#variants and sons of nemesis

[witchthewriter]

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐕𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐒𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐍𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐬

The son or variant of Nemesis is not the loudest character, nor the most violent, but the one who enters with a glint of darkness in his eye. He's the one who punishes arrogance. He destroys tyranny. And he does it with presence, not ego. These men are graceful wrath. Silent balance. And they never, ever strike first; so gods help you if you do.

𝐽𝑜𝑒𝑙 𝑀𝑖𝑙𝑙𝑒𝑟

𝐸𝑟𝑖𝑐 𝐷𝑟𝑎𝑣𝑒𝑛

𝑀𝑎𝑡𝑡 𝑀𝑢𝑟𝑑𝑜𝑐𝑘

𝐷𝑒𝑥𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑀𝑜𝑟𝑔𝑎𝑛

𝑀𝑜𝑟𝑔𝑎𝑛 𝐽𝑜𝑛𝑒𝑠

𝑆𝑖𝑟𝑖𝑢���� 𝐵𝑙𝑎𝑐𝑘

𝑇'𝐶ℎ𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑎

𝑀𝑎𝑥𝑖𝑚𝑢𝑠 𝐷𝑒𝑐𝑖𝑚𝑢𝑠 𝑀𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑑𝑖𝑢𝑠

𝐽𝑜ℎ𝑛 𝑊𝑖𝑐𝑘

[sapphicpipedream]

probably overdone but!!!!! foxes and their godly parents

neil: definitely literally without a doubt hermes. his whole thing is literally running (fast, away from his past..etc) andrew + aaron: obvious answer is sons of apollo. blond twins, aaron with his whole medicine thing. andrew because apollo is also the god of truths. alternatively sons of nemesis like goddess of vengeance??? both of them killing each others abusers?? its too good.

kevin: son of nike for sure. like goddess of victory??? literally him. alternatively he could be like the host of thoth or something ik he wld go crazy for all that knowledge.

renee: daughter of iris. idk if i have any other reason than her being associated with rainbows lolll. she definitely talks and prays to hestia too though.

nicky: son of aphrodite. he totally resents the tradition of breaking ppls hearts though. and him being the son of the goddess of love while his parents reject his idea of love is just! so!

allison: daughter of aphrodite too but i feel like she'd have charmspeak. i can lowkey see piper in her.

dan: my girl literally captained the foxes to victory. daughter of athena through and through

matt: i wanna say hermes just because he was neil's roommate when he first came to palmetto + hermes accepting all newcomers and stuff.

seth: ares. idk what else to say

bonus!!!

jean: idk who embodies misery more than my boy jean so maybe akhlys. but also im getting demeter vibes. cant explain why but its there. pegasi also totally love him for some reason.

jeremy: easy answer wld be apollo but consider janus. like god of beginnings?? he manages to separate and hide his past like a little too well. and!!! speaking of beginnings he's part of the reason jean is getting a new beginning as well.

wymack is literally a coach hedge variant.

[in1-nutshell]

Hello it's me again If possible can I request tfp Megatron or Soundwave With a body who swears like a sailor??

Hello again! I can make this request for Buddy swearing... But with a twist!

Hope you enjoy!

Soundwave reaction to Human Buddy who swears a lot

SFW, mention of some 'swearing', Human reader

TFP

Soundwave was starting to sense a partner in his smaller companions.

A lot of them seemed to have some of the filthiest mouths on the Nemesis. Or at least they had...

Now he had Buddy, the Cons very own human ally. How did they get there in the first place?

Well that's a story for another time.

Fact was Buddy liked to swear. There was at least one curse word in each sentence they did.

"You slimy son of a--"--Buddy

SCREECH

"Great thanks a ton Screamer, now Preds angry now!"--Buddy

They tried substituting the curse words for other variants but those didn't turn out so well.

"Well that just dills my pickles."--Buddy

"For the love of Primus! Just swear again!"--Knockout

Thankfully Soundwave found a solution.

"Well that's just--"--Buddy

Quack

"--great! Not only am I stuck with--"--Buddy

Oink oink

"--but now Soundwave keeps bleeping out my--"--Buddy

Squish

"--what was that one about?"--Buddy

So what if it made Buddy angry. At least the Nemesis was a bit swear free.

Well at least from human swearing that is.

Maybe he could do it on Starscream...

[swallowtail-ageha]

Thing is that the enormous amount of incest, at least from the barisol family, whose members greatly influenced the history of evillious and whose bloodline ended up spanning through a millenium even by changing last names and splitting into several families, was doomed to happen from the start. Ma raping gallerian, her son, to concieve nemesis is just the logical conclusion of it all. She is the mother, daughter (as ambiguous Alice/Maria/Irina's true parentage is), and granddaughter all at once, inhabiting the body of the aunt who gave it up in favour of those of her ancestor. Family compressing onto themselves and not being able to go forward. Even the daughters born from that (if we also count the Doll's creation), are just the mother and the daughter reproposed and recreated by the body of the son.

And even Ma's inherently incestuous creation was a foregone conclusion! Once again, we go back to Levia, Irina, and Eve. Mothers and daughters ruthlessly using and abusing each other for half a millenia, all under the guise of love (Eve's love for Adam, but also Irina being in love with her brother Kirill and Levia as Elluka being convinced that she was Kirill's fiancèe).

And while yes, Maria/Irina might have been an orphan who had been lied to about her divine parentage, i think it is still significant that what Levia and Behemo told her. A girl born from incestuous twins, or, better, two variants of the same person. The roots were rotten from the start.

