#you’re going to tell me those were written for Joe as well

[bottom-lexa]

Me: *reading everyone’s takes on Twitter about the playlists Taylor released on Apple Music*

Me: You’re all so fucking stupid.

[funnyjb]

Hope your Ok

I knew a boy, once when I was small. My best friend, Joe. We fell out of touch a couple months before he got drafted. Sometimes life and different dreams can split people up. That’s what happened with us.

Joe was headed to the NFL, I on the other hand was headed to Boston to pursue my dream in journalism. We kept texting each other when I left but I started to get busy with work and he started to build a brand new life in Cincinnati. We just stopped talking. Maybe a couple “Hey, how you doing?” Here and there.

He’s my best friend or was? I don’t even know anymore. I love him. So when I saw he hurt himself and tore his ACL his first year in the NFL it broke me. I couldn’t imagine what he was going through.

A couple weeks went by after that game and I heard he had surgery. I contemplated reaching out, but was too nervous. What if he forgot about me? But then I thought if I were to reach out it would have to be the right way. Writing a hand written letter. I know what you’re thinking. “Y/n, we have phones you can text or call him! Why write a letter?” Well, growing up I always knew I wanted to pursue journalism. Joe would always read my work and think it was like reading The New York Times. He would always say “when you go out and live your dream, you should write me handwritten notes and we can write back and forth from each other.” I always thought that was stupid. But now maybe would be the right time to do it. So, I did it.

Dear Joey,

You know how you always used to say “When you become a big time journalist, you should write me handwritten notes and we can write back and forth from each other.”? Well I’m doing that now. I know we haven’t talked in months. I’ve been swamped with work. I think about you every day. Which might sound creepy and weird, but I miss how we were. You’re also probably crazy busy with being in the NFL and all. By the way which is still so crazy to me that you’re In the NFL. Well I knew you always would be but it’s still insane!! I’m so beyond proud of you. I heard what happened. How do you feel? Probably in a lot of pain knowing the injury. I hope you’re ok. I believe in you, Joe. You can get through anything. It’s ok to not be ok. But know you have a huge support system including me. I just want to say I’m always going to be proud of you and hope you’re doing good! Tell the family I say hello! Sending you lots of hugs!

Xoxo,

Y/n

I folded it in half put it in an envelope and sent it.

————————————————————————

Joes POV

I was still in bed rest and couldn’t really get up or walk, so my family has been staying with me. I was on the couch watching some UFC when the doorbell rang.

“I’ll go get it!”- Robin

I watched her get up.

“Thanks, mom.”- joe

She walked to the door and came back with some mail soon after.

“Here ya go, sweets.”- Robin

She handed me some mail.

Some of it was fan letters, medical bills, and some random people trying to get me to buy stuff. As I was going through the mail a certain name stood out to me.

Y/n L/n

“Y/n?”- Joe

“You got a letter from y/n?”- Robin

“Yeah, yeah, I did.”- Joe

I couldn’t believe it.

“Awe Joey, your blushing.”- Robin

I looked at her

“Stop, mom.”- Joe

“Fine, whatever think what you want to think but I know you always loved her deep down. By the way, why did she write a letter to you. Does she know there are phones?”- Robin

I chuckled a bit.

“She does, but I think I know why she did.”- joe

I opened it up and started to read.

“I think about you every day”

“I believe in you, Joe”

“I just want to say I’m always going to be proud of you and hope you’re doing good!”

Those stuck out to me.

She thinks about me every day? Why hasn’t she texted then?

I decided to pull out my phone and pull up her contact.

Y/n🤍

You know there is a thing called texting, right?- me

I waited a few moments till I saw her type

I know, but if you really read the letter you know why I did it.

I did. Thank you, seriously. Means a lot.- me

Of course.

So, how are you?- me

Im good! Supposed to fly back to Ohio next week. I just got offered a new job in my department! A little nervous but excited. Hbu?

Wow! I’m so proud of you, y/n. I know you worked hard. I’ve been reading your work. It really is brilliant. - me

Thanks, Joey! Anyway I got to get going about to head into work. Talk later?

Yeah, talk later!- me

————————————————————————

(A week later)

Your POV

“MOM!”- you

The door was wide open and I had just ran into the house to greet my parents.

“Y/N!!”- your mom

I wrapped my arms around her and she swayed us back and forth.

“Let me get a good look at you.”- Your mom

She pulled away and looked at me. A smile plastered on her face and a glow in her eyes.

“My beautiful girl.”- Your mom

A second later my dad walked in.

“Jeez, how much did you pack. Feels like you packed an elephant in here.”- your dad

“Haha, so funny. I’m moving what do you expect?!”- you laugh

After a couple more minutes of talking with my parents they brought up dinner.

“So, I know you must be exhausted, but the Burrows are coming over tonight for our weekly dinner as always. You’re welcome to join us.”- your mom

“You still do dinners?!!!”- you

“Yeah! Every week!”- your mom

The Burrows have been having dinner with us at least once a week ever since I was a little girl.

“Wow! Yeah, I would love to join!”- you

“Ok! Go wash up and maybe put some new clothes on and we will see you down here in an hour for when they come.”- your mom

I nodded and headed up the stairs. Am I going to see Joe? Gosh this is crazy.

———————————————————————-

After an hour hit I heard the door open down stairs. Then I heard “you’re here!” And “you get taller every time I see you.”

I finished my final touches on some makeup and made sure my outfit was good.

I then headed downstairs.

As I walked down the stairs I could see everyone in the family room.

“There she is!”- your dad

“Y/n!”- Robin

She came up to me with a big smile on her face and open arms. I embraced her hug and was so happy to see her again.

“Oh my gosh!! You get even more beautiful every time I see you!”- Robin

“Thank you! Looks like you haven’t changed one bit!”- You

“Oh stop, your to kind.”- Robin

We both started laughing. I always looked up to Robin as a second mother. When both of my parents had to work late when I was younger I would go to the Burrows house. Robin would cook for us and ask me about my day. We would then later gossip and make fun of Joe as always, and if I slept over she would do my hair the next day for school and send a special treat in my lunch. As I got older she was still always there for me. Could always tell when something wasn’t right and would comfort me, and always checking in on me even when I moved to Boston.

“Hey, sweetie!”- Jimmy

“Hi, Jimmy!”- you

Jimmy pulled me in for a hug.

I also always felt like Jimmy was a second dad. Making sure my homework was turned in before Joe and I started playing in the backyard. Teaching me about football, and always being there for me.

As I pulled away I noticed someone else. It was Joe. He was in cast.

I gave him a smile.

“Come here.”- joe smiled

He pulled me in with one of his arms and my head rested on his chest. I wrapped both of my arms around his waist taking it in that he is here. We probably stayed hugging for about 5 minutes before we pulled away.

“Dinner time!”- your mom

All of us then found our way to the table. Joe sat across from me. My dad and Jimmy were at the ends and the mom’s next to their children.

Robin filled me in on the start of Joes foundation.

“Sounds awesome! I’m glad it finally came through.”- you

“Yes, we are very excited!”- Robin

“Y/n, what’s going on with you? How’s work?”- Jimmy

“Well, I’m moving back home! Going to live in Cincinnati and going to be working from my company’s offices over there.”- You smile

“Y/n, that’s great! It’s good to have you back! You can start coming to games once Joe gets back! I’ve always wanted to bring you to a game!”- Robin

“That will be great, thank you.”- you

“Yeah, I would love to have you come. The atmosphere over there is electric.”- Joe

“Well I’m in!”- You

Joe gave me a nod.

“So, when are you going to start up again?”- you asked Joe

“Well, probably in a couple months. Should be good by may. Still have to get through this year.”- joe

“That’s good.”- you smile

We probably held eye contact for way too long till my mom started to get the dishes.

“Let me help you, Mary.”- Joe

“Oh it’s ok, Joey. How about you go sit down and I will bring you pumpkin pie.”- your mom

“Okay, thank you.”- joe smiles

“Of course, sweetheart.”- your mom

He goes and sits down next to my dad and his dad on the couch. The tv was on and was playing some college basketball.

After washing the dishes for a bit and putting them in the dishwasher I decided to get some fresh air outside on the back porch.

I walked out towards the back. The sun was setting which sent an orange ray across the porch. Some pink clouds filled the sky and a light cold breeze.

I sat down on the outside couch where fairy lights hung above. Crossed my legs under me as I sipped my wine taking it all in. I couldn’t believe Joe is here right now.

A few seconds later I heard the glass door sliding. I looked to my right and there he was. Joey.

“Hey.”- joe flashed a smile

“Hi!”- you

He came around and sat down on the comfy chair next to me.

He let out a sigh.

“How are you?”- you

He looked at me

“You already asked that question, y/n.”- Joe chuckled

“I know, But really how are you? I know you have more going on in that great mind of yours. I know you Joe.”- you

“I’m…I’m doing better. My leg is healing and I’m doing physical therapy. Ja’Marr comes over a lot and so does Sam to check in. But I’ve honestly just been missing you…like a lot.”- joe

“Good to hear they still love you.”- you chuckle

Joe laughs

“But…I’ve been missing you too. I just never really knew when to reach out after that game. I was to scared that you would say you were paralyzed or something like that. I couldn’t stand seeing you hurt. I knew you would also be busy getting better and healing. But it was shitty of me not to reach out. I’m sorry, Joe. I really am.”- you

“It’s ok, y/n. And it wasn’t shitty. I just didn’t understand but now I do. And you’re here now.”- Joe

“Yeah, good to be back.”- you

“So, when do you head back to cincy.”- Joe

“Umm, on Saturday. I have most of my stuff there already just need to unpack clothes.”- you

“Maybe, I can stop by. I would love to see the place. If it’s ok with you?”- joe

“Of course!! I would love it.”- you

“Great! Probably around Saturday evening if that works for you. I have some stuff in the morning at the facility but I would like to show you around Cincy more.”- joe

“Sounds awesome! I should be free.”- you

“Great, it’s a uhh..date.”- joe

“It’s..a date!”- you smile

We both smiled at each other.

The sliding door opened which stopped us staring.

“Hey, guys! Joe we are leaving. You can stay if you want for a bit and maybe y/n can walk you over.”- Robin

He looked at me. I knew he wanted to stay for a bit.

“I can walk him over in a few! Don’t want Mr quarterback to get hurt even more.” - you

“Thanks, y/n. Love you both.”- Robin

“Bye!”- joe and I said

After Robin left Joe and I talked for a bit

“It’s getting late I better go before my parents freak.”- joe

“Yeah..yeah, I’ll walk you.”- you smile

You two get up and walk around the back to the front yard.

Joe on his crutches were making noises on the path.

You started laughing.

“What? What’s so funny?”- Joe

“You.”- you

Joe scoffed.

“You cant insult a disabled person, y/n.”- joe

“Well I can insult you all I want. Been doing it since we were six.”- you smile

Joe laughed

we were walking down the sidewalk and to the Burrows.

“It was really great seeing you tonight. I’ve missed you.”- Joe

You looked at him.

“It was great seeing you too, I’ve missed you, burrow.”- you

As we reached his house we stopped at the front.

As I turned around to say goodbye Joe was already facing me and placing his lips on mine. His hand on my cheek pulling me in. I rested my hand on his arm. I couldn’t believe it, but it felt so right. This. Right now.

He Pulled away.

“Sorry…I couldn’t keep fighting the urge anymore. You have know idea how long I’ve wanted to do that.”- Joe

“It’s..it’s ok, I’ve been wanting to kiss you all my life, Joey.”- you

Joe smirked.

“Oh, yeah?”- joe

You nodded

“It’s getting late I better go.”- you

“Yeah.”- joe

We stayed looking into each other eyes.

I Leaned in for one last kiss.

“Goodnight, burrow.”- you smile

“Goodnight, y/n.”- joe smiles back

He walked up to the door step and walked in.

You started walking back with a smile on your face.

You just kissed the love of your life.

Y/n Burrow.

You thought to yourself as you walked into your house.

The end!!

Pt2 coming soon!!

[wisteriadumster]

Waterfall ❥Eagle Flies

EAGLE FLIES X FEMALE READER

CW➻❥ ⋆ hooking up ⋆ lots of kissing ⋆ m! & f! Orgasm ⋆ f! Oral ⋆ outdoor sex ⋆

WC➻❥1687➻❥ this isn't well proof read so any mistakes or odd things are purely accidental

Summary➻❥ after coming with a friend, Charles smith, you help the struggling native tribe the Wapiti. One of the tribal members recognizes you and asks to take you out riding as a thank you for helping him and his people. He takes you to the top of the gorgeous Donner Falls where you receive the ultimate thank you.

A/N ➻❥ Eagle Flies is definitely the youngest person I have ever written about, but in my mind he’s anywhere from 19-23. I’ll start posting more too as well

Do Not Steal Or Translate My Work!

You rode with your close friend, Charles Smith, he was leading you to the native Wapiti tribe. “We’re just helping them live comfortably, I suppose. They don’t have much, so we’re being very helpful.” Charles spoke, he hadn’t said anything prior, just that he wanted you to help. “Of course, I don’t see why they should live lik-” you tried to think of a word, “dogs.” Charles answered for you, “dogs, yes. They shouldn’t live like dogs.” You rephrased your sentence.

The camp was in a small section of beautiful forest, you hitched your horse beside Charles and dismounted. “Just go around and ask what they need, Taima has some supplies in her saddlebag, help yourself to it.” He opened the saddlebag and grabbed a few provisions and then disappeared.

