#this comic page is an example of possession

[obsidian-art04]

Haha, oops

Have an out of context smp content for your enjoyment

[yanderenightmare]

head cannons for what being Gojo and Get's shared little captive housewife darling would be liked? ples

Gojo Satoru & Geto Suguru

TW: yandere, captive reader

gn reader

They’re both awfully cuddly. Always wrapping their lanky arms around your waist and slugging their bodies against you, tugging on you and swaying you against them in a way it’s hard to keep balance, making it impossible to do anything but stand there and try and hold your weight as well as theirs.

Satoru is the worst of the pair, though – constantly ignoring whatever you’re doing in favor of picking you up and cuddling you on the couch when he feels like it – which is almost always when he’s home. Not that you do much else but humor them. But still, it’s annoying being in the middle of a chapter only for the pages to flap close when Gojo picks the book out of your hands, throwing it aside unceremoniously – his blue eyes pleading at you like a puppy, feeling ignored and pouty – asking you to play with his hair instead. He’s already laying himself against your chest with a smile and giddy laugh before you can as much as try and refuse.

Suguru is more respectful of your hobbies in that aspect. He’s usually the one that procures books and such for you. Always happy to discuss your thoughts. But sometimes, you suspect he gives you tricky reads just for the chance to explain them to you. He’s a little patronizing that way. Smiling while prying for your thoughts, offering a soft chuckle when you fess up and tell him it was a little beyond your abilities. 

Satoru feels left out when the two of you talk about books. He doesn’t read. But just to feel included, he’ll dump a stack of his old comics in your lap. He’s such a spoiler, though, and will tell you the entire plot and ending before you’ve even peeled a page open. He’s more of a movies and shows person. Forever in his childish ways, he’ll dib a character to represent him whenever the three of you are watching something – getting real pouty if the character ends up dying, almost to the point he’s completely disinterested in the rest of the story.

Both are shit cooks with appetites beyond your understanding. You never make enough, and it always ends up with the both of them whining for seconds. They have a bit of a maid kink the two of them. Waiving a pretty little white ruffled apron at you whenever they’re hungry – insisting on helping you tie it around your waist and neck in pretty bows. It always makes you feel a bit ridiculous.

It doesn’t make it any better that when you cook, there’s always one of them supervising. Not helping out, mind you – just watching and waiting, licking their lips when it starts smelling good – asking for taste tests like children. Often with big hands draped over your stomach and a chin either resting in the nook of your neck or atop your head. 

Satoru’s chattier than Suguru, but Suguru is better at asking you about your things. He’s a little more considerate of your feelings, making sure you’re as comfortable as you can be locked inside all day. That being said, he’s the tougher one when it comes to saying no to things as well. For example, you’re better off testing your luck with Satoru if you want to go outside.

You feel, for Satoru, it’s not too much about protecting you. You don’t think the guy knows what fear feels like. It’s more about coveting you. He’s possessive, prone to jealousy, and easily enraged – you remember from when the three of you were a somewhat normal throuple with somewhat normal boundaries. For him, this arrangement is just a whole lot simpler, keeping you away from anything that might inspire him to feel anything he doesn’t like.

Whereas with Suguru, you’re sure he’s actually scared something might happen to you, and that’s why he insists on keeping you inside. You’re only just a small thing, after all, with no cursed energy to talk about. You might become a target for their enemies if they’re not careful enough. Out there, you’re the greatest weapon against them, their greatest weakness. And he fears for the world when he thinks about what he and Satoru would do if they lost you.

Neither of them seems to care that it’s unreasonable.

[hana-no-seiiki]

Are you familiar with Ms Marvel (Kamala Khan)? What about Yandere Platonic Batfamily with a reader who is basically like Kamala (Comics ver).

Just imagine how hilarious to find that their Fangirl knows their identities and made a few fanfics about them. Like for example-

Red Hood vs The Monster truck possessed demon!

Batman and Robin vs Evil Sewer lizard's from another world!

Nightwing and the Smog-Breather!

Y'know just Fanfic writer who's also a superhero.

Also I love your content. Make sure to take breaks!

YANDERE BATFAM W/ MS MARVEL! READER

“Just to make sure. . . You’re totally Damian Wayne right?”

“What-“

“Cool! That means Batman has to be Bruce. And the robins…”

You may or may not have been knocked out during your first encounter with one of your favorite heroes. By Robin himself.

Look, Damian doesn’t usually knock out innocent civilians like they murdered his cat or anything but you were a liability and a half.

Yeah, maybe revealing that you knew everyone’s identities wasn’t a good idea.

Besides Damian was kind of iffy about you since you were feeling up his body when he swooped in to save you.

(Turns out you were just confirming your theories but still)

Now the surveillance started mostly due to your uncanny encyclopedic knowledge of the Batfam and basically every other hero and villain out there.

Once they figured out you were basically harmless and just needed to get a better filter when it comes to things you say, you were mostly home free.

The thing is, the Batsons might have formed an obsession with you. Since you’re asking a yandere blog here, it was definitely not healthy.

They liked the idea of someone knowing them in and out. You’ve had competitions with Tim to figure out who knew the other better while Bruce and Damian just deadpanned in the background.

Dick loved entertaining your ships and headcannon questions. Bruce was more reluctant but found it to be a great way to incentivize you to behave and work with him better.

Jason just adores you. You’re the only younger sibling that isn’t stuck up or reminds him of his low self esteem and struggle to be a good vigilante. He was definitely weirded out at first but grew to be like Dick and definitely fuels your fan habits. Both guys definitely not so subtly strip in front of you sometimes so you can get more “reference” material.

Which brings me to the next point, who you choose to write or draw on your blog definitely gets discussed. Your blog’s every post is actively monitored at all moments. I wouldn’t be surprised if Bruce installed a large monitor in the Batcave just to watch over it.

Him and Tim definitely analyze your stats and help you with growing your blog. Watch Bruce spend thousands of dollars to get your page everywhere (subtly cause the first time he did it, you were so embarrassed you refused to talk to him for a week). Alfred works as your personal assistant when it comes to timing/scheduling your posts and making sure you tag them properly + have the most aesthetic formats.

Anyways, back to the discussing your posts thing, you learnt to make sure your posts, heck even your drafts, are all equal when it comes to who it features. Otherwise prepare to get overwhelmed with love bombing.

It took Damian the longest to warm up to you, but when he realizes how much you mean to him there’s no turning back. It starts from him unconsciously humoring your questions to full blown out debates over how he’d definitely win in whatever battle you pit him in your fanfics.

Speaking of fanfics, Damian loves to blackmail you about them. He’s the type of brother to love tormenting you about your totally ‘weird hobbies’ while simultaneously reading every piece of literature/art piece in your blog as if you’re bringing out the modern bible and he’s a staunch believer in the God that is you.

He then proceeds to critique your art and written works if not outright bash them.

You’d have been in tears from the essays he writes about you if you didn’t already know it was him.

(Tim told you.)

Now when your powers awakened, you went from that one sibling that knew way too much to almost an essential part of their team.

Almost because every time you were allowed to go out, someone had to be on “mouth guard duty” for when you accidentally spill what you know.

(It’s usually Tim or Bruce)

You worked a lot with Bruce during those times. Who definitely flexes the hours you two spend in comparison to the batsons.

He doesn’t mind it if you get distracted by the boys, though.

Really, he’s glad you haven’t asked how your family has been doing or when you’re going home.

‘Cause he’d have a lot of explaining to do.

General Batfam Taglist: @the-sander-fander

[homestuckreplay]

Violin Concerto in the Key of Meteor Strike: Who Is Rose Lalonde?

Character Deep Dive 2 - 6/2/2009

Homestuck’s narrator formally introduced us to John Egbert right as the comic opened, but our getting to know Rose Lalonde has been slower and more natural. From her earliest conversation with John on p.63, to her becoming a ‘playable character’ of the comic on p.139 when she and John begin playing Sburb, to our switch to following her in person actions on p.214, we already knew a lot about Rose before we had her name and list of interests. She’s just as weird as John but with a spooky gray filter applied, she’s a regular kid who will probably summon a demon, she’s an absolute control freak who’s still kind of a failure at video games, and she is our second Main Character, set up as a contrast to John as well as a friend.

