#Also this was one of the first modern comics I tried to keep up with back in 2005 or 06 or whatever so

[ask-cloverfield]

[insanermin]

modern loser!ellie headcanons :)

✮ ellie would see a device with a screen, then ask "but can it play doom?" and laugh about it for way too long.

✧ you'd make her watch an anime or read a manga and she won't admit that it's good because comics are superior to her. it's either that or the opposite.

✮ "yeah i used to skate," she tried it out once when she was younger and broke her arm. she's too embarrassed to talk about it.

✧ "no, i deleted tiktok," screen time on youtube is 6 hours. explains the can it play doom. that being said she'd probably find rush e super funny too?

✮ she eats in complete silence, no youtube videos for background noise but makes so much noise eating... though that's the only time where she's not talking your ears off.

✧ ellie has the urge to say "name 10 songs" whenever someone talks about a band she likes. she will make sure you're aware that any band you mention, she knows said band longer than you.

✮ she loves the legend of zelda. and she won't shut up about it if she recently played it. "yeah if i didn't play on an emulator bet i could submit it," (she struggled in majoras mask and couldn't find the first stray fairy)

✧ but apart from being a huge nerd she's extroverted. she wants to be mysterious and intimidating (and she is if you just look at her) but the minute she opens her mouth... all gone.

✮ ellie flirts a lot when she's high and thinks that she's super attractive and mysterious (its the third time she's quoting jaden smith's "can we talk about the political and economical state of the world?")

✧ she uses one (1) hair tie. steals hair ties from others as soon as she loses hers and lies terribly about it. "no this isn't yours ahahaha i found this one somewhere..."

✮ can someone please retire her air force 1? they look like they've been through 3 wars but she refuses to get new ones because she's attached to them. "no these shoes, they're real ones. been with me through thick and thin."

✧ "you sure it doesn't bite? or has rabies? haha just making sure, you know." when visiting a friend with a cat. will keep some distance for the "cats safety" but said cat violates her. (cat sits on ellie's lap)

a/n: felt like writing smth but not really and headcanons are pretty fun,,, also i broke my toe. in half.

[zahri-melitor]

Batman v Ra's Al Ghul, by Neal Adams: A Bronze Age fever dream of a comic, written in 2019-2021.

Neal Adams caps off his over 50 year career with DC comics by...them letting him write a book for the first time in a decade.

Now, Adams is famous for his Bronze Age artwork, not his writing, and it's deservedly so: this is not the comic you would pick up if you were interested in award winning writing. But I have to say, it's actually something far more fun than 'good writing'.

I think the easiest way to describe the incredibly wild vibes of this title are 'Adams writes a multiverse Bronze Age time travel AU fic', where the cast technically consists of a modern set of characters (Dick is Nightwing and both Tim and Damian are Robin), but all of the characters are drawn, talking and acting like they just walked off a page in 1974 or so.

For assistance, that's: Dick in the yellow with the very 70s black vest; Tim in the blue t-shirt; Damian in the red t-shirt; and Bruce in the suit. You end up keeping track of them in this title by their haircuts.

Bruce and Damian here cannot remember anything about being Batman and Robin; Dick and Tim appear to have shown up with a fantastical story that cannot be proven (as I said, this has INCREDIBLE reality hopping AU vibes).

Some of the characters have been mindwiped. Some of the characters are robot duplicates. A whole list of characters Adams helped create show up largely because he created them (seriously Kirk and Francine Langstrom show up for a couple of pages mostly to give Dick and Tim an airlift into a difficult to reach entrance to the Cave). Nobody sounds particularly in character at any point, but that's not really a problem in this comic, because what it really is is a giant jolt of Bronze Age style writing nostalgia direct to the brainstem.

They don't make comics like this anymore and reading one written in the 2020s like this reinforces why.

Deadman's brother Aaron and sister Zeea show up; his brother is busy pretending to be an alternate Australian version of Batman called Marvin O'Hearn, and his sister is a psychic running around in the most 70s outfit imaginable controlling things and mindwiping Bruce on Ra's orders.

(And yes, if you too just asked 'Boston Brand has siblings???' the answer is 'kinda sorta but definitely not these two', however given Adams was writing Boston in 1968 at one point he's got as much right as anyone else to claim there are additional siblings)

There's a group who PRETEND to be the Court of Owls but secretly are a group of industrialists called The Money who want to control the world via paying for legislators, judges and industry (and yes I realise that sounds exactly like the Court's thing, but Adams was almost 80 when he wrote this, he can have an expy Court if he wants one).

Bruce pretends to be Matches for a good chunk of the back end of this comic and it actually acknowledges that Matches Malone was a real gangster before he died and Bruce stole his identity (something other writers and the fandom often forget), because Adams wants one more spin with the character he designed.

There's also a moment in the sixth issue where one of Ra's pet scientists tries to sell a panel of Gotham execs on a perpetual motion machine based on electrolysis as his replacement for the current Gotham power generators and at this point I lost it giggling at the portrayal of Ra's as a cheap charlatan.

(There is also a sneaky joke that only works if you know what British salad cream is; there's this sequence of the kids talking about Alfred making sandwiches with 'crappy salad dressing' instead of mayonnaise, only this tray has been made with mayo...and it's a hint that Alfred has been replaced by a robot. I laughed; I suspect it might be non-obvious to American audiences)

This is not a comic to read if you are interested in 'main continuity' or 'coherence' or even 'good writing'. However if you want some wild antics that feel like someone's 3am fanfic AU written in pure Bronze Age vibes and to see the last work of one of Ra's Al Ghul's creators? Give it a chance. You'll never be able to predict what's on the next page.

[pumpkinstrawbrew]

🆃🅷🅴 🆆🅸⨢.🅲🅷🅸🅽🅶 🅷△🆄🆁.

>>> the grim adventures of jon n' jack. feat batman n' spiderman. <<<

...

it was only a matter of time, before i would have made another crossover with those two. i can't deny, that they are very 1:1 for me, when it comes to comics supervillains. so why not to mix one awesome n' beloved thing with another? esp since funny enough, they do have quite a few similar plot-points. well, the halloween themed costume aside. i mean it goes as far as jack once having the bat-themed boyfriend pal, which reminds me of someone else, i know.

anyho'...

i've tried to make my notes more or less readable here, but they still might be a bit scattered. i attempted to keep them as short as possible, but i just cannot talk 'small'.

1. the first art is low-key based on underdeveloped AU, that i have about the early comic scarecrow n' modern jack meeting n' hitting it off serial killiar style. considering, that both of them possess killing methods, which have a noticable tradmark to it, i imagine that they will leave one hell of a mess behind, while traveling across the country. in that timeline, batman is dead. n' jack's shitty foster dad was killed off earlier on. neither of them knows what to do with themselves, since the people who they had *twisted* emotional conection with are gone. without any direction, they meet in the middle, n' decide that they can as well team-up n' try to make being a villain fun again. jon might experiment on their victims *or torture them if its his ex bullies* n' then give them to jack, who would scoop their brains out and put candle inside their skull. n' uh yeah, he literally did it in the comic. i was honestly surpised that marvel come up with smth that creepy. it really sounds more alined with dc, if anything. but either way, here they are. two *grieving* psychos going downtown. they will make one another so much worse, i imagine. n' they will totally kill that npc dude btw.

2. dark magic n' the drip. or jon n' jack at their corniest. like, jonathan looks like he watched too much the nightmare before christmas n' jack dress up like count dracula for no reason. it's so random-ish n' cheesy. but with this being said, i love both of those designs, n' think, that they really suit the vibe of comic issues in which they were featured. jack always came off as a he-witch to me, but it was nice to see it being played on in a different way. n' then, crane really rocks his own outfit as well. i totally need to draw him in it more often, haha. they dress up for a halloween party for real this time. n' well, i added batman n' spiderman into the mix here, bc i kinda wish that they got to fight / interact with those versions of jon n' jack. it would have been fun for a few reasons. also this can be technically counted as shipping art, but can be viewed as your typical gloating bad guy n' helpless hero thing too. n' to clear any possible questions, i only create stuff with adult peter parker. like cartoon era/late early comics, 20 smth one. i love my spiderman being of age, where he can legally mingle with his villains, not be detained at school lol.

