#170 years young!

[granadaholmesdaily]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SHERLOCK HOLMES —6th January 1854—

[aplateoflasagna]

BLACKPINK august comeback and world tour confirmed!!! 😭😭

[petite-madame]

A 170-year-old young man - (2024)

Happy birthday to the world's greatest detective, 170 y.o today 🥳💗

[franzivonkarma]

I desperately need people to understand that Franziska's whipping thing really isn't solely a silly character gimmick. Of course it is to a degree, just like Godot and coffee and Klavier and air guitar in court, but so often I see people dismiss Franziska's whipping trait as an annoying feature that adds nothing to her character and I cannot stand it. This is a bit of a rant and I touch on gender inequality and the way I see a lot of men treat her as a character a decent amount within this because I feel like the fact that she is a woman is actually very important to this element of her character, and her treatment is also a lot of the reason why I feel compelled to talk about this in the first place.

Firstly what you need to understand is that not only is Franziska a woman, she is also laughably young when she becomes a prosecutor. She's a 13 year old girl trying to hold the attention of a courtroom of mostly grown men and be taken seriously. It's no secret that misogyny does exist in the Ace Attorney universe of course (see: Godot), but aside from this, maybe it's just because I've been playing Ace Attorney Investigations recently, but she is just very small all around. It's a running gag in Turnabout Reminiscence that she is short, she's small, she can't see things Edgeworth can - although granted Edgeworth is definitely fairly tall, most estimates I've seen linger around 5'8-5'10 (around 170-180cm). And of course, she is only 13 here, she's not done growing, but it's at this age that she actually did begin to prosecute. Naturally, she'd often be underestimated, and we can see a strong desire to prove herself during Turnabout Reminiscence, even just to her father; I can only imagine that this would extend further into her trials as a young girl. Secondly, she's the daughter of Manfred von Karma, whom she idolises to a godlike status and who teaches her everything she knows about prosecuting, and also a lot about life in general - he's her father. There's a lot I could say about their dynamic, but I feel that much of it doesn't need to be said in this specific post if you're already here dedicated to Franziska enough to bother reading this post.

Manfred's courtroom (and often, regular) behaviour revolves a lot around him taking complete control of the entire courtroom, with him even speaking over the judge, overruling objections he does not like and sustaining his own, and instructing witnesses himself. He also often snaps his fingers to direct attention to himself and his point. Franziska learns this, but how does a literal 13 year old girl follow her father in this regard? Well, by force. Whipping someone is a very clear way to get their attention. Not only the person it hits but the people around - whips cracking are loud, they take up a lot of visual space, and they also obviously cause harm to the person they hit. These are all things you can't really ignore - it forces you to look at her and pay attention to her and gives her control of the room exactly like Manfred. I've also been thinking a lot about the end of Justice For All in relation to this. She's lost to Phoenix multiple times and she couldn't beat him even once just to prove that she was better than Edgeworth as she so desperately wanted to. This brings me to another point about her use of her whip. While I think control is a huge aspect and is my main focus here, I think it falls more under the umbrella of Franziska's own perceived shortcomings. We also know that she doesn't believe she lives up to her father's genius, and that she consistently feels like she's walking in Edgeworth's shadow, she says it herself:

I think at least some part of the reason her whip is so important is because she believes she could very well be less than equal to others in the room in terms of certain traits. She sees her father as a genius, knows she isn't equal to him, and internalises this (whether she is actually less intelligent or not I personally don't know what I believe, I haven't played Justice For All in over a year and a half and I would have to replay it to decide my thoughts).

In having to be perfect, there are many expectations she cannot live up to, and this leads to many ways in which she falls short of what she believes she should be. By using her whip, again, she can account for her perceived shortcomings in other areas - control, her intelligence, her ability as a prosecutor. I think this last scene of JFA actually introduces us to the idea that Franziska is somewhat self-doubting in some ways and compares herself a lot with others, not just Manfred, but also Edgeworth, which we see more of in Ace Attorney Investigations during Turnabout Reminiscence, where we see her at 13 attempting to prove that she can "out-logic" Edgeworth for the entire case, and essentially, that she is "more perfect" than he is.

But to come back to her whip, control, and the end of Justice For All.

She is left with little of who she was before and doesn't know how to move on - everything she was taught to be from the moment she was born, she no longer is. She is 18 here, prosecuting for 5 years already and desperate to be prosecuting for even longer. As far as her life was set out, this was basically it for her - become a perfect prosecutor and prosecute perfectly just like Manfred - the ideal prosecutor in her eyes.

A Von Karma is perfect, but she is not - she lost, just like Edgeworth, whom she shamed for the same thing. She gives up her whip here, and I feel that it's truly symbolic of how she feels like she's completely lost control of herself, her life, her relationship with her father and most obviously her occupation as a prosecutor. How could she continue being a prosecutor when she no longer lives up to the idea of it that she's had her entire life? What use is her whip if she will not need to hold the court's attention any longer?

I'm sure a million other people have thrown their coin in the pot on this exact topic, and I'm sure many have said the same thing as me and many have said something different, but I needed to write my thoughts out about it because I couldn't stop thinking about her. This is one big reason why I feel like I see a lot of men who don't understand Franziska and see her as very annoying, gimmicky, and my least favourite - a "female Edgeworth." She is a woman who steals attention and space forcibly; both from characters in-game, and also from the player with her animations that take up time in trials and a lot of the visual space. Of course this makes her unpopular with a lot of men. I'm not saying that if you dislike her or the whip it comes from a place of misogyny, I am saying that I think her whipping trait is reduced to a stupid, annoying gimmick more than, say, Godot and his coffee, because a lot of people don't really care to see that there is intention behind it that reveals a lot about her character, just like how Godot's coffee problem is relevant to his backstory.

[stars-and-clouds]

When I started playing the game in early access and didn't know how complex astarion was, I was sure whenever I chose a kind or innocent option and he said I'm 'sweet,' that he is laughing at me, mocking me or probably thinks that I'm weak for being so nice and caring. But, having played the entire game I have learnt that someone being innocent and 'sweet', especially to Astarion, is Astarion's weakness. He can't help but feel affectionate or protective towards them.

