#I can’t even remember the name of marvel’s scarecrow

[gxdsetmxnsters]

Every so often we’ll remember that there’s a Scarecrow from the Marvel Universe and the only reason we do is because of the Amalgam comics. Like, there’s probably a reason why DC Scarecrow is more known lmao.

#【✑|Quoth the Raven】 #I can’t even remember the name of marvel’s scarecrow #jonathan crane #scarecrow #dc scarecrow #marvel scarecrow #dc #dc comics #marvel #marvel comics

[jedimaesteryoda]

Brienne’s Off to See the Wizard

I’m feeling a little silly right now, and in that spirit I’ll say that Brienne's journey in A Feast for Crows draws a bit of The Wizard of Oz: a girl dressed in blue travels with three dudes and a dog along a road on a quest to return a girl home. 

Brienne is Dorothy, the protagonist who dresses in blue (armor), and is given Oathkeeper which is sword studded with rubies in place of ruby slippers. At the start, she is accused of killing Renly when she was actually at the wrong place at the wrong time just like Dorothy with her house dropping on the Wicked Witch of the East. Dorothy ends up in Munchkinland of the diminutive Munchkins while Brienne travels through the riverlands which is predominantly made up of smallfolk. Dorothy was brought to Oz by a tornado while Brienne is from the stormlands. Brienne is sent on her mission to return a girl home by Catelyn, the Lady of the North in place of Glinda the Good Witch of the North. 

Professor Marvel: I see a woman. She's wearing a polka-dot dress. Her face is careworn. Dorothy: That's Auntie Em. Professor Marvel: Her name is Emily. Dorothy: That's right. What's she doing? Professor Marvel: Well I, uh, I can't quite see. Why, she's crying. Someone has hurt her. Someone has just about broken her heart. Dorothy: Me? Professor Marvel: Well, it's uh, someone she loves very much. Someone she's been very kind to. Someone she's taken care of in sickness. Dorothy: I had the measles once and she stayed right by me every minute. What's she doing now? Professor Marvel: Well, she's, uh...What's this? Well, she's, she's putting her hand on her heart. Oh, she's, she's dropping down on the bed. Dorothy: Oh, no, no, no. Professor Marvel: Uh, that's it, the crystal's gone dark. Dorothy: You don't suppose she could really be sick, do you? Oh, I've got to go home right away.

Go home, child. You have a home, which is more than many can say in these dark days. You have a noble father who must surely love you. Consider his grief if you should never return. Perhaps they will bring your sword and shield to him, after you have fallen. Perhaps he will even hang them in his hall and look on them with pride . . . but if you were to ask him, I know he would tell you that he would sooner have a living daughter than a shattered shield."

"A daughter." Brienne's eyes filled with tears. "He deserves that. A daughter who could sing to him and grace his hall and bear him grandsons. He deserves a son too, a strong and gallant son to bring honor to his name. Galladon drowned when I was four and he was eight, though, and Alysanne and Arianne died still in the cradle. I am the only child the gods let him keep. The freakish one, not fit to be a son or daughter."

- A Feast for Crows, Brienne VI

Brienne meets people along the way. Elder Brother tells her to abandon her quest, and think of her father who likely misses her while she is away from home just as Professor Marvel told Dorothy to abandon running away and go back home. She also comes across three people and a dog along her quest who end up accompanying her.

Septon Meribald is the Scarecrow. Dorothy meets him in the country where he wants a brain, yet throughout the film demonstrated himself to be intelligent and good on his feet. Meribald is from the country, and at first appears country bumpkin-esque, but actually proves himself to be intelligent with his Broken Men speech. His knowledge of the riverlands also proves to be useful to them throughout the trip.

Hyle Hunt is undoubtedly the Tin Man. Hyle Hunt’s body is covered in the metal of his armor like the Tin Man, and not having a heart appears to describe him pretty well. He calls Brienne ugly to her face when we see him first talk to her. He wants to find Sansa so he can sell her to the Lannisters. When Brother Gillum shows that a horse bit off his ear, Hyle responds by joking about it. When Brienne expresses sympathy for the children at the inn having lost their parents, Hyle’s response is to roll his eyes and mock her for her sympathy. He comes off as an insensitive prick who doesn’t seem very caring towards anyone. However, we are first introduced to him when he defends a smallfolk couple and Brienne from Tarly’s guards, and actually defends Brienne against his boss and liege, Randyll Tarly, which cost him his job. So there might be a heart to him somewhere after all.

Podrick Payne is the Cowardly Lion. Pod served lions, the Lannisters, and with a name like Payne with his distant cousin being Ser Ilyn the King’s Justice one would expect him to be more aggressive and intimidating. Yet, he is described by every POV character that meets him as timid, with Sansa noticing he blushes and stares at her feet every time she talks with him. He is clearly shy, but he rams himself into Mandon Moore just as he is about to kill Tyrion, and then pulls Tyrion to safety from the raging inferno on the Blackwater, saving his life. He later helps Brienne against the undoubtedly dangerous Bloody Mummer deserters. The boy can be shy, but deep inside is brave.

She finally comes across one figure who has gained repute in the land for his ostensible magical ability.  

“Oh, no, my dear, I... I'm a very good man - I'm just a very bad Wizard”

"The pink pretender, rather. I am Thoros, late of Myr, aye . . . a bad priest and a worse wizard."

- A Feast for Crows, Brienne VIII

Brienne eventually meets a man called the "red wizard," Thoros and just as the Wizard was just an ordinary man using smoke and mirrors, Thoros’s magic is usually just pyromancer tricks. Even he admits he isn’t really that much of a wizard or a red priest. But Thoros is a man who spent the entire war aiding the smallfolk of the riverlands, so while not much of a sorcerer, he still is at heart a good man. 

Auntie Em: You just had a bad dream.

Dorothy: But it wasn't a dream. It was a place, and you and you and you ... and you  were there . . . But you couldn't have been, could you?

Auntie Em: We dream lots of silly things when we...’

Dorothy: No, Aunt Em. This is a real, truly live place. And I remember that some of it wasn't very nice. But most of it was beautiful. But just the same, all I kept saying to everybody was, 'I want to go home.' And they sent me home.

“This is an evil dream, she thought. But if she were dreaming, why did it hurt so much?”

. . .

This time she dreamed that she was home again, at Evenfall. Through the tall arched windows of her lord father's hall she could see the sun just going down. I was safe here. I was safe.

. . .

"I saw him. In the woods."

"A fever dream, my lady."

"He said that he would hang me."

"Even dreams can lie. My lady, how long has it been since you have eaten? Surely you are famished?"

-A Feast for Crows, Brienne VIII

At the end, she wakes up from a dream, and while in the film, Dorothy is finally home, and her journey was revealed to be a dream, Brienne is far from home in the cave of the Brotherhood without Banners and she wakes up to a living nightmare. Brienne is reunited with the Lady of the North, though unlike in the film with Glinda, it is not a happy reunion, as she is accused of betrayal and her ruby studded sword given to her is used against her as opposed to helping her. 

“Bring me the broom of the Wicked Witch of the West.”

"She wants her son alive, or the men who killed him dead," said the big man. "She wants to feed the crows, like they did at the Red Wedding. Freys and Boltons, aye. We'll give her those, as many as she likes. All she asks from you is Jaime Lannister."

-A Feast for Crows, Brienne VIII

After finding the titular wizard, Dorothy in the story has to go on a side quest to complete her goal of returning home. Brienne finds the red wizard and is now told to prove her loyalty by bringing to them in place of the broom of the Wicked Witch of the West, Jaime Lannister, the twin brother and Lord Commander of Cersei’s Kingsguard sent to pacify the riverlands.

“I’ll get you my pretty, and your little dog, too!”

The queen regarded him coolly. "I had not thought you so niggardly. The king I'd thought to wed would have laid a wolfskin across my bed before the sun went down." Robert's face darkened with anger. "That would be a fine trick, without a wolf." "We have a wolf," Cersei Lannister said. Her voice was very quiet, but her green eyes shone with triumph.

-A Game of Thrones, Eddard II

As for Cersei, well, she is associated with the color green, is very vindictive and cruel, often associated with wildfire and comes from the westerlands. She also starts at the beginning of the story by having a girl's innocent dog, Lady, killed. Her subordinates are referred to as monkeys with Tyrion, her Hand, being called “a twisted little monkey demon,” Lancel, who served as her sword, is compared to “a mummer’s monkey” and she thinks of Falyse Stokeworth, whom she tried to have kill Bronn, as a “grasping monkey.” Cersei is also looking for the same young girl Brienne is, someone she blames for the death of a relative, and had imprisoned in her castle.

Just who could Cersei's parallel be?

#a feast for crows #brienne of tarth #jaime lannister #a song of ice and fire #asoiaf #wicked witch of the west #dorothy #wizard of oz #the cowardly lion #tin man #oz #the riverlands #thoros of myr #lannister #cersei #cersei lannister

[stxleslyds]

MY TOUGHTS ON PART TWO OF RED HOOD BY CHIP ZDARSKY :)

A DC BOOK THAT TASTES LIKE MARVEL.

