#which is objectively better 👏

[handsome-kakigori]

Where did my knight in shining armour go?

[silviakundera]

with the conclusion of Snowfall...

why do i enjoy Republican Era chinese dramas so much?

aesthetics! there is this blend of 1920-30s western fashion influences and traditional chinese garb & architecture that just pleases my eyes.

everyone looks very depressed & dangerous & sexy

chaotic period of transition - no matter if you're in the 1910's, 20's, 30's some absolutely wild historical shit was going down

cars and guns and gloves and swords. rotary phones!

dancing & drinking in night clubs, in glamorous pockets amid the violence & instability outside; a lil touch of mask of the red death vibes

end of empire themes, as a country tries to find its way after the end of the last imperial dynasty

there's those gangster, mob boss vibes from american and british dramas set in the 1920s, except everything is cranked up x100 because of general lawlessness; central government and law & order was a paper thin veneer over warlords

the start of WW2 from an entirely different perspective than the common narratives that I was exposed to growing up in the US (which is 99% stories about the european stage)

sino-japanese war / war of resistance material like Hidden Blade is fucking badass ok 🤷

in a time of resistance to occupation, colonizers encroaching, warlords fighting over cities, brewing civil war.... there are many different options of protagonists and unlikely "heroes" who are picking their battles and discovering what they are willing to fight for

Beautiful 👏 women 👏 in heels 👏and 👏 slinky 👏dresses 👏

Lots of revenge narratives. I love an over-the-top, bloodthirsty & destructive revenge narrative

Depending on the genre, there might be little or heavy politcal /patriotic discourse. But tbh none of the rah rah patriotism stuff distracts me much, because all the american and british produced stuff set around WW2 has rah rah patriotism & propaganda in it, so I just consider that part of the essential genre vibes. It's just another country's version. (Of course, others will have less patience when it becomes heavy-handed. YMMV.)

Dark & Gritty

Hidden Blade (film) - a masterpiece, if you enjoy dark WW2 spy films that play with narrative style and challenge the viewer to follow the story as it's woven. Had to review detailed historical context for the years in question, to be ready to consume. But worth it. I've watched it 3 times. 💀

Heroes (2024) - the very beginning era of this genre/the transition into repulican period. rocks fall, everyone dies. Primarily a tragic wuxia & pre-republican fusion. Excellent enough that I didn't mind the bleak storyline. 💀

Detective-ing

Miss S - adaption of 1920s Australian mystery procedural Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries, staring Vengo! ML actor of Snowfall

Checkmate - Agatha Christie stories adapted to the setting & time period, plus bromance. I watched half the episodes w my brother, as we are both huge agatha christie fans. It was fun if you can be chill about adaption changes.

My Roommate is A Detective - for mystery & bromance lovers. Same actor duo as Checkmate.

Detective L - don't know much about this one tbh

Romance arc, with a somewhat happy ending for the 2 leads

Provoke - Gorgeous, glamorous, vibes vibes vibes all day long. Revenge and romance. ❤

Fall in Love - sons & daughters of warlords and their supporters get sexy and dangerous and decide even joining the civil war is better than the prior generation's bullshit. This is an objectively bad drama that I really enjoyed anyway (it helps that I skipped every scene for the 2nd and 3rd couples). This one turns v propaganda heavy at the end, if that bothers you. ❤

Arsenal Military Academy - military training hijinks w a side of cross dressing romance. Xu Kai and Bai Lu! It's soliders and japanese invasion et al, so be prepared for the standard patriotism. Comedy & drama. HE for the FL/ML but expect character death in this subject matter. ❤

Rookie Agent Rogue - Late 1930s spy drama with small romance side-plot. Expect the standard wartime patriotism, like with Arsenal Military Academy. The draw is the lead actress, the FL from Princess Agents, Minglan, Legend of Shen Li. HE for the FL/ML but expect character death in this subject matter. ❤

City of Streamer - Older woman seduces younger man who is the son of her revenge target. Melodrama with people serving looks. ❤

War of Faith* - Young man just wants to join the banking industry and have a subtextually gay relationship with his mentor in peace, but there's a civil war going on. Protagonist would like to be excluded from this political narrative, but ultimately is forced to pick a side. ❤🌈 *(Is it censored gay romance? No, not based on a gay novel. So not officially! But some viewers felt there was a subtextual romance storyline #shenlai ; YMMV. The happy ending is Untamed-esque; implied only)

many, many pulpy mini-dramas about revenge! warlords! ladies with pistols! (Miss Mystery, First Marriage, Maid's Revenge, etc)

Also... (happy ending not guaranteed)

Siege in Fog

Love in Flames of War

Couple of Mirrors - censored F/F 🌈

Stand by Me - censored m/m 🌈

Killer and Healer - censored m/m 🌈

Winter Begonia - censored m/m 🌈

[mossadspypigeon]

I need you and EVERYONE on jumblr to read this book: "Jews on Approval" (1932) by Maurice Samuel. It is free to read on the Internet Archive: https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.76346

Some quotes (I wish I could quote this whole thing but anyway)...tell me if any of this sounds familiar: "They have coined a very striking phrase: "Good Judaism is good Americanism." It is true that there are one hundred and twenty million Americans deciding what good Americanism is, while there are only four and a half million Jews deciding what good Judaism is. The coincidence merely shows the hand of Providence. It is also possible that what the Jewish leaders mean is: "Good Americanism is Good Judaism" which, though it is even better, must come as a faint surprise to Bishop Manning and Cardinal Hayes." Americanism is out which makes this even funnier.

He wrote a book called You Gentiles which is just brilliant. He mentions it, paraphrasing a bit here sorry: "But the chief ground of objection to the book was that it played into the hands of the anti-Semites" and "Jews have quoted it times without number, indicating it was just the thing anti-Semites were waiting for: anti-Semites continued to ignore it. It would be easy to say that anti-Semites write books on the Jewish question, but never read any. Yet it is much more likely that anti-Semitism avoids straightforward discussion." SOUNDS FAMILIAR??????????? I'm always saying that antisemitism relies on dishonesty and therefore the actions of Jews cannot cause antisemitism. But Israel bad I guess and so that's why everyone wants us dead right 😂 Ironically I discovered "You Gentiles" a long time ago due to antisemites using it as evidence of us being bad lmfao but at the time he wrore this they didn't care which again makes it kinda funny lol

If anyone knows other Jewish writers who also wrote about antisemitism this brilliantly PLS LMK! <3

👏👏

thank you for reccing this! i haven’t read it yet and need to.

[thedomesticanthropologist]

Would you be willing to do an analysis on Karlach and how she seems to compartmentalize a lot of extreme feelings? Like she gives me the sense that that was how she coped in Avernus to stay alive and reduce the odds of exploitation by devils, but it's fascinating to see how fast she seems to shut down anything negative to the point that she disapproves of Tav/Durge questioning the ethics of using soul coins.

I haven't done the Karlach origin, so I may be missing some context or information. That being said LETS GOOOO 👏👏👏

Karlach has a reputation in fandom for being a cinnamon roll, but she is so much more than that. Her personality is really complex, and her history is full of decisions and actions that reflect her upbringing and the situations she was forced to survive. That history helped shape how she sees and responds to the world around her.

On Soul Coins: Soul Coins are small, coin-shaped objects forged of infernal iron into which a single mortal soul has been bound. They are used as currency in the Nine Hells, and can be used to power infernal engines such as the one in Karlach's chest

They contain an entire MORTAL SOUL. The full essence of a person, and once used in Karlachs engine, that persons soul is destroyed in a way that makes it irretrievable.

