#RW Lion

[levisgeekstuff]

10 Legendes van de Dark Knight

Ik had dit artikel ook schaamteloos en clickbait-gewijs de ‘Legends of the Dark Knight Top 10’ kunnen noemen. Maar, enkele losse nummers uit grotere crossovers als Knightquest en KnightsEnd niet meegerekend, zijn er precies 10 verhalen uit de ‘Legends of the Dark Knight’ serie in het Nederlands verschenen. Ontdek ze hier 👉

Batmania

In 1989 woedde er volop Batmania in de VS en de rest van de wereld. Dat had natuurlijk veel te maken met de Batman film van Tim Burton die dat jaar stond te verschijnen. Om volop in te spelen op de hype besloot de Amerikaanse uitgever DC naast de gewone ‘Batman’ serie en ‘Detective Comics’ een nieuwe, derde maandelijkse Batman serie te lanceren: ‘Legends of the Dark knight’. 

Het opzet van de reeks was best uniek. De verhalen zouden telkens 5 nummers duren en door wisselende creatieve teams gemaakt worden. Bovendien zouden ze zich niet in de gewone continuïteit afspelen, maar (meestal) in het verleden van Batman. 

Het bleek een schot in de roos. Dankzij het hoge niveau van de eerste verhalen werd de serie een instant klassieker. Geen wonder dat enkele jaren later ook een aantal verhalen het tot een Nederlandse vertaling zouden schoppen 👇

Shaman (Legends of the Dark Knight 1-5)

De eerste verhaallijn van ‘lotdk’ kreeg een plekje in de Batman Special serie van Baldakijn Boeken. Shaman, geschreven door Dennis O'Neil met tekeningen van Ed Hannigan en John Beatty, speelt zich af tijdens de vroege dagen van Batman's carrière. Het verhaal begint met een jonge Bruce Wayne die in Alaska een legende hoort over een mystieke vleermuisgeest. Deze ervaring beïnvloedt hem diep. Na terugkeer naar Gotham City, als Batman, stuit hij op een masker dat lijkt op de geest uit de legende. Dit masker is verbonden met een reeks misdaden in de stad.

Opvallend is dat voor deze Nederlandstalige versie niet de originele covers van Legends of the Dark Knight zijn gebruikt, maar wel die van de Amerikaanse tpb ‘The Greatest Batman Stories Ever Told’ en de ‘Son of the Demon’ hardcover. 

2. Gothic (Legends of the Dark Knight 6-10)

Dit verhaal werd geschreven door Grant Morrison met tekenwerk van Klaus Janson. Samen zorgen ze voor een werkelijk huiveringwekkend verhaal. Ik heb niet vaak dat een comic me koude rillingen geeft, maar deze dus wel!

‘Gothic’ begint wanneer leden van de maffia in Gotham City op mysterieuze en gruwelijke wijze worden vermoord. De moorden lijken verbonden te zijn met een stedelijke legende over een bovennatuurlijke wraakzuchtige figuur genaamd ‘Mr. Whisper’. Mr. Whisper was decennia geleden een sadistische schoolhoofd die vermoedelijk omkwam nadat zijn misdaden aan het licht kwamen, maar nu lijkt hij teruggekeerd om wraak te nemen op de maffialeiders, die ooit zijn voormalige studenten waren.

Het verhaal verscheen tweemaal in het Nederlands. Een eerste keer in Batman Special 11 en 12 bij Baldakijn. Jaren later, in 2014, volgde nog een hardcover uitgave bij RW Lion.

3. Prey (Legends of the Dark Knight 11-15)

‘Prooi’, opgenomen in Batman Special 13 en 14 bij Baldakijn, zit een beetje gevangen tussen het bekendere ‘Gothic’ en het belangrijkere ‘Venom’, maar dat maakt het verhaal niet minder. Dit boeiend en psychologisch diepgaand verhaal werd geschreven door Doug Moench met prachtig tekenwerk van Paul Gulacy. 

Ook dit verhaal speelt zich af tijdens de vroege jaren van Batman's carrière. Het belicht de intense strijd tussen Batman en politiepsycholoog Dr. Hugo Strange. Ik vind dit eigenlijk één van de betere Batman verhalen aller tijden. Ik zou het een semi-klassieker durven noemen.    

