#also i lifted this pose from a comic panel if you know you know it's the flowers

[dr-fancy-pants]

💐💕🤷🏻‍♀️

Description in Alt Text.

[genericpuff]

Absolutely love the rendition to the panel of Hades holding Persephone. Lovely to see it rendered as a more mutual act with Perse holding onto Hades instead of just letting Hades hold her, and ofc seeing Persephone actually look like an adult woman. (Not to even mention the colors and rendering because whoaa those were lovely)

And I have a question about this new rendition if I’m allowed to make it! The original had very dramatic and sharp composition with the angles and being off centered which conveyed much of the emotions and style that made early LO very striking. In adapting it, was it a conscious choice to change the composition or what were the deciding factors that made you and banshriek decide centering Perse and Hades worked better in this situation? :0

Ahhh thank you ;w; It took a few rounds of sketching to get the pose just right, the flats thankfully weren't as difficult as I was worried they'd be, but the challenge was definitely in trying to get the pose right while maintaining the height difference that's there.

As for your question, a lot of the posing and sketch composition is something I do, and then Banshriek typically goes wild with the backgrounds while making adjustments to those compositions if necessary, often times I leave the backgrounds up to their discretion as they're 10x more skilled at that sort of thing than I am and they often bring new perspectives to the table. This means that it often ends up being a game of give and take between what we contribute, sometimes I'll have sketches that they feel need to be adjusted, other times I'll have to add little tweaks to their backgrounds if it's missing something. We're both working off a base rough sketch, but we both get to contribute to the final scene in our own ways; splitting it between background and character flats has been a happy middle that's worked well for us :)

Depending on the scene, sketches can range from minimal to more detailed. Here's the original base sketch for that scene:

So originally there was a larger tree working over the side but I didn't really know how detailed we wanted to be in the actual full background, much of it depended on how complex Banshriek wanted to get. You can also tell that Persephone's face was originally buried into Hades' chest in the original panel, which I originally flatted in, but then wound up changing because I wanted her eyes to be visible to reflect both of their expressions of relief at the same time.

That said, with the pose changing from what it was in the original (from Persephone almost laying on Hades vs. him holding her and lifting her up) the composition had to change with it so I decided to just make them a bit more centered, that way the focus would be fully on them and the balance of the scene wouldn't feel "off" due to the pose change. I tend to follow the Rule of 3 here !

So yeah! That's pretty much why centering it felt a little better in this case. Though part me of does wish I was able to keep the original pose, when breaking that scene down into its bones I found it had to take a lot of liberties with its anatomy and proportions, as many LO scenes do. You can't really tell just on a surface level but Persephone's head is huge and the rest of her body is tiny (her hips literally come up to Hades' sternum and her feet meet at his knees). With the character design changes made in Rekindled to make Persephone a little less tiny and more consistent in her body type (while still maintaining the size difference between them) and to reflect their character arcs at this point (as I'm not rushing them into intimacy quite like the original comic did) certain things have to change to balance it out and accommodate. If you're a math person, think of it like solving algebra equations - what you do to one side of the equation needs to be reflected and adjusted on the other side.

And of course Banshriek did a lot more to really exemplify the mood shift in the almost labrynth-like forest Persephone grew within Tower 4. There are still trees and plant life everywhere, but instead of feeling like an endless maze with its tones of deep red that we saw Hades navigate, it now feels like a soft and gentle meeting point for the two. Like the original scene, the color change is used to change the mood of the scene and reflect the calmness of Hades and Persephone as they've found one another.

At the end of the day we did what we ultimately thought would work best for the way Rekindled is drawn, giving both Banshriek and I the freedom to fully utilize our respective skillsets. That way we were able to pay tribute to that original scene while also creating something new out of it <3

That said, I'm sure @banshriek can also chime in with their own design notes on this episode, if they have a minute to spare! I'm sure they'll have lots to say about the fun they had working with those new brushesヽ(・∀・)ﾉ

[punkassfrance]

Sierra Nevada - Chapter VI - Ellie/Abby

Chapter VI: Overlap (Work length ~2.4k) This work is rated M for canon-typical violence and gore. Please look here for a full list of warnings for the series, specific warnings will be provided at the start of each chapter. This chapter contains: vague descriptions of wound dressing. Previous Chapter - Full Series - Next Chapter

Ellie

It doesn’t take long for the rope burn to heal, thankfully. Her hands are at least functional by nightfall, right on time to change Lev’s bandages.

He still watches Ellie curiously, head tilted as she works. The wince as she checks his sutures is almost imperceptible, well-masked by something she can’t quite put her finger on. Maybe he’s just a stoic kid. Nothing like Ellie was. Unsettling as it is with him staring at her, she doesn’t say anything, just keeps her gaze down and finishes wrapping him up.

“Is it healing well?” His voice is level and calm, worry betrayed only by the slight crinkle in his brow. Abby presses her lips together, carefully lowering his wounded leg back down.

Ellie backs up, pushing the medical bag aside. “I mean, I don’t see any problems, but it’s too soon to say anything for sure.” She glances over at Abby, rubbing her neck. “Can you get him off the bed? Gotta get the sheets changed.”

Abby nods, rising from the bed and stretching. She looks better now that she’s cleaned herself up, her hair still drying, fanned out on her shoulder blades. She’s washed the thin layer of grime from her freckled face—she doesn’t look much like the soldier Ellie remembers from Seattle. Nor the slave in Santa Barbara.

She smells better, at least. Like Ellie’s soap.

Abby’s gentle as she tucks her arms under Lev, lifting him off the sheets and taking a few steps back into the expanse of the room. He holds onto her neck, but keeps a wary eye on Ellie as she strips the bed.

“Where’s, uh…”

“Still soaking. You’ll get it back.”

Lev stares her down for another moment before nodding, turning to lay his head on Abby’s shoulder.

As Ellie tucks the military corners of the clean sheets in, she glances over to Abby. She’s not struggling to hold Lev, watching the wall with a vacant stare. Ellie can’t tell if she’s sad or tired, but she also doesn’t care to ask.

“Do you have any books here…?”

Ellie looks up at Lev as she pulls the covers back. “Yeah, but they’re pretty boring. Like, solar panel maintenance boring.”

“I’d prefer that to sleeping all day.”

Ellie grimaces and glances at the door as Abby steps forward to ease Lev onto the clean sheets. The only books she has are really dull and stupid—she would know. There are always the few Savage Starlight comics she’s kept, but they’re not a complete set, not to mention tucked into storage for safety.

“Could make the trip to the library. Sure they’ve still got some cool shit.”

Abby’s mouth twists to the side. “I don’t want to leave him alone for too long—”

“It’s a twenty-minute walk. I can even go on my own.”

Her eyes drift down to the floor as she thinks, biting the inside of her cheek. “That would just put you in more danger—”

“If it’s not too much trouble, I would be grateful.” Lev looks between Ellie and Abby as he pulls the comforter over himself. “I should be okay for an hour, right? I can still shoot if I have to.”

Ellie holds up a hand, dismissing the idea. “You’re not gonna have to. Nothing is getting in.”

Abby continues to stare at the floor, seemingly deep in thought, arms crossed. Ellie’s certain she just poses like that to show off, maybe a habit from her time in the WLF.

“Have you made the trip before?” Lev asks, glancing over to the window.

Ellie nods. “It’s clear. Haven’t seen anything since I cleared out the neighborhood over the summer.”

It takes another few seconds before Abby nods, looking back over to Ellie. “If you’re sure it’s safe. But I’m coming with.”

“Seriously, I can go alone.”

“You’re going to be in more danger than Lev. It makes more sense to have backup where it’s needed.” Abby uncrosses her arms, tucking her hands into her pockets.

Lev eyes them both, opening and closing his mouth before speaking up. “You don’t need to go if it’s a problem—”

“It’s not a problem.” Ellie interrupts.

Abby stares at her, jaw set. There it is, the harsh expression from her dreams, the bitch she remembers with a gun to Tommy’s head. Ellie’s hands twitch, heart pounding. She prepares to raise her fists, step back, throw Abby into the wall when she launches. It’ll be best to get her out the bedroom door, finish her off in the hallway, don’t let Lev see what’s going to be a bloody fight. There’s a bat in the hall closet, she can fight Abby off until she can get to a pistol—

“I’ll be okay alone for an hour.” Lev grabs Abby’s hand, breaking her focused gaze as she looks down at him. Ellie tries to shake off the fight-or-flight response, fists relaxing at her sides. “I mean it.”

Ellie nods after a moment, waiting for her pulse to quiet down, eyes fixed on the floor. “Fine. You can have the shotgun ’til we get back. We’ll go tomorrow.”

She turns and walks out, shutting the bedroom door behind her.

-

Abby

When Ellie locks the door and turns to the road, Abby’s not sure what concerns her more. Her charge, upstairs with a shotgun and bow within reach. Ellie, huffing like a bull as she waits for Abby to catch up. The potential for all that awaits them on the streets of Truckee.

It feels like a lot to go through for books, but Lev deserves better than watching paint dry. The one memory Abby has of being injured around his age, she was with the Fireflies. They had books, movies, even an old Playstation she got to use as she healed. It didn’t feel like much of a childhood as she lived it, but it’s better than Lev’s ever had. Even though she’s forced to prioritize survival, she wants more for him. A life.

Ellie takes off down the road as Abby struggles to catch up. She walks with a fixed glare on the street before her, knuckles white as she grasps her backpack.

“You’re sure the library is safe…?”

“Yeah. I’m sure.”

Abby presses her lips together, looking down as she trails behind Ellie. She can understand why Ellie’s in no mood for conversation, but she can’t stand the silence. Something lingers in her throat, something she struggles to identify—an apology? An explanation? What could she even say that would make any of this more palatable?

Abby hesitates. “…why are you here?”

Ellie looks at her like she just spat in her face, lip curled. “Why am I—”

“No, I mean…why are you here? Why this place?”

She looks back down to the road and huffs, barely slowing down. She seems disappointed—almost like she expected an argument, craved one, and she’s been denied.

Abby has a moment to watch her before she responds. She hasn’t changed much at first glance. Her hair is disheveled, longer than Abby remembers, but not by much. It looks half-assed, like she didn’t bother looking in the mirror as she tied the top half back. Looking back, she’s not sure if she ever got a good look at Ellie’s face, or if she could focus on it. Her memories of Ellie are distracted by dirt, blood, icy rage, or the smuggler’s body on the ground.

She remembers Ellie’s eyes. The green seemed so pale against the overcast sky on the beach. Here, where the sun fights to keep them warm, they’re vivid. They might be the most vivid thing about her.

“…it was quiet. Nobody in town, lotta cabins to pick from. Figured nobody would come up here in the winter.” She speaks like she’s never certain of what she’s saying—like she’s rewriting every sentence as she says it, pausing and forcing out words. It’s hard to pick up on, but the more she speaks, the more Abby hears it. Uncertainty, thinly veiled by tenacity.

“It’s a good spot.”

“What happened to him?”

Abby swallows, running for a moment to catch up with Ellie’s furious pace. “We were looking for supplies. Some raider jumped out, got Lev before we caught him. Took about three hours to find anyone.”

Ellie’s silent, glancing around at the sides of the street. They’ve heard nothing, no infected leaping out to maul them yet, but it’s comforting that she’s still on guard.

“He’s a good kid.”

Abby nods, rubbing her thumb over the strap of her backpack. “Yeah. Thank you for all this. I know he deserves…more than I do.”

Ellie doesn’t respond. She closes her eyes for a moment, tilting up to face the sun. There’s a hint of a tan on her face, brushed across her shoulders, highlighting freckles on the bridge of her nose. It’ll probably disappear when the snow sets in, when they have to hole up in the cabin. It’s looking more and more likely that they’ll be forced to stay through the winter—Abby’s not sure how she’ll survive that long.

Ellie opens her eyes, looking back down to the road and jerking her head towards the building before them. “We’re here.”

-

Ellie

“Lev, we’re back!” Abby shouts upstairs, running up with the heavy bags slung over her broad shoulders.

“I’m okay!”

When Ellie gets upstairs and steps into his bedroom, Lev is unzipping their bags, pulling out the first books he can reach.

“I didn’t expect you’d get this many.” His eyes are wide as he looks up at Abby, then over to Ellie. “They must have been heavy.”

“Eh, it was nothing. No problem with John Cena here to carry stuff.”

Lev tilts his head as Abby snorts, covering her mouth. She waves her hand to shake off the question in his face. “I’ll tell you later.”

Ellie sits on the bed as he sifts through the books, grouping the few series and setting them aside. He glances at the covers only for a moment at a time, too busy pulling them out of the backpacks on the bed—before long, he has almost 30 books on the bed beside him, carefully stacked. He looks up with a soft smile.

“Thank you. Both of you.” His hand rests on one of the books, holding it against his intact leg. “I hope there wasn’t any trouble…?”

“No,” Ellie starts, leaning up against the wall and crossing her arms. “No trouble. Not even a runner.”

Lev nods. She doesn’t think she’s really seen him smile yet, but the sight very nearly has her smiling in turn. He looks so solemn most of the time, like he understands the gravity of the most inconsequential moments—this is the first bit of delight she’s seen from him. Abby sits on the bed beside him, tension gone from her expression. It’s unsettling, seeing her so delicate with him, almost parental. Love, affection, warmth, Ellie didn’t think she was capable of any of it. Logically, she knew somewhere in her mind that Abby was human like any other, but she never cared. If she’s honest with herself, she can remember forcing those realizations out of her mind on the road to Santa Barbara.

Lev seems to look up to her, for reasons Ellie still can’t put her finger on, but it doesn’t seem as absurd as it used to. If she knows anything about them, it’s that Abby will put herself on the line for him, sacrifice for him, watch over him, kill for him, defend him with an intimidating devotion.

Ellie’s only been loved like that once.

Abby looks up at her, hand resting on Lev’s left knee. “Thank you.”

She shrugs, looking down. “…s’fine.”

-

Abby

When Ellie walks out, Lev presses his lips together and looks over to Abby. Her eyes flicker to the side before she raises an eyebrow. “What…?”

“Abby…why does she hate you?”

She exhales. He has the right to know by now—Ellie was right, after all. Abby made him a part of this. It doesn’t feel as grave now, when it’s not a threat.

“…it’s complicated.”

He doesn’t look away. Doesn’t grant her the mercy of dismissal.

Abby sighs, twisting her body onto the bed and crossing her legs. “I’m not sure where to start, but…I told you about my dad. You know he was a doctor.” Lev nods. “He was a Firefly. They were trying to work on a cure.”

She glances back at the shut door, frowning. Ellie might not want Lev knowing about her immunity—but there’s no good way to explain her side of the story without bringing it up. “I’m not sure how, but…Ellie’s immune to infection.” Lev’s eyes widen just a bit, glancing at the door.

“Immune?”

“She got bit and never turned. The fireflies needed her for their cure, but it…probably would have killed her. My dad was in charge, he would have done the operation, but the smuggler that got her to us…intervened. That’s how my dad died. That’s how most of the Fireflies died.”

Abby huffs, closing her eyes and pulling an unused pillow into her lap. The day of the massacre isn’t easy to remember by any means.

“Few years went by. I joined the WLF, then we got a lead on where the smuggler went, so I…got my revenge. I guess the smuggler was her dad.”

Lev looks down into his lap. “You killed her dad.”

Abby flinches at the way he puts it. “He slaughtered a hospital full of people. He had it coming.”

“I…get why she’s upset. But I don’t think any different of you.” He shifts to lay more on his side, grimacing as he moves.

Abby exhales, nodding. She’d be lying if she said she wasn’t worried about that—it was a big part of why she didn’t tell him sooner. The more time passes, the less certain she is of her own actions. It felt justified at the time, and it still does—she’s not sure if she would do anything differently if given the chance. But it’s hard not to regret the impression it left on her life, on the people she loved. On Ellie, even.

She doesn't know if she can ever forget the sight of Ellie in the water.

“I don’t know. Maybe things would be different if we’d met another way.”

Lev twists his mouth, raising an eyebrow. “I don’t think you’d be friends. You’re too similar.”

Abby snorts, running a hand over one of the books. “Yeah? How’s that?”

“You’re both so stubborn.”

Super happy with this one- poor Lev, it sucks when mom and dad fight.

Thank you to @plum98 for the forest divider! Feel free to say hi or drop your thoughts in my askbox, check out my AO3 or my about me if you're interested!

Series Taglist: @a-little-bit-of-everybody

[katy-133]

Whose Skeleton Is Who? (TF2 Comic #7 Preview)

Regarding the issue 7 preview for the Team Fortress 2 comic, I know I joked a while ago that we as a fandom are trying to figure out which skeleton is which merc like we're reading and analysing that one page from The Castle of Fear by Patrick Burston all over again, but I wanted to take a moment to actually go through each skeleton and tell you the observations I've made, since I've noticed others' interpretations have sometimes been different, which I think is very interesting as someone who likes to compare art interpretations for fun.

Team Fortress 2 pays attention to art principles like colour theory, strong silhouettes, and invoking art history, and that also includes the comics, not just the games, and invites you to draw parallels between things.

So without further ado...

Miss Pauling ^

The preview script we get to read notes that the first skeleton we see (before the wide shot) is Miss Pauling's skeleton, which is in a crawling pose. It's meant to parallel a pose she does with a group of other vultures in an earlier part of the comic:

(Image: Comic issue 6, The Naked and the Dead)

Script transcript of the image below:

PANEL 2 We pull back to reveal a SKELETON, half-baked from years of wind-blown sand. The skeleton looks like it was crawling AWAY from something. It lifts a single skeleton hand out to nothing. VULTURES lurk. Let's try as best we can to mirror the position of the body and vultures from the opening of Issue #6, so it's clear we're insinuating this is MISS PAULING.

