#and the reality warper can do whatever they want to the setting SO LONG AS it does not break the in-universe character's understanding of i

[tmae3114]

the other day, a friend of mine invited me over to testplay a paper-and-pencil storytelling game he's been working on for a while and feels like he's finally got a workable version of and one of his mentioned reasons was that "you're a fellow storyteller, I want to see what you'll do with it"

I promptly created a character which violated exactly zero (0) rules but nonetheless obliterated one of the core intended mechanical limitations of the game and I didn't even do that on purpose

after the game, when we were laughing about this, he admitted that one of his other reasons for asking me specifically to testplay was because he knew that "if there was anything that could be broken, you would find it and break it"

[thedivinedemom]

An AU of DC with a mass crossover of PS4 properties.

Provisional name: Players Searching for Detectable Changes (Get the pun?)

The setup:

This is the future of DC, a world where the old guard has slowly withdrawn and the newer generations have risen to the occasion. The original Titans in particular, most of which have formed the new Justice League while many other, very similar teams had started to form across the world. One of which was a resurgence of the Teen Titans, led by an older and purified Raven. She wanted to make the Teen Titans something akin as it was for her, a place to belong and learn to use one's powers.

The first 'class' of such individuals include:

Stargirl (of the now-disbanded JSA and still getting used to the Starrod)

Blue Beetle III (Freshly attached to his alien symbiote and freaking out a bit)

Robin V (to work on his anger issues, mostly at the new Batman's request)

Kaldur (a half Atlantean half metahuman who is struggling with his identity and the surface world, Aquaman feels a kinship for the boy seeing their similarities)

Static Shock (a promising new hero but little experience working outside his city or in groups)

Mary Marvel (she's... she's going through alot. Fresh from a coma, her brother is distant as he acts as the new Wizard, and she may be, sorta kinda, being corrupted by Black Adam's gifted power)

The team was rough and there was plenty of head butting (Mostly between Stargirl and Robin/Damian as one is almost the unanimous leader while the other thinks he should be) but they were getting there. They were more of a clean up crew for the Justice League, they did more than the "kiddie missions" that the Outsiders didn't do, and they meant more than the PR grab that was the International team. Though they didn't seem to amount to more than that. They still did their best, pushing past the silent ridicule, as they went about their missions.

This may be why tempers were so high that day.

One day, outside a little city by the name of Weller's Point, the prisoner transport for the villain Plasmus had an "accident". Released and awakened the creature went on a rampage, heading ever closer to the populated area. Luckily, the mentor of the New Teen Titans could teleport. The new team did fairly well in the fight, though they did struggle a bit as Plasmus was not a being where simple brute force would work. It made the fight tricky and more than a bit... messy.

Messy enough that juvenile and emotionally compromised Mary Marvel lashed out against the downed villain but was stopped by her teammates... things escalated from there. Restraint turned blows and the whole team struggled to stop their powerhouse without hurting her. The ones who do the best are Raven, Stargirl, Blue Beetle, and oddly Static.

While both of the former could use their abilities to restrain her to a very effective degree Static was actively draining her of strength, or at least of the electic aura she was radiating and blasting with. Frustrated, done with the situation, and a bit petty Mary launched her largest attack yet by saying her magical word.

SHAZAM.

Virgil did what he did best, he handled that lightning as it came crashing down towards Mary and the Titans restraining her. Well, he tried. The bolt was just too powerful, too unlike anything he had ever encountered. He could not handle it and it was dissipating, if anything it clung to him or tried to jump towards the girl. He had to get rid of it and he had to get rid of it quickly, safely too if he could help it.

He shoved it into the ground, into the power lines. He did it as carefully as he could, trying to prevent overload or flashover as guided the charge into the power grid.

What happened next was a combination of a few things. 1. The Mystic and transformative properties of the Lightning, 2. It is effectively being filtered through a bang baby, 3. The kryptonite power plant owned by, provided by, and operated by Lexcorp.

This interaction, this new charge, cycling through the power grid interacted strangely with a number of devices but none more so than PlayStation 4s and the devices connected to them. This new electricity changed things, literally. It brought fantasy into reality.

Whatever game was loaded into became a part of our reality in a small way. Sometimes TVs, Controllers, and even the system changed to reflect items from the game but the bigger change came with the Players. If a person was playing their console during the surge then they would become a metahuman with abilities based on the playable character they were playing.

The city, the county even, was now flooded by an abundance of metahumans and items of varying power of devastation. Static felt horrible.

He couldn't help but compare what has happened here to what happened in Dakota City but on a wider scale. And this time it was his fault. His sense of responsibility wouldn't, couldn't, let that stand. He had to fix his mistake and his team was dragged along for the ride.

The story to follow is a mix of Final Crisis and Kingdom Come with a bit of the Young Justice cartoon in events and themes, a few twists and likely a bit lighter in tone but to the DC geeks this should give a rough idea… Maybe a bit of Marvel's Civil War but hopefully not the rushed knee-jerk mess that that ended up being.

But it's here that I start having issues with my planning. One part in worry as outside the set up we start to follow the perspective of OCs (something rarely smiled upon) and another part in wondering which OC to focus on.

Now, one thing I love in fiction is progressive powers and the conflict escalating from the different paths people take in said progression. In that vein, I have a pair of protags in mind as well.

The main two/co-protagonists:

The Lawkeeper- a cop before the change and now a member of a task force made up largely of those affected by the surge. A gamer, a man of color, and a believer of the spirit of the law. He doesn't always get along with his fellow officers but he believes in what the blue does. He believes that an organized response is what is best.

His abilities are based on those of Jesse Fades of Control. Meaning he has tremendous psychic potential but he needs 3 things to reach his full potential.

1.Items to bond to so he can generate these psychic abilities. Jesse's used altered items of her universe to get thematic abilities from them (ex: a safe to generate a shield, a carousel horse for a dash ability, ect). Here he can use items generated by the surge.

2. A patron/partner entity to help guide, give insights, and empower. It also let's the user enforce reality, basically becoming an anti reality warper.

3. A bonded morph weapon or a weapon to come to his hand when called.

The knight- a recent college graduate who instantly decided to go the route of the caped hero. She, after figuring out how to get her powers to work, instantly went the route of a caped crusader. Going out to the streets, saving lives, stopping instances of surge item abuse, and (in the humble opinion of the local Police Department) getting in the way of operations. In her opinion they were taking too long to get things done.

Her abilities are based on those of Prince Noctis of Final Fantasy XV. This means she has tremendous physical and magical potential but like the above she has a number of check marks needed to gain access to the character's full power.

1. A gem/crystal to draw power from.

2. 13 magical weapons to boost strength. The generated game weapons will do and I have most picked out in a way that likely would help the plot progress.

