selim must have cloned Miles’ phone and sent texts so Ganke reverse engineered his phone to track where Selim sent those texts from. 

Meanwhile Miles reflects on what makes him unique as a person and how he used to think it was his family, but starts to question if that is true(he gets his answer the next issue).

Regardless, Spider-man heads out exhausted but with fire in his eyes hoping to resolve this Clone business once and for all.

This is about as close as to Peter’s Clone Saga Miles gets as he ponders what exactly makes him unique. And he likens it to his experiences and the people around him is what makes him unique. Speaking of which, I want to clarify something: I do not like Clones. I’ve seen people liken my dislike of Clones with ableism and honestly, no. If you want to create a little petri person, I am okay as long as that person is their own identity and is allowed to experience life on their own accord. But the moment that you clone someone without their consent, and then that clone insists on existing in that cloned identity, then I am taking the Dr.Octavious approach regarding clones in general. This is why I have an issue with Ben Reilly’s excuse to hijack Spider-Man from Peter in the current Beyond storyline. He says that Peter’s memories are his memories too so therefore the Spider-Man identity means the same thing it does to him as it does Peter’s. And that’s fallacious because I have read about Peter, but that doesn’t make me Peter Parker. Clone Existential crisis only come about because they are not trying to be their own person and are latching onto a self that isn’t them. What Ben did was wrong and is wrong especially since he is latching on memories that he did not experience. Does that also mean that he can marry MJ too? Aunt May is his Aunt too? 

Ben, like Selim, was created to pervert the life of Peter by a man who does not care about humanity and cares more about his obsessions.

And Selim is about to demonstrate exactly what I mean.

Ganke successfully reverse tracked Selim’s phone and got a location. Miles heads out to confront his clones. When he finally arrives to their hideout, Miles calls them out and then proceeds to let his anger dictate the situation.

And he pays for it.

Turns out Miles doomed his Clone brethren by destroying their lab as they were trying create a cure for their temporary lifespans. By not heeding Peter Parker’s advice, he has effectively killed his clones. And Selim is going to make sure that his swan song will be spent making his Clone template’s life a living hell.

ACT 3

Now I can finally talk about Selim. I have seen Spidey fans, usually white ones, make this haphazard comparison of Selim to Kaine Parker or Ben and that’s not exactly correct. Yes, Kaine is seen as the physically superior Peter Parker in that he has more powers, is stronger, and is well-aware of that. However, Kaine wasn’t manufactured to be weaponized by the public like Selim and also Kaine is cloned from a white Jewish man who has a history of going off and letting that anger flow. Kaine constantly goes through an existential crisis of not being the true Peter Parker in spite of being a “better” Peter Parker. Kaine is a reflection of personal identity and not necessarily public perception of your identity.

Throughout Miles’ Clone Saga, we have seen Miles’ anger leading him to making mistakes and how his tendency to lash out violently and aggressively be used against him and people’s perception of him. Miles knows that his family on his dad’s side has a history of criminality. His father used to be an enforcer for the Kingpin, his Uncle was a career hitman/thief for the rich/assassin for the wealthy, and his granddad was a selfish drunk who would beat his kids if they did not steal him his favorite alcoholic beverage along with the candy they took. Not to mention the fact Miles’ fears the anger boiling inside of him that one day, he might just go crazy and do something rash like kill Captain America(Civil War 2) or become just like his Uncle(Ultimatum). People forget that if Miles did not get bitten by the spider, he’d become the next Prowler and be like his Uncle. Not to mention in every other universe, including Spider-Gwen’s, Miles or his family has either been bad guys, criminals for even badder guys or etc. For you movie oriented motherfuckers, recall that scene from Into the Spider-verse when Miles meets Peter for the first time and their Spider-senses tingle together. Notice how Miles background changes from Purple and Green(Prowler’s colors) to Red and Blue(Peter’s colors). That is visual storytelling at work.

