#By which I mean his mini-figure/how they drew him/etc

[afandomroom]

Personal Opinion: Mr.E was one of Ninjago’s best character designs. 

[traincat]

opinions on the new taylor swift album (in terms of spider-man ships) ? 👀👀

YES okay yes I have lots of thoughts. One of my favorite things is when a new Taylor Swift album comes out and I get to decide which songs are what Spider-Man ships. I did a twitter thread about this when the album first came out, which has my initial reactions, but I’ve had time to sit with it now, so let’s dive back in:

the 1: first reading is this is a Peter/Felicia post-breakup. But we were something, don't you think so?/Roaring twenties, tossing pennies in the pool/And if my wishes came true/It would've been you.

(Spectacular Spider-Man #112)

However, I think Taylor Swift’s oeuvre is one especially good for applying to One More Day from Mary Jane’s point of view (New Year’s Day, anyone?) and the 1 doesn’t let us down here.  

I have this dream you're doing cool shit/Having adventures on your own/You meet some woman on the Internet and take her home/We never painted by the numbers, baby/But we were making it count/You know the greatest loves of all time are over now. (ASM #561)

cardigan: My first impression was that this is like the ultimate college years Peter/MJ/Gwen song -- leaning slightly more towards the GwenMJ leg of the love triangle/threesome -- and I have not changed on that front. Sequin smile, black lipstick/Sensual politics/When you are young, they assume you know nothing? A friend to all is a friend to none/Chase two girls, lose the one?? 'Cause I knew you/Stepping on the last train/Marked me like a bloodstain???  Tried to change the ending/Peter losing (G)Wendy?????????????

You drew stars around my scars, but now I’m bleeding/”She saw through the party girl mask I always wore. Saw the frightened, abused kid inside.” (Marvel 1000)

the last great american dynasty: this one’s a little too biographical to work for a Spider-Man ship but I think it could be a good women of Spider-Man song. The maddest woman this town has ever seen etc etc. Alternatively it’s for the version of canon where Doc Ock marries May for her nuclear power plant inheritance and then she turns the tables and poisons him for his criminal empire. good for her.

exile: look, this is a love triangle tragic breakup song, and Spider-Man is the king of both of these things. I’m going to make a call and say that exile, while I think it’s both an excellent PeterFelicia and PeterMJ, leans towards PeterMJ after MJ rejects his first proposal, when they’re seeing other people but everyone keeps trying to get them back together. I can see you starin', honey/Like he's just your understudy/Like you'd get your knuckles bloody for me/Second, third, and hundredth chances/Balancin' on breaking branches/Those eyes add insult to injury.

The dueling narration of 'Cause you never gave a warning sign (I gave so many signs) and I never learned to read your mind (Never learned to read my mind) is a pretty perfect early PeterMJ summary.

my tears ricochet: okay okay okay so my tears ricochet + mad woman are my ideal “Gwen Stacy gets a resurrection revenge narrative ala Bucky Barnes and Jason Todd” song duo. And if I'm on fire/You'll be made of ashes, too.

mirrorball: Taylor Swift released THE definitive Mary Jane Watson song in 2020. We are talking about the feminine art of performance, we are talking about masks, we are talking about trauma baby!!! I want you to know/I'm a mirrorball/I can change everything about me to fit in/You are not like the regulars/The masquerade revelers/Drunk as they watch my shattered edges glisten.

I've never been a natural/All I do is try, try, try (ASM #143)

We are ALSO thinking about Mary Jane’s iconic mirrored mini dress from ASM #59. An entire Mary Jane anthem.

seven: this song CRIES OUT for childhood friends, which Spider-Man is a bit lacking in, what with the entire friend group coming together in college, but in my head it belongs to a version of canon where Gwen and Mary Jane were friends as children and lost touch with each other. alternatively, it’s the Peter/Flash childhood friends song, since they’re as close as we get to childhood friends in canon, and also because these lyrics in conjunction with that make me want to cry: And I've been meaning to tell you/I think your house is haunted/Your dad is always mad and that must be why/And I think you should come live with/Me and we can be pirates/Then you won't have to cry.

Also, “just like a folk song, our love will be passed on” makes me cry thinking about longform storytelling like superhero comics so like that’s fun. A real Spidey fivesome sort of feeling.

august: I’ve been thinking about it, and I think this is a Peter/Betty set during their initial romantic relationship. Your back/Beneath the sun/Wishing I could write my name on it/Will you call when you're back at school?/I remember thinking I had you.

this is me trying: A FLASH THOMPSON SONG. Like, I think “I didn’t know if you’d care if I came back/I have a lot of regrets about that” is a big PeterMJ sentiment during several key points of their relationship, but overall the vibe of this song is a Flash. Probably a Peter/Flash, while we’re at it. 

illicit affairs: okay, in my heart, I want this to be another Peter/Betty, because the point in canon where they’re sleeping together behind Ned’s back is just so sexy of them, and it’s a favorite fictional extramarital affair. However, I also don’t feel like this song is straight enough as its core to be about them. I also feel like “and you want to scream don’t call me kid, don’t call me baby” is a BIG Gwen Stacy mood. So I’m kind of leaning towards an MJ/Gwen affair while PeterGwen is happening. Which would also be very fun of them all. I think at a push we could also make this a Peter/Flash while Flash is seeing Sha Shan, if we wanted to warp canon around to have a good time. What I’m saying is Spider-Man should have a few more affairs in its body of canon. For the song.

mad woman: I mentioned this up with my tears ricochet but we’re going to say AGAIN for the people in the BACK: this is a Gwen Stacy jam. If they were ever to make an extremely good movie about resurrected Gwen on a murderous revenge spree, this song should be playing in it. What do you sing on your drive home?/Do you see my face in the neighbor's lawn?/Does she smile?/Or does she mouth "fuck you forever"?

(Spider-Island: Deadly Foes) Also, not that the Gwen clones get like, full narratives or are allowed to be their own individual characters like the Peter clones (it’s the misogyny) but if they were, mad woman would be such a good Gwen clone song. No one likes a mad woman/You made her like that.

epiphany: this is very rare for me in Taylor Swift’s discography, but I think this is really a Peter solo song. 

Crawling up the beaches now/Sir I think he’s bleeding out (Peter Parker #89)

betty: You have no idea how badly I wanted this to be a Peter/Betty, but it is just not. I think there’s a version of Spider-Man high school canon though where this is a Betty/Liz. 

peace: This album is light on Taylor Swift Spideytorch hits -- previous examples including Love Story and Call It What You Want To, among many others -- but peace is such a Spideytorch. But I'm a fire and I'll keep your brittle heart warm/If your cascade ocean wave blues come/All these people think love's for show/But I would die for you in secret/The devil's in the details/But you got a friend in me/Would it be enough/If I could never give you peace?

(ASM #790) @bipeteparker said that Johnny COULD give Peter peace but they’re dramatic, so it works, and I stand by that, but I also like it with the juxtaposition of their lives -- Johnny being so famous and such a public figure and Peter having eschewed that life by keeping the mask on. 

hoax: and we’re closing the album the same way we started! I think there are various Spider-Man readings you could do, but my big two are PeterFelicia and PeterMJ -- both with the lens of the post-One More Day deal and how that altered both of their relationships with him. 

Your faithless love's the only hoax I believe in (ASM #16HU)

My only one/My kingdom come undone (ASM #545)

[thefloatingstone]

Last time I made a playlist of recommended youtube channels to enjoy while in lockdown or self quarantine, I focused on individual videos while also recommending other videos from the same channel.

I thought I’d make another list only this time I’m going to be recommending playlists or series on youtuber instead of just individual videos.

This is gonna go exactly like last time, so check out any of these that might seem interesting to you, and hopefully I can give you something to look into if you want something to watch but don’t feel like watching a Netflix or Crunchyroll show.

Last time I tried to put this under a read more break but it didn’t work and I ended up posting this long-ass post on everyone’s dash. Well I decided to do so again here. hit J to skip to the bottom of the post if you don’t feel like reading this whole thing. If you’re on tumblr mobile; why?

In no particular order;

Cinemassacre movie reviews and topics

All of you already know James Rolfe as the AVGN. I started watching him before Youtube was even a thing, before he was even signed on with Screwattack. Back when his videos could only be seen on his own website (or for some reason included on the free DVD you got with the local video game magazines). However, I eventually outgrew the outrage style humour of the AVGN episodes... but then James started doing Monster Madness where he would talk about his love for horror movies, and this where I learned about his vast knowledge about movie history and even films I had never even heard mention of before! I think it’s safe to say, he got me to be interested in movie history just as much as movie production and film as a viewing experience.

I recommend this playlist which is a hodgepodge of James talking about old horror movie franchises, talking about his first experience with Power Rangers as someone who didn’t grow up with it, or how Bob Ross is a childhood hero of his. It’s an excellent play list that’s really laid back but you learn a lot of stuff from it. James is very informed for the most part and it leads you to wanting to check out a lot of these things too, just because he’s so passionate about it.

If I ever get over my weird hang up about speaking out loud, these are the kinds of videos I’d like to make.

Vinesauce Vinny: The Neverhood

Vinny is by no means a new Let’s Player, having been on Youtube for over 10 years now, but I only started watching him a few months ago. I started with this playlist when I saw he was doing The Neverhood, a game I had heard about but never seen played before. The Neverhood is a bizarre game, as a point and click PC game from the 90s where the entirety of the video game was made with stop motion and clay. Something that sounds so insane you would say it’s impossible if not for the fact that it exists. The claymation itself is extremely well done, and the game has a really weird and absurd sense of humour. Just the strangest things happen in this thing. Now couple that with Vinny’s very dry and straightforward delivery and you have probably one of the funniest Let’s Plays I’ve watched in a long time.

This is also “short” for a Let’s Play series. With only 4 parts to it, the longest video only being a bit under and hour and 30 minutes. It’ll still take up a good chunk of your time, but it’s not as daunting as some of the other Let’s Plays I’ll mention on this list.

Team Four Star: Pokemon Shield Nuzlocke

Exactly what it says on the tin. The guys from Team Four Star play Pokemon Shield with Nuzlocke rules. They’ve done several Nuzlocke runs in the past, but I find the Pokemon Shield is the best one they’ve done. Especially since a lot of the needless fluff and grinding has been edited out. So unlike some of their previous series you don’t see a lot of Kieran and Grant running in a circle for an hour trying to catch a specific pokemon or trying to get to a certain level.

It’s also hilarious as they have a lot of “house rules” for the Nuzlocke often involving the exercise bike they.... have..... for some reason.

It’s very good and the gym battles become SUPER hype with the Nuzlocke rules and the music.

Baywatching

Having been going to a few years now, watch Allison try her very best to go through and do a video series where she talks about summarises every episode of Baywatch.

.... Ever. Single. Episode.

She’s not even close to done yet (and now she’s introduced Baywatch Nights AS WELL) but her trying to explain the batshit insanity of this show, it’s over the top characters, it’s insane plots and behind the scenes weirdness with all the enthusiasm and love for this slice of 90s is amazing. Please enjoy a good thick chunk of inside jokes, silly character voices, and a whole lot of ?????

Brutal Moose: Shenmue

Probably one of the most chill channels on all of Youtube, Brutal Moose aka Ian, prefers playing games you wouldn’t think would make for good Let’s Plays. And maybe they don’t, objectively. A collection of playlists covering Truck Simulator, Nancy Drew, Hidden Object games etc etc, spliced in with old commercials from drive in theaters from the 50s,60s and 70s. Ian’s Let’s Play channel is great for just putting on and letting play for company while you’re drawing or grinding in a video game or playing Stardew or something.

I recommend his Shenmue playthrough as Ian completely fell in love with the game and went on to play both the sequel and the newly released third game. Ian genuinely adores the weird voice acting and all the menial tasks and mini-games you can do. I watched this a lot in 2018 when I was going through a rough time, and it really helped me in a strange way to just put Ian on and listen to him talk to the chat and drive a forklift around for like 4 hours straight before going to Tomato Mart or wasting all his money on the gacha machines.

A Measured Response to “In Defense of Dark Souls 2″

At some point, big name youtuber Hbomberguy made a video called “In Defense of Dark Souls II”. I’m not subscribed to Hbomberguy but I enjoyed his video on why Sherlock (the BBC show) is trash. (come to think of it I should have added that to the first list). And it seems the video on Sherlock was really good and well argued.... and it seems his “In Defense of Dark Souls 2″ video... was not.

Using subjective language, bad representation of facts, or simply outright getting certain information wrong, Hbomberguy′s video on Dark Souls II is, at best, a man trying to argue that he likes Dark Souls II because it is “Objectively good”, rather than simply accept he likes it... because he likes it.

MauLer is kind of an asshole, but I have learned more about dissecting someone’s argument and deconstructing what they have said watching his response series than I have in any english or debate class I have ever had.

The response is over 10 hours long, but this is because MauLer takes time with each and every statement he takes umbrage with, discussing what is being said, discusses why it is false or dubious, and then compares with actual facts and research.

If you ever want to know how to to distinguish subjective opinion from objective fact in someone else’s argument regarding... ANYTHING really, I highly recommend this series.

I may not like MauLer as a person, but DAMN if he doesn’t know how to deconstruct an argument in a logic, emotionless way.

John Wolfe: Maize

Maize is a stupid game. a Stupid stupid game.

It involves sentient corn, and underground secret genetics lab, a Russian bootleg teddy bear that hates everyone, sentient corn, and a crumpet.

This game IMMEDIATELY went on my wishlist after watching this playthrough. Please watch John try and figure what the actual fuck is going on in this Monty Python-eque weird black comedy. It’s stupid, it’s weird, it’s bizarre and it’s honestly one of the funniest games I’ve seen streamed.

Hollywood: a Celebration of the Silent Era

This is not a youtube playlist. I mean it IS, but what this actually is, is a TV series released in the UK in 1980 covering the Silent Film era. As it was made in 1980, it includes interviews with many of the silent film stars who were often still alive during this documentary’s production. Each episode covers a specific theme of the silent movie era. One episode is about comedies, one is about WWI, one is about Westerns etc etc.

It’s a fascinating series, because it focuses on the silent era which, in modern day, I think many people unfairly think of as “those first few years of movies before movies really became a thing.” And that’s such a shame and really not true. The artistry, camera tricks, and raw nature of this early era of film making is so important and produced films which can still be watched today easily, possibly even easier than a few modern movies as often the very fact that the films are silent means they are universal, regardless of what language you speak.

