#Dan was like Doomsday for them | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

elizabethemerald · 5 months

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Servitor of a Death God

AO3

Kara Zor-El crashed into the street, shattering the concrete under her. She pushed herself shakily up for a moment before she collapsed again. She could feel every broken rib as a separate screaming pain. Blood bubbled and foamed at her lips as she forced her eyes to open. Kon slammed down only a few feet from her, a pained groan his only sound.

Doomsday had once again come to Metropolis.

Kal was fighting him as well as he was able and the rest of the available Justice League was doing everything they could to keep this from becoming a slaughter. However there was only so much any of them could do to even hold Doomsday back, much less stop the monstrosity. It was now even more dangerous and smart enough to overcome any foe.

Kara could feel the tremors from the blows of Kal and Doomsday as she once again tried to lift off and rejoin the fight. Wonder Woman had been thrown through several buildings. The Lanterns were all but broken. Aquaman was crushed under Doomsday’s foot with so much force that it was only Kara’s super hearing that told her he was still alive at all.

Kon forced himself back to his feet and used his telekinesis to throw a piece of rubble before he fell to his knees again. Kara pushed off from the ground and landed behind the behemoth landing several blows to hopefully give Kal a chance to regroup and attack with new energy.

Doomsday smacked her down and stomped her into the pavement. Oh blessed Rao that hurt. Kara could hardly hear past the ringing in her ears. She was only distantly aware of Lois holding Jon back and keeping him from joining the fight. If he did then the entirety of the surviving members of the Noble House of El would be fighting to stop this creature. And if they fail, the entirety of the House of El would die in the fight.

Several super powered punches knocked Doomsday back away from her as Kal tried to rally. He was bleeding, Kryptonian blood flowing, a rare sight. She could hear his heart racing and he kept rising to face the final gift and curse of Krypton.

She pulled herself out of the hole Doomsday had driven her into with difficulty in time to see Kal backhanded down the street. He skidded like a stone skipped across a lake. Kara roared in fury, her eyes blazing red as her heat vision blasted out catching Doomsday in the back and almost driving him to his knees. She held the beam, trying to force him down, but its strength and durability was greater than her stamina and it pushed through her heat vision to knock her to the ground.

Kara gasped in pain, then almost immediately choked as it slammed her into the ground several more times. Each blow brought a new wave of pain as her bones, normally strong as steel, shattered like toothpicks. Her invulnerable skin was torn to shreds under the claws and bone spurs of Doomsday. After one final all mighty blow, Doomsday picked her up and flung her from the battle.

She crashed to the ground, leaving a furrow carved into the ground like a meteor. Blood choked her as she tried to catch her breath. Her hands shook and she couldn’t feel her legs at all. She forced one eye open, her other swollen completely shut, if it even still worked.

It took several attempts for her to actually understand what was surrounding her. Tombstones. Doomsday had thrown her directly into a human graveyard. If she had any breath in her chest she would have laughed at the irony, because this would surely be where she died.

Kara couldn’t help thinking back about her childhood as blood poured slowly from her lips and her many, many wounds. She remembered the lessons she had about the history of the Noble House of El. They were once priests to one of Krypton’s gods. Dan-El, the dark god of death, the opposite of Rao’s light. As the people of Krypton developed scientifically and dedicated themselves to isolation, their gods fell to the wayside. The people lost their connection to death and to Dan-El as the years progressed.

Her father had mourned that so much of their culture was lost, so many of the messages and means of worship of the different gods vanished, and now with Krypton gone, and the last Kryptonians fighting to death in the city streets there seemed to be no way for the scriptures of worship to Dan-El to see the light again.

She turned herself over with difficulty, a choked scream gurling out of her at the unspeakable pain. She pulled herself to the closest headstone, her vision fading. One of the last scriptures of Dan-El that had remained was one promising that he would return to save the House of El, if they only would call on him.

“Dan… El…” Blood bubbled and foamed at her lips as she whispered to the headstone. “Please… please…”

Her vision faded almost completely, only a tiny pinprick remaining as her breath stuttered to a close. Over the ringing in her ears she could hear the beating of her heart slowing, and stilling… and stopping.

“Please…”

A bright radioactive green flashed before her eyes, as the last daughter of Krypton faded from her adoptive planet.

The sky over Metropolis split as a brilliant green lightning bolt flashed across the sky. Those who were sheltering away from the battle between Titans taking place in the streets shuddered in fear, terrified of what new threat could be appearing. Superman and Doomsday stilled in their calamitous fight as the lightning arced from the outskirts of the city to crash at their feet, driving them apart.

Clark fell to his knees as a being stepped out from the column of light that remained frozen there in the air. Even the pebbles and shattered glass thrown up by their fight moved as if in slow motion. The figure, back lit by the green lightning, was tall with fine white hair that floated as if he was in space. A cloak of stars and a crown of green fire graced the shoulders and head of the figure. Clark’s jaw dropped as he saw the Kryptonian God of Death, Dan-El, before him. He perfectly matched the historical records from the Fortress of Solitude.

Dan-El turned to him and Clark found himself frozen. He wanted to fight, to run, it couldn’t be his time to die yet. He had to defeat Doomsday, he had to survive, his family was counting on him.

“You are fortunate, son of El, that someone remembered the ancient prayers.” Dan-El spoke, his voice seeming to pierce directly into Clark’s brain. “It is not yet your time, you have many more lives to save.” Dan-El paused and glanced back at the column of light behind him, then gave Clark a kind look. “You have honored your ancestors, Son of El, your family is proud of what you’ve accomplished, and what you have yet to do.”

Then he turned and Clark felt like the entire weight of the sky had fallen from his shoulders. Tears sprang to his eyes at his relief even before he processed Dan-El’s words and the tears became a torrent. Then the God of Death turned to Doomsday and offered it a hand.

“Poor creature of destruction, Death was never the relief it should have been for you, only a new torture at the hand of your creator. Come to me, and come to your rest. Let Death finally embrace and hold you.”

Doomsday hesitated, its biologically prerogative screaming that it must always survive, no matter what, but after thousands upon thousands of painful deaths, what little of its brain was not dedicated to destruction desperately longed for peace. Doomsday reached out to Dan-El and the two turned and stepped into the burning light, until both disappeared in an instant.

Clark blinked the light from his eyes and looked around. The column of light had vanished and with it Doomsday and Dan-El. The fight was over. Metropolis stood in silence, stunned that Death had come to the city.

In the months following the fight with Doomsday, Metropolis recovered as it did after every fight, battle or invasion that happened in the city. The citizens held their breath in the hope that Doomsday was truly gone and would not return again to devastated their home. Each day that went by without his shadow darkening the horizon and no return of the flash of green lightning that had taken him away let the people breathe a little easier.

Superman healed from his injuries and was once again seen patrolling the skies over Metropolis and the rest of the world alongside his two sons. The world and the Justice League returned to their regular everyday levels of chaos and world ending threats, hopeful once again that the day would be saved by a hero in a crimson cape.

However there was one crimson cape that had not returned to the skies. Kara Zor-El, Supergirl never again took to the air over Metropolis after her confrontation with Doomsday. While she still lived, her time as a hero was over.

Her recovery took longer than Clark’s, her injuries were far too severe. Sometimes she could stand strong and tall just like any of the other Kryptonians. However, many times, her hands shook too much, and her legs couldn’t bear her own weight. The best scientists and engineers of Earth combined the best of human and Kryptonian engineering to create a wheel chair for her, yet still she did wish to return to combat.

Instead of facing down threats as a caped hero, she worked on creating a temple to the Kryptonian god of death, Dan-El. The temple had information and sacred rites of the almost forgotten deity, as well as the history of Krypton. Unlike the other museums and history books, the temple had the true and accurate history of those people. Their most arrogant and humble moments are all on display, along with all the average, everyday moments of life on a planet now long gone.

Kara had given up her red cape in favor of a black, floor length cloak, embroidered with the stars Dan-El loved. Her colorful skirts and outfits were handed in for the robes of the ancient clerics of the House of El. During and after her recovery she dedicated herself to serving the god that had stopped Doomsday.

The worship of Dan-El was at first limited to those within Metropolis, but slowly it spread across the globe with the help of Kara and her temple. She gave sermons that were broadcasted worldwide, whether she was standing proud or sitting in her wheelchair with her hands shaking so hard the rattling could be picked up by her microphone.

Some of the hero community were baffled by her choices, that she would willingly step away from saving people, none more than Clark. Even with her injuries she could still help the superheroes even if she didn’t want to be on the front lines herself, just like how Oracle still helped as a computer specialist. He brought it up with her repeatedly, but each time she turned him down and said that she was serving her purpose.

“Kara, please-” Clark tried again after one of her sermons on Dan-El’s teachings.

“Clark!” Kara interrupted him. She glanced at the followers who were learning how the Kryptonians venerated death before she led the way into her private office. “I’ve made my choice and you need to respect it.”

“Kara, you still have the power to help others. Don’t you have a responsibility to do so?”

She scowled at him. “I am helping people. I’m helping them come to terms with the vast world of Death.” Clark took a breath to speak, but she spoke over him. “And I am fulfilling my oath to Dan-El in exchange for his assistance with Doomsday.”

“Kara-”

“Listen to my heart, Kal.” Kara ordered.

Clark looked at her in confusion before focusing on her. She watched his face twist and fall in confusion and dismay.

“Wha-?”

“I died that day.” Kara snapped. “I breathed my last in the graveyard where I called him. He promised to answer my final request, to spare you from Doomsday’s wrath, without any obligation, in this life or the next. However, he offered me a chance, a chance to keep facing the world, despite my pain and my tremors. He froze my heart in between one beat and the last. I will never fully heal, so I have chosen to utilize the borrowed time to act as his Servitor. I will spread the word of Dan-El, the Phantom King of Death, to those of Earth. Because he gave me the time.”

Clark looked at her frozen, grief raging across his face.

“Kara, I’m so sorry, I didn’t know.”

“You weren’t supposed to.” Kara said simply, before she lifted the hood of her cloak over her golden hair. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I have another sermon in a few minutes.”

From his frozen throne within the Infinite Realms, Danny Phantom, known as Dan-El to the Kryptonians, watched his Servitor. His name had all but disappeared from the thoughts of mortals, yet now it would once again be able to spread across the universe. He hoped that his message would help. Help prevent the fate of Krypton from repeating itself. Help prevent the fate of his own home universe, where the actions of a corrupt government led to all of life being cut off from Death. He had spared her, the last daughter of Krypton, in the desperate hope that all the various worlds of this universe, and the many universes they have contact with would spread his messages.