3. The blessing of 5-6 gods.

4. A power ring of some king to channel all this power.

I keep debating the two above as I do like the idea of both of them climbing in power and clashing over conflicting ideals of what to do with their power. At the same time, I think that just smooshing aspects of both into one (which is actually where they started, a single character) and play off the different ideologies of how best to help people from within her friend group and precinct along with internal conflict. Maybe have the one be a fellow officer they butt heads with because of the... precarious nature

Another OC I was thinking on, keeping with the theme of what to do when you have power, is a thief who played Persona 5. Like both of the above they would be crippled in their ability to use their abilities without a way to fake the connection to. In this case, without the Mementos App, they would need an item that could affect or enter the hearts of others. Luckily, more unlucky really, there are plenty of items floating around that can do just that. Namely Keyblades.

Most other Players are an odd mix but most are variations of the Shooter build. Peak physical humans who heal quickly and often have bullet time. But there are enough other variations to cause trouble. Demigods of unreal strength, men and women who can easily tap into a patron for powers from the outside, 2 variations of spider powers, cat eyed men and women who can cast magic with simple gestures, and so much more. But the real issue was the first two, the demigods without a parent to protect them and those easily connected to a divine source.

The disembodied New Gods of Apocalypse were very happy with those groups. For how bad this can be please look at what happened to Mary Marvel in canon Final Crisis.

Thoughts and opinions would be appreciated.

[trickandmxgic]

RULES:  List at least five tropes applicable to your character, then tag others to do the same.(Tropes Wiki)  REPOST! DO NOT REBLOG.

Tagged by: MYSELF i mean ive done it on all my other blogs so Tagging: u sure y not

Magnificent Bastard: If there was ever a character that deserved to be called “Magnificent”, that character is the Magnificent Bastard. The Magnificent Bastard is what happens when you combine The Chessmaster, The Trickster, and the Manipulative Bastard: bold, charismatic, independent, audacious and genius. Capturing the audience with their charisma, incredible intellect, mastery of manipulation, and boldness of action, this character is a show-stealer, demanding your reverence at every turn.  While usually an antagonist, especially if they’re the Big Bad, the Magnificent Bastard can be aligned on either side of a conflict. Hell, they’re so amazing they tend to forgo the idea of good and evil altogether, instead following their own agenda, choosing to help whichever side will further their goals. However, it’s true that their penchant for manipulation at the expense of others means it’s common for them to be a Villain, Villain Protagonist, or at least an Anti-Hero, but purely heroic examples exist. Either way, they’re usually in charge of whatever organization they’re involved with, or might as well be.

“ Outsmarts everyone and looks stylish while doing it. “

The Strategist: A character whose primary job is to think up intricate and ingenious ways to defeat the enemy. The Strategist is often in a supporting role, but may be the hero as well. In a supporting role, the Strategist is basically The Smart Guy on turbo, although he or she will—as a general rule—be less likely to physically partake in any of the plans they think up. The Strategist might come across as an unmitigated disaster, should the heroes come to rely on his or her advice too much. The Strategist may also take center stage. As a hero, The Strategist’s clever tactical tricks drive the story. A main character Strategist will face overwhelming odds, again and again. The enemy may have difficulty believing The Strategist can possibly win, but by bending the rules a little, dusting off their knowledge of military history, and maybe pulling a few dirty tricks, The Strategist comes out on top, or at least alive.

“It is only one who is thoroughly acquainted with the evils of war that can thoroughly understand the profitable way of carrying it on.”

Reality Warper: Ever heard of the Superpower Lottery? Well, kid, you just won the grand prize. You know those pesky laws of physics? Or that annoying thing called causality? Einstein's theory of relativity? Quantum physics? You can laugh and say, "screw you" to them now. Reality is officially out to lunch, and you've picked the restaurant and menu it gets to "choose". This means you can create things out of nothing, change already existing things, erase things from existence, and generally force reality to obey your will just by thinking about it. The key issue here is how far one can take this, and in Guo Jia’s case, he can take it far, but not too crazily far. With his transfiguration magic, his mastery over it, Guo Jia can bend matter and energy pretty much to his will-- he can take hold of the matter around him in it’s various forms, turn it into energy, and then turn that energy into  just about anything he wants, assuming the object or item he has in mind is something he’s seen in person at least once. This can allow Guo Jia to do some pretty wild things, but he is unfortunately (or maybe fortunately for everyone else) limited by his illness, meaning that his magic will take too far a toll on him and kill him before he’s able to do anything truly crazy like tearing the time-space continuum apart or something on that scale. Using any of his magic too much stands a chance of making him seriously ill or killing him, actually, but his transfiguration magic especially. So sure he’s dangerous, very dangerous, but not on any crazy cosmic level, not on his own.

"Can change the way the world is put together.“

The Hedonist: This character is strongly motivated by a desire to be happy and experience various kinds of pleasure. They seldom consider or care for the long term effects their actions may have on them, let alone the short term effects they may bring upon others. Guo Jia’s lack of consideration for his long term well being and the effects his actions have on others when it comes to seeking his various pleasures (flirting, drinking, partying, warfare, etc) come from the knowledge that he will probably die young, and therefore the ‘here and now’ is all that is important. He has to enjoy every day like it could be his last, because it very well could be.

“ Someone motivated by desires for sensual pleasures.”

Number Two: Throughout all his timelines, Guo Jia inevitably ends up as the right hand man to whoever it is he is working for or serves, simply by way of how useful he is, how effective his advice and strategies can be, and how unflinchingly loyal he can be. Guo Jia’s dynamic with Cao Cao in his original timeline is a good example of this, where Cao Cao came to consult Guo Jia first on everything, and as a result, ended up conquering northern China against odd’s that would have otherwise seemed impossible. Cao Cao had many, many talented individuals in their employ of course, some who excelled past Guo Jia in certain areas, but even so Guo Jia literally became the most instrumental person Cao Cao had in his ranks. (if he’s serving a more boss Guo Jia probably becomes more akin to The Dragon, but same thing just about just different alignments lmao).

“ The Leader's right-hand man or second-in-command. ”

Incurable Cough of Death: A cough that is usually accompanied by nasty amounts of blood from the mouth, that may also involve collapsing. The character afflicted with this ailment will probably try to hide it and will usually succeed until they actually pass out and/or die. Thematically, the unnamed disease tends to act like pneumonia or tuberculosis, even in futuristic settings where those real diseases might be cured. Other times it’s a hyped up version of unfortunately very real symptoms of chronically overworked people. For Guo Jia, its not an actual sickness as much as it is an incompatibility between his soul and body, but it functions like an illness and he, and just about everyone else, believes it to be one. It causes him to get very sick, cough up blood, etc-- illness-like enough for this trope.

“Who coughs, dies.”

Honorable mentions:  Alchemy Is Magic, Awesomeness by Analysis, The Alcoholic, Heroic Sacrifice, Improbable Weapon User, Divine Parentage, Anti Magic, Sadistic Choice, Glass Cannon, Meaningful Name, Undying Loyalty, Necessarily Evil

[sailor-cresselia]

Zi-O 19 and 20: lol whoops waited a long time, might as well do them at once!