While he may think it's naive and stupid doesn't mean he doesn't value it. I think it's because he believes niceness to be stupid that he wants to protect it in people he likes because they can be taken advantage of.

Astarion was so young when he was turned, I feel he lost his innocence too quickly at an age he should have retained it. Therefore, I think whenever he sees innocence in people he wants to protect it. Hence running away from that sweet boy in his first decade of slavery, remembering the virgin Sebastian, who hadn't even had his first kiss, despite having met him 170 years ago and one should remember that Astarion has forgotten most of his victims, but he remembers Sebastian.

Astarion values innocence, hence genuinely vowing to you that he won't attack innocents to feed which caught me off guard first time because I didn't believe he was capable of that. He will be happy to help innocents like Mayrina and Yenna but not others who can help themselves or got themselves into their problem. He pities the charmed victims in Cazador's tower because they're blameless but thinks the servants who are voluntarily serving Cazador deserve their fate.

He values if you're nice to him. His response to most 'best' options (which is usually the first one) is many times something along the lines of- "How sweet.". He is also the only companion, within my knowledge, who calls you his 'sweet' when romanced.

✨

Gif made by @ishaslife

[sgtyaraya]

Call of Duty OC

Name: Trudy Saidler

Nikename: Jay

Date of birth: June 01, 1992

Age: 24 (at the time of the events in 2016)

Place of birth: Liberec, Czech Republic🇨🇿

Citizenship: Czech🇨🇿

Nationality: English 🇬🇧

Rank: Sergeant

Specialty: Infantryman

Unit: TF - 141

Family/Relationships

Mother: Adele Saidler (Hofmann) 🇬🇧

Father: Philip Saidler 🇬🇧

Brother: Evan Saidler🇬🇧 ✝️

Love Interest: Gary "Roach" Sanderson🇬🇧💕

Reference/appearance

Trudy on the day she arrived at Credenhill

Parameters

Hair: brown with light strands

Eyes: grey

Pigmentation on the body: freckles

Tattoo: on the left arm

Scars: scratches on the right and left arm, a bullet wound in the left shoulder, suture marks on the right side at the rib level, bullet wounds in the abdomen, cartilage injury of the right ear

Height: 170 cm

Weight: 60 kg

Body type: normal

Equipment

Armored vest: warrior "plates" assault systems

M4A1 assault rifle with a grenade launcher

M14 EBR sniper rifle with silencer for long-range elimination and, if necessary, to cover the group

Pistols: M9 and USP.45

Cold steel: Alpha S D2 knife Tactical Knife and Custom Steel Machete D2 Machete Etsy Knife

Personality

Trudy is a young girl with sociability and good nature. Her attitude towards people depends on how they treat her: if they show a positive attitude towards her, she is a little stubborn. Even so, Trudy is not so trusting, so she does not immediately open up to the interlocutor. Trudy sometimes experiences moments that can cause irritation. And in such cases, she can flare up, allowing her emotions to come out. However, she tries to control her emotions so as not to show them to other people. But Trudy's weakest side is her worries. Everything that she experiences inside herself, she tries to hide from others.

Fears

🔥Pyrophobia🔥is a phobia consisting in a constant, irrational, obsessive, panic fear of fire, fires; an obsessive fear of burning alive, getting burned, or losing property as a result of a fire. (in one of the missions, she almost burned herself in the room in which she was locked, losing consciousness)

Biography

Trudy's parents live in the Czech Republic for most of their lives, they have successfully established their lives in another country, and we can say they have lived in it for most of their lives, and did not want to return to England. Adele Saidler (Hofmann) has opened her own atelier in Liberec, where they now live. The woman is engaged in custom tailoring, previously she was specialized in sewing military uniforms. Philip Saidler is a former infantryman, retired for health reasons, retired, but he helps his wife in the atelier, delivering sewing materials. He also earns a living on the outskirts of the city, but there is no information about his place of work. Before Trudy, they had a son, Evan Saidler [date of birth unknown, died as a teenager, cause of death unknown]. The couple suffered a hard loss, and were very worried about their daughter, who knows about her late brother.

Trudy's childhood, like that of ordinary children, was no different from them. She also had her own hobbies, which her parents reacted positively to, and supported their daughter in every possible way, most importantly. The girl was actively engaged in dancing from the age of 12, from which she developed flexibility, there were even performances on behalf of the school. She also loved to help her mother in the atelier, more often looked after the counter, and thus engaged in needlework, she could also sew some clothes with jewelry. In addition to dancing, Trudy also had hobbies, which she does not mention.

During her student years, Trudy met a girl who was 1 year younger than her, Linda Kovac (Czech). She was always an inconspicuous gray mouse, but Trudy became friends with her on the first day they met, and spent more and more time together. Thanks to her, Linda began to gain self-confidence and even changed her style in order not to fall into the gray mass and stand out somehow. Saidler never sought to attract attention, preferring to wear comfortable and not too bright clothes, and studied like all ordinary students. She needed Czech to learn, so even at preschool age she learned this language, English is considered the main one.

There have been mistakes in Trudy's life, one of them has undermined people's trust. As a student, a guy was in love with her, and he sought her attention in every possible way. The student's infatuation, yes, did not last long. This guy dated her for a joke, enjoyed her trust. After receiving her education, Trudy left Liberec and went to England. After living there for some time, she went to Credenhill, where the selection for group 141 was held. During the trip, Trudy heard other recruits talking about this group, and who is in it, quite big names sounded from the mouths of the guys, which made her interested. Arriving at their base, Trudy did not expect to see the members of the 141 group live. At the time, Captain McTavish was in charge of the selection, and he took up her training in order to make Saidler an experienced fighter. As a rookie, she was sent for additional training to improve her skills and adapt to work in group 141. During her stay at the base, Trudy met Roach, a young sergeant whom she saw on the day of her arrival. At first, things didn't go very well due to distrust, so we gradually communicated. Jay showed a special interest in Roach as a person and wanted to get to know him better, and thus she awakened trust in him. Roach also showed interest in the girl and communicated with her even from a distance. Trudy was very afraid of attachment to people, and hid her sympathy until the last moment, Roach had the same feelings for her. They gradually showed warm feelings for each other.

