#imo he has one of the best 10 heart events

[luthwhore]

a while back i made a recommended reading list for lex luthor, and originally didn't plan to make a superman one, since it's a lot easier to find reading lists for him, but a lot of the reading lists i see either tend to be very short and have the same 5-10 books on them, or feel way too expansive and overwhelming, so i wanted to make a list of some of my personal picks!

this list is designed to help relatively new readers get to know the character, so i've tried to focus mostly on things that are accessible to people with only minimal knowledge of the character/world (with one single exception).

i also have not included any pre-crisis stories because i don't feel like i've read enough pre-crisis content to confidently recommend any specific comics, but i might one day come back and add a section for pre-crisis comics later!

❤️ = Personal favorite

Origin Story

Superman: Birthright, by Mark Waid ❤️

Superman: Birthright is what I would consider to be the definitive modern Superman origin story, featuring modernized versions of many Silver and Bronze age concepts. Mark Waid is, imo, one of the best modern day Superman writers in the sense of really understanding the core of his character, so I would highly suggest starting here for an understanding of who Clark is and what makes him tick. Optional: If you like "Birthright", the presently incomplete "Last Days of Lex Luthor" is a direct follow up to it, also written by Mark Waid, and delves deeper into the complicated relationship between Superman and Lex Luthor.

Superman: Secret Origin, by Geoff Johns

Written a few years after Birthrigh, "Secret Origin" technically supplanted Birthright as the official canon. Like "Birthright", it attempts to modernize many Silver/Bronze Age concepts, though it takes a different route than the aforementioned "Birthright."

Post-Crisis

Superman: Up, Up, and Away, by Geoff Johns & Kurt Busiek

Set after the events of the DC events Infinite Crisis and One Year Later, though it's not necessary to read either to follow this arc. After a year long break from being Superman, Clark returns to the cape. Since Infinite Crisis served as one of many soft-resets for the pre-Flashpoint DCU, it's a solid arc to start with.

Superman: Last Son, by Geoff Johns

Clark learns of another Kryptonian child on Earth and decides to take him in and introduces the character of "Chris Kent." Follows "Up, Up, and Away". This arc technically ran concurrently with the "Camelot Falls" arc, with "Last Son" being the Action Comics storyline and "Camelot Falls" being the "Superman" storyline. (I would recommend reading "Last Son" first, since otherwise you might be confused by Chris's presence in "Camelot Falls".)

Superman: Camelot Falls, by Kurt Busiek ❤️

One of my personal favorite post-Crisis Superman stories. Clark is told that the only way to avert an apocalyptic future is to give up being Superman. One of many, many stories that asks the philosophical question "Do heroes actually make things worse?" but has a very fresh and uplifting take on the premise.

New 52

Action Comics (2011), by Grant Morrison

Grant Morrison's Action Comics is a very sharp departure from the pre-Flashpoint version of Superman, instead choosing to do with the Golden Age what Mark Waid's "Birthright" did with the Silver Age. Morrison's Superman here is significantly more hotheaded and aggressive than the previous decade's version of him, but he's by far the closest to Siegel and Shuster's original vision for the character, so it's worth a read.

Superman: Unchained, by Scott Snyder

A Superman vs the US military story, with art by the legendary Jim Lee. It's a little dark in tone (and in color scheme) for Superman, but pretty in-line with the tone of most n52 books.

Rebirth and Beyond

Superman: Up in the Sky, by Tom King

A story that shows the lengths Superman is willing to go to in order to save one person. Has some very cute interactions between Clark children, and in general really gets the heart of Superman as a character.

The Warworld Saga, by Phillip Kennedy Johnson ❤️

A massive story following Superman to Warworld, where he works to free a group of Kryptonians being kept as gladiatorial slaves. Leans heavily into the idea of Superman as a Moses allegory, with the Authority as supporting cast. Over all a really beautiful story, both in terms of the plot and the art. Imo, the best Superman story from the last decade. Optional: If you like "Warworld" make sure to read the rest of PKJ's Action Comics run. His last issue of Action Comics just dropped recently, so you could absolutely sit down and binge the whole three-year run straight through.