Much like with John, I’ve used Rose’s list of interests to group the information we know about her, and to discuss her relationship with the other characters and with some themes of the comic so far.

Essay below the cut - about 3.6k words.

Quiz here - 13 multiple choice questions.

1. You have a passion for RATHER OBSCURE LITERATURE.

If this was the first thing we learned about Rose, I might see her very differently. I’d definitely take her more seriously. But I saw her destroy the plumbing and put the bunny back in the box, so learning this now comes off very differently.

With John’s ‘passion for REALLY TERRIBLE MOVIES’, we were given posters to illustrate his taste, and based just on critical reception, ‘really terrible’ is a huge oversimplification. So we know that the narration isn't completely objective, and we know from other clues that Rose's interests in psychoanalysis and games are fairly surface level, which makes it an easy leap to ‘Rose reads a lot of HP Lovecraft and thinks of that as way more obscure than it is because she’s 13 and gets book recommendations from forums’.

There are two posters on the left of Rose’s wall that could be book characters - they look like amateur art of regular, non-tentacled people. I wonder if they were birthday presents from one of her friends, whether it’s John or TG sending her original concept art made by the author of a book she likes, or fanart if one of her friends is a visual artist (GG, perhaps?)

John not only loves movies, but imagines himself in their stories (for example, p.223) and the things that happen to him reflect his movies in response. Without any specific titles, it’s hard to say if the same is true for Rose - but if so, it raises questions of genre. John’s story has been lighthearted action-comedy with darker themes below the surface, light fantasy and countdowns leading to an explosion that’s almost comically absurd even while it has our hearts racing. Rose’s story is already darker both in literal color and in tone. Her inventory system is still terrible but she uses it more pragmatically and she’s far more skillful about skulking around her own house. This, the design of her house, and the sudden flashes of lightning illuminating the sky red or revealing a shadowed figure give her story a survival horror feel. If that’s her taste in literature, it would make sense that she’d imagine herself in that type of story.

2. You enjoy creative writing and are SOMEWHAT SECRETIVE ABOUT IT.

Where a normal person might say ‘hey I heard you got the sburb beta’, Rose Lalonde says ‘I understand you have recently come into possession of the beta release of "The Game of the Year", as featured in respectable periodicals such as GameBro Magazine’ (p.63). It’s the first thing we hear from her, so we learn immediately that she likes the sound of her own voice. She’s the only kid in her friend group who uses perfect capitalization and grammar in her messages, and she criticizes game walkthroughs as ‘horrendously written’, suggesting a focus on the technical aspects of writing.

Her creative interest is seen in ‘I think I will write my own walkthrough’ (p.204) where she moves beyond criticism and at least believes she could make something better, and ‘It’s not especially practical. But I think they are elegant’ (p.154) which shows an interest in the style and aesthetics of things. We also get great glimpses of her prose in lines like ‘Its lurid glare has moved on to younger timezones’ (p.174) - I can imagine Rose writing fanciful mood and setting pieces that focus on description over dialog.

In her eccentric verbosity, Rose’s character voice is more similar to the narrator’s than any other character’s is. The narrative text on p.82, for example, feels more comfortable in itself than Rose’s messages do, but it’s not a million miles away. I’ll come back to Rose as a narrator figure in the section on knitting, somehow. 

Rose is not only secretive about her creative writing, she’s secretive in general. On page 164, she tells John not to investigate after she rips out his toilet. She asks him for ‘space’ to fix it and sends him away, and clearly prefers to work unobserved especially when she’s uncertain. She also shuffles her purple package into the closet (p.218) and her writing journals under her bed (p.220) when she feels the narration’s scrutiny. The narrator states ‘You would only resort to such an embarrassing activity while no one was watching’. Rose is clearly ashamed of some of her interests and personality, and hides a lot of herself from observers to make herself seem cooler and more mysterious than she is.

(I have to note that this does not work, at least not where her friends are concerned. Before we hear from Rose directly, we learn about her from TG, who says ‘maybe you can play with TT shes been pestering me all day about it. shes mackin on me so hard all the time i start to feel embarrassed for her’. Definitely not the way she’d want to be introduced to a mass audience).

3. You have a fondness for the BESTIALLY STRANGE AND FICTITIOUS, [...]

The 'bestially strange and fictitious' is what's being referenced in the tentacle of tentacleTherapist, not an innocuous interest in marine life. This is one of her shared interests with John, who apparently liked paranormal lore. It's interesting that these beasts are 'fictitious' according to the narration, but Rose's grimoire is specifically for 'summoning' the zoologically dubious, not just learning about them. This positions Rose as a more active character than John (summoning instead of learning lore) and as someone who has grand designs and fringe beliefs - kind of an Ellie Arroway in Contact figure.

I've talked about Rose and John as scientists based on their chumhandles, versus TG and GG as religious. We now know that Rose lives next door to an impressive sized lab broadcasting from an antenna. Depending on how good their security systems are, she might have explored here, or at least peered through the windows at the strange, unethical science experiments they're surely doing (aka the extremely routine lab work that she's interpreting as mad science). Growing up with scientists as her only neighbors might have inspired this interest and got her started on weird experimentation of her own. As it's unlikely she has formal training beyond middle school, it makes sense she'd be into weird tentacles in jars instead of a more academically accepted field.

I've been wondering how many of Rose's interests are from childhood and how many go further back. The cuddly Cthulhu plush and the very cartoonish monster on her shirt suggest this was a childhood interest, even if the specific monsters she likes have changed over time - some of her more unsettling posters might be recent additions. We don't know enough about her mom's parenting style to guess if she was mostly unsupervised on the internet and able to look at horror from a young age, or if she was held back from something she had an interest in until her mom felt like she was old enough, and how that might have impacted her either way.

4. [...] and sometimes dabble in PSYCHOANALYSIS.

This is the 'therapist' half of Rose's chumhandle, and the easiest interest to guess based on her early appearances. Psychoanalysis, to Rose, appears to be the idea of knowing people better than they know themselves and guessing their underlying motivations and thought processes - therapy through telling people what's going on in their head instead of talking it through with someone. From what we've seen so far, the vibe is 'she's read Freud's Wikipedia page and cares more about putting her basic knowledge into action than reading more theory'.

In Rose's first chatlog on p.63, she accuses John, 'You're wearing one of your disguises now, aren't you? You are typing to me right now while wearing something ridiculous.' She says this right after John mentions going to get the Sburb beta from his dad - 'mom' and 'dad' are activation words to someone with an amateur interest in Freud, and she's immediately putting herself in John's head and making assumptions about his life. (She's right, but probably only because they're already good friends).

On p.160 she tries to pull a similar move, saying 'Is this how your pent-up frustration with your father manifests itself?' and John shuts her down. But in her efforts to analyze other people, she tells on herself more than she wants to - her previous message was 'I am not sensing a lot of regard for the personal property of others' and considering this message comes as she throws John's personal property around his house, leaving his things on the roof and in the backyard, I'm going to call this one projection.

Rose's only direct statement about her mom is on p.174 - 'I'd rather not risk an encounter with my mother. I battled through her cloud of gin and derision once already this evening.' In this same pesterlog she compares her situation to John's, suggesting that she thinks John's situation of 'cake, jesters, unfaltering love and support' isn't really that bad. While she's not wrong, it's a very unproductive thing for a so-called therapist to say, and it shows a lack of self awareness - Rose seems like she would hate being coddled with cake and having a business clown cramping her goth style.

I really think Rose is more of a lab scientist than a therapist, but being able to perfectly understand and predict people is such a helpful skill for someone who is insecure and wants to project an image - if you can understand how someone thinks, you can influence what they think. She definitely wants to control how she's perceived, and likes to have information in general (see: immediately looking up GameFAQs when she couldn't figure out Sburb right away). Psychoanalysis is also used in literary criticism, so it's also possible that she uses this to advance her creative writing, if she's open to any kind of self reflection.