What does this mean? Can souls in coins be saved? Yes! From the forgotten realms wiki:

It was possible to release the soul within a soul coin. This could be achieved by casting an anti-curse spell, such as remove curse, on the coin. Once a soul was freed, the coin began rusting and was eventually destroyed. If the soul was of a good alignment, they were transported to the realm of their deity. If the soul was of an evil alignment, they were transported to the Styx and transformed into a lemure (dang yo lol)

Karlach sees the coins as a tool to enhance her power. If the player reminds her that soul is a person, she gets very angry and says she /knows/ that. She still believes that they should be used to juice her up. You can obtain quite a bit of disapproval from Karlach by questioning the use of the soul coins in Act 1.

Additionally, Karlach has unique dialogue with Mattis the tiefling child in the Last Light Inn. She essentially encourages the kids racket scheme, and if the player pipes up to say her advice isn't moral/ethical/a good suggestion, she has a strong disapproval and puts the PC in their place by saying you have NO RIGHT to intervene on her opinions of how a (poor, displaced) tiefling child should act to better their personal situation.

We are also aware that in her past, At some point Karlach lived in the city of Baldur's Gate in Faerûn, where she worked as personal bodyguard for Lord Enver Gortash. Personal bodyguard is key: this implies she was at his side, whenever he did whatever he was doing at the time. It is also stated that she "would do anything for him", and was betrayed by him. Her anger with him is based on what he put her through, and I do not believe she expresses anything about what he had her do while she was a bodyguard.

Karlach is not a "morally pure: character prior to Avernus, nor was she one during her time in Avernus, nor is she one when she escapes. The game never implies that she is.

However! What Karlach is is extremely loyal, and a SURVIVOR. She has the mentality of 'do what you need to do to survive', and she WILL do what she needs to do to survive. She came from a poor upbringing, she did the best she could with what she had, and now that she's escaped Avernus she wants to CELEBRATE and experience as much joy as possible before she burns up.

This makes her very sensitive to anything that might 'kill the vibe'. She doesn't want to face things like her impending death (she tries very hard to get you to stop talking about it) she doesn't want to question the coins, she doesn't want to deal with big moral questions when the bare bones of the situation are that that kid probably needs to be a thief in order to make it by, "morals" be damned.

Karlach went through hell. Literally. She was incredibly abused psychologically and physically and used as a weapon. She doesn't have the TIME to do anything other than be glad that she's not there anymore. She wants to smell the grass, drink the ale, laugh, love, make friends, enjoy as much as she can while she can. Is she a good person? I'd say so, yeah. But is she a paragon of virtue? No. She was never meant to be, nor was she ever given the opportunity to be.

She knows that reality is a lot harder and a lot more in your face than any higher 'ideals' that may be the best looking on paper. This may be an unpopular opinion as well, but I think if Gortash hadn't sold her, she very likely would have ended up on a path where she would happily do some pretty sketchy shit.

I'm not sure I'd say she compartmentalizes so much as actively chooses to avoid addressing things, to the point where it pisses her off if you try to push her. It's an avoidance of choice, maybe even a rationalization situation.

You do the best you can with the hand you're given. She always did. And now she's only got a few minutes left to enjoy what time she has, so... she does.

[serial-serializednovelreader]

Nova’s Thoughts - Dracula Daily - August 19

In which there is joy at least and Renfield goes for a little run…

“Joy, joy, joy! although not all joy.” I love how she’s so happy, yet so practical. Like, “yay, everything’s great! Well, technically that’s incorrect…” ugh I love her so much

She’s going to see Jonathan at last!! These two crazy kids are going to reunite. Good for them <333

Love Mr. Hawkins playing wingman with “marriage now, maybe? 👀” I know there’s a more serious reason he’s suggesting this (for instance if Jonathan doesn’t get better…), but I still want to believe it’s in part because Mr. Hawkins just wants them to get married lol

“I have cried over the good Sister's letter till I can feel it wet against my bosom, where it lies. It is of Jonathan, and must be next my heart, for he is in my heart.” Awww Mina 😭😭 and also, *iconic* line right there.

I know she must be so worried for how he’s doing, especially after caring for her other favorite person Lucy and feeling rather helpless in that situation :((( you got this girl!

The letter he touched will comfort her 😭😭😭 could this get anymore sweet???

Now on to another edition of Seward’s podcast (which, FYI, does contain ableist language I won’t be quoting)…

Imagine one of your patients starts sniffing the ground like a dog and you try to talk to him, and his response is just “nah, I don’t want to talk to you, pleb.” Renfield becomes more iconic by the day.

Oooo I like what Seward’s putting down here with the religion distinction: to him, God cares about everyone, but Renfield’s god (or, Renfield, if Seward’s prediction comes true) doesn’t care about anyone except those they deem important.

^^ ok I wrote this really early in the morning before reading anyone’s takes on it and now, having read some takes on this, I see that taking into account Seward’s surly attitude, this is not the objective, rational opinion I thought it was. I still want to include my OG viewpoint because I do think it’s cool to get Seward’s views on religion if that’s actually what he believes, but I do see what everyone else means when they say he’s actually being pouty about Renfield not paying attention to him, and thinking of himself as an “eagle” in this scenario….Seward, buddy, get over yourself please 🙄

I’m just imagining Seward pretending not to watch Renfield while reading a book or something but all the time staring at him like 👁️👄👁️…somehow, I think Renfield probably noticed you doing that. Just saying.

Seward’s like “you don’t love spiders anymore? :(“ Renfield: *extremely cryptic reply, which equates to “I only cared about the spiders because Dracula wasn’t here yet”* :p

Seward thinking of Lucy again :((( yeah never a good idea to mix your — um, “sleeping chemical” (which, by the way, such a nerd move to list the entire chemical symbol and I love him for doing it) — with depressing thoughts of Lucy. I’m actually proud of him for sticking to his convictions on this one!

…and it pays off! Renfield’s on the run!

I’m picturing Seward having to get out of the window (with help) and it is a very funny image. 10/10 on Renfield for making Seward feel the need to do that 👏👏👏

Hey, Seward, maybe focus less on the “Renfield’s a beggar for wanting a reward from his ‘master’” thing and more on who he was talking to…it might save us some headaches in the long run. Oh? You’ve already taken him back to the asylum? Great, love that. /s

“So I took the hint, and came too.” ……………📸🤨 (I know that’s not what he means but it is funny nonetheless :D)

[amberskyyking]

Cooking up angst for everyone who still wants to believe 👏 that 👏 man 👏 is 👏 alive 👏 even in canon. Cause he is. Tech lives.

Implications Of Being Alive

Chapter 4 - It Must Still Be Dreaming (Cause The Empire Reeeally Skimps Out On Love And Comfort)

In its dream, Omega had been shivering.

They had just gone over the falls together, one after the other, back in the Ipsium mine, and crawled back out over the slick rocky edge, coughing and spluttering to clear their lungs before collapsing on the ground. The sequence was one that it almost remembered, like a preview playing somewhere distantly in its mind. There would be a beam of warm light, a sense of something akin to understanding, two others who would join them… But before the fullness of the memory could unravel, it took a turn, as Omega turned her body into him, pressing her warm and wet face into his neck.