Batman/Superman: World's Finest (2021 - ongoing), by Mark Waid

Set during the early years, featuring Superman, Batman, Robin (Dick Grayson), and occasionally Supergirl. In true Mark Waid fashion, it pulls heavily from the Silver Age, and manages to balance Silver Age campiness with more modern storytelling. (If you're a Superbat fan and you're somehow not reading this already, you should be.)

Superman (2023 - ongoing), by Joshua Williamson ❤️

The current running Superman arc. Another soft-reset for the Superman canon, meant to serve as an easy starting place for new readers. Beautiful art, hopeful and uplifting, and features my personal favorite take on the Lex in the comics, which should really tell you something. Optional: Action Comics issue #1050 sets up some things for this comic, but you won't lose much by skipping it.

Self-Contained Stories

Superman Smashes the Klan, by Gene Luen Yang ❤️

A YA graphic novel based on an old radio show. Set during the 1940s during Superman's early years, and really takes Superman back to his roots as a champion of the oppressed. If you read no other book on this list, please read this one. It's a quick and easy read and gets right to the heart of who and what Superman is.

Superman: For All Seasons, by Jeph Loeb

A story spanning four stages of Clark's life, with gorgeous artwork by the incomparable Tim Sale. Delves into Clark's relationships with most of the important people in his life, including his parents, Lois, and Lex.

Superman: Secret Identity, by Kurt Busiek

A meta twist on the Superman story with a boy in the real world develops Superman-like powers and has to grapple with what that means for him and what to do with those powers. A really excellent deconstruction of Superman.

All-Star Superman, by Grant Morrison

Superman, upon being told he has only a few days to live, chooses how to spend the rest of days. Widely regarded as one of the greatest Superman stories of all time, but features a lot of deep cut lore and will resonate more if you're more familiar with the characters. This is the one book I would not recommend starting with. Also leans heavily on the Silver Age canon.

#clark kent #superman #dc comics #comic recs #reading list #i will go back in and add pre-crisis recs at some point too

[thequiver]

Who is.....Jonothan Starsmore | Chamber? - A Reading Guide

Jonothan "Jono" Starsmore is an X-Men affiliated mutant from Marvel comics first introduced in 1994. A native of London and explicitly connected to the grunge scene, Jono has always been the pinnacle of the "bad boy with a heart of gold" trope- the only difference being that in place of a heart he has a furnace of psionic energy. Jono is best known for being part of Generation X (the team he was introduced with) but has also been an official member of the X-Men. The manifestation of his powers left him disfigured and destroyed many of his internal organs as well as his jaw, leaving him unable to speak verbally, requiring him to utilize his psionic abilities to communicate telepathically. Jono's story chronicles one of self-acceptance and is one I'd highly recommend!

Below is a complete list of Jono's appearances as of 24. November. 2023, complete with links!

Generation X: A new team of mutants under the leadership of Sean Cassidy (Banshee) and Emma Frost (The White Queen) is formed at the Massachusetts campus of the Xavier Institute. The goal of this team is to earn an education and learn how to become the next generation of X-Men- their focus is not to fight villains.

Generation X (1994) #1-3 X-Men (1991) #41 <- This is part of Legion Quest which is expounded on here in my Legion reading guide - the whole event is covered in like 6 issues and is imo very worth the read as one section of it can be a bit confusing out of context Generation X (1994) #4-6 Wolverine (1988) #94 Uncanny X-Men (1981) #Annual '95 Generation X (1994) #7-9, Annual '95, 10-11 X-Men (1991) #49 Generation X (1994) #12-21 X-Men (1991) #Annual '96 Generation X (1994) #22-23, Annual '97 Incredible Hulk #Annual '97 Generation X (1994) #25-31 Marvel Team-Up (1997) #1 Generation X (1994) #32-40, Underground Special 1998, 41 X-Men Unlimited (1993) #20 Generation X (1994) #42-49 Generation X/Dracula #Annual '89 Generation X Holiday Special (1999) #1 Generation X (1994) #50 X-Man (1995) #50 Generation X (1994) #51 X-Men Unlimited (1993) #23 Generation X (1994) #52-56 Wolverine (1988) #141 Generation X (1994) #57-58, Annual '99, 59 New Warriors (1999) #5 Generation X (1994) #60-70 Uncanny X-Men (1981) #388 Generation X (1994) #71-75

Poptopia, a Delayed Joining of the X-Men, his own mini, etc.: Following graduation from the Massachussetts Academy, Jono was offered a position on the X-Men but declined instead going to London. After an unfortunate romantic entanglement Jono would return to the X-Men.

