#hercs vision

[mako-neexu]

Breath caught in her throat, Ritsuka’s heart beat picks up the pace.

Ah, this was so not good-

The curse placed on her has her floating once more, the random times that has it activating catching her off guard and causing her to tilt forwards and look as if Herc was dragging her to the sky by the scruff of her mystic code.

“Guys-!” She tried to tell the team ahead of her, but as always, her voice couldn’t reach them. She had always felt a little too breathless like this as well.

Granted, they were a little too far away when she started to lag behind but her voice- yeah, she could still shout. She tried that, she tried that every time but it just wouldn’t reach them once she starts floating.

Ritsuka sighs.

Her curse, while not really harmful, was getting annoying but at least they were on their way to the culprit’s destination to make them dispel what was cast on her.

But she did learn a quick technique to get out of this state temporarily.

Ritsuka slows her breathing, and maneuvers her body into a relaxed state, clearing her mind, her heart, something that was simply similar to sleeping.

She closes her eyes. In darkness, her vision dims further but she was once more starting to feel a stronger pull. Whichever way it was, she hoped it was better than staying afloat.

—Something grabs her ankle.

And when she opened her eyes, she was on the ground once more, no longer feeling helpless in the air.

“Master.” 

She blinks. 

Ah, Count- Her tense shoulders relax in an instant seeing him tower over her from behind, his arm wrapped around her shoulders. She sighs with a smile, immediately comforted by his rescue, “Thanks for saving me back there. Floating just like that is getting annoying, don’t you think?”

He remains silent for a moment, his expression unreadable with his hat tipped down... and when he doesn’t respond, she tilts her head and asks, “Count?”

The King of the Cavern shakes his head, “It’s nothing, but wear this.” He takes his coat off and drapes it around her figure, “The blessings temporarily holding back the curse are weakening by the hour, but you may wear this to keep you anchored.”

Since his cloak is a part of him… then the black lightning and flame of purification embedded in the fabric would be able to protect her.

It’s a bit heavy but she was nonetheless really grateful. So she smiles brightly at him, “Thanks. So, shall we catch up with them?”

He nods without another word, making sure he covers her back as she treads forward.

Ritsuka couldn’t help but linger on his words.

Anchored? So were the spells that Circe and Medea cast were getting weaker? How so? Man, she really needs to catch up to their team and find out what’s seriously happening here.

–

(The Count of Monte Cristo had noticed once again that the Master had lagged behind. 

He didn’t hesitate to use his noble phantasm to reach her before Molay’s gate swallowed her above unaware, before the creatures even had the chance to so much as touch her. 

And once he had grabbed her ankle, he pushed them back to the surface and away from the sky, tucking her face against his chest …

—Returning her spirit back to her lifeless body once more.)

[wonderherc]

who: hercules & @peloponnesianminute where: the snuggly duckling

He'd come as soon as he'd gotten from one of the other Duckling bartenders that something had happened to Meg. Hercules had practically driven like a madman, at the kind of speed with which he would've been pulled over had anyone cared what was going on on the roads tonight. He refused to lose her like this--without her knowing just how much he'd grown to love her. They'd left things on the kind of note that would make a person forever regret not getting to take it all back, to tell her that he should've listened to her all along, and that nothing was more important than simply having her in his life.

It might've been some cruel prank, or maybe just a simple mistake, but the moment he burst into the Duckling, practically taking the door off its hinges, there she was: Meg, standing where he could usually find her, behind the bar. Her shirt was bloodied, but she was standing just fine, as though nothing had happened to her, after all. "Meg?" he called out, praying the vision of her looking unscathed wasn't just a dream. Herc approached the bar slowly, moving through the thick crowd. "What happened? Someone told me ... were you hurt? Are you hurt?"

[moosemonstrous]

Ghost Rider Pacific Rim AU - this is a serious operation

Reyes watches Amadeus unpack the ophthalmology equipment with an expression of someone condemned to an electric chair.

“What are you a doctor of again?” he asks. He appears much less jittery than he was in the debrief, but he’s been going up and down since he woke up still on the resonance table. He went out like a light halfway through the MRS scan. Tony thought they’ve actually gone and killed him, but, surprise surprise, he really just passed out after over eighteen hours on the go. Montesi told them to leave him to it and had one of the nurses fetch a blanket.

Is he still in shock? He was definitely in shock when he crawled out of The Charger. He didn’t even ask for his phone back until they were nearly back at the base. But no, somebody in medical would’ve noticed this morning.

Amadeus belatedly remembers he was asked a question. “Technically, I’m not a doctor in any capacity. But I have the manual for these.”

The OCT hasn’t been used since they introduced Mark Threes and the drift technology stopped being quite so dangerous to new users, but it seems to be in a good condition. Nurse Carter had an ophthalmologist from the local hospital come over with his own gear to sort out Reyes’s eye after his accident, and at the time there was no reason to suspect it would be needed again. Amadeus really should know better than trust outside expertise with this kind of stuff.

“I feel like this should have come up before now.” Reyes wrinkles his nose. “How–”

“I’m very smart.” This never seems to be a good enough explanation for anyone. “I could’ve wasted time getting approval from some dusty old people halfway across the world, or done something useful with it. Besides, I basically grew up around academics, it rubs off on you.” It’s not a lie, if he counts Herc’s extended family. Somehow, he doesn’t think Reyes would care for his tragic backstory. “Don’t worry, Tony had me sit the exams before he let me loose on his lab.”

That also never seems to convince anyone – it shouldn’t, for people who aren’t Amadeus – but he has long made peace with it and at least Reyes doesn’t just. Up and leave. He does seem to find it funny, though. It’s weird to see his face do anything but scowl.

“I thought I’m the only underqualified person around here.”

“Excuse me,” Amadeus scoffs. The tomograph blinks to life when he flips the on switch. “I’m exceedingly qualified to take a photo of your eyeball.”

It’s not that he hasn’t noticed it was healing too slowly, but there were so many other priorities along the way. The pressure of a drift has been bursting blood vessels in rangers since the beginning of the program, and while Montesi was a bit concerned about the damage to the pupil, the ophthalmologist confirmed it was nothing to be worried about. At the time.

