#Invaders Vol. 1

[savage-kult-of-gorthaur]

"FROM THE ASHES OF WAR -- THE FIRST BRITISH SUPERHERO IS REBORN!"

PIC INFO: "By popular demand -- AGAIN! Now on sale monthly!" -- Resolution at 1575x2371 -- Spotlight on cover art to "THE INVADERS" Vol. 1 #8 ["Union Jack is Back!"]. September, 1976. Marvel Comics. Artwork by Jack "King" Kirby & Frank Giacoia.

"You know, chaps -- I think we've made history here tonight -- and the reverberations will be felt all the way to the heart of Berlin!"

— UNION JACK (Earth-616)

STORY/SCRIPT: Roy Thomas.

Sources: www.hipcomic.com/listing/the-invaders-8-1976/17439774, Marvel Database (official), various, etc...

[kikyocaps]

[stardusted-petals]

Why on earth does my old Invader Zim Vol. 1 DVD only have 5 episodes on it?

It didn't have a second disc that I lost - the box advertises itself as having 5 episodes, all of which I've rewatched now. I put on Vol. 2 and saw that it starts at episode 10, looked it up, and found that my Vol. 1 is missing four entire episodes that it's supposed to have???

[theodore-sallis]

“Nobody Dies Forever!” Man-Thing (Vol. 1/1974), #10.

Writers: Mike Ploog and Steve Gerber; Penciler: Mike Ploog; Inker: Frank Chiaramonte; Colorist: Linda Lessman; Letterer: Dave Hunt

[spookyfoxdreamer]

[fatehbaz]

hi! i hope this is alright to ask but i was wondering if you had any reading recommendations about invasive species and their management/control/rhetoric. there just seems to be a lot to it. thank you!

Woah. Look at this post I was drafting literally two hours before you sent this, about the nationalist appropriation of rhetoric of "native vs. invasive" species in Hungarian land management:

Appropriate case study: (1) The tree was non-native and its introduction was facilitated by Austro-Hungarian imperial aristocracy and military, especially as fortification during wars in the eighteenth century. (2) It out-competed native trees and the government encouraged plantations of the species. (3) Because of its economic and political importance, the reactionary Hungarian parliament in 2014 officially named the tree "Hungaricum" (native/national heritage).

Yes, there is a lot. This is practically a whole discipline.

If you're looking for a collection, anthology, or singular book with multiple tangents, angles, or perspectives (rather than having to search through individual articles or journals), there are three collections I'm recommending below, but this also might be helpful:

Feral Atlas: The More-Than-Human Anthropocene, co-edited by Anna Tsing (she's probably the most high-profile scholar of this subject). Aside from containing a bunch of freely-available essays from about 100 authors on altered ecologies and rhetoric/imaginaries of environments in the Anthropocene, their big online portal just published the entire syllabus with a bunch of maps and graphics and free articles, in formats for non-academic reading groups, undergrad classes, and graduate seminars. If you go to Feral Atlas's homepage, you'll see a straightforward list of all of those authors.

---

The Ethics and Rhetoric of Invasion Ecology (Edited by Jame Stanescu and Kevin Cummings, 2016). Including chapters:

"Alien Ecology, Or, How to Make Ontological Pluralism" (James K. Stanescu)

"Guests, Pests, or Terr0rists? Speciesed Ethics and the Colonial Intelligibility of "Invasive" Others" (Rebekah Sinclair and Anna Pringle)

"Spectacles of Belonging: (Un)documenting Citizenship in a Multispecies World" (Banu Subramaniam)

---

Rethinking Invasion Ecologies from the Environmental Humanities (Edited by Jodi Frawley and Iain McCalman, 2014). Including chapters:

"Fragments for a Postcolonial Critique of the Anthropocene: Invasion Biology and Environmental Security" (Gilbert Caluya)

"Experiments in the Rangelands: white bodies and native invaders" (Cameron Muir)

"Prickly Pears and Martian Weeds: Ecological Invasion Narratives in the History and Fiction" (Christina Alt)

"Invasion ontologies: venom, visibility and the imagined histories of arthropods" (Peter Hobbins)

---

The Invasive Other special issue of Social Research, Vol. 84, No. 1, Spring 2017. Including articles:

"Introduction [to Social element]: The Dark Logic of Invasive Others" (Ann Laura Stoler)

"The Politics of Pests: Immigration and the Invasive Others" (Bridget Anderson)

"Invasive Others: Toward a Contaminated World" (Miriam Ticktin)

"Invasive Aliens: The Late-Modern Politics of Species Being" (Jean Comaroff)

"Introduction [to Ecologies element]: Invasive Ecologies" (Rafi Youatt)

"Invasive Others and Significant Others: Strange Kinship and Interspecies Ethics near the Korean Demilitarized Zone" (Eleana Kim)

---

For individual sources:

"The Aliens Have Landed! Reflections on the Rhetoric of Biological Invasion" (Banu Subramaniam, Meridians: Feminism, Race, Transnationalism 2:1, 2011)

"Loving the Native: Invasive Species and the Cultural Politics of Flourishing" (JR Cattelino, in The Routledge Companion to the Environmental Humanities, pp. 145-153, 2017).

"The Rhetoric of Invasive Species: Managing Belonging on a Novel Planet" (Alison Vogelaar, Revue francaise des sciences de l'information et de la communication 21, 2021).

"Invasion Blowback and Other Tales of the Anthropocene: An Afterword." (Anna Tsing. Anthropocenes - Human, Inhuman, Posthuman 4:1, 2023).

Troubling Species: Care and Belonging in a Relational World, a special issue of Transformations in Environment and Societycurated by the Multispecies Editing Collective, 2017.

"Uncharismatic Invasives" (JL Clark, Environmental Humanities 6:1, 2015).

"Involuntary Momentum: Affective Ecologies and the Sciences of Plant/Insect Encounters" (Hustak and Myers, Differences: A Journal of Feminist Cultural Studies 23:3, 2012).

