#Deepest Regards comic

[naskaolgia]

Deepest Regards Vol 2 (part 2)

butt stuff?

read comic with less chaos on it's website!!!

Deepest Regards - Pilot Deepest Regards (thecomicseries.com)

[izzabela]

Hello!! Soo the most interesting part of my day today is that I got my pants caught on something which ripped my pants so it gave me an idea of what would each of the Lin Kuei brothers would do if their girlfriend/wife approached the embarrassment that their pants were ripped? 😂😂

Apple Bottom Jeans - Lin Kuei x fem!reader (headcanons)

in which you rip your pants in front of each of the boys

a/n: HOW DOES THAT HAPPEN

ship[s]: bi han, tomas & kuai liang x fem!reader

warning(s): ripped pants, post-story kanon

Bi Han

- i genuinely believe he would be the one laughing out loud. why? have you seen him?

- if it takes a lot for him to give praises, i believe it takes a lot more for him to laugh- this seals the deal

- "Bi Han! Help!" you'd cry out, and he'd come running to find your knees touching each other as they face inwards. His eyes would find your hands covering the huge rip on your bum, and your pretty, cotton, everyday panties peeking through

- he'd then trail to the bits of thread that come off your pants, then to the nail that holds the rest of the fabric that came off your butt

- i think he'd have a comic book moment. the moment where the character looks at the other character, back to the problem, then back to the character

- Bi Han would have the deepest, yet whole-hearted laugh of all his brothers. you want to be mad at him, really, you do. how can you with the sound of his timbre voice reverberating in your body with joy? you'd roll your eyes for sure, chuckling with him too

- i think it would make you sad, though. not the situation you were in, but the fact Bi Han doesn't laugh often. not when his only family has left him, and you're the only thing he has left from that bygone time

- after the laugh, though, he'd definitely scold you. something along the lines of "i told you that you wore those bottoms out", or "you missed an opportunity to replace them"

- if you, reader, don't care about the pants, he'd listen to you and toss them out in a heartbeat. if you did like those pants, he'd do his best to get a servant to fix them

- worst case scenario is that he'd have to find the exact brand of pants you wore

- still, he'd go great lengths to cover you up so you'd have some dignity left. he'd take off that outer layer of his uniform and drape it over you, and it'd do the job well because he's two heads taller than you

- if you try to remind him that he laughed, he'd literally deny it til his death

- still, even as he denies it all, you know he's thinking about it when he looks away from you and his left eyebrow (yes, you studied his facial expressions) is quirked up roughly ten degrees

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tomas

- he'd be the most flustered out of the three

- raised in cultures that regard women to a high standard (slavic traditions of the Czech Republic and the Lin Kuei), he'd put you first for sure. not without feeling embarrassed, if not more, for you

- "Tomas!" you screech from your shared room of Harumi's compound. "Tomas, you get here this instant!"

- he'd show up from a fissure of smoke, face scrunched up in worry as he assesses the situation. you're panicked, and he needs to remain calm or else you'll panic more

- he'd actually find the piece of fabric that ripped off. it'd probably be hooked on a splintered piece of wood from the side-wall of the tatami door. taking it, he'd foolishly look around your bum and leg area to find the rip

- "Hey!" you'd giggle-screech. "Don't be a perv!"

- i think Tomas would be very sad and borderline offended you'd think of him like that. he'd give you a look, that's for sure, and he'd continue to quietly assess your circumstance

- only when he finds the little frills of your lacy undies will he turn the deepest shade of pink possible on the human body. he'd flail around like a fish out of water, stuttering and finding something to cover you

- he'd drape you in a blanket, the one on your bed. then he'd pick you up and toss you right back into the pillowy mattress. he'd rush out and find one of Harumi's handmaidens (or Harumi herself) and discreetly tell her about the situation

- your replacement clothes for the meanwhile would be a kimono, similar to Harumi's. as you'd get changed, Tomas doesn't look at you one bit

- "I am ashamed to have looked..." Tomas pouts from behind the dressing screen. "I apologize, feather..."

- even as he tries to get you new pants, he can't help but think about the situation he was in. he would associate those specific pants to that situation- always

- and unlike Bi Han, you'd hold this shit over his head until the day he dies

- you'd egg him like "remember when my pants ripped and you were hiding from me?" or "remember when you threw me into bed because of my pants?"

- yeah, he would be the one more embarrassed than you. he wouldn't be living it down, either, until the day he died

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Kuai Liang

- Kuai might be the most normal in terms of reaction, unfortunately. not without a good chuckle, though

- "Kuai Liang! A little help here, please!" you'd call for him from the living room of Harumi's compound. he'd rush to you almost instantly, definitely wondering why you remain sitting there when there was nothing or no one to be hosted

- "You are just... sitting..." Kuai Liang obviously notes. So much for a seasoned warrior, then again you were really just sitting

- it isn't until he walks behind you a bit, realizing that there is a reason why you're not getting up

- he'd see your hands failing to cover a hole that was right over the middle of your pants

- then, he'd see the bit of fabric that's being held by a splinter in the wooden floor of the room. he'd catch a glimpse of your panties, the color not all too difficult to miss

- "Do you think we can salvage this?" you'd ask him. Kuai Liang would give it to you straight

- "I do not believe I can, dove..." Kuai Liang says softly, kissing your forehead as an additional apology

- this is probably the most awkward situation in your life. since the pants were stuck to the ground, and you didn't want to rip it anymore, Kuai Liang basically carries you out of your pants

- with the help of a handmaid that held your pants legs down, Kuai Liang carries you by your armpits as he gently guides you to shimmy, shake, and maneuver out of your pants

- he'd praise you, a lot. things like "good job" and "thank you for listening to me" or "you did a great job listening", it'd make you very happy despite the loss of a good piece of clothing

- Kuai Liang would also order you new pants. you didn't even get to mention it before Kuai Liang had sent another handmaiden out to a nearby village to find similar, if not, the exact same pants as the ones you ripped

- and the gentleman he is, he would not speak of this day ever again. however, every time he sees you in those pants, he will chuckle to himself

- so in reality, he was speaking about it, just nonverbally

=====================

so easy that i finished this in thirty minutes

also update! i got a new job and actually love it there. everyone is so kind and helps me out

also, i love the headcanon ideas you guys are giving me, keep it up! you might see more of those get published first before i do actual fics

see y'all in the next fic!

[ram018]

Analysis on the closet scene | Ep. 101 - Nevermore.

I find this scene to be very meaningful. Not just on a superficial level, but also on a deep and symbolic one.

In this analysis ramble, I'll try to give my perspective on some of the elements and symbols I find interesting regarding how this scene is written. Particularly, when narrating the conflict Annabel Lee is facing in this situation.

Sorry for any mistakes! English is not my first language. Now, let's start!

1 | About Annabel Lee.

Annabel Lee is one of the most, if not the most, multifaceted character in this comic.

She hides herself constantly, to the point where we barely see her true self showing unless when she's with Lenore... or when she's alone. But around everybody else, she shows herself masked only – the mask of someone who pretends to be strong and tenacious, while actually trying to hide the fragile and sensitive human being behind it.

In order to hold this mask and keep the truth for herself –to prevent people from interfering with her plan and to protect both herself and Lenore– she's capable of doing absolutely anything. From putting Duke behind a wall to whatever it takes to achieve her goal.

Remember these panels? They're from Ep. 97! In these, Annabel Lee is being called mad and referred to as a monster by the person she loves the most, Lenore.

She bet her morality and her bonds with people on the price of protecting Lenore and escaping from Nevermore together, even if it meant getting her hands dirty... But she went so far with it that even Lenore, who knows her best, thinks she's a monster.

Her worst fear now comes true. It hits her in the deepest part of herself, reliving her most vulnerable and sensitive side, and reminding her that she's alone. Her mask, suddenly, breaks apart.

2 | About the closet.

Annabel hides herself in a corner of closet.

She hides herself away, with no one noticing at first, and cries alone, concealing her vulnerability and keeping it from everybody else's sight.

Given this, we could take the closet as a metaphor of Annabel Lee's inner world – her true self, everything she keeps hidden, alongside her secret with Lenore that is now burdening her.

She cries alone, among all the clothing that is inside. We could think this as if she was surrounded by all her costumes, her masks. However, she's not wearing a mask now – It's her true self, being vulnerable behind closed doors.

The closet inside is dirty, untidy, dusty, filthy. Even Prospero, in Ep. 102, said it himself: "I shudder to think how long it's been since someone last swept out this closet". Maybe, this could be a metaphor of how unkept and disorganized Annabel's inner world is, due to having to pretend all the time to be someone she's not... As if her true self had been trapped behind those doors for ages and was finally found out purely by accident.

3 | About Prospero.

In this chapter, we see a Prospero that, aside from the teamwork aspect, actually cares about Annabel Lee. Maybe not in such a deeper level -since they don't know each other that well in this part of the comic- but he does. This makes a contrast with Annabel's loneliness, since there's someone who worries about her at some level. She's not completely alone.

Prospero approaches the door cautiously, thoughtfully, probably wondering what could be making that noise inside – it could be a rat as well as it could be some kind of monster.

However, it's neither a rat nor a monster he finds, but...

...just Annabel Lee, in her most authentic self, finally allowing herself to be human.

Thank you for reading!

And sorry for the long post lol, I've been keeping this for months now and I just couldn't hold myself anymore haha.

I thought I had to comment on this since more than just being a scene of Prospero finding Annabel in a closet, it's about meeting and understanding for the first time the other's inner world – and the comic has both an interesting and beautiful take on this.