~We now bring you our Quiz Saga Liveblog.~

WhiteWoz’s Storytime Void is infuriating. Both because it’s so visually cluttered with all of the times displayed, and because the MULTITUDE of ticking sounds.

I love that the boys don’t have to stay still to transform. Seeing their transformation backdrops follow them like this, as their running, it’s great!

(I’m still pretty sure that Oma Zi-O’s bizarre chair is his transformation backdrop, by the way. At least, assuming that he’s not Another Zi-O.)

Is that a GOOGLY EYE on Another Quiz’s forehead?!

Sougo’s using the gun mode an awful lot lately.

“That monster is mine.” Yeah, it sure is, buddy. It SURE IS.

Hm, don’t think I noticed last time, but “The lessons of the past can’t be clouded by lies” is what’s playing over the shot of Rider Woz in the OP. Does that apply to the lessons of the future, as well?

Hey, Kamen Rider Quiz. You’re a little overpowered, there. We’ve already got ONE reality warper affecting our actions. We don’t need two, thank you very much.

I can FEEL the ‘We are not okay with this fight’ just RADIATING off of both Sougo and Geiz as this guy’s attacking them.

Geiz is still immediately here for the Woz’s nicknames, and Sougo’s getting a kick out of ticking off ‘his’ Woz. I love it.

The Another Rider and the Original Rider both existing at the same time… I haven’t seen the rest of the episode, of course, but I’d guess it’s a combination of “someone brought Actual Quiz back in time”, “Sequence Breaking”, and “The rules of time travel aren’t nearly as set in stone as they have been led to believe.”

(Yes, I’m sticking to that particular gun, come Helheim or high water.)

Sougo has a point – BlackWoz doesn’t come along for the fights, like, ever. He didn’t last time against Another Shinobi, not really. Not on his own; he was following Sougo to try and keep him away. So YES, Sougo’s calling you out on being out of character.

HI YES have I mentioned I really like when this season does ‘parallel version splitscreen’ shots? Like, during the Gaim arc with the two Sougos, and during “Fourze and Faiz” with Sougo and Geiz in the two respective time planes. It’s GREAT.

It’s a thing that the past few seasons have done, actually – these sort of split-views of characters. Ex-Aid used it a number of times for Emu and Parad’s conversations when they were fighting each other, particularly as Mighty Brothers XX L and R, where they went back and forth showing the suits in the ‘real world’ and the civilians in a mirrory, shadowy mindscape. Then, in Another Ending, there were several times during Genm vs Lazer that Kiriya and Kuroto were juxtaposed with their Rider forms. THAT was played a lot in the second half of Build – scenes alternating between having the armor and the civilian talking in the middle of a fight. To say nothing of the Takumi/Sento swaps, where they would sometimes change which actor was present when Takumi was talking. Sometimes. I really like that ‘form meets function’ aspect – remind the viewer who is under the mask, or who’s in the pilots seat, and it’s just really cool. The synchronized alt-selves talking is just another extension of that, be it a time-displaced Sougo or a Woz from a different timeline altogether.

… um.

Actually, whatever happened to “3 days from now” Sougo?

Suuuure, these are the only two options. Riiiight. “Take Quiz’s power (and totally kill your friend)” or “No More Mutants Riders.” Yeaaaah, we’ll get RIGHT on that, thanks Woz’s.

AHAHAHA NO. Uncle Tokiwa… ‘given how long it’s been stopped’ that watch is a Tragic Keepsake for Quiz, isn’t it? I mean, he’s from the future and all, so.

“Oh! Sougo, you have a lot of friends who like clocks! This one can stay for lunch too!”

“Um, uncle, no, this one has directly tried to kill me, actually, so maybe not-”

Ohhh. Right… Assuming the ‘riders lose their memories without their powers’ is true, which the characters all still believe is, even though i’m not so sure…

Taking Quiz’s powers while he’s… um, 2040 minus 2019 is…

Taking Quiz’s powers while he’s 21 years in the past is NOT a good thing.

“You will soon be forced to make some rather merciless decisions. Consider this practice.”

HEY WHITE WOZ. I’m not liking your expressions here. That’s waay more sketchy than someone who ‘supports’ their ‘savior’ has any business looking. Like, not even a creepy adoration sketchy, just. Plain creepy.

Oh no, that’s right, Another Quiz is Actual Quiz’s father. And now Mondo says that ‘he was talented, according to [his] mother.” Which means that in the proper timeline that he’s from… he never knew his father.

(Re-Ray plays quietly in the background)

Sougo has ZERO points. Poor Tsukuyomi only has three. Mondo quit it, you’re the GUEST here. Show some mercy on your poor, moronic host.

Geiz, what’re ya doing sneaking downstairs? (It could only be Geiz, because he’s wearing pants that fit.)

(gasp) GEIZ! You’re not wearing your harness! I was starting to think it was part of you!

(Congratulations! You didn’t do a violence!)

~skipping to the fight~

INSERT SONG: GEIZ TIME!

Okay, but really, when are they releasing these? And how many more are we going to get? Because so far I’m liking what I’m hearing, from this one and from Sougo’s in ep 16.

Not really sure what those sound effects are with your Ex-Aid armor today, though, Geiz.

Decade!OOO is Tajador. We want our bird.

BUT. Sougo’s movements are… eerily Eiji-like right now.

Hey, didn’t I say something about ‘when he stops being a knock-off, that’s when we need to worry?’ That would have been… right, last time was when I was watching the raw of episode 15. When Sougo was pulling off a pretty decent version of the Rabbit Tank Sparkling finisher. And then in 16, he was using Mighty Brothers XX pretty accurately, as well.

HM.

They go for the finisher, and the music stops dead when Hora freezes time. It’s disconcerting enough when that they do that with the background music. When it’s VOCALS that cut out, it’s terrifying.

Neither Geiz or Sougo are meant to take attacks from other Kamen Riders. It’s why Geiz was so poorly off after that curb-stomp Sougo gave him in the first part of “OOO and Genm.” It’s why Decade dealt so much more damage to both of them. And they just got hit with each other’s finishers.

WhiteWoz cares not for your puny ‘morals’ or ‘sense of right and wrong’ or ‘geiz’s growing realization that he’s not going to be able to go through with killing zi-o’.

WhiteWoz cares not for anyone.

Hey, Showy McSynth Pop? I don’t think it counts as winning if you hack the timeline to let yourself win.

So, Quiz’s backstory is breaking my heart. He just wants to see if his father actually loved his mother. That’s tragic. “Until she knows the truth, I don’t think my mother will be able to move on.”

About as equally tragic? Sougo’s line. “I think I understand.” said hesitantly, as he sits down, with restrained movements. Usually, when he’s Sougo (as opposed to Zi-O), the kids arms are almost constantly in some sort of motion. But he folded them and sat quietly down.

Sougo… what happened to your parents?

Geiz, baby, please tell me that the attack is at least partly a stunt? That you talked to Mondo before you guys came here?

Geiz??

(enter episode 20!)

We’re back to BlackWoz’s Storytime Vault! Hooray!