"Patchy Anthropocene: Landscape Structure, Multispecies History, and the Retooling of Anthropology: An Introduction to Supplement 20" (Tsing, Mathews, and Burbandt, Current Anthropology, 2019).

Trespassing Natures: Species Migration and the Right to Space (Donnie Johnson Sackey, 2024)

Matters of Care: Speculative Ethics in More than Human Worlds (Puig de la Bellacasa, 2016)

Nestwork: New Material Rhetorics for Precarious Species (Jennifer Clary-Lemon)

"Requiem for a junk-bird: Violence, purity and the wild." (Hugo Reinert, Cultural Studies Review 25:1, 2019).

"Comparing Invasive Networks: Cultural and Political Biographies of Invasive Species" (Robbins, Geographical Review 94:2, 2004).

In the Shadow of the Palms: More-than-Human Becomings in West Papua (Sophie Chao, 2022)

"Timing Rice: An Inquiry into More-Than-Human Temporalities of the Anthropocene" (Elaine Gan, New Formations, 2018).

Interspecies Politics: Nature, Borders, States (Rafi Youatt, 2020)

"Interspecies Politics and the Global Rat: Ecology, Extermination, Experiment" (Rafi Youatt, Review of International Studies, 2020)

Critical Animal Geographies: Politics, intersections and hierarchies in a multispecies world (Edited by Kathryn Gillespie and Rosemary-Claire Collard, Routledge, 2015)

"Invasive Narratives and the Inverse of Slow Violence: Alien Species in Science and Society" (Lindstrom, West, Katzschner, Perez-Ramos, and Twidle. Environmental Humanities 7:1, 2016)

"Life Out Of Place: Revisiting Species Invasions. Introduction to the Special Issue" (Hanne Cottyn. Anthropocenes - Human, Inhuman, Posthuman 4:1, 2023).

---

It's been a "transdisciplinary" topic (especially in the past 15-ish years) in environmental humanities, ecocriticism, environmental studies, "science communication," anthropology, etc. (I think the humanities or interdisciplinary scholars handle the subject with more grace than ecology-as-a-field proper.) It shows up a lot in discussion of "the postcolonial," "ecopoetics," "Anthropocene," "multispecies ethnography," and "the posthuman"; Haraway was explicitly writing about rhetoric of invasive species in the 1990s.

A significant amount of posts on my blog from 2018-2022 are about invasive/alien/native labels. I summarized some of the discourses in my post about Colombian hippos. I especially talked a lot about the writing of Banu Subramaniam (rhetoric of ecological invasion, racialization of aliens); Rafi Youatt ("interspecies politics"); Anna Boswell (Aotearoa extinctions, "anamorphic ecology"); Sophie Chao ("post-plantation ecologies"); Elaine Gan ("Anthropocene temporalities" and industrial ruins); Hugo Reinert (species "purity" and extinctions); Puig de la Bellacasa ("speculative ethics in a multispecies world"); Ann Laura Stoler (of fame for her writing on "imperial debris" and ruination/haunting), Hugh Raffles, Nils Burbandt, Anna Tsing, and others. Lately in my own work I've been writing on borders/frontiers and media/colonial imaginaries of "pests/the exotic" and have been referencing Jeannie Shinozuka's Biotic Borders: Transpacific Plant and Insect Migration and the Rise of Anti-Asian Racism in America, 1890-1950.

Thanks for saying hi.

[cuteandhughesy]

CONGRATULATIONS ON 1K🥳🥳

i'm requesting prompt 1 + anthony stolarz. that man is 6'6 it would be hard not to be intimidated by him even though he's so sweet

vol. 2 prompt no. 1: "yeah, well he should learn to keep his hands to himself"

you feel a brooding presence slide up next to you at the more than busy bar. and it’s not the presence you’re usually expecting. you keep your eyes forward, patiently waiting for the five bottles of beer you ordered for the table.

but you can feel this person looking at you—clearly waiting for your attention. your elbow to elbow with the people waiting next to you. the bar is so busy, bartenders working at the speed of lightning just to try and keep up with the friday night demand. which means the guy next to you had to physically push between you and the woman who previously stood next to you.

you blink, and much to your better judgment, you look at him.

“hey,” he says immediately, a smile blossoming through his overgrown beard. he’s a little taller than you, and in good shape. he’s got hair so dark it’s almost purple, and he’s looking at you like you should be lucky he’s talking to you.

you smile politely, “hi.”

“how are you?” he also immediately, leaning in closer. you’re pretty sure he’s trying to make you feel smaller with the action, like he’s trying to appear taller and attentive. but you’re not buying it.

you pull back, creating some much needed space. “i’m okay, thanks.” you send the stranger another tight lipped smile before turning away, attention back on the busy bartenders as they work.

the guy laughs, the sound almost condescending. “ouch.”

“sorry?” you blink.

he leans in closer once again, breath hitting your cheek. “just thought you’d ask me how I am—you know the polite thing to do in a conversation.” the guy laughs again, like this whole conversation is a joke. like this whole situation isn’t weird and one sided.

but you’ve never been the confrontational type, especially in a situation like this, where you standing up for yourself could turn ugly. you nod kindly, “oh, right. sorry i’m just trying to get my drinks.”

“don’t apologize—you’re too pretty to be sorry.”

your stomach swoops unpleasantly at the smile curling around his mouth. thankfully the bartender slides the beers across the counter, and your shoulders drop in relief. you slide a twenty towards him before you start collecting the bottles.

the stranger is still looking at you—like you owe him something. “thanks but no,” you tell the guy, shrugging your shoulders casually, “I’m actually going back to my—“

he doesn’t listen, interrupting you before you can mention returning back to anthony and a few of his teammates and their significant others. “hey let me buy you your next round in exchange for a dance.”

you scowl, “no thank you.” you pick up the last glass bottle in haste, the bottles clinking together dangerously as you attempt to walk away. but of course it’s never that easy. the guys soft hand darts out and wraps around your elbow, because grabbing your bicep would draw too much attention. and this guys knows that. this isn’t his first rodeo.

“really?” he almost challenges you, grip tightening, “c’mon i’m trying to be friendly.”