(Image: Script preview by writer Jay Pinkerton)

Additionally, her skeleton has two vultures above it, squabbling at each other (I assume over who gets to eat the skeleton marrow), which parallels Redmond and Blutard (the owners of RED and BLU, respectively) fighting each other over land and Miss Pauling "playing both sides" by pretending to only work for one of them.

Scout ^

The skeleton is in a running pose, representing Scout being characterised as the faster runner. The skeleton also has a brown shoe, similar to a pair Scout wears in Expiration Date to impress Miss Pauling.

(Right image, above: TF2 Official Wiki, Argyle Ace)

Soldier ^

The skeleton has the right arm up, similar to Soldier's pose when he's carrying his rocket launcher.

(Right image, above: TF2 Official Wiki, Soldier)

Pyro ^

The skeleton with the missing hip bones (or are hidden in some way by the sand and tree branches). In anatomy, the hip bones are one of the easiest ways to identify the sex of an adult skeleton (owing to the width of the hips being different if there is a birth canal). Pyro is gender ambiguous. The legs are also crossed, which is seen as more feminine body language when a person is sitting. This matches Pyro's body language, since Pyro's canonically done foot popping (a term coined by The Princess Diaries) which is associated with women film stars during the Golden Age of Hollywood.

(Image: The Jungle Inferno Update, Day 3)

Demoman ^

The vulture is pecking out the left eye socket of the skeleton, which is the eye socket that Demoman got cursed upon by reading the Bombinomicon. This creates a kinda visual parallel to Prometheus from Greek myth being cursed to have a bird of prey (an eagle) feast upon him as punishment for giving the forbidden knowledge of fire to humanity.

(Image: Bombinomicon comic)

The left leg is also missing at the knee, or majorly separated from the rest of the body, and Demoman can have a peg leg on his left side in the game:

(Image, above: Weapon Demonstration: Bootlegger, video by OfficialTF2Wiki)

Heavy ^

The skeleton with the largest ribcage, fitting Heavy's body silhouette. The skeleton also dwarfs the skeleton to the right of it, which invokes Heavy's size compared to the other mercs (he's the tallest merc in a lineup).

Engineer ^

The shortest skeleton. Note that the forearms are either missing or hidden in the sand, which invokes the image of Engineer being an amputee (missing his right arm at the forearm) and being the shortest merc when they're all A-posing. The skeleton is also wearing boots, which Engineer wears.

(Image: Reddit post titled, anyone else surprised that Scout isn't the shortest Merc? by Ok-Mastodon2016)

Medic ^

The tall skeleton that has the vulture with its beak poised over the skeleton's heart. Medic surgically removed and replaced each of their hearts, which allows them to be Ubercharged.

(Image: Meet the Medic video by Valve)

Sniper ^

The skeleton with its back lifted up by a stone, creating a visual focus towards it. The vulture is standing over the skeleton, as if it had been pecking at the skeleton's back. This could parallel being backstabbed, and I'm deducing the skeleton as Sniper's because his class is designed to counter Spy, who is the class who does backstabs. This skeleton also has brown shoes, which could be Spy's, but could also be Sniper's if he wears shoes instead of (what I had assumed before were) boots. Another vulture watches over the scene, perched on a higher ledge of rock and focused on that skeleton. Similar to how Sniper likes to climb up trees and higher ground to have a vantage point to scope areas.

Spy ^

The skeleton with a hole through the skull. This looks like a bullet wound from a headshot by a Sniper (again, Sniper and Spy are counter classes to each other).

I know this scene could be a bait and switch and that these aren't the mercs. I actually assume that's what the context is--otherwise, it'd be a pretty upsetting comic! But I think it's neat that the writers and artists went out of their way to make each skeleton characterised like this. The attention to detail is amazing, even in just this one page preview!

[the-dalseum-duet]

shocker! it’s more gay people

@svwhssftr mako coparent tag bc lord knows noeul and kai ain’t taking care of his ass

more funny guys. more fangstitch and kohls shenanigans. inspired by a dumb yet charming smiling friends comic panel I found. also a variety of real world influences. i miss the gsp experience 😔

also this has not been edited in the slightest. the pacing is so fucked up and it doesn't hit the beats that I want but it’s okay. it’s not that serious. they’re goofin.

“You know who the lady working the counter looked like?” Mako asked as he pushed open the door to his hall.

“Charlie!” Mako and Gale shouted in unison, Mako slinking back onto the door to let Gale enter. 

“Yeah, that was scary,” Gale said. “It obviously wasn’t her, but damn, she looked just like her.” 

“She really did,” Mako agreed, but not before Gale tripped over his chestnut loafers and spilled his leftover broccoli cheddar soup right down Mako’s hoodie. Gale stumbled back, his mismatched eyes as wide as his mouth. 

“I’m so sorry!” Gale shrieked, “God, I’m so uncoordinated.” 

“No, no, it’s fine,” Mako said, stiffly posing with his arms to his side as the broth soaked through his thin button-up shirt underneath. “I can wash it. It’s no big deal.” 

“My room is, what, two doors down? I can help you clean up,” Gale offered. 

“That’s not necessary,” Mako said. 

“No, I insist!” Gale said. “You paid for my soup. It’s the least I can do.” 

Mako absentmindedly mumbled to himself as Gale dragged him by his wrist into his dorm room. Kai judgmentally stared at them from his bed, red yarn strewn onto the floor. 

“Hey, Kai,” Mako awkwardly hummed as Gale practically shoved him into their bathroom. 

“Hey.” Kai didn’t look up from his needle. 

“Hey, Noeul.” Gale pressed his fingertips to his palm as a pathetic excuse for a wave. 

“Fuck you, Porter,” Noeul hissed, his voice muffled by Kai’s comforter. Kai rolled his eyes as Noeul’s dark eyes peeked out from underneath it. 

“That never works on me,” Gale laughed. “You don’t have to be ashamed.” 

“Yeah, at least my fucktoy’s hot,” Kai said. “Wish you could say the same, Gale.”

“You can insult me all you want,” Gale said, “but leave Mako out of this.” 

“Mako has fucking soup all over his hoodie. I can say whatever I want about him,” Kai sneered. 

“And you’re crocheting after sex,” Mako chimed in. 

“He’s not wrong,” Noeul murmured, resting his head on Kai’s shoulder. 

“God forbid a man have a hobby around here.” Kai shook his head. 

“I’m sorry, but the smell of broccoli is seriously making me want to vomit right now. I need to change,” Mako whispered, yanking Gale into the bathroom and slamming the door. 

“Did you just call me your fucktoy?” Noeul said, his voice carrying beneath the door. 

“Yeah,” Kai confirmed. “I thought you liked that.” 

“That’s so dehumanizing.”

“Oh, would you like ‘doll’ better?”

“…Go back to your knitting.”

“Yeah, that’s what I thought. Bitchass.”

Mako peeled his sweatshirt and button-up from his torso, and he started to pat himself dry with a towel.

“Here, let me help,” Gale offered. He shoved Mako’s stained clothes into a nearby hamper, doing his best to avert his eyes away from Mako.

“Are you okay?” Mako asked, tilting his head as Gale continued to push the clothes infinitely down the hamper. 

“Yeah, I’m fine.” Sweat built on Gale’s forehead. 

“You can look at me. It’s okay,” Mako laughed. “This isn’t like Twilight— my skin won’t blind you with majestic sparkles.”

“I don’t want to make you uncomfortable,” Gale stammered, staring at the various gold rings on his fingers. “I mean, we just had our first date, and I don’t want to move too fast.” 

“Oh, God forbid you see your boyfriend shirtless, lest you have impure thoughts about him,” Mako said in a high, mocking British accent. “They’ll burn you at the stake, surely. No one shalt know that Gale Porter is a filthy homosexual, no no no!” 

Gale burst out laughing as he hesitantly lifted his eyes to meet Mako’s. “I don’t know,” Gale breathed through choppy laughter. “After rooming with Kai for so long, I feel like every act of intimacy will lead to someone getting rammed raw and me hearing all the unnecessary details afterward.”

“Shit, I’m glad Crow is my roommate,” Mako smoothed out his hair in Gale’s mirror. “I don’t think he even knows what sex is.” 

“He’s probably too busy trying to solve a Rubix cube or whatever he plays to care,” Gale said. To his surprise, Mako was no Greek god come to seduce him. He was a regular teenage boy who worried about regular teenage boy things, unlike his perpetually slutty roommate. 

“I’m jealous of him, in a way,” Mako said. “He doesn’t really pick up on social cues, so he just does whatever he wants and has fun doing it. I wish I could have that confidence.” 

“I wish Kai would pick up on some of my social cues,” Gale groaned, rolling his eyes.

“Gay horniness is an unstoppable force compared to an occasional side-eye,” Mako joked. 

Gale stared blankly at the door in front of him. “I have an idea.”

Mako slowly turned to look at Gale, glancing up and down at him.

“It’ll be funny, I promise,” Gale whispered. 

“Why are we whispering?” Mako asked, lowering his voice.

“You’ll find out. Are Kai and Noeul still out there?” 

“Yeah, I think so.”

“Perfect.” Gale maniacally grinned. “This is going to sound weird, but just play along.”

“What the fuck are you planning, Porter?”

“Sshhh. I’ll do the embarrassing part, okay?”

“Okay.”

“Pretend you’re fucking me.”

“What?”

“No, just— just, make some grunting noises and bang your fist on the door or something.”

“What is the purpose of this, exactly?”

“To show them how it feels to be me!”

Mako deeply sighed. “It would be funny.”

“It won’t take long, I promise,” Gale said. 

“Alright.” Mako curled his fist into a ball and positioned it on the door. “Tell me when to start.” 

“Go,” Gale whispered, holding his hands to his chin to cover his red face. Mako repeatedly pounded his fist into the door, too embarrassed to make any noise. 

“Oh, Mako!” Gale dramatically moaned, draping himself against the wall like a damsel in distress. “Oh, great heavens!”

Mako hung his head as he clearly suppressed a laughing fit. “Yeah, you like that, don’t you?” 

Gale slammed his hand over his mouth, his heart beating a million times a kilometer. “Oh, yes!” His voice cracked as he nearly broke his contained laughter. “Keep going, keep going!” 

Kai whistled from the other side of the door. Mako couldn’t contain himself and wheezed as he keeled over the sink. 

“No, no, we’re getting a reaction!” Gale whispered. “We can’t stop now.” 

“You’re my little whore, Porter!” Mako yelled in a nasty, gritty voice. He slammed his body into the door, the thud echoing. Gale quietly cackled as he sat himself on the counter of the sink. 

“I am your filthy little whore, Mako!” Gale kicked his legs and batted his eyes at his boyfriend, causing Mako to hold his stomach as he leaned over. Quiet laughs escaped between stifled breaths. 

“God, they suck at dirty talk,” Noeul whispered, shaking his head. “So basic. So heteronormative, even.” 

“Really,” Kai agreed. “I just hope he took my sweatshirt off somewhere safe. I don’t want British DNA on my clothes.” 

“I’m so close!” Gale shouted. Mako buried his face in his arms to stifle his laughter. “Oh, God, I’m coming!”

“Shit, that’s my vintage Alexander McQueen!” Kai exclaimed. “I’ll be right back, fucktoy.”

“I told you to stop calling me that!” Noeul complained. 

“It’s funny.”

“It’s about as funny as a Vivziepop bit. The only funny part is the word ‘fuck,’ at this point.”

“It’s funny because it pisses you off.”

“Whatever.” Noeul pawed at Kai’s dangling red yarn. “Wait, are you seriously barging in on them?” 

“Watching them hitting it from the back could not possibly be worse than them ruining my vintage McQueen.” Kai slung open the door, bracing himself for the worst. Instead, he was greeted by Mako holding Gale, them both in an outrageous fit of laughter. Mako wiped a stray tear from his eye. 

“Are you fucking kidding me right now?” Kai snapped. “You had me all worked up about my sweatshirt for nothing?”

“You’re the victim here?” Gale said. “I have to hear you explain your sex life in detail on the daily! This was vanilla compared to you, man.” 

“That ‘Oh, great heavens!’ was scarring,” Kai said. “Don’t get me started.”

“Oh my god, that part was hilarious,” Mako said, gently slapping the back of Gale’s neck. 

“It was supposed to be traumatizing,” Gale explained. “I know how much you love my British tendencies, Kai.”

“Get out of this bathroom before I shove fish and chips up both of your asses.” Kai blinked, his expression remaining stoic. 

“I do need to get back to my room,” Mako said. “I’m sure Crow wants to hear about our eventful evening.” 

“Do you need extra clothes?” Gale offered. 

“Eh, it’s fine,” Mako said. “My room is just down the hall.” 

“If you need anything, you know where to find me.” Gale stood on the tip of his toes to lightly peck Mako’s lips. 

“I’ll see you tomorrow.” Mako kissed Gale’s forehead before leaving to find his own room. 

“That was gross,” Kai sneered. “I would have rather watched you two fuck than your little fairy sesh.”

“I, for one, greatly enjoy having a healthy relationship with my boyfriend,” Gale said, hopping onto his bed. “Maybe ask Sonnet what it’s like to have a healthy relationship with yours.” 

Kai glared at Gale as Noeul nonchalantly stretched. “I think that’s my cue to leave,” he said, sliding his faded Deftones shirt over his head. 

“Yeah, I’d say so,” Kai said, awkwardly clapping. “I’ll see you later, fucktoy.”

“Stop!” Noeul howled as he dramatically leaned his head back. 

“He loves it,” Kai said, pointing back at Noeul as he nodded at Gale. “He just likes to lie to me.” 

“I’m sure.” Gale clicked on his white noise machine and rolled his shoulders back. After such a long evening, he fell asleep immediately. Thankfully, he didn’t have to hear Kai and Noeul argue about the use of the word ‘fucktoy’ for a solid fifteen more minutes. 

[desitenya]

i think they would be friends

[Image Description: Both images are fanart of a crossover between the disastrous life of saiki and mob psycho 100.

The first image is of three different scenes. from left to right, there are two bust shots of Saiki Kusuo and Kageyama Shigeo. In the upper right, shigeo is sitting, looking at the transformed cat version of Kusuo, Sai. Sai is also sitting with his eyes closed. in the lower left, Shigeo is doing one of Kusuo’s signature poses. the right arm is lifted in a peace sign and the left is stretched downwards open handed. His left leg is lifted up in a 90 degree angle and is balancing on his right. Shigeo has an embarrassed expression. Kusuo is further right, looking at him wiping away a tear. There’s an arrow pointing at Kusuo explaining that he is “proud”. At the top of the image, there are words saying “They both have cat energy”.

The second image is a vertical five panel comic. Along with Kusuo and Shigeo, Hanazawa Teruki is there. Teruki’s hand is outstretched, directed to Kusuo in the first panel. With a cheerful expression, he says “Mob talks about you a lot! Nice to meet you, I’m Hanazawa.” Shigeo looks at Teruki, weary and warns “Teru..”. In the next panel Kusuo extends his hand as well and replies “... You too. Saiki.”. In the first of three panels, Teruki’s confidently grips his hand, aura flaring, with the intent of sending a wave of psychic energy to disorient him. Shigeo looks off, knowing what he’s attempting but Kusuo doesn't seem to notice. In the second panel, Teruki’s putting effort into the handshake, aura flaring even more. Shigeo looks at the two with discomfort. Kusuo, still unaffected, notices what's happening. In the third and last panel, Teruki is now using both hands with clear strain. Shigeo urges him to stop, saying “Teru please...”. Kusuo, still unaffected, deadpans toward the viewer. /End ID]

[mokutone]

u posted a snippet of a comic where kakashi was coaxing tenzo to take off his anbu mask, i was wondering if u would ever post the full comic? it seems so sad and sweet and id love to have the full context of why tenz was keeping the mask on and why kk was afraid that he was doing so? if not its okay!

AH i'm surprised you remember that!!!! that feels like ages ago...back in may, i think?

i will post the full comic one day, but i have to ink it and muddle through a color palette first! because ive been so busy, i haven't had time to work on it so the pencils are still at 4/12 pages, but i can share with u what i have atm bc it'd be good to refresh my memory too. be warned obviously that like, these are pencils and not a finished, ready-to-consume product, so many things may be unclear! I'll add a little elaboration of my thoughts at the bottom of each one that should hopefully help!

page one. the top of the page and the box right below it are going to be flat black—the implication that Kakashi is speaking into a room which has no source of light. In the second one, Tenzō's pose is unclear, but he's curled up defensively into as tiny of a ball as he can manage, like a pill bug, even his speech bubbles fall along the outside of him, like he's trying to use them as another defense. In the third, we have Kakashi from Tenzō's POV. He's just opened the door, is standing tall and somewhat rigid like he's expecting an attack, taking in the situation. In the fourth and fifth panels, Tenzō sees this, and turns away, becoming deeply embarrassed that he's come to Kakashi for help at all, and that somebody he respects so much is seeing him in such a "pathetic" moment.

This is the panel you referenced—you can see by Kakashi's posture (low to the ground, loose limbs and no longer stiff or anticipating conflict, keeping a distance between he and tenzō) that he's not actually scared, per se. He's approaching Tenzō with the same gentleness that somebody might use in approaching an injured animal. If he's frightened at all, he's frightened for Tenzō's sake, but mostly he says it because he's having a trouble getting a read on the situation when Tenzō is wearing his mask.

It's true that like, as a former root agent, Tenzō is one of the least expressive people in Konoha, but even still, any movement of his face gives Kakashi more context than the cold porcelain of the cat mask, and walking into an unknown situation with a clearly unwell teammate, Kakashi wants as much context as possible so that he doesn't make the situation worse by accident.