Unanny X-Men (1981) #395-398 The Order (2002) #5-6 Uncanny X-Men (1981) #399-400, Annual 2001, 402-407 Marvel Universe: The End (2003) #1, 5 Uncanny X-Men (1981) #408-409 Chamber (2002) #1-4 Uncanny X-Men (1981) #422-423

Defections + Countdown to Zero and House of M/M-Day: After altering reality so mutants were the dominant race, the Scarlet Witch then changed reality again, this time attempting to rid the world of the mutant gene, by casting another spell, "No More Mutants", de-powering the vast majority of mutants.

Weapon X (2002) #15-21 Generation M (2006) #1 New Excalibur (2006) #9

Secret Invasion: TW: THIS EVENT IS TIED PRETTY HEAVILY INTO ANTISEMITIC TROPES PROCEED WITH CAUTION The premise of Secret Invasion is that the Skrull empire, in a bid to take control of earth, replaces several super-powered humans/humanoids on earth with Skrulls.

New Warriors (2007) #2-20

Age of X: The mutants are almost extinct, tortured by a strike force led by Colonel Graydon Creed. The first signs of the Age of X appeared in X-Men: Legacy #244; the events were removed from the Earth-616 mainstream continuity, with no memories of the alternate lives. If you've taken a look at my David Haller Reading List you'll see this event explained as "David’s desire to be loved forces him to grapple with reality," and as a story that "places David in a role where he has to choose between a false universe where he is considered a beloved hero and reality where he must choose to be a hero despite the fear others feel about him." While that is the base of the event Jono also has some great moments to shine!

Age of X: Alpha (2011) #1 X-Men: Legacy (2008) #245 New Mutants (2009) #22 X-Men: Legacy (2008) #247 New Mutants (2009) #24 X-Men: Legacy (2008) #248 Wolverine and the X-Men (2011) #Alpha and Omega X-Men: Legacy (2008) #264-265

Avengers vs. X-Men: When the Phoenix Force approaches Earth, Hope Summers is assumed its next host. The X-Men and the Avengers are divided on how to handle the situation. The X-Men believe that the Phoenix Force will herald the rebirth of the Mutant Species, while the Avengers believe that it will bring an end to all life on Earth. This leads to a war between Marvel's two powerful superhero factions.

Wolverine and the X-Men (2011) #9-10 X-Men: Legacy (2008) #266-267

Jono's Miscellaneous Adventures: (which somehow keep involving David Haller?) This is now in with Legion: Son of X and the lead up to Krakoa! Jono does a lot of different things in this period (including Gen X Vol. 2) but things are a little more calm until War of the Realms.

Wolverine and the X-Men (2011) #19 X-Men: Legacy (2013) #2-6 X-Men (2010) #40-41 X-Men: Legacy (2013) #11-12 Wolverine and the X-Men (2011) #29 X-Men: Legacy (2013) #13-14, 22, 24 X-Men: No More Humans (2014) #1 Nightcrawler (2014) #3-4 Uncanny X-Men (2013) #600 Generation X (2017) #1-9 Phoenix Resurrection the Return of Jean Grey #1-3 Generation X (2017) #85-87 X-Men: Gold (2017) #30 Old Man Logan (2016) #39 Mr. & Mrs. X (2018) #6 Uncanny X-Men (2018) #11, 14-15, 17-18 Unbeatable Squirrel Girl (2015) #37

War of the Realms: Following the return of the Dark Elf, Malekith, from imprisonment, he ignited a civil war in his homeworld of Svartalfheim and emerged crowned as king. Malekith additionally began assembling a league of allies from across the Ten Realms, eventually forming the Dark Council which included among its ranks Dario Agger, King Laufey and Loki. If this doesn't sound like an X-Men plot that's because it's not, but the X-Men sure did get a tie-in and Jono's in it.