#danny phantom #dp x dc #death god danny phantom #kara zor-el #supergirl #doomsday

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hobgoblinns · 7 months

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you can put the word fuck once in every season of nuwho. Where is it going?

what a great question!

s1: i wanted to choose something funny, but i think nine screaming FUCKING KILL YOURSELF at that dalek would go hard af. but also…… nine and rose have the kind of relationship where i’m sure she’d jokingly say “oh fuck you” every time the doctor takes a cheap shot at humans

s2: i already posted tonight about wanting ten to be allowed to say “fuck you, mickey” (specifically in rise of the cybermen when mickey gets mad at him for favouring rose). but right now i kind of love the image of rose in doomsday throwing herself at that wall and screaming FUCK!!!!!!

s3: the tensimm fan in me wants to replace “are you asking me out on a date?” with “are you trying to fuck?”. but i think it would be more gratifying if, in the same episode, we got to see martha say “fuck you, i’ll do what i like” to the doctor when he tells her not to call home

s4: this is DONNA we’re talking about. you expect me to choose just one? well. alright. “i was asleep, in my clothes, like a fucking kid!”. imagine how much it would hurt if all this time she’s been censoring herself and then, with her memory wiped, she’s suddenly back to cussing the hell out of everyone she meets

2009/2010 specials (yes im cheating shhh): in the end of time: “i had fucking estates”.

s5: river: ooh, i’m going to be a professor someday? doctor: (softly) fuuuuuuuck….

s6: instead of that amazing “the doctor is very dear to me. but you know what else he is? not here” speech that amy gives, she should just say “fuck you madame kovarian” and murder her in cold blood. genuinely like, amy was exhibiting insane restraint for a mother who’d had her child taken from her.

s7: “i didn’t know when i was well off. all fucking twelve of them.” “no sir — all fucking thirteen!”

s8: again, this is TWELVE. almost every line feels like a pg malcolm tucker. but i’m going to go with dark water’s “can you hurry up please or i’m going to hit you with my fucking shoe”

s9: easiest one yet: “get up, off your fucking arse, and win”.

s10: missy and the master: “hold me” “fuck me” “make me” (this scene made me queasy but those two are horribly fucked up and would 100% say this)

s11: i have only seen this season in snippets but i think someone in ‘rosa’ has got to tell a racist to go fuck themselves

s12: during the master’s whole pathetic “wahhh kneel call me master” spiel i think the doctor should have just told him to fuck off. when i saw that scene i was yelling at the screen for him to fuck off so i think she should be allowed to tell him to as well. or maybe spray him with a water pistol like a bad cat

s13: for some reason the first thing that comes to mind is evil dan but tbh he doesn’t need to say fuck. he’s already powerful enough. instead in that opening scene when thirteen is trying to get the voice activated handcuffs to open: “RELEASE!!! oh, maybe i was scottish when i set them up…….. fucking RRRRRELEASE!!!!!!!!”

s13 specials (cheating again shh): tegan: and yes, i WOULD like to go in the fucking tardis!!! (alternatively: “i know these teeth… what… WHAT… WHAT THE FUCK????”)

#this was so much fun thank you anon #please send any and all doctor who asks my way #doctor who #hob.txt #ask #anon #ninth doctor #tenth doctor #eleventh doctor #twelfth doctor #thirteenth doctor

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pix3lplays · 10 months

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Okay, I’m the anon who did the part 2 for martial artist reader… And I got an idea. Okay, so like what if we have a one person army gn!reader? Like you can just hand them any weapon and they can wreck all enemies in their path? From convenient weapons like swords/spears to even unorthodox weapons like a simple letter opener/butter knife. You know those epic scenes where the character can destroy mountains or cut through giant ships? That’s the reader and they can do that at will. The catch? They might be a powerhouse and can solo a doomsday beast, HOWEVER they are a glass cannon. This is due being a fragile body due a illness. Nothing fatal, but it leaves them sick in bed. So if they push themselves or get hit by a good attack, yeah they are out of the action… Loving your work. Please keep it up. It brings a smile to my day. For this request: Dan Heng, Jing Yuan, Blade, Luocha, Gepard? Can I get an anon nickname? If so can I be called 🐉 Anon?

Cool request, thanks so much! Your kind words mean the world to me!

Welcome 🐉 Anon!

Cw:violence

Dan Heng: Dan Heng has always considered you amazing. I mean. You ARE amazing. You could basically do anything. So the first time he saw you actually take a hit, he thought you’d be able to handle it. But no, you crumpled to your knees, unable to move, gasping for air. So now your secret was out. Dan Heng is more careful around you now. He knows your powerful, knows you can handle yourself, but he’d hate to see you get hurt like that again, so he tends to hover over you when you’re fighting. It’s honestly a little annoying, but you appreciate him and his efforts to help you.

Jing Yuan: Jing Yuan can just tell you have a condition, you don’t even need to tell him. So him and Yanqing are always subtly keeping a close eye on you in combat. Your powers are impressive yes, but he needs you to be careful too. He’d really hate it if you wound up in the infirmary, or worse. So him and Yanqing always fight by your side, so they can protect you, and make your victories that much easier. It’s a system that works pretty well. You only ever got seriously hurt on One occasion, and they were there to save and protect you, so everything worked out.

Blade: is the type to push you to the absolute limit. He wants to see what a superhuman like you can REALLY do. But he really didn’t mean to push you to the point of collapse! He feels a bit…regretful about having to carry you to bed, your exhaustion being his fault. He’d probably never apologize, though you notice he stops asking you to demonstrate your power. And he’s a little more…careful with you. Honestly you miss testing your limits, but you did admittedly push yourself too far with Blade. Which was a little embarrassing, you know you’re better than that. So you continue to train on your own, without Blade. You’ll impress him someday by pushing past your limit and doing something truly incredible.

Luocha: Luocha and you are a good match. You have all the strength and the power to protect the two of you, and he’s determined to find a cure to your disease. The two of you are practically glued together, he spends his time observing you, your fighting style, your condition…trying to find any sort of clue as to what your illness might be, and if there’s any cure. And you focus on fighting, training yourself to push through your illness, despite how much he insists you should instead hold back so you don’t push yourself too far. You agree to disagree on the matter. Eventually he will find a cure to your disease. As a healer and your lover, he’s determined to do so.

Gepard Landau: Gepard and you are literally a perfect pair. He’s naturally protective, and his powers mean he can protect you. The two of you together are the perfect powerhouse, you the attack, him the defense. He’s only ever failed you once, and the sight of you falling to the ground injured is permanently burned into his memory. He won’t let it happen again. He’s Determined not to happen again. You and him both train after that day, to be BETTER, so that that doesn’t ever repeat itself. He’s always got your back, and you know you can count on him to cover your only weakness while you demolish your shared enemies left and right.

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yunxi-11085 · 11 months

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"The star of the void" part 2 - the voice

part 1 - meeting

part 2 - the voice

˚ · .↝ words : 1709

˚ · . pairs ¡ hsr men & women x gn! reader

˚ · . sypnosis ¡ "you wake up in the world of honkai star rail. you heard unknown voices in your head.

but 3 familiar people come to save you.

“

₊˚ପ⊹ tw ¡¿ : memory loss?

·˚ ༘ tags // @kimura-uzuri @yaesflorist @ukiyo-ikigai @khalinda-ev

@ send me an ask if you want to be tagged in my stories!!

find the way to your own story

you will soon find the people, who ▇▇▇▇▇▇

you jolt up with a headache, a sting of pain striking you and you hold your head. gripping your hair as to alleviate the pain.

what is that voice? who was speaking to you?

the sound echoed in your ears before you finally stop hearing it.

"ugh.." you blink tears out as the pain finally goes away. where... where am I? you stand up abruptly, and then your head stung in pain again.

you stumble and hold onto the wall for support. as you attempt to stabilize your head, you take a good look of your unknown surroundings.

and huh?

isn't this the space station in hsr?

you can see through a window the central area where the doomsday beast in the game appears in. and... the antimatter legion?

confused, you stare for a few minutes before finally moving your legs. your walk was unstable as you leapt onto a nearby wall for support.

you hoped to find something to explain in this unfamiliar researching room. the large screens flash numerous codes as if it were hacked.

you walk over to a table with documents and look cautiously.

'[▇▇▇▇▇▇ number #57▒18

track rec▒rd : unknown

cryptic cryp▒c crypti▒ crypt▒▒▒ ▒▒ ▒]'

the rest of the paper were glitched out, as if paper had a code as well. strange, documents aren't usually written like this aren't they?

your hand reached out to flip the paper, but a blooming purple flashing light came out the moment your fingers glazed a tiny bit of the paper.

the purple lights started moving towards you and you back up, but that didn't stop them from getting closer until it touched you.

flash!

"urgh!"

you fall down and you feel something crawling in you, all the way into your chest area. you gasp and hold your chest, you groan in pain as the pain enveloped your body and you pass out.

'hurry. our time is almost up'

"-yy!! there's an unconscious person here too!" you hear a bright voice near you, but your eyes felt heavy.

"-rch, you go save them this time"

"w-haaaaa??? I told you i don't know how to do CPR!!!"

"well someone's life is at stake here, unless you want to carry a body all the way to asta"

“uwaaa?? fine…..”

you can’t help but think, that those voices sound oh so strikingly similar to those characters.

footsteps of three walked closer to you but you couldn't open your eyes somehow.

you felt warm hands touching your shoulder, and you blink. huh? pink haired, black haired, and... gray haired?

why do they look exactly like they are in the game? are they in cosplay?

"they're awake!" mar— the pink haired said.

"hey, what's your name?" Dan... heng? asked, but you were silent. still trying to comprehend and understand this situation.

"or do you not remember anything?" you flinch.

that's a good question. why can't you remember anything? you remember your name, but why does everything else feel washed out? like as if someone wiped them. only to let you remember your own name, and the... game?

"my name... is..." you said slowly, squinting your eyes and you attempt to remember.

what about your family? your friends?

why are you here? how did you get here?

weren't you just doing— what?

what were you doin—

a little touch on your shoulder snaps you out of your thoughts, you look back at the black haired man and notice their concerned eyes.

"hey, it's okay if you don't remember. don't push yourself." he said slowly. you nod and the pink haired girl helps you up.

"my name is march 7th! this guy over here is dan heng, and he is caelus!" march proudly says and you freeze in place.

it's as if you really entered the world of your favorite game.

you open your mouth but close it when you realize you didn't have any words to say. you nod while march holds you up by your arms.

sounds started coming from dan heng's watch, he looks at it and says "we have to get going now. it appears I have to leave to take care of other matters. so I'll be leaving them to you march."

"mhm okay! don't worry about it!" march exclaims, waving dan heng goodbye.

"since we might be seeing some antimatter legions around here... we must find you both a weapon!"

march picks up a baseball bat out of nowhere and hands it to caelus, who holds onto it like a confused dog.

"hmm... as for you, we might need to ask himeko about this"

you walk with the two before noticing a monster lurking and walking in the next room. the two noticed as well, they nodded before getting into battle.

you stand... watching them.

oh it was so different seeing them in real time instead of in game

you saw the movements caelus made, the sound of his jacket slapping each other when he hit the monster with the bat, and the sound of when he broke his fingers after the impact.

you nearly rush in before march covers for him and shields him. you think it's better if you wait til the battle is over and then go and help him.

march was cute. like no joke really cute. you would've said the game gave no justice to her but they give enough justice so you let it slide. her face was cheeky and her outfit just fit her style.

the battle was over it seems when you notice the last monster falling down, and you immediately rush over to caelus.

he winces in pain and you tell him, "don't move"

you don't know how to bandage someone up you also notice. you rip off a piece of your jacket and wrap it on his fingers. march leans down and helps you tie it up.

"don't move your hands too much.. your bones are broken" you say, holding his bandaged hand and you look up at him.

you didn't realize how close you were when you could look into his eyes— those golden pupils, it looked fascinating—

you were too close to—

you let go of his hand and scramble back, nearly falling over when you stand up abruptly.

"um... let's go" you say, turning around with a red face.

the two follow you behind. one looking at you both questionably, and the other... observing you.

you reach the center where there is an elevator and you know it is broken, you watch as caelus attempted to unlock the elevator to no avail.

"they must've locked it up because of the invasion... now what do we do?" march said

"hey, I'm back." a familiar voice appeared behind you, you turned around to see dan heng.

