#this comic is so stupid and worth all $6

[sofipitch]

Anne Rice Female Force comic

Have you been longing to read a biography of Anne Rice but her regular biographies seem too boring? Have you longed for one narrated by Dracula and featured the most miserable design for Lestat ever created? Look no further!

Click here for a link to a Google drive where I scanned the comic in its 20 page entirety. Last page also features what I assume are horrible Louis and Lestat designs. It doesn't shy away from the Amazon rant but I wish it had mentioned her firing her editor, especially bc the quote by her next her list of works is actually 100% about why she fired her editor. Kind of a biggie for her career

Sneak preview of what you will see (this is a picture with my phone the actual scans are legible I promise):

[northoftheroad]

Ten-ish panels to sum up Dick Grayson

@roma107 challenged me some time back: “10 Nightwing Panels That Perfectly Sum Up His Character. Your turn. Go.” It’s been hard to even get close, and in the end I couldn't quite keep it to ten panels... But, enjoy disagreeing with me all the same. 😉

1. Robin vol 2 # 13 (1995)

Dick has issues with Bruce – they have had occasional problems with communication since the early 1940s – but he is loyal to a fault.

2. Teen Titans vol 3 # 6 (2004)

Just about every one of DC’s heroes respects, trusts and is prepared to listen to Dick. Obviously, that's not because he's a nice guy – which he is, don't get me wrong – or because he puts in the work with relationships – which he does. That may make people like you, but it's not enough to get them to follow you into battle...

No, that's because he's smart, professional and competent. As you see here, he can also be intense and knows how to make a dramatic entrance...

3. World's Finest Comics vol 1 # 200 (1971)

Dick is (often, but not always) ready with a smile and a joke. He loved being Robin as a kid, he wanted to do it forever (see, for instance, Nightwing vol 2 # 75). As Batman after Final Crisis, he smiled enough to convince Two-Face it wasn't the old Batman.

To what extent Dick jokes because he's in a good mood, he’s trying to keep his spirits up or he wants to annoy criminals enough to gaude them into sloppy mistakes – it varies between creators and Dick’s mood at the time😉

However, there have certainly been periods when Dick has not put on his best behaviour. He snaps at Alfred, he's unpleasant to close friends in the Titans, etc. I'd argue this is a sign he's not in a good place, mentally. Most of the panels of short fuse/asshole Dick Grayson you will find floating around are either from when he was leading The Outsiders (vol 3), and was struggling after the death of Donna Troy. Or from the almost five years' worth of New Teen Titans comics where his behaviour is influenced by being tortured and brainwashed by Brother Blood (New Teen Titans vol 1 # 22, August 1982, to New Teen Titans # 31, May 1987).

Alternate panel: Teen Titans vol 2 # 12 (1997)

4. Battle for the Cowl # 3 (2009)

Dick is prepared to change. Whether it's about a new mantle, getting a new job to pay the bills, or moving to a new city.

5. The New Teen Titans vol 2 # 6 (1985)

Dick might drop everything when somebody asks for help, and he is open to asking for help and working with teams better than Batman. But he does have his own set of control issues. He wants to have a job instead of living on Bruce’s money; he wants to know how to cook etc so he can take care of himself. You could argue it's a response to being orphaned and losing his home at a young age, and then having several episodes when he doesn't feel secure about his place with Bruce Wayne (see, for instance Robin Year One, Batman plays a lone hand in Batman vol 1 # 13, Partner to Batman in Batman vol 1 # 65)

6. Action comics weekly # 613 (1988)

Dick is uncomfortable with casual relationships/sex. When he had a fling with Huntress (Nightwing/Huntress, 1988–1989), he tried to start a relationship. It took him a long time to accept that he could live with Kory after she had gone through with a marriage of state on her home planet, and he felt strange living with her because they weren't married (see NTT vol 2 #48).

7. Detective Comics vol 1 # 881 (2011)

Dick is a nice guy who chooses to be kind, optimistic and to give people the benefit of a doubt – but he's still sneaky and definitely not stupid.

8. Titans vol 1 # 3 (1999)

Yes, Dick jokes a lot, and he enjoys hanging out with his friends. But he's also a workaholic and holds himself to a very high standard.

Alternate panel: New Teen Titans vol 1 # 29 (1983)

9. Nightwing vol 4 # 41 (2018)

He has a tendency to self-blame - and he is also very stubborn! Presumably, the tendency to feel guilty over things outside his control is partly survivor's guilt, but also related to the very high standards he holds himself to, and the very high expectations others have on him. And, I would argue, this tendency is a reason he sometimes lets friends an family punish him without fighting back.

Bonus panel: sometimes, he can admit he has a problem with self-blame. The New Titans vol 1 # 57 (1989)

10. Nightwing vol 3 # 29 (2014)

He wants to be a safety net for everyone. That's a good summary of Nightwing as a character, in my opinion.

And... Nightwing vol 4 # 43 (2018)

Bonus. This one-shot is a good Nightwing story, but very unfair on Roy Harper/Arsenal. It touches on several things – how Dick is always ready to help, that he does not want to be like Batman, his tendency to blame himself...

[sunny-reis]

같이 꿈을 꾸고 싶어 - dream with you

pairing: huh yunjin x reader

synopsis: an *actually* short oneshot about escapism and yunjin

tags: gender-neutral reader but all of this is implied to be sapphic to some extent (girl in red mentions 🤯). i don't know interpret it as whatever. extremely descriptive paragraphs abt the setting and yunjin? gay as hell. reader lives and goes to college in massachusetts. don't ask why (i do not know. have fun going to mit i guess.)

word count: 932

author's note: YURRRRR i wrote this half-asleep and feeling sapphic as FUCKKKKK enjoy

“massachusetts is such a stupid place to go to college.”

you raise a curious eyebrow at the comically focused yunjin splayed across your far-too-small dorm bed, flipping mindlessly through one of the many books you possess with scrunched eyebrows and a strawberry lollipop in hand. the small speaker perched atop the bedframe plays your “chill” playlist on shuffle at a relatively loud volume as your roommate isn't present, the strumming of an acoustic guitar and her unabashed humming filling the room amid the quiet. it’s a comfortable silence, nothing but the occasional flip of a page from yunjin, the scribbling (and rub of an eraser) from you, the soft pitter-patter of the rain on the window adjacent to your bed, and girl in red.

“and why is that?” you ask. all she gives you is a shrug.

“the drive to see you is stupidly long, and honestly? boston isn't even that interesting of a city to be worth it.”

“not even to see me?”

“yeah, no,” she elbows you with a small giggle, “definitely not.”

you roll your eyes, shaking your head and looking back at your notebook. the colorful pastel stationery strewn all over your table does nothing to give the illusion of a put-together student; you sigh, folding your arms and laying your head down. there's no use focusing on work when you're so distracted. by what, you can't pinpoint, but it must have something to do with the way yunjin’s humming is all you can hear and the way her hair falls over her shoulder barely covered by the flannel she has on. it definitely isn't the way marks on her nose stand out despite the bright makeup on her face, or the way her glasses sit too perfectly on the bump or her nose, or the way her cheeks flush a rosy pink when she looks up to see you lost in her eyes.

her presence slips into every crack and crevice in your heart.

“‘whatcha looking at?” she asks. you blink, devoid of any thought for a short while until she waves a puzzled hand in front of your eyes, snapping you out of your trance.

“hello? earth to [y/n], you there?” you nod, sitting up to match the yunjin now resting her head on her arms on your desk. she stares up at you, eyes starry and wide; many say they're the windows of the soul, but right now, you're unable to tell a thing. it's terrifying – you swallow the thought that she may be weirded out by your not-so-subtle starstruck, longing gazes.

yunjin stands up after a moment of silence, stretching her arms and suppressing a yawn. you check the analog clock on the wall that reads 6:43.

“we should go get dinner, i’m so hungry i can't focus.” you say, clearing your throat. she gives you a small smile.

“i was just about to say that! i’m starving.”

“i’ll drive.” yunjin nods. you don't need words to say you’re going to your special place, a small cafe a 15-minute drive away from campus. neither of you are impartial to making the short walk in the rain, but it's always been a tradition of yours to drive and listen to the same music on the same route.

the rain stops by the time the two of you get your food (a cup of tomato soup and crackers for you, and a turkey-ham sandwich with extra cheese for yunjin – it's always been the same. of course, the two of you always end up getting snacks from the food hall anyways, but there's sentiment to the consistency). unlike before, though, you decide to eat at the park; and so here you are, rocking on the uncomfortably small rubber swings and conversing peacefully amid the handful of children messing around on the playground. it's filling, how content yunjin looks – your crackers are left untouched as you catch yourself staring at her again, unable to break free of the captivating siren’s song of her humming and serenity.

“penny for your thoughts?” she asks abruptly, clearly having caught onto the cacophany in your head. you hate it when she does that.

“not much, i guess.” you shrug.

“oh come on, don't give me that,” she raises an eyebrow, “i’ve known you for years, you can't hide from me.”

“i dunno, i guess i'm just … turbulent?” and there begins the monologue.

everything pours out. yunjin watches, face falling at the harsh words you use to demonize yourself for feeling the way you do; falling in love isn't a crime, no matter whether your feelings are reciprocated or not. she holds back the urge to laugh at the way you neglect to think about her feelings. there are so many fleeting gazes and sleepless, longing-filled nights you haven't seen – she feels the exact same as you.

after your spiel and a number of apologies, yunjin clasps your hands in hers. your eyes widen, looking down as if avoiding her gaze will soften the blow.

“stop tearing yourself down for being human, [y/n]. i promise you, even if i didn't feel the same, it wouldn't be worth punishing yourself for being in love!” she cries, grasping your now-shaking hands tighter. she continues, wiping the occasional tear that falls from your eyes with a soft touch. she's never appeared to be an angel, a heavenly being, more than she does now.

words aren't needed to express how giddy you are when she spells out her feelings for you, topping it all off with a small kiss on the nose.

[pluckyredhead]

I want to get into DC comics, but there's so any of them that I have no idea where to start. Specifically I want to read about Kon (from origin and then dying and then how that affected YJ). Do you have any recommendations on what to read?

Absolutely! So you're in luck with Kon because he got his own series almost immediately after his debut, Superboy (1994), so his story is pretty easy to follow. I would recommend starting there rather than his very first appearances. Kon debuted during the Death of Superman storyline and that was a big storyline that ran across multiple books so it's hard to follow, but his solo series will catch you up on the important information pretty quickly.

Overall I would say Kon's series is a solid B; it's fun to read but not great. But he's very lovable in it and it's a great introduction to who he is as a person. Also, it's like the 90s threw up all over everything and I love that for him.

When you finish Superboy or get sick of it, whichever comes first, I recommend reading Young Justice (1998). You could even start here, honestly, but Kon had already been around for five years at that point so he's not quite a baby anymore. YJ is a better comic than Superboy, a solid A, and obviously showcases his relationships with the rest of the team.

(Just to be clear, I am giving you a lot of homework here: Superboy is 100 issues long and Young Justice is 55. You don't have to read all of either series if you aren't enjoying them, but I didn't want you to be surprised when you saw how many issues there were!)

In 2003, Kon (and Tim, Bart, and Cassie) joined the Teen Titans. Teen Titans (2003) is a pretty OOC and bland portrayal of Kon and the others, but if you're interested in his death and the aftermath (or if you're a TimKon shipper and want to see Tim grieving), you should read it. Kon is only in it up to #33, because he's dead after that. His actual death is in Infinite Crisis which is an incredibly stupid comic but, like. It's there if you absolutely must put yourself through it.

Kon came back to life in Final Crisis: Legion of Three Worlds which I've never read so I can't vouch for it. He rejoined the Titans with Teen Titans #81 and stayed with the team through the end of the series, but like...those comics are really bad. If you want to read post-resurrection Kon, I recommend Adventure Comics (2009) instead. Kon stars in the first 10 issues or so and they're lovely. He also had another very short lived Superboy series in 2010 which I've read but remember nothing about.

