#these violent delights fan art

[books-and-tings]

so excited to start foul lady fortune by chloe gong! it's a spinoff her These Violent Delights/ Our Violent Ends duology!

I finished that duology a couple weeks ago and it was incredibly heart wrenching and so captivating, loved it to death!

Have you read any of chloe gong's books? what did you think? ❤️

[originalmkh]

I laughed, I swooned, I wept, I mourned. Book cover by yours truly. Enjoy xoxo

Not Fun Fact: This is a picture of the iceberg that sunk the titanic. haha. suffer. 

[middlemanon]

I drew Paul and Julian from These Violent Delights with crayola twistables

[thosesillylittlegayghosts]

And just like that (from still falling for you) but it’s the romajuliette train kiss scene

[meanbossart]

Pin!

Hi, I'm RJ (Male, 27 years old) I'm a -usually- horror oriented artist and collaborator alongside my partner and better-half @barbatusart, though I'm currently on a Baldur's Gate 3/DnD streak with both my art and writing, specifically centered around the Dark Urge I created for my campaign and his antics, so that's most of what you will find here!

I want to leave a warning right here that I occasionally venture into delicate topics in regards to character lore and history - though none of it strays too far from what the game already delves into and I try to give a heads-up ahead of time whenever I feel like something might catch someone off-guard otherwise.

PATREON WHERE I POST WIPS, SKETCHES, UNRELEASED ART, ALL OF MY NSFW CONTENT, ETC : patreon.com/meanbossart/

BLUESKY WHERE I PUT UP FULL VERSIONS OF *SOME* OF THE NSFW THAT I CAN'T POST HERE: bsky.app/profile/meanbossart.bsky.social

TWITCH WHERE I STREAM SOMETIMES: twitch.tv/meanboss14

PSA: I get a lot of asks and I'm slow to go through them, please don't take it personally :U

Anyway, here's the guy of the hour:

🚨FAQ BELOW🚨

Q: Does your Durge have a name? A: Nope! I named him "drow" when I played the game because I didn't feel like thinking up anything special. His lack of a name has become part of the character's lore and you will find him to always be tagged with "DU drow", or referred to as The Drow or just Drow.

Q: Where can I read your BG3 fan-fiction? And what is it about? A: Right here! The main plot follows DU Drow, Astarion, and Shadowheart on a new adventure that fractures into a couple of different directions, but mainly focuses on the aftermath of the spawn that Astarion has released and the personal development of the main cast, alongside a number of original characters that get involved in the narrative. My goal was to create a kind of "DLC" experience, so you can expect a lot of themes that parallel the main game.

Q: Can I draw one of your characters, a scene from your story, or any of your characters interacting with mine/other characters? And can it be NSFW in nature? A: YOU ABSOLUTELY CAN, AND I'LL BE DELIGHTED TO SEE IT IF YOU CARE TO SHARE. I'm equally fine with NSFW as long as everyone involved (in the art and otherwise) is an adult.

Q: What drawing software/tablet/brushes do you use? A: I draw on a Wacom Cintiq 22, using Clip Studio Pro. I switch around brushes quite often but most of what I use comes from the DAUB super-bundle by Paolo Limoncelli.

Q: Where can I find more of your work? A: You can find mine and my partner's comics here, but please bear in mind that most of it is highly violent stuff and you should read the content warnings on the store page carefully before making any purchases - if in doubt of whether or not any of it could be detrimental to your mental health, DON'T BUY IT. Stay safe!

Q: Do you take commissions? A: I am not currently taking any new commission inquiries, sorry!

[aryesdanger24]

Who would everyone be at a convention....?

Laois: the overly obsessed fan over at the merch center, critically thinking whether the anatomy is off on characters solely for the fact that he is bored of waiting for his friends to get their pictures taken by people. Then he gets really into anything he actually knows and tells you EVERY DETAIL of why a print is so good at this particular stand.

You end up having to wait on Laois after everything because he keeps thinking and talking about that particular merch stand.

Reliable for holding stuff, not reliable for his constant change in location, and need to touch cosplays despite everyone telling him no. The cosplayers don't mind since Laois is not sexualizing them but often admiring their big props and asks questions that delight others to answer.

Marcielle: A person who loved the idea of cosplaying her favorite character and actually being them (horribly trying to act before giving up) only to realize she is the only cosplayer in the group and now she has to deal with people wanting her photo (she is proud yet shy and exhausted by the idea but has put too much effort into it already).

She constantly stares at any companion cosplayer, wishing to take a picture with them but being unable to do so, then she stares, then she stops staring because she realizes that she was. Ensue embarrassment for the rest of the day.

Senshi: the backpack man with everything from snacks to sewing needles to absolutely ridiculous amounts of water bottles. He basically lives at conventions and enjoys helping people out.

He is knowledgeable enough to do a panel about nearly anything that is basic knowledge but he feels better helping people physically rather than just teaching....he likes people passionate about things so he doesn't know much about any hot topics in media at the moment, he just enjoys atmosphere and likes to cook even in hotels. He is happiest when everyone is eating and retelling the highlights of the day.

Chilchuk: the veteran who manages to corral the group solely on his ability to multitask. He is someone who scopes out the area for food places and ends up getting hotel tickets since the others are unreliable in his eyes. Along with being a retail manager who pinches pennies and scoffs at every absurdly strange purchase his friends make, he has the most fun watching people and still enjoys the scarier and complex cosplays he sees.