So: Sougo gets BlackWoz to help him and Mondo get out, via nifty Magic Scarf powers. Hora brings Another Quiz with her. And WhiteWoz is a total creeper calling them cowards.

The sunlight light overtaking Geiz and going into the 20 Rider Kicks logo is GREAT. Not only is it a great method for a transition, but it keeps us from seeing what Geiz is feeling – which it needs to, right now.

I’m pretty sure that was a sigh of relief from Geiz when Sougo and company left, after all.

The sequence breaking Another Riders seem to be a lot MORE painful to become than the Regular Another Riders… and those were already painful to watch. (Another Quiz’s eyes flashed red and blue briefly when he transformed, that’s nifty!)

Yup, I was right. The watch is a Tragic Keepsake. It was Mondo’s dads, and I think it broke today.

Sougo shows off his ‘Low INT, High WIS’ stats again. Did terribly at the quiz last episode, but can tell that Mondo’s not just here for his mothers sake. (Sougo, what happened to your parents?)

Geiz asks Tsukuyomi what Sougo would do. Well, he asks what “Zi-O” would do, and I eagerly await the day we get to see “Zi-O” become “Sougo” for him. Please let it happen. I’m still upset that nobody expect for Kasumi and Kazumin ever called Ryuuga by his name, this is almost as bad.

When she says that he’d try and prioritize Mondo’s feelings, he replies that “I guess we’ll have to fight. Make sure you tell him that.”

I don’t think that’s what you actually mean, Geiz. I think you’ve got a plan.

I hope you’ve got a plan. … one that you’ll be able to follow through on, because we know full well how that original plan is going.

And through these last two scenes – inside and outside of 9-to-5, the piano version of Over Quartzer is playing. It’s a thing of beauty.

Hm. “I guess we’ll have to fight”… Geiz, you were talking about you and Sougo, as opposed to you and Mondo, weren’t you? Because you went straight for Zi-O, not for Quiz. Clever boy.

Wait, when did you get Build?! I get that the watches are interchangeable, but you’ve been running Ex-Aid a lot lately, too.

(Now I kind of want to know if the Cross-Z and Genm watches are compatible with the Decade adapter…)

Sougo took a BEATING with that Build finisher, didn’t he…?

Nah, not as much as he could have… it looks like Geiz was pulling his punches, so to speak.

Sougo pulls the ‘which Woz are you?’ gag, and actually gets BlackWoz to refer to himself as such. Sougo gets a kick out of that, Tsukuyomi is dully surprised, and Woz is disgusted with himself.

Heehee… neither of them are telling their respective Woz’s what their own plans are. And neither of them are actually agreeing with their respective Woz’s goals.

Pity the respective Woz’s don’t acknowledge that last fact.

Sougo asks what Geiz would do… and when Tsukuyomi tells him that Geiz asked her the same respective question about him… that seems to tell Sougo everything he needs to know.

Low INT, High WIS. Sougo, you’re a deceptively devious little twig, aren’t you?

(WhiteWoz, knocking Hora down wasn’t necessary. Because I don’t believe for a SECOND that Geiz did THAT.)

Sougo, you deceptively observant little twig.

“So… Tsukuyomi said that Geiz asked her what I would do. I know I would let them interact. So, if he’s doing what I would do, then that’d be why he attacked me up there. So now I have to hold up his end of what he would do, and go straight to getting rid of the obstacle. So, I’ll take on RiderWoz, and let Geiz lead the father-son chat.”

So… The HeiGen Forever movie IS, in fact, canon, then? Because that’s the Double Ridewatch right there. And- pft – the Gaia Memory shoulder pads are temporarily little stick figures – pftHAHAHA! And they do the pre-transformation pose before attaching – this is absurd oh my god!

Of COURSE beating Another Quiz could work with Kamen Rider Quiz!

If a Riders power can only exist at one point in time; which still sounds fake, but I’ll allow it for now; the one that comes later seems to take priority. All the previous Another Riders were made after the Proper Rider already existed. That’s why the watches that our riders use had to be picked up in the present day – that way, they came into existence after the Another Rider did.

The exception to that is Shinobi, who didn’t exist at all yet, and was rendered impossible by being his own Another Rider.

In this case, Kamen Rider Quiz technically is the later iteration. He became a Rider in the future, and he’s here via time travel. So, chronologically speaking, Another Quiz came into existence in 2019, but Kamen Rider Quiz does not exist yet. So he can be considered the ‘replacement’.

SOUGO NO DO THE FINISHER IN THE LIGHT I WANT TO SEE IT PROPE-

wait it’s a Double finisher with CYCLONE JOKER? Maybe I don’t want to see it properly, Joker’s finishers are usually borderline body-horror…

Okay no, we’re good, it’s still iffy but it’s not nearly Joker Extreme levels of iffy, so we’re fine. I am A-OK with this finisher being a bootleg.

RiderWoz is OP. Sougo’s REALLY hurting after that.

Sougo and Geiz are. Not. Meant. To. Fight. Riders.

This scene with Mondo questioning his father is absolutely heartwrenching you guys. Made even more so by the piano version of Over Quartzer picking up where it left off earlier.

And then RiderWoz just has to come in and ruin everything. And use some TOTAL overkill on those attacks – oh GOD with actual lightning bolts and everything, and I had thought Quiz’s attacks were brutal when HE was doing them?

WhiteWoz cares not for your puny human morals or ethics.

Hey. HEY. What did those two watches just DO to Geiz? The bizarre vision thing is one problem as is, the electric shock is another, but something ELSE about that just effected him. Poorly.

WhiteWoz is in some serious trouble.

Hey. HEY. ProperWoz. What is that watch you just handed to Uncle Tokiwa? Why do you have Sougo’s upgrade?

I am glaring in the directions of BOTH Woz iterations. You’re BOTH super sketchy. But at least the first Woz is a more tolerable type of sketchy. At least he doesn’t seem to delight in other peoples pain.

SO I’m having fun with this again! Just have to hold out hope that they know what they’re doing with the previous riders, and keep going!

After all...

Mondo doesn’t seem to have lost his memories, now does he?

[sparklyjojos]

--[Disco Wednesdayyy 21/?] In which Nils recounts a case related to the Styrons, the detectives talk a lot about higher dimensions, and can we just ditch Disco and make Nils the lead character already? [tw: suicide, mentioned csa]--

After the Mizutarou sequence, Disco comes back to the hotel and finds little Kozue sleeping peacefully like nothing happened, next to a half-started box of chocolates that Shakuko probably got her. So maybe really nothing bad happened and she’s been here all this time. Maybe her memory about the Black Bird Man’s assault (the one that Kikyou found) has been fake all along too? [You know, I can’t help but feel like this is a poor cope-out... well, let’s wait and see how this unfolds.]