Participation

Jay began his service under the command of Captain McTavish, took his first part in the Hunting mission, where the goal was to catch Alejandro Rojas, worked in a group with Roach. In the future, she participated in assaults at certain points, provided cover, engaged in inconspicuous liquidation

The history of the creation of the OC

In 2011, I played with COD Modern warfare 2 for the first time. This game has left vivid moments in my memory, from joyful to sad, my favorite mission is "Rock Climber". At that moment, the first character appeared in my head. Since I couldn't draw at the age of 9, I was building a plot in my head. There is an important point, this is the date when I started playing and when I came up with Trudy. This is June 1, 2011, and this date is also Trudy's date of birth.

In her first version, there was no first or last name, I just called her "Emersan", this call sign is taken from another game that I also actively played. As for her appearance, Trudy looked different, not like she does now. In 2018, I visually sketched her portrait, hoping for my memory. Based on this, I decided to change her appearance, and also attached my old works. As time went on, I always wanted to add something, it seemed to me that Trudy was too simple. Although yes, she really was like that. Then, during the redrawing, I already gave her a name. Her name was Trudy "Emersan" Sombra. She later became Jay, the new surname is Saidler. Trudy's redesigns didn't last long, so I changed it again by drawing new references. You can see that she has hardly changed since 2019, there are small changes on her face – freckles and hair color have become darker. Next comes the tattoo. It was a difficult choice, I came up with the first tattoo myself, then I made another, more complex one. The final version was drawn in 2023, and received a reference

Trudy in 2011 to 2022

[yokohamapound]

Since tis Spooky Season, how about some wedding headcanons for our goth boys Bram and Akutagawa? :3

It might no longer be spooky season but goth bois are timeless. <3

Characters: Bram Stoker, Akutagawa Ryuunosuke

Contents: gn!reader, nsfw mention

Bram Stoker

Bram is certainly the marrying type. Once he’s found someone he feels he can spend the long years of eternity with, he’ll want to lock you down quickly and make it official. Dating is a foreign concept to him, but he will spend some time courting you. He’s very likely the one who proposed marriage, and like, you have eyes, so of course you were going to accept. Who doesn’t want to marry a handsome vampire lord?

It’s not enough to call Bram ‘old-fashioned’. The man is at least several hundred years old, (depending on whether his age is based on the actual Bram Stoker or Vlad Tepes, basis of the legend for Dracula). He’s between approx 170-600 years old. He’s seen trends become traditions and vanish entirely. The wedding would probably be some flavour of traditional, whether that’s a Western white wedding, or a wedding steeped in his spouse’s culture. If you really wanted to, you could have a historical-themed wedding to make Bram feel at home—just expect him to be finicky on the minor details.

“This is the incorrect type of date for this pastry.”

It might take some doing to find a priest willing to marry you to a vampire, or you can forge the documents and have a civil ceremony. It depends on whether or not Bram can actually set foot in a church. He’s probably relieved to discover civil ceremonies are a thing. 

Bram looks beautiful in a suit. Just imagine it. A suit tailored to his ridiculous, 6’5” height, possibly a tailcoat, with a cravat, his long hair tied back. 

You’ll have to bring him up to speed and explain that, apart from certain cultural traditions, dowries aren’t that common anymore, and that he doesn’t have to offer your father 50 goats for your hand in marriage. 

Bram’s a pretty romantic guy, but he always does it with style. He pulls out your chair, his hand is going to rest on the small of your back, and he takes the lead in the first dance waltz, no matter your gender.

The speeches will be short—he’s had to put up with too many of Fukuchi’s soliloquies to want to hear any more monologuing. The wedding dinner—feast, he insists on calling it—is sumptuous, although Bram doesn’t partake. (You’re his wedding feast and he’d rather enjoy that in private.)

Godspeed on your wedding night. Bram’s spent years without a lower half of his body and now he has it back, and a spouse to enjoy. He is…pent up, shall we say~

Akutagawa Ryuunosuke

Poor Akutagawa is still reeling over the fact that he’s getting married. I would say that either you proposed, or Dazai planted the idea in Akutagawa’s head that it was time for him to put a ring on it. If Akutagawa proposed, your ring is some beautiful antique with a large stone and a creepy story attached to it. Don’t forget that Akutagawa makes bank in the Port Mafia. 

Please, please, please plan a goth wedding.

Please remember that this is the same young man who said this when asked what he would give as a wedding present: “I'd gift them the enemy's freshly severed head decorated with bloody barren flowers.” Suffice it to say, Akutagawa should not be left in charge of either your gift registry or the flower arrangements. You will end up with a load of obscure antiques, knives, and bunches of rotting flowers “to show the briefness of our lifespans.” 

Maybe compromise with dried flower garlands or even black roses if you want to go full 2007 My Chemical Romance-core. (Look me in the eye and tell me Akutagawa wouldn’t look up if you played him a G-note on the piano.)

He hates being the centre of attention in the actual wedding, so he’s more than happy to deflect it all toward you instead. The moments he seems happiest are when he gets to see Gin wearing a bridesmaid dress, when Dazai stands up to make a speech (during which Akutagawa sits up like he’s in a school assembly while the headmaster is speaking), and during the vows, when he’s focusing on you and only you. 

He looks wonderful in his suit - let him have full tails and black tie and he'll be content.

Your wedding photographs look like one of those austere Victorian family portraits, save for Tachihara throwing up the bunny ears behind Gin’s head. 

Akutagawa has a secret sweet tooth he won’t admit to, which is why he tries to pretend that he hasn’t had three slices of chocolate cake. 

Either get Dazai drunk or put him in a corner with a plate of crab cakes to keep him occupied, because you really don’t need him making sly comments when it’s time for you and Akutagawa to climb into the car and head off for your honeymoon. His wedding gift for Akutagawa is an inhaler and a note saying, “You’ll need this! xoxo Dazai.”

[revivemyreverie]

“Watch yourself. After all, you may be decent at dancing, but your foul attitude could be easily burnt away.”

Twisted from: The Evil Queen’s Red Iron Shoes

Coppelia Waltz

コッペリア・ウォールス

CV: ???

Technical Info.

