#invulnerability

[smbhax]

From “The Science of Dr. Sarr!” in Captain Marvel Adventures #7, February 1942.

Info from Grand Comics Database.

[space-salaman]

missile blocked!

thonis the skullhead demon protects his friends with his invulnerability!

~ ~ ~

bsky 🦋 | twitter 🐦 | furaffinity 🐾 | discord server 💽 | telegram channel🎨

[journeytothewestresearch]

I've heard that Wukong has a heart of gold (literally), as well as iron lungs, and a metal spine from being in Lao Tzu's furnace and eating molten Copper from Guan Yin and was wondering if this is true.

Monkey states that in ch. 34:

When old Monkey caused great disturbance in the Celestial Palace five hundred years ago and was refined for forty-nine days in the eight trigram brazier of Laozi, the process in fact gave me a heart strong as gold and viscera hardy as silver, a bronze head and an iron back, fiery eyes and diamond pupils (Wu & Yu, 2012, vol. 2, p. 131).

The legend of his adamantine body predates the 1592 JTTW. For instance, Sun claims the following in the early-Ming zaju play:

I plundered Laozi’s gold Pill of Immortality, and have endured so many alchemical transformations that my muscles are brass, my bones iron, my eyes fire, my pupils gold, my asshole lead and my prick is pewter (Ning, 1986, p. 142). 

Another example comes from the 13th-century JTTW. He is referred to as the the “Bronze-Headed, Iron-Browed King of the Eighty-Four Thousand Monkeys of the Purple Cloud Grotto on the Mountain of Flowers and Fruits” (Wivell, 1994, p. 1182). And the story ends with the Tang Emperor Taizong enfeoffing him as the “Great Sage Steel Muscles and Iron Bones” (Wivell, 1994, p. 1207).

Sources:

Ning, C. Y. (1986). Comic Elements in the Xiyouji Zaju (UMI No. 8612591) [Doctoral Dissertation, University of Michigan]. ProQuest Dissertations and Theses Global.

Wivell, C.S. (1994). The Story of How the Monk Tripitaka of the Great Country of T’ang Brought Back the Sūtras. In V. Mair (Ed.), The Columbia Anthology of Traditional Chinese Literature (pp. 1181-1207). New York: Columbia University Press.

Wu, C., & Yu, A. C. (2012). The Journey to the West (Vols. 1-4) (Rev. ed.). Chicago, Illinois: University of Chicago Press.

[thevindicativevordan]

How do you think Superman's invulnerability should be handled ? What can affect him and what can't, outside of the obvious like magic, red sun and kryptonite ?

Like the “invulnerability” of a diamond. Diamonds are extremely resistant to being scratched, if you want to cut them with a blade you need to use a diamond blade. Likewise Superman’s skin is incredibly tough. Piercing it requires either using something as tough as he is (which is why other Kryptonians or Doomsday can wound him with blunt force), or getting around said toughness with lasers/other powers. Lex should be able to create synthetic elements that can match Superman’s toughness, make bullets and swords out of said elements, and thus pierce his skin. You can handwave why said weapons aren’t widespread by saying the cost and requirements to produce them are too exorbitant for more than a small handful to be made.

You might find this educational:

Side note but I don’t believe Superman’s internal organs should be as tough as his skin. If someone with phasing powers put a regular grenade inside him I don’t think it would kill him the way it would a regular person, but it would seriously mess him up.

Suppose I should mention the bio-electric aura, I’m fine with that handwave too. If it’s an aura however and not his actual skin, then I want villains to discover that and be able to disrupt it. Livewire for example would become a much greater threat since she should be able to either bypass that aura or dispel it.

[liketwoswansinbalance]

headcanon: rafal sometimes sleeps with no blankets, mats or pillows whatsoever

I fully endorse this headcanon, even if we have no concrete evidence of it happening, as it makes perfect sense for his character.

He often values asceticism, but more in a self-disciplined sense than a spiritual sense and he despises going "soft."

(Fun fact: In one of my WIPs, he sleeps on the floor, but it's not due to preference. He only does so because he has no other options in dire straits.)