Do not read anything from the New 52 (September 2011-June 2016); that Kon is technically a different character and all of the books he appears in are unreadably bad.

Our Kon returned in Young Justice (2019), which is...fine? It's fine. Superboy: Man of Tomorrow is a recent 6-issue miniseries and it's also fine.

Don't read Superboy and the Ravers, it is 10000% not worth it.

The TL;DR for recommended/key reads:

Read Superboy 1994

Then Young Justice 1998 (or the other way around if you don't care about going in order)

If you are really committed, you can go back and read Reign of the Superman to see Kon's debut and very early appearances, but you don't have to

Then Teen Titans 2003; you can stop after #33 unless you want to see Tim having a mental breakdown

Read Infinite Crisis if you want to read Kon's death, and honestly you can just skim everything that isn't his death scene

Adventure Comics 2009 until it becomes a Legion book

YJ 2018 and Superboy: Man of Tomorrow

I will end with my usual caveat that if you are very new to comics, you will occasionally be confused by what you're reading. There will be references to comics you haven't read and occasional crossovers with other books that will cause unavoidable gaps in your reading. Please just try to roll with it, or look at those moments as interesting new paths to wander down. It's okay if you don't know everything right away. That's what makes it fun!

[steadfastpetrel]

Worth Existing (or, Frank Webster Gives Keegan An Existential Crisis)

been busy this semester, but have a reflection comic I got away with making for an information history class! it's rambling, but i had some fun digesting my thoughts.

image descriptions from alt: The title page contains the title “Worth Existing, or: Frank Webster gives Keegan an existential crisis.” In front of a mirror, Keegan stands with their back facing the viewer as a reflection of them as a librarian looks back worriedly.

Page 1 features a sequential cartoonish sequence of Keegan’s head rolling and landing on his shoulders. He says: “Finding out how we’ve come to view our information society has been a ride. My pea brain can only fit so much, ideas only roll vaguely when I try to talk about what I’ve learned, but I’m at least seeing things from new eyes. More specifically…”

Dialogue continues on Page 2, 3 panels sequentially zoom in on a horrified Keegan. She says, “I’m seeing how much Frank Webster hates libraries.” The quote from the book she’s reading is as follows: “Moreover, library staff have benefited disproportionately from the establishment of these services, being provided with secure and pleasant (if not lavishly remunerated) employment. Why, one might ask, does the public purse need to support the likes of Agatha Christie and Jeremy Clarkson when their books are readily available for cheap purchase and their literary merit, still more their intellectual and uplifting qualities, are at best of minor significance. Such observations raise questions regarding the efficacy with which public libraries actually operate. It follows that a driving force behind their establishment and continued state support, the appeal to mitigate the inequalities of capitalism in the informational domain, seems to have been less than fully effective.” End quote.

Page 3 has Keegan looking with hands clasped, paused. They then look at the camera, asking “Did the dude just insult Agatha Christie?” The bottom has them lying on their bed, looking up at the ceiling in thought, saying “There’s something that just bugged me ever since I read that chapter. I never really understood the theory we talked about in class, it’s a skill I’m working on, but the weird beef he has with libraries at least gave me a vibe on ‘Hayekian Neoliberalism.’ And also how weird it is that capitalism got so far into deciding what’s worth existing. If the thing I wanna do with my life is worth existing.”

On Page 4, Keegan walks with his crutches as the dialogue continues. “I could go on for hours about all that sucks with Webster’s opinions! Of course I want the staff to ‘disproportionately’ benefit from their work. Unlike books, people have to eat! What’s ironic about Webster’s whole spiel about the efficacy of libraries is that he provides several examples of figures from his area heavily aided by libraries. Panels feature novelist John Banville, author Jeannette Winterson, and sociologist Richard Hoggart. Keegan continues and says, “And yet he goes on to be like…”

Page 5, a sock puppet speaks angrily: “People are getting free books and are hurting the poor bookseller! Libraries are stupid because it doesn’t miraculously fix the inequalities of capitalism!” To the side, the text says “Artist’s exaggeration. Don’t take this seriously.” Bottom panel contains Keegan pointing with her thumb at Frank Webster’s Wikipedia page. She says, “I wouldn’t be so hung up if this was some random guy, but considering this guy is so largely quoted and touted in my field of information sciences? Ouch obviously doesn’t cut how much all that stung.”

Page 6 contains an Asian man with a bun protesting banned books. The next panel contains a white woman with a turtleneck reading in a library as a winter storm brews outside. Keegan off-screen says, “While Webster calls libraries ‘censors of society,’ librarians are fighting vehemently against book bannings! And the way he says that public libraries are ‘captured by the better-off section of society?’ Like what, you’re going to ignore how libraries act as comfortable spaces for folks without housing during harsher months?”

On Page 7 a gavel bangs on a panel. “As if that’s not enough, publishers are suing libraries for distributing e-books, calling them ‘direct economic competitors’ when, if anything, they often support these publishers and their authors by buying multiple copies, hosting events and collaborating with local businesses.” As an example, the comic features a scene of a Black woman in a cardigan talking to a white cashier with a shaved head. She says to them, “I just read this at my library earlier and just needed to get my own copy! Can’t believe it took me this long to discover this author!” A panel below, a pair of hands scoops sand and watches it flow from their fingers. Keegan says, “I don’t know. Even in good company, it sometimes feels like the future is slipping through my fingers.”

Page 8 is a pillar of falling sand. Embedded in it is an Apple pencil, a floating feather, and a book. Keegan narrates, “As an artist and a writer, it’s wondering if I’ll be prioritized over a generative AI that doesn’t have to eat or sleep. As a birder, it’s wondering if the backyard visitors I always see at my feeder will end up as myths and taxidermied specimens. As a librarian, it’s wondering if the institutions I often called home will be felled by the swift axe that the invisible hand holds. It’s a weird feeling of perpetual free fall for a drop that is light years away.”

Page 9, Keegan is holding a book to the sky as they read it. They narrate “Learning is a language I’ve always used to make sense of the thoughts I’ve had swirling in my brain. Finding out ‘information capitalism’ was a thing was like learning about the leash that has pulled at my throat since I entered the schooling system. I am learning because I am not a person, but a tool to be put to a trade. The world around me whispers in my ear…”

“Feel wonder if you must, but don’t linger long enough to turn in something too late.” On page 10, Keegan lies on a grassy field looking up with the book on his chest. He narrates, “I can’t deny that’s a message hard to unhear. As of now, I don’t think I remember much before 2022 other than the grades I got.”

On page 11, a hand wipes a bathroom wall with a sponge. The bottom of the page is filled with floating bubbles. Keegan narrates, “This sounds silly, but I was in tears when I heard about the concept of degrowth this past week. It could’ve been the clorox I was using to clean my bathroom, but the toil of my body and mind must’ve come to some crashing conclusion when I listened past what we were assigned.” The quote goes, They’re essentially making the argument that if we stay on this growth path, the only end to that is, you know, our own extinction. They are not just saying it’s not possible. They’re also saying it’s not desirable. It’s the kind of life that you and I ultimately do not want. We don’t want to drown in just stuff. We want to have a life. We want to have time for each other. We want to have time for creative thinking and art and love and kindness.” The quote ends. It comes from Vox’s Blame Capitalism: Degrowing Pains and is spoken by Dirk Phillipsen.

On page 12, Keegan sits in the bathtub with a few tears. Narration goes, “It was just nice that someone smarter than me in this topic wants the same things I do. Time to live and space to breathe. I know it’s not a perfect solution, but it’s one of those moments that culminate to tears when you’re having a rough week. This time, it was the reminder that this doesn’t have to be all there is to it. That there were people echoing my heartfelt belief that the system that tears down those I love doesn’t have to stay.

Page 13. A frog and toad book. “One-sided beef with Frank Webster aside, this unit has bolstered my love for librarianship. As hastily made and rambling this comic went, I realize I feel this strongly because I love this field so much. Against all odds, even as the internet grew to commodify knowledge, libraries adapted to the best of their abilities for their patrons. Why should some British dude make me wonder if libraries will continue to exist? As depressing as learning about capitalism gets, it’s helpful to understand the hand that takes from you. To understand why and how I’ve always been hurt by the systems that be and make sure I can lighten the blow for those who come after. I’ve learned there’s a lot that can come out of being so sad and scared about the future. Sometimes drawing it out (even if you turn in a late assignment) reminds you that there’s still so much ahead. That, and the fact I should probably read Frog and Toad sometime. So, uh, I’m gonna do that now. Bye!"

The references page lists several sources: Frank Webster’s “Theories of the Information Society.” An article by Brewster Kahle called, “The US library system, once the best in the world, faces death by a thousand cuts.” An article by Rachel Kramer Bussel called, “How Libraries Help Authors Boost Book Sales.” And a podcast episode from Vox’s Today Explained hosted by Noel King, titled “Blame Capitalism: Degrowing Pains.” end descriptions.

[all-hallows-street]

Guess whose financial mistake arrived early...

I will give more in depth looks later (I have to work to afford such questionable purchases), but a quick individual review of what I got:

Neil Demon Plushy

Not a plush toys collector at all; my closest reference is the IKEA shark. He is heavier than he looks, very sturdy (?) if that makes sense. Doesn't seem like he will deform any time soon. The details are adorable and I don't see any glaring defects.

All Saints Street Hoodie

Surprisingly large for me. I was worried they only had one size made for the Chinese market. I'm 1.7m (5 foot 7) tall for reference and this is still a bit too big for me. Will likely get too small for anyone over 6 feet tall. The quality is good! Very soft. Velvet interior. I don't know much about shirt stamping, but since it's not in the fabric I'm guessing the stamp might start to crack after multiple washes.

All Saints Street Vol. 1-3 Collection

Now this is something I can talk about more. The sleeve was unfortunately damaged in shipping and the books have very minor damage in the spine and vol 2 has a minor case of dog ears. The quality of the paper is great! It is color paper, not glossy one you see in comic book issues, but it's thicker than the black and white you see in manga. Would still make sure to have a dehumidifier if your storing place is not dry. I've already experienced book wrapping and it's painful.

Each volume contains around 80 chapters with one extra chapter not on bilibili. They also contain a message from Lingzi and WSJ's editor, plus all character bios even for ones we never got one (Enrique, Eduardo ans Anthony). And if a Weibo post is correct some might have been updated from the ones online (Axel grew 1 cm in the book bio).

Of course later I'll look over everything to see if there are any significan changes to make a note of. Also it came with this lol.

I have the Alice in Wonderland art somewhere, I'll post it later as well.

All Saints Street Anniversary Playing Cards

The playing card decks from the 6th and the 7th anniversary. As you can see I haven't opened the 7th, but I got the 6th a while ago on AliExpress so I expect them to be similar.

This is something else I can review more in depth, coming from a family that loves playing poker. The quality of the prints is beautiful, however I keep them in the box all the time because the quality of the cards itself is not good!

The cards feel like store bought cardboard; good playing cards are made out of cardboard, but this deck doesn't have the same treatment. They are so fragile, even by just handling them to get the face cards I've already made slight damage to the edges. I wouldn't play any game with them, much less shuffle them. I don't even want to imagine how much they will bend. Also the Crystal card came with damage (the small white spot on the edge) from the store. Pain.

Anyways. I'll frame the face cards because they are so pretty and I want to keep them in the best condition... I don't know what I will do with the rest of the 36 cards. Maybe practice magic tricks? Lol. Before all this I've been working on how to scan all the face cards and post them, but it's been more difficult than expected. If you have ever tried to digitize prints you will know. Once I have them, I'll post them alongside high quality scans.