You walked around, handing cans of food and bandages out to those who asked. Many eyes stared at you, watching as you walked through their territory. They grew more comfortable as they noticed you helping, many giving you thanks in return for your kindness. A young man, around your age, came up to you and Taima. “So you’re helping my people?” He asked, petting Taima’s mane. “Helping as best as I can.” You answered, grabbing a can of beans. “Can I ask you for something?” He continued with the questions, this time looking at you. “That’s why I’m here..” You grew quieter once you looked at his face, he was quite attractive. “I’ve seen you before,” he put aside his question. “At that party in Saint Denis, you were with a man.” He was referring to Arthur, another friend of yours. “Oh yes I was, I remember seeing you briefly.” You responded, also remembering him from that night. “You are doing more for us than those men ever have.”

The young man followed you, but kept a distance. He was waiting for you to finish your job so that he could have you to himself. Which he did get once you had come back to an empty saddlebag. “Can I ask that question now?” He came close again, “certainly.” You answered and brushed the dirt from Taima’s back. “Would you like to ride with me?” He asked, pushing back his tied hair, “just let me tell my friend and then I’ll mount my horse.” You noticed a small smile form on his face before he ran off to find his own horse.

Charles told you to be safe and that he would meet you back at camp. Now you were riding down a road you didn’t know existed until this man showed you. “Can I ask who I’m riding with?” You finally asked, you have gone this whole time without knowing his name. “In english it’s Eagle Flies.” He answered, “I admire it, much better than something like Joe or Phil.” You looked at him with a grin. “I’m glad you think so. The army men have no respect for my people’s names, not that they take the time to learn it.” He looked at you with a matching grin.

“Just through these trees.” He turned his horse to the left, you both emerged out to the edge of Donner Falls. “Oh wow,” you were speechless at such a view, two falls were loud as the water crashed down to meet another edge to fall down, slowly merging into a river. “Beautiful right?” He dismounted his horse and tied it to a tie. He took your horse once you got off and tied it as well. “Do you take every girl you meet here?” You asked, walking beside him as you got close to the edge. “Only the beautiful and helpful ones.” He flirted, admiring you as you looked at the water. “You flatter me,” you looked at him. “It’s the truth.” His eyes crawl up and down your body, from your chest to your ankles, from your eyes to your lips. He stepped closer, your breathing drew thin at tension growing by his presence. His eyes were only staring at your eyes and lips, showing his thinking. He allowed himself to act on what was on his mind, his hands grabbed your hips and pulled you into a kiss.

You were surprised by the sudden kiss, it was slow and unsure as you both adjusted to such an intimate act. You could feel blood rushing through you, the feeling you had for this stranger was intense. You were still trying to process what was going on but you knew what was happening physically. Eagle Flies hands were into the skin that surrounded your hips, pulling you against him. He was craving all of you, wanting all that you were. You pulled back, your foreheads pressed together. “Why are you doing this?” You hesitated being with him, “I could ask you the same thing.” he smirked, he didn’t answer but connected your lips with his, wanting to finish exploring a new territory.

You both stumbled as the kiss intensified. He laid you down on the grass, careless that one wrong slip and you’d both fall into the rapid water. You both breathed in each other’s air, not wanting to break from each other. Until Eagle Flies began to kiss down your body, unbuttoning your blouse as he descended. His fingers were quick, seamlessly removing your clothes as he moved down, kissing your delicate skin that tensed at his soft lips.

Once there were no more buttons to unbutton you knew that if you didn’t stop now that you wouldn’t stop. He came back up, his eyes were like a does as he looked down at you, “would you like me to stop?” He asked, seeing the slight sense of fear and worry in your eyes, “no.”

He was kissing your neck, a hand supporting himself while the other was unbuttoning your pants. You could feel a sense of submission wanting to quiver out of your lips as Eagle Flies undressed you. His hands caressed the bare skin of your torso before they went to unbutton his own pants.

Eagle Flies made eye contact, truly securing the intimacy that you felt. You drew in a gasp as you felt his cock push inside of you with ease. You saw his face change as he adjusted to such a feeling. “Have you ever done this before?” You asked him, he shook his head, “have you?” he returned, “a few times.” You admitted, it felt awkward to mention previous relationships.

His rhythm was hesitant, watching you to see what did or didn’t feel good. Eventually Eagle Flies found what felt best for you and him, he kept the pace to not disturb what he had perfected. He leaned down to kiss you, his tied hair came undone and fell down to cover your faces. Your hands tangled with his hair, pulling as you could already feel an orgasm coming.

You were trying to conceal your moans, “you don’t have to quiet out here, no one will hear us.” He reassured you as he let out a groan himself. You panted a moan out as his tip hit the wall of your vagina. You were incoherent as you were entering a trance of pleasure and stimulation. His lips were kissing, circling, and sucking your nipples.

You pulled a little harder on Eagle Flies hair, you felt a slight whimper against your breast. “Don’t stop,” you yelped, your legs starting to tense and stiffen as your climax was only a few thrusts away.

Eagle Flies couldn’t contain himself any longer, he was loud as his orgasm hit its peak and released. He pulled out of you and let his hot exhales warm your, already hot and sweaty, chest. He knew that you hadn’t reached the same pleasure as him so he began to kiss down your body, this time not stopping.

Without the restriction of your pants he kissed down your body, his face nuzzled in between your thighs. He licked the juices that surrounded you before he slowly pushed tongue into you. Your eyes widened and a moan escaped at you. Your orgasm had begun to decline but was now rising back to the climax.

Your legs were locked and your stomach began to tighten as your body began to get hot. At the height you were loud and your hands dug into the grass, pulling at it. Your body entered peace, relaxing all your stiffened muscles that had prepared for your orgasm. “Wow.” That was all you could say after going through a wave of every feeling you had ever felt.

You sat up and began to button your shirt, but Eagle Flies stopped you. “Here let me, I was the one who unbuttoned it.” He delicately pushed each button through its hole. He helped you up, his hands lingering longer than intended. “Thank you again for helping my people.” He said as if you hadn’t just done anything. “Are you riding back with me?” He asked as you both reached the horses.

You looked at the pocket watch in your saddlebag, “I’m ought to go back to my people.” You replied, “I can ride with you.” He offered once more, “no no, you should go back.” You denied, nervous of what Charles might say if he saw Eagle Flies. “Will you come back with your friend?” He asked as you both mounted, “well I had planned on it but after what just happened, I’ll be sure to return.” You smirked, his face reddened.

You hitched your horse at camp as if nothing had happened. “Charles,” you came up beside the man. “Hm?” He brought the ladle of stew to his bowl and poured it, “when do you plan on going back to the tribe?” You were eager for an answer, “whenever I have a free moment, why?” Charles eyed you with a strange look, “well because I’d like to go back and help. Eagle Flies told me of the struggles and that the help is good.” Most of what you said was true. “Well we’ll get some more provisions and tonics soon and head that way after.” Charles answered.

[softguarnere]

heyo. so i was wondering if you could do a hurt/comfort fic with Liebgott, it’s after the war, they’re living together and the reader wakes up in the middle of the night with a nightmare and Lieb talk her and hold her through it??

i would greatly appreciate it! but if you can’t it’s all good.

- Anon

'Til Dawn

Joe Liebgott x reader

A/N: Hi Anon, thank you so much for the request! I'm sorry that this one is kind of short, but I hope I did your prompt justice (This is written for the fictional depiction from the show - no disrespect to the real life veterans!) 💕🕊️ Warnings: Nightmares, mentions of war

When people warned you that going back to your life after the war might not be easy, you took their words to heart. Especially after everything you saw in Bastogne, and then in Austria . . . How could that not change a person?

But you are different now in other ways, too. And so are other people. The key is finding those who understand. Like Liebgott.

The you that you were back when you first arrived at Toccoa would never have guessed that the scrappy cab driver from San Francisco would become one of your closest friends and confidants as the war progressed. Then, after the war, something more. Now, though, it makes perfect sense that the two of you share an apartment, that you tell each other everything – that you’ve fallen in love and have decided that it would be nice to spend the rest of forever together. You wouldn’t have it any other way.

Well, some minor things could stand to be changed. Like how all the worst memories of the war have somehow started to seep into your dreams.

Joe is not a sound sleeper. At least, not anymore. He gets up and paces the apartment, or stares at the ceiling while you try to sleep. Lately, though, he’s been so worn out at work that he’s been sleeping through the entire night without issue. Maybe you’ve just traded roles.

You jerk awake, gasping for air. Around you, the room is dark, save for the slant of light that sneaks past the curtains over the window. The room echoes with your gasps as you try to find air. Blood rushes in your ears, the only other sound.

Blindly, you swing an arm behind you, grasping for Joe. You hold on tight when you feel his arm. In your panic, with your heart pounding in your chest, you don’t realize how tightly you’re holding on to him – or that he’s now awake.

Startled, Joe bolts upright. It takes a moment for his eyes to adjust to the darkness, and then another for him to figure out why he’s woken up so suddenly. His eyes come into focus to see you shaking in the darkness, struggling to breathe, and gripping his arm like a lifeline. That’s all it takes for him to spring into action.

“Hey,” he says gently, moving closer to you and placing a soft hand on your back. “Hey, (Y/N). It’s okay. I’m right here. But you gotta breathe, alright doll?”

Joe’s familiar voice cuts through the panicked static that rushes around in your head. He’s here, with you. You’re together in your bed in San Francisco. Everything is okay. Or it should be. So why does it feel like you’re back in Europe, your life in a constant state of uncertainty?

“Joe?” you manage when you finally catch your breath. He rubs your back in response, waiting for you to continue. After a few more breaths, you try again.

“Joe,” you repeat. Then, after a pause, “is everything okay?”

The question catches him so off guard that his hand stills on your back. Is everything okay? You’re asking him, your voice sounding so scared. That in itself, scares him; you’ve always seemed so fearless. He continues rubbing your back again, hoping you didn’t notice his momentary lapse.

“You’re safe here, with me,” he promises. And then, the question that he’s almost afraid to ask, “Are you okay?”

No response. Only the sounds of the San Francisco night vaguely fill the bedroom. It’s all the answer that Joe needs. Slowly, so he doesn’t startle you, he uses one hand to search the bed until he finds yours. He intwines your fingers together.

“You know, I don’t sleep that well most of the time. Sometimes I just can’t shut my mind off. And other times . . . Well, other times I manage to fall asleep, but my memories become dreams that I can’t get out of.”

You squeeze his hand, recognizing something of yourself in his admission. That’s what night has felt like for you lately.

“You never told me,” you say.

He didn’t, he realizes. He tells you practically everything, but he’s never shared this with you. Sometimes – especially at night, when the world becomes so much larger and lonelier – the burdens of secrets seem easier to carry by oneself. But often when finally admitted under the bright light of day we realize that the burden is lighter if someone you trust is helping you carry it.

“I didn’t want to scare you,” Joe realizes aloud. Maybe the same thing has been happening with you. “How long has this been going on?” What he really means is: have you been afraid of scaring me, too?

Some of the worry melts from his heart when you admit, “This has been recent.”

If only he had the gift of words. If he had gone to school for literature like Webster, then he would know exactly what to say, and everything would be fixed. He’s trying – he’s holding you, being here with you. Still, he needs to do something more.

“Do you want to talk - ?”

“No.” You draw a shaky breath, squeezing his hand again. “Sorry. I just – I don’t want to go back there. I don’t want to think about it all.”

“That’s okay.”

“I’m sorry.”

He pats your back. “Don’t apologize, doll. I understand. I just wanna help, however you need me to.”

However you need. You wish you knew what the answer to that looked like. Knowing what you need would make this whole thing so much easier.

“I don’t know. Could you just . . . Could we just stay here for a bit? Together? I’m not sure if I can go back to sleep.”

“Of course.” Gently, he helps you back onto your pillow. His heart leaps when you curl into his side and rest your head on his chest instead. He presses a kiss to your forehead. “Whatever you need.”

And he means it. He’s supposed to work tomorrow morning, but it’s no matter now. Someone else can drive the morning rush. Because he’ll stay here with you – awake – for the rest of the night, if need be. Just to make sure that you’re okay, he would stay up ‘til dawn and beyond. And he knows that you would do the same for him.

[vxiphoid]

ꉂ LUNAR BREATHE ᝰ

❨ music for: the om!brothers, from: you ❩ i havent written for obey me yet so heres my take on “gifting” them with music you’d think they’d like :]] my GAWD i cannot write for lucifer to save my life😞﹫lucifer, mammon, & leviathan

lucifer

playlist; workaholics

MARRY-GO-ROUND OF LIFE - JOE HISAISHI

now playing ෴

up next queue ↴

CHARLIE’S INFERNO - THAT HANDSOME DEVIL

NOEL’S LAMENT - KHOLBY WARDELL

MY TIME - BO EN

𓈀𓈀𓈀𓈀𓈀𓈀𓈀𓈀𓈀𓈀𓈀𓈀𓈀𓈀𓈀𓈀𓈀𓈀𓈀𓈀

♫ MARRY-GO-ROUND OF LIFE - JOE HISAISHI

- self explanatory, you can’t tell me he doesn’t listen to this song. smooches the top of your head for putting it on even though its already on his playlist, you know him so well<33 lucifer defo dances with you to this song MWAH MWAH. also likes listening to this while doing paperwork? i dunno manne he just really likes this song

♫ CHARLIE’S INFERNO - THAT HANDSOME DEVIL

- believe it or not, lucifer has this song memorized WORD FOR WORD. you’re jamming to all the upbeat parts n he’s just “i don’t want to dieeeee please don’t let me diiiiiieeee” he enjoys the song i swear. he doesn’t listen to this one much, once every blue moon or so, but when he does he’s smiling just a little

♫ NOEL’S LAMENT - KHOLBY WARDELL

- OH MY GAWWWD WJHEWKDN‼️ he loves this song its so dramatic and (he’s a drama king)⁉️⁉️ the violence is sorta like therapeutic, bobbing his head to it and everything (this is a cry for help). lucifer loves classical music and the rhythm of the song gives off that vibe. literally unravels his whole big brother act to this song, such a stress reliever, cannot thank you enough.