The software for the scanner comes on a CD, because of course it does. Amadeus is ninety percent sure he’s got a reader somewhere in his desk. His office is permanently in the state of what Tony generously calls a creative disaster, but he only has to move one half-deconstructed drone before he unearths an external CD drive alongside several spare memory ones he’s meant to re-label at some point… Later. At some point later. When he turns to triumphally plug the thing into his laptop, Reyes looks at him with a poorly disguised judgement.

“I have a system,” he lies.

“…Sure.”

Time to get this situation back on track. “Have you had any vision problems?”

“No.” Reyes never reported any pain, although Amadeus is beginning to suspect he’s the type to manfully ignore discomfort until it’s unavoidable. He doesn’t know if leukocoria ever occurs without some blurriness – or if that’s indeed what he saw whenever Brooks changed projector settings – but he can find that out after he’s examined it for himself. “What does this do?”

Amadeus checks the expiration date on the eyedrops before passing them to him. “You look into that lens there for ten minutes, I scan the back of your eye. No touching, and it shouldn’t hurt. At the end, I get a detailed image of the retina, and you avoid bright lights for a few hours. How’s that?”

To no apparent protest, Amadeus consults the manual to get the software going before strapping Reyes’s chin into the tomograph. He doesn’t really expect to find anything out of order – no pain, no sight issues, no headaches unrelated to the drift apparatus – but their new ranger is enough of an anomaly already. He’s not going to risk his solo pilot going the way of Spector – all the potential bursting like a soap bubble on an unasked question.

It takes slightly longer than ten minutes, because just this once Amadeus might have to admit that not having done this before somewhat hampers his confidence in getting the readings right. There’s discoloration around the macula, but that’s hardly a concern – nothing ever looks the same under a microscope as it does in textbook photos, and if he’s being honest, he was worried he’d find the retina already peeling off. The spectral domain view seems to have a little more to it than the example images would suggest, and eventually Amadeus gives in and asks Reyes to put the dilating eyedrops in his healthy eye, too.

“How’s your brother anyway?” he asks, mostly to keep his thinking face at bay. This is why he doesn’t normally work with live sub—with patients. He really should’ve asked one of the nurses to assist, if only to provide the small talk. “Look to the left. Has he been watching the news?”

Reyes doesn’t answer for a long moment. When he does, he sounds like there’s something stuck in his throat: “The children’s centre doesn’t allow jaeger broadcasts until after the fact. Just in case.”

“In case of—? Oh.”

“Yeah.”

Great fucking job, Cho. “Well, it’s been after the fact for a while! Didn’t you call him from the chopper?”

“His phone was off.” Another bout of silence. “His key worker texted me, said he was alright. I’m going to pick him up after this.”

“You’re going to look high for at least an hour,” Amadeus warns him. “And Kate wanted to discuss your media presence.” The eye on the other side of the lens begins blinking rapidly. “Stop that, I can’t scan your eyelid.”

“Who’s Kate?”

“Kate Bishop? She’s Jen’s PR girl.”

“PR.” It’s probably possible to inject more dread into two letters, but not without a lot of effort. “You mean—like an interview?”

There’s no thickening present on the healthy eye, and the difference is minimal. For all that he didn’t think anything would show up, it’s somehow really frustrating that the best he’s got is some minor abnormalities that can probably be explained away with the original damage and not enough sleep. He’ll have to run it by someone who knows better – and maybe ask Brooks to look out for the eyeshine. It was probably just a weird reflection, but it won’t hurt to make a note.

“More like full stage prep and making you memorise the party line. I wouldn’t really know, for some reason she never wanted me in front of the cameras.” He looks up from the laptop. Reyes isn’t prone to going pale, but he’s certainly lost some colour. “You fought a building-sized demon. You can’t be scared of reporters.”

“I’m not.”

“Uh-huh. You can move now, I’m done.” Reyes blinks owlishly, trying to refocus his eyes at a normal distance. His pupils are huge from the drops, which gives Amadeus an idea. It’s not that he wants to purposefully interfere with Kate’s job – this is how he shows his fondness, if anyone asks. “You know, if you talk to her now, she’ll have to let you go until you can handle spotlights again. I think... six hours? Should do it?”

“You think?”

“You’re free to get a second opinion.”

That nets him an actual smile. Turns out, Amadeus has a bedside manner after all.

**

(if you saw fake science, no you didn't. This is technically still a WIP with another part that's supposed to be attached but I can't look at eyeballs any longer without developing a very disturbing fetish so)

[gardenofchrome]

Forgive Me [c&h.hansen]

It was supposed to be a normal day.

Chuck sat at his desk, doodling on his paper as his teacher droned on and on about some topic he didn't bother listening to. After he was released from this prison, he was going to go to a fancy restaurant with his mom and dad, for some celebration he had long since forgotten about.

His father had promised to take them to the local restaurant down the street from where they lived; one with the toasted biscuts that practically melted-

An alarm started to blare, snapping Chuck out of his daydream. "All students and staff- evacuate immediately to a underground shelter; leave all materials behind."

His classmates around him started to panic. Even the teacher looked a flustered, starting to tremble slightly.

Kaiju.

Chuck's heart dropped. 'Mom--dad--oh my god what if it gets them--'

"Come on everyone, hurry hurry." His teacher pushed everyone out into the crowded hallway, full of jostuing students.

Chuck managed to push his way past everyone and burst out of the building- with all the chaos no one noticed a kid running away from the school, towards his home.

The roaring in the distance shook him to his very soul, but he didn't stop. "Mom!" He screamed.

He ran on and on, passing collapsed buildings, foot catching on a brick, throwing him hard onto the concrete. A sharp pain shot start through his forehead, blood spilling down.

His vision doubled and tripled, the little boy breathing heavily. "Mom," he said one last time, hot tears pooling in his eyes.

-

"Chuck!" Herc's voice cracked as he called out, tears straked his dust covered face. "Chuck, where are you?"

The rubble beside him shifted a little, as Chuck ran towards him, blood dripping down onto the pavement.

"Where's your mother?" Herc asked, and Chuck shook his head.

"I couldn't find her."

Herc swallowed hard. The kaiju was making its way towards them- if they didn't leave now they would be caught in the explosion.

"I'm so sorry, Angela." He whispered, only loud enough for him to hear. "I'm doing to keep our baby safe for you. I promise."

He turned and ran, gripping Chuck in his arms tightly so he couldn't fall out.

Chuck beat his little fist against his shoulder. "No, dad, please! Please we have to go back for mom! WE CAN'T LEAVE HER TO DIE!"

