#i'm around where that 'power from another dimension' is introduced

[mwalani]

Hazbin Hotel X Star Butterfly!Reader (part 1 - Charlie)

︴Notes - Hello everyone! This isn't a request but I got this idea and I needed to write it... Also, I was thinking of maybe a oneshot or series with it but idk because I would be so slow to update it lmao. Anyways yeah I hope you guys enjoy it! <3 if you guys want it to be a one shot, pls tell me!!

︴Content - Headcannons of the hazbin hotel characters with a reader who is like Star Butterfly.

︴Summary - Reader was in Mewni and just got their wand, but they didn't have a lot of control, so their parents decided to send them to the afterlife to be more responsible.

Charlie was really surprised when she saw a human in Hell. That made her get really worried about you, like, what the heck were you doing here??

She obviously went to help and took you the hotel, introducing you to everyone in there.

Charlie and you quickly became close, I mean, just look at you two, you were really similar in so many aspects!

She also noticed you had a wand. And at first she thought it was something only for the looks. You're a human, there's no way you have powers.

But you were really excited to show it off so Charlie happily agreed on seeing you use it.

And she was so shocked when she saw you destroy a random building with one of the spells.

Charlie made a lot of questions to you, and then you remembered that you had forgotten to properly introduce yourself, that's when you told her your name.

"I'm a Magical Princess from another dimension!"

The way Charlie's eyes lightened up when she heard you were a Magical princess. She's a Princess you too!!

I don't why, but that probably made her very happy.

Charlie wanted to know more about where you came from and how was your life there. She was also really curious about the heart on your cheeks.

You then explained that Mewni was a really magical place with real magical powers!!

And for the hearts, it was probably because you touched the wand and also for genetics.

You and Charlie spent all day just talking about Mewni and this stuff.

After some time, you remembered that you didn't have a place to sleep, but Charlie said you could stay at the Hotel!!

And you obviously said yes, being excited to meet the others and also to just have a place to be.

Eventually you met Vaggie that somehow you never saw before??

Vaggie was definetly more reserved and less talkative, but you didn't really care.

You didn't leave her alone until someone else showed up.

One thing that you were a bit scared about was everyone's height. You were around 5-6 foot tall (trying to be less specific with it😭) but everyone else was at least 6 foot.

With the exception of Niffty of course.

But yeah, it was still something to considerate.

Also, lots of people had powers. But not powers like yours, who usually needed spells or wands or whatever.

No, just pure demonic power. Definetly something to be careful with...

Charlie also told you to never, ever, make a deal with any demon. No matter how good it might seem at first.

You still had your dimensional scissors, but you didn't show them to anyone yet.

[theraprism]

Class subtext thoughts on Gatsby, Flatland, and Bill.

So broadly speaking, we've had some idea of what Bill's home dimension was like since the 2015 in-character AMA, when the idea that it was nearly (if not fully) identical to the world of Flatland was first introduced. During the Weirdmaggedon 4-parter, we finally learned that Bill had obliterated his home dimension and called it liberation. (From what I recall the fan concensus on this information was that it was a malicious act of evil on Bill's part -- up until the Book's release, I don't think the idea that it was a tragedy or accident ever had much ground to stand on.) Journal 3 picked up on this again when it established the existence of Exwhylia, which (importantly!) also reinforced the hierarchical nature of existence that Flatland presents.

I'll own up to the fact I've never read Flatland myself (it is on the neverending list of classics that I still haven't gotten to yet) and will be instead be relying mainly on Wikipedia and Sparknotes clones for this analysis, but the good news is that canon Gravity Falls materials have given us the basics of how Bill's home dimension operated at this point, and so knowledge of the work seems less required and moreso recommended. Similarly to Gatsby (the book as well as the character). More on that later.

To be more specific, the important info that Hirsch has given us about Euclydia is that it was repressive in the extreme. The exact ways that it maintained this are left up to the imagination, to an extent (e.g. there is no evidence of the upper echelons of Euclydia carrying out public executions against the lower classes, as there are in Flatland), but the Book does directly pull an image from Flatland that illustrates the class hierarchy there.

Since Flatland was written originally as a satire of the stratification in Victorian society, the work goes to great lengths to specify and elaborate on the different social roles of each shape (for example, women as lines, though the gender stratification isn't relevant in Bill's case). More relevant is the way that the work considers upward mobility through generations, and the fact that isoceles triangles (working class) are considered among the lowest beings in existence, just above irregular shapes. Bill has been referred to and drawn inconsistently as both isoceles and equilateral, but based on what we learn from Exwhylia in Journal 3, it's possible that this distinction is not relevant in the GF multiverse's reinterpretation of Flatland. See:

I'm sure a part of this reduction of the hierarchy in the original Flatland has to do with the work needing to be at least somewhat accessible to younger readers, but it does textually ensure that, regardless of the specific details of Bill's geometry, he comes from a background where, in spite of his exceptional ability to see the third dimension, he saw those around him receive resources more freely. His singling out of irregular quadrilaterals reads to me as a form of internalized classism; he needs someone to punch down to.

And earlier:

He describes his regular shape as an out-and-out "power". Bill explicitly carries with him the classist ideals and values of his home dimension despite its destruction. The way he internalizes different ideas about himself and who he is is probably a subject for another post, but the point is that these qualities Bill is emphasizing aren't simply a matter of arrogance. Bill is trying to sell himself as a gentleman, a respectable individual from an upper-middle class position.

This is where Gatsby becomes relevant, because The Great Gatsby is all about a man who wants more than anything to cross the threshold of inborn greatness and become a true upperclassman. Bill appealing to his innate biological qualities as evidence for his own greatness relates back to the notion that such greatness is an ontological trait which cannot be given, but can also not be taken away. Note what he explicitly says here about the themes of class in Gatsby:

If you walk up to any college English professor and ask them what Gatsby has to say about the American Dream, I really do not think you are going to hear them say the word "bittersweet". The American Dream is a false idol and illusion; Gatsby himself is utterly miserable and meets a miserable end. There is nothing "sweet" about it.

At the same time, it makes sense that Bill would describe it as bittersweet, because for all his powers of sight, Bill cannot imagine a future where he is happy. Throwing crazy parties every night (for Gatsby at his home, for Bill on the Earth's remains), staring at an unreachable desire far out in the distance -- that's his end goal. He emerged from a position where he was repressed and since then his life has been a steady climb/crawl in the direction of power and control. Both Gatsby and Bill seek to reclaim a lost sense of fulfillment and purpose through this ascent, and both seek to become untouchable as gods are, but both are brought down in the end due to the consequences of their own actions, stemming directly from the violence they bring into their worlds of their own volition. In case you've forgotten, or if you've never read it, Gatsby's money is not clean. We may not see Bill use money, but his social currency is not clean either.

I think it's telling that Flatland can be understood as it relates to Bill's character through summary, but with Gatsby, there is so much subtle incentive to actually read the thing. From the GIF originally posted by Hirsch that I included at the top of the post to the PDF link on ThisIsNotAWebsiteDotCom.com to the fact that the gag in the Book itself goes on for multiple pages when it could have ended after one or two, the intertextuality is paramount. I think that's really cool. It's rare to see intertextuality this well-considered in genre fiction, and I think it makes the whole analytical process more fun.

[themindcrowave]

recurring jing yuan thoughts #2... a spiderverse AU

so i've been thinking about spiderverse jing yuan lately..... trying to decide whether he's a spider or a gwen/MJ

- if he was a spider he'd be able to travel dimensions,,, he'd definitely have a backstory similar to miguel o'hara's about trying to find a reality where everyone he loved was back together again, but unlike miguel, once that reality inevitably goes wrong he either:

- decides to really focus on his emotional healing and grief processing or

- becomes a compartmentalization master like he is in the game

because either way he knows he can't properly help others and be a leading figure if he can't move past his own grief first. he would rather gnaw through his own arm than push his old emotional scars onto the young spiders he's met and formed family with along his journey. he might have lost his first found family but he'll be damned if he loses his chance at another.

- and then just like in-game, jing yuan will meet the people of his past again... i'm thinking dan heng is a spider from a parallel universe where dan feng's weakened consciousness ended up after he was completely wiped from jing yuan's dimension, so basically dan heng was always his own person of course but then he started having visions of a lifetime parallel to his own lived by someone who looked exactly like him (insert my gwen stacy theory bc WOW does it fit him)

- blade would be kinda like the usual spiderman villain setup where his undying situation is all because of a terrible science accident and his main motivation is to find the ones involved in what happened to him (the og high cloud quintet friend group) and exact vengeance so that maybe he can finally disappear in peace (basically the same as in-game)

- baiheng's death was probably jing yuan's first devastating "canon event". i think he wasn't around to save her when she died (and he couldn't have been, he didn't even know where she was or what happened to her until he heard the news) and that guilt will forever eat away at him... i'm thinking she died in an aircraft accident but i haven't decided what kind yet

- dan feng was a genius scientist. he experimented with a lot of things that he probably shouldn't have and always pushed the boundaries of scientific possibility,, especially after baiheng died. he started secluding himself in his lab and only yingxing ever had any success at visiting him there for any substantial period of time... which is exactly how yingxing got caught up in dan feng's plan to bring baiheng back (think kingpin bringing his family back with the alchemax super-collider) and subsequently cue the horrible accident which turned him into the immortal blade

- oh and then of course jing yuan, being spiderman, has to track down and apprehend dan feng for what he did and decide his sentence (life imprisonment) but dan feng's family clan had him assassinated in prison for reasons jing yuan was never able to completely uncover (and a nagging little part of him will always feel like dan feng's fate was his fault)

- i think jingliu was jing yuan's superhero mentor... not sure if she was a spider too, or just another masked hero in the area who took him under her wing when he was new to his powers. just like in-game, she was the one who introduced him to the rest of the group, and just like in-game she will go completely berserk and become a vigilante with no clear morals or objectives after baiheng dies. like with dan feng, jing yuan has to track her down and try to get her back. unlike with dan feng, jingliu decides that given her shattered mental state the safest option for society as a whole would be for jing yuan to defeat her then and there, once and for all, simultaneously saving the day and proving his graduation from her mentorship. and, well. he did.