♫ MY TIME - BO EN

- now THIS is a genre he doesn’t listen to. since its new to him you kinda just sit and watch him. the piano is well placed plus the song is a whole burst of energy, multiple shots of expresso livening moods. you said that its from a video game from the human world but the songs have way different meanings than they seem and lucifer stayed awake all night to decode it. it was on loop for like six hours straight…

mammon

playlist; music is cheaper than therapy

FUNEE HAT FREESTYLE, FUNEE HAT SONG - KEVINKEMPT

now playing ෴

up next queue ↴

DOGTOOTH - TYLER, THE CREATOR

HONEY - KEHLANI

MOONLIGHT - KALI UCHIS

𓈀𓈀𓈀𓈀𓈀𓈀𓈀𓈀𓈀𓈀𓈀𓈀𓈀𓈀𓈀𓈀𓈀𓈀𓈀𓈀

♫ FUNEE HAT FREESTYLE, FUNEE HAT SONG - KEVINKEMPT

- this is the song he blasts at like 3 am to piss off levi and satan also because its a whole bop??? a song about hats has mammon hyped as soon as it shuffles on his playlist. his favorite hat you ask? funny ducky hat‼️‼️ has to barricade is door when he does play this, satan will break it down.

♫ DOGTOOTH - TYLER, THE CREATOR

- there is NO WAY mammon doesn’t listen to tyler omfg. this is a rather new song so when you were like “oh great mammon, please spend two minutes and fifty seven seconds of your life to listen to such a yummy song” (in his words, not yours) he had to try it out. lets just say those two minutes and fifty seven seconds was completely worth it.

♫ HONEY - KEHLANI

- you told him to listen to this PURELY because he’s a simp. this man lays awake in his bed, smiling like an idiot just thinking about you, why not give him a little background noise while he does? literal putty in his bed after that. he’s yours, he’s yours, he’s yours.

♫ MOONLIGHT - KALI UCHIS

- type of song you listen to when you’re on cloud nine thinking about your first kiss or something like that… something about the beat is so soul-gripping. THE SPANISH? LAWWD. AND HER VOICE IS HEAVENLY. kiss him to this song PLEASE. why is this song 10 hours long?

leviathan

playlist; airplane mode

NOVACANE - FRANK OCEAN

now playing ෴

up next queue ↴

LOVE TASTE - MOE SHOP

STRESS RELIEF - LATE NIGHT DRIVE HOME

FIGHTER - JACK STAUBER

𓈀𓈀𓈀𓈀𓈀𓈀𓈀𓈀𓈀𓈀𓈀𓈀𓈀𓈀𓈀𓈀𓈀𓈀𓈀𓈀

♫ NOVACANE - FRANK OCEAN

- half of the time you have no idea what this dude is listening to, think of novacane as a blessing. this is a song where you have to leave levi alone with it because he’s to embarrassed to sing the curse words near you😭 but once he gets comfortable the only thing you’re really going to get is humming along with the song. he does like this one though :]

♫ LOVE TASTE - MOE SHOP

- CLASSIC BOP FOR GAMING. has this shit on full blast in his headphones + 1000 notifications from his phone telling him that his music is too loud. levi is the happiest when you show him this one because its right up his ally and you play games with him with this in the background😋.

♫ STRESS RELIEF - LATE NIGHT DRIVE HOME

- he has those times where he gets sad for literally no reason and he spins in his little chair and thinks about it, this song is perfect for that. lowkey helps him think everything over and even if he’s not sad it kinda just empties his brain. give him lots of kisses, basically shower him with love after listening to this <3

♫ FIGHTER - JACK STAUBER

- THIS IS ONE OF THOSE SONGS WHERE LEVI LITERALLY CANT STOP LISTENING TO… ABSOLUTELY FOLDS. yall are little nerds and finish the lyrics to the song one by one without having to communicate on who sings what, telekinesis type stuff.

back to om! masterlist

[kevin-day-is-bi]

cactus, jasmine, and taro!

-mel 💜

cactus ⇢ something you’re currently learning (about)?

in my journalism class we were discussing FOCII (fame, oddity, conflict, immediacy, impact) and working on reporting on stories in ways that hits one of those points to make sure the audience feels that it's relevant

jasmine ⇢ do you have a movie or book you loved but will never watch/read again?

this is hard bc I'm the rewatching queen, I love consuming things over and over again. but I am gonna go for something I read recently for my horror class: Head Full of Ghosts by Joe Hill. I think it was really well written and engaging and I did genuinely love it, but it hit on a lot of my specific traumas (indirectly, but definitely more than wanted) and reading it left me in a kinda bad mood.

taro ⇢ if someone called you right now to catch up, what’re the things you’d tell them about?

I actually did call my best friend yesterday for our weekly catch up and I told them extensively about how much fun I've been having in the dead dove Batman server and writing my fics and really clicking with the creative interests of people in it!!! and also my rly fun weekend, which was a soapbox derby on Saturday, pride parade on Sunday, and going to the movie (practical magic, one of my faves) yesterday

[garciaasfluffypen]

bright beginnings pt 2.

its what brings you closer to those around you, you know? the chaos of everything, the timing... it’s never perfect, but the universe knows what it’s doing, and i’m so glad the universe led me here.  

pairing: single dad!joseph quinn x fem!reader  wc:  1.7k warnings: this is literally pure fluff, probably one of the more fluffier things i’ve written in a while (: 

part one • part three 

oh no. he’s hot. 

that had been your only thought for approximately the last ten minutes as you sat with some of the kids during snack time, trying your best to not think about the fact that your boss was hot and you only wanted to do things that were not professional with him. you’d most definitely have to talk to your cousin about it later. pushing those thoughts to the back of your mind, you put your attention back on the kids and made sure to give all your time to them, stopping for the day when the last kid -minus thomas, now that you knew his dad was the boss- left for the day. thomas was chilling with you at the front desk when mr. qui- joe walked out, a bit more unruly than he looked earlier that afternoon. thomas automatically perked up in your arms as he saw his dad, reaching out excitedly and babbling as he got closer.

“how was he today?”

“a perfect angel. his temperature has been normal all day, and he played amazingly with leah and stanley in the ballpit earlier.” donna smiled. “quite a brilliant boy, this one.”

“oh, i’m glad to hear. you were a good boy today, huh tommy?”

your heart absolutely swelled as you watched joe lightly scratch thomas’ chest.

“can i ask how riley is doing?”

“she’s been asleep for a few hours now, i actually was going to ask if i could borrow the thermometer so i could check her temperature again.”

“no, of course, be my guest.” you reached around the desk to grab the thermometer. “we also have-”

“tylenol, yes, i ordered it the other day.” joe smirked. “which reminds me, if you lot ever need anything please don't hesitate to come ask me about it. my office is just down the hall.”

“wait wait wait. you’re our new boss?”

“the one and only.” joe chuckled. “as i was telling y/n earlier, i had planned to introduce myself but i got the daycare in the midst of a divorce. so i’ve been holed up in my office dealing with paperwork and stuff for that.” he sighed as thomas patted his face. “but, i should have filed the last of it as of ten minutes ago, so hopefully i’ll be able to be more involved.”

lucille cleared her throat. “can i ask how you got the daycare?”

“yeah, so john, the previous owner, he’s a good family friend of my ex. when julia and i started dating, i had just applied to work here as the front desk guy, and soon as he found out i was dating julia it was an automatic hire. ‘any friend of julia is a friend of mine!’ he would say. anyway, after he announced his plans to retire i was one of the first people he reached out to to ask if i could take over.”

oh, so her name was julia. not that it mattered.

“has he found out?”

“about the divorce? by now, probably.” he shrugged. “it’s no big deal though, he left me with a great staff.”

“well i’m glad to hear you think we’re amazing.” donna smiled. “but i have to start heading out for the night, my pup is at daycare herself and the owners close shop at seven thirty.”

“ah yes, don’t let us keep you!” joe seemed to turn back into parent mode within seconds. “i’ll just take thomas back to the office where riley is, and let you guys close up. don’t worry about locking up when you leave, i’ll leave after you guys.”

with that, you all split up into your typical closing positions for the night, each of you cleaning a certain section of the daycare. john had it set up that way so it was time effective, rather than having everyone clean the same area. it always went faster when multiple people were cleaning as well. everything was properly sanitized and put away by seven fifteen, leaving you and the girls in the lobby gathering your things.

“do you want to head out for a drink?” lucille looked between you and lauren.

“i would, but i promised my aunt i’d be home for dinner.” you smiled. “and i have a few chores and stuff i need to do.”

“you wanna raincheck? what about friday instead?”

“i think that might be best, then we can invite donna and the other girls as well.”

seeing as the daycare had a pretty small staff, with four in the morning and four in the afternoons, you became pretty close with everyone quickly. you weren’t quite sure how the daycare actually made it's money, considering how small it was, but it was up and running and that’s all that seemed to matter to joe. yes, there were some small repairs that needed to be done, but none that someone who had a good handiness skill couldn’t fix so they didn’t have to call anyone in. and besides, the staff needed to focus on the kids and their well beings, not the silly little problems the old london building had.

you said goodbye to the girls and ran off to the bathroom real fast, which happened to be across the hall from joe’s office. you did your business as quick as you possibly could, hoping to make it out before him so you didn’t get locked in the center. it wouldn’t be the end of the world, but you did want to get home so you could talk to your cousin right away. it was one of the plus sides to living with your aunt, seeing as you could walk right across the hall to your cousin and spill all the tea in the world instead of waiting for a socially acceptable time to call her. you and your cousin have been best friends since you could walk, and did your best to stay in touch when you and your parents moved to america back when you were two. you turned twenty one and decided on a whim to pack up all your stuff and move back to london, where your aunt welcomed you in with open arms. as much as you loved living in america, it was such a shit show and the healthcare was horrible. your heart was in london, tucked away in the little flat your aunt and cousin lived in. while you still kept in touch with your parents, it was hard to only see them in person every few months, but you were saving up to surprise them over the summer and spend two weeks with them. they had recently moved to new orleans for your dads work, and you had been dying to explore there since you were a kid. it was only fair that you do that exploring with your parents by your side.

you were jostled out of your thoughts when you walked out of the bathroom to see joe struggling to carry not only the twins, but a folder of papers and the diaper bag. he locked eyes with you and visibly relaxed, glad to see someone was still here.

“y/n, a lovely-”

“do you-” you cut yourself off. “sorry, you first.”

joe chuckled. “i’m not saying anything until you go first.”

“then we’ll be here a while.” you joked effortlessly. “or until one of them wakes up.”

“they sleep through the night, so we will indeed be here for a while.”

there was a small moment of silence. “do you want some help? i was just about to head out.”

“if you wouldn’t mind, that would be fantastic.”

joe maneuvered himself so you could grab the diaper bag, as well as the folder he was holding. he re adjusted the twins in his arms, both of them having fallen asleep on a shoulder. the two of you walked into the front lobby, shutting off the lights as you went. as you held the door open for him, you couldn’t help but tell how tired he looked, and a pang of sadness flew through your body. you couldn’t begin to imagine how much he had been through in the past few months, with getting full ownership of the daycare plus the divorce on top of having twins. you watched as he expertly locked up shop with the two kids in his arms, his head tilting you in the direction of the car park he usually parked in. the walk was pretty quick, and you found yourself helping him get the twins into the car within a few minutes of leaving the center.

“thank you for your help, y/n, i don’t know how i would have been able to do that myself.”

“it’s no problem-”

joe let out a dramatic groan. “oh not you too. i absolutely hate it when people say that.”

“well it really isn’t-”

“ah ah. nope. don’t say it. i will kick your ass if you do.”

“i’d like to see you try, mr. i wear designer suits to work.” you smirked. “you probably couldn’t even catch up to me, i had the fastest mile in high school.”

a chuckle. “you’re feisty, no wonder john liked you.”

“my parents didn’t call me a spitfire for nothing.” you shrugged.

joe smiled. “it most definitely suits you.”

“well, if you don’t need anything else i best be going, my aunt’s going to wonder where i am.”

“yes, of course, i probably should get these two home in bed as well. have a good night, y/n.”

“you too.” you made it approximately five steps before you turned around to face him, walking backwards as you talked. “the girls and i are going out for drinks on friday if you’d like to join.” you paused for a split second. “if you can find a sitter, i mean. don’t feel like you have to either i-”

“i’d love to. text me the deets?”

“i don’t have your number. and never say deets again, for the sake of everyone's sanity.”

“i’ll have a sticky note in your cubicle in the morning. get some rest!”

“you too! see you tomorrow.”

as you walked away, it hit you. oh my god, was he flirting with me?

[makkinmusic]

TTPD - What Works and What Doesn't

The name Taylor Swift is a common household name in the music industry. Known for her breathtaking lyrics and music, she takes the top spots in every single album and music list. Her marketing for her music is thought provoking and keeps her fans guessing and looking for more. Recently, she released her latest album, The Tortured Poet’s Department, which has stunned her audience because of Taylor Swift’s different artistic approach. In some ways I would say I really enjoyed this piece and in others, I would think it to be lacking. 