CX-2 wasn’t expecting that, but the girl was trembling all over, from the chill of the water no doubt. All of their gear was either wet or left behind at the top of the cave where this started. With no other options, CX-2 lifted his organic arm over her to provide what little warmth he- it- HE could. What little was left of it- HIS organic body would have to suffice until the others arrived with a better solution.

Tech held her like that, laying with his back flat against the stone ground, an arm draped over her back, and the dream mercifully stood still. For a time there was only the rushing sound of the waterfall in his ears and Omega’s warmth as she remained there with him. Tech was vaguely aware that his body ached, but that didn’t seem to matter. There had been directives he was to follow, but they could wait. There were some things, some purposes, more important than orders.

When had they ever followed orders, anyways?

Inevitably, though, the dream changed. Omega was pulled away from him, leaving his organic hand grasping at a void in the cold. His body stiffened against the aches as they became more apparent, as the icy haze began to creep up his skin and into its bones…

There were only flashes after that, moments of vague lucidity between heavy, dreamless black.

Voices overlapping. Entirely too distant to decipher any words or attempt to match them to any beings in particular…

The sensation of falling. Familiar. Far too familiar…

Prickling shocks jolting up the nerves in its leg where the prosthetic met organic material…

A sudden awareness that it had failed its objective. It couldn’t recall what its objective was but registering the information at all came with a secondary realization. It… It would be decommissioned, if it even survived. It was no longer worth retrieval or resources to repair, Colonel Bragg had made that abundantly clear, and though it shouldn’t care enough to have a reaction, it seized up at the thought and registered a faint, foreboding beeping sound somewhere nearby. It… It didn’t want that… Yet its wants were irrelevant, it was a flaw to retain desires of its own at all. Perhaps termination was in its best interest if it could no longer perform its functions efficiently, if it had truly served its purpose. It would hardly matter, in any case. CX-2 wasn’t truly alive, so its death would be inconsequential.

No one’s going to terminate you, Tech! A voice broke through its thoughts. It does matter, you’re… You’re going to be okay… You HAVE to be…

Someone’s hand slipped into its own and squeezed it, which made little logical sense. There was no reason to comfort it now, at the end. Colonel Bragg never had before.

This isn’t the end, The voice spoke again, and this time something about it sounded familiar. There was obvious distress in the tone, though, and it tugged at his heart the exact way that nothing was supposed to.

You’re going to pull through, you’re safe now, I - I’m sorry Tech, I’m so sorry! But I’m getting you home, I promise. You’ll see your brothers again, okay? Just please, please hang on…

He wanted to see what was happening, who was speaking, but his eyelids were too heavy. The dream state slowly began to take over, though, and his mind supplied the rest of the image for him, even if it was false. Omega sat at his side, holding tight to his hand with tear tracks running down her cheeks.

Delusions, of course. Nonetheless, Tech squeezed her hand back before the scene dissolved again in black.

- - -

CX-2 hadn’t been activated, but slowly, it blinked itself awake.

It’s location was unknown. This was neither its single-bunk domicile nor its imperial-assigned starfighter. It lay facing up in what appeared to be a sterile white medical bay, though none of the humanoids wore imperial grays and none of the medical droids were the designated approved models…

“You’re awake!” Someone gasped. It turned its head to see who but hesitated. It had been damaged, had it not? Sudden movement could exasperate as much, but oddly, there was very little pain in light of the injuries it was sure it had sustained. The source of the voice made themselves known anyways, though, and in mere seconds an adult human female hovered over it, gathering up its remaining flesh hand in her own despite the hand being cuffed to the side of the medical bed. CX-2 cataloged her appearance as… Familiar.

“Tech?” The woman said cautiously. “It’s me, Tech. It’s Omega. Do… do you remember?”

CX-2 considered this for a moment. It had definitely failed its mission, more of it was coming back now and that much was certain. It never should have failed, it had been warned not to underestimate the rebel astromech unit, and yet, it didn’t consider that the droid was capable of wielding a blaster. The oversight was unacceptable, costing him several detonators and damaging its body beyond what it was capable of repairing in the field or what the Empire would consider a worthwhile investment if it returned. That alone had sealed its fate, yet its objectives were clear. Complete the mission or be terminated in the process.

If it had to be the latter, so be it.

It carried on best it could despite the melted metal and charred flesh compromising its effectiveness. It destroyed a single ship, flushed out its primary target, Hera Syndulla, and downed two more ships in the firefight that followed, though the actions had the unwanted consequence of triggering the rebels evacuation. It sought a hostage to lure its primary target towards, however at least one ship made it to the atmosphere, cementing the mission a failure regardless of the status of its other objectives. It nearly subdued the rebel soldier from the site of the crash, until something… Something had stopped it. An error. A malfunction.

Colonel Bragg had been right about it, after all.

There was more that had happened since then, but CX-2 couldn’t recall it clearly. From what it did know, it must have been dreaming. It wasn’t supposed to dream, though it hardly mattered anymore. It wouldn’t dream for long.

The woman had posed a question, though, so it looked up into her face. She had said she was Omega. She had called it Tech, like in the memories that it no longer had the strength to fight, from a life that didn’t belong to it, back when it almost certainly served a different purpose… When it.. he… had lived.

CX-2 tore its gaze away from the girl and tried to ignore the ache in its chest. It… It must still be dreaming.

Regardless, Omega was waiting for an answer, squeezing his hand even tighter now in apparent anticipation. His brothers had been its enemies once, hadn’t they? Yet that seemed to matter little in the moment. He had all but given up fighting the malfunctions, the memories, before its his latest mission, and now it was going to be decommissioned…

Logically, that rendered the fight pointless. It may still be all in its head, but if he provided her some comfort now, perhaps it would make whatever came next easier to accept.

“You are present within the memories I have retained,” He answered.

Speaking took more effort than he expected and the words came out raspy and tired sounding. It HE was tired. Even now, sleep prodded uncomfortably at his mind, and everything felt hazier than usual… Nonetheless, his confirmation seemed to mean a great deal to Omega, who promptly lost her composure and broke down in a fit of hiccups and tears at his bedside.

“Tech, I - I’m sorry,” She spluttered. “If - If we knew - We should have looked for you-“

“The effort would have been futile,” He attempted to assure her, but she only shook her head.

“I should have ripped the damn helmet off you in your own cockpit on the way to Tantiss-“

The doorway behind her whooshed open, and they both looked up to see a pale clone trooper with cybernetics that Tech recognized near instantly, one of the first names he had unintentionally slotted away years before, despite the fact that he had clearly aged some since they last met.

“Echo,” He identified the clone automatically.

Echo’s eyes widened. “T-Tech…”

“He’s awake!” Omega gasped out between sobs. “And he- he remembers m-me… Us…”

Tech saw Echo swallow hard as he pulled Omega tight against his chest, letting her bury her face in his plastoid armor. Her body began to shake like it had in his dream. Tech still held tight to her hand - something told him that if he let go the dream would end, CX-2 would be all that remained, he would wake up back in the imperial med bay instead of this one, finally facing his own decom and he DIDN’T WANT THAT-

“Easy, Tech,” Echo was saying, there was that high pitched noise coming from somewhere again and Tech was torn from his spiraling thoughts as he craned his neck to identify it. Omega and Echo both faced him with alarmed looks, but as quickly as it started the noise stopped.

“What’s going on?” Omega asked. “Your heart rate just…”

…A heart monitor. Of course. “It’s… Nothing of relevance,” Tech said uncomfortably.