"it appears the elevator has been locked, I'm sure arlan had the solution to that." he said.

the trio and you hurry to where arlan was and he hands you the key. though he doesn't recognize you or caelus, the fact that he gave you the key means that he trusts you.

you didn't know what to do with that trust. maybe it was because you were with the astral express or your interaction with them seemed like you were their newest member.

you hold your breath and unlock the elevator with the key. it goes to the highest floor and stops.

monsters are awaiting your arrival it seems, and the three— starts rushing over like no tomorrow.

you can't help but feel your heart tighten at the sight. you just really love the trio. the thought of family brings warmth in you.

you meet himeko soon after and you think, she looks really, really pretty. she smiles at you fondly and welcomes both you and caelus to the astral express. you smile back.

and then, huge warning signs appear as the conversation with asta continued. you stood in place before being dragged by himeko.

and then they face off the doomsday beast. even if the game wasn't as intense, you couldnt help the feeling of dread when you see the <em>big</em> and terrifying monster.

but you were thankful they could dodge some of the attacks.

and then— the blast fires at march. you want to run but you freeze in sight. your legs were wobbly and you see caelus shielding her and taking the blow

when the stellaron within him went out of control. you— collapse.

something hot is building in your chest and it hurts, it hurts really bad. dan heng catches you right before you fall to the ground.

d' don't let it ▒▒ ▒▒ ▒▒!!!!

the voice comes back again, albeit a little hallower.

you hear some shouts and see a new figure appear in front of caelus. you close your eyes in relief.

end note ¡ let's get some caelus cake goin???! he's observing because he literally just woke up and didn't know what his heart beating reallly fast meant lol

sorry if you wanted to partake in the battle and help out! i'm still thinking about whether the reader will take the path of abundance/harmony because then there'll be wholesome interactions between Natasha, bailu, and luocha... but I also want reader to be a DPS or attack to get some rlly good interactions where the character scolds them and bandages them up.... next chapter and more motivation to think I guess!!

next chapter depends on how many times I open my writing app.... so maybe in a few days.

feel free to type your suggestions or ideas in my ask box or in the replies/comments! I'd be happy to read them!

crossposted on AO3 ¡ here

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superman86to99 · 5 months

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The Return of Superman 30th Anniversary Special (November 2023)

Whoa! Some sort of chronal disturbance has thrown us from 1994 to the futuristic year 2023, just in time to cover this new special by the entire creative team behind "Reign of the Supermen"... minus Roger Stern and Dennis Janke, but PLUS Jerry Ordway (who left right before "Reign" started in '93). This is a lot like the Death of Superman special released last year, except that instead of featuring four standalone stories, this one has a framing device uniting all the tales.

In the framing story (written by Dan Jurgens and drawn by Travis Moore), the Cyborg Superman comes back to Metropolis and starts attacking S.T.A.R. Labs installations, as if those places haven't been blown up enough times already. Since Perry White is currently in a coma (from, as far as I can tell, not knowing Superman is Clark Kent), it's up to current Daily Planet editor Lois Lane to put together a story on the Cyborg without her mentor's help. Or with a little bit of her mentor's help, since Ron Troupe conveniently pulls out Perry's old journal from the "Reign of the Supermen" days, including his thoughts about the Cyborg.

So, Lois and Ron start reading Perry's notes about the four Supermen who popped up in Metropolis after Superman's death, which leads us to...

"Speed" (by Louise Simonson and Jon Bogdanove)

Despite the "Perry's notes" framing device, this story is actually told by Ron as he remembers the first time he saw Steel. Ron is leaving for work one morning and everyone in his neighborhood is talking about which of the four Supermen is the real deal. A lady called Mama Bess (who I initially mistook for Myra the Orphanage Lady because she's also big and black and surrounded by little kids) says they're all posers, including Steel, because none of them are around when you need them. Then some gangbangers drive by the neighborhood with a Toastmaster gun, and guess who drops by to save everyone's asses? Not Batman.

Mama Bess recognizes Steel's voice ("rich an' dark as Memphis honey") as belonging to that guy who was running around Metropolis helping people in crumbling buildings while Superman and Doomsday were tearing up the town, as seen in the Death special. While Steel fights the gangbangers, Ron calls Perry, who tells him to keep that lady talking so they can learn as much as possible about the mysterious armored Superman. Hey, is that Mike Carlin in the Planet offices below, to the left of adorably skinny Jimmy Olsen?

Steel prevails over the evildoers and the neighborhood kids rush in to proclaim him as the one true Superman. The best part of the story, for me, is when a little kid picks up a Toastmaster laying on the street and says he can use it to stop the bad guys, but Steel says that's a weapon for bad guys (he'd know, he designed them). Then he replaces it with an old school Game Boy and breaks the gun, Dark Knight Returns-style.

Steel tells everyone he's not Superman, he's just a dude trying to help, but Mama Bess still insists on making him a new cape to replace the one that got torn up in the fight. Ron concludes his report saying that this guy isn't the real Superman, "but maybe he was the next best thing."

"He Had Me Thinking He Was Superman" (by Jerry Ordway)

Jerry Ordway fills in for Roger Stern and Jackson Guice (who at least has a pin-up in this issue) and, man, I never knew how much I needed to see Ordway draw the Eradicator until now. In this story, Perry stumbles upon a standoff between Maggie Sawyer's Special Crimes Unit and the most violent yet Spock-like of the four Supermen, who's holding an armored goon hostage as he interrogates him.

Maggie kindly kicks Perry out of the active crime scene, but he sticks around and decides to solve this situation via the power of journalism. First, Perry talks to a warehouse worker (who kinda looks like an Amalgam of High Pockets and Lamarr) and learns about a nearby entrance to a rumored Intergang hideout. Then, he uses a radio scanner to find the frequency the goons' friends are using to communicate. He tries to tell Maggie about this, but the Superman Formerly Known As The Eradicator grabs Perry and flies off with him to find out what he knows. Perry says he'll tell him if he promises to stop being such a psychopath for a moment.

Thanks to Perry's information, the Eradicator finds the other armored goons, who are moving weapons from an abandoned Intergang cache. The Eradicator violently (but non-lethally, as promised) encourages the goons to renounce their criminal ways, and then locates the mastermind behind this operation, who turns out to be... no, not freakin' Psi-Phon and Dreadnaught, but close enough: Professor Killgrave! You know, that little twerp with the Moe haircut who once trapped Superman in an amusement park full of killer robots. Having seen how the Eradicator dealt with his hired goons, Killgrave eagerly gives himself up to the authorities.

As the Eradicator flies away from the underground base, he carelessly sends some debris flying off which almost hits some bystanders and ruins Perry's car. So, the Eradicator fulfills his promise to Perry that he wouldn't kill anyone, but Perry decides he can't keep his side of the deal, which was to tell the Planet's readers that "they have nothing to fear" from this dangerous maniac.

"The Metropolis Kid" (by Karl Kesel, Tom Grummett, and Doug Hazlewood)

This story provides the secret origin for several Superboy-related elements: the name "The Metropolis Kid" (which never made a lot of sense to me), that iconic pinup of Superboy saving a lady in a bath towel, and Mack Harlin, a recurring character who first appeared in the Superboy series in 1995. Turns out he was a Metropolis cabbie before he somehow became a truant officer in Hawaii. Note that Mack also counts as the second Mike Carlin cameo in this issue.

(Wonder if the ride was $6,50?)

In the story, Perry witnesses the moment when Don't Call Me Superboy saves that towel lady from a building fire (which she didn't notice due to her love of '90s rock, waterproof earbuds, and long, hot showers). Tana Moon's photo of that moment goes viral on Tweeter, FaceSpace, and, yes, even Insta-image, turning Not-Superboy into a social media sensation. The official story is that the Kid is Superman's clone, but Perry doesn't seem convinced. He uses his journalistic powers to find Not-Superboy at a local skate park where he hangs out. Interestingly, Perry briefly wonders if the Kid reminds him of his late son, Jerry, before dismissing the idea. I wonder if that's Kesel commenting on a certain 2000s retcon that made Superboy and Jerry biological half-brothers...

While Perry watches the Kid being a kid, he's suddenly attacked by Bloodsport -- the original one from John Byrne's Superman #4, who just busted out of jail, and not the racist wannabe. Instead of teleporting guns into his hands, this time Bloodsport is wearing a "weapons suit" that allows him to quickly assemble them on the fly. One of the guns hits Not-Superboy pretty hard, but the persistent little bugger gets up and somehow manages to disassemble Bloodsport's suit just by touching it.

As Perry later determines, Bloodsport thought the bullets would kill Not-Superboy because they were coated with a tiny bit of kryptonite, but it didn't seem to have an effect on him. That's when Perry realizes who the Kid reminds him of, with his brash attitude, big heart, endless energy, and massive potential: not Jerry (ouch), but Metropolis itself. Hence, the Metropolis Kid. Eh, I'll take it.

"Betrayal" (by Dan Jurgens and Brett Breeding)

This one begins between the pages of Superman #79, after the Cyborg Superman saves the President from terrorists but before the Planet publishes Ron's soon-to-be-infamous front page proclaiming "SUPERMAN IS BACK!" How could Perry let that story through? As it turns out, at first he didn't wanna. Perry tells Ron he needs way more proof that the Cyborg is the real Superman. That proof sorta falls on his lap when the train Perry is riding gets derailed and the Cyborg heroically saves everyone. That, plus the Secret Service vouching for this guy, are enough to convince Perry that he's definitely Superman and not an evil impostor or something.

(Note that the story makes sure to mention the "living former presidents" happened to be at the White House when the Cyborg dropped by, explaining why the Planet's front page shows Bill Clinton and not, uh, whoever was President in the DCU "a few years ago.")

So, Perry goes ahead with Ron's front page story... only for the Superman he endorsed to turn around and murder 7 million people in Coast City. Whoops. Continuity quibble: this story makes it sound like the Cyborg was immediately revealed as Coast City's murderer, when in fact he fooled everyone into thinking it was the Eradicator for several days, but maybe Perry saw through it right away because he's just THAT good of a journalist.

Perry feels awful about that front page, especially when it emerges that the Cyborg and some big yellow guy called Mongul are turning Coast City's crater into a giant engine to turn Earth into a sort of Death Star. Just when Perry is at his lowest point, Lois tells him that another Superman showed up in a Kryptonian battle armor, and this time she just knows he's the real deal (because she made out with him, but she doesn't mention that).

We see the rest of the storyline (the assault on Engine City, the Cyborg's defeat) from Perry's perspective, and once Superman is back in Metropolis, Perry tells him how sorry he is for that headline. Superman's like "nah, don't sweat it, honest mistake" and actually thanks Perry for always reporting on him with honesty over the years. Moral of the story: trust Lois, double-check Ron.

"Legacy" (by Dan Jurgens, Travis Moore, and briefly all the others)

Meanwhile, in the framing story, Superboy, Steel, and a recently-rebooted, non-evil Eradicator (or his Phantom Zone ghost, anyway) show up to stop their old pal the Cyborg, since Superman is currently in space. We learn that the Cyborg has been hitting S.T.A.R. facilities because he wants to retrieve the DNA of his three astronaut friends who were mutated into freaks during the fantastic incident that gave him his powers, so he can bring them all back to life. The Supermen understandably assume that he's building some sort of weapon and try to stop him, but he's defeated all of them before and does it again.

Royally pissed that these meddling Supermen messed with his plans, the Cyborg notices their fight left some exposed gas lines in the middle of Metropolis and is about to use them to indulge in his favorite hobby: blowing up entire cities. Luckily, the Eradicator uses some of Steel's tech to make his hologram self solid enough to whip out a Phantom Zone projector and suck the Cyborg into his ghostly prison.

As soon as the day is saved, Superman flies down and reveals that he'd been watching all along but didn't intervene because he had confidence in his boys. Everyone shares a nice little moment, until the Eradicator makes it awkward with his talk of "Kryptonian purity."

The issue ends with Lois reading a passage from Perry's journal about how Superman inspired others to be better, even in his absence. She hopes she's able to tell Perry that the same thing is true about him, because "you are our Superman." Well, their other Superman.

Like the Death special, this is an excellent excuse for these legendary creators to play with their most famous toys again, and I wouldn't mind seeing one of these a year (Battle for Metropolis 30th Anniversary Special, anyone?). I kinda wish the Supermen had been introduced more gradually/dramatically in the framing story, building up to a grand reunion, instead of being like "oh hey, there they are," but that's a minor complaint and doesn't detract much from this massive labor of love. However, there's one thing I can't forgive: still no Bibbo. -1/10.