I think an episode or two might have been turned to private or copyright claimed in this playlist, but I know if you do a search on youtube you can find the episode uploaded by someone else.

Diamanda Hagan: Bonekickers

Bonekickers is the show Mathew Graham made before he went on to work on the new Dr. Who. It is about archaeologists and it is God-fucking-Awful.

It is.... look. Ok. I like Archaeology a lot. But this isn’t a show that’s bad “if you like history” or “if you know things about archaeology”. This show is bad because it doesn’t make a single fucking lick of sense, all the characters are awful and terrible, and even if you understand what’s going on in the story you’re still going to be screaming “WHY????” at the screen as each new baffling stupid piece of the puzzle slots into place.

Diamanda Hagan has 0 time for this garbage and she’s going to walk you through each episode to show you how truly horrible this piece of garbage is.

Cry Plays: Ori and the Blind Forest

With Ori and the Will of the Wisps releasing recently, now is a great time to go and watch Cry playthrough the first Ori game. an absolutely gorgeous piece of work with a beautiful soundtrack and really likeable character designs and a sweet story, Ori is a great game to put on, sit back, and just let it wash over you. Cry’s playthrough is also great because although its a Metroidvania game, Cry fast forwards the parts where he backtracks for a long period of time, so you don’t get stuck watching him run back and forth as he tries to figure out where to go next or anything like that.

Cry also recently started playing the sequel as well!

If you enjoyed this list at all, please consider tipping me for a coffee

☕️ Ko-fi ☕️

[hellzyeahthewebwieldingavenger]

Top 10 Recommended Carnage Stories (pre-Absolute Carnage)

In honour of Absolute Carnage’s beginning I present you with the best Carnage stories if you want to get into and have fun with the character.

My picks here are intentionally excluding anything from Donny Cates’ era partially because his work isn’t finished yet and partially because my hope is this list will act as a primer for people who want to test the waters with Carnage and see if Cates’ current work is worth their time.

This list isn’t ranked at all and nor is it a list of stories that are essential to understanding Carnage’s broad chronology. Like if you read these on their own there will be gaps that will make you wonder how we got from A to B.

Rather this list is intended to give you a general idea of who Carnage is, the types of stories he has or can be used in and what are among the best stories from the character’s POV.

1.       Carnage Origin (ASM #344-345, 359-363)

There are some writing issues with this arc in relation to the F4’s use in the story. However if you put that aside and just focus strictly upon Carnage himself, in many ways this first Carnage story gives you everything you need to know about the character.

We learn most of Cletus Kasady’s backstory, where his symbiote came from, his general philosophy towards life and the dramatic hook he presents as an antagonist.

That is to say what is someone was an unrepentant psychopath...and then  got superpowers. Specifically the same powers as Spider-Man’s then most physically intimidating and scariest enemy...but taken up to 11.

Are there deep psychological layers to Carnage?

Absolutely not.

But that is very much the point.

He’s chaos and death wrapped in black and blood and complete with Freddy Krueger humour and a taste for Metalhead anarchy.

The art is simply stunning, the action is top notch, Carnage’s various abilities and ferocity is expertly sold to readers and just to hammer the seriousness of the situation home, Spidey needs backup from his most dangerous enemy to even hope to bring down Kasady.

So whilst unfortunately not perfect, it is a perfect introduction to the character.

Honourable Mention: Maximum Carnage

I do not recommend you read this if you are new to Carnage, Spider-Man or comics in general. Maximum Carnage is enjoyable to certain fans but for most is something of an endurance test.

However it must be mentioned as it is undoubtedly Carnage’s most famous story. It doesn’t really give us anything new for his character beyond introducing his on and off again girlfriend Shriek and his ‘kids’ Doppelganger, Carrion, Demogoblin, etc. These characters intermittently show up in Carnage’s lore.

The whole story is a series of repetitive action set pieces...for 14 issues!

If you aren’t brave enough to check this out then perhaps consider reading synopses of it or watching recap videos online (RNS does a good one), just so you know the broadstrokes of the story as it is relevant to future Carnage history and Absolute Carnage is it’s spiritual successor.

2.       The Mortal Past (ASM Annual 1994)

Arguably the best written Carnage story within the pages of Spider-Man.

The art is very reminiscent of Mark Bagley, co-creator of Carnage, so visually Carnage looks and ‘moves’ in character.

However the general story, whilst not redeeming Carnage at all, does give us a little more about his past and explores his philosophy from a different angle.

What helps this story is that while it is a Carnage story, the emotional weight of the story is carried by his former childhood friend, allowing for Carnage to neither sell out on his core concept of being a simple killing machine, but also giving the readers something to connect to beyond Spidey and Carnage fighting.

3.       Carnage: Mind Bomb #1

Many Carnage fanatics argue this obscure one shot is Carnage’s ‘Killing Joke’. In a sense they are right as this story is the deepest exploration of who Kasady is and why he is the way he is.

We learn little about his past (beyond a few more early warning signs from his childhood) but this is Warren Ellis’ point. The story is oddly meta as it presents us with a psychiatrist who is looking to unravel the layers of Kasady’s mind, only to learn there really aren’t any.

He is simple. That is the point. He simply sees society and life as a joke, a big lie and that savagery lies beneath the surface. He illustrates this by driving his doctor utterly mad.

This story works because though it takes place in a superhero universe and features a super villain, there is no hero here. There are barely any good guys to speak of.

Rather this issue is in effect a horror comic, the first time Carnage was ever used in this way. This is reflected in the art work, which is definitely R-rated and depicts Carnage very differently. He’s essentially solid red and leaner, more skeletal even.

A good way to look at this story is as “What if Freddy Krueger or Jason Voorhees sat down and explained to you why they kill people’

Gory and not for the faint of heart, but this issue is the best story you will ever read that spells out for you who Carnage is and why, from his POV, he does what he does.

4.       Web of Carnage (Sen #3, ASM #410, No Adj #67, Spec #233)

Carnage appeared a few times in the Clone Saga but this is his best outing. In general this is one of the more fun and enjoyable Clone Saga/Ben Reilly stories. But as a Carnage story it’s unique as it focuses much more upon the symbiote than Kasady.

The premise is simple yet effective. The Carnage symbiote bonds to Spider-Man/Ben Reilly and he must resist it’s attempts to control him or tempt him to violence, which includes urging him to murder Peter Parker!

The meat of the story is in parts 3-4 when we see Ben’s internal struggle against the symbiote. Visually, the art is not consistent because of different artists, but they are all decent-great and the design for Spider-Carnage is so iconic it was adopted for the finale of the Spider-Man 1994 cartoon series.

A simple yet fun story!

5.       Carnage: It’s a Wonderful Life #1

I recommend this tentatively.

This is because it technically speaking covers much the same ground as Mind Bomb but isn’t as good. I suppose if you read this first you wouldn’t get that impression.

Nevertheless, It’s a Wonderful Life is an even longer and more literal look inside Carnage’s head. Psychedelic, twisted, macabre and full of dark humour the story just about pulls off it’s horror premise. It feels like something out of a 1990s Dark Horse comic.

The one thing that this issue has over Mind Bomb is that it makes an astute observation about Carnage’s core philosophy I don’t dare spoil.

Honourable Mention: Venom vs. Carnage #1-4

This story is in general pretty fun but doesn’t give you much of anything new for Carnage beyond him teaming up with Venom and the introduction of his spwan Toxin, who is a pretty cool character in his own right.

More significantly it was the first major time Clayton Crain drew symbiotes and he’d go on to have one of the most memorable visual takes on them ever.

6.       Family Feud  (Carnage #1-5, by Zeb Wells)

I’m not fond of most of Wells work and have issues with this era for Spider-Man. But when looked at as a Carnage story first and foremost, this series marks an important point in the character’s history.

At the time Venom had transitioned into a more heroic figure meaning Carnage, much as he was back when he was created, was pushed as the face of evil symbiotes within the Marvel universe. To that end he began to have a string of his own mini-series just like Venom had in the 1990s.

In many ways this mini-series is playing cleanup, returning the Carnage symbiote and Kasady to Earth after their presumed death in New Avengers #1. The series however also seeks to build a foundation from which future stories can be told and to that end reintroduces Shriek and Doppelganger too, sets up Carnage’s daughter Scorn.

It does all this pretty effectively to my recollection and has great art by Crain to sell everything.

7.       Carnage U.S.A. #1-5

Zeb Wells in this story tells a story that could have been an event crossover but mercifully was not.

He and Crain return to deliver arguably the most ambitious Carnage story up until then, involving him infecting a whole town with his symbiote.

This again feels very much like a Dark Horse horror comic at times but still contains superhero elements and tones a plenty, finding a decent balance between the two.

Wells continues to world build by reintroducing many of the other Venom spawns (Carnage’s ‘siblings’) and uses them to great effect along with Agent Venom Flash Thompson who meets Carnage for the first time in this story.

Carnage himself is just very on point with his twisted plan and machinations, with this tale being among his more memorable villainous feats.

8.       Deadpool vs. Carnage #1-4

Have you ever seen a Road Runner cartoon? Have you ever seen parodies of Road Runner cartoons by late night animated shows where they use dark humour to make the antics more bloody and violent?

That is essentially what this mini-series is. It’s two wisecracking, red and black clad over the top characters going at it in wacky and violent shenanigans.

However there is also poignantly some stuff in the story that even makes Carnage question his life philosophy in one of the most oddly clever takedowns of his character ever.

9.       AXIS: Carnage #1-3

This story has it’s issues, in particular with who it’s villain is, but that’s more a problem for Spidey and Venom history.

As for Carnage himself this story comes recommended for it’s sheer novelty.

It’s Carnage...but as a...good guy?

The premise of the AXIS event was that certain heroes and villains were ‘inverted’ so that they went from good to bad and vice versa.

The wrinkle in this though is that Kasady is still Kasady. He’s still violent, insane, wisecracking and has a warped sense of morality, it’s just that now he finally has  a sense of morality. He is sincerely trying to do good he’s just not all that aware his methods are somewhat counterproductive and extreme.

10.   The One That Got Away, World Tour, What Dwells Beneath, (Carnage #1-16 by Gerry Conway)

Mind Bomb and It’s a Wonderful life were the first Carnage comics to embrace the use of the character for horror, but Conway’s Carnage picked the ball and ran with it.

Conway said he was in essence doing Tomb of Dracula with Carnage and it shows.

The series revolves around Carnage but the real main characters are the anti-Carnage taskforce assembled to put him down, giving us grounded relatable characters to connect to whilst we follow Carnage’s slaughter. There is a surprising swerve in the story where the story goes from a simple slasher movie style horror into full on Lovecraftian style horror which propels the consequent arcs of the series. The ending is rather rushed and weak I must admit, but the ride getting there is arguably the best crafted Carnage story ever.

[bigskydreaming]

This is a post about Boone aka Shrike.

I am making this post about Boone aka Shrike from Robin: Year One and later stories, solely so that reading this post on mobile will bring up “other posts like this” and show all the other posts I have made about Boone aka Shrike from Robin: Year One and other stories. LOL.

Because I’m back on my ‘people should make Boone aka Shrike and his archrivalry with Dick more of a thing’ bus.

Look, I will maintain until the day I die that Shrike has literally EVERYTHING needed to deliver on the same thematic elements people cite interest in JayDick and Sladin for....with the added bonus of....a Dick/Boone ship wouldn’t be incestuous or rely on a huge predatory age gap.

I mean, granted, it still won’t do anything for people who are into those ships purely BECAUSE of the incest or the huge predatory age gap, but I mean like, I work with what I can work with. Like I’m not even trying to change peoples’ minds there so much as just point out alternatives for anyone who just comes to those ships looking for the specific dynamic that personally I think is more real and evident with Dick and Boone than it ever will be with him and anyone else.

But really, the ONLY thing Boone needs to be serve the same narrative function is like...a higher profile, and more use of the character. I mean, some more infamy and slots in his win column wouldn’t hurt either, but you know. Whatever.

Anyway, point is, so Robin: Year One.

That was the story where Dick got hurt badly by Two-Face when he was still new to being Robin, and Bruce freaked out and fired him for the first time, also making the blunderhead move, in his freak out and new to being a parent thing, of saying it was Dick’s fault the judge had died, when Dick had literally just been trying to save Bruce’s life.

So Dick figures if he can’t be Robin, there’s no point to him being there, since Bruce doesn’t want or need a son (take that stories that act like Dick even at age 10 or 11 wasn’t already secretly hoping to be adopted). So Dick ran away and stayed on the streets where he took down Mr. Freeze all on his own, and in doing so drew the attention of something called The Vengeance Academy.

This was run by a guy named Shrike, who had some of his men snatch Dick off the streets after he caught their eye by taking on Mr. Freeze, and brought to the Vengeance Academy. It was a front for the League of Assassins, a place in Gotham where they trained kids as assassins and vetted their potential for being taken to the League itself for training.

Attendance was not elective, lol, it wasn’t like they asked Dick or any of these kids if they wanted to join, but most of them had nowhere else to go, so like Dick, they stayed and trained and went on missions Shrike assigned them as part of their training.

One of these other kids was named Boone, and he had something of a leadership role among the other kids, and was at times almost friendly with Dick and at other times saw him as a rival because of Dick’s own skills. And when they went out on missions, like, Dick stopped the other kids from killing some guards after they’d knocked them out, which pissed off Boone because it was Dick undermining his position as leader in the other kids’ eyes, especially when Shrike validated Dick’s decision when they returned to the Academy, by saying they should never kill people they aren’t getting paid to kill, as its a waste of their skills.

So like, point being, the two of them had HUGE potential for the kind of dynamic Dick and Jason are often characterized with, where they have mutual respect but are mutually vying for the approval of the same figures.

Anyway, after a few months (R:Y1 was vague on the timelines but was clear about the fact that Dick was at the VA for at least a few months, with captions like ‘weeks passed’ etc)....Dick eventually manages to sneak off long enough to sneak into the Batcave and leave a note for Bruce about the Vengeance Academy, what its up to, where to find it, etc. But Dick still goes back, rather than wait for Bruce himself, because he still doesn’t think Bruce wants him anymore.

