#now onto geoff's book

[bunn-iiii]

Hiiii what’re your fav fiction and non-fiction books??

uhhhhhh (<- me when I haven't read a proper book and liked it for years due to school) look so. the last time I enjoyed books I was like. 12 possibly maybe younger but if we're talking like comic books and graphic novels I've really liked Scott Pilgrim for fiction. I ain't got a single book for you that's non-fiction I'm so sorry :[

[emilsgrippers]

Does anyone else love Gwent still. Like maybe they broke up but..Gwent ☹️

Anyways here

Trent was sitting by the fire pit. He was tuning his guitar with shaky hands.

Despite the blazing fire infront of him, he was still cold. As his fingers lightly plucked at the strings on the guitar in hand, short melodies would be carried away with the flames of the fire.

When Trent finally managed to fix up his guitar, two of the last three campers—Bridgette and Geoff—turned to leave.

It wasn’t any secret Geoff had a crush on Bridgette. When she stood up to leave, Geoff followed. He fell into step with her and smiled as he did. Bridgette didn’t seem to mind, as she smiled, too.

“Goodnight you two,” she called quietly as she waved her hand and walked off alongside Geoff. Trent waved back, but then he paused. You two?

It was as though those words had opened his ears up to something new. What sounded like a pencil being scribbled roughly against a piece of paper suddenly rung out in his left ear. He turned his head, still holding the guitar cautiously in his hands.

Gwen was still there beside him. She was drawing something, not paying any mind to him. Or so he thought. After a few seconds, she looked up at him.

When Gwen saw Trent looking back at her, her own eyes widened and she tilted her notebook upwards so Trent couldn’t see what she was drawing.

Trent wasn’t stupid, he could put two and two together. “What’re you drawing?” He asked, as though the light blush creeping across her face and the sudden secretive actions weren’t answer enough.

“Nothing.” She spat, bitterly. Her brow furrowed for a second as she dropped the notebook on the stump next to her. But her expression softened quickly as Trent laughed a bit.

“Okay,” he said, somewhat teasingly. Gwen was smiling again in just a few seconds. Her soft eyes fell onto the guitar in his hands. “Are you gonna play for us?”

Trent lifted and positioned the guitar so he could play. “Us?” He repeated. Gwen playfully punches him in the shoulder, laughing a bit. “Me! You know what I mean..” her voice trailed off, and the pencil fell from her slender fingers as she waited for him to play.

Trent began to play. He didn’t have anything specific in mind to play, so he just created his own soft song.

It felt like the melody had enclosed the two of them within, like nothing else existed outside of the warmth of the fire—which Trent now felt—but he didn’t know if the warmth he was feeling was because of the fire anymore.

She hummed along quietly to his serenade. Even though she herself didn’t know what was coming next, she still managed to hum in sync to what he played. It was an accidental duet, it was like the two were on the same wave length.

Eventually, Trent slowly stopped playing—this was partially because he was zoning out listening to Gwen— and she slowly stopped humming, while still in sync.

When all they could hear now was small crackles from the blazing fire, and chirps from the crickets around them, Gwen yawned. Trent smiled at her. His face was nice and warm now, too.

She clapped, “That was nice.” She said this in a gentle tone. Trent nodded in agreement. “It was.” He stood up, guitar in hand. “You’re really what made it so nice.” Gwen crossed her arm over her face as she brushed her hair back, but Trent assumed this was an attempt to hide her blush.

“Come on,” he kicked over a bucket of water which sat next to the fire. It was snuffed out in an instant, and the last bits of smoke disappeared into the dark night sky.

“Let’s head back to the cabin for the night.” Gwen stood up beside him, but not before she grabbed her pencil and note book.

She hadn’t closed the pages yet, so Trent could see inside of it. Gwen was an incredible artist! Trent didn’t see much of her drawings, but the one he could see clear as day—as it was wide open on that page—was a drawing of him.

In the picture, he was depicted holding his own guitar. Trent held his guitar a bit tighter as he analyzed her drawing. “Ready?” She said. Gwen hadn’t realized he was staring straight at her notebook.

Trent snapped out of the apparent trance he was in as he nodded and stepped up beside her.

He smiled to himself as the two walked back to their respective cabins. She was still humming the melody which he had played just a few minutes ago.

Gwen was the best girl he could have ever asked for…even though she wasn’t really his girlfriend yet.

But, he hoped he’d be able to change that by the end of the summer,

And he couldn’t wait for when he did.

[fae-morrigan]

It's been such a relief to get these Tomasi complaints off my chest. I hate him more than Geoff Johns, and that’s saying something. I have never before been able to pick through each issue of a DC writer's work and point out what I hate like Tomasi's.

Maybe I wouldn't hate him, the Super Sons, or their ship so much if it wasn't for how unbearable that part of the fandom is. What is it about a ship involving a Bat, especially a Bat and a Super, that makes people act so terrible?

I don't know if it's wishful thinking or if I'm actually onto something, but does it feel like DC mainline comics are moving away from his Superman stuff? Hamilton County is barely mentioned (they even erased the Bizzaro Superboy in Action Comics). Clark never brings up the Black Dawn arc when Manchester Black is brought into the Warworld arc or when Lex kills him for Project Blackout. Dobwe ever even see how he escapes being trapped in that cow? Not sure how canonical the Death and Return of Superman Anniversary stories are, but they completely ignore Hamilton (Jon mentions they had just moved to Metropolis when Doomsday returned instead of just moving to Hamilton, and given the Superman & Lois 2 back-ups, I'm guessing they moved from Lancaster). Jon and Damian are still the Super Sons, but nothing from Tomasi's run is ever brought up? Not even the Super Sons of Tomorrow arc, and since Jon is running with the Titans now, that feels like something they'd at least mention in passing. Jon was written in a public school during the Death of Superman Anniversary, and West-Reeve has only been brought up by Tomasi himself in that one story he wrote with Sydney. Unless I'm missing something.

I feel the exact same way. I think this would be society if people hated Peter J Tomasi as much as they do Tom Taylor

And yeah, it ABSOLUTELY feels like the mainline DC comics are fully departing from Tomasi's works. The LAST reference we got to Tomasi's run was THIS bit here in Son of Kal El issue 11:

.... And I REALLY like that THIS is the part they kept. I always thought this moment was like, one of the only truly 'impactful' moments of Tomasi's run, and I feel like this is payoff for it Tomasi never bothered to do. Taylor basically tells us exactly how his traumatic childhood informs his approach to violence, but it doesn't feel like he's telling us. This is totally something Pa would bring up to make a point to Bruce, it feels perfectly in place with the point this scene is trying to make within the story. And its a nice reward for those of us who suffered through that god awful conservative propaganda.

But basically everything else from this run got scrapped. Kathy, Hamilton, basically every major 'incident' that happened to Clark and Lois. More than that, one of the things I liked best about the age up and how Jon is written now was how by making Jon older, they FINALLY scrapped the most annoying part of their dynamic: Damian constantly looking down on Jon because he's younger. HE AINT YOUNGER ANYMORE! And Damian's character development under Williamson makes it so I don't roll my eyes directly out of my skull every time he speaks. Tomasi doesn't know to write smart characters, he hacks it by making Damian constantly exposit how smart he is. Like.

No the fuck you didn't, Damian. And as a result, we now get conversations and banter where they feel like they actually respect each other like friends!

Damian and Jon's friendship post age up really reminds me of my dynamic with one of my irl dude friends. Its super special to me and I hate that people think its 'boring' because they're not two dumbass kids anymore. Some of us like character in our comic books, thank you.

[good--merits-accumulated]

OK, SEVERELY rambly post incoming but - Anderperry Stardust (2007)/ The Little White Horse AU, anyone?