He has a soft spot for idols because sometimes his daughters used to go to conventions and he would always take a picture to show his girls when he got home....he also gets a souvenir if it's in his budget.

Izutsumi: Cat girl by trade but not by heart (behaves like one but never buys any cat items, instead is gifted them frequently) she is the type of person to stare at something she wants for a while, then walking around before going back to buy it later.

She records any bullshit that happens on her phone for fun and is the type of girl that often wants to do anything that has competition (fake sword fights, martial arts, Parkour training, stunt man behind the scenes, racing, etc...) Anything that has a chance to be violent, she wants to watch or participate.

She is also the sore loser of the group and the one who voices her opinions directly. Not afraid of venturing on her own and catching up with the group later when she wants to.

Falin: Every group members dumb nerd who is interested in a little of everything. Money is tight, so she tries to trade items and often ends up actually succeeding.

She sometimes sells art but often forgets to do a lot of things for the booth, so she decided to enjoy being a vendor of weird things she makes.

Out of the group, she is the most directionally challenged yet somehow ends up where she needs to be at the right time (right answer, wrong equation person but with directions). She can be a mom at times and the child at others. She is also the one who often asks to take pictures of people, but all of them are terrible, so someone else takes a picture for her in the group.

Who is always hungry in the group?

Izutsumi because she wanders off the most and often comes back solely to get food from Senshi, but Marcielle is a quick second with how much she gets into things and forgets to feed herself.

Who drives everyone there?

Falin weirdly enough despite her directional horrors, but she is okay since Laios helps her....(they both get turned around however if they are in a deep discussion and miss a turn if no one else is in the car yet) and on occasion Chilchuck when he is farthest from the convention or wants to control when they leave. Also, Marcielle is no longer allowed to drive them after she almost got them killed because she thought there was a squirrel on the road.

Who buys the most stuff?

1. Marcielle (no contest, has many Fandom and has a weak self control if left alone)

2. Laois (often buys strange things that cost more than they should, has a high standard for items despite their strangeness)

3. Izutsumi (anything that is of interest to her she buys and often doesn't have a money limit)

4. Falin (Doesn't buy anything much, she likes looking the most, but she likes to buy smaller things and collects fun car stickers)

5. Chilchuck (Learned from the past and limits his spending. He doesn't spend much on food but occasionally finds an item that piques his interest).

6. Senshi (Only buys food, the items are just nice to look at but he doesn't need things to know what he likes, he only likes practical things)

What are their favorite items they've bought from a convention:

Laois: A fake Minotaur ring that you can put on your nose that is proportionally sized with Celtics markings

Falin: A collection of stickers involving a florally looking dragon dropping flowers from a small basket, it is on her bumper across the whole thing.

Marcielle: A beautiful hand crafted wooden staff of her favorite character. It is the only prop she owns that was not made by her or a friend.

Senshi: A blank cookbook that is covered with tree animals and plants from front to back with its own holder to help keep the book open.

Izutsumi: A real black metaled ninja sword she got that has red markings and and has an engraving of her family name.

Chilchuck: An idol print that his little girls love that he had signed and framed for his kids' 13th and 11th respective birthdays.

If lost, where would you find them at?

Laois: Artist Alley, gabbing up to anyone about their art

Marcielle: At any panel involving her interest that is informational

Izutsumi: Gaming Room or a room with a contest. Occasionally is just sitting on the floor in a hallway.

Falin: Merch/Vendor room, constantly looking and talking to other artists

Senshi: How-to or 101 sessions about crafting, if none available then he is in the viewing room.

Chilchuck: Often watches performances. If bored with them, he goes into the viewing rooms with Senshi. Both just commenting on how anime has changed or having nostalgia on how things used to be in their day.

Whose feet start hurting first?

Marcielle by far, she isn't used to standing but she walks all around the merch tables in cosplay so it's a bit heavier on her too so sitting isn't an option much.

If they held a panel, what would they all do?

Laois - The Best and Worst of Fantasy Creatures (Anatomy edition)

Marcielle - How to Make Elf Ears 101

Senshi - Fantasy Meal Guide (the Do's and Dont's of Cooking Unknown Recipes)

Izutsumi - Ninja Training (A Crash Course)

Falin - Drawing Dragons (and Other Fantasy Creatures)

Chilchuk - Rating Your Cosplays (Not for the faint of heart!)

[shyrose57]

I was INSPIRED by this gorgeous piece of drowned Pearl fan art by @dailypearldoodles.

--------------

If there was one thing anyone could tell you about Kestrel Scar Goodtimes, it was that he was a liar. And a very good one at that.

The second thing was that, like any doomed man, he had ghosts snapping at his heels, and the seas were not his friend.

(There are five rules for anything to do with the things beneath Scar’s boat)

The water is dark where his ship lays docked, shadows rolling beneath the waves that follow it wherever it sails. 

Captain Sausage comments on it, only once. But the shrieking laughter that erupts from the dark mass follows him into his nightmares for days after, and he learns to avert his eyes, lest he dream of something like screaming again.