- there's yanqing (young spider, official mentee, and unofficial son of jing yuan) thoughts rattling around in here too, but words are difficult so unfortunately you'll have to put your full imagination to work here and just try to feel the "i'm-putting-this-character-in-a-jar-and-shaking-it-like-a-mixed-drink" vibes for yourself! cheers

[weebsinstash]

So we briefly joked about how hectic it could be with multiple Miguels, but I'm actually starting to think of a story where you get into trouble with another YOU

An anomaly that wasnt your fault caused your universe to collapse, but thankfully you weren't in it at the time and you now permanently live in Nueva York with the Spider Society. You're a grown adult and have known Miguel for about close to a year or two now, slowly getting closer to him over time, and consider the two of you decent friends. There's not really anything concrete between you two, but, there's more than just a little tension, and you can tease some of that former personality hidden underneath all the trauma out of him sometimes with a teasing joke or two. Other spiders constantly joke about how you two should just hurry up and hook up already, and, you would be lying if you said you never felt any attraction to your 6'5 coworker, never thought about being with him, and there are times when you've found his eyes on you and you wondered what was going through his mind for him to seem so focused, although he'd be quick to look away whenever you caught him

But. Trouble in paradise. You wake up one morning, everything the same as usual, getting up and going to do your daily routine, maybe you're even a trainer for novice Spiders sometimes since you're so strong and talented, and you stumble on Miguel talking to... another you??? And their costume is a little different than yours but, that's definitely another you, perfect replica, and you start feeling more than just a little insecure when YouTwo and Miguel seem to be... hitting it off really well, actually. It took MONTHS for Miguel to be that friendly with you, but with them he just seems so... natural? You're not even sure why but you can feel yourself getting jealous, but try and be the better person and go introduce yourself, and Miguel actually... kind of blows you off to go show them around? And you feel this deep pit of insecurity open up in your stomach as over the next couple days, people meet them and really like your double, even people who didn't like you, and everything you can do, so can the clone, even any special hidden abilities or powers that made you stand out in this large gathering of multiverses (although maybe you're still stronger, but, suddenly you're just not that special anymore)

You go to teach one of your classes and they're already there, taking the lead and doing great, maybe even making breakthroughs with students, and suddenly you're faced with this weird feeling. Have you been... replaced? Were you really so... unremarkable that a you from another dimension really did just, just, swoop in and steal your life away from you?

And it gets worse. Every so often, usually around the same specific time, you have to drop off some sort of report or have some sort of assigned task with Miguel, but one day you're approaching his dark cave of an office and you can hear it all too well. You might not be able to hear him, but you can hear THEM all too well as you find yourself unable to stop yourself from approaching until you lock eyes on what all the noise is.

Backstabbing life stealing doppelganger SNAKE BITCH is FUCKING YOUR MAN and being LOUD AS FUCK ABOUT IT. Miguel's back is to you but they can see you over his shoulder and they SMIRKS, making sure they're being nice and loud and being absolutely gross, like, it would be hot IF it wasn't, them taking someone you had feelings for right out from underneath you, just REALLY hamming it up, "Aye, papi, you're SO BIG, you're hitting me SO DEEP" just really rubbing fucking salt in your wounds in your own voice and he's too lost in it to realize you're there as you run away, fighting off tears as witnesses see you fleeing the lab, many looking scandalized, others confused

You're just so hurt and betrayed that you can't help but start running, you don't even know to where, but you can't stay here, at least not right now, now when you're this upset. You hit a bunch of random numbers and see wherever it takes you, jumping several times until you're running across rooftops and parkouring in some sort of foreign land to try and get all the manic energy out of you. You don't even know how long you're running and jumping and swinging around before you hear an all too familiar and unwelcome voice, and you don't even look at him as you hear Miguel behind you, asking, "what do you think you're doing here?" And you just snark back and start giving him sass, and after he refuses to leave you alone you land to turn around to speak to him and realize, wait a second, his suit is different. A different Miguel? And you apologize as the two of you get to introductions and start talking and, he's similar but just different enough to the Miguel you already knew that you already know how to handle him, but this one is friendlier, jokes around more, and you're sad when you finally decide to go back home, finding yourself... reluctant, missing him even.

And you find yourself visiting him again, and again, and again, meanwhile the Miguel back home is APPARENTLY spending time with the alternate you, lots of time, and you can't help but notice people are starting to give you weird looks. You're being approached and accused of things you never did, like borrowing money you haven't paid back but definitely never took in the first place, or arguments you've never been in, dine and dashing for a food you hate, and someone even tells you outright that "your extremely loud sex with Miguel is fucking gross, like have some respect for the rest of us, jeepers"

So you think, fine, fuck this place, if no one here respects you, you might as well set Miguel straight before you go on another trip. He knows something is wrong when you call out to him as O'Hara and not Miguel, and he can practically see the steam coming out of your ears as you dont even bother to apporach him, just shouting across the way, "if youre going to replace me with some lookalike slut, you can at LEAST fuck them where no one can hear you! The entire Spider Society doesnt need to hear what my cumming voice sounds like when it isnt even me!!"

He's quickly and urgently calling after you but you don't care to hear him out, warping out of there, and there's only one place you can think of to seek comfort from. You're angry and frustrated and just need someone to talk to, or something to take your anger on, and right then and there as you beam in to the alternate Miguel's universe, there's some big villain attack, and you team up, and in some post fight adrenaline rush, Miguel2 pulls you close and kisses you and you decide, fuck it, and get naaaaasty with him, just really having some hot nasty dirty sex where you're both like fucking on the side of some skyscraper somewhere or he's got you bent over a gargoyle or, you know, fun spider sex things

Imagine if Miguel using his bracelet to communicate with all Spiders in the movie was like, a security clearance or password locked feature, and you have the clearance and, during the activities your bracelet gets bumped and suddenly Miguel and the entire Spider Society gets to hear

"Mi-Miguel, you're being so rough--AH~"

"What, you don't like it when I use my fangs? What about when I put my mouth... here?"

"Oh my god, wait, don't you want me to shave or like-- oh my god, oh my god, holy fuck, your tongue feels so good--"

And that goes on for like 3 minutes before you realize your bracelet is on but you're in such a sex haze you just, turn it off and keep going, MEANWHILE "your" Miguel is fucking livid because, he was with "you" right then and there, or rather, who he THOUGHT was you. This whole time, the evil backstabbing bitch had been stealing your costume and outright tricking people into thinking they were you, stealing your reputation and using it to their benefit, and that went especially for Miguel, who, under the influence of xlever manipulation and drugs or low lighting or whatever other trickey, thought he had been hooking up with YOU the entire time, and is now FURIOUS. He thought it was so weird you kept saying you were just "being moody" and claiming it was just stress or some other weird vague excuse. He had been tricked by YouTwo the entire time, and as the realization sinks in, the angrier he gets. This bitch had tricked him into hurting you, and now you're with another man, another HIM, replacing him? Another man is hearing your sweet cries and feeling the warmth of your flesh against his? Miguel won't stand for this. He's seething with rage with claws itching to tear into something, but before he goes to fetch you, he'll have to take care of your imposter first

I mean. He wants to, but can't kill them, so he just banishes them back to their home dimension and forbids any Spider from travelling there to see them, and now, Miguel's going to use your watch to pinpoint your location, and he isn't happy. Of course, your newest friend of the same name won't be so willing to give you up, especially when you open up to him about everything that happened back home and tell him the truth, that you know another version of him, but he decides, hey, that other guy doesn't know what he's missing! If he can't see how great you are, then he's missing out, and that's code for, "oh don't worry, if he doesn't want you, I'm MORE than willing to take you myself :)"

You just better hope that you and Miguel Numero Dos aren't still "locked in embrace" by the time your "original hubby" comes to get you, because there's definitely going to be much more than just words being thrown around...

[tsams-and-co-memes]

Do you think that Frank could be a Pisces from another dimension? Hypothetically if he was watching everyone for 'Years' perhaps... He's a Pisces from a possibly dead dimension? Watching everything going on because Moon made the star... but when the original Forkface showed up he saw an opportunity and is now just wearing that suit around? Would also explain a few things if his power scaling is seemingly greater than the other Astrals in this universe.