3. the classic four from the timeline, when the comic plots were a bit more ligthearted. aka during the times, when the deadly mercenary n' crazy scientist were robbing banks, instead of harming *torturing* people. i love dark stuff, but there is charm to how 'simple' the scarecrow's and jack's goals once were. n' i love how the scarecrow used to do the lil, dorky dances. it really suits him. n' since at least 2 or maybe, most of jack o' lanterns are southernish in their roots like jon, i had an idea of them having a country dance *in the middle of graveyard* kinda just makes sense to me, haha. batman and spiderman merely happen to find them like that. n' well, it's kinda awkward. esp bc they technically don't do anything bad. i also imagine spiderman being like 'oh, so you have one of those too'. which is mostly a ref to how both the scarecrow n' jack were called 'the reject from land of oz' by other characters. they can rejoice here.

4. the develish & undead duo!! my friend once told me to try n' watch older superhero cartoons, and at first i was like 'welp, they prob be hella boring'. but then i caved in, n' watched a couple of superfriends episodes. as result, i fell in love with their scarecrow's desingh! it was unexpected tbh. usually, i prefer jon's older, classic scarecrow look. so no straw hair, less features exposed, just a hat n' a sack on his head, but their version of him actually did it for me. i find their crane both creepy n' cute. n' i also read on wiki, that he might be undead. so that bit interested me as well. non-human jonathan crane, what a concept! him returning from the grave just to be a menace to batman. n' to accompany him, there is an undead jack o' lantern from the ghost rider comic. his corpse literally got possessed by satan. anyways, both of them raised army of zombies. both of them undead n' prob won't ever get out of their spooky suits, since i don't think that they can. n' funny enough, jack's hometown was called sleepy hollows, if i remember correctly. so they can haunt people there, make it into a truly cursed land.

5. the last one was kinda spontaneous on my part. the other day, i was looking at what kind of action figures the scarecrow n' jack have. saw one, where jon was looking kinda strange, all black n' yellow. which is how i find out that he *apparently* got yellow lantern powers in newer comics, even if it was like for 10 seconds or smth. i didn't read the issue itself, but i found the idea kinda fun, n' his design was decent enough for me to get interested n' wonder what i can do with it. then, a bit later, i saw that jack had a venom-funko figure. i don't think, that he was ever canonically venomized in any of the actual comic issues, but once again, the mere idea of it happening was enough for me to consider doing smth with it. i mean, a venom-like tongue, but its made out of fire? dang. that's kinda cool. so yeah. the yellow lantern scarecrow n' symbiote jack o' lantern being the double trouble. if they weren't enough of a mean goblin-man before, now they surely will be.

[mamashenanigans]

MHA The Boys AU

Seriously. Who would like to read it?

Yeah, yeah, yeah, I’m still working on the AU that won the poll. Outlining it, but, due to my silly brain, I came up with this AU idea after watching two seasons of The Boys, so I REALLY wanted to share it!

Anyway, this is A LOT of brainstorming, so Read More under the cut

This AU takes place in the modern setting of The Boys, with Supes (those with superpowers) being created with Compound V. Vought, the evil corporation that manufactures Superheroes to market products, films, and etc for money, still experimented with the compound on some people prior to the present of the fic. One of the first(and actually true) superhero was Captain Hero, who has since died awhile before the events in the story. Captain Hero had fought in some wars, but gave that up as he hated having to use his power that way and instead wanted to help children. Vought saw the marketing opportunity and used him as a basis for what they have continued to do. Thus, the Captain Hero comics.

AFO was the first naturally born Supe, his mother having been experimented on and gaining only small spike growths. The twins were born and Garaki, the head scientist with the Compound V trials, decides to experiment on AFO since his power was the greatest supe ability to ever manifest. Although Yoichi is still frail since TTTS happened, Garaki still uses him as a control due to them being identical twins. After the experiments on him, AFO would always be brought back to Yoichi, who was the only person that treated AFO as a person and not just some lab rat. Yoichi was everything to AFO, LITERALLY, but Vought saw how they could use Yoichi to control AFO since his power and lack of parental figures was starting to create a monster. Vought gave up on allowing naturally born supes due to how terrifying AFO is.

The only entertainment they had were the Captain Hero comics, given in the hope that it would make AFO want to be like the hero. As in canon, he liked the Demon Lord more, but Yoichi always loved Captain Hero, so he eventually goes along with Vought’s plan to make him a marketable Supe because he wanted Yoichi to be happy and see him as a hero just like the one he loves in the comics.

At some point, Yoichi met Kudo and the latter realized that Yoichi was a pawn of Vought to control AFO. He tries to convince Yoichi to leave, but Yoichi knew he had to help keep his twin in control and also knew how hard it would be on AFO(and himself honestly) if he left his brother. After getting into a fight, Yoichi accidentally reveals Kudo’s plan and, in his anger, tells his brother that he WANTS to. AFO starts going insane and, when Yoichi tries to leave, he reaches out screaming at him and accidentally blows him up with a new Supe power he took.

Needless to say, AFO’s brain basically cracks at that point. The only thing that remains of Yoichi is his hand, which Garaki was more than willing to embalm for him to continue to try and keep him quelled. Vought also revealed that they have the recording of him killing Yoichi and, if it is released, no one would ever follow AFO again, so he sticks to his role as the face of the All for One #1 hero group, but also because he still wants to make Yoichi happy.

Since AFO is taking the place of Homelander, everyone is absolutely terrified of him and walk on eggshells all the time since he could snap at any moment even though he puts on a calm and heroic facade. Toshinori is a new hero added to the team with the ability to turn into a super powered version of himself(like he is in canon) for a short period of time. He is the Starlight character that joins because he really believes in being a hero before he realizes what is actually going on behind the scenes. I’m still trying to figure out what other heroes or villains take the place of the rest of The Seven from The Boys.

All Might does become a mole for One for All, the equivalent of The Boys team from the show. Kudo is the Billy Butcher, Bruce is the Frenchie, Banjo is Mother’s Milk, but I’m stuck on whether the other users of OFA are all there or if AFO or Vought has killed some of them. I’m thinking of maybe making Nana Queen Maeve’s replacement, but she has been working with One for All and maybe is the one that brings All Might into the fold?

AFO is known as The Suit since he still wears his signature suit and coat as Vought decided to go with the edgier look like Batman.

The story present has Izuku winning a chance to spend a week with the All for One team and will have a part in their new movie. His favorite hero is the new one, All Might, so he’s super excited to finally meet him! Buuuuuuuut, Izuku has eyes just like Yoichi’s and AFO takes notice quite quickly. He starts trying to bogart Izuku’s time and convince him how he’s so much better than All Might. Izuku ends up accidentally finding out about Nana and All Might being in One for All and they decide to bring him to Kudo and the others before he says anything stupid. Kudo notices the eyes too and learns from Izuku how AFO has been acting. He decides to use Izuku to get close to AFO to gain any evidence to prove how much of a monster he is.

This puts Izuku in a very dangerous position, especially because AFO is creeping towards cracking completely. Vought has spread the lie that Yoichi was killed by those in One for All to gain sympathy towards their hero team and to keep AFO’s denial in tact lest he goes mad over actually being responsible for Yoichi’s death. He had already stated that it’s all Kudo’s fault and Vought runs with it.

Unfortunately, Kudo’s vengeance gets the better of him and he forgets the day Yoichi died until it’s too late: Izuku is with AFO and he finally snaps, superimposing Yoichi over Izuku. Now, One for All needs to do whatever it takes to save Izuku from him and also take down Vought and their superhero team by gaining then revealing sensitive information. Kudo’s idea: find the recording of AFO killing Yoichi, his own twin.