You know when you are reading a book and you feel like the story you are reading seems familiar but not really within the context you are reading it at the moment? If you can’t shake the wrong sense of familiarity you search for what it probably the biggest give away, the author.

Here it’s something like that; I have read other pieces of Chip Zdarsky’s work, namely Daredevil. While I could tell you the familiarity is there, in the subject of guilt after taking the life of another person, the reality is that this book doesn’t taste like Daredevil, it tastes like Marvel.

That can be either an excellent thing (because Marvel has amazing books) or something terrible (because DC isn’t Marvel and they don’t work the same way).

As of now I can’t really tell if this Red Hood story is going to be one or the other, but I can tell you that it feels out of place in the DC universe, or at least that’s how I see it. I will explore this particular thought later, I just thought this was a nice way to open this post.

If you would like to read the first post I made about this book I will leave the link here!

Now…let’s begin.

Part two picks up exactly where part one left off, we see Jason calling Oracle so she can bring the police to the place where Jason killed Andy a.ka. that gigantic piece of shit.

Jason is having some thoughts, ones that I think are important.

“I have taken lives before, a lot of them. I have killed guys knowing nothing about them except that they had guns and murder in their hearts. Those ones are easy; I don’t have to think of their mothers getting the news or of kids being...”

Jason is troubled. He is now in front of a reality that he never truly thought about but to be honest with you I strongly believe that nobody in the DC universe thinks beyond what happens in front of them, that’s just how fictional comic worlds are designed.

Anyway, there is a little something that bothers me in this inner monologue of his, like since when have “murderers” been Jason’s actual target? Like Joker was his target but he didn’t kill him, the base of Jason’s morals when it comes to killing has always been drugs, most importantly if you sell drugs to kids. So unless he is saying “murderers” because they were selling drugs that caused people (especially kids) to overdose then I don’t really get what is going on.

Another thing that I also talked about in the first post is that Jason hasn’t killed in a very long time, this man has been sticking to the Bats rule for so long that it’s actually unreal. Even when he shot the penguin and Batman proceeded to almost beat Jason to death the penguin hadn’t died. So once again I am thinking that Zdarsky has some info that he is not sharing right now or maybe he just didn’t read Lobdell's run (in which case, can you really blame him?)

Now let me talk about the other part of his monologue “…I don’t have to think of their mothers getting the news or of kids being...” This is something that I haven’t seen in DC, direct consequences after a hero/vigilante does something, and let me tell you it feels out of place. Is it a good or bad thing? I don’t really know but I have some thoughts on the subject.

I think it's unfair to put a comic character in that situation or dilemma. Jason has basically three reactions to the same situation and they are all valid, but can this situation be handled by a fictional person in a fictional world? Because to be fair I could also ask about the criminals that are put in hospitals after they are beat up by heroes, what if they die in the hospital? Is the hero a killer or does it fall on the hospital? If a criminal cannot pay for the attention given to them in hospitals and they immediately go back to criminal activity to pay for those things, are heroes a good thing? If the Joker bombs a hospital for the third time in four months and Batman does the same thing (take joker to Arkham) only for Joker to escape and do it again, is Batman as guilty as the Joker for the deaths of innocent people or not?

As I wrote it and as I read it again I see that it is a crazy thought because you can simply add more depth to the characters decisions and the consequences that would ensue because of them, but Gotham is a fictional city created to establish that crime is off the charts and that they need Batman because no amount of resources will be able to fix this city’s problems. So putting Jason in this position is new to me…but only in DC (more of this particular thought below).

Going back to the comic in question, I feel like Jason had the answers and the ideas all in his head. In this issue alone he basically says that if the mother does not pull through the boy will be alone, but alone means going into the system (a horrible system that Jason does not trust and needs improvement), but also, Jason recognizes that if the mother died and the father was left alive then that man would have done horrendous stuff. I just simply wouldn't believe that a man that gave drugs to both his wife and son so they wouldn't bother him is just going to change after realizing that his wife died because of him. Even less believable is him becoming an amazing father.

In the big scheme of things, Jason has killed people who fitted very certain characteristics, never innocents (bye, Morrison). What happens after the killing is done? We don’t know because past stories have never focused on that (criminals in comics are by default one dimensional, villains are not)

But here is the thing, Zdarsky is a Marvel writer and Marvel has gone in depth within those situations (like what happens after heroes commit mistakes or kill someone) mostly with Civil War by Mark Millar and more recently in Daredevil written by Chip Zdarsky, but DC hasn't and DC has been plain for a long time, DC doesn't really explain how batman hurts people severely and nothing happens beyond that.

What I am trying to say is that Zdarsky is going for a different and unique route for Jason here but I think the story is out of place in the DC universe.

I promise I am done with those thoughts, they were really difficult to put on paper and to make them make sense, so I apologize if I only confused you, sorry!

Anyway! After the monologue is done we have a flashback where little Jason is being told by his mother to go buy bread (the only thing they can afford) but she is also making him leave so he doesn’t have to be present when Robby (a friend if you ask Jason’s mom, a drug dealer if you ask Jason) comes to the apartment to help her.

Sadly as Jason is leaving Robby is walking up the stairs, now not to copy little Jason but fuck Robby. Jason’s issues with drugs, drug dealing and overdosing is once again shown here but what is also shown is the violence that comes with it. Jason being terrified for himself (and his mother) as Robby pulls a knife on him broke my heart and as he is left there in the corridor to his apartment all we can see is a defeated little boy and that shit hurts a lot.

After that we jump back to the future with none other than Batgod…I mean Batman. Batman is following a man called Sydney and apparently he disappointed Batman because B told him to stop being a criminal, like come on man if I ask nicely or if I break both of your arms you will surely stop, right? Yeah, no.

I feel like I mentioned something about this while my brain decided that DC never usually explains what happens with criminals after they get caught or killed and now here we are. Consequences. Batman scares a man off of working for Scarecrow but the man still needs to work (does he have a family to provide for? We don’t know. Does he do it because it’s the only job he can get? We don’t know.)

This Batman intermission ends up with Oracle telling him that Jason might be in trouble.

So we find ourselves back with Jason and Tyler in his safe house, Zdarsky does not hesitate and first thing he does is give us a couple of very angsty panels.

I love the way it hurts.

Jason honey, my sweet chonky boy…what are you doing?

Well at least I am not the only one asking that because Jason is having a moment to reflect about what has happened, what is happening and what could happen in the future. In this monologue he says the following:

“Dammit, Jason, what the hell are you doing? You can’t take care of this kid! But you can’t put him in the system either! Just waiting for some obsessed militaristic billionaire to adopt him? Dammit. His dad was scum, he hurt Tyler, he hurt his mom. But if Tyler’s mom doesn’t pull through…I just made this kid an orphan. He is my responsibility, he is too young to really see what he’s gone through, he can still be saved…unlike…”

Yeah that’s some really angsty thoughts, he is really going through it and I understand it. He lost his cool after what that horrible human being said he did and killed him and now he has to face the consequences of his actions, he recognizes that if the boy is left truly alone he will have to step up…but here is the thing, does Jason really want that? It seems to me like Jason is deeply against the idea of children working as heroes, and here he is as an adult that is a vigilante with an impressionable child that sees the Red Hood as his hero, I don’t know, it looks like the perfect recipe for a disaster.

But we don’t get to see what Jason does right away because its flashback time.

Jason only moved from his spot in the corridor of his apartment door to get the bread but as Robby comes out of said door Jason is there waiting. Robby teases that he and Jason’s mom ended up sharing the “medicine” and that she will be sleeping for a long time, and that seems to be it for Jason because next thing you know Robby is falling down the stairs.

Aw, shit.

Jason from the future continues his monologue while he remembers what happened on those stairs.

“I never had a chance, not for one second. But he does, Tyler has a chance. I can help him, help him be okay. This doesn’t…what I did…what his parents did, it doesn’t have to define him.”

So Jason wants to make things right for Tyler so he doesn’t become like Jason. Now I don’t truly know what Zdarsky is going for but I will go for the unconscious route, little Jason pushed Robby (that fucker) down the stairs and he was left unconscious there.

In Jason’s eyes Tyler is still a good kid that deserves only the best (like you Jason, please don’t think so low about yourself) and that can be saved from a life of vengeance, justice and trauma. But whatever Jason was going to actually say to Tyler we don’t know because Tyler informs Jason that through the Red Hood mask there is someone telling him that Batman is coming.

Batman appears out of nowhere as he does and starts talking shit.

Honestly Batman what is with that “not my town” bullshit? Baby this isn’t the medieval times, you are not a king and as far as I know not only is Lucius Fox richer than you but so is Dick so sit your ass down and shut the fuck up.

Luckily Jason is giving the outstanding amount of zero fucks and tells Batman exactly what he needs to be told, sadly Jason’s big brain time doesn’t last long because he absolutely loses his cool and starts a fight. So you know what that means, monologue time!

“This was a mistake, but I can’t help myself, he gets under my skin. His sanctimony, he acts like he’s God, all knowing, all seeing when really…he’s just another failed parent.”