"Forgive me, Chuck."

-

Random thing I came up with at night ;D

[doctorslippery]

A story about the Vision and Wanda debating which of their oldest friends to approach about donating sperm so they can have a baby. They want another child and would prefer to avoid the whole synthezoid sperm, mutant egg, Mephisto/Pandemonium, extra-dimensional, chaos magic BS that they went through before.

It comes down to Hercules, Clint, or Steve. Herc and Clint would do it. Herc would make incessant entreaties to do it the 'old fashioned' way. As a byproduct of the Super-Soldier formula, Steve may not be able to. In the end, Steve would do anything that Vision and Wanda wanted him to. Clint because he's loved her since the day he met her, and the Vision is like a brother to him, yeah, that too.

Tony and Hank Pym are jealous. Hank McCoy and Simon wonder why not them.

Pietro is jealous too, but that's a whole 'nother can of worms.

Sam, politely, keeps himself the hell out of this conversation because there are already enough things he doesn't want to have to explain to his mother.

Thor is off dealing with Loki almost Ragnarok-ing an alternate reality Asgard which in a couple months will erupt into the 616 reality for a summertime event across multiple comics.

[brw]

i voted 00s for marvel because my favorite comic is academy x 😭

VERY FAIR there's a good few 2000s comics I do like; Incredible Herc, Vision: Yesterday and Tomorrow, hell, Busiek's Avengers counts as mostly 2000s, Waid's Fantastic Four, most people like Alias, etc... just the way the poll was phrased, to recommend a whole decade, I always have the instant thought of the ugly side of things, of how 9/11 changed America and by extension big two comic books in a massive way and they haven't really recovered since, with stuff like Civil War, House of M, etc etc, but there are really good comics from that era that I would recommend! I was just surprised by how highly voted it was on that poll at first because I think 2000s Marvel and I think Ultimates and how it ruined Wanda Maximoff and Hank Pym for over a decade, but it's more than fair to have favourites from that time! I do too; honestly, Yesterday and Tomorrow is one of the best and most underrated Vision stories I think.

[dryad-of-the-dogwood]

The Grav Jump Tango Chapter 5: Bad Luck Pairing: Sam Coe x Spacefarer

Excerpt below the cut for main story spoilers

Sam had to admit, whatever these Artifacts actually were, they put on one hell of a light show when they got together. And in spite of Walter’s half sarcastic guesses about what they were doing, it felt obvious that Cassandra’s opinion was on the right track. Weird visions that sounded strangely tactile from a bunch of Artifacts that created a similar spinning particle effect when thrown together and gave unexplainable power over gravity? There was definitely something behind that, and it was far too convoluted to be a bomb. At least she looked mildly pleased when Matteo backed her theory.

When interest had begun to fade and the members of Constellation started to scatter—likely to various research tasks depending on their own theories—Sam caught Cassandra’s eye. She gave some kind of curious glance at the railing he was leaning against as she approached, and when he offered to keep traveling with her so long as she understood Cora was part of that deal, she laughed.

“I’m reasonably certain Herc would stage a mutiny if I ever tried to ban Cora from my ship,” she joked, then smiled a little more seriously. “You’re both welcome, I thought you knew that. Though I probably won’t be going anywhere for a couple of days—need to get my hands on some supplies and next steps from Vladimir. Last I heard, he still needs some more planetary survey data before he can narrow down coordinates on any more Artifacts or temples. What do you think are the odds of another random terrormorph?”

“Let’s hope for low,” Sam said with a chuckle. “I’ll admit, I am curious about these temples and the connection to your ‘crazy gravity powers.’”

Cassandra grinned. “All right, then next time we find one, you’re with me. If you thought the gravity shenanigans around the Artifacts are weird, just wait until you see one of those things.”

And true to her word, Cassandra found Sam in the Lodge’s basement the next evening while he was testing out a new weapon mod. She had the charm on full power, leaning over the edge of the workbench toward him and wearing that smile that made her look like she was up to something. “So, still interested in helping with that survey so we can track down another temple to explore?”

Sam pretended to be skeptical, despite feeling oddly pleased she hadn’t changed her mind. “You know, I’m always up for an adventure, but that look in your eyes makes me suddenly question if I’m supposed to be terrormorph bait.”

Cassandra put a hand over her heart like she was wounded at the very suggestion, her eyes widening in what was probably supposed to be an innocent expression. It didn’t work, with the basement lighting casting her irises more yellow than green, making the mischief in them almost glow. “Sam,” she said in a startlingly low voice that was smooth as silk. “Would I do that to you?”

That tone, he suddenly felt certain, would haunt his dreams.

[avengerphobic]

i do think its unreasonably funny how in the mid 2000s there was the young avengers and the runaways as the like big teen teams and somehow amadeus managed to interact with basically neither teams (he knew cassie and teen vision and then he was in that battleworld runaways comic but ultimately he doesn't really interact with any for he other teen heroes from that generation) he just like does not interact with any characters his age its either the champions (the generation after him) or the classic characters (herc, bruce, thor, etc)

[kenneth-carson]

Deck The Halls || Kerc

@kouros-herc​

Twas...not quite the season just yet, but Ken could feel it brimming beneath the surface. Halloween had been kicked to the curb as soon as November hit, everyone waiting for the fuddy duddies to get their, ‘It’s not even December!’s out before they actually got to enjoy themselves and this time of year.

As for Ken and Hercules, they had been tasked with a mission. A nice mission, one that really made Ken happy to be apart of the Southern Isles.

One of the residents was in need of a little help this year. She was getting too old to be standing on any ladders or spending too much time out in the cold, but was still wanting to decorate her house for the season. 

The boys at 433 Sycamore were more than happy to help! And on top of the decorations she already had, Ken went out and got more because, already having a vision for this place.

“Alright!” Ken was standing on the front lawn with Herclues, the boxes of said decorations, and tools to help, sat around them, ready to be put up. “I think we should start with the roof.”

Before:

After:

[theresa-of-liechtenstein]

art by em year in review!

Not the greatest year by far, but I made it to the end, so let's celebrate! For the third time ever, I present to you my reflections under the readmore (this year, linking back to where they were posted so if you want to see them in situ, you can!)