5. You also like to KNIT, [...]

Knitting stands out from Rose's more esoteric and highbrow hobbies. It's not something we've seen her mention, but her sweaters, scarves, socks and hats scattered on her floor look finished, so she has skill and commitment (but lacks a good storage space). I bet she knits while listening to audiobooks. It's a hobby that needs some perfectionism and attention to detail, which seem like traits Rose prizes even if she doesn't possess them (see p.170 where Rose reveals that she placed the Cruxtruder without rotating the room to check if she was in the way of the door).

Rose calls her shot about Sburb's punch card alchemy on p.157, and doesn't confess to reading walkthroughs until p.178. While it's possible she was reading them sooner, it's also possible that she's familiar with punch card knitting, maybe even has a knitting machine somewhere in the house. Knitting is fundamentally the same principle as (punch card) alchemy - taking an abstract image or code laid out on a 2D card, and using it to generate a physical object. The totem lathe and alchemiter could function similarly to a knitting machine, using build grist or cruxite instead of wool, but creating patterns in similar ways.

Following this logic, knitting is a generative hobby, as is creative writing. Rose makes things in a way that John really doesn't (he's clearly never finished coding anything) and has been doing so before playing Sburb. It's interesting to associate her with creation in light of her underlying god complex. Frankenstein is another 'obscure' book Rose has probably read and loved. She is a Dr Frankenstein type of scientist, she is going to knit Fluthlu and bring them to life. The Sburb server player is such a godlike role, and she slides into it so naturally, immediately taking full control and giving orders.

When she's the player character but we haven't seen her yet (p.139-201), she feels like an invisible but omnipresent narrator one layer below the actual narrator, a watchful presence that John can't escape. On p.145 she tries to select John with the Sburb cursor. It doesn't work, but what the hell was she going to do if it did? Drop him outside? I keep coming back to how she seems aware she's being watched by the narrator on p.218 and p.220, in the same way that John knows he's being watched by Rose (but doesn't seem aware of the narrator, despite reacting to their commands). Is it possible, even, that she's (consciously or unconsciously) trying to emulate the narrative voice with her messages in her efforts to take on a similar role?

Her conversation with John on p.204 is fascinating. John tells her there's a meteor heading for his house, and her response is 'I see'. She stays cool and collected and completely unattached throughout the conversation, trying to solve the problem through citing GameFAQs, talking about how much smarter she is than other people, and refusing to compromise on her incessant use of inconveniently elongated words. She fits the stereotype of the Objective Intellectual scientist so well, too concerned with what's possible to care about its fallout, taking notes on John's reactions in her lab notebook while feeling no emotions about the whole thing. It sure is interesting that a video game might be able to cause a meteor strike. Sure would be an intellectual exercise to figure out how to stop that. She is so perfectly above it all.

6. [...] and your room is a BIT OF A MESS.

I never realized John was neat until we had Rose, who definitely isn't. On p.160, she says she's 'tempted' to clean up the mess in John's toilet for him, but everything she does actually makes his bathroom worse. We've actually seen John clean (p.67) and the only out of place things in his room on p.4 are things his dad left there, if we assume that Dad left the hammer and nails for John to hang the painting. All his mess comes from accidental sylladex misuse - he even makes his bed. Rose will simply leave an expensive violin balanced precariously against the wall, drop a pre-punched card on the living room floor instead of placing it on the coffee table, and fail to return John's magic chest to his room even after she's 'got a feel for the controls' (although this last one could be her being silly on purpose). I can't decide if Rose is being an asshole by leaving John's house in a complete state or if she's just Like That and doesn't even notice.

Rose has an inventory system that she knows how to use, so it's easier for someone to be clean if they want to be. Maybe she just doesn't. The rest of Rose's house is empty besides dope ass wizards - on p.230-235 we see that Rose's house is filled with long, expansive corridors, has at least three floors, and is large and modernist with strange towers and extensions and bubbles. If Rose's mom is minimalist and Rose feels like her house is missing something, of course she would expand to fill that space, with her physical possessions as well as her personality.

7. And on occasion, if just the right one strikes your fancy, you like to play VIDEO GAMES with your friends.

John has a poster of the Problem Sleuth heroes on his bedroom wall, as well as a copy of the game, and Rose has a poster of the Problem Sleuth beasts and demons. It would be cute as hell if they played it together. Rose playing a video game has been most of what we've seen of her so far, so I've kind of covered that in other points - I want to talk about the 'with your friends' part, and specifically, how she and John met.

They seem so different, and based on Rose's strong reaction to the intelligence of GameFAQs writers, if she just encountered John on a forum she would not give him the time of day. John definitely isn't stupid, but I think he can come off that way in a first interaction, and I think Rose makes quick judgements about people. John can definitely banter with Rose - my favorite early interaction of theirs is 'TT: Can a disorder also be a complex? EB: in your case, probably!' (p.160) - so all it would take is getting over the initial hurdle of starting a conversation. So I have three theories.

The first is that they did meet on a forum, and John was just so charming in his silliness that Rose eventually warmed on him. Maybe John got stuck on the loading screen of a game and couldn't figure out how to press start and Rose helped him out and John just kept liveblogging his game in the thread. Maybe John asked a question about Slimer from Ghostbusters on a cryptozoology forum and Rose gave him a weirdly anatomically detailed answer that referenced a worrying home use of concentrated sulfuric acid. Maybe Rose posted some of her writing online and John left a glowing comment.

The second is that they met through TG. He seems to have a fair bit in common with both of them - on the surface, more than they do with each other. He could have noticed one of their shared interests and put them in contact, or he could have been trying to fuck with them by setting them up to hate each other and it backfired. Either feels plausible from what we've seen of him so far.

The third is that Rose just used to be different. John has the childlike spirit of the clown and I get the sense that he's always been the same, whimsical on the outside with a malaise hovering within. But Rose is trying to put on such a sophisticated affect, which could be recent. Rose could have been bubbly, accepting and open to talking to anyone a few years ago. She's changed as a person, but stays loyal enough to her friends to brave the evil red storm for them.

Final Thoughts

I find Rose easier to analyze than John - she's not less complex, but her complexities are made more obvious in the text. We also don't get the luxury of sitting with Rose and learning about her organically like we did with John. The meteor countdown is flashing in my mind even when it isn't on screen, and the text needs to take shortcuts, telling us about Rose instead of just showing her. As such, I don't have as many questions hanging as I usually do, but there's still a few.

What's up with both John and Rose being really talented at music, but this not being listed in their interests or directly acknowledged by the narrator? Does the narrator fucking hate music? The narrator of a webcomic which has so far included five original music tracks??

Is Rose consciously aware of the narration? Is it something that just began for her when we saw her, or has that been part of her life before? Is this why her personality is so cultivated, because she feels like she's always being watched?

What exactly is Rose's relationship with her mom? Is her mom a mean alcoholic who mocks Rose's grief over her cat, or is this a story Rose is telling herself about her very average mom?

Is Rose a weird kid who actually has a pretty normal life, like John, or is her life weird for real? Does she live in a massive haunted house or are we getting her exaggerated perspective?

More broadly, what sources of information in Homestuck are reliable? The narration and chatlogs are both biased perspectives, but what about the images? Are we seeing the characters' worlds as they actually are, or are we seeing things as the point of view character perceives them?

I love Rose. She and John have both been really easy to connect to, are extremely likeable, and feel like real people I could run into on the internet. I love how average they seem and how they really have more flaws than strengths - it adds to the realism, and sets them up with a lot of cool options for story arcs. A Rose who's a loser and kind of sucks is so much better to me than a Rose who's actually good at the things she claims to be, and my only hope is that we solve the imminent crisis and see more of her being truly silly.