Eventually, Shrike happens to get hired to take out Two-Face, and of course happens to assign Boone and Dick as the leads to conduct that assassination. They and the other boys break into Two-Face’s mansion, Dick’s literally holding a gun on Harvey and having flashbacks to Two-Face beating him almost to death and Bruce firing him in the aftermath and everything that’s happened since then....but at the last minute, Dick decides he won’t do it, throws the gun away instead, and as Two-Face’s guards all burst in, the boys all run.

But then back at Vengeance Academy, they of course all tell Shrike what happened, and Shrike just starts beating on Dick, shouting how ungrateful he is, etc, etc, what a waste of time and effort he’s turned out to be....and that’s when Bruce arrives, takes on Shrike’s men, etc. 

In the confusion, Shrike slips away, and then at some point, he and Dick end up facing across from each other on a rafter high up by the ceiling...where Shrike figures out that Dick is the one who alerted Batman and starts in on him again, but Dick defends himself....and that’s when Two-Face and his men burst in, having tracked them somehow, and in that ensuing commotion, someone shoots Shrike, he falls from the rafter and ends up impaled on some rebar on the floor or something like that.

Which is where Boone finds him, as he lays there dying, and Boone’s shown being considerably distressed, because he’d been there a lot longer than Dick and had been shown to be significantly attached to Shrike and viewing him as a father figure he was desperate to prove himself to, unlike Dick who was there because he felt he didn’t have a choice or anywhere else to go.

And of course Dick goes back with Bruce, who tells him how much he’s missed him and of course he wants him and is sorry for everything he said and did, they reconcile, Dick becomes Robin again, etc. The very last two pages of the mini end with Dick being introduced to Barbara for the first time by the Commissioner, when she’s on the roof with him while he’s talking with Batman and Robin....but also, Talia comes to survey the remains of Vengeance Academy, since it was League-affiliated...and takes Boone with her back to the League for further training.

Eventually, Boone grows up to take the name Shrike for himself, in honor of his former teacher, and he’s OBSESSED with avenging the original Shrike by killing Nightwing, who he knows is his former classmate, due to Robin then Nightwing’s style of fighting, and his penchant for using escrima sticks. 

(Interestingly, Dick only started using escrima sticks as his signature weapon in his first solo Nightwing title, with this stemming from Chuck Dixon’s writing him doing so....and Dixon also wrote R:Y1, which is where he then established that Vengeance Academy is where Dick first learned to use escrima sticks and gained a preference for them. So its always been kinda fascinating to me that Dick’s had his skills with those since literally his very first year as Robin....BUT then never used them as Robin, while Batman’s partner....but after becoming Nightwing and moving to Bludhaven, for whatever reason returned to using those particular weapons and making them his signature).

Anyway, point is, Boone calls Dick Freddy, because that was what he knew him as when they were kids....after he ran away, Dick started using the alias Freddy Lloyd. Lloyd was his mother’s maiden name, and I used to think Freddy was a reference to Alfred, but only recently realized that its actually Dick’s dad’s middle name.

So Shrike was brought back in the Nightwing solo title as a recurring enemy of Dick’s, with varying degrees of effectiveness. In later years, he was kinda made into a joke and not treated as much of a threat, but for awhile there, he was characterized as very much being a threat to Dick, and at a similar level skill wise, thanks to his own extensive League training. He captured Dick in their first encounter in Bludhaven, where he then tried to figure out Dick’s real identity by running his fingerprints and DNA (though Babs was able to intercept his attempt to run those through the system and replace the findings with a fake profile). He also even managed to defeat Dinah, though as much by trickery as straight out and out fighting...but still, Dinah’s one of THE top hand to hand combatants in the DC universe so, not exactly a small feat. He also faced off with Tim and Cass at one point, while they were Batgirl and Robin, and though he defeated Tim relatively easily (this was still fairly early in Tim’s career as Robin though), he ultimately lost to Cass. But again, who doesn’t lose to Cass, y’know?

So I mean, he definitely has skills and is a credible threat. Dick beat him after Dinah and Babs rescued him from Boone that first time, and Boone ended up in Bludhaven’s prison.....but then escaped and was later hired by Blockbuster as one of the assassins gunning for Dick. He and Dick had one more epic fight as one of the final elements of the Blockbuster arc, but by this time Dick was channeling so much rage when he went after Blockbuster at his mansion, where Shrike was lying in wait, that Dick pretty much just kicked Boone’s ass up and down the street and around the corner and left him chained up to a flagpole. 

Like, I’m pretty sure that fight is what’s made later writers deem him not as high caliber a fight or threat as he later was referenced as being, but that wasn’t really the point of that fight, lol. How handily Dick kicked his ass there was in context clearly meant to read as just how fucking enraged Dick was at this point, due to Blockbuster’s campaign against him, and how much Dick’s OWN threat level went through the roof when he allowed himself to use that degree of anger while fighting Boone, rather than repress it. It was very much a “you’re only in my league when I’m afraid to go full throttle, when I take the safeties off though its no contest” kinda thing.

But anyway, he didn’t get used much again pre-Flashpoint, and hasn’t made an appearance since, to my knowledge, but using pre-Flashpoint based settings or continuities....Boone’s very much a credible threat to Dick, has a ton of history with him, and a huge ax to grind with their last encounter having him vow that this wasn’t over between them. 

And like the thing is, its not just about getting revenge against Dick because he blames him for the original Shrike’s death. Like, its very much a rivalry that stems back to before the first Shrike died. Boone has pretty much always been shown to desperately want, need to be better than Dick, that’s what keeps him coming back and that’s what he really holds against Dick and always has...and its not just their skills, its that Dick’s a hero, that they ultimately came from the same place but Dick’s loved and revered for his skills and choices while Boone has nothing and no one, and insists its because Dick took away the only person Boone ever had....though the reality that both of them are probably perfectly aware of is that Shrike never actually gave a damn for any of the kids he trained, even if he showed favor to Dick and Boone in particular. But Shrike for a time made Boone feel special, made him feel like he had a place and a purpose, and its clear he’s never really found anything like that ever again....and really, he never had it at Vengeance Academy either, but he’s been able to romanticize it in his own mind and memories as being otherwise.

Whereas for Dick....this relationship always had so much more potential than anyone ever truly delved into, but the basic material and hints were always there. My read of them was always that for Dick, Boone kind of embodied the idea of being his own dark mirror....he was an example of what Dick could have been, if he’d embraced VA and Shrike the way Boone had, out of a lack of options, instead of returning with Bruce and giving him another chance, and Bruce taking another chance on Dick. 

In a lot of ways, R:Y1 - even though its events only happened because of shit Bruce never should have laid on Dick, driving him away in the first place....looked at through the eyes of a ten year old Dick Grayson who’d in the span of a couple years gone from losing his former circus home and parents, to juvie (Dixon wrote both R:Y1 and the Robin origin that had Dick go to juvie, so that was the specific context for all stories related to Shrike), to Wayne Manor, where he ultimately became Robin....and after not even a full year as Robin.....Dick then ended up on the streets and then spending months training at a facility for orphans and street kids to be made assassins....before ultimately returning to Wayne Manor, Bruce and being Robin.....

Like, its easy to see how to Dick, all of this probably looked almost like Bruce had saved him from worse circumstances and his own worse nature not once, but twice....even if the second time could have been avoided. The point is though, I don’t think Dick ever forgot his time there, his own desperate need for Shrike’s approval (and he did very much want it while he was there....he was hurting, he’d gotten used to having an adult who cared about him again, and with him feeling like Bruce had rejected him and in doing so taken away all the approval he’d given him previously, make no mistake, Dick very much DID desperately want an authority figure’s approval, and his rivalry with Boone WAS a two-way street. 

Dick perhaps wanted Boone’s friendship a little more than the other way around, I’d wager, given that Dick’s a more social, friendly person by nature, he wants to get along with people....but VA was a very definitively dog eat dog kind of place and Dick did not seem above reveling in the scraps of approval Shrike threw him at times like the mission he and Boone fought about, even though he knew how much it dug at Boone to see himself knocked down a peg by their teacher with the latter then praising Dick at the same time.

So my point being...I don’t think Dick’s ever forgotten his time at VA, or what he felt like while living there.....how close he came to shooting Two-Face in revenge for all that he blamed Two-Face for costing him....as well as remembering that for awhile, he and Boone very much were a kind of friends, even if they never were like say, he was with the Titans (who he’d yet to meet at this point in the timeline). Like, I’d characterize the two of them as one of those things where they probably wouldn’t have been friends under other circumstances, or even call themselves friends, but it was more they were the only ones who displayed having any kind of connection to each other, at a time and place in their lives where they didn’t really have anyone else.

So all of that added up, yeah, to me, Boone in Dick’s eyes is a kind of regret, and road not taken. He’s what Dick could have been if Dick didn’t have Bruce in his corner...if he, like Boone, hadn’t had anyone BUT Shrike. Dick likely can easily look at Boone and see what his life might have turned out like if he HAD shot Two-Face that night, because I don’t think Dick would ever believe there’s any way Bruce would have taken him back after that....meaning that he really WOULD have had nowhere else to go at that point...and thus easily could have ended up continuing at VA or even going to the League with Boone and Talia.

And because of all of that, my read on Dick’s attitude towards Boone was always that....its a blend of defensive antagonism and also some guilt and romanticized nostalgia. Dick’s defensive in response to Boone’s antagonism, because he isn’t to blame for Shrike’s death and knows it, just as he knows he’s not really worth mourning and didn’t care about either of them....but Dick’s ALSO defensive because every time Boone hurls an accusation at him about how Dick’s not any better than him - not skill wise, but as people - Dick, IMO, ABSOLUTELY AGREES AND BELIEVES THE SAME. The flip side of the coin that is seeing Boone as what he could have been....is that he himself then, is perhaps what BOONE could have been, if Boone had been the one to get the opportunities that Dick had. 

And THAT, I think, is the source of the weird almost guilt that Dick has occasionally had in regards to Boone...this belief that he isn’t innately any better than his one-time sorta friend, and that he’s not any innately more deserving of the opportunities he got via Bruce, and that Boone never was afforded. That with someone in his corner, rather than just seeking to exploit him, Boone could have been every bit the hero Dick grew up to be. That he really did have someone who loved and cared for him, in Bruce, while Boone only has his desperate, misguided belief that Shrike felt the same about him, because there was nobody else to even point to as a possibility for that. I think when Dick thinks of Boone, there’s always this kinda hazy ‘what if’ where he idly wonders what if he could have convinced Boone that Shrike’s death wasn’t his fault, or that Shrike didn’t care about them...and got Boone to come with him, or got Bruce to find Boone. What if he’d tried reaching out to Bruce about VA earlier, or not avoided him so long, and Bruce had been able to come earlier, when there was a chance that other boys besides just Dick could have been ‘saved’ from the life Shrike tried to convince them was the ONLY life path where they’d have any power or influence, where they’d ever matter, at all.

So...I just think there’s so so so so many possibilities with this largely untouched little corner of Dick’s history, and this one specific character it intersected with, and hardly has ever been followed up on. Boone and Dick have just soooooooo much potential to have the intense, emotionally charge love/hate kind of rivalry between a hero and villain or even just mercenary or antihero, that Dick’s so often characterized as having with Slade or Jason.....

But the thing is, here? There’s no need to invent or embellish antagonism between Dick and someone else, the way fandom’s largely made up the iconic antagonism between Dick and Jay. The antagonism is very much real, between Dick and Boone, very much understandable, and most importantly, very much MUTUAL. It exists on Dick’s part every bit as much as Boone’s....Dick was almost kinda gleeful about kicking Boone’s ass that first time in Bludhaven and coming out on top, in a way that he rarely is in his victories....because its very easy to see how these two could easily slip back into a familiar rivalry and desire to one-up each other, the way they had as desperate, emotionally neglected children. Dick has the potential to be PETTY with Boone in a way that people WANT to write him being with others where he’s just NOT and likely never would be, because Dick’s someone who’s aware of how others perceive him, and privileges he has that others don’t, and stuff like that....all of that plays into why Dick so often tries so hard and intently to be his best self with people even when he’d rather not be.

But with Boone, you can potentially throw all that out the window, due to the very precise nature of when and where in their lives that Boone and Dick had their short term but very emotionally impactful pseudo-friendship and early rivalry. Because even if Dick feels a little guilty for getting the life he did and that Boone didn’t - that’s not his FAULT, and he does know that too, just as he knows he’s not to blame for the things Boone resents him for.....and even if part of Dick probably feels a little sorry for Boone, he also knows that doesn’t mean that Boone hasn’t made his own choices and there comes a point where its put up or shut up time, and you can keep blaming anyone and everyone for your life or you can look around and acknowledge that here and now, nobody is holding a gun to Boone’s head and saying you have to kill people, you have to fight Dick for this and this reason....and so on that front, Dick can more willingly and without guilt push back against his own feelings of guilt and pity and let out his own pettiness and resentments for Boone having made him into this scapegoat.

All of which makes for a perfect storm of emotionally charged interactions any and every encounter between these two highly skilled individuals with equally extensive lifetimes of training under their belts....all against a backdrop of mingled resentment, nostalgia, and squandered potential brotherhood thanks to this bubble in time from both their childhoods where they were briefly friends, brothers in arms, rivals, and both everything the other had and everything the other never became or ever wanted to be.

With the cherry on top being that Boone is literally the ONLY LIVING PERSON IN THE WORLD....who has knowledge or awareness of the ten or eleven year old Dick Grayson was at one of the darkest periods of his life, where he believed himself completely alone and unloved and with NOTHING LEFT TO LOSE. Meaning that when Boone - and Boone alone - says he knows Dick in a way that nobody else does or ever could, even BRUCE, that he knows a side of Dick that nobody else will ever be privy to, that tiny sliver of Dick Grayson that stood over Two-Face’s trembling body with a gun and had the POTENTIAL to pull the trigger.....

He is absolutely and one hundred percent correct.

Like...you can’t TELL me that’s not good stuff.

Also, I’ve just always loved that trope where one person refers to someone by a name NOBODY else knows them as....with that name having meaning to the two of them alone.