I’m also thinking Hawks will take the place of Mallory, the agent working hard to take Vought down and help with witness protection, funding, and passing evidence off to the government.

I’d love any ideas y’all might have for other MHA characters to be involved!

Let me know what y’all think!!!

[hinasho]

I'll tell you what people's problem with The Crow 2024 is — I'm a longtime fan by the way, I own the comics, I watched all the movies, so on.

The Crow 1994 managed to get the soul of the source material (comics). The Crow is a story about overcoming grief and acceptance of death — the author wrote Eric's story during his darkest periods of grief after his girlfriend was killed. So the story of Eric and Shelley have meaning, they are meaningful characters to a lot of people. Brandon's movie, while with some differences from the original story, still carried the same themes beautifully and the tragedy that happened during the filming made people (me included) turn protective over the memory of The Crow and it’s meaning.

There were three other movies after The Crow 1994 but they never dared to touch on Eric's character, instead they created new ones like Ashe Corven, Jimmy Cuervo and Alex Corvis. And those movies suck, don’t get me wrong, but people don’t have a problem with them because they didn't touch on Brandon's Lee legacy and di their best to stay on theme — grief and acceptance. They are their own thing, and that's that.

So did the comics. Eric story is the first main one, but no one took him and tried to continue it, he's pretty much untouchable, he has his beginning and his end. Instead, they created new Crows for their stories: Joshua, Iris Shaw, Mark Leung...There's a long list of existing Crows with their own stories.

The problem with 2024 The Crow is mostly that they called it a remake and took Eric's names to a character that doesn’t even resembles the original Eric — and I'm not saying in physical appearance, I'm saying his essence because the original Eric is a killer of bad guys, but he's also pretty charismatic; he loved life, he was gentle with the little girl Sarah he was friends with, he was kind, he was thoughtful, he even jokes around! Which, to many people, Bill's Eric does not resembles even a little bit of Eric's other than his name and neither does his story matches the themes and soul behind The Crow franchise.

The main gripe The Crow community has with the 2024 version is them taking Eric's and Shelley story, then changing it so much and losing it's soul when the easiest thing to avoid all this controversy and review bombing would've been just be like "Hey, we're making a new Crow movie, but we have created our own original protagonists for it!" just like people have been doing for years, because that's what 2024 Shelley and Eric feel like to people — original characters who just happen to share the names of the OG's.

Anyway, I watched the 2024 version and while Bill did a phenomenal job as always with what he was given and he looks so damn good, the story just...Didn't get me at all. There's not one bit of The Crow essence in there for me.

Hello, thank you for sharing your thoughts! 💞 I finally watched The Crow 1994 and City of Angels today (still need to watch Salvation & Wicked Prayer) so fortunately I now have a bit more context.

The problem with 2024 The Crow is mostly that they called it a remake

So to begin my breakdown: The 2024 isn't a remake of the 1994 movie. This seems to be a widespread misconception. But in all of the clips and trailers Lionsgate has released, they clarify that it's a "modern re-imagining of the original graphic novel". The movie never claims to be a remake of the 1994 film.

Now a fair debate could be how closely tied (or not) the '24 movie is to the graphic novel, which the two are remarkably different, but based on the reviews and comments I've seen, fans seem more inclined to keep comparing it to the 1994 adaptation despite Lionsgate never claiming they were trying to remake that specific film.

So basically, comparisons between '94 Eric and '24 Eric don't really hold up as valid criticisms in my opinion, because the director had no intention of adapting the '24 film from the '94 movie in the first place.

the original Eric is a killer of bad guys, but he's also pretty charismatic; he loved life, he was gentle with the little girl Sarah he was friends with, he was kind, he was thoughtful, he even jokes around! Which, to many people, Bill's Eric does not resembles even a little bit

'24 Eric is still a killer of killers. He only kills those that attack him first or had something to do with his and Shelly's deaths. He never kills needlessly.

In regards to him loving life, 2024 Eric does in droves! He actively hates having to kill so many people and takes no enjoyment out of it. The opera scene, while fantastic, wasn't a fun moment for him. Since her death, you can tangibly feel that all he wants to do is get back to his simple life with Shelly. He loves her and he loves the life they had.

As for him being charismatic, I can see your point there. In the graphic novels (from summaries I've read), GN Eric does have a morbid sense of humor and at times played around with his kills before finishing the job. His relationship with Sherri was brief but sweet and he gets a cute cat!! He continues to form relationships even after Shelly's death because of his charisma and kindness.

From a writing perspective, I believe all of these moments are intended to humanize Eric given the GN begins with him as The Crow pretty much immediately. We are introduced to him already in the throes of his grief and seeking vengeance.

In contrast, the '24 film paces the transition MUCH slower with the first act being about how Shelly and Eric meet, and the growth of their romance. I believe Director Rupert Sanders used those scenes to humanize the characters instead, which he accomplishes as both Eric and Shelly feel like they're just normal people dealt a shitty hand who only want to live their lives together. You can see the love they shared and how pure it was.

Basically, the core of the characters remain the same, just told in different ways throughout the story. In the graphic novel, James O'Barr humanizes Eric & adds levity in the midst of the carnage, while Rupert Sanders adds it before the carnage. Despite the timeline differences, both succeed in showing that Eric isn't a mindless murdering machine, and is just a regular guy who's been driven to the point of madness.

(It still would've been a nice touch for '24 Eric to adopt a cat for Shelly in the movie though.)

Bill's Eric does not resembles even a little bit of Eric's other than his name and neither does his story matches the themes and soul behind The Crow franchise.

From my understanding, the main themes behind the franchise are grief, the difficulty to move past it, and divine justice.

All three Erics suffer from visions of Shelly, who's memory plays on a feedback loop as they go about their spree. Something both the '94 and '24 films don't do, however, is touch on GN Eric's self harm tendencies. Which isn't a criticism! I'm merely discussing the different ways they show Eric's state of mourning.

The inability to move on is also still prevalent in the '24 movie. It's an active choice Eric makes when Kronos gives him the option to get his life back, and instead Eric submerges deeper and signs away his soul. He steps into it with his eyes wide open knowing he's damning himself forever.

Meanwhile in the graphic novel, Eric is already submerged. He is already a walking corpse, the embodiment of a heart so broken the only way to put himself back together is to weaponize the shards of his loss. I believe this is who '24 Eric develops into after the second act when he signs away his soul.

In the first act, he is human. In the second act, he is transitioning, and in the third act, he has truly become The Crow. Too deep in grief to escape it. The main difference between the '24 version and the GN version is that we see '24 Eric's journey to reach that final stage. It's the difference between character-focused narratives vs parable-like storytelling. Neither is inherently better than the other, just different.

And when it comes to divine justice, hmmm.....

In the GN, Eric and Shelly are killed and brutalized due to a completely random act of evil. The gang that killed them and assaulted Shelly had zero connections to the couple and were just some cruel, awful randos off the street. Based on what I've read, Eric nearly kills all of them without difficulty. Most of his hardship comes from his own bouts of depression and misery.

(By the way, by having the villains all be mediocre average goons, and majority of Eric's troubles be psychological, the GN focuses more on the danger of all-consuming grief, highly likely because of the trauma James O'Barr was experiencing when he wrote it. Meanwhile both the '94 and '24 films have Eric struggle a lot more during his fight scenes, elevating the danger of his physical opponents. But this is a tangent, back to what I was talking about!)

By all of them being average goons, the story gets across that: yes normal everyday people can and are capable of atrocious acts of evil, and yes they deserve to face the brunt of their crimes and divine punishment.

However in both the '94 and '24 movies, Eric and Shelly's deaths are not random and are planned crimes to silence Shelly. And both come up with a "big bad" for Eric to face off against. In the '94 movie, it was Top Dollar, a criminal kingpin, and in the '24 movie it's Vincent Roeg, a rich executive who's also a crimelord.