When it comes to my review of PandaBuy... On one hand it was an excellent service and experience. On the other... I don't even want to reveal how much the shipping was. I wouldn't recommend anyone else do it unless you are stupid with your money (like me), even then

I would advice to do your own research. PandaBuy and all agents to buy from China are definitely better when you buy in bulk. My package was 'only' 2kg. Many people buy over 10kg to make it worth it. I'm already committed so if new volumes come out I will buy them, and maybe also get counterfeit Gucci shoes or something since that's what most people use this agents for...

That's all for now. Feel free to reply or send any questions you have.

[bookoftheironfist]

hihi!!!

what do you think of an asian danny (comics) ? i know we have pei (whom i adore) but how do you think danny as a character would change? (personally i feel like danny would feel less isolated in kun lun, maybe only dimensional differences, but would face more racism back in america. i think white danny is a better concept, to be torn in half between your nature(america) vs nurture(kun lun) yknow)

<3

Hihi! Thank you for asking!

A few key points, just to start off:

I am not Asian myself, therefore I feel like my opinion on this topic doesn't really matter. (I also don't work for Marvel, so my opinion really doesn't matter.)

At the end of the day, this conversation comes down to the desire for more and better Asian representation across the Marvel Universe, which is obviously something we should all want.

Okay, now, on to the in-universe, Danny-specific stuff:

I would be perfectly happy with an Asian Danny, and I understand the arguments for making that change. I don't personally feel like it's a necessary change in this case, but I do get it, and I do think that the introduction of the Iron Fist legacy was very important; back when he was the first and only person to have defeated Shou-Lao, it was certainly much more uncomfortable that he was an outsider. (I will also point out that the feeling of being pulled in two directions--America and K'un-Lun--is something that he would still experience if he were Asian. Probably even moreso due, as you mentioned, to anti-Asian racism and anti-immigrant sentiments in the US.)

For me, the question is more about whether Danny should be of K'un-Lun descent specifically. Just making him Asian wouldn't make him not an outsider there, and that was the main cause of his alienation as a child. The thing that baffled me about Lin Lie being chosen as the next Iron Fist to presumably "fix" the "problem" of Danny's non-native status was that Lin isn't from K'un-Lun either. He's just as much of an outworlder as Danny, and at least Danny grew up in the city and had family there. (And obviously, that's not even touching on the fact that we already had Pei, who was born K'un-Lun.)

Tucos: "You dare aspire to join the ranks of the immortals of K'un-Lun--!?!" Danny: "I dare nothing, Tucos--I merely am. If I am Iron Fist, it is because the gods--thru Yu-Ti--will it so...and if I become an immortal--it is because they will that as well!" Merrin: "Is that so, outworlder--? How pleasant to see an Earther mortal adopt our ways so...fervently." Iron Fist vol. 1 #2 by Chris Claremont, John Byrne, Michele W., F. Chiarmonte, and Joe Rosen

Kheng: "Stupid orphan couldn't stop a bunch of dogs from turning his mother into breakfast...how were you ever going to face an immortal?" Iron Fist: The Living Weapon #3 by Kaare Kyle Andrews and Joe Caramagna

Yang Yi: "The next Iron Fist should have been one of us. Any of us--even Mei Min. It should have been me." Lin: "I--I didn't call Shou-Lao to me on purpose." Yang Yi: "That's even worse! You stole something that belongs to K'un-Lun and you don't even know its worth. The last Iron Fist was an outsider. So was the one before him. Special enough that the dragon chose them...or callous enough to rip its heart out without respect." Iron Fist vol. 6 #2 by Alyssa Wong, Michael Yg, Sean Chen, Victor Olazaba, and Jay David Ramos

If Danny had been Asian but not from K'un-Lun, the bullying might have focused less on his appearance (he gets called "Snow Pea" and "Snowflake" in Living Weapon), but he still would have been an outsider, an Earther mortal freak, and his bullies would still have been angry that he became the Iron Fist instead of them. If Danny had been of K'un-Lun descent...honestly, I still think he would have struggled to fit in, since he wasn't raised in the culture. Wendell as we know him didn't teach Danny anything about K'un-Lun, and unless we considered the idea of changing Wendell's personality or past experiences, I can imagine that would still be the case if he had blood ties to the city. It would still have been something Wendell spent most of Danny's life trying to put behind him, and Danny would still have been arriving massively traumatized, and even with the knowledge that his ancestors had been from K'un-Lun, I'm not sure how much that would have fixed for him, or for his peers' perception of him. This is a dimension that is extremely difficult to access, and thus a very insular society. They don't get a lot of outworlders, regardless of their race or ancestry.

For the record, it would be easy to give Danny blood ties to K'un-Lun without changing a single thing about his backstory, due to the simple fact that we have no idea where Wendell came from. He was just some random orphan Orson stumbled upon in the Himalayas. It would be very easy for a writer to do a story arc in which Danny found out that his father (possibly even unbeknownst to Wendell) was born in K'un-Lun. Rather than retconning Danny's backstory to make him aware of this from the beginning, I feel like it would be a more interesting approach to have Danny discover a blood connection later on, in the present day. I am always a big fan of explorations of Danny's relationship to K'un-Lun, and this would certainly present new territory in that regard.

Ultimately, though, I agree with you in that I don't feel like this change is needed, or even that it would change much about Danny's character or journey (which I suppose could be an argument either for or against). He would still be that same guy caught between two worlds and not fully at home in either. My personal feeling is that I would rather see characters like Colleen Wing, Pei, Sparrow, Miranda...heck, even Steel Serpent...given more of a spotlight. As I mentioned at the top, what's most important is having strong Asian representation throughout the Marvel Universe, and there are a ton of fantastic, under-used Asian characters within the Iron Fist sphere who I hate to see buried under ongoing debates about this one guy's ethnicity, especially when those debates too often seem to contain incorrect information from people who haven't actually read many of the comics.

Again, thanks for the question! Obviously, this is a very layered and sensitive topic, and having lived through the heated conversations surrounding the Netflix show, it's something that is always on my mind.

[lo-fi-charming]

20 Questions for Fic Writers

got tagged by @milkteamoon! ^^

1. How many works do you have on Ao3? // 176!

2. What’s your total Ao3 word count? // 866,977

3. What fandoms do you write for? // Mainly TMA the last few years; previously, I wrote a lot of OPM fic. I'd say those are easily my two 'biggest' fandoms in terms of being actively involved and writing fic for them. I'll also write fic of other things I enjoy though, so I have a lot of one-shots and short series for other things too!

4. What are your top five fics by kudos? // Sticking with TMA fic for this one, so:

What Lies Beyond the Frame (rated G, jmart) — A minor AU where I give Jon a new Beholding power, letting him see through his glasses when he's not wearing them. One of my earliest works for the fandom! I'm actually surprised to find it at the top of this list.

off-the-clock assistance (rated E, jmart) — An AOB fic taking place during the iconic Martin Living In The Archives era. I wrote this after realizing that other TMA smut fics had taught me I actually DO enjoy fisting as a concept, lol.

The Kissing Game (rated T, jmart) — A lighthearted, Christmas-y fic where Jon, Tim, and Sasha get into a competitive little holiday game of trying to catch Martin under the mistletoe. This one was very fun to write and I quite like how I ultimately wrapped it up.

A Friendly Favor (rated E, martim) — An AU where Tim and Martin are friends with benefits! I used to be very into martim when I first got into the fandom... I do still enjoy them, but we all know where my main focus/energy ultimately started going hehe. This one ended up developing into a tiny series of fics in the same setting.

Sizing Up (rated E, jmart) — Wherein Jon discovers that Martin is a size queen. This one was based off a stupid little comic I drew and is probably the closes I've gotten to writing a 'crack fic', though I wouldn't call it that - it's more in terms of the Energy I brought to writing it? Just doing something with a very silly base concept but taking it (mostly) seriously.

5. Do you respond to comments? // I do sometimes, if I feel like I have anything worth saying! Sometimes I'll respond with a simple 'thank you' or variation thereof if someone says something particularly nice though ;w;

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending? // Kind of a difficult question honestly... I don't really write 'angsty' endings to my fic, even if they do have a darker tone or a lot of angst in the middle somewhere; I'm not really a hurt-no-comfort guy. I also think it's hard to say whether an ending is angsty because it can kinda depend on the perspective of the character(s) and I'd say generally, when I'm doing things as I intended, even if the ending is a bit dark, that doesn't ring as angsty to me?

If I HAD to choose one... maybe when the dream ends, a very old, Sans-centric Undertale fic I wrote where he experiences disorienting dissociation and deja vu of other timelines post-pacifist ending. It has a hopeful conclusion, but still leans heavily on his feelings of detachment, vague depression, and anxiety from feeling like everything around him is impermanent and repetitive.

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending? // Hm, approaching this in terms of fic where the happiness of the end feels earned, that'd probably go to The Taste of Midnight, my witch!Jon AU fic where he has to save his town from a disastrous force (with Martin's help). The final chapter, once the plot is resolved, is very idyllic and fluffy - a nice, pleasant conclusion for all the dramatic stuff that happened!

8. Do you get hate on fics? // I've gotten hate on a fic ONCE, as far as I can remember! It was for Deep V (rated E), a fic where Jon is trans and has dysphoric feelings about his chest, but decides he wants to try improving his relationship to it via kink. I made the mistake of openly asking for feedback on it when I posted it, and one of the more well-known assholes in the fandom (which I would learn after the fact), left a very nasty comment on it basically scolding me for even having written/shared it in the first place. Luckily I got a lot of useful advice and more friendly feedback/encouragement from much cooler people in the fandom, which was very nice and helped keep my feelings towards the fic largely positive! A harrowing but imo good learning experience in the end.

9. Do you write smut? // Yup! I have for a long time. It's generally my favorite kind of fic to read as well as write, though my tastes have been refining the last couple of years. I could write a whole big thing on my feelings about smut fic but I'll refrain this time!

10. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written? // I don't think I've ever written a crossover fic! Right now, the closest I've gotten is vaguely contributing too (and loudly supporting the creation of) a Murderbot/Among Us fic my roomie started a year or two ago. Which I need to continue yelling at them to publish... hehe.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen? // Boy I sure hope not!

12. Have you ever had a fic translated? // Yes, actually! Someone asked for permission to translate my OPM fic The Apron (rated E) into Russian! This is wild to me.

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before? // Yes, I'm actually co-writing one now with my friend V! It's an edited version of a long-going Jondaisy RP called Open Door (rated E). It's been a fun (if slow-going) project; it's an interesting challenge to go through an RP where we're each playing one character's part and try to edit it into a state that makes it more natural to read for others.

14. What’s your all time favorite ship? // Jon/Daisy!!!! You might want to call recency bias, but they are simply Everything To Me that I've ever needed in a ship, actually, it's kind of insane how much of a hold they've taken over me. I look back on my older ships and I enjoy them all very much, but nothing hits the way jaisy does. I fear nothing else ever will... they're my true OTP...

15. What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will? // I have quite a few... A lot that I really want to go back to... Probably my most ambitious and least likely would be And Only Space Stood Between Them, which is an unfinished Oban Star Racers fic that would've involved interplanetary space travel, worldbuilding for a planet and alien species that was only VERY lightly explored in the anime, two protagonists/alternating POVs, a huge cast of supporting characters, an overarching plot amidst a star-racing competition, and a developing friendship/romance(?) between Eva and Aikka. I had SUPER big aspirations for it, and only got to the 4th chapter, when Eva first leaves Earth to head for his home planet. In a perfect world I would write this space epic..... It is my dear wish that... maybe someday...................

16. What are your writing strengths? // I've been told I'm good at writing in-character, which I greatly appreciate as feedback and dearly hope is true. I personally think I'm actually pretty decent at naturalistic dialogue, which I often hear is a difficult aspect of writing for folks. I think I'm generally good at pacing too, and I'd like to say that descriptive imagery is a solid strength of mine, though that's an element of writing often subject to taste...