[gayrogues]

after seeing many posts over the past year or so about what level of murder and violence is in-character for the riddler, and changing my own opinion on it so many times, i’m finally writing my own take about it. i’m gonna preface this by saying i’m not writing this to hate on anyone’s interpretations, nor am i vagueing anyone who’s posted their own takes on this recently - i don’t think there’s a “correct” interpretation here, actually! i’m just here to infodump :]

first things first, the riddler does in fact kill people, we know this. but, i do think i know what comic contributed most to the misconception that he’s never killed anyone back in the early days of his character, and to the interpretation that he’s just a little guy whose crimes are mostly harmless:

(from when is a door, by neil gaim*n - censoring his name because he’s on this website and i’m afraid of somehow summoning him)

i often see this page cited by people who think the riddler should be a silly harmless guy, and it very much shaped my own cringey sanded-down interpretation of the rogues before i got deep into comics. but how true is it? (disclaimer, i know that “when is a door” is about nostalgia for the silver age/batman ‘66/etc. era of batman media, not neil gaim*n claiming that this is how every batman comic has been before a certain point - i'm not trying to actually disprove anything that was said in this page, and a lot of the examples i'll be mentioning were published after this comic.) first, let’s look at his pre-crisis appearances.

right from the riddler’s first introduction in detective comics #140, he puts some dude in a puzzle death trap. in many of his following appearances, he tones it down and mostly just sticks to stealing shit or trying to kill batman, with no civilian casualties. (not always, though - there’s a few issues here and there where he kills a random guy or tries to blow up the city, like batman #292 and detective comics #362.) there are very few issues where his crimes are almost entirely harmless, like the brave and the bold #68. this statement from jim gordon in batman #362 sums him up, for the most part:

things start getting more inconsistent in the 80s/90s part of the post-crisis era, which was when the previously mentioned “when is a door” was published. you have the question #26, which implies that the riddler has been very harmless up until this point - gordon states that the only person edward is likely to hurt with his crimes is himself, and he’s considered such a minor threat that they let him go free because prosecuting him wouldn’t be worth the effort. then there’s dark knight, dark city, where he happily tries to kill a whole bunch of people including babies for the sake of a scheme. then there’s showcase ‘94 #4, with this comment from jeremiah arkham:

then there’s the batman chronicles #3, where he’s back to casually shooting people to death. then there’s the long halloween and dark victory, where he’s some pathetic guy who kinda just shows up sometimes and isn’t enough of a threat for batman to send to arkham. you get the idea. of course, there’s more within these issues than what i’ve mentioned - in the question #26, he’s pretty on board to start killing people despite his previous harmlessness, while in dark knight dark city, both his henchmen and batman comment on his bloodthirstiness as being out of the ordinary for him. (not to mention that it’s debatable how much control he had over his actions, because he was kinda being possessed by demons.)

unfortunately i’m not going to keep going down a timeline of every riddler comic because there’s still so many i haven’t read, and this post was mostly meant to analyze his 40s - 90s appearances as many characters began taking a darker turn after that point. i have a few more screenshots from the 2000s onwards pointing to a generally harmless riddler, but there really aren't many:

(i don’t remember which one this is from, sorry)

(catwoman lonely city #2 by cliff chiang - i feel like i maybe shouldn’t include it because it’s an elseworld, but it did influence my own characterization of edward back when i interpreted him this way. i recommend this comic so much btw)

i don’t really have a conclusion for this post, or a specific interpretation i'm arguing for - i just wanted to analyze how accurate this somewhat-common fanon portrayal of him is, based on the era of comics that i think a lot of fans are drawing from. thanks for coming to my riddler ted talk :]

[lilybug-02]

Dear piece of breadman who's comic and art owns my mind 24/7, do you have any notes on how you characterize your characters in TCT? I've been itching to make some sort of fan side work thing, probably fanfiction, but my characterization of them never seems to fit the comic itself.

Fan side work thing you say 👀👀 💖🌼🥰🌸 Characterization, my one true enemy.

Talking about characterization and consistency is hard. But I tend to try and get into the characters head, understand their motives, and find their thoughts in a certain situation.

Characterization for CT Characters Below

Chara gets anxious in situations foreign to them. When they’re with people they know, they hide insecurities beneath jokes and smiles, or through anger. Chara is very stubborn in this regard.

Asriel is a kind person. But he wants to be better- a better brother, a better friend, etc. He can hold grudges and gets angry from time to time, but he tends to internally scold himself for this. His own strictness with his religious background hinders him in some regards.

Kris is hella quiet in my comic. They’ve got an identity complex, they’re a victim of bullying, they’re possessed, and they don’t enjoy being reminded they’re human every 20 seconds by Chara. But Kris has warmed up to the idea of humans, they’re support brother is there, and they have friends who they can confide with. Things are looking better.

Susie has changed a lot from Chapter 1 though. Character development has been skipped in order for her to be more sympathetic and less aggressive in the comic. She’s not the brightest, but she does care about her new friends.

Ralsei is relatively the same, character wise, from Chapter 2. But now with the addition of Asriel, Chara, and Kris now knowing about Players it complicates things A LOT. He doesn’t like that there is even an option to dislike Players. His anxiety about this new development shows.

((Regarding Susie and Ralsei…I haven’t gotten into they’re characters much. Rip. In the next few pages I’ll (try to) dive deeper into their relationship with kris. So yeah :,) sorry ‘bout that.))

But remember it’s 100% okay to mix up characterization. Situational randomness helps characters feel alive and not stuck in certain patterns.

You can also look at my (kinda skuffed) fanfic with Chara and Azzy too if you want examples.

[mmmmalo]

Two chains of thought for today:

First: another instance of Jake-oriented homophobic slander

When Jade questions Grandpa's decision to use geothermal power instead of nuclear (801), she shrugs it off as an example of his eclectic fursuits oops she means pursuits. The slip is consistent with Jade's furry coding but is otherwise incongruent with the page's content, unless we infer that the decision to use geothermal power was in some way bestial. Camels offer a solution: the twin volcanoes on Jade's island (her house is atop the smaller one) can be construed as the humps of camel, the arcs of which are occasionally superimposed upon the breasts. Jade's slip informs us that she finds milking the earth distasteful, in a sense: insofar as Jade herself represents the earth vis-a-vis Grandpa as Jupiter, its akin to disliking that Grandpa is extracting something from Jade... and since this would render Jade as the volcanic camel, the rhetorical 'fursuit' becomes Jade's own skin? So I think we have the colonial transphobia/homophobia angle again, posing the Feminine Man as an invader extracting femininity like oil.

This offers some explanation for why Jade reacts so strongly against fursuits on the next page -- within a sexist paradigm where women are posed as animals (later reinforced by the juxtaposition of Grandpa's Beauties with his game trophies), her irritable rejection of the fursuit as insufficiently Real is the rejection of cross-dressing as a path to womanhood. Rose picking leaves off of her tree modus (865) and subsequently picking a green box out of the huge green grid likewise strike me as subtle sexist barbs, coming as they do in the wake of Jade's woman-animal concerns.

Second: Sollux links abortion and terrorist bombs, I think

Volcanoes were explicitly linked to "females" by Karkat's "vomit volcano" quip, the eruption entails puking blood, and within the comic's anti-feminist circuits, this explosive image of menses is linked up with abortion. Sollux being a "sick hacker", understood as a retching, is a statement of his morbid femininity, and his being haunted by the "psychic screams of the imminently deceased" is a statement of guilt, of imagining the unborn agonizing over their imminent oblivion. Jaspers serves a similar function in relation Rose, becoming a ghostly child-like voice that encourages her to embrace her pretty princess planet

At the same time, Sollux is a terrorist, crafting innumerable bombs. His chat handle "twin armageddons", far from only representing his Gemini theme, seems to allude to the double-destruction of the Twin Towers: Sollux takes a weapon of the Orient (his ninja stars) and cuts open his skyscraper-looking computer, pantomiming 9/11. Afterward he is again possessed by guilt staring at the blood (well, honey) on his hands from the tower's destruction. I vaguely suspect that his double-i quiirk functions in part as an allusion to Arabic diacritics, much the same as Aradia's "pr0n0unced h0ll0wness" seems to allude to the dearth of vowels in written Arabic with her zeros (Or as Terezi's "num3r4ls of th3 bl1nd proph3ts" seem to refer simply to Arabic numerals, by way of an non-believing reference to the prophet Muhammad. Who knows, maybe the "missing" numeral 1 in Tavros's quirk was already present in his faltering commas, mimicking the function of the alif ا in Arabic writing as a glottal stop! But I digress)

These motifs intersect: when Aradia informs Sollux that the game will lead to mass death (blood on his hands!), we see the command "Sollux: Abort" as he tries to talk Karkat out of playing. And when Karkat blows his computer up with one of Sollux's bombs (more guilt!), Sollux aborts all his un-compiled creations to avert future fiascos. The apparent superposition of babies and bombs best related to WV's chess game, where Black mating White results in Brown exploding out of Pink -- as @randomuser678 observed in an old ask, defeat feminizes the loser. The losing cherub gets pregnant, period. Sollux castrates the WTC (a huge pissnozzle), and as the tower's inhabits yell at him (the screams of the imminently deceased, his own victims), we get the command to "calm those bees down", implicitly reducing the castrated losers to bitches ("bees") with a snap of his fingers. Later Sollux is in turn feminized, as Aradia puts him to sleep with a snap of her fingers, forcing him to become a vomit volcano (the mind-honey laser-blast/spit-take) and castrate his own tower.