This is my first Tumblr post too, so I hope it was good! Now I'll come back to my cave to overanalyze any other scene of the comic back again lol.

See you around!

[celaenaeiln]

so my friend, at 12 am, called me just to say that dick grayson is the only one in his family that bruce truly views as an equal and then hung up. what. what do i do.

well, call them back and tell 'em they're right 😂😂😂

I started cackling so hard I began wheezinggg oh my god that's hilarious!!!

But maybe for a more reasonable time to talk about this concept after you wake/have woken up from your dick grayson cameo dreams, I'll drop some comic panels

Dick is privy to all of Bruce because of the way Bruce treats him like an equal

He lets Dick in on secrets that he doesn't tell any of the others

I've made a post before on how Clark views Dick as his equal just as Bruce views Dick as his equal.

I'm going to drop the Bruce segment here:

When Bruce was gone the only person he entrusted any information to was Dick. He left a personalized - voice activated - message for Dick and only him that lists his worries, faults, and regrets.

"The girl, Cassandra Cain... I told her to give this file to you should I fall tonight."

"She's my greatest sin, Dick. My deepest regret. Stay alive, and please. Try to forgive me--"

He lists his insecurities to Dick as friend, as an equal.

Of everyone Bruce left behind, the only person Bruce left a message for was Dick. He relies on him unconditionally to take over because Bruce doesn't seem him as a kid like he does with the other - don't get me wrong, he still values and knows just how brilliant the rest of his children are - but he sees Dick as an equal in terms of intelligence, abilities, and leadership. Actually -

Bruce puts Dick on a pedestal.

He views Dick as the golden standard of everything he's working toward.

The reason I think Bruce is so harsh on Dick in regards to training is he doesn't see him as a kid that needs protection, he seems him equal to himself.

Time and time again he sends Dick on solo missions because of the faith he has in Dick's abilities and intelligence

In another comic there's an Arkham breakout and Bruce just. He just sends sends Dick on a solo mission to contain the entirety of Arkham and the villains inside by himself.

And Dick does. Effortlessly.

The fight for Spyral

"I know the other heroes. I know them all. I'd have them do it, but they can't. They'd fight, but eventually they'd give up, they'd give in."

We all know that Bruce despises himself when he fails at something. He thinks he's the best in the world and struggles to cope with the idea that he failed. As such, Bruce views Dick as an extension of himself. Unlike with the kids where he acknowledges their differences and treats them like children, Dick and Bruce are so intertwined that Bruce considers Dick as the "good part" of himself while Bruce is the "bad part".

He gets the angriest at Dick during times where Dick disagrees with him because he believes that Dick should understood what he's going through and what he believes in. For his part, Dick is always on Bruce's side and acts like Bruce's leash. He'll let Bruce do anything he wants as long as it's within the limits of acceptable behavior. Once Batman crosses those limits, Dick fights with him to bring him back.

As such, Bruce doesn't differentiate himself with Dick. He is the best and as a result so is Dick. Except in his mind Dick is better than him in every way possible and he took the steps to ensure it through training.

One of the reasons people in the comics call Dick the Golden Child is because he's the living embodiment of everything Bruce strived to create. It's not because he follows his orders religiously or anything. No, Dick just gives Bruce a longer leash than most.

In the Spyral fight I think he hits Dick because he is in part frustrated with himself. Imagine seeing someone you have unconditional faith in because you know they're capable of the very same things as you and can even surpass you fall to a threat. Doesn't that mean you would've fallen too? Is their failure just as much yours if you see yourself as a god? But how can a god-like being fall?

Their relationship is complicated because while Bruce sees Dick as his own person, he also sees him as the reflection of his success.

That's why Bruce is harsher on Dick than the rest of the kids. That's why Bruce makes Dick his right hand man. That's why Bruce shares his sorrows, fears, and vulnerabilities to Dick.

The way they interact, they view each other as father and son but with all the roles and responsibilities as partners.

Dick's compartmentalization and the way he mothers Bruce and Bruce allows it? He doesn't let anyone do that. I feel like on some level he subconsciously expects Dick to take care of him. As someone he can turn to with his worst and darkest sides and still be loved and appreciated and told everything will be alright. It's not a burden he places on the rest of his kids. Which is why Dick's relationship with Bruce straddles the line between son and guardian with him playing both roles and Bruce reacting/ forcing him to react that way.

Also

"Robin fuctions as support."

"Robin wasn't your idea, Bruce! It was mine! I sat in your cave and I watched you and I learned-- and when you needed my help I was there!"

"I'm not your employee, I'm not your son. I'm your partner."

One thing that differentiates Dick's robin from the other robins is that while the other Robins were worried about meeting Bruce's expectation, Dick was more worried about Bruce not seeing him as an equal. He ran away from home because he was mad that Bruce was becoming more controlling and not at all like how they used to be - partners.

There's a reason Dick is the only one Bruce views as his equal. It's because the experiences they've shared have woven them so tightly together that Bruce considers Dick his better half and pillar of strength. If he falls back, he can rely on Dick to take over. Emotionally and physically.

Still laughing at your friend lol. Wild

[genericpuff]

Idk if my addition will matter.

I've been following Hanza since back when they were making my deepest secret, so I've seen the development of the guy upstairs first hand and how hanza writes it. Even back in the concept stages, it was so blatantly clear that it was supposed to be a thriller/cat mouse vibe where Adam (killer) was horrible and not to be rooted for. They've compared him to irl serial killers and how those guys will often use women as shields to hide their true selves from the public and how that's messed up and bad to do.

They've shown Adam as a horrible irredeemable person and honestly there's little to no nuance with how they handle it, but that makes sense because how else can you handle an audience like what they've gotten without beating them over the head with the facts. How many ways can you outright show your main character despising and wanting to yank their best friend out of the jaws of a murderer before the audience realizes its not foreplay.

I think them going from an actual romance to a fully thriller non romantic story meant that the residual audience expected some kind of messy toxic romance, but Rozy to me has always explicitly read as Queer so idk why people aren't getting the hint.

I get their frustration and it seems like they might be shifting into a potiential issekai romance about a grandad and a middle aged woman who got reincarnated as his grandson's fiance (hard to explain but its hilarious if you want to check it out) without any thriller elements from their recent non comic posts. Whatever they do I hope they can find something to be passionate about again.

your addition VERY MUCH MATTERS actually because I don't read TGU and have very little context to the situation as a whole aside from what I've seen people talking about, which makes me reluctant to speak on it because I don't wanna go spreading misinformation in any regard. So I appreciate you taking the time to lay it all out for me, thank you!!! <3

And yeah, I've seen posts shared in the /r/webtoons sub from other blogs claiming that Hanza was being an awful person for "taking people's money" and "baiting them" into reading a dark romance story when that's very obviously not what it is? Even one excerpt that was literally like-

And I just... since when is any romance plotline that ISN'T abusive and problematic at its core (such as between a serial killer and a victim) considered "super conservative" and "pure"? It's really baffling to me how people have gone so far in the opposite direction of "purity culture" that they've started arguing on behalf of legitimately harmful and toxic relationships. It's extremely concerning especially when you know the majority of people saying this shit are between the ages of 16-21. IDK what the fuck we're doing anymore when it comes to the romance genre (and TGU isn't even a romance ffs).

Aaaand yeah in relation to where the Hanza topic came up, that's really why I'm moving away from WT as an audience and why I don't consider it a "loss" to not use WT anymore. Once upon a time I wished for Time Gate to be a contracted series, for it to have thousands of readers and be my job. But seeing what's going on with Hanza's work just informs me that I'd be dealing with a lot of the same shit - people expecting Uzuki and Mitsuhiro to be the endgame of the romance when they're literally NOT good for each other, which is the POINT. Like sure, unlike the main duo in TGU, they actually are a couple with a 'relationship' but it's not meant to be healthy and the last thing I need are 15 year olds thinking they're "couple goals". If you ship them in fanfic or w/e the fuck that's fine but please don't get mad at me when they don't wind up being the endgame couple, they're both terrible people and make each other worse when they're around each other (・_・;)

Either way yeah, I don't blame Hanza in the slightest for getting so frustrated with it all that they'd rather just be done with it. It sucks for the more loyal and sane part of their audience that the series is gonna be ripped out from under them like that, but at the end of the day if the creator is being harassed and decide they're done as a result of it... why should they have to keep putting up with bullshit just for a comic? I don't even blame Rachel if she was ending LO by choice due to the noise of the fandom, and unlike Rachel, I don't have anything in the slightest against Hanza or their work LOL But I also don't have the full picture on it all so maybe my opinion will change if I find out more about it. I just don't think any of this shit is worth directly harassing a human being over.

That said, can't get any better than someone who's read their work since before TGU, so again, thank you !

[drawinglin]

Hello. Regarding Hellraiser III, I seem to recall you making a comment about how you believed Elliott and Unbound!Pinhead to be physical manifestations of Freud's model of the psyche - super-ego and id respectively. I am in total agreement with you there, and I have believed this same thing for a long time now. This would also make normal 'Bound' Pinhead that we meet in the first two films, and the films following Bloodline, to be the actual Ego itself. I think this makes the third film, and the characterisations so much more interesting, rather than doing what the early 90s HR comics did, which was to have Pinhead be an Aztec 'demon' who possesses Elliott, making them separate people altogether. That's boring and predictable, and just goes against everything that the movies established in the earlier films for Pinhead. By having Unbound and Elliott be one and the same, just different aspects of the same man, which is basically what HR is about - our deepest, darkest desires explored and enhanced, it builds on the HR mythology. This is why I've always loved HR3, and why I don't think it's a bad film, and why I just adore Unbound as a character. This is Pinhead off the leash. I still believe that Unbound would still be very fond of Kirsty, and still would be driven to protect her in some way. Even without his human side. But for the most part, he would be super eager to have her join him. Though he'd treat her much differently than he did the club patrons. I don't think the love/lust for Kirsty comes from just his human side. It comes from all of him.