Like to Boone....Dick is Freddy Lloyd. He knows that’s not Dick’s name, he always knew that, just like Boone probably isn’t his.....but the person Boone knew was named Freddy Lloyd, and that person was real, even if nobody else has ever truly known “Freddy” because that’s not who Dick has ever been to them, or who he’s been AROUND them. Boone might not know Dick’s actual real name and where to find him in the phone book, but he’s known from day one that Nightwing’s secret identity is Freddy Lloyd, like he knew instantly from seeing Nightwing fight with a pair of escrima sticks that the person under the mask was his old friend Freddy, and that Nightwing used to be the first Robin which means Robin was Freddy too. He lived with him for months, neither of them wearing masks, he would recognize him if they passed on the street.

(Although with this point, its why I’ve personally always been kind of dubious about the plot point of having Boone try so hard to figure out Dick’s real identity....like, honestly, that story point doesn’t really hold up. Boone SHOULD be able to identify Dick as easily as he identified Nightwing. Dick Grayson, ward and eventual adopted son of Bruce Wayne, has been a HIGHLY visible individual at various points in his life. 

I can easily believe that Bruce invested considerable effort in keeping Dick out of the public eye when Dick first came to live with him and was still adjusting and recovering - in fact, given that all of this is in context with the juvie origin, I’ve always headcanoned that Bruce probably spared no expense in covering up Dick’s time there as much as possible, so he wouldn’t be bombarded with additional stigma from people misconstruing that, and with more than enough evidence against the state for fucking up so badly with Dick there, he could have slapped any official evidence of Dick’s time there with so many gag orders nobody felt safe breathing a word about it.

All of which is to say, its very plausible to me that Dick wasn’t publicly recognizable by the time he ran away during Robin: Year One, and Bruce certainly wouldn’t have advertised that, and who knows what strings he had to pull or things he had to fake to keep CPS off his back until he found Dick, out of fear that otherwise, people would take Dick away once he did get him back. So I can imagine Freddy not being recognized by Shrike or Boone while he was with them. What I can’t imagine is Boone never turning on the TV or reading an article about Bruce Wayne and family in years after that, and ever once thinking to himself that Dick looks JUST like his old friend Freddy...and once you have that thought as a starting point, it SHOULD definitely be possible to dig a little deeper and find out stuff that confirms it, like the timelines of Dick coming to live with Bruce versus being mysteriously unavailable or out of sight anywhere, until just after the fall of Vengeance Academy, etc. But yeah. My point is, I maintain that Boone absolutely knows that Nightwing is Freddy is Dick and that particular plot point is dumb.)

Anyway, my point with that tangent is like....imagine Boone and Dick tangling at various points over the years, both equally determined and invested in coming out on top....with many of these encounters happening at times Dick is away from his family, like when he was living in Bludhaven....

But inevitably, they’re bound to clash in full view of the Batfamily, who bear witness for the first time to this unleashed side of Dick NONE of them have ever seen, never even imagined him acting like this, holding this....grudge against someone with a seemingly equivalent grudge and none of them can really account for why. Imagine their reactions to hearing Boone casually call Dick “Freddy” and like...this means something to Dick, he’s not surprised by it, but he’s not treating it like its some alias from a random undercover op, like, its like he IS Freddy, like its his own name, but at the same time...who the fuck is Freddy? They all want to know. Even Bruce might have trouble placing Boone or his connection to Dick at first, because there’s no reason he would have ever found out the alias Dick went by at the time, if Dick never felt a reason to tell him.

Imagine the truth of where and when and how Boone and Dick are connected slowly unfolding (to my recollection, in the comics I don’t think he ever even told Babs the full story, even after she and Dinah saved him from Boone....just a few terse references, from what I remember, and again....according to the same writer to write all of these various connected stories....Boone actually knew Dick BEFORE Babs even met him for the first time as either Dick Grayson OR Robin).

Its entirely possible the rest of the family doesn’t even know any of R:Y1 happened. Sure, I think they all know the basics of Two-Face beating Dick almost to death when he’d only been Robin a short time, but do they know that Bruce fired him then? That Dick ran away to live on the streets and then ended up being trained as an assassin for months by a League-affiliated supervillain? I’d doubt it, because who would tell them? I can’t imagine its a time or a part of his life Dick wants to volunteer to anyone, and Bruce probably still feels guilty so I doubt he’d ever volunteer that information. And Alfred I imagine would feel its not his place to be the one to drop that info on any of the others without Bruce or Dick’s say-so. 

Like sure, Bruce has files on all of that time, probably, but even with their hacking prowess, would even Babs or Tim have had time to hunt down and go through every single file Bruce has ever created....especially ones he might have tucked away for being particularly sensitive or private, and how do even the best hackers guarantee hunting down files they don’t even know they’re looking for? For that matter, it strikes me that as much as we tend to make a fanon trope out of Babs or Tim knowing everything about everyone because they can access any file, even hidden or locked ones...that IS intrusive and there’s plenty of old files about Bruce or Dick they probably never looked at because there’s a point where that’s none of their business, like if its not an official case they need info for, they should be asking directly, not snooping behind closed doors.

So....its entirely likely, the more I think about it, that all of this would be a family secret that would be an utter revelation to most of them in its entirety.

And you think there’s potential for resentment between Dick and Boone.....imagine throwing the family into it, and how Dick’s brothers and sister feel about this mercenary and assassin who claims to know more about their brother than they do, know him better than any of them ever have....and think, from a certain angle....oh fuck, he’s actually not entirely wrong?

Just.

More Boone. More Shrike. More Vengeance Academy.

THERE IS SO MUCH UNTAPPED POTENTIAL THERE, UGGGGGGGH.

Also also also: I present to you - in context of all of the above - the possibility of magical body or life swapping stories a la Freaky Friday??? Like....UMMM COULD YOU IMAGINE??!!!

[messedupessy]

Mmh for the art raffle, rottenberry in A1 ? Maybe ? :o have a nice day/night, hope you're alright

“I-I’m just s-so fucking tired of it Berry…!”

HERE YA GO BESTEST FRENCH FRY BERRY COMFORTING A CRYING TINY SCRATCHY BOY  (͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

Hey look another one of these, this pic have been done for like ages now but since I ended up writing so frikking much under the cut it has taken me weeks to get this posted xD still this is one of the requests i looked the most forward to do as I immediately knew exactly what it was I wanted to draw for it!

Really happy with how this turned out, the pose was a little hard to get right but i got there eventually, really like how Scratch’s hands turned out even though you can barely see them as they are black due for his gauntlet’s, but I sketched them darker like that so that they wouldn’t melt into Berry’s vest which I think worked out, tried to like leave some white spaces which turned out really well, Scratch’s expression is not fully how I would had liked it but still turned out good, due for his mouth not showing it doesn’t show the exact emotion which i wanted him to have which was that of a bit more despair, as he is supposed to be really upset in this, the tears turned out pretty good too I actually accidentally at first drew them on the same layer as the sketch like an idiot so had to redo them, the first tears looked better but oh well that stuff happens, maybe should had made them a tiny bit more shiny and white so they would be more visible but they still looks good yeah, so all in all real happy with this one :D

And because I can so will I now give you guys some headcanons/mini story something for this ship, as I like doing that hella lot, I do actually have a bit of a story planned based on this but knowing me i will prolly never get around to actually write it properly, so instead ya all get this instead especially since I haven’t shown/talked about my take on this ship before, and the reason for the text up above will also be explained

Also the shit down below got super, duper long like crazy long as I got so frikking carried away with the whole thing just so ya know pfft

Their first ever meeting did not go so well, Berry was excited about meeting his so called double thinking up how his double would be like etc, so when he finally meet Scratch he was a tiny bit disappointed as Scratch looked nothing like he thought he would. His disappointment didn’t last for long though as he quickly noticed how damn short Scratch is, Berry is at 5′1 aka 154 cm while Scratch is at 4′8 aka 142 cm though he is wearing a pair of  ridiculously high heeled boots but it is obvious that he is really short. 

Which Berry without thinking says out loud as a greeting which makes Scratch immediately absolutely furious as he got a  extreme height complex, so Scratch lashes out with a attack and Berry easily evades it like a boss, Berry trying to apologize as he quickly realized he hit a nerve but Scratch isn’t letting him as he is too pissed off to listen, and Berry isn’t making it better by saying his apologizes like this: “I’M SORRY OTHER ME FOR CALLING YOU SHORT BUT YOU ARE REALLY SHORT AND TINY AND I CAN’T HELP BUT FIND IT REALLY CUTE!” Berry of course can’t help but to put in some flirting as well as he is one flirty boy, waggling his brows with a flirty smile while evading a still angry but now also flustered Scratch.

Berry keeps on making stuff worse as he just can’t help himself, getting completely carried away and finding the way Scratch is flustering while also been absolutely pissed adorable. Until Stretch decides to intervene as this fight/battle has been going on long enough, grabbing hold of Scratch as he is the one attacking and also you guys are ruining the furniture like not cool while saying a pun or joke of some sort. 

Berry stops moving and chuckles at his bro’s joke and then goes oh right shit forgot we were indoors, then he makes a pun which Stretch puns back at but which Scratch just screeches at, pushing Stretch away from him with a “UNHAND ME YOU FOOL!” and then stomps away fuming af with the other two looking after him, Berry after awhile saying that that guy is just really cute when he gets all pissy like that doesn’t he which Stretch agrees with, but like bro you really should apologize to him properly because that shit you said was really hella rude, like remember when you were easily offended with people commenting on your height when you were a kid and how it made you feel.

Berry makes a face and looking a tad bit guilty, he goes like fuck you’re right I didn’t think of that, I just let my first thought slip as I hadn’t expected other me to be way shorter than I am and then I got all carried away like I always do. I guess I better go and try to fix this mess I made, think I will have to wait a bit tough for him to cool down a bit, which Stretch just nods in agreement then saying another pun which Berry puns back at.

Berry then goes to visit Scratch, knocks on the door and Scratch opens it immediately, after checking who it is, asking what the fuck does he want, Berry says he is there to apologize which just makes Scratch squint at him in disbelief. Berry then apologizes but fucks up a bit as he ends up calling Scratch short again which makes Scratch pissed and he tries to slam the door on Berry but he grabs hold off it before it slams shut completely, saying sorry again that came out wrong i’m sorry let me make it up to you. 

They fight with the door for awhile Scratch schreeching at him to fuck off and Berry shouting he just wants to make it up to him until Scratch is like fine make it up to me by leaving me the fuck alone which Berry says he can’t because that won’t make up for what he said wait I know I will let you punch me! 

Both stops fighting with the door and Scratch once again just looks at Berry in disbelief, like what kind of an idiot are you kind of way, which he also voices out loud, Berry just laughs and says since calling you sho- I mean calling you that made you angry and hurt I will let you punch me properly and not evade it at all like I did before. 

Scratch is still just looking at him trying to figure out what Berry truly is after, saying Berry really is stupid, Berry replies with come on I can take it just punch me and then we will be even, you don’t have to tell me twice Scratch says and then punches Berry without warning making the other stagger back and start to bleed from his nose, but he just shakes his head saying that was a great punch, really glad I didn’t let you hit me when we fought earlier because then i would have gotten hurt even worse. 

Scratch fluster a bit at the praise, Berry then adds since we are now even and you have punched me so are we officially friends now grinning wide with Scratch going what before Berry grabs him and starts running off with him, saying come on let’s hang out now since we’re friends with Scratch schreeching we are not friends put me down but which Berry ignores as he is determined to get to know his angry counter part better 

After that whole thing the two of them start to hang out, mostly by Berry visiting Scratch against his will and then drag him off to do things together, from hanging out at Berry’s home to go out and prank people, Scratch starts to get less and less against hanging out with Berry as he finds himself having fun during their hang outs. 

He still fights it at times but Berry is very insistent, he fought against it for quiet some time especially when it came to the things Berry tried to make him join in with, like pranking people that’s childish and so are video games, building snowmen no that’s something for children! but Berry just had to say are you chicken/does that mean I win by default etc made him immediately change his mind and join in as he refused to be defeated in anything etc.

Though still a bit hesitantly as Scratch hates to appear childish in any way, which Berry have figured out and is trying to teach him it’s ok to be etc, as when Berry was younger he had kind of the same troubles, Berry still slips up at times with short/tiny jokes as he just can’t help it even though he tries which have made Scratch get really mad at him so many times, Berry also keeps on flustering Scratch by calling him cute etc out of the blue

Berry tries to get to know Scratch better, more personally etc but Scratch keeps on pushing him away in that regard, refusing to open up, so Berry keeps pushing and kinda pester as his feelings for the other have grown into a full blown crush and when he is in love he has a habit of getting blind to the person of his affections discomforts and when he is going too far, when he is too pushy and should leave them alone. 

So one day he and Scratch are hanging out, doing their usual thing when Scratch seems to be a bit more distant than usual, Berry tries to get Scratch to tell him what’s up but Scratch is not telling him anything. Berry then says if Scratch needs to talk about stuff then talk with him he will understand then he tries to put a comforting hand on Scratch’s shoulder but it is swatted away harshly by Scratch who just looks at him like he have just said the worst insult ever, saying as if Berry would ever understand what he is dealing with, and then Scratch just explodes into a screaming rant how there is no way that Berry would ever understand the shit he is going through.

“NO YOU DON’T UNDERSTAND BERRY! YOU WILL NEVER UNDERSTAND HOW IT FEELS TO WAKE UP EVERY SINGLE FUCKING DAY KNOWING IT IS YET ANOTHER DAY OF BEEN BELITTLED, OF BEEN MOCKED, OF NOT BEEN TAKEN SERIOUSLY AND TREATED LIKE A CHILD ALL BECAUSE YOU JUST HAPPEN TO LOOK LIKE ONE WHEN YOU SURE AS FUCK AREN’T! YOU DO NOT KNOW HOW IT FEELS TO BE TOLD OVER AND OVER AGAIN EVERY FUCKING DAY THAT YOU ARE WEAK, THAT YOU CAN’T DO ANYTHING AND YOU ARE NOT EVEN GIVEN THE SLIGHTEST BIT OF A CHANCE TO PROVE THEM WRONG! YOU WHO HAVE NEVER HAD ANY PROBLEMS EVER IN YOUR LIFE  YOU WOULD NEVER UNDERSTAND HOW IT IS TO HAVE A BROTHER WHO DOESN’T LOVE YOU AND TREAT YOU LIKE FUCKING SHIT!”