BUT what the '24 film does differently is that Roeg is also a supernatural being himself, who's made a pact with the devil to trade innocent souls for immortality.

This is probably the only area in which I agree with OG fans on that a central theme was changed. Because by making the main antagonist "unnatural", it's no longer about everyday, normal people committing horrible evils. It's about a supernatural entity on par with The Crow.

I think Rupert Sanders wanted to focus more on the supernatural aspect of The Crow universe. Which isn't necessarily a bad thing and definitely made for a fun movie, but I do agree with OG fans that the "grounded" nature of casual human cruelty was lost in that regard.

By implementing this change, the weight of Eric's vengeance is also changed. Because now it's no longer just personal. As the character of Kronos says in the movie, they need Eric to kill Roeg because he and all the deaths he's caused are unnatural and they essentially need Eric to tip the scales back into balance. While Eric's primary motive is still about doing right by Shelly, there's now an element of saving the world from an unnaturally superpowered tyrant, rather than the everyday cruelties of man.

So in this aspect, I do agree that a core theme was changed between the graphic novel and the 2024 movie. This still doesn't necessarily mean it's a bad story, just that Rupert Sanders had different intentions.

Because this still connects to the previous theme, the inability to move on and cope with death. Except now it's portrayed in the antagonist as well. His power is completely about his refusal to accept his own mortality. However, this does, like I said, detract from the normality of evil theme. So it's basically a gain and a loss 😅

(Plus, as I was writing this, I thought about how Eric's motivation is changed as well. In the '24 movie, Eric's goal is still to do right by Shelly, but it's to save her. Because if he succeeds, Shelly will be resurrected. This adds a noble spin to his killing spree, whereas the GN and the '94 film are solely about overwhelming rage at the loss of a loved one. There is no resurrecting Shelly. It's about enacting divine justice against their killers before traveling to the afterlife together. They're already dead and there's nothing GN Eric can do to change that, unlike 2024 Eric.

On the flip side, while this "nobler" take may feel like a negative change, I think it's countered by the fact that Eric succeeds in saving her, but is still dissatisfied because he's unable to actually be with her. GN and '94 Eric were able to find peace and reunite with their loves. '24 Eric only gets about 5 minutes before she's resurrected and he's stuck in purgatory forever.

At the end of the '24 film, both Eric and Shelly are dissatisfied as they can no longer be together. It's a bittersweet ending that feels more bitter than sweet. So while there is a "nobler" cause behind Eric's actions, the tone of the story is still very grim.

This is also why I believe the way the 2024 movie ended was with the intentions of a sequel where Eric does achieve his own peace. But that's a different conversation!)

...the easiest thing to avoid all this controversy and review bombing would've been just be like "Hey, we're making a new Crow movie, but we have created our own original protagonists for it!" just like people have been doing for years, because that's what 2024 Shelley and Eric feel like to people — original characters who just happen to share the names of the OG's.

Sure! I don't disagree. Well, I don't really think anything deserves to be review bombed unless it's content that's actively harmful. But I don't disagree with the original protagonists angle. Changing the names couldn't have hurt.

That said though, and I say this as gently as I can, Eric's character existed before '94 Eric and does not need to end with the '94 movie. I think it'd be one thing if the 1994 movie created the story of The Crow and that was the first iteration of Eric's character. But... it's not.

Multiple re-imaginings and adaptations of books / comics have been around since forever. The show Smallville and Man of Steel both adapt Superman in wildly different ways. Shakespeare's Taming of the Shrew has had five different adaptations, and yet no one shits on 10 Things I Hate About You (1999) or Deliver Us From Eva (2003) for being modern re-imaginings. Awhile ago, me and my friend were discussing our favorite adaptations of the Little Women novel. Her favorite is the 1994 film while my favorite is the 2022 modern Kdrama!

I bring up all of these examples to say that there is REALLY nothing wrong with doing modern re-imaginings of older works, and tweaking characters and plotlines to reflect the changed style of the story and time period.

What's most important is that the heart of the story is kept. At the end of the day, The Crow is about an innocent man who enacts divine justice against he and his lover's murderers, while struggling to cope with her loss. Based on the graphic novel and what I've seen of the 1994 movie and the City of Angels sequel, the world of The Crow says that life can be fair and that no matter how high, or low, or cruel, or spineless, someone is, that karma is a bitch and it IS possible for them to reap what they sow.

I truly think the 2024 adaptation captured that feeling, even if it may look different than what people might be used to or expected.

Instead of being upset about how unexpected it is, try going in with an open mind and seeing the story Rupert, Bill, and FKA Twigs wanted to tell. I've read and seen a few interviews by now, and these three were genuinely passionate about the characters & story, and you can feel that in the movie.

And even if you still have no interest, the other parts of the franchise you do enjoy aren't going anywhere. The 2024 adaptation doesn't effect them in any capacity. The stories you love still exist and the new addition can't harm or take them away from you.

[mirageofadesert]

"Out of time" - Appreciation post for Li Susu portrayed by Bai Lu

Out of time: Traumatized Time Traveler

Li Susu is chosen by fate, time and birthright to fight the Devil God. She has bravely faced him to protect her family, her sect and her world - and lost them all in the blink of a (red, sexy) eye. Travelling 500 years into the past to prevent the rise of the Devil God has left her traumatised and overwhelmed. On top of that, she has to find her way into Ye Xiwu's life, which has left her a mess.

Through it all, Li Susu never loses her distinctive personality. She has a strong moral compass, cares and loves easily. Within a few weeks, she reciprocates the love of Ye Xiwu's family and, according to Bai Lu, develops feelings for Tantai Jin's relative early on. She is also cheerful, cheeky and stubborn, but also smart and modest. This is where Bai Lu's charisma, chemistry and comic timing really shine.

As an audience, we see the world through her eyes. I have seen complaints about her early behaviour - described as cruel and contradictory towards Tantai Jin. It seems that one thing that divides the audience of Till The End Of The Moon isn't simply their opinion of Ye Xiwu early on, but rather the ability to emphasize with her character and behaviour. It seems that some people fail to understand her complexity. She is not mean or vengeful, she is overwhelmed and traumatised. Li Susu struggles to find the right path between her own morality, her developing feelings for Tantai Jin and her mission. I find this inner conflict fascinating and well portrayed by Bai Lu. She doesn't act in a logical way - but how could she do such a thing given the extraordinary circumstances she faces? I think the inner logic of her character is coherent.

Her introduction as the main character is well done, both in terms of writing and acting. We meet her at one of the worst moments of her life, which gives Bai Lu a chance to show off her acting skills right away. For me, a lot of dramas lack compelling female leads, especially before the character development unfolds, so seeing Li Susu's emotional turmoil in the first episode gave her depth and range from the start.

Out of time with the society around her

There is another meaning of the phrase "out of time" which I think fits Li Susu quite well: In the musical sense, it means "not in accordance with the appropriate musical rhythm or tempo". It refers to her not dancing to the same beat as everyone else around her. This is not only because of the time travel, but also because of her upbringing as an immortal "pure spirit body" in an isolated sect. This position as an outsider makes her a more relatable character to modern audiences.

Li Susu doesn't fit into the social and gender roles of her new era. Like the century-old demon Pianran, she defies these norms. She is free-spirited but righteous, conflicted but persevering.

The show challenges us to root for more multiple characters whose goals are at odds with each other. And if the audience is able to keep track of these different perspectives, and keep up with the tension of the resulting contradictions, the plot becomes a nuanced and complex story about the greater good of the world as well as the struggle to control one's own destiny.

I found Li Susu very likeable and enjoyed her journey through three arcs. However, I regret that the last arc was cut and that her character development was not allowed to fully unfold.

Out of time in her relationship with Tantai Jin

Li Susu and Tantai Jin are out of time in every sense of the phrase. As they travel through three arcs, three worlds and two lifetimes, they are never quite on the same page, never quite in sync.