4. Venom (Legends of the Dark Knight 16-20)

Zoals gezegd volgde daarna ‘Venom’ of ‘Gif’ zoals de vertaalde versie in Batman Special 15 en 16 heet bij Baldakijn. Het verhaal begint wanneer Batman faalt om een jong meisje te redden, wat leidt tot een diepe persoonlijke crisis. Zijn zoektocht naar meer kracht leidt hem naar een experimentele drug genaamd Venom, die zijn fysieke kracht enorm verhoogt. Echter, de bijwerkingen zijn verwoestend en Batman raakt verslaafd.

Later zou dit verhaal natuurlijk de prelude voor de hele Knightfall saga blijken te zijn.

5. Faces (Legends of the Dark Knight 28-30)

Intussen werd in de Amerikaanse lotdk reeks het vaste format van 5 nummers per verhaal opgegeven. Zo kregen ook kortere verhalen een plaats in de serie. Ook in de Nederlandse versie veranderde er wat. Legends of the Dark Knight werd na ‘Venom’ niet meer vast opgenomen in Batman Special bij Baldakijn. Het zou nog tot 1996 duren, na de hele Knightfall saga, dat er weer ‘legends’ een plekje kregen. Nu wel in de reguliere Batman reeks. 

In Batman 73 was dat het geval voor ‘Faces’, geschreven én getekend door Matt Wagner. Het verhaal duikt diep in de getormenteerde geest van Harvey Dent en zijn obsessie met dualiteit. Two-Face's plan in dit verhaal is dan ook bijzonder macaber: een samenleving creëren op een afgelegen eiland, uitsluitend bevolkt door mensen met fysieke afwijkingen. Zo kan hij als leider regeren zonder oordeel of afwijzing. Een Batman verhaal zoals ik ze graag lees: donker en met veel diepgang.

6. Mask (Legends of the Dark Knight 39, 40)

In Batman 75 kregen we ‘Mask’ door Bryan Talbot. Batman wordt gewond en verward wakker in een ziekenhuis. Zijn artsen vertellen hem dat hij een alcoholistische zwerver is die zich kleedt in een batsuit gemaakt van afval. Is dit een hallucinatie, of is zijn leven als Batman de werkelijke illusie? Een zeer boeiend en volwassen Batman verhaal dat je als lezer uitdaagt. Meer dan de moeite waard!

7. Hothouse (Legends of the Dark Knight 42, 43)

Het valt je misschien op dat in de Legends of the Dark Knight verhalen weinig klassieke vijanden van Batman voorkomen. Hothouse, in Batman 74, brengt daar verandering in met een optreden van Poison Ivy. Schrijver John Francis Moore probeert hier samen met tekenaar P. Craig Russell wat diepgang te brengen in het personage van Ivy. Zeker geen slecht verhaal, maar misschien wel één van de minste vertaalde ‘legends’. Het tekenwerk van Craig Russell is wél helemaal top. 

8. Criminals (Legends of the Dark Knight 69, 70)

In het laatste nummer (77) van de Batman serie van Baldakijn kregen we het verhaal ‘Criminals’ waarin Batman undercover gaat in de gevangenis van Gotham City. De maker van dit verhaal is Mike Zeck. Als je zijn naam en het plot van dit verhaal naast elkaar legt, kan je er natuurlijk niet naast kijken dat Zeck zich het er hier een beetje makkelijk vanaf heeft gemaakt. Neem de Punisher limited serie (Limited Serie nummer 6 van Juniorpress) er maar eens bij en zoek de gelijkenissen 🤫 Dat neemt niet weg dat het verhaal op zich best vermakelijk is. Bovendien is het tekenwerk ronduit geweldig. Wel komaan, het is je vergeven, Mike! 😉

9. Sleeping (Legends of the Dark Knight 76-78)

Horrorschrijver Scott Hampton neemt ons in ‘Sleeping’ of 'In Slaap' mee in de gedachten van Batman.  Bruce Wayne blijkt door een ongeluk in coma te zijn geraakt. Zijn geest zit daardoor gevangen in een droomwereld. We volgen in het verhaal de tocht van Bruce’s geest doorheen die wereld. Dat zorgt voor een ongewoon Batmanverhaal, waarin we hem in een soort fantasy setting ten strijde zien trekken tegen allerlei monsters. Toch is dit geen oppervlakkig knokverhaal. De gevechten gáán ergens over en leiden tot nieuwe inzichten. Een minder bekend maar zeer sterk Batmanverhaal!