First off, the lyrics in this album are genuinely out of this world and kind of all over the place. This album was written right after Taylor’s semi-public split with her long term boyfriend, Joe Alwyn and her spontaneous and uncalled for relationship with the football star, Travis Kelce. The songs reflect this fast change of relationship status with both breakup songs and songs about a new and fresh romance. The lyrics about the brekaup are gut-wrenching and depressing (I wonder how people currently in a breakup are dealing with these lyrics) and her songs about a new forming relationship feel silly and child-like (So High School). I can understand that the emotions that may go into breaking up a relationship of six years to be messy and all over the place, and that's exactly how the lyrics and songs in this two hour album were presented: messy and all over the place, a whiplash, as mentioned in Review: “The Tortured Poets Department” A place for the broken, the broken-hearted and everyone else, too . That being said, I still love listening to her songs and I love trying to decode them for their true meaning like a puzzle. This album requires a lot of background knowledge and an in-depth understanding of metaphors. If you’re not too keen on that kind of stuff, maybe grab a friend in the English major, or this album just won’t be your cup of tea. In my opinion, this album doesn’t live up to the lyrisism or fun of (in my opinion) her albums 1989 or Folklore, where she took pop to another level and her creativity of lyrics to another level. 

Adding onto the talk about my favorite albums, 1989 and Folklore, the musical production of those albums were different from each other, 1989 being pop and Folklore being indie and full of acoustic instruments. This relates to my talk of TTPD because I have been noticing that Jack Antanoff, being the great music producer he is, makes a lot of the instrumentals in Taylor’s recent music to sound the same as her other recent albums and songs. I’ve noticed this in her album, Midnights and in the rerecording of her old albums and her songs from the Vault. Something I’d like to call “Jack Antonifying the music,” because everytime I hear his song I can tell he produced it. It kind of becomes boring and repetitive after a while and this album was FULL of it. Every song sounded the same, just with the lyrics rearranged, to put it shallowly. Taylor Swift - The Tortured Poet’s Department Review. TTPD is a weird mix of indie pop and a weird mix of Midnights and Folklore/Evermore in the sense that there was nothing different or diverse in the collection of songs in this album compared to her others. 

I’m kind of stuck when I’m trying to talk about my opinions on this album because I’ll still enjoy the songs, but this album is not the first I’d go to when I’m trying to listen to Taylor’s songs. This isn’t her best album, but it’s also not her worst. The best way I can put it into words is Meh. I’ve been an avid listener to her music since, well, forever, and I’ve been an avid listener because of her ability to diversify her music and lyrics. In this album the lyrics were an outpour of her uncensored thoughts and ideas which is what kept me listening and wanting to keep decoding them. My top 5 favorite songs, would be:

Clara Bow

Fortnight

The Alchemy

Guilty as Sin?

Imgonnagetyouback

While this album was not my cup of tea, I’ll still always look forward to her new songs and albums. Now it's your turn to listen and let me know what you think!

[eriquin]

The Prophetic D&D Game, Part 18

The group gets transportation, new weapons, and makes a plan.

(master post)

That spurred them into action, and they came up with a plan. They wanted to at least make an effort at contacting Millie and their other friends from the extensive backstory he’d written, so their first plan was to steal some transportation. They settled on trying to find a cart or covered wagon to be able to move through the city without being spotted so easily. There were various magic shops that they wanted to check for communication spells. If nothing else, it would help them stock up on supplies before going back into the demonic realm for the final fight.

“So, you’re stealing transportation?” Eddie asked. “Which one of you is doing it?”

“Probably me,” Lucas said. “Since I’m a thief.”

“Roll for it.” 

Lucas rolled poorly. The whole table groaned at him, and Eddie rubbed his eyes in frustration. He decided to cut them a break. “While you are completely failing to find a decent covered cart to steal, a stranger driving a covered wagon pulls up in front of Sadie’s house. He stops there very deliberately and appears to be waiting for you.” He looked at the group of them. “Anyone want to roll wisdom for me?”

Most of them made their rolls. “So, can I just... steal that one?” Lucas asked.

Eddie snorted and shook his head. “Looking around, you realize that you don’t see Quinn anywhere. Dustin, the stranger with the wagon whistles in a really familiar way.”

Dustin blinked a few times. “Wait, did he...”

“Even from a distance you can tell that the stranger’s beard looks kind of fake, and he’s getting impatient. Now, would the party like to get in the damn wagon and get a move on?” Eddie smirked. “Quinn’s getting antsy about being out in the open for this long.”

“We’ll take it,” Mike said. “Joe climbs up into the wagon.”

“Quinn would like you to take the reins, Joe, if you would be so kind,” Eddie said. “He would much prefer to hide in the back, and probably most of the rest of you should as well.” 

Mike grinned. “Right. Those of us who haven’t broken out of prison recently—”

“It wasn’t prison. We were just being detained,” Dustin said.

“Me and Natalia can ride up front, because we’re respectable,” Mike said. “Time to see what kind of magic and weapons we can go get.”

Most of the time, when his players went out for supplies, Eddie made them roll to figure out what they found. This time was different. He wanted them to get a feeling for how tense the city was, and maybe have an encounter before setting down to their final battle. It just felt right, to have them think that they were alone in trying to save the world. 

They still went looking for scrolls that would allow them to communicate over long distances, but found nothing in any of the shops. That was legitimate, but only because they weren’t very specific about what they were looking for. None of his tables had any solutions that would work, so when he rolled and came up with nothing, he told them so. They made one last attempt at the wizard’s tower, with Gareth’s illusionist going up to try to use their scrying orb, but she got no answer. In the end, they sent messages by carrier pigeon, just like Eddie had suggested. 

Once it was clear that there was no way that any help would arrive before the evil psionicist would find another victim, they started planning out their surprise attack. Lucas was still reluctant to use Sadie as bait, but Eddie could see that he was talking himself into it. The party made some investigation checks and decided to go to a weapon shop that was on the outskirts of town, hoping to avoid an encounter with the town guard. 

Unfortunately, the shop turned out to be very different from what they expected. Instead of a single shopkeeper, it was a warehouse with a bunch of different booths selling weapons and armor. And because of its size, it was very popular. Kiteshire was in a panic after three mysterious murders, and everyone was arming themselves. Half the party hid in the wagon, while the other half went in to get supplies. 

“Okay. You go in and get to shopping. What are you looking for?” Eddie asked. He had a possible encounter planned for them, and wasn’t sure how it would work out. 

It was Mike, Gareth, and Grant in the shop. Eddie also sent Priah in with them, in case they needed back up. Mike was desperate for replacement equipment, and Gareth wanted to see what kind of weird potions and alchemical ingredients they had. Grant just wanted to upgrade Natalia’s bow. Eddie took that as an in.

“You find a retailer of bows and crossbows in the back of the room and are looking over his wares when someone clears his throat at you. It’s Lord Mason. What do you do?”

Grant frowned. “He’s trying to get my attention? Why? What did I do?”

Eddie snickered. “Really?”

“I mean, what did I do that he knows about? How’s he look? Pissed?”

“Hm, an excellent question. Pissed isn’t really the right word. Agitated, maybe? More like...” Eddie stroked his chin. “He looks like he’s just barely holding it together, and is about three seconds away from either bursting into tears or opening fire on the crowd. You’ll need to make a roll to figure out which one is more likely.”

“Ah, unstable. Okay.” Grant sighed. “I guess I’ll have to talk to him. Give him my condolences on his loss, that sort of thing.” He grimaced. “Do we have to role play it?” 

“We can probably hand-wave a lot of it away,” Eddie said. “What are you going for?”

“Well, first off, I want to figure out what he wants from me,” Grant said. “Then I probably don’t want to give it to him, so I need to figure out how to talk him out of starting a fight.”

“Aww, you don’t want to get into combat with a bunch of paranoid guardsmen in the middle of a weapon shop?” Eddie grinned. “You’re no fun, Granty.” 

“‘Fun,’ he says,” Grant muttered. “So what does Lord Mason want?”

“Well, he knows that your brother is associated with the group that just escaped from the barracks,” Eddie said. “He’s wondering where Finn is right now.”

“He’s away,” Grant said. He put a hand on the top of his head to signal that he was talking out of character. “He went off to visit the other village, right? He’s one of the ones we were trying to contact.”

“That’s correct,” Eddie said. “All right, so he’s conveniently missing for the murders. How nice for him. Lord Mason wants to know what you’re doing here, then, and why you’re looking at weapons.”

Grant’s eyes went wide and he grimaced. Gareth leaned over and whispered something to him. “Right. I mean, why is anyone here? It’s a scary time. Gotta protect ourselves, you know?” 

Eddie narrowed his eyes at Gareth, but nodded. “All right, roll me your charisma to see how that deception goes over.” Grant rolled a middling sort of score, and Eddie stroked his chin. “He doesn’t quite buy it, and he kind of gets into your space. Say something derogatory about the rangers and them not really having a place in his city.”

Mike sucked his breath in through his teeth. “Can Maya and I see what’s going on?” he asked. “Do we need to prepare for a fight?”

“I can handle it,” Grant said. “He’s insulted my profession, so I’m well within my rights to be a mean bitch right now. I’m going to try to intimidate him.”

“Oh, that’ll work,” Mike said. “I mean. I can picture Natalia being really terrifying, especially if she’s got a bunch of weapons right there.”

Grant rolled much better this time, and Eddie had Lord Mason back down. The party was spooked enough that they quickly got their equipment and got out of there. They worried that the guards would be looking for them and their stolen wagon, so they headed outside of town to prepare everything, banking on Natalia’s connection to the rangers to keep them safe. 

The next bit felt like downtime, with a lot of planning. Lucas was finally convinced to use Sadie as bait, as long as one of the bards stayed with her to pull her out of her trance before the danger became too great. The players were talking through a three-pronged plan of attack when Dustin’s digital watch started to beep and they realized how late it was getting. Even though he quickly shut it off, the message was clear. They were done for the day.

“Well, I’m actually a little disappointed that you didn’t get into a fight there,” Eddie said as he packed up. “But, oh well. We can’t always get what we want, right guys?”

“I mean, did you expect us to fight all the town guards?” Gareth asked. “That doesn’t seem smart.”

Eddie grinned. “Well, if you had won, it would have eliminated them as a threat.” 

Grant and Gareth both groaned in unison. “Shit, it’s going to come back to bite us in the ass, isn’t it?” Gareth asked.

“Indubitably,” Grant said.

“Come on, guys,” Lucas said. “We’re not even going to be on the material plane for the next encounter. It’ll be fine.”

“I mean, some of us aren’t,” Mike said. “But you will be. Sadie was going to lure Jamie into cursing her again.”

“I can’t believe we’re calling him Jamie,” Dustin said. “Why don’t we call him Alpha? Or, Demonlord or something. You know, something cool.” 

Mike leaned over as he put his things away and shook his head. “No, let’s stick with Jamie. We want to use his real name when we carve it on his tombstone.” 

“Hell yeah,” Lucas said, holding his hand up. Mike slapped his open palm and they cheered a little bit about how much damage they were going to do to him in their next session. Lucas made a promise to be there, and they all headed out into the night.

Tagging: @weirdandabsurd42, @10moonymhrivertam, @blueskiesandstarrynights

[skylarmoon71]

Harry Wells (Flash) - Earth 2 - Chapter 13

You aren’t surprised at Harry’s quietness.

He’s always been a very brooding man. You are however suspicious that he agreed to watch these rom coms with you. Especially after all those times he vehemently said he would sooner die than invest any of his time into those illiterate films.

His exact words.

“I’m shocked you’re being so obedient. Did you bury a body and now you need me as an alibi?”

Harry scoffed.

“If I were to do that, trust me, they would never catch me.”

He sounded so proud saying it too.

You just giggled.

“It’s a little disturbing how confident you just said that. I might have to watch my back.”

“Never catch me.” He repeated.

You shoved him playfully, and Harry turned to you, sending you that look.

It’s been going on all night. He directs these subtle glances that he thought you didn’t notice. For a while now you’ve been trying to find a way to broach the topic. You wanted to ask him, but another part of you wanted him to tell you.

Your gaze must have been too much, because he finally broke contact, standing.

“I’m going to grab more drinks.”

His tone was even, and that’s when you realized.

“Are you ever going to tell me the truth?”

That stopped him cold in his tracks.

His gaze met yours with a bit of uncertainty.

“I couldn’t put my finger on it at first. But that day in the lab, I felt something. It was strange. Then you smiled at me and assured me everything was okay, but it never really met your eyes. I had to make sure.”

You unlocked your phone, and when he saw the video that you played, it made sense.

“Hi future (Y/N). You’re probably wondering why I’m leaving this video. Well, it’s because I’m pretty sure that I’m losing my memories.”

Harry swallowed, slowly taking a seat as the video continued.

“I’ve been forgetting things. Little things about the people that I care about. That’s why I’m here to remind you. Cisco Ramon, Caitlin Snow, Barry Allen, Iris West, Joe West…”

There’s a pause.

“Harrison Wells or as Cisco calls him, Harry Wells.”

You were getting teary on the other side of the screen.

“These people are more important to you than your own life. I’ve attached pictures, videos and notes to this file so you don’t forget. I’m no scientist, but it seems that it’s progressing quickly. If one day you forget all of them, please, please find me…please just don’t..don’t..”

The image of your face changes, and the screen goes blank.

It’s clear that the video has been cut short.

Most likely due to another episode of your amnesia.

You place the phone down, and Harry can’t seem to find the words.

There’s so much written on your face.

Hurt, pain, fear..understanding.

“I..I didn’t want you to-”

You shook your head, and when you moved closer he prepared for the words of displeasure that would surely follow.

But all he felt was the softness of your lips.

Harry blinked, and you pulled back, wearing a weak smile.

He touches his lips softly, clearly still trying to comprehend what just happened.

“Promise me..promise me that when I completely forget you..you’ll come to see me just one last time.”

He wasn’t sure what to say. How could he make that promise? Just the thought of you looking at him blankly, indifferent, it hurts.

“Please..promise me..”