Selim represents those darker tendencies Miles. Selim lashed out at Ganke for dating Barbara just like Miles did. Selim is targeting greedy, rich, and powerful people violently just like Miles lashed out at the slumlord in the prologue. And Selim is aiming to destroy Miles’ life like Miles’ doomed his. The difference is that Selim takes up a notch because he knows that he won’t ever have to deal with the repercussions of his actions, personally or societally. Selim doesn’t just get annoyed with Ganke. He whoreshames Miles’ ex-girlfriend. Selim does not just get aggravated with the rich white people. He kills them and leaves his fingerprints everywhere so it will blowback on Miles. Selim does not just target Miles. He targets everyone even remotely related to Miles because this nigga has no fucking sense.

But this is just on a personal level. Selim, on a macro-level, invokes racial imagery and caricature. Selim is literally created by an AI of a literal white man to weaponize copies of a black teen and prioritizes the copies to be violent and aggressive.That above cover intentionally evokes racial imagery such as a white man’s perception of black men versus the reaction of black men towards a violent act. Both are angry but one is fabricated and the other is evoked. Selim evokes something so much more sinister than Kaine because he is racial aggravation. To Jewish folks, Selim is the ‘shande’ that embarrasses all Jewish people. To Asian people, Selim is the banana. And to black people, Selim is the coon that is so ignorant or indifferent to the perception that his actions reflect on all of us as a whole.Because Selim is created by a white man, he has no respect or care for the societal persecution that his actions his actions could evoke upon black people in general. Which isn’t so weird in a society in which mass incarceration and criminalization of the black man are founded on Jim Crow-esque ideals of protecting white women from black savages, and the like.

Kaine was terrifying to Peter Parker and only Peter Parker. Selim could get Stop and Frisk reinstated. So no, Selim is not the same as Kaine. Perception of violence in this country racialized. While no one gives a shit about the riots that happen after white people’s favorite sports team win a game, but will raise a stink and evoke Martin Luther King when police unjustly murder a black person.

Back to the comic.

Selim corrects Miles in that he and his clone brethren aren’t exactly clones, but modifications of Miles without the sustaining ability of a clone like Ben Reilly or a Kaine Power. While both clones do have clone degeneration, they both typically last longer than a few days. They are burner clones. And Selim was hoping to alleviate that condition, but Miles unintentionally fucked that up. Miles apologizes and states that he had no idea what the Clones were doing and it wasn’t his intention and that he can help them all, but the Clones don’t belive him and opt to torture their clone template for revenge. Miles gives up and declares that he isn’t afraid of torture since Miles has experienced worse which Selim asks if he is referencing the Assessor.

I don’t think I did much justice on just how bad the Assessor is, but honestly, Miles Morales: Spider-Man #8 is only 3.99 and I did a review on it anyway so search those tags. To sum it up, the Assessor is an AI that assesses any and everything. He is GlaDos except none of the charm or sass and a bit more unnerving. The Assessor tortured Miles for weeks. The Assessor drilled him to exhaustion, beat on him with his machinations, vivisected Miles, waterboarded him, and several more things that you can see for yourself in MM:SM #8. Why did he do this? As of this writing, we don’t know yet, but we hopefully will find out in the current Beyond Arc. Anyways, if the Assessor did this to Miles, you can only imagine what the Assessor did to the clones.

I am not going to let you imagine. I am just going to show you.

Just pure evil. Also, this is the first time I think the Clones’ names and abilities were mentioned. Selim is just a deadlier Miles. Shift is an unstable mess of biology and barely is able to maintain his physical form. Mindspinner has become more Spider like and has grown four more arms and also has 8 eyes and psionic powers. 

Back to the comic.Selim and Mindspinner leaves Miles with Shift to kill Rio and Miles has a heart to heart with Shift, who is rather reluctant about what his clone brothers are doing. Miles noticed that Selim referred to Rio as “our mother” and took that to heart that they are like his brothers in a way. After a little pleading, Shift releases Miles.

More on Shift since he has become a bit of a recurring character after this arc. Shift is coded as neuroatypical in that he cannot speak and is somewhat deformed(couldn’t find a better word to describe him, but did not mean to offend those). But compared to his Clone brothers, he is the most like Miles Morales in heart. He has a sense of right or wrong that was not eroded during the Assessor’s conditioning. Shift is hopefully a mainstay for Miles, although I doubt it, because his entire character reeks of tragedy in the making.