January: "the nearness of you"

started the year off strong with my favorite femslash pairing of women that never met in canon. this piece really rode the wave of progress i made in the latter half of 2021, when i made a custom brush for lineart in sketchbook and watched my quality go up in response. compared to this time a year previously, the color of my lineart looks way more natural than before. it's a solid piece of work and i still like it very much overall.

something i will say though is that at the time, i was really struggling with skin color, particularly on theresa: you could even see this in last year's retrospective, especially when put next to linda. however, instead of actually addressing the issue at its core i just slapped a warm overlay on top, which was the drawing equivalent of slapping a band-aid (plaster?) over a gash and hoping that would fix things. (spoiler alert: it didn't.)

February: "ain't shit"

in all my retrospectives, there’s at least one which i like the least. for this year’s, this one has to be it. i really adore the concept i was going for, which was f1!au bobsled. f1!au bobsled is kind of an exploration into the ship having a darker side, which i kind of thought was missing from the wider scale of interpretations. so putting them in a position that slightly equalized them gave me the ability to explore that darker side.

anyway, background aside, the concept was something i clearly visualized but didn’t quite get on paper the way i wanted to. this was a case where i should’ve realized that things like warm ups and preliminary drafts are really helpful for pieces that have a clear vision but have a large scale, like this one. otherwise this concept is still super appealing to me and i’d draw it again!

March/April: unposted, "the transcendent third"

this detail section is part of the mock cover i made for a webcomic that i never followed through with, which was supposed to fictionalize my time and misadventures in a lab i was taking for credit. i enjoyed this work as a study on foreshortening (though i can't show the whole foreshortening thing without showing off other details i don't want visible, so you'll just have to take my word for it.)

though the transcendent third never came to fruition, it directly inspired another work i was, in fact, able to complete later in the year. you can probably guess what that work was.

i was extremely busy this time of year, so i didn't draw much.

May: "reunion"

this one i honestly forgot about because i wasn’t a fan of it when i finished. again, i really could have benefited from warming up since i was so out of practice at the time! i suppose that’s the big takeaway from this year 😅

June pt. 1: "circular story"

some progress, corresponding—no surprises here—with the end of the academic year. after years of using the same (very off) coloring for theresa's skin, i finally bit the bullet and twiddled with it, and what a difference it makes (at least to me!). next to herc and douglas and especially linda, she looks more natural, which makes the overall thing more cohesive.

fun bit of trivia is that the positions are meaningful. something that i (tried to) communicate in the f1 AU is the gray areas. who's in control here, really? who is fulfilling what? who is using who? herc and douglas both look to their left toward the women, reminiscent of the chain of authority in aircraft ('when you're a first officer you look to the left and see your captain. when you're a captain you look to the left and see your reflection...'). yet theresa and linda look not back at them, but up at each other. it's an interplay that had meaning and im not sure if anyone else picked it up but it was intentional.

June pt. 2: "Portugal, 1982"

oh hello motorsport fanart featuring ladies from the eighties that only me and like five other people on this webbed site care about. this year was the fortieth anniversary of michèle mouton and fabrizia pons's historic title campaign in the world rally championship, and i wanted to draw things for the three wins that helped them nearly clinch it. but of course (as is the refrain for basically everything art-related this year) since real life was a bitch about it, i was only able to draw something for portugal, which was inspired by actual footage. it's linked in the post if you're interested, CW for camera flashes.

this is a return to the "ghibli style" i tried out last year, and i still think it's adorable. i actually did most of it in procreate, which was less hellish than i remembered it being, and it was a good thing i got a little bit of practice in it, for reasons that will be clear in a few paragraphs.

July: Martin Crieff sheet, aka: if you can't remember how to draw him, redesign him!

look at this martin, then look at february's martin, then look at this martin again. doesn't he look so much better? an earnest young man, that is! he's not ginger but he dyes.

one of my favorite warm-ups/doodles to do is the good old ID picture (facing straight on, neutral expression. simple way to get things under my pencil before attempting something bigger), and this is supposed to be martin's fitton airfield ID card.

this was actually a warm-up for next month's piece...

August: "geyser"

i have a complex relationship with this work. i'd been plotting it and drafting it since at least 2020 and wanted to employ the lessons i had learned from march/april's experiment in foreshortening. i also wanted to draw something that connected martin and mitski's "geyser," the author's purpose and message of which is, i think, integral to understanding martin's character. because flying is like art and art is like flying and you will do anything for your passions even if it means losing you, but 'you' will never be lost because you work and try and fail and work and try and fail in the hopes that your passions will be 'you' and 'you' can be your passions and it's a wheel with no end, isn't it?

anyway i had to do most of this in procreate because for some reason, sketchbook started glitching and bugging on me and i couldn't figure out what was going on. i wanted to depict both martin's aspiration to the sky as well as martin's sheer smallness in comparison to his ambition, which is why i went for the whole foreshortening idea. it's not really that well depicted but the airplane casting a shadow over martin as he stands on tarmac is kind of a representation of his ambition's dominance over him...and then i went and overlaid lyrics to "geyser" over that as if i hadn't pushed the point enough.

i like this piece well enough (and it seems many people did, it's one of the ones that did best notes-wise) but i can't help but feel a lingering disappointment. this is something i’d like to try and re-draw in the future!

September: "before/after turbulence"

this was inspired by a norwegian air pilot's instagram post poking fun at herself for attempting to drink her coffee while they happened to be passing near thunderheads. it was just a funny little image that got more attention than i thought it would (effort vs attention inverse relationship lol) and possibly the most out-of-pocket reblog addition i've ever had on my work. anyways. woteva pt. 2. it was cute and fun to delve into the whole skrunkly style i had going on. i still don't fully understand procreate brush sizes tho.

October: "to take a photograph, and live inside"

sketchbook finally started cooperating with me at this point so i made a triumphant return to it for this piece.

this is so cute and i still love it! this came about after i thought about the characters' heights relative to each other, so more than anything this was a way for me to visualize the height comparison. also i wanted the soft-shoe-shuffle family together with their lesbian sidekick. and i think it's cute. i especially adore how i drew carolyn and i think this is where i permanently decided my herc shipwright is a glasses wearer.

November: "Donne, donne, eterni Dei"

aaauuuugh i love them waaahhh!

anyway i finally gave the mjn crew new uniforms (idk what i was on with that faded blue, nobody wears faded blue uniforms and it just looked washed-out). i am particularly proud of theresa's pose. i think i also posted a little bit about how i've gotten better with poses and anatomy since i started doing fanart seriously. and the secret? actually look back and reference your anatomy notes from high school. and lots of absurd selfies. and stock photos.