You’re crying, and the tears that he’s fought so hard to hold back, come running down his cheeks.

He removes his glasses, wiping the tears away as he nods.

“I promise.”

All you offer at that moment is a smile.

“Thank you Harry.”

You lean forward, wrapping your arms around him.

“Thank you.” 

[laminy]

Hello again! I know we talked like… literally a day ago and I got very distracted with talking about another subject (sorry about that, that was on me).

I’ve reached chapter ten of ITSBASM!! (I know you probably don’t need an update report on my reading of your fanfic lol but let me compliment you please)

And I haven’t even read THAT far into the story but oh my word… you’re one of the most talented writers hands down. You’re so descriptive, you’re great at slow burn (and normally I really dislike slow burn because I can be impatient lol but your slow burn is amazing).

The fact that you did research for the story is really awesome (and definitely tricky to find accurate and/or helpful information. It can also be difficult to find the exact information you might need so kudos to you!)!

Here’s my rant about your series so far (sorry if I mess anything up or if my rant sounds choppy, I am writing this as my brain thinks at the speed of light)

(Sort of spoilers for those who don’t want spoilers)

I love Gwilym so much. I also love his friendship with Rami and jeez Joe is honestly such a mood at times lol. I’m so so so pleased with the dynamics and even though they aren’t the wholesome family we know and love yet, that’s alright.

I of course feel bad for East since he certainly wanted his crew to be able to adjust to their “new life” and how East made sure they’d all be alright before he sadly died. I do like how you had John feel remorse towards East and his death, even though his last interaction with East wasn’t very pleasant. It shows that John did respect East nonetheless.

I also wanted to compliment you on how amazing you were able to describe Gwilym’s emotions and feelings. I love how you implemented Joe telling Rami that no matter how much he wants to help Gwilym feel even a little bit better, it’s ultimately up to Gwilym to “get better” if you know what I mean.

And I also love how you have written Ben. He is definitely the youngest out of them and to have such tough responsibilities and jobs, you’ve created the perfect atmosphere and mood to show that Ben is wise and smart beyond his years and beyond what people assume of him just because of his age.

Gwilym and Rami’s friendship is written amazingly and I’m absolutely loving it! Joe and Ben’s friendship is also amazingly strong and I love that as well! I love all the moments with Gwilym and Rami and Ben and Joe, again I’m a sucker for special friendship dynamics!

Anyways I just wanted to tell you about how I feel with the series (I awkwardly don’t have an account yet on AO3 so I can’t reply on that… I’ll end up making an account someday but not this day lol).

But yeah again, I absolutely am loving your series and it’s probably going to be one of my absolute top favorites ever so yeah!

And by the way, if you don’t want me to continue to send you asks about your series, just let me know! I can be quite obnoxious at times lol. But yeah your series is amazing!

You can send me as many asks as you want, oh my gosh, I don't mind at all. If you don't want me to publish my responses or want me to just message you privately, please let me know! I don't want to post anything that you don't want people to see.

Chapter 10 is always where I thought, if this were a TV show, Chapter 10 would be the end of season one, with Gwil coming out of his room. So, that's a pretty good turning point in the story. There is still a lot more to come but that was a pretty big step for Gwil.

I loved writing all their friendships, as they grow and get closer, Gwil and Joe will have their little moments (bigger moments as things go on) and same with Ben and Rami. I enjoyed writing the romances and obviously I think a lot of people were on board with them, but I knew that just as many people, if not more, wanted a story about their friendship and as I was writing it, I just wanted them all to be a really happy group of four.

As for all the compliments, I will happily take them and tell you how much I appreciate them. I think I have other shorter stories, one shots, that I would rather read, but in terms of like, the world created, ITBASM is probably the best thing I've ever written. It's definitely the story that made me really feel like a writer, and it helped me through some dark times. So, I'm really happy you're enjoying it, thank you for letting me know :)

[notasapleasure]

Avenue 5 S01E01-02

Joe Gibbs!

I have bad news, creatures :')

And I'd been looking forward to this one so much

Joe the engineer is outside pretending to fix the ship for the stupid owner, Judd, who doesn't realise it can't be fixed that way

The gravity on one side fails and when everyone on the cruise ships hits one side of the craft, the recoil effect reels Joe back in and...impales him against the ship on his own screwdriver.

Billie was not able to give him a second's warning. :')

Bye bye Joe - I think that might be a record. Under ten minutes in!

Oh good! Corpse flying around outside the ship ..

Very few! Not 'none'...

Captain Ryan is so determined for him to still be alive and I know it's self-preservation but. I'm just sayin'.

Billie: "Stabbed through the heart with his own screwdriver."

Ryan: "Why's there no blood? Maybe it missed his heart, and that's why there's no blood."

Billie: "Space is cold, Captain. You know that, right?"

His eyebrows are still nice

- oh -

He's meant to be in two episodes! You cheeky bugger Joplin, did you get a credit for playing a corpse/being in a flashback again?

Oh - and he had an American accent again. But maybe Joe was just putting it on like the Captain :')

Judd: "Are you Australian???"

Captain Ryan: "Am I Australian? No, I'm not Australian. I'll tell you what I am. I'm English!!"

Judd: "What the fuck?!"

Iris: "Oh my god."

Judd: "That is so much worse."

Captain Ryan, about Joe, who was the real captain and hired him because his own people skills sucked: "I mean the man could barely finish....in terms of sentences."

I am. SUFFERING. Pre-canon disastrous Joe/Captain Ryan? Anyone?

Episode 2

.......previously on flashback. Well, his agent works hard on making sure he gets full credit.

Ryan: "Joe, you inspired us all. No matter how little expertise or technical knowledge we had, you made us feel like we knew what we were doing."

SEASON 3 I DEMAND FLASHBACKS. I DEMAND IT. BRING HIM BACK IANNUCCI YOU COWARD. SHOW US.

Ah! Also a corpse! :')

Assuming he had to spend any time keeping a straight face in the Worst Funeral Ever he did a great job!!

And he gets to be a corpse flying around the ship again nsksjhdjfjfffkfkfjf the weight of Judd’s gold coffin is enough to get it caught in the ship’s gravity field.

Oh, also a lovely mugshot of him in the background :')

Tutakhamun Joe and the...

...will be the name of my indie band.

Rating

Dead? Rather.

Evil? Much maligned by those who knew him but I'm sure he was delightful

Affects the plot? Oh very much so. Largely posthumously.

I. don't know how to rate this??? I wanted to watch it anyway tbf. In terms of Joplin's appearance? Like, 0/5? But I did laugh hysterically through it.

Husband: I really enjoyed it, because it's well-written, but also it was trolling you personally.

Me: I got....six screenshots so far?

Husband: Have you considered that maybe you're his PR guy?

Me: I would take that job if it's going, Joplin call me 🤙

---

P.s. episode 3 Captain Ryan confirmed bi. *Bangs table* give me abrasively awful Joe/alcoholic narcissist Ryan prequel fic, give. It . To . Me!!

[chinchillinator]

I posted 13,298 times in 2022

106 posts created (1%)

13,192 posts reblogged (99%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@spacegirlsgang

@weird-is-all-ive-got

@clegerncodeofconduct

@raedear

@paradisetemporarilymisplaced

I tagged 1,854 of my posts in 2022

#battle buddies - 216 posts

#goncharov - 103 posts

#unreality - 94 posts

#babys watching trust (again) - 67 posts

#black sails - 52 posts

#going batty - 42 posts

#tma - 33 posts

#is that your sword or are you just happy to see me? - 32 posts

#trash person thinking trash thoughts - 32 posts

#the greatest ghost hunters who ever lived - 31 posts

Longest Tag: 138 characters

#so now he and joe have to share the babiest bed and he realizes this and has to escape immediately so he doesnt take it back bc thats rude

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

It’s not just fiction. It’s not curating your fandom space. It’s not scrolling past things you don’t want to read. Nothing we do exists in a vacuum, and that includes fandom engagement.

That old adage about writers telling the readers more about themselves than their characters really has been speaking to me of late. It’s true, I’ve been reminded that it’s true many times in rereading my own work and in looking back at what I’ve written recently. I cannot craft a story that is devoid of myself. Simply because every word I write is colored by my own world views. I think it’s very strange if any writer were to claim to be the exception to this.

Based on who I’ve had the joy of interacting with online because of my writing, I know that most of the people reading my work and engaging with it share at least some of my views. Seeing as what I’ve written is impossible to divorce from those views, they must come through in what people read. So if someone enjoys what I’ve written, it must be because they agree with my stance on certain things and have a similar perspective regarding certain things. I know this is definitely true of the things I’ve read, as well. Which is to say, if I do find something in a piece of work that feels at odds with my views and perspective, I will click out and move on. As I imagine many others will if they’re in a similar situation. This leaves me with a community of fellow readers that share my views and perspectives and are happy to have those ideas reinforced and reiterated in what they read. It’s a lovely place to be as both a writer and a reader.

Where this created community becomes insidious is when the views and perspectives being reinforced and reiterated are deeply racist, antisemitic, homophobic, misogynistic, or discriminatory in any other way. When there is a group of people reading works that are written by others to include these discriminatory tropes. When there is a writer allowing their discriminatory views to color their writing and when their views are harmful to the perception of real life minorities. This echo chamber that’s been created is only perpetuating deeply problematic stereotypes that are both symptoms of and root causes of real life discrimination.

It’s not just fiction. It’s ideas and views and perspectives you’re carrying throughout your day to day life. And it’s not a question of whether or not you’ll act on those things, because you already are. You’re reading and supporting things that echo those harmful views. You’re writing things that perpetuate those harmful views. You’re putting into the world further discriminatory imagery that may catch the attention of someone new and pull them into this community. Where discriminatory tropes and stereotypes are suddenly on display openly, repeated again and again until they no longer seem harmful or wrong. Until they just seem normal.

You’re not creating something in a vacuum. You’re normalizing ideas that cause real, true harm to minority groups. Ideas that have led to our rights being taken from us, our bodies being attacked, and our lives being ended. Because those of us who don’t share these ideas are already avoiding your work. We’re already curating our online spaces to see as little of it as possible. We are not the ones being constantly shown these views and accepting them as the norm.

This is not the norm. This cannot be the norm. This is why conversations about discrimination in fandoms, and in all fictional works, need to be held by those open to creating a true dialogue that can initiate change. You are allowing yourself to see racist stereotypes as “okay” because “it’s fiction.” You are allowing yourself to excuse someone who is putting out blatantly discriminatory messaging. You are allowing this to become your status quo.

The next time you see a brown person stopped at the airport security checkpoint, ask yourself if you would accept that as “okay” were you to see it written into a novel. If the answer is no, consider why you’re accepting this.

35 notes - Posted October 23, 2022

#4

Reliable sources say: the actual translation is “Not even the devil would take Primo.”

44 notes - Posted June 19, 2022

#3

Rating: Explicit

Archive Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply

Category: M/M

Fandom: The Old Guard (Movie 2020)

Relationship: Joe | Yusuf Al-Kaysani/Nicky | Nicolò di Genova

Characters: Joe | Yusuf Al-Kaysani, Nicky | Nicolò di Genova

Additional Tags: Explicit Sexual Content, Switching, Laughter During Sex, 5+1 Things, Blink And You Miss It D/S Dynamics and CNC, Canon Compliant, but like what time during canon? who’s to say, Joe | Yusuf Al-Kaysani and Nicky | Nicolò di Genova are in Love, (thats actually the thesis of the fic not the butt stuff)

Summary:

Nicky loves his family, he really does. But the blessed indulgences he gets to share with Joe when there’s no one else around to interrupt or bear witness, he misses those things as much as he misses his family when he’s been without them for too long. Nicky has spent several long hours deciding exactly how he would like to be taken apart when they’re finally alone. How he would like to take Joe apart.

—

Or, 5 times Nicky and Joe wanted to do butt stuff but couldn’t +1 time they finally did

Awww baby’s first pwp.

54 notes - Posted January 23, 2022

#2

Okay so I know we’ve all been looping the Goncharov theme but like major shout out to @caramiaaddio for also transcribing it because now I can like show what I’ve been rambling at my friends about for so long. Y’all haven’t had to hear me obsess over this so it’s not annoying to you yet. Maybe.

Because what I love about this theme is that it encapsulates both Goncharovs. Hear me out. Obviously this is what plays during the palace dance scene and since that’s framed so fully on Gonch himself because, duh, main character, you can say that the whole theme itself centers on Gonch. But! I actually think that the opening to the waltz is Katya’s leitmotif.

Putting it under the cut in case you’re my friends who’ve already heard me talk about this too many times.

This is what I’m talking about:

Those four bars show up with Katya more than with Gonch, like think about it. I mean, it’s literally played in a major key when she meets Sofia. Which, like, SUBTLE. But anyway, variations of it play in the background of her and Gonch eating together and with the themes surrounding her feelings of being trapped by societal norms and the expectations of a good wife, it feels like these scenes have a lot more to do with her arc. It’s also buried in the scoring that’s backing the entire boat scene AND plays out when Gonch hears about her “death”. So it makes sense that this would be her leitmotif!

MEANWHILE, what do we hear a lot during the most intense scenes of Gonch himself? This:

See the full post

116 notes - Posted November 21, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

has this been done yet

202 notes - Posted September 8, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

[makkin10]

My thoughts on TTPD

The name Taylor Swift is a common household name in the music industry. Known for her breathtaking lyrics and music, she takes the top spots in every single album and music list. Her marketing for her music is thought provoking and keeps her fans guessing and looking for more. Recently, she released her latest album, The Tortured Poet’s Department, which has stunned her audience because of Taylor Swift’s different artistic approach. In some ways I would say I really enjoyed this piece and in others, I would think it to be lacking. 