In the first arc, Li Susu hides her true intentions and can therefore never fully reciprocate Tantai Jin's feelings. Tantai Jin then spends 500 years desperately searching for a spirit whose real name he doesn't even know.

In the final arc, Li Susu tries to move on from Tantai Jin while he still tries to resurrect Ye Xiwu. Once reunited, she tries to peruse the Heartless Way to seal the evil bone, while he tries to win her back.

They only get into rhythm for a brief moment after their betrothal before they are separated in preparation for their wedding.

In the final episodes, their initial roles are reversed, with Tantai Jin hiding his true intentions for the greater good and lying to Li Susu. He is running out of time to let her ascend to godhood and stop the All-in-Distress Way before it destroys everything. Even as gods, they are still not on the same page, as Tantai Jin denies her the choice to follow him into death and rebirth, instead tricking her into living on alone.

Nothing symbolises this theme better than the final scenes at their graves: visiting them and mourning each other at different times, never to be reunited again. This scene is so heartbreaking that even after watching the show four times, I still can't make GIFs of it because it makes me cry.

Never out of place: Bai Lu's acting

Bai Lu's acting is another highlight of the show. While her chemistry with Luo Yunxi is well documented, she actually manages to have great (non-romantic) chemistry with the entire cast. Their relationships always feel ingenious and alive. Between Luo Yunxi and Bai Lu, the showrunners have managed to hire four very impressive and emotional eyebrows!

Bai Lu's facial expressions are always on point and elevate her scenes. While her approach to comedy involves exaggerated facial expressions, in more serious moments she is able to portray many different emotions at once without it feeling out of place.

I have talked a lot about Luo Yunxi's acting in the show, but I think Bai Lu deserves a lot of credit for her role beyond their chemistry. She is such a joy to watch on screen! From funny to heart-wrenchingly sad, she made me go through so many emotions and tissues. To be able to touch the audience in such a profound way is the highest compliment I can give her!

Behind the scenes, Bai Lu is a vibrant and dedicated person who gives her best to every scene: Be it immersing herself in mentally demanding or physically exhausting scenes. I'm looking forward to getting to know more of her acting.

Edit: Spelling!

[trulytiredhermit]

You had been following up with the Linked universe comic for quite some time, you liked the Links' designs, the story, and everything it has to offer.

Stayed ever since the first part came out, you knew a lot about these characters even if you haven't played their game yet.

So what do you feel when you've woken up to a different world and meet the chain hours later?

Happiness of course! You get to meet the Links whose story in the comic you've been following since day one! You've got a lot of questions! But first, befriend them! Why would they tell you shit when they know you, right?

Oh wait that's too much.. Hahah.. Your curiosity is finally satiated, but at what cost?

They won't let you go.

oooooh!! Interesting!

Reader finding themselves in a new world and just going: Welp, guess this is my life now…. Oh neat people that look familiar…. Wait

But honestly I can fully see this connecting to you other ask and I might just combine them because now I got some thoughts in mind about an isekaid reader who knows about the games/Linked Universe comics but also knows they can't just outright fan over the Chain or spout off their many questions right off the bat.

So adding this ask in to this post as well then!

Okay so my first thought when reading these both was what if, on top of all of this, Reader didn't meet the Chain at first and realize where they were from seeing them, but like what if they saw Beedle or another prominent character in the Zelda franchise and THAT'S how they realized.

Then having rational thoughts, Reader knew they couldn't exactly go roaming about given how dangerous some of the Zelda games can be, especially for a modern Reader who wouldn't know how to use half the weapons available to them (especially if they got dropped in Hyrule's or Wild's world).

So Reader takes up a job and lands a place to stay, just trying to keep on getting by while figuring out what the heck happened and constantly hoping they'd get to see the Link of the world they got dropped into since they do be a simp.

Lo and behold one day while working they come across the group as you had put it and their mind implodes as they come to the startling realization that not only are they in the Zelda world but in the LINKED UNIVERSE COMIC WORLD!!

cue internal fanning and simping galore!

Like for example let's say Reader got dropped into Wild's Hyrule, met Beedle who brought them to one of the Stables and they then cut a deal with the stable owner that if they let them stay there and gave them meals, they'd work for the stable association doing whatever whilst doing odd jobs for travelers to make money on the side.

Then one day whilst airing out the bedding and the sheets they catch sight of a very familiar looking man with long blonde hair pulled into a long pony tail wearing a striking blue shirt and was also followed around by a shorter blonde ALSO wearing a familiar blue shirt.

.....and Reader just happens to overhear their names which were Wild and Wind....

So of course, Reader, upon realizing what's going on and who they are, tries to subtly get closer to the group because they are simping so hard right now, but they also try to be respectful and maintain their distance (as hard as it is) since they don't want to make the more cautious members of the group too suspicious of them.

Already too late since the stable owner and Beedle was telling the Chain about the mysterious worker they gained/person they found who had no background and was dressed in odd clothes and always seemed to hum strange songs that no one's heard of before.

So the Chain start trying to get closer to Reader to, trying to find out where they're from and what their story is while also keeping their respectful distance because they don't want to tip them off into being suspicious about them.

As the days pass and Reader and the Chain end up spending more time together and getting closer and closer, the truth comes out/one of the group realizes that Reader isn't from this world, isn't from ANY of their Hyrules.

But now there's a problem, because if they had known this before getting close to Reader they surely would have easily helped them find their way back home.

However now?

Now when they've gotten so close, shared laughs and stories, stayed up late with Reader around the stable campfire and spoke about deep topics, when they've had Reader comfort them and wake them from some of their nightmares without alerting the other patrons or godforbid the other members of the chain...

Well, they no longer feel the urge to be heroic and help Reader get home.

They just feel a selfish desire to keep Reader with them, to keep those bouts of laugher, fun times, and intimacy all to themselves and to never let it go.

*but no really I kinda wanna write a little one shot about this now*

[estradasphere]

PSP time :D

Initial thoughts:

First of all, absolutely beautiful. Glossy shell. My red one looks kinda pinkish in natural light. Charmingly retro UI.

Not the most comfortable to hold, but it's not bad. I think my hands are either too big or too small for it (probably the latter). Buttons are fine. Clicky. Analog nub is in a weird spot that kinda hurts my thumb to use?

May just be an issue with my unit but the headphone jack fits VERY tightly, not going anywhere while plugged in but also kinda hard to take out

Music and video players are pretty good! A lot more features than the 3DS equivalents (video player has fast forward/reverse, frame advance, screen fit...) Music does not seem to keep playing in sleep mode, which is unfortunate, but it does have some fun visualizers. Photo viewer is just a photo viewer, it's whatever.

Custom theme support is siiiiiiiiick, can't believe that's a built-in feature wow. You can also set a photo on your memory stick as ur wallpaper, overriding a theme's bg while keeping its custom icons n stuff (that's what I did up there).

In general it's worth noting how more *open* this thing feels compared to the 3DS - no region lock! (well except for UMD movies but whatever). Also supports a lot more languages than I expected, this is a Japanese PSP but also has system language options for English, Spanish, Chinese, Korean, Dutch... no CFW region change needed

As expected, internet browser is super outdated. Apparently had Adobe Flash support tho which is cool. And I was able to use Discross on it. Typing without a touchscreen suuucks though.

A lot of unusable dead shortcuts in the menu that when launched try to download from some defunct server - stuff like 1Seg, a comic reader, x-Radar Portable, SensMe™ (whatever that is), Internet Radio(?), RSS reader, none of those seem to work anymore. The Playstation Network / Store stuff is obviously dead too. I'm not making a Skype account just to see if that still works.

Speaking of Internet, it doesn't support modern WiFi security, so I have to use an unprotected hotspot from my phone in order to get online with this thing.

Installing CFW is dead simple, like, possibly the easiest setup ever, just put the files on the stick and launch the thing and then launch the other thing aaaand you're done. The whole plugin system is weird though (you have to manually add a line like "ms0:/seplugins/npdrm_free.prx 1" to a txt file or two every time you install one)

Since my PSP is Japanese, it uses O for confirm and X for cancel. Which, hot take maybe, is HOW IT SHOULD BE? FOR EVERYONE? WHY WOULD X EVER MEAN CONFIRM? WHY ARE NON-JAPANESE CONSOLES LIKE THAT?