[cal-daisies-and-briars]

⚖️⚖️⚖️⚖️⚖️⚖️⚖️⚖️⚖️⚖️⚖️⚖️⚖️⚖️⚖️⚖️⚖️⚖️⚖️⚖️⚖️⚖️⚖️⚖️⚖️⚖️⚖️⚖️⚖️⚖️⚖️⚖️

96 for ⚖️:

---

He sees Eddie in the middle of amazing, happy memories with Shannon. He sees Eddie in the middle of fights, where he has the attitude of an unrelenting brick wall. He sees him push her away. He sees him devastated and terrified that she’s gone. 

He sees Eddie overseas. Afghanistan. Sees him making friends, being a support. Sees him helping dozens of wounded people, saving lives or providing whatever last bits of comfort he can. He watches his helicopter go down. Watches him sob over a photo of his son.

He sees so many things. Moments of heroism and bravery, moments of confused rage and grief. Moments of soft and tender love for Christopher. For Buck, and everyone else on the team, too. Moments of weakness and poor decision making. 

He sees the whole of who Eddie is, and he feels absolutely the same about him as he did before. He loves him just as much. Nothing about Eddie’s past changes anything. 

His future changes everything. 

Eddie’s future… Well, it has Buck all over it. He’s everywhere. Like someone spilled their fates together, two different shades of paint that now can't be extracted. 

He sees them laughing in a bar somewhere in a city he’s never been to before. He sees them touring a house together, and Buck won’t stop complaining about the kitchen. He sees Eddie dressing in what looks like a wedding suit. I’m really proud of you, Dad, Chris says as Eddie ties his tie. 

He sees all those same mosaic tile pieces, on the other side of time. Good and bad moments. Heroic moments, weak moments. Joy and sex and romance and support. Arguments and frustrations and struggles. Buck is always there or nearby. He is a permanent fixture. 

Sure, there are variants. A handful of futures. Different factors for Buck to consider. But none are horrible. And all of them include Buck. The differences are minute. The outcomes all good. And… And Eddie… Whatever he did today, Buck thinks, he’s secured both of them not only the gentlest, but the happiest outcome. The only real choice Buck needs to make is the ending. 

So he makes it. And he’ll just have to hope Eddie will be okay with that.

⚖️

All of what Buck does happens outside of time, but the kiss still lingers for a moment after he returns to consciousness. When he pulls away, he finds he’s gasping a little. In all the other scenarios, the futures he saw weren’t his. He didn’t have to live them after choosing them. And, okay. This wasn’t technically his either. But he does get to live it. He gets to enjoy Eddie’s future, every beautiful second of it. He can’t think of anything better. 

He’s so overwhelmed by it, actually, that he doesn’t think about why he can still see Eddie’s aura. That cool and beautiful blue. 

“What?” Eddie asks. “What’s wrong? Did… Buck, is it bad?”

Buck shakes his head. He smiles. “No. Not bad. It’s perfect.”

“Oh,” Eddie smiles, voice a little breathy. “Oh, well… Well, great.” 

“Thank you,” Buck says, tearing up again. “God, Eddie, thank you.” 

Eddie pulls Buck closer to him. 

“Anything,” he says. “Always.”

Behind them, Nemesis sighs loudly.

“Well, game’s over,” she says. “You win.”

Eddie shouts, startled, and scrambles around to look at her. 

“You can see her?” Buck asks. 

“Uh, yeah…” Eddie looks horrified. “For some fucking reason.”

“Well, you know,” Nemesis waves a hand, bored. “If you didn’t know, all of this might have worked. He’s awfully gullible. But, you win some. You lose some. Some are a total waste of time.”

Buck gapes at her. “What are you talking about? This wasn’t a game!”

“Well, maybe not for you,” she says. “But you won, either way. Somehow. I thought you were dumber than the cowboy.”

[scarlet--wiccan]

LORE IS BACK THIS IS NOT A DRILL LORE IS BACK!!!!!!!!!

It would be so fucking cool if you would provide.... literally any context for this. Fortunately, I'd already seen the news!

Marvel.com just posted a teaser for Scarlet Witch (2024) #3, which will be on sale 8/21 and will feature the return of Lore, a malevolent nexus being who Wanda defeated in Scarlet Witch (1995)-- and she's got a brand new look from Russel Dauterman! According the announcement, Wanda will be fighting to "reach the land of the living," and will be waylaid by Lore, who " won’t stop until her death at Wanda’s hands is avenged—but another one of Wanda’s nemeses may hold the key to her survival! "

That wording is interesting-- we know that in #2 Wanda will be trapped somewhere, apparently at the hands of the Queen of Nevers. This makes it sound like she's going to end up in some sort of afterlife, where she'll encounter the deceased Lore. The thing is, Lore is a necromancer, and has actually turned up in the land of the living since her apparent demise-- she was in a short run of Avengers Unlimited last year.

Here's Dauterman's cover, along with a variant by Joelle Jones, one of my favorite illustrators from the 2016 Scarlet Witch series.

[It's not lost on me that, between the red hair and the costume, Lore's new design has a striking resemblance to you-know-who. I'm choosing to believe that this was intentional irony. }

If I had to guess, the "other nemesis" in question may be Master Pandemonium, the demonic sorcerer and former servant of Mephisto who was responsible for destroying Wanda's babies back in Avengers West Coast. He and Lore have teamed up twice now, but Pandemonium has a habit of getting screwed over by his allies and sponsors. After SW (1995), he was reduced to a mostly powerless, clearly disabled old man who, for years, was squatting in Wanda and Vision's abandoned New Jersey home. More recently, Wanda's adult son, Tommy, has become his friend and caretaker. He's primed to come back in a more sympathetic role, if not a full-on redemption-- and Wanda is in the right place now to understand that Pandemonium was as much of a pawn and victim and she was. She doesn't owe him forgiveness, but reaching a resolution with Pandemonium would compliment all of her recent growth and healing nicely.