“that’s great but im-“

anthony is suddenly behind you, his comforting scent and towering height invading your space. his large, calloused hand all but rips the strangers grip off your elbow. “take your hand off my girl,” he says firmly. anthony doesn’t raise his voice, he doesn’t need to. he’s big and intimidating in other ways, and yelling will only make this situation worse for you.

“sorry man I didn’t know she was taken,” the guy gulps, starting up at anthony with a sheepish smile, an awkward laugh bubbling from his chest as he takes a visible step back. putting space between himself and your 6 foot 6 boyfriend.

“that shouldn’t matter,” anthony says, “don’t touch her.”

“anthony, let’s go,” you mumble, “i’m fine.” you wish you could reach out and reassure your boyfriend—wrap your hand around his bulging bicep. but the bottles in your hands are not allowing that. bottles in your hand that anthony offered to go up and get for the table, but you declined while claiming you needed to stretch.

now you wish you made him come with you.

he looks down at you, face softening at your clear distressed face. “I know but he should learn to keep his hands to himself.” anthony shoots another look at the guilty looking man, who is trying to disappear back into the crowd. as he fucking should, anthony thinks.

“okay, thank you honey but we’re done.”

“yeah. we are,” he mumbles. anthony turns to face you completely, grabbing the beers from your hands easily. he throws his arm around your shoulders, pulling you into his side. “you okay?”

“i’m okay,” you tell him earnestly, wrapping your own arm around his back. “thank you.”

—

(unedited)

[cyren-myadd]

Nobody talks about Kiri's role in Neytiri and Spider's bad relationship...

I know Neytiri and Spider's relationship has been talked about to death already, but there's one important aspect of it everyone seems to overlook that I want to write down all my thoughts about: Kiri's role.

(Just FYI The High Ground comics are explicitly confirmed to be canon by Avatar's creative team, so please don't try to tell me something's not true because it happened in the comics)

With everything Neytiri has been through, it's understandable that she'd feel uncomfortable with Quaritch's son spending so much time around her children to the point where he starts calling them his "siblings." Contrary to what I've heard others say, Neytiri does not have a "blind hatred" towards Spider. She doesn't want him to be hurt or killed, she just wants him to stay away from her family and mind his own business. From her perspective, an "invader" is acting like he's entitled to being around her family and claiming them as his own, the same family that has been hurt so badly by other "invaders." This perceived entitlement coupled with the fact that he's the son of the guy who thought he was entitled to destroy her homeland is what gives her such strong feelings about Spider compared to the other Na'vi-allied humans.

But is Spider's behavior towards Neytiri's family really entitlement like Neytiri thinks or is it something else? Let's look at why Spider does the things he does:

Why does Spider spend so much time with the Sully kids? Kiri and Lo'ak invite him. From what we see in the movie and the comics, Kiri and Lo'ak don't seem to have any friends before meeting Tsireya and Rotxo, which means Spider is not just their best friend, but their only friend. There is nothing about Spider, Kiri, and Lo'ak's dynamic that implies Spider is the only one seeking them out. They mutually seek each others' company because they all feel like outcasts among their respective species.

Why does Spider call the Sully kids his siblings? Kiri started calling him her brother first. In vol 1 of THG, Kiri tells Spider he's like another brother to her. Shortly after this is when Spider starts referring to the Sully kids as his family. Since Spider has no biological family and a bad relationship with his foster family, it's understandable he would latch onto the people who actually care for him and explicitly say they feel like he's their family member.

Why does Spider insert himself into the Omaticaya? Kiri insists he joins them. in Vol 1 of THG, Spider is present for a Na'vi celebration and Neytiri asks him to leave because he's not a part of their family. Spider is perfectly okay with this and he starts to excuse himself, but Kiri stops him and insists he stay because he is a part of their family. Later, in Vol 2 of THG, the Sullies and the Omaticaya are evacuating to High Camp while Spider's foster family and most of the other humans choose to surrender to the RDA. Spider is initially upset and begs Jake to come with them, but after Jake scolds him, Spider accepts the adults' choice and willingly stays in Hell's Gate, waiting to surrender to the RDA. Kiri, on the other hand, insists Spider come with them to High Camp and goes back for him. This results in Kiri, Lo'ak, and Tuk getting captured by Spider's foster dad and Spider needing to rescue them. In both of these instances, when Spider is told he's unwelcome somewhere, he is okay with it and backs off, but Kiri is the one who fights for him to stay. The only instance where Spider insists he has a right to stay of his own volition is when Jake asks him to turn himself into the RDA soldiers hunting them after Spider helped the Sully kids escape his foster father. Since the RDA likely would've imprisoned, tortured, or even killed Spider for helping the valuable hostages escape, Spider's insistence he stay with the Sullies is completely understandable.

Why does Spider paint himself blue and emulate the Na'vi lifestyle? Kiri again. The only time we see Spider applying his stripes on screen, Kiri is right there helping him. From this we can assume that Kiri and possibly also Lo'ak regularly help Spider apply his stripes since he wouldn't be able to paint his back without help. And while we don't have exact information on when Spider started wearing a loincloth and behaving like a Na'vi, I think we can safely assume Kiri and her siblings are the ones who encouraged this behavior.

After analyzing the origins of what Neytiri perceives as "entitlement," it becomes clear it's not really entitlement at all. Spider never does something he has not been "invited" to do by Kiri or Lo'ak. Spider is not trying to cross any boundaries and he's not trying to hurt anyone; he's just a lonely orphan who has latched onto the only people who show him real care.

From Spider's perspective, Neytiri hates him for no reason other than his dad. In actuality, Neytiri's strong feelings aren't just about who is dad is, but moreso about the way he behaves on top of who his dad is. Neytiri doesn't have a "blind hatred" for him like Spider believes, but she has a deep trauma-rooted discomfort with his proximity to her family in the context of his heritage, and this discomfort makes her lash out at him. But of course Spider doesn't understand this because he's A. a teenage boy with limited emotional intelligence and B. has no reason to think there's anything wrong with his behavior because Kiri and Lo'ak encourage it so enthusiastically. With Spider's limited understanding, it makes sense that he chalks up Neytiri's behavior as "she hates me!"