Miles immediately goes to the hospital where Miles’ mother works only to find the hospital a mess and staff frazzled.

Mindsplitter meets his “mom” Rio and terrorizes her. Rio, showing where Miles gets his selflessness from, shoos away potential victims while she deals with clone of her son.

I love that Rio gets really foulmouthed when it comes to defending her children. Like yes, she is sweet and kind, but people forget that she knew Luke Cage back when the Rivalz were a thing and she resided in Spanish Harlem. She is with the shits and will drop the kind sweet mother act as soon as her family is in danger. Rio is not an Aunt May, although even Aunt May poisoned a batch of cookies and fed them to Chameleon when he impersonated her nephew so she don’t either. Rio gets vulgar and I find it hilarious that Miles inherited this aspect from her and not Jefferson.

So Miles and Mindsplitter fight throughout the hospital and with a timely assist from Mama Morales, Miles overpowers and defeats Mindsplitter. Miles asks where did Selim go and both Rio and Miles realized that Selim went after Jefferson and Billie.

Well fuck.

Part 4

The final part in Miles’ Clone Saga which also shows that unlike Peter’s it is brief, coherent, and direct. 

Selim has Billie and he has called out Miles to come to Brooklyn Bridge. This is somewhat an important location for Miles and would have been for Spider-Man mythos. You see the Brooklyn Bridge would have been the bridge that was depicted in the Night Gwen Stacy Died, but the text states that the bridge was the George Washington Bridge. It is actually hilarious to imagine Green Goblin carrying a white girl across Upper Manhattan past Harlem and into Washington Heights from Lower Manhattan near where NYU is. Just imagination a flying green man carrying a screaming white girl above millions of people across the island and you kind of understand why everyone in New York remembers the night Gwen Stacy Died. It’s because everyone saw it. Ahmed opted for Brooklyn Bridge which was also the location that Miles’ Uncle used to take him as a kid as a mini-field trip.

This is from Absolute Carnage: Miles Morales #2. Also written by Saladin Ahmed.

The bridge is technically an important location for Spider-Man mythos in spite of Gerry Conway erroneously naming the wrong bridge in TNGSD. To Miles, this place was a location filled with nostalgia. For Peter, this place is a moment of one of his greatest failures. And now Selim is evoking TNGSD with Miles’ baby sister, Billie. It’s a pivotal moment that Miles has to face a potential baby killer with his face wearing his mask.

Selim’s lack of humanity and his little microaggressions lead us to this moment. Miles is facing the person that he fears that he could be. Where those little bouts of anger and hot flashes are embodied in Selim. Selim is a major vibecheck for Miles. And Miles has to do a little soul searching to see where he ends and where Selim begins.

This is about as close Selim begins to act like Kaine. This is what is driving him. Is he a better Miles Morales than the original. And Miles baits him with it because the one thing Selim values or was conditioned to value was strength. It is not about whether he is like Miles. It’s about being better than Miles in reference to his own values. Spider-Man vs Spider Clone with a knives.

Miles and Selim fight across the Brooklyn Bridge deciding the fate of Miles’ family. There are few scenes in comics that convey action well and I think Carmen Carnero did a very good job displaying the choreography in a few pages. If I had to rank her among of Miles’ best artists, she’d be four behind Javier Garron, Sara Pichelli, and David Marquez in that order. In terms of fight scenes in this series, this would be well behind anything Garron has done as he did a fantastic job panelling fight scenes such as Miles versus Green Goblin II and IV. There is also the multiple fights with grunts and the two with Tombstone. Carnero is better with designing Miles to look more realistic while Garron prefers depicting action as more fluid and engaging. And this is not a diss at Carnero. Miles has had fantastic artwork and some of the best comic artists in the industry depicting him. She is still one of the best comic artists today. She is just in a company where in this series, it’s a rare thing when Miles is depicted poorly.

Was there ever any doubt that Miles would whoop Selim’s candy ass? Miles physically is one of the stronger characters in Street Level Marvel. Peter could handle Miles, no problem, but Miles is a problem when he is appropriately focused and motivated to hand you a can of Spider-whoop ass.