Amen. Jason knows many languages but he chose to speak facts.

As the monologue ends Batman is standing over Jason like he is about to murder him but no such thing happens because Tyler, who was quietly watching them fight, jumps in to protect Jason. Yep, there goes my heart, goodbye.

And this is it. The issue ends with Tyler putting an end to the fight and telling batman that he has to leave the Red Hood alone because he is a good guy. Jason of course is thankful and promises that everything is fine.

 I don’t know about you guys but so far I can’t say if I like the book or not. Both parts left me with mixed feelings. I obviously want to see how it ends but I honestly think that there is only one way this story can end with a happy ending, which I think it would be Tyler going back to his mom and Jason somehow working to help her with her drug addiction, maybe even have Dick involved so he can help them economically.

Things that I surely do not want to see are Jason backing down again and limiting himself to the Bats rules. I also absolutely don’t want Zdarsky to go all Geoff Johns on us and make Jason think that he should give up the Red Hood mantle.

Jason really needs to gain his confidence back, he was smart, calculated and strategic and now they have taken those things away to accentuate his “daddy issues” and “inferiority complex”. Why the quotation marks you ask? Oh, because those things are bullshit and there is no room for those things in Jason’s characterization other than to add more angst to the plot.

Let me know how you felt about the issue and my review! Are you excited about what the four next issues are going to bring to the story?

Also if you read Marvel, did this issue taste like Marvel to you too or am I going crazy?

#Jason Todd #red hood #red hood outlaw #batman: urban legends #batman urban legends #infinite frontier #DC comics #robin

[indestinatus]

Yellow Brick Road

TIVATOBER 2020 // DAY 17

↳ prompt: Scarecrow - rated T (1,726 words)

summary: Alone in the hideout from Sahar, Ziva finds herself doing something she didn’t expect, which brings back memories from the past. 

A/N: also known as - if you chose to read one story of this whole series, please let this be the one.

read it on AO3 🌾

Heavy rain poured down on the gray tiles of the sidewalk. There was enough water on the street to reflect the blurry traffic lights and undefined skylines, at least until a car passed by and splashed it all over the closed stores. Umbrellas piled up in front of a popular restaurant and some moved across the street, but Ziva’s vision was out of focus enough to only distinguish them as blurs of color, disappearing quickly.

It had been hours since she had passed the point of tiredness, now breathing only out of instinct. Her eyelids burned but she kept them open, watching the skies fall. 

It was rare for her to need a break like this, though it was turning even more frequent these days. She could only track Sahar down for so long - with just a name, the mysterious woman quickly vanished only to reappear again in another city a few weeks later - and after so many failed attempts of getting to her, Ziva decided to wait until they came to her instead. 

That usually didn’t take long. 

A taxi stopped just in front of her and a man rushed to open the door, motioning for a woman just behind him to enter ahead. She did so hurriedly, holding what looked like the man’s suit over her head as she disappeared into the backseat of the car. 

A second later, the man did the same, hastily running a hand through his wet hair before disappearing. Ziva thought she saw him smile to himself, but the car sped up and she lost track of them before she could confirm. 

Two strangers she would never see again, nor hear the end of their story. 

She didn’t really process how or why, but suddenly she found her reflection staring back at her, heavy bags under her eyes and hair dripping wet. Ziva blinked, realizing she had crossed the street and now stood in front of the glass door she’d been watching from the opposite side all evening.

Before she could change her mind, Ziva’s hands moved on their own accord and pulled the door open. Blaming the tiredness for her poor choices, she stepped into the movie theater, searching for the ticket booth.

The air conditioning of the room made her soaked clothes feel cold. She picked a spot near the exit, blending into the shadows. In a second she had memorized all viable routes of escape, but it had been more out of habit than from a real necessity. 

Her heart was in her throat when the main title started to play. It was this loud melody with a classic tune to it, the high notes revealing the passage of time. As the title appeared, nostalgia burned in her chest. It had been too long since she’d last seen it, way too long.

“I thought this was a colored one.”

“Do you really want me to spoil it to you, woman?”

“I’ve read the book, you know.”

“Then how come you always manage to quote it wrong?”

“How do you know they’re the right lines? Perhaps they’re different in the book.”

“I wouldn’t know.”

“Yes. Exactly. You would not know.”

“Don’t brag now. You’re the one who hasn't seen a movie that’s seventy years old.”

“I had other things to do.”

“That’s older than Gibbs.”

“That’s older than you.”

“Miss David. You hurt me this way.”

“Shush. It’s about to start.”

“You… Wicked Witch of the West.”

“Hm… Doesn’t she die?”

“You’ll have to watch and see.”

It knocked the breath out of her. She already knew it was coming, but the sudden change from sepia to technicolor was still a marvelous thing to see. Bright colors invited the viewer to enter this brand new world, and Ziva let herself get lost in the songs and the details. 

The room was almost empty, some people scattered across the rows ahead. She wondered if they had seen this movie before. Probably, considering how old it was. Though she knew the story by heart, it was because she’d read the book a dozen times while growing up, it being a classic in her mother’s personal library. 

He had teased her the whole day when he discovered she’d never watched it. She remembered it clearly—quoting lines and singing lyrics, he’d succeeded in driving her crazy enough for her to give in, which led to them renting a DVD copy on a free Friday night. She brought the beers and he led the place, the one between them who had a television at home. 

Tony’s selective memory always surprised her, though his insistence in getting under her skin was a force on its own. He would bug her until he got what he wanted, and she was used to it—most times great at fighting back—but some days she just wanted to give in and see that typical smile of his, the one that stretched over his face until the corners of his eyes got wrinkled. 

She could picture it so clearly, the image still imprinted under her eyelids.

It was a memory she visited often, that day. It had been one of those moments no one could know it would become a memory until it did. Their laughter, the sureness of safety and the genuine feeling of happiness were things that still warmed her heart, whenever she thought of it. They were so young and worry-free, she always felt a sting of regret for not cherishing the moment more when it was happening. 

Dorothy reached a crossroad, unsure of which path to go next. When the Scarecrow changed the arm that pointed where to go, some people chuckled, and Ziva smiled weakly. He had always been her favorite one of the group. There was something really endearing about his clumsiness and care. He was smarter than he would ever know, and it was a charming quality she rarely saw in people.

“How can you talk if you haven’t got a brain?” quizzed Dorothy, tilting her head.  

“I don’t know,” replied the Scarecrow. “But some people without brains do an awful lot of talking, don't you think?”

“Yes!”

“And what do you mean by that?”

“Nothing.”

“Yeah… Right.”

“What? It’s true. Plus, he’s cute.”

“He’s a scarecrow.”

“So…?”

“Don’t tell me you’re turned on by a scarecrow.”

“I did not say I was ‘turned on’. You are wiggling my words.”

“Twisting.”

“I thought it had been a twister.”

“Just… Watch. See? Now your scarecrow is also part of the narrative.”

“I like him.”

“Sometimes I just can’t respect you.”

“He talks a lot.”

“You say that to me all the time!”

“Well, you do talk a lot.”

“Are you admitting to like me, David?”

“I will call Ducky right away. We finally solved it - your brain is there, only it is made out of straw.”

“Ha-ha. Very funny.”

“Hm.”

Ziva felt her heart clench when the thought of Tony showing it to Tali crossed her mind. Had he done the same? Was he excited over little details and quoted its famous lines just like he did with her? Or did it remind him of them? Did they ever get the chance to watch it together or he avoided it? She certainly stared at the movie theater marquise for hours before she gave in, the tiredness making her too vulnerable. 

She missed him so much her bones ached from it. 

Ziva wondered if she would ever feel the same again. That flickering in her chest whenever they spoke in riddles, both of them catching each other’s stolen glances more frequently than not. They had always been good in sharing non-verbal cues, and even if they bickered until one of them got tired, the silence was the one thing she missed the most. 

To be able to be understood like that by someone else, it was the closest she had ever been to love.

“Oh,” confided Dorothy to the Scarecrow, “I think I’ll miss you most of all.”

She pressed a kiss to his cheek, saying goodbye. Both of them were too emotional to say anything else, Dorothy wiping the tears with her hand and him giving her a sad smile. There was something incredibly bittersweet to have known it would have come to this all along. 

Ziva struggled to breathe. She didn’t recall when exactly she had started crying, but she couldn’t see a thing now. There were only blurs. 

She tried to remember the last time she did cry. Her chest ached from keeping it silent, the loud beating of her heart the only thing she could hear. She knew it would happen as soon as she bought that ticket, but there was something quite soothing about being in a dark room where no one else knew her. 

She could finally be free, even if for a brief moment.

Ziva stood up before the credits started rolling. Hastily wiping the tears from her face, she exited to the street, hoping for once that she was really invisible, and no one would approach her now. 

The rain had stopped. It was much darker now, though the street lights seemed brighter. The line of people outside of the restaurant had disappeared, probably already inside. Some taxis were available at the other side of the street, but she preferred walking. She couldn’t take any risks now, knowing she could quickly become the prey. 