Anyway, I thought I'd share my thoughts on the matter with you. I found this online regarding id, ego, super-ego, and it reminded me of the boys even more so. Maybe you could draw something out of this? It's an idea. I love your art. Keep up the good work! :)

Your analysis of Unbound and Elliot is exactly what I was thinking. It almost makes me cry. I’ve always found it hard to dislike HR3 for this reason. After watching the HR1 and HR2, I felt that human desires and darkness are what truly terrify us. So when I discovered that HR3 split the Hell Priest into two characters, I was super excited.

The human version of Elliot is relatively mature; after all, he carries the memories and burdens from his time as a human, as well as the PTSD of being a survivor of World War I. He is also someone who adheres strictly to rules. I guess this leadership quality and personality is what attracted Leviathan to him, eventually leading him to become the priest managing hell. In the moment of their separation, the repressed desires, dark sides, and nature of the human were individually extracted, like a newly born child without constraints. They both possess things that the other lacks. I’m really looking forward to their journey of hatred and self-destruction gradually turning into understanding, culminating in a new interpretation of a single person. It’s amazing! But unfortunately, HR3 didn’t delve into their complex psychological relationship in detail. This regret has made me want to doodle their story.

I was shocked to learn that the comic had mentioned the demon's setting before; I had no idea about that. Thank you for sharing! Like you, I’m more inclined towards the idea of the id and superego!

I agree that Elliot and Unbound have an obsession with Kirsty and surely hope that she would join their ranks as a Cenobite.

But to me,I tend to see their relationship as a complex ambiguity; I imagine it as a sense of distance rather than a romantic interaction. Their conflicts would actually bring them closer together.

For Kirsty, the Hell Priest undoubtedly intervened in her life and indirectly destroyed her family. Even if it started because of someone else’s involvement, he still cast a huge shadow over Kirsty. In their contract relationship, the Hell Priest has let her go multiple times, and Elliot himself has said that Kirsty is his friend. Therefore, I believe they share a relationship that is both contradictory and beautiful!

The existence of their relationship is so enchanting, which is probably why so many people like it!

And thank you for the pictures you provided. I love your thoughts every time you share them; they truly inspire me!🥰❤️ ❤️

[soyouareandrewdobson]

Asians are all the same, right? The racism of a company cock gurgling moron

Like herpes and unlike the Dobbear, I am back baby.

At this point, deepest apology for my long absence. Personal issues over the last two years prevented me from writing anything and also destroyed for the longest time any desire to really continue the blog.

However, I don’t want to let things unfinished and seeing how the hypocricyofandrewdobson still manages to get some rise out of old Dobson related stuff, I wanted to just return, in order to properly contribute a bit more critical thinking in regard to his old comics.

And while I will not immediately return to my retrospective of SYAC, here is at least (for a start) my opinion on one comic of his, that in my opinion just proved hilarious and controversial in hindsight, and rather racist even back then.

I admit, I don’t know anymore what the title of the comic here is. All I know is, that it came out around 2018, shortly after the release of his “Black Panther” comic, another malignant piece of Dobtrash that has made the rounds online ever since. However, unlike the Black Panther comic, which became the center of a lot of discussion regarding Dobson’s racist assumptions about comic book fans while ironically trying to present himself as woke, this one was weirdly drifting off into obscurity. Which is kinda weird, cause in my opinion, it is way more racist and actually kinda insulting to the very craft Dobson supposedly “dedicated” his life to.

Let me explain.

First, over the course of three panels, Dobson comes essentially off like he is considering the medium of comics as inferior to the medium of movies. Making it look as if comics are unsuccessful because they cannot rail in the same amount of money than certain flics and calling them at best nothing more but a pitching ground for corporations to create new shallow mass product.

Now I am a bit of a realist and I know that, especially in the world of mainstream American superhero comics, this is kinda the case. Most comic book characters, stories and franchises are owned by multibillion dollar corporations, who either have a direct hand in the creation of the product (via corporate mandate for example) and/or use the likeness of the product to make profit in additional, more valuable revenues than the printed medium. Such as cartoons, merchandise and movies. One example I can think of, to show that it isn’t just an American issue: Yugioh. The card game wouldn’t have come to be if there hadn’t been a manga starring a little boy putting together an ancient Egyptian puzzle, but while the original manga ended way back in March of 2004, the card game makes millions globally still after 25 years and counting.

But that doesn’t change the fact, that comics as a medium still have value. Without the stories told within their pages, we wouldn’t have characters such as Captain America, Superman, the Mask, the Ninja Turtles and so on to begin with. Don’t get me even started on stories that aren’t falling into the American mainstream comic trend, but still succeeded in the printed comic medium partly because of genuine artistic and profound value such as Maus, Barefoot Gen, Watchmen, V for Vendetta, TinTin and a shitton of (other) stuff from Europe and Asia.

So when Dobson, who always acted like he is proud to be a cartoonist and that comics are a superior medium to others, suddenly reduces them to just being a “pitch ground for better stuff down the line” at best, I as a fan of the medium and just the art of creating stories in itself, get kinda pissed.

Additionally, the way how he compares movies to be better than comics, is severely flawed.

He brings up the fact, that “Captain America: Civil War” made over one billion dollars at the box office as an example, while pointing out the fact, that most single comic issues barely manage to sell 100.000 copies, while holding up a copypasted “Civil War” issue.

Already, Dobson essentially compares apples with bananas, while also giving both false and incomparable data, that also ignores many aspects to be considered.

For starters: He compares the earnings of both movies and comics with two different values. For movies, he goes by the monetary profit a superhero movie could possibly make, while for the comic issue, he goes by the total number of copies sold.

But here is the thing: Assuming the average selling price of a comic is at 4 dollars for a single 30 page issue, selling 100.000 copies would ring in like 400.000 dollars. And considering that producing one issue likely costs a company less than 20.000 dollars (obvious costs for mass production and distribution not withstanding) they can still make a decent profit this way from ONE issue alone. One issue. Not multiple issues of a long running, but sadly underperforming series. All of that by the way doesn’t even account for the fact, that most single issues at best tell only a quarter of a decent short story nowadays and ignores later “long term” factors, such as reprints of the issue, late term buying of the issue, tradepaperback sells of the issue, the longterm effect and cultural impact the issue may have on the actual series or plot continuity  (such as Amazing Spiderman 122, aka “The Night Gwen Stacy Died”). Don’t get me even started on the fact, that many of these issues get first sold in the US and only over the course of one year or longer may then additionally be sold in other parts of the world, therefore bringing in even more money for the publisher.

Example: The Duck comics by Don Rosa, which earn more than four times more in Europe, than they ever did in America, despite the guy being from California. Finally, a a little add addendum: that example Dobson gives indirectly via the “Civil War” issue? A quick google search revealed, that Civil War issue 1 sold over 300k copies in May of 2006 alone. Sure, not necessarily the best numbers ever for a single issue (as evident by the following list: https://bookriot.com/bestselling-comics-of-all-time/ )but still nothing to be ashamed of.

And yes, I know that we live currently in a time, where comic book sells have dropped significantly for a variety of reasons, one of them being an overall lack of decent stories. But as long as other stuff still manages to run freaking circles around American superheroes (*cough* One Piece *cough*) I wouldn’t say the medium itself is dead. Just a specific branch of it is suffering from a lack of quality and the customers are jumping ship.

A superhere movie meanwhile is a completely different beast. Ever since “The Avengers” came out in 2012, most superhero movies are 150-250 million dollar behemoths, that get overhyped by advertisement campaigns that are almost equally as expensive and try to trick the audience into believing, that they all are somehow the next big mindblowing thing on the big screen. Plus there hasn’t really been a superhero movie in the last 10+ years, that didn’t release simultaneously worldwide, instead of only coming out in the USA, and then a few months later, in other parts of the world.

So is it any wonder then, if a superhero movie that got advertised like the second coming of a saint, makes 1 billion, when there are already billions of potential customers worldwide all at once when the product launches?

That number btw becomes actually less impressive, once you start to think about how it came to be. Something our blue bear obviously didn’t.

See, on average every movie theater demands like what, 12-14 dollars per movie nowdays?

If we divide the box office of Civil war (1.152 billion btw) with 12 dollars, that makes on average 100 million people worldwide who watched the movie. A bit more than one or two percent of the worlds population. Not to forget, that of the box office success we have to substract such things as production cost of the movie, advertisement, the earnings of the theaters… so suddenly the movie may at best have had only earned one quarter of its box office for Disney as actual profit.

Not to forget, Dobson made that comic in 2018, when superhero movies on average did ring in so much money, because of the hype machine. But now we have 2023 and within the last five years (and especially 2023 itself) we have seen how superhero movies can also utterly fail to make money or even earn just enough to make back the production cost. Birds of Prey, Eternals, Ant Man 3, that Secret Invasion streaming show that still cost over 200 million… Do I need to get on?

Bottom line, Dobson’s indirect jab at comics as the less profitable revenue doesn’t hold that much water really in the real world, where once the hype dies down, comics may actually prove themselves as the more valuable longterm medium. Even if it may just be for the fact, that they end up staying longer relevant in the popcultural subconscious than the current movies, which tend to lose relevance with each new hastily produced and released installment in the franchise.