Gender: Female

Sexuality: Demisexual

Birthday: 05/25

Age: 18

Height: 5’7 (170)

Hair Color: Charcoal Black

Eye Color: River Grey

Hand Pref.: Left

Homeland: City of Flowers

College Info.

Year: 1st

Class: 1B Set 27

Club: Track and Field

Favorite Subject: Art

Other.

Hobby: Flower Arrangement

Likes: Weddings

Dislikes: Forgiving others

Favorite Food: French Toast

Hated Food: Sunflower Seeds

Specialty: Ballet

UM: Iron Vengeance

The lower part of your body becomes bound to an unseeable fire. Until your begging finds value, you’ll dance in a hot hell forever.

The Dancing Plague

There was once a little girl, in a little village, who was born with no feet. Despite her obvious disability, she still dreamed of dancing in front of a large crowd, with flowers being thrown at her graceful figure. The other ballerinas in her class, however, thought differently.

“All you do is sit on your wheelchair without any legs to stand on, and that’s where you’ll be until you die of old age!” They’d pick on her without fail. “Hurry and give up, us real ballerinas need no stumpy girls like you!”

Brought to tears by their cruelty, the little girl fled the studio and sped into the woods. She wheeled on the mossy grass for hours and hours, losing herself in both the trees and her tears. Suddenly, the girl heard a tune like no other, and drew closer to the sound. That is when she saw it—a fairy dance.

Countless humans danced hand-in-hand, even as their feet were dyed red. But the faeries, oh the faeries, how gracefully they danced! Like flowers in the wind, they scattered and reformed and flew so freely!

It was only until one noticed the child that the music stopped, and they gathered around. And yet, the girl was not met with hostility.

“What is a mortal so young doing in the woods?” One asked.

She cried out her woes to the faeries, describing how terrible the other students were, and how she just wanted to learn to dance. The fae, finding sympathy for the little human, quickly thought up a way to fix her problem.

They lifted her from her wheelchair and flew her to their lair. On the first night of her visit, the ballerina was granted a pair of silver slippers, able to lift her off the ground. She cried and cried that night, so joyous to finally dance.

On the second night, the faeries taught her their peculiar dance. Like the humans she saw in the circle, she twirled and jumped without end. But unlike their tired bodies, she proved herself relentless, refusing to stop unless her steps matched her teachers’. Soon enough, she was dancing just as gracefully.

On the 3rd and final night, the fae taught her a magic spell. Still being the tricksters they always were, they giggled and snickered as they whispered an incantation in her ear.

“But why do I need such a spell?” She curiously asked.

“To punish those naughty children,” one fae answered, “and to give you a sense of retribution.”

So on that night, when she left the forest and came back to the dancehall, she whispered out that little spell, cursing her classmates to a fiery pain. Without any dancers to take their spot, the adults dragged the little girl from her seat and onto the stage.

There, with her classmates wailing backstage as their feet burned the same bloody red as the humans in the forest, the little girl danced. Her iron shoes glistened on the stage, as the crowd stared in awe at her beautiful performance. And even past the thundering applause of the audience, and flowers being thrown to her feet, the little girl could only think of one thing—

That her dream finally came true.

❤️‍🔥…

“Do you have any final thoughts, Miss Waltz?” The reporter pointed the mic in her face, grinning.

The child thought, before looking up to her horrified mother, who had built her metal shoes herself. Then, to her sickened upperclassmen, who taught her the magic of vengeance and the dance that wowed the crowd.

Smiling, she turned back to the camera, concerned parents rushing behind her.

“I’d just like to thank everyone who supported me, and helped me achieve my dream! This really feels like a fairytale come true!”

[reasonsforhope]

"During the global coronavirus pandemic, China built dozens of makeshift hospitals and state quarantine centers, some out of steel container boxes. They became closely associated with the anxiety of mass testing and the fear of sudden lockdowns.

Now, cities are turning the huge centers into affordable housing units for young workers in an attempt to revive the country's economy post-COVID...

Just over a year ago, these apartments were used very differently: for medical triage and quarantine facilities. Beijing alone built 23 of these makeshift facilities, designed to hold up to 23,000 people at a time.

"It was not very cold yet but they told me to pack my belongings," remembers Hudson Li, a Beijing resident who was quarantined in one of these facilities, called fangcang in Chinese, in October 2022...

Less than two months after Li was quarantined, Beijing lifted most of its COVID restrictions. Li says he still associates the fangcang with a feeling of helplessness and fear: "It has been over a year already, but I definitely have PTSD from the pandemic, from the fear of scarcity and having to stock up on a lot of medicine and food."

Attracting young tenants with low rents

Now the fangcang across the country are undergoing a minor transformation and turned into apartment units for young graduates like Li. The changes are an effort from local authorities, who have been tasked with restarting economic growth and supporting small businesses after nearly three years of ruinous lockdowns.

Populous cities like Beijing are also trying to bridge the housing affordability gap between high real estate prices and low salaries, on average, for young workers. In the northeast corner of the capital city, near its airport, one fangcang with more than 4,900 units has been rebranded the "Jinzhan Colorful Community" — a reference to the bright hues of paint — and now offers amenities like a canteen where residents can grab a cheap meal before or after work.

Another fangcang facility, in the northeastern city of Jinan, has been turned into 650 units for skilled workers inside an industrial park.

"Given that the current overall [COVID] epidemic situation in the country has entered a low level, revitalizing the fangcang for other housing purposes is worth learning and thinking about all over the country," Yan Yuejin, a housing analyst, told Chinese media.

The fangcang, once a symbol of containment, are now supposed to represent dynamism and growth.

"I have complex feelings about this. The facilities were built using public funds and not rented out transparently," Li says. "But I do have to say you will not get anything more affordable than these apartments. They are very price competitive."

A list of rental prices for a Beijing fangcang converted into apartments shows most rooms are Rmb1200 (USD $170) a month, low for Beijing."

-via NPR, December 9, 2023

[alilaro]

some cute and fun Astarion things to think about! 😊✨🌠

Astarion means 'Little Star' and he was someone's beloved son.

Astarion dying and turning at only around age 30, which in elf years is so devastatingly and terribly young.

Astarion never reached 100, so he never got his adult elven name. 'Astarion' is still his baby name.