First off, the lyrics in this album are genuinely out of this world and kind of all over the place. This album was written right after Taylor’s semi-public split with her long term boyfriend, Joe Alwyn and her spontaneous and uncalled for relationship with the football star, Travis Kelce. The songs reflect this fast change of relationship status with both breakup songs and songs about a new and fresh romance. The lyrics about the brekaup are gut-wrenching and depressing (I wonder how people currently in a breakup are dealing with these lyrics) and her songs about a new forming relationship feel silly and child-like (So High School). I can understand that the emotions that may go into breaking up a relationship of six years to be messy and all over the place, and that's exactly how the lyrics and songs in this two hour album were presented: messy and all over the place, a whiplash, as mentioned in Review: “The Tortured Poets Department” A place for the broken, the broken-hearted and everyone else, too . That being said, I still love listening to her songs and I love trying to decode them for their true meaning like a puzzle. This album requires a lot of background knowledge and an in-depth understanding of metaphors. If you’re not too keen on that kind of stuff, maybe grab a friend in the English major, or this album just won’t be your cup of tea. In my opinion, this album doesn’t live up to the lyrisism or fun of (in my opinion) her albums 1989 or Folklore, where she took pop to another level and her creativity of lyrics to another level. 

Adding onto the talk about my favorite albums, 1989 and Folklore, the musical production of those albums were different from each other, 1989 being pop and Folklore being indie and full of acoustic instruments. This relates to my talk of TTPD because I have been noticing that Jack Antanoff, being the great music producer he is, makes a lot of the instrumentals in Taylor’s recent music to sound the same as her other recent albums and songs. I’ve noticed this in her album, Midnights and in the rerecording of her old albums and her songs from the Vault. Something I’d like to call “Jack Antonifying the music,” because everytime I hear his song I can tell he produced it. It kind of becomes boring and repetitive after a while and this album was FULL of it. Every song sounded the same, just with the lyrics rearranged, to put it shallowly. Taylor Swift - The Tortured Poet’s Department Review. TTPD is a weird mix of indie pop and a weird mix of Midnights and Folklore/Evermore in the sense that there was nothing different or diverse in the collection of songs in this album compared to her others. 

I’m kind of stuck when I’m trying to talk about my opinions on this album because I’ll still enjoy the songs, but this album is not the first I’d go to when I’m trying to listen to Taylor’s songs. This isn’t her best album, but it’s also not her worst. The best way I can put it into words is Meh. I’ve been an avid listener to her music since, well, forever, and I’ve been an avid listener because of her ability to diversify her music and lyrics. In this album the lyrics were an outpour of her uncensored thoughts and ideas which is what kept me listening and wanting to keep decoding them. My top 5 favorite songs, would be:

Clara Bow

Fortnight

The Alchemy

Guilty as Sin?

Imgonnagetyouback

While this album was not my cup of tea, I’ll still always look forward to her new songs and albums.

[bisluthq]

That feels like a swiftwyn cupcake take if that’s a thing. It’s normal to look back at her music and make those connections and I think it’s fine to talk about them. Jealousy was clearly a problem all throughout the relationship, we thought they had solved it and they hadn’t. The relationship was on its last leg for 2 years before they called it quits.

I don’t know what the whole “they were the ones in the relationship” part is supposed to mean? I don’t get the point you’re trying to make.

Last but not least, no, we weren’t part of the relationship but you weren’t either. It wasn’t always happy and good. It sounds like there was a lot of bad that they ignored until they couldn’t ignore it anymore. No one is saying the relationship was always bad because it wasn’t, but they did have a lot of issues all throughout it and that’s the truth. It’s also in songs she wrote while they were still together and happy.

I also disagree with the idea that people only stay in relationships if they’re good because that’s not the case. By 2021 Taylor was tired and she still stayed for 2 more years. You can tell how exhausted she was by the end in TTPD. That’s just the truth. I don’t know why we have to look at a relationship of people we didn’t know and pretend it was all good all the time because she wrote love songs about it?

Why can’t people look back and point out things she liked that became a problem when it’s all there in her songs? This is such a weird thing to get offended by. It’s not the same as trying to make every song about Matty. It’s taking songs written about Joe where she talks about the same stuff but her feelings on it change. I don’t see how pointing that out is a problem?

I do agree with this and as I say I know with exes and even ex somethings often the things the appealed the most at the beginning became the things I hated most by the end lol. Like random example because other stuff is very personal but I fancied this guy who I thought looked like Gatsby (like how I picture Gatsby not Leo) and he dressed like that too as well with these like blazers and shit - we were in undergrad so this was objectively weird - and he’d be strolling on campus looking like he walked off a film set and I was SO obsessed and then he paid attention to me!!!??? And like every girl was I knew was at least a bit into him but he always had a girlfriend and then he paid attention to me!??? And also we’d had a really cool invisible string moment before invisible string was a song, where when I was still with my ex he stopped me on campus in between classes and asked to take a picture of my outfit because I was wearing this little mini skirt and these bright yellow boots and it was pouring with rain and I posed and then he posted just my legs lol and I only realized he’d posted and that’d been him like a year and a half later when I was into him because he didn’t get my name or anything but anyway. Anyway everyone was into him and he always had a girlfriend and he was into me and honestly that was so flattering to me at the time because I was like “of this parade of women throwing yourself at you, you’re going for me and I’m not even THAT nice to you” and anyway loooong story short he turned out to be weird in bed and tried to string me along and shit (I wasn’t keen after we did fuck but anyway it got weird) and now when I see pics with him in those stupid Gatsby suits I’m like “bestie were you (idk him or me or both) for real???”

but at the time I genuinely thought he was the most handsome most gorgeous most interesting man alive and him being 6’5 obviously didn’t hurt the whole situation. But he did look like a film star to me then and now I’m like “maybe like how Hiddles is also technically a film star” 💀💀💀💀

Hormones make us weird.

[daydreamerdrew]

Comics read this past week:

Marvel Comics:

The Adventures of Captain America (1991) #1-4

These issues were published across July 1991 to October 1991, according to the Marvel Wiki. Issues #1-3 were written by Fabian Nicieza and issue #4 was written by Fabian Nicieza and Kevin Maguire. Issue #1 was penciled by Kevin Maguire and inked by Joe Rubinstein and Tom Christopher, issue #2 was penciled by Kevin Maguire and inked by Terry Austin, issue #3 was penciled by Kevin Maguire and Kevin West and inked by Terry Austin, and issue #4 was penciled by Steve Carr and Kevin West and inked by Terry Austin. All 4 issues of this miniseries were 46 pages.

This book was a retelling of Steve’s origin story as Captain America. Of note to me in issue #1 regarding Steve was that it’s depicted that his testing to see if he was suitable to take the super soldier serum involved physical training and studying tactics, so the first time he goes out as Captain America he has that experience to support him. In the 2011 live-action movie it’s depicted that Steve, despite being a good man, was originally judged unfit to take the serum by Colonel Chester Phillips in comparison to Gilmore Hodge, who was a bully but was clearly physically tougher. In this book, instead, Colonel James Fletcher gets Hodge removed from the running to take the serum, calling him dangerous, and defining Steve by his courage and saying, “The soldier in me says go for courage every time.” Captain America’s establishment as a hero after the assassination of Dr. Erskine in Captain America Comics (1941) #1 is brushed over with a montage, and this book expands on that period of time by having all of Dr. Erskine’s assistants slowly hunted down and Steve being hidden by sending him to Camp Lehigh to pretend to be a regular private. In the Golden Age Captain America comics I’ve read, Steve is sometimes thought of as an idiot at the camp and regularly gets into trouble with his commanding officer, which helps keep people from connecting him with the capable Captain America. In this book Steve is specifically instructed to act dumb at the camp.

We also get an expansion on Steve and Bucky’s relationship at the camp before Bucky learned that Steve was Captain America in issue #2. They first meet when Steve intervenes when Bucky’s getting shaken down for taking money for cigarettes but then never providing the promised goods. Bucky had previously assumed, given the way he arrived at the camp, that Steve was someone very well-connected, such as a senator’s son, but not being “the brightest of sorts,” he’d “landed a cushy desk job ‘cause of his rich daddy.” I would assume, given how Bucky is an orphan that’s had to fend for himself, he would be particularly judgmental of this. When they actually interact for the first time, Bucky makes note of how bulky Steve’s arms are. They have a charming little conversation, where Steve’s straightforward attitude plays off of Bucky’s scrappier worldview, from there Bucky seems to have just elected Steve as his bodyguard. I imagine that Steve was want for friends at the camp. Bucky seems to have some fun poking fun at Steve, but when he sees some scraps on him from his time out as Captain America, Bucky asks, “Did those guys from the motor pool come after you? If they did, I’ll help you take care of ‘em!” He also says, “Boy, can I pick ‘em. Big and dumb.” Later, in issue #3, Bucky will claim, when he discovers Steve is Captain America by accidentally catching him changing into his costume, “I knew no one could be as gullible and stupid and dopey as you pretended to be,” but I’m not sure I believe that or if Bucky just wants to pretend he wasn’t fooled.

In the portrayal of this event in Captain America Comics (1941) #1, after Bucky walks in on Steve changing into his Captain America costume, Steve is initially angry but then tells him, “From now on we must both share this secret together… That means you’re my partner, Bucky!” Most depictions of Bucky becoming Steve’s partner that I’ve read include this pivotal moment of Bucky catching Steve, but in Ed Brubaker’s reinvention of the character Bucky becoming Steve’s partner was arranged by the military and that idea of the costume exposure was made up for the silly propaganda comics. In a flashback to Steve’s real first meeting of Bucky in Captain America (2005) #12, Steve is told, “Just like Captain America has symbolic value, an American teenager fighting alongside him… That’s a powerful symbol, too… And if he gets his hands a little dirtier than most soldiers when no one’s looking… Well, that’ll be our secret, right?” And when Steve was talking about Bucky in Captain America (2005) #5, he said, “The official story said that he was a symbol to counter the rise of the Hitler Youth… And there was some truth to that, but like all things in war, there was a darker truth underneath. Bucky did the things I couldn’t. I was the icon. I wore the flag… but while I gave speeches to the troops in the trenches… He was doing what he’d been trained to do… And he was highly trained. He wouldn’t’ve been out there with us if he wasn’t.” Captain America and Bucky (2011) #621 is dedicated to the story of the first time Bucky had to kill someone, and Steve comes across to me in that issue as feeling guilty but resigned about it.

In issue #3 of this book Bucky tricks Steve in order to become his partner. First by offering to help Steve get to France, which Steve needs to for a mission, saying that he knows a way to get Steve a transport plane there, which is followed up with a threat to expose Steve’s secret identity. Steve is confident that he’ll be able to ensure that Bucky won’t come with, but Bucky ends up on the plane anyway. Then Steve is confident that that he’ll be able to ensure that Bucky won’t actually go on the mission itself, but Bucky ends up tagging along for the entire thing. As Bucky had said earlier, “You know the kinds of things I can finagle when I want to.” And Bucky explains, “Steve needs someone like me around. Now that I know he’s Cap, I realize he needs me more than ever. It’s like this- I can do the dirty little tricks he’s not allowed to. I can get the kind of information that goes beyond regular military methods. I may look young, but I’m a very worldly guy.” I found this continuity change of Bucky’s skill set and the way he became Captain America’s partner to itself be really compelling. This Bucky actually demonstrates his abilities in a way that impressed me in issue #4, when he and Steve were imprisoned: “From the angle of the moon to our flight, and the time we were airborne from Paris to touchdown- I’d say our goose was about to get cooked smack dab in the middle of Germany!” And then, “Where are we now? Twenty minutes from the air terminal. Southwest. Musta been about ten miles. Some kinda prison camp. […] Concentrate, James, concentrate! Scope out the place. Get the lay of the land down. Know what’s what and where it is. The more you learn now, the better your chances are for getting out of this alive!”

There was another moment that stood out to me for this Bucky’s characterization in issue #4. Cynthia Glass seems to have been some inspiration for the MCU’s depiction of Peggy Carter, though she ended up being a spy for Germany. After she’s helped get Steve and Bucky imprisoned by the Red Skull, she has a crisis of faith and helps Bucky when he escapes so that he can more easily help Steve. Steve had been crushed by Cynthia’s betrayal, and Bucky is clearly initially glad to see her specifically so that he can get some revenge against her for breaking Steve’s heart, but then Cynthia stops him in his tracks by telling him that she thinks Steve is a good man who doesn’t deserve what the Red Skull wants to do to him. Later Steve, not knowing about her earlier act of help, is shocked when Cynthia throws him his shield while he’s fighting the Red Skull, which the Red Skull immediately kills her for. Steve is crushed again and tells Bucky, “I’ve lost her- I never told her- that I loved her…” This prompts Bucky to lie about his earlier interaction with Cynthia and say, “She told me- that she loved you too.”

Also, I was surprised that there wasn’t any heavy-handed foreshadowing of Bucky’s death near the end of the war. But I suppose it’s not really necessary because the character had been known to be dead since the 60s (and wouldn’t be brought back/revealed to be alive all this time until the mid-2000s) so readers would have been aware and had that knowledge hanging over the story already without it needing to be brought into the text.

Captain America: Sentinel of Liberty (1998) #12 and Captain America (2002) #26

Captain America: Sentinel of Liberty #12 was published in June 1999, according to the Marvel Wiki, and was written by Mark Waid, penciled by Doug Braithwaite and Anthony Williams, and inked by Dan Green and Scott Koblish.