War of the Realms: Uncanny X-Men (2019) #1-3

Krakoa at last!: The following issues detail Jono's time on Krakoa and his role on the island.

New Mutants (2019) #1-2, 5, 7, 9-11 X of Swords: Destruction (2020) #1 New Mutants (2019) #15-18 Marvel's Voices: Identity (2021) - B Story X-Men Unlimited Infinity Comic (2021) #1, 3-4 Phoenix Song: Echo (2021) #1 New Mutants (2019) #24 Legion of X (2022) #1 X-Men Unlimited Infinity Comic (2021) #39-40 New Mutants (2019) #26 Legion of X (2022) #3-5, 7-8 X-Men: Unlimited Infinity Comic (2021) #79 X-Men: Before the Fall- Sons of X (2023) #1

#jono starsmore #jonothan starsmore #chamber #reading list #reading guide #comic reading guide #comic reading list #marvel comics #x-men #xmen #x men

[adrianicsea]

saw x: your guide to the new & returning characters

hi everybody!! i’ve been keeping up with all the new updates, leaks, and speculation about saw x for quite awhile now. in light of that, and with the movie’s impending release, i thought i would put this together for everyone’s ease & reference 👍🏻

this post will contain some information from the official saw x production notes released by lionsgate, which in turn does contain some spoilers about events in the film. furthermore, for returning characters, we’ll only be looking at characters explicitly and visually confirmed to be returning as of 9/20/23 (sorry hoffman).

we’ll go ahead and start with john kramer! saw x first finds john attending a cancer support group, still in the city. there, he meets a man who’s had great success treating his disease with experimental swedish oncologist doctor finn pederson. intrigued by this, john ends up venturing to mexico city to seek out an experimental, not-fully-legal treatment for his cancer with finn’s daughter, another oncologist named cecilia pederson. when the doctor and her team turn out to be nothing more than scammers, though, john swiftly acts to take revenge on them.

the production notes (which you can read in their entirety here, if you’d like) make a point of talking about how this movie is going to showcase a more human and conflicted version of john than we’ve seen before— as he’s still relatively early in his jigsaw journey, and as he’s fully interacting face-to-face with his victims, we’ll get to see john being openly challenged by his victims for the first time, and wrestling between his own moral codes and the accusations that he’s a murderer being thrown at him by his victims.

next up, we have amanda young!! contrary to what some initial speculation/advertisements suggested, i believe she’s going to be a major player in this film, with her emotional arc perhaps even rivaling john’s. about her role in this movie, director kevin greutert says: “it was an opportunity to go deeper into where she is at an earlier point in her relationship with john, before her guilt, insecurities, and doubt corrupted her against john’s work. in this story, we see amanda’s manic cheekiness, as well as her vulnerability and affection for john. but she has doubts about the violent and cruel aspect of the work they’re doing together.”

greutert goes on to say that amanda finds herself identifying with one of the victims of the pederson clinic games, and this in turn drives her urge to partake in the games and to start her down the road of being at odds with john’s morality. i have a pretty good idea of who amanda’s sympathetic victim is going to be, but we’ll get to that shortly.

actress synnøve macody lund plays doctor cecilia pederson, the head of the scam ring that lures john to mexico city and pretends to cure his cancer. though cecilia is capable of appearing warm and caring, at her heart, she is a selfish and manipulative person, more concerned about herself than about any of her victims or even her staff. lund says that there is a spark of recognition and similarity between john and cecilia when they first meet, but as the games begin, cecilia does her best to challenge john and “try to break him.”

