#central city comic con

[boldegoist]

Takoyaki Friends is here! Luka now joins the fray in this 4 inch, double-sided shaker charm <3

See them all here.

[catbatart]

2024 Conventions

I'll likely update this post as the year goes on, but since I'm doing a few new cons in different parts of the US this year, I wanted to make a post for it!

MAGfest (Jan 18-21): National Harbor, MD Emerald City Comic Con (Feb 29-Mar 3): Seattle, WA Anime Milwaukee (Mar 8-10): Milwaukee, WI Indiana Comic Con (Mar 22-24) Indianapolis, IN Who's Yer Con (Mar 29-31): Indianapolis, IN Midwest Gaming Classic (Apr 6-7): Milwaukee, IN

Upcoming: Pop Con Indy (Apr 26-28): Indianapolis, IN Anime Central (May 17-19): Chicago, IL OMG!Con (Jun 14-16): Owensboro, KY Anime Ohio (June 21-23): Cincinnati, OH Anime Iowa (July 26-28): Coralville, IA Lafyette Comic Con (Oct 26): Lafayette, IN Grand Rapids Comic Con (Nov 15-17): Grand Rapids, MI

Definitely let me know if you'll be attending any of these! :D

[radiofreederry]

DC invites you to pitch ten comics to them. What do you go for?

DOCTOR MID-NITE (miniseries): House, MD meets Daredevil as blind vigilante doctors Pieter Cross and Beth Chapel handle cases at St. Camillus, the hospital for superheroes, where an emerging plot to use the Earth's superhumans as a transmission vector for a deadly disease forces them to race against time.

TEEN TITANS (ongoing): A coming-of-age story as Superboy assembles a new team of Teen Titans, featuring himself, veterans Static, Robin, and Solstice, new Titans Thunderheart and Animal Girl, and new characters Blue Lantern and Space Cadet, to provide a space for young heroes to come into their own and find themselves.

THE SPECTRE (miniseries): The Lord's Spirit of Vengeance comes to Earth to mete out justice in a horror story with a heavy dash of theology.

ADVENTURES IN THE DC UNIVERSE (ongoing): An anthology series in the vein of 52 which features rotating casts of second- and third-string DC characters, fleshing out their stories and giving them time to shine.

MYSTERY IN SPACE (miniseries): It's a galactic whodunit as Captain Comet and Adam Strange must team up to solve a murder at a United Planets summit before events spiral into a cosmic war.

STARFIRE (ongoing): Koriand'r moves to Malibu to start her life on Earth fresh, but this attempt at a reset is disrupted by threats from beyond the stars, seeking vengeance on Tamaran for crimes long forgotten, as well as the possibility of new romance between herself and Dick Grayson.

PIED PIPER (miniseries): Hartley Rathaway struggles to reintegrate into society as an ex-con, even with the support of his friend Wally West, the Flash. He is soon forced to re-don his costume and sonic weapons after he discovers that a serial killer is targeting Central City's homeless population.

MARY MARVEL (ongoing):After Billy Batson is forced to take the Wizard's place at the Rock of Eternity, his sister Mary steps up as the main bearer of the power of Shazam. She must now juggle superheroics and a normal life as she begins classes at Fawcett University, even as Billy's enemies target her for revenge.

DOCTOR FATE (miniseries): As war breaks out between the Lords of Order and Chaos, threatening to swallow the world in mystical pandemonium, Khalid Nassour must find a way to save the world and restore the magical balance.

BOOSTER GOLD AND THE LEGION OF SUPER HEROES (ongoing): During a mission gone awry, Booster Gold is de-aged into a teenager and stranded in the 31st Century. He joins the Legion of Super Heroes while searching for a way to restore himself, and his self-aggrandizement and materialism causes endless conflict with his altruistic and science-minded teammates.

[elleskinner-justart]

Little work in progress shot of some bells hells!

I'll have these tinies and more at Rose City Comic Con this weekend! Artist alley table Z03 aka tiny painting central

[meruz]

Do you have any other Boston hot spots/tips? -college student who thinks of your drawing about walking through Boston that's actually of Providence during the winter every time I cross the street

LMAOO I'm glad u know the deep lore of that drawing.. providence is basically like a toy version of boston thats why theyre functionally interchangeable.

boston hotspots... idk I'm not really a city tour guide type like i dont eat out very much and also its been 5 years since I've lived there now so idek if I'm up to date. but here's a couple off the dome:

my favorite comic store (possibly of all time?!) is Comicopia in Kenmore Square! idk if they still do but for a while their claim to fame was they had the biggest selection of manga in the state. their owner is a math professor at one of the colleges around there and their staff is consistently lovely. everytime i visit the city i make a point to swing by and i guess now they have a yaoi expert? LMAO which i love

i used to frequent a lot of local comic/games cons in boston and I kinda miss it. MICE, Ladiescon and BostonFIG were all really nice and if you get the chance you should go to them. Also its a big one but I genuinely do think Anime Boston is one of the best anime cons out there.