December: "the fruit left on my sheets"

after an admittedly up and down year, i finished it off super strong with this piece (which took so long to conceptualize but when i did…) neither of them look really off, which i'm proud of. sketch and lineart were both done in sketchbook, while the coloring and background were done in procreate. the coloring features some overlay work, but i think the star of this, more than the meaning i imbued into their poses and choice of attire, is the background. i might use that technique again because i really liked how it turned out.

Conclusion and 2023 Goals

i think my biggest goal moving into 2023 is to gain more confidence using procreate. one of my takeaways from this year was how powerful a program it is, and i think it is worth my time and energy getting to know and understand it, since i already have it. sketchbook will always be my first love in terms of drawing programs, since it was free, it was my first, and getting to understand it in early 2020 unlocked the door for me to not be shy to share my art online. but there are some things i turn to procreate for, like being able to blur in different ways! so i do want to balance what i use between those two programs.

additionally, i’m making an effort now to alt text all my art. i was lazy about it before, which is kind of dumb as i’m literally vision impaired myself so like. what was i waiting for lol. but better late than never!

last of all, my sincere thanks to all of you who've liked or reblogged a post i did, for engaging with my fanart, however unusual my subject matter (clears throat. the linda fairbairn extended universe, therlinda, the f1!au…shall i go on?) might be. cabin pressure really is an integral part of the person i've grown to become and am choosing to grow to be, and it genuinely brings me joy to explore its characters and relationships in all sorts of ways. this is one of my favorite hobbies and i appreciate all of you who are in it with me. when i’m down, i reread people’s tags because it genuinely means so much that other people like what i make. so, thank you.

[crypticcodexcreations]

OKAY I AM HERE 3 DAYS LATE AND FILLED WITH THE NEED TO KNOW

So i'm fully not sure if any of these guys got some love yet BUT any of these can be answered for Apollo, Herc, or that one hot reaper

🪞 - what would your character do if faced with an evil doppelganger? would they run away, fight? is the doppelganger a reflection of their inner fears?

🕰 - what would your character do if they were stuck in a time loop?

🫁 - would your character cannibalize someone? would it be for survival or because they like it? is it for religious reasons? something else? (i've gotta know, i'm not sorry)

💀 - is your character afraid of dying? if so, how far would they go to cheat death?

Andi, you are one of my best friends on this hellsite. I'm sure you know this. But you really forgot his name? For shame, Andi, for shame, lol.

🪞 - what would your character do if faced with an evil doppelganger? would they run away, fight? is the doppelganger a reflection of their inner fears?

OK, so, I decided to answer this one for Hercules. I think it depends on whether faced with an evil doppelganger in the dream world or the real world. In the dream world, he feels invincible and would probably try to fight it. After all, he's strong and big and tough, why wouldn't he? But in the real world? With those artificial muscles stripped from him, and as he really is? He would run, without hesitation. It's not likely to be a reflection of his inner fears, although it may mock him for them, remind him of just how alone he's always been and always will be.

🕰 - what would your character do if they were stuck in a time loop?

Kinda just picking and choosing who to do these for as I please, so! If Apollo found himself stuck in a time loop, he'd likely try to force one of his prophetic visions to try to figure out how to escape. This is, of course, a terrible idea, and he should not do that. It's either going to fail or torment him with all the possibilities of how the loop could go. Once he realizes that's a bad idea, he's likely to spend a good amount of time trying to act like everything is fine. More time isn't a bad thing, right? Right? By the time he actually gets out of it, he's likely to be a traumatized mess of a man. Michael is gonna have a real problem to fix.

🫁 - would your character cannibalize someone? would it be for survival or because they like it? is it for religious reasons? something else?

Herc would only do it out of desperation for survival. And honestly? He might puke about it the first time. Hercules likes to think he's tough, but uh. He's really not. He's really really not. It would likely haunt him for quite some time.

💀 - is your character afraid of dying? if so, how far would they go to cheat death?

And since you were actually able to remember his name on Discord, I'm doing this one for Isa. And yes, he is. Absolutely terrified of dying, because for Isa, dying means not existing at all anymore. It's the end of the line, no more chances. He doesn't show it often because there's very little that could kill him when he was alive and even less now that he's become a reaper, but that doesn't mean it's impossible. He would kill if it meant never having to worry about dying again and yet, that's not what'll save him. He can't wrap his mind around the fact that all of his go to ways of handling situations are just pushing him closer and closer to that little edge, and so whether he likes it or not, he's actually sabotaging himself. Guess he's lucky there's someone who believes in him and is willing to vouch for him still being able to change.

[eadrey-the-iptscray]

'Twas a Night Before Christmas (a Year After Pitfall)

'Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the 'dome Not a J-Tech was stirring, for they’d all returned home. Memorials were hung from the scaffolds with care, In hopes that the pilots’ spirits remained there.

The survivors were restless; neither slept in their beds While visions of kaiju swam through their heads. Mako in her jumper, and Raleigh in his own, Walked arm-in-arm through the empty Shatterdome.

When all of a sudden came a great hiss of static— Was it coming from K-Watch? Or was it psychosomatic, And that dreadful, loud noise was all in their heads? ‘Twas a mutual decision, the words left unsaid, That propelled them to LOCCENT to see what had happened. But lo and behold, Herc and Tendo were there, and— No.. could it be? The two weren’t alone. Seven specters had entered the old Shatterdome.

Chuck broke the silence: “We never said our goodbyes.” His father embraced him with a small, strangled cry. Meanwhile, the Weis turned to Tendo with sorrow, Speaking gravely and quickly, for there was no tomorrow.

When the Weis had finished, the Kaidonovskys chimed in, Recounting their loss with no hint of chagrin For ‘though they had died, it had not been in vain. The kaiju were gone. The world had been saved.

Last but not least, Mako’s sensei stepped forward. Raleigh figured his parting would be stoic, straight-forward, Like the Marshal had been for as long as he’d known him. But no—Pentecost greeted her with a grin.

“Your bravery saved us,” he said to his daughter, “I wanted to tell you, as your surrogate father, Because these final days were hard on us both. I’m sorry I hindered your personal growth. I hope you’ll allow me to make my amends—” But before he could finish, Mako stepped in. She embraced him, perhaps as she did as a child. No more speeches were needed; they had reconciled.