Rundown: I think many of us are familiar with Stardust, originally a Neil Gaiman book but also a great film, starring Claire Danes as a falling star and That Guy Who Plays Daredevil as the lad who promises to bring her to the girl he's infatuated with. The Little White Horse is, to the best of my knowledge, more unknown, but equally very good (for sentimental reasons, I think of it much more highly than Stardust). Published in 1946 by Elizabeth Goudge, it tells the story of thirteen-year-old orphan Maria Merryweather, who moves to her cousin Sir Benjamin's Moonacre Manor in the West Country, where she finds a) a thriving cosy community and a long family history, b) the little white horse of the title, c) a longstanding family feud cutting off Moonacre from the sea, d) her imaginary best friend Robin, real and in the flesh, and e) some of the most deliciously-described food that has ever been or will be. It's a great book even past the rose-tinted glasses of my childhood. Go read it. (The one (1) marring is that you can't find a bloody edition that doesn't have a JK Terfling quote pasted onto the cover, because apparently it was one of her favourite books, but fuck OFF, I'm reclaiming it now. Thou shalt not keep the cosy low fantasy from me.)

Anyway even though I mention Stardust this isn't really part of the AU I have in my mind, except for the bit with the Star, because Todd as a main character who thinks he's a very forgettable bland boy-in-the-corner until he finds out he's a star is a great thought to me. Particulars on /how/ he's a star to be fleshed out later! (I only thought of this AU about two hours ago, lol.)

In my mind this is how it goes - nebulously Olden Times setting (TLWH is set in 1842, so perhaps then). Todd is around seventeen/eighteen and Geoff has just graduated from university, and gone off around Europe, accompanied by their parents. Months go by. Something happens - he's never given the liberty of knowing, but Geoff and their parents stay in Europe, and the townhouse in London is sold, and Todd is packed off to stay at a distant relative's - Keating, as it turns out. It's a blessing in disguise, because Todd is finally away from his family for the first time in his life and around people that appreciate him. He begins to bloom under this new care - but there are strange family secrets only now being revealed to him, and dark forces beyond the valley which threaten to disrupt the haven he's found...

The rest is very cosy fantasy, featuring Mr Perry as the local uptight vicar locking horns with Keating at every opportunity, Neil as his withdrawn but friendly son just longing for a rebellion, and more! (Read: Charlie is here and he is Outrageous as usual. Read also: Pitts as a sailor because I think he'd like it.) Right now I'm thinking of adding an equivalent of Monsieur Cocq de Noir for a villain (Mr Perry is NOT the villain), and Cameron can play a part there so I can give him a good redeeming! Here are a couple of extracts from TLWH to show the kind of mood/tone we're working with:

Thematically, I REALLY like the idea of Todd as a star because it allows me to work in a very fun trope, of "not of the rose but near the rose" - when a character perhaps is shy and a little quiet and reclusive, but inspires other people around them to brilliance and greatness. (Honestly I do think this kind of goes in with the film, where it's not just Keating's teaching but Todd's reaction to it and his presence that galvanise Neil to continue.) This ties in really well if Todd's a star and adds to the overall self-confidence journey - plus I was really thinking about the sun/moon motifs! They're very prominent in TLWH (Maria is a "moon" Merryweather and Robin is a very sunny boy), and I really want to implement them here with slight twists. I think of Todd as a sunny moon; yes he's warm and caring and cheerful but once you go a little closer it's more of a luminosity rather than a blaze, there's a coolness and quietness to him I like. You know, a quiet character doesn't always have to be quiet because there's something "wrong" with them, sometimes they're just like that. For Neil it's the opposite, he's a moony sun; under the thumb of his father he's polite and decorous and demure but somewhere under all of that there's a very loud and booming laugh and a healthy sort of ruddiness. I don't know, I just like sun/moon motifs!!!!!!!!!!

(On a more personal note: this AU, which I already love very much despite not having known very long, would be above all a careful love letter to the West Country. It's been lovely living around here almost all my life and by this time in September I'll be hopefully up very far north at uni, so I'm pre-emptively kind of :') about it. Mutuals who are at uni/college how on earth did you cope?)

[cantsayidont]

I like the Justice Society of America, and I have for a long time, but the current revival looks to be so bad it makes me want to set myself on fire. The JSA book has okay art, but is terrible; the Tim Sheridan Green Lantern/Alan Scott miniseries (of which I've admittedly read only the first two issues) is even worse than I expected; there's nothing about the Flash or Sandman books that looks remotely appealing; and the last, now-defunct Hawkman book went even further than the old Geoff Johns series in making me think Carter Hall, a character I used to like, is a mistake. I hated the New 52 stuff, although since it was essentially a bad AU, there was no reason to pay attention to it, but I have less than zero interest in watching Geoff Johns trying to scaffold dumb bullshit onto the originals.

This gets back to something I've said in the past: When it comes to mainstream comics, the creators are much more important than the characters in determining whether something is going to be decent or basically unendurable, and there's no one involve with the current stuff that's worth my time.

[priwenshallprevail]

Character: Ɠєσffяєу McƇυƖƖυм

𝐋𝐀𝐘𝐄𝐑 𝐎𝐍𝐄: 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐎𝐔𝐓𝐒𝐈𝐃𝐄.  

Nicknames: Geoff , Huntsman -- a list of insults two miles wide.

Eye color: Sapphire Blue

Hair style / color: Classic Medium faded undercut / Dark brown

Height:  6'2

Clothing style: Durable fibers that can withstand abuse. Somewhat loose fitting, non constricting. Usually more than one layer with a lengthy concealable top layer; such as an overcoat, or other heavy fiber jackets. The less skin showing the better. Obstacles to prevent being bit, scratched or burned. Mostly dull medium choices in color schemes. Grays. Blues. Earthy tones. Occasionally dark red accents. Almost always packing some sort of weapon within it's confines. Maybe multitudes; depending on the day. Heavy boots with some inner reinforcements. Be they steel toe or outer locked ankle cupped greaves made of trifold leather. It's a common uniform styled attire worn throughout eras. If not capable of being dated singularity back onto Priwen's uniform code.

Best physical feature: It's all in the eyes as they say. Window to the soul.

𝐋𝐀𝐘𝐄𝐑 𝐓𝐖𝐎: 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐈𝐍𝐒𝐈𝐃𝐄.  

Your fears: “Becomin' useless ta'tha cause, 'mong oher'tings. ..Don' exepct me ta be givin' all m' secrets away now, do ya ? “

Your guilty pleasure: “ Whiskey in tha'morn, 'nother one fer'a generous nightcap. Rarely wit'a bit of smoke -- opium. Silences tha mind an' all.” Silences the memories more than likely.

Your ambitions for the future: “ Lesser monsters in'tha world. Includin' tha human variety.” 

𝑻𝑯𝑶𝑼𝑮𝑯𝑻𝑺.  

Your first thought waking up: “ Ta take a piss ? " 

What you think about most: “Tactical improvements. Equipment upgrades.” 

What you think about before bed: “ Do I really need it -- can I afford it ? ” 

What you think your best quality is: “ .. Intuition. ” 

𝑾𝑯𝑨𝑻’𝑺 𝑩𝑬𝑻𝑻𝑬𝑹?  

Single or group dates: “ Dun'ave time fer' it. ..” 

To be loved or respected: “Respect can go a long way -- love, on tha'oer hand .. is distraction at best. Encumbrance at it's worst..”

Beauty or brains: “Brains.” 

Dogs or cats: “Dogs, clearly. Cats ar'taa much like leeches if ye ask me. Pompous, moody lil' bastards, expectin' ye ta bow a'teir whim. ” 

𝑫𝑶 𝒀𝑶𝑼…  

Lie: “Don' we all.” derisively symbolizing the cross in a ushered signum crucis across his head and shoulders.

Believe in yourself: “Wouldn' be in tis position if I didn'.” 

Believe in love: “ Honestly ? Say it again fer'ya -- its'a distraction . " 

Want someone: “Bit'of a nosy bugger, arnt'ye ? ” 

𝑬𝑽𝑬𝑹 𝑩𝑬𝑬𝑵…  

Been on stage: “As tha clean up crew,' parently.” 

Done drugs: “ Not some druggie, if'tat is what yer insinuatin'. ”  Opium.

Changed who you were to fit in: "No.”

𝑭𝑨𝑽𝑶𝑹𝑰𝑻𝑬𝑺.  

Favorite color: “Fook if I know -- navy ? ”

Favorite animal: “Cannot go 'rong wit' horses. Noble beasts, 'lot can be learned fro'em.”

Favorite movie: “Don' ge'ta see much, m'fraid. Not a clue.” 