Yume Ga Arukawa in Lesley University's Porter Square Campus is maybe the best udon I've ever had??

this may or may not be obvious but the central boston public library is SO NICE. as ive lived in more places i only miss the bpl more... they have great events, the space is so beautiful, theres like multiple food options?? its a little overpriced but you rly can just spend all day in there

uhh. idk how hot of a tip this is but the prudential has a pedestrian skybridge connecting it to the copley shopping galleries and its great if you want to walk around that area without having to go outside. i used to work at the pru and i would walk thru the skybridge to get to the library all the time. the copley galleries also have public bathrooms that ppl dont rly use and are kept pretty clean LOL. anyways boston is a very walkable city!! spend time walking around whenever u can it's nice.

[gorogues]

playstation2345 replied to your text post: Speaking of the Valentine Special. I wonder if there’s going to be another special that’s more of prequel to Kite Man and Golden Glider’s relationship. Like how did they meet, were they in Gotham or Central City, what caused Kite Man to fall for Golden Glider, what was their first date at Noonan’s like and what make Golden Glider change designs and hairstyle?

Well, we know that their first date involved hand stuff :> But yeah, it's surprising they gave her a new look after her debut in the Harley series -- though her outfit might have been different because she was at an awards show there.

belphegor1982 replied to your text post: This is adorable! Love to see a fave goof of mine (Shaggy - and Scooby, too!) know their worth :D

It is adorable, I loved this issue and the peptalk was great :) It'd be hilarious if Kite Man showed up again in a future issue, still hanging out with Shaggy and Scooby.

belphegor1982 replied to your text post: Also, was that Alfred?

Yup! He was at the party alone because Bruce and Dick went to the Gotham Comic Con 🤭

(Enjoy this gif I didn't have room for in my screencap posts)

[ufonaut]

Say, mister-- what’s your interest in this comic book? You some kinda Flash freak?

Obsessed with Barry’s massive comic book collection, Central City’s first Comic Con, and the armed robbers dressed like Alan Scott & Ted Grant from The Flash (1959) #268

(Cary Bates, Irv Novick)

[stealingyourbones]

I posted 4,197 times in 2022

That's 4,179 more posts than 2021!

1,318 posts created (31%)

2,879 posts reblogged (69%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@stealingyourbones

@plotwholls

@bonebrokebuddy

@gilbirda

@edgemcjee

I tagged 3,528 of my posts in 2022

Only 16% of my posts had no tags

#danny phantom - 1,209 posts

#dp x dc - 1,171 posts

#dc comics - 1,065 posts

#writing prompts - 1,006 posts

#dpxdc - 920 posts

#dp x dc prompt - 810 posts

#and the thick plotens - 780 posts

#bones replies - 599 posts

#bones prompts - 491 posts

#dc - 309 posts

Longest Tag: 138 characters

#the “’don’t u tell me u don’t know who i am’ ‘bro i literally have never seen you in my life’ interaction was almost exactly the emotions-

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

Concept that I feel hasn’t been tapped into with dp x dc:

John Constantine begrudgingly being pals with Danny Phantom. When Danny was just barley ghost king, John summons him in some way to loophole his way out of another deal with a different entity he’s made a contract with. Ya know, a good ol “I’ll sell my soul to multiple entities so they can’t claim my soul or else start a war fighting for it and instead make myself unable to die” for the nth time. Danny doesn’t accept because the concept of owning someone’s soul as unnerving and not morally correct but helps John in whatever situation is needed and John is just bamboozled because he didn’t need to con and loophole his way out of whatever situation he was in and this strange ghost boy is doing it willingly and only asks to stop for some fast food after the fight as payment.

This is the start of a whole bunch of wild circumstances that make John Constantine summon/meet up with phantom to fix some dark magic shenanigans because Danny is one hell of a powerful entity and he doesn’t worry about having to owe back Danny in favors or debts that are magically binding which is a really nice change of pace.

Personally I imagine the vibe that the fandom has decided John and Billy Batson dynamic is like: A Concerned and frankly pitiful attempt of a parental figure with a kid who’s powerful enough to end the world if they felt like it. Added onto that is John freaking out because ‘why did the universe give this freaking child so much power holy shit oh god this could end absolutely terribly what the hell do I do’

Just Constantine and Danny combatting and stopping demons and curses of the hellish variety and just slowly meeting the magic users of the Justice League before meeting everyone as a gradual set up of Constantine, Justice League member, & Danny, stopping smaller arcane based entities/artifacts from causing damage to the world. Ending in Danny meeting the entire Justice League and stopping an insane threat and letting everyone really know just how powerful he is.

OR Constantine calling Danny for some big scale Justice league issue and the magic users freaking the hell out because ‘how the hell does John fuckin Constantine have a leader of an entire dimension/realm in his back pocket for emergency contacts and why do they have a good relationship with eachother’ ?!

3,678 notes - Posted July 25, 2022

#4

Submitted Prompts #5

After Danny became the Ghost King, the entire magic community learned that the King was available for summons again. Slight issue: Danny is different from the previous King. His summoning circle has completely different requirements that everyone is rushing to figure out for their own purpose.

3,848 notes - Posted November 26, 2022

#3

So what if the “No metas in Gotham” thing scared Danny Fenton away from Gotham City?