But where this comic really shines and shows Dobson’s ignorance on a cultural level, is in the last panel. When all off sudden it turns “racial” by claiming that Asian people, unlike “traditional” comic readers (aka white, in Dobbear s eyes therefore instantly racist people), would eat a Marvel character like Amadeus Cho up.

Question Dobson: Why do you assume, they would eat him up? You give no real argument based on anything the character does storywise, that the “target audience” may find admirable. So I can only think, that your reasoning is, because he is ever so slightly east asian coded.

Boy, do we have to unpack not just a can of worms, but a whole package of cans now.

First, the chosen language by saying “eat it up”. When being a writer, you should know that you need at times to choose your words wisely, because of the sheer implications they can carry. And the statement “eat it up” sounds way to close to a negative statement like “suck it up”. Making it come off as if Dobson considers Asian people to be mindless cattle that will consume the grub the House of Mouse will give them without question or any desire for actual quality to it.

Second, it recks of a certain mind set I hate within the American entertainment industry and some of its creators and consumers. That mind set being, that “non-traditional” American cultures supposedly don’t know better than Americans in what is okay for the sake of representation and entertainment or not. It’s a mindset that goes beyond the necessity of e.g. localizing a foreign product to the national market, by e.g. creating a sterilized, corporately mandated and rather unrealistic depiction of another culture within their product, that will fall apart as soon as the people who are supposed to be represented get a proper look at it and realize, how pandering and often times badly researched, if not outright offensive, it is.

Only recently did we see in the world of animation how that can backfire, when Disney released the trailer for “Primos” an upcoming animated show supposedly about a half Latina girl spending her summer vacation with her annoying cousins, people calling it based on the intro (and a leaked pilot) pandering towards a latino audience in a racist manner. And guess what: currently, Disney shelves it and tries to bury its existence like Dobson his old inflation art.

Dobson himself has actually indulged in that sort of shit kinda, back with his infamous Nintendo comic.

Essentially calling the “true”, Nintendo corporation approved depiction of his childhood Nintendo heroes disgraceful, for not falling in line with the late 80s depictions he saw in localized, made in America products such as the DiC cartoons. That and minor homophobia mixed with misogyny by calling Link “girly” for having longer blond hair since Ocarina of Time and blaming fangirls for it.

Third, and that is kinda related to my prior point, the reality of things is, that “Asians” actually did not eat up that sort of thing in the last couple of years. Sure, there is always that thing about a Chinese market. the big movie companies try to pander to and may succeed with some dumb action flics featuring big robots.

But the reality is, that not even people living in a dictatorship will eat up every trash you give to them, just because it comes from Hollywood or is supported by their glorious leadership. Disney tried to create two pandering messes of movies for Chinese people to watch, called Mulan (the live action adaptation) and that Shang Chi movie. And how did they do there? Oh right! The government did not even allow Shang Chi to be released and Mulan was released but supposedly didn’t do so well, considering (COVID not withstanding) it only made 70 million globally!

Don’t get me even started on every human right controversy in relation to the later, starting with filming in China near a concentration camp and ending with the main actress being essentially a Chinese propaganda puppet.

So, if those movies flopped, why would Chinese people for example flock for an Asian Hulk? A hulk that is not even Chinese but Korean.

See, this is another issue that fails with the example: The actual choice of character Dobson name dropped is actually kinda terrible.

For those unaware: Amadeus Cho is a supporting character in the Marvel comics, created in 2005 by American writer Greg Pak and artist Takeshi Miyazawa. The later, despite the name being very east Asian, sounding, actually being from Canada. Now both do have east Asian roots so to speak (Pak  e.g. is the son of an Korean-american man with a Caucasian woman), but they also have grown up within a society that taught them both western social values more so than we would see in east Asian countries. So with the creators already not necessarily having the most real life experience with the average mindset of a Korean citizen, can we really say that their actual creation helps “represent” those people of a foreign, non-american culture?

And that is not even covering stuff like the actual story of the character itself.

See, in the comics, Cho is supposed to be an American-Korean genius (wish fullfillment much, Greg?) and one of the smartest people in the Marvel Universe. His parents named him after Amadeus Mozart (a pretty white motherfucker as far as I remember) and he grew up under Methodist beliefs. So basically the “Korean heritage” of the character has already been thrown out of the window. Now I don’t expect the character to act stereotypical Korean, listen to K-pop, declare bulgogi to be his favorite dish or any of that shit. But when you want to sell me the character as being in some way or another connected to his ancestral culture, shouldn’t he engage at least in some “Korean coded” things?

I mean, the character of Anne Boonchuy in Amphibia is a Thai-American who acts more like a 13 year old girl that learns to be less selfish and impulsive over the course of the show and whose “heritage” isn’t thrown at us, the viewer, most of the time. In fact, Anne herself acknowledges that she e.g. can’t really speak thai, despite her own mother being fluent in it and a season 3 episode reveals, that Anne is “begrudgingly” a part of the L.A. thai community. And yet, in connection to the shows story and as part of Anne’s characterization, her heritage is acknowledged and plays a part of who she is. Even if it simply means she knows how to cook certain thai dishes, loves her parents and their customs, helps out in their restaurant, can speak a few words thai and knows the basics of Muay Thai, a form of martial arts (and fighting sport) from Thailand.

Amadeus doesn’t even have Korean parents anymore, because they were killed as part of his tragic hero backstory. Nor has he ever visited an Asian country. Oppps.

To build further up on it, Amadeus becomes for the longest time simply a major supporting character in the Marvel universe for the likes of Hulk and Hercules, two white coded characters. Sure, he plays a major role in the defeat of some cosmic horror level villains (such as Mikaboshi in the Chaos God storyline most people forgot even existed) but it takes a long time for him to become a “A-lister” so to speak.

In fact, according to Wikipedia, it wasn’t till after “Secret Wars” in 2016 (eleven years after the character was created), that Amadeus thanks to a chain of events eventually got his chance to Hulk out. And then they still had to kill Bruce Banner to make Amadeus “stand out” initially (don’t worry, Bruce came back. I mean, characters actually staying dead in comics, so that heroes can learn there are consequences? Preposterous) In fact, Amadeus hasn’t really proven himself as a decent “solo” act. Instead he became a member of the Champions (among Miles Morales, Mrs. Marvel, Vision’s daughter Viv. Nova and Cyclops), essentially creating yet another superhero team for teenaged vigilantes. Despite the fact, Cho himself should be by now in his mid 20s.

Now look, I do not want to shit talk the character. Partly because I haven’t read everything he was in myself and partly because in the few things I did see him in (both pre- and post Hulk) he was okay. He is a decent hero and person, who tries to do good, even if he screws up here and there. That is something I can admire in a character in general. But he is not a good “representation” of another culture, because his complexion and minor physical features aside, he is NOT embodying even minor values or traditions of that foreign culture. He is simply a Korean-American (or technically Canadian), who falls more on the American side of things.

So essentially, Dobson who virtue signaled on multiple occasions how bad it is when companies he didn’t like tried to speak on behalf of other cultures, would have no problem at all to ask for Asian people to swallow this obviously “Made in American” product. The “Made in America” line actually working both on a metaphorical and a storytelling level, cause trying to google what “east Asian coded” heroes in the Marvel Universe actually come from an Asian country instead of being simply born on American soil, is pretty damn small.

After 20 minutes I only found Shang Chi, as he was born in China, and that character was created as part of kung-fu exploitation in the 70s by white dudes.

Yaiks

However, none of that tops the next two points that really sell Dobson to me as an American centralistic racist. Or at least a twat who doesn’t understand how through bad wording he comes of as ignorant of other people’s cultures.

The way he generalizes Asian people in his statement, while also ignoring the actual accomplishments in the creation of entertainment in multiple Asian countries.

If you’ve read closely what I typed, you may have seen that I used the term Asian at times in tandem with the term “east Asian” to e.g. describe Amadeus Cho.

And that had a very deliberate reason. While I was not a fan of geography in school, even I know that Asia as a continent is not “nationally” as homogenous as let’s say Australia or North America. In fact, Asia is the biggest continent on the planet, hosts more than half of earth’s population and consists of at least 47 internationally acknowledged states.

States such as Turkey, Russia, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, China, Japan, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, North- and South Korea, Egypt, Israel, Iraq, Iran and so on.

Now what all these states have in common, is that they have their own unique historical, social and “racial” culture and background. Heck, religiously speaking, Asia is the cradle of the world.

As such, Dobson stating that a “Korean coded” character such as Amadeus Cho (who is only Korean on the most surface level and would technically just be a legacy character of yet another white person) would be an immediate hulk smash hit with all these different people of different backgrounds…. Yeah, it sounds like condescending, colonization inspired shit, a smooth brain would come up with.

To Dobson “Asia”, at least based on that comic, is only defined as the “yellow skinned” people from the far east, who like rice, noodles, spicy food and give us anime, Godzilla, fireworks, buddhism and communism. It does not include anyone from the middle east or of more European ancestry. And if you are even remotely familiar about history, you would also know that Japanese, Koreans and Chinese all around do not e.g. like to be thrown into a pot with the others for a variety of reasons. Many of them political.

Or to sum it up even shorter: Dobson insinuated that a very shallow, “east Asian” coded American comic character would be an immediate hit with more than 47 different countries, ignoring that not all of them share the same background despite being part of the “same” landmass. And in doing so, he simultaneously generalized and denounced entire groups of people based on their racial and cultural background, which in as far as I am aware of, is considered racist.

But the “racism” is supposedly justified, because “representation” matters, it would be giving the middle finger to “traditional” comic fans and those nations and their culture are underrepresented globally.

Which is baloney.