Scratch keeps on shouting at Berry like that for awhile, just letting all of the things that troubles him out into the open. As the reason for why he had been more distant was because he had grown a bit jealous of Berry’s seemingly perfect life, as people weren’t belittling him or mocking him for his height etc, and how he had such a great relationship with his brother unlike himself, he shouts and screams himself hoarse until

“I’M-I’m just…-“, Scratch said mouth now quivering and his voice suddenly lowering to almost a whisper, his eye sockets barely holding back the tears that was risking of flooding out as he looked away from the other and instead looked down at his feet with an expression  that was just completely exhausted and defeated. “I’m just so tired, so fucking tired of it all…”  

Scratch tries to stop himself from crying with little success, as he is just so damn tired of all of it and been keeping shit inside for so long, Berry have just listened to it all without a word, actually a bit shocked at the sudden outburst, he then steps forward and pulls Scratch into a hug. 

Scratch immediately telling him to let him go schreeching and thrashing but Berry doesn’t let him go, after awhile of that Scratch just stops and slowly puts his arms around Berry and just starts crying fully, the line and the pic above happening, and Berry just holds him while he cries and just says over and over how he is just so tired. Berry saying he knows, he hadn’t thought Scratch had such problems or that people were treating him so damn bad etc, and how this explains so much about how Scratch has been behaving and how he himself should have like noticed that stuff a bit more but like always when he is crushing he gets really bad at noticing things he doesn’t want to notice about the person he is interested in.

He hugs the other a bit tighter while Scratch has become stiff in his arms, as Scratch is realizing what he have just done just letting all of his feelings and troubles out and he is terrified and horrified about it, Berry then decides to try to break the tension a bit by saying a joke, or kind of a joke which is “Well, I never thought our first embrace would be in a situation like this.” or something like it which Scratch doesn’t take well upon hearing it getting flustered and try to push Berry away which Berry lets him a tiny bit so they are now face to face at least, Berry saying sorry not the time to say that please calm down and let me say some things. 

Which Scratch do but his whole body is still ready to fucking bolt at a moments notice, Berry then begins to talk how yes he might not understand what Scratch is going through fully, as he himself have had troubles in the past with been taken seriously thanks to his baby face and also his own shortness, even though those troubles weren’t as bad as Scratch’s though still bad but not to that extent, he also apologies how he was so damn pushy about Scratch telling him stuff and that he should had pushed less etc alongside other things which makes Scratch relax and calm down

After the whole thing the two of them gets closer, Scratch starts to open up without having to be pushed to an outburst to do so, Berry tries his best not to push Scratch to that extent, Scratch is more relaxed around Berry now and doesn’t get upset as often about things, like they become proper friends who can talk about stuff most of the time, share their experiences and stuff with one another, they still fuck up time to time but they solve it much more calmly, mostly at least, Scratch is making sure to tell Berry off when he is uncomfortable about anything which Berry might fail to notice etc.

Now finally with Scratch actually feeling comfortable and safe around Berry, his feelings starts to change into a crush as well, Berry have never hidden the fact that he has been interested in Scratch romantically, or at least he have been flirting with him allot, and even though they still end up fighting time to time and that Berry keeps on forcing him outside his comfort zone which he doesn’t always like but is kinda what he needs at times, also helps that Berry is pretty damn good looking which Berry knows fully that he is, flexing and shit which makes Scratch’s soul flutter.

And as usual when Scratch gets a crush or anything like it he goes into tsundere mode, starts to avoid Berry and stuff even though he knows Berry is interested in him that way but then doubts starts to grow in his mind, what if Berry is just interested in him so to use him and then break his heart and stuff, what if this whole friendship was a rouse to make fun of him, like Berry gets around allot in that department he have heard, what if their friendship is fake and he will lose what he have with Berry if he admits his feelings and Berry gets what he wants etc.

Berry for once actually notices that there is something bothering Scratch almost immediately this time around, and decides to confront Scratch what’s bothering him as he does not want what happened last time to happen again, and after some careful prodding Scratch ends up confessing his feelings and his fears while been real frikking flustered, Berry is overjoyed at having his feelings returned that he immediately hugs Scratch completely missing the part about Scratch’s fears, getting his mouth covered by Scratch’s hands as he tries to kiss him in his excitement which Scratch is not ready for at all.

Berry immediately apologizes for doing so he just got so damn happy and excited which is no excuse for trying to kiss him without consent, he then asks what the rest Scratch said was can he repeat it which Scratch at first refuses to do so as he is pretty flustered, embarrassed and kind of distressed but he ends up repeating himself after a bit. 

Berry immediately assures him that that kind of thing he would never ever do, he is not the kind of guy who would play with someones feelings like that at least not intentionally, he tells Scratch when it comes to Berry getting around with different partners its something he only do when fully single or if he isn’t interested in someone special, and that ever since he ended up crushing on Scratch he haven’t been with anyone at all.

After some more reassurance, some flirting on Berry’s part and some fluster on Scratch’s, the both of them decide to give a romantic relationship a try, which ends up been pretty much just like their friendship just much more hugs and eventually kisses when Scratch ends up comfortable enough for it, they both still fuck up at times in various ways. 

Berry been too pushy and missing clear signs when Scratch doesn’t want something etc, and Scratch keeps on having troubles telling Berry the things that truly bothers him etc, they still fight time to time, though mostly just about silly things like Berry totally cheating at mario kart and shit, they way too often edge each other on to do stupid shit, but all in all they end up been pretty good for one another, Scratch telling Berry off when he is too much and Berry helping Scratch been more open and be as childish as he wants to be, the fucking end

Fuck this took forever for some reason but now it’s done hurray, not completely happy with all of it there are a bunch of parts which is a bit iffy but all in all i am kind of happy with this anyhow xD the more well written text and dialogue is from my attempt at writing this as an actual fic which I decided to include, as i like how those two parts turned out and that i will prolly never end up writing it properly and shit, anyway enjoy this wall of text yo 

[buzzworddotie]

Shnap Out of It! RDPR S10E08

Do you believe in life after Drag Race?

Yay another episode of Asia O'Haras Drag Race! This week we kick things off with a slapping challenge, loved it! It is so much fun seeing Ru really enjoying his time with the Queens, he's more like Ru from AS2 with these girls.

The slap off was hilarious, but obviously Asia stole the show with her over acted response to actually getting slapped by RuPaul. It was so funny and reminded me once again why I absolutely love Asia. She's the O'Hara I'm here for Season 10.

I thought the weakest in this mini challenge was Eureka.... Can I just skip ahead because it happens, we all know it happens. Eureka and her singing melt down. Well not melt down but her emotions... I didn't believe her! I'm sorry, I know I'm not her biggest fan and it's probably seeming super bias but I didn't buy it. I'm also kind of certain she released a single or something before this and I'm pretty sure a couple of days after the season wraps she'll have something out on iTunes.

I get that the story she told was sad and Jesus knows it shouldn't happen to any kid but assuming it's a legit story it felt like she was reaching. And this will tie me back to chronological order (ISH) as we discuss the workroom.

Ru announced it's an all singing, all dancing Cher Rusical. I actually used to watch the repeats of Sonny and Cher when I was a kid and really liked her so I thought this was a fun challenge.

During the walk though I think we saw Ru chat to most girls. This includes a moment with Eureka where Eureka discusses The Vixen seemingly just not liking her.

Skip ahead and Ru chats to The Vixen and I don't know about the rest of you but it didn't feel like there was any warmth there. Don't get me wrong, I love Ru but this season feels too much like she is Team Eureka. And not for nothing but absolutely no one appears to find any issue with Eureka stirring shit with The Vixen back in that episode of Untucked.

My Problem With Eureka

Ok if you don't give a shit about my thoughts on Eureka you can skip past this piece to the heading "On with the show" but I just really wanted to pop in an aside here about Eureka. I think I figured out why she is bugging me this season, it's because she is absolutely not being held to the same standard as the other Queens. Nothing pisses me off more in life that seeing double standards or blatent favouritism. And that's what's happening this season.

More to the point I don't understand why. But is annoys the hell out of me. I have seen this is real life as well, maybe I just have a chip on my shoulder over it. But if I ask myself objectively has Eureka performed best on the runway this season? The answer is no. If I ask myself has she performed best in the challenges? The answer is she had a couple of moments but there were times I totally disagreed with the judges on her being in the top. And I get that's my opinion versus theirs, fair enough. Has Eureka been completely blameless, totally innocent in any drama arising this season? Hell fucking no.

I loved Trinity in S09 and I get her now. I totally get why she didn't adore Eureka. Also, the judges die for her point and walk off stage and the way she does it is a complete rip off of what Trinity did. OK maybe that's just how they do it in the pagents both of them enter but stop acting like its brand new!!!!

Even the way the guest judges swoon over her in deliberations, like Snatch Game or this episode, it doesn't feel genuine!! Maybe I'm missing something, but I'd like to reiterate that I was 100% here for her being back this season. I was looking forward to it so I didn't start this season off with a wall up against Eureka.

However the shenanigans are feeling just so evident this season, it's too forced. It's too as if she is walking on water, there is too much bias towards her. And I don't even think she has bombed so hard she should be gone home necessarily but come on judges it's too much, it's too forced.

Am I missing something?

If we break it down, we have C, Charisma, does she have it? Well on season 9 she seemed to but this season I'm not feeling it through the screen. But the judges do.

U, Uniqueness? No, she's not unique, her runway schtick is a la Trinity and then her act is loud so no. Her looks can be cute though but even the glittery lines on the face thing, when I saw her doing that mid season-ish I remember thinking, is she doing Monique Hearts make up effect?!

Again, am I too Nancy Drew here?!

N is for Nerve. Well it took a lot of nerve to stir the shit with The Vixen and then act like the innocent bystander but that's not the nerve we're after is it?

T, Talent. Is rolling around dressed as a baby talent? Ok, Ok, her Snatch Game was fine, not a winner for me but fine. She is obviously talented, creative etc. But I think that goes without saying for all the girls and well the majority of Drag Queens in general.

But I think the thing that annoys me the most about Eureka is probably not even her fault. It's the fact that it is clear the producers of the show are edging her for the win or at least top 2 and it's forced and I'm not buying it.

On with the Show...

The work room slowly dissembles into some kind of alternate reality Cher universe as they all attempt their best Cher noises.

Can't remember at what stage it happens but we do find out how broke Miz Cracker was growing up and that's pretty messed up. I mean I did not come from a wealthy home, far from it, but it sounds like Cracker really went through some hard times.

Todrick Hall was in charge of choreography for the challenge, I love him, he's so handsome and sweet and insanely talented. Yes he goes full bossy on the show but I kind of love his no bullshit attitude. I mean, it is not these performers' first time at the rodeo, he doesn't need to watch their feelings.

If you have Netflix it's worth checking out his documentary, the way he is able to turn around not just songs but entire productions so quickly is sheer insanity.

Some of his songs are bangers as well, I love the one he does with Bob, 'Wrong Bitch.'

It's Cher, Cher, Cher, Cher Stupid

I'm going to keep this short and sweet. I thought the performances were decent. I agreed with the judges Kameron nailed Cher, she just did. She may not have had the most OTT performance in terms of dance but something so stripped back could have totally bombed and I thought she did a great job, her look, mannerisms and voice were on point.

Monet was really fun, I love her energy in general. You want to talk about Charisma, with that smile?! Monet puts the C in CUNT.

I thought Cracker was actually quite good, for some reason the judges came for her for the fact she had that voice changing mic?! Really?! It was the prop she had to use!!! It wasnt even her idea!!!

Yes, lovely Asia bombed it but I loved when she ad libbed that line about forgetting her lyrics, that is a pro entertainer move.

The Vixen's wasn't great just the voice was weird but I thought she performed well.

Zero apologies but Eureka was not good. Don't care, the fact that her big laugh came from A. Turning around and showing her ass which for some reason is hilarious because she's a bigger girl and B. A prop canon between her legs is horse shit. She performed half heartedly the majority of the performance while Aquaria gave it her all.

I did not agree that Aquaria was bottom 3, that should have been Eureka and it could have been a toss up between her and The Vixen to lip sync to be quite honest.

But again the judges and guest judges fawned over her.

Ugh.. anyway....

I loved this lip sync, I thought both girls did really well but that moment when the song stops and leads into the countdown was Asia's moment entirely! I loved it, I just want to see it again.

The Vixen goes home and OK fair enough it may have been her time. But I feel like The Vixen didn't get the empathy she maybe deserved entirely this season, I think she was pushed by Eureka and I can imagine there is footage on the cutting room floor to show that in more detail. Can't wait for them to reunite!

However, I did like The Vixen, I didn't always agree with her entirely but I have respect for the inner power she had during her run and I hope for great things for her particularly given the voice she projects and the way she uses her platform.

Should we Untuck?

Honestly, I don't remember much from Untucked. I know they were at Kameron for not being hyped enough for doing well.

Let the girl be, if she's not as wild as the others just let her be. Why does she need to be like anyone else?!

Cracker moved in on Aquaria calling out her confidence I think and probably making the point of how unappealing it is.

This is a bit of a Violet syndrome for Aquaria but I do think Aquaria comes across with more charm and goofyness than Violet did so I'm fine with her.

That about sums it up for this week. It's starting to get closer to the end and it's anyone's game. I'd love to see Asia win, or Monet. Cracker I do live for but she isn't winning it. And Eureka probably will anyway...

I have seen the next episode, I have many thoughts... But I need to digest it and get Untucked before I even go there.

Until next time.

[greyliliy]

Paper Mario: The Origami King

I loved Paper Mario: The Origami King. A lot. It's my first Paper Mario game and it is an understatement to say that I adored it. Enough so that I want to write a full review on my thoughts for the entire game. o-o It’s been so long since I’ve felt the need to do that and it feels good. It feels so good. T-T

So let’s do this. :D This is going to be a long one, and I’ll probably put the cut right before I start talking about individual chapters. Hopefully before that there are no major spoilers, but afterwards its’ a free for all discussion. So spoilers will be present! :D

A Brief History of my Relationship With Paper Mario

I saw an Arlo video talking about it when I was randomly browsing videos on his channel (I found him for something else believe or not) and I think that was the first time I even realized this franchise existed. Lol. (Which is funny because I have a Wii U and Paper Mario: Color Splash was like the last big game for that console).

I was curious so I browsed the Paper Mario Reddit and watched his Color Splash reviews and got interested in the series.

I ended starting to watch play throughs of Thousand Year Door (where I am mostly through the game? The players just finished the area where you get Vivian) and Color Splash (where I am halfway through the game maybe?).