Whether Tenzō complies because he doesn't want Kakashi to feel "scared" or simply because he was given a command is unclear at first, but Immediately after, he starts talking about how he's going to have to be re-evaluated for duty, and how hopsital dodging is a serious problem for a shinobi, etc, indicating that he's not really in a space where he can process emotional consequences very well.

I also make a point of not showing his full face during this page, because a full face will generally ask us to relate to the feelings expressed on the face, and I want those feelings to be as hard to read and unsure as they are for Kakashi in that moment, but I couldn't help but show his eyes when he removes the mask.

Top panel is Tenzo responding to Kakashi's command "let me see it," and him stretching his injured arm out for Kakashi to examine. The second panel should have Kakashi's hands gently grasping Tenzō's. Kakashi doesn't go into his space, and instead asks Tenzō to come into his, so that Tenzō can take his time if he needs it.

Idk, with a shinobi that's Going Through It, pushing their boundaries before they're ready is a good way to make their situation worse, or end up with a kunai in ur gut, so it's not something kakashi's gonna do. It's also, not coincidentally, the first panel we see Tenzō's whole face in (though it's still tilted away), and are therefore asked to try and imagine his feelings.

The next panel where he's observing his shaking hands is almost normal, but then the second he goes right back to covering his face with one of those hands and apologizing, stumbling in his attempt to be open. The two blank panels after that should have Kakashi looking directly at Tenzō, and then looking back down at the wound he's inspecting, and giving Tenzō the verdict "You'll be okay." (i know the speech bubble is low there and looks like it's part of the lower Kakashi panel, but I'll fix that in inks).

Then, like a record caught in a scratch, Tenzō just keeps apologizing, like he's forgotten he can do anything else. Kakashi mistakenly assumes it's because Tenzō thinks Kakashi's mad at him (Tenzō does not think this, both because Kakashi is rarely mad at all, and certainly not at him, and because he doesn't have the emotional space or skills in this moment to consider that Kakashi does feel any particular way about this situation)

Kakashi, who is trying his best but sucks at this kind of thing, is getting frustrated with the apologies, and uncomfortable because it feels like they're directed at him, even though they aren't. It's an unbearably uncomfortable position for him to have somebody apologize so profusely, especially somebody he sees as a trusted teammate and friend, and especially for something that's so clearly out of their control. He doesn't want it.

So, frustrated, he redirects. "What happened on this mission to fuck you up this bad?" the only real indicator of his frustration is that in this sentence his language is more coarse, where before he'd been very placatingly careful, and the expression he makes at Tenzō's arm.

He's thinking "well, this sucks and we're not getting anywhere with it, so I'm just going to ask what happened and get it over with."

Then we see Tenzō's full face again as he takes in the question. Around here, when I add color, the page will begin to shift green, and lighter green near the bottom.

Then, as his hair begins to lift, as though it's floating in water, with a blank face Tenzō will say that he doesn't know what happened.

Then, turning to fully face Kakashi (or us, the viewer) for the first time in these four pages he will correct himself, and say "nothing. nothing happened." But he will be green, and much like within the test tube he was raised in, he will be unclothed and his hair will be floating. The first time we're fully asked (by his direct eye contact) to understand and relate to his feelings, he will make it very clear to us the viewer (and Kakashi who is with us, listening to Tenzō say nothing happened when Clearly Something Happened) that the world he's experiencing for the moment is at odds with the body he's sitting in and the room he's sitting in it with, and that's why he's having such an incredibly difficult time processing anything.

[undersprite]

2021's Winner is...!

I would like to congratulate everyone who participated on this year's events! Admittedly, this year's contest yielded less entries, but on the other hand, the entries this year had a lot of effort put into them.

Even so, I recognize that there are things we need to improve on the team as hosts as far as the contest is concerned. That being said, we will now proceed to list off the winners!

1st. Lancer's Really Cool Birthday Party For My Dad That's In Jail (FT. My Best Friend) - By Ellis and TmntLeo

Writing Fidelity: 49/60 Art Fidelity: 60/60 Pacing/Lenght: 33/40 Creativity: 37/40

"LRCBPFMDTIJ (jesus that's a mouthful) is one of the best comics in the contest. Though it suffers from being a first part and the story being left incomplete, the content on display is meaty enough to make up for it. The writing is pretty sharp, and it is a visual treat. Easily the best, though, again, I have to take out points for being a part 1. " -Fms

"[...] They've managed to demonstrate the power of teamwork and dedication, both in the comic and in its development, and it's something that I think is fantastic." -Subna

"[...] I haven’t got much else to say. Just a really strong, solid entry." - CHAOS_FANTAZY

2nd. Afterwards - By Superkirbylover

Writing Fidelity: 41/60 Art Fidelity: 48/60 Pacing/Lenght: 31/40 Creativity: 32/40

"SKL’s Afterward was pretty good, if not a bit bogged down by the ending. The Alphys stinger at the end did leave a bitter taste in my mouth for the wrong reasons, I feel as though it could have been cut, and the comic would have been better off for it. I don’t particularly like how Alphys is so open about her feelings. That being said, the rest of the comic makes up for it. Visually it is pretty similar to UT, but the amount of animations, expressions, and original poses for the characters are charming and really gives it an edge. It is just a solid entry that manages to stand up on its own terms." - Fms

"Oof. That was heavy. It’s honestly a little difficult for me to fairly evaluate such an emotionally charged story, but, hey, “Story That Makes You Sad” made me sad, so mission accomplished, I guess! [...] Other than that, I have to say I’m very pleased with this, and even more pleased to know I inspired it." - CHAOS_FANTAZY

"[...] That said, the comic is presented very concise, and the spritework plus the animations seem great to me, especially the Frisk sprite being lifted by Toriel and how consistent it remains, [...] I thought it was great, no absolute complaint at this point." - Subna

3rd. Sans' Night - MultiSoulZero

Writing Fidelity: 45/60 Art Fidelity: 26/60 Pacing/Lenght: 35/40 Creativity: 30/40

"Sans’ Night was the most pleasant surprise from this contest. It’s a simple premise executed wonderfully, a stand up comedy act from the skeleton himself. The visuals have a lot of little blemishes (the text box borders changing constantly, for instance) that add up. The comic only takes place in one room, and there’s not a lot of movement involved in it. The visuals are sufficient to carry the writing, but they feel lackluster in comparison to other comics. The comic is also really simple and there’s not much of a plot. But it absolutely nails what it tries to do, and I believe it deserves credit for achieving it. The writing feels in character, and it’s pretty entertaining, and it’s entirely self contained. … Though, being honest, the fact that this is one of the best comics in the contest is slightly upsetting. Still, a good read." - Fms

"[...] It’s almost fiendishly brilliant to make a comic like this—doing the absolute bare minimum so there’s nothing to poke holes into. If it’s all a meta-joke about how that’s what Sans himself would do, then this comic is utter genius, but I really can’t go as far as to assume that. As is, I have to say that I hate that this is one of the stronger entrants in the contest." - CHAOS_FANTAZY

"……….Jesus christ. You actually did a 50+ panel comic of Sans doing a comedy show, wild. I admit that the first time I read it my impression was more negative than anything, probably because the screen does not show much more than Sans walking from one side to another, but after giving each comic a second reading, and talking to the rest of judges on each entry, it was there when I noticed that the strength of the comic was in your writing." - Subna

That being said, due to the amount of judges and opinions, we did not have the time to put a comprehensive document with all of the reviews in one place.

We will release it in due time, ideally before the day ends. But, for the time being, have this spreadsheet:

Thank you for participating! We hope we can grow to improve this contest next year.

[emberfrostlovesloki]

# 12 Comic Con

Gif credit; @prettyboyspence​

Prompt: Comic Con - Spencer and Garcia go to a convention in Pennsylvania so Spencer can see his favorite cosplayer [the reader]  again in person.

Couple: Spencer Reid/ Reader (female)

Category: Fluff

Content Warning: None

A/N: I wanted to write something completely fluffy, because I’ve only written angst for either the Reader or Spencer and I thought I should switch it up a little. This one shot is based on the reader being a cosplayer, but as long as you have a basic understanding of conventions this shouldn’t pose a problem. It’s not a super romantic fic, but it leans in that direction. I hope you enjoy! Like/ reblog please. 

List with all stories

Word Count: 6K

_y/n_ = your name 

_y/i_ = your initials 

_h/c_ = hair color

Spencer tried to make himself comfortable in the economy seat of the airplane he was currently on. With his long legs, unfortunately, the task was futile. After he gave up, the lanky man returned to his book. The genius FBI agent was not on the plane for a case, in fact he was on the plane for pleasure, or at least future pleasure. Reid was on his way to Pennsylvania to attend Steel City Comic Con. He had never attended the convention before, what was really drawing him to the state of virtue and independence was the cosplayer FrindlyFighter. 

Reid had stumbled across their account a few years ago. They cosplayed from Star Trek, Marvel, and many other fandoms that Spencer enjoyed. He had the opportunity of meeting FriendlyFighter at San Diego Comic Con in 2017. She was hosting a panel about the psychology of the Red Shirt from Star Trek. Although they hadn’t gotten all of the hard science right, Spencer was still enamored at someone being dedicated enough to do the research to pull off the panel. After the discussion was over he had approached the area where the host was chatting with some of the volunteers at the convention. She had noticed him and turned and walked up to him. “Hey, how are you enjoying the convention?” Spencer had stumbled over his words as he replied, “I’m good, I mean the convention has been great. I was really excited to see that you were hosting a panel this year.” The cosplayer smiled at his statement and asked, “So you’re interested in the psychological elements of Star Trek? It’s good to hear because every time I give one of these panel’s I’m not sure why there are so many people in the audience. You might say I’ve got impostor syndrome.” FriendlyFighter laughed at her self-deprecating humor and Spencer quickly replied, “I’m very interested in what you have to say. I actually use psychology a lot where I work, and I don’t think you’re an impostor. Upon hearing that one of her fans was more qualified in the field of psychology than her, she asked, “Where do you work?” She had not expected his response of, “I’m a profiler for the FBI, actually.” Her eyes grew wide at the information and she quickly said, “Wow, that must be a very difficult job. You’re a lot better at the science than I am. How did I do up there? Did I butcher all of the science?” The woman cringed at the idea, but she had asked and wanted to know if she was super off base in her assertions. Thankfully the man said, “You did really good. Not all of your claims are bullet proof, but generally you got it right.” The cosplayer relaxed and the knowledge and said, “Sorry I’m interrogating you over here, I haven’t even asked your name.” Spencer smiled and said, “My name is Spencer Reid, it’s nice to meet you.” She at him and said, “It’s nice to meet you Spencer.” The tall man stood for a second. He hadn’t realized that a short line of FriendlyFighter’s fans had formed behind him. The panelist looked back at him and said, “Would you like a picture.” At this statement Spencer smiled and fumbled for his phone. He positioned himself beside the cosplayer. She lifted her hand in the Vulcan salute and Reid snapped the photo. He said, “Thank you so much.” To which she replied, “Of course. Have a good rest of the con.”  

Spencer was brought back into the moment when the wheels of the plane touched the earth with a lurch. After he had grabbed his suitcase from the baggage terminal the agent flagged down a taxi and went straight to his hotel. The hotel was just across the road from the Monroeville convention center where the event was taking place. The hotel was already bustling with guests with large props and costume pieces on their luggage carts. The atmosphere was so different from his normal 24/7 work induced stress. After the lean man made it up to his room on the fourth floor he set his suitcase in the entrance way and he flopped down on the bed. He told himself that after a short nap he would go out on the town to find something to eat, but right now he was content to rest. While Reid was sleeping Garcia was sitting on a train, also headed to Pennsylvania. She was listening to one of her favorite trashy audio books and was thinking, ‘how the hell did Reid rope me into this mess.’ After all it had only been a week ago when she had asked him, “So do you have any plans for the weekend.” The boy genius had casually brought up that he was going to a convention. Garcia wasn’t really paying attention to his rambling conversation and she cut off his stream of conscious monologue by asking, “So who’s going to be at this convention, anyone special?” When she asked this Reid changed gears and started listing off names, saying, “Well I’m really excited to see a cosplayer named FriendlyFighter, she’s part of the opening ceremony and is holding a few panels, also Denis Lawson, Wil Wheaton, Catherine Tate.” The lanky agent continued listing the names. Garcia was about to start tuning out the man, but then he said the magic words, “and some guy named Duke Lancelot of Camelot.” When Spencer said this the technical analyst quickly swung around in her chair, mouth open in surprise. Upon seeing her expression Spencer asked, “Is everything okay?” Garcia closed her mouth and said, “Duke Lancelot of Camelot is one of the most famous players of World of Warcraft. He’s a legend, Reid.” Although Spencer had never heard of this legend he said, “Well you could come with me and meet him. Just get a two day pass or something.” Garcia was so enamored with the idea of meeting one of her video game heroes that she said, “I am absolutely coming with you Spencer.” The male agent hadn’t expected such a fast response and said, “Cool. I’ll catch up with you after work and we can figure out the details.” And that was how Penelope Garcia was convinced to go to a comic con in Pennsylvania. 

While Garcia was taking the slower, and safer method of getting up to the convention Spencer was just getting to the front of the registration line. A woman motioned for him to move forward to the window that she was sitting behind. When he got to the window the woman asked, “Do you have your pass pre-printed or do you need to pick it up, or are you going to buy a pass now?” As Spencer rummaged through his bag he said, “I have it pre-printed.” When Reid finally found the badge in his bag he pulled it out and held it up for the woman to see. The convention staff worker took a moment to look at the pass before she turned to the computer in front of her. She input his name and crossed it off the excel spreadsheet. After she finished this she said, “Have a nice convention Mr. Reid.” Spencer said thanks and walked toward the main hall. The opening ceremony of the con was going to start in fifteen minutes, and he wanted to be close to the front. When he had first met FriendlyFighter, or her other name on social media of _y/i_, she was a small cosplayer who had a small following. But after a few months she had grown in size, and started appearing at more and more conventions. Spencer couldn’t tell what had changed, after all she hadn’t changed her content too much. Spencer took a moment to consider that the cultural zeitgeist had changed around popular culture and conventions in general. It was true that attendance at conventions like  Blizzcon or Emerald City Comicon had been going up by twenty percent each year. As he was musing over these facts the lights in the ballroom dimmed and a loud male voice came over the hotel sound system. “Friends, fans and people of all sorts, welcome to Steel City Con 2019!” The crowd cheered as the man who was making the announcement came out from behind the red curtain and stood in the center of the stage. The master of ceremony said, “My name is Greg Hicks and I’ll be your master of ceremony for the weekend. But I know you’re not here for me, so let me introduce you to just a few of the very talented people you can meet this weekend.” At this statement the crowd went wild again. Reid had to cover his ears to stop a headache from forming. Greg continued by saying, “First of all we are happy to welcome, Megan Coffee!” Megan came out from the curtain dressed as a Pokemon Go character, she waved at the crowd and said into a microphone attached to her shirt, “Hi everybody! I hope you’re ready for a good weekend.” The woman walked to the other side of the stage. Greg announced a few more people, including Duke Lancelot of Camelot. Finally the MC said, “And last but certainly not least we are happy to announce the charming FriendlyFighter!” The crowd gave less cheers as the young cosplayer came out dressed as Catra from She-Ra and the Princesses of Power. Spencer clapped quietly and listened as she said, “Good evening fellow fans. I’m so happy to get to see, and meet you all this weekend.” The gathered crowd dispersed after the ceremony. Many of the younger participants would stay up all night to talk or work on last minute costumes, Reid on the other hand headed back to his room at the hotel. 

When he walked through the sliding glass doors Garcia was standing at guest services getting the key to her room. The tall agent used his stealth skills to walk right behind Garcia and tapped her shoulder and said, “Hi.” at the same time. The computer genius was so startled that she jumped up, screamed, spun around and hit Spencer in the stomach. The tall agent coughed and grabbed onto his abdomen and wheezed out, “Geez Penelope, I thought you were excited to hangout with me this weekend.” When Garcia realized who it was she said, “Oh my God Spence I’m so sorry.” She wrapped him in a hug and whispered in his ear, “Never sneak up on me again.” Spencer smiled at the pseudo threat and said, “I’ll take that into consideration.” Reid waited for Garcia to get her key and walked her up to her room. The blonde agents room was three doors down from his. After Garcia was settled in her room Spencer said, “I think I’m going to go to my room and do some reading.” When she heard this, the computer analyst said, “Would you wait a minute. There’s a 24 hour gaming room and I’ve heard the servers are really good. I’m going to go over there and play for a few hours. Would you walk me over?” Spencer was already feeling tired, but knew that it was 22% safer for a woman to walk at night with a man, rather than walking alone. So he replied, “Sure thing.” Garcia took off her blazer and put on a more comfortable sweatshirt over the bright pink shirt she wore. Of course Spencer had turned toward the door to not look at Penelope change, even though it was just a piece of outer clothing. As the pair returned to the convention center Garcia was catching Reid up on the interesting passengers on her train ride up to the con. Once inside the main lobby of the building Penelope took in the size of the convention. There were groups of people lounging around at the tables and couches, some in cosplay and some in regular clothes, or the people in their pajamas. Garcia thought, ‘Now those people have the right idea. But if I was in front of Reid in my P.J.’s I’d probably scar him for life.” As her eyes danced around the room they landed on a Catra cosplayer. When she saw her she grabbed Spencer's arm and said, “Oh my God. I have to get a picture with that woman.” Spencer followed the direction of her finger and he saw that it was _y/i_. The male agent could see that the guest attendant was talking to two other cosplayers and said, “That's FriendlyFighter, the person I came here to see. She looks a little busy right now.” Garcia looked up to Spencer and was shocked to see that his cheeks were flushed. With this detail in mind the analyst said, “Come on Reid, you know that guest attendants at cons usually wear a different costume each day. Maybe two costumes a day. This might be my only chance to get a picture with her.” Reid sighed and gave in saying, “Alright.” 