Favorite book: "Mm.. wouldn' ye like ta know." His brother's journal. Memories of both him and their mother littered throughout it's contents.

Favorite game: “Er Enish, eit'er by mule or horse. ”  First introduced to him during the war. Now he favors the game.

𝑨𝑮𝑬.  

Day your next birthday will be: “January 6th.” 

How old will you be: “38.” ( If we're delving in or around 1918 that is )

Age you lost your virginity: “ 16. ” 

𝑰𝑵 𝑨 𝑷𝑬𝑹𝑺𝑶𝑵.  

Best personality: “Any of ye wit' an ounce of chivalry.” 

Best eye color: “ Not blue, 'tats for damn sure. We get blinded pretty damn easily. "

Best hair color: “Dark hair .. ” 

Best thing to do with a partner: "Sup'ose bein' honest wit'em. If ya can afford ta, tat is ." 

𝑭𝑰𝑵𝑰𝑺𝑯 𝑻𝑯𝑬 𝑺𝑬𝑵𝑻𝑬𝑵𝑪𝑬.  

I love: " a challenge.” 

I feel: “content -- fer'now. ” 

I hide: “ .... pain.” fear. Any other conflicting emotions that tarnishes his image.

I miss: “.. .. bet'er days.” 

I wish: “ fer'tese questions ta end already.” 

Tagged : @nihiladditaenihilperdidi - many,many thankshes ! ;)

Tagging: @devourhe ,@thejadedking , @arcanescholxr -- anyone else who wishes to give it a whirl ? Never good at discovering who already participated in it or not. Forgive me if you have been double tapped. Nothin' but love comin' your way.

[ufonaut]

are you liking the jsa series? i’ve been reading reviews on comic geeks, tumblr, and other websites and it seemed pretty well liked until i went onto twitter and i’ve seen like majority of justice society of america fans there hate it. either because of retcons like judy garrick and huntress’ future jsa or the fact that’s it’s geoff johns on the jsa again. thanks for your time!

AM I LIKING THE JSA ONGOING!!!!! if you go into any jsa-related tags chances are 90% of it consists of my billions of panels posted after each new issue so, yes, i'm loving the new jsa series and i think that's plenty obvious from a glance at my blog. i don't think you can count most people on here or twitter as jsa fans though lmao interacting with out of context pages from afar hardly warrants their opinions being taken seriously

the new golden age initiative is the best thing to have happened to the justice society since the '76 revival and in many ways, it's a genuine return to form for most of the team -- both in characterisation (like in alan scott's case) and in the actual physical return of legitimate golden age characters like jimmy martin, the newsboy legion, little boy blue & the blue boys etc etc. like man, outside of roy thomas, i really can't name a single other writer who's as knowledgeable as geoff about the literal golden age of comics and who loves these characters half as much. it may be hard to admit for those among us who don't think doomsday clock is the best comic ever published (which i certainly do stand by forever) but geoff's kept the jsa alive for thirty years and counting and we owe him a great deal despite the occasional misstep.

i also love judy garrick! i love the future jsa! i love this take on teddy knight's future! i love vlad & ruby sokov! i'm here for all of it and i'll never get over how strange (and i'm being kind here) it is that most complaints come from infinity inc enjoyers as if every part of that series isn't the retcon to end all retcons.

i've got my misgivings about a detail or two, there's a couple characters getting the spotlight when i'd personally much rather forget their existence all together, but all in all? best damn book on the stands right now and you better believe i'm buying every issue & every variant like my life depends on it!

[kermtalkscomics]

Just read: Superman Secret Origin

Hi! First time doing this, sort of just my review and thoughts on a piece of media I just consumed. Disclaimer: I'm no expert, just a guy who likes comics.

So, last night I ticked Superman: Secret Origin by Geoff Johns and Gary Frank off my 2023 reading list. For years it's been a book that I've wanted to read, I just never had a large enough desire to buy it outright or ask for it for Christmas. After seeing a few panels shared on Twitter I decided since it's so short I might as well finally get through it via DC Universe Infinite and here I am!

Wanted to immediately share that I absolutely ADORED the first three issues. Clark's relationship with his family and his introduction to Metropolis are such great moments that had me grinning the entire time. The book takes a more simplistic approach to Clark's early life drama with his parents by sort of just... not doing it. Aside from learning he's from Krypton, Clark fully embraces the Kents, and the Kents do the very same and it's all so wonderfully written.

I particularly LOVED Clark's relationship with his Father, having grown up in a rural part of the United States myself it's really heartwarming to see how they interact and how much Pa Kent reminds me of people in my family.

Another great element of the book is the art. Since reading Doomsday Clock back in high school, I've felt that Gary Frank illustrates my ideal version of Clark Kent and he absolutely delivers here. The timid and shy-farmboy-turned-confident-protector is evolved so smoothly through Frank's art and I'd argue that the book is worth checking out for the art alone.

Clark's relationships with the people around him are really great too. This book perfectly, albeit simplistically, introduces us to all of the important players in Clark's life along with his role in theirs. The staff of the Daily Planet makes up such a fun and close-knit cast of workers that perfectly bounces off of Clark.

So yes, as far as the good of the book goes there's a lot to love! The art is incredible and Clark's relationship with the cast around him comes naturally and is written with care the entire way through. For me, this book feels like the perfect modernization of the Christopher Reeve Superman origin. Also, for somebody like me who struggles to stay optimistic, I really appreciate the optimism and hope that a good Superman book can bring to me and this book adequately meets that bar too.

Now, onto the not-so-great stuff. I wouldn't say there are necessarily bad qualities in this book, but there are parts that seem underbaked or lackluster compared to other modern Superman origin stories. I feel like it's important to view a piece of media through the lens of what we received rather than what wasn't there, but with Superman's 80-year-history and the role he plays in the world that he's a part of, there are some missing elements that I really wish were explored here.

For the record, many of these comparisons I'm making come from my appreciation for Superman: Birthright, which is another book that I really enjoy.

An element of the story that I don't necessarily love is Lex Luthor. In this story Lex is absolutely rotten from day 1 with no humanity or real redeeming qualities, he's sort of a jerk the entire way through. That's fine of course if we're referring to adult Lex, but since a decent amount of the early chapters covered Lex's origin I really wish we got some more humanity like we did in Birthright.

Is Lex Luthor being a tragic villain necessary to Clark Kent's development? Not really, but that layer adds so much to their relationship.

Another issue is an apparent lack of Clark interacting with the world outside of the United States. What I feel is a great part of Superman is the fact that he's committed to the protection of the world entirely, not just the United States. Birthright and even Man of Steel extensively showed us Clark traveling the world and learning more about life in general. Superman should be just as capable of saving somebody in the middle east as he is of saving somebody in Metropolis. This isn't to say that Clark's good morals can't be founded exclusively in his upbringing in Smallville, but there's a great deal of appreciation when you think about how Superman actively learned about everybody in the entire world and how he could best suit their needs.

Along with that, I honestly sort of missed Clark's relationship with Krypton in this book. This is a weird sentiment coming from me, in Birthright, Man of Steel, and All-Star I honestly lose a little bit of interest when there is a lot of time committed to Krypton, I personally have just never been super in tune with that part of his lore. All this to say that the bare minimum that this book does to establish that Clark is Kryptonian honestly left me wishing for more. And though the idea of Superman being an alien is explored in this story, I would have liked to have seen him be more in touch with his heritage.

To conclude, this is a book that I absolutely enjoyed, I especially loved the earlier chapters. That said, I believe it has shortcomings in the way that it doesn't give other elements of Clark's life proper depth and attention. If I were to teach a non-comic reader Superman's origin story I'd probably refer them to this, it's a simplistic but heartfelt take on the Man of Steel's origin story. Though, I feel like if somebody was interested in the more nuanced ideas that Superman represents I'd definitely suggest Birthright or even All-Star as a starting read for the character.