Fun fact, my co-host Don Sparrow and I agreed we'd make this post much shorter than the insanely long one we did for the previous special, and it ended up being... about 10% shorter. Woo! We did it! See Don's take after the jump:

Art-Watch (by @donsparrow):

We begin with the cover, and it’s a great piece from the formidable team of Jurgens and Breeding. We’ve mentioned in the past the rumour that there had been a falling out between this pencil and ink team in years past, so seeing their layouts and finishes together sure feels like a treat. The composition is reminiscent of the image we used to have as the background on this very blog. I must say, I’m not a fan of the colouring technique employed here by Elizabeth Breitweister, which looks a little flat and scribbly for my tastes. The sky in particular just looks like a photograph with the contrast turned way up, and then colour filled, and doesn’t really work for me. But that’s just my opinion, I’m sure the colouring approach to this cover has many modern fans.

Inside the main through-line story is by Travis Moore, and it’s mostly quite well done, if a little stiff in places. He has a great handle on Lois Lane, and the "Reign of the Supermen" splash on page 5 is a particular highlight. I’m less enchanted with the modern-day Cyborg Superman, particularly the torn sleeve on his right arm, and the missing belt buckle. There’s generally a simplicity to the complex robotic parts that doesn’t work as well as other incarnations we’ve seen of the Cyborg Superman.

The next sequence, a reminiscence of Steel’s early days is a great showcase of Jon Bogdanove’s late style, some of which we saw in the “Retroactive” throwbacks of 2011. While Bog still employs his cartoonish rendering, the figures are generally tighter and smaller on the page than his '90s work. Fittingly, given the extra attention paid to Metropolis’ diversity in the pages of Superman: The Man of Steel, this story makes good use of a predominantly black Metropolis neighbourhood. While I’ve never fully warmed to Ron Troupe as a character, this story does give him some background, showing his neighbourhood and living situation in a way that wasn’t covered by his appearances in the '90s. (As Ron is heading to work, he’s wearing a suit and tie, though I would have loved a callback to his famed JAM sweatshirt, first appearing in the story that THIS story refers to, where Ron is involved in the verification of the Cyborg Superman as the “one true Superman”). There’s a terrific image of John Henry Irons flying at the camera on Page 11...

...and another of him destroying a toastmaster weapon on page 16 that is a standout, featuring Bog’s unique method of hatching to denote the shine of chrome. Including something like a smartphone, as they do on page 16, is an effective way of moving the story up in time, so that Lois Lane isn’t in (at least) her fifties, having covered Superman’s return in 1994. The involvement of specific Presidents later in the book hamper that slightly, but overall they do a good job of keeping it nebulous.

It was difficult to pick a favourite sequence, but I have to give it to the Jerry Ordway Eradicator story. It’s interesting to see a story by Jerry with this character, who was mostly covered by other writers (indeed, Jerry was off the books immediately after Adventures #500) and artists. Ordway hasn’t lost much zip on his fastball, as the entire story employs the usual dynamic realism and well-observed textures that we’ve come to appreciate in his work. Perry looks like himself throughout, though he reminds me of Rodney Dangerfield in the one panel of him playing with his analog walky-talky. The Eradicator’s costume has always been a terrific design, and he looks so cool as he searches for the rest of the baddies in an underground lair.

Later in the story, the image of the Last Son melting through the getaway car is an extremely tall order art-wise, and again Jerry doesn’t disappoint. As one of the two biggest fans of the triangle era, I was overjoyed to see an old-school villain like Killgrave in these pages as well.

We’re similarly treated to another original triangle era villain in the Kesel-Grummett-Hazlewood section, where Kon-El throws down with Bloodsport. While it may feel like rehash to some readers of this blog, it’s been decades since readers have seen “The Metropolis Kid” rescue Ms. Sheenan, so it’s an appreciated callback. Lots of great stuff here, but none I like more than Superboy shredding on a skateboard—a TOTALLY RAD moment, if ever.

The next section, like the cover, is something of a missed opportunity. Again, we have a stellar pairing of Jurgens and Breeding, but the art is let down by what I would say is incompatible colouring. Most of the tones are good, but the details begin to compete with the linework underneath, especially as the digital brushstrokes get scribbly, as they are on the arm of the Cyborg Superman on the title page, or perhaps worst of all, the should-be-impactful moment of the one true Kal-El emerging on Metropolis harbour. Superman is depicted red-nosed throughout, and the rendering is sketchy, where even flat colour might have given us a better look at the inks below. I get the feeling it’s all intentional—an attempt at a more painterly style, perhaps to denote that it’s a flashback. But it was a miss for me—even though I always love seeing Mongul kissing the Cyborg’s hand. [Max: He does have a very handsome hand.]

Next to Ordway’s chapter, the high point of the book is where the triangle era super-team switch, page to page, in order to tell the story. First with Jurgens and Breeding (with a less distracting colouring job), then Bogdanove, then Ordway, and finally Grummett and Hazelwood. Interestingly, the classic Superman plays no role in the fight, showing up only at the end, in an echo of the original storyline.

Finally, there’s a pin-up section, with some real standouts. While the Stern/Guice team didn’t get their own chapter in the book, that title is represented with a great image of the survival suit Superman taking flight in front of the Daily Planet. The comics logic part of my brain can’t help but notice he’s NOT wearing the Lexcorp flight boots in this image, and wasn’t able to fly under his own power in this suit, but I’m resisting pointing that out. The Daniel Sampere pinup is another nice, simple image but again I quibble, as the survival suit Superman had no cape. Is that maybe the Cyborg’s cape? It was also deeply cool to see all the trade dress and character logos at the back of that section. [Max: And the Kerry Gammill/José Luis García López promo image! Been a while since we've seen Gammill in this blog so that was a nice surprise for me.]

SPEEDING BULLETS:

I love that this story showcases Perry White’s regret about running Ron’s story that lent credibility to the murderous Cyborg Superman. They never really dealt with the journalistic repercussions of that within the story, so I love seeing an added dimension through this new narrative. They also absolve the Clintons more specifically, as the Cyborg notes that all Presidents vouched for his veracity, so it wasn’t just slick Willie who got it wrong.

I realize the Travis Moore pages are mainly a narrative device to set up the flashbacks, but there’s something off about someone as deadly as the Cyborg just aimlessly shooting up the city. As we saw when he took Doomsday’s body in Superman #78, with his power set, and technological ability, Henshaw can get in and out of a very secure place with speed and stealth, none of which do we see here. The dissonance isn’t helped by the art, which shows very empty streets for a usually crowded literal Metropolis.

The use of Perry White’s diaries as a framework for the flashbacks is a super idea, and puts a beloved character at the center of the issue, even if he’s physically absent in current day comics. (Having dropped the super-books during the Bendis run, I confess I was a little lost on that score.)

Not familiar with the skateboard term “Grommet” but it pays off on the last page of the section as Superboy gives a skateboard to “Tommy the Grommet” in a shoutout to artist Tom Grummett.

The idea of the Cyborg resurrecting the rest of his crew is an intriguing one, and it does make me wonder what an insane mirror image Fantastic Four would be like as opponents of Superman. Certainly it would even up the odds a little, as the Super squad we see in these pages had no trouble handling Henshaw on his own. [Max: I like that idea. Call them the Tragic Four.]

Overall I think I liked the Death anniversary issue a little more, as the story felt a bit more urgent than just window-dressing for flashbacks. But both are like meeting an old friend after a long time. This really was a high-water mark for Superman stories, and for comics in general.

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slenderverse · 10 months

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love to see the watchmen stuff coming from you. i was working at the comic shop when doomsday clock and rorschach was coming out so i remember it pretty well :~) rorschach is my favorite character even though he's terrible. in every way. i kind of love him for it while dr manhattan is the worst guy ever. what are your thoughts

in a joking manner here r my thoughts:

in all seriousness my favorite characters r probably laurie, dan and rorschach :) i want to pin adrian to a corkboard like a moth and study him. adrian himself isnt an interesting character (or atleast as interesting as the others) but lord his dynamics w others need to be put on trial i think there's so much shown potential there. comedian is interesting and manhattan is too i jut also hate them both w a burning passion. obviously both of them are insane parallels abt the lost of humanity due to trauma that is treated as the norm or seen as simply just "as things are" (u ever think abt how comedian was 16 when he joined the minutemen? the same age laurie was when she joined the crimebusters?)

love what happened w laurie in the hbo series. love the rorschach comics. complex emotions abt the movie its both insanely accurate yet also makes me wanna rip my hair out bc there are some choices there that are absolutely insane??? are you fucking kidding me???? WHY. WHY DID U DO THAT TO MANHATTAN AND LAURIE'S ARC. HATE IT HERE.

before watchmen is good. most of it is shit but what is good is amazing. i love the minutemen i love the lore established there. obviously we can't talk abt watchmen adaptations without acknowledging how DC fucked over alan moore and dave gibbons but like. i am happy to get more content that i get to pull apart and examine because lord knows we're never getting the same type of content other DC franchises get.

THE VIDEO GAME IS SO WEIRD THE FIRST CHAPTER OF IT IS FASCINATING. I LOVE IT. THE SECOND CHAPTER IS BULLSHIT. UGH.

if prompted i could give personal reviews abt everything that ive read/consumed w watchmen. like detailed reviews. i think abt it constantly.

i actually have a watchmen oc/self insert bc thats how i consume media his name is jeremiah and he is. well! he sure is.

i dont like how most of the fandom writes dan and rorschach as a romantic relationship. not because i don't think there's something insanely homoerotic going on i just don't think they're able to be a functional couple. they've never gotten married but have divorced 20 times and 18 of those were rorschach's fault. i think there's a lot of untouched dynamics going on w adrian and comedian but i think that's just the watchmen that's in my head.

AND UHHH if i were to ever be in charge or have influence in a watchmen series i think we need something that focuses on the time when crimebusters first formed up until the keenes act. i realize that's been touched on in the comic but i found a lot of before watchmen rlly neglected that. i want more detail on backstory. my friend says that dev patel would play a great dan and honestly i think we should see where that goes. need more dan media. idc if he's "boring". he's my favorite war criminal.

#answers #brakshow #watchmen #dooo not think u meant or expected this much detail #and even then im kinda holding myself back from going into insane detail #watchmen is one of those media that i rotate in my mind Constantly but am in a stalemate where i dont have ppl to talk abt it with #so it just sits there and explodes #long post

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whatsnewalycat · 2 years

Text

Just Dumb Enough to Try

Chapter 9: House of Cards

Word Count: 3.7k

Pairing: Javier Peña x F!Reader

Rating: Explicit (18+ only)

Content Tags / CW: angst, swearing, smoking, pining, existential crisis, mental health spiral, attempts at jokes, sexual tension, cheating/infidelity, public indecency, oral sex (f receiving), fingering, squirting, fluff, javi yells a little, there's an argument, lotta introspective shit

Series Summary: In 1993, you met Javier Peña in San Antonio. You made an emotional and physical connection with him. Now it's 1998 and you're starting a new chapter of life in Laredo with your fiancé. And who else walks back into the picture, but the man who left you high and dry five years ago.

Chapter Summary: Our heroes go on a nature walk and try to figure out what the fuck they're doing.

Notes: Happy Sunday, friends! Chapter title from "House of Cards" by Radiohead. This song is just *chefs kiss* perfectly fitting. Thank you for reading, I appreciate you! Spotify playlist for this chapter. Cross-posted to AO3 here (UN: glitter_diety). Update weekly on Sundays.