[sleeps-au-bag]

just like in 03, there are changes for pride, wrath, and sloth in the 03 variant.

sloth is tenmama and instead of having dark brown hair, she has black hair with peach-pink ends. she's essentially the same as 03 sloth in terms of personality but her pre-sloth personality is quite different (the tenmas had to get their loudness from somewhere, after all).

wrath is still nemesis but her design is more pre-the muzzle of nemesis design. think during her time being raised by "nikolay tolle" instead of having practically the same outfit as envy. her hair color is also not black, instead it's a very dark green that looks black. izumi and sig were going to have a daughter instead of a son which changes things in terms of how dante "raises" her.

pride isn't riliane. i've decided for pride to be arth instead. since the homunculi are products of human transmutation, pride is from his two twin children's attempt at reviving him. anne died during childbirth so he was the one who raised the twins until he was killed. alexiel's price was his head while riliane's price was her heart. he secretly keeps a photo of the two of them in his office despite how many years it's been since he was arth.

[pjplayground]

SC0R-P10N (cw: body horror)

I was sitting in a coffee shop today and made an abomination, as one does. It's another variant of what I feel a dystopian future for MtR (specifically, Cornelius) would look like. First it was Dor-15's pet, now I present to you: Biological Experiment 1: SC0R-P10N.

For those who can't read my handwriting, here's the majority of the most important points: - His body is more mechanical than biological. Some biological elements remain. - Special reinforced bowler hat. - Needle delivers a "healthy" dosage of tranquilizers. - Flesh is infected and rotten. - His humanity is still in there. - Replacement robotic limbs for the ones that rotted off. - Forced to act feral (because Dor-15 sees him as an animal). - Due to technological advancements, Dor-15 now have biological elements, which requires incubation time. - Stomach heals after "birthing". - The tail contains pieces of his brain and heart. So you take out the tail, you kill him. - The tail is directly connected to his spine.

Under the cut is more info about how he'd work.

Okay, so I'm imagining this as if it were a game. One where you play as Wilbur trying to fight for his future; His goal being to get to the time machine which is locked up in Dor-15's main operations building, where his mother and father are both twisted experiments who help Dor-15 with her sick endeavors. Carl would be his companion throughout the adventure.

Cornelius I feel would be the second to last boss of the game. (The final obstacle before Dor-15.) Over the course of the game, I feel like he would've been a looming, constant threat. Something along the lines of Nemesis from Resident Evil 3 (original), but more tame. Like there are certain areas of the game where you'd have to sneak around Cornelius. It would be an instant game over if you're caught.

How would his boss battle go? Well, since his life force is essentially in his tail, I feel like it would be like Ko-omote from Ghostwire: Tokyo, where you'd have to sneak up behind him to rip parts of his tail off. For reference, here's what Ko-omote's battle is like -> YouTube Link.

After the battle, Wilbur would have to watch as his father comes to, feels all the pain his body is in (because it's basically a corpse), and dies. Not before seeing his son for the first time in years, and telling him how proud he is. Carl would help Wilbur give his father a proper-ish burial. (As proper as you can get for a shit show future like this.)

SOUND DESIGN AND MOVEMENTS! Obviously, because he's basically animalistic, he moves on all fours and has a move set similar to arachnids. However, I also think he would move a lot like Queen Chrysalis from MLP:FiM. Bug-like and weird. See the first couple of seconds of this clip to get a reference -> Queen Chrysalis

For sounds? Easy, like the Warpers from Subnautica. Cornelius can still talk, but it's completely distorted amongst mechanical whirrs and glitches. Here's what the Warpers sound like for reference -> Hunting. Analyzing.

[dxrknessembr8ced]

THE DARSTALKERS

Hsien - Ko ( T-Virus Afflicted Jiangshi )

Mei-Ling ( The Older Sister )

Q-Bee ( The Soul Bee Queen )

H.O. Junior ( Cell Divided Clone )

Bishamon ( The Cursed Samurai )

B.B. Hood ( Little Murder Go Round )

Lilith ( The Split Beauty )

Morrigan ( Conceit Beauty )

Felicia ( Star Of Felicity )

Pyron ( The War Of Hellstorm )

Horrors ( Ancient Darkstalkers )

Rei-Rei ( The Son Of Hsien-Ko )

???????

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NEW SHADOW LAW

Seth ( Head of both Neo S.I.N. and new Shadow Law )

Dr. Cameron ( The Head scientist )

Neo - S.I.N. ( Weapons division )

Neo - S.I.N. operatives

Night hawk ( Neo-S.I.N. pilot )

Tyrant Shadaloo dolls

Shadaloo Undertakers

LAS EREBUS + THE TULPAS

The Father ( High priest of the cult )

Cephalo ( Child Of The Cult )

Hell Melvis

Lil' susie

White Lottie

The Skinner

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THE U.R.F.

Пачка ( The Pack ) - Standard infantry

Медведь ( The Bears ) - heavy Infantry

Во́лков / Commissars ( The Wolf ) - Elite + High ranking clone tyrant super soldiers originated from Hsien-Ko

T.A.L.O.S. clones

Artificial Guardsmen

BIO ORGANIC WEAPONS

Nemesis ( Gone Rogue )

Revenants ( T-Erebus Zombies )

Daemons ( T-Erebus Crimson head )

The Vurdalak ( Evolved Farfarello )

The Strigoi ( T-Erebus licker variants )

Fairies ( Evolved Chimera + T-Erebus variants )

am fear liath mòr ( Sentient T-103 )

Nemesis - Beta Parasites

Macaque ( Evolved Nemesis parasite )

Napads

The J'avo

The Seraphim EXTINCT

Erebus Soldats ( B.O.W. Super Soldiers )

Detonators ( Mutated Explosive Undead )

Gheist

Oooze

The Afflicted

Uroboros Based B.O.W.s.