The only game I've tried so far is Bejeweled 2. It plays fine. You really can't fuck up Bejeweled, though. I don't have any discs (hence why I CFW'd the thing, cough), but I have to say that a handheld that uses optical media is extremely cool.

...It's a charming little thing! I like it a lot!

[rarilee33]

@leedoodlesstuff @connorconsumestrousers and I have a Moral Orel 18th century au!

Some Bloberta outfit concepts and an Orel design at the top.

There are a lot of details but the Puppingtons are aristocrats; as in the comic here, Clay meets Bloberta, of the working class, singing at a music hall which she does to earn money.

She sees marrying Clay as an opportunity for upward mobility. She tries to convince herself she's attracted to him and stuff Clay thinks even though Blobs is poorer and all that she's pretty, seems intelligent (especially for a commoner : 0), and is very talented, and seems like she could be good wife/mother material. So they keep meeting and Angela like... is hesitant about her at first but lends her some clothes and Bloberta kinda starts to look to her as a better mother figure (Regina is not great) and Angela also starts to think of her as a daughter and she could definitely work for her Clay! Bloberta is elated she's being accepted by these people which helps her convince herself that this is a good idea. Clay probably sets it up so Bloberta can sing at social events they go to, if it involves a music/vocal performance, because it's good for him and she's more than willing to do it. She feels a bit like she's being exploited after a few times but she also loves to sing and it's helping her make friends or at least people who appreciate her voice.

More lore under the cut!

With Bloberta's upbringing she's used to doing chores and all herself and cleaning is a coping mechanism for her anyway so she cleans things when Clay's not there and the servants are all quiet about it cause they like her more than him. Bloberta is also afraid of being seen as lesser so she's extra careful to 'behave' in front of Clay and his associates.

Clay hushed [her background] up so not many people knew he was marrying her because he didn't want those reactions; only his closest associates knew Then he hires people to make sure she can act 'properly' in public. Bloberta wants to be accepted in society so she goes along but she often puts on a show when they're out and about obviously. She feels quite numb like in the show, like she's always playing this version of herself. She hates talking to other men's wives at parties and such. She gets a break when she's conceiving Orel and then is congratulated for producing a healthy male heir.

So the difference here is that Clay knows who Shapey's father is from the beginning, but I think they'd set it up so Shapey and Danielle don't interact so Shapey doesn't form an attachment to him.

As for Shapey- because it'd be different here as to Danielle's plan... the marriage and all is a different structure than it is in modern day moralton, Clay is in a position that benefits him and he keeps Bloberta around for that reason... so Danielle, if he wanted Clay, would just go to Clay in secret. His plan- Clay wants another kid but can't provide physically for another one so like... Danielle offers to have sex with Bloberta. And Clay is like "well okay" and then they hook up in private, but a lot of people in their circle have these affairs. It's not unprecedented for Bloberta, she's just frustrated that her husband (who she doesn't love) and this guy who had sex with her so she could have a second kid are f*cking elsewhere while she's like >: <. Some of the women in the social circle hear about Clay and Danielle and invite Bloberta, who they've known for several years now, into their uhh lesbian circle.

Orel thinks it's totally normal that his parents aren't even like together they're just creating a facade that isn't even for the other people in their circle cause everyone's f*cking each other; the facade is for those outside the circle.

He sees Danielle occasionally like "Oh that's my father's lover" and then when he sees any of Bloberta's ladies "oh there're my mother's lady friends". Then he like, goes out in town when he's 12-13 and he becomes friends with Doughy and Joe and them and it's apparently not everyone's parents who do this!

"Your parents don't have lovers besides their husband or wife? Strange"

Clay and Bloberta are both generally happy because of their relationships except when they have to spend a lot of time together, but it's not suspicious or anything that they are only (barely) platonic in public, it's normal. So they still feel stuck together (and Bloberta doesn't want to leave, with everything she has tied down in this life) but aren't at the same time. They actually feel more amiable to interact with each other if they have to or pass by in a hall because they aren't together in any context that matters to them, only a casual one that they don't have to do much to maintain.

[traincat]

got the sudden urge to re-read 'work song' this weekend after years of not really being into spideytorch anymore. the fic is still incredible, it's reminding me why i used to love them, but it got me wondering -- was there ever any canon fallout from sue, reed, and the kids being gone like that? i had already stopped reading the comics at that point.

It's funny, I've been thinking of Work Song recently too. I obviously like to get into the guts of canon in a lot of my fic, but Work Song was really an exercise in getting into the emotional fallout that comics tend not to deal with -- for both good and bad reasons. (I think the modern lack of dealing with pretty much any emotional fallout is bad, but also if you have a serial story you have to keep a certain amount of action going. Idk, complicated thoughts about pacing and sacrifices made for genre standards and the shifting of those standards from decade to decade, etc., etc.)

And the answer to whether the fallout is ever addressed in 616 canon is... kind of no? I think there were attempts made -- both Zdarsky in his Two-in-One series and Bendis, somewhat, in Infamous Iron Man were sort of digging into things, albeit notably before Reed and Sue were actually back. (Both of those series deal HEAVILY with their absence, though.) But both of those series were also cut short, and they have finales I'm not quite satisfied with, which in this case is the fault of neither author. I think Zdarsky tried with his final two issues of Two-in-One especially, especially the one that focuses on Johnny and Sue, but just didn't have the space to address the issue of Reed and Sue essentially leaving Johnny and Ben with the gravitas and nuance that it deserved. And given that Johnny is, you know, flat out suicidal over this issue in the first ten issues of Two-in-One, that's a problem. (IIM also has a disappointing final two issues, but it focuses much more on Ben and Doom than on Johnny. Hell of a setup, wish it didn't feature the biggest copout resolution of all time.) And again I don't think this is either writer's fault -- they were both clearly trying to do something interesting and emotional, and 2n1 had a really good set up and character work. It just wasn't given the space to stick any kind of landing before everything had to be wrapped up in a tidy little bow so Slott could write some mystifyingly bad stories. (I don't believe Slott ever seriously addresses the fallout, but I could be wrong. I skimmed the back half of that run hard.)

And also I think this was something of a foundational problem that sprung from Reed and Sue and the kids going missing not as an actual story point but as a hissy fit over film rights. There was never any solid plan in action for where they were or what they were doing or what Ben and Johnny fought over that caused Ben to leave for space and Johnny to spiral out of control -- it was all just "this is happening now because we canceled the Fantastic Four comic because we want the film rights." It's very hard to build a story on shaky ground like that when you've got multiple writers, all who seemed to have slightly different takes, and apparently no one on an editorial level actually managing all of that to make sure there was a cohesive story in place. Even if the reader doesn't have that information, there should be some kind of established story for the writers to follow, and it kind of seemed like there just wasn't. (I say "kind of seemed" because obviously I wasn't there and I don't know for sure, but also like, we know for sure that there wasn't. By reading the comics it was very clear that there wasn't.) It's frustrating to think about it now because it could have been some really great storytelling, and instead it was addressed just barely and then kind of rushed along. And I feel similarly about Superior Spider-Man's fallout, except they keep resurrecting that concept every two years and kicking it around like it has anything interesting left in it.

[wolame-o-ccx]

Hey there! Just discovered your blog and your TOH AUs and look SO interesting but I can't find any easy way to get through your comics in order (or where to begin, what each AU is about etc)

Is there a post with a summary or some link for the chronological order I may have missed?

And if you're taking suggestions, a pinned post with all the info would be great to help newcomers like me get into it!

Thank you for your time!