(The first rule you need to know is that if you speak of them, then they’ll visit)

Whatever haunts him sends his boat rocking at every move, lurching wildly to both sides. They cannot overturn it. Not yet. They’re young still, in death. His days are counting down, but for now, he simply learns to work with it, and politely smiles when others decline to come aboard, eyeing the things below.

(The second rule is that they’re only here to haunt one man, but if you get in the way, they’ll happily take you overboard too)

Scott Denholm dips his feet into the sea, decidely drunk. A hand settles against his leg, light and curious. It feels like a hello. A pair of eyes in the water, shining blue, blink up at him in greeting. There’s a name on the tip of his tongue, as he dips his fingers into the waves to clasp someone else’s. It feels like running into an old friend. 

And then he’s hauled back into someone’s chest, looking up at a pale face as Martyn shouts at him. The thing in the water is gone, and Scar’s ship sways beside them, waiting for the realization to cut through the alcohol’s pleasant fuzz.

(The third is that they remember things you don’t, and are all the more bitter for it. Sometimes though, it means they’ll play favorites)

Oli tries to sing to them sometimes, usually in boredom than any real desire to soothe the things in the water. Most days they seem to delight in it, muffled calls rising up to join his half-strung shanties, distracted from rocking Scar’s ship as much as usual. 

Some days though, it seems to do nothing but grate on their ears and nerves, if they possess them in any sense, and instead shrieking loud enough to make ears bleed while they turn their violent attention towards whoever’s ship he’s on, be it his own or others.

(The fourth rule is that while they can be appeased, they can just as easily be angered, often in the same method. Dead things do not care for predictability)

There are good days and bad days, for Scar Goodtimes’ trips at sea. The good ones are more usual lately, plently of things in his new area distracting his phantoms and drawing them from their usual destructive habits. Of course, then comes the days they make up for it tenfold.

Those days, even the ocean bends to their wrath. The sky darkens and pours, as it did so many years ago when they toppled overboard with gaping wounds that bled the water red. The thunder screams in tandem with a past long gone and hidden, behind deceptive smiles and tongues lost to landfolk’s ears. 

The tide pushes with them, putting it’s strength behind their clawing hands to try and bring the ship beneath the waves where it has belonged since the moment he put them all down there. The scent of blood in the water brings all sorts of deadly things about, waiting for the stronger predators to reach their prey, hoping for the scraps their messy kill will surely leave behind.

Those days, Scar docks his ship wherever he can, and makes his way towards whoever he can. Sausage is easiest, an arm tossed over his shoulder and a look directed at the water has it writhing in anger even as his captain guides him away.

Martyn too, works, though not quite to the same extent. He’s of similar nature to Scar, after all. He looks out for himself before anyone else.

If he’s feeling particularly bold(or as some might put, cruel), he invites his two favorite Herons out to talk about interesting new discoveries by the ship. Scott and Cleo always keep one wary eye on him, which works just fine, because it means they don’t look too hard at the sudden, furious stillness of the water, or the hand settled where he keeps his blade in a familiar threat-to his ghosts, of course. The two Herons would just be the unfortunate collateral his warning requires.

Scar is a dead man walking. He’s not too concerned-he’s very good at stretching both the truth, and his time.

(The fifth rule is that they are going to win, in this battle of patience. That no matter what he does, they’ll still be there, waiting for any slip.

But they can be held back. If you’re clever, and you know what to look for.

If you know what to hold over their heads)

[4rcanist]

🎭 "Wonderland"

— An Informal Novel Introduction

A week or so before, I was crying over Furina's storyline. Although I have reservations against the company that made this game, the story told resonated deeply within my heart. It inspired me to write about an actress known for villainy who lost her true self to the act. I'm a fan of fantasy, mystery and "dark academia" fiction, so this is what the story shall be!

Synopsis

[Fantasy / YA / Queer Fiction]

A group of actors from an art school were selected to form a special performing troupe, led by a loving mentor figure referred to as "Mother". This troupe was tailor made dramas that fit their natural personalities and it caused real intense tension between the members. After Mercury woke up from a peculiar lucid dream, reality slowly became surreal.

Characters

1. 🎭 Mercury / The Magician

Infamous for her visceral villain acts, Mercury was associated with rather unpleasant people and behaviour. She was a drama queen, on-stage and off, who delighted in theatric problems. When she was casted as a "pure-hearted heroine" in the play, Mercury started to realise that her acting goes beyond the stage.

2. 🩸 "Han" / The Hanged Man

Tall, handsome and androgynous. Han had always played the roles of beautiful princess and daring heroines; always loved, but never quite 'respected'. When finally casted as a villain, Han's violent feelings started taking over his traditionally rational mind.

3. 🪡 "Veil" / The Veiled Lamp

Introduced as pretentious, aloof and extremely sceptical of Mercury. They re a self-proclaimed "indisposable asset" to the troupe and is always arguing with Mother to claim a more illustrious role. When Veil grew paranoid from the 'visions' they're seeing, they find an unlikely ally in Mercury.

4. 🏰 "Mother" / The Demon

Everyone knew that she's been coaching for a while since her retirement as an actress. Although many perceived her to be kind, it's undeniable that she had an uncanny way of "understanding" another person. Perhaps this empathy was formed during her years in limelight.

Help me?