Tbh, anything is possible at this point. I hesitate to say his power scaling could be greater than the other astral bodies though, since we don't know the extent of their powers individually. We've never seen them in action, and only heard about what Gemini, Taurus, and Libra do. Gemini asked for the help of another astral body to appear in one of Lunar's dreams, and since Pisces handles dream stuff, that's probably who they asked

I'm not sure how likely it is that if a dimension dies, that set of astral bodies would wander around looking through other dimensions and waiting for things to do, either. If every dimension has its own version of the astral bodies, and if they're aware that there are other versions of themselves, I feel like they'd probably hold council over a lot of things and discuss who goes where/who does what. The OG astral bodies have been doing almost nothing aside from hold council, ever since they (as a concept) were introduced

If they all held council with other versions of themselves, I'm not sure why one Pisces would encroach upon another Pisces' turf or prevent them from doing their job in any way. Unless they teamed up or fused or something like that, it'd also imply that one would have to kill the other in order to take over the body that Frank's currently in

[immortal-elements]

My thoughts on the new story patch, and I'm sorry, I'm gonna be a hater... or, a heitor, if you will.

That was it? All that buildup, all that tension? And we got that?

Like, taking this piece by piece, for the story.

We hear that Isgarren still doesn't want to devote his oh so precious time to preventing a kryptis genocide, nothing new there. We then get told "go do events until the bar is full", which is... not the story pacing I'm really looking for.

2. Peitha gets ambushed by some loyalist kryptis, que 5 minutes of taking down a swarm of enemies with no further plot development or meaning, just throw 100 guys at the commander who is doing their best lawnmower impersonation. After which, we get the oh so juicy detail that the kryptis siding with Eparch are actually fearful!

3. Then, finally, the assault! After another "throw 50 guys at the commander" event, you get a "throw 100 guys at the commander, but this time the commander has to stand still for a while in the middle of it", followed by "the commander fights 100 things while climbing up a tower", which was honestly kinda fun, I can't knock that.

4. the final bossfight. I wasn't even using my unkillable build, I opted instead for my condi weaver build, which is very fragile and punishing of mistakes. Eparch was a snooze. I felt in danger only once because I decided "hey, what happens if I stand right in the middle of his big attack", and I saw my 16k HP pool dwindle to 3k. I've said this before and I'll say it again, good final bosses are hard, good bosses punish you for your mistakes. Chak Gerent is a great boss because it can very easily down you if you aren't paying attention. Eparch was such a snooze that I was able to out-sustain his damage using... signet of restoration and written in stone. But hey, as far as story stuff that happens in that fight, Isgarren shows up once you have Eparch nearly dead just so he can land the final blow and say that he helped end the war.

5. The final instance. I'm a-ok with an instance where the credits roll, I am a-ok with an achievement for watching all the credits roll. If you want to put NPC's for me to talk to into the instance, cool! Don't make me sit around while each of the kryptis that you introduced 2 story instances ago (if even) slowly and laboriously says their piece, especially if I can't go and do other things while they do! I'd love to pay attention to the story, don't get me wrong. Fleshy emotion demons that I have no connection to are not what interests me.

Boring, dull. I really really wanted to like SotO, and I had high hopes after the initial launch, but Nayos was meh, and everything that happened in Nayos was meh. 3/10. The initial SotO release wasn't bad! We got 2 very unique maps and a new hub world, which is pretty neat! That released in august of last year. It has been 10 months and we've been given 1 map piecemeal. We got 3 short story installments of 3 instances each that let us get into a lil tiny bit more of the map. So, what can Anet do to improve for the next expansion? Just give us the whole damn expansion all at once! Don't rush it, give us memorable characters, maybe lower the stakes a little bit and gradually ramp up to world ending stakes again! Releasing a map piece by piece worked well for Icebrood Saga, Bjora Marches and Drizzlewood coast are some of the best maps in the game IMO. Bjora gives me utter chills every time I am in there, as though the ambient creepiness is chilling me to my very bone, fitting with the constant blizzard. Drizzlewood coast feels like a warzone, constantly taking and giving land, resources, and mounting attacks! I love that, and the fact that it very thematically fits into the story too! I love it! Instead, we got emotion eating demons from another dimension that it is now somehow our problem to fix? All because an all powerful wizard wouldn't get his 4 thumbs out of his ass? "Wowee, here's a character I'm sure you all remember and are happy to have back! She even has her original voice actor!" and then... not writing her as the same character? Nigh immediate character assassination? C'mon.

As for what SotO got right, a lot of the non-story stuff that they introduced is honestly really good! I love the wizard's vault, (while it has wronged me personally by inadvertently jacking up the prices of mystic coins by about 700%), I love that it is like a battlepass with none of the toxic marketing strategies as a regular battlepass. I love the relic system! It took a while to grow on me, and I feel like they need to do a lot with the system to not make it "This is the BiS relic for power builds, this is the BiS relic for condi builds, and this is the BiS relic for healers", it's a very good and very customizable system! Weaponmaster training and advanced weapon proficiencies are great! While I initially bitched and moaned about the inevitable results of weaponmaster training, (catalyst has caused every weapon it touches to get nerfed into the dirt, I didn't want them touching my precious weaver sword), it's again grown on me! The customization that it brings to the table is honestly really damn good! I like being able to be a hammer wielding tempest! I like being able to use other specialization's weapons on other professions. Necromancer has become so much more fun now that I can wield pistol and torch across the board.

The SotO expansion brought a lot of what I think gw2 needed to the game. The SotO story, on the other hand...

[fiepige]

Hobie Brown variant OC:

I finally decided to make Symbiote!Hobie (nicknamed SH by Hobie, which over time turned into Sage) his own thing, cause I've made so many changes to him that I've decided he's just gonna be another version of Hobie from another dimension.

I basically came up with him when thinking about what it would take for Hobie to truly bond with a symbiote and this is what I came up with.

While he's technically Hobie too I'm gonna refer to him as Sage in this post to avoid confusion <3

Gonna start with his appearance and then move on to his origins and how he got involved with the Spider-Society:

Disclaimer: I cannot draw so I haven't even attempted at drawing his face cause I know I'd never be able to draw him in a way I'd like- So I did the next best thing:

(He has a normal face I just tried to find a way for me to draw him without drawing his face lol)

Pictured above is Sage and his symbiote K.A.T (and their symbiote form- yeah it's the same as Venom!Hobie cause I like the design lol)

He looks like Hobie but younger- he's around 11 when he's bitten by the spider and fused with K.A.T - he's around 12 when he gets introduced to the Spider-Society

He's got short hair as it was completely shaved off when he got caught by Oscorp - more about this under his origins - he wants to let it grow out after meeting Hobie and being inspired by his approach to his looks (he really looks up to Hobie but don't tell anyone I said that!)

His left iris is white as a result of the symbiote DNA being fused to him. He can make it match his right eye if he concentrates but only really bothers to do so if he feels it draws too much attention

After meeting Hobie he helps Sage get a few piercings of his own

He usually wears a hoodie and/or a mask to hide his face - he's super paranoid and does his best to hide himself from others

Never goes anywhere without his noice cancelling earmuffs - he's got enhanced senses due to his spider powers but they can be a bit of a nuisance since he's also sensitive to loud noises due to his symbiote...

He also usually wears sunglasses to shield himself from sensory overload as he was subjected to it a lot as part of the experiments he was put through at Oscorp - and thus getting his senses overstimulated can result in panic attacks, so he does what he can to avoid it + it hides his eyes as well

K.A.T (Killing Authority-opposing Targets) is Sage's symbiote

It usually stays hidden unless they're alone or around people they trust/already knows about its presence.

If it does show itself it'll usually stay on Sage's shoulder or sit in his lap, it's still tethered to him so it can't go that far without him - not that it really wants to anyways

The reason K.A.T takes this form is that Sage is a cat person and it used it as a method to make him like it more when they first "met" + petting it helped Sage calm down and still does

K.A.T is still made of the same goo as regular symbiotes so it does not feel like petting a cat at all- Sage doesn't mind but most other people get suprised when they first touch it

If it likes someone it'll rub itself against their legs and mimic purring noises - if it dislikes someone it'll hiss and arch its back at them

K.A.T is a more animalistic symbiote and mainly communicates with Sage by letting him feel its emotions instead of speaking to him

To avoid making the post even longer than it's already gonna be I'll link to this post where I go into more detail about the design of thier Symbiote form instead of describing it here too ^^'.

This was originally supposed to be a short summary but I've realised I'm incapable of making short posts when it comes to stuff like this:

Origin:

Sage is a younger version of Hobie Brown. (11 years old when bitten by the spider and fused with his symbiote)

Sage and K.A.T "met" at one of Oscorp's labs

He was living as a homeless kid (having escaped an abusive household a few months prior)

He was bitten by a radioactive spider while looking for a place to spend the night.