Don’t get me wrong, I myself think that representation does matter. But the world does not necessarily rely on the good old US-Ayy only to give it to us.

Cause a lot of the Asian nations I brought up here? They have their own entertainment industry and stories, which again, get ignored by Dobson to make a dumb and false point.

I mean, manga is currently dominating the international comic market, all while Japan has also a booming animation industry and some of the most iconic heroes in modern popculture with the likes of Son Goku, Kamen Rider, Super Sentai etc.

China has a prominent -if propaganda driven- movie industry.

India has Bollywood and delivers some of the most ridiculous but awesome musical movies on the planet.

Russia had authors such as Tolstoy and movie directors, that redefined the “art” of filmmaking.

Korea had a few years ago one of the biggest streaming hits with Squid Game, while also earning an Oscar for a movie titled Dobs- I mean “Parasite”.

Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Turkey… even nations that have not entertainment living up to “western standards” still produce stuff in some way or form to entertain the masses and their people. Just google up the character Kara Murat aka the avenger of Anatolia.

And don’t get me even started on the sheer ton of mythology, stories and history each of their cultures have provided the world with. Journey to the West? Baba Yaga, the entirety of the Gilgamesh epos...

And yet, there is this indirect assumption by Dobson, that all of them would be so deprived of “heroes” in their media and folklore, they would letch on second hand shop Hulk? Fuck off, Dobbear. I know you like to suck corporate cock as long as you think they are woke and you have childhood nostalgia for them, but this is pathetic. Take Amadeus before A Rama Raju comes around and roundhouse kicks him back to Canada. Then get the taste of mouse smegma of your Disney cock gobbling lips.

[reelvibes91]

Batman: Caped Crusader Review

Batman has probably the deepest rogues gallery in all of comics. Oftentimes, when depicted on screen, the focus has been on a core few. With Batman: Caped Crusader, we step away from that and get some focus put on different characters. How does Caped Crusader stack up against other iterations of character?

This version of events is unique in various ways. Taking Batman back to a 40s Mafia setting was a nice touch. One that particularly helped lend to the investigative aspects of the character. It relies on good old-fashioned detective work instead of relying on modern technology.

The Batman/Bruce Wayne dynamic was handled well. Hamish Linklater has the task of living up to prior talent, and he does a great job. This is a Batman who feels more vulnerable and wants to keep in touch with his human side. It has always been his allies that ground him, and this version really allows the relationships Batman has form organically. He has to establish those links over time and knows full well these tasks can't be accomplished on his own.

There can't be a discussion about a Batman series without the villains. Here, we treated to a wide array of villains. Two standouts immediately are Firefly and Harley Quinn. The episode featuring Firefly was the most visually stunning of the entire series. By far, I stand out in that regard. Why Harley worked so well is the changes made to her origin story. This far into the characters' existence, it was a refreshing take and one that kept the fundamentals of the character in tact.

The only real issue of the series is a general lack of pacing. Some episodes hit very hard, and others were just the middle of the road. That is the hard part of trying to tell a complete story within a 25-minute episode. There really is no room for the additional subplots and working out enough growth for everyone. Catwoman and Onomatopoeia were the weakest links in terms of the villains because their presence does not matter to the overall plot development. Catwoman is all stuff we have seen before, and with the Onomatopoeia stuff, it felt completely like a filler episode.

The writing on this show was very well thought and executed with the mafia and overall look and feel. There is so much potential for future seasons of this show to capitalize on villains who need redemption. The potential and ceiling for this series are limitless because we know they are willing to make changes to classic villains. This show did in a way that elevates the character and does not take away why we love them. That is the key to enhancing any long-standing character. Make them your own and find a way to set yourself apart from other versions.

One last thing is that this show really proved why animation is much easier than live action. Live action takes on creating certain aspects of characters, which have translated to some ridiculous looks. Here, they were able to finesse together some new looks and new styles and blend them all together. Some of these scenes and new looks likely would not have created the same atmosphere in live action. That's not to say stop doing live action but more to say use animation to do things that are harder to create in live action. It was stunning to see some of this come to life the way it did. It feels the same way across all animation that has excelled at telling rich and deep stories.

[problematic-faves-appreciation]

While I do believe some of the criticism LO receives in terms of story are understandable because there's some things that could be better in the story I also cant help but notice that other things talked abour when regarding LO are more personal opinions and just consist on spewing pure hate from people who only focus on some minor details or downright has nothing better to do than shit on the comic, its characters or creator.

1. Persephone isn't a Mary Sue, sure she's kind, friendly and always wants to do the right thing but she still has flaws and makes mistakes like her driving without a liscence, giving money to the shades, keeping secrets, her acting violent even if she has reason to (cough Asspollo cough) or smirking at Ares getting his ass wrecked by her mom. People still scold her for some of the things she does but not as harshly because she isn't a reckless teen but an adult. All the main characters in the story are adults so they are gonna act like it, not like hormonal teens . Plus regarding her trial, Persephone knows she deserves to face the consequences for what she did but she was afraid of the Trial cause it wasn't done with intention to seek righteous justice but to show people that Zeus was the leader of Olympus. The main difference between Kore and Minthe is that while both are insecure about themselves, Persephone doesn't take it out on others and instead tries to improve herself whereas Minthe likes to cause damage to others; she literally likes talking shit of people, endagered Persephone by sending her to Tartarus just so she couldn't see Hades and put Demeter on danger too with the Trial,not just Persephone. And no, the comic didn't do her dirty as she got and took a chance for self improvement and cut off her toxic friend for good.

2. Hades may be rich but he's no Christian Grey. Sure he likes Persephone but he respect her boundaries and treats her like a person and not a possesion like Asspollo, he literally said that he wasn't entitled to her in the 1st season. Sure he's not a perfect saint but he's not a monster either, he didn't fire Minthe or took away her apartment even if he could have after she physically and verbally abused him at work using one of his deepest fears and he did apologize to Thanatos for his treatment of him.

3. Thanatos, Minthe and Zeus aint assholes just for not liking Persephone x Hades, the story doesn't treat them as a monsters for dislikng Persephone but are still shown to be dicks due to how they treated her and Hades as well as others. Minthe greatly disliked Persephone out of jelaousy to the point of endagering her by sending her to Tower 4, liked to rub in her face that Hades was hers uncaring if Hades didn't like it and she tried to get her on Trial by painting her as a villain in the story they told Zeus which affected not only Kore but Demeter as well and also abused Hades. But they still have her a chance to redeem herself and bettering herself as we saw in s3 and she's doing much better now.

Thanatos outright didn't like Persephone, the 1st time they met was when he shoved her with his wings to take the train but even then Kore didn't treat him badly, she even shared her baklaba with him. And what does he do later? Basically insulting her in front of Hecate calling her a moron. While he may be right about Hades maybe being in the wrong for letting her work in the library as she's shown to struggle with stuff on her 1st day that didn't mean he had the right to wotk with Minthe and Thetis to ruin Persephone's life just out of jelaousy and wanting the love of Minthe. He maybe regretted his actions but it doesn't erase them. At the very least hes doing better now with a better partner than Minthe.

Zeus's Trial was wring because he didn't seek justice but to show everyone hes the boss of Olympus even if it meant delivering barbaric and undeserved punishments. He was a dick to Persephone in her Trial alongside her mom, going so far as gaslighting Demeter when she brought up his mistreatments of her. He had reasons to do what he did and we can understand it but he still unnecesarily prolonged Persephone's banishment even if she did everything that was asked of her right which wasn't only affecting her or hades but everyone as well cause they couldn't visit their loved ones and the situation in Olympus wasn't great not only that but tried to get Hades to forget about Persephone with Euridice. But at the very least when Kore saved everyone from Kronos, Zeus lifted her punishment and allowed Hades and Persephone to get married.

4. Demeter isn't a great mom but shes not a cruel monster, she was just lonely and wanted some company so she gave birth to Kore. And despite her shortcomings as a mother, she loves her daughter but deep down wants her to be safe as she knows how cruel the world can be. Of course this doesn't excuse her treatment towards Kore but as weve seen theyre trying to work things out between Kore and Demeter so there's hope for them

If you ask me, most of the "LO Critical" crowd's criticism towards the Webtoon consists of them hating the source material for not playing out how they want/ed it to, going on non-stop about Persehade's age gap romance and calling a relationship between two consenting adults "pedophilia" (the haters sure love to infantilize Persephone), and bashing the author as a person over fiction.

[breitzbachbea]

🌙☀️📣💡👑📦🚆☄️💘 for francesco ! (i love information i need more)

And how could I deny you!

Here's some fun bonus information, a panel taken from this comic by @cinalilli with Francesco smack dab in the middle of Team Italy. Shows his height relations to the rest quite well #shortking.

OC Emoji Questions

🌙 MOON - what is your oc's greatest wish? how far are they willing to go for it?

His greatest wish is too see as much of the world as possible and meet the most interesting people on this earth - which are most people to him - and see all the extremes this human world has to offer. And he's willing to go far for it. Lie and steal to make it possible, break into areas no one is supposed to be, e.g. climbing on top of the Collosseum at night. Toy with other people's life to see how they react under pressure, with only so much regard of how much harm it causes. You have to break geodes to see the pretty insides, after all.

☀️ SUN - are they a morning person? what is the first thing they do in the morning?

Considering how much he gets up to at night, I think he tends to wake up at 9 am or sleep in even further, depending on when he went to bed. He usually wakes up, goes to the bathroom and grabs breakfast before he actually gets ready and dressed. Depends of course if he gets breakfast at home or at work/at a bar.

📣 MEGAPHONE - how loud are they? what do they speak like? got a voice claim?