Ziva looked up to the sky, clenching her jaw. Letting the cold air inundate her lungs, she tried to ease her breathing. Tony and Tali were somewhere safe, far away from there, but at least they were under the very same sky. She wondered if it was raining there. She wondered if they were okay. 

Closing her eyes, she pictured them again. Happy. She needed them happy, even if it meant they had found happiness without her. There was no other way to keep her going, other than to imagine them alive. Even if it looked like nothing more than a dream, she needed them there, safe, tucked away in her heart.

When Ziva opened her eyes again, the sadness had already been buried. 

With Dorothy’s words still ringing in her mind, she ducked her head, following the gray brick road into an adjacent alleyway. 

There is no place like home, she had said. 

And wishing for nothing more than a pair of ruby slippers, Ziva David disappeared into the shadows. 

#ncis #tiva #tiva fanfiction #tivatober2020 #once upon a halloween #my fics #this is by far the one story i'm proudest of #so pls give it a read if you can! <3

[monkeebratz]

Bio!Dad Bruce Wayne AU - Super Meet

Initial idea | How it Happened | Addition by iggy-of-fans | Reply to iggy’s Addition | Summer Begins | Summer Part 2 | Supers Meet (you are here) | Scarecrow Interlude |

SO we have two ways that the Parisian Super Squad meets the Batfam. 

The first, which I’m only writing down because I cannot forget about it, and its hilarious is: the Super Squad gets to Gotham, gets Mari’s texts, gets to their hotel room, throws their stuff in, transforms, and starts running around looking for her. They find her walking around the fashion district with the Wayne’s. Adrien, as Chat Noir, spies Marinette first. And, in typical fashion, acts first and thinks later. 

So basically the Wayne’s watch a young, blonde, male version of catwoman throw an incredibly expandable baton between them and Mari, jump down, pick her up. Say “Bonjour. Au revoir.” And then make his expandable baton extend again and carry the now screeching Marinette to the top of the building where the rest of the Super Squad is waiting. Luka is going to strangle him. Holy shit. Chat Noir? More like Chat NO-ir!

The Batfam, of course, suits up and starts chasing after them. In full daylight. (These are the perfect opportunity for “Only in Gotham tweets” tbh) They catch up to Marinette berating all of them in incredibly loud and frantic French. As Multimouse. Going on about how irresponsible it was to leave Paris unprotected! Yes she knows Hawkmoth was defeated but it is the principle of the matter!! And they left BEFORE she told them about what happened with her bio!family and Batman! ALSO THEY KIDNAPPED HER IN BROAD ASS FUCKING DAYLIGHT IT DOESN’T MATTER IF THIS IS GOTHAM YOU SHUT YOUR TRAP CHAT! 

The whole squad looks so defeated but then Mari starts crying and throws herself into Chat’s arms going on about how good it is to see them and she’s so happy they’re here and they’re so so stupid! And then its a hug pile. Big hug pile. The Batfam looks on in utter confusion bc, again, only like. Two of them know French. Then Batman coughs and they all look up and just. Don’t move. Maybe if they don’t move he won’t see them. 

“... I need to be taking Miss Dupain-Cheng back to her family, now.” 

“But-!” WHACK (why yes that’s the sound of Marinette kicking at them all)

“You kidnapped a girl in front of her family with no warning, in a very dangerous city. I’m sure her family would like the reassurance that she’s safe.” 

So Batman and the Robins take Marinette back to Wayne Manor and Alfred clings to her (like he totally didn’t put everything together already they’re all so obvious). And then the Batfam, minus costume, comes barreling down the stairs and they all tackle Marinette and its another hug pile. Bc holy shit Mari why did you get kidnapped by your so called friends? Oh, they’re stupid? Can relate. 

And then. Of course. Guess who shows up at the door. Just peeks their heads in, detransformed of course. “Uh, hi? We’re friends of Marinette? We’re here to visit her?” 

Bruce is shrieking like WHY. WHY IS THIS SHIT GENETIC?! Internally. Can’t spill the beans QUITE yet. 

Anyway, INTRODUCTIONS GALOR, YADA YADA, Dick and Adrien get along so well. Too well. Kagami and Damien also get along well too (they’re both ready to stab a bitch, don’t test them). Luka is too chill NOT to get along with anyone, unless they insult his friends and partners. Chloe is ready to throw down but also holy shit that’s Bruce fucking Wayne? Damn, Mari. DAMN. Already on social media about this. 

(Also listen, I am shipping trash so I’m going to be vague as hell with things but in my brain this will be a poly!partners au so the Super Squad is just dating each other. But for the sake of everyone they could also just be really good/close friends, as they’ll be sharing rooms and be very touchy feeling and such. Its up to you. But just know, I’m just. Like this.) 

So it basically just devolves into story sharing and puppy piles and the Wayne’s all looking at the Super Squad with side eyes bc HM. HOW FAMILY. ALSO STOP TOUCHING THE BABY! NO CORRUPTING THE BABY!! THAT’S OURS!!!

WE SAW HER FIRST SO FUCK YOU!

I’M LITERALLY? HER FATHER? FUCK? YOU? YOU CATWOMAN KNOCK OFF???

This is all happening with their eyes btw

And of course. The whole squad follows Marinette out as Multimouse to go meet batman, who Bruce told her had something to talk with her about. And she kinda cries bc SHE’S GOING TO GET KICKED OUT OF THE CITY BC OF HER IDIOTS!

Its not, its the Batfam taking the Super Squad to the Justice League tower. They weren’t expecting so many people but its fine. They’ll make it work. 

Because Bruce had called the Justice League for an emergency meeting that night with the tone of voice that clearly said anybody who didn’t show up would have a bat hunting them down and shoving his foot up their ass so far they’ll taste patented leather for the rest of their life. They’ve almost never seen him so angry? And he’s bringing guests? What? The fuck?? 

Multimouse Marinette gets briefed that, as the current Guardian of the Miraculous, and a hero of Paris, she’ll be there to get a formal apology and an explanation about why a bunch of teenagers had to fight an emotionally manipulative super villain by themselves. Chat Noir is maybe hiding behind the rest of the Miraculous Crew and they’re only kinda notice but don’t think much of it tbh. Adrien does NOT want to be the one to explain that his FATHER was said super villain. save him. 

Btw the whole group is having mixed reactions to the idea of meeting the Justice League. Adrien wants to run away but he also doesn’t care? Like. They’re all superhero’s, he gets that they can’t always help, but also. Fuck. He loves being a superhero but having someone with actual experience might have saved them all a lot of heartache. Chloe, meanwhile, doesn’t give a sINGLE SHIT about the JL. Fuck them. Fuck them so hard, so assholes ignored them and they’re going to be high and mighty. She may be a better person now but she will not put up with their nonsense. Not now. Not ever. Fight her. Luka is that sort of calm angry? He’s pissed that they brushed them off but since everything’s over there’s no point in holding onto his anger. There may or may not be a lot of meditating in the Bat Plane on the way there so he doesn’t use his lyre like a fucking BOOMERANG AGAIN and smack them all upside the head with it. Kagami doesn’t care? She’ll threaten them to the ends of the earth should they ever blow off such messages again, but she also just. Has very little emotional investment in them otherwise. 

Marinette, of course, is freaking out and pacing and trying to channel her inner ladybug and screaming internally bc why. WHY. She’s angry but she also understands, but she’s still so stressed. just. please. Tiny squeaks. 

And okay, they get there, and Batman comes in with ALL the Robins AND all these new kids? 

Flash: I’m sorry, you called an emergency meeting because of your extended family? 

Diana: HUSH

Because Diana, of course, recognizes them what and who they are. And is screaming bc holy shit? The Miraculous Holders are active again? Do they need their help? Where is Ladybug? Who is the Guardian? She just has. so. many. questions. 

And Captain Marvel/Shazam (seriously wtf IS HIS NAME) is fangirling HARD. Because that’s the Miraculous Holders! The ORIGINAL magic users! SEVERAL of his people (Hercules/etc) were Miraculous holders on top of Shazam and HOOOLLLY SHIT THEY’RE HERE! IN FRONT OF HIM! HOLY SHIT!!!

Superman, Green Arrow, and several others are sweating bc uh. UH. OH SHIT THOSE MESSAGES WERE REAL?

Yes. They were real. And now they have Batman in full dad mode demanding an explanation. Several people (Superman, other mutation/alien esc powers) claim they went to Paris to check on the damage but they couldn’t find any, OR the supposed supers of villain. 

Multimouse steps forward and starts explains how the Ladybug powers work and if they had bothered to contact them beyond telling them this wasn’t a line of communication to be used for PRANKS, they would know better. Diana chimes in with how she was helped created BY the Ladybug miraculous, etc, why did nobody ask her about this? Hell, why did nobody ask their resident magic user, Captain Marvel/Shazam??? 

Green Lantern: No offense, but doesn’t this all seem a little far fetched? 

Chloe: ... Bitch, you have an alien ring that gives you powers. Shut the fuck up. 