My opinion on both games: They both look fine. TYYD has it’s good points. Color Splash has its good points. I feel like I would be irritated by random battles in both of them, no matter the combat methods. Lol.

But honestly I leaned more toward Color Splash because I love the Paper Aesthetic. Good story + Paper Themed World = My jam.

Which  means that first Origami King trailer smacked me in the face because it looked like I’d be getting both. I preordered the game as soon as I saw the trailer and it did not disappoint. Lol.

General Stuff

The Good: The characters! I adored all of them. Every character, whether generic minion or unique, was bursting with fun dialogue and moments that made me smile. Olivia was precious. I want an Origami Olly to put in my room (I love him so much) and the Legion of Stationary was surprisingly fleshed out. They were easily my favorite bosses in the game, which was a surprise after all the teasing they got in the trailers. Lol.

Plus: LUIGI. Oh my gosh. He’s amazing in this game. XD

The Music doesn’t need my praise. Everyone has praised the music in this game and it deserves it. Every. Single. Track. Is the greatest and I love this soundtrack. I’m listening to it right now (Where can I buy this Nintendo. TELL ME).

I also really enjoyed the battles. It had a nice blend of Turn Based & Overworld Action, keeping things mixed up and fresh. I wasn’t great at some of the combat (Which I’ll talk about below in the chapter by chapter section) but the game makes stuff easier if you fail too much...which I appreciated. LOL.

Oh. And the Confetti thing. I liked it. Filling holes with confetti was satisfying in a nice completionism way. It was kinda soothing, too, and it was nice to physically repair the world in addition to trying to save it in general.

The Critique: The game needed more time with Olly. I’m not just saying that as someone who loved him, I’m saying it as a story miss. We see Olly at the beginning. And we see him for like two seconds at a time between chapters to half-handedly ask Olivia to join him, and then...the final boss fight. One or two cut-away scenes showing what Olly and Peach were doing between the Streamer Banners would have been great and done wonders for fleshing out the story.

The Combat: Opinions on this have been highly mixed. Specifically, I have noticed a large crowd saying the combat is too easy; they line everything up on the first turn and kill everything on the first turn and then they’re drowning in coins so there’s no point to battle.

And then there’s Me: I rarely got the puzzle right on the first turn, which means I didn't get the bonus coins, and I usually burned through weapons and faster since I didn’t get the “Great Line Up!” on the first turn bonus. So I was...constantly fight enemies for coins (Stuff gets expensive in this game) and using them to get help from the Toads.

So when I got puzzles right on the first turn, I felt super accomplished. Lol. I did eventually get better at them (and used one of the help items from the Battle Toad) and was beating them in one turn 60% of the time. So while I really enjoyed the puzzle turn-based battles, I can see how some would get tired and bored of them.

I think a difficulty setting might fix the wildly different experiences with this. The puzzles get much tricker later, so if you’re solving even those too fast--the game could have given you harder stuff to solve.

Though it is sort of funny. If you do well at puzzles, you get a ton of extra bonus coins. But if you’re good at the puzzles, you don’t need those coins since coins are mostly spent on “Getting help for puzzles.” Which the people who are bad at puzzles need but don’t get...fun times.

Boss battles, however, were mostly scripted and I’ll talk about those in detail in the spoiler section below. XD

The Game

Okay! Let’s get into the meat and talk about each Streamer Section individually. o-o Whoooooooo. I’m glad the Game8 Wiki has a nice layout for me to reference. XD

Prologue

This is when I knew I was going to love the game. Luigi is adorable. Origami Peach is every bit as creepy as the trailer promised. And Olly stealing the castle was great. :D

The Red Streamer

This entire streamer is a tutorial. I can see how that could get irritating if you don’t like Olivia holding you hand (and I have seen many complain about it), but this is the only chapter where she does that. 

Which I understand. Every streamer follows the same sort of pattern (explore two or more themed areas to open up a path to a temple, beat a temple, beat a Vellumental, go clear the boss building/area, fight the Stationary Boss). Giving the audience a clear how-to guide to get through an entire Streamer Chapter isn’t the worst.

Plus Olivia is adorable and I used X to talk to her all the time, whether I needed the hint or not. Lol.

Whispering Woods

The mini story with the trees and the the little Toad camp ground are cute. I was surprised that I had to back track here later in the game a few times. XD

Toad Town

The hub world! Here you can find the Museum (which has all the fast travel pipes), the Battle Practice area (which if you visit 3x will give you items to make the Ring battles easier), and the shop (please remember to actually use your membership card you get from here and don’t be like me who paid 24,000 coins in the late game for a collectible when I could have had it HALF OFF but I forgot to equip the membership card).

It also features: A cool Graffiti area I need to visit again because I heard it gets more art as you progress through the game, many Macho Gumbas to beat, the Docks, a Toad that’ll tell you what Power Up Hearts you are missing, more fast travel options, and a great scene with Luigi that kick-starts his sub-story as he hunts for Princess Peach’s Castle Key.

Picnic Road & Overlook Mountain

So many hidden Toads. Everywhere. XD It’s a very lovely area, but again, since this is a tutorial-ish Streamer there isn’t much there aside from enemies to practice fighting and a lot of examples of how Toads hide (including in the ground, in walls, as folded origami, on the other end of small over world puzzles, etc.)

Earth Elemental Temple & Fight

I loved the lead up to this Temple. The fake Koopa one with the small tour boxes was so great. It was funny, cute, and I loved that the fake Temple Tour ended with a real Temple.

The fight was easy (again...tutorial streamer) but I still messed up a few times. Lol. It took me a while to get the hang of the boss rings (and I kid you not, it was like five streamers in before I realized you could move the boss ring panels front and back in addition to rotating the rings).

Olivia turning into a Vellumental was a huge surprise. I’m not sure how I feel about it as a whole, but they use her transforming powers the entire game, so it’s thematically appropriate.

Overlook Tower & Colored Pencils

Fighting your way up the tower to get to the boss was fun. I loved the elevator bits & the drawings everywhere (Colored Pencils drew Olly!!!).

It was a very nice introduction to the future “Boss Building before the Fight” that you’ll face in every Streamer.

Also Colored Pencils having a personality was such a delight that I couldn’t help but grin. Legit, the Legion of Stationary are some of my favorite characters and I’m amazing at how much life and personality they shoved into these office supplies.

I’m sad they die afterwards though. T-T

But with the Red Streamer done, the game stops holding your hand and the game really gets going. :P

The Blue Streamer

One word: Bobby.

It’s fun having the second world be your favorite in the game. Lol. But it just hit all the right beats and made a great impact.

Autumn Mountain

Very pretty area. Lets you get to know Bob-omb (aka “Bobby” as Olivia likes to call him) and his personality as you explore a gorgeous, autumn area. Lots of warm colors and great music tracks. It had a few frustrating areas with the stupid falling Chestnuts (oh my gosh how long did it take me to figure out I needed to hit the wall to break it lol), but overall a good area.

Water Vellumental

I cheated on the slide puzzles. I’ll admit it. I paid the coins to have the Temple solve its own puzzles. LOL.

Years of playing Zelda made me terrified of a Water based Temple but it wasn’t that bad aside from the slide puzzles. A very lovely temple with a great design.

The boss fight was one of the easier ones, but I was still getting the hang of figuring out the pathing for boss fights so it took me a while to figure out how to execute the things I wanted to do (I figured out early I had to use Olivia’s Earth Vellumental form to avoid the Water Attack, but I wasn’t so good at lining u the On Button and the Magic Circles to do it lol).

Eddy River

Lord this was annoying. I missed one of the Holes to fill with confetti and that was the moment were I was like “I will never 100% this game” because the thought of going down that river again made me go “No.” XD

Shogun Studios

I loved running around this amusement park. There were puzzles and character interactions everywhere. (So many item trades between NPCs lol) and the Ninja Mansion was fun. Even if I had to do it twice because I missed Luigi the first time around...

Big Sho’ Theatre & Rubber Band

This was amazing.

Riding the up the tower in the audience seats. The captured Toad audience. The paper Macho actors. The different stage plays. Rubber Band yelling in the background before showing up as the Diva they are.

The Rubber Band fight was also a blast. I figured out the trick immediately and had a great time wrecking that boss. XD

It was fun. The Rubber Band Tower & Fight are easily my 2nd favorite Boss Area and Fight in the game.

Sweetpaper Valley to Breezy Tunnel

I know this area is technically part of the Yellow Streamer, but it feels like an interlude section, so I’m putting it in its own section.

I will admit, I had this part of the game spoiled for me. I knew about what happened to Bobby and I was like “Really. The game’s going to go there.”

And it did.

When you get to the Valley, Olly drops a bolder on Olivia and Bobby’s like “I know how to fix this.”

He takes you on an awesome adventure through the Princess Peach Cruise Ship that involves an incredible Macho Battle on the boat and the retrieval of a special item, and then when you get back...

Bob-omb saves Olivia.

The death of Bobby itself wasn’t the sad part. Honestly it was a little funny because the bolder explodes into a bunch of confetti that Mario picks up as he walks through it.

The sad part is Olivia.

When she realizes what happened to Bobby and runs away. Ug. Sitting with her in the dark as she sobs. Her grief. It’s so sad in the best way. And then Bobby! Bobby tells you to cheer her up and man.

That tiny “That’s not fair” she says to Mario when he makes her laugh? That’s the spot that got me teary eyed for the first time in the game.

It’s so good and it solidified this game as an all time favorite. Even if the rest of the game was horrible, it can’t take that scene away.

The Yellow Streamer

The. Music. This area has my favorite music. Every track is such a jazzy, awesome beat and I could hang out in the Snif City Hotel Pool Room all day to listen to that song. XD

Scorching Dessert & Snif City

Driving through the Desert areas felt a little like padding since you had to keep backtracking everywhere, but it wasn’t nearly as bad as the Purple Streamer later, so in hindsight it’s less annoying. Lol.

Snif City has a fun design and I loved exploring it, along with the desert area. The Luigi cameo was pretty fun (as was the intentional game over I triggered to see the animation lol).

Professor Toad is a fun partner character, though I will admit I got stuck for a while because I didn’t realize you could use him to dig in spots that weren’t glowing (oops).

Olivia singing to raise the temple was a treat.

The Fire Vellumental

This temple is how I found out the game makes stuff easier if you fail too many times. There was a jumping area where you have to only jump on blocks that light up and I failed so many times it dropped all the blocks you couldn’t jump on. Uh. Oops. XD

The Fire Vellumental has my favorite design. It’s basically Moltres and Olivia looks awesome as a fire bird.

The Temple of Shrooms and Hole Punch

This might be my favorite Stationary Lair & Fight. The temple was great to explore. The Faceless Toads were fun and creepy. And oh my gosh the DJ dance room caught me so off guard I couldn't help but laugh.

Great music. Great Boss.

The fact he wouldn’t come out unless everyone was partying was fantastic. The fight itself was also pretty fun with the guy hole-punching Mario and having to find your pieces on the grid. The Hole Punch’s theme “Disco Devil” is also so good I can’t take it. Who gave a song a right to be that catchy?

I loved every second of this temple & fight.

Captain T.Ode

And then of course everything ends with Professor Toad finding the Toad he was looking for, finishing out his mini story arc. And using your fire powers to free him (And after the Shangri-Spa Toads worked so hard, too!! Lol).

The Purple Streamer

This is the only area of the game I didn’t like. It had a few good moments (Luigi and the Mushroom Island, a few of the puzzles islands) but overall I wanted to get through it as fast as possible and almost rage quit at one point.

The only saving grace was the ending with the Stationary Boss.

The Great Sea

It took me way too long to realize I had to take the boat out into the mist before it would prompt Captain T.Ode getting his submarine. WAY TOO LONG. I was sailing around aimlessly and screaming in the Museum wondering why the guy didn’t come get the Marino yet for like a solid thirty minutes.

Everything about this area was slow. Swimming from Island to Island. The loading screens between the Submarine sections. The small Island puzzles.

Just. Ug.

And of course when I find out I can upgrade the boat to go faster I didn’t have enough coins. So I had to go to another area to fight baddies to get coins and come back. XD

Even meeting Olly’s creator on an island (with a great Luigi sequence) was a disappointment. It was so short and all we really learned was that Olly is the one who made Olivia (which makes him more her Dad than her Brother...which I have talked bout before but will let the topic drop here for now). And that was IT.

Give me a flashback to Olly being made. Give me more of a hint to what the Origami Maker wrote to make the kid go nuts. Just. Something. Anything! *throws hands in the air*

The Ice Vellumental

This temple was annoying. The sliding ice puzzles were just...no. They aren’t actually that bad. I was just really burned out from all the sailing when I got to this temple and was in a bad mood. I’ll be fair--the temple itself was fine.

(Except for one area where you had to climb the stairs while dodging falling boulders and I kept messing up  my jumps and having to do it over and ARRRGH).

BUT THE BEAR.

I hate the bear. I had my first game over with the bear. I nearly rage Quit with the bear. And I beat him EVENTUALLY with 10 HP and because the game had pity on me and stuck the 1000 Arms Technique panel on the outer row.

I was fine up until the “Memorize the path and recreate it” section. The path would look easy. I’d remember where it was. But then the rings would get shuffled and I could not recreate the path for the life of me. I tried it so many times. I failed so many times.

*stares into the distance* 

I watched a Youtube Tutorial that beat that boss in five minutes. It took me like an hour. There is a special type of frustration that comes from “I know what I need to do and I know the trick but I can’t seem to make it work.”

The Three Trials

I paid coins to make these easier. I was so done with everything by that point, that failing the stupid Strength Trial twice in a row was enough to just. End me. XD

The Sea Tower and Tape

A shining light in a horrible Streamer. Lol. The Tower was fun to climb and I got excited for the Tape boss.

Who did not disappoint.

His greaser Punk personality and calling Olly “Boss” was the first thing that made me really grin this entire streamer. Even Tape’s fight gimmick taping the panels down was almost a relief and a much easier fight than the Ice Vellumental.

I loved the Tape fight. XD

The Green Streamer

Aka “Kamek is awesome and bless the Bowser Minions.”

Shangri-Spa

I liked this area more than I thought I would. When I first got there and saw the theme of Angel Toads I was like “Why” and then I saw Bower’s fallen Castle, met all the minions paying off their debt cleaning, and Olivia thought Kamek was a housekeeper.