Hellooo!!! Yeah welcome to this side of the toh fandom - my space is especially unorganized 😭 I'll take up the idea to make a post summary!! For now I'll just state them here for you while that's in progress :3

For any other newcomers, this post might help you! Click more if you're interested :)

- PITMDAU (Philip In The Modern AU)

MASTERPOST LINK !! CLICK HERE!!

This AU is just what you think! Philip in the modern AU :)

Just to quickly brief you on how this happened ;

Philip managed to escape the demon realm ahead of the hexsquad but passed out straight after he went through the portal. Hexsquad finds him and decides to bring him home, because better a watchful eye than a risk or mystery right? He woke up two days later confused and even tried to kill someone but didn't work and he passed out again and then he woke up another day later less aggravated.

Quick note! This Philip is a little less bad than canon but can still be considered a bad guy :3

For a whole month it was awkward living with him and he barely ate anything but Hunter did give him leftovers. After a month of adjusting to their situation, (and seeing that he doesn't seem to have any intention of violence) Luz starts teaching him modern day technology along with the rest of the Hexsquad!

Or TL;DR : old man confused about the modern day

Final notes!!

• There is a spin off to the AU, which is Gamer Grandpa where, Philip has a Twitch channel and streams and you can ask him questions! (I have not been answering them 😭 don't pressure me but I'm genuinely sorry 😭🌹)

• There are also crossovers with my other AU, SCAU (scroll down to read about that!) And also future canon!! :3

• Philip eats glyphs and hexes holdem cards to keep his curse at bay! :) no palisman sacrificing!! No siree! Don't argue with me on this! Its canon! /lhj

• Also Caleb is there too to mess with Pip giggles

- SCAU (Sharing Caleb AU)

MASTERPOST LINK!!! CLICK HERE!!

Sharing Caleb AU is an AU wherein Philip and Evelyn, well, share Caleb! Nothing went horribly wrong, Caleb didn't get killed by Philip and so on. But wait! Its more complex than you think!

In the masterpost and the first few links to the first few comics you'll see, I'd like to note that they were posted before what canon SCAU is now so Philip didn't find Caleb (and Evelyn) in his 20s or so, but when he was 8! Philip stumbled upon Evelyn in the forest rambling about Caleb after a month of wandering around alone in the BI and she takes him home and Caleb gets a beating /lhj

They then at some point find the starchild The Collector in the woods (again lol) somewhere and bring him home — Caleb adopts him, inevitably creating the Witteclaw Siblings (TC&Pip) (the chaos bringers) (Witteclaw are their parents) <3 (also we call him Enzo instead of TC it's like their deadname lol)

Final notes!!

• Philip is a WHOLE LOT more tame than canon, he's in fact even a whole nother person (he was still racist for a bit but he grew out of that)

• Philip is a mama's boy as we like to call him here :3

• This AU had a crossover with PITMDAU, as you'd know!

→ following that crossover, surfaces Pipson! A slash mlm ship between Pip and Jason, a character I made as a joke originally from PITMDAU. Jason, you'll find similar to a certain um.. god.. is a human, orphaned and has a younger sibling (I self inserted myself but I promise I'm nowhere to be seen, it's just like one brief mention once) (Me and Jason because I share the same birthday as Jesus lol)

• There's also already a future SCAU timeline but so far only glimpses :) it's still in the works as I try to make Hunter exist somehow.

• Philip still gets his curse thingy! Except! He carved glyphs into his arms thinking he would be able to open the door to the human realm (obviously, didn't work) and he's now immortal and in pain and needs to drink elixirs and eat glyphs.

EDIT : FORGOT TO ADD BELPAPA AU (don't send me hate pls ☺️🌹)

- BELPAPA AU

FUCKING CRIES it's a .. it's.. it's um.. it's a. Au where.. Philip and Papa Titan fall in love ... No there's no masterpost but if you click on the tag.. belpapa au .. you can find the comics.. very ez navigation I posted like 5 comics of these only so.. um.. um.. 😭😭😭 HEAR ME OUR HEAR ME OUT!!!1! no I am not elaborating further I will cry

I have not updated the masterposts navigation in a long time, and seeing that my sketchbook is full and I haven't bought a new one, maybe I can find time to arrange them! So bare with me ok :)

EXTRA GENERAL NOTES

The crossovers that happen are NOT CANON to any of the AU stories, else it will just disrupt the story as a whole and I do not have the brain capacity or power to change everything while trying to make it make sense

I mostly won't focus on lore, the crossovers being an exception because that's what it's purpose is and has always been

Most of these comics are for silly fun times!! So have fun!! Or if you don't like it, that's cool!

Feel free to ask anything you want involving AUs and I'll even take suggestions or headcanons you may have! :3 Fanwork is cool and I'm fine with anyone using my art with the condition of crediting so you don't need to ask me!

Don't be shy to interact with my posts! I promise I'm a nice person! I've seen plenty of people being scared to comment, they always tell me they're too shy and I just wanna say guys I don't bite 🌹

There's also a Philip exclusive crossover (very short, only like three posts?) where PITMDAU, SCAU, Canon and Belpapa AU Philips meet eo.. that's all..

[abuddyforeveryseason]

I dunno... talk about a small head.

Still, not bad, all things considered. I've been trying to draw stuff that looks more modern, with lighter penstrokes and a style that's a big closer to cartoon animation than to vintage comic and manga art.

I guess that stuff is more popular because comics and manga no longer have the limitations of printing technology that prevented the art from looking rougher and more dynamic - and avoided the "rubber stamp" look of thick lines and square panels.

But because so much of what I read is from that early era, I got used to it - or, even if it's a modern book, it's going for a nostalgic look like that.

But I'm tired of superheroes, anyway. This is the first summer in a long ass time I won't be watching any new Marvel movies. And, although it's understandable that people are sick of it, it's kind of a shame because it was interesting watching that type of worldbuilding evolvnig every year - and it was something that was carefully constructed, too.

Of course, in a way, what happened to Marvel movies is the same thing that happened to Marvel comics - they kept trying to keep things from stagnating and ended up with something that no longer had the charm of the early stuff.

And it doesn't help that a lot of older people were complaining about superhero franchises killing cinema. Although, really, the only real superhero franchise is the MCU. DC tried to copy the model with the Snyder movies, but those never really got a lot of traction, and the good DC movies were the ones that tossed the franchise idea out the window.

In many ways, the movies I'm excited about nowadays aren't so much part of a shared universe, but ones released by the same production companies - A24, Blumhouse, 2AM, Miramax, Focus and whatnot.

But, I still think that, 20 years from now, people will miss the Marvel model. It was fun going to the movies to see how the story developed, must've been what it was like to go watch Republic serials every month, like my grandpa used to do when he was a kid.

He was a big fan of Zorro Rides Again. They'd release one chapter a month, through the whole year, and kids would buy a ticket to "the movies" to check it out - meaning, they'd get a ticket to see five different things, running on a loop: A newsreel, a cartoon, an episode of the serial, an A-movie and a B-movie.

Must've made for quite an outing. It's hard to imagine, now, that anyone would have the time (or the patience) to be in a movie theater for like five freaking hours to see the whole thing. And it was really cheap, too.

But, lest I also turn into another of those old guys complaining about kids these days and their short attention spans, I'll just remind everyone that they can watch all those episodes at once, for free, thanks to the magic of Public Domain:

[beevean]

You make a good point on the lack of a clear intended target demographic for IDW Sonic. Personally, I get the impression that many people working on IDW beyond just Ian Flynn never fully got over the abrupt cancellation of Archie, and want to keep it alive in some way through IDW in any legal way possible. Which is kind of annoying because they had a chance to start over with a clean slate after Archie was cancelled. Which is why I think it was kind of a mistake to almost immediately develop and start up a new comic series, with the same staff from Archie, without letting there be a good long "mourning period" as melodramatic as that sounds.

It also feels like the writers and artist have either just gotten too comfortable and complacent, or that burn out is starting to set in. I wouldn't be surprised if it turned out they didn't really have a long term plan of where to take the comic's stories and characters, with how seemingly fast IDW appeared to have been developed after Archie's cancellation.