10. Vows (Legends of the Dark Knight annual 2)

Tot slot is er nog ‘Geloften’ uit Batman Special 17. Een beetje een atypisch Legends of the Dark Knight verhaal in die zin dat het zich in het heden afspeelt. Commissaris Gordon en zijn geliefde Sarah Essen (uit Batman Jaar Eén) gaan trouwen. Maar net op het moment dat ze de laatste voorbereidingen treffen, komt een oude bekende roet in het eten gooien…

Persoonlijk vond ik dit verhaal een beetje een vreemde keuze van Baldakijn om op te nemen. Ten eerste is het gewoonweg geen al te sterke comic. Maar vooral omdat de romance tussen Gordon en Essen hoofdzakelijk plaatsvond in enkele overgeslagen nummers van de reguliere Amerikaanse Batmanreeks, ten voordele van recentere Robin verhalen. (Jammer trouwens, want daar zitten zeer fijne Norm Breyfogle verhalen bij die we dus niet in vertaling hebben gekregen)

Checklist

Shaman (lotdk 1-5) - Batman Special 9, 10 Gothic (lotdk 6-10) - Batman Special 11, 12, hardcover Prey (lotdk 11-15) - Batman Special 13, 14 Venom (lotdk 16-20) - Batman Special 15, 16 Faces (lotdk 28-30) - Batman 73 Mask (lotdk 39, 40) - Batman 75 Hothouse (lotdk 42, 43) - Batman 74 Criminals (lotdk 69, 70) - Batman 77 Sleeping (lotdk 76-78) - Batman 76 Vows (lotdk annual 2) - Batman Special 17

[bluecheems]

"He's bald! He's bald and he's torturing people who have hair! " @miniyellow5 (hope you don't mind the tag 😭)

[ikayblythe]

"siṃhaḥ" a lion, a name of Shiva, the Three Eyed God, the Ender of All Things.

[ladychandraofthemoone]

Traintober Day 17: Holiday

Ivo’s first Halloween 🎃 👻!! His driver, Kara Cupper will go all out for her little engine/sibling/brother/son figure . If he wants to be painted like a jaguar 🐆, she’ll decorate him as one!! Lowkey inspired by that fact that a few of Ivo related content had something to do with safari (his only wooden railway toy with the zoo hippo 🦛 , Ivo’s Hugh Hunt/Safari, etc).

[stupidscav]

i keep seeing these ., so I made them

[bananacat76]

yooo old rainworld art and lion ocs

(dear lord i couldn’t shade)

i’ll stop now

[comparativetarot]

Strength. Art by Nara Lesser, from Neurotic Owl’s Faerytale Tarot.

From a fairytale I felt no need to summarize to one I probably should:

Snow White and Rose Red is totally separate from the much more famous Snow White story.  In this one, an old woman has two rosebushes, one white and one red, and two daughters.  Literally the whole description of them is that Snow White is like a white rose, and Rose Red is like a red one, so they tend to be drawn as a pale platinum blonde and either a brunette with rosy cheeks or a redhead.  In the middle of winter a giant fucking bear turns up at their house and basically settles in – lies around in front of the fire while the kids beat the snow off his fur and play with him like he’s a big dog.  In the summer he disappears to protect his treasure, and the girls go wandering around the woods, repeatedly saving a very rude dwarf who’s always in some kind of treasure-related trap and needs saving by way of cutting off bits of his beard.

Eventually the dwarf threatens the girls directly, the bear kills him, we discover that the bear was actually a prince cursed by said dwarf and he handily has a brother.  I particularly appreciate that in the Grimm version we end with ‘EVENTUALLY, Snow White married the prince and Rose Red married his brother’.  Thank god for one fairytale that remembers the lead girls are children – I’m going to choose to assume that the enchanted prince was also super young, please feel free to assume that with me.

Anyway, the RWS strength card is a woman holding a lion’s mouth closed, and I’m a fan of a slightly different version, where it’s about lack of fear and friendship and a little girl feeling totally safe braiding ribbons into a bear’s fur.