Arbitrary grading scale: 7/10

[omniversalobservations]

Dark Crisis on Infinite Earths No. 4 (November 2022)

After DC's last big reality-altering event, Dark Nights: Death Metal, the cosmic status-quo of DC's comics was reset again. As well as the multiverse, comprised of 52 Earths, there was now the Omniverse. As explained by the mysterious cosmic race known as the Hands, the Omniverse was made up of multiple multiverses, with each multiverse made by a different hand. With the DC multiverse now open and able to access the Omniverse, there were an infinite number of Earths to explore once more. Hence, the name of DC's 2021 relaunch (and miniseries) - Infinite Frontier.

However, all of that changed in Dark Crisis on Infinite Earths #4 (by Joshua Williamson, Daniel Sampere, Alejandro Sánchez, and Tom Napolitano). In this issue, there was a little more discussion about the DC Multiverse and the greater Omniverse, as the influence of the Great Darkness has begun to spread from the edge of DC's multiverse. That was what Mr. Terrific told the heroes anyway. What Lex Luthor told the Legion of Doom, on the other hand, was very different.

Lex Luthor and Vandal Savage worked alongside Mr. Terrific in the oft-forgotten, secret Infinite Frontier team known as the Totality. Its members also included Talia al Ghul and the trapped Justice League members Martian Manhunter and Hawkgirl. Their goal was to monitor the multiverse and the recently discovered Omniverse to try and prevent any further reality-altering Crisis events from occurring. Now with Manhunter and Hawkgirl presumed dead, it's clear the team fell apart. Whilst Mr. Terrific seems to hold onto the idea of the idea of the Omniverse, Luthor, and Savage have labeled that a lie.

According to them, during their time with the Totality, they found out that original the idea of the Omniverse was false. What that means exactly isn't certain. In the recently released Flashpoint Beyond #5 (by Geoff Johns, Tim Sheridan, Jeremy Adams, Xermánico, Mikel Janín, Romulo Fajardo Jr., Jordie Bellaire, and Rob Leigh), Mr. Terrific claimed the Omniverse was "everything". If the Omniverse was originally thought of as multiple other multiverses and if Mr. Terrific believes that the Omniverse is everything, then something about that is no longer considered true.

Pariah's goal in Dark Crisis on Infinite Earths, and the goal of the series in general, is to bring back the original infinite DC Multiverse that was lost during the original Crisis on Infinite Earths series, back in 1985. From the looks of things, DC is moving back to the idea of having an infinite multiverse instead of one with only 52 Earths. If that is the case, then the Omniverse is no longer required. And if it's no longer required, then what is the point of it still existing?

Source: Comic Book Resources

[thesconesyard]

Wherever You Are, I Am

Part 28

The bed was soft as he fell onto it that night. He didn’t want to look over at the empty other side, but he couldn’t help it.

“Goodnight Monty,” McCoy whispered to himself.

He could picture the engineer putting an arm across his middle and pulling him close. He grabbed for the other pillow instead and held it close in his arms. It wasn’t the same. It didn’t smell like Scotty. McCoy wished he had thought to grab one of Scotty’s shirts, or something of Scotty’s.

He had holos and a couple little things Scotty had given him across the years, but nothing that would hold the tangible feel or scent of his husband.

McCoy did have a piece of Scotty’s broken teacup. He had taken it without Scotty’s knowledge. He hoped in one of the antique shops around the city he could find a match for a replacement and surprise Scotty with it.

He jumped when his comm beeped. He wasn’t on the roster to be called for emergencies at SFM yet so who would possibly be messaging him at this time? McCoy reached behind himself clumsily and grabbed his comm on the second try.

His eyes squinted at the light the comm gave off as he opened it.

Incoming message from Your Bestest Husband

McCoy blinked again then chuckled to himself. Scotty had been digging into his comm again. Of course he could do something like that from so far away.

Get some sleep. I know that mind of yours is wandering and worrying. I miss you too Len. It’s too quiet here now. Sleep love. We’ll talk again later this week. I’d write it in Gaelic, but you can’t read that, so I love you. I love you, I love you, I love you!

McCoy’s eyes were suddenly moist. He blinked back tears and wiped a hand across his face. Of course Scotty knew what he needed to hear. He always knew. A smile made its way across McCoy’s face as he tapped out a quick reply.

Thank you. I love you too.

He managed to get the comm back on the bedside table. His arm still wrapped around the other pillow, he made himself comfortable and soon drifted off.

Jaylah had moved into her dorm room. McCoy looked around his now extremely empty feeling quarters. He sighed. He missed Scotty. He missed Jaylah. He missed Jim and Chekov and Uhura and Sulu. He missed Christine and Geoff. And lord help him if he ever admitted it outloud, but he even missed Spock.

McCoy let himself flop loose limbed down onto the couch with another sigh. Classes started in two days. He should be getting his teaching materials together. He could be making dinner. He could read one of the books he’d been waiting to make time for. But none of it sounded appealing. He went to turn on the holo screen to watch something, but gave up halfway through the effort.

Sitting doing nothing was frustrating, but he didn’t want to do anything. McCoy made an angry noise in the back of his throat at himself. His eyes closed and another sigh escaped.

“Come on McCoy,” he said aloud.

He continued sitting. With another sigh he finally forced himself up from the couch. A shower. A shower to relax, then maybe he’d have it in him to start on his things for class.

He had just reached his bedroom door when his comm began to chirp.

Maybe it’s Monty he thought, before glancing at the clock and realizing Scotty would still be working. He sighed again as he crossed back to the coffee table to pick up the comm. He didn’t recognize the number.

“McCoy,” he answered gruffly.

“Dr. Leonard McCoy?” a soft voice asked.

“Yes,” McCoy replied. “I’m him. Who are you?”

“Dr. McCoy, my name is Astrid Syline. I just got back to campus today.”

“Alright…,” McCoy trailed off, wondering where this conversation was going.

“I've been assigned as your teacher's assistant for your classes. I should have started with that.”

“I didn’t know I had a TA. Guess Phil forgot to mention that.” McCoy sat himself back down on the couch.

“Oh. Well, as I said, I only got back today.”

“Long trip home from England?” McCoy ventured. The woman’s accent gave her away.

“Yes sir, my family is near Manchester.”

“Ah.”

“I was calling, Dr. McCoy, to introduce myself, and to see if you needed any help the next couple days before the term starts,” Astrid said.

McCoy smiled. He wondered how many other things may have slipped Dr. Boyce’s mind to tell him.

“That would be nice, Astrid. It’s been a while since I was here at the academy. Why don’t we plan to meet tomorrow morning and you can fill me in on what’s changed since my days.”

“What time sir?”

[someonewhos-world]

Thinking about my dumb little total drama oc.

Zagreus does make friends with the cast,they do. But no one actually trusts them because 98% of the time they're blank faced and dead silent save for the occasional greeting,insult or confessional. The only time they talk to the others in Island is the first day they step off that boat and greets Chris with "hi." In a low voice. The next time they interact in Island is to laugh at Noah when he gets hit with the dodgeball during Dodgebrawl before ultimately getting hit with one afterwards. Then their double elimination with Tyler in Phobia Factor.

The next time they speak and interact is during World Tour,(They didn't go to Aftermath in Season 2 bc they were visiting family in NYC and going to school. In manhunt, they're just coincidentally there and Sierra bombards them with questions that they dont answer.)

Zagreus's first speaks just to comment that they have a doctor's note to not even be there due to a surgery weeks before for appendicitis. Then the songs, they do sing. They make comments on Alejandro in confessional too. The only times they interact with the guy is to grab onto him during the Yukon episode and a few times on the plane.

They're mostly seen interacting with Izzy or Owen and Noah or even Heather and Courtney. Other than those,they're relatively quiet. In pain but quiet. Then they speak during their elimination, if it could be called that ig, Zagreus gives Noah their book of Macbeth (the book being thoroughly fat with post its and bookmarks and notes and some lines highlighted with insights) and leaves with the quote of "Something wicked this way comes." And sees Ezekiel on the way down where they scream in horror at how he looks.

The next time Zagreus is seen is in Aftermath of World Tour for a few moments in the background.

The official next time Zagreus is seen by their old castmates is in Ridonculous Race. They're not alone! They're competing with their best friend Sylvester (Syl) as the team "Losers". That's when they realize Geoff,Owen and Noah are competing. Zagreus is more open during RR,Grinning and not as blankfaced because they're comfortable now.