The Majini

The Ganado

Scagdead

The Tank ( A-Type 4 B.O.W. )

The Witch ( A-Type B O.W. )

The hunter ( A-Type 4 B.O.W. )

The Smoker ( A-Type 4 B.O.W. )

The Boomer ( A-Type 4 B.O.W. )

The Charger ( A-Type 4 B.O.W. )

The Spitter ( A-Type 4 B.O.W. )

The Jockey ( A-Type 4 B.O.W. )

The Screamer ( A-Type 4 B.O.W. )

The Ratman ( A-Type 4 B.O.W. )

Goliath ( A-Type 4 B.O.W. )

Hell Pigs ( A-Type 4 B.O.W. | Irregular mutant warthog )

The Wailer ( A-Type 4 B.O.W. | Male variation of the witch )

The Swines ( A-Type 4 B.O.W. | Irregular Mutant farm pig )

The Siren ( A-Type 4 B.O.W. | Female variation of the Screamer )

The Worker ( A-Type 4 B.O.W. )

The Bleeder ( A-Type 4 B.O.W. )

The Herder ( A-Type 4 B.O.W. )

The Psycho ( A-Type 4 B.O.W. )

The Haggard ( A-Type 4 B.O.W. )

Dr. Entrail ( A-Type 4 B.O.W. | Former umbrella Researcher )

The Breeder ( A-Type 4 B.O.W )

The Lobster ( A-Type 4 B.O.W. )

The Fester ( A-Type 4 B.O.W. )

The Smackdown ( A-Type 4 B.O.W. )

MISCELLANEOUS MUSES

Shuma-Gorath ( The Chaos Unrivalled )

S.I.N. Ko ( The Bionic Fake )

Bill

Zoey

Francis

Louis

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[waquins]

There is also this version

Pseudo-Apollodorus, Bibliotheca 1. 53 (trans. Aldrich) (Greek mythographer C2nd A.D.) :

Each year these lads grew two feet in width and six feet in length. When they were nine years old and measured eighteen feet across by fifty four feet tall, they decided to fight the gods. So they set Mount Ossa on top of Mount Olympos, and then placed Mount Pelion on top of Ossa, threatening by means of these mountains to climb up to the sky; and they also said that they would dam up the sea with mountains and make it dry, and make the dry land a sea. Ephialtes paid amorous attention to Hera, as did Otos to Artemis. And they also bound up Ares. But Hermes secretly snatched Ares away, and Artemis finished off the Aloadai in Naxos by means of a trick: in the likeness of a deer she darted between them, and in their desire to hit the animal they speared each other."

The Aloadae giants stacked mountains atop one another to fight the gods on Olympus. They had their eyes on Artemis and Hera amorously. In this version most assume the implication is that Ares fought against the giants and lost. But it’s also possible he was simply captured without any fanfare. It’s true it’s not explicit, but not entirely baseless either. This version where Artemis saves herself is probably the most well known variant.

There are also references to the giants’ advances on Artemis in other writings

Callimachus, Hymn 3 to Artemis 262 ff (trans. Mair) (Greek poet C3rd B.C.) :

"Neither let any woo the Maiden [Artemis]; for not Otos, nor Orion wooed her to their own good."

Nonnus, Dionysiaca 48. 395 ff (trans. Rouse) (Greek epic C5th A.D.) :

"[Nemesis addresses Artemis :] ‘What impious son of Earth persecutes you? . . . If bold Otos again, or boastful Ephialtes, has desired to win your love so far beyond his reach, then slay the pretender to your unwedded virginity.’"

You know what is funny?

The fact that so many people talk about Ares protecting Hera and Artemis from the Aloadai, yet such a thing is never actually claimed in ancient sources. At no point is it stated that Ares was captured specifically because he was trying to protect his mother and sister, and in fact in most versions there is no indication that Hera and Artemis were in any particular danger.

In the one version where Artemis is in real danger from the Aloadai, though, it is Apollo who intervenes: "Otos and Ephialtes, sons of Aloeus and Iphimede, are said to have been of extraordinary size. They each grew nine inches every month, and so when they were nine years old, they tried to climb into heaven. They began this way: they placed Mount Ossa on Pelion (from this Mount Ossa is also called Pelion), and were piling up other mountains. But they were discovered by Apollo and killed. Other writers, however, say that they were invulnerable sons of Neptunus and Iphimede. When they wished to assault Diana, she could not resist their strength, and Apollo sent a deer between them. Driven mad by anger in trying to kill it with javelins, they killed each other. In the Land of the Dead they are said to suffer this punishment: they are bound by serpents to a column, back to back. Between them is a screech-owl, sitting on the column to which they are bound." (Pseudo-Hyginus, Fabulae 28)

[docgold13]

365 Marvel Comics Paper Cut-Out SuperHeroes - One Hero, Every Day, All Year…

February 16th - Luke Cage

Carl Lucas, the man that would one day be known as the heroic ‘Luke Cage,’ was born and raised in the Harlem neighborhood of Manhattan. He was the son of Esther and James Lucas, a retired N.Y.P.D. detective. Lucas spent his youth causing trouble on the streets with his friends, a group of would-be gangsters who called themselves ‘The Rivals.’   In his younger years, Carl dreamed of becoming a powerful racketeer and crime boss.  As he grew older, however, he came to better understand how his actions were affecting others, especially his parents.  As such, he began to disengage from his pals among The Rivals.  Carl’s former best friend, Willis Stryker, felt angry and abandoned by Carl.  As retribution, he planted a large amount of narcotics in Carl’s apartment and informed the police.  It resulted in Carl being charged, sentenced and incarcerated.  

Following numerous fights and escape attempts, Carl was transferred to the notorious Seagate Prison of Louisiana.  There Carl was subjected to all manners of brutalities, primarily at the hands of a racist guard named Rackham.