That's my current assessment, at least

[chernobog13]

In the mid-1970s, spurred by the success that Mego was having with The World’s Greatest Super Heroes line of action figures, other toy companies were eager to jump on the bandwagon.  The problem was, Mego had a virtual stranglehold on superheroes with their license agreements with both DC Comics and Marvel Comics, who were the only game in town at the time.

Since the comic book superheroes were unavailable some companies, for example Kenner, licensed TV superheroes like The Six Million Dollar Man.

Another company, Hasbro, had tried and failed to get the license for The Six Million Dollar Man.  Undeterred, Hasbro created their own cyborg hero: Mike Power, the Atomic Man.  Hasbro then followed up with another superhero figure, Bulletman, who was extremely similar to - but supposedly not inspired by - the Fawcett Comics character of the same name from the Golden Age.  Both were incorporated into the G.I. Joe Adventure Team.

That leads us to Ideal in 1977, and their own entry into the superhero action figure market: Electroman, and his arch-enemy, Zogg.

Electroman was one of those concepts that looked much better on the page than in real life (especially in the comic book ads, which look like they were drawn by Dave Cockrum).  

In a world where most action figures were smaller (the bulk of Mego’s figures were 8 inches tall; Hasbro’s G.I. Joes were 11.5 to 12 inches; Kenner’s The Six Million Dollar Man was 13 inches), Electroman came in at a whopping 16 inches!

And what superpowers did this gargantuan action figure possess?  He flashed light from his head and made noises.

That’s it.

Yes, Electroman had some decent (but not great) articulation.  And he had soft, flexible boots.  But really he was just some schmoe with a flashlight welded to the top of his head.

Zogg wasn’t any better.  He  looked like a monkey that had been dipped in Nair, and he was barely articulated at all.  Sure, he could move on his own (due to wheels in his feet and an electric motor), but if you shined Electron’s light - or really any flashlight - at his head, Zogg would stop and fall over on his face.

On top of which, both figures required 3 “C” batteries (sold separately, of course) to power their gimmicks.  Back in 1977 batteries cost as much as a student loan payment, and lasted about 6 hours!

In the end, the toy buying public was completely underwhelmed by Electroman and Zogg, and Ideal cancelled the figures after just one year.

[comicsart3]

Empowered is a comic book heroine conflicted in more ways than one. She inhabits a fictitious manga inspired meta universe based in an unnamed west coast city in the USA. This city is beset by super villains and Empowered, whose real name is Elissa Megan Powers, usually shortened to its initials EMP (leading to her vaguely feminist super heroine monicker), determines to join a Justice League style group, called the Superhomeys in order to fight crime following the death of her father. Empowered possesses significant super powers, principally the ability to fire bolts of energy from her hands and super strength, but these powers depend entirely on the ability of her skin tight super suit to hang together which, in combat, it rarely does, frequently tearing and leaving her helpless. At this point Elissa usually ends up being tied up by the baddies and having to be rescued by one of the Superhomeys. All this compounds poor Empowered’s self esteem issues, which are legion, as she frequently becomes a figure of fun in the super hero community.

However, despite her troubles, Empowered usually wins the day, Nancy Drew style, by virtue of her intelligence, detective skills and the extent to which the villains underestimate an opponent they view essentially as a bimbo. This panel is one such example whereby Empowered preys on the villain Tiger Shrimp’s existential fear of the mega villain Maidman, to distract him and then overpower him with an energy blast. Elissa apprehends the defeated and sullen bad guy, tying him up with metal cables, while gently mocking his credulity.

Empowered is written and illustrated by Adam Warren. The title first appeared in 2007 and is still going strong. It is usually published by Dark Horse comics. With thanks to Mats Karlsson for sharing this excellent page.

[vampireboy2003]

Weekly comic reviews N°1

The book tour, by Andi Watson

Published First in 2019

This book came in to my possession almost by chance. I had some money to spare this month and wanted to spend it on a graphic novel (living lavish, i know) this one, out of all the other ones in the book store that day, looked most appealing to me after a quick sift through the pages. Its fitting then, that the book is all about a guy that gets majorly screwed over by circumstance.

The book tour tells the story of G.H Fratwell, a relatively unknown english author who, upon the publication of his latest novel has to now go on a book tour to promote It. The book tour is a colossal disaster from day one, and on top of that he becomes the main suspect of some murders he didnt commit.

The story is almost simple in its structure, with Fratwell going from bookstore to bookstore, and hotel to hotel, and misfortune to misfortune, all without cracking that very British "politely inconvenienced" face.

Its a very kafkaesque tale, not only in its themes and presentation, but with a lot of references peppered in. For example, the title of Fratwells novel -- "No K" is one of many references to The trial, a short story that this book is clearly inspired by. You can see a very heavy kafka influence not only in the plot itself but the tone of the story, finding humour in the absurdities that Fratwell goes through, and in Fratwell himself almost perpetuating some of the things that happen to him by wanting to not inconvenience whoever It was that was making him miserable at the moment. It is a book ultimately about Fratwell and his downward spiral, as he realizes no one around him really cares about him, his book, or wether or not he killed a woman. I wont spoil the ending here, but make sure to be prepared If you like things neatly tied up. The ending DID work for me, and it kind of gets me reflecting upon the work and making me want to read again, which is good!

The art also wraps around the story pretty perfectly, with very simplified designs for every character (especially our main character) and more detailed backgrounds and buildings. It is pretty to look at and delicately drafted, and gave me the feeling that the street itself was swallowing up Fratwell, while providing a lot of character to all of the generic european towns and bookshops he visited. One of my favourite sequences in the novel is the opening one, where we see a character arriving in town through a lot of big wide pannels of cityscape. It reminded me almost of a movie, and in fact the timing displayed throught the whole story is really tight, this being not only pacing, but the pannel-to-pannel and page-to-page timing that really makes you feel those akward situations Fratwell puts himself in, and even the timing of the "jokes" the book has.

Ultimately, while i could write a lot more about the themes and overall message of the story (its pretty dense and would take me at least another re-read), its a light read that one could do in a rainy afternoon. It IS quite derivative of Kafka, but in a way that didnt bother me as someone who didnt really know all the references going in (but might bother someone who does for all i know) id definately reccomend this if you want a real dream-like experience, where in the end you can really chew on the story for a while.

I give It

7 kafkas out of 10.

Thanks for reading and make sure to tune in next week where i will read uhhh another comic.

[hayley566]

Looking at Starlight hate comments in retrospect

Warning: The following involves a grown human talking about her past experiences with a little kids cartoon and a fictional horse. Also, there will be ranting about a very popular character, Discord, and if he is your comfort character, you may want to skip this.

You know, going back to MLP, I remembered some of the old starlight hate comments from the past and couldn't help but laugh. Some of them were so not well thought out that re-reading them is kind of funny.

Here's an example. I saw reviews or posts hating on Starlight for throwing out the rule book in the season 8 premiere. One of them saying "But Chancellor Neighsay was right about it being too dangerous! Starlight is the one in the wrong for telling Twilight not to give up!"

Translation: "I hate Starlight so much that I'm going to side with an abviously racist and awful person that wants to keep schools segragated! I'm totally cheering for the right side and think the episode should've ended with Twilight listening to the racist guy and giving up!"

Or when Starlight banished Discord from the school after endangering the students several times in "matter of principals", I remember seeing the comment: "All Discord did was midly insult her and she blasted him away!"