Echo fixed him with a calculating look that he tried to ignore, but the feeling of being searched like that, like after all these years his brother could somehow simply tell when something was being omitted, made him feel distinctly vulnerable.

“Omega… Have you told the others yet?” Echo asked gently.

“N-no… I wanted to make sure-“

“I know,” He said soothingly. “But you shouldn’t put it off anymore. They need to know… And be gentle with Hunter.”

Omega let out a deep, shaky breath, but nodded.

“Do you want me to be with you on the comm?”

“No… Can you stay with him, please? I - I don’t want him to be alone.”

“Can do, kid,” Echo said fondly, ruffling her hair.

Before Tech could protest Omega had squeezed his hand one more time and then let go. For a second panic surged through his chest, the edges of his vision went black, that noise was reverberating throughout the room-

Until Echo grabbed his hand in her place.

“I gotcha, vod. It’s alright. Yes, it’s okay Omega, he’s okay.”

Tech held his breath, but the room didn’t fade away like he expected, even as he felt like he was fighting just to stay awake.

“Well, don’t do that. Remember to breathe, come on now. I… I know a lot has happened.”

Echo’s voice hitched, but it was warm and steady, too. It was okay. He was okay, like Echo said. He was still here, it wasn’t over, not yet. Tech dared to take a breath, then another, and finally, leaned back against the soft pillows again that he had to be imagining, nothing about the Imperial med bay was designed for comfort.

“I’ll be back soon, Tech. Don’t worry,” Omega assured him.

Tech gave the slightest, stiffest nod, and Omega turned away with a shaky exhale. There was the whoosh of a doorway, then silence.

“Good,” Echo said. “Just breathe. You ah… Really had us worried there for a little while, you know,” his brother continued a little awkwardly. “The better part of ten years, actually. When Omega told me…”

Tech waited patiently for him to finish the explanation, but Echo trailed off, his own shoulders shuddering for a moment as he fought to compose himself.

“I’m sorry vod. I… Kriff, there’s no excuse, there’s nothing I can say to explain this, but you’re safe now. We’re never letting you go again, I promise…”

Tech still didn’t want to close his eyes even though they felt heavy, but the effort it took not to do so was increasing. He pulled his gaze away from Echo’s glistening hazel eyes and stared pointedly at the ceiling as he pondered the words. It was a pleasant thought… He wished he could believe it, but he knew better.

None of this would last. It never did.

“You can believe it, Tech,” Echo suddenly insisted, his voice breaking entirely. “But I… I understand why you wouldn’t trust us again, after this…”

Oh. Apparently he had spoken some part of his thoughts out loud.

“‘T’s not your fault,” Tech mumbled truthfully, trying to take stock of his state of being. Perhaps he was on some sort of painkiller which was having an effect on his mind. That would potentially explain the vividness of this particular dream… Though the idea that Colonel Bragg would waste painkillers on it at all was ridiculous.

“They didn’t even give you painkillers?!” Echo spoke up suddenly, his grip on his hand tightening almost uncomfortably. Tech raised an eyebrow in surprise. Echo had gone from emotional and comforting to absolutely seething, and worse, Tech must be looser lipped than he would like to be on the matter. “Kark, they filled you almost as full of hardware as me and-“

Tech snapped its mouth shut. It was saying too much and it HE didn’t want to talk about it.

“It’s okay. We don’t have to talk if you don’t want to-“

Shit.

“Why don’t you just get some sleep-“

“NO!” He nearly shouted, and the alarms began blaring overhead yet again, which seemed counterproductive, it only served to increase the anxiety he was already feeling which was presumably the opposite of the goal of the device.

Echo touched his scomp arm to Tech’s shoulder- He still had the scomp, then, after all this time- and gently pushed him back.

“We’re not giving you back to them, Tech,” Echo said with fierce determination, and for a second, Tech could almost feel it himself. “You’re never going back there. But you need your rest.”

Tech met Echo’s eyes with exhausted desperation. Even though he wanted to stay here forever, the shadows of stasis or sleep or whatever his unconscious state was these days were closing in, he could tell. It… no. HE. He had so little left to keep fighting with.

“I’ll be right here when you wake up again. How’s that sound?”

Tech’s heart was still pounding, everything about his existence felt bleary and heavy, but there was such blinding sincerity on his vod’s face. He… he wanted to believe him…

“You’ll stay?” Tech asked in a voice that was barely a whisper.

“Of course, vod,” Echo said with so much gentleness, unlike anything Tech had heard in years. “Right now there’s nowhere else I’d want to be.”

Tech considered that as his eyelids began to droop. “Omega?” He muttered.

“She’ll be back soon. I couldn’t keep her away if I tried.”

Tech nodded. His eyes wouldn’t stay open anymore. His body ached, his mind was exhausted and pained, its failures of the day and looming fate sapped it of whatever strength it had left. Darkness closed in, and he would simply have to face it…

Echo’s hand was still warm in his own, though, even as his world finally went black and numb once again. Somewhere at the edge of his mind, he even thought he heard Omega’s laugh.

For the briefest second, before stasis overtook it, Tech let himself hope his family would still be there if he woke up again.

Chapter 1: Existing Isn’t Living (But It’s Better Than Being Dead… Right?)

Chapter 2: Serving Purpose (This Might Be Banthashit)

Chapter 3: When A Supply Run Goes Horribly Wrong (Or Right?)

Chapter 4: It Must Still Be Dreaming (Cause The Empire Reeeally Skimps On Love And Comfort)

[whythehailnot]

Hi! I'm a woman who is 5'10 and 315lbs, and i absolutely relate to your post. When i was in middle school, people used to dare each other to ask me out, because they thought it would be funny + they knew i was perpetually single. (I was also a lesbian and didn't know it yet, but that's beside the point.) Before my current gf (who is amazing and wonderful and thinks I'm the hottest woman alive), i wouldn't be approached by anybody but the occasional Black gentleman of the sort who chases bigger white women (such as myself) because he is misogynoirist + thinks we're more likely to be unaware of/tolerate his shit, or once, memorably, by a random female coworker (with a whole entire long term boyfriend) who wanted me to "step on her" because she assumed I'd want to because I'm goth and bigger than her. It's really fucking disheartening the way I'm treated as either completely repulsive or a Fetish Object, and people who are skinny absolutely Do Not Get point C on your post. Because they're skinny, they have the privilege of remaining largely oblivious to what fat people, especially fat women, are subjected to, except for how they know damn well how we're treated with how scared they are of winding up fat themselves. Their obsession with skinniness and the desperate maintenance thereof proves they know that fat people are treated like absolute shit, they just don't care as long as they get to maintain their position of privilege.

Sorry if this is a little incoherent/offtopic. Hang in there, buddy. You'll meet your special somebody one of these days <3

Oh man, I also was subject to the middle school pranks of boys asking me out as a laugh 🙄 ughhh I hate that you also dealt with that but BOY is it validating to read someone else with such a similar experience! 😔👏✨✨

And god with your two other experiences with misogynoirist men and being treated as a kink dispenser for that coworker - absolutely sickening and SO disheartening - you completely nailed it on the head and I'm so sorry you've dealt with both of these 😩😩😩 God forbid that you're fat and also goth (or alternative to any extent) - some people just have to go and make the weirdest fucking assumptions over it (and fetishize you in the process of course, yuck 🙄😩)

I feel lucky that I'm surrounded by more supportive friends nowadays (even if some of the fat experiences really aren't understood), because god the amount of people I knew who basically treat fat people as an accessory is awful - whether they are aware of it or not. And accessory ranging from making themselves feel like a good person (diversity hire), or to be used as a means to make themselves feel more attractive by comparison, which is so diabolical.