The pair of FBI agents approached the group of cosplayers. As the agents approached the She-Ra group, they looked up at the pair. Garcia stepped forward and said, “You all look so amazing! Could I get a picture with your group?” FriendlyFighter smiled and said, “Sure thing.” The group got up and stood beside Penelope. Garcia waited a second and completely forgot that she needed to have a device to take the picture on. She fished around in her pocket and pulled out her phone, saying, “Wow I can be totally brain dead when I’m around talented people.” She found her phone and extended it out to Spencer saying, “Spence can you take the picture please?” Reid took the phone and said, “Of course.” As he swiped to open the camera, Penelope took her place again, and smiled broadly. FriendlyFighter put her arm around Garcia’s shoulder and gave the peace sign, while the Bow cosplayer held his prop bow and arrow, and Glimmer took her classic power stance. Reid held up his hand and signaled three, two, one, while saying, “Three, two one.” The lanky man took a few pictures and then stepped forward to hand Penelope her phone. As the blond woman checked her photos FriendlyFighter smiled at Reid. Once Garcia was satisfied with the quality of her pictures she said, “Thank you all so much. Your costumes are really amazing!” The whole group chorused, “You’re welcome!” and the two agents continued down the hall toward the gaming room. 

As they were walking away FriendlyFighter was thinking about the tall man and wondered, ‘have I met him somewhere before.’ She wasn’t sure, but she wanted to find out, so she said to the other members of her group, “I’m going to find something out. I’ll find you in a few minutes.” The cosplayer walked after the pair moved further into the convention building. The cosplayer quickly caught up with Reid and Garcia. When the agents saw her they stopped walking and Penelope said, “Is something wrong?” FriendlyFighter blushed and said, “Um, this is kind of awkward, but have I met you before?” She pointed to Spencer and the agent opened and closed his mouth for a second. He was surprised that she would remember him at all. He considered, ‘Maybe she’s just mistaking me for someone else.’ After a moment of silence the cosplayer said, “I don’t mean to hold you up from something. I know it’s a weird question.” Spencer snapped out of his head as Garcia sharply elbowed him and the male agent replied, “I met you at SDCC in 2017. You gave a panel on the psychology of the Red Shirt in Star Trek. It was really cool.” The cosplayer nodded as she thought back to the convention so long ago. She muttered, “Yeah,” and then more loudly, but still with some hesitation, asked, “You were into psychology weren’t you. You said I didn’t completely fuck up the science?” Spencer smiled and quickly replied, “Yup, that’s me.” FriendlyFighter’s eyes lit up and she said, “Wow, that’s super cool. Sorry I don’t mean to keep you both standing here. Where are you walking, do you mind if I come with?” Spencer looked to Garcia and she smiled and said, “Where'd love for you to walk with us.” The trio continued on their journey to the game room and FriendlyFighter said, “My name is _y/n_, I’ve unfortunately forgotten yours.” The cosplayer extended her hand to Spencer, and he took it and said, “I’s Spencer Reid. Nice to meet you again _y/n_.’ _Y/n_ then looked to Garcia and extended her hand. Garcia shook it enthusiastically and said, “I’m Penelope Garcia.” “It’s nice to meet you Penelope, “ _y/n_ replied. The cosplayer turned back to Spencer and said, “I know this is already weird, but I’m giving a panel on Saturday on Trauma and Grief in the Star Wars squeals and I know that you’re really good at analyzing character traits. Would you be willing to look over my notes and make some corrections? You can totally say no, I get that it’s a big request. It’s just that I haven’t given a big panel over character psychology in a while. And now that I’m more popular I’d like to have my facts as accurate as possible.” The group had arrived at room #115 where the gaming was taking place and they all stopped. Spencer thought about the possibility for helping out one of his favorite creators and said, “I’d be happy to.” The two nerds smiled and Garcia looked at them and rolled her eyes and said, “I hate to break up this moment, but I’m just going to say goodnight to this dork.” _Y/n_ snapped out of her trance at smiling at Spencer and the male agent did the same. Spencer turned to Garcia and said, “Well, have fun in there. If you plan on coming back to the hotel later tonight, or some other ungodly hour just call me.” After _y/n_ had said goodbye to Penelope, her cosplay group found her and she was whisked away to a rave on the third floor. But not before she got Spencer’s email and said, “I’ll send you the document with my notes for Saturday.” 

The next morning Spencer woke up to find an email from _y/n_ with a seven page document of well planned notes. At the top of the first page was a thesis statement that Spencer wanted to study right away, but decided to wait until he could procure some coffee. Twenty minutes later the agent was at a coffee shop, a five minute walk away from the hotel with this computer open, coffee in hand, ready to make notes on the document. Garcia had not called him last night and he assumed that she had stayed up all night and was currently sleeping off the late night gaming. After an hour Spencer had gotten his caffeine fix and added some notes to _y/n’s_ panel discussion. Spencer considered email that he had made some changes, but was cut off when he realized that a panel he wanted to see was starting in twenty minutes. He quickly closed his laptop and made a mental note to email _y/n_ by the evening. 

Before Reid knew it the day was almost over. Whenever he was at a convention time seemed to slip away from him. He was currently sitting with Garcia, who had woken up at 2:00 P.M., in a panel hosted by Duke Lancelot of Camelot. The older man was giving tips on the best shortcuts to getting a high ranking in World of Warcraft. The panel had started at 8:30 P.M. and had been going on for about ten minutes and people were slowly trickling in. After another ten minutes there was only room to stand and sit at the back of the room. The door opened one more time and Penelope turned and saw _y/n_ walk in and take a seat at the back of the room. She was wearing her Mr. Spock cosplay. She apparently knew a few people already seated and she was quietly talking to them. Garcia looked over to Reid, who was zoning out of the discussion. She elbowed him again and leaned over and whispered. “Hey Spence, you’re favorite cosplayer is here. At least she has good taste.” Spencer looked confused and Garcia jerked her head in _y/n’s_ direction. Spencer turned to see _y/n_. At the same time he did this FriendlyFighter looked up and saw him looking at her. The cosplayer raised her hand slightly and waved at the agents. After the panel was over the duo walked out of the room. _Y/n_ was leaning against the wall and when she saw them she walked toward the pair. She smiled at both of them and said, “Hey, are you having a good time so far?” Garcia quickly replied, “Absolutely. I’ve been so excited for this panel, and it was worth coming up here for it.” _Y/n_ smiled and said, “The Duke is a pretty cool dude. Have you had a good time?” Spencer smiled back and said, “Yes, it’s been very fun. I actually have a few notes for you. I can email them back to you, but it might be easier to explain them if I could do it in person?” _Y/n_ nodded and said, “I think that would be useful. I need to do some last minute costume alterations and ironing, could you possibly come over to my room in an hour? I’ve got a photo shoot in ten minutes, but I’ll be free after then.” Spencer’s cheeks flushed and said he stuttered out, “Uh, yeah of course.” The man was panicking and added on, “Can Penelope come too?” _Y/n_ looked disappointed for a microsecond and then replied, “Sure thing. I’m at the hotel across the street. Room #301. See you two in an hour. Sorry I’ve gotta run, I look forward to it.” With that the cosplayer dashed down the hallway. Once she was out of earshot Garcia grabbed onto his shoulder and almost screamed, “Why would you invite me to the room with you! Reid this was a great chance for you to meet someone new. Someone who seems to be into you, shares the same interests as you.” Spencer was blushing now and said, “Well I realized that and panicked. Sorry I don’t want to make it weird.” Penelope shrugged her shoulders, understanding that Spencer’s social skills were not the greatest. She replied, “Hey I get it Spence. I’ll come with you for a little bit, but I’m going to have to dip after a while. The Duke is going to be playing World of Warcraft live and I’m not missing that for anything. 

An hour later the agents walked up to room #301. Spencer knocked on the door and heard the response, “One second.” After five seconds the door swung open and _y/n_ stood in a long sleeved shirt and shorts. Her _h/c_ hair was pulled back with a headband. She stepped beside the door and said, “Please come in and make yourselves comfortable.” Once Spencer and Reid were in the room she closed the door and pulled out the chair from the desk for one of her guests to sit in. She continued saying, “Feel free to sit on the bed, I don’t mind.” At the offer Penelope made a beeline for the bed and sat down falling back and sighing deeply. At seeing this _y/n_ laughed and said, “I feel you Penelope. I love a con, but it’s killer on the feet.” Garcia laughed and replied, “Talk about it, I must have walked ten miles alone today.” While this conversation had been happening Spencer took a seat at the desk and pulled out his computer. He looked over to _y/n_and said, “If you give me a second I can pull up my notes, if that’s cool with you.” _Y/n_ nodded and said, ``That sounds awesome.” As Spencer booted up his computer the cosplayer walked back to the iron draped in a black robe. She picked up the steaming device and looked down pressing the seams of the fabric to create a crisp seam. Garcia was looking around the room and her eye’s caught sight of the three light sabers in the room and had to ask, “Um, _y/n_, I’ve always wanted to get a light saber. Could I test your’s out? I promise I’ll be gentle.” The cosplayer laughed again and looked up to Penelope saying, “Well they're not all mine. It was my job to be the pack horse for my group in terms of the light sabers. The trisaber is mine and you are absolutely free to try it out. Press the top button to turn on the light and the bottom button for sound effects.’ Garcia giddily got up and cautiously held the replica of Kylo Ren’s trisaber. She pressed both buttons. She swung it around carefully. Spencer turned to look at his friend being a child , and then turned to _y/n_ saying, “I’ve got my comments pulled up, if your ready.” _Y/n_ turned from Garcia’s enthusiasm to Spencer's down to earth manner. She turned off the iron and was about to sit down on the ground, but before she could Spencer stood and said, “Please take the chair.” The cosplayer smiled and said, “Thanks.” Penelope quieted down and returned to the bed. She silently watched Reid interact with the other woman. It was so rare to see him with someone else that was not the team. It made Penelope's heart glad. 

The two nerds were on paragraph three and _y/n_ was saying, “So do you think that my analogy between Ben and Rey and Romeo and Juliet is too cliche?” Spencer replied, “No not at all. But I do think that you need to specifically pin down how their relationship is considered in the genre of star crossed lovers.” _Y/n_ got up from her seat and reached into a suitcase and pulled out her copy of Romeo and Juliet. As she opened the first page she said, “I need to find a scene that will give supporting evidence to the claim.” Before the girl could even turn to the second page Reid had said, “Act 3 scene one page 6.” Before Reid could quote it to her, the cosplayer said, “Get thee to a nunnery, go. Farewell. Or, if thou wilt needs marry, marry a fool, for wise men know well enough what monsters you make of them. To a nunnery, go, and quickly too. Farewell.” Reid nodded and the woman in shorts said, “That’s perfect, It would totally parallel when Ben and Rey see each other through their dyad bond in The Last Jedi.” Reid agreed with the assertion. Before the pair could spring into the next paragraph Penelope got up from the bed and said, “Alright team. It sounds like you’ve done some good work, but from what I hear from Spencer you have at least another hour of work to do; and I have a panel to get too. So I’m going to boogie out of here and leave you to work.” Spencer and _y/n_ turned, almost forgetting that Garcia was in the room. Spencer took his arm off the back of _y/n’s_ chair and stood up straight. _Y/n_ got out of the chair and held out her arms and said, “I don’t know about you, but I’m a hugger.” Penelope leaned into the woman's arms and said, “I hope you know you’re really cool.” _Y/n_ smiled at the complement and opened the door for Garcia, after the blond agent assured Spencer that she did not need to be walked over to the convention center. Once Penelope had left _y/n_ looked to Spencer and said, “You’re girlfriend, partner, wife, is really cool.” The cosplayer didn’t know Reid’s relationship to the other agent, and she didn’t want to assume anything. She looked up to Spencer who’s cheek’s were redder than before. He said, “Penelope’s just a friend from work. We’re not together.” Now it was _y/n’s_ turn to blush and she cleared her throat before saying, “Oh, um, sorry for assuming. I just thought..” Spencer released a breath and then replied, “So you want to get back to work?” At the last page of notes the panelist put her hands over her eyes and said, “Could I take a quick break. Looking at a screen for so long makes my head hurt.” Spencer replied, “Of course.” The young woman stood up and moved over to the bed and lay back on it, like Garcia had done an hour earlier. Spencer, who thought that being alone in a room with _y/n_ would be very uncomfortable, was finding the sound of her breathing very comforting. The man looked around the room and stared wistfully at the light saber Garcia had banished earlier. _Y/n_ noticed the direction of his glance and said, “You can try it out too if you want.” Spencer got up and inspected the light saber. After examining it closely for a minute the man said, “This is so accurate to the real prop. Did you make it yourself?” The girl on the bed smiled and replied, “I’d give most of the credit to my grandfather. I’m not very good with electronics.” After Reid had swung the object around for a few minutes he set it down. The man looked to the computer and the last page of the document. The cosplayer looked at the screen and blinked a few times before hesitantly asking, “Would you mind if you brought the computer over to the bed, and we finished it here.” The women moved over the bed to make room for Spencer. The blush was back on Reid’s face as the man grabbed the computer and sat down on the bed. It only took five minutes to finish the last page and Reid wasn’t sure how, or what to do next. Thankfully _y/n_ sat up and said, “Thank’s Spencer. I’m sure this job doesn’t seem very important, but my joy comes from talking to people as characters that I like, and I want to make the most of my fans happy as possible. My other job is a dead end, and at least here I can live a little. I owe you for this one.” Reid smiled and said, “I think you make a lot of people happy with this work. You make me happy.” The last sentence came out unintentionally but it made _y/n_ happy to hear. She got up and plugged the iron back in and looked back at Spencer on the bed and said, “You can hang here as long as you want. Just be prepared for me to curse at my inept ability to sew.” Reid ended up staying another thirty minutes helping the woman hold onto loose fabric that couldn’t be reigned in by the iron. When he left her room she had said goodnight, and he was shocked that there was no hint of awkwardness around them. It was a new sensation for him. She had even asked him and Penelope to come backstage before she went to her panel, she offered to get him the best seats in the room if he wanted. 

The next day arrived and Spencer accompanied Garcia to her photo op with the Duke and they both watched one of the cosplay competitions that _y/n_ was judging. The award had gone to a younger cosplayer that had accurately recreated a costume from Hamilton. In the next hour Spencer and Garcia were standing at the lobby of the hotel when FriendlyFighter approached them in her Kylo Ren costume, sans mask. She smiled when she saw them and said, “I’m happy you want to come backstage. It’s pretty boring, but something that not every con goer gets to see.” The group crossed the street and the panelist checked her guests backstage. When behind the curtain she pointed to two chairs in front of the room that were marked as ‘reserved.’ When it was ten minutes to the panel _y/n_ turned to Spencer and said, “How would you like me to credit you for your contributions to the panel?” The male agent replied, “You can just say that a friend looked it over.” Reid said this to both conceal his identity, and because he was just happy to help a friend out. The cosplayer was struggling to put her helmet on, plus hold her notes and light saber when Spencer offered to put the helmet on for her. _Y/n_ handed the agent the helmet and Spencer placed it over her head. Just as the FBI duo was about to walk to their reserved seats Penelope’s phone went off. The agent picked up and her appearance suddenly looked very seriously. The other two nerds looked her way when she said, “Yes Sir. We’ll catch a flight right away. Yes of course, I’ll tell Reid.” When Penelope hung up Spencer looked over to her and asked, “New case?” Garcia nodded and said, “In rural Ohio. We need to go right away.” Spencer nodded and turned to _y/n_ who was looking concerned for both of her new friends. Reid said, “I’m sorry, we have to go for work. It was really fun meeting you. Have a great rest of your convention.” Before Reid could walk away the cosplayer grabbed a pen from a nearby table and took Spencer’s arm, scribbling her number on his arm. After doing so she said in a muffled voice, “Text me, stay safe out there.” She then turned and took a couple of deep breaths to calm her nerves. As Spencer and Garcia ran out of the backstage area they could both hear the Imperial March playing over the ballroom speakers, The panel was beginning. 

It wasn’t until the con going agents were in the jet with the rest of the team that Penelope asked Spencer the question that had been on her mind for an hour. The team had made an emergency landing to pick up Spencer and Garcia from the Pennsylvania airstrip. Garcia snapped back to the present and asked, “Are you going to text her?” Spencer’s eyes snapped to hers. He bit his lip and said, “We’re going to find a serial killer that targets people _y/n’s_ age. How can I text her when my job is to find monsters lurking among us?” Penelope looked sad and replied, “And what are you going to do when we get him Spence? Who are you going to go home to and relax with, because I sure as hell know you’re not relaxing in your apartment when you come home after cases like these.” Penelope left the question open as she stood up and sat next to J.J. After another ten minutes Spencer pulled out his personal phone typed in _y/n’s_  number. The ink from her writing still faintly showing on his arm. He texted, “Hey, it’s Spencer Reid. Sorry I had to run earlier today. I hope that I can see you again soon under less stressful circumstances for both of us.” After Reid hit send he relaxed back into his chair. It wasn’t until after the panel, that had been a roaring success that _y/n_ saw the text from Spencer. The cosplayer pulled off her right glove so she could text back, “Sounds good. Stay safe and let me know when it’s convenient to plan a get together. I’m giving a panel on The Lord of The Rings and I need my resident expert to give me notes while I plan my speech.”C

_________________________________________

Shakespeare, William, and Anne Collins. Romeo and Juliet. Pearson Education Limited, 2017.