This issue portrayed Steve and Bucky’s relationship in a way that’s really different from what I’m used to, and while to my current knowledge it wasn’t necessarily deeply contradicting comics that were published before it, I didn’t enjoy this portrayal. Though the concept and story itself was well-executed. Here we see Steve and Bucky again have a bit of a relationship on the base before Bucky walks in on Steve changing into his costume and discovers that he’s Captain America. Bucky helps Steve when he’s being harassed by other servicemen, but it serves a double-purpose of helping himself get revenge on someone that stiffed him, and Bucky immediately follows that up by offering to sell art supplies to Steve. Later Steve helps Bucky avoid getting into trouble when he gets into a bar fight and Steve tells him, “You know, every once in a while, people do the right thing for no reward…!” Bucky tells him, “Yeah… Suckers!” When Bucky learns that Steve is Captain America he assumes that he’s doing it for personal benefit, though Steve tells him it’s because of patriotism. Bucky then makes a deal with Steve where Bucky becomes his sidekick in exchange for Bucky keeping his secret identity a secret. Steve’s narration explains, “He wanted the same excitement and glamour he thought I got. At first, I admit I was suspicious of him…He reminded me a lot of the neighborhood toughs that used to beat me up back when I was sickly and scrawny… But Bucky turned out to be a great ally… and one heck of a fighter.” He also says, “Growing up I never had a brother. That changed once I joined the army. James Buchanan Barnes wasn’t a blood relation, but no relative could have ever felt more like a partner. We were a team, Bucky and I, and I admit it felt great having someone at my back.” Bucky doesn’t want to work for free, though, and always collects souvenirs on their missions. Partway through their partnership, Steve presses Bucky on what he wants, and after some stalling, Bucky admits, “I just wanna go out of this world different than I came into it, you know?” On their final mission, Steve tries to convince Bucky to give up on defusing the bomb and jump from the rocket, saying, “There’s no medals to be gotten- not this time!” But Bucky refuses, saying, “So? Hey, man… I love my country. Didn’t I teach you anything?”

I’m used to Bucky and Steve having a real strong understanding of one another. Ed Brubaker’s comics emphasized that they ultimately had a lot in common. For example, a flashback in Captain America (2005) #50 points out that Bucky spent his 20th birthday at war, while Steve spent his being a “lab rat” in preparation for taking the super soldier serum. In a flashback in Captain America (2005) #11 Bucky jokes to Steve that, “Sometimes I think if you didn’t have me, there wouldn’t be a single person in the world who really understood you…” I also thought of how much Bucky of came into their relationship already thinking really highly of Steve, as expressed by him in Captain America (2005) #25: “Even before I met him, before I became his partner, this guy was already a legend. It took me weeks to get used to the idea that he considered me an equal… a part of the team. But before I realized it, we were like brothers. He was like that sainted can-do-no-wrong big brother. The guy you can’t help but look up to… Because you just know you can never be that good… that graceful under pressure… or that strong in the face of horror…” And Steve comparing Bucky to the “neighborhood toughs that used to beat me up” particularly hurt my heart because it’s an insecurity of Bucky’s, as per Captain America (2005) #31, that, “All your fights with the other kids. Some would even say you were a bully. Steve Rogers certainly would have thought so if he’d known you then.”

I also compared it to the portrayal of their relationship in Captain America: White (2008). In issue #0 of that book Bucky promises he won’t tell anyone after he accidentally catches Steve changing into his Captain America costume, and then when Steve says he trusts him, Bucky says, “Then… train me. Make me your partner. I promise I’ll listen to you. Just… don’t leave me here when everybody else goes over…” And in issue #3 Steve reflects on that event, as well as own life prior to receiving the super soldier serum, and thinks, “You didn’t know me back then, James. But, in your own way, you really did. The rage I felt. The unfairness of it all. It wasn’t all that hard to understand you being orphaned. Abandoned. Agreeing to be ‘camp mascot’ on an army base, hoping and praying they’d bend the rules and let you join the fight. Was it any worse a plan than my agreeing to become a guinea pig for an experiment that should’ve killed me? Or the guilt I feel now that I survived and you didn’t? The night you burst into my tent and caught me changing into the Stars and Stripes… The look on your face wasn’t one of ‘surprise’ or even ‘fear.’ It was ‘opportunity.’ A chance to stand up when all your life you were told to sit down.”

Captain America (2002) #26 was published in May 2004, according to the Marvel Wiki, and was written by Robert Morales, penciled by Chris Bachalo, and inked by Tim Townsend and Al Vey.

This issue was split between Steve in the modern day having to take control when the plane he’s in is sabotaged, which was spread throughout the entire issue, a conversation that takes place after Steve has survived the plane crash with the strategist of a friend of Steve’s that’s campaigning to become the president, and flashbacks to various moments in Steve and Bucky’s partnership in the 1940s.

In this issue the portrayal of how Bucky became Steve’s partner is that after Bucky caught Steve changing into his Captain America uniform, Steve brought Bucky to Colonel Price. Bucky explains, “Everybody was always riding Steve for making mistakes, but I kind of figured that he must’ve been faking for some reason. […] I knew Steve was really smart… so I started following him around the base.” Colonel Price acknowledges the complication of Bucky having discovered something top secret, but then surprises Steve and Bucky both by saying, “The brass determined that we could use a propaganda figure against the Hitler Youth. Effective immediately, Captain Rogers, you’re to train this young buck as your new partner.” Strangely, Bucky’s legal first name is Michael in this story, and his nickname as Bucky seems to originate from him being referred to as a “young buck.”

The reason why Steve is meeting with the strategist is because he’s closely associated with the candidate, so, even though he’s not officially a part of the campaign, anything involving Steve in the news will affect them, and there is apparently a “spector of child endangerment charges” against Steve regarding Bucky. Steve explains, “I protested against placing Bucky in danger, but it didn’t matter: It was war- and he was in danger just like everyone else. If anything, he made good use of his fighting chance.” And then, “Bucky Barnes didn’t die because he was a kid. He died because he was a hero.” I think that Steve’s argument here is pretty weak. Not everyone in the world was in the same amount of danger and Bucky was certainly in more danger being involved in the actual fighting then he would have been had he stayed in the United States. Also, I think the flippancy of “If anything, he made good use of his fighting chance” downplays Steve’s compelling guilt over that Bucky wouldn’t have died if he wasn’t Steve’s partner.

The final scene of the issue is Steve successfully landing the damaged plane. It’s said to him, “Captain Rogers, that was one of the most amazing things I’ve ever seen! How in the world did you do that?” But Steve looks dejected and walks away, saying, “I didn’t do anything… I was lucky.” The issue then ends on a portrait of Bucky, and the implication is clear that Steve believes that he survived their final mission, which involved a plane, and that Bucky did not, simply because of luck.

The Incredible Hulk (1968) #270-271

In this batch of The Incredible Hulk issues I went from January 1982 to February 1982, according to the Marvel Wiki. Both issues were written by Bill Mantlo and drawn by Sal Buscema.

There were multiple moments in The Incredible Hulk #271 that stood out to me as good and enjoyable Hulk writing. At one point the Hulk was sleeping in a field and gets woken up by a robot, and he complains, “Noise woke Hulk up! Hulk didn’t want to wake up! Now Hulk is mad!” And then, “Machine made noise that some Hulk up! Hulk will smash machine! You like making noise, machine? Hulk will make more noise than you ever could! Get ready, machine! Here comes the biggest noise of all!” Later, the Hulk is asked for help and he says, “Hulk is here because he helped someone else! Hulk had to leave his friends back on Earth! Rick and Betty will worry about Hulk! Hulk should get home! But Hulk’s head feels so strange, Hulk doesn’t know what to do!” But later he agrees, saying, “Hulk has made up his mind. Hulk will help.” The explanation for why the Hulk felt strange in this issue is supposed to be revealed in the upcoming issues.

Spider-Man and the Incredible Hulk (1981) #3-5 and Dazzler (1981) #6-7 and DC Special Series (1977) #27

The Spider-Man and the Incredible Hulk issues were newspaper advertising supplements. There was a story where they fought Dr. Doom accompanying The Denver Post to advertise for the May-Daniels & Fisher department store chain, a story where they fought the Enforcers and the Rhino accompanying the Houston Chronicle to advertise for the Foley's department store chain, and a story where they fought Kraven the Hunter accompanying the Kansas City Star to advertise for the Jones Store Company department store chain. Each story was 16 pages and contained at least one scene of a successful shopping trip at their respective store, and were also all interspersed with a generous amount of ads depicting clothes that were for sale.

The Dazzler issues were published across April 1981 to May 1981, according to the Marvel Wiki. Both issues were plotted by Tom DeFalco, scripted by Danny Fingeroth, penciled by Frank Springer, and inked by Frank McLaughlin and Armando Gil.

The way that Bruce gets involved in Dazzler book is that Alison Blair is doing a concert at a college that Bruce is trying to sneak into to see gamma radiation research that’s being done there. Of course, Bruce gets upset and transforms, and that turns the Dazzler concert into a crisis situation. I think out of all the Hulk appearances I’ve read so far, these issues best sold the danger caused by the Hulk’s rampages. Alison’s mutant power isn’t particularly well-suited for fighting, she can turn sound into light and seems to mostly use it to create special effects for her concerts. When the Hulk crashes onto the stage, Alison does her best to keep the Hulk distracted so that everyone else in the auditorium can escape. While her powers make his head hurt, the most effective attack against him was when Alison dodged one of his punches and he instead hit the auditorium’s power console, which then exploded on him. After the Hulk recovers from that, he forgets about Alison and moves on to rampage through another part of the campus. Alison has doubts about her approach, thinking, “He’s mad with rage. If I hadn’t bought time for the crowd to flee, hundreds would have been hurt. Then again, if I had handled him better… cooled him out… or outsmarted him… he might not be on the rampage not at all.” I think that Alison is expecting a bit too much of herself here as someone who was caught completely off guard by the Hulk and has no experience dealing with someone like him, both in power and temperament.

In an act of genuinely impressive heroism, Alison decides, “I’m a singer… not a superhero. I should lay here and pat myself on the back for the fight I was able to give him. But that would be the same as condemning untold numbers of innocents to death… And that’s a fact I could never live with. For better or worse… I’ve got to go after him.” She keeps the Hulk’s attention on her so that more students can escape from where he goes next. Then, when the Hulk enters another building after the military tries and fails to capture him, Alison thinks, “Well, there’s nothing I can do about it! I tried to stop him… and I’m real lucky to be alive! But… What if there are still students in that building? What if he kills somebody in there? Can I convince myself that they were just unlucky…? Nuts! I’ve got to try to stop him… if I ever want to look in a mirror again.” Throughout this, the students that have been able to escape because of Dazzler acknowledge how outclassed she is.

Alison succeeds by trying a novel approach, agreeing with the Hulk. He says, “You are like a bug to Hulk,” and she says, “Yeah, I know!” He says, “Then run… or Hulk will kill you,” and she says, “If you really wanted to kill me, running wouldn’t help!” He says, “Girl is stupid! Girl hounded Hulk! Hulk will kill her,” and she says, “I guess… I deserve it, Hulk! But I’m sorry.” She explains that she misjudged the Hulk, that she understands now that he’s not a monster and is capable of kindness and gentleness. The Hulk is offended by this and says, “Hulk is a monster! Hulk will prove it… by crushing girl! Now is girl afraid?” When Alison says that she���s terrified, the Hulk says, “Good! Then Hulk will let girl live! If girl doesn’t call Hulk ‘gentle’ again. Girl is stupid!”

The DC Special Series issue was published in September 1981, according to the Grand Comics Database. It was a 64-page Hulk and Batman crossover written by Len Wein, drawn by José Luis García-López, and inked by Dick Giordano. The primary villains were the Joker and the Shaper of Worlds, who I thought was an inspired choice. The Hulk has fought him a few times over the course of the two decades he’s been published at this point. His concept is that he has the ability to create anything, but he has no imagination, so he relies on others and turns their dreams into reality.

I liked how Bruce Wayne handled the Hulk in this issue. They first fight because the Joker convinced the Hulk that Batman was his enemy, and Bruce thinks, "I kept silent during the Joker's tirade- so the Hulk wouldn't become overly confused- and take his frustration out on the gamma-gun! But, obviously, that was a mistake! There'll be no reasoning with the brute now!" It's a struggle for Bruce to stay alive during the fight, and he ultimately wins by knocking the Hulk out with sleeping gas. The second time the Bruce fights the Hulk, he first tried to reason with him, which didn't work. It's again a struggle for Bruce to even stay alive. During the fight he recognizes, "The brute's instinctually smarter than he seems!" He ultimately 'wins' by playing dead under rubble after the Hulk collapsed a building on top of them.

Then Bruce approaches the Hulk in disguise, and there the Hulk is very amenable to be reasoned with. While pretending to be blind passerby, Bruce refers to the Hulk as "friend" and invites the Hulk to tell him about his troubles. The Hulk says, "Hulk cannot stay long, old man- It is not safe! Wherever Hulk goes, puny humans follow Hulk- hound Hulk- try to destroy Hulk… And Hulk does not even know why!" Bruce tells him, "Neither do I… But maybe if you'd stop fighting people and try helping them a little, things could change for you. If a fella wants to have friends, first he has to be a friend. Do you understand what I'm trying to tell you… friend?" Through this the Hulk is convinced to help with what's going on with the Shaper of Worlds. After this Bruce stresses how important it is to him that "Somebody has to go with the Hulk- to support him- to guide him!" during that fight.