Bless all of it.

And then Bowser Jr. gets cut into pieces by a pair of scissors and it was like “Oh, shit.”

You fix him of course, but the implications were like “Dude, those scissors killed Bowser Jr.” I honestly think one of the reasons they leaned so much harder into the “paper” aesthetic was to get away with more violence/darker content. The entire Scissors lair and fight is the perfect example. It sort of follows TV and Cartoon logic - if it’s not human, you can get away with a LOT more violence (like robots getting ripped apart or derezzing characters in Tron).

It’s not actual gore, but if you think about what it symbolizes, it really hits you (and why Mario Game Overs getting cut in half instead of reviving with his Green Mushroom).

You get a small break after that exploring all the Spas and their mini puzzles to fix Bowser Jr. The Jungle Area is the longest of which and has some nice scripted Game Overs that are fun to trigger and Olivia, Kamek, and Bowser Jr. have a good “Pick me!” scenario that gets repeated.

The boss of his area is also Macho Chain Chomp which is a win in my book because Chain Chomp is Best Mario Baddie.

(I love Chain Chomps. I have a Chain Chompette on my Keychain.)

Bowser’s Castle & Scissors

I noticed a lot of people saying Scissors was their favorite Stationary Boss and I didn’t quite get why until this Castle & Fight. He’s not knocking Hole Punch out of the way on my own list (Seriously that Boss fight music), but he is up there on the “Dude” factor.

Scissors is creepy. He is a literal sadist who tortures everyone he gets his hand on. His shadow paper minions are creepy and have cool Ring Battles.

The mutilated minions he used to make up a paper Macho Buzzy Beetle was dark if you thought about it too long - but it was a great Kamek moment. XD

Scissors himself had a great “I want a challenge!” attitude and his fight was intense.

I also screwed up and broke the blade guard on the first turn and uh. I died very quickly. XD That note that says “DO NOT BREAK THE GUARD” wasn’t kidding. I’m not super at timing action commands, so uh, jumping over the blades didn’t work out so well (especially when Scissors started cheating...).

Second time went much better. I figured out how to time attacks to avoid hitting his guard. I got to see the awesome cut scene where he took the guard off. I actually dodged a hit. I had fun. XD

And then Bowser enters the scene for the final areas of the game. Whoooo!

Finale

Bowers’ Air Ship appearance was epic. Very cinematic and I loved how he was like “I might use this against you later.”

Mario and Bowser team ups never fail to disappoint, honestly.

The air battle was messed up.

After that entire scene with Bobby in the Blue Streamer...I am now firing Bob-ombs at planes freely and in mass numbers because I have bad aim. I just. I don’t know if I want to laugh or cry. XD

The crash landing and the race out of the volcano were fun, though.

Peach’s Castle & Olly’s Castle

Luigi finally brought us the right key. I haven’t talked about Luigi much, but every single one of his appearances brought a smile with them. I loved how he had a key in every chapter like clockwork, and even now, he came through.

Bowser talking about Luigi was also pretty great. XD

But most importantly:

I love Olly. His few appearances here desperately made me wish there had been more of him earlier. He’s a dramatic little brat and I want to hug him.

The transformation of Peach’s Castle to Olly’s Origami one? Amazing. One of my favorite cut scenes in the game.

Fighting the Origami Castle itself? Eh. Aside from the great music tracks, it was a little tedious. It lacked the cool levels of the earlier Boss Areas and was mostly “use 1000 folding arms” to progress. I didn’t hate the area, but it was a bit of a let down.

Stapler was nice though. He was a good dog. That I crushed in combat. o-o

King Olly

His throne room covered in Paper Cranes is my favorite designed room & man, I wish I remembered to take more screen shots. It was so creepy and so dark and it looked so good with this tiny paper King sitting alone next to an empty throne since Olivia “Betrayed” him. 

I loved how his castle still had Olivia everywhere. Like they were meant to be together, but still separated. So good. T-T

The Princess Peach reveal was also so creepy and great.

But also made me wish for more cut scenes. Why did Olly want to make her into the wall? Why did he want her quiet? Did she annoy him? Or What? Tell me, game. Tell me!

Aesthetically it made the room look perfect though as his creepy little room. XD

As far as Olly's motivations go...I have mixed feelings. On the one hand, yes, it’s a little shallow. “A Toad wrote on me so now I’m going to destroy all flat paper beings and make them origami!” is sure...a thing. But I’m also a fan of Evil Characters that are just...evil. Maybe Olly really did just want to make everything Origami so they were like him. He was the first “Living” Origami creature and maybe he was just lonely. That’s why he made Olivia and wanted everyone to be like him. 

But that’s also reading into it...and makes me want to write a fanfic exploring it, but this is a review. XD

I’m fine with “Olly was looking for any excuse to go nuts and take over the world and the writing will just have to do.” Even if it does make his little “I guess I lost so now I’m redeemed” moment feel forced. XD

The Fights

The Bowser Origami Sumo vs Giant Olly thing was...okay. I get what they were going for, but it kinda missed the mark with me.

The Actual Olly fight? Oh lord. I had to do it like 10 times.

I failed the Action commands...a lot. Which meant a lot of game overs since I went into the fight with like 40 health (I may or may not be bad at jumping and the Sumo fight throwing stars may or may not have wrecked my health) and didn’t doge Olly's attacks.

Thankfully the game made the ring puzzle easier each time so I could actually finish it.

And it only took me 4 times to get the action commands right? XD Something like that.

I DID IT which is the point.

(This is a case of “If I was better at gaming I would have loved the fight” but my poor skills made it longer and more tedious than it should have been - only’s awesome speech at the beginning loses its bite after the fourth time hearing it.)

The Final Cut Scene

Olivia saying Goodby to Olly had me teary eyed. Her holding his little hand. Reading the message their creator left. Olly’s request for her to make him into the last crane.

Olivia���s freaking WISH. Knowing that She, herself, was one of Olly’s creations.

The cut scene was beautiful. The cranes. The light. The castles’ return.

The party at the end. The two little empty thrones.

I was sniffing through the (very well done and great to watch) credits.

Olivia was such a good girl and I miss her and Olly so much.

This ending was the perfect example of “Wouldn’t change it because it made me sad in a good way but Bless Fanfics and their “Everyone Lives” alternate universes.”

THE END

The game had a few hiccups but overall? I loved it. I can very easily see how “Your first Paper Mario is your favorite” is going to hold true. Wonderful game.

I might have to actually go back and try to 100% the game to get that extra ending I’ve seen spoiled.

[arthurhwalker]

Bladerunner 2049, thoughts

I thumbed out these thoughts about the movie on my smart phone weeks ago when I saw the movie. I still need to go back and watch it again.

Blade Runner 2049, initial thoughts. Mega Spoilers.

The movie marks a sort of transition, both external and internal to the movie itself. It was like watching a graceful transition from Platonism to Neo-Platonism, Symmachus’ Greek to Jerome’s Latin, Scott to Villeneuve. I drew a lot of startling parallels throughout the film.

Leto’s character, Niander Wallace, is the Demiurge of the story, but not Plato’s version. He is the Antinomian (Cainite/Gnostic, not the secular Orwellian) variety, and those he creates are just as likely to be tools as victims. Like Samael the Archangel, Wallace is tolerated in spite of his duality as creator (his patents saved billions of lives) and destroyer (he kills people) (also, watch his mini clip that came out before the movie).

One of Samael’s monikers is “The Blindness of God”, hence Niander Wallace being blind, but with the ability to have sight beyond that of a human (implants controlling ocular drones). His sight is a judgement on what he creates, and one of the chief duties of Samael was as an Angel of Death.

I don’t make the association for nothing. In Gnostic tradition, via the Apocryphon of John, Samael is one of three names given the Demiurge. Awesome, Arthur, but why is drawing these parallels important? -> These are the philosophical and religious traditions that are the precursor (arising from, or in parallel) for some of humanity’s first thoughts and attempts to create artificial life, or robots, a central theme in Blade Runner. (Google Hermeticism and “brazen head”.)

Opposite the Demiurge is the notion of Nuos. It is the philosophical term for human intellect, and in classical philosophy it is how humans determine what is real. Short version: The Demiurge is bad, concerned with only the material world, and Nuos is good, the means by which creatures possessed of human intellect find real value in life.

Doctor Ana Stelline is Nuos in the story, both for Deckard, and for replicants. She literally creates that basis of reality, allowing them to identify what is real. And, OMG she does this from a bubble via a purely rationalistic (reason as opposed to experience to gain certitude) method. (Joygasm) She understands that by granting replicants a real (albeit illegal) memory, it creates the proper contrast for them to seek good things. When the protagonists reach for what is real, they reach for her, whether they realize it (Deckard), or not (K). Human, replicant; reason does not discriminate.

Deckard proclaims, “I know what is real” to Wallace and Luv as they attempt to seduce him (because Samael and Lilith are all about that). “Her eyes were green.” isn’t merely a comment about the craftsmanship, it is Deckard asserting reason over the lure of experience and material things. NBD.

Nuos 1, Demiurge 0.

Was Joi given sapience by Doctor Ana Stelline’s cognitive creations? God, I hope so.

Why is looking back to scripture as translated by Symmachus and Jerome important? Because the replicants are the Nephilim of the story (Symmachus’s version to inspire Jerome), offspring of the Sons of God (Tyrell/Wallace), the daughter of Man (Ana Stelline). Genesis is painfully vague about all this. Interpret as you will, but the Nephilim vanish after the Deluge (watery doom, God returning the Earth to the state it was previous to the creation of man).

It is in this version of scripture, God predetermines the life span of some of his creations as his “spirit shall not abide in mortals forever”. (Omg Replicants) (Again, watch the Niander Wallace clip they put out before the movie.) Anyway, on the point I was trying to make.

The presence of water in the movie is significant. The still pool in Wallace’s chamber, K having his epiphany in a watery drainage tunnel, a final battle in the dark, where the water is rising, like a literal Deluge. These are powerful parts of the narrative of Blade Runner 2049. Anyhoo...

...okay, Samael had two consorts, Naamah, and Lilith. Naamah (Freysa? Maybe? Still trying to figure her out, and the dog.) is an obscure figure, but Luv is definitely the child-stealing and wanton embodiment of Lilith to Wallace’s Samael in the story. She is, by her own words “for him”. She gave me shivers on screen because Luv was the ’Songs of the Sage’ version of Lilith, leaving people desolate of heart (Killing Joi, shooting Rachel V2 in the head, etc), while leading them from the spirit of understanding (virtually every time she talks).

K defies classification (at this time, need to watch again). He was consigned to bear memories of the furnace (or Hell) similarly to other replicants (Nephilim) but he chooses Nuos (Doctor Stelline), Joi (the ephemeral avatar of Nuos?), and turns aside temptations of the Demiurge, and the edict of Freysa. Even in the face of Freysa making the same declaration as Sapper, K does not waver. Bearing witness to a miracle was not enough to turn K from his own intrinsic good, or the reason that ruled him.

K chooses to have real courage, and to unflinchingly accept that of others (Joi). Genuine courage is not without extreme liability. To gaze straight into the pristine face of reason (Ana Stelline), shook K to the core of his being, taking him light years from his baseline. He loses, literally, everything.

The K character annihilates the science fiction protagonist tropes. Roy Batty, a proper Nephilim by way of my comparison , was washed away in a Deluge, “like tears in rain”. K will be fine, reassuring Deckard with a smile, and dying (we are left to presume) peacefully while surrounded not by water and darkness, but heavenly white at the end, (Omg, on the steps to the temple of reason, in the wake of her father, freshly rescued from the Deluge. Omg.)

This was all running through my mind as I left the theater, shaken, like no movie I’d watched before. I still can’t process some of what I watched. I have 275,892 questions. Omg.

[dccomicsnews]

In the world of comics, Viktor Bogdanovic is a relative youngster. Recently on his Twitter (@VikBogdanovic) he announced that he would be working on Action Comics! This is a huge honor to any artist, to work on the original comic character on the original comic! He wasn’t just lucky though, he worked extremely hard to get to where he is today and it shows!

He started his career at image comics in 2013 working on Reality Check. The book focusing on a writer who creates a love-sick comic hero who suddenly becomes real and forces the protagonist to help him find true love, while the villain enters reality and goes on a murderous rampage. Two years later, in 2015 Viktor was brought on to DC where he worked on the comic for Batman: Arkham Knight which furthered his skills in the medium before being able to create New Super-Man!

#gallery-0-10 { margin: auto; } #gallery-0-10 .gallery-item { float: left; margin-top: 10px; text-align: center; width: 33%; } #gallery-0-10 img { border: 2px solid #cfcfcf; } #gallery-0-10 .gallery-caption { margin-left: 0; } /* see gallery_shortcode() in wp-includes/media.php */

I reached out to Viktor on twitter after finishing a review of New Super-Man to see if he would like to interview with us. I was fortunate enough the he had the time and was able to do so. Being a fan of his work myself since New Super-Man #1, I was extremely excited to see what he would tell us! There are so many intricate and small parts to New Super-Man that can be over looked because it reaches deep into the history of the comics. But don’t take my word for it, see what he has to say!

  Q: What originally inspired you to get into comics and illustration? What inspires you today?

I watched a ton of Cartoons as a kid and then soon discovered comics and that was it. I was hooked. I started drawing my own Superman and Spider-Man stories at the age of 12 or so. I have never been more productive than I was at that time. I remember filling a bunch of large sized notebooks with sequential art in record time that my dad didn’t wanna buy.

Q: How did you originally get into the comics industry?

I did a few indie books and soon got the chance to work on my first mini series for Image Comics which was called Reality Check. I kept working on my drawing skills like a mad man and eventually brought up the courage to send a few sample pages to DC. It seemed unlikely that I’d ever hear back from them but two editors responded almost immediately. They gave me a test script to draw and about a week later I was working as the main penciller on Batman: Arkham Knight. It all went so fast, I didn’t even have time to process it all. So BAK went on for almost a year. Then came the next project with Deadshot and after that New Super-Man. I’ve been working pretty much non-stop for DC since the end of 2014 producing nearly 500 pages of sequential art which seems like a really crazy number to me when I see it written down like that, haha. Like I should go to a shrink or something to take care of my OCD (obsessive comic disorder).

  Q: How did your opportunity to work on Superman come about?