So we have these two wildly different perspectives. Neytiri views Spider as an entitled invader and she doesn't understand why he can't just leave her family alone, and Spider views Neytiri as a cruel woman who judges him for his heritage and he can't understand why she can't just let him hang out with his "siblings" in peace. When these two different perspectives clash, it gets ugly, and leads to scenes like the time Neytiri lunged at Spider (to attack him? shake him? it's unclear) and Spider yelling at Neytiri and blaming her for his situation (which is really Quaritch's fault for making his postpartum mother fight).

Then we have Kiri's perspective. Kiri loves her mother and her best friend, but doesn't seem to understand why her mom doesn't want her best friend around and she also doesn't seem to understand why her best friend thinks her mom hates him. In vol 1 of THG, she even tells Spider that Neytiri loves him. Ironically, even though Kiri clearly wants her mom and her best friend to get along, she is inadvertently the source of most of their issues. In all the instances where Spider's behavior makes Neytiri upset, we can trace the behavior back to Kiri as outlined in the bullet points above. The more Kiri pushes for Spider to stay close, the more it triggers Neytiri trauma, the more Neytiri lashes out Spider, the more Spider thinks she hates him, and the closer Kiri gets to Spider to comfort him and try and prove him wrong. It's a vicious cycle.

And just to be clear, I'm not trying to say Kiri is at fault for Neytiri and Spider's relationship. Kiri and Spider are just kids with little understanding of the trauma Neytiri has been through. They just know they enjoy spending time with each other, and neither of them fully understand why it makes Neytiri so upset. Neytiri, on the other hand, is not a kid... she is not responsible for her trauma and for her negative feelings towards Spider, but she is responsible for her behavior towards him.

The one thing I don't understand is why neither Neytiri nor Jake nipped Kiri's behavior in the bud before it got to the point where it is now. If Kiri keeps calling Spider her brother and insisting he stay for family celebrations, and it's obviously very upsetting to Neytiri, why did neither of her parents sit her down and let her know its inappropriate? Spider was clearly okay with being left out of the events. If they'd talked about it with Kiri, they would've avoided all that strife in the first place. Hell, Spider wouldn't even be around them anymore because he would've surrendered to the RDA and lived in Bridgehead if not for Kiri insisting he come with them!

And actually, why didn't they stop the kids from spending so much time together in the first place? Neytiri was telling Jake she didn't like Spider around her kids since they were very little. Why did they continue to let them play together if it made her so uncomfortable? Was Jake letting it happen behind her back? Were the kids sneaking away to play with Spider? Did Neytiri let it happen because she thought they would grow out of it or something? At that age, parents have a lot of control over their kids lives, and I don't understand why Neytiri didn't just redirect her kids to play with anyone other than Spider if it upset her so much. In THG, Neytiri threatened to ban Spider from seeing Kiri, but she did it way too late. The kids were teenagers at that point and already saw each other as family, so if she tried to separate them they would've just snuck out and seen each other anyway. If Neytiri is okay with putting a "ban" on Spider, why did she wait until they were teens and much more difficult to control to do so?

I know the "real" answer is because James Cameron wants ✨DRAMA✨ but I'm wondering if there's an in-universe explanation cause it just doesn't make sense to me. I guess the most realistic answer is that Jake let it happen knowing full well Neytiri didn't like it, but he let it slide anyway because he didn't want to say no to the kids. Jake had two choices. He could've A. honored Neytiri's wishes and separated the children before they bonded or B. sat down with Neytiri and let her know Spider is here to stay and that she can't lash out at him. Either choice would've resulted in a much better outcome for everyone involved, but then again, it would've had a lot less drama so I understand why the writers didn't have that happen instead. Actually, now that I'm typing it out, it is pretty in character for Jake to ignore a giant problem right in front of him and hope it'll go away on it's own (that's how we lost Hometree, Eytukan, and Neteyam rip). I guess we're going to see this situation blow up in Jake's face in Avatar 3, just like his other ignore-the-problem-and-hope-it-goes-away situations did. I just hope that this situation will have a better outcome for everyone involved.

It just frustrates me because I feel like all this could've been resolved years ago if Jake and Neytiri had sat Kiri and Spider down and had a discussion about boundaries, but there's too much bad blood between Neytiri and Spider for an easy resolution now...

Anyways, if you made it this far, thanks for reading, didn't mean to turn this into a whole essay lol. Please share your thoughts with me if you have any!

[owlisbuffering]

The Name Game

Yuu has taken to using whatever nickname comes to mind when talking to the TWST boys, most of them puns or references to pop culture from their home world that no one understands. No one is safe and it's getting out of hand. Selections include:

Grim: Grimlin, Grimothy, Grimotheus, Fire and Grimstone, Grim Burton, Grim and Tonic, Grim and Bear It, Tiny Grim

(Dorms after the cut)

Heartslabyul

or The House of Cards

Ace: Aces, Ace of Base, Arsenic and Old Ace, DumbAce, SmartAce, Aceassin, Ace-mmetry, Acemmetrical, Crappola, It's a Trap!pola, All About That Ace

Deuce: Deuce Goose, Loosey Deucey (that one was a mistake; immediate regret), Deuces Wild, Deuce on the Loose, What the Deuce, Pas de Deuce, Mother Deuce

Trey: Trey Table, Tea Trey, Muffin Man, Treytor Tot, Great ExpecTreytions, Treytrix Reloaded, Cloverfield, Treytor, Treylor Swift

Cater: C8r Boi, Cater to My Whims, Caterer, Whip and Cay Cay, Diamonds are Forever, Cater-ina, Diamond Jubilee, Kiss Me Cate-r

Riddle: Riddle Me This, McRiddle, Hey Riddle Riddle, Kissed by a Rosehearts, Meet Me in the Riddle, Riddleculous

Savanaclaw

or The Watering Hole

Leona: Leona 500, Lion Sleeps Tonight, Aweem Away, Cat Nap, Comatose, Rip Van Winkle, Lambert