He got very sick from the bite and was easily captured by Oscorp goons looking for new test subjects in the streets

Despite his young age Sage is a more ruthless Hobie variant, in part due to his upbringing and due to his symbiote (and the trauma they both go through at the hands of Oscorp)

K.A.T was a new kind of experimental symbiote that was set to be terminated due to it killing all its previous hosts - Sage was their last attempt at fusing it with someone

They decide to fuse it with Sage as he was deemed indisposable due to him seeming more dead than alive - suffering from the venom of spider bite at the time - and thus it wouldn't be a problem if the symbiote killed him too

Since the spider bite was still changing his DNA as he got fused with K.A.T some of its DNA got fused with him as well as a "side effect" during the process

Due to this it's incredibly hard (if not impossible) to seperate the symbiote from Sage without severely hurting them both

His body develops organic web shooters when it fuses with K.A.T - the webs are black and can be shot from either of his 4 arms when in his symbiote form (they can also be shot regularly while in his human form)

Sage develops enhanced senses and a taste for human flesh after being fused with K.A.T - he also has enhanced senses from the spider bite - making it easy to overstimulate his senses and overwhelm him before he learns to get it more under control

Since Sage's gotten powers from both the spider bite and the symbiote they quickly become the subjects for many inhumane and painful experiments as the scientists futilely try to figure out how to replicate the symbiote (as they're unaware of the spider bite, thinking the symbiote alone is behind Sage's new powers)

The main scientist behind the experiments is this dimension's version of Peter Parker!

Sage eventually manages to escape the lab during one of their many tests- killing as many guards and scientists on his way out as possible - and eating some of them as well

As a result of their treatment at the lab + his past with his abusive foster family, both Sage and K.A.T have developed a deep distrust to other people - at this point they both consider the other their only friend

Sage goes back to living as a homeless kid, avoiding people as best as he can, but he's also got an insatiable taste for human flesh as well!

He will usually target anyone associated with Oscorp when he's hungry (if none are available cops are the next best thing- his dimension is just as corrupt as -138 Hobie's dimension)

He doesn't feel bad about killing but will still try not to harm civilians (emphasis on try- sometimes the hunger gets the best of him)

Due to his senses being extra sensitive + his paranoia from his experiences at the lab and his foster homes, he tries to avoid crowded and noisy places - This all leads to him being more active at night while he usually tries to lay low and hide during the day.

He lived like this for months until a certain event changed that:

First encounter with the Spider-Society

Sage's dimension is blacklisted meaning people from the Spider-Society aren't allowed to go there (cause a spider-person who's embracing their symbiote instead of resisting it is deemed unsafe by Miguel and thus best to be avoided)

Sage does still get introduced to the spider-society albeit through a rather unconventional way:

- One day a portal opens up and pulls Sage through it, sending him to another dimension as an anomaly

Having no idea about what's going on, and being scared and confused about the whole situation, he does his best to lay low and avoid other people.

Because of this he spends a lot of time in the other dimension before the society discovers signs of an anormaly - glitched objects like seen when Kingpen uses the collider in itsv, or the museum that the Vulture appears in in atsv

Sage eventually has his first run in with other spider people when his hunger gets the best of him and he becomes more careless as he turns into his symbiote form to go look for prey

Here he encounters Gwen and Peter B as they're looking for the anomaly causing things to glitch out in the dimension

Not knowing he's a spider person and an actual child, Peter and Gwen attack him as they always do with anomalies - it also doesn't help that Sage doesn't exactly look friendly when in his symbiote form.

He fights back cause these masked people attacked him for no reason so they must be bad guys and of course he's gonna defend himself - it also doesn't help that he's starving and thus not thinking clearly at this point.

Unfortunately for him, these guys have high frequency equipment to deal with symbiotes and thus they manage to subdue him, but not before he manages to fight back, revealing his organic webbing which tips Gwen and Peter off to him having spider powers as well

He's subdued and forced into an electric cage (which brings back a lot of unpleasant memories from his time at Oscorp) and sent to the Spider-Society afterwards

When he arrives at the Society he quickly gets overstimulated and has a panic attack and lashes out in a desperate attempt at escaping his electric cage - also seeing the face of the scientist who tortured him for months everywhere certainly didn't help

Gwen then uses a high-frequency device made to combat symbiotes to force him to revert back to his human form

She immediately recognises him as a young version of -138 Hobie

Her and Peter both panic cause 1. They realise they basically beat up a kid and locked him up. 2. That kid has a symbiote! 3. That kid is a younger version of another spider-person they both know (and who they both know has a very long and strained history with symbiotes!)

Miguel gets involved and a discussion begins about whether they should try and seperate Hobie (Sage) and his symbiote

- The other spiders mean well by this but Sage and K.A.T both panic at the thought of being separated - at this point they really view the other as their only friend as it's been them against the world ever since they fused

Sage, still panicking, tries to protest but they won't listen as they view him as a kid who doesn't know what's best for him

Sage is taken to the room with all the villains while they discuss what to do with him

Here Margo sees Sage and K.A.T comforting each other, K.A.T manifesting physically in Sage's lap, being hugged tightly by Sage as he promises it he'll never let anyone separate them

Seeing this, Margo takes pity on them and 'accidentally' sends them home before the other spiders get a chance to try and remove K.A.T from Sage.

Relationships with other spider-people

Some time later Sage has an encounter with Hobie who found out about the whole mess - despite Miguel ordering Gwen and Peter not to tell him

While Hobie isn't exactly a fan of symbiotes he first and foremost sees Sage as a traumatised homeless kid in need of safety and stability

Hobie offers Sage to stay at his boat whenever he wants (as long as he promises not to eat anyone while he's there), he also gives him one of his bootleg watches so he can come and go as he pleases (and explains that he can also use it to get home to his own dimension if he's ever unwillingly sent to another dimension again)

Sage declines at first but over time he slowly opens up to Hobie and begins to trust him

(He also secretly looks up to Hobie once he trusts him, cause who doesn't? He's an older version of himself who's got a place to call his home, one that he opens up to strangers in need such as himself, he uses his powers for good and not just to survive. He's not afraid to be who he is and draw attention to himself - something Sage has been too afraid to do ever since his time at Oscorp. He's got friends and people he trusts. - all things that Sage wants too but doesn't believe he'll ever have) Also he'll never admit that he looks up to Hobie but he can tell anyways

Hobie's the one that gives Sage his nickname, it started as SH but over time it turned into Sage instead, though he doen't mind being called Hobie as well, it's just easier to go by Sage when both he and Hobie are present.

He still doesn't trust people, especially not the Spider-Society after their first meeting, which made it very awkward when Gwen showed up to visit Hobie while Sage was there - luckily Hobie managed to interfere before they beat each other up too much...

(He trusts Margo a bit as well since she 'saved' him from the Spider-Society - also it's nice to be around someone who doesn't smell like food since she's an avatar and not made of flesh and blood)

He currently lives at Hobie's boat, switching between it and his own dimension as he pleases

Hobie did his best to hide it but he was rather freaked out by K.A.T's presence in the beginning, he did his best to supress it cause he genuinely wants to help Sage

Hobie mentors him in how to use his Spider Powers and tries to give him a moral compass to at least prevent him from eating civilians when he gets too hungry - He usually targets cops or people working for Oscorp but the hungrier he gets the less picky he is

Another reason Hobie took him in is because he knows ostracising someone won't make them a better person and while Hobie doesn't believe in deciding what's best for others he still knows life will be a bit easier for Sage if he doesn't just kill whoever he wants whenever he wants - impulse control is important when you have a cannibalistic symbiote in your body.

- Hobie still dislikes symbiotes but he respects Sage's choice to keep his and does his best to help him control some of the more violent urges that come with a symbiote.

Hobie introduces Sage to his punk ideologies and slowly introduces him to the punk community

Hobie also introduces him to some of his friends but it's a slow process due to Sage having a hard time trusting people - especially spider-people after his Spider-Society encounter

Some of the spider-people also have a hard time opening up to him because of his symbiote

But Hobie's good at making a safe space for Sage to feel like he can slowly start to open up to others

For the first time in years Sage feels like he has someone (besides K.A.T) he can trust and over time he starts to view Hobie as his older brother

And that's that folks! (at least for now)

To the one person who actually bothered to read all of this - know that I'm infinitely grateful that you took your time to read about my boy <3

- I initially tried to keep this short but I gave up cause Sage has been living rent free in my head for weeks and it feels so nice to finally flesh him out and write about him!

You know I couldn't resist making my first oc angsty - but at least he ends up doing better than where he started.

Hopefully you guys like him too! If you have any questions please let me know, I could talk about him forever <3

[buriedalienfma]

This week saw the release of yet another episode of "My Adventures with Superman", and as always I wanted to share my thoughts on it. These past two episodes have really been getting weirder and adapting some of the more 'out there' elements of superhero comics. Feels strange since the first few episodes seem to promise a more grounded tone and yet in this episode Mr Mxyzptlk, the mischievous fifth dimensional imp, is introduced to this universe, we find out that this universe is part of (sigh) a multiverse, and that there are other versions of Superman and Lois running around in those universes. It's a wild direction for the show to take, however I do think the episode itself is a bit stronger than the previous one, though I do have some quibbles.