[ First Chapter ] [ Previous Chapter ]

151 Fir St N, Laredo, TX June 18, 1998

When it’s time to leave and meet Javi at the trailhead, you have to drag yourself out of the house. There’s a familiar nagging voice inside, the doomsday prepper, that’s telling you to just not show. He’ll move on, assume that you’re not interested. Resent you forever and not burden you with all of these fluffy, sugary feelings. The doomsday prepper reminds you that this cotton candy romance is fucked and it will dissolve. Its inevitable. It’s just a matter of when. If you go see him, you’ll be weak. Pliant. You’ll fold if he insists it continue. Instead, you can stay here and be safe. You can be confident that you will not have to crawl into that depressing fucking bunker that leaves you a shell of a human again when he breaks your heart.

Easier that way.

Eventually you’re able to reason with the son of a bitch. You remind them that if you don’t show, chances are Javi is going to come looking for you. And that will be a whole thing. Much more dramatic than just going and explaining to him that it won’t work. The doomsday prepper is appeased when you agree that, absolutely, this is ending today, because you can’t fucking go back to that bunker.

During the drive you smoke a cigarette. And another. Secretly hoping that by some divine miracle, lung cancer takes you out before you get there. The album Doolittle by Pixies is playing in your car, mostly background noise when you’re stuck in your head like this anyway. But then the song ‘Hey’ comes on.

Hey Where have you been? If you go I will surely die We’re chained

You slap the power button on the stereo, a gut reaction to the sharp pain that spreads through your chest. This is the song you listened to on repeat when trying to cope with your life falling apart back in 1993. It brings on a nostalgic brooding so pungent it almost makes you nauseated.

This is all so fucking ridiculous. My life was falling apart because I fucked Javi. Now my life is going to fall apart because I’m not strong enough to stay away from him.

You ponder this for a while, turning it around in your mind and examining it from all angles. Is it “strength” to stay away when he’s what you really want? Or would it take more strength to follow your heart? Are you punishing yourself for seeking something better, when you thought life with Dan was the best it could get for you?

Since there’s no one else in the gravel parking lot when you get there, you release some tension by screaming into your steering wheel at the top of your lungs. Fuck it. Then you get out of the station wagon and pull up the hatchback so you can sit down on the bumper, puffing away on your millionth a cigarette of the day while you wait. Javier pulls in shortly after, parking next to you. He hops out and walks over to you, eyes covered in a pair of brown aviator sunglasses, dressed in his typical attire. You’ve been so preoccupied in your head that you forgot to change out of what you slept in: a baggy Prince t-shirt and black bicycle shorts.

Fucking amazing.

You squint up at him, shading your eyes with your hand, “Well, don’t I feel underdressed.”

“This?” he tugs at his light green button-up shirt and shrugs, “I like your shirt more.”

You stand up and stomp out your cigarette, then pluck it off the ground to throw in a nearby trash can.

The hiking trail winds through lush tall grass, a tree canopy above providing shade from the hot afternoon sun. You walk side-by-side on the path, gravel crunching under your shoes, a chorus of rustling foliage surrounding you. A breeze cools your skin and combs through your hair. Neither of you talk, really, and for once it actually feels… awkward.

The backs of your hands knock up against each other and you let out a nervous laugh as heat spreads across your face. The physical contact shakes loose a few butterflies that flutter around your chest.

Butterflies that need to fuck off if I’m going to stay rational.

Rational. As if you haven’t completely blown past the point of rationality long ago. Arguing with yourself all fucking morning because you desperately want to have a relationship with him. Because, despite your self-protective tendency to keep people at an arm’s length (which has kept you safe and heartbreak free since 1993), you’re drawn to him. And you’re so… so fucking scared. A knot twists your stomach as you try to keep all of your messy thoughts locked behind your mouth. It feels like a dam about to break.

“So…” he starts, slowing down to a stop, “How’re you feeling about everything that happened yesterday?”

You take a few paces before stopping, then put your hands on your hips and throw your head back to look at the sky as if to ask why god why is he asking me? When you turn around you can’t even meet his eyes when you choke out, “I- I can’t…” tears start burning your eyes; you look down at your shoes as a lump forms in your throat. You swallow hard and try to make your voice firm and unwavering, completely fucking failing as you sob, “It can’t happen again.”

You wrap your arms around yourself. Your vision is blurred, but you hear him walking closer. He tilts your chin up and narrows his gaze to meet your bloodshot, watery eyes, “Is that what you want?”

His voice is soft and rumbling, like a thunderstorm across the horizon. You say nothing, just hang your head again.

“No, look at me,” he demands, louder now. You obey and snap your eyes to his, blood racing down to your cunt at the way raises his voice. He asks incredulously, “That’s what you want? You wanna be friends?”

Your face hardens as you nod in response, a little taken aback by his brashness.

A hollow laugh escapes him. He steps back and runs a hand over his mouth, then steps towards you again, even closer now, eyes blazing, “Are you just going to pretend you don’t feel this? That you don’t want this like I do? Don’t bullshit m-”

“What exactly am I supposed to do, Javier?” you spit back, throwing your hands in the air, “I have fucking nothing if I leave Dan.”

The air between you stills, and the dam breaks.

“I don’t have a job, a home, or a dollar to my goddamn name. Are you going to take me in? Huh?” your eyes search his now, daring him. You both know the answer.

“Some broad you barely know? Move in with you? Rely on you until I get my shit together?” He backs up, runs his hand through his hair, takes a deep breath, and says nothing. You regain the ground he retreated, then ask through gritted teeth, tears streaming down your cheeks freely now, “What happens when it’s been a month and you can’t stand the sight of me? I’m back at square one, stuck here with fucking nothing and no one.”

A wrecked sob escapes you, steals all the breathe from your lungs, and shakes your shoulders, then you choke out the biggest reason of all, “What happens when you disappear and break my heart again?”

He puts his hands on his hips and looks at the ground in stunned silence as you work through this wave of grief. You catch your breath, wipe the tears from your face, then go back up the trail the way you came, pushing past him, “That’s what I thought.”

You make it a few yards before he starts walking after you and finally responds, “What if you don’t have to leave him?”

Like a fucking idiot, you stop in your tracks. The doomsday prepper is fucking seething right now. You’re so close to safe. But something braver tells it to fuck off. You turn towards Javier, sniffling, and hugging yourself tightly. He approaches you apprehensively. His eyebrows are drawn together, eyes soft and pleading, shoulders slumped. The words that leave his mouth are ones he’d live to regret, “I don’t care if you stay with him. I- I just want you. We don’t have to end this. I don’t want to end this. Please.”

It’s a terrible idea. In all possible scenarios, it would be a complete shit show. And yet… there’s something pulling you towards him that’s inexplicable. Giving in to your gut feeling, completely ignoring your rational brain, you meet his warm gaze and let the anger drain from you. You squeak, “Really?”

He nods.

You bite your lip, then ask, “What if he finds out?”

“I think he’d have to give a shit about you to notice something was up,” he takes a step closer. The blunt comment makes you wince. His hand runs down the side of your face, “Besides, we can be careful…Maybe no more public restrooms, though.”

“Oh, well, never mind then,” you tell him sarcastically, wiping tears away as you roll your eyes and smirk, “I don’t know if I can go without getting railed in public bathrooms.”

“Oh, really?” he quips, “And what’s your policy on getting railed in uhh-“ his hand leaves (foliage pun) your face to gesture at the surroundings, “nature?”

The cocky smile on his face is irresistible. You lick your lips slowly, just so you can watch his face heat up in reaction. He shifts his weight to one leg and puts his hands on his hips.

You shrug, then turn to look around appraisingly, “Well, what, do you have a blanket we could lay down? Or are you thinking more like… against a tree? How in tune with nature do you want to get?”

When your back is turned, he comes up from behind, and wraps his arms around your waist, burying his face into your neck. Your body relaxes back into him. Delicate kisses are laid on the skin he can reach. He sways his hips, rocking you gently from side to side. You inhale the beauty of the moment and try to exhale your reservations about this decision. This stupid, stupid fucking decision.

His lips lay down in the crook of your neck and melt into your skin. A shuddered breath escapes you. You feel his lips curl into a smile before he begins to lick and suck. Instinctively, a hand shoots up to grab the hair at the nape of his neck. Your body breaks out in goosebumps, shivering with delight. His hands wander around your abdomen, fingers trailing across your prickled skin, torturing you.

“Nobody else is out here,” he husks into your ear. You nod, feeling your skin flush at the implication. He hums while his fingers trail up your shirt, drawing circles around your rib cage. You gasp and lean against him more, rolling your head back against his shoulder. He pulls your shirt up, exposing you. A finger brushes against your lip, tracing the curve of your mouth. You take his wrist in your hand and guide his fingers up to your mouth, wrapping your lips around four thick digits. He inhales sharply and takes over, dragging his fingers around the wet cavern as enthusiastic hums emit from your throat.

“Good girl,” he whispers, breath hot against your ear, sending your heartbeat racing. His other hand slides up the slope of your breast, coasting across the hardened nipple. Your hairs stand on end as his forearm crosses your throat so he can lick his thumb. He brings it back to your nipple to strum it gently, turning your hums to whines as you arch your back into his touch.

As he pulls his hand out of your mouth, ribbons of spit trail behind, falling on your chin. The wet fingers skin across your neglected tit, painting circles against your nipple. Not only did it feel exquisite, but the thought that anyone could be going on a hike right now and would come across this obscene display sends shockwaves to your center. He purrs, “I want you to show me how you touch yourself.”

All the blood in your body surges to your cunt upon hearing these words leave his mouth. You gulp, “Ri- right here?”

“Right here,” his deep voice rumbles against your face as he kisses your cheek, down to your jawline, then opens his mouth against your pulse to draw wet, hot circles with his tongue. You gasp and your knees go weak.

Your hand slips under the waistband of your shorts.

He murmurs, “No no, baby girl, I want to see,” then yanks your waistband down to your knees so your vulva is exposed to the filtered sunlight. The swiftness with which he exposes your whole pussy to god and everybody takes your breath away. He opens his jaw and lightly bites your shoulder as he watches you trail your fingernails through your bush.

Groaning, you drag your two fingers flush down your hot wet center, then slide them inside you. His breath hitches when you pull them out and they’re dripping with your slick; you dangle the digits in front of his face and breathe hard, “Clean them for me.”

He seizes your wrist, runs his tongue around and between your fingers, wraps his mouth around them and sucks them enthusiastically, letting quiet moans roll out of his throat. You coo, “Good boy,” which is met with an excited groan. You’re able to turn your head towards him enough to flatten your tongue and lick up his neck before asking, “How do I taste?”

You pull your fingers out of his drooling mouth and start massaging your clit.

“Fucking amazing,” he growls. One hand stays at your tit, teasing and tugging and squeezing; the other lays across your throat, applying enough pressure to set your skin on fire and make you moan. You move your digits faster to catch up with your racing heartbeat, whimpering and gyrating against your fingers. He’s looking down at your filthy display of lust, and he tells you, “You’re so fucking hot,” before grinding your earlobe between his teeth, ripping a sob from your throat.

He releases you from his grasp all at once, throwing you off balance and teetering, until he turns you around and pins you against a tree.

I was kidding when I suggested fucking against a tree, but… I’m not complaining.

He barrages you with greedy kisses, tongue writhing against yours, biting, sucking. You’re gasping for breath by the time he pulls away. He drops to his knees and throws one of your knees over his shoulder. He stops to take a mental image of you. Dripping wet, clit engorged, lips swollen, aching for attention.

He buries his face in your cunt and moans into her. The sound of him lapping at you, while you whine and gasp for air, is so fucking loud in the quiet of the desolate walking trail.

“B- baby- Put your fingers in me, please,” you breathe.