Ruggie: Ruginald, Teach Me How to Ruggie, Rug Doctor, Artful Dodger,

Jack: Jack Be Nimble, Jack Sprat, Jack and the Beanstalk, House that Jack Built, Jumping Jack, Hungry Like the Wolf, Big Bad Wolf, Team Jacob

Octavinelle

or 3 Fish Mafia

Jade: Thing 1, Jaderade, Made in the Jade, Nephrite

Floyd: Thing 2, Vicegrip, Personal Space Invader, Pink Floyd

Azul: Tako Time, Tako Tuesday, Octillery

Scarabia

or The Cave of Wonders

Jamil: Snek, Danger Noodle, Hissy-fit, Peanut Butter and Jam-il

Kalim: Mr Golden Sun, Kalim Me Maybe

Pomefiore

or Sephora

Epel: Epel Juice, Epel-sauce, Epel Pie, Fizzgig, Stufful, Pancham, Sour Epel, Incred-Epel Hulk

Rook: Rook Nook, Rookery, Lumiere, Corvus Christi, Murkrow, Rookadoodle

Vil: Queen V, Beyoncé, Potato Queen,  Madame Peacock

Ignihyde

or Best Buy

Ortho: Orthopedic, Orthodontic, Mr. Roboto, Robotnik, XJ9, Jenny, How to Build a Better Boy

Idia: Ghost Rider, My Good Hotman, Shroud of Darkness, Your Most Lugubriousness

Diasomnia

or Shadow Castle

Sebek: How Doth the Little Crocodile, Coccodrillo, Schnappi, Spinal Tap (because his vol goes up to 11), Totodile

Silver: Sleeping Beauty, Narcolepsy, Poker Face, Woodland Whisperer, Snorlax, Sleeper Cell

Lilia: Lils, Batty, Batman, Stellaluna, Littlest Vampire, Gramps, Lil' Guy, Woobat, Team Edward

Malleus: Toothless, Drag-on, Falcor, Mushu, Spike, Dragon Tales, Malleable, Malnutrition, Malfeasance, Malodrama

[wishforhome]

random thoughts about viago as king

i've been kind of playing with an eventual fic in which viago becomes the king of antiva, and here are some random related thoughts and history for anyone else thinking about this (in no particular order and kind of rambling):

The succession in Antiva is probably kind of a mess. Fulgeno II has multiple legitimate heirs but countless bastard children, including Viago himself. All the other bastards are living outside of Antiva.

Historically, the succession has often been determined by external forces. The merchant princes likely have a significant say, as do the Crows themselves (World of Thedas Vol. 2 notes: "The Antivan Crows are an order of assassins so entrenched in the nation of Antiva that they have become a political force unto themselves. More than once they have all but dictated who would ascend the throne of Antiva, regardless of who originally stood in the line of succession.")

In order to become king, my guess is that Viago would likely need to accomplish at least two of the following three things: (1) eliminate all the legitimate heirs and any illegitimate heirs with the power or resources to challenge him, (2) have the backing of the merchant princes, and/or (3) have the backing of the Antivan Crows.

The throne in Antiva is extremely weak, with most actual power being held in practice by the Merchant Princes and the Crows. In Eight Little Talons, we learn that Viago apparently believes that if he were to take the throne, he could restore true power to the monarchy; it is my personal suspicion that he would do this by leveraging the Crows to directly support his reign. In order to make the monarchy more powerful, he would need to reduce the influence of the merchant princes while maintaining control of the crows. (Having a close ally as First Talon would undoubtedly make this much easier for him.)

The Merchant Princes are highly unlikely to back Viago for king, since his goal is to centralize power within the monarchy, which would necessarily reduce the influence of the merchant princes.

There's been one civil war in Antiva in recent history, the "Three Queens" era which occurred early in the Dragon Age, sometime after Maric Theirin retook the throne of Ferelden in 9:00-9:02 but before 9:14.

We know that Viago and Fulgeno II have some kind of relationship, as Viago says at the end of Eight Little Talons that he's going to Antiva City to brief the king about what happened at Lago di Novo.

A codex entry notes that "when the Antaam invaded the South, the people there were completely unprepared. Antiva and northern Rivain were overrun quickly, with the invaders pushing down through the Green Dales to the Minanter River, leaving only the southernmost of the Free Marches spared." This suggests Antaam forces likely hold the majority of Antiva, not just Treviso; however, the King apparently remains free [not that he has much actual power], as Viago and Teia send him reports on their efforts against the Antaam in Treviso.

Viago would likely be able to leverage some popular support from the common people given his role in freeing Treviso specifically (and possibly Antiva as a whole) from the clutches of the Antaam, as well as his contributions to defeating the gods.

One potential route for Viago might be if his father legitimatized him in recognition of his contributions to Antiva during the Antaam invasion. I likely won't go this route, but I think it's an angle that could work.

Viago would likely face some opposition in terms of making Teia queen, given that she's both a commoner and an elf, but I believe he would figure it out and make it happen. She might also be popular with commoners given her roots.

It is unclear whether Viago could maintain his position as a Talon while also being King of Antiva. It is apparently not uncommon for members of the Royal family (non-bastard ones, even) to join the Crows (World of Thedas Vol II notes that one royal princess, Liviana, founded the Valisti dynasty of merchant princes and was First Talon at one point). [Talk about overlap: one person was a royal princess, a merchant prince AND First Talon.]

I genuinely think Viago would be a pretty good king. He would be good for the economy, putting the welfare of the nation ahead of the individual fortunes of the merchant princes, and he would be a significant patron of the arts. That said, it would probably be a really scary time to be a noble or merchant prince because if you pissed him off too much, he'd have you killed.

My personal plan for making Viago king is as follows: his father dies of natural causes, and with the succession being extremely contested and with the country on the verge of another civil war, Viago clears the playing field by eliminating everyone else vying for the throne. The Merchant Princes don't want him, but are forced to recognize his claim given the lack of other alternatives, Viago's support from the crows (thanks Lucanis and Teia) and the fact that he is extremely popular with commoners, both because of his role in defeating the Antaam/gods and the rumours that he was behind the string of deaths that prevented another war from breaking out.