[mean-scarlet-deceiver]

also, not quite related to Great Hate but is related to some stuff said therein; I don't think any of the Skarloey/Arlesdale/Culdee Fell books are bad (honestly i rate them all very highly) buuuuuut if there was ever another attempt to adapt the books for television or television-adjacent-media, I would probably just opt to cut the non-North Western Railway stories out entirely. (the railways wouldn't be straight up Not Canon, there just wouldn't be episodes based on the stories about them.) They're a bit of a narrative cul-de-sac in terms of the overarching story of The Books, and while they are all excellent I feel like the opportunity cost of adapting those instead of expanding on the existing North Western stuff would be too high... Insult to injury is that by doing this, you don't really impact the North Western stories at all besides a little bit of Oliver the Western Engine's content and that can be adapted around (as has been done before...)

Ooh. You make a compelling point about how you could have a very good adaptation by cutting out the smaller-railway stuff.

At minimum, if one did not want to take their literary axe that far, the writers should very much take the opportunity to come up with a better way to manage the narrative of the multiple railways. I agree it's a big weakness that the RWS flips back and forth after introducing other railways — it doesn't always feel like all these books are in the same series and the going back and forth can be jarring. It's understandable, since Awdry was constrained by writing them in the order than he created them. But with distance there is a chance to reconceive things in a better way.

TVS Series 4, I think, made a vast improvement by grouping all the narrow-gauge stuff together — showing the Duke rescue before Peter Sam's and Sir Handel's S.R. breaking-in is awkward, of course, but having a whole half-season devoted to the narrow-gauge railways helps the narrative flow immensely. Sadly I think for the rest of the TVS they fall into the same choppy waters Awdry did. Obviously plenty of people do like the narrow-gauge episodes despite all, but they are definitely not set to best advantage when a handful of them feel kinda randomly sprinkled within the other stories. The improvement TVS continues to make however is finding ways for "the big engines" and "the little engines" to interact, as in creating more and more locations with mixed gauges.

Anyway your idea of a fresh television adaptation of the RWS is so enticing. My ideal series would be 30-minute adult-TV-esque episode dramas (hey, we're dreaming). You could have a significant number of episodes that take a birds'-eye view of Sodor rail and, instead of being organized around One Character Gets Put in a Situation, are organized by some new development (a new service, coal shortage, dieselisation, key person retires, labour strike, etc.), then you can have an A and a B plot on two different railways and see the fallout.

(Usually the North Western would be one of the two railways in focus, just coz a lion's share of industrial activity and travel on the island is going through them. But can you imagine how cool and special an episode it would be to have a Depression-era episode where we see the Skarloey and Mid Sodor Railways trying to pluckily adapt and eke out their survival? And we could see the Skarloey, who seemed to be in the more precarious position at the beginning, still squeaking through at the end with one engine, one engineer, etc., and downer ending! at the very end we see the Mid Sodor is ruined. Cue silent montage of putting up "Closed" signs and boarding up windows and selling off Falcon and Stuart over sad music.)

It would, indeed, necessitate coming up with original plots, especially for the smaller railways (even if, again, the North Western probably will get a big share of screen time), but the fandom has shown that there's plenty to be done there. However, the goal is to cover all the classic RWS stories — just putting them into a larger context and thinking about the island's arc over the course of a season. Fleshing out the dramatic bits of lore.

The openers for most of the episodes would be, like, a little slice-of-life showing miners or dockers or farmers or housewives going about their life for a minute or two until the Pressing Need is shown and a hint of what the railways are gonna do about it appears; a bunch of men in top hats and tails shaking hands over some new venture; new track is being laid; or some piece of news reaches Sodor and then! opening theme song and then we cut to our engines <3

[weepinglilvessel]

If that's how they feel about Moon, how does Sig feel about how Suns treats Pebbles? This au is so fun to me you are. Making me wanna make a rw au help - 🪶

Sig is just as or more iffy on how Suns treats Pebbs, though he’d rather not talk about it with them. Especially when Suns is more cold about it then anything.