He pulls off of you and looks up into your eyes as he inches one finger inside you, knuckle deep. You pout down at him, rolling your hips forward, seeking the sensation you crave. Your fingers trail down and draw circles around your swollen clit. You’re so close if he would just stop torturing you.

“More,” you whimper, “please I need more.”

He grins up at you and buries two thick fingers as deep as they go, hooks them inside you and starts to fuck you steady.

“Yes yes yesyesyes oh that’s fucking perfect holy shit baby-“ you cry.

Pressure mounts in your center; you start shaking and break out in a sweat, panting and crying. The rhythm you’re using on yourself grows frantic.

“Say my name when you cum,” he husks. You look down meet his eyes, dark and wild, and nod frantically because you can’t spit out anything else before you start to climax.

“Javi- Javi- fuck,” you sob as pleasure crescendos in your body, making you quiver and convulse around his fingers. Your ears start ringing and it feels like you’re made of fucking static, every part of you buzzing happily.

He coos, slowing down but not stopping his thrusting, “So good, ooo that’s so good, holy shit .” When you look down at him, he’s pulling his fingers out, licking your cum off of them. You’re still regulating your breathing when you realize you fucking soaked him. His face, shirt, pants, hand… it’s all drenched. Your face gets flushed with embarrassment.

“How…?” you croak out. He smiles from ear to ear, then lowers your leg off of his shoulder, then pulls your shorts back up while you adjust your shirt and regain your bearings. When he stands up, he kisses so you can taste yourself, sweet and tangy; you deepen the kiss, loving the taste of you on his lips. When he pulls back, he examines your delirious face, smiling boyishly.

“I… do you…” you pull on his belt, bite your lip, “Want me to..?”

He pulls you off of the tree to wrap you in an embrace, his forehead against yours, “You’ve done more than enough, cariño.”

You roll your eyes, “Fine. Maybe later…”

He smirks, then lays a gentle kiss on your lips. Pulling back, he asks, “Do you want to go back to the lot?”

“Yeah… yeah, I need a cigarette,” you nod, then you glance up at Javier, just completely fucking doused in your cum, and start giggling, “and you need a fucking towel or something. I cannot believe that happened.”

“I don’t want a towel,” he scoffs, “That was… incredible. Now I can smell you on me all day.”

Your heart skips a beat. It’s sweet… in a kind of pervy way. He grabs onto your hand and intertwines his fingers with yours as the you walk back the way you came. Something deep inside your soul twitches happily.

When you get back to the vehicles, you and Javier agree that you don’t want to hike and don’t want to go home. In a refusal to compromise, you lay down a blanket in the bed of his truck so the two of you can stretch out and watch the clouds roll across the sky.

“Do you think you’ll ever to go back to being a teacher?” he asks. His hands are tucked under his head. You’re resting on his stomach, feet propped up on the wheel well.

You thrum your fingers against the soft skin of your belly, “Maybe. I guess… it depends on what… you know, happens,” you shift uncomfortably at the implication that you could have a future where you weren’t expected to be a homemaker, and the role Javier could play in that future.

Slow down there, tiger.

“I really do love being a teacher, so probably,” you contemplate while staring up at a wispy cloud, “You know, I’ve been thinking maybe… my purpose in life isn’t a career.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean… maybe my job isn’t as central to ‘the thing’ as I thought it was. Maybe it will be… I don’t know, a family, or relationships, you know? Or an awesome new hobby. I don’t know,” you sigh and nuzzle against him.

He looks down at you, “I like that. So I take it you haven’t found ‘the thing’?”

Your brow creases as you frown, “No, not yet. I think… I’m going to try to do things that make me happy, and trust that my path will be revealed. And just… be,” you exhale slowly as the declaration brings you a sense of peace, then look at him, “What about you?”

“I’m starting to think my only purpose is to stick my nose where it doesn’t belong,” he mutters.

“Oh, you mean like in my pussy?” you deadpan. He laughs even though it’s a terrible joke, jiggling your head around, and you grin up at him.

“Yes, exactly like that,” he smiles back, then looks back to the sky. After a brief pause, he clears his throat, “I don’t know what it is, I just… I feel discontent. Aimless.”

You hum in acknowledgment and lift your hand to his chest, rubbing your thumb against him in a comforting gesture. Your head rises and falls slowly as he takes a deep breathe. A yawn escapes you as you say, “This is nice, though.”

“This is perfect.”

“I-“ your heart starts pounding as you realize what you started to say, but sigh and continue anyway, “I’m glad I have you. Makes it less miserable.”

He lifts his head to look at you, “Yeah?”

“Yeah,” you beam up at him.

“Come here.”

You squirm around until you can cross your forearms on his chest to prop yourself up. He brings one hand out from behind his head to brush hair out of your face and tuck it behind your ear. A goofy smile spreads across your face, which must be contagious, because he starts smiling, too. He rests his hand against your cheek and ghosts his thumb against your blushing skin. You tip your head forward and nuzzle your nose against his, then lay a tender kiss on his lips.

When you start to pull away, he reigns you back in, parting his lips and kissing you deeper. When he finally pries himself away, he admits, “I’m glad I have you, too. You make me happy.”

—

By the time you get to your house, it’s dark outside. Dan isn’t home, there’s a note on the counter saying he went to the bar with Greg. Which saves you from having to make some kind of excuse as to why you’ve been out hiking for 7 hours.

I think he’d have to give a shit about you to notice something was up.

You make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich (very adult), then settle into the living room couch and turn the tv on. Nothing really keeps your attention, though, as your thoughts are infested by Javier. This thing between you is… reckless. Idiotic. But the way his touch sets your body on fire… the way he looks at you like you’re the only thing he wants to see. Maybe it’s worth the risk of ending up in the bunker again.

[ Next Chapter ]

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bubblesandgutz · 11 months

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Every Record I Own - Day 775: The Pupils s/t

In the three year gap between Necrophones and Love Is Love, Lungfish vocalist Dan Higgs and guitarist Asa Osbourne released the one-and-only LP by their project The Pupils. Is the name a reference to the windows of the soul or their roles as students in some larger cosmic lesson? I imagine that ambiguity was part of the rationale behind the name.

The Pupils album sounds much like what you'd expect from Higgs and Osbourne. The songs are modest constructions of guitar, drum machine, and Higgs' trademark doomsday prophet vocals. Supposedly the project was a result of Lungfish slipping into limbo with the departure of bassist Nathan Bell and the advent of fatherhood for several members of the band. Without the heft of a rhythm section, Higgs and Osbourne lean further into the folk elements of their work, lending the album an air of some old, secret tradition, but it still permeates with the aura of Lungfish.

Though The Pupils LP was a low-profile affair upon its release in 2002, it's become a revered album among Lungfish fans. And for good reason---songs like "It's Good To Have Met You" and "Go to Gone" are some of Higgs and Osbourne's finest collaborative efforts. If people were worried about Lungfish becoming stagnant, The Pupils album showed that there was still room for expanding (or further deconstructing) their sound.

I know I've aired my gripes with modern music criticism here numerous times over the years, so please excuse any redundancy on my part. But the Pitchfork review for The Pupils album is a perfect example of why I grew tired with music criticism. While Pitchfork has always had a roster of solid writers with strong insights on their subject matter, they also fell into the VICE/Buddyhead habit of posting snarky, cynical reviews that came across more like writer's attempts at being clever and witty and less like actual examinations on art.

It's strange that in an era where the playing field was leveled by the internet in a way where more artists could get their work out to the world that the practice of music criticism seemed to get even more vicious and jaded. Critics were no longer helping fans decide how to spend their money in a record store stocked with a handful of new releases; they were now choosing which artists to elevate into the spotlight in the increasingly saturated realm of the internet. What service did it do to devote four paragraphs to eviscerating The Pupils album when there were undoubtedly dozens---if not hundreds---of other albums released that week that would have fallen within the parameters of Pitchfork's scope? Why was the album assigned to someone that was obviously not going to be a fan of it?

I can completely understand how someone could not like Lungfish or The Pupils. They're not albums made for cursory listens. I'm sure 99% of the population would be similarly unimpressed by these songs. After all, it's easy to not like strange music. It's easy to be dismissive of an unfamiliar artist. Being able to cobble together four paragraphs of snark might make you a decent writer, but it doesn't make you an insightful listener or an arbiter of good taste. Reading Kevin Adickes' takedown of The Pupils doesn't make me re-evaluate my own enjoyment of the record, but it does make me skeptical of his credentials. It takes an exceptional music writer to listen to a strange or difficult record and present it to the readership in a way that helps them find the inroad to appreciating it. It takes a lazy writer to be dismissive of anything that doesn't immediately give them exactly what they want.

Perhaps in the age of artificial intelligence we will reach a point where people can feed their tastes into some algorithm that will spit out a song perfectly tailored to individual listeners. And maybe that's what the majority of listeners want---they want to be rewarded on a first listen. But real art requires some degree of work out of the audience. It asks them to open their eyes and broaden their understanding of the world.

It requires us to be pupils.

#everyrecordiown #the pupils #lungfish

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popculturebuffet · 2 years

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Hello all you happy people. It's time again to watch for the Watchmen , with only three issues and three months left till midnight. It's been.. a heck of a ride and it's hard to believe it's almost over and we'll be moving on to ducks what were iron armor next year, because apparently these yearly patreon quests of kevs are never not emotionally jarring. So come with me under the cut as we continue our final days towards Armageddon and giant squids as Dan is forced to hand hold an extreme right wing man through stopping the apocalypse. So another tuesday for them.

Two Riders Approaching is a great issue, and while like many before it it feels like a way to move the plot gears, unlike past gear turning issues it has a bit more character. While I'm still bummed we didn't get a spotlight issue for dan that covered his history and motivations in the same way as most of the main cast (minus adrian) , I still think this issue and "brother to Dragons did a good job showing who he is as a person. Now WHY Dan didn't get a spotlight

There's no clear reason. Maybe they just had better stories, maybe there wasn't enough time, maybe they considered hte one where he can't get it up unless he's in a costume one and called it a day. I dunno. This one does show Dan on the job, genuinely doing his best to unwrap this mystery before the end of the world, with the sorta help of the mumbling MAGA man with a plan. And several conspiracies about jewish space lasers he'd love to share with you. We do cut to some other things going on as we go. First stop…

As he's heading into a hidden bunker compliimplating armageddon. One of his companions is G. Gordon LIddy, and just the thought of LIddy having any sort of postion of power or influence is more terrifying than the threat of nuclear armageddon. I also assume since Nixon couldn't bring his wife with him they let him bring the next closest person in his life, his beloved Cocker Spaniel Checkers

At any rate we cut back to our dynamic-ish duo as Your Gonna Hear Him Rorshach brings up that it's sad "Mrs. Juspick" coudln't join us.. because apparently he shows his graditute for prison breaks by twisting the knife. Just kidding he has no gratitude for anyone or anything.

Anyways our heroes go to get his costume, with Row Row Row Your Shach Gently Past Sanity saying the methodical take down of them all was too easy and they must be careful in the future. Dan understandably pipes up

And points out that's part of why he's iffy about this side quest. They only have a WEEK till the end of the world at most to figure out whose behind this plot, stop them and hopefully HAVE some sort of future by stopping them and he's at a loss as what to do epsecially since again time is ticking away. Rorshach mumbles something abotu how "some of us have always lived on the edge Daniel. " like he's on an episode of doomsday preppers. One upside of the waking nightmare that is the warner bros discovery merger: we MAY just get an episode of doomsday preppers on shach adam here.

Shachers left some stuff under a floorboard Lane Kim style, specifcally a spare uniform and his rambling manefesto: "ALL WOMEN ARE WHORES:WHY THIS WORLD IS FUCKED by RORSHACH" with a foreword by frank miller. His landlady shows up understandably afraid for her life… and then he confronts her, mad about her claiming he came on to her sexually. I mean I do GET where he's coming from: Faking sexual assault or harassment is just about the lowest fucking thing you can do to someone, and while that someone is Rorshach shit like this makes it harder on people who've LEGITAMTELY been harassed or assaulted to have their claims heard without dudebros piping up "well she's a lying bitch bro". She could've still sold her story without it.