Anyways - I hope my response wasn't incoherent! Your post was definitely clear and I appreciate you sharing your experience 🙏💖💖💖 It sounds like things are better with you and I hope they continue to just get more lovely! 🙏💕💕💖💖💖 You're so kind to share this and I really appreciate the support so much! 🥺🙏💕💕💖💖💖

[kybelles]

while i understand your point about the slavery system VS the pet system, i think it’s important to remember that what a character thinks ≠ the author thinks, so i don’t think it’s fair to judge pacat’s character off of a series that has intentionally morally grey characters.

about the actual point, laurent said that a pet has more of a choice than a slave, which is objectively/legally true in the capri world (though of course not *actually* true, considering children can’t consent under any circumstance). while at face value this seems like a strange thing to say regardless, i think the reason *why* Laurent in particular said it has to be considered. It’s pretty clear that Laurent at least partially blames himself for the abuse he suffered at the hands of the regent (i.e. when he said that auguste was the only one in his family free of taint, implying he had it himself), and so in my opinion, it seems that he still holds the belief that it’s possible for someone under his, aimeric’s, or nicaise’s circumstances to have a choice, because he believes that he did (even though we the readers know he didn’t). it’s his own self-blame that seems to have leaked into his opinions on the pet system as a whole, which of course doesn’t justify his way of thinking, but i don’t think it was exactly meant to be justified either. again, laurent is a very morally grey character, who i don’t believe is meant to reflect the morals of either the author or the reader.

not saying you’re wrong, just wanted to give my two cents

this was a lovely read! 👏

i have no notes except for the part about pacat: of course i’m aware a character’s thoughts don’t always align with the author’s actual views (tho i believe pacat used self insert in a lot of areas in this series but that’s another convo) but i believe it did fell on her to condemn the pet system the same way she did slavery. even if she didn’t have enough space in kr she could’ve tackled this issue easily in taoc. the way she left things in canon feels very unfinished to me. like even a line or two about damen and laurent changing the law to protect pets better alongside of abolishing the slavery would have been sufficient.

[justin-peudeau]

WHY THE LIVING HELL DOES THETA HOLD HER GUN LIKE THIS

WHY ?!?!??!?!?

I was busy drowing THAT scene. And my little sister (who draw better than me 😅) saw how I drew the gun and though that I was stoopid 😭.

More seriously, Theta hold her gun in this position at the second when she get arrested. She planified so accurately that she will be arrested, that even the Prince disappearance wasn't distracting enough to makes her forgot to hold her hands up like this when the bodyguards arrived.

So she totally did it on purpose ! IT'S A CODE FOR HER TEAM GUYS, SHE MAY HELP ASK TO SOMEONE ELSE THAN SARKOV IN THE FUTURE!!!

With THAT in mind, listen 👏CaReFuLLy👏what👏I👏 am👏going👏to👏say !!!

One thing that our godess Theta need for survive in this situation is teamwork. Because, since this right instant, Theta is now weaker than the Prince.

She CAN'T defeat him all by herself now.

Before, if Tserriednich wanted to assault her, she could have avoided it. But not now. In this appartment, Theta's fate is completely dependant to the Prince will.

BUT.

Our bad old Tserriednich never thinks to kill Theta yet. Plus even his nen-beast wants to preserve her in an "alive" state. So exactly like Theta and Sarkov deduced, she still had plenty of time to readjusts her objectives.

Tserrie is totally playing with her like he usually do for the other women he tortured before. By the way ,it will be so interesting to understand the process of how he usually goes to

Point A:

To point B:

But of course, things will go wrong this time, because Theta is different. And so will be her fate.

Indeed, unlike the other women:

1. She is the one who had the intention to kill first .

2. She is at the head of her agressor's protection squad. And with THIS code, Togashi shows that she creates a particular bond with her team that Tserrie don't have (We never see Tserrie using secret code to communicate to his employees. In fact, it's the opposite, he is often super cash while talking to them).

This code shows that some bodyguards are fine with being secretive around Tserriednich because they trust communication with Theta more. We don't know how many of them think like this, nor how many would love her enough to sacrifice themselves to follow/save Theta instead of being obedient to the Prince only.

But it still a really great point that Theta is less alone in her mission that it seems to be. Because the only hope I see in her survival is a solid teamwork for escape the appartment and found other strong parters willing to kill the Prince (Morena and her gang maybe 👀).

So Tserrie's plans to slowly torture her until the point of no return in humanity will certainly be overly more complicated because, as I said before, Theta is intelligent AS FUCK so she will for sure mess up with his planifications in some way.

.

.

.

Anyways thank you guys for reading 🤩. I only have hope for my dear Theta. I know our bad charming Prince is OP as fuck, but he still have a main weakness which is ignorance. I know even more that my wife Theta sure have soooooo much other secrets in her sleeves that will plays against him. 😁✌

Don't hesitate to ask me questions or add some informations or analysis if you want ! 😊 Bye bye 👋

[struggle-but-its-all-ocean-floor]

You ate 👏 I agree with everything you said. Something I did want to comment on is about Taehyung's popularity. I'm surprised you didn't think he was that popular 😱 This is just my theory, but I think something that really hindered Tae was the dating stuff. Yes, his music isn't that GP-friendly, but I do feel if the dating rumors didn't surface, he would have had more support, which is sad because fans shouldn't abandon him for being human. Do you think if Jungkook got into a dating scandal he'd lose popularity?

I've been Army for 4 years. I promise I'm not baby Army - I have to at least be a teenager by now! But it's so easy for me to underestimate V's popularity because he's so difficult to understand or connect to at times. He's adorable, weird, funny, goofy, sweet, a good dancer, handsome, charming, unique, has sweet vocals, etc. but his quirks can also act like barriers too, making him seem cold, distant or unapproachable at times to me. He's also a bit inconsistent on stage in terms of dancing. For all these reasons, I just don't fully understand the depth of his popularity. Jungkook and Jimin's popularity is super easy for me to grasp. However, while V's popularity makes perfect sense, sometimes I don't get it? Our personalities are too different. Plus, to me V was the member doing the "least" in chapter 2, since all he did was a variety show, photoshoots, attend fashion events. None of that was interesting or particularly impactful to me, so I assumed that Jikook's popularity had increased a lot more than his. But seeing him promote Layover I'm reminded of why he's so popular and why I love him so much. He's just hard for me to understand, you know?

So, yeah, I don't follow V biased Armys on twitter, and I don't see a lot of discussions about him because of it, making it even easier for me to underestimate his power. I'm not sure the dating rumors had any real impact on his career. Objectively, I think he performed as well as he could've under the circumstances, and a lot of fans chose denial anyway - Taekookers are still going strong lmao. I'm not V biased and didn't see any discourse about the dating, but, as a Jungkook stan, I can imagine the shit show a dating rumor would be. But Jungkook's had a few "scandals" recently, like the drinking in lives, the vaping and now the smoking, plus the Seven lyrics and MV (a near equivalent to a dating scandal), and he's doing better than ever. It seems most fans stick around regardless of their disappointment or dissatisfaction (and denial is a very real, very powerful coping mechanism that many Armys swear by). Jungkook's image change has also attracted tons of new fans. So, a dating rumor wouldn't hurt him imo, but a dating scandal that is all but official would have a much greater impact on the fanbase. He would be fine though, I think. It'd all really depend on the "scandal" was handled - if nothing was confirmed vs. if Hybe confirmed the rumors, or if Jungkook himself explained the situation to the fans. I don't know...