Sig doesn’t not talk much to Suns at all as he them to be quite intimidating. I mean, dude looks like a lion I wouldn’t talk either XD You could say Sig is more comfortable talking to Moon about the topic then Suns

I’m glad you find this Au fun! And hey, if you wanna make an Au I encourage it (•̀ᴗ•́)و

[mugen-no-majo]

who would be the most transphobic person in the ushiromiya family

krauss gives rw weirdo vibes but he grows to tolerate lion

natsuhi would be supportive

rosa would share terfy stuff on facebook but doesnt fully understand any of it

rudolf used to be transphobic but got insane head by a trans girl and became an ally

eva would be supportive

hideyoshi doesnt know what transgender means

kyrie doesn't care too much but leans on the terfy side

kinzo...is kinzo

george is a chaser (evil)

battler is a chaser (good)

jessie would be hyper supportive no questions asked

maria would say "like beato! uuu uuu!!"

ange would think it's kinda weird until battler talks to her about it

[levisgeekstuff]

The Beatles als comicpersonages?

Jawel, The Beatles hadden ooit hun eigen comic. Oorspronkelijk verscheen dit leuke overzicht van de carrière van de band in 1978 in Marvel Super Special 4. Deze Nederlandstalige versie verscheen een jaartje later als apart album bij De Vrijbuiter. 🎵

Maar er is meer

Bij Juniorpress verscheen in 1979 de 'Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band' filmspecial (oorspronkelijk Marvel Super Special 7). Hoewel The Beatles zelf niet meespelen in deze film, is het verhaal natuurlijk wel helemaal opgebouwd rond hun muziek en de nummers van hun gelijknamige album.

RW Lion pakte in 2015 dan weer uit met het biografische 'De Vijfde Beatle: de Brian Epstein story'. Deze graphic novel die oorspronkelijk verscheen bij Dark Horse Comics vertelt het verhaal van de ontdekker en manager van The Beatles. Bekroond met twee Harvey Awards en een Eisner Award!

The Beatles en Batman

En dan was er nog Batman Classics 10. Hoewel ze niet bij hun echte naam genoemd worden, duiken The Beatles ook op in Batman! In dit verhaal, oorspronkelijk verschenen in de Amerikaanse Batman 222, onderzoekt Batman het destijds echte 😱 gerucht dat Paul McCartney (hier Saul) dood zou zijn.

[type1dragonwolf]

Do you have any ocs?

A lot. I’ll try to name them all, but I won’t go into detail bc I’m lazy. :) (Also none of the art is mine, it’s from Picrew)

Wings of Fire ocs:

Dreamchaser Night/sky (Unnamed parents and brothers)

Fireeyes Night (Mother is GemSpear and sister is SapphireSwing)

Araña Hive (Unnamed parents)

Muck Mud (Siblings: Unnamed brother, sister, And Egret)

SandBox Leaf

Abominable Ice/Sea (Unnamed Mother)

Kailani Sea (Unamed mother, father (who I haven’t named lol))

Mid-day Sand (Unnamed father and Sister named Arizo)

Morpho Silk (Unnamed mother and (dead) sister is Peacock)

Buttress [Goes by Canopy] Rain

Dandelion (Mother is Araña, unnamed wife)

Others:

Kalanis sister🏳️‍⚧️ (unnamed girlfriend, unnamed ex)

Sandwing merchant unnamed

Mid-day and Abominable Unnamed son and daughter

Araña and Fireeyes unnamed (dead) children

Warrior Cats ocs: (still organizing them, so I’ll just put the ones I remember…)

RunningWolf (Calico with stripes on tail)

BrokenHeart (Black with orange eyes)

ClearGrass (Brown tabby)

BubbleJump (Lighter Brown tabby) (Brother of ClearGrass)

AcadiaHeart (Sandy with brown and black sprinkled around)

ShimmerMask (Black and white)

FickleFade (Orange with white paws)

ShadowWaves (Black with brown patches) (Daughter of RW and BH)

WillowGlen (Sandy yellow with darker stripes) (daughter of AH and FF)

AutumnAsh (Orange, Yellow and white everywhere, top left of face is tabby brown) (Son of AH and FF)

FalconAsh (Formerly FalconStrong) (Daughter of SM and BJ)

SmugStripe (Tabby with Black stripe down back that ends at tail tip) (Som of SM and BJ)