What if Danny gets a grant or scholarship at Central City University?

What if Danny gets an internship job as an assistant Forensic Scientist at the Central City Police Department?

Ok so hear me out:

The Rouges in Central City are much more chill and jokey than most superhero protected cities and have a good relationship with The Flash and would remind Danny of Amnity in that sense.

Danny’s entire obsession with protection and also a likely mentality of “Police and law enforcement have been horrible to me in the past so I will do everything I can to make sure what happens to me happens to no one else” would make him strive to be an honest protector of the people. He could be a cop and Barry Allen works with him because he knows that Danny isn’t corrupt. A reverse Batman and Jim Gordon if you will. He could also be a Forensic Scientist that recently joined CCPD and Barry Allen is assigned to be his mentor to show him the ropes. Either way The Flash grows to respect and care for this really strange kid who’s eyes sometimes look green as a trick of the light.

Danny using his powers to help solve murders, crimes, and ghostly shenanigans in Central City by talking to the local paranormal entities and recently deceased and pretending that he just is really really good at his job (well he is, but he has a bit of ghostly help.)

The Flash and Kid Flash notice this strange white haired meta zipping around and go to meet him and find out that he’s roughly Wally’s age. The speed force feels a bit strange around this kid, Like he’s been a part of multiple time altering changes. He doesn’t seem malicious though and the kid is really funny so Barry is going to let this ghostly meta do his own thing.

Phantom and The Flash start teaming up. Having an extra person in a battle is always nice. The Flash also notices that this Phantom kid is always DELIGHTED to fight Captain Cold. What The Flash expected to be a long battle that would end in almost frostbite and a long night with little to no sleep ended up being a five minute excursion. The Phantom reveling in the low temperatures and freezing Captain Cold’s cold gun and feet with a more crystalline and shinier type of ice. Instantly ending the battle.

Phantom fights Abra Kadabra and loudly complains to Abra while fighting how stupid Abra’s gimmick is and that it doesn’t look like real magic.

Phantom helps dismantle Weather Wizards plan to blot out the sun by simply turning the giant storm clouds that the Wizard summoned into snow.

The Flash is completely dumbfounded when the Reverse Flash shows up at his work, taunts Barry Allen, when Phantom comes out of nowhere, possesses The Reverse Flash, who then asks the location of the nearest containment facility that’ll house a speedster. Danny/Reverse Flash proceeds to run himself to the location, lock himself in, and exit Thawne’s body. The amount of awe Barry feels can’t even be put to words. Barry Allen’s arch nemesis. Defeated by a ghostly kid who has bi weekly hangouts with his nephew to binge watch D-list horror movies. What the fuck.

Danny has a great relationship with Barry. The two quickly bond over being quippy and aren’t annoyed when the other is consistently late to every possible meet up. Danny is incredibly dexterous and knows his way around the lab and Barry is happy to chat with someone who happily will talk back and ramble on about their life and has a genuine want to help others.

If Barry asks Batman on tips with how to take care of an overworked and constantly exhausted kid that’s between him and the Bat.

Barry mentally adopts this strange coworker and if he spotted the kid behind the CCPD building turning into Phantom? That’s none of his business and for Danny to reveal to him on his own time.

3,898 notes - Posted July 27, 2022

#2

I saw one of your Short DPXDC Prompts and was inspired by this….

I understand that cloning a Kryptonian was not easy for Luthor's people, so they added human DNA…

but I remember that it has been mentioned in some places that treatments/conditions are needed to mix the DNA of the two species and that they are mostly only accessible in Superman's fortress…

So I got to this madness… Somehow, (possibly GIW or even Vlad) Danny's ectoplasm gets to Luthor Corp. and some scientist had the bright idea to use it as a stabilizer, it wasn't enough to stabilize a Kryptonian Clone, but for a Human/Kryptonian hybrid. ..

And of course, nobody knew that said chemical substance was DNA of the new King of the Infinite Realms…

Mikami your MIND-

This is just beautiful. What would that make Connor? 1/4 ghost? 1/8th ghost? Idk but using halfa DNA to bind the two different species DNA together is SO GOOD dude.

Looks like Connor has another Dad and he’ll do anything to find him and get some answers

4,494 notes - Posted October 12, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

Danny is walking along in Gotham and trips and falls into a massive puddle. Instead of making a splash or hitting the cold wet floor, he simply goes through the ground and turns invisible as he falls.

Now imagine you are a Gotham vigilante just chilling on the rooftops and you see this scrawny ass black haired kid just eat shit and fall face first toward a puddle and just sink into the puddle with barley even a ripple. Completely vanishing from sight. The bafflement and chaos that would ensue from that… truly marvelous.

5,498 notes - Posted August 11, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

[phantomchick]

Looking back on Batman (2022)

Enough time has passed now that my initial adrenaline rush )and then later afterglow) over Batman 2022 has resolved itself at least enough that I can look back on the film a bit more critically.

I enjoyed this movie, I enjoyed this Batman, but and this is a big but, this movie did not like Batman.