I'm looking for an audience for this story. I've mostly been a reader, never quite a publishing writer. I don't know how I'm supposed to share my literary work. If anyone's experienced with sharing literature or fanfiction, I'd love to seek for your help. Thank you ( TwT )

[xpennytrickx]

you are truly the most perverted fall out boy fan ever and i dream to reach your level one day

when i was thirteen i used to randomly check out cds from my tiny local library all the time and i would choose them just out of curiosity and how much i liked the album art and they had exactly two fob albums there, ioh and folie (it was 2011, so the selection was much more limited). i chose ioh because i liked the color palette more. i brought the cd home, flipped it over to look at the tracklist, and my eyes met the most beautiful man that thirteen year old shut-in autistic dipshit chai had ever seen in her miserable little new england life: a gorgeous, mischievous tan emo boy with a devilish smirk, slick raven hair, and sharp, glittering, knowing eyes. none of the others could compare. i simply didn’t see anyone else, only him. i thought he was so beautiful that i scanned the back of the cd case into my computer, printed out a copy, and cut his face out of it. i taped it to my wall right near my pillow and stared at him as i listened to the music. hum hallelujah was the best song i had ever heard in my life and i was devastated and delighted to learn that he had written something so unfathomably pretty and devastating. he was hurting. he needed to be fixed. and i had to be the one to do it. somehow.

after this, i checked folie out from the library because of course i needed to hear what other things he wrote and it was, again, some of the best music i had ever heard in my life. again, they showed me a picture of my beautiful boy in the lyric booklet, despondent and pouty-lipped and whiskey-eyed, thick with eyeliner, hair shiny under studio lights. i scanned this as well and taped him to my wall next to his initial portrait. peter lewis kingston wentz the third watched over me with his eternal, well-read, tender, violent, sugary enigmatic despair for years as i learned more about him as well as myself. and that’s why i’m like this. unless you’ve experienced the unending peril of pw haunting your dreams every night during the entirety of your adolescence, both during and after puberty, you cannot comprehend what it’s like to be inside of my head. and you are so lucky

[morally-grey-girlbosses]

Alright, I've got all the pictures and propaganda! There are twenty characters I've had to use cover artwork or logo artwork for. I would be willing to replace these images with actual character artwork, but only if I'm provided with proof that it can be traced back to an official source, or if it can't that the fanartist approves the use of their work in this context. A piece of artwork appearing on a Fandom/Wikia page does not make it approved for this context. To put it bluntly, I do not trust Fandom or the mods of any wiki hosted on it to have any respect for other's intellectual property.

I'll give it about a week and then set the polls up to start going out.

All that said, the characters that I don't have character artwork for are under the cut.

Margot "gottiewrites" Garcia (An Unauthorized Fan Treatise)

Anna Limon (Mabel)

Dame Obsidian (Murdle)

Akua Sahelian (A Practical Guide to Evil)

Bryony Halbech (Red Valley)

Lariska (Bionicle)

Adelina Amouteru (The Young Elites)

Lady Barbrey Dustin (A Song of Ice & Fire)

Avrana Kern (Children of Time)

Liraz (Daughter of Smoke & Bone)

Odin (The Bifrost Incident)

Essun/Syenite/Damaya (Broken Earth)

Perihelion/ART (The Murderbot Diaries)

Juliette Cai (These Violent Delights)

Manon Blackbeak (Throne of Glass)

Miranda Pryce (Wolf 359)

Fang Runin (The Poppy War)

MegaGirl (Starship)

Sloane Parker (Eidolon Playtest)

Paige Duplass (The Silt Verses)

[boywithskull]

any film/book/tv recs?

ooh thanks for the ask! Honestly I consume media across all genres, so I'm not sure if there's a specific vibe you're after, so I'll just list a couple of different things I really enjoy:

books:

all of Donna Tartt's books obviously :) TGF and TLF are my favourites, but TSH is of course a classic

Wind, Sand and Stars by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry (referenced in TGF and is the most beautiful prose work I've ever read, no joke)

Illuminations by Arthur Rimbaud

Orlando by Virginia Woolf (incredibly funny but very heartfelt and is a beautiful reflection on humanity, time, youth, and identity)

The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton (can't believe I only read that for the first time this year)

Max by Avi Duckor-Jones (written by a New Zealand author and is a wonderful coming-of-age story featuring themes of sexuality, family, art, and indigenous NZ culture)

Wir Kinder Vom Bahnhof Zoo by Christiane F. (English title: Zoo Station) - memoir concerning the crisis of teen heroin use in West Berlin in the 70's. Big TW for many topics, so please look them up if you're thinking of reading it

Mysterious Skin by Scott Heim (many TW's also apply, but it's a beautiful novel)

Boy Swallows Universe and Lola in the Mirror by Trent Dalton - Australian contemporary litfic, the first is semi-autobiographical, and the latter features a young woman protagonist and centres topics of female homelessness and domestic violence against women

These Violent Delights by Micah Nemerever (perfect for fans of The Secret History)

The Inseparables by Simone de Beauvoir (only recently discovered a few years ago, and is semi-autobiographical account of her and her best friend's friendship growing up)

movies:

Let the Right One In (2008) - Swedish, fantastic vampire film

Napoleon Dynamite (2004) - hilarious, cult classic, what else is there to say?