[arecomicsevengood]

A PANEGYRIC TO THE THINGS I DO NOT UNDERSTAND

I generally don’t talk about why I write criticism; I presume no one cares. The core of my contrarianism rests on the fact that many of the things I dislike or have an aversion to I think the market is set up to reward. This holds true both for what I write about and how I choose to write about it. I’m not writing about all these Drawn And Quarterly books that seem like novelty gag gifts for people who don’t actually like comics. I’m not writing about simplistic YA material put out by major publishing houses. I’m not reading superhero trademark maintenance. To me it feels like pre-chewed food I see and know to avoid. I’m also pretty put off by work that’s self-consciously “lowbrow,” but to that stuff’s credit, I don’t think it’s particularly popular. It just seems to fit into larger trends of what’s readily digestible, due to its own willingness to dismiss itself.

When it comes to criticism, I read a fair amount of other people’s writing, and collate a list of ways I don’t want to write that coincide with what I hate to read. I don’t want to read anything that’s “personal” in a way that takes the general premise of the existence of a book as an excuse for a narcissist to talk about themselves. Still, it seems like people love that. It is essentially the lingua franca for a whole type of websites, to have writers leverage their identity or trauma for the sake of hot takes. Even if no one gets paid particularly well, there is a reward in the economy of attention. People also really like writing that praises things that are already popular, because they want to be given permission to like the things they like, but no one needs that. People also like dismissive takes  based around incredibly shallow surface-level impressions of something that then becomes this shorthand “common knowledge.” if you say “Chris Ware’s boring” or “Rob Liefeld can’t draw feet” there will be no shortage of people chiming up in the comments to say the same thing. People love to be given permission to not have to think about things, and while I understand that impulse completely, I’m too far gone down the hole of obsessiveness to play along.

I wish I could say all that I dislike falls into one of a fixed number of categories, but in actuality, I am all too often reading writing that makes me ask “why won’t you just shut the fuck up?” or exclaim “jesus, this is so depressing!” and it seems new ways to garner these reactions are continually being manufactured, though in general, the innovations in this area are being done in the more lucrative world of music writing. Still, many of the things I wish to avoid have been done by writers I absolutely admire, partly because they’re more prolific I am, and so can’t allow themselves the luxury of overthinking what they’re doing for the sake of avoiding trends. (I also try to avoid writing stuff that’s just plain stupid and offensive, but lord knows that gets hate-clicks, and hate-clicks are as valued as any.)

I try to engage the work that’s on the page. The best work encourages a multiplicity of readings, I write a lot with the implicit assumption that the framework I’m bringing to bear might be wrong. I believe the work that has the most ideas present inside it will be conflicted enough in depicting multiple ideas simultaneously that it doesn’t encourage a straightforward and easy read. I relate it to the paradox that the most interesting people are those who don’t talk about themselves, but ask questions of others. Presumably, those who are disinterested in others don’t interrogate themselves in their moments alone.

I might be being reductive. So many of my own thoughts might be overly simplistic, a set of half-thought-through opinions designed to arrive at a place of dismissal so I can move on. I spend a lot of time thinking about the sort of creator-owned genre comics Image traffics in these days, because I have zero interest in them, and they don’t seem appealing at all. They don’t come close to my idea of good. I generally object to the way contemporary comics are colored, but I think the issues run deeper than that. The line generally used in reference to them is to call them movie-pitch comics. But is that why they’re bad? I don’t know. Maybe the issue is just the way their writing stands in relationship to economy, where a single issue is not a satisfying story. Maybe superhero comics work better than that stuff because there’s an explicit formula established doing the heavy lifting, and if you are doing something more “high-concept” you need to spend more time with exposition and can’t just defer to the visuals of a fight scene that superhero comics demand. I don’t know! Any answer to the question of why things don’t work is going to end up with some broad statements, because the act of artmaking involves an incalculable amount of choices, any number of which could balance out or redeem any of the others. It’s almost surprising that the history of comics isn’t littered with works that were concerned failures at the time of their release but seem prescient in their storytelling choices now.

I want to write about work that is interesting to think about. What’s interesting to think about is that which I don’t understand. Obviously, writing is an attempt to make sense of something, and much of what I write about then becomes something I understand, or at least, have a take on. But I still want to engage, in some sort of honest way, the work I don’t understand, that short-circuits my brain.

A good example of something I don’t really understand is Stella Murphy’s comic Hometime, which I ordered from Domino Books. It’s a collection of single-panel gag cartoons, kinda? Every page is meant to be taken as its own entity. It’s printed and red and yellow, it feels eye-searingly bright. There’s dialogue balloons, not captions. The visual language sort of seems like it comes from underground comics, of the way underground comics relate to older cartoon styles. I’m saying all of these things like they’re sentences but if I were speaking to you there would be no hint of certainty in my voice. Another paradox: I often feel like I don’t have the language to describe what images in a comic look like unless I have an idea of what the narrative is doing. Maybe these gags feel like they work because they’re incredibly economical in their subversion of the expectation one comes to gag cartoons with. That almost seems too simplistic an explanation to count. I’m sure, if you haven’t read Murphy’s cartoons and grappled with them, that sort of conclusion seems like I’m saying literally nothing.

I’ve been reading Krazy Kat again. It’s interesting that that’s a strip which is notably formulaic, but also is all about subverting that formula or having it play out differently or avoid it altogether. It seems pretty agreed upon that the key to successful comics writing is to have a degree of economy in terms of the words on the page. This allows the images to carry their weight, but images themselves have their own weight of meaning that’s accrued over time. Think about being born on this Earth, and all of the acclimation to one’s surroundings that occurs concurrently with the acquisition of language. Talking with a computer programmer friend, his stance on writing code was, the easier it is for you, the less lines you have to write, the more code has been written by other people before you that you’re relying on. So many of the best comics are consciously written with an awareness of expectations that are then subverted. I don’t know. Generally the argument I make, when talking about “experimental” work, is to contrast it with “formulaic” work. This is my way of asserting the obvious superiority of the former. But maybe this is wrong, and the best and most effective comics, including the ones I’m labeling “experimental,” nonetheless have a formula they’re playing with? Because the truth of the matter is my use of scientific language is a pose premised on my not actually understanding math.

I imagine that a normal person wouldn’t understand why anyone would feel compelled to write comics criticism in the first place. For all the shame I feel about the fact that this is what I’m doing, I’m proud to say I don’t know what my fucking deal is.

[superman86to99]

Adventures of Superman #505 (October 1993)

REIGN OF THE SUPERMAN! The Reign is over, and Superman does what we’d all do after being dead for several weeks and coming back to life: no, not visiting your parents, making out with Lois Lane.

Or more than making out, since the next page starts with a caption that says “Later...” and lets us know that they both had to take a shower. (NOTE: Check Don Sparrow’s section below for artist Tom Grummett’s definitive take on what happened in that scene.)

Their post-resurrection bliss comes to a stop when they remember a little detail: Clark Kent is still presumed dead. How are they gonna explain his return without making the extremely smart residents of Metropolis suspect that Superman and the guy who looks like Superman but with glasses are actually the same person? Superman’s mind immediately goes into “wacky bullshit excuse” mode and he starts spitballing ideas, like claiming Clark lost his memory, or was carried by underwater currents, or was abducted by aliens. Honestly, I’m pretty sure that last one would work, since there have been THREE major alien invasions in the past few years, but Lois thinks no one would be dumb enough to fall for that sort of thing. Really, Lois? No one?

At this point, Superman picks up some supervillain activity with his super hearing, so he gets dressed and goes there (though it would have been pretty intimidating for the criminals if she’d shown up in that shower rug). A bank uptown has been taken over by Loophole, a S.T.A.R. Labs accountant who stole a gizmo that allows him to phase through walls. When Superman shows up to arrest him and his henchmen (are they all villainous accountants?), Loophole literally puts his first through Superman’s chest, instantly killing him. RIP Superman, again.

Nah, Supes just swats Loophole away and breaks the gizmo, causing him to get his crotch area stuck inside a vault door. Now he has to change his supervillain name to “DickVault”.

(I freaking love Maggie Sawyer, btw.)

After that, Superman goes to one of the areas trashed by his fight with Doomsday and helps clean up the junk that’s still laying around there. It’s then that he finally reunites with his best friend and most valued ally: Bibbo Bibbowski. (Jimmy Olsen’s there, too, unfortunately.)

Bibbo also introduces Superman to the dog he named in honor of his home planet, Krypto -- and it’s Krypto who provides the most significant moment in this issue. The little mutt starts barking at some debris from a destroyed building, leading Superman to examine it with his X-Ray vision and find some kids underneath.

Turns out the kids had been trapped there since the Doomsday fight, leading some random passerby (fine, Jimmy) to wonder if Clark could be stuck in a similar situation. Superman and Lois look at each other... giving Superman an idea and providing the premise for next week’s issue.

Character-Watch:

First appearance of Loophole (real name Deke Dickinson, C.P.A.), who would become a running joke in Karl Kesel’s Superman and Superboy comics. While his phasing powers are tech based, he also has the metahuman ability to somehow convince attractive women to be his girlfriends/henchwomen despite being a balding little dweeb. In this issue he’s dating a blonde named Sheila (who wears a mask, so maybe she’s actually hideous), but I’m pretty sure he had other girlfriends in future issues.

Plotline-Watch:

As I said... holy shit, five years ago: no one draws Supes coming back to Lois after an extended absence like Tom Grummett. This scene is almost a remake of the one from that issue when Superman comes back from his time traveling jaunt. There’s also a callback to Man of Steel #25, when Lois hears a tap on her window and thinks it’s Superman, but it’s just some dumb bird. This time she gets it the other way around:

Don Sparrow says: “There’s a cute visual callback to the last time Superman returned after a long absence on page 18, when Superman is reunited with Jimmy. It’s a near identical pose to Action #643, where Superman returned from exile in space (and in that moment, infected Jimmy with Eradicator-based space sickness, womp womp).” I think he’s instinctively throwing Jimmy up in the air, hoping the cold of space will kill him. Unfortunately, both murder attempts were unsuccessful.

As seen above, Maggie Sawyer wasn’t too convinced that “Fabio” here was Superman at first. That changes when he calls her “Captain” even though she was recently promoted to Inspector, and she’s like “only a dead man wouldn’t know all the precise ranks for the local authorities!”

The surviving non-Supermen are seen arriving at S.T.A.R. Labs for medical care after the Engine City showdown. Don again: “There are some mild continuity issues stemming from Superman #82, which perhaps wasn’t completely finished being drawn while Tom Grummett worked on this one, as Steel’s costume is almost entirely intact, when we last saw it a week ago, it was in tatters. Ditto the Eradicator, who was a wizened husk, and now is apparently a scorched Ivan Drago.” Let’s assume Supergirl worked her clothes-shifting magic on Steel’s armor and the Eradicator’s, uh, hair.

There’s a short scene where Superboy is visited by his reporter pal Tana Moon, who tells him she quit WGBS and is leaving Metropolis. Awww. Goodbye, Tana. Or should I say... aloha?

Meanwhile, Lex Luthor Jr. has a scene with Dr. Happersen where he says he intends to control or destroy anyone who wears the “S” symbol. Basically, if he can’t date them, they should be dead. He also instructs Happersen to help Cadmus’ Director Westfield get in contact with disgraced genetician Dabney Donovan. Get ready for a whole lot of clone-related shenanigans in the near future.

And now, more Don Sparrow-related shenanigans after the jump!

Art-Watch (by @donsparrow​):

This issue is another favourite of mine, but I suppose all these issues around the Death and Return are faves when I really think about it.  My copy of this issue had the holographic fireworks cover, and it’s a good one.  I like that Superman and the Daily Planet are in natural colour, rather than holograms.  The cover credit goes Karl Kesel, Tom Grummett and Doug Hazlewood, so I’m not sure what the breakdown was (or if that’s just a handwritten cover credit, just in case?

The story opens with one of my favourite sequences ever, with Lois waking up on her couch, having fallen asleep following the events in Coast City.  I love the detail as she opens the curtain, we see her engagement ring, indicating she knows her real fiancée has returned.  This sequence is followed up by two pages of splashes of the passionate reunion of the best couple in comics.  All beautifully rendered as they float, locked in a passionate, sunrise kiss.  Just lovely (so lovely that I am willing to overlook a small colouring error, as Lois has black hair instead of reddish brown for one panel).  [Max: I can confirm that they fixed that in the collections.]

What follows is a very cute scene, and one of some debate among Superman fans.  There’s no overt evidence of what happened, all we get is a cryptic caption reading “later…”.   Again, I give credit for the subtlety of the writers, as they depict this scene in a way that can be read either way:  maybe Clark and Lois made love, and the “later” we are seeing is afterglow, or maybe Lois had a shower since she just woke up after sleeping in her clothes. Then, after calling his parents while Lois showered, Clark had a shower himself.  I feel like today’s writers wouldn’t feel the need to be so subtle, and might lose the sweetness of this scene.  

In previous posts, I’ve talked about my friendship with artist Tom Grummett, and how as a boy, I would wear him out with all my dumb fanboy questions.  Once I got older, and our relationship became a little more collegial (just a little closer to collegial, since I in no way consider myself anywhere near his level of skill or success) I would really try not to geek out too much when we would visit.  But the one question I had to ask was about this scene, and what their intention, or interpretation of it was, as I was always curious.  Once I had explained to him which issue it was (the guy has drawn hundreds, so they might not all spring to mind immediately!) he admitted that his assumption was indeed that they had sex.  So there you have it!  [Max: Hot damn! Another Superman ‘86 to ‘99 exclusive, folks!]

However you wish to read this scene, the choreography, and facial expressions as they horse around is really sweet and fun, and such a nice, light tone compared to the do-or-die pace the books had been for the last two years or so.   Their easy joking, and back and forth banter really do a great job of showing them as a real couple.

It’s a very nice pose on Supergirl as she lifts off, simultaneously spurning Superboy’s romantic complaints.

I quite like the design on Loophole, and his gang.  Loophole himself kinda harkens back to the silver age villains of the Flash as Loophole has a unique hairline, is an older man, with a pretty average build, which was rare for villains in the 90s. His gimmick is pretty cool, too, though we immediately see its vulnerability.

The tearful reunion of the now-sober Bibbo and Superman is also a great moment—if anyone rose to the challenge of living up to Superman’s example in his absence, it was Bibbo.  I discuss the scene in more detail in the observations later, but the image of Superman whipping away the debris on page 20 is a great visual, with the dust clouds creating great motion and urgency.

On the whole, a great first issue for the return to the never-ending battle, even if it brings us closer to Grummett’s last issue on this title (for a while).

STRAY OBSERVATIONS:

Could Superman referring to the Death and Return storyline as a dream, while stepping out of the shower be a reference to Dallas, and their famous about-face after an unpopular season, where Bobby Ewing emerged from the shower, alive and well, dismissing a yearlong storyline as a dream?

A coy semi-reference to perhaps my favourite line in the first Reeve Superman film on page 8, where Supergirl says “Easy steel, we’ve got you, then later adding, “ok, you got me”.  

A little more issue-to-issue dissonance with Superboy reversing himself from the end of Superman #82, where he said clearly that Kal-El was Superman, with Superboy pointing out that legally, he’s Superman and not Kal. [Max: I think he’s talking strictly in the legal sense, since he helps Superman deal with the legal problem on the next issue and all.]

For all the times that Superman has used his heat vision on guns (as he does on page 11), we’ve never seen rounds get burned off, firing on their own because of the heat.  There might be an idea there.    

An odd sorta-cameo by Erik Larsen’s Savage Dragon, who Superman apparently defeats in the waterfront district. An eagle-eyed reader asked Larsen about it in issue #6 of Dragon’s own book, and he nixed any proper crossover rumours, saying it was just a shout-out from Larsen’s buddy Karl Kesel.  Eventually they’d meet in Superman/Savage Dragon: Chicago, a so-so crossover in 2002.

A slightly bawdy joke from one of the Loophole gang, on page 14, as the moll of Deke Dickson calls Loophole a “weiner”.  

GODWATCH: A stirring moment when Superman detects the faintest of life-signs, thanks to would-be super-pup, Krypto, and responds “God willing” when someone asks if anyone is alive in that wreckage.  The love and concern in Superman’s eyes when he says he’d “rather die” himself than let little ones perish is a tear-jerker moment for sure.  Bonus points for the cuteness of Superman heaping praise on Krypto, with the line “if that dog could fly, I’d put a cape on him…”

Question:  Does Jimmy know? He comes up with the solution to the Clark problem very conveniently.  Maybe he’s smarter than we (and by we, I mean Max) give him credit for? [Max: It was all Krypto! Okay, I’ll concede that maybe Jimmy is as smart as a dog.]

[honorarycassowary]

Venom vs. Mary Jane: 1988-2008

Venom’s first appearance in Amazing Spider-Man #299 is iconic. Mary Jane comes home, sees Peter in the darkness - and is horrified to learn that it isn’t Peter at all.

It’s gotten quite seared into the mythos of Venom’s origin that he was originally introduced threatening Mary Jane. I imagine when this issue was first released, seeing a distorted Spider-Man-like monster threatening MJ in her own house was an incredible cliffhanger! In the original comics, though, we don’t actually see Venom’s confrontation with Mary Jane beyond these opening lines. We only see the aftermath, where MJ is crying from fear, and hear her account of the event. 

Mary Jane: He wanted to know where my boyfriend was! He didn’t even know we were married!

Peter: Never mind that! Are you okay? Did he hurt you?

Mary Jane: Not ... physically. H-he just made me feel so helpless.

We also see Eddie and the symbiote talking among themselves after they’ve returned to their apartment. 