The idea that astarion was a sun elf, that it brought him so much joy, and all but rejoices at being able to bask in its warmth once again after 170+ years of gloom and torture.

Astarion's only reward for saving the world is to be cast back into darkness for good this time.

[fantastic-nonsense]

Made a post about my 3 things I want to see with every Wonder Woman adaptation, despite needing to do some catching up myself. Related, do you have a link to a Wonder Woman reading list?

https://at.tumblr.com/paigeoforacle/1-keep-fights-to-a-minimum/k7nbubhe1qws

Nice list!

As for my Wonder Woman recs list....technically, yes. I made a Wonder Woman starter recs list way back in 2017 right after the movie came out. However, it's outdated, I've changed my opinion on some of the things I said there as I've read more Wonder Woman comics, and it also fails to include several good comics. So here's my current Wonder Woman recs list:

Starter comics: These are great comics to read if you're new to Wonder Woman comics or only have a passing familiarity with her:

Wonder Woman: Year One, by Greg Rucka

Wonder Woman (1987) #1-62, by George Perez

Wonder Woman: The Hiketeia, by Greg Rucka

JLA: League of One, by Christopher Moeller

The Legend of Wonder Woman, by Ray Dillion and Renee De Liz

Wonder Woman: Historia, by Kelly Sue DeConnick

Wonder Woman (1987) #170, by Phil Jimenez (the Diana-Lois 'Day in the Life' issue)

"Generations" from Sensation Comics Featuring Wonder Woman, by Michael Jelenic (Issue #12 digitally, Issue #7 print)

Wonder Woman: Our Worlds At War, by Phil Jimenez (warning: this oneshot ties into the "Our Wolds at War" event, so the frame story will probably be confusing, but the majority of the story is a solid retelling of the collective Amazonian history up to that point)

Second-level comics: read these once you have a baseline familarity with Diana and her supporting cast:

Wonder Woman by Phil Jimenez, including Paradise Lost/Paradise Found (which I don't think are in the current Jimenez omnibus)

Wonder Woman by Greg Rucka (his first run on the title), with a particular call-out for the Medusa arc

Wonder Woman: The Circle and Ends of the Earth, by Gail Simone

Wonder Woman Rebirth (2016), by Greg Rucka (Rucka's second run; everything except Year One fits here)

Wonder Woman: The Twelve Labors (WW 1942 #212-222), by Len Wein and assorted other writers

Wonder Woman/Justice League Dark: The Witching Hour, by James Tynion IV

Wonder Woman: Lords and Liars by Mariko Tamaki

All of the comics on both lists are great; I have no hesitation recommending any of them. However, I will give a blanket warning for sexual assault in the Amazons' backstory, particularly during the seminal Perez run (which is very dated in how it handles the topic, unfortunately), and put a general note that while I can't think of anything outright offensive, various social issues are not always handled with grace (especially in the older runs).

Comics featuring the Wonderfam supporting cast:

New Teen Titans: Who is Donna Troy?, by Marv Wolfman*

Titans (1999), by Devin Grayson (for Donna)*

The Return of Donna Troy, by Phil Jimenez (collected in The Death and Return of Donna Troy)*

Wonder Woman: Lifelines (WW 1987 #105-108) and WW #109-113, by John Byrne (Cassie Sandsmark's introduction)

Young Justice (1998), by Peter David (for Cassie)*

Nubia and the Amazons, by Stephanie Williams and Vita Ayala*

Nubia: Queen of the Amazons, by Stephanie Williams and Vita Ayala*

Wonder Woman: The Contest (WW 1987 #0 and #90-100), by William Messner-Loebs (for Artemis of Bana-Mighdall)

Artemis: Requiem, by William Messner-Loebs (Note: this is not actually recommended reading. It's utterly cursed and I wouldn't put it on here if it wasn't absolutely necessary to understand how Artemis isn't dead after "The Contest." Read everything else on this list before you read this mini)

Wonder Woman: Gods of Gotham (WW 1987 #164-167), by Phil Jimenez*

Red Hood and the Outlaws Rebirth (2016) #1-24, by Scott Lobdell (for post-Flashpoint!Artemis, who's basically a different character)

Future State: Wonder Woman, by Joelle Jones (Yara Flor)

Wonder Girl (2021), by Joelle Jones (for Yara) (Note: this run is "just okay" and I'm reccing it with several reservations. However, it's also Yara's most prominent comic to date)

I've starred the ones on this list that I actually recommend as "good comics to read" and not just "decent starter comics for the character." Warning for depictions of sexual assault, bad art if you're looking at a pre-2000s comic, and being forced to engage with Scott Lobdell and William Messner-Loebs' writing.

I also recommend DC Bombshells by Marguerite Bennett; it's an Elseworlds comic set in WWII that co-stars Diana and it's delightful. There's certainly others that are decent, but I think this is a solid starter list if you want to understand Wonder Woman and how she should be written.

[those-crybaby-tears]

Hiya!! Can we get some general Toby hcs :3?? Also i love your hcs they send good tingles in to brain ‼️

Honestly? I think we all need more headcanons for our Toby ^^

Characters Included: Toby.

Only Mentioned Characthers: Masky, Hoodie, Ben, Jane, Nina, EJ, Jeff, Kagekao, Liu/Sully, Lyra.

Small Warnings: abusive father, mention of a big wound, mention of Personality Disorder, mention of lack of sanity, mention of aggression, mention of hurting/killing someone, mention of drunk people, disgust towards alcohol, mention of weed use, mention of a road accident, mention of bullying.

(credits for this go to the artist shatteredankles, on instagram. correct me if I'm wrong please)

- 𝐺𝐸𝑁𝐸𝑅𝐴𝐿 𝐻𝐸𝐴𝐷𝐶𝐴𝑁𝑂𝑁𝑆 𝐹𝑂𝑅 𝑇𝐼𝐶𝐶𝐼 𝑇𝑂𝐵𝑌 -

HIS PHYSICAL APPEARANCE

Toby looks really young compared to his actual age;

Toby has remained very thin and has never gained muscle mass although he does a lot of movement (for example: his exercises in throwing his axes);

He is 170 cm tall (which is equivalent to 5' 7'' ft, I hope I did the conversion correctly, sorry my European ass);

His skin is very pale and, in appearance, Toby seems almost sickly and weak;

His skin contrasts with his dark hair, his dark eyes and with the large wound near his mouth;

His hair are slightly longer than when he was a teenager but continues to have a very dark totality;

He doesn't really take care of his hair, so they're very tangled most of the time, but they would be slighttly wavy;

Because of his facial wound, he rarely removes his mouthguard;

It's normal for him to keep it on, sometimes he sleeps with it;

HIS AGE

As previously mentioned, Toby seems young, he looks around 22/23 years old;

However our man is 27!!!