Running on Empty (1988) - very gentle, I love River Phoenix

Dating Amber (2020) - funny and heartwarming comedy, with mlm/wlw solidarity and friendship at its heart

Thelma & Louise (1991) - such a rollercoaster, with amazing women as the leads, good focus on friendship, purpose, and self-actualisation

The Lost Boys (1987) - iconic, summer vibes are amazing, love me some campy 80's films, the Walk This Way hazing scene lives in my head rent-free

My Flesh and Blood (2003) - a documentary film about a woman named Susan who fosters a group of children, many of whom have disabilities or terminal illness. I love the way it was filmed and how it portrayed the realities of the situation, neither glamorising it or revelling in misery.

Mysterious Skin (2004) - adaption of the book I mentioned before. HUGE tw for sexual abuse/pedophilia. It's extremely respectful of the issues at hand, and is overall a beautiful work of art with incredible performances

tv:

honestly I haven't been watching many TV shows recently, but my favourites are:

NBC Hannibal

Twin Peaks

Gravity Falls

Druck (Skam Germany)

there are others but for some reason I can't think of any sorry :((((

[radioactive-earthshine]

Do you have any lesser know dc comics to recommend? I followed you for Impulse content, but I see you talking about a lot of comics I know nothing about and I am very intrigued by them. Would love to get into some of them but I'm not sure where to start.

Apologies for the lack of Impulse content (lately), there are about 3 blogs currently doing live-blogs for his series so I didn't want to sort of shoehorn in.

Anyway as for lesser known or unpopular comics I would highly recommend;

1.) New Gods and the extended Fourth World by Jack Kirby.

I'm reading New Gods right now - I feel like opening up to The Fourth World is just a good idea for any DC fan as it circles back to the main universe for the heroes quite a bit in some way and it gives you a better understanding of who Darkseid is, at the very least.

As important and beloved by comic collectors and historians as these comics are, I've found that very, very, very few comic fans have ever picked up a single issue.

Start with New Gods 1971 #1

2.) Reboot "Post-Zero Hour Legion of Super Heroes"

If you love Impulse, then you may love LOSH as we get to see more of his beloved cousin Jenni. Despite it having dozens of characters each one gets to have lovely stories that make you care about each and every one of them.

Like with New Gods, I don't run into many that have read the 90s LOSH (or any LOSH) as it is an outlier to the main timeline. Still it is incredibly important to the main timeline in many ways and it gives us a whole new world to play in 1000 years in the future across the galaxy where finally the fucking Batman isn't relevant.

It is everything TTv3 should have been, and despite being older, it somehow is less problematic in every single area.

It's like Star Trek meets Justice League where every league member is a teenager and yet has MORE responsibility and power than they EVER did. There's something about it... these teenagers ARE teenagers but they are all basically expected to be adults at all times and they have varying degrees of successes. They are like the anti-Young Justice- whose message was 'teenagers are teenagers, not babies, not children, not adults' and instead they just don't.... GET to BE teenagers due to broken family dynamics or governmental interference.

Reads more like a manga which some may appreciate more.

Send a DM or an ask for reading order because to start it's weird and even I need to look it up.

3.) Orion by Walter Simonson

My absolute two favorite comics EVER produced by DC are 1.) Impulse then 2.) Orion. Everything about this series is literature as it goes through Orion's adventures as he dethrones Darkseid and rules on Apokolips. We get him falling, redeeming himself and finally truly accepting himself for who he is and finally discovering who he is. Also yes, he and Lightray are still madly in love. The art also slaps.

You start with Orion #1. It's also in TPB compiled into two books.

4.) Relative Heroes

This is a six issue mini that follows orphans/foster children as they flee authorities after their parents are murdered and they uncover some secrets about some of their siblings that endanger all of them. Each teen has a different walk of life, ability, age, race, and gender and the comic touches on some surprising things despite being released in the 90s like police brutality against poc and the hyper-vigilance of poc while in public due to being seen as inherently violent.

Crosses over with Impulse for an issue which is a delight.

Start with Relative Heroes #1.

5.) L.E.G.I.O.N. and R.E.B.E.L.S.

So this definitely has a CW for sexual assault for a female assailant against a male victim where it was not just implied, it was blatant, where the word 'rape' was used multiple times in comics and where the victim did in fact express his trauma from it a few times. Unfortunately, due to the time it was written (late 80s through mid 90s) it was not handled the best of ways and there's a good essay to make on how misogyny and toxic masculinity was involved in this incident but at the end of the day this is a complex DARK comic that is the anti-superhero superhero comic. It makes you think and it also will make you mad at times.

Although there is some more subtle sexism in the writing just due to the time it was released we do get some very powerful and INTERESTING female characters, and even GNC female characters (sadly she is an alien and normal for her kind so it follows that trope but it was still pretty profound for the time).

We also get to see some toxic AF dynamics which if you love that go for it - but we also get to see vulnerability and character growth and dealing with trauma in... less than stellar ways.

Interesting comic that will definitely stir a conversation and I have only run into ONE person in real life that has read this comic and it is the owner of my local comic shop and he's about 60.

Start with L.E.G.I.O.N. #1.

6.) Static: Season One and Static: Shadows of Dakota

These are CURRENT comics following Virgil Hawkins, Dwayne McDuffie's (RIP) iconic character Static, re-visioned and updated to current events. It is blatantly, loudly BLM and touches on the systematic racism and -ism marginalized people face in a concise way that is not brutal or painful to read.