They talk to Owen openly during the competition and smiles more. They also gain a crush on Emma but is like "I see how Noah looks at her and it's how I use to look at him and Cody and I think him and Emma would be really cute together???" And competes as a way to distract themself (which is hard bc Syl gains a crush on BOTH ice dancers and Zag is like "literally wtf is wrong with you,THOSE TWO ARE SO??? THEY'RE STARING DIRECTLY AT THE CAMERA???" I think the ice dancers are silly. Zag is chill with the crush)

Zagreus says nothing about Syl's crushes bc then Syl,like any true bestie, will bring up the Noah and Cody crush Zag had and Zag will literally yell at them with a voice so high they could crack glass probably. Like "you literally liked two twinks stfu and now you're pulling a Angelica Schyler dont talk to me rn" "THATS DIFFERENT??? THESE ARE ICE DANCERS WHO KEEP TELLING US THEY'RE ICE DANCERS???" "YOU LIKED A GEEK AND A REALLY MEAN NERD" "STFU YOU'RE A MEAN NERD" etc etc.

They do talk with Emma and Kitty!!! Even laugh at Noah's expense on the first challenge with the observation deck but cant say shit because it almost happened to them if they didnt piggyback with Syl,so they laugh when he falls into really cold water. They compliment Emma and ask her about her classes,telling her that they're taking classes for Psychology and Writing. They take selfies with Kitty bc uh??? Traveling??? Not dying??? Awesome literally. They do lose eventually, before Noah and Owen lose. Syl and Zag just walk off laughing and gossiping and shit and someone gets aggressively shoved into something and the other gets shoved just as hard back.

Sorry rant over I just think they're neat.

[mysticdragon3md3]

"Let Goku Die" by Mother's Basement

I remember when I switched from American superhero comic books to manga, it was a tough transition, ecause manga had endings. Even when Magic Knight Rayearth got a sequel series, that too, also had an ending. Even the seemingly neverending episodic series like Ranma ½ got an “ending”…even if that ending was that the characters would continue their lives, just as they had while we watched/read them, but now we would have to say goodbye to them, while they continued on. But it’s been a long time now, and I can’t really remember those feelings anymore.

I don’t really understand the feeling of needing new episodes/chapters of a series to keep releasing, especially when the story is episodic or the type where each story arc is just ANOTHER adventure. Maybe because I’m the type who can rewatch a movie or series multiple times, and still get enjoyment out of those scenes, each time, I don’t understand the need to always need NEW misadventures of the characters we love. Just go back and re-watch/re-read things. Even years after watching my favorite series Sengoku Basara (2009-2011), I can still realize new ideas and new interpretations, out of subsequent rewatches. As Geoff said in this video essay, re-watching has value in the new interpretations you can have while rewatching.

Though the moral of this video essay is admirable, I am solidly rooted in my escapism and refuse to leave my refuge of “slice of life”, iyashikei, and rewatching “comfort” series. lol

But this idea of not letting go of long-running anime is also funny to me, because from my perspective, otaku have become very good at letting go of series and moving on to the next. For many years now, I realized that most of my main fandoms have been videogames. Maybe because videogame franchises can span literal decades. Just this past week in March 2023, Persona 5 announced P5X, ANOTHER spinoff, after P5 originally released in 2016 (in Japan; released worldwide in April 2017). If you are a Kingdom Hearts fan, that fandom is still active. But me as a Western Sengoku Basara anime fan, must face a desert. Compared to most videogame fandoms, most anime fans go from favorite series, to new favorite series, EACH SEASON. Recently, I saw a figure collecting channel warn against buying Nendoroids of EVERY character you like, because everyone is going from “seasonal waifu, to seasonal waifu”, not even remembering the previous favorite characters, a year later (when Nendoroids usually release after their preorders). ("DO NOT DO THIS Anime Figure Collecting MISTAKE!" by The Anime Figure Collector; https://youtu.be/mxKDfjJsXVU) For a while now, I’ve had this feeling that anime fans far too easily let series go. They get distracted by the new hot thing in the new season, with 4 seasons every year.

Not that I can’t understand that certain series would probably shock most otaku to end. Especially from Shonen Jump. Hearing from their mangaka, it seems the Jump publishers highly pressure a lot of their series to go on eternally, even when the mangaka wanted to move onto new projects. I can see everyone being shocked when One Piece eventually ends. And we saw everyone lamenting about Berserk (even when it was announced that the deceased mangaka’s assistants would continue the series). Certain series have become legacy IPs. Dragonball, Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure, Naruto/Boruto, etc. Even if you haven’t been reading every chapter, it’s just something we all got accustomed to expecting in the background of the industry/fandoms.

I remember being shocked when I finally reached Ranma ½’s ending. But I feel like a lot of the most popular series, like Dragonball and Naruto/Boruto, are these fandoms I’ve moved away from, so long ago, that I didn’t even realize they were still going. Like The Simpsons. I can objectively see how it would be hard to let go of a long-running manga/anime, but it’s been so long since one long-running anime/manga was my personal obsessed fixation, that it’s still a little difficult for me to see. It’s not like a videogame which needs 3+ years for each installment. A manga/anime can get through a lot of story, that would be an abundance of rewatch material, after the series was done. That being said, if Persona or Fire Emblem just ended their franchises, no more of either of those games, then maybe I’d remember what this feeling was to be unable to let go of a manga/anime. In fact, it’s kind of happening to me right now. I got into Fire Emblem only through Fire Emblem 3 Houses; now everyone is moving onto Fire Emblem Engage. Persona 5 is still getting spinoffs, and though I've become less fixated on P5, I still love it, and don't want to let go of it. Meanwhile, everyone talks so tired of Persona 5. Atlus can barely announce a spin off for P5 without everyone groaning, "Why are we still milking Persona 5?!? Give us Persona 6 already!". I meanwhile, would like to stay on Persona 5 as long as possible. I can't let go. Despit the fact that but I chose to leave Persona 5 as my primary fixation, in exchange for Fire Emblem Three Houses. I imagine that fixation switch was a hint of what otaku are experiencing, jumping from season to season, with new favorite series/character, but they do it a lot more often. So I guess if I think about it, I can relate, though my perspective is distorted through longer stretches of time. Me being unable to relate or so out of practice with this feeling of being unable to let go of a weekly series/story, is such a strange scenario, because I am intensely unable to let go of things. I’m a craft supply hoarder. I keep every movie ticket. I can’t sell off parts of my multiple collections that I’m not that interested in anymore. My favorite anime is still Sengoku Basara from 2009. Most of the anime I watch aren’t new, but from 10 years ago. I can’t let go of things. …But I guess I haven’t had to. I could probably relate more to otaku, who want their anime/manga to keep going on forever, if I was still obsessed with anime, still needing a daily anime fix, with their storylines constantly hurtling towards their endings, as much as I used to be. But when I shifted my fixations to videogames, I may have accidentally found safety from that feeling of “things ending”. Because even if a videogame franchise does end, it may take literal decades. So videogames is a relatively safe fandom, to avoid that “ending” feeling.