Yeah, yeah, I know! The woman wasn’t our target! but shaking her up could still work! I mean, if we don’t find him - he might find us! Either way...

There’s a couple interesting things about this conversation. First, Eddie’s dialogue here implies that he’s persuading the symbiote that threatening Mary Jane was okay, because they need to force a confrontation with Spider-Man somehow. Based on the phrasing, it seems like the symbiote objected to hurting Mary Jane, presumably because she was an innocent. (A bit of speculation I want to mention here is that back in Amazing Spider-Man #258, when the symbiote was posing as Spider-Man’s costume, Mary Jane revealed she knew Peter Parker was Spider-Man and that his lies over the years had hurt her deeply - could the symbiote have overheard this, and felt some commonality between itself and Mary Jane? Wanted Eddie to extend some sympathy towards her as someone who had also been wronged by Spider-Man?)

Secondly, it seems like Venom didn’t go to Peter’s apartment looking to threaten Mary Jane. “The woman wasn’t our target” - and who else could be their target but Peter Parker? Mary Jane was just in the wrong place at the wrong time and Eddie improvised, it seems.

But all that is backstory. Because like I said at the start, Venom’s introduction is iconic - and if there’s one thing iconic comics always have, it’s retellings. There’s been a lot of discussion in Venom fandom about how the portrayal of the symbiote during its time with Spider-Man has changed from the original Black Suit Saga up until modern retellings, but I haven’t seen the same discussion applied to retellings of Venom’s first appearance. 

To my knowledge, this scene has been retold twice: once in Uncanny Origins #7, and once in Dark Origin #4. We’ll go by order of publication date. 

Uncanny Origins was a series of oneshot comics retelling various characters’ origin stories; it ran from 1996 to 1997. The writer only had one issue to work with, so he pulled bits from Eddie’s backstory with Anne Weying, most of Amazing Spider-Man #300, and other bits and pieces, including that iconic intro from #299. It sticks very close to the original, even lifting bits of dialogue, but it’s the bits where it diverges that interest me.

Now we have the power to kill Spider-Man! And we know everything about Spider-Man that he knew when he wore the symbiote as his costume - we know who he is, where he lives - who he’s married to...

Mary Jane: Don’t come near me! P-Please! D-don’t touch me!

Venom: Ha ha! Worked like a charm! She’ll still be shaking in her designer boots when she’s old and gray. Yeah, yeah, I know the woman wasn’t our target - but what’s the point of knowing that Spider-Man is really Peter Parker if don’t use it to our advantage ... like terrorizing his wife just enough to get his attention!

From the start here, we see that Venom is much more deliberate about terrorizing Mary Jane in particular. In the first set of panels, Venom says that they know Mary Jane is Peter’s wife (which Venom explicitly didn’t know in the original version) and includes her identity in their list of information they can use to kill Spider-Man. In the second panel, we can see Venom watching Mary Jane walking home, meaning Venom broke into Peter’s apartment specifically to threaten her. In the original version, Venom wanted to find Peter and kill him, but was fine with Peter tracking him down for a confrontation as well; here, Eddie and the symbiote are trying to force Peter to come to them. 

I’d like to note, though, that this version keeps the internal argument between Eddie and the symbiote about whether Mary Jane is their target; it seems like this version still has the symbiote arguing she isn’t the true target and they should focus on Spider-Man, meaning Eddie is taking a harder stance on drawing Spider-Man out by threatening Mary Jane, as reflected by the changed second half of his dialogue.

Now we get to Dark Origin. This probably needs no introduction, but just in case - Dark Origin was published in 2008-2009 to introduce fans brought into the comics by Spider-Man 3 to Venom’s comics backstory. It departs from established backstory in several ways, and its retelling of Venom’s first appearance is similarly divergent.

Venom: Not just a costume... We find that very... very... offensive.

Mary Jane: Oh my god!

Eddie: I don’t know her. Is she his woman?

Symbiote: Yes... he chose her over us.

For starters, the scene is set up differently: Mary Jane initially mistakes Venom for a costume until they start talking (this scene also uses all-original dialogue; no quoting from #299 here!). This is also the first version of this scene where the reader can see the symbiote’s thoughts as well, and it eggs Eddie on throughout the scene by telling him that Spider-Man chose Mary Jane over it, which is an interesting contrast to its apparently reluctant-but-enabling-Eddie stance in the original and the earlier retelling. (I also happen to think this is an odd extrapolation for it to make, given that the symbiote’s time with Peter happened when he was more romantically entangled with Felicia than MJ, but I’m not here to adjudicate all of Dark Origin’s writing choices.) 

Dark Origin is by far the longest of these three stories, dedicating eight pages to Venom confronting Mary Jane. It doesn’t actually show either of their responses to the aftermath, but you win some, you lose some, I suppose.

Venom: You know we had a girl once. But when she found out we’d lied to her, she left. But he’s a bigger liar than me, and gets the girl... that’s not fair! I’m a good guy too! I’m a hero...

Remember how I said earlier that Dark Origin diverged from the original? Yeah, this is what I meant. 

The first two version of Venom’s introduction have them frightening Mary Jane, but it’s indicated in both versions that Venom never physically hurt Mary Jane (obviously breaking into her house and threatening her husband was psychologically harmful, especially since Mary Jane had no idea if Venom would hurt her or not). 

But in Dark Origin, Venom is much more physical with Mary Jane. The symbiote grabs her and drags her around with its tendrils; Eddie gets right in her face and nearly licks her; on the page after this they toss her into a wall. Eddie complaining to MJ that it’s not fair Peter gets the girl and he doesn’t also has a much creepier vibe than the original 80s dialogue did. It fits with the sort of “generalized scumbag” vibes I get from the Dark Origin versions of Eddie and the symbiote, but it’s definitely a different take on their characters than the 80s version. 

While the basic outline of Venom’s confrontation with Mary Jane remains the same (Venom breaks in, Mary Jane mistakes them for Spider-Man, Venom frightens her and threatens Peter), the tenor of the story changes greatly from 1988 to 2008. Granted, we haven’t had any retellings of this scene since Dark Origin, so I can’t be so confident about charting a trend, but it’s still interesting to see how very different the same story can be told twenty years apart.

[lady-of-lies]

The birthday

A/N: ok, so this is a fic I found in my draft from like two years ago so it is a really bad one but I thought, why not?

y/n = your name

y/b/d = your birthday

y/h/t = your hometown

n/n = Nick name 

If I missed anything plz tell me!

Prompt: none!

Word count: 3083 (What the heck happened)

Warnings: fluff

Tom hiddleston x teen!reade

This was it. I was going to be in the new Avengers movie. And on top of that I was going to work with my idol, Tom Hiddleston. Now you may wonder how a teenage girl from y/h/t ended up here, and the answer is really simple. my mum have a relative living in New York and I live with her for the time being until I am old enough to get something of my own. The reason I was here in San diego was because of comic con, I had finally managed to get tickets and were, of course, a bit overly excited.

Somehow I had managed to get lost on my way to a panel and ended up in a completely different building. Don't ask me how. In that building they held some sort of audition, long story short I got dragged in on it and ended up with the role as the Cheshire cat, an orphan with abilities similar to the fairy tale character that ends up in Loki’s care.

Today was my first day on a movie set ever and to say I was nervous was an understatement.

I had brought my headphones and my favourite book for entertainment between takes and if necessary, also to calm me down. I was met by the director at the entrance and he introduced me to a nice looking woman called Daisy that were going to act as my guide for today so I would get the ropes and learn my way around the, very big set.

She first showed me to my trailer I was going to stay in and then continued with all the different stages and trailers I would need to know my way to. At the end she led me back to my trailer and gave me my manuscript for the movie. I hadn't really thought about how big of a movie this was and especially now when I saw that my role was quite important and also pretty demanding. My first scene wasn't until until tomorrow so I settled in in my new portable home for the time being.

In the morning after I was even more nervous, if that was even possible. It was time for my first appearence and I was seated in the makeup trailer getting ready when a tall figure entered. A tall figure I would recognize everywhere. Tom Hiddleston. He sat down in the stool next to mine and eyed me for a second before speaking. His voice were soft and cautious, as if not to scare me.

“ Hello darling, I haven't seen you before, are you new here? “

“ Yeah, I am. I arrived here yesterday, My name is y/n, and I already know who you are. “ I said with a smile “ sorry that sounded creepy “

I said shyly looking down. he reached out his hand and shook mine, he introduced himself in a very formal manner, his British accent coming out in a very thick layer.

“ No, it's okay, when you have this job it kind of comes with it to be noticed “ he sent me a reassuring smile

“ I'm sorry but how old are you? You just seem so young “

“ I'm y/a “

“ y/a really? and who are you playing? “

“ I'm playing Hannah the Cheshire cat “

“ Ahh, ofcourse, you are the mystery actor we were expecting today “

“ mystery? you mean they didn't tell you anything about me? “

“ Not a thing “

That must be why the audition was held so late. Or they  didn’t tell anyone who the actor would be because the audition was held so late. Right when I was going to ask something else Daisy reappeared at the door and dragged me away to costume. This woman wasn’t much for words and even if she was gentle or late was not frequently used in her vocabulary.

********

I had now been here for almost six months and started to feel at home, I had gotten to know all the actors involved, Chris H and Tom the most, and were currently sitting beside main stage and reading a book I had gotten as a birthday gift. Yepp today, y/b was my birthday. One of the few things I didn't tell anyone here. Birthdays had never been a big deal to me, why start now?  I was so far away in my thoughts that I didn't hear Tom appear until he waved his hand in front of my face.

“ Hey n/n, you still with me? “

n/n was the nickname everyone called me, and I have to admit I liked it. It made me feel like I was a part of the family, that I was a part of something. A bit cryptic I answered him back that I was in fact, still here, I had just zoned out a bit. Thinking. He looked at me with apologetic eyes. Whatever he wanted to say must be sensitive, I thought.

“ Speaking of thinking me and the others have done some thinking and…  We have come to the conclusion that we have celebrated nearly everyone's birthday except yours. Now, you don't have to tell me if you don’t want to but…”

I didn’t let him finish and cut him of mid-sentence.

“ It’s okay, I just didn't think it was that big of a deal I mean I am just me after all “

for a moment my smile faltered but I quickly covered it up. Tom looked a bit upset when the words left my mouth. I don’t know why, why would someone as special as him care about me?

“ Not that big of a deal!!!  Now you listen to me y/f/n to celebrate your birthday is a very big of a deal especially when you are young. And on set birthdays are special because it brings the family together and we celebrates everyones birthdays, even Downey lets us celebrate his!”

By now Tom was really upset and it was all my fault. I felt more guilty than ever before. Maybe I should have told him sooner, or at least not made him feel like this, but now it was definitely too late and that is also what I told him.looking down.

“ Y/N. Y/N, look at me “

he gently shook my shoulders and lifted my shin up so my teary eyes met his kind, blue orbs.

“ I didn't mean to make you upset “

“ you didn't make me upset “

“ Are you sure? I’m sorry I- “

“ Don't apologize. What exactly did you mean by to late? “

I looked down in my book sheepishly as I told him that my birthday was today. He looked surprised then a emotion I couldn’t read flashed through his eyes. He excused himself before leaving in a hurry, it wasn't until later in the afternoon I heard from Tom again, not in person though, just a simple text.

Hey n/n

get to the city hotel at 7pm

tonight bring a sleeping bag a pillow and your

pj:s the receptionist shows the way

/Tom

Now what in holy hell did that man have in mind now.

*********

As I entered the city hotel with my bag the receptionist looked up. it was a young woman looking not so much older then myself. She asked for my name and a look of recognition came onto her face. She walked up to me from behind the counter with a key card and a kind looking smile. She told me to follow her as she started her way to the elevator, holding the door for me. We went all the way up to the top floor and I followed her to the end of the corridor until we stopped in front of a door with the word Penthouse on it. Surely I am not staying here, right?

The young lady gave me the key and sent me a smile before walking back to the elevator.

It couldn't hurt to check it out right? I mean it wasn't my fault if the receptionist gave me the wrong room. As I opened the door and entered the light flickered on and my on set family all jumped out from their hiding places. Everyone was there. Tom and Tom, Sebastian, Mark, Mackie, scarlett, Benedict, Robert and all of the Chrises. I could already see how this would end up in some sort of chrisis. When they all screamed surprise at the top of their lungs I was crying of happiness already. Tom came up to me and gave me a hug.

“ No, No, No you were not supposed to cry “

“ Sorry, it's just that no one has ever done something like this to me before”

“ Well you deserve it kiddo” Robert said as he came up to the two of us. That made me laugh as I dried my eyes.

“ Do you ever stop acting like Tony? “ that's when Mackie walked up and gave me a hug.

“ You know he doesn't act he is Tony stark for real” That just made everyone laugh. “ Well what do you want to do first? there is movies, presents, games and cake.”

“ Games?, do you guys have a wii here?”

“ of course we do” Benedict said and pointed me to a box beside the big screen TV.

When I searched through the box without finding the one I was looking for I was just about to give up when I reached the bottom. There it was, The best game ever, Just dance. I asked everyone in an expectant manner if it was ok if we played it. The only response I got was that since it was my birthday, we could do whatever I desired. I cheerfully put in the game in the player took the remote and faced the others.

“ Okay we need to clear the space in front of the TV “

just as I finished my sentence everybody helped pushing the furniture to the walls. The space that were left were huge, it was almost as big as a regular apartment living room without any furniture. when I started the game Tom (Holland) spoke up.

“ Hey since you are the birthday girl here you should play the first round to open it all up “

“ Sure “

was all I said before turning to the TV to select a song. I choose the hardest level that were available which just happened to be OMG by coach Celine . (Watch this to understand what i mean)

“ You sure you should take the hardest level kid? why not start with something easier? “

Robert asked. And that's when it hit me. I haven't told them I have danced since the age of 7 or the fact that I have played this a million times before. I only turned my head in the direction of the sofas and smiled wickedly at them all. I turned around slow enough to see the questioning looks everyone had on and it was hilarious to say the least. I took my pose and danced my heart out just to show of a little bit and as usual I reach the platinum score.

When the song ended and I turned around to face the others the looks of pure surprise on their faces made me smile even bigger. Tom (Hiddleston) rose to his feet and walked up to me with a serious face.

“ Why didn't you tell me you could dance like that”

“ Nobody asked me “ I said with a playful look in my eyes. we played for hours, until I were the last one standing and Chris H declared it was time for cake. The cake they had bought were beautiful. And it was my favourite kind. Marzipan. On top it was two candles shaped as y/a and around on the sides they had gotten the person who made it write the text from the ring of power from Lord of the rings and The hobbit.

“ Okay who knows about my obsession for The hobbit? “

everyone gave me that “really” look.

“ come on n/n that's all you could talk about when you saw that Benedict were in the cast “ Tom (Hiddleston) Answered.

When the cake were eaten and the wishes were wished we placed the living room furniture back to normal and spread out our sleeping bags. There was enough room for all of us in the penthouse and we had all chosen one to sleep in later but we ended up having a Hobbit marathon and everyone fell asleep close to the end of the second movie. It was understandable though, almost everyone had worked since early in the morning and the clock was way past midnight.

I suspected it was pretty close to 3 in the morning before the last movie in the trilogy ended. After turning the TV and DVD of I started sneaking out of Toms arms. I had ended up sharing sofa with the one and only god of mischief himself and curled myself up against his chest. When I got out of the living room I could relax. Nobody had caught me. I didn't feel sleepy yet so I walked out on the balcony and looked at the city lights, It is beautiful this high up. I was so caught up in my thoughts again to notice that Tom (Hiddleston) was stepping out through the door too.

“ Why are you standing out here alone? “

I twirled around in surprise but calmed down when I saw that it was just Tom. The tall man had become a little of a father figure to me the more I got to know him, but I would never tell him that. I didn't feel like explaining why I didn't really like my birthday so I came up with the quickest lie I could muster, Which was that I needed some fresh air. Very original.

On my 5th birthday my dad had told my mum he was leaving her. And after that nothing were the same again. After my dad left, money was tight, She had gotten fired from her job and we lost our house. The flat we got was not in a child proof miljoe and so my mum took the last of her savings to send me to her relative here in New york. I haven't heard from her or my dad since. I had quite often wondered how it was to have a real father. I had Anna, mums relative on some level, and she was my mom now, she had custody of me, but I knew that she didn't really want me living there for much longer.

“ You don't have to tell me n/n, but I know you and something is wrong. I have seen how you've been acting today and something is troubling you, care to tell me what? “

Tom came to a stop beside me leaning against the railing.

“ it's stupid “ I said, wanting a father was just a stupid wish and he would surely laugh at me.

“ If its makes you upset it is not stupid “ he answered.

After a lot of thought I decided to tell him the whole story. The whole time I talked he just stood there listening and when I finished he just hugged me and told me that it wasn’t stupid at all, and asked me why I didn’t tell him sooner. that's  when I just said it. Maybe it would destroy our friendship, or whatever you could call this relationship, but then fine. I told him that I was scare of what he would think since he was like a father to me, and I didn’t want to lose him too. He cut me of before I could finish.

“ How about we say I am your father then?”

It took a while before my brain could process what he had just said.

“ You mean like you acting like my father?”

his answer really surprised me but made me the happiest I had been in a long time.

“ No, I mean like me being your father, you can come live with me after the filming, I know you don’t really have a home here in America, or anywhere, based on what you’ve told me. And if you like it, maybe we could even make it official”

By now I was crying rivers but I didn't care because somebody wanted me. Somebody in this evil world actually wanted me for being ME. I  couldn’t believe it and I was sure it was either a terrible joke or a very vivid dream, but I didn’t care.

“ you would do that for me? “

“ A thousand times over because you are like a daughter to me so why not do it real ? “

A year later....