So there’s some arguing, back and forth, and Bruce looses his temper a little bit. Smacks his hand HARD on the table. “Enough. It is your job to investigate. It is not your job to leave the saving of an entire city to my fucking daughter, who was barely thirteen at the time this all started. As far as I’m concerned, this can never, ever, happen again. Wonder Woman, Captain, I assume you’d be willing to go through our notifications for any discrepancies?” 

And there’s a huge moment of silence. Everyone’s staring at him. Multimouse squeaks. Red Hood just. “Good going, Bats. Real smooth.” 

Chat: OH MY GOD YOUR DAD IS BATMAN? WHY DIDN’T YOU SAY ANYTHING, WHY- HOOOOO OH MY GOD YOUR DAD! BATMAN! IS DAD! YOUR DAD WHO IS ALSO-!

Viperion is making wheezing noises and covers Chat’s mouth and then there’s even more yelling and arguing and finger pointing, and Bruce wants a drink. And a nap. In whatever order he can get them. 

Basically he gets Wonder Woman and Captain Marvel/Shazam to agree to looking through messages but also gets the hell out of dodge. 

Next in, the reactions to all this tomfoolery. Also apparently superhero-ism is now genetic. 

Tag List! (Please remember to send me an ask if you want to be added!)

@mystery-5-5 @mariae2900 @vgirl-10123 @iglowinggemma28 @deredereart @synnesstra @dahjokester @destinationdesignation @lordsmeldingtonthethird @emjrabbitwolf @unabashedbookworm @saphiraazure2708 @rhub4rb @romanoff-queen @octoberscorn@littleblue5mcdork @foxyrelina @severelyenchantedwonderland @dast218 @ace-aro-agender​ @rogueptoridactyl​ @kitkatcatfangirl @worlds-tiniest-spook-pastry @poshplumcot  @iggy-of-fans @schrodingers25​ @two-faced-biatch​ @moonlitarchangels @vixen-uchiha @rikku052 @elspethshadow

People who should be tagged but may not? So sorry, I’m still going to add you until tumblr stops being a dick about this.

@tbehartoo  @wuvpancakes

#miraculous ladybug #maribat #batman #biological father bruce wayne #miraculous ladybug au #batman au #aaaannnd that's its i'm not tagging anymore i'm sorry i'm just TOO TIRED

[richsretroreviews]

Spyro the Dragon Review.

Release date: 9th September 1998 NA, October 1998 EU.

Developer: Insomniac Games.

Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment, Universal Interactive Studios.

Ok, I have been putting off doing this for way too long…

 Back in 1999 for my 7th birthday I got my first Playstation as an early birthday present. I remember being incredibly impatient for one reason or another until my parents went “Fine, here, this’ll shut you up and keep you occupied.” And it did. I had already gotten a SNES from my uncle when I was 6 which blew my infant mind, but getting the Playstation had solidified video games being a prominent part of my life.

One game in particular that was special to me was Spyro 2 Gateway to Glimmer (or Ripto’s Rage in the US). I was very possessive of that game as a kid… Then I got Spyro 3.

But I never played the first one…

I remember seeing it in a Playstation magazine after I had got Spyro 2 and for some reason it astounded me that there was another one that came before it. I mean, I was a kid. Anything new would bewilder and fascinate me. I remember it clearly that it was a screenshot of the beginning of the Toasty level and Terrace Village. Also there was a Tekken 3 article in that magazine too of that little dinosaur, Gon.

Anyway, fast forward to about 2012. I had just gotten a PS1 emulator working on my laptop and gotten a PS2 for my dad. I still kept a hold of my PS1 memory card from when I was a kid that still had Digimon World 2003 and a couple other saves on it. And I still got that blue card today. That’s when I decided to get back all the games I had lost as a child to play on the PS2, starting with Spyro 2. BUT, the lady I bought it from on ebay mis-advertised the game and I ended up getting the first Spyro. It wasn’t what I wanted at all, but I had never gotten to play it all these 13 years since I first got my Playstation. So I wasn’t one to complain. I messaged the seller, told her it was the wrong one “Oh, haha, ok send it back and I’ll get you a refund” but it was a Friday afternoon. So before I went to send it back the following Monday I blasted through that game on my PS1 emulator on my laptop and made the most of it. I know I could’ve used the PS2 but whatever.

And I’m so happy I mistakenly got the first one.

It was exactly like being a kid again to when I first played Spyro 2. The soundtrack by Stewart Copeland immediately sticking and playing songs on loop in my head, the atmosphere it laid out, controlling Spyro for the first time in a long while and the first time ever in his first title, setting everything on fire, charging everywhere (because you don’t just walk everywhere in a Spyro game, you have to charge), but also there was a wealth of new things to the game that was very different to what I was accustomed to in Spyro 2.

You go through the game freeing crystalized dragons, collecting all the gems, catching all the eggs, doing the time trials for more gems, beating all the bosses and beating Gnasty Gnorc. By the end of it you can get 120% completion.

 With Spyro’s controls, you charge, you glide, you breath fire, you charge faster, you fly forever until you hit a giant lighthouse, and you plummet to your death at the push of a button.

I was so used to pressing X to glide then triangle to do a little hover for an extra boost of height in Spyro 2 and 3, but that was never a thing in this. You press triangle after a glide and you plop down on the ground. So many times when I first played it did I mess that up, especially in Alpine Ridge. I go to glide across a giant chasm, feel I’m not quite going to make it so I instinctively press triangle for a last bit of extra height and—nope, let’s just turn gliding off.

You glide along, you soar! Whee! It’s fun! Triangle and turn it off. Foomp. Shit…

But honestly it didn’t take that long after a while to learn that triangle=bad when gliding in this. Do it all you wish in 2 and 3 but this, noooooo.

Either way, gliding was just as fun as the other 2 games. I feel like it was refined in 2 and 3 more, obviously, but it was definitely satisfying to do. Which a lot of what you can do as Spyro feels like, it’s satisfying. It’s a joy to run and fly and play around and jump about as Spyro. For the most part it has great controls to play as Spyro and I never had any problems controlling the lovable purple dragon.

Although, if you were to charge down a line of 6 enemies in a row, you see them all lined up and think “Yessss, I know exactly what I’m going to do!” You go to knock them all down but sometimes it doesn’t entirely work because it feels like after you hit one and go to hit the second behind him it feels like you roll off of the enemies and have to almost fight to keep Spyro in a straight line. So you can’t satisfyingly knock down the whole row of enemies like you want to. Otherwise you miss one and it kinda takes the fun out of what you wanted to do.

But yeah, beyond those two complaints Spyro controls so well it feels too good to play around as him, and it’s important that you enjoy playing as the character you’re stuck with for the next 6-8 hours, otherwise what’s the point?

Also, with being able to roll side to side. I don’t understand why they took that out in 2 and 3. That came in so useful against bosses in this game they could’ve easily used that mechanic again in the later games, but they didn’t. I liked it and I thought what the others would have been like if they implemented that move. Oh well…

The soundtrack I’m not sure I could say anything more to it that hasn’t already been said the past 20 years for it (shit, it’s been 20 years already…). It’s good! It’s wonderful! It’s so joyful, bouncy and uplifting and so fitting for the universe of Spyro that it feels almost like no other could’ve done it better than Stewart Copeland. It’s like outside of the Police that’s what he was meant to do. He put so much energy and attitude and enthusiasm and creativity into each track to accentuate the atmosphere and tone of each level he’s done more than a marvellous job of it. And his soundtracks only got better later on for 2 and 3.

But what sold me and captured me was Lofty Castle and Haunted Towers tracks. That’s when I had to stop myself playing to take in what I was seeing and listening to and thought to myself “I am in love with this game.” And I didn’t want the level to end. I hadn’t felt that way about a game in such a long time I felt robbed of not having more frequently felt that feeling.

And for its levels, the Artisan homeworld and its levels available there are perfect opening levels. Easy enough difficulty, access to how each enemy works and a safe enough environment for you to figure out how to deal with them without being too pampering. But the look and design of the Artisan homeworld and its levels are very good. Bright, colourful (throughout the whole game really), inviting and laid out all for you to run about and play in and explore. Which is what the whole game is designed for you to do. To play.

The Beast Maker’s homeworld and its levels I think is the only place I didn’t like. They all seemed a bit murky and muddy and almost grimy. It still had charm and fun to be in, definitely, but with its colour schemes I felt I just wanted to get through them and move onto the next world and hope for something brighter. In fact, while I’m at it, most levels and its designs and even its enemies and bosses do have this “first time doing this” feel to them which can be pardoned given its execution. They got better though.

And that’s when I got to the Dream Weavers homeworld and its levels. Like I already said, once I got to Lofty Castle and Haunted Towers I fell in love with this game and its design. It gave me the warm fuzzy happy feeling I got as a kid and I loved it. Hell, playing the levels again now and even just listening to the tracks makes me feel giddy! Once a game can do that to me in some way or another it has me captivated, I’m helpless to it. That’s what made me a fan of this game.

 Now the boss fights are the most interesting I’ve come across in a platformer.