With tears in his eyes, Pentecost looked to Raleigh. ‘Though clearly his gaze conveyed melancholy, A twinkle shone through it—ah, ‘twas pride. His statement confirmed it: “She would have died, Had you not risked your life and finished the mission.” Raleigh was stunned by his candid admission. He had acted on instinct; were his actions heroic? Apparently so, if declared by a stoic.

But the bittersweet homecoming wasn’t to last, For the specters had limited time—alas! Herc’s watch beeped at midnight. ‘Twas Christmas Day, And the seven apparitions began fading away.

As they all gathered ‘round to go out together, The old Marshal addressed those still living, altogether: “‘Though our time was short and our farewells brief, I hope our reunion brought you some relief. We’ll miss you, and surely that feeling is shared, But we’re nonetheless grateful your futures were spared. Grief will linger for months, or maybe for years, So my hope is these words will silence your fears: No matter how gloomy or lonely life seems, You can always relive better times in your dreams.”

One by one, the ghosts vanished; their spirits set free. But Pentecost’s ghost was the last one, you see, For he had something special to share with the rest— Another farewell; a final request: “Take care of each other—you’re all that you’ve got In a world that’s forgotten you’re all still distraught. Lean on each other, through thick and through thin, And someday, I promise, life will seem less grim. I’m afraid it’s my time; this farewell will be swift: Remember, you’ll always find me in the Drift.”

[grimmusings]

⭐

⭐ Bucky Barnes (Marvel) + Epimetheus (Mythology): I'm mean to my muses, and I'd just like to make Bucky uncomfortable with someone who looks like Baron Zemo. That aside, mixing in some mythology with my Marvel verses could be a really interesting direction for them! (Also happy to throw Herc or Annabeth at any of those and see how they deal.)

⭐ Steve Rogers (Marvel) + Laura Kinney (Marvel): I'm not sure what you pull from her comics history for them, so feelings might be mixed 😅 But in general, my Steve is very fond of Logan--former Howlie, sometimes Avenger, and one of his oldest friends--and he'd want her to be safe and happy.

⭐ Torunn Thorsdóttir (Marvel) + Vision (Marvel): In her main verse, Vision is a decapitated head, but he helps her and her brothers defeat Ultron. Understandably, she's got a bit of android phobia, but it could be fun to see how she handles another Earth's Vision at full power.

[musekicker]

A drabble for the Hercules animated series that's inspired by my specific head canons for Icarus being less creepy to Cassandra and more kind of really good at making things and contraptions on the fly.

Hercules just was not great at a lot of subjects in school. Hero training he could do easily enough. School was a whole new challenge for him still. And one of the classes he was especially bad at was shop class.

Icarus thankfully was his partner in this assignment. Not just because working with his friend on this could make it more bearable, or that said friend was also good at this particular class. It was also because the class teacher was Icarus's dad.

"Now class, todays assignment should be simple enough if you're able to follow instruction. I will be handing out tablets with instructions for something to build. You are to figure out what you are building and build it." Daedalus said.

Hercules already knew he was going to be bad at this assignment already. But he would give it a hero's try.

It was ten minutes later and Hercules was still trying to just figure out what the actual thing they were suppose to build was.

"Icarus, Do you have any idea what your dad is trying to ask us to do here?" Hercules asked.

When Icarus didn't answer, Hercules looked up. Hercules was pretty sure that the small catapult had not been there the last time he was looking up. He of course had to ask about it.

"Is that part of the assignment?" Hercules asked.

"Nope." Icarus said.

"Then why did you make it?" Hercules asked.

Icarus was still fiddling around with a few elements of the device as he answered Hercules.

"Herc, I already know this stuff." Icarus said. "And I have to keep my mind sharp. So sometimes I'll make small devices out of what I have on hand."

"Oh." Hercules said.

Sometimes Hercules forgot that despite his silly and odd nature because of his flight too close to the sun, that Icarus was actually very clever when it came to contraptions and simple machines.

"So you made a mini catapult out of boredom?" Hercules asked.

Icarus nodded and pulled the bucket of the catapult back with two of his fingers. The bucket of the catapult was empty so nothing was thrown across the room when he released the bucket.

"That's pretty.. impressive actually. So this works?" Hercules asked.

"Oh yeah. All I have to do is load it with something like let's say this pebble." Icarus said.

The pebble had been a part of a stone tablet that notes were being chiseled into. So Icarus had plenty of options for pebble ammo. He placed a pebble in the bucket of the catapult.

"I pull it back and if I let it go it'll send the ammo flying. Just like the bigger version. With much less effort and smaller ammo. Of course I'm not going to use it during class. I'd never cause trouble for my Dad-alus's class." Icarus said.

Sadly Icarus had not been fully paying attention to the grip he had on the bucket of the catapult he still had pulled back. And because of that the bucket slipped from the grip of his fingers. This of course lead to the pebble being flung across the room.

Originally Cassandra would had been the victim of this accident. She either had had a vision of this incident or just somehow sensed the flying pebble. Whatever the case was, she ducked just in time to avoid being hit in the back of the head. The pebbles path uninterrupted, it continued to fly. It finally found it's target of the back of Adonis's head.

Adonis let out a high yelp and stood straight up. Then he felt the back of his head. There was a small bump swelling up already. And though Adonis was not the brightest student, he did put two and two together when he saw the pebble at his feet.

He took it as well as one would had thought of a prince.

"Who dares to throw a pebble at me!?" Adonis cried.

The other students were staring at Adonis's outburst and the growing tantrum. So Hercules was able to take the small catapult and hide it under the table before anyone could see it.

Adonis was still complaining and demanding justice. Something that was greatly disrupting class. And probably would for the remainder of it.

"We'll be fine." Icarus whispered to Hercules. "I doubt that Adonis can figure out the trajectory and trace it back to our table." 

Icarus was correct about the fact that no one would figure out where the pebble had came from. At least no one who would tell on them. Daedalus clearly had done the math and figured out what had happened. Hercules and Icarus knew this because as Daedalus was passing Hercules and Icarus's table took the moment to comment quietly.

"Next time please have better control over your creations, son." Daedalus said.

"You got it Dad-alus." Icarus said.