17. What are your writing weaknesses? // I have no idea if it's a real weakness but I often get self-conscious about my writing being boring or repetitive or trite or something, despite people telling me this isn't the case when I've asked. I think it's just a case of, despite how long I've been writing, I'm still relatively young and have a lot to learn; I'm still finding my confidence in my unique voice and what I'm good at.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic? // At the moment I only feel comfortable dabbling with the inclusion of Spanish, and only because I've been actively trying to learn it for a year. Even then, I basically only use it if I'm writing something with canonically Spanish-speaking characters. As a reader, it's something I really like to encounter when done well! Especially as a way to explore a diverse headcanon for a character.

19. First fandom you wrote for? // Pokemon!

20. Favorite First fic you’ve written? // (I actually misread this question, then decided to keep my first answer, because I'm so bad at picking a favorite fic! Honestly!)

Anyways, in terms of my first fic: it was a Pokemon fic with no main title. It's about a girl named Kim with a Charmander starter. She visits a pokemon center after adopting an abandoned and injured Growlithe, only to realize the center has been infiltrated by Team Rocket, who attempt to steal the Pokemon being healed there. I have an original, printed version of this fic in my stuff somewhere! I've daydreamed about making a comic out of it while keeping all the original narration/dialogue.

Okay, now I tag my dear friends. Obvs only do this if you want to~

@temporalreplicsimile , @callmearcturus, @zykaben, @ostentenacity

[de-vespertiliones]

Can I ask why you don't like RHaTO 2016? I started it solely because the scene of Jason and Bizarro talking on the floor on the first issues did things to my heart the one time I saw a panel of it, but I didn't get much farther. And I like how you talk bout issues

Oh, thank you for the compliment! Apologies for this taking so long. I had to reflect a bit. (For what it's worth, the scene you're referring to is one of my favorite scenes in RHatO and some of the best writing in the entire run).

Some caveats:

I like reading serialized comics, but I'm unpracticed in the art of reading serialized comics, so my structural analyses come largely from analyzing other forms of writing (mostly novels, some TV & film). This means that I might be expressing critiques that are not entirely fair given the nature of the medium.

I read the entire run in a couple sittings last September, so these are generally remembered vibes and not nuanced analysis. I'm open to correction if I've misremembered something.

I actually don't dislike all of RHatO 2016, even though I do strongly dislike some of the canon introduced (this canon is discussed in points 5-6, and thus contains spoilers)

Also, for brevity's sake (ha!), "RHatO" refers to the 2016 version; if I mean RHatO 2011 I'll indicate that.

Anyway, my problems with the run (cut for length):

RHatO doesn't know who Jason is. This is not a "RHatO!Jason isn't who I think Jason should be" critique (though I certainly feel some element of that as well) but rather a "Lobdell cannot decide the basics of who his version of Jason Todd is as a character." In a different run that went through the hands of multiple writers, I'd find this far more forgivable, but barring the tail end of the run, Lobdell is the sole author. Jason is by turns incredibly clever and incredibly stupid in ways that felt contradictory. I had very little sense of what he valued or cared about. Sometimes he expresses great empathy and sometimes he's bafflingly self-absorbed and the only thing that seems to determine these behaviors is what's most convenient for the plot. Don't get me wrong: there are Jason moments in RHatO that I absolutely love, but they're balanced by Jason moments that utterly confound me because I don't understand how this is the same person.

It's not an ensemble book but it's pretending to be an ensemble book. This is a fundamental issue with every iteration of RHatO (including the webtoon) because no iteration of RHatO is written as an ensemble book--Jason is always the main character. RHatO also sort of sets itself up for failure in that regard--Artemis and Bizarro are far less well-known characters with less history than Jason and would require more investment and buildup on Lobdell's part to make them more than just props, but Lobdell doesn't put in the work. Even arcs that ostensibly center Artemis or Bizarro end up feeling flat, especially because so often they operate in service to Jason, The Main Character. (Incidentally, the point when I found Artemis & Bizarro most compelling was when they were separated from Jason and allowed room to breathe and exist).

The emotional core of the story, insomuch as there is one, is between Bruce and Jason and it really, really shouldn't be. Don't get me wrong, I would read a million issues of Jason and Bruce being completely, wretchedly awful to each other, but because the emotional core lies between Bruce and Jason, and also because RHatO is trying to be an ensemble book, and also because Lobdell is very uninterested in crafting a story around an alternate emotional core, whenever the story isn't about Bruce and Jason (which is most of the time) it flounders. I'd say that's fine if Lobdell just wanted to write a fun, dumb adventure book, but the Bruce and Jason bits are too present to ignore, making the whole thing feel very off-kilter.

From a team perspective, I don't understand what Jason adds. The whole run is sold as a "dark trinity," but the role Batman plays in the Wonder Woman-Superman-Batman trinity and the role Jason plays in the Artemis-Bizarro-Red Hood trinity isn't really the same? I feel like I'm supposed think Jason deserves his place on the team because he's The Main Character, but even from a very mechanical powers and abilities perspective I don't get what he's doing there. He's not particularly clever or strategic. He doesn't have the resources Batman does. He's not the brains, especially because later arcs give that role to someone else. If I had to assign him a role I'd say he's the "heart," whatever that means, but I also fundamentally don't buy Artemis and Jason as a team or companions and would argue that Bizarro serves as the "heart" (as well as the brawn) most of the time.

(This section contains spoilers) RHatO introduces the stupidest plot threads and then proceeds to do nothing with them. Willis Todd is alive, for reasons. He's Wingman, who's just randomly part of Batwoman's Bat-Team, for reasons. He's Faye Gunn's son, making Jason Faye Gunn's grandson, for reasons. None of this has any real bearing on the plot but it does create a lot of problems for Jason's canon backstory, whatever it is at this point in time.

(This section contains spoilers) Which also, the fact that it opens with conflict with Black Mask, one of the few rogues Jason has had extensive conflict with as Red Hood, creates a nightmare of what's in continuity and what isn't. My understanding is that UtRH is in continuity, which makes literally everything about the opening act not only nonsensical, but actively confusing.

This is less a critique of the series itself, but worth noting: I generally disagree with how people rec the first half of the run (i.e. the run with Bizarro and Artemis) and not the last half of the run (the Red Hood: Outlaw part). I read the series in trade format so I don't have the issues on hand, but I think RH:O vol. 2 is way more enjoyable (at least when it comes to Jason content) than the middle sections of RHatO.

So I guess I have problems with consistency, character work, storytelling choices, and ensemble writing. I don't with it's a worthless run per se; it's certainly better than other Jason-centric stories, and I love Dexter Soy's art about as much as I dislike Kenneth Rocafort's, so that's definitely a bonus for (early) RHatO 2016. I also don't think Lobdell is a completely incompetent writer, necessarily; he's just lazy, and incurious, and generally kind of a hack, which in some ways makes it worse.

I also don't think anyone is wrong to like either version of RHatO. I am a very brittle reader with specific wants & desires from comics that are usually only ever met by accident. So, obviously, take all this with an amount of salt anywhere between a shaker and a mine.

[justsome-di]

Nobody Ends Up Dead in a Bathtub, Everyone Keeps Their Organs: Chapter 35

Summary: Alex is an ordinary, highly-introverted office worker. He clocks in and out and goes home to his little apartment he shares with his younger sister. He hasn’t dated in years by the time his co-workers set him up on a blind date.

The only issue is he and his date are not on the same page. At all.

While Alex thinks it’s a normal date, Damián is under the impression Alex is a client who paid to be there. No-so-quickly, they realize something is up. It’s all a prank. Damián is a sex worker Alex’s co-workers hired as a sick joke.

After reassuring that they’re both okay, Alex decides he wants revenge for both him and Damián. The plan is to use the stigma of sex work and start a 6-week, scandalous fake dating scheme with a big finale at the office Halloween party. Alex’s co-workers will be too horrified to try to prank him again. At least, that’s the plan.

You can also read this on AO3. If you don’t want to wait for new chapters, the complete story is on Patreon for only $4 with bonus stories! If you’re enjoying the story and want to support me in other ways, consider dropping me a message in my inbox or reblogging this post!

Fun fact about this chapter: on Patreon, there's an extra chapter that goes right before this one

The office had been transformed. Orange and black crepe paper and balloons hung from the walls. A few skeletons sat at desks, posing in a way someone thought was comical. It was still an office, but it was a festive office.

Alex got no joy from it. Not that he loved it all years prior. The decorations were tacky and always sparked some arguments about what was going where. The booze table was the best part of it all, and it filled Alex with such awful, gnawing dread as he watched the bottle slowly drain through the night.

“Damián’s not coming?”

Martin whispered it the first moment Alex was alone with him and Sam. Their sympathy and support would have been much more appreciated if they weren’t dressed in a confusing couple’s costume. Or possibly the same half of two costumes. They were both Luigi, complete with green hats and overalls. Alex preferred to not ask for any insight on their decision.

“We kinda,” Alex waved his hand, “called the whole thing off.”

“The whole thing like your revenge prank?” Martin asked. “Or the whole thing like whatever relationship you two were starting?”

“You two were starting to date for real?” Sam asked. Her voice was heavy with sorrow. Apparently, she was aware of the scheme but wasn’t kept in the full loop of Martin’s speculation.

“It wasn’t a relationship,” Alex said. “I was just paying him to do dirty work with me. We decided it wouldn’t be good to have him here tonight.”

“Shame. I was starting to look forward to the look on Andrew’s face when he saw you two together,” Martin said. “And besides, I was really rooting for you two as a legit couple.”

Alex clenched his jaw. They would have never been a legit couple. Their whole relationship had been based on lies and money. It was stupid to think that anything healthy could have ever spawned from it. Everything after the night at Dorothy’s was enough to prove that Alex wasn’t good material.

“For what it’s worth,” Sam said, “you’re still welcome at our place anytime. Maybe Kris and Clara can help you find someone new.”

“Thanks, but I really think I’m giving up on the whole dating thing. It’s clearly not right for me.”

Martin groaned. “See, this is how everything started. You’re so miserable.”

“Martin,” Sam scolded.

“No, I mean.” Martin tried again. “You put yourself down so much. That’s why Andrew thought of the prank.”

“What? To give me new-found confidence?”

“He made some joke about how you’d probably turn someone down even if you paid them to ask you out in the first place.”

And Alex had proved him right. Great. Just when the night couldn’t get any worse, he had delivered an accurate punchline to a joke after a six-week build.

Alex couldn’t even entertain the idea of being with anyone else. Damián had been so perfect.

When he was putting out candy for the night, he thought about how much Damián would have loved it. The rest of the party planning committee set up Halloween decorations around the office, and Alex was reminded of Damián’s marigolds. Kyle from accounting said they were dressing as Princess Di for the night, and Alex craved a lobotomy and for the universe to cut him some slack.   

He wondered how Damián was doing. If he had physically recovered and if the drugging had taken a large toll on his mental health. He hoped Damián had managed to eat.

Alex’s phone was burning in his pocket. He wanted to text Damián and ask how he was, but he told himself that there was no way Damián would want to hear from him. He had blown his chance at being supportive, and he was starting to regret it. Not for his sake but for Damián’s. He deserved a better support system. But Alex didn’t deserve any second chances.

“No Marcus tonight?”

Alex looked over his shoulder. Andrew was approaching with some woman Alex had never seen before—and would probably never see again judging by the embarrassed look on her face. Andrew was drunk. Messily so. It was quite an achievement as the liquor table had been planned to keep everyone from getting anything more than slightly tipsy. If Alex had to guess, he would say Andrew had snuck in his own booze. Interesting as Andrew’s intentions were only to pre-game at the office and go off to other parties later.

Stu was nowhere to be seen.

“No,” Alex said.