--

Disco jumps back to the Pine House just in time to see an ambulance arrive to take young Mitamura and still unconscious Daibakusho to the hospital. [Man, that’s gonna be one awkward conversation if the latter wakes up.] The detectives Disco revived earlier are all here and thank for the help. Hakkyoku announces that from now on, it’d be inappropriate for them to call themselves “great detectives”. [That would be the answer to Tsukumojuku’s question in Jorge Joestar as to whether you can still call yourself a great detective if someone gets to the solution before you -- it seems that no, you can’t. At least before the next novel...?]

Disco asks Nils about the case he solved that concerned the Styrons. Unfortunately Nils can’t reveal any details, as it’s one of the things Styron-related gang guys don’t want him to share, and if he lets something slip out, they’d detonate a small bomb they implanted in his body. [Oh Jesus. Nils actually mentioned that earlier when they talked after Kiyuu’s reasoning, but I thought that was just a joke. Please don’t hurt my precious son! But I like that Nils is such a successful detective that he probably knows a bunch of government secrets at eleven.]

Disco uses his space-time warping powers to safely take out and destroy the bomb, because I guess he can do anything the plot demands now. To be fair, Disco believes that since Nils (like the other great detectives present) underwent the same ‘realization’ about space-time as Disco and changed his ‘worldview’, he could probably remove the bomb himself, but it’d be scary as hell to fiddle with explosives in your own body.

Nils can now talk freely about the case in Columbia he once solved. Seven of JJ Styron’s underlings had been found suffocated in their backyards, one leg tied to a tree branch so they were hanging upside down. Styron believed they could have been killed by a traitor (you know, gang wars and shit). Nils noticed that each time the rope was long enough to reach the victim’s bedroom. He put forward the theory that the murderer would kill each man in his bedroom, strung him between the tree and the house, then use the body like a bridge and cut the rope connected to the house, which left the victim looking like he died while hanging from the tree. All the other branches on this and a nearby tree were cut beforehand, so that they wouldn’t get in the way.

However, later Nils realized that this could have been a series of suicides. It’s highly probable that the seven men did something JJ Styron would be really angry about, and apparently suicide is a better option than having an angry JJ Styron have a go at you. Nils recalls seeing pictures of some things Styron did to people he didn’t like and their families -- these photos weren’t pretty. The seven men couldn’t just kill themselves, since then Styron would suspect something and maybe take revenge on their families, so they had to fake a serial killing.

Apparently JJ Styron was following Nils’s movements closely, since he seemed to realize the truth too. The two had a long phone call, in which JJ Styron gave him a long lecture about “doing your job” and “responsibilities” and this kinda stuff, forbid Nils from contacting the victims’ families, and told him to go back to Japan already. Nils answered that guess what, in that case he’s going to keep in constant touch with the families, and do all he can to help everyone and one day take everything away from Styron. [I didn’t think I could love Nils more but I was mistaken, holy shit.]

Granted, this was kinda a poor threat, since it’s not like Styron doesn’t have enough influence on bureaucrats and the government to not care about some kid. In the end Styron seemed to just go “eh, whatever”, maybe because he knew about the implanted bomb and that Nils couldn’t say shit to anyone. But so far the victims’ families seemed to be doing okay, and just like promised Styron donated money to charity as payment for the case. [I don’t know if it was a one-time thing, but if not... You’re telling me this kid doesn’t even take money for his detective work, but instead has the client donate the right amount to charity? WHY IS NILS SO DAMN AWESOME?!]

--

There’s something about that case that Nils didn’t notice before, but that Sakurazuki is able to point out because of his ‘weekend job’ of fortune-telling. The way each victim was hanging from the tree resembles the Hanged Man card from the Tarot de Marseille, down to the cut down branches of the trees. So the long rope wasn’t meant to connect the tree to the bedroom, but two trees together, to create the image from the Tarot card.

Needless to say, Nils is pretty shocked at this development and asks Sakurazuki what the card means in Tarot: suicide, death? Nope, it’s something much more interesting: a portrayal of the god Odin, who in pursuit of knowledge stabbed himself with his spear Gungnir and then spent 9 days hanging upside down from Yggdrasil, after which he gained new perspective on things and invented runes.

According to Sakurazuki, upright Hanged Man symbolizes ascetic practices, endurance, training, and service [I would add ‘self-sacrifice’ and ‘surrender’ here]. Reversed Hanged Man means “wasted effort”, “useless perseverance”, or “failing a trial”. Sakurazuki proposes that since the victims were found hanging down, so in the ‘upright’ position, maybe they had wanted to say that they had chosen to endure suffering for the good of their families.

Disco thinks about how weird the card is. If the man’s upside down, he’s also ‘upright’, and when he’s standing normally, he’s ‘reversed’. ...did this mean that his Guilt, that horrifying man in the ceiling mirror, was somehow the one ‘upright’? Or maybe Disco has just been standing in an upside down universe all this time?...

“So, Mr. Wednesdayyy...” Nils starts. “Was even that case supposed to be a calling for you? Did everything happen just for your sake? All those people dying, me being summoned there and led to wrong conclusions...”

To change the topic, Disco turns to the recently revived detectives and asks why they stabbed themselves. They don’t have a clue. Everyone’s memories around the moment of death are fuzzy, as if they went through the motions without thinking. They can recall a vague feeling “like it was necessary to do this”. Almost as if there was some higher power at play here... Well, if the Black Bird Man could edit time, then maybe there was another powerful entity around that caused all this, someone that also ‘invited’ Disco here.

Dezuumi interrupts them for a second and asks Disco to please go and explain this mess of a case to the police somehow, but Disco just tells Dezuumi to do it himself. (“Huh? But I didn’t even do anything?” “Then you’re gonna do something now. Don’t worry, I’ve read an article from the future which gives you credit for solving the case, wanna see?” “I’m sorry what”)

--

Disco asks the detectives to think about the important question: how could one possibly go outside time?

But of course, the others are not really on his level of understanding space-time yet, so Disco makes a little demonstration first. He jumps in space-time from person to person so fast that it looks like there are multiple Discos, each touching a different person’s arm at the same time (quite a feat considering we have 13 detectives and 19 Angel Bunnies in all). Of course he’s not cloning himself or anything, it just looks like he’s in many places, just like a moving electric fan seems to form a circular surface.

After this demonstration, the detectives finally grasp how space-time jumping works and are now having a hell of a time playing around with it. Dezuumi and Neko Neko are acting out a living 4koma with a set of their own copies in each ‘frame’, while Nils splits into three Nilses, all embracing Disco from different sides [awwww, but also HELL YEAH MY PRECIOUS SON IS A REALITY WARPER NOW].

--

Let’s tackle the subject of ‘going outside time’. Nils says that if their opponent is ‘outside time’, it means he’s an extradimensional being they’re not able to perceive. A 2D manga character wouldn’t understand there’s a world ‘outside the page’. But we who live in 3D/4D can shape the 2D page as we please, and manipulate 3D space as well. Following this logic, a 5D being would exist ‘outside time’ and be able to change the lower four dimensions freely.