If you watched the show Static Shock but had a hard time connecting with the original 90s comics then you might like this vision a little better as it takes DIRECT inspiration from the show in character designs, and characters. Richie Foley is Richie Foley and he is gay.

Virgil is smart, he's a literal LARP nerd, and he is kind and we all love him.

Shadows of Dakota is CURRENT, as in it is ongoing now. Please consider putting it on a pull-list. It's also fairly new so picking up back issues to catch up if that's your thing shouldn't be too hard.

All of Static Season One is in TPB now.

Start with Static: Season One #1 and read through to the next series.

7.) Spirit World

This is literally the most original thing I have seen from DC in YEARS. It follows an amazing non-binary Chinese-American spirit envoy named Xanthe. The creative team are all AAPI. If you love manga or anime you might really, really like this as there are some visuals and tonal inflections that are reminiscent of stories like Petshop of Horrors.

It is brand new and is CURRENT and ongoing, we have only just toed our way into a plot into the colorful, and dangerous, Spirit World with Cass and Constantine as Xanthe's companions.

Put this on a pull-list so help me. Start with Spirit World #1.

Additionally...

Have you read Reign of the Supermen yet? Definitely suggest that to get to know Kon's baby steps a little better and why... he's like that.

There's also Kon's solo series which you know sure as fuck hardly anyone has bothered to read even though he is a fairly popular character. You'll also find out why.... he's LIKE that.

Do you like cross-overs? Try picking up the Star Trek/Green Lantern series which is an absolute delight in that campy WEIRD Star Trek way. Hal Jordan and Jim Kirk in a room together should only ever be chaos and bedroom eyes but that's just me.

Green Lantern The Animated Series tie-in comics are also a delight as they tie into the animation which is heavily praised as being THAT GOOD and... it is that good. They are easy reading too an are episodic so no worries which one you start with.

Happy reading!

[ask-de-writer]

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THE FISHERMAN'S LEG (Part 13 of 20)

A sequel to Dee 1/2 Demon

by

De Writer (Glen Ten-Eyck)

16914 words (work in progress)

© 2023 by Glen Ten-Eyck

All rights reserved. This document may not be copied or distributed on or to any medium or placed in any mass storage system except by the express written consent of the author.

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New to the story? Read from the beginning HERE.

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Magistrate Lim was facing Minami yet again. The Fisherman was kneeling in front of him, Constable Canra standing just behind him with his ever present cudgel to quell any unruly behavior, of which Minami had been guilty several times.

He sighed and opened the thick file of Minami's many transgressions. “Minami san, why did you cause this violent fight in the village's Pauper's dining room? You know that good behavior is the only requirement to receive free food, yet you not only complained of the food, you threw good rice, fish, vegetables and bread about in anger! Why did you do so?”

“Magistrate san, They insulted us terribly! They tried to feed us that ghastly mucky tasting mud shark for a fish! It is nothing but foul bottom scavenger!”

“I see, Minami san. I have heard you call them that sort of thing for somewhat over twenty years. Tell me, have you ever tasted one?”

Minami bowed the light bob of conversation and replied, face contorted with disgust, “Never! Nor will I! I have seen them gobble up mud or sand and make great clouds of it with my own eyes! I could not be wrong because I have seen it many times!”

“Minami san, you have dug a yam from a garden, yes?”

“Of course! Who has not?”

“Is it ready to eat as it comes from the ground on your spade?”

“Certainly not! It must be washed free of dirt first.”

“Just so, Minami san. The sand shark finds its food lurking in the mud. Clams, shrimp, snails, blennys, small crabs, all sorts of animals. At the front of its gills are some stiff bristles that hold the prey. It blows the mud and sand out through its gill slits until the prey is clean to swallow.

“It eats no mud or sand, only creatures that are wholesome for it. The cloud of mud that you saw after it bit at the bottom was simply from washing its prey before eating.

“I have been taken out and caught such sharks myself and then cleaned them. Thus, I know from experience that the sand sharks are wholesome to eat.

“None will deny what you have seen for the last twenty years. The problem has arisen because you did not realize that what you saw was not the whole of what was happening.

“If you can understand that, dine with me and you may taste the truth of this. If not, I must fine you twenty five of copper cash.”

Minami looked up in total surprise! “Dinner and no fine? Or a fine and no dinner? Magistrate Lim san, I will dine with you and see if perhaps I have been in error about this.”

Later, waiting out the night in his cell, Fisherman Minami admitted to himself that he had been wrong about the sand sharks. They were in fact delicious.

Within two days other unruly behavior got him put onto the roads of Sabo province for a moon.

After about two weeks, living with his mother and “Big Sisters” Minara and Takahra, Ichuru was coming out of his shell, as some say. He even took delight in helping in the garden because, instead of seeing it as a chore, he was being included along with them!

He was spending half of each working day helping Patsu and her new girls to build the new boat for his mother. The other half was in the Fish Market! The customers would entrust him with their cash and take his carefully wrapped packages of fish in return!

With ten year old enthusiasm, he led the charge! “Everything's put away! Race you to the boat for crabbing!”

Takahara, who could easily outpace him, ALMOST beat him to the Chiasu dock to get a rental boat! Minara and his mother, Tanira followed more sedately.