[thebuddiearchives]

BUDDIE FIC RECS ✴ HOSTAGE SITUATION ✴ VOL. 1

Fic recs centered around season 5 episode 6, Brawl in Cell Block 9-1-1.

————————————————————————

all this time i didn't know(you were breaking down) by BooyahFordhamYacht Oneshot || Teen || 3873

buck does not handle the prison riots well at all. eddie gets really mad and then really worried, in that order.

alt;

Eddie thinks it started with the ambulance, or the gun.

But then Nolan’s mom comes out, and Nolan’s going to be okay, and Eddie can breathe again, kind of, and all he can think is 'Christopher,' so he leaves. He walks out and tries to imagine that he and Buck are fine, and it doesn’t work, and he tries not to care about that.

It doesn’t work.

————————————————————————

caught up in the war inside by farfromthstars // @doeeyeseddie Oneshot || General || 2561

Buck shoots him a nervous look before focusing on the road again. “You said you didn’t want a ready-made family. I didn’t wanna overstep.” For a few seconds, Eddie just stares at him before he blurts out, “I didn’t mean you.”

~

coda to 5x06, in which eddie strikes one thing off the list of Things He and Buck Don't Talk About

————————————————————————

follow me home (how could i ever leave without you?) by buckleyseddie // @buckleyseddie Oneshot || Teen || 6517

There’s a short silence and then, “I’m gonna go see mine,” Eddie says. 

Buck tries not to let his face fall. Savanna’s son is okay, there’s no reason for them to stay here any longer so of course Eddie wants to head home to see his kid.

The thing is, Buck wants nothing more than to go with him.

He wants to keep Eddie in his line of sight and he wants to make sure Christopher’s okay, but he can’t bring himself to call out to Eddie, to ask him if it would be okay if Buck came over today. He doesn’t want to impose, but he also really doesn’t want to go home alone.

Maybe if he lingers long enough Athena and Bobby will invite him over, maybe Ravi will let Buck buy him breakfast.

Before he can test that theory though, Eddie looks over his shoulder at him and asks, “you coming, Buck?” *** or in the aftermath of the hostage situation, Buck goes home with Eddie

————————————————————————

gathered up your things and slipped away (no time at all, i followed you) by zashizawa Oneshot || Not Rated || 1115

The gunshot goes off, and instantly, Buck is standing in the middle of the street with blood on his face, staining his clothes, in his mouth, everywhere.

(Or, post s05e06, Buck needs to see Eddie and Chris.)

————————————————————————

Half of my heart has always been yours by justhockey // @everything-i-am Oneshot || Not Rated || 2509

It felt like Buck’s soul got ripped in half when he heard that gunshot crack through the air. For the length of a heartbeat everything was frozen in one agonising, unbearable moment.

And then Buck was running - chest heaving and legs as heavy as lead - to get to Eddie.

————————————————————————

I don't feel it till it hurts by bigfootsmom // @bigfootsmom Oneshot || General || 5796

Where Buck is not as okay after being pistol-whipped as he appears and Eddie is not okay in general.

If Buck were here he would tell Eddie that everything is alright and Eddie wouldn’t believe him, but he would be able to pretend for a while.

Eddie wants to see Buck. But it feels like invading Buck’s space with Taylor to just drive over to the loft. Even though it’s what his heart aches to do, Eddie holds himself back. Buck is with his girlfriend. He doesn’t need Eddie showing up and fussing over him.

————————————————————————

I think that I should probably tell you this In case there is an accident by Pan_Cake_Cats // @dorkydiaz Multichapter || Teen || 2688

But he didn’t have to do that. Eddie is…..fine. And Chris doesn’t need him. So why are his fingers burning as they itch to type out a message to Eddie. What would he even say? The phone drops from his hands and clatters to the table as he resigns himself to the fact that he should sleep. He puts on the tv as soft background noise and just stares up at the ceiling for hours. But he can't help but feel guilty. Guilty that to feel calm, to feel right again, he needs to see Christopher. Who is not his son. Eventually he does fall into a restless sleep. He wakes in the late afternoon to the klinking of keys and Eddie’s warm voice cutting through the sterile stillness of the loft.

————————————————————————

if you don't know me by now by ColorMeParanoid // @color-me-paranoid Oneshot || Teen || 2699

They’d just returned from a call and were lounging around after lunch, taking advantage of a calm moment between calls while they still could when Ravi changed the channel and said, “Hey, Buck. Isn’t that your girlfriend?”

“I didn’t know she was covering the prison riot,” Eddie said and Buck found himself frowning.

“That’s because she’s not.” Or, at least, she wasn’t the last time he saw her.

“Are you sure about that?” Hen said, glowering at the TV. “Because it looks like she found herself a perfect story.”

Or, the one in which Taylor crosses the line and the inevitable breakup follows

————————————————————————

isn’t it just so pretty to think by spiritsontheroof Oneshot || General || 11232

Buck feels like his whole life is a waiting game now. Waiting for whatever is going on with Eddie to come to a head or work itself out, waiting for his sister to come home, waiting for being with Taylor to feel right. Sitting, waiting, wishing.

————————————————————————

Jump by goodiecornbread Oneshot || Teen || 4719

Buck is fine, okay?

It's just that, after Eddie almost dies again, he gets a little jumpy. That's all. He's fine.

–––

Buck dealing with some things after the ambulance jacking.

————————————————————————

a little less war torn by renecdote // @renecdote Oneshot || Teen || 5647

“I gotta be honest,” Eddie says quietly, “you’re not really reassuring me here, Buck.”

Buck bites his lip hard. He can’t tell the truth. He can’t. Christopher is here, and Eddie will probably leave, and then he’ll be alone again, again, again. Tears blur his eyes and he blinks quickly, trying to hold them at bay.

“Hey.” Hand on Buck’s shoulder now, squeezing just a little too tight. “I’m serious—do I need to take you to a hospital right now?”