Still, can people please stop groaning at every P5 spinoff? I'm looking forward to them! Even the Chinese-only one that I can't play! I just love looking at the art and knowing their adventures in that world are still going. Persona 6 will come! Please let me enjoy these p5 spinoffs without using P6 as an excuse to rain on my parade! ;o;

[cultofbeatles]

parts of pete shotton’s book “john lennon: in my life” that stood out to me

(this is semi long and contains book spoilers)

john and pete being the first people ever to get banned from their church 

pete saying john would always share any candy he had with everyone around, but that he would maybe give john one piece of candy 

they held a competition to see who could go the longest without swearing and they both spent so much time focusing on not swearing that they sat in silence 

tw blood/cutting: wanting to do a blood oath and cut their wrists to be “blood brothers” but john brought a dull knife that wouldn't cut so they pretended to do it 

being pyromaniacs (seriously)

john crawling out of all fours and groaning after being canned and making pete get canned even worse because he was laughing 

john being known to pee himself when laughing 

john daydreaming while he was riding his bike, crashing into a parked car, catapulted into the air, hurt his arm pretty bad, but his main concern was the damage to his bike 

they once had a serious fight where pete was about to step on john’s glasses but intentionally missed just to tease john 

persuading their classmates to wear white dog collars that they made in class 

eleven year old john making pete watch him orgasm 

pete and john having sex with their girlfriends in the same bed 

john going through great lengths to avoid dancing because he was horrible at it 

john and paul’s first introduction being awkward as they both just stood there 

pete asking paul if he’ll join the band: “a full minute passed while paul pretended to give the matter careful thought: “oh, all right.” he finally shrugged.”

mimi slamming the door in paul’s face whenever john wasn't there to stop her 

george just pushing himself into the band because he wanted to be there 

paul, george, and john wearing buckets on their head and marching around on paul’s roof to make fun of pete’s cadet graduation ceremony 

one night after julia’s death pete found john completely passed out drunk on a bus and found out that he had been on it for hours. he took him home and tucked him into bed. 

john saying that he wrote in my life with pete and stuart in mind 

cynthia scolding john for saying something outrageous and then john saying something even more outrageous 

the quote, “john bamboozled his new soulmate” in reference to making stuart use his art show money to buy a bass 

brian epstein asking if pete wanted to come back to his house for sex and pete turning him down but following with, “no offense taken. actually, i take it as a compliment!”

calling ringo a runt 

“what’s a fucking wank between friends anyways?” - pete shotton

brian having a reminder of “haircut for george” on his desk because he was in charge of their grooming needs 

john giving pete one of his big beatles paychecks so he had money for christmas

john asking pete “isn't he lovely?” when first meeting julian 

john screaming “hi pete!” at a show because he told the staff to let him know whenever pete arrived 

john hated to be touched and especially by strangers 

john wanted to open his book in his own write with a dedication to pete saying “to pete, who got it first.” but didn't want to hurt mimi’s feelings so he drew a caricature of pete at the beginning and that’s how he dedicated it to him secretly 

pete telling john he would never go to a interviewer and talk about john for money. (he only talked to two authors about john. hunter davies, who he asked john for permission for, and philip norman. who told pete that he was only writing a book about liverpool pop music)

cynthia and john getting in an argument because she wanted a porsche and john said they're too dangerous 

paul was the beatle that was the hardest to get close to 

george’s proudest possession was a painting by bob dylan and he had a guitar shaped pool 

“there never was, and probably never will be, a group more self contained or tightly knit than the beatles were in those days..”

john loved a good pun joke 

john loved hanging out with the monkees and micky dolenz was the craziest one 

“the only thing john hated more than going to bed at night was getting out of it the next day.” MOOD.

john would literally read every single page of the newspaper 

he once saw a tv program talking about autistic kids and donated 1,000 pounds to an autistic foundation 

john making a random guest give him their sgt pepper album so pete could get one 

the beatles almost showed up to brian’s memorial service in bright colorful clothes for “good vibes”

tw suicide: john was convinced brian committed suicide 

george telling pete he use to think he was a “bad influence” on john 

paul thought magical mystery tour was going to be a big masterpiece 

at beatles financial meetings: paul doodling, john high on lsd, ringo asleep in the corner, george actually paying attention 

bill turner (childhood friend of theirs) telling paul he didn't like hello, goodbye and paul being taken back by that

the beatles bought pete a car (jaguar to be specific)

john was very insecure around girls and never knew if they liked him or not 

john thinking his housekeeper would assume him and pete were having sex because they were laying next to each other 

pete was actually happy at first when john and yoko got together because john was happy 

any time john and pete would be laughing together yoko would silence John 

the beatles had to constantly tell ringo he was the best rock drummer in the world before he agreed to join the band again 

paul asking pete if hey jude or revolution should be on the A side, pete saying hey jude, and then paul immediately screaming to john that pete picked his song over john’s. 

there was so many arguments with yoko that would have to be another post itself but i will say it’s awful 

george running after the press in his backyard because he took a photo of him while the police chase george around to arrest him for possession of drugs 

“remember pete, they can't kill you for speaking your mind.” - john lennon

when pete found out about john’s death he went to visit george 

“on the drive back home, memories of john flooded into my head. what a life, i thought.” <3

[colombinna]

Fine, here's how you read the comics for Wandavsion:

So from my accounting there's around 35 to 50 issues worth reading in all of the scarletvision timeline (the stuff kinda went down when Bendis joined marvel and it still hasn't gone back up). Here they are, in what I hope is a comprehensive list:

TL;DR listing of all the best 616 scarletvision comics to be found here. If you want to know why I excluded some issues mentioned in other reading guides, or which specific ones you can skip or skim through, read the text under the cut.

(special thanks to @userpym for the banner art and their correct opinions)

So, let's start with their first solo appearances:

Wanda makes her debut in X-Men issue 4, way back in 1963 (she's one of marvel's OGs!). She and her brother are coerced into joining Magneto's Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, before they decide to leave. Read X-Men vol 1 issues 4, 11 and 17 (I think). The twins join the Avengers in Avengers vol 1 #16 and stay there until issue 49.

Vision shows up first in Avengers vol 1 issue 57, and it's really good. Seriously, whatever you think of the Age of Ultron movie, this one is infinitely better. Read issues 57 to 62 and you can get a good initial look of his character.

Now, onto the romance:

It starts on Avengers 76 when they first meet (wanda is in less than ideal circumstances. The late 60s were sure a time) and imo you should keep it going up to Avengers 135 when they're about to get married. So, Avengers vol 1 issues 76 to 135.

It feels like a lot but most of them really only have one or two scenes worth of their story each, so you can just skim through those issues until either wanda or vizh are in scene.

(Except for the kree-skrull war which I paid more attention for the captain marvel storyline cause i wanna see how that unfolds in the future with their son and his boyfriend. It's also fun to draw parallels between the boys and their parents).

Do be aware though that there's a bad love triangle arc with Mantis after she joins the Avengers in between those aforementioned issues, so when you stumble upon it, I wouldn't reccomend paying much attention to it. Just skim through those or outright skip the issues if it bothers you too much. (Except for Avengers issue 128, that focus on Wanda's witch training and shows Agatha Harkness for the first time in an Avengers comic. Do keep an open mind for her, btw).

Then they get married at Giant-Sized Avengers 4 which isn't really that fun to read in its entirety. But hey, it does tells vision's origin story (which John Byrne retcons 15 years later, and Geoff Johns explains further 15 years after that). And also Wanda beats the shit out of Dormammu at age 23 and as newly-trained witch using nothing but sheer determination and the power of love (why yes she should've been sorceress supreme for a long time now), so that was pretty nice too.

After that, I didn't really read much because I felt Avengers got kind of samey. However both Wanda and Vision do get important arcs for their respective backstories until the decade ends. (but I have to mention that it is still the 1970s so Wanda does get treated badly in hers)

Vision's story happens in Avengers 151 and goes all the way through Avengers 160 (which is sooo good btw. I really really really love the construction of his character during Bronze Age); while Wanda's are in issue 181 to 188.

Then you can just skip to their duo series from 1982, The Vision and the Scarlet Witch vol 1, and read issue 252 of avengers just because the reflections made in it are really good imo.

And then you get to the main attraction, The Vision and The Scarlet Witch vol 2 (1985). Read all the 12 issues alongside the crossover in West Coast Avengers, I guarantee you it's a hella fun time.

When the series is concluded they kind of go into ice for a few years while they take care of their newborn twins, until West Coast Avengers 33, where a conflict from Vision/Witch vol 2 is finally resolved. It's a really nice series up until issue 42 when Byrne takes over the book and decides to turn Wanda's life into an endless hell, killing Vision and assassinating Simon Williams' character in the process.

The entire overarching plot starting in issue 42 doesn't end with the Vision Quest - no, it actually drags on for over 20 issues and it's just time after time Wanda being traumatized and fucked up. If you're looking for a good time with comics you absolutely do not need to read those.

However I WILL say, if you're into character analysis and all that, and you wanna get a good understanding of the character's relationships and decisions from that point on you should at least read up till the Mephisto arc (West Coast Avengers vol 2 issues 42-53).