All the ones I had been acquainted with were Spyro 2 and 3 (ok, I got to stop referencing those I feel), Crash Bandicoot, Mario Sunshine, and numerous others I can’t really think to name off the top of my head. But still, no other game I’ve played had done boss fights like Spyro.

The first is Toasty, who is just a joke and I definitely don’t mean that in a bad way. He’s set out as this scary scarecrow with a fleet of wolves, or dogs. I seem them as wolves. You flame, roll and flame again to defeat the wolves and then you get Toasty all on his own. You flame him and then… it’s a sheep on stilts. You don’t expect that. You’ve gone in all raring and prepared for a tenacious boss fight but then you get this for your first boss and it’s just “Oh… Alright.” I didn’t expect it going in. I went in on this game blind knowing almost nothing about it. But it’s well executed and so funny to come across and for kids I’m sure that would get many a heavy laugh.

Doctor Shemp felt like the first actual boss with a proper video game-y rhythm to him that you had to learn to defeat him. You jump and flame his behind. Easy stuff.

Blowhard was cool but his design didn’t really stand out, same with the rest of them really, Metalhead and Jacques. They were serviceable and the battles themselves are perfectly fine, especially how their levels are laid out as full levels and then the boss battle at the end, but how they look they don’t really stand out.

Metalhead’s battle was cool though. I liked that one.

And then Gnasty Gnorc.

He was honestly pretty challenging at first, what with chasing down the egg thieves to get the keys first. Which! The egg thieves were honestly not that hard to get throughout the game… At all… They were so easy. I can understand struggling as a kid getting them, but these days they’re just not that difficult as you remember them to be. Spyro 3 however, the egg thieves on that, THOSE guys are hard. That’s how people remember the egg thieves to be in Spyro 1 I feel.

Anyway, you beat Gnasty Gnorc charging through the level over some fairly tricky moving platforms flaming him along the way and then he’s toast. Poof.

 After you get 100% you get to raid Gnasty’s Loot and collecting those last little bits of gems and that giant room of purple gems with Gnasty’s mug looking down on you is so rewarding for everything you’ve been through.

 On my first playthrough it took me 6 hours to complete. I wanted to see if I could beat that and in my second playthrough on that same weekend I beat it in 5 and a half hours. Recently I managed to complete it all 120% in 5 hours.

 It’s not too hard a game when you know what you’re doing but for those going in blind and for a child it’ll definitely give reasonable enough challenge, which is good.

Some other things I liked about it, it basically had no loading screens. I mean it technically does when Spyro is flying from homeworld to level, but for a game to do that before Arkham Asylum claimed to not have loading screens is impressive.

Overall, it’s a fun as hell and straight forward adventure platformer. I’d most definitely recommend playing this. It’s dirt cheap to download these days so go for it.

Also, Tree Tops isn’t that hard at all either. It’s fun as hell charging and flying everywhere once you know where you’re going and how to do it. And I know, I understand where the dread comes from and it’s fine. But come on, when you’re a kid it would be tricky but most of us are in our mid to late 20’s now. We can handle a couple slow moving egg thieves and tree top speedways.

 Also also! After sending the game back to the buyer I did buy this game again from another seller later on and this one came with a demo disc too. I still don’t know why I didn’t decide to originally keep it the first time. Maybe it was money. And I did want Spyro 2 more. Oh well…

 Where to purchase: Playstation Store (PS3 PSP); £7.99 (Trilogy) £3.99/$5.99 (single)

Ebay; £14.99-£49 (Even £100!! Why?) $20-$150 (20/08/18)

Amazon; £25.99-£199.99 $19.99-$246.95 (20/08/18)

#spyro the dragon #playstation #games #video games #review #rich's retro reviews

[meansbehindwords]

sup.