CirrusFeather (Yellow tabby with brown and black paws and ears) (Son of SS and WG)

MagmaFall (Pale tabby with blackish gray stripes)

Others:

ShadowWave has two (dead) siblings named LeechKit and WonderKit

BumbleBranch from Skyclan is mates with MagmaFall, even though he was a medicine cat at the time

DawnStream is in the ToRW

RunningWolf has an unnamed Mother and brother, DawnStream is her sister

CirrusFeather has two dead siblings named PillowKit and WoodKit

FalconAsh and SmugStripe have a dead sibling named CupPaw

Wolf Ocs:

Brick (Golden Retriever/Wolf hybrid)

Silver (Silver Wolf)

Roar (Brown/red wolf)

Unnamed Sister, Father and Mother to Brick and Roar

unnamed wolves in pack called The Paws of Dawn

Human/Animal ocs (Restless Spirits of Beautiful Souls)

Emiko Schwartz— Wolf/Human hybrid (Can change colors on ear and tail to show emotion, and in wolf form) ⬇️

Afruza Calypso— Bird/Human hybrid (Can pause time/zone out and see what events led up to a certain moment)

Ehren Kenji Langston— Lion/Human Hybrid (When glares at someone, makes them feel self-conscious and aware of what they’re doing)

Chaim Alvaro— Deer/Human Hybrid (Hears the exact conversation he’s thinking of)

(I didn’t put a picture because it’s incorrect)

Laila— Cat/Human Hybrid (Can draw exactly what she’s thinking of) (Pale skinned, Long black hair, loves space, “Rounder” Body, PanSexual)

Kara— Human (Goes by Queso bc she always says Okay, so?) (Loves talking, Nature, owls)

Jaron— Human (Loves Cookie dough Milkshakes, Rollerskating, Just dance, and Jean jackets) (Kara’s cousin, Poofy hair, thinks about twin brother (who died from getting hit by a car), Bisexual, likes teasing, in love with Chaim but shows by teasing him)

Rein— Human (Loves chilling with friends, skateboarding, designing video games, ALWAYS wears a hoodie) (Blondish hair that’s almost white, quiet but smart, like jokes, shrugs a lot, but also smiles a lot)

Aarav— Human (Just some random Asian boy who’s a side character) (Has black hair, Bright green eyes, had a crush on Lucy, but doesn’t anymore)

Others:

Chaim has a dead father

Jaron has a mom and dad

Rein has A LOT of siblings

Ehren likes fashion, and has an older brother, and a younger sister and brother

Emiko lives with three of her old friends in an apartment, and they’re all animators

Chaim came out as Gay after he realized that Jaron liked him, and they’re dating now

And I think that’s all!! REALLY hoping to be able to write all their stories in the future! :D

TYSM for the ask!!

[purpleplaid17]

Jess Watches // Wed 28 Feb // Day 156 & Thu 29 Feb // Day 157 Synopses & Favourite Scenes & Poll

Ugly Betty (rw with mum) 3x15 There's No Place Like Mode

Fashion Week brings chaos to Mode.

I was wondering how Ignacio had fully recovered yet Christina was still pregnant. I had forgotten the literally show-stopping way they brought Baby Slater-Meade into the world. It was like The Lion King if Scar was the main character lmao.

Fool Me Once (with L) Ep 1

Maya attends the funeral of her murdered husband Joe at his family's stately home - then thinks she sees him, days later, on a hidden nanny cam.

I thought the picture frame was suspect the second the friend gifted it to Maya. So for the friend to immediately explain it had a hidden camera was an unexpected early reveal. I don't trust anyone. Even the toddler is unreliable lol.

Severance (rw with mum) 1x04 The You You Are

Irving finds an intriguing book at work. Helly aggressively pursues a meeting with her Outie. Mark attends a funeral with Ms. Selvig.

The voices Dylan and Helly could hear were his kid and her dad, right? Did Lumon feed that in or were they actually remembering?

Did the name (Christopher?) crossed off on one of Mark's packing boxes mean anything?

Who was the man in Cobel's photo?

The hand holding!

The candle was a test for both of them!!

[ Enter Sandman ]

Resident Alien 3x03 141 Seconds

Harry accompanies the Hawthornes to Yellowstone to find out what the Greys are up to.