So with that let's jump into episode 7 of "My Adventures with Superman" (spoilers to follow) :

- Superman takes Lois and Jimmy to his spaceship and fortress (?) in Smallville to let them learn a little bit more about him. I find it interesting that so far, Superman still doesn't seem too curious about where he came from and what he is. Heck, Jimmy and Lois are more interested in that than Clark himself. Maybe I'm reading too deep into that, but this does remind me of "Superman Smashes the Klan" - in that comic, Superman is reluctant to really engage with his alien origins because they're a strong reminder of how different and unique he is from ordinary people, and his character arc revolves around him eventually accepting his unique alien nature.

MAWS's version of the character is also self conscious about his alien nature, and this episode reminds us of that. Could this show be building up to a similar character arc for Superman ? I certainly hope so, because I loved that character arc in that comic.

- It was hilarious to see both Clark and Lois fret over the date that they were supposed to have in this episode. So far, this show is tearing apart the notion that Superman is "unrelatable" with its dorky and endearing take on the character. I also appreciate that Lois is trying to find out more about Superman's origins because she wants to help him. It's just a sweet moment.

- So this episode introduces Mxyzptlk, and the idea of the multiverse, AND the idea that there are other versions of Lois Lanes patrolling the multiverse. This episode runs at a break neck speed, and I have to wonder if non-comic fans were able to keep up with it considering how "out there" these elements are. Although I guess even casual fans are familiar with the concept of the multiverse thanks to movies like 'Into the Spider-Verse', 'Dr Strange : the Multiverse of Madness' and 'Everything Everywhere All at Once'.

- I was super hyped about this episode because I heard that it was going to introduce Mxyzptlk who is one of my favorite Superman antagonists.

For those of you that don't know, Mxyzptlk is a Fifth-dimensional magical being who has the power to alter reality itself and often uses those abilities to wreak havoc whenever he comes across Superman. You can think of him as a more powerful version of Loki from the Marvel Universe. His powers are seemingly limitless and there is absolutely nothing that Superman can do to physically harm him. The only way to defeat him is by getting him to say his own name backwards, which will banish him back to his own dimension for an extended period of time.

Luckily, while Mxyzptlk is all-powerful, he is also super gullible, which makes it easy for Superman to trick him and defeat him over and over again. He's just one of those comic book characters that so charming and fun, and I'm happy to say that this show has an excellent take on him. He's fun, he's funny, he can come across as a dangerous threat in one scene, only to turn into a total goofball in the next scene. He's great and I especially love the idea that Mxyzptlk has come across different versions of Superman and Lois. This means that Mxyzptlk can run circles around the characters because he seems to know more about them than they do about themselves. It almost feels like Mxyzptlk is a twisted self-insert for the audience, especially for those who have seen different Superman adaptations and are excited to compare and contrast those versions with this cartoon.

- While I loved the show's take on Mxyzptlk, I have to say, I'm not thrilled about the multiverse aspect of this episode. I think a lot of people are getting tired of multiverse stories in general, and I definitely fall in that camp. Why do so many stories feel the need to establish a multiverse in the first place ? What ever happened to stories that could be self-contained and stand on its own merits ? Why does everything need to be connected to everything ? It doesn't help that multiverse stories often end up pandering to the audience with cheap nostalgia and fanservice. Spider-Man: No Way Home is the perfect example of this where the entire plot of the movie is just an excuse to drop in as many references and call backs to previous Spider-Man movies as possible. Thankfully, this episode of 'MAWS' keeps the nostalgia pandering to a minimum, though I still rolled my eyes at the references to the Fleischer and DCAU Superman. Those stories just feel less special when they're all connected in a grand multiverse. I also have to criticize the entire 'council of Lois Lanes' plot since it seems a little derivative of the main plot of 'Across the Spider-Verse'. Overall, I would have preferred it if they just cut that entire plot element out entirely and just had Mxyzptlk as the sole antagonist. You can still play with the idea of him being a dimension hopper, but the multiverse trope can be downplayed and limited only to his character.

- While I may have some gripes about this episode, it's still pretty good in how it handles the characters. I love how active Lois is in this episode, she's constantly moving the plot along, standing up for Superman when she needs to and working with him and Jimmy to take down Mxyzptlk while also evading the other Lois Lanes. This episode ends up sealing the deal when it comes to the Clark and Lois romance as the two finally share a kiss, and its a cute moment.

- This episode ends on a cliffhanger with Lois finding out that there are other versions of Superman in other universes, and unfortunately a lot of those Supermen appear to be evil. I griped about the multiverse aspect of this episode, but it seems like this show is using it to tackle the "evil Superman" trope that has become so popular in the past few years, and honestly - if this show ends up giving a giant middle finger to that tired old trope, I will take back all of my complaints.

So that's the seventh episode of 'My Adventures with Superman'. Despite my complaints, I still liked it and am excited to see more of it. I think I am going to skip the episode next week since I've heard that it's a two-parter and I would rather watch it in its entirety in the following week instead of watching it one episode at the time. It seems like the next few episodes will pay off all the plot threads that the show has set up, and I cannot wait to see how that turns out. 

[pinkroboticunicorn]

Danny Phantom and the Dynamite Punch Girls.

Chapter three: Break in.

Sam Madson and Tucker Foley stood there in shock and awe as the whole wall to the GIW's HQ was blasted open on the first floor, leaving chunks of rubble on the ground.

The carnage was thanks to Ash Silver the half dragon Princess who ripped a hole with her giant claws allowing Tucker Foley, Sam Manson, and the rest of the heroes to enter, and enter they did.

Ace Diamond was fast and quickly taking out guards with his super speed, running around taking on the guards with ease, of course Charlotte Baron the Wizard was busily casting spells to keep the guards at bay while holding her dear precious book to her chest, and finally Ash Silver created a path towards the elevator using her fire breath.

“What is going on here!?” Agent Wolf questioned.

“You! Operative! Explain!” Agent Alpha ordered.

“Sir! We were just attacked by some super powered individuals!” Operative K said.

“Sir! They're making their way to the laboratory!” Operative O said.

“I see. Agent Orchid did warn us about this happening, I just didn't think it would happen so soon.” Agent Alpha said with a slightly raised brow.

“It's obvious that these people are under ghostly possession! We need to neutralize them and help them!” Operative O suggested.

“Agreed! Get those freaks under control!” Agent Alpha commanded.

Meanwhile Agent Wolf was on the phone and in contact with Agent Orchid.

“They're here, boss.” Agent Wolf said secretly.

“Of course they're here! I predicted that they'd follow us! Ha Ha Ha, thankfully she's not far behind, bring her in for me won't you? Separate her from the others, especially her little tight knit team.” Agent Orchid ordered over the phone. 

“Yes madam, as you command!” Agent Wolf said with a bow.

Meanwhile....

Sam and Tucker were trying to get through the fighting, and towards the elevator, there they could find the floor Danny is on and rescue him, easy plan if only they actually knew which floor he's on, too bad Sam or Tucker doesn't have any weird mind powers.

“Looks like you're stuck.” Teddy Casper said as she approached them.

Sam and Tucker looked at Teddy rather strangely. 

“Who are you? And who are your friends?” Sam asked.

“Well firstly my name is Teddy Casper, secondly we are the Dynamite Punch Girls! But not Ash Silver, Ace Diamond, and Charlotte Baron, they're a part of a different group that happened to follow us.” Teddy explained. 

“Alright. Dynamite Punch Girls, uh nice name? Anyway, we're on a mission.” Tucker exclaimed.

“Yeah, and we thank you for the distraction, but we're definitely gonna grab our friend on our own.” Sam said.

“You're not gonna face against Lady Orchid on your own, are you?” Teddy questioned with a worried tone of voice.

“Lady Orchid?” Sam and Tucker questioned.

“I'll explain once we get into the elevator.” Teddy said.

Immediately Teddy Casper began to lead them to the elevator, it was quite the trip as they shoved past GIW Members who were still fighting with Ace, Ash, and Charlotte, following behind Teddy, Sam, and Tucker were Leo Plasma and Blake XJ who kept the Operatives off of them, Blake used her ice breath to fend them off, and Leo used their electricity to shock them away.

It was a long lasting effort but the five of them finally made it to the Elevator, and down they went into the lion's den.

“Wait! How do you know where to go?” Tucker asked.

“We put a tracking device on Lady Orchid, why?” Teddy asked.

“Who is that anyway?” Tucker questioned. 

“And who are you?” Sam questioned. 

“Well, I'm Teddy Casper, the ghost.” Teddy introduced herself.

“I'm Leo Plasma, the superhuman.” Leo said. 

“And I'm Blake XJ! The robot!” Blake smiled. 

“We're the Dynamite Punch Girls.” Teddy explained.

“That's cool, so you're like a team of superheroes?” Tucker asked.

“Yep. And we're from another Dimension, the other three outside fighting aren't with our group, but they came with us to fight Lady Orchid.” Teddy explained.

“You keep talking about this mysterious and strange Lady Orchid, like she's dangerous or something.” Sam said.

“She is dangerous.” Leo responded. 