Dr. Noah Burstein came to the prison to carry out secret medical research and recruited Carl as a volunteer. Bernstein was secretly working on experimental cell regeneration based on a variant of the Super-Soldier process that had transformed Steve Rogers into Captain America.  Burstien immersed Carl in the ‘Electro-Biochemical System,’ a device that contained an electrical field conducted by an organic chemical compound. When he left equipment unattended, Rackham tampered with the controls, hoping to kill Carl. However, the treatment was accelerated past its intended purpose causing mutagenic change throughout Carl's body, fortifying his cells and giving him superhuman strength and durability. Carl used his new-found powers to escape the prison and make his way back to Harlem. A chance encounter with criminals inspired him to use his new powers for profit.

Still a wanted man, Carl adopted the alias ‘Luke Cage.’  With his new super powers he decided to don a distinctive costume, and start a new career as a ‘Hero for Hire.’ He would help anyone who could meet his price.  He found an office above Times Square's Gem Theater and from there he continued his new career.

Dr. Burstein also relocated to New York and opened a Storefront Clinic, assisted by Dr. Claire Temple. Luke met Claire after he was attacked by hitmen hired by his old friend Stryker. When she rushed to help him she was shocked to find that he wasn't injured by the attack, but insisted on having her colleague look at his bruises. At the clinic he met his old friend Dr. Burnstein. Later, when Burnstein was attacked by a syndicate looking to convince them into paying a protection fee, Claire suggested that they take up Luke's services. Claire was kidnapped and Luke tracked her to the perpetrators lair, where he was surprised to find that it was his old friend and betrayer, Willis Stryker. The two former friends fought. During the fight Stryker fell through a skylight and was blown up by one of his own trick switchblades, ruining any hope Luke had that Stryker could clear his name.

Luke went on to have numerous adventures in his role as the hero for hire.  After an encounter with Iron Man, Luke decided to take on the moniker of ‘Power Man’ to further cement his status as a super hero.  He later became a member of The Defenders for a brief period of time and additionally acted as a member of The Fantastic Four, stepping in for The Thing who had temporarily lost his powers.  

Some time later, Clare Temple and Noah Burstein were abducted by the crime lord known as Cottonmouth.  The villain used them as hostages in order to coerce Power Man into taking down Misty Knight, a longstanding nemesis of Cottonmouth.  The scheme backfired when Cage joined forces with Misty and her boyfriend, Iron Fist, to take down Cottonmouth.  

Cage and Iron Fist did not have much in common with one another, yet they nonetheless got along extremely well.  The two decided to rebrand the Hero for Hire operation as Power Man and Iron Fist: The Heroes for Hire, and together achieved great success, earning an international reputation and battling a wide variety of criminals on countless adventures.  

Cage was ultimately able to clear his original name and he worked with investigator, Dakota North, in an effort to find and reconnect with his parents.  The effort was stymied by Cage’s older brother, James Lucas Jr.  Indeed James Jr.’s animosities toward his brother ran so deep that he ended up becoming a member of the criminal syndicate known as The Corporation, whose power-enhancing scientist, Doctor Karl Malus, mutated him into the super villain called Coldfire.  Yet the Corporation betrayed James Jr. and they took his father, James Lucas Sr., as a hostage to ensure his cooperation.  It was a critical error which ultimately led to the two brothers resolving their differences and teaming up to rescue their father.  Coldfire ended up sacrificing himself to save his father and destroy The Corporation.  

Following a brief tenure with an expanded Heroes For Hire squad, Cage decided to lay low from super heroics, retiring the ‘Power Man’ name and just going by Luke Cage.  He and Jessica Jones became body guards for attorney Matt Murdock.  Luke and Jessica became very close as he helped her overcome her difficulties with drinking and begin the process of working through past traumas she endured at the hands of the sadistic villain known as The Purple Man.  Luke and Jessica ultimately became romantically involved and have remained together ever since.  The two were married and have a daughter named Danielle Cage.  

In the wake of the Secret Invasion event, Cage once more found himself a fugitive as Norman Osborn took over SHIELD, rebranded it as HAMMER, and labeled Cage and many of his fellow heroes as enemies of the state.  Cage ended up a member of the New Avengers, battling against Osborn and his various schemes.  

Cage remained with the Avengers through the return of the heroic era, ultimately forming his own squad of Mighty Avengers.  Cage additionally spent time acting as the leader of a new iteration of The Thunderbolts squad.  Later Cage reunited with his former partner, Iron Fist, to take down a number of threats that were linked to Cage’s youth growing up in Harlem.  More recently, Cage, Iron Fist and Jessica Jones have teamed up with Tony Stark in an effort to bring down Mayor Wilson Fisk.

Actor Mike Colter portrayed Luke Cage in the MCU Netflix series Cage, along with the Defenders and Jessica Jones series.  The character first appeared in the pages of Hero for Hire #1 (1972).

[scienceninjaturtle]

CAPTAIN AMERICA: COLD WAR ALPHA #1

COLLIN KELLY, JACKSON LANZING & TOCHI ONYEBUCHI (W) • CARLOS MAGNO (A)

Cover by PATRICK GLEASON • VARIANT COVER BY DANIEL ACUÑA

VARIANT COVER BY MARCO CHECCHETTO

INFINITY SAGA PHASE 3 VARIANT COVER BY STEVE MCNIVEN

TIMELESS BARON ZEMO VIRGIN VARIANT COVER BY ALEX ROSS

TIMELESS BARON ZEMO VIRGIN SKETCH VARIANT COVER BY ALEX ROSS

MARVEL ICON VARIANT COVER BY STEFANO CASELLI

THE REVOLUTION STARTS HERE: COLD WAR – PART ONE!