“What? Did he have someone else to date tonight? Couldn’t pencil you in?”

“Fuck off,” Martin said.

Alex’s eyes widened. Sam looked startled but jumped in.

“Yeah, he’s with your mom tonight,” she said.

Alex’s eyes narrowed toward her. He supposed he adored Sam now, but her comebacks could use a lot of work. But it did serve its purpose. Andrew was upset.

“You’re better off without him,” he said, thumping Alex’s chest. “Just make sure you get tested.”

His date looked horrified. She was speechless. Her mouth hung open as she stared between him and Alex and Martin. She tugged on his arm, trying to get him to walk away. Alex felt bad for her.

“Andrew, seriously, fuck off. You’re making an ass out of yourself,” Martin said. “And seriously? Who gets drunk at a work party? That’s so pathetic. Why not go home for the night before you really regret anything?”

“Just because you’re woke all of a sudden, Martin—“

“Shut the fuck up,” Alex snapped. “Do you seriously hear yourself speak? Ever? You are such a narcissistic piece of crap. You don’t know what you’re talking about half the time, and you’re—you’re such a piece of shit. Someone has to tell you that. I’m sorry.”

Andrew scoffed, but he didn’t say anything else. He turned around and started his unsteady walk toward the door. His date was left behind, mouth still open.

“I’m sorry about him,” she said.

“When did you meet him?” Martin asked.

“This week. On Tinder.”

“Yeah, you might want to unmatch with him.”

“I might.” She looked at Alex. “And I’m really sorry if you’re going through a breakup. I just broke up with my boyfriend of two years. I get it.”

Alex politely nodded at the poor woman before she ran off. He hoped she faked sick or made up an emergency to get away from Andrew early.

“I don’t believe anything that happened between you and Damián could have been worse than what Andrew puts women through,” Sam said.

Oh, how she was wrong.

Alex watched everyone around him. Most everyone was in costumes. There were a few fellow people like him who weren’t dressed up at all or sported a headband with ears or horns. But everyone, except him, seemed to be enjoying themselves. It was nothing new.

Alex’s phone buzzed once. He assumed it was Eve, sending him the planned “I caught the kitchen on fire please come home” text. His excuse to leave the party, finally there.

But when he opened his phone, there wasn’t a text. There was, instead, a Venmo notification.

Marcus sent you $625

His phone buzzed again.

I don’t accept full payments that early in advance. It’s unprofessional and ruins my organizational system.

Alex locked his phone. Whatever Damián was scheming, it would have to wait.

His phone buzzed again.

Also, I’m outside. Let me in. It’s cold.

Maybe it couldn’t wait.

Alex pushed off from his desk.

“Where are you going?” Martin asked.

“I have a thing to take care of.”

“Are you coming back?

Alex shrugged.

He slid past a mermaid and a pink guy from Squid Game to get out the office door. He grabbed his coat on the way out and found a window in the narrow hallway to look out of. Damián was standing on the sidewalk, six stories down. He was a speck. But Alex recognized the coat and the way he held himself. His arms were crossed over his chest, annoyed and confident.

“Shit.”

Alex rushed to the elevator. His heartbeat was crawling up his chest and throat and into his ears. Why had Damián come back? Alex had been cruel and made it very clear that he wanted Damián to keep his distance—for his own sake.

The second he stepped outside, a gust of wind slapped him in the face. Damián uncrossed his arms and shoved them in his pockets. His brow, which had been creased, relaxed upon seeing Alex walk up to him.

“Why are you here?” Alex asked.

The overhead lighting that came from the building cast long shadows over Damián. His eyes looked hollow, though they may have looked like that anyway considering everything he had been through. Damián tried his best to stand tall, but Alex could see the subtle way he hunched in on himself, the way his shoulders were rounded forward and the way his chin was so slightly tucked towards his chest.

“Let me talk,” Damián said. “Before you say anything, let me talk. I rehearsed this.”

“Alright.”

“First, fuck you.”

Okay. Alex deserved that.

“How fucking dare you,” Damián went on, though it sounded like his anger wasn’t particularly aimed toward Alex. His words were harsh, but his tone was still soft. “I wanted you to see me the night I was roofied, and you say you never want to speak to me again?”

“I know—“

“I’m still talking. I was vulnerable. Letting someone see me that way was embarrassing. I wanted to see you for comfort, and you somehow interpret this entire past month as you being toxic towards me? What the fuck? Is that how low your self-esteem is? Do you think I had Leo call you as some sort of punishment?”

“No.”

“Then why the fuck would you end things?”

“I don’t know, Damián!” Alex wasn’t one to raise his voice, but it felt like the only way he could get all of his anger out. Anger at himself, at the man who drugged Damián, at everyone who had ever hurt them both. “I got scared! I got scared that I was part of this whole system that gets you drugged like that, and I—“

Alex couldn’t talk anymore. He choked on his tears. Again, he was crying in front of Damián. And he half-expected Damián to step forward and comfort him like he had the times before. But Damián did not. He stayed where he was. It felt right. Damián shouldn’t have been the one doing the comforting.

“You have a thick head, don’t you?” Damián said. “How many times do I have to tell you that you’re not exploiting me? People… do things for power or bragging rights or whatever. And, yeah, they do it to me because they know they can get away with it. But when I take a safe, ethical gig, and you say that that contributes to the whole mess—that feels like you’re saying that my career choice is the reason someone would drug me.”

“That’s not what I’m saying.”

“I know.” Damián finally closed the gap between them. He took Alex by the cheeks. His hands were cold. “I know that’s not what you’re saying, but you’re thinking about this whole thing wrong. I’m a person who works with other people. Just because there are some issues in the industry, it doesn’t mean it’s all rotten. It doesn’t mean I still don’t get value out of the good parts of it.”

“But—“

“But nothing. The good parts of the job are really good. Sex work can be amazing. I get to meet people I wouldn’t have otherwise met. Like you. I’m really glad we met. I’m really glad we’ve spent the six weeks together. And I don’t want that to stop just because you feel bad about what other people do.”

Alex nodded, still crying. He saw Damián’s point. And if Damián had gone all this way to come to see him, then he must have been serious. Words seem to have a deeper meaning when they came only a few short days after trauma, in the cold.

If Damián was willing to give him another chance, then maybe Alex deserved it.

“I’m sorry,” Alex said.

“It’s okay.”

“I didn’t mean it when I said I don’t want to see you anymore.”

“I thought so.” Damián stroked his cheeks with his thumbs, wiping his tears. “I thought we had a good thing going.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. But if anything between us is going to work out, you can't feel guilty about every little thing. And I know that's hard. I know it's hard because we're queer and because I'm a sex worker and because I think we've been conditioned to believe people like us don't get to have happy relationships. But Alex, you have got to try for a happy life. You have to try to tell yourself that you deserve to be happy—because you do."

“I can try.” Alex pulled Damián’s hands away from his face and held them. “But you have to work on yourself, too.”

Damián faltered. Then he rolled his eyes. “Well, usually, I’m perfect—“

“That’s what I’m talking about! You can’t hide behind jokes.”

Damián looked a little caught off-guard. Like he wasn’t expecting the tables to turn on him or for Alex to be so assertive. Alex was still riding the high from telling Andrew off.

“What do I have to work on?” Damián asked.

“You shouldn’t fast for days. It’s really unhealthy. And I know that that’s a lot to deal with, but you’re asking me to work on my anxiety, and I want you to try to work on that.”

Damián was grinding his teeth. “I can try.”

“So, we’re both trying?”

“Yes.”

A shiver ran through Damián. Alex looked behind him. They could still go in for the party and finish off their plan. Or they could just leave. It didn’t feel appropriate to go back up with Damián. There was no point anymore in making a big show about them dating. He wanted to spend the evening with Damián for reasons other than spite. And he didn’t want to bring Damián to a room full of jerks who would only stare in disbelief and disgust.

With the confrontation with Andrew just earlier that hour, though Andrew had left, Alex couldn’t stomach the thought of putting Damián in any uncomfortable environment.

“Do you want to go anywhere else?” Alex asked. “We probably shouldn’t stand out here all night.”

“Can we just head back to your place? I don’t want to be around too many people right now.”

“Of course. But I think we should Uber. You look cold.”

“I’m freezing.”

Poor thing. He had gone all that way to chase down Alex and was going to need to be thawed out by the time they got home.

They sat down on a bench while Alex called for a ride. Damián buried his hands into his coat pockets again. Alex scooted as close to him as he could to share body heat, and Damián leaned into him until there wasn’t any space between them. Alex let him initiate all of the contact, only letting their bodies touch where Damián wanted them to.

“I feel better now that we talked,” Damián said.

Alex did, too. He felt like a weight had been lifted, and he could breathe easily again for the first time in days. Or maybe ever. Though, a little ache that settled in him days ago didn’t let go.

“I was reading all of this shit after I saw you,” Alex said. “I was trying to find help for sex workers who get assaulted.”

Damián’s shoulders went limp. “That’s very kind.”

“But all I was finding were people in forums asking if—asking awful things.”

“Yeah, I know. I know what you’re talking about. It’s whatever.”

“It’s not whatever.”

“It’s not, but—I can’t let some randos on the internet get me down. They’re kinda pathetic for posting that shit in the first place.”

“How do you just go on with your day knowing that people hate you? And for such stupid reasons? For the most brainless, absolutely bullshit reasons?”

“The way I think of it is—I’ve been trying to do all this work on myself. And I really support myself and my career decisions. Deep down, past everything I regret doing to myself, I do love myself. I love myself way more than anyone else can hate me.”

Alex didn’t have much experience loving himself. That must have been part of what had attracted him to Damián this entire time. Damián was a lot of things Alex wished he could be.

And maybe that was part of the problem. Alex had learned to hate himself so deeply, had grown to believe that everything he did was wrong and embarrassing, that he thought the pure act of falling in love with someone had to be wrong.

But he did deserve to love someone. And he deserved to be loved back.

“Damián?”

Damián looked up. As his head turned, Alex took him by the cheeks and kissed him, and Alex knew he had made the right move. For once.

“Wow. Did my tough love really work that well?” Damián’s hands were cold, but Alex didn’t flinch when he wrapped them around his face. “You are full of surprises, Alex.”

He brushed a fallen lock of hair from Alex’s forehead.

“You should have believed me when I said I liked you,” Damián said.

“I still don’t know why you.”

Damián scoffed. “Alex, you’re kind and smart, you’re incredibly down to earth, and you’re very cute.”

Alex scrunched up his nose. “No one’s called me cute before.”

“Seriously?”

“Well, my mom has. But I don’t think that counts.”

“You have very lovely, very big brown eyes. You could make me commit murder for those eyes—“

“That’s extreme. I would never ask you to commit more than light arson.”

Damián laughed. “You’re funny, too. And you have this cute, round face. And I noticed the other week that you have freckles. You’re cute all over. You’re like a little dumpling. I don’t believe that you can’t see it.”

“You shouldn’t be the one comforting me.”

“Well, I gave you the chance to comfort me, and you didn’t take it.”

Alex grimaced. He might as well ask. “Can I have a second chance at it, then?”

Damián sighed, dramatically. “I guess. What would you say to me if I gave you a second chance?”

“I’d ask how you’re feeling. You always check in with me. I should check in with you.”

Damián nodded. “I’m… okay. Not great. Physically, I’m over it, at least.”

“That’s something.”

“It is. It’s something.”

“Can I help? With any of the emotional stuff?”

“You’d be surprised by what simple company can do. Just don’t run away again.”

The Uber pulled up as a violent shiver wracked Damián’s body. Alex began detailing what they could do at home, thinking it should have been his burden to make those decisions for them both. He insisted they eat—that Damián try to eat—and could watch a movie. Eve would be out at her party for a while longer, but when it was over, she and Leo could make their way back, and they could all hang out together for the rest of the night if Damián was up for socializing.