“Lady Orchid always had an unhealthy fascination with ghosts, it turned from general interest to obsession in just a few weeks, it was to a point that she wanted to have ghost powers, but short of just death in general it just wasn’t going to happen, then... one day she met a ghostly individual who had all the answers she seeked.” Teddy explained.

“Really? Who?” Sam asked.

“Me! You see I’m technically a ghost, an artificial ghost, I was made in a lab using ectoplasm, ect-energy, human DNA to tie me to a human body, and D-17.” Teddy explained.

“So you’re half a ghost?” Tucker asked.

“Well... it’s a lot more complicated than that, I’d say a human with ghost powers.” Teddy said.

“So basically half of a ghost.” Sam said.

“...... I mean....” Teddy sputtered.

“Yeah, Teddy is half ghost, the other option is way too complicated anyway...” Leo sighed.

“Yeah whatever!” Teddy said.

“So what happened when you met Lady Orchid?” Tucker asked.

“Bad things!” Teddy responded with a frown.

“Lady Orchid took Teddy and tried to experiment on her, tried to find the SOURCE of her powers, she was relentless with her experiments, it took some time to find Teddy, but when we did, we kicked Lady Orchid’s butt!” Leo explained.

“It was absolutely crazy! She tried to dissect Teddy! But it didn’t work cause ghost powers, but she had special tools to keep Teddy in her grasp, then when we bust in to save her, all chaos broke loose and she tried to fight us! And just as she was losing she opened a portal to somewhere and escaped! She said something about meeting her NEW friends on the other side, we didn’t know what she meant until we saw her capture that ghost boy and fly off with a smug smile on her face!” Blake explained.

“Yeah, exactly that.” Leo said.

“So... basically what you’re telling me is... Lady Orchid is going to try to do the same thing to Danny!?” Sam questioned.

“Yep! Pretty much!” Teddy nodded.

“Not if we stop her first!” Leo said.

“She’s too dangerous to face off with alone, so on our signal we’ll distract her while you get your friend.” Blake said.

“Agreed.” Sam said.

[doctorstrangereview]

Strange Tales #127

Cover Date: December 1964 On-Sale Date: September 8, 1964

For such a significant story, Doc has little real estate on the cover this month. However, it's nice little postage stamp depicting the battle. Clea occupies the center of the splash page with the question "Who is the mystery girl in the diabolical dimension?" It doesn't get answered. We won't even know her name for another year and a half. Her origin will take another decade. On with the show!

We begin with a brief recap of last month's story. This is like the recap of a 60s Doctor Who episode where it was too difficult to edit in the end of the previous episode so they just acted it out all over again and it was a bit different. Dormie gives Doc some time to reconsider being blasted to atoms. Doc takes a stroll. Just as we find out that Doc's cloak can stand up all by its lonesome, Clea reappears to once again plead that Doc not face Dormie. She has a mysterious warning for Doc.

Clea conjures a floating portal to a mystery danger and, ignoring his stranger danger instincts, Doc follows her. Here we're introduced to a concept that will haunt the Marvel Universe on and off for decades to come! We meet The Mindless Ones! These creatures do nothing but fight 24/7. Of course we don't know if The Dark Dimension has a 24-hour day or a 7-day week so maybe they rest every so often. They're basically big, gray, rock-like creatures with Cyclops' eye-beam. And Clea plops them right in the middle of all this. We know this because Doc needs to rescue the two of them when they get too close.

Clea explains that these creatures are held behind a barrier erected by Dormie eons ago and is the only thing that keeps them from overrunning the rest of the dimension. Now, Clea's level of power and accomplishment hasn't been well defined until recently. Here she is able to conjure a portal that breaches this supposedly impenetrable barrier with relative ease. When things get to hot in Mindless Ones land, they scoot behind the barrier with no issues whatsoever. How are they able to get back and forth so easily?

Clea pleads that Doc must not defeat Dormie as she disappears into what looks like an icing sleeve. What the hell was Ditko thinking? This presents Doc with a moral quandary. Defeating Dormie may doom all the inhabitants of this dimension, but if he doesn't, Earth may be doomed. Seems it wasn't much of a quandary. In the next world balloon he decides "Earth it is!" Dormie summons him something that looks like The Rolling Stones logo on acid.

Entering Dormie's throne room, (maybe, everything here is constantly shifting so it's hard to tell) we see where Clea went. She is Dormie's prisoner. She's imprisoned in crystal and chains in one panel and only in chains in the next. This is some Suspiria level dream logic here! "WTF, Dormie?! She was trying to stop the fight!" yells Doc. "Tough!" he replies. "I'm gonna kill you while she watches and them I'm gonna kill her!"

The battle begins and Ditko draws some whacky stuff indeed!

The Ancient One is spying on them the whole time.

Dormie has the upper hand as he presses Doc who is realizing it's only a matter of time before he goes down. Clea thinks that she's doomed no matter what. Out comes Chekov's gun. Remember that important barrier we saw earlier? The one that was conjured by one of the most powerful beings in the multiverse? {That Clea seemed to pop around with impunity?) Yeah, that one. Well Dormie is throwing so much power at Doc it begins to weaken. Uh oh!

And suddenly they are literally inches away from Clea.

Ditko's sense of distance is questionable at time. Dormie turns away from the battle to erect an emergency barrier, but it's not enough. Doc must use the All-Purpose Amulet to bolster the Dread One. It works! It's followed by a literal fist-shaking moment.

Doc extracts two promises from Dormie. And always remember the order of these promises! First, he has to leave Clea alone. Second, he has to leave Earth alone. That's right! Earth came in second! Dormie agrees, begrudgingly. He follows this up with more fist shaking and what amounts to "I'll get you yet, my pretty!" We get a sense of why Doc put Clea first. He invites her to come back with him. Is love or lust in the air? Has Clea excited Doc's loins? That's a story for the future.

Doc reappears in The Ancient One's pad. He's not in his throne. "Where, o where could he have gone?" muses Doc. He's floating nearby. "WTF? How are you doing this, you frail old dude?" It turns out Dormie put a spell on the old dude that was broken when Doc 'beat' him. And, like a member of an Oprah audience, Doc wins a prize. Well, two prizes actually.

"Do me a favor and drag that big, heavy chest over here, would you?" "Can't you do it? You've got all these newly restored powers now." "Oh, all right." The chest opens and out float a pair of objects. Doc gets his now familiar cloak of levitation and All-Purpose Amulet upgrade. The cloak is yellow in it's first appearance. Fortunately it's yellow only in these couple of panels. It'll turn red next issue and then it's familiar red with gold trim in a few more months. The Ancient One congratulates Doc who leaves. While he was teleported there, the old dude, with his increased power is gonna make his favorite student walk the thousands of miles back home. The he thinks something about unbearable loneliness. Maybe shouldn't have made Doc walk!

An satisfying conclusion to last month's story, but I think it was just a little less exciting. Fortunately Ditko didn't make this a nine-page battle and made an interesting resolution to a dilemma that keeps both worlds intact and has far reaching implications for Doc's story and the entire Marvel Universe for years to come. Lee and Ditko probably didn't realize how entrenched Dormammu would become to the Marvel story, but I'm glad they created him. Dormie's story will get better and richer with each appearance.

[deadbloodzero]

The Omnistar AU

Aight, so some pals and I were just throwing ideas at eachother in Discord like water balloons and came up with yet another SaMS AU. @ayyy-imma-ninja, you were part of this beautiful mess lol

In a nutshell, the Creator steals the Newton Star from Eclipse, and to stop him from doing heinously INSANE stuff and because Eclipse hates his guts, he reluctantly turns to Sun and New Moon for help.

In this AU, Lunar is still around and Earth has been introduced already, so the group dynamic is interesting when Eclipse shows back up and whines to them about his continued misfortunes, although it concerns then all this time. Earth generously comforts him as best she can, and mediates between the brothers to help find a possible solution.

Moon mentions he'd been researching the existence of an extra-dimensional Universal Star that has to potential to overwrite any existing dimension's star or deactivate it, but it requires multiple beings of God-level power to activate and utilize it.

Cue epic questline where the group travels dimension to dimension meeting and convincing the Lords of these different worlds to join the quest, collecting the Infinity Gods (LMAO) to save everything from an Infinite Witherstorm the Creator intends to release for Reasons™ in order to destroy the SaMS multiverse.

We wind up with a group of Sun, Moon, Earth, Lunar, Eclipse, Lord Monty, Lord Lunar, and a hard-to-convince Lord Eclipse.

Lord Eclipse barely beat the wither storm Moon dropped in his dimension, and has little of his world left to rule over. He's of course holding a grudge against Moon, but with New Moon recalling none of their previous encounter, that course of revenge becomes meaningless. So he's left with no real motivation aside from preventing his dimension from ceasing to exist along with himself due to the threat of the Infinite Witherstorm. He ends up convinced to come with the group, motivated by the promise of using the Omnistar to retcon the damage from all witherstorms across the multiverse. His own world lacked anything interesting, so as an added bonus, he got a change of scenery for the forseable future. He gets ideas and inspiration for future changes to his dimension throughout their travels.