Sakurazuki proposes to call the 5th dimension ‘consciousness’ or ‘awareness’. Spacetime would then be contained ‘inside consciousness’, which would explain how the changes in their perception were able to change how they interacted with the Pine House. One could say they’re able to touch and manipulate things ‘inside their consciousness’, too.

Here Disco thinks, I quote: “I've already touched 'consciousness'... and, well, fucked a ‘consciousness’ in the ass. That's right. I was able to touch Kozue's Feelings.”

[...He treats it like it’s a joke. He really does. Y’know, I was willing to give Disco a chance to redeem himself after the last part, but no, even after his subconscious outright told him ‘hey dude, you better think about what you’re doing cause you’re this fucking close to being a child abuser’, he doesn’t care. Please step away from Nils, Disco, you’re not worthy of his hugs.]

Anyway... the detectives draw a chart of dimensions. The circle representing a ‘point’ (1D) is contained inside the circle representing a ‘line’ (2D), which is inside the ‘surface’ circle, which is inside ‘space’, inside ‘time’, inside ‘consciousness’. [They will be adding even more circles as their reasoning progresses throughout this scene.]

We have defined 5 dimensions. What could be the 6th one? Nils says that outside ‘consciousness’, there should be ‘unconsciousness’, so things they don’t know about. Neko proposes to call it ‘wisdom’, to show that it’s the sum of everything that can potentially be known. So the 6th dimension is ‘wisdom’.

Sakurazuki believes the 7th dimension would therefore be some sort of ‘creation’, ‘invention’, something that cannot ever be known. [I guess in a way of a god whose nature is impossible to be grasped by a human brain or something.] Nils isn’t that convinced about it -- wouldn’t that still fall under ‘things we don’t know’? In the end everyone makes a quick vote whether or not they want to stick with ‘creation/invention’ as the 7th dimension, and everyone votes yes. Even Nils, who met with surprised looks just says bashfully that “Um, I guess the idea of ‘creation’ surpassing ‘wisdom’ does sound really romantic...”. [Some of the female Angel Bunnies react to this with “ahhhh how cute!”, thank you for voicing my opinion, ladies.]

Is there an even higher, 8th dimension? Hongou throws propositions like ‘love’, ‘dreams’ or ‘logic’, but they’re quickly dismissed. Hakkyoku thinks about what things can be seen as controlling the shape of ‘creation’. If we consider a work of literature as a ‘creation’, then its shape is controlled by things like ‘internal logic’, ‘aesthetics’, ‘safety of a topic’, ‘taste of the audience’...

Disco proposes to call the 8th dimension ‘like and dislike’. After all, a person’s sense of ‘liking or disliking’ something influences his ‘creation’, his ‘wisdom’ and ‘consciousness’, and can change the shape of the world. As the 8th circle is added to the graph, Disco thinks that it’s gotta be the last one, so now he has to think really hard about how to proceed -- how to ‘show that the event of Kozue getting hurt [by the Black Bird Man] didn’t happen’. [...I guess he’s trying to find a way to force the universe to retcon that event?...]

But then Mercury C shows up out of nowhere, like he’s always fond of doing, grabs a marker and adds something else to the graph...

...the last, 9th circle of ‘Mercury’. Actually, it’s not a circle, it’s a giant letter C and ‘Mercury’, together making up the name ‘Mercury C’.

“How’s that? See, it says I’m controlling everything in the world!” Mercury C laughs at his own horrendous joke.

Disco thinks that you know what, this dude may not have a shred of common sense, but things kinda ran out of common sense a while ago, so maybe it’s good he’s hanging around. There must be some meaning even to his presence.

“Hey, detective,” Mercury C throws towards Disco, “let’s go back to the Pineapple Home! But this time instead of cozing up to Norma, let’s kill that motherfucker with the glasses!”

[Which sounds awesome, but we’ll be sitting in the Pine House discussing confusing stuff for a while more. See you next time on “How The Hell Does Space-Time Work’.]

[exitiumparit]

This headcanon is titled: So You’ve Met The Moon: What Next?! Or: time to (finally) talk about Yué’s powers.

Here are the highlights of the foundations of the concept of her character and her magic:

She’s the most powerful when you can’t see her, but you’re also the safest at this time

She’s a reality warper 

Depending on what form she’s in, Yué works with varying levels of reality warping vs omniscience

She’s drawn to chaos; depending on how much she likes you, she’s either going to want to resolve it or exacerbate it, but usually this is still in her opinion of what is in said person’s best interests.

Yué works in three forms:

The Moon

It’s important to know that while Yué will refer to herself as the Moon (referring to the physical object in the sky as ‘I’ and what not) but she’s not actually the rock in the sky. She’s the spirit of the Moon and acts and walks and talks like something to be summoned. If she’s not being summoned, she’s existing in the sky.

When in the sky, Yué has total omniscience over whatever happens at night and sees anything that happens there. Over the thousands of years she’s been around, she knows everything that’s ever happened at night, while in the sky.

If you piss her off, she can send vague energies back to Earth to fuck with your day, but she has 0 accuracy or aim. She can’t really control her ability to reality warp and if anything, you might hear her laugh in your ear or be in a shit mood, and that���s really only if there’s a full moon*

*Moon phases HCs later in this post

Mortal-appearing (she looks like a human)

This is Yué’s preferred form. Most of what she can do as a celestial being when she has full access to her reality warping gifts, she can do when she looks like Fan BingBing on the ground. If she’s on the ground, she’s sacrificing her total omniscience she has in the sky for the greater control of her reality warping powers. When she’s appearing human, she looks very normal. She is blind but does not have ‘Daredevil’ type of sight--she does not have any physical definition of sight, but she still is retaining enough of an omniscience that is related to emotions more than actual actions. You can tell she’s blind; none of her omniscience gives her the ability to act and behave’ as what she isn’t. Her reality warping doesn’t change how she perceives the world, too--she can make you think she isn’t, but from her POV she’s still blind.

(Ex: In the sky, Yue knows anything that has ever happened at night. On the ground, she no longer has omniscience at night, but she has much more clarity of how you are feeling and the sources behind your emotions.)

Yue’s not the strongest in her reality warping or her omniscience in this form, but she’s the most discreet and she finds the most entertainment in humans’ activities when she’s directly on the ground. Re: the reality warping. Yué’s powers include but are not limited to: summoning visions, making herself invisible to other people, creating items/people/sounds to be witnessed. They’re strong and you aren’t likely to be able to resist what she’s making you see.*

Other fun facts: Yué can speak any language and appear with any accent. She usually tries to appear with what will be closest aligned to what she wants--for example, if she wants to befriend someone that feels most comfortable among quiet voices in their own accent, that’s how she’ll speak.

*However, as a mun, if she’s going to try and fuck around with your muse, I’m going to talk to you first. Basic respect and all, y’all.

Pure spirit/Celestial (she looks mostly like a human)

This is when Yué is strongest as a reality warper, but she sacrifices almost all of her omniscience to be in this form. If Yué appears as a celestial spirit, she still tangibly looks like a human, but she’s all glowy and ethereal and no longer trying to blend in.