They all bowed to him, sitting in the boat of his choice. “You have remembered your floats, Ichuru san. I see that you have got our crab trap rings and baits too. This is all excellently done.”

Only partly because it would make him feel more included, they all donned floats too. Rowing a ways out, they planted their crab ring traps under floats that would let them be found later and began trolling, pulling a baited hook on a longish line let out from the boat's small crane, mainly used to raise the crab traps.

The end of the crane yanked down! Something had taken the bait! Ichuru watched the crane tip. As it rose, he wound in line, making it bow down again. He kept that up, letting the crane do the work of pulling up the big reddish snapper!

Takahara got a big scooping net under it and the pulled it in! They put the fish in the catch box after they got the hook out of its mouth.

Minara and Tanira took the oars and rowed them back to their crab traps. With the line in the crane changed for the lifting of traps, they brought up one, until its upper ring was above water.

Here, it was Minara and Tanira's turn. Carefully reaching into the corralled crabs, they pulled out the first one. Minara laid the gage across its shell and grumped good naturedly, “Too small!” As she tossed it back to the sea with a splash, she told it, “There you go. Grow up some for us!”

The next three all went into the catch box. Minara took the fourth one with a grunt, “Oh, you are a big one, aren't you? Lucky day for you, dear, you are too big, back you go!” Ichuru watched the crab swim away.

“I didn't know that crabs can swim! Why did we put it back? Isn't a big one more valuable?”

Tanira gave him a bit of a hug and explained, “Yes, they can swim some. They don't like to, though. We put back big ones like that because they will make more than ten times as many baby crabs as the smaller ones will.”

Takahara picked up, “Besides just numbers, the big crabs won't let little crabs mate with them. That means that all their youngsters that don't get caught will grow into more big crabs. So, letting them go means that there will always be lots of good crabs for us to catch and eat.”

As he was winding in line for the next crab trap, Ichuru nodded, “That makes sense, Takahara san. Thank you.”

The next morning, they could not find Ichuru! As the girls and his mother searched frantically for him they found that his toy boat and floats were missing too!

Down at the docks there was even more consternation! The Sea Lion had been stolen sometime in the night or early morning!

To be Continued

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[cosmignon]

Psychonautssss

PSYCHONAUTS ON MAIN LETS GOOOO (BC I USUALLY POST ON AQUATO-FAMILY-CIRCUS HAHA)

The first character I first fell in love with: 

AUGUSTUS AQUATO YOU WILL ALWAYS BE FAMOUS!! I'd always liked Raz of course, but when I was rewatching the first game to prep for the sequel the last like 20 minutes of it rocked me. the difference between Raz's perception of his dad vs the real deal who's just a well meaning if overprotective father captured me so violently and immediately it felt like I was being jostled around. Plus Augustus has such a cool design and his voice work is so soft yet gruff and kind. He's a delight. Idk what my opinion on the first game would be without him bc it's one of the strongest highlights in the emotions department.

The character I never expected to love as much as I do now: 

It's haaaard to say bc I just liked most of them off the bat but I do think I needed some time for Cassie O'Pia to grow on me. Her level was overstimmulating the first time I played it so I didn't rly appreciate how nice it looked or how cool her archetypes really were. Love her now tho, of course, bc I love all the old people psychics

The character everyone else loves that I don’t: 

I Don't Care Much for the campers aside from Lili & Dogen. I think they're definitely fun, I've enjoyed a lot of fan work about the individual campers and do have favorites among the ones who Aren't Lili & Dogen (Clem & Crystal, Chloe) but they just don't really compel me much. Same goes for the interns but with them at least I can remember all their names and quirks off the top of my head (bc there's only 6 of them)

The character I love that everyone else hates: 

I think Gristol is an interesting character, I think he's fun! I don't post abt him much bc I get the vibe ppl get annoyed about it? Which is fair, he sucks, I would hit him with a crowbar if he was real. but he's just kind of a pathetic guy once his plans fail. He's fun to talk about and theorize about what in the world could actually make him become a better person or at least have a change of mind like the other antagonists we've been inside the heads of.

The character I used to love but don’t any longer:

Error answer not found

The character I would totally smooch: 

HOLLIS FORSYTHE CALL ME

The character I’d want to be like: 

I wish I had the patience and chill attitude of Milla or the cool big showmanship of Helmut. The brightest and most colorful characters basically !!

The character I’d slap: 

See: Gristol.

A pairing that I love:

Bob Zanotto and Helmut Fullbear are married and in love!! I love those guys so much it is absurd.

My first playthru experience of not expecting any gay content period was one of a kind.

the shift from "Oh Helmut's so obviously queercoded good for him. I hope He and his "Bobby" have some fun friendly guy pal thing going on"

to "Oh He and Bob were GAY gay"

to "ROBERT ZANOTTO YOUR GIANT WEDDING CAKE IS MAKING ME CRY" can not be replicated.

A pairing that I despise: 

Not a big fan of Norma/Frazie! There's cute art of it for sure that I can appreciate but when I'm just alone w/my thoughts I feel like Frazie could do better and Norma needs to work on herself or else they'd have the most explosive teen drama break up ever and make it Everyone's Problem.