Sun and Moon's Eclipse tags along because he thinks "I'm a god, too!", having used the star he lost to give himself a fair amount of power that he'd yet to master as of losing the possession of the star.

Lord Eclipse is constantly annoyed by base dimension Eclipse and his pitiful attempts to impress him to prove he's just as worthy of ruling a dimension. Eclipse tends to indirectly cause problems in trying to show off, attacking monsters to show off his battle skills, but failing and having to be rescued. Earth being the physically strongest among them generally will have to step in and save Eclipse from himself, while one of the Lords stops the threat.

Lord Eclipse is endlessly irritated by Eclipse's pitiful attempts at impressing him and keeps telling him to cut it out, that he's more annoying than he is evil.

[avelera]

On the note of "random dreamling fanon that doesn't quite jive with me for my own fics" does anyone have a fic they recommend for good Jessamy characterization?

Here's the thing: I get asked, goddamn near constantly, in both my historical fics, to have Jessamy show up. People keep expecting her and asking about her and seem to want her to show up quite badly. This is odd to me because in both my historical fics, I've established that there's a strong reason for why Dream is not engaging with his wider court when he's around Hob, so there really never was a plan for her to show up and thus there's no foreshadowing that she ever would?

(Cut for spoilers?)

In "Come live with me" it's because the nature of the wager Dream lost is that he has to live as close to a normal human life as he can without actively endangering his safety or his realm. Which means no, his personal messenger bird who brings him news and sends messages and is, in general, a magic talking bird is not going to show up this year while Dream is living as near to human life as possible, because it defeats the purpose of him needing to live a normal human life to have basically a mobile phone line back to the Dreaming with him at all times. The only circumstance in which Jessamy would turn up is if Dream's kingdom was burning down behind him and he needed to get back there before the day is over and he needs to leave, now, to get back there and he can't otherwise wait until he goes to sleep to attend his realm. This is simply not expected to happen during the fic. And even if Jessamy did say Dream needs to go sleep right now, Dream would likely not have that conversation in front of Hob, our POV character.

In my second ongoing WIP, Giving Sanctuary, Dream is fastidiously keeping Hob in the dark about his wider life and responsibilities in the Dreaming. There are a variety of reasons for this. One, is that Hob is in a very fragile state and dropping the entire crazy world of the Dreaming on him would probably be a bit much. Another is that a mildly magical house that's basically just providing modern amenities very nearly sends him running out the door, screaming, whenever something weird happens let alone seeing a guy with a pumpkin head or a talking bird (and the horrors, don't forget the horrors).

Furthermore, Dream has enemies, powerful enemies, enemies Hob is not equipped in this state or in general to fight, from Dream's POV and so it's best if they don't know about this vulnerable human that Dream has befriended. (Insert B99 Rosa "If anything happened to my PTSD-ridden Hob Gadling, I'd kill everyone in this room and then myself." - Dream in Giving Sanctuary).

Dream has actually been quite careful to have the house in a pocket dimension at the border of both the Dreaming and the Waking world so he can hide Hob's presence there from both.

Both Hob and Dream are showing immense vulnerability by carving out this time and space to grieve with one another and neither of them wants to be interrupted or threatened during that time and space. This means, by extension, Dream is not introducing Hob to his wider court. He never has before, and he's not about to now. That includes not having members of his court show up. He might consider Lucienne stopping by, because she passes as human, but a magic bird is absolutely right out. Dream would simply not drop something or someone so blatantly magical on Hob who can barely handle magical food showing up unexpectedly at this point. Yes, sometime in the future that might change, but that's not where they are now.

Anyway, I guess I'm sort of baffled because it kinda reminds me of Thorin's sister Dis back in the Hobbit fandom. Both Jessamy and Dis have no canon characterization. They never speak. The only thing Jessamy ever does is die. It's an incredibly emotional moment but there's no defined character to miss, so I'm a little confused why so many people seem so invested in Jessamy showing up in these stories. It's not a criticism, I just didn't expect it and don't feel much motivation to include a character who doesn't have a characterization if it doesn't serve the plot, and there's nothing for Jessamy to do in either of these stories.

So anyway, I'd love to get on the Jessamy love train, I'd love it if there's a fic people are super into as far as the Definitive Characterization of Jessamy that they're hoping will show up, because as far as I know, it doesn't exist and that has a lot to do with my complete lack of interest in including her, as much as her death got me choked up in canon?

[pinkroboticunicorn-creative-work]

Danny Phantom and the Dynamite Punch Girls.

Chapter three: Break in.

Sam Madson and Tucker Foley stood there in shock and awe as the whole wall to the GIW's HQ was blasted open on the first floor, leaving chunks of rubble on the ground.

The carnage was thanks to Ash Silver the half dragon Princess who ripped a hole with her giant claws allowing Tucker Foley, Sam Manson, and the rest of the heroes to enter, and enter they did.

Ace Diamond was fast and quickly taking out guards with his super speed, running around taking on the guards with ease, of course Charlotte Baron the Wizard was busily casting spells to keep the guards at bay while holding her dear precious book to her chest, and finally Ash Silver created a path towards the elevator using her fire breath.

“What is going on here!?” Agent Wolf questioned.

“You! Operative! Explain!” Agent Alpha ordered.

“Sir! We were just attacked by some super powered individuals!” Operative K said.

“Sir! They're making their way to the laboratory!” Operative O said.

“I see. Agent Orchid did warn us about this happening, I just didn't think it would happen so soon.” Agent Alpha said with a slightly raised brow.

“It's obvious that these people are under ghostly possession! We need to neutralize them and help them!” Operative O suggested.

“Agreed! Get those freaks under control!” Agent Alpha commanded.

Meanwhile Agent Wolf was on the phone and in contact with Agent Orchid.

“They're here, boss.” Agent Wolf said secretly.

“Of course they're here! I predicted that they'd follow us! Ha Ha Ha, thankfully she's not far behind, bring her in for me won't you? Separate her from the others, especially her little tight knit team.” Agent Orchid ordered over the phone. 

“Yes madam, as you command!” Agent Wolf said with a bow.

Meanwhile....

Sam and Tucker were trying to get through the fighting, and towards the elevator, there they could find the floor Danny is on and rescue him, easy plan if only they actually knew which floor he's on, too bad Sam or Tucker doesn't have any weird mind powers.

“Looks like you're stuck.” Teddy Casper said as she approached them.

Sam and Tucker looked at Teddy rather strangely. 

“Who are you? And who are your friends?” Sam asked.

“Well firstly my name is Teddy Casper, secondly we are the Dynamite Punch Girls! But not Ash Silver, Ace Diamond, and Charlotte Baron, they're a part of a different group that happened to follow us.” Teddy explained. 

“Alright. Dynamite Punch Girls, uh nice name? Anyway, we're on a mission.” Tucker exclaimed.

“Yeah, and we thank you for the distraction, but we're definitely gonna grab our friend on our own.” Sam said.

“You're not gonna face against Lady Orchid on your own, are you?” Teddy questioned with a worried tone of voice.

“Lady Orchid?” Sam and Tucker questioned.

“I'll explain once we get into the elevator.” Teddy said.

Immediately Teddy Casper began to lead them to the elevator, it was quite the trip as they shoved past GIW Members who were still fighting with Ace, Ash, and Charlotte, following behind Teddy, Sam, and Tucker were Leo Plasma and Blake XJ who kept the Operatives off of them, Blake used her ice breath to fend them off, and Leo used their electricity to shock them away.

It was a long lasting effort but the five of them finally made it to the Elevator, and down they went into the lion's den.

“Wait! How do you know where to go?” Tucker asked.

“We put a tracking device on Lady Orchid, why?” Teddy asked.

“Who is that anyway?” Tucker questioned. 

“And who are you?” Sam questioned. 

“Well, I'm Teddy Casper, the ghost.” Teddy introduced herself.

“I'm Leo Plasma, the superhuman.” Leo said. 

“And I'm Blake XJ! The robot!” Blake smiled. 

“We're the Dynamite Punch Girls.” Teddy explained.

“That's cool, so you're like a team of superheroes?” Tucker asked.

“Yep. And we're from another Dimension, the other three outside fighting aren't with our group, but they came with us to fight Lady Orchid.” Teddy explained.

“You keep talking about this mysterious and strange Lady Orchid, like she's dangerous or something.” Sam said.

“She is dangerous.” Leo responded. 

“Lady Orchid always had an unhealthy fascination with ghosts, it turned from general interest to obsession in just a few weeks, it was to a point that she wanted to have ghost powers, but short of just death in general it just wasn’t going to happen, then... one day she met a ghostly individual who had all the answers she seeked.” Teddy explained.

“Really? Who?” Sam asked.

“Me! You see I’m technically a ghost, an artificial ghost, I was made in a lab using ectoplasm, ect-energy, human DNA to tie me to a human body, and D-17.” Teddy explained.

“So you’re half a ghost?” Tucker asked.

“Well... it’s a lot more complicated than that, I’d say a human with ghost powers.” Teddy said.

“So basically half of a ghost.” Sam said.

“...... I mean....” Teddy sputtered.

“Yeah, Teddy is half ghost, the other option is way too complicated anyway...” Leo sighed.