Yes, surprise, he's not a 17 year old teenager;

Precisely because he is getting older he has many resentments, after all he didn't enjoy his life as a student and adolescent at all nor his life as a child (given his abusive father);

For this reason he is very jealous of the kids and teens he meets during undercover missions;

(the voices tell him to kill everyone who has a good life but Toby knows it's wrong since it's not anyone else's fault that he had a horrible life);

(but still, Toby remains a violent and aggressive man, so as not to listen to the voices and not to actually kill everyone on sight, to prevent this, he will bite his nails until they bleed. Promptly Masky will hit him on the back of Toby's head telling him to stop giving in the eye);

HIS PRONOUNS (+ THE VOICES)

Toby uses male pronouns, however for the voices he uses they/them;

In fact, it happened that he spoke about the voices to some proxy or to a resident of the mansion;

I see Toby as pansexual;

Having never had the chance to fall in love with anyone during his life as a "normal" person, Toby is not attracted to any particular gender;

However, he would be interested in having a relationship and/or sexual intercourse with a possible partner;

To be fair, he had a short-lived relationship with Clockwork;

However, Toby has begun to see her not as his girlfriend but as an older sister/mother figure he can confide in;

One of Toby's problems is in fact that of becoming very attached to girls who are extremely protective of him and physically strong;

Precisely because they aren't weak and can defend themselves, Toby loses the instinct to protect them, an instinct he has with a weak partner;

He'll lose all romantic feelings;

I think this happens mostly with women since in his childhood the only positive figures were his mother and Lyra;

At that time he felt he HAD to protect them, however, when he couldn't, he fell into depression;

HIS PERSONALITY

His personality is difficult to define;

Given his Personality Disorder, even Toby no longer knows who the real Toby is;

However, he doesn't care much, he lives in a place (the mansion) where it's better not to show his true self, except to trusted people;

He remains a nervous guy around other men;

It is simply an instinct that he has;

He goes from being aggressive and troublesome to docile and not at all dangerous;

When he is docile, however, he may suddenly break down and become angry;

Even in these moments he NEVER raises his voice;

Sure he could hurt someone physically but never raise his voice;

He is the type who looks at you with cold and impassive eyes or with crazy eyes and without any kind of sanity, all this in silence;

Which is even worse than someone raising their voice because you don't know how far you've gone;

It rarely happens that Toby gets angry with someone in the mansion;

But when it happens the proxies must intervene immediately since it is forbidden to injure/kill visitors of the mansion;

HIS RELATIONSHIPS WITH THE RESIDENTS OF THE MANSION

Toby doesn't really have a social personality, as we've already seen;

He had a hard time getting used to the constant coming and going of murderers, ghosts and demons inside the mansion;

At first he avoided EVERYONE;

When he has become accustomed to all those new people he will continue not to talk to them;

Toby made friends anyway;

I see him getting along very well with Ben, Nina, Jane and EJ;

He get along with Ben and EJ as they are the quietest in the mansion;

(Ben offers Toby the weed to keep him from hearing the voices);

Toby gets along well with Jane and Nina because they have been very kind to him (Jane only drinks when Toby is not around);

He hates Jeff because he drinks a lot;

Furthermore, Jeff, when he's drunk, doesn't stay in his room but wanders around the mansion looking for someone to take the piss out of;

We can understand that Toby still doesn't like alcohol and heavy drinkers;

He avoids Kagekao and Liu/Sully, however he tolerates them more than Jeff since they don't drink until they get drunk;

THINGS HE LIKES

To be alone: given his personality it's obvious that, even if he has some friends, he much prefers to spend time with himself and the voices;

Stargazing: observing the stars calms him, seeing the many white lights in the ink black sky gives him serenity. He doesn't mind doing it in company, sometimes he invites Ben to the roof and together they smoke weed in silence;

Smoking weed: he never did it as a teenager because he didn't have the time or the money but when he became friends with Ben he tried it... and he liked it! He finally manages not to hear the voices;

Listen to music: banal but understandable. Toby never had much free time in his childhood to have hobbies but I think he would have liked to play the electric guitar or bass. Unfortunately, he would not have been able to play either instrument given his frequent tics, especially under pressure. He listens mostly to songs with electric guitar solos;

Long walks: Toby walks in the woods alone a lot for the same reason he stargazes. He enjoys observing nature around him so much! He can also collect small treasures such as stones, leaves, flowers and much more;

Piercings: one little hcs I have for Toby is the presence of piercings! I think he likes them a lot because he feels valued with them, Toby is a little bit insecure about his appearance but with piercings he looks very cool! He has snakebites and an eyebrow piercing;

THINGS HE HATES

Alcohol: as I have said a thousand times Toby has alcohol-related traumas. He hates the smell, its effects, its taste and the people who drink A LOT of it;

Cars: when the car accident happened Toby got that big wound and lost Lyra. This was a lot for him in just one day. Furthermore, after his father's missing presence at the hospital even after hearing about the accident, it made Toby realize how little that man cared about them;

Bullies: he OBVIOUSLY hates bullies. He knows what it feels like to be bullied, especially he hates people who say "oh, well, someone make the bullying come back, please.". That's a big no for Toby, and if he hears someone say that, they should be prepare to be dead or something;

Toxic People: he hates these kinds of people with all his heart. Why does one person have to ruin another just for his own entertainment? what is the meaning of this? (I don't think Toby realizes that, through his 'job', he actually ruins people's lives. As already mentioned, the voices muffle his sensible and human thoughts);

Loud noises: I think Toby prefers silence to noise. He doesn't really know what silence is. Most of the time, although there are no outside noises, Toby only hears the voices that keep whispering things to him, sometimes giggling and other times even screaming, consequently noises outside of the voices worsen his headaches;

I consider Toby a really controversial character but, somehow, very fun to describe and write about ^^

I hope these general hcs for Toby fulfilled the request :D

♡

[jjjacobine]

erm wat the scallop

i worked too hard for this

meet the Kondors! who are, TOTALLY just not a recycled oc for fun

lore will b under a spoiler so it doesnt look too long

Condors are known to be always watching with careful eyes, observing the area to scavenge for carcasses to consume intermittently. They are part of nature's recycling system by eating leftover waste by other predators.