Like...that is some impressive mental gymnastics, my friend. You should get a gold medal for that. Throughout the episode, Discord nearly killed the students several times AND sent the mane 6 on a fake mission just because he was "lonely". Starlight banishing him from the school grounds is probably the least extreme thing she could've done.

This becomes even funnier when you compare what Discord has done since his "reformation", compared to Starlight. I saw haters wanting to crucify Starlight for using magic on her friends and selling Trixie's wagon once but let's see what Discord has done:

1.) Lied about the seeds he planted in the season 4 premiere and endangered everyone, even eating the book pages that could've help them just because he's "lol random"

2.) Betrayed all of Equestria to help feed Tirek in exchange for being able to be a dick all the time with no consequence.

3.) Faked sick to ruin Cadence and Twilight's day, almost getting them killed in the process because "he just wanted attention uwu".

4.) Tried to destroy the Gala AND send Treehugger to an unknown dimension because he was being over possessive of Fluttershy.

5.) Only hung out with the rest of the mane 6 minus Twilight, just so he could brag about it to Twilight and make her feel like shit for spending one day by herself.

6.) Freed several dangerous criminals, even reviving one from the dead, and nearly destroying all of Equestria AGAIN because...he wanted to teach Twilight a lesson....what!?

I bring this up because I remember some of the more self-righteous of these critics(ones that will say you’re an abuse apologist or fascist sympatherizer for liking a fictional horse) would go on about how they care about “justice” and how the show redeeming Starlight will teach kids that you can be an evil person and etc. 

A lot of these people talk about how Starlight should've never gotten a second chance and is the most awful and irredeemable being in existence but say nothing about Discord when this shit happens. Starlight freed the Changelings from a tyrannical ruler, helped to de-segregate a school and has actually done genuine good for Equestria. Discord as a villain was actually less harmful than he was when he got "reformed".

It's actually comical seeing how they would side with far worse characters just because they weren't Starlight. Why? because her backstory was weak. That's it.

Most of them had zero issue with Starlight as a villain but one weak backstory made her absolutely the worst thing ever. Even worse than Cozy Glow, an evil little demon. Even worse than Chrysalis, someone who had her subjects use an insufficent wasy to keep surviving(feeding on love) just to keep herself in power. Even worse than Discord, a "reformed" character that nearly kills at least one person ever episode he's in.

All because.......a badly told backstory. They were all hypercritical to the point of it being hilarious and I can't believe I let some of these people make me feel lesser just for liking a fictional pony

Quick Addendum because I didn’t know where else to put this: I was actually blocked by someone because I said I liked Starlight. The user was doing a QnA about mlp stuff and I asked what headcanons they had about Starlight. The responded with “She’s my discomfort character!” and then blocked me right there.

There was also one person on DA that called me a “troglodyte with the brain of a gnat” for liking Starlight and after I blocked them, they kept making alt. accounts just to harass me because they were just “stating the facts that my waifu was trash”.

Also, while looking at MLP next gen posts and AUs, I ended up finding ones that portrayed Starlight as an abusive parent just because the creator of said AU hated her and it triggered my own past trauma from having an abusive parent. This happened twice btw. Which isn’t a lot but it’s still weird that it happened more than once. 

The point I’m trying to make is, never let someone feel awful over liking a fictional character. It says a lot more about them than it does about you. Hopefully, G5 won’t have as extreme fans. It helped me to look back at this and laugh and I hope it’ll help you.

[junotalksaboutstuff]

Visible Pixels: Representation in Gaming and Esports

nanobomb my beloved

Gaming: what is it? Who does it? Why do my kids ask if I have them on my phone? Video games as a medium have come a long way from Pong: games today have multifaceted storylines, more pixels than there are grains of sand on Earth, and most importantly for today’s discussion, characters and players of various intersectional identities playing together. For a scene that is normally seen as heavily male-dominated, Clement (2022) reports that the demographic of gamers these days is evenly split between male and female gamers; Henderson (2020) states that 10% of gamers surveyed also identify as LGBTQ+ to some degree. Now, what does this demographic change mean for the gaming community as a whole?

Firstly, recent games have been delivering a lot of representation: Webb (2022) cites numerous examples of representation of strong women, LGBT+ characters and ethnic minorities in recent video games as diverse as the non-binary Bloodhound from the battle royale shooter Apex Legends and Krem from the medieval role-playing game Dragon Age: Inquisition. This representation also has its depths: as Kamen (2016) discusses, Overwatch revealed one of its heroes, Tracer, as lesbian with a 12-page comic on her relationship with her partner. The presence of these characters provide individuals from these backgrounds with a fleshed-out character that they can relate to and feel seen through; this also serves as normalising and supporting their identities to the gaming community at large, to an extent.

Within gaming communities, while a heavy masculine bent remains, there are efforts to bring about spaces in gaming for marginalised communities. In the competitive scene for Valorant, a 5v5 team-based first-person shooter (a genre considered heavily male-dominated), organisations such as Galorant and the developers Riot Games have made steps towards creating events for women and other people of marginalised genders: this has led to the first international women’s LAN championship for the game being held recently in Berlin (Robertson 2022). MacDonald (2022) also reports that there has been an increasing fanbase for queer Twitch streamers and queer gaming Discord servers where LGBT+ people can meet and team up to game together. In essence, this helps provide a strong community aspect for many of these gamers who may be otherwise isolated in less-than-conducive environments for people like them, whether that be online or off-line.

However, the patriarchal nature of the online gaming community does rear its head every now and then: players who pick characters who are written with LGBT+ identities can often get homophobic slurs thrown at them, while some level of fetishization occurs for some of these characters, especially from men towards female lesbian characters (Nesseler 2022). Black and Latine gamers are targeted for cyberbullying based on their race (Peckham 2020). A level of misogyny and queerphobia permeates a lot of the general gaming space, with epithets relating to these aspects of identity thrown around willy-nilly.

In conclusion, the gaming sphere possesses numerous benefits for marginalised communities, despite its generally male-dominated demographic. However, the marginalised that do participate in online gaming often face discrimination and negative impacts that are not felt by most gamers. Thus, the communities formed by these individuals are more so a mechanism through which they may continue to enjoy the positives of social gaming while avoiding the pitfalls that the general community has.

References

Clement, J 2022, “U.S. gamers by gender 2022,” Statista, viewed 7 December, 2022, <https://www.statista.com/statistics/232383/gender-split-of-us-computer-and-video-gamers/>

Henderson, T 2020, “10 percent of gamers are LGBTQ+ Nielsen study shows,” OUT, Out Magazine, viewed 7 December, 2022, <https://www.out.com/tech/2020/8/07/10-percent-gamers-are-lgbtq-nielsen-study-shows>

Kamen, M 2016, “Overwatch confirms first lesbian character,” WIRED UK, WIRED UK, viewed 7 December, 2022, <https://www.wired.co.uk/article/overwatch-reveals-first-gay-character>

MacDonald, K 2022, “Meet the gaymers: Why queer representation is exploding in video games,” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, viewed 7 December, 2022, <https://www.theguardian.com/games/2022/jul/27/meet-the-gaymers-why-queer-representation-is-exploding-in-video-games>

Nesseler, C 2022, “Video game players avoid gay characters,” Scientific American, Scientific American, viewed 7 December, 2022, <https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/video-game-players-avoid-gay-characters/>

Peckham, E 2020, “Confronting racial bias in video games,” TechCrunch, viewed 7 December, 2022, <https://techcrunch.com/2020/06/21/confronting-racial-bias-in-video-games/>

Robertson, S 2022, “VCT Game Changers championship 2022: Scores, bracket, and results,” Dot Esports, Dot Esports, viewed 7 December, 2022, <https://dotesports.com/valorant/news/vct-game-changers-championship-2022-scores-bracket-and-results>

Webb, J 2022, “Diversity in games: The best (and worst) examples of representation,” Evening Standard, Evening Standard, viewed 7 December, 2022, <https://www.standard.co.uk/tech/gaming/video-game-diversity-representation-a4461266.html>

[ethandude15]

Book pages project - Invincible

Kirkman, Robert. Invincible. Image Comics, 2003.