Tom were true to his word that night on my y/a birthday and he actually adopted me. I even changed my last name to Hiddleston just to make it feel real. And as I suspected Anna hadn't put up much of a fight when I talked to her about it. She was actually happy for me and since she saw how much it meant to me she signed the documents without any resistance. For the first time in my life I felt at home and safe. I don't know what I would have done if I hadn't met Tom, my father.

We were currently standing on the set of my new job. After the Avengers I had told him that I didn't think acting was the right thing for me and brought up a long lost dream of mine. Being in the dance crew to the Just dance yearly update. I was in full makeup and costume, I actually looked ridiculous covered in the white body paint. I was waiting for my song ‘Thumbs’ with sabrina carpenter to come on, I had practiced for this moment for months, and I can honestly say it was the second best three minutes of my life. After my filming was done I met up with my father for movie night. One of many to come.

Permanent tag list:

@theincaprincess

@indelwen-of-mirkwood

@gaia-writes-stuff

@deepestfirefun

@sdavid09

@themarauderstheoutsidersandpeggy

[per-ineptia-ad-astra]

Star Trek Gold Key #28: The Mimicking Menace

Our story begins with shooting, although, apparently, not enough shooting for Spock.

[ID: A comic book splash page featuring Spock and McCoy, on a rocky planet with a pink sky and a volcano on the horizon, pointing their phasers at Kirk and a redshirt woman, who are firing their phasers back. Spock is saying, “McCoy, don’t argue! Fire your phaser! Shoot or they’ll kill us!” and McCoy is replying, “But how can I destroy my own captain—kill Kirk?” The comic is titled ‘STAR TREK: PART 1: THE MIMICKING MENACE’ and a narration box in the top right corner says “What form can life take? In an infinite universe, it can take infinite forms! Now, as the crew of the Enterprise seeks to learn about a wandering asteroid, it is confronted with an unsuspected life form that turns Captain Kirk and Lieutenant Calder against the others!”]

Things are a bit more low-key this time—no planets exploding or outbreaks of war, at least—but you can tell we’re in for a trip just by that dialogue. I mean, can you imagine McCoy saying that? I can’t. About the only time McCoy recognizes that Kirk is his captain is for the purpose of being passive-aggressive about it, never mind him reacting to Spock saying this with just sort of open befuddlement instead of yelling “ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR VULCAN MIND??” Meanwhile, Spock could easily have shot both people himself in the time it’s taking him to try to convince McCoy to do it, while the narration box is dramatically telling us about how Lieutenant Calder will turn against the others, as if we have any idea who Lieutenant Calder is or why we should care that much about them.  

Ah well, I suppose we’re supposed to be interested in why Spock is advocating for Kirk’s death, so we might as well see what’s up with that.

We begin with a captain’s log: “The wandering asteroid Tactis II is now below the Enterprise! Question—does this asteroid pose a threat to the Federation?” We get absolutely no explanation as to why they’re interested in this asteroid specifically. Checking out every single asteroid to see if it’s a threat to the Federation does not, how should I put this, seem like a terribly efficient use of time. Then again, considering the results of their last two missions, I wouldn’t be surprised if Starfleet sent them out here to categorize all the space rocks just out of a desperate attempt to keep them out of trouble.

Anyway, as Kirk says to OC of the Week Lt. Calder, this might be an easy mission (you’d think he’d know better than to say that by now) because there’s no sign of life on the asteroid. Even the volcano is inactive! Asked to confirm, Spock says, “Temperature readings all negative!” I’m going to give him the benefit of the doubt and assume he means they’re only reading temperatures below zero, because if you’re getting temperature readings of “no” I’d say you need to do some maintenance on those sensors.

They’re also getting some minor movement readings on the ground, but as Lt. Calder points out, that doesn’t on its own suggest life. Spock then says this is not a logical deduction because “Does movement itself signify life? Philosophers have not resolved that yet--” Uh...no? I’m pretty sure movement itself doesn’t signify life? Example: my ceiling fan’s moving right now and as far as I know, it’s not alive.

But never mind what the philosophers say, Kirk wants to know if there’s life on that there asteroid. “Prepare a landing party,” he says, “and hope that that volcano is inactive!” Kirk, you...you literally just said that volcano was inactive three panels ago.

Since they’re not picking up any life signs with the ship, Lt. Calder wants to take a shuttlecraft (or ‘shuttleship’ as she puts it) down so they can take “a larger bio-detection unit.” Kirk agrees, so off the landing party goes in the Galileo—Lt. Calder, Kirk, Spock, and two security guys. At least, Kirk says he’s taking two hands from security, but the two people we see in the Galileo are wearing yellow/green. Then again, the Galileo itself is also half-green, so I don’t know what’s going on.

They land on the asteroid, and Spock reports that the scanners show a life-supporting atmosphere. That seems like something you guys should have checked before you went down, but whatever. Of rather more immediate interest is that when Kirk looks out the door he sees an identical copy of the Galileo sitting nearby. (Which he refers to as a shuttlecraft. Three panels ago it was a shuttleship. Consistency!)

Naturally, it’s the two redshirts  goldshirts uh, greenshirts, who get sent out to investigate the other Galileo. But they’re interrupted by the volcano going off. An eruption interruption, you might say. So much for it being inactive! Great job on the sensors there guys.

Kirk tells the security duo to make for the duplicate Galileo, since they’re closer to it than the real one. So they hastily climb in, declaring that they’ll be safe inside. Yes, you’ll be safe from the lava, in the...metal shuttlecraft...that’s sitting on the ground...but hey, as long as you don’t directly touch the lava yourself, you’ll be fine, right? That’s how it works in video games, and video games have never led me wrong before!

The two ‘shirts do make it into the duplicate Galileo alright, but are immediately confronted with another problem:

[ID: Two Enterprise crewmembers in green shirts with spirals around their heads, while white balls of light connected with angled lines float in the background. The man, on the left, is saying, “Funny...feel dizzy--” while the woman, on the right, is clutching her shoulders with her hands and saying, “Head spinning...can’t...stand! What’s going--”]

Wow, feeling dizzy while sitting on top of a fresh lava flow from a nearby volcano? What could possibly cause that? Could it be from inhaling the ash and toxic gasses released by volcanic eruptions? Or maybe from the intense heat of being stuck in a small enclosed metal box sitting directly on top of that nice toasty lava, which could easily be upwards of 1,300 degrees Fahrenheit? Nah. Nah, it couldn’t be. Must be something else.

Whatever’s stricken the security duo, they quickly pass out...but when Kirk calls a moment later to ask if they can get the duplicate Galileo moving (not even so much as a “hey are you guys alright” either—geez, Kirk), there’s now a duplicate security duo there as well to answer him. One of them tells him the ship is abandoned but all systems are go and they’re preparing to lift off.

The original Galileo, on the other hand, isn’t currently going anywhere, because “we have no ion power! Zero!” No, I don’t know what ion power is. But I hear shooting phasers at the engine works wonders. Anyway, that’s a pretty big problem because it means they can’t get away from the lava bearing down on them. I thought being in a shuttlecraft made you safe from the lava? Man, I’m confused.

“Stand by for the lava!” Kirk declares, a pretty difficult command to obey at the best of times.

The lava hits the craft. “Our internal temperature is rising sharply!” Spock tells everyone helpfully. “But it is possible that instead of being covered by the lava, we will be pushed by it! The surface below is glassy slick!” Sure, okay.

Luckily for them, the volcano soon stops pouring out lava, and the Galileo coasts off to clear ground. “Safe, Spock! Except for scorched paint!” Kirk declares. Wow. I guess those things have to be built to withstand planetary entry but still, that’s impressive. I wouldn’t advise touching the sides for a while, though.

But where’s the other Galileo gone? As everyone wisely sticks their heads out the door to check out all that awesome lava, Lt. Calder spots the duplicate—it’s flying into the cone of the volcano. Hm. That doesn’t seem like a great idea.

Kirk calls the security duo to say hey, what the fuck, why are you flying into a volcano, did you lose control of that thing? “No, captain!” one of the doppelgangers assures him. “Our scanners show entry into the cone is safe! We are sure reconnaissance there may help explain events here! Out!” Right, the cone of the volcano that erupted like ten minutes ago is...safe. Sure. That checks out.

The duplicate Galileo lands in the cone of the volcano which does, somehow, appear to be free of lava, but there are a bunch of weird lights hanging around up there. The doppelgangers carry the original security crew out of the craft, and then, um...this happens.

[ID: A comic book page with five panels. 1, top left: the doppelganger of the male security officer holding the unconscious original and saying into a communicator, “Security team to Captain Kirk! All in order! Will report back to base very shortly!...Out!” 2, top right: the shuttlecraft Galileo dissolving into more of the lines-and-lights while a narration box says, “Quickly, the Galileo’s double converts its form….” 3, middle left: the two doppelgangers watch a large amount of the lines-and-lights hovering above the unconscious security officers, with a narration box saying, “Then, the greater structure absorbs the lesser….” 4, middle right, upper: two indistinct figures descending the side of the volcano, with a narration box saying, “Minutes later, two figures emerge from the cone, starting down the now hardened, cool slope...” 5, middle right, lower: Spock, Calder and Kirk inside the Galileo. Kirk is saying, “Odd! My communicator is dead!” while Spock says, “No contact down here! None with the Enterprise above! Most illogical...and dangerous!”]

So the duplicate Galileo turns into lights, and then those lights get absorbed by the bigger group of lights that was already there. Okay. Gotta be honest here, I had to re-read this page way too many times to figure out what was going on there. Inasmuch as that qualifies as figuring out what was going on, anyway. Meanwhile, Spock’s over there misusing the word ‘illogical’ again.

Kirk and Calder go to talk to those two figures, while meanwhile, up on the Enterprise, Scotty’s wondering what’s going on. They saw two shuttlecrafts down there, and now there’s no communications. Also, y’know, a volcano went off, but he doesn’t seem bothered by that. It all seems pretty dodgy, so he has Sulu take the conn while he and McCoy beam down to go see what’s up. Why take McCoy? I dunno. Why not take McCoy, I guess?

The doppelgangers tell Kirk they didn’t see anything unusual up in the volcano, just “a lava pit which caused the eruption, but it was cool enough inside!” A lava pit that’s cool seems rather unusual to me (temperature-wise; figuratively speaking, all lava is cool) but Kirk and Calder don’t get the chance to ask any follow-up questions anyway because this happens:

[ID: Kirk and Calder watching the two doppelganger security officers turning into lines-and-lights. Kirk is saying, “But what about the duplicate of the Galileo—say!” while Calder is saying, “A protein molecule chain! But why—what?”]

I’m not sure which reaction seems more unrealistic here: Calder immediately identifying a bunch of weird lights as a protein molecule chain, or Kirk just going “Say!”

Kirk and Calder feel weak and pass out, and then...

[ID: Two panels. Upper panel: lines-and-lights forming into the vague shapes of Kirk and Calder. Lower panel: The doppelgangers of Calder, Kirk and one of the security officers, with the security officer saying, “One is left!” and Kirk saying, “We can trick him easily! Come!” Meanwhile the real Kirk is laying unconscious on the ground, with a green shirt.]

So I guess the lights formed into doppelgangers of Kirk and Calder after they passed out, but...man, that sure could have been drawn a little clearer, huh. Also, apparently fainting made Kirk’s shirt change color.

Inside the Galileo, Spock’s check of the circuits has told him that the power drain afflicting the shuttle is being caused by some external force—something on the asteroid. Duhn duhn duhn! Before he can pursue this, Kirk and the rest come back, but either they’ve all suddenly transported into a green void (it’d make about as much sense as anything in this story, really) or someone forgot to draw the background.

[ID: Spock saying, “What did you learn, captain?” to doppelgangers of Kirk, Calder and a security officer, with Kirk replying, “Come out and we’ll tell you, Mr. Spock! Come!” All of them are floating in a vague green background with no features except a couple of diagonal lines cutting down across it.]

Spock asks what’s been causing all these shenanigans and doppel!Kirk tells him, “It’s rather difficult to explain...an unusual concept!”

Then Spock feels dizzy too.

[ID: Spock holding a hand to his head and saying, “Funny...feel dizzy!”]

Has anyone ever reacted to being dizzy by going “Funny...feel dizzy!” I mean, I feel dizzy all the dang time, and so far it has never once caused me to temporarily lose my grasp of personal pronouns and sentence construction. Being on tumblr too long sometimes does that, but never feeling dizzy.

Anyway, after passing through the green void, then a purple void, and then a pink void, evidently Spock somehow wound up outside, because he promptly runs back to the Galileo.

[ID: Spock running towards the Galileo, hands outstretched above him, thinking, “Energy drain..from me...from ion power...communicators...got to get away from...them!” while someone off-panel says, “Mr. Spock, where--”]

QUICK DEPLOY EMERGENCY JAZZ HANDS

While he’s doing that, Scotty and McCoy beam down nearby. Scotty’s glad to see the rest of the landing party apparently alive and well, but McCoy wants to know where Spock is. Yes, you read that right: McCoy wants to know where Spock is. I dunno, maybe he thought of a really good zinger on the way down and wants to use it as soon as possible.

Scotty wonders if Spock is in the Galileo, but as the two of them turn towards it, the doppelgangers draw their phasers and yell at them not to go in the shuttlecraft. Scotty draws his phaser in response, telling McCoy to draw his as well. The phasers are still pink, in case you were wondering. Well, pink-ish. Magenta?

So, turns out the cover was a bit misleading; it’s actually Scotty there telling McCoy to shoot, not Spock. But if you looked at that cover and thought, “Oh man, what I really want to see in a Star Trek comic is some really awkward dialogue for McCoy,” don’t worry! That part wasn’t misleading. This comic has you covered.

[ID: Scotty and McCoy, facing the doppelgangers of Calder, Kirk, and the security officers; Kirk is shooting his phaser at them. Scotty is saying, “They’re firing at us! Their phasers are on setting 1! Set yours for stun--” and McCoy is saying, “Me, shoot at my captain?”]

Part One ends on that dreadfully gripping cliffhanger. I won’t keep you in suspense. Let’s get to part two.

[ID: The splash page for part two. A narration box in the top right says “Captain’s Log, Star Date...32:21:9. From the moment our party landed on the supposedly lifeless asteroid, our lives have been under an unexpected threat! Some as yet unexplained life-form drains us of strength, makes a mockery of our form and turns us against each other!” In the foreground on the right is the Galileo with Spock leaning out of the door and saying, “Scotty...do not let emotions confuse...you...fire at Kirk...and Calder...you must SHOOT!” On the left, Scotty and McCoy are facing the four doppelgangers; Scotty is saying, “Use your phaser, McCoy! Spock must know what it’s about—terrible as it seems!”]

I have no idea who’s giving that captain’s log, since Kirk is currently laying unconscious in the dirt somewhere around here. I also don’t know if either Scotty or McCoy actually fire their phasers, because the art cuts straight to doppel!Kirk and Calder dissolving back into light, followed by the fake security duo. Scotty helpfully lays it out for us.

[ID: Scotty and McCoy watching the lines-and-lights sinking into the cold lava. Scotty is saying, “It gets more puzzling by the minute! Four humans turn into “things” and now the “things” seem to be dissolving into the lava field!”]

Baffled by all this (understandably, so am I) McCoy and Scotty head for the Galileo to see if Spock has any answers. Said Spock is currently kneeling on the floor but says he’ll be restored to his full strength in a moment. When Scotty asks what’s going on, Spock says, “An energy drain, but I was less vulnerable than the others because--”

We never find out why Spock was less vulnerable than the others (how convenient) because suddenly the volcano starts throwing up rocks. That’s bad news for Kirk and Calder, who are still laying out there in the open somewhere, so McCoy runs out to get them. Or possibly he just teleports over there, I’m not sure, all I know is one panel they’re all in the Galileo and the next panel he’s over there with Kirk and Calder, who are slowly starting to come around.

They make it back to the protection of the Galileo just in time for the last of the rocks to fall on it instead of them. Then the rockfall stops, leaving the Galileo a bit dented but otherwise fine. Well, that page’s worth of action definitely contributed some valuable to the story.

Of course, while the Galileo might be intact, it’s still inoperable due to that whole power-drain thing. Spock reckons the key to all this lies up in that volcano crater, so he gets Scotty—whose communicator still works, presumably either because he’s not been down there long enough for it to be drained or because Scotty himself is an ambient power source—to call up the Enterprise with a request.

[ID: Uhura listening to a speaker saying, “Scotty to Enterprise! If you read me, beam down a fully-equipped video-camera-robot!” to which Uhura says, “They must want to inspect something they’re afraid to face themselves!”]

Dang, Uhura, okay. Just...lay that right out there.

Meanwhile, Calder is speculating that they’re dealing with “some parasitic life-form that drains life powers from humans!” Kirk asks Spock if he agrees and Spock says they need more concrete evidence before theorizing. Right, it’s too early to theorize that the thing that’s been draining everyone’s energy might be a thing that drains energy. I’m starting to suspect that Spock just reflexively disagrees with anything Calder says.

The robot and its accompanying TV monitor then show up and man, you’d think that the freedom of a comic book format would allow them to depict some Star Trek tech that looked less incredibly and intrinsically 60s but, uh...nope, just doubled down on that, I guess.

[ID: Kirk and Calder looking at a human-shaped gray robot, accompanied by a rounded orange TV with large antenna. Kirk is saying, “Here’s the robot! Let’s have it explore the crater’s interior!” and Calder is saying, “Right! This asteroid’s secret lies in there!”]