REPLIKA OVERVIEW:

Katastrophenabwehr-, Nachrüster und Demontierer- Replika

- 'Kondor' - (Disaster Response, Retrofitter and Dismantler Replika, Condor) Type: Generation 5 General Surgeon Replikas Frame: Biomechanical with Polyethylene Shell Height: 170 cm

These units are doctors, particularly surgeons; specialized for intense care for gestalts and maintenance of other replikas, as well as dismantling replikas and disposing deceased gestalts.

KNDR Units are the maintenance crew and healers of replikas and gestalts. These are worker units working diligently and meticulously to maintain the health of the Nation's people and keep the Nation's replikas functional. Fitted with nimble, flexible hands and arms; they are designed to reach into nooks and crannies within a humanoid body to reach hard places. KNDRs are specialized in both gestalt and replika anatomy, however they NOT are fit for combat. KNDRs are mainly stoic and professional, social enough to be presentable to patients but not as excitable as the EULR units.

REPLIKA KNOWN ISSUES:

Kondors are made to work in hospitals as doctors and surgeons, however they are often stiff and lack sensitivity, thus must work with at least one Eule unit to not spook, offend, or have trouble with gestalt patients. They should not be disturbed whilst on the clock as disrupting their schedule or cycle leaves Kondors frustrated and degrade. They should not be given or shown anything related to birds, particularly eagles, whether images, stuffed toys, and other fetish items made in its image. They should not be given any photographs or mentions of forest rangers, should not be given firearms, and avoid interacting with animals to avoid gestalt memories from resurfacing.

Kondors are given fetish items, made to write in diaries and calming activities for persona stabilization such as cooking, sewing, a stuffed toy so long as it is not an eagle of any kind.

Kondors should be observed while interacting with young gestalts, (i.e children) under the supervision of a senior Eule unit. Although it is great for maintaining persona stabilization, it may also lead to Gestalt memories to resurface should Kondors get attached to children and treat them as their own, and must be immediately separated or decommissioned to prevent further persona degradation.

STOLEN DOCUMENT:

-CLASSIFIED INFORMATION-COMMANDER EYES ONLY-

KNDR units are based off the late gestalt, Reese Jakobsen's neural pattern. A long deceased professor of animal and human biology. Most of her gestalt memories are wiped to enhance the surgical capabilities of the replika. However the gestalt's grief over her lost daughter is a long pesky hurdle into making the Kondors reach its maximum efficiency, as they often struggle dealing with young gestalt patients ages from 1-15 years old.

It should be suggested that they do not interact with children, and should instead leave questions and routine checkups, inspections, to the Eules. Or if unable to do so, at least have one or two more other replikas within the room to guide the Kondor and maintain professionalism to avoid persona degradation. They should be immediately decommissioned should persona degradation start, it is not advised to risk maintaining a failing unit with reduced efficiency due to degradation.

[temtamtom]

I’d love to hear if you have any headcanons around rome and his boys <3

Ouhh,,, I'm so normal about this family bro I swear,,,

I tend to flip-flop between making Rome their father or their grandfather. I usually go with the father route, but I do have AUs and storylines where he's their Nonno :)

(In addition to the point above, a plus-side of Rome being their dad is Romano gets to call him "Babbo". I also like calling him "Babbo Roma")

Romano looks the most like Rome. It's more apparent when you compare him to Rome's younger self when he didn't have as much muscle or stubble. I like to think they have a bust of his head in their shared apartment and, upon first glance, other nations often mistake it for a statue of Romano.

I mentioned this in a previous post but Romano and Rome share the same name. For the sake of simplicity, however, people usually call him Romulus.

Rome is 165 cm, Romano is also 165 cm, Feliciano is 170 cm, and Seborga is 178 cm. Romulus is very impressed with Sebby's height, and always compliments him on it. One of his favorite compliments is telling him he would make a great centurion with the right training (at which point the twins have to cut in and say no their baby brother will NOT be a soldier of any kind, thank you)

Rome is definitely very protective over his boys, which I'm sure is something their partners enjoy dealing with. I have fun imagining what his reaction would be to various partners/ships.

In the case of GerIta/ItaGer, I wouldn't be surprised if Romulus demanded Feliciano break up with Ludwig as soon as he found out he was German (as if Feliciano would listen) kdhfkj

I talked about this headcanon on my main blog (in Italian, though), but I'll bring it up here too. Rome usually spoke to his boys in some form of Latin, but he began learning Italian when Seborga joined the family. The kid was probably around 3-4 years old when Rome first met him and obviously didn't speak a lick of Latin.

Now onto some more serious stuff:

Rome lived past 476 AD. The last time Romano and Feliciano saw him was around 546, when Romulus sent them out of the city at the tail-end of a devastating siege on Rome during the Gothic Wars. They were separated to increase the chance of one child surviving- one heading north and the other heading south to their respective territories. Whether he survived past that is unclear to many nations. Some claim they spotted him in various places throughout Europe, a husk of the man he once was. Others believe he lived in hiding in the Byzantine Empire. No one is certain about what happened to him, and his ghost has a difficult time remembering what happened after the Gothic Wars.