cecilia’s father, doctor finn pederson, is also an oncologist, although it is currently unclear whether he’s legitimate or not. there is some speculation that he may be the “experimental doctor” mentioned by william easton in saw vi. he is portrayed by donagh gordon. (no picture here bc the mobile app only allows 10 photos per post 😔)

joshua okamoto is listed as playing both diego and a different character named doctor cortez. diego is the driver who brings john between the hacienda where he’s staying and to his appointments with doctor pederson; okamoto describes him as friendly and talkative, almost like a tour guide. doctor cortez is an “enigmatic” physician that john sees during his appointments. it is (imo) unclear at this point whether the two characters are really meant to be two distinct people— to me, it makes more sense that diego is only pretending to be doctor cortez, but that’s just my speculation.

octavio hinojosa will be playing mateo, a veterinarian who moonlights as cecilia’s anesthesiologist during john’s surgery. hinojosa says that mateo has gotten involved in “some shady business” — aside from pretending to be a doctor, mateo also sells drugs from his veterinary office. hinojosa doesn’t say much else about mateo’s personality, and the production notes only describe him as a “scummy drug pusher.”

renata vaca plays gabriela, who is both one of the addicts that mateo sells drugs to and a member of the pederson scam ring in her own right. gabriela pretends to be john’s housekeeper, and before the scam is revealed, the two of them actually begin to bond and have a nice moment together. when john realizes he’s been duped, vaca says that gabriela’s betrayal “breaks his heart.” while john still wants to test her, vaca says that john still sees goodness in gabriela and hopes to restore it by testing her.

i mentioned above that amanda forms a bond with one of the pederson clinic victims— given how similar gabriela’s background sounds to amanda’s, and given that we can see amanda straddling gabriela in the photo above (you can just barely make out gabriela’s fur coat in the corner), i would be VERY surprised if it’s not gabriela.

played by paulette hernández, valentina works as a fake nurse in the pederson scam ring. the production notes don’t have much else to say about her character, but it does talk about the nature of her trap and pretty heavily implies that she doesn’t make it very long into the pederson clinic games. (we’ve also already seen a decapitated body in several of the trailers and commercials for the movie, so maybe they just don’t care about spoiling this particular death.)

isan beomhyun lee plays the custodian whose face has already been made famous via the eyeball vacuum trap posters! he isn’t given a name in the production notes, but the notes do mention that john catches him while he’s still in the city, BEFORE leaving for mexico. john punishes the custodian for “contemplating a theft of a patient’s belongings.” the fate of the eyeball vacuum victim has already been made pretty clear, so i wouldn’t expect to see much more of him than we already have.

steven brand plays parker sears, who the production notes tell us is a fellow patient of john’s, seeking treatment for his thyroid cancer from cecilia and her scam ring. however, it’s pretty clear that there’s something more going on with him— if it wasn’t enough that we see him in the first trailer holding a gun (and NOT in any of the other pederson clinic games), the production notes themselves make a point of saying that “not everything or everyone is as it seems.” it’s my personal speculation that he’s some sort of undercover cop— perhaps one who was already on the way to busting the pederson scammers before john came in and started doing things his own way.

finally, we have michael beach playing henry kessler. the production notes have nothing to say about him, and we also haven’t seen much about him in any trailers or spots just yet. that said, the following is purely my own speculation.

the production notes mention that john first learns about cecilia from a former member of his cancer support group in the saw metro. i believe that kessler may be that former member. this would subsequently make him complicit in john’s scamming, and as such, i believe kessler might be the person we briefly see being tortured in the bathroom during the trailer.

SO there you all go!! hopefully this guide was interesting, helpful, and/or informative :) thank you for reading!!

#saw #saw x #john kramer #amanda young #saw x spoilers

[thegayhimbo]

Stranger Things Erica The Great Review

Warning: The following review contains MAJOR SPOILERS from this graphic novel, as well as from Season 4 of Stranger Things!

If you haven't yet, be sure to check out my other Stranger Things reviews, and let me know what your thoughts/theories are about the show or the upcoming season! :)

Stranger Things Six

Stranger Things Halloween Special

Stranger Things The Other Side

Stranger Things Zombie Boys

Stranger Things The Bully

Stranger Things Winter Special

Stranger Things Tomb of Ybwen

Stranger Things Into The Fire

Stranger Things Science Camp

Stranger Things "The Game Master" and "Erica's Quest"

Stranger Things and Dungeons and Dragons

Stranger Things Kamchatka

Synopsis: Following the events of season 3, Erica has embraced her love for Dungeons & Dragons and begins organizing campaigns centered around her new D&D character: Erica The Great. At the suggestion of her mom, she enlists her friends to play the game with her. However, Erica's attempts to control D&D cause her friends to turn on her with disastrous results. Now it's up to Erica to fix things before everyone ends up in trouble.