Invincible, written by Robert Kirkman under Image Comics, is a graphic novel following the adventures of Mark Grayson. Mark, at first, seems like the average teenager, trying to get through high school, applying to college, surviving a part time job, all the works. However, under the surface, Mark Grayson is secretly the son of the strongest superhero on earth, Omni Man. As it turns out, Omni Man is a Viltrumite, a people from the planet Viltrum, making Mark half Viltrumite. The people of Viltrum are much like humans however possess incredible speed, strength, stamina, durability, and can fly. Omni Man originally came to Earth as a part of a peace initiative on Vilturm, as Viltrum had become a utopia that wanted to spread its peace throughout the galaxy by helping underdeveloped civilizations. When Mark turns seventeen, his powers finally awaken and, with the help and training from his father, he dawns a new hero identity known as Invincible. Suddenly, however, all seven members of the Guardians of the Globe, the top superhero team in the world, are brutally murdered and the rest of the heroes in the world must step up to fill in their roles. However, later in the novel it is revealed that Omni Man, the once beloved hero, is actually the murderer and reveals to Mark the true reason he is on Earth. Viltrum is actually a brutally tyrannical empire which is on a galactic conquest and Omni Man was sent to prepare Earth for the rest of the Viltrumite’s arrival to add Earth to their collection of conquered planets. Omni Man also tells Mark how Vilturumite DNA is so pure, Mark is not only basically a full Viltrumite but, just like other Viltrumites, Mark will end up living for thousands of years. Omni Man, however, fails to recruit Mark which leads to a large-scale fight between father and son. In the end, Mark is beaten to near death, but Omni Man cannot bring himself to kill his own son, so he flies off into deep space, his destination unknown to the people of earth. After Mark awakens from his coma, he once again dawns the alias of Invincible and becomes one of earths mightiest protectors. Now, Mark must prepare to fight off several threats including robots, a shape-shifting Martian parasite, interdimensional aliens, an evil alternative Invincible from another timeline, and even a Viltrumite invasion led by both the emperor of Viltrum, Thragg, and his own father.

I truly loved Invincible as Robert Kirkman is a genius writer and Image comics is truly one of the greatest comic book companies out there. The graphic novel is so amazing in so many ways, the plot and different arcs are interesting and keeps you on the edge of your seat, the characters are written incredibly well, Mark has a perfect balance of stressors from his superhero life and his normal teenage life, and the visuals are beautifully drawn, having the perfect amount of grit when needed and perfect amount of peacefulness when needed. One thing I do truly like about Invincible is that it is probably the most realistic superhero story, at least from the standpoint of the characters and how they would truly act and their internal struggles. For example, during Mark’s first fight, he has to go up against interdimensional aliens invading his city alongside a superhero known as Teen Team. The problem is that Mark ends up freezing up, having no clue what to do as numerous civilians are slaughtered before his eyes, showing how Mark is truly just an inexperienced kid who, like everyone else, never thought of the more traumatizing and darker aspect of superheroing. Along with this, certain media, such as The Boys, argues that if superheroes were real than they would most likely be terrible people, killing and maiming innocents as they please. On the other hand, other media, such as DC and Marvel comics, argue that, while still having some flaws from time to time, superheroes will always fight for the good fight and be upstanding idols. Invincible, however, is right there in the middle. Instead of arguing that superheroes would be good or bad, Robert Kirkman wrote an amazing story on how they would, just like the average person, be a grey area. No one is perfect, and while some people are better than others, Invincible very much argues for everyone having flaws, and, to a certain degree, it being ok, especially for adolescents, such as Mark.

Mark, just like every other adolescent, is just a teenager trying to navigate life and of course he makes mistakes along the way. Adolescents, especially nowadays, must deal with a lot, trying to get into a good college, trying to keep their loved ones pleased, trying to make sure their future career will get the enough money to just simply survive, keeping up with societal expectations, an Earth that may not be able to sustain life for long due to global warming, a horrifyingly politically polarized country, and even gun violence in schools. With the amount that current day’s adolescents must deal with, it could make someone feel like they have to be almost superhuman just to deal with all the stressors. However, Invincible makes sure to let their readers know that everyone has flaws and you can’t win every battle, even when it comes to superheroes. In the first half of the graphic novel, Mark, due to his inexperience and naiveness, loses almost every major fight, only surviving by the skin of his teeth. Along with this, even though you may not win every battle that comes your way in life, what matters is being able to learn from it, pick yourself back up, and get right back into it, showing that the best teacher in life is experience.

[ralfreinhardt4-blog]

Marvel's Illuminati : A Journey in to the Shadows of Power

In the Wonder Comics market, there exists a secretive and enigmatic group called the illuminati symbol. That clandestine society is composed of some of the very important and effective people in the Miracle Galaxy, coming together to deal with and undertake probably the most pressing threats to Earth and beyond. The thought of the Illuminati within Marvel has fascinated and fascinated supporters for a long time, since it delves to the concealed realms of energy, treatment, and the complexities of morality.

The Illuminati is described as a small grouping of folks who possess remarkable abilities and intellect. They contain iconic heroes such as for example Metal Person, Captain America, Dark Panther, Medical practitioner Odd, Teacher Xavier, and Namor the Sub-Mariner. Each member brings their unique views, abilities, and methods to the table, creating the Illuminati a power to be believed with.

The primary purpose of the Illuminati is to protect the entire world from catastrophic events and existential threats that typical superheroes might not be prepared to handle. They operate behind the scenes, in the shadows to avoid possible disasters and maintain the delicate stability of power. Their choices and actions usually come at good particular charge, as they must produce hard choices and keep their actions hidden from the general public eye.

One of the most notable storylines relating to the Illuminati is their engagement in key Miracle functions and crossovers. They've played critical jobs in functions like "Infinity Gauntlet," "Key Wars," and "Avengers vs. X-Men," surrounding the class of those legendary storylines and leaving an enduring effect on the Marvel Universe.

However, the actions of the Illuminati are not without controversy. Their secretive character and willingness to make fairly uncertain choices have raised issues about their motivations and whether they are truly working in the very best curiosity of humanity. Some view them as guards and guardians, while others see them as manipulators and power-seekers.

The symbolism encompassing the Illuminati in Marvel's mythology gives another layer of interest to their narrative. Their emblem, the all-seeing vision, shows their quest for hidden knowledge and their ability to see threats before they arise. It symbolizes their position whilst the invisible architects of the Marvel Galaxy, orchestrating functions and surrounding the entire world behind the scenes.

In summary, the thought of the Illuminati in Wonder Comics supplies a amazing exploration of power, secrecy, and the difficulties of heroism. Their effect on key storylines, their concealed plans, and the moral dilemmas they experience cause them to become engaging and multi-dimensional characters. The Illuminati's effect stretches beyond the pages of the comics, sparking discussions and debates among fans about their correct goals and the consequences of these actions.

[whatisaresume]

What is a Resume?

A resume is a document that showcases your skills and qualifications when applying for a job. Employers usually refer to it when evaluating candidates for the position.

A resume should be concise and easily scannable, highlighting key skills such as communication, branding or interpersonal abilities.

What is a resume?

A resume, commonly abbreviated as CV, is a document that outlines your qualifications and work experience to prospective employers. It serves as a marketing tool in the job search process to showcase why you would make an excellent candidate and secure an interview.

Traditional resumes usually consist of a professional summary, work history and education sections. When combined with a cover letter, these elements can help you stand out from other candidates.

When selecting a resume format, there are several options to consider depending on your experience and career objectives. The most popular types are chronological, functional, and combination resumes.

Chronological resumes are ideal for individuals with a long work history or multiple jobs within one industry. On the other hand, functional resumes can be beneficial to those with little to no work experience, recent graduates, and those making a career transition.

When writing your resume, it is essential that it is formatted correctly and all information presented clearly and consistently. Some helpful hints include using a professional, readable font and leaving all sides of the resume with one inch margins. Additionally, you can use the check Skillhub for write my resume feature to ensure that your resume is grammatically correct and free of spelling errors.

When applying for a job, the order in which you list your work experience is critical. Include your most recent position, duties and accomplishments in bullet points that demonstrate your abilities, expertise and achievements.