So of course, Selim cheats.

Say what you want about Kaine, but Kaine was capable being in love. He was capable of being in love. There is no love or humanity in Selim. He is calling an infant who is as close to him as a sister that he can get, a thing. In spite of looking exactly like Miles of his brothers, he resembles Miles the least of them.

Both Shift and Mindsplitter intervene and stop their homicidal brother from collecting bodies, Shift on behalf of Billie and Mindsplitter on behalf of Shift. Selim feels betrayed and attacks Mindsplitter while Shift cradles Billie from danger. Miles watches as his two clones engage in a final clash that ends with an electric explosion off the bridge.

Miles gets Billie from Shift and realizes that Billie was sleeping soundly in the web cradle that Selim placed her in. So the baby slept through the explosion. Miles is grateful for Shift and the two with their sister get away from the bridge to avoid the cops A safe distance away from the bridge, Miles and Shift have a heart to heart. Miles says that he understands that Shift didn’t have much of a say in being created and he understand that he was used by Selim. He then tells Shift that he has a choice now and Miles with be there to help him. Shift seems elated with the news so he spontaneously paints this.

Awww and in hindsight this will probably will be tearjerker inducing when Shift eventually and most likely dies. I can imagine Miles officially taking up grafitti lessons in commemoration of his brother because we know he has it in him and now it means something to him.

And yes, Miles considers Shift to be his brother.

And it ends in a positive and endearing note.

Summary and Final Thoughts

I enjoyed this arc. Obviously as spent months writing this up well after the arc has ended. You can get this entire arc in one volume as it is available in stores as Miles Morales: Spider-Man Volume #5 Clone Saga or any online comic distributor of your choice.  

Saladin Ahmed is recreating the feel of those classic Spider-Man stories like Romita or Conway with Miles that aim to focus on Miles’ struggle under the mask and this arc really tests Miles in all fronts. It is a benchmark for the character in terms of development and while nothing traumatic happened to him, Miles struggled and he triumphed. He certainly strained his relationships as  following this, his image has been tainted due to Selim going buckwild, but I think having witnesses attest that there were multiple Spider-Men kind of allowed Miles to save face. Miles has a new responsibility and brother in Selim that he has to look over and help.And I am sure Miles’ parents are certainly stressed out with the bullshit that Miles’ time as Spider-Man bring to their front door.

In other words, it’s a Spider-Man story.

@ubernegro​

[traincat]

I feel like I've read a ton, but I'm honestly still pretty new to comics rn. That being said... What is one more day? Ik we don't like it and it happened a while ago, but that's about it [,=

Time for Spider-Man History With Traincat: Highly Controversial Storylines! And that feeling is totally normal with comics with huge canons -- you can read a ton and still have some fairly big blindspots in your understanding of the total picture. That being said, this is kind of a big one, both in terms of Spider-Man history/canon and in terms of how Spider-Man fandom functions. I would say probably no other storyline has had quite as much impact on how the fandom views and interacts with the source material as One More Day/Brand New Day. It's been the Wild West out here ever since it happened. (Which was in 2007, so like, yes, fairly long ago, especially when you look at how Spider-Man canon has evolved since, but in the grand scheme of things, also kind of recent. One More Day is not old enough to rent a car.)

So when people talk about Spider-Man's One More Day, they're usually actually talking about two related arcs: One More Day and Brand New Day. For the sake of simplicity, I'm going to be covering both. For the sake of transparency, I am going to admit that I think One More Day, as a self-contained story, is good, actually. This is controversial! I admit that! But I stand by my stupid opinions on this blog, for some reason. I think One More Day when you examine it on its own, by which I mean you ignore the decade and a half worth of canon that came after it, as a Spider-Man story and as a PeterMJ-centric story holds up under scrutiny and that people who don't like it don't like complicated love stories and might actually throw their own mothers under buses. No offense to the OMD haters. Little bit of offense to the OMD haters. Brand New Day, which is the continuation of One More Day, on the other hand -- largely bad. Very largely bad.