Alex spoke quietly so the driver wasn’t forced to hear every single detail of their plans. All the while, Damián listened to Alex, his head on the headrest, his body relaxing in the heat of the car.

[powertripblog]

Comics, USA Style

Did you know that the United States of America doesn't really have any interest in standardization? You probably did, but sometimes it smacks you in a really annoying way.

Case in point, I have been doing research into comic page sizes to get an idea of what I should follow for Powertrip once I am properly drawing the comic. This might seem like a pretty pointless thing to do for a webcomic, and it really is in the digital realm. However, in the very unlikely circumstance that this comic ends up both popular, and with a significant demand to be printed out physically for people, doing this comic page work in advance could potentially save me hundreds of hours in having to manually fix every page to be printable. So it's not a massive deal technically, but just a concern worth noting if you are ever getting into drawing comics for no one on the internet.

Anyways, the first place I started was simply by looking up "US Comic Page Size". I was aware going into this that US comics are not printed at the same size that other regions are. I want my comic to be as close as possible to something you'd find on a shelf in a comic book store in format, so I need to match them. The weird thing is though, when I was looking up comic page sizes, there was NO consistency. Every single site and template I found had slightly differing measurements. It wasn't even something dumb like a rounding error, these sites all just fundamentally disagreed with each other on the exact size of a comic page. It didn't help that they were giving the size of a PRINTED comic page, which as I found out is not the same as what artists work with when drawing a comic. It's like some really stupid version of House Of Leaves about a comic page that measures bigger on the inside than the outside or something.

So here is the actual deal. When drawing a US comic page, artists will generally start out with an 11 inch by 17 inch piece of paper. In the physical realm they use a heavy, high quality piece of paper called a Bristol Board. As I mentioned before this size is not what you will see on an actual printed comic page. When going to print, the page size is actually quite a bit smaller, roughly around 6 inches by 10 inches (that is rounded up by the way the actual size has like 4 decimals on every number).

Now the second thing to note is how the paper will be cut when going to print. Even though the comic page is reduced in size, there are further cuts made to the paper before it prints. There are three areas on a comic page where this cutting business occurs, those being the Safe Area, the Trim Line, and the Bleed Line. The Safe Area makes up the largest part of the page, and is where most of your art will go. This area will never be cut out by a printer. The Trim Line is where the printer will generally trim your comic. Something to note is that different printers can vary in how they cut this area slightly, so the Trim Line is not an exact point, but a small area instead. Finally, the Bleed Line is where the page WILL be cut off. This area exists for the times you draw full page art. If your art needs to go to the end of the page, you will want to draw it all the way up to the end of the Bleed Line. The Bleed Line is also a small area that extends to the edge of the page, but the distinction from the Trim Line is important.

So with all this knowledge in mind now, we know what we need for our comic. The only thing left is the measurements themselves. Remember this is a US comic, so that means we get to deal with Imperial measurements! So, starting from the edges of the page, the Bleed Line will be 1/2 inch on the sides, and 13/16th inch on the top and bottom (like I said, Imperial). The Trim Line will be 5/8th inch on the sides, and 1 inch on the top and bottom. Finally, the Safe Area begins at 1 inch on the sides, and 1 and 3/8th inch on the top and bottom.

Cool, we got our measurements all measured. The only thing left to mention is that if you are wanting to print out a comic page ever, check your DPI. This is a big deal, and CANNOT BE CHANGED once you start drawing a page for the first time. DPI stands for Dots Per Inch, as in how many dots a printer will spend in ink on every inch of your drawing. 72 DPI tends to be the default in most art programs, and while this is fine for online publishing printing it out is going to leave your comic looking like soup. 300 DPI is the minimum recommended for printing, and most printing companies consider 600 DPI to be the requirement for a high-quality print. I personally am choosing to work in 600 DPI, but depending on how much hard drive space you have this may not be realistic for you to do. Large DPI images will make for large file sizes, and while I am lucky to have a fat 8 TB hard drive, some may not even have 1 TB to work with.

Basically, the moral of the story for all of this is to do your own research. Looking into all this comic page stuff taught me quite a bit about the needs and expectations of physical releases, and will help to standardize my own comic pages going forward.

Oh right, before I forget. The reason I have kept mentioning US Comic sizes is because different regions of the world tend to use different sizes. Europe uses the standard A4 paper for their comics. Manga in Japan are also a different size. I didn't do research into these different sized papers because they weren't relevant to what I am looking for, but if you are in these regions or trying to imitate their comics then it would definitely help you out to look into it!

Anyways, thanks for reading all of this technical, boring rambling. I will go back to more vague concept art for my comic Powertrip after this post now.

[sunnydaleherald]

The Sunnydale Herald Newsletter, Saturday, February 24th

XANDER: So you just went home? BUFFY: What was I supposed to do? Say to Owen, 'Sorry I was late, I was sitting in a cemetery with the librarian waiting for a vampire to rise so I could prevent an evil prophecy from coming to pass?' XANDER: Or flat tire?

~~Never Kill A Boy On The First Date~~

[Drabbles & Short Fiction]

Weekly Drabbles #89 — Her Happy Day by veronyxk84 (Buffy/Spike, PG-13)

Blood Under Our Nails by SomeKindOfADeviant (Spike/Drusilla, E)

i'm like you, right? by bodytoflame (Cordelia & Indira Nunnally, G)

I miss you, I'm sorry by FanFreak611 (Cordelia & Sarah Chase, Cordelia & Spike, T)

A quick detour by Bl4ckHunter (The Trio, Sonic X / Sonic the Hedgehog crossover, T)

A bunch of flowers for Valentine's Day by MissKitty28 (Buffy/Spike, T)

want, take, have by softestbutch (Buffy/Faith, T)

What the Drabble? Chapter 89 by VeroNyxK84 (Buffy/Spike, R)

Lovers' Universe by Harlow Turner (Buffy/Spike/Riley, R)

[Chaptered Fiction]

The Sunnydale Party, Chapter 2 by Cynder2013 (Scoobies, DIE comic crossover, M)

Xander the Teenage Witch: Something Wicked, Chapter 10 by v_o_x (Xander/Larry, T)

surrender your power, Chapter 11 by paperwasp (Buffy/Faith, E)

Raven, Chapter 4 by sparrow2000 (Xander & Spike, G)

Worth Fighting For, Chapter 60 by melodys_muse (Buffy/Angel, T)

Greatest Love Story Postlude, Chapter 5 by FalseGinger (Angel/Spike, M)

With Sprinkles, Chapters 1-32 by dogbertcarroll, Narsil (Xander, Naruto crossover, M)

Amara Time, Chapter 20 by Joan963z (Buffy/Spike, NC-17)

Afterburn, Chapter 16 by Melme1325 (Buffy/Spike, NC-17)

With Sprinkles, Chapter 32 by dogbertcarroll (Xander, Naruto crossover, FR15)

Love Lives Here, Chapter 27 by Passion4Spike (Buffy/Spike, NC-17)

The Day After, Chapter 3 by Maldorana (Buffy/Spike, G)

Resurrection, Chapter 1 by Lady Emma (Buffy/Spike, NC-17)

[Images, Audio & Video]

Artwork: Angel’s tattoo by ghostrabbit87 (worksafe)

Artwork: Angel by Pink Person (worksafe)

Video: Buffy and Angel CROSSOVERS (part 3) - Season 6/Season 3 + COMIC ISSUE "Reunion" dub! by Love Bites

Fanvid: AtS S4/BtVS S7 | I Don't Have to See You Right Now by genericaces

Fanvid: Willow & Oz and Spike & Buffy-At Your Worst (Secret Valentine 2024) by lbchatterbox

Fanvid: Buffyverse | All I Need by Jess Wilson

Fanvid: Darla/Buffy | Running Up That Hill by Light

Fanvid: Buffy & Spike - Catch That Glory (Season 07) by MayEditvids

Fanvid: Buffy & Spike - All About Us by MayEditvids

Fanvid: Buffy vs Faith - Bad Blood by juliaroxs241

Fanvid: Buffy and Angel - 2 Become 1 by juliaroxs241

Fanvid: Spike Buffy Riley - Lovin' Touchin' Squeezin' by juliaroxs241 (creator also posted several other vids)

Vidlet: honestly every slayer fits this song [labour by Paris Paloma] by Demi sadler (Buffy)

Vidlet: buffy by Demi sadler

[Reviews & Recaps]

Video: Buffy The Vampire Slayer Season 1 Review by George Alexander

Video: Once More With Feeling-Slayer Sunday by Jane Talks Buffy

[Fandom Discussions]

I was heartbroken when I heard the news that there will not be a Slayers: A Buffyverse Story Season 2 AmberAddict

For all Buffy the Vampire Slayer did wrong, it did found family right by ammyamarant

the mortal danger is not the issue with [Jenny] by mimsycohen

xander being the one that angel uses for bait by mimsycohen

Do you skip episodes? What's your criteria? continued by vampmogs

Whose side are you on? [Empty Places] continued by multiple posters

Slayers: A Buffyverse Story' Has Been Canceled continued by multiple posters

Rewatch thoughts and questions continued by multiple posters

Sid in puppet show by The Whirlwind

They totally should’ve kept this in! by hthbellhop76

Buffy and faith bodyswitch by AresEli

I had this idea for a Buffy Alternate reality that spawns after The Wish by TheFrostWolf7

Buffy's claims about Harmony in Real Me by Tuxedo_Mark

Something I Noticed In the Finale by contact-stupiditis

Which pathetic insignificant mortal did The Great Glorificus hate the most? Buffy or Willow? by mbene913

Neat bit of continuity between 'Earshot' and 'The Gift' by mbene913

Favorite episode by WasteSteak7194

Going to high school in Sunnydale by Desperate-Fan-3671

Do you have an episode (or episodes) that means something different for you now than it was 10-20 years ago? by SorceryStorm

What do you think is the 'Buffiest' episode? by maycontaincake

What piece of advice would you offer to your least favorite character? by PristineSituation498

Can we talk about how real Buffy was for showing how it took her 3 episodes to get over Parker? by redditwatcher11

Video: Slayers' Audible Drama: Mixed News for Buffy Fans on Spike, Dru & the Buffyverse Ahead! by Examining Kubrick Craven Halloween

Submit a link to be included in the newsletter!

Join the editor team :)

[davestriderascend]

the homestuck reread, pt 6

ive finished it. the main comic, anyway. theres still all the bonus content to slog through and the postcanon stuff, but i finished the main comic, and you know what? i think thats a feat enough all on its own. so heres the recap of the end, from act 6 act 6, on.

heres the previous recap, and heres the first one if youre new.

act 6 act 6s intermissions and subacts works according to similar rules as act 6 acts 1-5. the acts are short and all about homosuck (excepting the last one), while the intermissions are where literally everything else is happening. that said,

Act 6 Act 6 Act 1

this is the beginning of homosuck. its just, absolutely classic homosuck. at the end, caliborn corrupts the game file, creating the glitches that plague most of the a6a6 intermissions. homosuck is, of course, fucking hilarious and meta and the stupid art style lives rent free in my brain and i find myself drawing in it constantly. basically, i had a good time. theres not much else to say.

Act 6 Act 6 Intermission 1

we pick up where we last left off with the introduction of grimbark jade, crockertier jane, and hics plot. the kids have been split up among the planets, and roxy and jake are in jail. john is struggling to control his retcon powers, and hops around time and space mucking things up, while jade tries to chase him down. this is where the big character selection screens and unclickable characters joke really gets going.

Act 6 Act 6 Act 2

this is the section of homosuck where john teleports himself into the narrative and bitches a lot about how much it sucks.