[kouros-herc]

In Translation - Oneshot

For the task: The Language Of Love. 5 Times Herc didn’t feel he could use his love language, plus 1 time he did.

Aquata [ @aquata-the-champ ]

Q was doing that thing again, where she got antsy about something and started prowling round the gym instead of sitting down and actually taking her coffee break in the breakroom. She only did it when she couldn’t quite bear sitting on her own and nobody else was in there, and instead she flitted in and out of his vision, never quite committing to saying whatever it was that was bothering her. Herc kept glancing up at her from the desk. He knew better than to ask, at least not right now. It was probably Principal Prickly or something, or maybe one of her sisters had accidentally said something that upset her or, well there could be a thousand different reasons. 

Everything in his chest was telling him he should stand up, and go and rest his hands on her shoulders, maybe give them a squeeze, and tell her to take a breath. He could be her earthing wire, rooting her to the ground and letting her stand in his shadow for a second until she could feel calmer again. But he knew she’d probably punch him in the stomach for that, which would help nobody. 

Instead, when she came back after her next class, there was a coffee and a blueberry muffin from Hatter’s waiting for her at the desk. 

Herc sipped his tea quietly as she took it, and leant against the wall. 

Ken [ @kenneth-carson ] 

Herc was staring at the chicken he was frying off. It looked absolutely nothing like the picture on the recipe card, but it did smell good, which honestly was a miracle enough in itself that he was lost in it as the door opened and shut again. 

Ken, his new roommate came into the kitchen. 

After a moment, Herc remembered where he’d been. “Hey! How’d it go?” He turned over his shoulder, feeling guilty about the row of tupperware containers that was taking up most of the counter space as he tried to sort out his meal-prep for the week. 

Ken beamed. “I got the job!”

“Aaaaaaaay!” Hercules beamed back at him. “Congratulations!” That was great news! Concierge at The Hauntley Inn, that was a pretty cool job, and Ken had seemed really enthusiastic about it when he’d talked about it earlier. Plus it was good to know that his friendly new roomie wasn’t going to up and disappear in a matter of weeks. Hercules was getting used to having him, and his rollerblades on the shoe rack. 

For a second he turned, as if to wrap Ken in a hug, then faltered. He barely knew Ken, and though he seemed really friendly... was he a hugger? He seemed like the type, and Hercules was really happy for him but... what if he wasn’t a hugger? What if he thought Herc was being way too comfortable for someone who had only been his roomie for a couple of weeks?

Hercules held his hand up, instead, and Ken slapped it in an enthusiastic high-five. 

“That’s amazing dude, well done! So how’d it go, tell me all about it?” Herc tried to pour all of those congratulations into his voice instead. 

Merida [ @heart-of-dunbroch ] 

Merida was sitting in the breakroom, her feet up on the coffee table and notes strewn everywhere. He had recognised them as the training manual for her qualification, but hadn’t said anything when he came in to make his cup of tea to go with his lunch. He watched with a frown as she kneaded so fiercely at her forehead he half expected to hear a yelp of pain. Not that she would, Merida would never, he knew. 

But he could practically see the stress rising off her like steam. It had been there a lot lately, it seemed. He didn’t know if it was just trying to do the coursework for her qualification, or whether there was something else going on that she hadn’t told him about. 

Maybe if it was someone else, he’d have laid his hand gently on her shoulder and asked her to talk to him, but here he knew that was a recipe for getting judo-flipped over the sofa and probably smashing the coffee table to pieces.

He scooped the teabag from his mug, and blew on the hot dark liquid once. Merida groaned under her breath at something. 

When she looked up, Hercules was setting his mug down on the other side of the coffee table. “Hey,” he nodded. “What’s this?”

“Fookin’ health and safety liability bollocks-” she vented the pressure release valve. “It’s all bloody stupid! And it won’t go in!”

“Here-” Herc leaned forward and picked up one of the sheets lying abandoned on the table. “I’ll quiz you, you’ll have remembered more than you think. Ok, so-”

Boo [ @boointhenight ] 

Kicking off his shoes as he stepped inside, Herc paused for half a moment. The TV was still playing, which meant Mary was probably still here. Ken had given him the heads up that she was coming over, which would be nice, except... when he’d seen her earlier that day at the gym she’d had dark circles under her eyes, and had been stalking about as if she was ready to snap. Not her usual self at all. 

Marking season, was all she had said on the matter when he asked. She seemed so resigned to it, he’d wanted to wrap his arms around her, and be the solid ground that she could stand on for a second to catch her breath. She’d rushed off to go and get to class before he’d even had the chance to talk himself out of it. 

“Hey-” he stuck his head around the living room door, “I’m making a drink did you want anyth-” 

His voice trailed off as he saw her, lying flat on the sofa, one arm trailing down to the floor, her chest rising and falling as she slept, whatever horror film was playing still playing out some chase scene in the background. 

Creeping softly, Herc collected the glass from the floor near her hand, and set it safely on the coffee table, before he padded off to his room. He returned, and shook out the spare blanket his Mama had insisted he had, one his grandmother had made that felt like home. He laid it gently over her sleeping form, then knelt. 

Paper was strewn all over the floor. 

She’d probably been marking when she fell asleep, but the pages were a mess. He glanced at the student number in the top corner, comparing pages... yeah. These were all in the wrong order now...

Settling himself on the floor, the ginger began to match the pages together, making sure each essay had stayed with its other parts, and that they pages followed the right numbers. Mary gave a soft huff in her sleep behind him. 

Bruce [ @brucewhite ] 

The silence hung terribly between them. Bruce seemed as if he could barely meet Hercules’ eyes. The guilt was still there, shining in them. Hercules’ chest felt like it was about to cave in. 

All he could feel was the loneliness of it all. It was one thing when he had thought Bruce was here thousands of miles from home and the people he knew, but to be separated from your people? Your pod? Your entire culture? It made his heart physically ache with pain. And Bruce had to carry this alone, all of it. How long had he been carrying this on his own? And all of his struggles? All of that pain and loneliness? 

Like a wave it washed over him - he flinched forwards ready to go to Bruce. To wrap his arms around him and hold him close and reassure him that it was ok, that he was still Bruce, that he still accepted him, that he ... he might not have his pod here but he still had his friend.

But Herc’s feet remained where they were, rooted to the floor. 

Were mermaids huggers? He didn’t know. And what if Bruce hadn’t forgiven himself for the incident at the lake yet? Would having Hercules hugging him simply making him feel panicked, make him worried about doing something. 