Bucky Barnes is the Outer Circle's New Revolution, and he has enacted his deadliest move yet — an alliance with Sam Wilson's nemesis, the White Wolf. When Steve Rogers' adopted son, Ian, A.K.A. Nomad, is abducted by someone Steve thought was a friend, he suspects Bucky's hand at work and calls upon the people who know Ian best — Sam Wilson, Sharon Carter and Misty Knight — to help him get to the bottom of the attack. Has Bucky finally gone too far? Why has Nomad been taken, and what does it have to do with a portal to Dimension Z opening over a secret battleground in Alaska?

The Symbol of Truth and the Sentinel of Liberty reunite for a pulse-pounding crossover event that will make them question everything they believe in…and each other.

40 PGS./ONE-SHOT/Rated T+ …$4.99

[theoutcastrogue]

A brand-new way to create a story

[by David M. Ewalt]

Original D&D: Blackmoor (the 1975 TSR edition and the 2013 WotC reprint)

In December 1970, after a two-day binge of watching monster movies and reading Robert E. Howard’s Conan the Barbarian books, Dave Arneson invited his friends over under the pretense of playing a traditional Napoleonic war game. Instead, he introduced them to the city of Blackmoor.

“They came down to the basement and there was a medieval castle in the middle of the table,” says David Megarry. The players, Arneson explained, had been sent through time and space to a medieval city and had to control original heroic characters, each with their own attributes, powers, and goals.

“My very first character was a thief,” says Megarry, “and my nemesis was Dan Nicholson, the merchant. His role was to try to get stuff into town and then sell it. And my role was to try to steal his stuff and make my money that way. It gave us a framework of how to operate in this world.”

Characters in place, Arneson sent the players to explore the dungeons beneath the castle and town. Inside, he hit them with another twist: The subterranean passages weren’t defended by human soldiers but inhabited by fantastic monsters—like a dragon, which Arneson represented on the table using a plastic toy brontosaurus with a fanged clay head. The fantasy role-playing game was born.

Much of the appeal of the game came from the excitement of exploring the winding corridors underneath Blackmoor. “There was that thrill of discovery,” says Megarry. “You have to make a decision... left or right, or staircase in front of you going down?”

At first, combat in the world of Blackmoor was resolved using a clunky system of rock-paper-scissors showdowns. But Arneson quickly turned to the rules of a medieval-miniatures war game called Chainmail, paying particular interest to two sections of its sixty-two-page booklet: “Man-to-Man,” which explained how to manage individual heroes amongst your army, and “Fantasy Supplement,” which included rules for casting magical spells and fighting hideous monsters.

Chainmail’s “Man-To-Man” and “Fantasy Supplement” sections were not intended for roleplaying, they were still war game variants; thankfully, they were appropriated by roleplayers, and 50 years later, here we are.

Chainmail provided a framework that helped Blackmoor develop from a novelty into a consistent, ongoing game. But ultimately the system proved too limited for Arneson’s growing fantasy world. He began adding his own innovations—rules for fighting in different types of armor, lists of magical artifacts, and provisions for improving a character over time.

Like any passionate hobbyist, Arneson was excited to share his work with others. So he decided to show off Blackmoor to Chainmail’s author. [...]

Greyhawk: Original D&D (TSR, 1975) and Advanced D&D (TSR, 1983)

Arneson visited Lake Geneva in the fall of 1972 to show off his Blackmoor game, but what he really delivered was innovations: Every player at the table controls just one character. Those characters seek adventure in a fantasy landscape. By doing so, they gain experience and become more powerful.

Gary Gygax took those ideas and turned them into a commodity. “I asked Dave to please send me his rules additions, for I thought a whole new system should be developed,” he wrote. “A few weeks after his visit I received 18 or so handwritten pages of rules and notes pertaining to his campaign, and I immediately began work on a brand new manuscript.”

Over the next two months, Gygax labored at a portable Royal typewriter crafting the rules for a new kind of game, where players roll dice to create a hero, fight monsters, and find treasure. By the end of 1972, he’d finished a fifty-page first draft. He called it the Fantasy Game.

The first people to play it were Gygax’s eleven-year-old son, Ernie, and nine-year-old daughter, Elise. Gygax had created a counterpart to Arneson’s  Blackmoor, which he called Castle Greyhawk, and designed a single level of its dungeons; one night after dinner, he invited the kids to roll up characters and start exploring. Ernie created a wizard and named him Tenser—an anagram for his full name, Ernest. Elise played a cleric called Ahlissa. They wrote down the details of their characters on index cards and entered the dungeon. In the very first room, they discovered and defeated a nest of scorpions; in the second, they fought a gang of kobolds—short subterranean lizard-men. They also found their first treasure, a chest full of copper coins, but it was too heavy to carry. The two adventurers pressed on until nine o’clock, when the Dungeon Master put them to bed. Fatherly duties completed, Gygax returned to his office and designed another level of the dungeons.

The next day the play tests continued, and Ernie and Elise were joined by three players plucked from Gygax’s regular war-gaming group: his childhood friend Don Kaye (Murlynd) and local teenagers Rob Kuntz (Robilar) and his brother Terry (Terik). He also sent the manuscript to a few dozen war-gaming friends around the country, requesting feedback. “The reaction . . . was instant enthusiasm,” wrote Gygax. “They demanded publication of the rules as soon as possible.”

The local gamers also clamored for more. As they got farther into the depths of Castle Greyhawk, they faced greater challenges and began to feel like they were a part of a legend: Thanks to Dave Arneson’s innovation of persistent characters, the dungeons had a living history. If Tenser killed a pack of kobolds on Tuesday, Robilar might find the corpses on Thursday. It was a brand-new way to create a story.”