Thanks for the ask!

[h16h-v0l7463]

👏Smash👏or👏Pass👏 SCALDRA EDITION: Major Rusalka Viktor (derogatory) # 9877 # __45 (i dont remember) # 3000 GO!

i am answering this ask two days late because i am bored out of my skull on bed rest but i ALSO have renewed context with which to approach my answer

rusalka: this is going to be a controversial statement among my peers, and one i have been defending with my life ever since we first encountered her... tentative smash. i would not survive the encounter but i might risk it anyway. depends on if it's really her or whatever the hell is wearing her skin around like a suit right now. i'm not down to clown with unknowable cosmic horrors but i cannot deny the allure of a very tall and intimidating evil woman who is also very attractive. i'm sorry, this is just a fact. when we first encountered her i said that i would and none of the others have let me live it down BUT i stand firm by my beliefs. i will not be intimidated out of speaking my truth.

viktor: smash. with a large, heavy, blunt object. repeatedly. until naught but a fine red paste remains. i hate that mans guts and i want him obliterated.

sevens: i never thought about it too hard when he was around but i cannot say it would have been off the table. HOWEVER. as a gesture of respect for the dignity of the fallen. pass. o7 solspeed you beautiful bastard rest easy out there

45: i think she probably deserves better, honestly. she's been through enough. pass but because i know she would say no and i respect that

triple-0: before the events of yesterday i would feel inclined to plead the fifth for my own safety BUUUUUUUUUT after the fucking stunt he pulled i can wholeheartedly say with my full chest that i would rather dig him up and kill him again a thousand times over. i was initially prepared to say that i was willing to manwhore my way out of this situation if push came to shove like i would call myself a lover not a fighter but the whole uh, kidnapping and hostage situation and attempting to hold arthur's life for ransom thing was an absolute dealbreaker. hard pass. he had his chance and he blew it. my condolences to his wife, though, she sounds like a lovely woman.

[dinercat]

for that ask game, 11, 12, 13, 14, and 15! :3

👏 SPIN 👏 THE 👏 WHEEELLLLL

HIIII its been forever but :3

11. How do they cope with confusion?

wheel spun Sprinkles from Furry Whimsy! (she/they/it)!

she would just go to teddy (she/he) first haha! but if not she would look it up and try to check out library books and likely get conflicting answers and get more confused before having to ask her friends ^^

12. How do they deal with an itch they can't reach?

ok im gonna answer this physically and mentally and enrichment wise. lets see uhh .... hello Joey (it/xe/bit/ze) from Midnight Circus.

joey is a mortal with a bunch of immortals and it's cursed with evil spider curse which causes spider limbs to come out of its body until it just. dies. soooo. persumablely would get his basically only friend angel (she/her) to scratch xe physically. i think in theory xe could also get a back scratcher but well. gestures. xe doesnt.

mentally i think it like. paces or just sits eith angel. i think if tries to talk to angel about grand things but i think the itch just bothers it? until bitcan kind of move on. i think the "itches" would just be like knowing bit will die soon and thinking of what that means for bit. will anyone remember or care.

i think enrichment wise it's more so itching for like actually something stimulating than the drunks and ambrosia (he/they). probably lengthy discussions with angel, trying to do new tricks with its pyrotechnics act. something that makes it feel like it's making progress.

13. What color do they think they look best in? Do they actually look best in that color?

haha ok lets see whos... 🥹 amalthea (she/her).

silver. objectively she believees silver because oh my god let this cursed princess be a knight PLEEEEAZE she wants to be a knight so bad

she looks best though in warm colors, golds and such. she dresses in like cool colors but more for symbolism and such but REALISTICALLY. i think looks best in reds and golds and warm tinted colors. lively colors. funny when she goes through her *checks notes* really normal transition. into ambrosia (he/they) ends up wearing gold more! here's ambrosia past and current. yeah something happened but its ok hes better now ^^

14. What animal do they fear the most?

wheel pulled up Belladonna (she/her) from Silly Mode!

so she's a mail carrier and shes a bird and wheel. her rival/friend/beloathed neighbor is calcifur (he/they) a cat and likes to try and get a feather from her wings ^^; so i'd probably say she fears cats but more so mad at one in particular. could be fun to make her scared of snakes though! BUT I LOVE U ELLAAAAAA sorry theres a strange animal that bothers you because hes so kitty brained.

15. How do they speak? On the spot or reharsed?

wheel rolled for Realm of Twine's favorite freak Toxic Waste (mirrored pronouns)

on the spot. everything is off the cuff because they just live like that. THIS IS SO SHORT BUT LIKE. THEY JUST LIVE LIKE THAT.

FORGOT TO ADD BECAUSE I WAS TALKING TO MY WIFE!!!!! all art except the very first one was drawn by it :D @saintvln (also we share midnight circus + realm of twine ocs)

[m4lice5un]

I watched the entirety of the Umbrella Academy. I had seen it before but wanted to watch the whole series before watching season 4

I don't think I've ever been more disappointed by the ending of a show - it was painfully bad

Spoilers ahead, not that I recommend watching season 4

In no particular order, here are my grievances

Allison got to negotiate details of the timeline they entered - why not include Sloan? What, she gets present day Ray but Luther can't have the woman he *literally* just married?

How did they not see the glowing liquid in their sake bombs?

Why is marigold a liquid at all? When Reg released it, it flew into the air

Klaus hit some waiter when he tossed his sake over his shoulder - did they not get affected by the marigold? Why?

Fuckin durango.. just.. why

How did the durango get into Jennifer?

During the original timeline's Jennifer incident - why did Reg send the Umbrellas? He very clearly has the resources to hire some merc group to blow up the container she was in. Why risk her coming into contact with them?

During the current timeline, why the town built to protect her? You telling me Reg isn't capable of child murder?

What in tf was up with they're powers?

Powers unchanged, but why did he get ape-ified? That had nothing to do with his powers

Powers unchanged

Can rumor people without speaking, which gets used once. Also acquires telekinesis...?

He can fly now

Can't jump thru space, but rather jumps into a subway that allows him to travel into other timelines. Cool concept, I admit, but come on - it's the last season - give me a sick ass Five fight scene

Tentacles come out of his back rather than his belly

Gone are the OP sound based powers. In it's place? A beam. Woo

Why did Klaus not even *try* to stay sober? It was clearly super important to him yet he immediately relapses as soon as he gets his powers back

What in the god damn was Jennifer doing, inviting Ben back in? Fuck him, he was a prick

No, really, why run away from lifelong friends with this dude you've known less than 2 hours?

Seriously, they had glowing rashes that were clearly from them touching. Why 👏 did 👏 they 👏 bang? 👏

Why have Allison save Klaus? Wouldn't it be a better story beat to have him make peace with the dead and conjure some dudes to dig him up? He's in a graveyard ffs

They gave Allison telekinesis... how that connects to rumoring people is beyond me

The cleanse, man. Just, like, wtf. All of a sudden there's this other magic substance, that counteracts the already established magic substance, somehow. It manifested in a girl who was found in a squid belly and instead of nipping the issue in the bud - Reg coordinated this massive effort for her to live in some backwater town

Does durango just 👋happen👋 whenever marigold is released? Why?