A rough episide for the women (and plaid) of Patience: Asta has ptsd, Kate and her phantom but-actually-very-real baby (Wouldn't she be expressing milk?), Liv and her very mean nana, Judy deserving someone who appreciates her, with D'arcy trying to comfort everyone. A group hug and some pie *slaps away Harry's hand* is in order.

[arcplaysgames]

warning this post has a LOT of cartomancy talk

Every other time I start P4G it drops this extremely important configuration. I cannot fucking deal with the right button being cancel, it's WRONG. Bottom is cancel, right is confirm, and I will kick the ass of anyone and everyone who says different.

Anyway.

sigh. if Akihiko were here, he would go into Sauve Mode and remind me he's here to protect me with his awesome crit skills. Hell, so would Aigis and Junpei. /DREAMY LOOK INTO THE HORIZON OF ANOTHER LIFE

anyway, soccer it is!

Which..... doesn't seem to matter because I hang out with both of the options anyway? wh-what's the point in choosing? OH WELL.

STRENGTH SOCIAL LINK: GET. I have zero opinion on these guys yet, I've known them for like 10 minutes. I have a scene with them later that's basically them asking if I like urban areas or rural more, so like. We're not dealing with a lot of depth yet.

Koromaru was Strength in P3P and was actually a very good one. Strength is infamously not about physical strength but emotional, particularly controlling the danger around you with personal fortitude. The de rigueur Strength symbolism is a woman and a lion with her calmly holding the lion in place, sometimes her hands on its mouth to prevent its attack.

Koromaru's S-Link was all about helping Koromaru act as the guardian of Iwatodai and particularly the area about the Naganaki Shrine, often assisting people who needed help. He's also very good at de-escalating situations. A very good boy and a very good Strength card.

So what we're looking for with the jocks here is an arc of emotional control and standing near something dangerous without flinching.

[/hot cartomancy talk]

ALSO ONE OF THE SHOP OWNERS RUNS A COOL LITTLE BAR AT NIGHT? I'm not allowed to go yet. GOD I want to. She seems so cool.

what th

okay.

wait, that's a real book and fairly modern literature. They're talking about fucking Murakami in this game??? That is fucking wild.

So I'm kicking off the Marie social link, and Yosuke rolls up. Other characters show up in SLinks way more often in this game. In P3P it was Shinjiro and Fuuka who did a lot of overlapping, but not really anyone else. Yosuke just ROLLS UP HERE and.

/squints at Yosuke

yeah what do you mean, Yosuke. /squints more

i'm sorry what did you just say

i feel like an ancient memory was just unlocked from my fucking skull. I knew Peachi way way way way way back when on Livejournal, we were contemporaries in the Metal Gear fandom. Holy shit that's so weird to see them referenced in Golden.

AEON SOCIAL LINK: GET. Marie feels "nostalgic" about Inaba and starts idly composing poetry while we walk around.

If you are expecting insight on the Aeon, I cannot help you. It's definitely not a standard card in RWS, and I think is an artefact of the Thoth deck.

Lemme google the card and just look at it.

Whoa wait. So Persona is playing fast and loose with the Arcana. Thoth is supposed to replace Strength with Lust and Justice to Adjustment. Aeon is supposed to replace Judgement, but P3P had Judgement. I WOULD LOVE TO KNOW IF P4 DOES THE SAME, but I'm not googling that, it sounds like Hella Spoilers.

Anyway. Aeon. Has a lot of the same heralds as the penultimate step of the Fool's Journey, but while Judgement is often about An Event, the biblical shit of the trumpets and angels descending, all that shit, Aeon is a much more person climax, the cracking of the egg and the burst of new consciousness. The dark archway over the Aeon is Nuit, Nyx, the night. There's spiritual symbols in it, so it's sort of like a synthesis of the trials of Star-Moon-Sun. It's a bit reductive, maybe, but as someone who isn't a huge fan of Judgement because it's just really tied to Revelations christianity shit, Aeon is interesting.

Since I'm aware that Aigis basically takes over as MC if you play The Answer in P3P, the Aeon suits her astonishingly well, as her journey is a culmination that mimicks the MC's.