You are not likely to be able to resist her if she’s trying to create a binding vision at you, but you can wait her out. She’s impatient and fickle and if you last long enough, she’s going to quit. For all of Yué’s ego, she doesn’t like to appear in this form for more than a few seconds at a time, mostly as a show, because she no longer has the ability to tap into people’s emotions. Her reality warping is stronger, but she cannot rely on her ability to read humans to support their accuracy.

Chaos (What motivates her)

Yué is drawn towards chaos first. She’s going to naturally be drawn to things that are not going well and she’s going to have an instinct, at first, to help fix it. Usually, at least. Sometimes, she’s going to be very entertained by what’s going on and wants to pay attention at a closer level to see the full mechanics of what’s going on. If she continues to feel for you, she’s going to try and fix whatever is chaotic. Note: for all of her omniscience, a fault of hers is that she still sees mortal humans as incorrectly wired creatures. What she guesses that will be a fix isn’t always going to be accurate.

However, if you piss her off, she’s going to try and make it worse for you. She’s fickle.

Moon Phases

Yué is actually affected very little by the phases, unless she’s in the sky. As the phases are affected by light and she’s still the Moon no matter what (yada yada yada), the phases are really only ever going to give her slightly better aim. However, as part of her personality, she’s just going to like being more visible in the sky. Again. Ego.

Special note: eclipses. Yué is overwhelmingly in love with the Sun. ( @enneads‘s Sun, to be specific). An Eclipse is the only time she ever can connect with the Sun and see her--if she’s summoned away at this time, she’s going to be pissed.

Speaking of:

Summoning Yué

An important part of Yué’s personality is that she wants attention and thinks of herself as worthy of worship. If you call for her, she’s actually very likely to come to you and she will do so happily. (Most of the time. Again: fickle.)

However, in terms of formal summoning (meaning you’re bringing her out of the sky and she’s not choosing to), it’s very tricky. Her preferred name is Yuéhai, which matters. If you call her directly by her name, she’s much more likely to come to you, which means she’s not likely to give it out. (Think of it as spamming her celestial phone.) But, to yank her spirit out of the sky and to the Earth, you’ve got to trick her to staying on the Earth after the moon has “set” in sky. This is difficult, as she’s always very aware of the Sun. Without the physical moon in the visible Sky*, Yue cannot go back to it. While she will still have all of her powers, she will be “locked” into appearing as a human and has a set amount of celestial energy on reserve until the moon is back in the sky. If she runs out, her powers are voided until the moon is back in the sky.

*Those weird instances of the Sun and the Moon being in the sky at the same time will make her very happy. She likes being on the Earth during these times because the Sun is in her sky, too. Congratulations, places with long hours of daylight, the Moon is also naturally drawn towards you.

[aion-rsa]

How X of Swords Changed the Marvel Universe Future of the X-Men

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After 22 chapters, Marvel’s massive X-Men crossover event, X of Swords has come to a close, and with it, the Dawn of X era. The story touched every book in the X-Men family and brought us answers to a few of the lingering questions that were casually tossed at the audience during House of X/Powers of X. But X of Swords asked more questions than it answered. And heading into the next phase of X-Mastermind Jonathan Hickman and the rest of the magnificent team of X-Men creators’ big plan, that’s a very good thing.

To set the stage going into Reign of X, we’ve decided to lay out some of the big questions asked in X of Swords (and by the Reign of X teaser image you see at the top of the page).

WHAT HAPPENED IN X OF SWORDS?

X of Swords was primarily three stories: Betsy Braddock’s journey towards fully becoming Captain Britain; Saturnyne trying to get Betsy to accept being Captain Britain (and trying to nail her brother Brian, the previous Captain Britain); and the payoff to the Krakoa/Arakko schism first introduced in Powers of X. It did all of those things magnificently, telling what ended up being a definitive Apocalypse story reuniting him with his long lost family, and reestablishing the Captain Britain Corps of multiversal guardians under Saturnyne’s control. 

Along the way, the story also gave the X-team of creators a chance to cut loose and have a blast. The setup promised what was essentially a season of Dragon Ball Super in an X-Men comic: the battle for control of Krakoa and Arakko would come down to a tournament between 10 champions for each side, with each champion wielding a unique sword. The first half of the crossover followed several heroes as they tracked down their blades, and gave us some wonderful character moments with Magik, Cypher, Storm, the Braddocks, and others. 

But once the tournament started, it ended up being the fighting equivalent of Whose Line Is It Anyway – the rules were made up and the points didn’t matter. There were definitely sword fights, and when they happened they were usually excellent, but there was also a drinking contest between Storm and Wolverine, and Gorgon and Magik did a jigsaw puzzle together, Doug married Bei the Blood Moon, and Gorgon banged a boulder. 

When it came down to it, X of Swords was an Excalibur story, and it honored that book’s roots by being multiversal, very silly, and full of effective character growth. And very, very good.

In the end, Krakoa won the tournament when Apocalypse defeated his wife and the Annihilation Helm in single combat. Amenth did not take the loss well, and unleashed the full might of its army on Saturnyne and the Krakoans, but they were saved three times; first by the return of the full Captain Britain Corps; again when the X-Men rode in on the once and future S.W.O.R.D. headquarters and dumped a swarm of extradimensional cyborg virus people on the Amenthi monsters; and finally when Apocalypse claimed the Annihilation helmet, and ended the battle by surrendering to Saturnyne.

And at the end, when Saturnyne demanded an exchange of prisoners (sort of) between the two sides to seal the peace, Apocalypse decided to join his family on Amenth, and in return sent all of Arakko to join the Krakoans on Earth.

MILLIONS OF NEW MUTANTS AND A NEW LAND MASS JUST SHOWING UP IS PROBABLY GOING TO BE A THING, ISN’T IT?

For some people, sure. Presumably the already tense geopolitical situation created by a new mutant nation leveraging Krakoan superscience is going to have a little more pressure added to it when Krakoa doubles in physical size and adds millions of super powered beings born and raised in (approximately) hell.

Add to that the two open seats on the Quiet Council and you have a ton of politics that need examining, something that both X-Men and X-Force have done gladly since the relaunch.

WHAT TWO OPEN SEATS?

Apocalypse’s departure to wander Amenth with his wife and kids (honestly, this crossover is God-tier just for believably turning Apocalypse into a Wife Guy) left one Autumn seat open. The other open seat came when Marvel Girl joined Cyclops in some light insubordination at the climax of the story.

The Council repeatedly ruled against outside involvement in the Otherworld tournament – the 9 fighters could compete, but they weren’t sending anybody else (who mattered – more in a second), both because it wasn’t deemed safe for Krakoa to leave it unguarded, and because death on Otherworld scrambled the resurrection protocols. Cyclops and Marvel Girl decided that they couldn’t abide by that and rounded up an enormous crew of mutants, who they brought through on The Peak to save the day. However, when Marvel Girl joined, she resigned her seat on the Council.

That leaves two open seats, and speculation abounds about who might join their ranks. 