— David M. Ewalt, Of Dice and Men: The Story of Dungeons & Dragons and the People Who Play It (Scribner, 2013); abridged excerpts

[random-movie-ideas]

And now we come to our big major crossover that brings together all three of these universes we've constructed so far:

CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS

In this huge multi-part crossover event, the multiverse begins to shatter, an all-consuming being called the Anti-Monitor threatening to destroy all worlds.

Starring:

Clark Kent/Superman – Leader of the Justice League

Bruce Wayne/Batman – Member of the Justice League

Barry Allen/Flash – Member of the Justice League lost in time

Hal Jordan/Green Lantern – Member of the Justice League

Princess Diana/Wonder Woman – Member of the Justice League

Arthur Curry/Aquaman – Member of the Justice League

Kara Zor-El/Supergirl – Member of the Justice League lost in the multiverse

Bart Allen/Impulse – Barry Allen’s grandson

Clark Kent/Superboy (Prime) – A multiverse variant of Superman in his teens

Clark Kent/Superman (Two) – A multiverse variant of Superman from an animated universe

Billy Batson/Captain Marvel – Member of the Justice League

Kara Zor-Il/Power Girl – A multiverse variant of Supergirl

Carter Hall/Hawkman – Member of the Justice League

Shiera Saunders/Hawkgirl – Member of the Justice League

Darkseid – The god-king of Apokolips

Anti-Monitor – An all-powerful being trying to destroy the multiverse

Mr. Mxyzptlk – A fifth-dimensional imp working for the Anti-Monitor

Ted Kord/Blue Beetle – Member of the Justice League

Michael Jon Carter/Booster Gold – A hero from the distant future

Ray Palmer/Atom – Member of the Justice League

Ronnie Raymond and Martin Stein/Firestorm – Members of the Justice League

Lex Luthor – Leader of the Injustice League

Kent Nelson – Member of the Justice League and former Doctor Fate

Dick Grayson/Nightwing – Member of the Justice League

Wally West/Flash – Barry Allen’s successor and partner

John Stewart/Green Lantern – Member of the Justice League

J’onn J’onzz/Martian Manhunter – Member of the Justice League

Donna Troy/Wonder Girl – Member of the Justice League

Roy Harper/Green Arrow – Member of the Justice League

Jackson Hyde/Aqualad – Member of the Justice League

Guy Gardner/Green Lantern – Member of the Justice League

Barbara Gordon/Batgirl – Member of the Justice League

Dinah Lance/Black Canary – Member of the Justice League

Mia Dearden/Red Arrow – Member of the Justice League

Scott Free/Mr. Miracle – The son of Darkseid

Bruce Wayne/Batman (Two) – A multiverse variant of Batman from an animated universe

The Joker – Member of the Injustice League

Eobard Thawne/Reverse Flash – The Flash’s arch-nemesis

Alan Scott/Green Lantern – A Green Lantern variant from an animated universe

Jay Garrick/Flash – A Flash variant from an animated universe

Diana Prince/Wonder Woman (Two) – A Wonder Woman variant from an animated universe

Linda Danvers/Matrix – Member of the Justice League

Alexander Luthor (Three) – A heroic variant of Lex Luthor

Selina Kyle/Catwoman – Member of the Injustice League

Thaal Sinestro/Yellow Lantern – Member of the Injustice League

Lois Lane – Superman’s wife

Koriand’r/Starfire – Member of the Justice League

Leonard Snart/Captain Cold – Member of the Injustice League

Ralph Dibny/Elongated Man – Member of the Justice League

Barbara Ann Minerva/Cheetah – Member of the Injustice League

Gorilla Grodd – Member of the Injustice League

Iris West-Allen – Wife of Barry and sister of Wally

Caitlin Snow/Killer Frost – Member of the Injustice League

Amanda Waller – Member of the Injustice League

Slade Wilson/Deathstroke – Member of the Injustice League

Victor Stone/Cyborg – Member of the Justice League

Mary Batson/Mary Marvel – Member of the Justice League

Arthur Curry/Aquaman (Two) – An Aquaman variant from an animated universe

Rachel Roth/Raven – Member of the Justice League

Carol Ferris/Star Sapphire – Ally of the Justice League

Giganta – Member of the Injustice League

David Hyde/Black Manta – Member of the Injustice League

Jimmy Olsen – Lois’s photographer

Garfield Logan/Beast Boy – Member of the Justice League

Lois Lane (Two) – A multiverse variant of Lois Lane from an animated universe

Desaad and Granny Goodness – Followers of Darkseid

Johnny and Jesse Quick – Members of the Justice Society

Ma Hunkel/Red Tornado – Member of the Justice Society

Patrick O’Bryan/Plastic Man – Member of the Justice Society

Terry Sloane/Mr. Terrific – Leader of the Justice Society

Johnny Thunder – Member of the Justice Society

Big Barda – Lover and ally of Mr. Miracle

Clifford DeVoe/Thinker – The main villain of Earth-Two

Harleen Quinzel/Harley Quinn – Member of the Injustice League

Jason Todd/Robin – A multiverse variant of Jason Todd where he’s still alive

Atrocitus/Red Lantern – Ally of the Justice League

Sue Dibny – Ralph’s wife and ally of the Justice League

John Corben/Metallo – Member of the Injustice League

Mick Rory/Heat Wave – Member of the Injustice League

Alfred Pennyworth – Batman’s faithful butler

Alexander Luthor Jr. – Alexander Luthor’s young son

Teth-Adam/Black Adam – A multiverse variant of Black Adam that remained a hero

Jean Loring – Atom’s wife and ally of the Justice League

Lex Luthor (Two) – A multiverse variant of Lex Luthor from an animated universe

Nora Allen – The Flash’s deceased mother that he tried to save

Bat-Mite – A fifth-dimensional imp and fan of Batman

Qwsp and Quirk – Fifth-dimensional imps and friends of Aquaman

Linda Strauss/Doctor Fate – The mother of the fallen Eric and new Doctor Fate

Jennifer-Lynn Scott – Alan Scott’s daughter

Nabu – The spirit possessing Doctor Fate

Tons of cameos including multiverse variants

Long story short: Everyone's in this. Everyone!