I could definitely see it, wanting to prove himself "superior" because of this tendency. He'd probably do it every so often, to be "in practice," like it's a contingency plan for the worst case scenario, being ousted from his position, or alternatively, being away from the Schools on some kind of self-inflicted, student scouting "mission," even if Rhian would view this behavior as either uncivilized or overly cautionary, if Rhian intuited Rafal's reasons.

Rafal could play this behavior off as "healthful" by claiming that sleeping on a hard, flat surface benefits his back and (probably already ramrod straight) posture.

Although, by my interpretation, because he's so tightly wound, I think he'd always carry tension in his neck and shoulders, like a symptom of perpetual anxiety or being incapable of relaxing. He'd constantly keep his chin up or (mostly) not slouch in chairs, at least, when around others because he'd (subconsciously) think not being able to stay upright is a sign of "weakness."

I'd guess flying could help him relax, but he tends to use that ability for almost always purely utilitarian/minor grandstanding-and-showboating purposes.

Sleeping on a hard floor couldn't be for no reason, unless he had unusual (unconfirmed by canon) sensory needs.

Did you have any reasoning, anon?

So far, my reasoning is that, if he had other reasons, maybe certain typically comfortable things wouldn't sit well with him, would, instead of being comforting as they should be, make him feel profound unease because, as much as he'd like to feel certain about his control, isn't it easier to be paranoid about losing it during every waking and resting moment?

When you're on top, someone always wants to drag you down. Yet if you have no creature comforts to lose, or standards of living you're attached to, no one could hurt you in that particular way, by taking it away. Essentially, he'd be immune to deprivation, if it ever happened to him. Living without usual comforts could be another way of reinforcing his invulnerability or the appearance of invulnerability.

Now, I wonder if the Nevers' terrible living conditions are related to a philosophy like this. Arguably, Rafal would like to be the most dangerous figure in any tale because it would give him control and he'd be the worst threat present, instead of ceding that title to something external to himself.

I suspect this could be his worst fear actually, a basic lack of control. I think under more typical circumstances than Fall and without the general notion that Good is superior and is always rewarded, Rafal would be terrified of losing his Evil because it's his means of maintaining control. In theory, I think he would be used to being the problem (and take pride in that status), or the worst cause of conflict around because if something else, or something worse took his place, he'd have no ability to affect or reform it.

The logic is simple: if he is the worst threat to order, or the balance in general, then he'd have nothing to solve concerning other people because he would be the only "imbalancing" force to worry about and he knows he can keep himself in check as he's done it before. He would be ostensibly problem-free if he were the only "problem," if the only problem were himself.

It would even be suspect if he wanted to be Good because Evil affords (or once afforded) him the most power and free rein to do whatever he wanted. And why else? In theory, with balance, there would be no losing streak to dissuade him from being Evil. Or, to put it the other way around: no reason for him to want to be Good.

And when we think about the Nevers again—isn't the deprivation of basic comforts a form of teaching all that? All to better their chances of survival in the Woods?

This concept reminds me of a certain quote:

"The most dangerous creation of any society is the man who has nothing to lose." ― James Baldwin

The man who has nothing to lose is, with good reason, what society would fear most.

And, that's what Rafal probably tries to shape himself into. A man like that could do anything without consequence. Because, he'd literally have nothing at stake. He'd be inured to everything, all kinds of maltreatment. How could his living conditions turn any worse, if they're already the bare minimum? It's "obvious" rationale (to him), naturally. He imparts the same lesson/treatment to others, his students. It's strategic. It's preemptively "attacking" himself before others can get the better of him.

That's the closest one can get to all-powerful in his world, right?

[lotro-tooltips-daily]

[wanologic]

a spectrum of experience

[robertmisirian]

My semester ended some time ago and I’ve got new drawings to share. I’ll try to keep posting until August when the next semester of college starts. For now, this is a headshot of Overlord from Leaving Megalopolis.