Set right after 5x06 ends. In which Buck is all kinds of not okay but Eddie helps.

————————————————————————

Misplaced aggression by basicallyiwriteshit Multichapter || General || 7961

Eddie's been having a lot of feelings about how closely ingrained into his and Christopher's lives. His brain can't decide if that's good or bad, even though his heart's seemingly made the decision, and he snaps.

Evan knows he should take a step back. Let Eddie have time with his family, and quit being such a present part of his and Chris's day-to-day lives. He didn't expect Eddie to yell at him about it, though.

————————————————————————

nowhere we can go with nothing underneath by alasse Oneshot || Teen || 3401

Set immediately post 5.06. Taylor takes the bare bones of what Buck shared with her and starts digging, until she comes up with a pretty good guess at the truth of the riot and the transplant, which she wants to turn into a feature. The choice sets her on a collision path with Eddie—and with Buck.

————————————————————————

when the world crumbles (bring me home) by tawaifeddiediaz // @aashiqeddiediaz Oneshot || Teen || 2905

He regrets not following Eddie quick enough.

Or, the one where Buck and Eddie talk and cry it out

————————————————————————

Wish we could cut all ties with the morning light by Mellaithwen // @mellaithwen Oneshot || Teen || 2506

“You ever think that maybe I might be doing this for me too?” Eddie asks.

Buck looks a little broken at that, the way his face seems to almost collapse in on itself, and the breath he lets out is shaky and a little surprised. But it’s true. Eddie needs this. He needs to convince himself that he’s safe, that Buck’s safe, that Christopher’s safe. He needs the quiet ministrations to calm him down—he needs to slip into the familiar motions of giving care until his heart rate slows and finally the last of the adrenaline can ebb away.

He lets his thumb brush at Buck’s cheek, his hand still cradling his jaw. The moment seems to stretch and breathe and they stay there for a while, tethered by touch, until finally Buck gives a little nod of acceptance as he lets Eddie continue with his work. . While they wait for news at the hospital, Eddie tends to Buck's head wound.

————————————————————————

you showed up just in time by lecornergirl // @clusterbuck Oneshot || General || 1445

can i come over, typed out quickly and sent before he has time to overthink it. He wouldn’t even ask, not normally, but nothing about the past twenty-four hours has been normal.

Eddie texts back almost immediately. No.

Buck’s blood runs cold, horror settling like lead in his veins, and his heart feels like it’s trying to climb up his throat and leave his body as he tries to figure out what he could have done to piss Eddie off. Eddie had seemed fine in the hospital waiting room—if tired, as worn out and frayed as the rest of them, but—

A key turns in his door and Eddie walks in, Christopher in tow.

————————————————————————

[savage-kult-of-gorthaur]

"THE GOLDEN AGE OF MARVEL LIVES AGAIN, AND YOU ARE THERE!" -- TARGET: SUPER AXIS!

PIC INFO: Resolution at 1841×2757 -- Spotlight on a 1978 Marvel house ad for "The Invaders" Vol. 1, focusing on the adventures and/or exploits of WWII-era superheroes on the European mainland, artwork possibly by Gil Kane, published by the Marvel Comics Group.

Source: https://lrpctech.com/2016/10/02/marvel-1978-house-ad-invaders.

[kikyocaps]

[journeytothewestresearch]

Helloooo, I wanna ask smth abt our glutenous pig, Bajie

I personally headcanon him that he's a healer in the grp bc of this one chap when they encountered Red Boy

When Wukong got injured from the true samadhi fire, he almost "died" from it and then Bajie was like " alr back off everyone, I got this " and poof suddenly he can heal someone and not just someone

He healed WUKONG, the monkey that's hard to kill and gets hurt

When I was watching that ep ( the 1986 series) I was like ??? He can do that ??? Bc I don't seem to recall anyone ever acknowledged the fact that he can do that

Then when it gets to the chap where Wukong feed the king w pills that contain dragon horse piss, it's not Bajie who does that, it's Wukong. And I get that bc oh Wukong is cool look at what else he can do but Bajie just standing there and doing whatever Wukong asks him to

Like aren't you the one who healed wukong from the true samadhi fire ??

Did the novel ever mentioned that Bajie can do medicine, herbs or healing ? Maybe the poems but I don't read poems unfortunately even tho it contain lots of context that aren't told in the story

Yes, the novel indicates that Zhu has medical knowledge.

As you mentioned, in chapter 41, he performs life-saving massage to resuscitate Sun Wukong:

With a chuckle, Eight Rules [Zhu Bajie] said, “Brother, stop crying. This ape is pretending to be dead, just to scare us. Feel him a little and see if there’s any warmth left in his breast.” “The whole body has turned cold,” said Sha Monk [Sha Wujing]. “Even if there were a little warmth left, how could you revive him?” Eight Rules said, “If he is capable of seventy-two transformations, he has seventy-two lives. Listen, you stretch out his legs while I take care of him.” Sha Monk indeed straightened Pilgrim’s legs while Eight Rules lifted his head and straightened his upper torso. They then pushed his legs up and folded them around the knees before raising him into a sitting position. Rubbing his hands together until they were warm, Eight Rules covered Pilgrim’s seven apertures and began to apply a Chan method [anmo chanfa, 按摩禪法] of massage on him (emphasis added). The cold water, you see, had had such a traumatic effect on Pilgrim that his breath was caught in his cinnabar field and he could not utter a sound. He was lucky, therefore, to have all that rubbing, squeezing, and kneading by Eight Rules, for in a moment his breath went through the three passes, invaded the bright hall, and burst through his apertures. and burst through his apertures. “O Master,” he [Monkey] began to say (Wu & Yu, 2012, vol. 2, p. 232).