That said i'm still sympathetic to her as while she could've left that part out, it's unknown if the news guys ASKED her for it to spice it up or she needed it to get money, money to feed her handful of children that I can't blame her for taking. Also she had to deal with Rorshach as a tennant and that.. can't have been easy. Like i'm usually not sympathetic to landlords, but the smell of beans and him not bathing for months on end had to be toxic by the time he was arrested. The fact his response to give her a look that internally just screams (Chucky)

And call her a whore in front of her children kinda proves my point. What she did ws horrible and he's right to be angry but I can't help but sympathize with someone he was about to brutalize or murder had she not pointed out her kids didn't know and were right there. This DOES give him the rare human moment of walking away, deciding not to repeat the kind of crap he'd been through as a kid and recognizing that this woman is not his mother and is actually trying to keep those two worlds separate for more than just not wanting to loose money.

We cut to Ozymandis who is pulling in to his winter fortress and reuniting with his kitty bubastis. He does the very normal thing of.. watching 80 thousand tvs at once, channel change every hundred seconds. This shows both his ability to focus… and how fast his mind works. He instantly picks up a sexual subtext due to the heavy undercurrent of war, citing the baby boom as a similar incident, and has his employees buy up shares of pornographic companies in the short term and baby food and other baby stuff in the long. It also subtly hints that Adrian expects the world NOT to end… and that whatever he's planning involves stopping it.

Back to our odd couple who are understandably bickering. Daniel from the smell, Shackles hadn't thought of the smell that bitch, and Shach from danny boy daring to… use a crime computer to look for some sort of connection instead of randomly assaulting people. Danny serious question: why did you think you needed him again?

Dan eventually lays into Roshach honestly asking you know how hard it is being your friend…. before backing off and apologizing

Shockingly we get ANOTHER almost human moment from Mickey Roarshach as he apologizes fo rhow hard he's been, admits daniels a good friend and Dan splits the diffrence deciding the old team needs to go beat up some thugs or something to feel normal because that's a thing healthy people do. Shockingly Roshachs strategy of "beat up people till we luck into who we need" actually WORKS this time, and it only takes two filithy bars to find the guy who ired the guy who tried to kill adrian: we only get a company, Pyramid Deliveries. Hmm i think I may know our culprit now

Dan nearly looses it after finding out about hollis and it really grips at the heart: he nearly sinks to Roarshach's level. HIs smelly smelly level. Shach TRIES to be helpful byu pointing out if they find the solution to hte mask killer it might mean vengance. Dan gets that A) this is clearly unconnected and B) NOT THE TIME FOR THAT.. .but recognizes soon after this is the closest Rorshach can give to actual condolences and continues the ivnestigation

Meanwhile two of the people kidnapped for that thing prepare to escape on a boat only for it to explode

Also we ge tmore of the tails of the black freighter. Pirate man kills two people to hid ehis plans… for what he sees as the greater good. Hmmmm.. foreshadowing.

For what's next.. well techncially the explosion was next because the schmuck writing this forgot to include the tales bit earlier. So our heroes head to Adrian's office. Too bad his dad's probably dead in this realtity. We could've seen them dodge some lasers and find some shit destroying lasers and monologues about teenagers in fur suits. At any rate while Rorshach rambles into the void, can relate and that worrie sme a lot, dan gets actual work done and finds out the horrifying truth: Adiran is behind it all!

… Yeah while I went into this having read the complete series before, and thus knew this, even then it's not an actual suprise. Like at this point most of the other culprits have been ruled out, and while yes he was attacked… it's something that could easily be faked. Like it was obvious an issue or two before this it was Adrian. We don't know QUITE why yet, though there is a clue as Dan and Radio Shach find a chart detailing a war in a decade that seemingly came early. But given the lack of suspects combined with the fact that with Laurie ruled out Adiran was the only one healthy enough out of the known cast to throw someone out a window, and it becomes shockingly obvious. The reason it's usprising is that the entire story is build around a mystery.. that gives you plenty of clues but not enough suspects. It IS a tad hard to figure out at first blind, as Dan, Laurie and Adrian are all valid suspects all with the connections to pull this off.. but Adrian was alwasy the prime suspect.

Our heroes prepare to confront Adrian at karnak, his artic fortress because he's clearly going full republic serial villian despite his protests next issue, with Rorshach dropping off his journal at Right Wing News Co… where it gets put in the crank file. WE end this issue on our heroes… crashing into the arctic as Archie wasn't built for it and while time is of the essence dan didn't think to maybe you know, prepare for that before heading off into the frozen north. He did pack his thermal gear. Our heroes approach as Adrian assures his kitty everything's all right. Kind of a weird way to end this but a great way to ratchet up tension as we prepare for the climax. In a month. We also get some various press stuff from adiran's company. It's all fairly neat especially the toy proposal which he mostly rejects, wantin ga shift to more gi joe style stuff as superheros haven't been popular here.

So with that this issue comes to a close, the clock moves one tick closer to midnight and this story is about to reach one of it's most iconic moments. I'd like to tell you i did next months review 30 mintues ago… but I did not so come back next month for that and thanks for reading.

#watchmen #nite owl #dan dreiberg #rorshach #alan moore #dc comics #adrian veidt #ozymandis

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forest-of-cheem · 2 years

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final thoughts ahead of POTD...

less than two hours to go. i am having Thoughts.

thasmin. i think this will most likely go one of three ways:

yaz dies and/or is unwillingly separated from 13, like doomsday. tears all around.

yaz chooses to leave, but not before a good snog with 13. bittersweet, but lets them both find some kind of peace.

13 pulls a tentoo manoeuvre and lops herself out of the doctor’s body so she can spend a mortal life with yaz. would be brilliant, but feels wildly unlikely.

what’s the point of being alive? dan is suspiciously absent from a whole lot of promo. there’s a very likely exit early on in the episode, but what are the odds that he returns when shit gets serious... and makes the ultimate sacrifice?? i don’t think yaz will die, which means dan is a strong contender for Companion Death, and we’ve already seen him be the self-sacrificing type.

LOOMS. i know next to nothing about classic who & the extended materials, but. what i’ve heard about looms fills me with fascination. especially the theory that the master is going to loom 13 for her infinite regeneration energy, and this leads to her degenerating into 10. cool as fuck, in an absolutely horrifying way.

the woman who fell to earth... again. there’s a lot of speculation that 13 will die falling off a cliff, which would give some neat symmetry to how her era began, not to mention her first regeneration on gallifrey happening the same way when she was a child. i’m already imagining the shots of her falling, the look on her face before she hits the ground. it hurts so much. but i love it.

the master. where to even start with him?? if they don’t play boney m’s rasputin, it’ll be a damn crime. he’s almost certainly going to shrink an important character, and he might even brainwash someone too?? whatever he does, it’ll hurt to watch. i also have a strong suspicion that if 13 goes over the cliff’s edge, he’ll be falling with her, or the one who pushes her over. that childhood cliff fall did happen when playing with a friend, after all...

wildcard theory!! in the matrix, 13 got scrappy with the master and shoved him to the ground. who’s to say they don’t simply beat the shit out of each other for 90 minutes.

daddy vinder. this theory feels half dead but hear me out. the bel/vinder baby is, in fact, the timeless child, and shenanigans lead to the kid getting dropped through a wormhole to gallifrey of the past. this would make for a nice circular ending to the timeless child arc, and gives vinder’s return in this ep some relevance. but this episode already has so much going on that this theory might not have any room to play out...

tentoo. what are the odds that 10′s return next year is actually tentoo, who crashes back into this universe in the centenary?? after all, he has an important connection to donna, which would explain her return next year too. it’d be a shame to see him without rose, but. imagine him and 13 teaming up to fight the daleks. imagine the master’s sheer confusion over a human 10 from another dimension. imagine the thasmin and tenrose parallels.

i’m probably wildly off the mark with most of these thoughts. the power of the doctor is gonna end up even crazier than any of us imagined. and whatever happens, i’m going to love it! 13′s era has not been perfect, but i’ve massively enjoyed it overall, and i already know that her big finale is going to be chaotic, heart-breaking, and wonderful.

#doctor who #the power of the doctor #she hasn't even regenerated yet and i already miss her #but i just know this episode is going to be so good!!#i know 13 has her critics i know so many people have disliked the past few years #but do i look like i listen to those kinds of people??#hell no #whatever this episode has in store for us it's going to be brilliant

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c0rrupt3dsp1r1t · 2 years

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So- my thoughts on the episode. Spoilers!!!

Dan's exit could've been interesting and it wasn't really, but it was a very normal human thing to do and Dan has been played straight as a very normal human guy, so makes sense.

I'm happy they recruited Ace and Tegan to UNIT rather than continuing Ace's charity story. They already seemed to do everything they could with it in Big Finish and the ACE book and it doesn't fit on-screen Ace well at all. She could've given the company over to someone else or be using it to fund UNIT when the government doesn't want to, but being in the field rather than behind a desk is... mmm. So much better. (I'll have to edit my longfic draft a bit, I was waiting for the episode to come out to add her section, but not too drastically)

I didn't expect them to confirm Tegan/Nyssa one way or the other. Farewell, Sarah Jane is nice, but the Doctor Who Lockdown stories that weren't for the book have been almost completely ignored thus far and I doubt that'll change. For instance, Big Finish gave present Ace a K-9, (in her weakest story imo) but it explicitly wasn't Sarah Jane's.

They also don't outright deny/confirm other expanded media either. "Three decades for me" could mean a number of things, including new meetings with the Doctor getting lost in Ace's short-term memory thanks to Brax and she just didn't age much until she was put back in her own time after Gallifrey.

There is a very particular itch for the Master for me that only Sacha Dhawan has scratched and Rasputin and taking the Doctor's body presumably for the extra (now possibly infinite) lives, something he's always wanted to do but never quite succeeded in doing- letting him actually do it, all felt very fresh.

The past faces manifesting in their mind during a time of terrible danger thing hasn't been done on TV I don't think, and it was done in the perfect surreal way.

The hologram 5 and 7 were adorable. Five comforting Tegan about Adric and Seven making up with Ace and acknowledging she's grown up and he's proud of her on-screen. (Chibnall you actually remembered that he's basically her dad when so many writers have forgotten that especially with the few modern-day Ace stories.)

I felt very teased with the possibility of a Thasmin kiss. They didn't have to, but that left something balled up in my chest. The ice creams were quite literally sweet though.

All of the bad guys are just fodder for the Master, that's kinda meh. His plan being trigger every volcano on Earth to cause a doomsday rather than just hyperbeaming it with his death star planet is a very Classic Master plan though.

Kate didn't do much and that makes me sad. Still no Osgood=homophobic. I don't make the rules. At least she's not dead, even though Chibnall could do so justifiably, since the (Jenna Redgrave) Kate is his character.

The plot is messy but there is a through line and it comes to a decent conclusion after that huge rollercoaster.

Companion support group is an official thing now I thought that would only ever exist in fanfic and comedy skits.

The end... I'm sorry. I just didn't like it. I never liked 10, he's my least favourite Doctor. I'd have preferred if they did half the regeneration here, fade to white, credits roll, the other half in the next special, because while I love David Tennant in other roles (especially Crowley) I cannot stand his Doctor, think he’s overstayed his welcome and wish I could ignore it.

Overall I think it's a good story and it has all the love for classic who that I wish the 50th had but didn't. Better written than DotD? I don't think so, but I like it better. (For one I actually like most of the characters involved, not only 3 of them) It definitely feels like a comfort episode, very self-indulgent, very camp and fun, fanfic-y but in a good way- but also this thing is a straight-up whole action movie, not an ordinary special.