Observations:

This is the third graphic novel since Zombie Boys and The Bully, and it's once again penned by Greg Pak, this time alongside Danny Lore. Released on January 26, 2022 (four months before season 4 premiered), it serves as an interquel between when Erica was first given the D&D books by Dustin and Lucas at the end of season 3, and when she substitutes for Lucas at Hellfire Club in the season 4 premiere. The graphic novel chronicles one of her D&D campaigns with her friends (Kelly, Tanya, and April). Compared to comics/graphic novels like Kamchatka or Into the Fire which were dark and intense, this one is light-hearted, which is welcoming. This story focuses on Erica's personal development, both in how she plays D&D, and as a person.

When it comes to discussing character development in the series, most of the fan discourse usually centers around Steve's growth and how he's evolved since the show began. While I 100% agree that he has, and that it's one of the best aspects of the show, there are times fans tend to overlook other characters who have changed as well. Two examples that come to mind are Lucas and Erica. I will cover Lucas's development when I review Lucas on the Line, but for this discussion, I'm focusing exclusively on Erica.

Erica's growth has been interesting, and as she's evolved as a character, so has my perception of her. When she was introduced in season 2, I didn't care much for her. IMO, she came off as little more than a bratty younger sister who made disdainful remarks about Lucas and his friends, and at one point (unintentionally) acted as a hindrance when Dustin was trying to get in contact with Lucas. I know there are fans who loved her snark, but I found it mean-spirited and off-putting. I get she was 9-10 years old at the time, and I know some kids tend to act like this at that age, but it doesn't make it any more pleasant to deal with. It also doesn't help she didn't have much to do with the main plot, so I didn't see a reason at the time to get invested in her.

Season 3 was different. I know fan opinions about Erica were mixed at the time, but in spite of that, I liked her better in season 3 for two reasons: 1.) From a narrative perspective, she actually had a point for being there, namely in helping Steve, Robin, and Dustin infiltrate the Russian base underneath Starcourt Mall, and later aiding Dustin in rescuing a drugged Robin and Steve. 2.) This was the season Erica's character development started to kick in. Her reasons for getting involved were initially about "Free Ice Cream for Life," but once things go horribly wrong and she's informed about what's really going on, she finally realizes the danger everyone is in and starts taking the situation a lot more seriously. On top of that, after her talk with Dustin about how she's secretly a nerd, she begins embracing that aspect of herself rather than snidely putting it down like she's done in the past.

Season 4 is where I liked Erica the most. The sequence of her helping to win Eddie's D&D campaign was fun, and it's noteworthy she didn't have to be bribed by Mike and Dustin either. She aided them because she loves the game and she see herself as Dustin's friend. As she tells Jason later when he's asking about Dustin: "Know him? I've bled with him." She still retains her snark, but it's more directed towards people who actually deserve it: Like when Eddie acts condescending towards her initially when she shows up at Hellfire Club, or even some of the barbs she throws Jason's way. This exchange especially is golden:

I love how a.) Erica clearly likes Max and approves of her relationship with Lucas, and b.) Even if she is being snarky here, she's not disapproving of the idea of Lucas going out with guys, but thinks Lucas could do so much better than Jason. 😂

Jokes aside though, I also appreciate how, in an entire room full of adults who were silent and complicit during Jason's speech at the town hall, she is the only one who wasn't afraid to stand up to Jason and call bullshit at his attempts to paint the Hellfire Club as a Satanic cult responsible for every bad thing happening in Hawkins. She knew this was going to turn into a lynch mob that would target her brother and his friends, and she was having none of it.