[inkskinned]

okay i almost never address the very small amount of internet fame i have. and sometimes yes it sucks. people often repost my work, or clip it out of context, or flat-out steal it. but like it can be very funny. once a follower dm'd me to say a guy on hinge was pretending to be "inkskinned", and actually had even started his own insta. when she said "i've followed her for years i don't think you're her", he said - actually r.i.d is like seven people, we just made those initials up. (rude). when i found his insta and messaged him, he begged me to just lie and say he was r.i.d because "it's hard for men to date."

once someone said she should be allowed to plagiarize my work because she was a body-positive influencer and that if i "made a big deal" about this and "got her cancelled", i would be doing damage to my own community and i was never "actually" an ally.

i bear these things with the aura of a martyr, the way my catholic father raised me to. i message privately. i handle things quietly and quickly. i do not complain because i am very, very, very, very blessed and i know that. mercy and gentleness literally pour out of me every morning when i wake up, and then i have to mop the floors for how very Good i am.

however today is the first time i have ever had a very specific problem that neither requires me to correct this person nor throw them to the dogs but is somehow worse than years of hatemail, reddit thread death threats, and pinterest reposts:

someone quoted me and just got it, like, a little wrong.

[utsaahpsychologyclinic]

"Remember, teamwork begins by building trust. And the only way to do that is to overcome our need for invulnerability."

[sillysiluriforme]

When Nahima sees Caprikid, she is gonna have a fucking mental Breakdown

Man fuck caprikid hide her from mayura !!!

[journeytothewestresearch]

Hello, sorry to be a bother, but can you please link me to the post you made about Sun Wukong's golden organs? I was busy when you first posted it and now I can't find it 😭

It's fine if you just send it to me over a private answer. Sorry for the inconvenience.

Here you go.

[got-lost-in-the-library]

I desperately need Travis to realize that he can win the bridal party game at Jester and Fjord’s wedding by asking all four of Pumat Sol to stand with him

[sisaloofafump]

Wrong.

[anthyies]

[starry-bi-sky]

watch me end up making a superdad au coz of WTNS

because!!! because i was thinking about how funny it is that Bruce's first two kids (Dick and Danny) would be superman fans, and how funny it would be if that influenced his opinion on Superman when they first met. And then I got to picking that apart, and how Danny's opinion and feelings on Superman would have the bigger impact on Bruce than Dick, since Dick's admiration for Superman (presumably) comes from the standard little kid "he's an alien and he can FLY" (and flying graysons) stuff. Which, while very very cute, is easy to ignore and disallow swaying feelings on.

But DANNY? It's not the same. While part of Danny's admiration comes from the same "holy shit he's an alien and can fly thats so COOL" vein, it also comes from a place of feeling deeply relatable to him. Both he and Superman were/are perceived as incredibly powerful, deeply dangerous creatures that are nigh impossible to stop, they have a handful of powers that are similar to one another, and they are (one of) the only ones of their kind. Superman is (one of) the last Kryptonian, Danny is (one of) the only Liminal in existence, and they might not be the same species but the principle remains the same and they're in the same boat.

As a result, Danny would just, god, he'd find so much relation in that. And yeah they're not the same but Superman would make him feel just a little less alone, a little more seen, and he'd find so much comfort in that.

And Bruce, by the time he meets Superman, would know by then about Danny's powers and his experiences and his time as Phantom and as a Liminal. And it's easy to ignore your kid's admiration for another Superhero when it stems from a place of plain hero worship or simple appreciation. It's harder to ignore it when your kid admires a Superhero because they make them feel seen and relate to them on a level you can't reach them on.

When that's the reason, how could he not think differently about Superman? When, by then, he's seen the scars left on Danny's body from all of his fights; when he's seen him cry and break down over never being able to fly again thanks to the blood blossom poison; when he's heard all about the struggles he faced with his powers, the fear he had about being found out, the fear he had when he was first developing them; and how he was ostracized by his city for his efforts just because he wasn't human, despite how much he was just trying to help.

How could he not look at Superman when they first meet, mask-to-mask, and have a little voice in the back of his mind go: 'my kid is a lot like you'

its making me emotional. if these feeligns persist im going to end up making a superdad au