Act 6 Act 6 Intermission 2

this is where things start building up to game over. aranea inserts herself into the narrative. jake goes ultra hope mode. jade dies. jake dies, but gets better. terezi beats the shit out of gamzee. jade joins callie in the furthest ring, and jane might too? idk. tbh, intermissions 1-3 kind of blend for me. which is obviously bc theyre a part of one big overarching narrative.

Act 6 Act 6 Act 3

this is the part of homosuck with the animes. this also may have had some kind of impact on how i doodled growing up. this is also the part where john beats caliborn up. the act ends with the game over animation, which leads directly into the following intermission with no real clear separation between them.

Act 6 Act 6 Intermission 3

this is the part where everyone dies. well, the intermission as its marked on the hs map is literally just condy killing aranea, mostly, but the game over animation leading up to it kills everybody. john is the sole survivor.

The Characters

i think here, therefore, is where i must give my final thoughts on the pre-retcon versions of characters. dave and karkat are a lot closer than i remembered- i thought we as a fandom kind of made that shit up? but they are, in fact, besties. jakes crybaby breakdown in these three intermissions is.... well theres a lot to unpack around jakes ideas of masculinity and how hes sexualized and smarter people than me have done it, so i probably wont. otherwise idk that i have like, super coherent thoughts that are worth getting into.

on the whole, the pre-retcon versions are more dysfunctional, more insecure, and more toxic in their relationships. they dont spend as much time with each other as they mean to, they dont look out for each other as much as they wish they had, and theyre all so insecure all the time about everything, especially the meteor crew.

Act 6 Act 6 Act 4

caliborns tablet is broken, and so hes back to his shitty straight line doodles. the whole act is literally just him bitching and moaning about how hard his life is as a pitiable little guy.

Act 6 Act 6 Intermission 4

this is the one where terezi tells john how to go back in time and fix everything. roxy and john both make deals with their denizens to survive, which means that all other versions of john and roxy will die in every other timeline. roxy has a funeral for rose, vriska and meenah start dating and sort of give up on all of their plans, and terezi and john pitchflirt a lot. this is also the act where jane and jade hang out w calliope and talk about what happened before they woke up w her.

The Characters

something i thought was worth noting is that in this intermission, both jade and jane confess that grimbark and crockertier essentially removed their consciences and allowed them to follow through on thoughts or desires they usually wouldnt express- meaning a lot of the nasty things they say are their actual feelings, deep down. theyre both really ashamed of it all, particularly because they meant the things they said. i think reviewing these sections of hs will be really important for character analysis relating to the two of them.

we also learn that roxy just like. really likes funerals, for some reason. it feels like a mirror of dave, and daves interest in dead things.

Act 6 Act 6 Act 5

this is the claymation homosuck, that tells the story of the juju said to defeath le and how le came to be. this is also where that big stupid animation involving illuminati and le's timeilne comes from.

i remember when homestuck ended that whole juju thing was like, the BIGGEST plothole left behind that made everyone nuts. how did they get in the juju??? DID they defeat le??? how did they get to a point where they could do that?? when tf did they all go back in time and fight caliborn like that??? the epilogue tried to answer these questions, but with how much success is largely up for debate.

Act 6 Act 6 Intermission 5

vriskagram. this is the part with all of those reunion conversations, with the plans to take out the bosses, with the sprite prototypings, with meenah and (vriska)s breakup, with tavros assembling an army, with the pre retcon terezi and vriska finding each other in the afterlife, with caliborn approaching his denizen, with jade, jane, and callie finding alt callie and waking up (callie coming back to life), and with the kids splitting off into groups to finally take on the bosses. everything right up until collide is right here.

The Characters

i have to comment on this. post-retcon, the kids are so much more... mellowed out. theyre in healthier, stable relationships, theyve matured a lot, they talk through their problems, and the nature of the act in general is such that the jokes take a backseat to genuine feelings and reunions and elaborating on relationships weve been waiting to see the payoffs for for ages. its setting up for closure, and it makes the following act hit so much harder for sure.

in retrospect, i think this is probably part of the reason so many people were averse to the epilogues. i genuinely dont think the tone of the epilogues is significantly different from early hoemstuck, its classically hussie in a way that i never questioned reading it for the first time, possibly bc in addition to reading hs i had in fact also read ps, jb, and bq, so id just been exposed to more of it. i also revisited logs a lot, and i think most people didnt. instead, their last and strongest memories of hs was this incredibly sincere, sweet act, which is really a MASSIVE outlier.

anyway, things that i thought were of note: jake hates crowds. not only is he really uncomfortable, but roxy backs this up by commenting on how reluctant he was to spend time w the whole group in their session, and john makes a similar comment about jades gpa liking his space so much that he moved to an island.

dave tells dirk that he hasnt told anyone else about his bro and never would, including karkat by name. he feels that dirk is the only one he really can talk to about it, and the only reason he spoke to dirk about it in the first place is bc dirks existence is just uniquely distressing enough to trigger a breakdown where he blurts it out. also on the topic of dave, i think dave first mentions paleontology pre-retcon, rather uncertainly, as something he could have gotten into but never did, to the point where hes not even sure if paleontology is the right word to describe his interest. as the comic goes on, he seems to become more confident in asserting that he wouldve liked to become a paleontologist.

callie, terezi, and jade all struggle with feelings of insecurity and worthlessness, either because they feel that they have no purpose, because they feel empty somehow, or because they feel secondary to an alternate self.

despite dvekat """""officially"""""" getting together in post-canon content, theyre alluded to being together in this act, with terezi and vriska stating that theyve settled into some kind of quadrant, japrose saying karkat has a matesprit, and daves intense aversion to answering any questions about romance, suggesting that he may be in a relationship and too embarrassed to talk about it. theres room for debate, i guess, but it really read to me like they were already together and just quiet asf about it.

anyway my favorite conversation in this act is by far the one between roxy, rose, and kanaya, and rather than even say shit about any of them i am just going to insist that you (by which i mean future me, probably) give it a reread bc its the best.

Act 6 Act 6 Act 6

collide. easily my FAVORITE flash animation in homestuck. i actually still have my old shirt that has the collide frame of dad punching through the brick, though its so full of holes ill have to repurpose it now. the rest of the act is everyone meeting up post battle and getting ready to receive the reward. ngl this act made me legit cry its just. SO good. the fraymotifs are awesome and the battle feels difficult and long without being boring, and there are so many genuine moments of emotional sincerity mixed in with punchy, exciting scenes. its just great, and the art is fantastic. i have a new pfp locked and loaded, believe it.

Act 7

act 7 is a single animation wherein alt calliope blows up the green sun, the universe tadpole becomes a frog, vriska and the ghost army unleash the second weapon, caliborn defeats his denizen and gains his le powers, wv and pm toss the rings in a volcano, and we get a preview of how earth c has developed.

the animation in this act is gorgeous. god, its so fucking stunning. the movement is so smooth, and the particle effects were really impressive. also, the tadpole was so cute.

Credits/Snapchat

theyre fucking cute. there isnt much to say, because there isnt much there. the last little plot mess with jane and the moon exploding has never made sense to me and likely never will. i get headaches trying to figure out why hussie released these if they wanted to also release the epilogues, given that they directly contradict each other more often than not. moving on.

Final Albums

during all of this time, no albums were released. however, directly after the end of hs, three were.

Collide

collide was previously my favorite album. what can i say? the music goes hard. yes its just the songs that are in the collide animation, but who cares, and also go fuck yourself. i am a really big fan of oppa toby style and just how fucking. fundamentally toby it is, god. however, heir of grief is literally my favorite homestuck song in existence period. its so bittersweet and yet the sound is so full and and the ups and downs of it are just really potent. plus, guitar is my favorite instrument and i really like the guitar in this :)

Act 7

its literally just the singular song used for the act 7 animation. i mean, its a good song. but it is literally just one song. weird that they gave it its own album tbh.

Vol 10

MY NEW. FAVORITE. ALBUM. there is not a single solitary miss on here. reading through the track commentary, its obvious that this album was created to be an ode to the end of homestuck, to show how far weve really come. it remixes so many classics, and for many of the artists who worked on this album, it was a chance to revisit stuff theyd done before and show how much theyd grown since they started out. every single song is so full, moving and beautiful and breathtaking. its the most polished album by far. i dont think i can pick a favorite song because theyre all so good. the album also wraps up in the most perfect and bittersweet way, and its just. ugh. this was such a perfect way to end.

Final Thoughts

it holds up. i mean, yeah, it has its fucking problems. however, hussie manages to capture the feelings of being a teen growing up on the internet so fucking well, and no one, ever, has written young girls like hussie has. i cannot think of a single comparable female cast in anything. there are so many really potent and genuinely touching moments alongside so many hysterical ones, and you know? i think we really forget how ahead of its time hs was in terms of gay rep.

hs was the first time i ever saw a gay couple get together in media. it was the first time i ever saw two guys kiss. it was the first time i ever saw a nonbinary character! rose and kanaya started flirting in the first few acts, and they not only survived until the end, but got married and raised an entire generation of kids. never before had i ever found myself shipping a queer couple that became canon. so its always gonna hold a special place in my heart, really.

but yeah, against all odds, i actually really enjoyed my reread. there were some rough moments, in terms of like, major bigotry hussie has and wrote in, but overwhelmingly its easy to remember why this had such a stranglehold on my life for like. idk, five fucking years? more?

my opinions have shifted around some, though, as ive gotten older.

i think, on my first read, my favorites list wouldve looked like this:

the kids: dave was my favorite, unequivocally. i think ive mentioned this before, but i imprinted on him instantly like a baby bird. i was inexplicably obsessed with davesprite and abro, also, to the point where i liked them even more. i think dirk and his splinters were favorites of mine mostly just because i viewed them as dave 2, the sequel. i liked john a lot while reading, but lost interest as the comic went on (i regained that interest much later). i always liked rose and roxy, but a large portion of that was due to their relationship to the striders.

the trolls: i imprinted on vriska instantly. she felt like the answer to the rep id been searching for my whole life. there has never been another female character like her, and there may never be again. i have always loved her and i will defend her to the death, however, after finishing my read, i never did engage w much fancontent. sollux was another early favorite of mine, though he was in hs so little that my passion sort of faded with enough time. karkat, conversely, grew on me progressively, starting as a character i was indifferent about and becoming probably my favorite troll. i was pretty attached to eridan, and violently outgrew a brief gamzee apologism phase. i liked kanaya, but she grew on me even more with time, as did aradia. equius i discovered a sudden passion for years after reading the comic for the first time.

dancestors/ancestors/guardians: ugh. ugh. i dont even remember my favorite dancestor. i dont wanna think about it. i was really fixated on them but moreso than liked them i think i just hated everything everyone had to say about them and had to be right always. my favorite ancestors were psii, dualscar, and the sufferer, and i dont want to even talk about the shipping i was up to. my favorite guardians were very obviously the bros. goes w/o saying.

carapacians: i thought droog was the coolest mc member for some reason, and itchy and crowbar were my favorite felt members. could NOT tell you why. ar and wv were my favorite exiles. i think i just thought ars little outfit was sick. i dont have toe xplain why i liked wv, everyone likes him.

pesterlogs: i recall once claiming that The convo between hal and dirk was my favorite. i also know i was a very big fan of anything erisol said ever (and sollux, similarly). however, i dont think i had one.

ships: i was a really hardcore drkjake shipper (all splinters included) while i was reading, which branched into an interest in johndve with enough time. i got big into just about every combination of eridan, sollux, karkat, and dave (sprites included), except solkt, and eventually i got rlly into aradve, dvejake, and jhnhal/johndrk. i am censoring to keep myself out of the tags. i think, in most recent years (prior to my reread), my faves were eridve, dvekat, and jhnhal?