Again, if you want to just have fun you don't have to, but if you like to discuss comics and all you should read them, because I will NOT have more people who didn't read the comics claiming Vision was an "absent father" when he was actually fucking dead from day one. So, West Coast Avengers vol 2 issue 42 to 62 if you want to get deep into the characters and discuss them.

Moving on, most of Wanda's mystical role as a powerful sorceress and as a nexus can be understood reading The Scarlet Witch vol 1, which in my opinion is a much better take on almost the same concept, and West Coast Avengers Annual 7 feats an amazing story explaining what happened in John Byrne's WCA, Wanda's feelings about the whole thing and with some of the best character work I've ever seen for Wanda.

Then, since Vision is dead until 1994, there really isn't much to work with, however we do get a pretty cute scarletvision story in Marvel Fanfare vol 1 #58

And we do get Vision's thoughts on life with Wanda and the death of his children (and his own) during Vision vol 1 (1994), when he finally comes back to life.

Unfortunately not much long after that (in 1998) he goes into Kurt Busiek's Avengers (vol 3) and that man either doesn't know or doesn't care about any established canon whatsoever - so Vision's character is just a weird contradictory mess for a while.

So besides the Ultron Imperative graphic novel (which is so so so fucking good because it's done by a lot of long time marvel writers like Steve Engleheart) (don't bother with Ultron Unlimited though), I wouldn't waste my time with anything Avengers related up until Geoff Johns hands us little blessings of scenes over 19 issues. Besides the romance and how cool Wanda is throughout all of them, he's just really good at writing avengers stories in my personal opinion. I had a lot of fun with them.

So read Avengers vol 3 (1998) issues 57 to 60 (order/chaos arc), and 61 to 76. (Plus his Avengers Icons: The Vision miniseries, which focuses on Vision's relationship with the Horton side of his heritage, and is fucking amazing.)

You can keep reading avengers vol 3 until ends with issue 84, it's nice overall, but there's really no need if you're interested only in the couple.

After that, the meteor hits. Bendis takes over Marvel for some reason, and starts what I like to call The Late 2000s Bullshit Crisis. He villifies disabilities and mental illnesses in a mess of a story arc only to turn Wanda into a supervillain in Avengers Disassembled and its much, much worse sequel, House of M. (Children's Crusade ends the evil trifecta by being Allan Heinberg's worst comic ever to date. Do not read any of those if you want to keep your peace of mind.)

Vision dies in the middle of Avengers Disassembled, and stays dead until 2011 when he has an underwhelming comeback in Avengers Shattered Heroes.

However, we were blessed with Fred Van Lente deciding to bring him back in 2010 for a special tie-in in a crossover event called Chaos War Dead Avengers. You don't need to read anything from Chaos War (honestly I find it kinda boring) to understand Chaos War Dead Avengers and this is so far my favorite Vision comic ever. Fred van Lente may not have known how to deal with Amadeus Cho in my personal opinion but god does he know how to deal with Vision.

And, if you want some more scarletvision family material, there's always Young Avengers volume 1 (issues 1 through 8, Young Avengers Special, then YA 9-12). This is where the boys come back, in all their queer glory in one of my favorite comics of all time. Despite the main book only having 12 issues, the young avengers were everywhere in the Avengers franchise in the late 2000s; they show up in all events, complete with multiple YA one shots, special issues and crossovers - but to our goal over here the only ones that matter are Young Avengers Presents, the Runaways/Young Avengers crossover miniseries that happened in the events of Civil War and Secret Invasion, and my personal favorite) Siege: Young Avengers.

Some people dislike the runaways crossovers, and the civil war crossover is definetely not a light read, but I personally can still enjoy them. (And if you want to see Simon Williams bring more harm to members of his family, read the whole Civil War event)

Meawhile, Runaways/Young Avengers: Secret Invasion expands even more on the kree-skrull related circumstances that the Pym-Maximoffs seem to always find themselves in somehow.

That is mainly it for them in their best characterization. And if you're wondering "what about vision 2015" we do not talk about Vision 2015. That's our Heroes in Crisis, that's our Batman Wedding (because they were all written by the same shitty guy lol). It's a bland, hollow and mostly ooc take on the character we all agree on collectively forgetting it ever happened.

To close this post, an update on their state in current comics (which I'm still not caught up on, which is why this list mainly consists of older stuff): As far as I'm aware nowadays they went back to that will-they-won't-they stage so we have some one off cute scenes whenever an author feels like it. But also Wanda's got a boyfriend and Vision is just hoeing around ig, but it's comics so consistency isn't really a thing, so you never really know how the next author might feel towards them.

if you have any questions feel free to just ask, either here or on my ask box

[goldenraeofsun]

Good Ideas

1.5k of canon-divergence fluff, now on AO3!

Dean is almost finished with his standard gun cleaning (once a week whether they need it or not) when footsteps approach from outside his bedroom door. Heavier than Eileen but lighter than Sam - must be Cas. 

“What an awful day,” Cas sighs as he practically throws himself onto Dean’s prized memory foam mattress. He doesn’t even take his shoes off first, like an animal.

“Hello to you, babe,” Dean says, amused. He raises his head to fully look at Cas, now face planted into his pillow. Dean would like to say it’s unusual to see Cas this drained and frustrated after another shift at the Gas n Sip, but it’s become pretty much standard. And, because not-that-deep-down Dean’s a shitty person who lucked out and got a (fallen) angel to fall for him, he can’t entirely squash the pleased feeling in his gut that flares up every time Cas comes home to him, no matter the circumstances.

“Hello, Dean,” or that’s what Dean assumes Cas is saying, based on their past million and a half conversations over more than a decade.

Dean carefully sets down his colt and pads over to the bed. He takes a seat near Cas’s shins, the mattress slowly but surely dipping as it remembers Dean’s distinctive ass print. “What happened?”

“Humanity is stupid.”

Dean snorts. “Don’t have to tell me twice. What’d humanity do this time?”

Cas turns his head so he can glare balefully down at Dean with one brilliant blue eye. “Todd refilled the soda machine incorrectly. We had to reimburse ten customers who poured the wrong drinks despite the clear signs indicating the buttons were temporarily incorrect.”

“What a disaster,” Dean deadpans.

Cas groans a stream of indistinguishable words that might not even be English - knowing him, he’s probably insulting Todd’s mother ancient Aramaic or something - before he concludes, “It was a very uncomfortable situation. Todd is an imbecile.”

“Want me to kill him for you?” Dean asks casually.

Cas’s whole torso inflates with the depth of his sigh. “No,” he says, but the word is muffled and has zero conviction behind it.

“Come on,” Dean pokes Cas in the thigh. “You were the one who wanted this job in the first place. All the ‘human dignity’ you could choke down and all that crap.”

“I must’ve been mistaken.”

“Whatever you say, man,” Dean says, grinning as Cas rolls over so he’s lying normally on Dean’s bed. “Y’know, you could always do something else. Quit the Gas n Sip.”

“Like what?” Cas asks as he frowns up at the ceiling. “I don’t have much experience except in inventory management and customer service.”

“What about all your angel stuff?”

“I can hardly list ‘former Angel of the Lord’ on my resume,” Cas grumbles.

“You’ve got all those languages crammed in your brain, serious hand-to-hand skills - I could teach you all I know about cars, and you can add that.”

Cas gives a considering grunt.

“Look,” Dean says as he scoots further up the bed so he’s more aligned with Cas’s chest than his knees. “You were the one who was all gung-ho about getting a job to interact with normal people.”

“I needed a better baseline now I’m human because you and Sam are not ‘normal’ by any definition of the word,” Cas sniffs.

“Rude. Anyway, I told you to take things slow. So your first stab back at slumming it with regular folks isn’t going so great. Sometimes these things take a while to settle down,” Dean says, uncomfortably reminded of the time he had to comfort Sammy after three piano lessons didn’t turn him into the next Geoff Nicholls - or Elton John, as Dean had to amend after Sammy shot him a look of complete incomprehension.

“You don’t have to throw yourself into anything,” Dean adds gently to Cas. “We’ve got no big bad waiting out in the wings. It’s okay to take things one step at a time.”

“Because you provide such an excellent model of restraint and forethought,” Cas mutters.