八戒笑道：「兄弟莫哭。這猴子佯推死，嚇我們哩。你摸他摸，胸前還有一點熱氣沒有？」沙僧道：「渾身都冷了，就有一點兒熱氣，怎的就得回生？」八戒道：「他有七十二般變化，就有七十二條性命。你扯著腳，等我擺佈他。」真個那沙僧扯著腳，八戒扶著頭，把他拽個直，推上腳來，盤膝坐定。八戒將兩手搓熱，仵住他的七竅，使一個按摩禪法。原來那行者被冷水逼了，氣阻丹田，不能出聲。卻幸得八戒按摸揉擦，須臾間，氣透三關，轉明堂，沖開孔竅，叫了一���：「師父啊！」

Also, in chapter 69, he argues with Wukong about the attributes and usages of a medicinal ingredient:

“The flavour of badou [巴豆],” said Eight Rules, “is slightly acrid; its nature is hot and poisonous. Able to pare down the hard and the accumulated, it will therefore sweep out the submerged chills of one’s internal cavities. Able to bore through clottings and impediments, it will therefore facilitate the paths of water and grain. This is a warrior who can break down doors and passes, and it should be used lightly” (Wu & Yu, 2012, vol. 3, p. 274).

八戒道：「巴豆味辛，性熱有毒。削堅積，蕩肺腑之沉寒；通閉塞，利水穀之道路。乃斬關奪門之將，不可輕用。」

Source:

Wu, C., & Yu, A. C. (2012). The Journey to the West (Vols. 1-4) (Rev. ed.). Chicago, Illinois: University of Chicago Press.

[otomehonyaku]

DIABOLIK LOVERS Lost Eden Drama CD Translation ☽ Vol. 4 Mukami Saga ☽ After Story (Booklet)

English translation by @otomehonyaku Click here for the audio (as always, BIG thank you to @karleksmumskladdkaka!)

TRACK 1 ・TRACK 2 ・TRACK 3・TRACK 4・TRACK 5・AFTER STORY

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

This short story is included in the little booklet that comes with the Lost Eden CD! It doesn't bode very well for the Mukami brothers, but... A little encore to the CD, in a way ｡°(°.◜ᯅ◝°)°｡ I've marked in red the words that are highlighted in the original text as well. Also, be wary: this mini story contains spoilers for the CD. Happy reading!

Please do not reuse or post my translations elsewhere or translate my work into other languages without my permission.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

“Ah, Ruki! Is Kitten okay?” Kou called out to me in a panicked voice when I returned to the hall, having left Livestock in the Room of Time.

I explained the situation. Azusa, who had appeared next to me, sighed in relief. “I’m glad… If she’s in there… she’ll be okay, right…?”

Like Azusa said, that room was the safest spot in the entirety of Eden, but even then, nothing was guaranteed. If we allowed the troops into the castle, there was no telling how long it would take them to break into that room as well. 

We needed to avoid such a disaster. We needed to defeat the invading Vibora. All of them. No matter the sacrifice.

“—They’re gettin’ close. There’s a hell of a lot of ‘em,” Yuma said to me, the irritation clear on his face. He had returned from his patrol in the blink of an eye. 

We were running out of time.

The stillness that had enveloped us moments earlier was slowly giving way to the sound of arrows being fired in our direction.

“...Let’s go. Let’s protect our Eden.”

My younger brothers met my gaze when I spoke, their eyes full of resolve, and nodded.

There was an army of Vibora, and only four of us.

Our chances of victory were slim at best, but we did not have the slightest intent of backing down.

Eden was already falling into ruin.

Still, we wanted to protect this place—because it’s our home.

[dcdreamblog]

long time no see! I wanted to ask you if you had any information on the teams that went by "invaders", from what I've gathered some people say that they fought the freedom fighters because of mind control, others say that they are supervillains and I have no idea if the "mighty invaders" are related to them.

So I think I was able to track down the folks that you meant, despite the fact that you got their name a little mixed up. The INVADERS is team created by Marvel Comics in the 70s based upon the idea of teaming up their most long lasting golden age era characters. Captain America, Bucky, The Human Torch, Toro and the Sub-Mariner. They are, as with most things created by Marvel Comics works of fiction. Very nice works of fiction, I'm a comic fan myself, but works of fiction nonetheless. It's just that in our world where the strange happens everyday the fictional can often bleed into the reality more than we would like. This is one of those times.

(The final page from The Crusaders Vol 1 #7 showing the entire team. Left to right: Barracude, Rusty, Americommando, Fireball and Sparky) The Crusaders was a pretty blatant ripoff of the Invaders published by one of Marvel's competitors in the late 70s until their rights were purchased under mysterious circumstances. No one knows for sure the details of the deal only that it was conducted in what was probably a REALLY shady way considering what we know came next. A man dressed himself up as the Americommando (not to be confused with any of the actual superheroes who have used that title) and presented himself to four young comic fans at a convention offering to empower them as the Crusaders. Jumping at the chance to mimic their heroes the newly assembled group assaulted the newly arrived Freedom Fighters (who had just returned to this dimension after their decades long stay on the Nazi dominated Earth-X) because they were wanted for questioning at the time due to alleged ties between the group and the sinister Silver Ghost. The fight escalated, the comic fans behind the Crusaders' artificial abilities too hopped up on their own power high to listen to the Freedom Fighters, a stray blast from the battle knocking a police helicopter off course and nearly prompting a shootout with local law enforcement until the trick was discovered. The man dressed as Americommando was in actuality Raphael Van Zandt AKA the Silver Ghost, the same villain the Freedom Fighters had been tied to via circumstantial evidence. He was working to undermine the Freedom Fighters in the public eye because he was actually a refugee from Earth-X, a former member of that world's nazi hierarchy on the run from that now liberated world's trials of fascist leaders attempting to exact his revenge on the Freedom Fighters. With their leader's true identity revealed, the Crusaders simply vanished into the ether after explaining their side of the story and they haven't been seen since. It's assumed that whatever high tech ability the Silver Ghost had to empower these young men was ultimately temporary and that they too would have been patsies for his scheme in the end. Kind of funny bit of trivia, when all of this went down IE a supervillain creating a knockoff of Marvel's Invaders to fight the Freedom Fighters, Marvel Comics, in its infinite cheekiness created a superhero team within their still being published Invaders comic ALSO called the Crusaders who were this time a well meaning pastiche of the Freedom Fighters. Tying this whole big thing full circle.