So the robot that has no reason at all to be shaped like a human but is for some reason goes up to investigate the crater, relaying video to the TV, while Kirk and Spock helpfully tell each other what they’re looking at. As the robot enters the crater they see a ruined spacecraft of some sort, and then a couple of skeletons with the ragged remains of clothing still clinging to them. Cool! Then they see the lights again, and then the screen goes blank. Spock tries to recall the robot, but up in the crater we see this happening:

[ID: A doppelganger of the TV robot being formed out of lines-and-lights. A narration box reads, “Inside the crater, a mocking duplication of the now power-drained robot takes place...”]

oh, now you give us a narration box to tell us what’s happening

The robot comes back, and everyone helpfully gathers around outside to watch so they can all faint en masse when it turns out that, oh, what a surprise, the returning robot is actually another duplicate. Luckily Spock (who, remember, is less vulnerable than the others because--) hangs on long enough to call up to the Enterprise using...either his communicator that’s magically now working again, or Scotty’s communicator which he magically acquired at some point that we never saw, take your pick.

On the Enterprise some greenshirt tells Uhura they’re receiving a very feeble signal, and she tells him to turn on the sound-booster, because I guess Uhura’s delegating her job now. Spock tells them to fire a stream of negative ions into the volcano’s crater, so they circle back around over the crater and shoot it with the ion-beam dispenser that the Enterprise apparently has. This causes the lights to glow more brightly for a moment before fading until the weird thing is left looking like just a bunch of q-tips stuck together. But like, really big q-tips.

The real security team, still laying up there in the crater, finally get enough strength back to wake up and skedaddle out of there. Upon making it back down, though, they run into a spot of confusion, what with the four crewmembers laying unconscious on the ground and the four identical crewmembers standing over them.

[ID: The shocked security officers watching a double of Kirk, wearing an orange shirt, standing over the unconscious bodies of the real Enterprise crew. The narration box says, “As they hurry back to the Galileo...” while the double of Kirk says, “Shoot them! They are dangerous doubles!”]

dude your case for that would be better if your shirt wasn’t the wrong color

Spock tells them to shoot the people standing up, which they do, presumably accepting his authority on the grounds of being the only one around who doesn’t have a double. The doppelgangers turn back into lights and disappear into the lava, where Spock says they should be temporarily immobilized. One of the security duo reminds him about that robot that’s hanging around here somewhere.

[ID: Kirk holding a hand to his head while Spock kneels next to him, glancing over his shoulder at the TV robot and saying, “The ROBOT! I almost forgot! BLAST IT!”]

“there’s no need to swear, Mr. Spock” “I MEANT SHOOT IT”

Oh, how suspenseful, how will they handle this—I’m kidding, they just shoot it too. Everyone then heads back to the Galileo, where Kirk notes that “The ion power’s restored! Another mystery—like why you weren’t doubled, Spock!” Spock says he wasn’t doubled because he’s a Vulcan and his internal structures are different, so that slowed the process. Oh sure, that thing can duplicate a shuttlecraft and a robot just fine, but I mean, Vulcans, Vulcans are way different. As I’m sure you know, taxonomically speaking, humans are more closely related to shuttlecraft than they are to Vulcans. And no, Spock has nothing to say about the first mystery of why the shuttlecraft’s power is back on.

As they fly back to the Enterprise, Spock and Calder explain—and I use the term loosely—what that thing’s whole deal was. “This shape is very similar to our protein molecule chain!” Calder explains. “That is our basic life-building unit!”

Here’s a rendering of a protein structure, in case you were wondering (hemoglobin, specifically).

[ID: A computer rendering of several red and blue chains of curls inter-meshed with thinner curling red and blue lines and small branching structures of green, red and blue lines.]

Looks identical to me!

Spock explains that, as Calder speculated earlier, this particular protein molecule chain is a parasitic life-form that drains energy from everything. The central ‘life-core’ in the volcano sends out “smaller molecule chains—those duplicate any mechanical or human energy source, drain its energy, and return to feed the CENTRAL core!” Ah yes, the molecule chains. The chains that were easily big enough to be seen by the naked eye. Those molecule chains. Sent out by the protein molecule chain that’s...the size of a volcano crater...look, I’m a humanities major and even I know this is nonsense.

Calder reckons the thing goes into hibernation to save energy since it’s the only life form on the asteroid, but that the signs of movement the Enterprise detected could be its way of luring in passing energy sources. Because it’s a protein molecule chain that’s smart enough to understand that passing starships might be scanning for life, I guess…? Alright, never mind that, how did Spock defeat it? Simple, he says: the thing had absorbed the shuttlecraft’s power source, which was positive ions, so he had it hit with negative ions.

...you know, fine. Fine. Whatever. Let’s just go.

Kirk closes out with a captain’s log: “In accordance with Federation by-laws, we did not destroy the life-form on Tactis II...but even now, the life-form is probably active again! It will be seeking other energy sources! Be warned!”

Oh, sure, Federation by-laws. Now you care about Federation by-laws. You weren’t real fussed about Federation by-laws when it came to starting a civil war, or disrupting a clone society so badly the whole planet blew up, but this, this is serious. A bunch of weird lights on an asteroid that eat everyone who comes close? That’s something worth preserving!

So they fly off, having determined that against all odds, Tactis II is a threat to the Federation. Great. Now we’ve got to check all these other asteroids too.

[dent-de-leon]

So I'm going to my first comic con in almoat two weeks but I'm nervous?? Cuz Idk what to expect?? Can you share some of your experiences?? ILY 💞

Mmmm it’s kind of hard to say because I’ve only ever been to New York comic con and not any of the other locations, but I’ll try to help you out as best I can!

I have no idea if you’ve been to prior cons before (anime, ect), but if you have, then the same basic principles of con etiquette apply. This is just a bigger and more crowded con than what you’re probably used to. Some specifically NYCC and general comic con things that stuck out to me:

There’s not much going on Thursday, so it’s honestly the best day to just explore and go shopping. Dealers room is huge, and there’s also artist alley. There’s really not any panels or stuff going on the first day, so it’s a good time to get all your sightseeing and shopping out of the way. 

Don’t be afraid to approach booths for stuff you’re unfamiliar with if it looks Really Cool–there was this one video game stand at NYCC last year with a giant dragon you could sit on. Had no clue what the fuck it was for, but you better believe I was lining up to sit on a life size dragon, lmao.

Comic con also always has lots of exclusives sold for just the con! For instance, when VLD panels are at cons, the Lionforge booth usually sells variant cover exclusives of the new comics and such. You can look through the comic con website for your specific location and see what exclusives will be offered. 

Get to the entryway early!! My friend and I were in line probably an hour before NYCC opened, and we made pretty good time. Also, we got this neat bag–that they eventually ran out of, lmao. Even while waiting on the line to get in, comic con offers some fun exclusives and you miss that stuff if you’re there too late. And of course, it’s just always a good idea to be there early. At least then you get a chance to explore the venue and sort out where you need to be later on, buy an exclusive that might sell out quickly, ect. 

Also, you should definitely go over that schedule beforehand and see what panels and things you’re interested in–try to workout at least a basic outline for how you want to do things. Plan to line up for panels wayyyy in advance…even at small cons you could wait an hour on line. At NYCC, you might well end up waiting upwards of two hours for your panel or signing. Sometimes there are also caps put on the lines, so just like…be Prepared

If you can kind of scope out the venue ahead of time and see where a good place to eat would be, take note! Also, always good to have a general idea of where bathrooms are. You don’t want to have to be running around looking for things last minute.

If you’re kind of uneasy in crowds (I got some of that Social Anxiety myself), make sure you’re just,, generally prepared for big crowds. Because, trust me, there will be lots and lots of people. Anticipate having a hard time finding places to sit and eat inside. 

Don’t forget to bring your ID just in case they check it with your badge. They didn’t ask me for mine last year (though, Thursday is like a slow day). But just in case, make sure you have an ID on hand.  

I find smaller cons are generally better if you’re hoping with more…interaction with fans, I guess? Like, it seems at NYCC, everyone is on the move and has someplace to be. At smaller cons, you’ll generally have people come up and talk to you more. Still, if you’re wearing a cosplay, you’ll definitely get some people that’ll come over and say hi :D 

General con etiquette and knowledge stuff if you’re just really new to cons in general:

FOOD AND WATER IS NOT OPTIONAL!! Something magical happens at cons where you suddenly forget to eat, drink or sleep and if you and your friends haven’t stopped for a break in a while, pull them aside and just hydrate real quick. Pack water bottles and snacks!! You probably have that one Responsible friend in the group who insists on bringing food and water and stopping for breaks–and they are never wrong. Listen to your friend. They know what’s up.

Be Responsible,,–yes, you should bring enough money to cover food and all the nerd stuff you’re gonna splurge on. But try to set a realistic threshold of how much you want to spend so you don’t go overboard. 

Just so you know, lots of cosplayers (myself included!) love when people give them compliments or take pictures!! :D It’s super fun! HoweveR,, please be aware that there’s certain expected con etiquette. Do not just take a picture without asking, it’s incredibly rude and kind of unsettling. Also, feels like a breach in privacy. If you want to take a picture, simply go up to them and ask for permission first. Most of the time they’ll be happy to! 

If the cosplayer is already surrounded by like five or ten people taking pictures, there’s also the general unspoken rule that you can just join in and take one too, as it’s clear they’ve already given their permission. Just make sure they’re okay with being photographed first, that’s the main thing. 

Also, do not ask if they’re in the middle of eating or going on a bathroom break. These are pretty general con etiquette rules that basically everyone knows. But then you get people like the guy who asked my friend for a photo while they were midway through biting into their sandwich. Do not be that guy,, let cosplayers have breaks too.

Also, if you’re taking a picture with another cosplayer, ask before posing with them! For example, if you can put your hand on their shoulder, hug them, ect. I’m really small so it’s easy to lift me–consequently, I’ve had people pick me up and cradle me and even kiss me at cons without asking,, :/ It can be pretty upsetting if people just do that without consent. Oftentimes, if I can prepare myself for it first, I’m okay with lifts and hugs, ect, but don’t ever just spring that shit on someone–if you wouldn’t do it to a stranger, don’t assume it’s okay to do it to a cosplayer.

Also, remember cosplayers are people too! They have their own thoughts and feelings. That sounds silly, but like…I’ve cosplayed Keith while my friend was Lance and I can’t tell you how obnoxious it was for girls to just run up to me and scream “kLA/NCE!!” like…please don’t make cosplayers feel awkward or get in their face. Also, please understand if they don’t want to do a ship photo with another cosplayer. Whatever you say to them “in character,” please remember there’s an actual real person in that costume. 

If you’re a cosplayer, congratulations!! I hope you have lots of fun!! But also, just know if you’re a little shy or anxious that people are going to want to come over and say hi. Again, you can tell people not to take pictures if you aren’t comfortable, and never feel pressured to pose or do something just because you’re in cosplay! Also, if you’ve got a costume you made yourself–little sewing kits are a life saver, as are hairsprays and things to maintain wigs. Dress for the weather! You might look cool, but not if you’re dying from the heat. If you’re costume’s getting cumbersome or exhausting to wear, make sure you have something comfy to change into just in case. 

Try to wear comfy shoes!! You’ll start to really feel it after walking around for several hours ;;

I don’t know if it’s the weather or packed crowds or running around on limited resources, but someone in the friend group always has a headache at some point. Try to pack some Advil or something if you can! Same goes for any other “just in case” items–even if you think you won’t need it, so long as there’s a chance, bring it! Also, a quick addition to your emergency pack--a portable phone charger. There were some charging stations at NYCC, but they’re always very crowded. 

BudDY SYSTEM!! Go to cons with a group of friends and try to make sure one of you is always with a buddy. It’s generally a bad idea to split up in my experience. 

anyway, hope you have fun at the con anon!! 

[sparda3g]

One Piece Chapter 905 Review

When One Piece unexpectedly decided to take a week break without early notice, I was in Ashita no Joe ending pose. All the hype I had from the last chapter was aching me. When it finally arrived, I was resurrected with sheer anticipation. The funny thing is it’s not even for a battle; simply anticipated for more buildup to Reverie. This chapter is filled with good feel moments, charming mood, and the hype level keeps on escalating.

It’s pretty neat how the first chapter of the arc revolved around Luffy and Strawhats with their new title and bounty. The last one was about the Revolutionary Army and what is their next main target. This one explore the lore of the Marines. Oda’s execution is nicely timed to keep the fans at a steady pace rather than dumping all info on the go. It also maintain the interest level or perhaps go beyond.

It’s intriguing to learn more about the aftermath of the Marine and what they have done with the Marineford. Whitebeard’s final message created a huge stir to the Pirate Age, so it’s understandable that the World Government would want them to rebuild with even stronger fort. The design looks like a straight-up castle; what a fitting imagery. It looks like it has a McDonald’s M sign; was Oda hungry for one?

It’s built right at the entrance of the New World. They’re hell bent to make sure no one crosses it. It runs by Admiral Sakazuki; you know, the hated guy that somehow haven’t reached Griffith level of hate. No wonder the building screams tyranny. Speaking of hated guy, he’s still an arrogant prick as ever, bad mouthing Fujitora and anyone in his sight. Sengoku drops by to troll a bit by taunting him about being a fleet admiral. That felt good.

Another intriguing part is the Red Port. It’s the location where there’s a giant wall run by the World Government. It’s basically their exclusive route alas VIP access to jump from one to another. It’s too easy to make a Trump’s joke, so I won’t. I wonder if one day, someone will break one section. Basically, this is where all invited guests go to hop on the bubble lifts, the Bondolas, and lead them to the Holy Land, Mariejois. It feels like we are in tour to learn history, only it’s fictional, but that’s what makes it fascinating.

Oda’s imagination never cease to amuse me with his design. Beel VI from The Russwan Kingdom resembles a Russian dictator; even the name isn’t even trying to hide it. The Matryo Princesses kills me with its concept; only Oda. The Ballywood Kingdom’s King Han Berger is pretty Lincoln in design, but the names and how he reacts is comedy. Queen Molorone from the Tajin Kingdom is one I couldn’t pick up but I heard it’s a reference to Morocco. King Tacos from the Chichano Kingdom is Mexican stereotype at its finest. Clearly, they all are references and they’re intentionally quite laughable. I hope people don’t overact for its obvious comedic fashion.

The main attraction is the Ryugu Kingdom or to be precise, Princess Shirahoshi. Granted, she is large compare to everyone there but her beauty is the selling point. Hopefully no one would take note that she’s a weapon. I have to admit, maybe because of artwork in this chapter or maybe it’s the clothes, but she does look prettier than before. I don’t blame them for falling for her like a celebrity. Even Morgans is compelled by her beauty. I guess the bird who loves big news also loves big woman.

I thought it was interesting to note that the kingdom has been a member with the World Government for over 200 years, and yet they only join the Reverie twice. Unless I’m missing something, but what’s the story behind that. But who cares! We have Goddess Shirahoshi to be amazed. But seriously, it is charming how she is learning the world above sea and how she comes off so sweet and innocent. One that got me laughing and awed is how she thought a tree is a “forest” above ground. Oda knows how to create lovable characters.

He do, however, knows how to create detestable ones as well and right on cue, we are reintroduced with the scumbag of East Blue, Stelly. While Oda can create the best of both worlds, he can combine the two and create a rewarding and satisfying result. I laughed so hard at how Stelly trying to be intimidating but Garp gives no damn and call him little shit. Gold! That’s the best introduction to a character; belittle him as much as he is worth.

I find it amusing how the narrator has to recap Stelly’s backstory for fans to remember, which is fine. What’s hilarious is right after the recap, Garp continues to make him a bona fide loser; actually, he already is. Garp is MVP; he was just killing it left and right. I can see where Luffy got the attitude from. It’s justified for him to be a douche on Stelly after the crap he has done to Sabo, Luffy’s close friend. Neptune gets in to make sure Stelly shuts up. That douche actually thought Neptune was a building. Good for him to pass out; a complete embarrassment.

After the sheer satisfaction, it was time for them to go up. Shirahoshi and Garp waving goodbye is adorable. The old man is truly the MVP. I really like panel shot of the vast view of the sea. It has a warm feeling that you would like to explore one day, so basically, I felt the same way as she did. I believe the future of the kingdom is planted with her wish to live aboveground, resemblance to her late mother’s wish. It was sweet. Maybe Oda tired out drawing the warmth tone hence a break. But seriously, it was a pleasant chapter that is welcoming before entering the Reverie and anything can happen there.

Earlier, it was mentioned that Fujitora is already at Mariejois; however, he is with Admiral Ryokugyu. Oda is teasing his appearance as we only got a shadowy figure of his face. Not sure why no face reveal, but it probably just for the hype sake. Still, the conversation is interesting as he comes off as a layback fellow who doesn’t eat unless it’s a babe does the feeding. Not eating for three years got me curious on what type of ability he has to live without any food. What’s also interesting is more mentions of Vegapunk, but now he has created something that Ouka Shichibukai are no longer needed. These teases are another foundation that One Piece is well known for and I can’t wait for the reveal.

As relaxing this chapter was, it ends with a reminder that the hype remains intact. It’s night and day with Shirahoshi feeling delighted to see birds while dirtbag Stelly is whining like a b-…a stubborn baby, pleading for the guard to kill them all. Too bad for him, because the guard is Sabo. Wow, the plan is in motion. Please Sabo. Ice the cake by knocking your sad excuse brother.

Overall, I thought it was a relaxing and amusing chapter. We got to learn more about the Marine’s side of the lore. There’s a comical introduction to other kingdoms. Shirahoshi was sweet throughout. Garp was great to be charming for the innocence, trolling for the detestable. The artwork is really good with its pleasant mood and delighting tone despite dealing with Stelly. The hype remains strong with Sabo already in motion to declare war and it will grow from there. I don’t know what to expect from this, but the setup has been incredible so far. It’s going to be crazy, I just know it.