What do you think? Would you watch?

DC Cinematic Universe Pitch

For the last several months, I have been working through the various DC heroes and their villains, discussing movie ideas and coming up with possible plans for how a movie universe could incorporate all of their most important characters naturally. I now have a full plan, which I will be presenting day by day until we reach the finale, starting with:

PHASE ONE

WONDER WOMAN*

While pursuing a dangerous terrorist, Captain Steve Trevor and his team stumble upon a lost island, the home of the Amazons of ancient Greek myth.

Starring:

Princess Diana/Wonder Woman – Princess of the island of Themyscira

Captain Steve Trevor – Captain of a special forces unit tracking the Baroness

Baroness Paula von Gunther – A dangerous international terrorist

Queen Hippolyta – Queen of Themyscira and mother of Diana

Barbara Ann Minerva – A scientist and member of Steve Trevor’s team

Doctor Poison – A chemist developing a biological weapon for the Baroness

Donna Troy – Diana’s adopted little sister

Etta Candy – The communications officer of Steve Trevor’s team

Nubia – An Amazon and guardian of the Doors of Death

What do you think? Would you watch it? Who would you cast in the principal roles?

*Title is subject to change and open to suggestions.

[geekcavepodcast]

DC Reveals 2 Oversized Annuals for 2021

DC Comics has revealed more details about two new oversized annuals, one featuring Nightwing and Red Hood and the other featuring Jon Kent and the return of Lex Luthor. 

Nightwing 2021 Annual and Superman Son of Kal-El Annual both go on sale on November 30, 2021.

Nightwing 2021 Annual hails from writer Tom Taylor and artists Cian Tormey and Daniel HDR, with a main cover by Nicola Scott and a variant cover by Max Dunbar and Hi-Fi.

Dick Grayson and Jason Todd, two former Robins who “have long stepped out of the shadow of the Bat and began walking very different paths to become who they are today. After Red Hood put down his guns to start a new life, now these two brothers paths converge to unite for one goal…investigating whoever is framing Red Hood for murder! With an escrima stick and a crowbar combined, Nightwing and Red Hood are ready for anything...except what they have to face next!” (DC Comics)

Superman: Son of Kal-El 2021 Annual hails from writer Tom Taylor and artists Steve Pugh and Clayton Henry, with a main cover by John Timms and a variant cover by Steve Pugh.

Jon Kent as Superman “has stood strong in the path of constant attacks…but the immovable object is about to meet an unstoppable force! Lex Luthor—the man, the myth, the menace—returns to Metropolis! But before the new Superman of Metropolis meets face to face with his father’s arch-nemesis, a dark presence arrives to deliver a message!” (DC Comics)

(Images via DC Comics - Nicola Scott’s Cover of Nightwing 2021 Annual, John Timm’s Cover of Superman: Son of Kal-El 2021 Annual)

[vegalocity]

I'm a tad late, but how about 56 and 24 and SpicyNoodles for the Fic Mashup meme?

Trope Combos

24. Soulmate AU

56. Awful First Meeting

Nah don't worry nobody sent me anything anyway =7=

So, i've got a lot of ideas on Soulmate AUs if only on the level that there's a lot of fun variants you don't see very often.

I like for this ship, the one where if you place marks on your body your soulmate gets it too but in the inverse colors.

Red Son knows his Soulmate is human because... well it's the only thing that makes sense. He didn't start getting marks until only about two decades ago, simple childish scrawling that slowly evolved through the years to lovely swirls and small illustrations of flowers and rivers and stars.

He knows his mother isn't particularly pleased with this, a human bride would be a little old fashioned, but she's enough of a romantic to agree that a Soulmate is a Soulmate and when Red Son finds them she'll approve, and his father likely would too. And if they're not suited for the life of demon royalty then... well they'd better be willing to learn.

But of course all of that is only after they free his father. It's simple really, a nice three step plan to Red's happily ever after.

1) Free father

2) take over the city

3) track down his Soulmate and woo them

Then he frees father, and that stupid Noodle Boy ruined his moment! They're enemies, rivals. Nemesis. The fact that the noodle boy is extremely handsome and has a voice like chiming bells has nothing to do with it.

then he sneaks into his apartment to steal the skeleton key.

And with nothing better to do while waiting for the fool to return he found hismelf picking up the noodle boy's sketchbook. He opens it, and drops it like it was electrified.

The random page he'd opened up to is titled 'things for Soulmate'

he pulls up his sleeve and sees the same watercolor looking flower in an inverse color scheme on his forearm.

It had appeared just that morning and it had given him butterflies for hours upon looking at its beauty. as lovingly written next to it were the words "I can't wait to meet you". Communication with your Soulmate before you've actually met is taboo, but the fact that his had broken that unspoken rule just to show how excited they were--he was-- to know him had made him feel warm in a way his fire had never given him.

He... kind of completely forgot what he was doing there and Xiaotian and Xiaojiao walk into his apartment to find Red Son collapsed on the ground with his sleeves rolled up and looking through Xiaotian's sketchbook. turning over his arms until finding something and then holding it to the pages, as if if he found one that didn't match it would mean it wasn't true.

It wouldn't mean that his match, the one person who would know his heart in full, the person who drew such beautiful sweet flowers onto his future love's skin, wasn't the one person his parents would break their 'a soulmate is a soulmate' stance on. Wasn't someone he'd been so horrible to this whole time.