The last baddy in the series is a blob monster, omg

Five already had a compelling love interest, Dolores. I don't buy him and Lila hooking up. The show fumbled a chance to depict a healthy platonic friendship between those two and I'll never forgive them

Most importantly tho... The ending doesn't fit

The earlier seasons depict these deeply broken characters as being valuable in their own ways, as long as they practice compassion and offer each other room to grow. The Umbrellas are a tight knit group; it's shown again and again that the world is a better place with each of them in it

Soooooo... How does it all pan out? Turns out their existence is objectively harmful to everyone. So they decide to let themselves be consumed by the cleanse; erasing their existence entirely from the timeline. Except for Claire, and Diego's and Lila's kids. Feels super paradoxical to me, but hey, what do I know? I only just watched 3 seasons worth of explanation for why this kind of thing is, you know, bad

I gotta say tho, as a person with severe depression who's battled thoughts of self shutdown... What the fuck. The world *is* a better place without them? What kind of message is that? Shits hella disappointing

These are all just off the top of my head two weeks after watching it. I'm positive there's so much more I could nitpick if I watched it again. I genuinely wish it would've been cancelled instead of getting a last season with what we were given

If this series continues elsewhere, I hope it's an entirely different story. What we ended up with is an abomination of media, full stop

[kudosmyhero]

Giant-Size X-Men (vol. 1) #1: Deadly Genesis!

Read Date: June 18, 2023 Cover Date: May 1975 ● Writer: Len Wein ● Penciler: Dave Cockrum ● Inker: Dave Cockrum ◦ Peter Iro ● Colorist: Glynis Wein ● Letterer: John Costanza ● Editor: Len Wein ●

**HERE BE SPOILERS: Skip ahead to the fan art/podcast to avoid spoilers

Reactions As I Read: ● my first x-men comic ● Storm meets Professor X

● 👏👏👏

Synopsis: Chapter 1: Second Genesis

In Winzeldorf, Germany, an angry mob rages through the streets in search of a monster: the mutant Kurt Wagner. Kurt pleads that he only wants to be left alone, but the hysterical mob attack and overwhelm him through sheer numbers. Suddenly, the whole mob literally freezes in their tracks, subdued by Professor Charles Xavier’s telepathy. Xavier offers Kurt refuge at his school, which is a haven for mutants. Kurt asks if the Professor can make him normal, but he responds by asking if, after that night, he truly wants to be normal (i.e., like his persecutors). Kurt accepts the Professor’s invitation.

Quebec, Canada: Professor X visits a government base and meets Major Chasen and the mutant referred to as Weapon X, but better known as Wolverine. Charles offers Wolverine a chance to join him and become a free agent, an offer Wolverine accepts on the spot. Chasen objects but Wolverine officially resigns from duty by slicing off his tie. As Wolverine leaves, Chasen warns him this isn’t over.

Nashville, Tennessee: Banshee is attending a show at the Grand Ole Opry when he receives a telepathic message from the Professor with an urgent plea for help. He quickly agrees to do what he can.

Kenya, Africa: A woman named Ororo is being worshipped by local tribesmen as a rain/fertility goddess. Xavier approaches her with an offer he hopes she will not refuse. After listening to his request, she accepts.

Osaka, Japan: Xavier pays a visit to Sunfire, pitching him a similar offer. Sunfire is disinterested in helping white westerners, but reasons that he owes it to himself to test his abilities.

On a commune in Siberia, Farmer Piotr Rasputin is harvesting crops when a fellow farmhand notices a neighbor's tractor has gone out of control and is heading straight for Piotr’s young sister Illyana. As Piotr runs towards her, he transforms into a giant metal being. The tractor collides with him but is destroyed by the impact with Piotr’s metallic body. Xavier invites him to come to America to his school. Upon asking his parents’ permission, he accepts Xavier's offer.

Arizona: An Apache Indian, John Proudstar, chases a bison on the plain, easily chasing it down and tackling it. Xavier offers him acceptance into his school. Proudstar refuses to help a white man at first, but Professor X counters that perhaps he is just a coward. Infuriated, Proudstar accepts Xavier's offer in order to prove him wrong.

Chapter 2: And When There Was One

The seven disparate mutants meet at Xavier’s school in Westchester and are given new costumes composed of unstable molecules. A narrative caption relates that Professor X gave each of the international students instant fluency in English, via telepathy. Proudstar questions why Xavier has brought them together. Xavier introduces them to Cyclops, who makes a dramatic entrance sporting a new visor and slightly redesigned costume. He informs them that this new team of X-Men has been assembled to find and rescue the missing original team.

Cyclops shows them Cerebro, the mutant-detecting supercomputer which Xavier used to find them. A flashback depicts that just recently, Cerebro had alerted Professor X and the original team (Cyclops, Marvel Girl, Angel, Iceman, Havok, and Lorna Dane) to the existence of an extremely powerful mutant on the remote Pacific island of Krakoa. The team headed off to find this mutant (there is a passing mention to the Beast having departed from the team). Immediately upon their arrival, they were ambushed. Later, an amnesiac Cyclops awoke alone on the X-Men’s stratojet, which was already in flight on cruise control. His visor was missing but his eyes were inexplicably no longer emitting optic blasts. Upon returning to Xavier’s school, though, his optic blast began firing once again but with more power than ever; so much more power in fact that Professor X had to build a new visor for Cyclops to control them.

Sunfire initially refuses to participate on the rescue mission and flies off in a huff. The rest of the new members agree, however, and depart in the stratojet. In midair, though, the group see Sunfire flying alongside their plane. He boards it and tells Cyclops he’s changed his mind and will participate in the mission.

Chapter 3: Assault Force

As the Stratojet approaches Krakoa Isle, Cyclops directs the team to split up into pairs: Storm (Ororo) and Colossus (Piotr), Banshee and Wolverine, Sunfire and Nightcrawler (Kurt), and lastly Thunderbird (Proudstar) and Cyclops. There are minor disagreements and bickering among the new members, who are still just a pack of strangers to each other.

Cyclops and Thunderbird land the Stratojet and begin their search. They have barely begun exploring the island before the Stratojet vanishes inexplicably. Upon seeing a temple in the distance, they head towards it. En route, they are attacked by creeper vines but take care of them quickly.

Along the shore, Wolverine and Banshee are attacked by giant crabs. Elsewhere, Colossus and Storm trek toward the temple and are nearly struck by an avalanche. As they run for cover, the rocks follow them and Colossus uses a tree as a makeshift bat to swat them away. Finally, Nightcrawler and Sunfire battle a group of angry birds. Nightcrawler teleports around the attacking birds while Sunfire just blasts them. Each pair of heroes has spotted the temple and they all convene outside of it.

They enter the temple, busting through a pair of tightly-sealed doors. Inside, they find the missing X-Men. Weird tendrils bind the captives and appear to feed off them. The new team quickly gets their predecessors to (relative) safety outside. The Angel scolds Cyclops for returning. He explains that this was all just a trap. The ground shakes, the temple rises out of the ground, and the entire island moves. The X-Men had come to Krakoa to find a mutant, but that mutant is the island itself!

