#34:36

[glimmerofawesome]

[a-man-of-questionable-morals]

little sketch of old man retired simon (after shower ofc), don't get me wrong i love seeing artists draw him with his buzz cut, he's like an angsty tennis ball, but i love making my men hairy, so,, i think he'd grow his hair out and try out a beard

[freetobeafcknriot]

╰┈ ‘‘You murdered OUR BROTHER—!’’

ft. Allison & Klaus Hargreeves in The Umbrella Academy, season two episode four (2024).

[zishuge]

The Spirealm 致命游戏 (2024) | Ep. 36

[transwaterbender]

Got these new shorts yesterday :p

[itsnotmourn]

aussie summer beating me up rn

[snuize]

I would like to make everyone aware of catboy batman

For context: he loses his memory making him basically 7 years old again and of course catwoman tricks him into thinking they are crime fighting partners

[kenandeliza]

Jeep The Monkey and Freddy watercolor

[batsplat]

We were a good team. And we had a lot of fun in that 1996 season. Or rather, I had a lot of fun. That was me at my craziest. I really was an absolute pest. I had no respect for anyone on the track. To me they were all the same, it made no difference if it was a veteran vying for the title, or a debutant like me. I just wanted to go fast, very fast, and if I saw an opening, I went for it. I wanted to overtake everyone, come what may. In other words, I made people uncomfortable. I was fast, but I made mistakes. Too many times I threw away decent positions. I think I must have fallen fifteen or so times that season. In the very first race, I got into an argument with Jorge Martinez. We were at Shah Alam in Malaysia. I was making my debut and had secured a spot in the third row. I started very well and I'm not sure how, but I somehow found myself alongside the leaders early on. I was cruising along somewhere between seventh and eighth position. At one point, Dirk Raudies was in front of me and Martinez just behind me. Raudies' engine seized up, and, to avoid him, I instinctively braked, changing trajectory. Martinez was unable to avoid me, hit me, and fell. That was the year in which Martinez, riding the "official" Aprilia, was heavily favoured in the race for the title. I had just upset one of the darlings, one of the "untouchables" of the world championship. I finished the race in sixth place and was quite pleased. In fact, everyone around me was pleased, we were all celebrating. Then, suddenly, I came face to face with Martinez and Angel Nieto. "Son of a bitch!" they shouted. "We're going to tear you a new arsehole!" That's when I realised they probably did not like me very much. So I slipped behind the mechanic, who was a big guy, using him as a shield. The two Spaniards were rabid, they looked as if they wanted to beat me up, so the big mechanic did come in very handy, as a deterrent. But I soon started enjoying the scene, rather than being frightened. The pair of them were absolutely furious, but they also looked so funny, in the way that only short people can look funny when they get really angry. And both of them were tiny, unintimidating in every way. I was not really worried at all.

Valentino Rossi in his 2005 autobiography, What if I had never tried it

he went on to beat jorge martinez for his first ever race win - from the rec list:

[dramaism]

As long as you're still by my side, I don't suffer a loss.

Lighter & Princess (2022)

[brookebeamsbig]

💭 harley quinn #32-37

it's time to process tini howard and sweeney boo's second story arc. unfortunately, harley is still hammering it out with the multiverse, but this time she is working with lady quark instead of against her. kinda.

now we have a new force to reckon with - the brother eyes.

howard is again enjoying throwing in dc deep cuts with the brother eyes (meaning I once again got to do a google deep dive). I do appreciate this true conceptualizing of harley in a broader, shared universe.

in howard's story, the brother eyes work for lady quark. on a craft level, this is an excellent setup for what howard's trying to do in this arc because so does harley. this creates a parallel within howard's tale that mirrors the overarching parallel howard bases her story reasoning upon.

because why are the brother eyes so interested in harley? in watching her and understanding her and mapping her? because she was once a sidekick who made something of herself. and they want to do that, too.

I like this idea. I like it a lot. it creates a unique story around one of the things that makes harley truly special. but I never said howard had bad ideas.

but before I get into the perils of howard's writing, I want to do a run down on some other important players in this arc.

in harley quinn #32, we get introduced to lux kirby, p.i. lux is a completely new character from this creative team, but I couldn't help feeling a sense of deja vu when they appeared. the "detective" seeking out a multiversal harley murderer felt a lot like something out of stephanie phillip's last arc. just sayin.

however, ultimately, I liked lux and what they brought to harley and this story. they were a fun catalyst and means to much of the action. I always vibe with a character like that. and they were a good friend. harley struggled a lot with her mental health and self-perception in these issues, and lux helped ground her.

speaking of friends, KEVIN'S BACK :DDD. and acting like kevin. god bless.