This will never not be funny to me

You have a chunk of anti IDW people who started to dislike IDW once it became clear that its writers did not want to let go of Archie, its style, the concept of Freedom Fighters and so on

and then you have another chunk of anti IDW people who are diehard Archie fans, who themselves did not get over the cancellation of their favorite series, and who hate IDW because it's not like Archie enough, because it doesn't have the actual Freedom Fighters, because it's too similar to the games

the bruh cannot be contained

(it's also why anti IDW fans are usually stereotyped as disgruntled Archie stans, even worse Penders stans, which irritates me because I barely read a handful of Archie issues and I have zero attachment to it. don't conflate me with people who still cry for Sally pls)

But it's yet another way the target audience of IDW isn't clear. Is it children or young adults? Newcomers or old Sonic fans? Game fans or Archie fans? It tries to appeal to everyone, and it fails miserabily because now it's just... nothing.

Funnily enough, this was one of the criticisms moved against Forces, that it tried to satisfy every kind of Sonic fan (Classic, Adventure, Modern) :)

Anyway, yeah, they're all burned out. The MV arc was meant to appear in Archie, meaning that the first arcs of the comics were basically "testing the waters". We know that Surge and Kit were meant to appear much earlier than they did, and Starline was meant to be a different character, which explains his inconsistent writing and anti-climatic ending. The Eggperial City arc was completely forgettable if not for the Whispangle drama. Issues #62-#67 were an absolute nothing, with the exception of the Lanolin controversy. Yes, I fully believe they don't know what to do anymore.

[kitausuret]

would you be willing to recommend me some venom comic runs? i'm a comics guy generally but i've never read venom. recently watched the movie and it was baller.

Hey there friend! So, Venom is coming up on 35 years as of 2023 (wow!) so you have a lot of options. There's pretty much something for everyone out there, but given that you liked the movie, I can probably point you in the right direction...

If you can get your hands on trades (or even just use them as a guide for your favorite Digital Comics Avenue) that's gonna be your best bet. The Epic Collections (link to Wikipedia) are really comprehensive. The chart even has them in order! Handy!

If you don't want to be flipping between fifty different Spider-Man series, though, you can definitely start with some of the Venom-titled books! I've tried to pick ones that don't require a whole lot of backreading.

So, easy starting point is going to be Venom: Lethal Protector (1993) #1-6. I strongly recommend reading Amazing Spider-Man #373-375 first if you can, since #375 is the first appearance of Anne Weying. LP is to this day one of my favorite series, and it has some of the best Venom and Spider-Man moments. All are written by David Michelinie, and pencils are by Mark Bagley or Ron Lim.

If you like Anne Weying, Venom: Sinner Takes All and Venom: Along Came a Spider are the two miniseries that feature her the most. Both are written by Larry Hama. The latter has art that is... kinda rough in my opinion, but if you can look past it, they're both neat. The other thing to keep in mind is that with ACAS is that it does take place in the middle of Spider-Man Clone Saga (well.. after Ben Reilly has taken up the mantle) so it's not as new reader friendly but it IS fun. I like when Anne whacks Ben.

Are these comics good? Eh... "Sinner" is probably the stronger story of the two, but when you like Anne, you can't be too picky about what you get, unfortunately!

I also absolutely have to recommend the Planet of the Symbiotes event, which immediately follows Venom: Separation Anxiety (one of my personal favorite series). I recommend "Separation" First and then just checking out a collection of the PotS event, like this one here (link to readcomicsonline). Otherwise you have to sort out which Super Specials to read and it's annoying and dumb. The nice thing about PotS is that it's an excellent story by Michelinie with.. hmm.. let's say inconsistent art, but it's very fun and even if you're a little lost by the Clone Saga stuff, don't worry about it!! You'll be fine.

And finally, if you're looking for something a little more wacky, you can't go wrong with Venom: The Madness (W: Ann Nocenti, A: K. Jones) and Venom: Carnage Unleashed (W: Hama, A: Wildman, Nichols)! They are both very 90s off-the-wall insane and just like. Absolutely bonkers-nuts. The Madness also has the distinction of introducing Eddie (and Venom's!) first love interest since Anne. Mwah! 😘

If you'd like more modern recommendations, or if you're willing to check out other hosts, I'd be happy to provide those as well! But this should be a good starting point for some fun books. Happy reading, and if any other Venomaniacs have recommendations, feel free to add on!

[sneezyonmain]

OC Post- Araneus Cinderfang

vbrit part two: emo twink edition DISCLAIMER: All of my OCs are actually my friend's and I's DnD characters, used with permission. Some details may be a little confusing as I've taken their standard backstories and modified them to fit a modern fantasy setting. I'll list the class for anyone curious, but it won't come into much use unless they're a spellcaster. CW: Mention(s) of parental abuse, PTSD, anxiety, forced mutation/experimentation, homelessness, nsft themes

(Picrew credit to Brightgoat's Bright's Picrew Hell and Baydews' [BAYDEWS' avatar maker!!] V2)

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Name: Araneus CInderfang

Race: Half-elf (Shifter)

Age: 22

Sex: Male

Pronouns: He/Him/His

Sexuality: Bisexual (In denial) (this is a common theme with vbrit OCs, I think he's protecting tbh)

Class: Order of the Lycan Blood Hunter

Height: 6'0

Hair Color: Black

Eye Color: Red

Basic Description: Araneus is built like a string bean, standing at a decent height while also being relatively underweight. He has perpetual bags under his eyes that he cannot seem to rid himself of, and dark hair that stays messy regardless of how much he tries to tidy it. He stands with a slouch, and keeps his head down. He's got scars and spots on his pale skin, and unnaturally red eyes. He has pointed ears, and spider-like fangs that are only visible when he lifts his lip to reveal them. He looks far more arachnid-like when transformed, which he doesn't do unless necessary and frankly I don't feel like describing it.

Background: Araneus grew up primarily with his father, who was a prominent professor at a university. Through a series of gruesome experiments throughout the course of his childhood, (which I will not elaborate on due to their upsetting nature), Araneus developed a form of lycanthropy. Specifically, his body mutated to include many spider-like qualities, including fangs and extra insectoid limbs that emerge from his body when transformed. He eventually escaped that situation, and spent a long time homeless and in shelters before moving in with a woman named Aria, who later became his girlfriend. He has severe PTSD and anxiety from the event, and since he was already relatively introverted before he became a "monster", he now rarely ever leaves the house.

Personality: He is very introverted, and much prefers to stay inside all day than to talk to people. He is slow to trust people due to his past, but when he does, he is loyal to a fault. Aside from various comics and watching anime, he loves literature, but doesn't have too many hobbies as he either couldn't do them or didn't have the funds until very recently. He's anxious and closed off but longs for friends and companionship. He doesn't think much about romance, since he has other things to worry about, (that is, before he met his girlfriend). When he does attempt social interaction, he has a very dry sense of humor he uses to compensate for how nervous he is.

Snz Info: He hardly ever gets sick, which is one of the few benefits of his lycanthropy. When he does get sick, however, it hits him like a truck, since the virus has to be quite strong in order to impact him at all. He tries very hard to be self-sufficient when it happens, since he's not used to being able to rely on people, but he really just wants comfort and soup. His heightened sense of smell means his nose is very sensitive to perfume and physical touch. He has a lot of rapid-fire, stifled fits that he can't hold back, but they're breathy and quiet.

Fun Facts:

He loves dogs a whole lot

He's Australian

Would call a woman "Mommy" probably

Has a blood kink

Will gladly explain every sex joke in Hamlet to you

Used to have asthma before he was mutated

Has ear piercings

Dresses emo simply because they were the first clothes he saw at the thrift store once he got out of his bad situation

Has a nipple piercing that he got for his girlfriend, Aria

Ironically, he is severely arachnophobic due to trauma.

Still owns a stuffed spider to help him cope

Needs like four weighted blankets to sleep