The thing about Batman is that he's a grim dark fantasy where a hero who's in pain can use that pain as a motivation to help people, to change things, to strive for a better Gotham because he just can't fucking accept the Gotham that allowed his parents to get killed while coming home from the movies, that kills so many other parents and children and sucks the people that remain into a mire of corruption and austerity. This is not that Batman, this is a Batman that's utterly oblivious to the problems with wealth inequality until the movie rubs in his face and even then has his inaction in his role of Bruce Wayne while letting his Batman role monopolise his every waking thought presented as his main problem. This is not a Batman that announces to a dinner party, “Ladies. Gentlemen. You have eaten well. You've eaten Gotham's wealth. Its spirit. Your feast is nearly over. From this moment on...none of you are safe.”. That attacks violent crime on two fronts by giving legitimate jobs to ex cons by day and solving kidnapping or murder cases by night.

And most crucially this isn't a Batman that ... succeeds. By that I mean yes he solves the grand mystery, yes he saves people in the flood, but the classic Batman would have saved that man he interrupts the bomb disposal squad to answer Riddler's phone call for. The classic Batman would have saved Falcone, evil doer that he is, not because he deserved to live but because Batman is a hyper competent hero who's comic gimmick was that he was quick witted enough to stay ahead of the crooks and always save the person in front of him as a result, perhaps it's only natural for that to be subverted with the Riddler as his enemy (a character invented with the intent of putting the detective hero to the test when it came to his cerebral limits) but because this is a stand alone film, which as the name says has this Batman stand alone with the contents as the only basis to judge him with it has the effect of making his presence as a hero less warranted. After all, does Batman's presence in this film really save anyone besides the flood victims and Selina?

Yes the only victims who really get killed are all bad people but... that's not the point of Batman, the point is that he saves everyone he can.

The film also does the whole 'batman creates his own villains and actively makes the city worse because he espouses vengeance and violence' thing which egh, slightly more palatable with the transition from vengeance to hope, but I really don't fucking like it all the same. And besides that I dislike the idea that vengeance can't be hopeful, that a man who lost everything in one terrifying night, who got no justice, whose loved ones and personal loss and whose innocence remain unavenged saying to himself "I am justice, I am vengeance, I am the night!" as a way of reclaiming everything that's happened to him and everything he wants to be for the people of Gotham whose cries go unanswered by corrupt law enforcement and an even more corrupt bureaucracy, is presented as invalid, as somehow immature. When Batman was always crafted as a mature hero in the mold of the Scarlet Pimpernel and Zorro and James Bond, of Sherlock Holmes! That was part of his central appeal! He's the cool mature down to earth, detective hero.

Here he is reduced to a naive rich boy who's so ignorant his main approach to crime is to inefficiently beat the shit out of whatever hoodlums he encounters and who literally doesn't have the idea of using his money to fix the poverty or corruption fuelling the crime until Riddler highlights what his parents wanted to do for the city by denigrating it + the politician lady who repeatedly points it out. It's a movie that loves Batman but also passionately declares the stupidity of Batman. Perhaps that's also inevitable because solving crime by beating it up while dressed as a Bat is well, silly, when you approach it with real world cynicism instead of the wish fulfillment, the fantasy of being rich and powerful and smart enough to actually do something about an entire city that's drowning in crime, that has been drowning, suffocating, for decades, and have a hope of succeeding. There is no fun of acting like an airhead so the other rich people and crooks will underestimate and look down on you like they look down on everyone in the city as you use your access to learn things people outside that circle of rich opportunists can't and then use it to reveal their crimes as a vigilante whose identity no one suspects. Instead we have a traumatised Bruce Wayne openly beg Don Falcone for information who indulges him because he owes his father that favour and Bruce Wayne isn't a threat, is it interesting pathos? Definitely! Is it dramatic and fun! Also yes! Is it traditional Batman/Bruce Wayne secret identity shenanigans? Well kind of in that it gets him the extra information but genuinely not so much because it's not really an act. Does it have to be traditional Batman? I really don't know. We can't ever create something refreshing like this movie was if we don't try to deviate from the norm and in that regard I think it deserves respect. And yet. There's a but.

This movie doesn't let Batman succeed at anything but the bare minimum as a vigilante but it does let him try his best, always and it lets him care, deeply. Which is enough that it pulls through as a good batman film. However for all the budget and clever characterisation I don't think it's a great Batman film. After all Batman is a superhero fantasy and in those, the good guys are allowed to save the day.

[sammysdewysensitiveeyes]

Oh no, what happened to Trickster? I'm not up on DC Comics.

Ooooh, boy, where do I start?

Original Trickster James Jesse has been largely missing since New 52/Rebirth/whatever latest continuity reboot. He was dead for quite awhile before that (having been killed protecting Pied Piper in the largely shitty Countdown event), and seemed to be non-existent in the new continuity, with Axel as the main Trickster. And Axel is a cute lil' guy, but James is my Trickster of choice.

He finally came back in Josh Williamson's run, in a story arc called "The Greatest Trick of All," which revealed that James had been locked up in Iron Heights for years, tormented by Warden Wolfe, who was basically using him to test their security measures. Then he escaped and has been building a little criminal empire, and somehow using the Sage Force to brainwash people. When he makes his big move, he brainwashes most of Central City into mindless happiness, while his select group of Rogues loot the city. Oh, and he was also dating a police officer while using his actual (stage) name James Jesse (which makes no fucking sense, even with Trickster long out of the public eye that name should have run some bells), and it is implied that she was also brainwashed, which means some serious consent issues if they ever slept together.