Uncanny X-Men (1963) #130-131 and Fantastic Four (1961) #217 and The Amazing Spider-Man (1963) #203

I was interested enough in Dazzler’s character from the issues I read of her solo book because the Hulk was in them to check out her earliest appearances. I find the concept of mutants interesting but from the outside X-Men comics look unwieldy and unenjoyable to get into, so I want to give offshoot characters a chance. These issues were published across November 1979 to January 1980, according to the Marvel Wiki. Uncanny X-Men #130-131 were plotted by Chris Claremont and John Byrne, scripted by Chris Claremont, penciled by John Byrne, and inked by Terry Austin. Fantastic Four #217 was written by Bill Mantlo (based on a plot suggestion from Marv Wolfman), penciled by John Byrne, and inked by Joe Sinnott. The Amazing Spider-Man #203 was written by Marv Wolfman, drawn by Keith Pollard, and inked by Mike Esposito and Jim Mooney.

Allison’s performance in X-Men #130 is apparently her first show, her debut on the disco scene. Dazzler is her performing stage name and she says, “That’s what I do. Dazzle people.” When Scott asks her if she’s ever wondered where her light powers come from, she says no, and Scott reveals to her that she’s a mutant. In X-Men #131 she declines an offer to join the X-Men, saying, “World-saving ain’t my style. I prefer the excitement I get on stage, singin’ my heart out to an audience that really digs me.” Her role in Fantastic Four #217 is that Johnny Storm incidentally meets her at a club when he’s trying to get away from Fantastic Four stuff for a night. In The Amazing Spider-Man #203 she’s being targeted by a villain that wants to use her to empower himself and Peter saves her.

In X-Men #130, when Allison comes on stage, the narration says that she appears in “an awesome lightshow that shifts in color, intensity and position to match her emotions.” She fights back when the show is attacked, the narration describing, “Light- in all its infinite variety- bursts around the hapless man, instantly flooding his eyes, his mind, his soul. His brain can’t cope with the sensory overload. It short-circuits- and turns itself completely off.” This makes Allison think, “He’s catatonic! I… I didn’t mean to ‘dazzle’ him so hard- I’ve never intentionally used my powers to hurt anyone before. I didn’t know…”

In X-Men #131 the narration describes, “Dazzler moves into action. Drawing on all the sounds around her, and converting them into radiant energy… She creates a lightshow, so intense and beautiful beautiful, that the guards’ minds can’t cope with it! In other words- they’re dazzled!”

In Fantastic Four #217, when Dazzler is performing, the narration reads: “She sings, and the music is in her- The music, and the power! Flowing from her in waves of silver sibilance to illuminate the dance floor in a dazzling display of dreams made real!”

In The Amazing Spider-Man #203 there’s a moment where Allison thinks, “That music coming over the radio… I can feel it flowing through my body… giving me strength,” before she sends out a blast through a mirrored globe that she was wearing as a necklace. It is said, to Allison, “You are a source of light… It seems to grow within your lovely body,” and that, “Each time you gave a concert, the music increased your power.” Also, her dazzling powers mess with Peter’s spider-sense.

Timely Publications:

the Human Torch story in Marvel Comics (1939) #1

This Human Torch story was published in October 1939, according to the issue cover date. It was written and drawn by Carl Burgos and it was 16 pages.

This is the first appearance of the original Human Torch, who was specifically a robot that could light himself on fire. It is interesting to me, then, that his name has the word 'human' in it. He could not originally turn his fire on and off at will, so the first 3 pages of his story are scientists discussing what to do with him and he doesn't speak until he breaks free on the 4th page. His pose in his container isn't always the same, though, so it looks like he was conscious and trying to get out (or convince them to let him out by banging on the glass in a sympathetic way). When the Human Torch's creator, Professor Horton, reveals that he's created "a synthetic man- an exact replica of a human being" that lights on fire whenever he's in contact with oxygen, people are horrified. Professor Horton doesn't want to destroy him- because "who knows, in the course of experimentation, I might hit on a device to gain control of, and master this mechanical torch"- so he has the Human Torch encased in a cement block.

Then, one day, the Human Torch breaks free (Professor Horton initially assumes, when he hears the explosion, that something has destroyed the Human Torch) and his first day of free existence is filled with both fun and terror. He runs through town, lighting people and things on fire, and is confused, saying, "I'm burning alive! Why must everything I though turn to flame?" He seeks out the fire engine when he hears it because "Hah! I like the sound of the bell." When they spray him with water, he says, "Ha! Ha! Ha! Stop- It tickles!" Eventually he determines, "I must find a retreat. I've already caused too much damage." He jumps into a pool, thinking that it would put out his flame, and stays under the water.

Unfortunately, the pool belongs to a criminal who decides to use the Human Torch for a racketeering scheme and has him transported to a factory (the Human Torch assumes they're helping him) so that he can burn it down. When the Human Torch understands that he's being used for crime, he's pissed, and returns to the house for revenge. He laughs as he burns down the house, delighting in how easy it is to destroy it just by standing in it, when he'd been bothered by the effects of his flame in that earlier unwilling context. He melts a car onto a crook that was hiding under it and boils alive the gang members that tried to hide in the pool and then, in his fight with the gang leader, learns how to turn his fire on and off at will.

During the fight the fire chief tried to kill the Human Torch, saying, "This'll be a better world without you- Mr. Torch," but the bullet bounced off of him. The Human Torch goes about his merry way afterwards and doesn't initially realize that police were after him, but when he does he surrenders. After the Human Torch reveals in court why he burned down the house and killed all those men, he's released into the custody of Professor Horton. But Professor Horton is excited by the possibility of making money with the Human Torch's powers, which upsets him, making him say, "So! Even you've been touched by the possibility of a fortune in me, eh Horton? No Horton, I'll be free, and no one will ever use me for selfish gain- or crime!" And then he escapes to make his own way in the world.

the Jimmy Jupiter stories in Marvel Mystery Comics (1939) #40-41 and Human Torch (1940) #10

In this batch of Jimmy Jupiter stories I went from February 1943 to March 1943, according to the issue cover dates. All of the stories were signed by Eddie Robbins, and according to his Who’s Who’s page he was only the artist and not the writer for these stories. The story in Human Torch #10 was inked by Bob Montana. Both of the stories in Marvel Mystery Comics were 7 pages. The story in Human Torch #10 was 10 pages.

The story in Human Torch #10 is the first Jimmy Jupiter story where there’s tangible evidence after Jimmy’s adventure is over to suggest that it wasn’t just a dream. In the story Jimmy’s family is visiting Jimmy’s uncle who lives in the country, and Jimmy asks him, “What’s in the woods? Can I go see? Are there fairies maybe?” Jimmy’s uncle tells him, “Fairies? Oh! Ha-ha! Why sure, Jimmy. There’s an enchanted valley right up in the woods there!” Jimmy goes exploring in the woods and falls into the valley and hits his head, and then right after he’s approached by a princess who tells him she’s lost. Jimmy helps her find her way back to her castle and along the way they fight wild toad men and wolves, one of which Jimmy skewers to a tree from a toad man’s staff. At the end of the story Jimmy takes another fall (off of a platform where he was dueling with a young knight) and lands right where he first met the princess. His family finds him and he explains his adventure to them and his uncle tells him, “Don’t be silly, Jimmy. You simply fell out of the tree. And anyway your story is impossible. There are no wolves in this part of the country!” But then a farm hand runs up and exclaims, “There’s a dead wolf over here- looks like he was speared!”

The stories in Marvel Mystery Comics #40-41 finish the Jimmy Jupiter adventure that began in Marvel Mystery Comics #38. In the story in issue #40 Jimmy’s magic glasses, which he stole from evil witches in issue #39, start to turn him evil, which primarily manifests just as him declaring that he’s evil. By the end of the story Jimmy has finally made it to the castle of the king of Fairyland, which is where he was supposed to go in the first place in issue #38. In the story issue #41 Jimmy is taken on a tour to visit various magic places, which is a really different experience than him haphazardly making his way through various magical places, which presented as obstacles, on his way to the castle. During the tour Jimmy is gifted an animate plush dog. The very last place Jimmy is taken to, Dream City, transforms into an obstacle as the Sandman starts to pull a blanket over the city before Jimmy has managed to pick a dream from a tree, as apparently falling into a dreamless sleep there means you’re trapped forever. Jimmy is saved by the blue fairy that took him to Fairyland in the first place in issue #38 and when he wakes up- or finds himself dropped back to where he was resting when the blue fairy first took him- there’s a real living non-plush dog with him.

DC Comics:

Superman (2023) #8

This issue was published in November 2023. It was written by Joshua Williamson and drawn by Gleb Melnikov, Norm Rapmund, David Baldeón, and Jamal Campbell.

There, unfortunately, wasn’t anything continuing the plot thread that Brainiac 13 is creating a woman, possibly a daughter, for himself, which was revealed at the end of the last issue. This issue was continuing the storyline with Samuel Stryker, the villain the Chained, who I do find sympathetic. I’m not anticipating that the ultimate conclusion of his storyline will be satisfying to me as it’s wrapped up in what’s going on with Clark and Lex, which I’m not really convinced of or interested in at this point.

I’ve been a bit worried that Lena, who I’m reading this book for, will be characterized as just a stereotypical angsty teenager, and there was nothing in this issue that showed that that necessarily won’t be the case, but I think there’s still some hope for more depth in future issues.

When Clark recognizes Lena, Leticia Luthor derisively calls him an alien and says that Lena wants nothing to do with him, and Lena jumps in on his behalf, arguing, “Grandma, stop! Superman saved me!” When Samuel Stryker tells Lena that her father is a “very bad man,” Lena says, “I know…” And then when Samuel Stryker drops Lena, Lex catches her, and Lena forcefully pushes him away and says, “Get away from me.” Later, when Lex assists in taking down Samuel Stryker, Leticia says, “See what your father is really about, Lena,” and Lena says, “I’ve always known, Grandma.”

Lena’s original appearances did not really handle Clark’s concern for her well. After she was born there was an emphasis on Clark being suspicious of how well Lex would treat his child and threatening him if he did hurt her, and then when Lex did hurt her by trading her to Brainiac 13, I thought Clark’s reaction was fairly subdued. And, of course, when Lena gets un-Brainiaced and turned back into a baby, Clark gives her to Lex and tells him that it’s his second chance with her, so all those consequences he was talking about before never ended up happening. But that’s not something I’m expecting to get delved into in this book. Whatever version of those events occurred in this continuity, it seems that Lena has some awareness of them and an opinion of them that wouldn’t have been taught to her by her father or grandmother. I’m wondering if either she wasn’t a baby when they happened this time, or if she retained some memory of them due to her Brianacedness. The original version of this Lena got dropped from continuity before she ever grew up normally, so we never got to see how she would have turned out. Though it’s notable that the Brainiac version of her from the Our Worlds at War event and the Lena AI that was made from a scan of her brain taken at the time Lex traded her from Superman: Metropolis (2003) both resented Lex. I don’t remember either of them expressing any specific opinions about Superman as a hero or alien. There is one moment I really like in Action Comics (1938) #782 when Lena expressed admiration for/kinship with Superman, when Brianiac 13 was incredulous about his capabilities, and Lena responded, in a brave act of resistance against her master, “You’d be s-surprised what meat is capable of… when the heart is involved.” Lena being able to relate to Superman despite her upbringing with Brainiac 13 is compelling to me, her appreciating Superman for “saving” her isn’t so much, but we’ll see where this goes.

Lena’s feelings towards her father and Superman in this issue seemed simplistic to me, as did Lex’s feelings towards Lena. Lex was kind of insane about his baby after she was born the first time. He had her mother placed in a medically-induced coma after Lena was born so that he wouldn’t have to compete with her for Lena’s love. And for that same reason he tried to handle as much of her childcare on his own as he could. He talked quite a bit about she was the most important thing to him, he wanted to give her everything, he would ensure she never suffered, etc. And then, of course, he callously traded her away for personal benefit. My impression is that the novelty of having a baby wasn’t there the second time around as Lena’s main appearance after Lex got her back was him interviewing a nanny for her. When he spoke to her while she was serving Brainiac, he told her that he had missed her and that he knew she would understand why he did what he did because she was a Luthor too. In this continuity Lena was raised by her paternal grandmother away from Metropolis. In this issue, when Samuel Stryker has Lena, Lex says, sincerely, “Leave my daughter out of this… Please..” After he catches her, Lex says, “Lena, I-” and then just looks sad when she pushes him and run away from him. Which just felt very basic and doesn’t live up to the more interesting dialogue in Lena’s prior stories.

Also, Lena and Kon-El didn’t speak to each other, but they were in the same room for a bit of this issue and Samuel Stryker’s powers have been tied into his, so I think there’s a possibility that he’ll be maintained as a supporting character in this book. So we might see him and Lena actually interact directly, but also he could become thematically connected, as a child created through science, to what’s going on with Brainiac.

Batman: Creature of the Night (2018) #1-4

These issues were published across November 2017 to September 2019, according to the DC Wiki. All were written by Kurt Busiek and drawn by John Paul Leon.

I went into this book with the understanding that it was about a kid in the ‘real world’ that was a Batman fan and then goes through a tragedy similar to Bruce’s origin story and then gains a kind of guardian angel that is Batman-like. I was very surprised that only the first issue takes place when Bruce Wainwright is a child and that the rest of the book features him as an adult, still with that Batman protector. I was really intrigued by how the Batman guardian affected Bruce as a child- having dreams from its perspective and not immediately having proof that what he’s seeing is real, and then having information that the Batman figure learns just manifest in Bruce’s mind. And then I found how the relationship between Bruce and his guardian angel evolves in adulthood really compelling. I kept being startled by the intensity and dysfunction of Bruce’s Batman obsession as more and more examples of it occurred. I really did not ever anticipate where this book was going, each issue told its own strong story. I thought that the concept behind this book was really done it’s best, taken where I didn’t predict but where it naturally should have gone. And, of course, the artwork by John Paul Leon was great.