But let's backtrack. One More Day is a four issue crossover storyline that takes place directly after Civil War, during which Iron Man and Captain America got divorced and divvied up the superhero community and Spider-Man made some startlingly bad decisions and made a fugitive out of himself and his family in a manner that got Aunt May shot, and Spider-Man: Back in Black (Amazing Spider-Man #539–543) which examines Peter's actions immediately after Aunt May is shot and ends with him humiliating the Kingpin in front of an entire prison. One More Day consists of Amazing Spider-Man #544 -> Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man #24 -> Sensational Spider-Man v2 #41 -> Amazing Spider-Man #545. In One More Day, Aunt May is dying, all of Peter's efforts to save her have thus far failed, and, consumed by guilt, he is rapidly running out of time. Approached by Mephisto, a literal demon from hell, Peter is offered a deal: Aunt May will live -- and Peter's identity, which was previously revealed to the world at large during Civil War, will once again be hidden from the memories of all but a select few -- if Peter trades him his marriage to Mary Jane. Peter and Mary Jane struggle with this, but eventually both agree to the deal. The clock strikes twelve, the deal is done, and Peter and Mary Jane's marriage fades into history.

(ASM #545) A reasonably simple premise for a story that caused so many problems -- most, I would argue, not actually the original story's fault. So obviously, this was an unpopular move -- Peter and Mary Jane had for a long time been a fan favorite Marvel couple, and in a fictional universe where most relationships are doomed as soon as they begin, the enduring Spider-Marriage was sacred ground. And then, with a snap of its fingers, it was gone: Peter wakes up in Aunt May's house, no longer married, with Mary Jane out of the picture. (She would not return to the book on any sort of consistent basis for over 50 issues.) In the wake of One More Day began Brand New Day, which is basically what it sounds like: a promised "brand new day" of "exciting" Spider-Man content and a publishing schedule where Amazing Spider-Man came out three times a month. (Which sounds good on paper but I think in practice caused more problems than it created good storylines.) Peter, newly single again, had new love interests! And also Harry Osborn was alive again for some reason! I generally like Harry's post-BND stories so that part's fine with me.

But overall? Brand New Day is a mess. It knows it wants to tread new and exciting ground with Peter -- tell new stories! ensnare new readers! make them fork out for a book three times a month. -- but it doesn't know what those stories should be. Readers who were invested in Peter and Mary Jane's relationship -- a major facet of Spider-Man comics for decades at that point -- felt rightfully betrayed that the marriage could be so easily traded in and that Mary Jane herself, perhaps the second most important figure in Spider-Man comics after Peter, could be tossed aside. From a personal point of view, I think Brand New Day fails in large part because it abandons what has always made Spider-Man such a compelling series, and that's the mix of Peter's personal life with his vigilante life. BND sees Peter with new friends, new jobs, new love interests, etc -- it is very much a brand new day! But it isn't a better day compared to the stories that came before it. I do like some post-BND stories, especially American Son (ASM #595-599) and Grim Hunt (ASM #634-637), but compared to pre-BND where I think the majority of canon is good, it's a very lacking body of work that is hurt by the way it divorced itself from the PeterMJ marriage as Spider-Man's central relationship.

"But Traincat, I thought you said you liked One More Day?" Yeaaaaah. I do. This is why I keep saying I like One More Day on its own merits, and not on the merits of the stories it opened the doors for. I like a good romantic tragedy in fiction, and the way Peter and Mary Jane's final scene in One More Day plays out is beautiful. I like the idea of Peter caught in this impossible situation, being asked to choose between two women he loves more than his own life. A really common criticism I see leveled against One More Day is that Peter should have chosen his relationship with Mary Jane over May's life, which is -- okay, I think it's weird that people keep insisting on this, not in the least because by asking Peter to sacrifice his aunt's life they're essentially demanding he commit a callous, out of character act in order to further his own interests. It's also weird because the thing is, Peter already chose Mary Jane over May -- that's what gets them into this situation. It's literally in the scene where May is shot:

(ASM #538) When the gun goes off, Peter's spider-sense kicks in, and he covers Mary Jane, leaving May in the path of the bullet. He does choose Mary Jane over May, regardless of whether he realized what he was doing. And that's why he can't make that choice a second time. His actions in One More Day do make sense for him as a character, whether or not any individual reader likes them, and Mary Jane's actions make sense, too -- after all, she's the one who ultimately tells Mephisto that they agree to the deal when Peter can't bring himself to voice it.