Williamson's version of James was generally MUCH nastier than he has been in the past. It can be partially justified by him spending so much time in Iron Heights alone and forgotten, but it's still taking the character to a shitty place. JJ was always an asshole, and his "reform" in the 90's mostly happened because he was afraid of going to Hell and meeting a certain demon with a grudge against him. But he still tended to be one of the less violent Rogues who never killed anyone to my knowledge. (If you only know JJ from the Flash TV show, ignore that, Mark Hamill is great but the show got JJ really wrong). Williamson pushed James into a dark and cruel territory, and had him doing things like shoving his abusive parents off a building (Flash saved them).

Williamson also added this new trait of James seducing women and using them as part of his plans. He did it with the police officer, he also recounts dating a lab tech from Star Labs to steal information to make his anti-grav shoes, and THAT is a retcon that DEEPLY pissed me off. James MADE the original shoes, both compressed air and anti-grav lift versions on his own, because he is very, very smart, despite acting like a silly little guy. AXEL is the Trickster who got his start by stealing someone else's tech, and while Axel has modified the Trickster gear and made some of his own stuff since then, James is the one who invented it all on his own, and Williamson basically took that away from him.

Going after women was also never one of James' character traits. He is an all-purpose con-man that fools everyone, but he never targeted women specifically prior to Williamson. In fact, 90's James arguably drank his Respect Women juice. He helped Catwoman with a job, developed a crush on her which he expressed by blurting out this long speech about how he thinks she's amazing, figured out her secret identity and kept quiet about it, and donated a bunch of money to a charity that he thinks she would approve of. All without necessarily expecting her to fall into bed with him, or getting angry when she doesn't. 90's James also flew across the world when he heard that his former girlfriend Mindy Hong was in trouble, and helped rescue her son (who also turns out to be JJ's son). James was not someone who went out of his way to mistreat women.

Williamson also wrote the Black Label Rogues mini-series, a depressing noncanon future story where Captain Cold gathers people for "one more job" and gets most of them killed. Future James in that one is performing a stage show, seducing rich old ladies to sponge off their money, and is portrayed as basically the worst out of the group - such a shitty dude that Golden Glider kills him and no one cares.

It's funny, in an interview Williamson said of James, "I love him," but that statement was immediately followed by "He's just a crazy asshole." Williamson obviously does NOT love James, or else hasn't read anything with him prior to Countdown, and his portrayal of the character seems closer to the serial killer Mark Hamill version. He strips away any kind of heart or likability from the character and makes him "just a crazy asshole," like a less interesting Joker. He made James significantly worse than he had been even in his pre-reform days, and the "darker edgier" Trickster isn't even particularly interesting. So yeah, I want Josh Williamson to never write most of the Rogues again, but especially keep his hands off James Jesse.

The James Jesse Trickster is definitely one of those characters where I'm like, "I love this dude, but only in these specific runs, and then he hasn't been written well in 20 years."

[fuckyeahgoodomens]

David Tennant at the Emerald City Comic Con 3.3.2023:

Interviewer: So you mentioned that fans can look forward to Terry Pratchett easter eggs... what else can fans look forward to in Season 2 of Good Omens?

David: I can never remember what people know and what they don't know, so then I get into trouble, as to what's already been revealed and what hasn’t. I probably already said too much and forgot something everyone knows. There’s great… there’s a great cast, some of whom were in the first series. What am I allowed to say? I just need a little cheat sheet. We know that Jon Hamm’s back, right? Yeah, Jon Hamm is back and plays very central role, actually, in series two, Jon was with us a lot, so that was great fun to have him around. And he is very very funny in series two, he gets to do some very excellent work. You’ll very much enjoy Jon Hamm. I’m desperately nervous of saying something I oughtn’t to. It won’t be long, you’ll see it soon. It’ll be on the telly, just watch it. (x)

[stevelieber]

Said goodbye today at Emerald City Comic Con to a Gotham Central page from… 2005, I think? The Poison Ivy issue. Great story by Greg Rucka.

#emeraldcitycomicon #eccc #gothamcentral #comics #originalart #stevelieber #comicbookart #dccomics

[kyndaris]

From Supanova to SMASH - A Convention-al Story

In the city of Sydney, Australia, there aren’t too many events where nerds can get together to celebrate pop-culture. Sure, we have a somewhat lowkey medieval fair that’s located about 62 kilometres away from the heart of the city (or, as we Sydneysiders like to call it: the CBD, which stands for central business district) as well as a few few board game events, but the ones that really catch the attention of most people are the holy trinity: Supanova, SMASH and OZ Comic-Con. None of which are as big as any of the events held overseas. That means that many of the guests certainly aren’t as up to snuff as those that attend similar events in America. We certainly don’t attract A-list Hollywood actors for a start!

Although, several years back, we did have Chuck Norris down under. So, that’s a plus?