I am tired. And yes by tired I means tired of sitting around and doing nothing. I am bored out of my mind. For the past month I have been sitting in the chair I am currently sitting on doing nothing but watching videos on youtube and Netflix and reading tweets of people doing things out of their comfort zone and making money.  In about 4 weeks I am heading to college and I am scared out of my mind. The pressure of succeeding is scaring me and I do not think I can do it. I am listening to "feeling alive" by earl st. clair right now and the lyrics he is saying resonates with me so much because I don't feel alive. I am someone that is scared to go out of their comfort zone to try new things and today is the day I change. I am accepting the fact that life comes with struggles and my struggle right now is trying to tame the boredom that is my life. The song just stopped… hold on while I press replay because it is giving me fuel as I am writing the truest form of words I have ever written (don't know if that made any sense) but I am gonna keep on going (no need for Microsoft Word to correct me). This is me. This is my dryness. This is what is happening in my mind right now… what I am thinking of as this current moment.  I feel trapped and too free. I have so much time in my hands and I am not using it at all or putting it to effect (or affect whichever word fits in this sentence right now) – sorry but the summer has taken a toll on my grammar and ability to think clearly. I feel like the world has given me an opportunity to spread a message. I don't know why am I doing this but maybe it's the universe or God or whatever telling me that it's my time. Now I don't know what I'm gonna do with this message but I am on a role so there's no stopping for me.  I feel like I can tell you anything and by "you" I mean anyone willing to even give me their attention. I am on my period. Yep I said it. It's a sensitive and weird topic but I am just going to say it. Maybe my ovulation cycle is playing a factor into why I am so inspirational but I don't care because I like this side of me. Maybe I woke up on the right side of my bed and that changed how I vewed life. Now I am the type of person that worries of the conseqeuences for every action I make. I know that's not living to my full potential but that's how I am.  And to tell you the truth I'm sick of it. I'm sick of waiting around. I;m sick of waiting for lifde to tell me that's my life is over and it's time to go. I am scared of death. Everything about it is scary. And to think that I may not be alive tomorrow scares me out of my mind. So I'm going to take this opportunity to tell you (whoever is reading this) a little about myself. My name (or part of my name anyways) is Danika  pronounced DAN-I-KAH (like Danica Patrick- the race car driver). I was born in Haiti and came to the U.S. when I was one but no one would no that because I hide the fact that I'm Haitian American. I don't know why I do that. Maybe I'm scared of the reactions or embarrassesd I don’t know right now. I am the oldest of 4 . yep that's right. I am the oldest which means I have a load of responsibilities. To be this role model for my brothers and sister to be the model that my parents want me to be. To be this inspiration that I don't think I can with so much fear within me. I am majoring or hope to major in communications. Ironic right? I can't even speak in front of a group of people and I am majoring in the one field that requires you to speak. I don't know why I am majoring in it I just know that I want to help people and be the voice that no ones wants to be. I want to be an inspiration. I might not show it but it's there. I swear. Now the song that I previously mentioned has been played 3 times right now and I am fueled even more to speak my mine. I have been in this cocoon of mine's since kindergarten. Yep… since setting foot in my elementary school. This shyness takes over me. It's something I can't control and sometimes I love it because it protects me from getting hurt from trusting those that shouldn't be trusted in the first place and would just let you down and disappoint you in the long haul. Umm sorry I just took a long breath and clicked on the replay button and totally forgot what I was going to say next. Anyways I think it’s time for the world to know me and see my potential in making a difference whether I am helping people in the medical field - which I doubt cause blood makes me nauseous – or helping them through their education or mindset as a therapist. I want to help people. That's one thing that I know for sure. Holy crap.. I just looked at the word count on this thing and realized I have type 959. Now 960 now 963 (you get the point) in about 10 minutes. That's the more words I have typed in my whole life especially without pauses and use of the backspace key. All of the things I am saying right now is coming right from my mind with no hesistation about what I am putting on this document or the care of others opinions about me. (sorry for the lack of punctuation marks) I want to show tha rare side of me the side that doesn't care about punctuation marks and grammar and uses of capital letters or lack of capital letters. I don’t really know if anyone is going to read this or the point of this document. I just feel trapped right now and writing this message is helping release my frustration. Did I talk about myself. I don't really know. oh yeah something else about me.. I forget a lot but in other occasions I can rmember moments from my life that is important to  me and has an impact on my life. I can remember things as far as I was at least 4 years old. Some people say it's a gift others say it's not I say why can't this memory help me in my schoolwork because I can't remember a darn thing in any of my classes. No matter how hard I try I learn something one day and forget it within an hour. It's a defect of my memorixation ability. (did I jus create that phrase or is that a thing) anyways what was I saying… crap I forgot… see it works everytime…. I think I just layed out my personality or my "hidden" personality in this document or message or diary whatever you want to call it. My shyness has taken over me and hid parts of me that I would absolutely love to show my friends and sometimes my family. I have a lot of personalities. Don't worry they're not split personalities like that movie about that guy with his split personalities. Don't ask me about whther I saw the movie because I didn't. oooo something else you will learn about me is that I hate horror movies but I love the rush it gives me especially the jump scares. I wouldn't watch a scary movie without the comfort of others so don't expect me to watch any of them. I don't really get scared but when I do it's showcased clearly. The scariest move I have ever watched or I could veer recall was that scarecrow movie i don't know what you call it. I kinda forgot… hahahahaha see I forgot. I don't remem… oh wait! It's the "Texas Chainsaw Movie". Yep that film scared the bajeezus out of me.  I just pause gain and forgot my train of thought. Umm I don't know what to say and I pretty much expressed all of my emotions. If anyone has even gotten up to reading this part I would like to apologize for my weirdness. I don't know what I am writing or even know if any of this is specific or helpful in any way. I feel like I'm talking to a therapist which is weird cause I never talked or seen a therapist ever in my life and suddenly feel like I'm talking to one maybe it's from the tons of therapist scenes I see in movies and tv shows. Uh what else can I say about myself. I like strawberries( that's my default information). Uh holdon I need to click on replay. Okay uh feel like this is a biography or autobiography to be correct. What else can I say about myself. I'm 18. Did I say that already. Uh I like to sing or try to sing and no I am not that person that has the most angelic voice and says they can't sing. I literally can't sig. some days I have this miracle where I can sing or yell out these falsetto notes and other times I sound like a goat specifically a lost one looking for its mother. I don't know what I am talking about. It sounds like I am writing gibberish. Uh I have an obsession with superheroes (holy crap I just scrolled up and saw how much I wrote in like 20 minutes) lol never done that before. Anyways uh wait I have to click on replay and I'm sorry if it's a little annoying that I am writing or typing everything I am doing including my actions but that's how I concentrate. Anyways hold on while i press replay this song is really truly inspirational by the way anyway hold on.  Ok I'm back,. And I just moved from the most comfortable spot I have been for the past twenty minutes. And it was a really good spot… dang it. Ok what was I talking about? Oh yeah ummm superheroes ( I just scrolled up to see what I was talking about last) umm I am obsessed with superheroes whther they are from DC or Marvel I am obseesed with a lot of them. Please don't ask me if I know the difference from dc and marvel in the comments section or if there is even a comment section. I don't know the difference.. I researched it a while ago and read about it and still don't really know the difference except that there are different superheroes in it and right now marvel is killing the game with their movies no offense to dc and dc is killing the game with their tv shows no offense to marvel. Umm my two favorites right now from the tv shows at least are the green arrow and the flash. And my favorites from the movies are spiderman because I recently saw the movie that came out in july this year (this year being that it's 2017) and it was amazing. I also have a man crush on chris evans who plays captain America, and chris hemsworth who plays thor. They are hunks…and that's all I'm going to say for now. I also have a woman crush on the badass otherwise known as black widow a.k.a. scarlett johannseen (I feel like I spelled her last name wrong and Microsoft word is validating that feeling). Ok umm I love these superheroes so to all the superhero obseessors (is that a word, cause Microsoft word is saying no) anywas to the superhero fanatics hit me up cause yah girl want to talk about superheroes. Or wants someone that is interested in superheroes to talk about superheroes with. After typing non stop I just realized that my mind is like an 8-yr old me. I did not know my vocabulary or my default vocabulary if this miniscule and non-advance. I need to build it up in the future. I don't know if that made sense but that's what I thought about in my mind. Now I am also obsessed with musicals.. yes I said musicals I don't how I gain this interest but I love musicals especially playing the parts of the charcters in the songs. I love bring it on the musical, Hamilton of course, umm hairspray, grase, and crap I forgot the other one. I recently found out about david Hansen and I really want to hear some the musicals. I just haven't gotten to doing that yet. Musicals help me concentrate I guess or I just love how the sound resonates with me and how the voices of these artists mesh together and create these beautiful angelic notes and melodies. I just love the togetherness expressed in these musicals. Okay huh what else can I talk about. Uh I like to ummm I like to watch youtube videos. Especially vlogs yes I said vlogs also known as video blogs. Whther their family, couples, or one person vlogs I love watching them. I am currently interested in (don’t hate me for this) Logan Paul Vlogs. Yes I said it. I love watching logan paul on youtube. I started watching when youtube recommended me. I'm pretty sure the first one I watched was the chloe one or when he communicated with a girl through a starbucks store glass window. Yep all the things I just said is true. So the date when that video was posted is when i started watching logan paul. I never really knew about him but after that vlog wait hold on I think the other old one I watched a long time ago was one with him and iphones. I think it was a giveaway. I watched that one. And now as I am typing it, it could have been the first video I watched. Anyways umm what was I saying? Uh after watching those vlogs I was hooked. I have never laughed as much to a youtuber as I have watching logan do stupid stuff(sorry but they are stupid). He's is just this funny charismatic dude. And I can't stop watching (hahaha I sound like a stalker) (which I shouldn't be laughing at… sorry). Okay I am totally wiped this message has become a long paragraph and I mean long ass paragraph about nothing but me talking about myself and my problems. So I'm sorry if I have wasted your time. I have never been this focused in writing a document this long non stop without signing into any social media outlets. Hold on my dad is calling me.  That was my dad. He just called to know how we were. And by we I meant my siblings and I. he and my mom are at work right now. I love them to death.  And now I am tired like I have nothing to talk about anymore. My creative juices are gone. I feel empty like I can't say anything like I have said all the things I needed to. I don't know where I'm going to post this. Or of I should even post this. I don't even know if people are interested In opening this. Umm maybe I can put this on my tumblr page. Yep I have a tumblr page . I created it a while ago and haven't used it at all except to post a message describging my account and what I would have been doing with it like posting topics that matter to me and talking about it. Maybe this could be my starter page or book hahaha get it cause this doc is long as hell. Sorry for that stupid remark. Ok uh maybe I can post those on my tumblr page. This could a diary session of mines. I never really had a diary. Like I had diariy like notebooks but I was forcing mysaelf to be like that typical person of expressing their feelings down on a notebook like the movies portray when they are showing teenage girl and what they do. I know that's not what happens now because a lot has changed. Not going into that topic right now because that would add an extra 4 pages to a message I expected to be 1 page or no not 1 page but 1 very short ass paragraph. Crap I lost focus again which is weird cause I never even had focus in this doc. Umm I don't what I'm going to do next. right now I'm going to put my tumblr profile to use and showcase my feeling and thoughts that sounded weird… thoughts and feelings… okay uh yeah that's what im going to do. I'm not aiming to collect an audience or even have an audience reading this. I am going to use tumblr as my therapy sessions or a folder holding records or transcripts of my sessions of me talking to myself. That did not make any sense. Okay I'm leaving. I'm tired. And by leaving I don't really mean physically leaving I just mean i am leaving this document and uploading it on tumblr. Okay bye uh I don't know what to call it or this,. Uh bye thing. And starting now i am going to record the date and time I started and finish each of my sessions. Since  did not come up with that idea before I started typing I don't have a specific time of when I started typing so I'm going to leave the start time blank.  Okay now I'm just blabbering see ya later thing. Dani out hahaha that was lame. 

p.s. I apologize after advance for the lack of paragraphs and indentations. I did not think about how hard it would be to read this thing. You don't have to read it if you don't want to. Okay bye thing. Also the grammars may make it hard to read. I am not going to correct them unless it's really hard to make out what I'm saying sorry but I am tired of trying to be perfect. Okay that sounded harsh. Sorry gain. Okay for real this time.. bye thing.

End time – 8:21 p.m. Date of Session – 7/31/17 Word Count (minus the recording details I am typing in right now and this parentheses info) – 3,126

#sup #superheroes #hamilton #marvel #dc #youtube #music #singing #hairspray #obsessed #weird #feelings #emotions #scared #shy #quiet #don't know what i'm doing #tired #truth #the real me #trying to be positive #logan paul #my oyster #diary sessions #black widow #i think that's all #i can't think of any more #okay #bye #lol

[woohooligancomics]

Webcomic Whimsy: Parhelion

Welcome to the Woohooligan Weekly Webcomic Whimsy! I've given a couple of interviews in the past, but this is my first experience with reviewing. If you have any suggestions for improvements, feel free to leave a note. If you're a webcomic author and would like a review, you can see my announcement and review rules here.

Title: Parhelion

Author: Riley Smith • Twitter • Tumblr

Site: ParhelionComic.com • Patreon

Genres: Experimental, Dystopian, SciFi, Space Opera, Black Comedy, Experimental, Surreal, Action/Adventure, Gay Space Pirates, A day in the life of a bargain-bin Han Solo

Rating: PG, T for Teen - adult situations, some language

Updates: ??

Synopsis: (from ParhelionComic.com/about) - The World’s Collective, an ambitious plan to unite the galaxy, has just formally collapsed. A despondent interpreter hires a pirate to retrieve some personal files from his office, and they hit it off. Meanwhile, wheels are turning throughout the galaxy, with all kinds of plans at cross-purposes. Warlords lock horns, Boltzmann Brains fight for freedom, and plenty of people just want some peace and quiet.

The first thing anyone is bound to notice about Parhelion is its experimental art style. I suspect this will be a case of "love it or hate it" with very few people in the undecided camp. It certainly has its appeal, with a kind of "baroque simplicity", (which in English means it looks more complicated than it is). Although later chapters get some monochromatic coloring, there's never full color and it might be better that way. Even when a character is human, the lines of the form often don't intersect, leaving a gap at a joint like a waist or elbow, so full color might look out of place. With alien characters, all bets are off, as there's barely a passing nod to notions of anatomy. One drawback to this style is the ambassador from the Planet of the Floor Lamps! (See, it's like Planet of the Apes but...)