Chapter 4: Krakoa…the Island That Walks Like a Man

In a flashback, it is revealed that radiation from atomic tests near the island caused a host of mutations on the island’s indigenous life before the island itself eventually mutated into a single group-mind entity. Krakoa needs to feed off the life energies of other mutants and found the X-Men to be an excellent source of sustenance. It allowed Cyclops to escape in order to bring back more mutants, which he did.

James Howlett (Earth-616) from Giant-Size X-Men Vol 1 1 001 Krakoa launches an all-out assault on the combined teams. Despite the combined power of old X-Men and new, none of their attacks seem to affect the island. Professor X then intervenes via a telepathic message and tells Cyclops he thinks he knows of its sole weakness.

As Professor X attacks the island with his mind to distract its communal intellect, Storm flies into the sky and shoots electricity down into Lorna Dane, stimulating her magnetic powers. Fearing that the tactic may kill Lorna, Havok pleads with Cyclops to put a stop to it. But Cyclops tells his brother that he cannot risk the life of one woman, even the woman Alex loves, for the safety of the entire world. Suffering from fatigue, Professor X's assault falters and Krakoa regains its strength from the typhoon that Storm has created.

Scott and Alex combine their powers with Lorna's own and she directs it downward. Her magnetic power penetrates to the center of the Earth, causing Krakoa to cry out in terror. As everyone flees to safety, Iceman snatches up an unconscious Lorna, refusing to allow Havok to help her. This angers Havok, but Cyclops tells him to set aside their personal feud until later. As the island begins breaking up, everyone jumps onto Iceman's ice raft. Lorna has disrupted the magnetic energy in the vicinity of the island's location, effectively canceling out gravity. Krakoa is flung out into the vacuum of space. The ocean at its (now former) location churns into a swirling whirlpool.

Iceman covers his raft in an ice-bubble just before it is sucked into the whirlpool. Eventually, it breaks the (once again calm) ocean surface and the team emerges to find the Stratajet afloat nearby. After boarding the ship and flying off, slight disagreements that occurred between the new members are (almost) sorted out. Angel then ponders aloud to the assembled group what they will do with thirteen X-Men.

(https://marvel.fandom.com/wiki/Giant-Size_X-Men_Vol_1_1)

Fan Art: X-Men color by YamaOrce

Accompanying Podcast: ● Amazing Spider-Man Chronicles - episode 02

[skitastc]

Hello my fellow Tumblr user!!!✨️✨️

Thanks for clicking on my profile uhh I'm Skitastc and you could call me Skit or Clueless, I am AroAce/Agender and go by any pronouns!🧍‍♂️

I haven't posted on Tumblr in a while and I've been thinking for a while of posting here again so here I am!👏 (Probably should think of a better way to word this better but ehhh.. lol)

Here is my ✨️Carrd✨️ if you want to check out my other social media's and stuff if you want

If you find me on Instagram (All my accounts are under the same username) just leave it be, I'm not posting there anymore thats why its not in my Carrd unless I decide to go back to posting there again but I'm not really intrested on that for now, ig.

As you have seen in my bio, I am a multifandom artist and so I have a lot of interests in the internet

And currently the fandoms I'm in(Or is intrested in the most) are Phighting, Undertale(Aus, yes FUCK im in the sans au community😔), and Transformers!✨️

And also QuackitySMP(Im not those kind of fans please spare me—), Bang Brave Bang Bravern, Object shows, Fnaf, Ultrakill, Dead Cells, Fionna and Cake, Fear and Hunger, Hermitcraft, Limbus Company, Sky: Children of the Light, Reverse: 1999, Animation vs Minecraft, Poppy playtime, and Lego Monkie Kid!

If you were a follower earlier before I decided not to post on Tumblr anymore you could see that I have gotten better at my art work after a whole ass year which is of course, really great^^

Also, heres my persona!!

[haruakotranslations]

It Looks Like a Plum。Yumigeta Ako (23.09.22)

Good evening🌛

I'm Yumigeta Ako 🛑

Thank you very much for your comments yesterday！

Changing trains is always frightening at first right…！

And there's those short escalators、and the escalators that don't have stairs that you often see at the airport、and so many different trains、and sometimes I've ended up at the wrong station、and all the trains have like 10 carriages、and I didn't know that I had to retap my IC card when getting back on the Shinkansen so it beeped angrily at me…etc

I understand all of your issues so well〜！

Before I moved Tokyo I'd heard the stories about rush hour trains but I thought they were exaggerated、and I was wondering how hard it could be to navigate the underground system！

But now I've had to brave rush hour every day… And I often end up at the wrong station…

It's tough but I'll keep working on it because I know it'll be easy once I'm used to it！

So today I'll talk about our new MV🙂

Sorry for only talking about the MV！But it was just so much fun！

A photo taken by Sakurai-san♡

And

The moment Yumigeta saw this object、she immediately felt attracted to it。But why！

Tick Tock Tick Tock Tick Tock Time's Up

The correct answer is because it looks like an umeboshi plum！

Isn't the colour so similar？！

Plus its surface wqs really smooth、so I wanted to touch it〜 and ended up stroking it for ages笑lol

All of the members had their own favourite props which was interestingー

Maybe try asking them sometime👀

Talking more about the MV…

It's only been 2 days since the MV for 『Wake-up Call〜Mezameru Toki〜』 was posted、

But it's already exceeded 500,000 views〜❗️❗️❗️

Thank you〜❗️❗️❗️❗️❗️❗️

🎉🎊💐👏♥️🎉🎊💐👏♥️🎉🎊💐

It's really amazing！I thought that this song could become addictive when I first heard it、and I guess you all had the same thought？？！

And so many people said they've watched it many times〜…！😭

I'm so happy！And so grateful！Thank you very much！

If the view count keeps going up、maybe it'll even reach people who don't currently know about Morning Musume。…❗️

We'll all keep working hard to make that happen！

Please continue to support us from here on too❣️

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Well then it's time for today's 【Gettaa Life】✨

The other day〜

I decided that

「I want to take better care of my hair since individual events are coming up」、

So I went to the beauty salon for a treatment！

So now it's rea〜lly silky smooth！

They used a supersonic straightener？And a steamer and lots more things to make it all silky…❗️

Since I went through the effort to make it so smooth I want to keep it this wayー So I've started fully drying my hair with a hair dryer and and applying hair oil and using my straighteners at a lower temperature setting！

At first I did it just to prevserve its silliness but now I've come to simply enjoy hair care！

I hope I can keep it up longer than just 1 week〜……

And、since I'm in Tokyo、I decided to make the effort to try a shampoo 🧴that's not sold in Shizuoka so I bought a new shampoo and conditioner the other day and they've made my hair really smooth too✨

It's so important to use products that suit you、I've really realised this now！

Tomorrow we have our first individual event！

Please look forward to silky haired Yumigeta Ako♪

I Getted 「A path to Beauty」✨

Since our tour has begun I also want to find cosmetics that suit me better…

I'm excited❤️‍🔥

That's all！This has been 【Gettaa Life】！

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T/N News and information has not been translated

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Tomorrow is finally the start of our individual events…！

I wonder what stories you'll all tell me〜

I'm so curious〜

I want you to tell me〜

Or maybe give me hint〜

I'll be waiting for your comments。

Oh and！

It was pretty hot today right！

Tomorrow's high temperature is due to be 29℃ which is the same as today、so please be sure not to get heat stroke、and also avoid the cold that's going around！

Let's all have fun while putting our health first〜♪

Well then I'll see you tomorrow！

This has been YumiGettaa Ako！Good night🦊🦊🦊