Long story short, San Diego Comic-Con, this is not. There is no dedicated Hall H to showcase all the latest films that are in the works. Nor do we have attendees like James Gunn or Jamie Lee Curtis coming through.

It’s a far simpler affair than all that.

One that I had intended to check out again with @bleachpanda. Unfortunately, to my dismay, my friend couldn’t wouldn’t attend with me. She said she’d undertaken a translation course with mandatory classes on the weekend. I called bullshit, of course. But she was adamant that there were limitations to how many classes she could skip. 

So, I was left to attend Supanova on my lonesome.

Or so I thought!

Enter @mrsarmageddon!

A starry-eyed Generation Zed that I’d taken under my wing at work as the older, wiser and cooler colleague. Little did SHE know that I was actually a cantankerous miser who shook my fists at all the younglings throwing out words like ‘slaaay’ and ‘yaas queen.’ 

I think I might have thrown up in my mouth a little.

Anyways, she’d recently joined my team and I’d threatened that if she so much as thought to ask me questions, I’d bore her to tears by listing useless facts about Star Wars or Harry Potter or whatever video game that I could think of in that moment. But instead of being turned off, she’d actually seemed excited! In fact, she wanted more!

After some light Facebook stalking, I discovered she was one of those Tumblr fiends back in the day. One who was tangentially involved in the SuperWhoLock fandom. 

But more importantly, she was ALSO big into musicals. And, although, she didn’t read as much fantasy fiction as I did, she had delved deep into the realm of YA.

I had found...a kindred spirit. A mini-me! One that I could sculpt into my own image with just the right encouragement.

Purely by chance!

Okay, well, maybe it might be a tad bit impossible to make them COMPLETELY like me. I am, of course, the superior and more worldly lifeform that is perfect in every way - an Apex Predator if you will - in the world of social interaction.

Honestly, it’s not everyday that I find someone that ticks most of my interest boxes and gets all of my references. This was something special. I could feel it in my bones.

(Editorial Kyndaris here: The claim of being an Apex Predator? Yeah, that’s a lie. I’m actually the complete opposite. Honestly, I’m definitely more of a wallflower. And an incredibly awkward one at that. I’m a person who sits on the sidelines and who just thinks terrible thoughts of the people around me. NO-ONE should idolise me in any way and I’m certainly not a good role model for anyone to emulate).

In any case, @mrsarmageddon​ was not good at making good financial decisions. Despite already going to Dreamhack in Melbourne earlier in the year, she still wanted to go to Supanova. Something I, the enabler, well...supported! After all, going to such events is much more fun with friends. Even those that you meet through work. 

Is it a little strange to see them outside the work context and free from the confines of Microsoft Teams? Sure. But well, what can you do?

Arriving early at Supanova, I snuck in late to the Cristina Vee panel before sitting down for a discussion on the art of writing with Levi Grossman. The panels themselves did have their highlights but, especially with Levi Grossman, author of The Magicians, it just wasn’t as exciting as I had hoped. Once again, I was reminded that even authors, be they great or small, are just human. Not all of us are great orators.

Even in our field of supposed expertise, we can struggle.

Still, it was good to learn that Levi Grossman had learned some of the tricks of the trade by working in the field of journalism before becoming a bestseller author. Along with the fact that he had written other books prior to his breakout novel starring the likes of Quentin Coldwater but it had been a struggle to find his voices.

So, maybe there’s hope for me yet!

@mrsarmageddon​, unfortunately, was late for our very first out-of-office meetup. By the time she’d arrived, I’d already done a tour of the artist stalls and had picked up gifts for my friends, including @bleachpanda.

@bleachpanda, I hope you’re happy!

As we resumed roaming the halls, I got to meet @mrsarmageddon’s circle of friends (which was nice because most of my friends...well, they tend to like going to SMASH over Supanova). It’s always good to expand my circle of associates. One never knows when that can come in handy.

I jest.

In truth, I only met @mrsarmageddon‘s friends in passing before they disappeared to buy more merchandise from a stall.

By the time our feet were telling us to take a break, it was almost 4 PM. Since I had arrived at about 10:30 AM, I was exhausted but glad that I was laden down with impressive prints and a crocheted Appa, key Sky Bison of the Avatar Gang. 

Not even two weeks after Supanova, I was back at it again. This time, I was attending SMASH with @bleachpanda. We arrived there early but still had no luck in nabbing spots at the maid cafe. A little disappointing, but no matter. There was always Japan.

Given that @bleachpanda didn’t have a panel she wanted to see until 12, we wandered through the stalls to see what goodies were being sold by entrepreneurial creatives. Much like Supanova, there were plenty of prints and artwork to be had. Although, there were more options for sexy anime figurines to make a grown man blush.

In the end, I purchased a blind box and an Ai Haibara keychain. 

Yes. I’m one of those. A huge fan of the Detective Conan anime series. Which, honestly, isn’t getting as much recognition as it should outside of Asia. Who WOULDN’T love Kaitou Kid? 

Honestly, it’s a surprise given how prolific Sherlock Holmes and Agatha Christie are in the Western world.

Alas.