“Yeah whatever!” Teddy said.

“So what happened when you met Lady Orchid?” Tucker asked.

“Bad things!” Teddy responded with a frown.

“Lady Orchid took Teddy and tried to experiment on her, tried to find the SOURCE of her powers, she was relentless with her experiments, it took some time to find Teddy, but when we did, we kicked Lady Orchid’s butt!” Leo explained.

“It was absolutely crazy! She tried to dissect Teddy! But it didn’t work cause ghost powers, but she had special tools to keep Teddy in her grasp, then when we bust in to save her, all chaos broke loose and she tried to fight us! And just as she was losing she opened a portal to somewhere and escaped! She said something about meeting her NEW friends on the other side, we didn’t know what she meant until we saw her capture that ghost boy and fly off with a smug smile on her face!” Blake explained.

“Yeah, exactly that.” Leo said.

“So... basically what you’re telling me is... Lady Orchid is going to try to do the same thing to Danny!?” Sam questioned.

“Yep! Pretty much!” Teddy nodded.

“Not if we stop her first!” Leo said.

“She’s too dangerous to face off with alone, so on our signal we’ll distract her while you get your friend.” Blake said.

“Agreed.” Sam said.

[windvexer]

Spells to open doors and clear blockages! Wait what dies opening the road to spirits mean?

Oh boy okay!

So in Wicca and Traditional Witchcraft there are related (but I don't think synonymous) practices where basically, you work around the points of a compass (north/south/east/west) and call on helpful but powerful spirits from those directions.

All of this comes from Enochian magic and John Dee, and was later developed as a system by the Golden Dawn, and then of course G.D.'s influence was very prevalent in Wicca.

I'm going to oversimplify this and get some stuff wrong I'm sure since I'm not super educated on it. But basically John Dee (fascinating dude) was scrying with his buddy Edward Kelly, and it was revealed to them that there are four angels who preside over the the "terrestrial sphere." And I don't know what Dee did with that information,

but I do know that OTGD ran with it and started assigning all these attributes to the angels, and then you'd summon them for some reason or another. And their attributes were very static and never changed (not like it is today when choosing your own associations for things is encouraged!)

Well, anyway. History rolls on and so forth. Wicca and Trad Witchcraft both adapted this concept for their own uses.

Now Dee's practice resonates with many people: we are echoing his angelic scrying whenever we call on "earth, air, fire, and water" to join us in our magic circle. And now these beings are not usually referred to as Angels but like, primordial nature beings or something.

And the reason people call on earth, air, fire, and water is (presumably and among other things) because it introduces power into your space. So if you've ever seen someone casually reference finding various elemental representations before casting a British-flavored spell, they are more likely than not (knowingly or otherwise) paying homage to John Dee's Enochian angels.

So anyway! In this context, literally, there are spirits Somewhere Else (in the spirit world, in another dimension, etc and whatever). These spirits Somewhere Else are understood to be intimately linked to our terrestrial reality. Not only this, but they are Very Powerful and usually Good Guys (but may be temperamental depending on beliefs).

By representing these terrestrial authorities and/or calling on their presence during spellwork, the practitioner is putting themselves at the center of the known universe (at the point where these four powerful forces meet) and,

not only having these Powerful Terrestrial Authorities in their space but also presumably having some sway over them (either by assuming authority over spirits, or making business deals, or being their friends),

the practitioner puts themselves in a position of having sway over all terrestrial reality (in other words - the entire planet and everything in it).

So once you put yourself into that position, presumably when you say, "I embody this gossip into the air before me," not only is your own will at play, but literally The King of Air and His Numerous Elementals, Subject to Your Desires, have shown up and by their presence and supportive actions are making reality bend to your will!

Which is neat, right?

I'm not super familiar with what Wicca does but as far as I'm aware this is known as calling the Watchtowers. In Traditional Witchcraft this is probably called Compass-Laying. Both of these actions usually take place within a magic circle, which is a delineated space meant to contain all this power and keep it focused in a centralized point.

To uncross a situation and clear personal blockages, one may also open the roads to the spirits and ask them to handle it. Go around and lay a good compass. Ask the elemental lords to clear the way for you in every direction, so that the passage of all things is eased for you in every thing whatsoever. Pay them a good offering for the work.

Of course, if you do not want to open roads to spirits, unblocking and way-clearing spells may be accomplished in many ways, such as with personal cleansing, banishment of specific problems, conjuring of good fortune in specific areas, spirit reparations, petitioning of higher powers, and development of personal protection.

[melina-mellow]

Doctor Strange 3 was confirmed to be happening a while ago now I'm holding my breath hoping that this is the time they finally get it right.

First off, they need to make this movie about Stephen, he needs to be the star of the movie,.. MoM was solely Wanda's show.. She stole every scene she was in and I was more interested on what was going on with her instead of Stephen.

I don't want America to be in the 3rd one though. Nothing against the character herself, I just don't want America Chavez to develop the "ironboy jr problem" Where her whole character suddenly starts revolving around her relationship Stephen Strange. We did that once with Peter Parker and Tony Stark... We do not need to replay that trope a million other times... Especially with characters that have no relation to one another.

They used MoM to introduce her into the MCU? Fine, it fit with the whole multiverse thing they were going for. We do not make her a recurring character for the Doctor Strange franchise. The next I want to see America is with the characters she belongs with; The Young Avengers.

Aside from that! I really just want the Doctor Strange cast to shine, specifically Wong and Clea. I want them to actually feel powerful and competent, not just throw away side characters.

Clea and Wong are both the Sorcerer Supremes of their respective dimensions, I don't want them to be turned into canon forder just for Stephen to come and save them... Make them be on the same level as Stephen, not just his sidekicks.

Speaking of Clea.... Please for the love of god, don't just reduce her to the role of the "love interest" She deserves more respect then that!

As for the director.... I have no problems with Sam Raimi, I find that his directing style fits well with Doctor Strange really well. It's the script that I'm worried about.

And.... That's it! I think I've rambled enough.

[n30n-le0n]

[It had to come to a head eventually. Leo just wouldn't have guessed it would be so soon.

He'd been lingering around the firehouse for several days--or maybe it was weeks, days had tended to blur together for him ever since the Krang situation--getting used to the "being trapped in another dimension" situation along with everyone else. He'd been introduced to the rest of the team (with some glares thrown in Peter's direction whenever he thought the man wasn't looking), and had even learned that he wasn't even the only person displaced from his home dimension residing within their headquarters. Apparently there was another Ray lingering around too, something which had made Leo's head spin trying to comprehend. How could there be two versions of a guy just....floating around? Eventually he'd just resolved to not think about it too hard--this situation was weird enough without adding extra layers to it.

Other than that, the days passed relatively normally. Or at least, what passed for normalcy in his current day-to-day life. He played pranks, he joked with the team, he pleaded to go out on busts. He ate substandard pizza from some carryout joint, he entertained them, he patiently tolerated Egon's poking and prodding and questioning about how his powers worked and how the portals knew where to send him and so on and so forth. He asked to drive the Ecto and only grew more and more petulant when he was denied. In a way, it felt like he was back home with his brothers. It felt normal. Organic, in a way. It felt safe.

But even safety had to come to an end.

Leo had already had a restless night, plagued by nightmares that left him startling awake and trying to regulate his breathing. Upon the third occurrence of this, he sat upright, groaning and pressing the palms of his hands into his eyelids in exasperation.]

Goddamn stupid night terrors. Ughhhhh. Why won't you just let me sleep--

[Go get Egon, you stubborn son of a bitch. He'll understand. He'll probably sit up with you and--]

Nope. Nuh-uh. Not happening. I've been annoying enough. He doesn't need me pulling him away from....important science work or whatever. It's fine. I'm fine.

[At least, he was fine until the small nightlight conveniently chose that moment to flicker and die, plunging the room into an inky blackness.

Fuck. FUCK.

Leo wasn't afraid of the dark. He wasn't. It was just that the dark reminded him too much of the prison dimension and how dark it had been, and how fetid the Krang's breath had been as it had snarled in his face, and---

And there were suddenly red lights shining in the darkness, too bright and too sinister to be of any comfort, and Leo found himself jolting backwards, breath stuttering in his throat as a shrill yelp escaped his mouth before he could help it. He couldn't help it. He knew he had to stay quiet, stay quiet doN'T LET IT SEE YOU, but it escaped his mouth almost instinctually, primally, before he could stop himself. How had the Krang come here, how had they managed to escape the prison dimension, they couldn't be--]

E-E-g-gi-UYS--

[He wanted it to be a yell. He was pleading for it to be a yell, but instead it came out as another strangled, panicked yelp as he flailed backwards, a loud and panicked hiss sounding from between his lips as his shell collided with something metallic, as he felt that chill again and heard the words slithering out of that toothed maw--

I've come for you, little PEST. You will not escape my grasp so easily THIS time.

Fuck, where were his swords, he had to....he had to teleport away, make a portal, something, anything, but he was tangled up in the stupid blankets and he couldn't move and he couldn't breathe and--]

NononononononononoNONONONONONONONO--

@dr-egonspengler