current fave list, post reread:

kids: rose. rose rose rose. i adore her so much. roxy is a close second. there was a moment where i prefered jake over roxy, in those really early a6 acts, but she came right back in strong and reminded me why i adored her so much. hal is also very high up there. not dirk- just hal, because all of his conversations are literally so funny. john is great and i love him, my feelings about him really havent changed at all. the striders on a whole were a lot less interesting to me on my reread, though, and now theyre the characters im mostly just invested in for their connection to the lalondes. ive conquered whatever toxic masculinity i was battling when i first read hs and come out loving wizards. feminism wins.

trolls: vriska remains the og. she is still iconic. no one is doing it like her. i wont suffer argument. sollux is also still fucking incredible. my feelings about both of them havent changed in the slightest. kanaya was one of my faves this reread, and i think i really just didnt appreciate her the first time. she has such a great dry wit, and there are so many really cute, very touching moments with her. i think other than those three, i have discovered a new love and respect for equius and nepeta. i am still probably not normal about eridan. karkat, like the striders, was less interesting to me this go around. i still like them, dont get me wrong, just not as passionately as before.

dancestors/ancestors/guardians: my favorite guardian is johns dad (and also janes, bc theyre like, the same person). johns relationship w his dad is just so important to me. i couldnt give LESS of a shit about the ancestors. ive outgrown it. im different. im better now. but unofrtunately, kankri is...... sighs. probably my favorite dancestor now. hes just. so fucking funny. pray for me.

carapacians: jack is the best, period. dunno how i ever thought differently. cd is probably my second fav mc member now, just cuz hes a funny little dude. crowbar is my fave felt member bc hes the only interesting one, ig? but i dont care that much. wv is my favorite exile.

pesterlogs: every single convo between hal and jake was my new favorite for a long time, basically, up until that roxy rose and kanaya convo came up out of the blue and smashed that to pieces. definitely my favorite. its like, the perfect culmination of all of the things i love about all of them, all in one place. however, honorary mentions go to vriskas speech about being a hero, which has lived in my brain rent free since the first time i read it, and also probably The conversation between dirk and hal, bc lets be real it is pretty sick.

collide is my favorite flash animation by far, heir of grief is my favorite song, and vol 10 is my favorite album, as ive mentioned

ships: i am now an insanely hardcore haljke fan. that is most of whats come out of this tbh. i still think eridve is hilarious for no real reason i can explain, and halqius rules. arquius<>davepeta i also have strong feelings about suddenly. pay absolutely no attention to the fact that these are 75% hal ships he is just really shippable ok. butyeah mostly when ive freshly read something iactually. dont care that much about ships? that tends to come later, with too much time spent in the fandom. im sure ill be obsessive about some roxy or rose ship in a year from now

but yeah i think. those are all of my thoughts for now!! and i will just continue to chug my way through the bonus content, and probably make recaps about those eventually. if you read all of these thanks for coming along on this wild little ride. i am genuinely SHOCKED i finished the main comic in less than a month. and relieved, also.

[adultswim2021]

Cowboy Bebop #23: “Brain Scratch” | April 3, 1999 | S01E23 Adult Swim premiere: November 12, 2001 - 12:30AM 

Okay, so way back when Adult Swim started I immediately turned my back on Cowboy Bebop for being anime and especially for not being 4 more repeats of Space Ghost Coast to Coast. So I didn’t really on-purpose watch it at all. But the closest I got after turning the first episode off after five minutes was when I watched the last stretch of this episode, context-free. I saw an old man’s face on a bunch of TV screens smugly saying things like (insulting, slightly gayer mimic) “do you know why man believes in god? (long pause) because he wants to.” or “god didn't create humans... it is humans that created god!” while ominous music played. “You see TV has become the new religion” SHUT UP! SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP YOU PRETENTIOUS FUCKING ANIME BULLSHIT. 

It’d liken it to the time when I was under the influence of a COOL ADULT I knew who said All in the Family was lame and preachy and completely overrated. I sampled a single episode on TVLand and it was exactly those things, with an overly simplistic MONEY CAN’T BUY HAPPINESS message that was constantly punctuated with Rob Reiner furrowing his brow thoughtfully at Archie being too STUPID and CONSERVATIVE to understand it all. I drew this comic about it:

Later I downloaded all of All in the Family in MP3 form and listened to them instead of podcasts and you wanna know what? I fucking LOVED IT and thought the show was brilliant and hilarious, all because I didn’t have to look at Rob Reiner scowling. My point is my impression of anime was that it would be exactly as pretentious as this episode is. I happened to catch the one single scene from the show that would reinforce those ideas THE MOST. 

Well, I appreciate this show more now. This episode is fine, I guess. I do still think it’s pretentious. I think there was an episode of Duckman that was more insightful than this that had the same message. TV controls people, they worship it like a religion. Sure. But it’s also cheap hedonistic fun, and what am I gonna do? NOT WATCH IT? Hell, I have TWO TVS going right now as I speak. One is a B&W dailies monitor I bought at a yard sale for 5 dollars. I had to buy an RCA adapter that was 6 dollars to hook up a VCR to it and now I play random tapes on it. I just think it’s cool looking. Sorry, I just realized I haven’t used my tumblr to brag about my B&W monitor yet. I could sell it on eBay for $50 bucks, easy, but I’m not gonna. What was I talking about 

This one is about a guy who is selling a religion where you can allegedly upload your soul into a computer or something, and live digitally. 1000s have seemingly committed suicide for this process. BUT COULD IT BE REAL? And why is the head of this religion unreachable? He appears on TV to hawk his cult on a daily basis. It turns out he’s using the brainwaves of a comatose guy, basically using him like a battery and he’s just a max headroom on a screen. I think. Then he says pretentious stuff to Spike while they kill him. Obvious reference I didn’t realize until this very moment: Heaven’s Gate. That guy. Remember that shit? I do, because I was just becoming an extremely online guy at the time and I remember that being maybe one of the most famous websites out there. I remember the official Monty Python website redesigned their site to parody it, and thinking it was so funny. I recall going to the actual site out of morbid curiosity and my mother freaked out and thought I was going to become a cult member, and I remember feeling like insanely insulted by that and getting into a big fight with her. I don’t even believe in Christian god, you idiot!!!

I like the first act, where they are flipping through TV channels and stuff. All this stuff is strong. But I still think this episode is a little lame and goofy, the same way I did when I stumbled on it in 2001 and s’d my damn h. At it. But, it didn’t piss me off, and that’s worth something. 

[corhore]

Enjoyed those master posts you did for She-Hulk, Wonder Woman and X-Men. When you have the time would you be able to make one for Catwoman? Thanks.

I'm not as well versed with Catwoman as the others mentioned, but I do know a thing or two about a thing or two.

Catwoman: When in Rome

Jeph Loeb's spin off/side story to his Long Halloween stuff is pretty great and also art by Tim Sale is stellar. She also appears in Batman Long Halloween and Dark Victory so if you want some more Selina by this duo check those out.

Catwoman by Jim Balent.

Some 90s cheese for ya. Its not her best comics, but it has that 90s charm you can't get anywhere else.

Catwoman by Ed Brubaker

This.

This right here.

A+. Top tier Catwoman comics right here boy. Brubaker wrote the best Catwoman book by a large margin. Plus with some art by Darwyn Cooke and Cameron Stewart you honestly can't find better comics with Selina.

Gotham City Sirens

DC finally put the evil gotham women in one book and its pretty decent. The first half is written by Harley creator, underrated Batman writer and fellow Zatanna enjoyer Paul Dini and is a fun ride with Gotham's fearsome fatals. Also how the fuck has DC never relaunched this? Are they stupid or somthin? (answer: yes)

Catwoman New52

Imma be real with her and this might come off as shocking, but....New52 was kinda bad. I know utterly surpising. Anyway Catwoman New52 isn't great. I'd even say its kinda bad. Though I will say it does get decent at volume 6 so if your interested in this era of DC Selina I'd say start from there.

Batman by Tom King

Listen. I know what your thinking. Tom King's Batman isn't exactly flawless. In fact some of it is absolute trash. However its not with its high moments.

King's Batman is best enjoyed reading specific parts of. War of Riddles & Jokes, Cold Days , Annual #2 and Super Friends are legitimately fantastic. Now what does this have to do with Selina? Well she appears very regularly in this book. Unfortunately the way King writes Selina and Bruce's relationship is...grating if not annoying. And also unfortunately Selina appears in the worst of this book (remember the wedding?), but she does appear in eh previously mentioned Super Friends arc which is guaranteed to put a smile on your face.

However at times you might find yourself absolutely hating Bruce and Selina as a couple cus King just writes it like.......that.

So yeah.

Catwoman (2018)

In 2018 Joelle Jones re-launched Catwoman and...its boring. Good art, but boring. Its not until Ram V took up writing is when the book gets good. So if your gonna read this read V's stuff.

Batman/Catwoman

Another Tom King book. And just like his Batman this one is mixed. It has pretty much all the issues his Batman run has so if you hated that book this won't change your mind. The thing that makes this book interesting though is that its non canon (that is until DC decides it isn't) so it has some unique stuff happen in it so....eh I guess its worth reading I suppose.

Das about all I know. Happy readings.

[latveriastrong]

cw // personal stuff, child neglect and emotional honesty and all that kind of thing

.

.

.

.

My mother left when I was 6. I didn't mind it terribly, she'd made it clear I was an unwanted burden from about age 2 and, idk. The term "wire mother" comes to mind. I still don't really feel anything about it, she was simply an absence to my life. Children adapt.

I understand now that she had a lot going on. Still sucked, but I understand it. I was born with a heart defect and a sickly child is... can be a struggle, even for the most stable of parents, who desperately want them.

I used to practice staying quiet and pretending to be one of my stuffed animals. Don't recall if it was her idea or mine, but I got real good at it. I could just disconnect from myself for hours, playing in my head.

I wouldn't say I was poorly socialized by school age, so much as like, semi-feral? My older brother took it upon himself to teach me how to interact like a normal human. He had dyslexia, like me, and ADHD, and a comic book collection.

Cloth mother.

He was of mixed descent, Black and Latino. His father, like my father, had a "year-round tan," just of a different shade.

My mother was white. Irish, she insisted. I believe the family may actually have Romanichal roots in the UK, but they weren't Irish. We don't know her real surname, so nothing can be researched.

Anyway. My first word was my brother's name. We were close. And I wish there were a happier ending there, but yeah. He died trying to break up a fight, I don't like to get into the details. I don't fully understand them.

I think, though, that if you have enough things taken away from you often enough, you lose the ability to share your toys and play nicely.

I wasn't taught better. Without meaning to, I was taught that life is a giant schoolyard where you either learn to fight dirty and hold your precious things close to your chest always, or have nothing.

This whole stupid baring of my soul on here thing is like. Mostly hormonal, maybe (I have been listening to Neko Case for 48 hours, please send help) but also part of something that struck me like a tire iron on my way to work this morning: I internalized that who I am as a person is essentially unlovable at an early age. That I had to give something to be seen as worth anything. Ideally while doing a song and dance number so no one got a peek at the Actual Me under all the noise.

I don't think that can be true, though, if I also feel that all humans have an innate and immutable worth. If your compassion doesn't include yourself, it's incomplete, right?

I deserved to have a childhood. Buying things as an adult doesn't fix the absence of that. It doesn't replace what's missing. In some ways it just makes me angrier? But mostly it feels like a grim fuck-you to a wire mother who couldn't possibly care less. As empty a gesture as they make 'em.

So I'm gonna try playing with my toys instead, as an adult person, because I like that and it's fun.

This might be the first fully genuine post I've ever made here. I don't know how I feel about that. It's not meant to "fix" anything, address anything, it's just. Me, I guess? Wanting to exist and be seen. Hello, world! Something like that.

ETA: I know I've generally used "Hex" and I still prefer it, but I've always quite liked the name "Michael," if I had to choose a real person name, a legal one, it would probably be that. I'm just scared to say so irl ever bc it has baggage for others in my life. So, yeah. Just "Hex."