A lot of people also like to nitpick One More Day by going, well, why could (x) or (y) with life saving powers save Aunt May which is like -- yeah, I guess, but if we're going to ask that about this specific comic book near death setup, you kind of have to do it with every single one, and I'm not going to stake every single moment of comic book drama on whether or not that gold kid from the X-Men was busy at the time. Comics are soap operas in flimsy paper form: serialized longform storytelling that relies heavily on melodrama. Sometimes you have to go with things. Sometimes you sell your marriage to the devil. Stuff happens. That in and of itself doesn't make One More Day a bad story -- and while some people blame the Spider-Marriage's dissolution entirely on One More Day, I think that's a little shortsighted when you look at the history of Spider-Man since the turn of the century. It's clear -- and Marvel themselves have been perhaps a little too open about this -- that Marvel in the past few decades has had trouble with the direction they want to take Spider-Man. They WANTED Spider-Man to appeal to a distinctly youthful audience that they didn't think they were actually reaching -- understandable, considering that Marvel nearly went bankrupt around 2000 and was saved by Ultimate Spider-Man, an out of main continuity series which retold Spider-Man from the beginning and focused heavily on Peter as a teen -- but the problem was Spider-Man in the main continuity was at that point in canon a happily married man who was pushing the dreaded 30 whether or not they wanted to admit that. This is also why Marvel has continually pivoted away from Spider-Man having kids, because they feared that making him a dad would age him too much and make him unrelatable to their coveted audience of Teens. (This is also why almost every new Spider-Man property, especially the live action movies, perpetually stick him back into high school, despite that occupying a very small slice of 616 canon.) So around the year 2000, they started trying things in relation to the Spider-Marriage, which was viewed as a major problem -- after all, what's more adult than being married and liking your wife. First, they had Mary Jane presumed dead. Then, they had Mary Jane and Peter separate. Then, when Mary Jane and Peter had only recently gotten back together, One More Day struck. If One More Day specifically hadn't gone the way it had, it's pretty clear that the Spider-Marriage was going to go one way or another -- it's a little bit of a shame it happened when it did, because OMD is the end of J Michael Straczynski's run, and JMS wrote a really beautiful Peter and MJ relationship. But Marvel as a company and especially editor in chief at the time Joe Quesada viewed Peter and Mary Jane's relationship as a major problem in how they wanted to portray Spider-Man and thought that striking the relationship from the books would allow them more freedom in their portrayal of him as younger and more relatable to their Desired Audience of people who I guess really wanted to see Peter sleep with characters who weren't Mary Jane.

(ASM #546. Younger! Fresher! Less attached! Kissing random women in the club!)

The problem with One More Day has always been in the follow through -- from the content of Brand New Day to the pacing of events to the fact that Marvel withheld key information for such a long time that it allowed misinformation to thrive. After all, what does it MEAN to trade Peter and Mary Jane's marriage to the devil? It altered the events of canon in Peter and the majority of other characters' memories so that the marriage didn't exist, but it left people wondering -- did the relationship as they remembered it existed? How much of Spider-Man canon was altered? And the answers didn't come for over 100 issues of Amazing Spider-Man. One Moment In Time or OMIT (Amazing Spider-Man #638-641), which revealed that while Peter and Mary Jane never got married in the altered canon they did continue their long committed relationship up until just after Civil War, was published in 2010, so essentially readers were hung out to dry without answers for three years. That's a long time to string people along, but not as long as it took Marvel to confirm that the popular fan theory that Mary Jane retained her memories of the original timeline as part of her own deal with Mephisto was also true, which happened this year. I would say, at least from my perspective, a lot of the frustration doesn't come from the individual One More Day storyline so much as how Marvel has continually dragged out the aftermath, using the promise of a Spider-Marriage return to keep fans on the hook. Which is why One More Day continually comes up in discussion of current Spider-Man, because Spencer's run has relied very heavily on imagery from that period with a serious question of whether or not there actually was going to be payoff, something which is still up in the air.

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