[alexis-royce]

Goro Majima, 1, 2, 12, 23 and 26

Goro Majima, 1, 2, 12, 23 and 26

Yes yes YESSSS

1. Why do you like or dislike this character?

I started with Zero, then Kiwami, and I think just being exposed to Majima is enough?!

But seriously, I love grubby, unpredictable guys who live life on their own terms. He’s also super funny and he knows it; when misfortune happens to him, it’s not just okay to laugh, but he’d be insulted if you didn’t.

I’m glad they walked back a little of his cruelty from Kiwami, but I can’t say I wholly dislike his characterization. He’s a funky little guy who understands the genre of his life and absolutely bless him for it.

2. Favorite canon thing about this character?

The fact that his men adore him. Majima is violent and unpredictable, but he’s loving life on his own terms, and the way that unrestrained freedom has also charmed people inside the game is a delight.

Also uh. The live-action film isn’t good across the board but uh. Uhm. Majima and the informant? That scene where you think he’s torturing the guy, but then you realize that they just kind of…speak the same language?

Majima’s relationship with pain is. It’s good.

12. What's a headcanon you have for this character?

I’d say ‘dressing as Goromi awoke something in him,’ but he does add that to his regular costume rotation, so I’m not sure that it’s entirely a headcanon.

So instead I’m gonna say that sometimes Nishida and the boys just gotta go up to like Hokkaido on a whim to pick up that discontinued conditioner for the boss’ Goromi wig because Kiryu ripped it off and threw it into the gutter by accident the last time they were fighting because he forgot it wasn’t Majima’s real hair and he tried to pause the fight to apologize but Majima didn’t fucking care he was out of his MIND on FIGHT RUSH and kicked Kiryu in the jaw mid-apology but now it’s three days later and Majima has actually processed what happened to his favorite wig and he’s real cheesed about it, pissed off y’know?! Kiryu-can is footin’ the bill for this one, he’s payin’ for the deep restorative conditioning treatment, and if he don’t like it-

Well. Guess he’ll have to fight Majima over the bill.

23. Favorite picture of this character?

If you’re a Majima fan, you’re never at a loss for fanart. I think that this art of Goromi by Stephanie Kao might be my favorite though?

This screenshot is incredible in context, though:

26. FREEBIE QUESTION!!

The Majima everywhere feature is just about my favorite mechanic in the history of gaming. It’s so funny. I didn’t advance the story in Kiwami until I had to in order to get more Majima. Majima adores Kiryu. He looks up to him, and is absolutely ecstatic to get to fight him and be near him.

This is another example of a video game mechanic transferring emotionally to the player, and it hit hard for me: I’m not good at video games, and I played Zero on easy, fumbling through my button presses and barely beating it, gaining a little confidence.

But the whole POINT of Majima Everywhere is that he wants to see you Git Gud, he’s building up your skills and he wants to have his ass kicked! Do you know what an incentive that is? To have a cool and funny guy popping out of nowhere to go “POP QUIZ ROYCE DUKES UP NOW”

I didn’t know at the time, but it was so gender affirming to learn how to brawl in a video game, to learn combos and to react faster. Speeding up my mental reaction time was also astonishingly good for my mental health, too.

If you want to get better at video games in general, and Majima makes you smile even a little, I cannot recommend Kiwami enough.

[daggerzine]

Slutavverkning – Levande Charader (Feral Cuts)

This record prepares you for the harrowing journey ahead with the opening track “Sveavägen.” It’s a prelude of wild sax skronk, sculpted guitar distortion, intricate and detailed drums splaying about, and in general hits like noise rock if that music was influenced by The Peter Brötzmann Octet circa its unhinged brilliance circa 1968’s Machine Gun. The free association of jazz, the aesthetic of sampling, and intense vocalizations are reminiscent of This Heat’s Deceit. “Psykisk terror” is a bit like if Can had embraced its jazz roots and made punk in the late 70s instead of the tropicalia kosmische of Saw Delight (though note the similarity in the cover art between this record and the latter). And that’s the general mood and flavor of this album from Swedish jazz. But the parallels go further because the concept of this album is its chronicling, according to the comments on Bandcamp, “the violent turmoil of a misunderstood pig farmer.” More concretely, perhaps, the songs are thrilling examinations of the nature of our existence – the commodification of all levels of how we have to live our lives and how it’s all circumscribed yet something within us resists the process of monetizing all things in service to capital.

The band makes no bones about its music being “anticapitalist jazz-punk fury” and with every song it lives up to that claim not just as rhetorical invective but with a zest for life lived freely and not simply as a means to an end of the bottom line of profits for the powerful. And at this point do single humans control the entire world economic order? Certainly, individuals benefit but it’s the system that is recursive with destructive and mutually reinforcing dynamics and consequences for all. This album takes what could be ideas and experiences described in a work of theory of mere “objective” journalism and turns it into a noise punk folk tale that is accessible without downplaying the viciousness of what it feels like to live under a world system seemingly now bent on the complete destruction of life on earth.

Beyond the previous comparisons, fans of current post-punk weirdos with a knack for pouring shade on the bastards of the world like Sex Swing, Spectres (from Bristol), and Otoboke Beaver will appreciate the fascinating gyrations and choice poetic social commentary found beginning to end with this set of songs.  (TOM MURPHY)

www.slutavverkning.bandcamp.com

www.feralcuts.bandcamp.com