So, Marie is the Aeon, currently stuck in the blue velvet darkness of the liminal limo and due to come out into the light to synthesize the spiritual madness of the Moon with the hope of the Star and the clear vision of the Sun.

Maybe. I say this having not really known wtf Aeon was ten minutes ago.

Where the fuck was I?

RIGHT, saving Yukiko. I headed back into the TV on 4/21 and powered through some floors. Compared to Tartarus, this is easy-peasy.

Shadow Yukiko strikes me as very.... lazy. She was born into a destiny she doesn't want, but is also completely unwilling to push back against it. She's submissive to the desires of her family and the needs of the Amagi Inn, but under the surface is festering with frustration she won't voice.

I truly genuinely wonder if her family even has an inkling she's so unwilling to take on ownership of the inn, or if she's never told them. Like, I have no idea. Not that I think saying so would get her out of it, but it's sure Something to just... grow this dense ball of resentment in yourself without even cluing people in.

ANYWAY Chie is her prince. Yukiko wouldn't make a terrible Rose Bride, lmao.

Well. Given how Chie introduced Yukiko to Reverie and talks about her, I'm not sure Chie knows that Yukiko hates her destiny either. lmao girl you gotta fucking communicate like any of this at all to anyone.

Yukiko has severe doormat issues.

SHE SAID THE THING!!!!!

Well, this one is less exciting. A powerful bird in an opulent cage with an open door and the lock clearly visible and undone. Yukiko, I would hazard, really enjoys being special, being essentially a noble of the town.

And she may have the power and opportunity to fly away from her cage, but beyond its light is a big unknown. It might not be as comfy. So, she wants the perks of being someone important but lashes out against the expectations that come with it.

That's my read anyway. /jazzhands

Chie full on crying is very sweet. Not much resistance to the label of Prince, huh Chie?

Yukiko's persona is Konohana Sakuya. I went "oh shit like from Okami" and then wanted to smack myself.

Yukiko needs to go home, she is Le Tired. We outie!

(SIDENOTE I AM VERY CONFUSED. I started to die in this fight and purposefully ate shit to get it over with faster so I could try again, but the game was like "want to retry?" and I was like "oh man what a nice QOL feature, yeah retry!" and it REVIVED EVERYONE TO MAX HP/SP BUT SHADOW YUKIKO WAS STILL AT LIKE 15% HP. which is.... not what I wanted. that's super weird, I just wanted a do-over.)

last thing to wrap up

WHAT THE FUCK IS THE JESTER ARCANA

oh now we just MAKING SHIT UP i see. Aeon i was AWARE OF as a Thoth thing. I have scored my cartomancy app and Jester ain't a real arcana to my knowledge. It sounds like it could be from the Tarot de Marseille, but I've never seen it before. (TdM was more game-y than other styles, similar to Lenormand, so you can more easily "play" it.)

I... am thrown. Is that an Arcana with an S-Link? What the hell.

[reading-cards]

Apr 9 2023

A reflection on the advice card of the day:

Strength

This card represents the application of calm inner strength and talents to face the challenges of the day. The cards message bears similarities to another major arcana card, namely the chariot. It is similar to the chariot in the sense that they denote applying your efforts to a challenge, but the difference here is that strength denotes a more patient, persuausive and calm inner strength rather than the forceful circumstance of the chariots power.

The heaven and earth tarot uses the same imagery as that of the RWS tarot. We see the woman calmy interacting with the fierce lion. This imagery speaks as to the nature of the approach: that the challenge presented can be likened to taming and training a pet. Calm, commanding, patient, steady, understanding, and persuasive.

A card that speaks of using calm inner strength to face the challenges of life, you will find that this card is saying you have the inner resources to tame the beast.

[stefanoavvisati69]

Batman e Signal (recensione)

LO PUOI LEGGERE SU: DC Multiverse # 55 | Batman e Signa (Marzo 2019) Editore: RW Lion. Raccoglie le storie di appendice apparse originariamente su All Star Batman #1-4 e #6-9 e la miniserie Batman and the Signal #1-3 “Batman e Signal” è un fumetto che comprende “La ruota maledetta” e “Gotham di giorno”, scritto da Scott Snyder e Tony Patrick, con disegni di Cully Hamner, Declan Shalvey,…