LOUD. To be fair, he doesn't come into a room unaware that he's booming, he's doing that a lot on purpose. Most of the time he's got an average volume and speaks as the situation calls for it, but when he gets excited or upset, he does get louder.

He has a very noticeable Neapolitan accent in Italian, when he isn't speaking Neapolitan outright to himself - his English is accented as well, even if less so. He tends to, again, speak to people in their language/in the way he wants to be perceived by them, but tends to stay more on the informal side or poetic waxing rather than overly stilted or clinically to the point.

💡 LIGHTBULB - is your oc a planner? do they write down every small detail or just wing it?

Francesco lives in the moment, but he does plan - in the sense that he calculates outcomes and the necessary parts to achieve them. He never writes anything down, it all stays in his head, but when he works with others, the other person usually writes down the plan they hash out. (If it's Fabio or Dolcetto at least - Gabriella and Lovino sometimes write things down, but Lovi also rather lets others do this and when he's with Feli, Franci has to jot some things down because of Feli's adhd.)

👑 CROWN - what does your oc want to be remembered as? why?

He enjoys the notoriety he has achieved in parts of the European underground, but he doesn't have many plans for cultural and social immortality. What he really wants to be remembered as is 'that magnetically charming weirdo you met on your holiday once.' He wants that plenty of versions of him, his zest for life, lives on other people's life, even if they're complete strangers. It meshes with his philosophy that from the micro to the macro, you can find the beauty and fascination of humanity in everything. As time goes on with him as part of Team Italy, he also wants to be remembered as a good friend and lover to those closest to him.

📦 PACKAGE - what's some "most likely to..." that can apply to them?

Most likely to smooch the enemy, much to Lovino's dismay. (He wants to fuck Michele so bad, just because Miché hates his guts and Franci likes his gusto). Most likely also to end up in the deepest shit, at the same time most likely to get away with most troublesome behaviour without having to pay the price. Who could be angry with this guuuuy?

☄️ COMET - what do people assume about them? are they right?

A lot of people assume Francesco is just a loving macho who runs his mouth but can't or wouldn't back it up. They are mistaken about the backing it up part but right about everything else. Others think that his happy, earnest joy and whimsy is simply a façade that covers up a cruel cunt of an overly curious manipulator. They are mistaken about his joy and whimsy being fake, but right there there IS an overly curious manipulator as well.

💘 HEART W/ ARROW - what traits do they look for in a relationship? do they believe in love at first sight?

Excitement! Francesco has never earnestly dated (not counting teenage school romances) before Dolcetto, but he loves loving. He doesn't have a physical type nor really one when it comes to personality, though someone stubborn in one way or another can always be a fun challenge. And someone horny's always good, because my god, he's horny too. To be in love, to indulge what you become when you tie yourself to someone else, and be it only for a night, is part of being human, which he loves!

In Italian, there's the expression of colpo di fulmine (a bolt of lightning/lightningstruck) and I think he does believe in love on first sight in that way. There's just people you feel immediately drawn to, there's a spark - whether you want to call that love isn't that important to him. That's the way he feels about Feliciano, one of his bosses and the man he acts as right hand and bodyguard to. Something about Feliciano's upbeat nature draws him in.

[naskaolgia]

Kyle and stan from my au shipping chart cause Im fucking crazy

[creature-wizard]

I figure the next Satanic Panic literature I'll look at will be Wicca: Satan's Little White Lie. It was written by William "Bill" Schnoebelen, a guy who claimed to have been involved not only in Wicca, but also Freemasonry and Mormonism, and discovered that each one of them was Satanic. The dude claims he was involved with the Illuminati, which was of course Satanic.

Now of course, if you're active in witchcraft and neopagan discourse, you'll know that Wicca has been subjected to lot of criticism - particularly regarding its members being culturally appropriative and overstepping boundaries by claiming that all gods and goddesses are aspects of Wicca's Lord and Lady. But I think you'd also agree that it's not Satanic, and that claiming that it's part of a giant Satanic conspiracy is just... silly.

The book was published by Chick Publications, as in Jack Chick, as in Chick tracts. Jack Chick, for the unaware, spent his life creating small comics meant to lead others to Jesus. They were full of conspiracy theories and general hatred toward anyone who wasn't an Evangelical. Though it seems that as of late, Chick Publications (no longer run by Jack Chick, who is deceased) has cut ties with him, because Schnoebelen has been getting into flat earth and defending Christian use of Kabbalah.

So. Yeah.

On the first page, Schnoebelen describes Wicca as "one of the more seductive deceptions that Satan has come up with." Now Bill, I know Gerald Gardner was... not great, but I don't think he was Satan.

He claims:

It claims to be a “back to nature” religion which worships the sky and earth, and thus has attracted many adherents among those sympathetic to environmental and ecology issues. Yet, for all its charm and nostalgic fantasy, Wicca drew me into the deepest quagmire of satanic evil imaginable.

Dude... if you decided to jump ship from Wicca to Satanism (or at least, Satanism According To Evangelical Conspiracy Theorists), that's on you. If you were so greedy for power that you went as far as you claim, that's your fault.

Um. What:

The actual spiritual difference between Wicca and satanism might best be illustrated this way: Practicing Wicca is like having a hand-grenade blow up in your face, in terms of the spiritual impact. Practicing satanism is like having an neutron bomb detonate in your face. The difference is there and discernable, but it is still an utter disaster for you, either way.

Schnoebelen points out that Wicca was created in the mid-20th century, which I mean, fair enough. But then he tries to assert that Wicca Is Bad because Etymology and also the Dictionary and also there's arguments over what a witch is among neopagans, and like. It's just absurd because it's not like Christianity is free of questionable historical claims or infighting.

And then he claims:

In my own personal development as a witch, and the development of almost all our colleagues, I found that after about five or six years it was necessary to begin pursuing the study of the “Higher Wisdom” of Satan in order to keep growing. Magick is like a drug. You keep needing more in order to stay at a level at which you feel fulfilled. There is no end to it! If you’ve stayed a Wiccan or “white” witch for a long time, it’s only because you don’t have enough of the Promethean itch to grow. OR it may be that you have many Christian friends or loved ones praying for you.

Did you ever think of that?

Bill. My dude. The problem is that you are a power-hungry fuck, who apparently lacks any ability to recognize when a spiritual claim or worldview is just kinda ridiculous or fucked up, and drop it like the crap it is. I'm guessing that's why you're getting into Flat Earth these days. You just don't know where to quit, and you're projecting this onto everybody else.

[cleave-and-plough]

"what does it mean to be grown-up?"

the black rose episodes seem to not only have raised the stakes in a narrative sense but also in a thematic sense, bringing the ideas that once undergirded the show into the forefront, much as the black rose circle draws out its duelists' deepest desires and frustrations into violent action. here, tsuwabuki's subservience to nanami rots into emotional growing pains, as everyone around him continuously reminds him of everything he's missing out on by not being a grown-up.

it's fittingly comic that the episode opens with a reminder that even the older characters in the main cast often feel confused and lost about what's going on around them, as the student council debates the significance of the black rose circle's rise to prominence. rain falls as they wonder if end of the world has abandoned them, especially as now juri has been victimized by their schemes, which provokes nanami's repressed curiosity. yet, tsuwabuki is excluded from this space and discussion: it's grown-up talk. mari exacerbates this relegation, and though she's actually a year older than tsuwabuki, i suspect the show is acknowledging how girls are often expected to mature faster than boys - in utena's world, that worldly maturity often comes from the acceptance of pain and trauma, usually at the hands of men, as mundane occurrences. "there's lots of things about us that are grown up," anthy says, all too familiar with the adult demands of self-suppression and erasure.

maturity is also explicitly linked to sex and sexual characteristics through the episode: tsuwabuki insults mari by saying she's physically underdeveloped, while mari hints that eating a banana is dirty for reasons only understood by adults. i find utena's question "is dreaming about my prince weird?" particularly potent in this regard - though she deflects to wondering about whether believing in a prince is a childish act, i think the show intends to consider the other sort of dream she might have about a potential love interest. as always, i appreciate how the show situates these more mundane segments firmly in the high school setting as reminder of how young and still-growing the characters are. akio muses that stars lose their brilliance from year to year, but utena supplies a vision of the bright future she and her peers have to look forward to: "aren't you at your brightest now, with your beautiful wife?" as with kozue, "experience" serves as a prime indication of maturity.

to that end, tsuwabuki seeks out every source of information he can find on "experience," studying textbooks, consulting the older students, obsessively watching footage of kisses from films (where'd he find this?). throughout, he's haunted by the feeling that he isn't where he wants to be, nor does he even belong where he is. nanami tells him "for a kid, you sure don't act cute," and mari says, cuttingly, "you're smart but you're not using your brain." everything he does is wrong. like most of the cast, tsuwabuki is caught in the middle of something, unsure of how to escape, and that desperate state propels him towards destruction.

rejected by mari for his unwanted advances ("you really are a child," she shouts as she runs away), tsuwabuki returns to his room, despondent. he considers eating some chocolate to comfort himself but throws it away instead, deeming it a childish indulgence. it seems maturity must include both the embrace of new desires and the denial of the old. nanami comes to visit, and he begins to let his frustration show. nanami listens, trying to be sympathetic, but there's still a sense of separation between them, visualized strikingly by the imagery of nanami on one side of the door in the light and tsuwabuki on the other, in the darkness. trying to comfort him, nanami makes the fatal error - she puts her hand on his head, a gesture of condescension, and tsuwabuki's interview is sealed.