I was sososo pissed when howard essentially fucked kevin over at the beginning of her run. but she definitely put in the time here to make it up to us. that sequence where harley had to anticipate kevin's choices in order to locate him in the multiverse was genius.

there's also two groups of characters from the first arc that play an important role in this one - bud and lou and harley's college class.

y'all know I always love the babies. I appreciate that howard wanted to do something big and bold with them. I liked the twist where they were the suspected murderers. BUT a lot of their actions here were just convoluted to create conflict and drama. like... we can't tell harley the brother eyes are out to get her because... why???

and I thought it was fun having harley's class get dragged along in her adventures. but every time, it felt like howard got the concept but fumbled the execution. harley's class ends up on warworld? cool! but it feels too smooth and rushed and weird. harley's students get turned into omacs? oh no! except there was no emotional or consequential impact.

sadly, that's a common occurrence for howard's writing. howard has exciting ideas, but her writing is too surface level with bad transitions and flow. much of the time I feel like I'm reading her bulleted outline, not the final story.

she rushes pivotal moments. we end an issue with the brother eyes about to reveal harley's worst moments, but then we gloss over that at the beginning of the next one. she throws out plot threads and doesn't carry them through. we should be concerned that the warworld royal family has been turned into omacs, powerful weapons to be used against harley, but then we don't see them anything until they're healed.

that's not to say every single line or scene is bad. howard has said that harley's mental health is one of the most compelling parts of harley's character to her. we can see that reflected in the comics - in the storyline and themes but also in the moments that shine.

I thought the multiverse sequence in harley quinn #37 was the strongest part of this arc. (this does not count the framing narrative.) each scene portrayed harley's fears and doubts about her own capabilities and power in a creative way. what if she became the controlling one in her relationship? what if she was good but still so unstable she had to be locked up? what if she pushed everyone who cared about her away?

sweeney boo's art also had some great moments depicting harley's mental state from her spiraling to her negative self-talk.

however, as with everything in this run, the depiction of harley's mental health has its downsides. howard leans too much into sentiments like "oh no, everyone will think I'm bad!" "oh no, everyone's just putting up with me! "oh no, I'm such a screw up!" and "oh no, I'm going to get in trouble! better hide!" it reads too childish and infantilizing for a capable grown woman who has a PhD in psychology and a lifetime of living inside her own mind.

of course, I think harley's going to have worries, doubts, and fears as she navigates being a hero. exploring this is good since this is the story route we're taking. but howard often fails to strike the right balance.

unfortunately, this bleeds over into the depiction of harley and ivy's relationship. there's this idea that ivy has to handle or deal with harley. that harley's too loud and too much. that harley could disappoint ivy at any moment. harley shouldn't be a problem. harley should be a partner.

along those lines, when harley and ivy aren't fighting, ivy isn't doing... anything. she's just there. in a way that feels eerie. like we're still in knight terrors: poison ivy #1. you can see it in the facial expressions.

harley hides her shenanigans from ivy for most of howard's twelve issues because "oh no, ivy's going to be mad at me!" even when harley finally tells her what's going on, ivy sits it out. and it just... really sucks. ivy is harley's PARTNER IN CRIME. always has been. she should be IN ON THE SHENANIGANS.

I do acknowledge that this might be a broader dc editorial problem since ivy has her own ongoing and concurrent story, but STILL.

this second story arc was far from one of my favorite harley quinn tales, but at least now we can move on from this multiversal madness. (please gawd let us move on from this multiversal madness.)

[arazsen]

//MHA VL. 34 - 36 SPOILERS//

I just recently got back into My Hero again after, like, idk, 2 to 3 years after my hyperfixation ended?? (I still kept up to date but wasn't as into it) I binge read volumes 34 to 36 in less than 24 hours and . . . WTF!?

I was already spoiled about Aoyama being the UA traitor so it didn't hurt as bad but I still felt so upset for my precious flamboyant baby. 😭

THEN

When I got to volume 36, I was like "huh, since Midoriya was warped to the wrong place wouldn't it be funny if Bakugo just straight up died before he could get there? Haha . . ."

. . .

I hate myself.🥲

WHY HORIKOSHI!?!!??! WHY DID THE VOLUME HAVE TO END LIKE THAT!?!? THAT CLIFFHANGER WAS AN ATTACK ON MY HEART!!

It was one thing to see THAT panel of Bakugou on my phone, it's an entirely different thing to actually read it happening and see the looks on everyone else's face once they realize what just happened.

I. Am. Sobbing.

[purpurussy]

i can't believe phil is almost in his phorties, that's hot

we're not there yet but every day we edge closer to phan old man yaoi. and i think that's beautiful

[jtl-fics]

FOXHOLE BAKE!!! I wanna see that cake!!!

(also do they realize for their own wedding cake they could get both/separate tiers? or maybe just like a cupcake for neil while everyone else gets the chocolate?)

WIP Wednesday 1-3-24 (Closed) | Foxhole Bake AU

"No." Andrew answers back, again with zero elaboration.

"Would add some nice additional sweetness to your cake. The fruit is looking quite tart." Prue suggests.

"Don't want it too sweet." Andrew responds back again.

"Didn't think sweetness is a real problem for you mate." Noel says as the camera plays a reel of Andrew eating the majority of his bakes the day before.

[lonestarflight]

NASA "Missile Row" at Cape Canaveral. In the top left, the VAB is under construction.

Date: November 13, 1964

NASA ID: KSC-64PC-82

[petoskeystones]

*blows a kiss to san jose* for jake walman