After nearly choking in the mass of humans congregating in artist alley, we headed to Pyrmont Theatre for a panel with the one and only Toru Furuya. The iconic seiyu for many a character including Yamcha, Tuxedo Mask, Sabo and Toru Amuro. For me, who wasn’t as impressed, the panel was a little tedious due to the requirement for translation. That wasn’t to say Toru-sensei wasn’t enthusiastic. He was gregarious and suave throughout all his interactions.

When it ended, though, @bleachpanda was sorely disappointed that we didn’t get snippets of his voice acting talent. Rather, that had been relegated to the Sunday panel. Something that irritated Bleachpanda to no end as we then waited outside another room for an otome panel.

Of course, I’m not one to play otomes though I do very much like the visual novel style of games. After all, I played through all of the Ace Attorney games. But by 1:10 PM, the doors had yet to open. And I was starting to feel hungry. Beyond that, my old high school friend had texted me that they’d be at a nearby cafe. So, I thought, why not join up with them rather than wait in line for something that looked incredibly boring?

And I think it was a good call overall. For, as we walked past, sneaking a glance into the room, the otome panel appeared to be just a normal PowerPoint presentation to regale the audience of all the great things that can be found within.

Even @bleachpanda was taken aback by the lack of interesting slides that were on display.

Unfortunately, I walked in the wrong direction because there were TWO cafes with the SAME name within the immediate vicinity. So, rather than catch-up with my high school friend then and there, @bleachpanda and I ended up buying some food at a nearby food court. 

But because of all the puttering about that we were doing, I missed out on the panel with Sungwon Cho, AKA ProZD!

The despair I felt then! Even as I trudged up to World Square to pick up a copy of the latest game from Spike Chunsoft, Master Detective Archives: Rain Code. Junko Enoshima would be proud.

We returned to the convention after fuelling up and spent the rest of it going through artist alley, finally catching up with my high school friend and watching a performance on the Hobbyco stage. I even bought a Good Game mystery box, walking away with three new board games that I’ll play sometime in the distant future.

It sucks to live so far from friends that one can play board games with. But, it’s the hand I’ve been dealt in life and one I’ll simply have to learn to deal with.

Overall, I’d have to say that the two conventions I attended this year had both perks and downsides. It was a shame that I didn’t get to see ProZD but, at the very least, I got a chance to hang out with my friends that I so rarely see now that we’ve hit our 30s and are busy trying to carve out a career, or in the case of my high school friend, contemplate if now is the time to have a baby.

I, for one, am still on the fence on whether I should just accept the fact that I’ll never find THE ONE and just put in some research on IVF and Australian sperm donors. While I like the idea of having a child, going it alone is going to be tough.

Of course, there’s still time. So, while I ponder my next steps, I’ll just enjoy my new Eunie, Tora and Reyn pins (characters from the Xenoblade Chronicles series) , along with the fantastical artworks that I bought that will decorate the walls of my future abode if my mortgage doesn’t force me to sell off my property.

What a time to be alive!

Oh, and before I forget, I’d like to think that I was quite impressive with my ability to find whatever stall I’d marked out to revisit. @bleachpanda was certainly astounded that I could seemingly navigate the veritable maze of straight aisles that was the SMASH convention, whereas she would have still been lost even if she walked through the room twice.

So, yay for my good sense of direction?

[gnb]

YOU KNOW YOU'RE FROM SAN DIEGO WHEN...

From Floz House via Facebook:

1. You can correctly pronounce Tierrasanta, La Jolla, Rancho Penesquitos, San Ysidro, Otay Mesa, Jamul and El Cajon!

2. There are four distinct seasons: Summer, Not Quite Summer, Almost Summer and oh, Hey look it’s summer again.

3. Your house is worth more than some small countries.

4. You know what IB, OB and PB stand for.

5. You know what “marine layer” means.

6.You grew up thinking everyone ate avocados daily and fish tacos weekly.

8. You've tailgated at Qualcomm Stadium or maybe some of you also tailgated when it was Jack Murphy Stadium!!

10. You lived on California or Carne Asada burritos from Alberto’s/Roberto's/Cotijas/Aliberto's and all the other "to's"

11. You remember and or totaled your car on the Old Black Mountain Road before the 56 was built.

12. You still call it the Del Mar Fair. And everyone knows what you’re referring to when you say, "I'm going to the track.”

13. In high school you went looking in La Jolla for an area of houses built strictly for small people - referred to as “the munchkin houses” - due to the fact that they were inhabited by some of the actors who played Munchkins in the Wizard of Oz film.

14. You remember when Bonita, Lemon Grove, La Mesa, and Spring Valley were "in the sticks."

15. You understand what May-gray and June-gloom means.

16. There's a North County, South County, and an East County - but no Central County.

17. You know what "the merge" is and will plan your entire day around not being on it during rush hour.

19. You've gone to Sea World on a warm day and sat in the first few rows at the Shamu Show to get cooled off.

20. You've been delayed at the Border Checkpoints on the 5, the 8 and the 15. (*Bonus* You say "the" before freeway names.)