as usual, the elevator confession crystallizes everything. tsuwabuki admits that just being with nanami isn't enough any more, verbalizing the common pubescent experience of new and unfamiliar desires. he's angry with her and mari for mocking his lack of maturity - something he feels he has no control over, especially when it seems so tied to age and "experience." this tension leads him to wish he could be an adult right away, to seize power, revise everything, and become the one in the right, the one who is understood and respected and desired. souji offers the solution. it interests me that of all the black rose duelists so far, tsuwabuki is the first to trouble mamiya, who calls souji a terrible man for taking advantage of him. souji concedes this, saying "beauty alone will not get us the rose bride." compared to manipulating kanae, kozue, and shiori, what's different about tsuwabuki, i wonder? kanae and kozue bore grudges toward anthy, shiori had ill will towards juri - perhaps tsuwabuki's difference is that he wasn't filled with a personal disdain, but the all-encompassing disenfranchisement of the young, and channeling that into a personal dispute was more exploitative than the other duels. i'm not incredibly convinced of this, but i do wonder. his sword-drawing ritual does align with the others - having summoned nanami to the screening room, he puts his hand on hers and refuses to remove it at her request. yet again, a physical violation, and a crossing of an emotional boundary as tsuwabuki refuses nanami for the first time.

as befitting of his impatience to grow up, tsuwabuki launches into the duel before utena even draws her sword. surrounded by figurines holding chocolate bars, they fight, tsuwabuki moving more quickly than utena expects. and yet utena has the upper hand, coming down on him from above and cutting away his rose. following the duel, tsuwabuki accompanies nanami on the walk to school, and she's noticeably flustered, presumably because she's finally had the experience that she was so curious about. yet tsuwabuki also seems to have a new sense of independence, leaving her side to chase after mari, and finally possessing an air of maturity in nanami's eyes that his subservient persona lacked. the gloomy rain clears up, and the sun comes out.

stray thoughts:

i didn't notice before, but i think almost every elevator interview (except kanae) includes a photo of the person who will provide the duelist's sword. this feels very appropriate for their confessions - they vent their frustrations on a static image of the object of their feelings, seeing them not as a person but as a thing to be hated or craved.

very cute how the figurines in the duel break open to reveal a smaller version of themselves inside - the inner child peeking out.

the silhouettes were very pointedly on-theme this episode, performing a farce about a young woman "doing it" for the first time and eventually revealing that she means donating blood, something you can only do once you're 18, as utena confirms. a fitting reminder of how arbitrary certain customs and signs of age and adulthood can be.

nanami's trio of suitors returns, apparently now converted into himejoshis eager to learn if utena and anthy have "experience in certain things."

[kitkatsudon]

So. Today has been a weird day.

Rambles below, because I’m in my feelings but that doesn’t necessarily have to be your problem.

The first thing I saw when I woke up today was that Ice Adolescence had been cancelled. The second thing piece of news I received, within a few minutes of this, was that my Grandma had passed away.

The second thing is more personal, and I haven’t come here to talk about that - I suppose more than anything it’s to give context on today’s slightly weird vibe, and why I’m feeling perhaps more nostalgic than I would be normally.

Perhaps as a distraction, I want to ramble about YOI.

Though now I’ve sat down to actually do this… where do I start?

Though my internet presence is very TKEM-focused nowadays, since its release, YOI has always been incredibly dear to me. It came out just as I had found out that my family were going to be moving across the country (and ok, in the UK that’s maybe less of a big deal than if I lived in a larger country, but I was 14, and 14 is a horrible age, so it was still a big deal to me). YOI came out in late 2016, we moved at the beginning of 2017, and I joined a much smaller school with… let’s say less choice for the people I could make friends with.

I was, technically, adopted by a friendship group, but it took a long time, some falling outs within the group, and me learning everything there ever was to know about BTS despite having no real passion for music-based fandoms for me to really feel included. The friendship group I’d left behind was much more diverse in terms of interests, and we thrived on mutual sharing and acceptance of each other’s interests. This new one was more kind of “conform or fuck you,” and I never quite managed to conform properly.

All that is to say… while I didn’t really have friends, in 2017, I had YOI and its fandom. While I was dealing with the huge changes in my life, I was comforted through it by, more than anything else, lurking around the YOI fandom. I had my first forays into posting things online using Google+, of all things (my parents didn’t let me have social media, but I could access this using my gmail), and they were drawings I had done of YOI characters, even a hand-drawn anecdote comic thing, and just… it was rudimentary, but you gotta start somewhere, right?

It became what I was known for, in my new school. It became part of me. That summer, my family went on holiday to Orlando FL to do the theme parks, and despite that having been something that I’d been begging to do for years, what I ended up being most excited about was the opportunity to go to Hot Topic and buy the YOI merch that they’d recently announced. I bought a T-shirt, a blanket, and a backpack, and although the backpack’s strap broke after a year of using it for school, I still have the T-shirt and the blanket, and they’re still special to me to this day. Back then, listening to the soundtrack on repeat, I’d decided that one day I was going to perform a dance routine to ‘In regards to love: Eros,’ and at the end of my first year of uni, that was something I was actually able to do. Was it good? Not really, I’m by no means a professional dancer, but I felt like I was paying homage to my inner… not quite child, more like my inner angsty teenager?

My whatsapp background is still YOI-themed. I still proudly display my Funko Pops and my posters in my bedroom at home. YOI is still my comfort show, and though I’m not usually one for rewatching shows, it’s still the show that I’ve rewatched the most. Even my username is a relic of my ties to the YOI fandom - though I wasn’t really using it much then, it’s something I thought up during the days when I was deepest in it, and I thought to myself “if I ever am brave enough to really start posting things online, this is the username I’ll use.” So even though the first thing I ever posted under the name KitKatsudon was the beginning of a BTS fanfiction on Quotev on all places that I was writing with a friend of mine at the time, it has its roots in YOI.

It’s sort of funny - once upon a time, I used to semi-joke that I couldn’t die before the YOI movie came out. Don’t get me wrong, my mental health was never bad enough that I had actually realistically considered not making it to Ice Ado’s release, but every time I said it, I did mean it. No matter how shitty I felt, I had to keep going, because I was going to have my bum in a seat when it eventually released in cinemas. I guess what this means now is that, unless Ice Ado is picked up by another studio, I’m just never going to die 🤷‍♀️ you’d better buckle the fuck up, mortals, because MAPPA has just granted me ultimate power.

What am I trying to say? I don’t really know. Maybe thank you, to the YOI team, for being such a positive force in my life. You gave me something comforting to hold onto while everything around me was changing, while I was starting my sexuality journey, while I didn’t have the close support of peers to help boost my mood. I don’t watch the show so often nowadays, but that’s because I save it for instances where I really need comforting. Maybe like today.

The story of Ice Adolescence may be over, at least for now, but I’ll always be grateful for what we did get.

[emmym1]

My thoughts on... Spider-Gwen: Smash 2023 (#1-4) & Giant-Size Spider-Gwen 2024 (#1)

It's finally time to talk about Spider-Gwen comics again! I was super excited and hyped when this miniseries first got announced at SDCC and really couldn't wait until the issues started releasing. On top of that a giant sized issue also later on got announced as a follow up to this miniseries which made me even more excited! Now that the series has wrapped up it's finally time to talk about it! I absolutely loved this series and everything it did! For a while now Spider-Gwen comics have had quite a few unresolved plotlines lying around that just have been ignored, however this series finally touches upon a few of them! The two main ones being how Gwen got to live back peacefully on earth 65 after she got forced to 616 due to the Storm siblings, and the major one being MJ Carnage (but more on that later!). It also focussed on a few aspects of Gwen and her stories that haven't had quite the focus in recent miniseries, the main one being her band. It was such a blast seeing her go on tour with her band trying to balance being Ghost-Spider while also being a bandmember and also dealing with some personal stuff. It's such an amazing concept for a series and it worked so well. I'm also very glad that they're following up onto Gwen not feeling at home in her own dimension because it was a really cool plotpoint from the (Spider-Gwen:) Ghost-Spider run and i'm happy they finally zoomed in a bit more on that. It was always a part of that run that hit hard for me so it was great to see it get more attention. Especially now that Gwen has been away from her home dimension for a while. It was so interesting to see her try to find something to make her stay and make her choose her own earth above all the other ones she could go too. And the way she finds that meaning within her band and MJ is so cool. Speaking of the band, I really loved Gwen's dynamic with them in this. It's very in line with her debut run where she has troubles balancing her superhero stuff with the band stuff and while the band does get mad at her, they're always there for her no matter what. And I love that it's still a thing in this miniseries. The Mary Janes are one of my favorite supporting casts in comics so I was super glad to see them get such a focus in this and how their dynamic with Gwen is and evolves throughout the mini.