This is deserving of its own more analytical/detailed post, but here are my two cents on what their relationship/dynamic looks like (in my mind). Though Rome loved his boys deeply, and the brothers loved him in return, life was not always peachy. There were certainly a lot of expectations put on their shoulders from a very young age. Rome had spent his entire life building an empire and a legacy, something he wanted to live on through his descendants, namely Romano. The firstborn, the fighter, and the one who commanded attention easily. The one who looked and acted the most like Rome did in his own youth. Under the right guidance, he could be shaped into a leader. However, this meant the boy was often scrutinized heavily by those around him and judged more harshly than his twin. He wasn't respected as his own person and was merely seen as an extension of his father/grandfather. Feliciano, on the other hand, was on the "weaker" and "softer" side. Rome adored him and coddled him, treated him more gently than Romano, but he didn't really respect him, if that makes any sense? So Feliciano felt the need to compete and one-up his brother to prove his own worth, even if it caused the brothers to start fighting (physical altercations were not uncommon). Romulus didn't seem to notice these issues. How could he when he was often away from home? In his eyes, his family was doing just fine. They seemed like two happy kids whenever he was around, and any fight that broke out between the twins was often chalked up to "brothers will be brothers"/"boys will be boys". These familial issues went completely unchecked for most of the boys' lives, and it wasn't until more modern times that they started to reflect on their childhood and its impact. Not all was doom and gloom in their childhoods ofc, but there were certainly quite a few issues. Like I said, this probably needs its own post kjfdgk

[mariacallous]

On Tuesday, the Senate passed a massive foreign aid package that included an ultimatum for TikTok: Divest or be banned from operating within the US. The package was approved by the House of Representatives on Saturday, and President Joe Biden said that he intends to sign the bill on Wednesday.

“Even as our social media platforms have fumbled in their response to foreign influence operations, there was never any concern that these platforms are operating at the direction of foreign adversaries,” Mark Warner, chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said ahead of the vote on Tuesday. “I cannot say the same for TikTok.”

For more than four years, Congress has threatened to ban TikTok, citing potential risks to national security. Last month, the House approved a separate divestiture bill, but the measure stalled out in the Senate after lawmakers like Senator Maria Cantwell argued that giving TikTok six months to find a new owner was too little time. The new bill extends the deadline for up to an additional six months, giving TikTok a year to sell.

“It is unfortunate that the House of Representatives is using the cover of important foreign aid and humanitarian assistance to once again jam through a ban bill that would trample the free speech rights of 170 million Americans,” TikTok said in a statement shortly after Saturday’s vote. The company did not immediately respond to the Senate’s vote on Tuesday.

The effort to ban TikTok has become politically fraught, especially as more politicians join the platform to campaign in the 2024 election. For years, the Biden administration and campaign avoided creating their own accounts on the app, opting to build out a network of influencers to fill the void. But in February, Biden’s reelection campaign joined TikTok. In March, Biden told reporters that he would sign the bill.

Responding to this revived divestment effort, former president Donald Trump blamed Biden for attacks against the app. “Just so everyone knows, especially the young people, Crooked Joe Biden is responsible for banning TikTok,” Trump wrote on Truth Social on Monday. “He is the one pushing it to close, and doing it to help his friends over at Facebook become richer and more dominant, and able to continue to fight, perhaps illegally, the Republican Party.”

The Trump administration was the first to go after TikTok. In 2020, Trump signed a series of executive orders banning apps like TikTok, Alipay, and WeChat. Court challenges prevented these orders from going into place. Last year, Montana lawmakers voted to ban the app, but a federal judge blocked the law from taking effect, saying that it “likely violates the First Amendment.” After the bill passed the House on Saturday, the company’s head of public policy, Michael Beckerman, told staff in an email that if the bill were signed into law, “we will move to the courts for a legal challenge.”

Many lawmakers have cited national security and data privacy concerns as their primary motivation for supporting the bill.

"Congress is not acting to punish ByteDance, TikTok or any other individual company,” Democratic senator Maria Cantwell, said in a floor speech on Tuesday. “Congress is acting to prevent foreign adversaries from conducting espionage, surveillance, maligned operations, harming vulnerable Americans, our servicemen and women, and our U.S. government personnel.”

Critics of a ban have long argued that passing a sweeping data privacy bill could satisfy most of the complaints lawmakers have over TikTok’s security, as well as those posed by US-based companies.

“Congress could pass comprehensive consumer privacy legislation, which would, I think, take more meaningful steps toward addressing a lot of the data privacy concerns that have been raised about TikTok,” says Kate Ruane, director of the Center for Democracy and Technology's Free Expression Project. “And I do not think that there is public evidence that is currently available to demonstrate that extreme, serious, immediate harm exists.”

[nct-kiss]

( face claim: xiang hanzhi [ actress ] ) ( voice claim: lea cota )

Stage Name: Lilia

Birth Name: Lilian Lockwood

Nationality: American

Position: Main Dancer, Vocalist

Birthday: December 21st, 1999

Zodiac Sign: Sagittarius

Height: 170 cm ( 5'5 )

Weight: 59 kg (130 lbs)

Blood Type: AB

Representative Emoji: 🍋

Instagram: lil_lockedwoods

LILIA FACTS

She was born in Wuhan, China.

She grew up in San Francisco.

Education: The Urban School of San Francisco, School of Performing Arts.

She was adopted when she was almost a year old.

She has a brother.

Her adoptive parents are both doctors.

She said that she tried reaching out to her birth mother but she was denied contact.

Her favourite colour is sky blue.

Nicknames: Locky, Lily, Woodie, Yingying, Lannie, Lia

She is part of NCT KISS and WayV.

Kun gave her Chinese name which is Lanying.

Motto: What's meant to be will always find a way.

She prefers lemonades over coffee.

She has two guinea pigs called Tinks and Bubbles.

She likes listening to Lofi music whenever she is travelling.

She shares a room with Koyo.

Her hobby is photography.

She was visiting Korea for vacation when she was scouted.

She and Minhee didn't get along when they first met.

During trainee days, she tried stabbing Haechan with a pencil because he was annoying her.

She and Mark became friends over their dislike for Haechan during the trainee days.

She was part of SM Rookies.

She's allergic to seafood.

She doesn't like going to the gym but goes along to sit and keep her members company.

She says that the KISS dorm is like a petting zoo with the amount of pets everyone has.

She has Asthma.

She says that she used to be very sick when she was young and that's why her parents were scared to let her move to Korea.

She says she's the least athletic in the group.

She says she doesn't want to be born again, but if she was, she wants to be a tree.

Her adoptive father passed away in 2020.

taglist: @mosviqu @colourlikechampagne