“I’m so sorry, Bruce-” he said instead. “I can’t imagine how that feels, being so far from your pod like that, I just-” he broke off shaking his head. “I’m really happy you told me, ok? If you ever need to talk about this, I swear, I’m here... I know it’s not the same but, I’m here for you.”

Plus

Michael [ @the-dashing-darling ]

“Oh c’mooooooooooon-” Michael howled when Hercules shook his head. “How was that not in it sounded like it was in!!!!” The younger man spun around on his heels and watched where the basketball was now bouncing away into the corner of the sports hall. 

He had bet that he could make the shot throwing the ball back over his head, not that Herc had bet against him, but now the two were locked in this process of trying to make it happen. 

“You were just, just like, a little tiny bit too far left-” he pinched his fingers together to show how close it had been. “You need to aim like that far more to your- wait... my right-” he corrected himself. “And that should be it.”

Michael took the next ball, that Hercules handed him, his brow furrowed in concentration. He took a few deep breaths to try and centre himself, then practiced the movement again, going through the motions of lifting his hands and throwing the ball over his head. He looked questioningly at Herc, his co-pilot.

“Should be good, you got this,” Herc nodded. 

Michael nodded, then hurled the ball. 

“NO! COME OOOON!” Hercules howled as the ball hit the rim and bounced off. “Rim?!!! Ok, ok, ok, it just needs that angle but like a tiny tiny bit further and we’re there-” he was practically bouncing from foot to foot as he handed Michael the next ball. Last ball before they’d have to go and collect all the unsuccessful ones.

Michael closed his eyes. It was all very dramatic. He practiced the movement a few times again, before lowering his hands. Opening his eyes, he nodded at Herc, then whipped the ball back over his head and -

“YES!!!!” Herc cheered as it sailed through the hoop. “NOTHING BUT NET BABY!” Michael spun immediately, seeing the ball bouncing away. 

“For real? For real?”

“Yeaaaaah!” Herc wrapped his arms around his friend, who began to whoop. 

“Hell yeah!” Michael yelled, bouncing up and down and throwing his arms up in the air, hugging Herc too. The pair of them, thumping each other’s backs, danced in a mad circle as they hugged. 

[night-gay]

Into the Anthill pt 40 - The Mighty Avengers

Out of skrull captivity and back in action, Hank was tapped by Jarvis and Amadeus Cho to lead the Mighty Avengers. Tony immediately tried to take control of the team, four of the others quit (although some rejoined later), and the whole world made Chthon stronger by refusing to believe in him. Honestly a pretty normal day in the life of Hank Pym. So he stuck it out and proved them wrong, saving lives at unheard of speeds thanks to his newly-invented, multi-dimensional base of operations.

And as an added bonus, he really pissed off Norman Osborn.

Mighty Avengers vol 1 #21-24

Tsunamis of blood flooded New York, San Francisco was encased in amber, Oklahoma disappeared; all over the world bizarre natural disasters were popping up with no end in sight. Amadeus Cho named this disaster the Chaos Cascade and worked with Hercules to research it. They tracked down Jarvis once they knew they would need the Avengers, certain that he was the factor that held them together. Jarvis led Amadeus and Herc to Hank’s secret base in a Van Dyne’s outlet store outside of Chicago. Hank initially refused to help them, but they convinced him that despite his insecurities they needed someone capable of leading the Avengers and he’d done it before. His new base of operations, stored in what he deemed a “Pym Pocket” was larger on the inside and capable of linking to doorways anywhere on Earth for convenient travel. Amadeus had tracked the Chaos Cascade to Mt. Wundagore, so Hank linked to a doorway in Transia and discovered the Scarlet Witch waiting there for him with recruits for him: the new Vision, Stature, U.S.Agent, and the Hulk.

The source of the Chaos Cascade was Mordred the Mystic, who had already lured Quicksilver to Mt. Wundagore to use as a vessel for Chthon. Wasp led the charge against Mordred but Iron Man arrived on his own to finish him off and take charge of the developing team. Hank asked Tony for one good reason why he should let him lead them instead. Tony gave him a 3 word answer: "You're Hank Pym." Iron Man took Herc and U.S.Agent to deal with Chthon his way, not seeing any of the others as useful enough. He planned to detonate the mountain's uranium core hoping that would kill Chthon.

Seeking a less volatile option, Hank instead thought to broadcast to the people of the world and diminish the power Chthon gained from their fear of him. He announced to the world that he and his Avengers had the situation under control, but the global lack of faith in him actually made Chthon stronger. His ego bruised, he then worked with Amadeus to scramble the language center of Pietro's brain to keep Chthon from casting any spells. Mordred tried to siphon Chthon into his own body to help him avoid this, but Vision and Amadeus interrupted the process and sucked him back into The Darkhold. They had to temporarily download Quicksilver’s mind into Vision until Hank could put him back into his own body.

Seeing this as an opportunity to officially lead The Mighty Avengers, Hank offered everyone there membership. Iron Man, Hulk, and Quicksilver refused, leaving Wasp to lead Jocasta, Stature, Vision, Hercules, Amadeus Cho, and U.S.Agent. The Scarlet Witch who appeared to their team was secretly Loki working to undermine Norman Osborn’s efforts as the current leader of the Avengers. After solving nearly a dozen superhuman crises in one day, Hank was asked by a reporter if it was okay for him to also call his team Avengers due to Osborn’s insistence that only his own team was “official.” Hank argued that by the rules of the original Avengers Charter, since he was the only founding member operating that meant his team was by default the more official one.

While fighting the Altantean Titan off the coast of France, Wasp and Stature both grew to about 200ft in height to restrain it. Quicksilver arrived at the last second and used a cyclone to disable Titan just before the strain caused Cassie to faint. Agents Ace and One-Eyed Jacquie of G.R.A.M.P.A. (Global Reaction Agency for Mysterious Paranormal Activity) offered to deputize the Mighty Avengers into their organization to grant them legal passage into every nation, as well as to keep them out of Osborn’s jurisdiction. Hank accepted, not thrilled about the name but eager to do more good for the world.

Minor/Cameo appearances from this period:

Fantastic Four vol 3 #569

Marvels: Eye of the Camera vol 1 #1, 3

Captain Britain and MI-13 vol 1 #13