Now another dynamic I just have to talk about is the one between Gwen and MJ. Let me preface this by saying that i've always felt they had romantic tension going on and that their frustrations with each other came out of a place of love and being unable to understand each other properly. And I am so so glad that this mini series finally acknowledges that romantic tension in such a big way while also continuing the MJ Carnage plotline. I really love how they built up Gwen's and MJ's dynamic, even with small moments like the scene in #1 where they peform at the same place where the Gwenom vs Carnage battle took place in 616 and MJ reminds Gwen of that and how this time it's just them and the music. Moments like these were so great and genuine and I just loved them. #3 is when things really get exciting as MJ is finally more upfront regarding her feelings for Gwen (even towards Gloria whom she's currently still dating, I know akward situation!). And wants to talk with Gwen about it before getting kidnapped. It's also a really big issue as Gwen finally finds out MJ has a crush on her all while growing closer towards her band. This is a bit of a side tangent but I really liked the dynamic between Gwen and Gloria and how there was a lot of jealousy at play due to MJ. Was really well done in my opinion. Now back on topic, #4 and Giant-Size also were great for finally advancing the dynamic between Gwen and MJ. Gwen fighting against MJCarnage while MJ rants out her deepest frustrations about Gwen was so cool and I loved that they kept that part from Gwenom vs Carnage, as it was a thing I actually loved about that mini. The moment during that fight that really stood out to me is when MJ is ranting about Gwen not knowing her truly and not caring for her with Gwen replying that if MJ thinks she doesn't care for her it's MJ that actually doesn't know her truly. Small moment but really sweet as it once again shows how much these two truly care about each other even if they don't always express it in healthy ways. The way the 4th issue ends with it being implied that Gwen is open to trying to make a relationship work made me so happy! I really think these two deserve their happy ending together while finally being upfront with each other and leaving the bottled up frustrations due to not understanding each other behind. I really really hope future writers of her comics take this plotpoint and explore it further (hopefully in her ongoing later this year) and make Gwen and MJ finally have that talk they've been wanting to have. Especially with how things end for them in giant size (but more on that later). Another really cool thing about this mini was all the new earth 65 counterparts of iconic 616 characters. It's one of my favorite things about earth 65 and it once again delivered with Dazzler, Black Widow and Bruce Banner. I really loved Gwen's friendship with Dazzler and hope we see them team up again in the future. Black Widow was also a really cool take on the character that's very familiar yet different (i absolutely love her design in this!). I love that she has a certain mystique to her and we don't know the full extent of who she truly is. She's powerful that's for sure, knowing that she was responsible for the Storm siblings leaving Gwen alone. Bruce Banner was also super interesting, admittedly he did came over very cliché but when you read his dialogue a few times you notice he's actually a very intriguing villain with a very interesting view on the world. I wish we would've seen more of him as I truly think he has a lot of potential. The big thing I love about his character is how it subverts the Hulk. Instead of being this angry monster the Hulk is actually the good side while Banner is the bad side. It's such a simple twist yet it works so well. I really hope we'll see more of him!

Now for the giant size issue! Well you can't really call it giant size as it's only like 20 pages of new content but hey it was fun so i'm not complaining too much! I really loved the entire concept of that issue. Gwen and MJ making their way through the city to meet Black Widow on time all while dealing with a bunch of villains they really don't have any time for whatsoever. It was such a funny issue with a lot of good comedic moments. MJCarnage was a really fun character in this with her ridiculous anger issues and it was so fun to see Gwen deal with that, especially when she's on the phone with Black Widow. That entire scene was just gold. I also liked how it introduced some new villains and set up Gwen's own sinister six with some very unique members. I really hope we get to see that setup come to fruitition at some point. It might be unlikely given the concept of the new Spider-Gwen ongoing that's releasing later this year. However during their setup tease there were a few 616 characters on the screen so who knows, maybe they'll travel to 616 to take upon Gwen! The final moments between Gwen and MJ before MJ leaves with Black Widow to learn to control her symbiote were so emotional. Especially with how Gwen was uncontrollably crying and shaking. It's so bittersweet. MJ's feelings for her are out in the open and Gwen is willing to make it work and have a solid talk with her about everything. Yet they never get to have that talk due to everything that's been going on. I really hope that they get to have that talk in the future and things work out for them. I'm really rooting for them! MJ's final line being "I love you Gwen" was such a perfect yet bittersweet moment. Very emotional moment. I think all in all this miniseries and giant sized issues were an amazing story that was very much needed for Spider-Gwen. It perfectly deals with some of the unresolved plotlines from her previous series while also exploring new things that were in desperate need of being finally explored. The characterization in this was very solid and very in line for all the characters. And I loved how much this series kept in mind the history of the characters and previous runs. I loved the character development in this for both Gwen and Mj. I had a blast reading this as the issues came out and it was so exciting to theorize what might happen next as i read the issues. I'm very sad that it's over but I'm very happy with what they did with this series. It took Gwen's story into such a good direction and even though her new ongoing will deal with something completely else I hope it gets the chance to follow up to the events of this series at some point. Regardless I'm very very hyped for her new ongoing and can't wait to write about it here!

[molagboop]

To fill the gap, I'm going to infodump about Chozo ghost dreams.

I don't remember how much I've talked about this here, but I've intended to draw a serial comic strip featuring everybody's favorite washed up Warlord and the walking Metroid. Sometimes I imagine little stories in that universe that have little to do with the plotlines and jokes I've got lined up in my head, so I figured I'd share some.

These concepts are also related to the overarching Mawkin headcanon I've invented in my mind; it's not just limited to the little pocket universe this comic exists in.

Sketches and comic lore under the cut.

So the Chozo have magic, right? Well, I've put some thought into Chozo spirituality and come out with a few ideas relating to ancestry and magic. Particularly the idea that one's ancestors "live on" in the collective memory of their descendants: sometimes metaphorically, as the old live on in their progeny's DNA. Sometimes, this is more of a metaphysical statement: whether you've met them or not, the ancestors live on in the deepest dregs of your consciousness as a sort of hidden genetic memory.

I know this is incoherent, but bear with me. The Chozo (especially the Mawkin) believe that their ancestors are always with them in one way or another. We've seen Chozo ghosts in Prime, so we know it's possible for the dead to linger in this world some form or another, but that's us. Mawkin spirituality goes beyond the dead who remain purposefully. The Mawkin believe the dead may be seen in dreams. Sometimes, these death-dreams are invoked purposefully by the priesthood—more on that in a different post—but sometimes an individual may dream of the dead without realizing it.

So the Chozo occasionally dream of phantoms from their bloodline. The Mawkin hold this phenomenon in high regard. If you have a dream about an ancestor 6 generations before your time, you are expected to hold on to this memory: analyze it, think about it, decipher the meaning if there is one, and cherish the encounter regardless of whether or not it holds a higher purpose. Great granny spent that effort to come and see you, you best be grateful.

Here's where the comic universe comes in. Following the events of Metroid Dread, Samus occasionally has odd dreams about Chozo she's never met before. She's had dreams like this before; she possesses Chozo DNA, after all, and she's no stranger to their brand of mysticism. These dreams are a bit different. She can't exactly place a finger on how, but she knows they are. She's dreamed of Thoha predecessors before. She's seen Gray Voice in her dreams every now and again since his death; even sat quietly in a room with him and drank tea. Lovely time.

But these other dream-borne specters aren't Thoha: their mannerisms and general vibes are different. Samus doesn't immediately clock them as Mawkin, but she figures it out pretty quickly. What threw her off is how warm these encounters are. She's never met a live Mawkin (that she can remember, pre-Dread, etc), much less experienced their culture.

Sometimes she's a spectator to an event that occurred hundreds of years before she was born, sometimes she's lost in a crowd of masked golden figures, and sometimes red-eyed strangers feed her soup and familiar fare from her childhood. She usually can't hear them speak in the latter, but sometimes she hears old words she can't understand in her dreams of large crowds.

She doesn't dream about heart-pounding sparring sessions or raucous evenings with the squad-mates: she instead finds herself in the midst of a celebratory feast. Dinner with a small village, a holiday banquet. Most of her Mawkin dreams are about food or crowded streets[?] full of strangers, all of whom seem to either not notice her presence or regard her as though they've known her all their lives. This is where the disconnect lies: why would these strangers, whom Samus has never met, regard her with such familiarity? There's no malice here, no suspicious glowering, no squinting or funny brow motions that indicate she isn't welcome among the masses. She is simply There, and the Mawkin accept that.

Samus has been accepted by the spirits of her quarter-father's family with no fuss. Moreover, they've gone out of their way to make her feel at home among them. As @sablegear0 aptly put it, she's been adopted by the ancestors because her present family is either dead, MIA, or despots.

I should also mention that Samus is between 5'10 and 6'3 in this universe (haven't settled this yet). The Mawkin are a tall tribe: I've talked about the Mawkin having Tall Genes before, but Samus is a shrimp compared to the average Mawkin. She's like a fledgling warrior to them. Most of the spirits are aware she's an adult, but the older the ghost, the less in tune with the passage of time they are: time is meaningless to those who have long since rotted.

So here we have an adult human, a fully trained warrior with decent muscle tone, who is occasionally mistaken by the dustiest and most decrepit of Raven Beak's people for a mere novice. Some of these old-timers think that Samus could not conceivably be older than 13 summers, and they think to themselves, "Oh, such a scrawny child of pitiful stature! Put some soup in that girl."

And so it goes that Samus Aran is surrounded by a flock of old birds who preen her and coo at her and compliment her vibrant plumage while gently offering her pots full of stew and warm sweets in her dreams.

The older a spirit is, the more imperceptible it is. Some of these figures are downright terrifying to behold for someone who isn't acquainted with the Chozo and the magic of heraldry. You've got nest matriarchs older than the sand whose appearance (to the naked eye) ranges from skeletal to malformed to downright geometric. Imagine being fed soup by a half-visible silhouette that looks like he belongs in a horror movie. Most of her neighbors at the Spirit Halloween banquet are "normal", but some of them look like they just shambled out of a sarcophagus or a level from geometry wars. They're older than the human genome, so her imagination fills in some of the gaps to try to parse what she's seeing.

A quickly-sketched example: this old fellow with a bowl of fruit. Nobody minds that she's wearing pajamas and a bedhead to the banquet because half of her neighbors look like they just woke up from a nap in the coffin.

Shambling elders dated 600,000 years or older...

... and a 700 year-old granny.

All of these people have interacted with Samus at the great ghostly gala before.

Long story short, the Mawkin love their ghosts, and their ghosts love the living.