My editor just called me up one evening and told me that they’d like me to draw Action Comics. I was really psyched about it and also a little bummed out because I really loved working on New Super-Man. But there are just a few books in comics you can’t turn down as an artist and Action Comics is one of them so I said yes.

Q: What persona and story are you trying to tell through your work?

It all depends on the script. First, I try to figure out the right tone, rhythm and atmosphere. Then give the characters some dimension and personality through facial expressions and body language. I mostly follow a gut feeling. It’s all very intuitive. No pre-concept.

Q: What inspired the looks of each of the three Justice League of China members?

As for the costumes: they’re all derived from Kenan’s outfit. That’s the first one I designed and the other ones had to be similar because they all work for the same secret government agency. Chinese Wonder Woman is probably a mix of Sailor Moon and that Street Fighter chick. Chinese Batman looks like a young chubby Mr. Spock when his mask is off. I thought that’d fit his personality.

Q: What were the most important things you wanted to show in New Super-Man?

When we announced this we got a lot of comments on the fact that the New Super-Man is Chinese, that it all takes place in China, etc. The whole discussion about diversity in comics and all that stuff. It immediately started a political debate. Some people were very skeptical and I don’t blame them. We’ve seen enough bad examples of diversity for diversity’s sake. But I’ve read some of Gene Yang’s previous work so I knew that it’d be a good story that I could work with. And in the end that’s all that matters. A fun story is a fun story, no matter who’s in it or where it takes place. And when the political discussion ends and people start talking about plot twists and they start talking about a character, not because he’s of this or that ethnicity but because he’s cool and fun – that’s when you know you’re on to something.

Q: What led to the decision to recreate the cover of Action Comics #1 in issue 5 and why did you decide to do that?

That’s all Gene. The script said something like “Kenan is holding up a police car… etc… similar to the scene on the cover of Action Comics #1” so I drew it. Fun stuff

#gallery-0-11 { margin: auto; } #gallery-0-11 .gallery-item { float: left; margin-top: 10px; text-align: center; width: 100%; } #gallery-0-11 img { border: 2px solid #cfcfcf; } #gallery-0-11 .gallery-caption { margin-left: 0; } /* see gallery_shortcode() in wp-includes/media.php */

Q: The “S” on Kenan’s chest is very unique from the Man of Steel’s in that it is connected to Chinese philosophy, was it originally conceived with that meaning behind it or did that come after?

No, Gene had the octagon shape and all that stuff worked out pretty early on. It’s a popular Chinese symbol with a lot of meaning so that’s why he used it.

#gallery-0-12 { margin: auto; } #gallery-0-12 .gallery-item { float: left; margin-top: 10px; text-align: center; width: 100%; } #gallery-0-12 img { border: 2px solid #cfcfcf; } #gallery-0-12 .gallery-caption { margin-left: 0; } /* see gallery_shortcode() in wp-includes/media.php */

  Q: All of the heroes and villains in New Super-Man, such as the Freedom Fighters of China, are very flamboyant and interesting, what informed the choices of how to draw and color them?

They were all created on the fly, really (except the older characters from previous comics) so I’m glad people like them. I wish I would’ve had more time to design them. Not sure they’d look better tough, heh.

Q: What advice would you give to the artist who will next draw New Super-Man? And who would be your choice to take over if you could hand pick a team?

Easy. Just give Kenan puffy cheeks and make him likeable (actually that’s not easy at all, haha) and if I could handpick a team: I think Billy than did a great job with issues 7 & 8 and I hear he’s on the next issues as well so I’m really looking forward to that. + If we could clone Erik Larsen to do an issue or two that’d be cool to (because the real Erik Larsen sure as hell ain’t leaving Savage Dragon for some Chinese Superman – or any other book for that matter). Gene Yang is a given. Nobody can write New Super-Man like he does.

Q: When it comes to the details you show in the environment, fashion and the characters, you have done an amazing job at recreating China and how it feels. What research did you do in-order to include those details?

We had a few real locations from Shanghai, etc. But the rest is just me trying to remember all the Jackie Chan movies I watched as a kid.

Q: As one of the creators of this whole world and the characters that inhabit it, what were the most important ideas that you wanted to convey to your audience?

The idea of growing up, finding yourself and your place in this world and having some fun while doing it.

Q: What can we expect to be unique about your take on Superman?

Wow, that’s tough. I don’t know. So many artists have drawn this iconic character and you’d think we’ve seen it all. He looks easy to draw on a first glance but he’s actually not. He has to look both cool and a little bit old fashioned at the same time. He’s also a brute as well as elegant. So, a lot of contradictions there but I’ll try to bring them all together as good as I can.

Q: On Twitter you’ve recently posted a picture with Zod, can we expect to see him in your first arc drawing the Man of Steel?

Most definitely! We’ll all kneel before Zod.

Q: Is there anything you’d like to tell your fans?

Yes! You should all love each other! And then go buy New Super-Man and Action Comics before somebody else does! Cheers!!

  Viktor, like Kong Kenan, is such a bright person, unlike Kenan, his is also humble. He has done, and continues to do, great work. He creates eye catching and memorable characters and brings them to life on the page. I have thoroughly enjoyed the work he has done on New Super-Man, I will miss his style in the adventures of Kenan Kong but look forward to seeing what he does with Clark Kent!

Interview: Viktor Bogdanovic Artist of New Super-Man & Action Comics! In the world of comics, Viktor Bogdanovic is a relative youngster. Recently on his Twitter (@VikBogdanovic) he announced that he would be working on Action Comics!

[thequeerexpoditionist-blog]

1-64 cutie

1. Do you ever doubt the existence of others than you? What does this even mEaN2. On a scale of 1-5, how afraid of the dark are you? 1 3. The person you would never want to meet? Trump yo4. What is your favorite word? Probably "yo" since I use it all the time yo5. If you were a type of tree, what would you be? Willow 6. When you looked in the mirror this morning what was the first thing you thought? Ew7. What shirt are you wearing? This is funny sorta, but a tie die shirt I made for my ex that I never had the chance to give to her aha8. What do you label yourself as? a fuckiN LESBIAN9. Bright room or dark room? In between 10. What were you doing at midnight last night? Thinking about some stuff11. Favorite age you’ve been so far? 1712. Who told you they loved you last? My sister 13. Your worst enemy? Uhh myself yo14. What is your current desktop picture? Pictures from pride15. Do you like someone? Indeed I diddly do16. The last song you listened to? Earth17. You can press a button that will make any one person explode. Who would you blow up? Idek probably no one bc I'm a nice bitch18. Who would you really like to just punch in the face? Oh boy the list is VERY long19. If anyone could be your slave for a day, who would it be and what would they have to do? Trump and make him gET HIS SHIT TOGETHER 20. What is your best physical attribute? (showing said attribute is optional) Uhhhhh 21. If you were the opposite sex for one day, what would you look like and what would you do? Literally the same way since eVERYONE THINKS IM A BOY22. Do you have a secret talent? If yes, what is it? Not really 23. What is one unique thing you’re afraid of? What does this even mean 24. You can only have one kind of sandwich. Every sandwich ingredient known to humankind is at your disposal. You know pb&j is pretty bomb25. You just found $100! How are you going to spend it? lol totally not on my animals 26. You just got a free plane ticket to anywhere in the world, but you have to leave immediately. Where are you going to go? Dude that's a lot of pressure but I've always wanted to visit new zealand idk27. An angel appears out of Heaven and offers you a lifetime supply of the alcoholic beverage of your choice. “Be brand-specific” it says. Man! What are you gonna say about that? Even if you don’t drink booze there’s something you can figure out… so what’s it gonna be? This is dangerous to answer I'mma stick with some O.J. 28. You discover a beautiful island upon which you may build your own society. You make the rules. What is the first rule you put into place? I'm not good with big responsibilities like this29. What is your favorite expletive? fUCK30. Your house is on fire, holy shit! You have just enough time to run in there and grab ONE inanimate object. Don’t worry, your loved ones and pets have already made it out safely. So what’s the one thing you’re going to save from that blazing inferno? I have this flash drive with basically my life on it, all my pictures and poems and whatnot so definitely that31. You can erase any horrible experience from your past. What will it be? I don't want to talk about it 🤷🏻‍♀️32. You got kicked out of the country for being a time-traveling heathen who sleeps with celebrities and has super-powers. But check out this cool shit… you can move to anywhere else in the world! Damn idk like Canada probably 33. The Celestial Gates Of Beyond have opened, much to your surprise because you didn’t think such a thing existed. Death appears. As it turns out, Death is actually a pretty cool entity, and happens to be in a fantastic mood. Death offers to return the friend/family-member/person/etc. of your choice to the living world. Who will you bring back? One of my close friends.34. What was your last dream about? I proposed to someone and it was all wild and there was this cute, brown dog there35. Are you a good….[insert anything you’d like here]? Fuck up? Yessss36. Have you ever been admitted to the hospital? Yes a few times 37. Have you ever built a snowman? A mini one in '08 lmao 38. What is the color of your socks? Grey39. What type of music do you like? All types honestly 40. Do you prefer sunrises or sunsets? Sunsets 41. What is your favorite milkshake flavor? I'm lactose intolerant man42. What football team do you support? (I will answer in terms of American football as well as soccer) I don't really keep up with sports but I support the ones who were protesting fo sho43. Do you have any scars? Many44. What do you want to be when you graduate? Theatre teacher 45. If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be? My mood swings tbh lmao 46. Are you reliable? Yeah I think so47. If you could ask your future self one question, what would it be? How you be48. Do you hold grudges? I try not to49. If you could breed two animals together to defy the laws of nature, what new animal would you create? A lion & a shark bc those are my two favorite animals aha50. What is the most unusual conversation you’ve ever had? Any conversation with my sister 51. Are you a good liar? Eh not really 52. How long could you go without talking? Not very53. What has been you worst haircut/style? This one rn bc it's in the awkward stages of growing back54. Have you ever baked your own cake? Yes55. Can you do any accents other than your own? Yeah 56. What do you like on your toast? Grape jelly fukkk57. What is the last thing you drew a picture of? An ocean wave58. What would be you dream car? A jeep59. Do you sing in the shower? Or do anything unusual in the shower? Explain. I sing hella loud yo 60. Do you believe in aliens? Yeah there's somethin out there61. Do you often read your horoscope? Sometimes 62. What is your favorite letter of the alphabet? Y63. Which is cooler: dinosaurs or dragons? Dinosaurs are cool and all but dragons are cooler 🤷🏻‍♀️64. What do you think about babies? Loud lmao

[cynicaldesire]

Metroid As A Mystery

Talkin’ to my boyfriend tonight, I sent him a link to a Short Metroid Animation.

Drew: after watching you play super metroid i can never tell what it is that metroid is trying to do, cause theyre always making her look like this badass and i began to interpret her as a brave explorer who loses, runs, helps the helpless and has to figure out mysteries Kim: ? Drew: like, this animation she lands and something is immediately shooting at her so she charges in and does gunkata, thats cool but why Drew: plot what plot but super metroid is a slow burn

I pointed out that, since our experience with the Metroid series started with Super Metroid, which is effectively Metroid 3, it’s literally just Installment 3 of an epic story. It either assumes you have knowledge of the previous installments, or at least catches you up. But it doesn’t fuck around and puts you right into the action of Super Metroid’s plot immediately.

But the plot of Metroid is, in fact, a mystery. Samus’s job is Bounty Hunter and that’s what she does. She hunts down Space Pirates and usually kills them, as that is the gameplay mechanic. But in order to hunt them down she has to follow clues. Super Metroid starts with her having to follow Ridley after he steals the baby Metroid. She follows him back to Zebes and the entire game is Samus exploring and trying to figure out how to get to Ridley and the baby Metroid. Everything in the fog in the middle is in service to that objective.

He pointed out that Megaman is straightforward. You have an objective, kill the Robot Masters. There’s not exploration really, you don’t stumble upon them because you ended up in Phantoom’s room or whatever, not in the same way. You’re told Gutsman is at a construction site, you travel through a fairly linear level to get to him, and then fight him. The larger objective is to beat Wily, and you can do that. The Robot Masters all give you powers and only by defeating all of them does Wily get revealed, so you power up, get to the end, beat the final boss, objective achieved.

Castlevania before Symphony of the Night is the same way. I think its SotN anyway. There’s a very clear objective: Kill Dracula. And everything you do in the game leads you to Dracula. You don’t really power up in 1, 2 tried the whole RPG thing with leveling up your weapons and armor and things, etc. But the objective is clear, the level design is linear, and you get to the end, kill the final boss, objective achieved.

For Metroid, or at least Super Metroid, the objective is clear: Retrieve the baby Metroid. But you’re not... they plop you down on a planet, funnel you into a specific direction, and you don’t know where you’re gonna find Ridley or the baby and you especially don’t know you’re gonna find a bunch of other bosses, mini-bosses, and powerups along the way. Prime is similar. I haven’t played Fusion in a long time, and I only played through it once, but it’s also a mystery, puzzles to be solved, powerups to get. There’s an objective obscured by the fog of uncertainty, and even progression doesn’t always clear it up. Though, using a scan visor can certainly clear that up.

Megaman doesn’t get a scan visor, the boyfriend said. And I agreed, sure. All the scanning and shit is usually done by his robot friends or different incarnations of Dr. Light or whatever. But Samus does. And she writes a lot of her own scan visor entries. It’s not like Dark Souls where you’re given information on an item from the ether, Samus makes that shit on her own. Which means she’s not a silent protagonist.

Someone on the subreddit pointed this out. Samus is not a silent protagonist. She has dialogue, she has log entries, she has things to say. But she’s a solo adventurer, so she doesn’t have people to talk to. That doesn’t make her a silent protag, just makes her alone. And they aren’t wrong. She had lots to say in Fusion. She had a log entry at the beginning of Super. Alone, not silent.

Once I looked at Super Metroid as a mystery? Exploration and puzzle-solving using the equipment that you get, it just sort blew my mind. But my boyfriend had a point. I tried to sell him Metroid as a Megaman-style game but I guess more open-world? But I guess it’s not. It’s Metroid.

He was getting upset, I thought, so I told him not to get mad about not being as into Metroid as I am, or at least comfortable in my Metroid knowledge, and he had this to say:

Drew: no im not mad, though i still feel the culture shock of finding out that robot girl with gun arm was not the action game i was led to believe it was