Also you can still 100% tell that after series 10 Chibnall binge-read the VNAs, has the same vibes as the books, including one I was reading last night. To be fair Transit is all about space trains but that's just a coincidence I totally forgot there'd be a space train in the episode .

#dw spoilers #power of the doctor #doctor who #doctor who centenary special #long post #my thoughts #spoilers #doctor who spoilers

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daydreamerdrew · 2 years

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Comics read this past week:

Doomsday Clock (2017) #1-12

Doomsday Clock transports characters from Watchmen (1986), a satire and deconstruction of the superhero genre, into the mainstream DC universe. The focal point of the story is the experience of Dr. Manhattan- a character who perceives the past, present, and future all at once- coming from a self-contained story and universe, as he learns about the long-standing DC universe as it has been rebooted and modernized over and over again, particularly the character of Superman. I really love comics that meta-ly play very directly with elements specific to the comic book medium and the genres within it, and I really enjoyed the approach that was used here and what the ultimate framing of it was. I thought that Eternity Girl (2018) was an interesting take that portrayed it as horrifying from the perspective of a rebooted character, but I appreciated how Doomsday Clock had a more balanced view.

The only thing I really took issue with was the backstory of the second Rorschach, Reggie Long. I enjoyed his relationship with Byron Lewis (Mothman) and Byron's story here is truthfully something that I would have ordinarily been deeply compelled and devastated by, but I couldn't get into it because it went against what I had previously understood Byron’s life to be. Even disregarding Before Watchmen: Minutemen (2012), the original Watchmen didn't have any suggestion of the mental institution that Byron stayed at for decades after his breakdown being that horrifically abusive environment. I didn't notice anything amiss in the brief scenes of the other retried Minutemen interacting with Byron when he visited them along with his aid from the hospital. I can understand it not being perfect, but I'm not convinced that Hollis Mason would have knowingly allowed Byron to be kept in those conditions and I’m not convinced that he would have been careless enough with Bryon's well-being as to not be aware of how bad it was there. The depiction of the hospital also all felt sensationalized to me in a way that I could have accepted in the DC universe but not the Watchmen one. And Doomsday Clock depicts Byron as a deeply lonely man who tragically wrote to his sister every week for decades without a letter back. While I don't think the Minutemen were all very close after retirement, it's mentioned in the original Watchmen that Hollis sent Dan Dreiberg to visit him, indicating that he wasn't completely abandoned as is presented in Doomsday Clock.

the Alan Scott stories in All-American Comics (1939) #16-18

I absolutely loved the backstory of the lantern as it's presented in issue #16. To me it felt like a good balance of whimsy and something more sinister. "Many years ago" a flaming green meteor fell from the sky and proclaimed, "Three times shall I flame green! First- to bring death! Second- to bring life! Third- to bring power!" When it cools the lamp maker takes it and makes a lamp of the strange green metal, but then the townspeople kill him, believing him and his creation to be evil, and the lamp flames and kills all of them. Then the lamp "passed through many hands in its travels" bringing good luck to good people and bad luck to bad people until it's brought to an asylum where one of the patients turns it from a lamp to a then-modern lantern, and it flames once again, curing the patient of his illness. Then "fate stretched out her long arm and brought the lantern to Alan Scott" as he is the sole survivor of a train wreck due to holding onto it. The lantern explains all its prophecies to Alan, gives him powers, and instructs him to take a portion of it to make a ring. Alan is described as "dazed" and "shocked" and as having "a mad light in his eyes... revenge in his heart!" His mind is described as "tortured" and "feverish" as he makes the ring, but then as soon as he puts it on he has a change of heart and is shocked at himself for having wanted to kill the person responsible for the train wreck. I found the character of Alan Scott very compelling. In all honesty, most of the Golden Age comics I've read had starred Captain Marvel or Mary Marvel, so it was a bit shocking to me to see him be so aggressive and revenge-driven. But I was also really intrigued by the lantern, how its prophecies- both good and bad- unfold as it said they would, how it seems to influence Alan's mind when he puts it on. I've so far just read these three stories, but they've made me really interested in a character who I was previously thinking I might only follow through a more selective reading list.

The Incredible Hulk (1968) #180-184 and The Defenders (1972) #17-19 and Marvel Team-Up (1972) #27 and Giant-Size Defenders (1974) #3

In in main The Incredible Hulk title I went from July 1974 to November 1974. All of those issues were written by Len Wein and drawn by Herb Trimpe.

The last page of issue #180 is not just the first meeting of the Hulk and the Wolverine, but the Wolverine’s first ever appearance. The next issue is his first “full” appearance. Though I most appreciated this storyline for the ending, where the Hulk sees a girl he had previously hated (due to her pretending to be his friend in order to take advantage of him) crying and does his best to comfort her, which the narration describes as “So they stand together, the monster and the girl- both victims of circumstances they could not hope to control- and both of them so terribly, terribly alone.”

Issue #182 is a wonderful story that I feel encapsulates a lot of the Hulk’s life. In it he discovers a man playing a harmonica in the woods and stops to listen to him, and when the man notices the Hulk and calls out to him the Hulk reacts “like a child caught with his hand in the cookie jar” and gives his usual spiel about hating puny humans. But the man, named “Cracka-Jack Jackson,” invites him to his campfire and gives him beans, which is notable because it’s the first time the Hulk ever eats beans which will later be portrayed as his favorite food. The Hulk hangs around Cracka-Jack, saying it’s because he wants more beans and then because he has no where else to go, and the two of them have very cute interactions. Cracka-Jack teaches the Hulk to write the alphabet when he sees the Hulk playing with a stick and the Hulk is very excited to be able to write his own name. Cracka-Jack tells him that “A man ain’t got nothin’ if he ain’t got his name.” Then the two of them continue on Cracka-Jack’s journey, as he was going to visit his son in prison, which the Hulk ends up needed to break Cracka-Jack into... and where Cracka-Jack is accidentally killed by his son. The Hulk is devastated that his friend was killed and attacks his son but after the fight the Hulk is deeply apologetic, saying, “Cracka-Jack, Hulk is sorry... Sorry Hulk hurt your son... Sorry your son hurt you... Hulk never should have brought you to place with puny humans- so Hulk will take you away from here!” And the Hulk does his best to bury Cracka-Jack, and, remembering what he had said earlier about names, the Hulk does his best to give him a tombstone, writing on a piece of rock “Kraker Jak Jakson.”

It’s been a discussion in the letter columns lately as to whether or not Bruce should be made a more prominent character. While I absolutely adore this era’s Hulk, Bruce is not really fleshed out. It seems that the majority were in favor of more Bruce, and issues #183-184 included him and ended with him being shot and then presumably captured by Gamma Base, so I’m excited to see where that goes.

The Hulk had an interesting journey in the Defenders issues. In issue #17 the Valkyrie leaves the team to go on a journey of self-discovery. She gives each member a goodbye kiss on the cheek and also tells the Hulk “I think I will miss you most of all.” The Hulk was very surprised to be kissed and then as soon as she leaves he turns on Dr. Strange and Nighthawk, feeling betrayed and saying, “Magician and Bird-Nose are not Hulk’s friends- or girl would not have gone away!” and he runs off to Marvel-Team Up #7 where he learns a lesson about friendship and, upon hearing a radio talking about Dr. Strange and Nighthawk in a fight, he asks “Bug-Face” for directions to get to them (which Spider-Man has to repeat for him three times). Then the Hulk reunites with the remaining Defenders in issue #18.

The Low, Low Woods (2020) #1-6

The Low, Low Woods is a magical realist horror miniseries with sexual violence and the systems that condone and allow it as the primary thematic focus, written by Carmen Maria Machado with art by Dani (Strip) and colors by Tamra Bonvillain. I checked this out from the library because I recognized Machado's name from her well-renowned memoir In the Dream House, which I am still meaning to read, and I was surprised to learn that she also wrote comics. I went into this not knowing what it was about, having not even read the little blurb on the back. I was honestly surprised by how intense it got and by the focus on sexual violence (which is not depicted visually on the page or described in detail with words), but thought that it was all very well-executed. The story begins with two girls waking up in a movie theater at the end of the movie, not sure if they simply slept through it or if something more concerning had happened. But we quickly learn what the characters in the book all already know: that the town of Shudder-to-Think, Pennsylvania has a dark history of a time period when girls and women would commonly wake up to find themselves in strange places with no memory of how they got there. "People joked that you knew a girl had hit puberty when someone found her standing in a stupor in the church parking lot." As the story unfolds we learn more and more about Shudder-to-Think and the layers peel back to reveal just how magical- and horrifying- the town is, the process of which is made even more disturbing by how in investigating the history of their town, the girls are also investigating their own sexual assaults. I thought that Dani and Tamra Bonvillain did an incredible job with this book in how Machado's script was interpreted and the fantastical town was visually portrayed. I don't think I've ever read a horror comic before but I'm very glad I checked this out because this story was just so well-done.

Infinite Frontier: Secret Files (2021) #1-6 and Infinite Frontier (2021) #0-6

I don't think that I'm very much of a well-rounded DC fan; there's a lot of characters in this- like Roy Harper and Director Bones- that, while I'd certainly heard of them, I've probably never actually read any comics that featured them prominently before. But I found this a pretty accessible read, and no point did I feel lost or like I needed more information. I primarily read this for the Justice (League) Incarnate, which is a team that I find conceptually fascinating- a group of heroes where everyone is from different, distinct universes. While having a version of Mary Marvel on the team certainly doesn't hurt, I really do enjoy the rest of the characters. The dynamic portrayed between the Calvin Ellis version of Superman and the Flashpoint Thomas Wayne version of Batman was an inspired choice. Captain Carrot was a delight whenever he appeared. And I found the conflict presented by Machinehead legitimately intriguing. I'm just fascinated by this concept that highlights the differences between universe in an interpersonal way. That said, I was also really interested in how the revelation of the existence of the multiverse to the general public was treated in the broader story. But I wasn’t bored with the non-Justice League Incarnate parts of the books and enjoyed the broader plot even if there were individual characters that I wasn’t invested in.

Batman (1940) #452-454

This is the "Dark City, Dark Knight" arc, written by Peter Milligan with art by Keiron Dwyer, which I read because I had heard that the premise portrayed Gotham City as sentient, which was a concept that really appealed to and intrigued me. I did like what was done, but ultimately didn't find what I was looking for in this story. I would have preferred something longer and that went into more depth on the relationship between Batman and the sentient Gotham than these three issues, and so was annoyed by any parts that weren't spent on it.

In Gotham’s narration it seems to admire Batman- "He moves. He glides. Lightly for such a large man. Silently. His footing sure, his eyes keen. Feel him, his boots hardly touching the wall."- and to desire him- "As I want to hold you. I want you, Batman. I will have you very soon.". It's suggested that Gotham purposefully caused Bruce's parents to be killed; in a dream Bruce has the city pulls them, pushes them into the alley. And then it's revealed that this was to fulfill a prophecy that would free the spirit that became Gotham. Interwoven throughout the story are flashbacks scenes of a demon-summoning ritual gone wrong, the remains of which the city was built over. Despite the city wanting to be freed, it seems to hold deep affection for Bruce, calling him its "finest creation" and "favorite child."

I was surprised that there was a part of the story that was intended to be horrific and actually succeeded in making me uncomfortable. It was the cliffhanger ending of the second issue which stops as Bruce realizes that the Riddler has put him in a position where he's forced to perform an emergency tracheotomy (when you cut open a part of someone's throat to allow them to breathe) on a baby. (This isn’t portrayed visually in the next issue, instead it’s described through Gotham City’s narration.)

#comics read this past week #my posts

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