The Spring seat vacated by Marvel Girl should be filled by someone with more traditional X-Men ties. Smart money here is on Angel, with Penance being another possible addition, in part because of the teaser. It looks like the long-rumored (and subtly referenced in Empyre: X-Men) X-Corp book is finally on its way, and we know that the heads of the mutants’ non-Hellfire corporate interests are Warren Worthington III and Monet St. Croix. They would be a logical addition and a nice counterbalance to the Hellfire Trading Company, which looks like it’s about to descend into chaos as Marauders follows up on Kitty Pryde’s murder at the hands of Sebastian Shaw from before the crossover.

Apocalypse’s seat is a complete wild card. Other Autumn seats are held by Professor X and Magneto, and with Apocalypse, the three represented three pillars of mutant philosophy. It’s not immediately clear who might be a suitable fit in that framework, but an Amenthi representative does make a certain amount of sense. Some have speculated Isca the Unbeaten might join the council, but I’m not sure the mutants would want to include in private strategic discussions someone whose mutant power compels them to switch sides if they’re going to lose. 

WHAT IF THAT LAST SEAT GOES TO THE SHADOW KING?

Oh yeah that would really suck. Also, he’s prominently featured in the teaser, and it looks like he might be joining the cast of New Mutants when Vita Ayala takes over. That would be very, very bad. For the mutants. For us, that’s probably some good story.

WHAT HAPPENED TO BETSY?

It’s not entirely clear. She “died” in one of the earliest battles of the tournament, and we know from Rockslide’s death at the start of the crossover that dying on Otherworld scrambles your backups. What comes out of that egg is approximately whatever a slot machine that contains all of that person’s personalities from throughout the multiverse decides to shoot out.

However, when Captain Britain died in the tournament, she shattered into shards of stained glass. Shards that Saturnyne had collected, and then as all looked grim in the tournament, she pieced them back together and resurrected Betsy, and with her, a full Captain Britain Corps comprised of all the various Betsys from throughout the multiverse. 

The Captain Britain Corps, as a refresher, was created by Merlin as a group of protectors of every corner of the omniverse. They served in that function largely uninterrupted until the multiverse was destroyed in Jonathan Hickman’s massive Avengers story that culminated in Secret Wars, when the Corps was demolished in battle by the Beyonders. That destruction caused Saturnyne to close off the Starlight Citadel and led to turmoil among the realms of Otherworld, so presumably the return of the Corps is going to help with stability there. 

That said, Avalon is still governed by Jamie Braddock; Sevalith is a realm of vampires and has a possibly turned Death on it; Mercator is an unknown region, but sounds like it’s governed by another reality-altering omega mutant, Mister M; and the Crooked Market is administered by yet another reality warper, Mad Jim Jaspers. And Betsy Prime (or Betsy 616, as the main Marvel universe also reclaims its original number for the first time post-Secret Wars) is apparently missing. It would seem all of this will be followed up on in the pages of Tini Howard’s stellar Excalibur. 

Skipping the obvious ones that are asked in the story – what kind of drama will grow out of Storm’s theft of the Wakandan sword; can Bei, Doug and Warlock manage a throuple; what happens when arakko and krakoa bang it out; where’s solem.

DID ALL THOSE HELLIONS DIE ON OTHERWORLD?

The only book that was functionally superfluous to X of Swords was Hellions, but that’s okay because it was such a riot. Mister Sinister gathered up his team on a Quite Council-sanctioned mission into Otherworld to try and steal the Amenthi swords before the tournament started. Unfortunately, they were extremely late and couldn’t do anything to help their Krakoan countrymen. On the other hand, that was exactly Sinister’s plan. 

cnx.cmd.push(function() { cnx({ playerId: "106e33c0-3911-473c-b599-b1426db57530", }).render("0270c398a82f44f49c23c16122516796"); });

Sinister went to Amenth to get genetic material from the Amenthi mutants, to add to his collection. While there, he and his team met Tarn the Uncaring, Sinister’s Amenthi equivalent. Tarn unleashed his Vile School mutants on the Hellions, and absolutely wrecked them: Nanny and Orphan Maker were killed very quickly; Wild Child stayed behind to buy Psylocke, Havok, Empath, and Greycrow time to escape with the genetic goods Sinister stole; and Sinister himself is pulled apart by Tarn in the fight (it’s fine, he was a clone).

However, it’s not entirely clear where those four died or if it will have any bearing on their resurrection (Sinister is fine, he’s got another clone waiting for the Hellions on the Krakoan side of the Otherworld gate so he can shoot them before they tell anyone what happened). Also, Tarn survived, and it looks like he’s coming back to haunt this team of misfits in upcoming issues of Hellions. 

The post How X of Swords Changed the Marvel Universe Future of the X-Men appeared first on Den of Geek.

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[sebastianshaw]

Nymph,Mermaid and Siren

(I like that you went for sexy/pretty creatures XD)Nymph: What are you like when you’re by yourself?Quiet, I guess? Most people don’t talk when they’re by themselves. He’s got a pretty solidly scheduled day so there’s not a lot of time when he’s in search of something to do, and I imagine his alone time is carefully divided between work, planning, and pleasure. I realize sex is the first thing the mind goes to with “pleasure” (especially when talking about Shaw) but there’s probably a lot of things he just enjoys on his own too. He’s got a good balance of hedonism and self-discipline going on; parties hard, works harder. Whatever he’s doing in private, work or play, he’s very focused on it and doesn’t half-ass anything. Mermaid: How far would you go to keep the one you love?That’s kind of a tough question because as he is now, I don’t see Shaw as capable of love? But he wasn’t born that way nor did he become that way a long time ago; while Lourdes died at some point before 1980, in comic book time I reckon her death was probably just ten years ago at most? Comic book time is...hard to figure out. So I don’t think it’s impossible that he could become capable of loving again, it’s just very unlikely. He’s also a much worse person than he was then, so I imagine he’d express and handle love in worse ways. Then again, maybe he wouldn’t, he’s genuinely surprised me a few times in canon before in small but significant ways related to this.So, if he did love someone, romantically or platonically...I imagine considerable lengths. Shaw’s a guy who works hard and goes the extra mile for what he wants, and I imagine that would apply in love as in anything else. He’d certainly kill, for one thing, but Shaw has no problem with killing anyway so I don’t think that’s as extreme coming from him as it would be from someone like, say, me (I don’t kill insects if I can avoid it) I guess the better question is...would he die? I tend to veer on the pessimistic with Shaw, so I’m going to say no, not that far, but still pretty far.Siren: If you could make anyone do anything, what would you make them do?If they mean “anyone” as in just one person, I imagine he’d get a mega-level reality warper to set the world up under his control. If this is more “if you had the power to make anyone do anything” meaning like, make people in general do things, I think he’d just simply make all authority and superheroes stay out of his way and turn a blind eye to his activities. BTW apologies if you wanted these from the muse instead of the mun, but I thought you’d want more in-depth answers than Shaw would probably give :)