22. No matter what the weather is, there is always someone walking around in a tank top, shorts and flip flops.

23. You've been to the desert, the mountains and the beach all in one day.

24. You know that Ramona, Santee and Lakeside are where the "cowboys" live.

26. You've gone to the Zoo to just go on a walk.

28. You know what the "Santa Anas" are and that they have nothing to do with the city of Santa Ana.

29. You know what real Mexican food and real salsa looks and tastes like.

30. You remember when "Mission Valley" was only cow pastures.

32. You know that you have to leave at the crack of dawn to find parking at the beach, or risk parking in front of someone's million dollar bungalow and waking a mile+

34. You've watched fireworks over the bay while enjoying a bonfire.

35. You've dated, are related to, are married to or have a story about a Marine or Navy guy/gal…

36. You avoid the Gaslamp Quarter during ComicCon or love SD Comic Con

38. You still call it “The Fair” or “North County Fair” even though they changed the name when Westfield Malls bought it.

39. You know what a Red Tide is and what Bioluminescence is.

41. You rode the Coaster in MB

42. You went to the Bacchanal to see bands

43. You know about the Proctor Valley Monster

45. You whine when it sprinkles

46. You know what OTL is

47. You know that "Jamacha" is pronounced Ham-a-shaw, not Jamaica

48. You know that the "homegrown "albums were produced by KGB radio 101.5

49. You went to the Rocky Horror Picture Show every week at The Strand

50. When visiting Coronado, you took a boat not a bridge

51. When you had to pay a toll to cross the bridge And if you've moved away, your love for SD stays with you💓 We are so lucky to live here!

[jimmyaquino]

Comic News Insider Episode 1453 - NYCC: Greg Pak!

Comic News Insider: Episode 1453 is now available for free download! Click on the link or follow on Spotify/subscribe on iTunes!

Jimmy went to New York Comic Con (NYCC) last week and got about 12 interviews and 1 press room. Producer Joe even got an interview in! In this episode, you'll hear from Greg Pak but it WASN'T at NYCC! Greg and Jimmy decided to chat post-NYCC away from the madness. They met in Central Park here in NYC and had a lovely chat about Greg's prolific work on comics like DARTH VADER, MECH CADETS, WHO BELONGS? DEADLY HANDS OF KUNG-FU, CITY BOY, etc. They also talked about the Netflix animated series MECH CADETS based on his comics, the Amadeus Cho action figure and his photography. Always a delightful catch-up. Post interview, Greg surprised Jimmy with an impromptu photo shoot! Look for Jimmy to be walking the runways of fashion week very soon. Enjoy!

Also, get a hold of us!

Thanks for listening!

[ao3feed-brucewayne]

Blood Childe of Mine

read it on AO3 at https://ift.tt/K6EFdVQ by Scififan33 Everything had been going fairly well. Tim's arrangements for leaving Gotham permanently were underway and Conner was definitely on board with the idea. Kon knew Gotham wasn't good for Tim, not anymore so to have Tim suggest leaving was great. Plus, away from Gotham he wouldn't have to sneak so much since no Batman to glare at him for being in his city. Conner had an off-world mission with Clark and Tim had a very complicated case to finish first though. Not that any of the family even thought there was a case, except Jason. He believed Tim since quite a few of the incidents had happened in Crime Alley and he wanted them stopped. So maybe Tim should have taken Jason with him when a familiar scene popped up somewhere more central. Going alone, was the last mistake he would ever make. Timothy was her way to destroy the Bats and Birds of Gotham and she would enjoy turning him into a loyal Childe. He would be at her side for eternity and with his mind, there was no limit to the power she could gain. Words: 4123, Chapters: 1/?, Language: English Series: Part 2 of Blood Childe Fandoms: Batman - All Media Types, Red Robin (Comics), DCU Rating: Mature Warnings: Major Character Death, Rape/Non-Con Categories: F/M, M/M, Multi Characters: Tim Drake, Kon-El | Conner Kent, Jason Todd, Bruce Wayne, Cassandra Cain, Barbara Gordon, Dick Grayson, Damian Wayne, Stephanie Brown, Duke Thomas, Alfred Pennyworth, Clark Kent, multiple vampires, Sophia (Tim's Sire), Ra's al Ghul Relationships: Tim Drake/Kon-El | Conner Kent, TIm Drake/vampire sire, TIm Drake/multiple vampires of both genders, Clark Kent/Lois Lane Additional Tags: Post-Red Robin (2009) Issue 026: What Goes Around, Tim Drake is Red Robin, vampire hypnosis, Vampire Bites, Human/Vampire Sex, Character Turned Into Vampire, Amnesia, Amnesiac Tim Drake, Dick Grayson is Nightwing, Tim Drake-centric, Tim Drake is Not Okay, Damian Wayne is Robin, Kon-El | Conner Kent is Superboy, Kon-El | Conner Kent Needs a Hug, Protective Kon-El | Conner Kent, Bruce Wayne is Bad at Feelings, Bruce Wayne Tries to Be a Good Parent, Kidnapping, Implied/Referenced Torture, Dark Tim Drake, The League of Assassins (DCU), Creepy Ra's al Ghul, Manipulative Ra's al Ghul read it on AO3 at https://ift.tt/K6EFdVQ