A small side-note: so far, Riley is the only author I've reviewed who maintains an annotated synopsis of all his chapters. It's a nice touch if you'd like to see the whole outline of the story in advance.

If you don't mind an occasional character who looks like office furniture, there's a dystopian space opera here that you might enjoy, hot on the heels of a failed galactic government called the Collective. The first page opens with, "like it or not, civilization is built on stimulants, pornography and worse." I'm not sure if the author thinks poorly of porn or if they expect the reader to. I personally think porn is like other industries, there's some bad stuff to be had, but there are also unscrupulous insurance people making money off of the death or misfortune of others. So I won't personally single-out the porn industry as "bad stuff", and stimulants? Meh... coffee is a stimulant. But if you're expecting any porn in this comic, remember that any dick picks will inevitably look like a Tinkertoy with this style of art. (There isn't any porn, it's T for Teen.)

But I digress... that opening line is intended to set the mood of Parhelion's dystopian future. The main character, Peter, is jaded while not being entirely cynical, describing the recently collapsed Collective as "a beacon of hope, smothered at birth by a pack of vultures."

Peter meets his alien, soon-to-be partner, a translator named Cerril, at a bar. In fact, Peter interrupts Cerril's week-long alcoholic bender, mid-gargle-blaster. You see, Cerril's an ivory tower jackoff who used to work for the Collective, before it's untimely collapse just days or weeks before the story started. That's why he needs all the booze. What he didn't know is that Peter needs a translator.

This is also a good time to point out another small problem with the art style, which is, when you use straight, perpendicular lines for your dialog balloons, especially when you're drawing in black and white, the dialog can easily get lost in the illustration, like it does at the bottom of the above page. Or it can create parallel tangents or fake panels like at the top of the previous page.

There's also a fair amount of black comedy or "gallows humor" in Parhelion, like Peter insisting to terms for his own murder, specifically that it be an involved and painful mano-a-mano affair. And Riley occasionally gets technical. Unlike Star Wars in which the function of the protocol droid C-3PO is simply assumed, Riley stops for a couple pages to explain why Cerril's job title is "translator" instead of "office clerk". Oh, but I was wrong about the Tinkertoys...

Several pages are devoted to developing the characters for Peter and Cerril before there's been any real plot. Peter presents himself as a happy-go-lucky space pirate, a kind of bargain-bin Han Solo. And it turns out that the falling-down-drunk Cerril isn't entirely cynical either.

I know I sound like a broken record here, but I see a lot of what I feel is slow pacing in the webcomics I'm reviewing. Maybe it's just me, maybe I'm being a little overly critical on this point. Having said that, I'm seventeen pages in and while I've gotten some good character development for Peter and Cerril, I still haven't seen any plot development beyond "you need to bring me the translator and you can't refuse because I'm your pirate-boss and you're in deep." For reference, a standard issue of a Marvel or DC title is twenty to twenty-four pages, so if this were one of their books, we'd be on the very last couple of pages with only just the basic character development covered.

That's when we see Peter's gnarly missing-eye scar... or is that mechanical? Hard to tell.

But I do think they make a good team... it's basically that bargain bin Han Solo teamed up with a drunken, curmudgeonly C-3PO.

Note that in the bottom half of this page, those are supposed to be fully human, factory-direct hands, with no modifications. It's that sort of thing that makes me say I think this art style will be fairly polarizing: you'll love it or hate it, there won't be a lot of indifference. The hand on the left looks like a bunch of straw sticking out of a sleeve and the one on the right looks like a garden rake. Yeah, he's a bargain bin Han Solo, but this picture makes him look like a badass, one-eyed, space-pirate scarecrow from the land of Oz.

At the beginning of their three-day trip, Cerril asked Peter to steal something for him. By day three, Cerril finally explains that it was just some personal files he wouldn't be able to retrieve from his offices after the Collective collapsed. That's when it's revealed that these particular space pirates are gay, although that reveal is weirdly subtle and kind of sprung on the reader out of the blue like a jump-scare in a horror movie, or maybe a Rickroll. (I'm bringin' back ALL the dated memes, bae!) Pete and Cerril mention "neck marks" without any indication they had been playing tonsil hockey, although that's preceded by some peculiar seating arrangements that weren't foreshadowed in any way. So in a storytelling sense, it feels like we went from teeth-clenched teamwork to the power of love while skipping the middle part where "I'm going to murder you in your sleep, you slaver" gradually becomes "let's slip into something more comfortable".

And then they touch-down on what appears to be literally the land of Oz, right off the yellow-brick road, just outside of the Emerald City. There's even an old-fashioned hand-made crossroads sign.

Just in time to let us know that three days alone in the ship wasn't nearly enough time for sex! Seriously, you need at least a week for a proper blowjob.

But if you thought Peter's missing eye looked painful, it's nothing compared to the hopelessly tangled earbuds that comprise the "face" of the tyrant known as the Basilisk.

Although some of the Baroqueness is rather nice.

We've had a few budget cuts, so the part of Parliament's architectural columns will be played by butt-plugs. (You can't unsee it! You're welcome.)

Starting in the second chapter, Riley starts getting creative with the lettering, occasionally replacing a character or two with an alien symbol. The only pattern I can see is that a particular letter or combination is always given the same symbol, so what would be "th" becomes a single symbol that vaguely resembles a J, making "the" look like "je". It's obviously not used for the purpose of censoring swearing, since the page starts with the phrase "fucking joke" (a priest, a rabbi and a minister walk into an orgy). Given that, I can only imagine that these random substitutions are purely for the purpose of adding an alien flavor to the narration or dialog of certain characters. Personally, I'm not on-board. Riley's already added some similar decoration around the dialog box, and I feel like that's the more appropriate way to create that flavor. These substitutions in the text keep interrupting my reading flow as I have to stop to workout what "video#at" or "fai#ful" mean. It's only a fraction of a second for any individual word, however even that fractional pause is noticeable and mildly irritating as a reader. Like I said, the style of this comic is experimental, and experimentation always comes with some risk and sometimes it pays off. I just don't feel like, as experiments go, this text experiment was a keeper. What do you think?

It isn't until the fourth page of chapter two that Peter and Cerril officially become partners, with a little light comedy that reminds me a little of C-3PO's pitch to uncle Owen in Star Wars IV, except that Cerril is arguing against going with Alison. (That may have a lot to do with my already saying Cerril reminds me of C-3PO.)

While the writing on this page is good and Cerril's body language is well done, the page as a whole has several trouble-spots. There are several ways the first panel could have been composed without letting the dialog cut into the top of Alison's head. While it's not hard to figure out in this particular case, dialog from a character off-camera is frequently shown as it is here in the 2nd and 3rd panel. This is problematic for a couple of reasons, one because there's no visual difference between these dialog boxes and a narration box. That's not confusing on this particular page, but I could easily see it becoming confusing on other pages. Second, and more importantly, I've seen a few more recent pages where this is done in a scene with three or more characters and it's not always apparent who's speaking. Use of colored dialog boxes or a small symbol indicating the character could resolve this issue, although as an artist myself, I would work a little harder to keep the speaking characters on-camera. I might still use the symbol on some infrequent occasions if I were having a really difficult time with the composition of a specific page. I just don't think the off-camera boxes should be a frequent occurrence... reserve them for when Dorothy finally meets the Wizard.

And on page six of the second chapter, we're finally on to our dynamic duo's first suicide mission (of many, natch). I'm pretty sure they have one of those hole-punch coupons, they get a free sandwich after every fifth suicide mission they complete. Loyalty is important, yo!

Don't worry though, the veteran Peter has a plan! Peter's plan is to show up unannounced to a definitely hostile, likely heavily armed facility, and say "Hi! I'm peter! Go fuck yourself!" Which, of course, works every time. No, seriously, nobody even mentions it being weird and they make plans with the manager of the hostile station to go get tacos later.

But Peter wants to to know you don't fuck with a space-pirate's tacos, you spineless corporate cuck!

And since Parhelion is more of a black comedy than an adventure (I'm sure it's in there somewhere), this taco tirade is the big mistake where shit gets real. (Yeah, no, it's totally not lazily waltzing in on a hostile, likely heavily armed base. That part was cake.)

I really like that dramatic last panel on page fifteen of chapter two, so that's where I'm going to end this review.

So there's my pitch. If you enjoy tongue-in-cheek space opera, surreal and experimental illustration, and gay space-pirates, it's worth a look at Parhelion!

If you are a webcomic author and are interested in a review from me, you can check out my announcement and my review rules here.

If you enjoy my reviews and would like to help ensure I'm able to continue publishing them, you can contribute on our Patreon or if you're short on funds you can also help me out by checking out and sharing my own webcomic, Woohooligan!

Thanks! Sam

#webcomic #review #scifi #space opera #black comedy #gallows humor #dystopian #GLBT #experimental #surreal