When listing your accomplishments, include hard numbers such as hours worked, sales made or customers served to demonstrate your impact and value. Make sure to emphasize these achievements according to the job description and company culture.

You can also include relevant coursework or study abroad experiences to your resume, provided they are related to the position for which you are applying. Doing so will show employers that you possess the necessary skillset and can succeed in that environment.

If you are a recent graduate with little to no work experience, your resume should not exceed one page. On the other hand, those with an extended professional career should opt for two pages so they can highlight all their key accomplishments and responsibilities.

Formatting

A well-formatted resume makes an excellent first impression on decision-makers and recruiters. It also projects you as a professional who is secure in their abilities, which can help you stand out from other candidates.

Your resume's format should be tailored to your job history and experience level, including a Summary Section, Work Experience, Education, Skills, and Contact Info. Each section should adhere to consistent formatting principles such as font size, spacing and indentation for clarity.

Use standard fonts like Times New Roman, Arial or Calibri for body text and a larger font size for headings. Be consistent in how you use them and steer clear of decorative fonts like Comic Sans or other non-professional alternatives on your resume.

Be sure to leave space between jobs and categories like Work Experience, Additional Skills, and Contact Info. Furthermore, avoid packing too many bullet points onto one page - especially if using a combination format.

In the Summary Section, highlight accomplishments relevant to the position and demonstrate your knowledge of computer software. For instance, if the job description requires an understanding of computer programming, provide examples of when you applied these skills in previous roles.

When applying for a role, you should prioritize including your most pertinent and strongest skills, as these will be the ones most helpful to you in success. Choose one or two hard skills - specific tasks related to the position - and explain how these qualifications enable you to fulfill this role successfully, as well as how they benefit the employer.

The Summary Section is the most critical element of your resume and can make or break your chances for being hired. A strong summary should include a succinct statement outlining your strengths and accomplishments, as well as an insightful explanation of why you are an ideal candidate for the position.

Contents

Resumes typically consist of contact information, work experience, education and skillsets as well as references. They should be tailored to the position(s) applied for.

The resume should be organized neatly, easily readable and free from exaggeration or false information. Furthermore, it must be concise so that employers do not waste time reading it.

Identifying Information: This section includes the applicant's name, address, phone number and email address. It also contains their education background, work experience, achievements and awards.

Work Experience: This section should outline the applicant's job titles, duties and dates of employment. Additionally, include any extracurricular activities, volunteer work, research projects and field experiences that are pertinent to the position for which they are applying.

Educational Qualifications: This section includes the applicant's schooling and any training courses that may be relevant to the job for which they are applying. It should be presented in reverse chronological order, with the most recent qualifications appearing first.

Additional Qualifications: This section should include any certifications, awards and affiliations the candidate holds that are pertinent to the job for which they are applying. It should also include three references who can give an objective evaluation of their skillset and work history.

Other Information: This section should include any personal details like nationality, gender, religion, age and hobbies of the applicant. These factors help assess his character and personality as well as his qualifications.

For optimal results, the resume should be well-written with a readable font such as Helvetica, Bookman or Arial and standard margins. It should then be printed on light-colored 8 1/2" x 11" paper using either laser printer for optimal results. Furthermore, it should be accompanied by a cover letter that highlights the applicant's strengths and accomplishments in addition to their qualifications.

Conclusions

Your resume is a marketing tool designed to highlight your qualifications and experience in an appealing light to a specific role or company. To do this, it should provide tangible evidence that you are suitable for the position and can add value to the organization in question.

Communicating your skills and experiences clearly on a resume is essential. If you can demonstrate how your work has made a difference to the organizations or people that you have served, it will be much simpler to make your point. For instance, if you successfully negotiated a better deal for a client or helped settle an ongoing dispute, that would be an excellent example.

Your resume's conclusion should compel the reader to read it further and contact you for an interview. To accomplish this, include a brief summary of your career objective which explains what type of position you are seeking and how it fits into your long-term plans.

A good summary or objective should not exceed three sentences and provide a brief review of your relevant work and skillsets. Furthermore, provide an outline of your long-term career goals to help the employer decide whether you are suitable for the position.

Though it may seem straightforward, having an impressive resume summary is essential because this is what recruiters and employers will spend most of their time reading and skimming through. Since it's often the first thing they see, make it eye-catching, captivating and relevant to your field.

Your summary must be concise and to the point, so don't take too long to write it. Utilize measurements to give it life and include examples of your accomplishments such as increased sales, reduced workplace accidents or improved customer satisfaction scores. Your summary should not take more than ten minutes to complete; otherwise, potential recruiters may skip it entirely and move on to the next candidate.

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Graded Comic Books

If you should be trying to find graded comic books, you could have stumbled upon a few options for the purchase. The options include poor and near mint graded comic books, and even gem mint graded comic books. However, there are also additional things to keep in mind when you buy.

Poor graded comic books

The term "poor grade" identifies comic books that have a big number of defects. These may include loose pages, writing, and brittle paper. They may likewise have a lost cover or excessive signs of amateur repair. If you should be unsure of the grade of one's comic book, it is a good idea to find out more about the grading scale.

The grade of an amusing book depends on a number of factors, including the coloration, structural integrity, and condition of the paper. While the comic ages, it could have many different flaws, such as for example creasing, fading, scuff marks, as well as water damage.

Comics in a Very Good or Fine (VG/FN) condition have moderate wear. Their covers may show dimples or creases, and they may have foxing or store stamps.

"Good" grades describe comics in slightly worse condition than "Very Good" but nonetheless acceptable. Some of those defects include slight spine stress without color breaks, minor bending, or acorning.

Near mint to near mint graded comic books

Comic books in Near Mint to near mint condition have minimal to no flaws. They're nearly perfect copies that are not stained, scratched, or creased. A romantic date stamp often appears on the cover, usually in pencil.

Comic books in this grade might be missing pages. The interior pages might have a reasonable accumulation of defects. These include discoloration, acidic decay, and fading.

Furthermore, there may be a little bit of rust migration on the covers or pages. That is area of the manufacturing process. However, this does not detract from the overall appearance of the comic.

There are also some minor printing and bindery flaws, but they cannot affect the grade. Some traditional printing flaws include a crooked cover, light fading, a lost 1/8" triangle, or even a crease. Other acceptable flaws certainly are a tiny bend on the corner of the cover and tiny color breaks.

Typically, new comic books in this grade aren't worth much. They're brittle, and may have slight to heavy staining. Occasionally, the spine is cracked or broken.

Gem mint graded comic books

Gem mint graded comic books certainly are a very rare kind of book. They have no defects and the corners are razor sharp. There may be a few minor creases, however.

The Overstreet Grading Guide may be the industry's leading name in grading comics. It features a ten-point scale and full color photographs of the major defects that can affect a comic's value.

Gemmint, near mint, fine and very fine will be the three main grades of comics. These are accustomed to indicate the grade of the pages.

Gemmint is the better possible grade for a comic. Near mint and fine are two of the greatest, if not the greatest, grades for a comic. Fine is another highest grade and it's used to indicate an amusing that seemingly have been well-maintained.

Fine may be the grade for an amusing that's slight wear but appears to stay good shape. A near mint copy may have few imperfections, while an excellent copy may have some.

VERY FINE/NEAR MINT graded comic books

VERY FINE/NEAR MINT graded comic books are those who are considered to stay pristine condition. These comics tend to be boarded early. However, they may still possess some flaws.

The cover of a VERY FINE/NEAR MINT comic book can show some minor to moderate wear. This may include creases, discoloration, and lack of gloss. Dimples and blunted corners are also possible.

If your VERY FINE/NEAR MInt comic book has a romantic date stamp, this is acceptable. It's usually written in pencil.

Unlike other comic book grades, Very Fine / Near Mint books are allowed to have a slight spine tear. They're also allowed to have a small bindery tear. Occasionally, a Very Fine/Near Mint comic book may have a rust migration, although it is generally uncommon.

Regardless of the minimal wear and tear, the inside pages of Very Fine / Near Mint comics continue to be solidly attached. They're also brown in color and possess some acidic decay.