Dean rolls his eyes. “Obviously. You don’t see me jumping back into Leave it to Beaver.”

“Because that’s not what you want,” Cas says, his eyes narrowing. “You said civilian life isn’t for you.”

Dean swallows. He pulls at a wrinkle in the sheets. “You so sure about that?”

Cas props himself up on his elbows, intrigued. “You’re truly considering retiring from hunting?”

Dean glances over at his guns, disassembled and gleaming on his desk. “I’ve been thinking about it. Sammy doesn’t go on many hunts anymore, says it’s more important to teach the next generation of fighters than handling everything by ourselves.”

“A wise thing to say, considering the limitations of the average human lifespan.”

“And you wonder why we never bring you to parties,” Dean says as Cas scowls in return, really only proving Dean’s point. “I’ve been looking into other stuff to do.”

“Like what?”

“Not sure,” he admits. “Sam’s got his Hunter Hogwarts thing going on - I could help Sam out, but the thought of reading and assignments makes me want to throw myself out a window.”

“You do like to be more hands-on,” Cas says diplomatically.

Dean sighs, wistful. “If the Roadhouse was still around, I would’ve kicked ass there. Talking with veterans in the business, passing along intel, throwing out the occasional brawler.”

Cas cocks his head. “Why don’t you rebuild one?”

“What?”

“Another Roadhouse,” Cas says like it’s obvious. “Those hunters Sam is teaching, they will need another meeting point once they’ve completed their training.”

Dean gapes at him, trying not to get his hopes up. He can picture it with alarming clarity, him behind the bar, Cas sitting off to the side, pouring over the books or a translation for one of Sam’s kids.

But this thing with Cas is so new - rescuing Cas from the Empty, telling him haltingly and not in so many words Cas could have what he wanted after all, doing their weird not-dating thing that works for them. Dean can’t be sure they’re on the same page about this.

Cas is technically human, but so many parts of him are still pretty out there in terms of fitting in with normal people stuff. Dean suggested they go on an honest to God date about two weeks after that went down - dinner at a fancy place in Salina. He even looked it up on Yelp. But, naturally, Cas had to ask ahead of time what usually happened on a date - a real date, Dean, because Metatron’s pop culture dump gave me many false impressions of what is normal or healthy for humans. 

When Dean embarrassingly couldn’t think of a single thing people did on dates except eat and have sex, Cas went to Sam because apparently there are zero boundaries when it comes to Team Free Will. And Sam, like a total Samantha, said most people talked about their feelings and life goals.

To which Cas turned back to Dean, said those big, I love you, words like they’re nothing and everything, and added his life goal was not dying before spending the rest of his human life with Dean.

The fucker even looked pleased Dean didn’t have to shell out the dough for a fancy steak.

“You have enough connections in the community to round up a decent clientele base,” Cas continues. “Not to mention your reputation, which would go a long way towards drawing hunters you personally haven’t met before.”

Dean clears his throat. “You really think I could do something like that?”

Cas narrows his eyes. “I think you could do anything you set your mind to,” he says with that patented-Cas sincerity that Dean would call bullshit with anyone else. Cas continues, “Twenty-seven percent of restaurants fail in their first year, but I have every confidence in you beating the odds.”

Dean snorts. Even Cas’s Beautiful Mind statistics aren’t enough to bring his mood down.

“And if you need help…” Cas drifts off sheepishly, “I do have requisite experience managing inventory. I cut down on unsellable food by fifteen percent two weeks ago.”

“You’re a goddamn genius,” Dean breathes as he bends over Cas.

Cas smiles up at him. “Would you want to?”

“Would I - ?” Dean breaks off incredulously to kiss him. “Of couse I fucking want to. But you really think it’s a good idea?”

Cas purses his lips. “It was my suggestion in the first place.”

“But maybe you were just spitballing,” Dean hedges. “So if you really think restarting the Roadhouse would be a bad idea, I can take it.”

Cas wraps a hand around the back of Dean’s neck, pulling him closer. “I don’t have bad ideas, Dean,” he murmurs.

That is so blatantly untrue, Dean almost bursts out laughing. But before he can make a sound, Cas’s other hand slides underneath his shirt, his fingers tapping lightly against the buckle of Dean’s belt. Dean raises his head to catch sight of Cas's face, and Cas’s eyes are dark with want.

Alright, so in times like these, Dean can admit Cas can have a good idea or two.

[cornfields-and-bad-dreams]

I’m a few days late but, everybody in the crew trying to sneak fathers day presents to geoff without him seeing and getting all sappy knowing thats how they think of him?

Word count: 707

Warnings: none

The crew had been acting weird lately, or at least Geoff thought so. He'd asked Jack if she'd noticed the odd behavior but she just brushed it off, saying that Geoff was imagining things. Geoff was in no way imagining things, it had started with Jeremy they'd just stepped off the elevator, a bag swung over their shoulder. Upon seeing Geoff sitting on the sofa they went bug-eyed and pale. Moving quickly they headed for the hallway to the rooms.

"What's going on?" Geoff asked, his interest peaked by the sudden movement.

"Nothing." Jeremy stopped, looking away from Geoff.

"Bullshit, what do you have?" Geoff leaned forward a bit, smirking.

"Uhh, A KNIFE!" Jeremy pulled a knife out of their pocket and immediately booked it for the hallway.

"What the? DON'T RUN WITH KNIVES!" Geoff was left confused, bewildered, and just a tad concerned.

Slowly everyone else, besides Jack who no matter what insisted Geoff was imagining things, started acting in the same way. It was obvious that they were hiding something but Geoff didn't have a clue to what it could be. As quickly as the odd behavior began it died down, at least a bit. Everyone seemed calmer but there was still an edge of nervousness that hung in the air, and Geoff was getting restless, he didn't like the idea of the crew hiding something from him. His mind ran wild with different possibilities of what it could be, his dreams were plagued by these thoughts and it was affecting his sleep.

Geoff woke up rather early on Sunday morning, earlier than usual. Jack wasn't in bed and the smell of cooking food drifted in from the kitchen. Carefully Geoff got out of bed and quietly made his way towards the main area. Peering around the corner Geoff saw the entire crew was gathered around the Kitchen/Dining room/living room area. Jack, Fiona, and Jeremy were cooking while Michael and Gavin arranged presents on the dining room table, everyone else was sat in the living talking quietly.

"Do you think he's gonna like the gifts?" Matt asked.

"I'm sure he will, who doesn't like gifts?" Lindsay responded.

"Yeah, but it's not like it's for his birthday or Christmas, this is father's day, what if he doesn't return the feeling?" Alfredo spoke.

the room grew silent for a moment, everyone looked between each other, some biting their lips.

"I guess we'll just have to see," Trevor said

Geoff had tears welling up in his eyes. Not only did his crew think of him as a father, but they were also scared he wouldn't reciprocate the feeling. He took a step back with the intent to return to his room, but as he did he bumped into a potted plant, the ceramic pot fell over with a clunk. Everyone quickly turned their attention to the hallway where Geoff emerged from nervously.

"Hey, guys." Geoff wiped the tears from his eyes.

Everyone held their breath for a moment as Geoff caught them off guard. Jack was the first to speak.

"Well, looks like you ruined the surprise." She said jokingly.

Everyone laughed nervously.

"Is this why you guys have been acting strange?" Geoff questioned.

"We wanted to surprise you with breakfast and presents, but we had to get them in the penthouse without you noticing." Gavin explained.

"Well for a bunch of professional criminals you're very suspicious." Geoff laughed, more tears streaming down his face.

"Are you okay Geoff?" Jeremy asked.

"I'm perfectly fine, better than fine. You guys did all this for me? You didn't have to."

"But we wanted to. You're more than just our boss, you're like family, you're like a dad to us. So we wanted to show you that, we love you, Geoff." Lindsay spoke.

Geoff smiled hiccuping a laugh out between deep breaths.

"I love you guys too, you're the greatest family a man could ask for. Now come here." Geoff opened his arms gesturing for everyone to come close.

Smiling widely everyone made their way to Geoff, all of them coming together in a big hug. Geoff cried more as he held onto as many people as he could get in his arms. This was the greatest day of his life.