Initially, she does throw shade at Lucas and Dustin when they're caught by the police and lie about what they're doing, but when she's informed about what's actually going on, she willingly drops everything to help them escape (and judging by her unsurprised look at Lucas's explanation, she probably already figured out the recent deaths, combined with Lucas and Dustin's suspicious behavior, had something to do with the Upside Down). She later does everything she can to stop Vecna along with the rest of the group, and helped save Max's life (following El restarting her heart) by getting emergency respondents there to stabilize Max's condition before it got worse.

Adding on to this, I love how season 4 subtly shows Erica caring about Lucas without the constant snide jabs. Like Erica coming to all of Lucas's basketball games on her own accord (minus the one she missed for Hellfire Club). Or staying in the hospital with Lucas while Max recovers. Or even rushing to Lucas's aid after overpowering Andy. Lucas on the Line also expands on her protective side towards Lucas, such as getting angry when Lucas gets called a racist slur by someone on the basketball team, or even being worried for Lucas when he's made the target of a bomb threat at school.

In Stranger Things tradition, Erica is someone who appears one way on the surface, but has a lot more hidden depths to her character.

This brings me to the interquel Erica The Great: Much like the short story "Erica's Quest," Erica is still developing her skills as a D&D player at this time, and is looking for people to play with her. The story kicks off when her mom suggests inviting her friends to do a campaign despite their unfamiliarity with D&D.

Her friends eventually agree, but problems arise when they have a hard time understanding how the game is played. Erica doesn't help by being impatient and dismissive when they question things. There's also the fact Erica is more interested initially in getting the glory and credit for herself rather than genuinely wanting to work with her friends, resulting in them feeling inconvenienced.

Naturally, this pisses Tanya off, and she leaves to get her mom's bird (a parakeet) to show off to April and Kelly as a way of one-upping Erica. A fight breaks out between them over this, resulting in the parakeet getting loose and flying next door to the house of Erica's neighbor, Miss Dorothy.

Because she knows Tanya will get in trouble with her mother for losing the bird, Erica agrees to get it back for her, all the while dealing with Miss Dorothy's dog and a bunch of other obstacles.

If you've followed along to this point, you can already guess what kind of story this is, and how it plays out: Main character starts out selfish and self-centered. Catastrophe occurs, forcing them to work with others to solve the problem. Through trial and error, they eventually learn the value of teamwork, acknowledge their faults, and grow as a person.

While the plot itself is formulaic, it works here for Erica in bridging parts of her character development. Not only is she learning to be a better player and Dungeon Master, but she's also learning to be a better friend to those around her. She was already beginning to show signs of this towards the end of season 3, and season 4 acts as the culmination of that. This graphic novel shows the big leap forward for her. She's starting to shed her "It's All About Me" attitude while also taking responsibility and learning that it's okay to rely on others for assistance instead of doing everything on your own.

On top of that, regardless of whether or not this was intentional from the writers, I like how the graphic novel serves as a nice deconstruction of the "Mary Sue/Author's Self-Insert" archetypes and how obnoxious they are. The character Erica creates and uses in D&D initially resembles that: She's presented as perfect in the game with no meaningful flaws she has to work through. She's naturally great at everything she does, and both the game's narration and her "companions" are just there to prop her up. Rather than making her look awesome, it just makes her character an uninteresting scene-stealer. This contrasts hard with Erica outside of the game where she's called out for her flaws, works through them, strengthens her friendship with the other girls as a result, and likely takes what she's learned and applies it to the game to make "Erica The Great" a better written and more compelling character. By the end, she's even giving her friends the chance to add their own spin to their D&D campaign because she recognizes it's important for them to try out their fun ideas.

And I get that through all of this, Erica's still a kid who's around 10-11 years old at this time, and that certain levels of being self-centered are expected. I even get creating fantasy worlds at that age where you're the main character of your story, who does everything perfectly and is constantly hailed for your amazing accomplishments. I did the same thing myself when I was growing up, so I recognize I'm not in a position to judge others on that account. However, in the context of this story, it's still nice seeing that growth from Erica.

Something else that's fun is how the quest to get the parakeet back is viewed through Erica's imagination as a D&D adventure. From Erica's perspective, the parakeet is a fiery Phoenix, Miss Dorothy is a mysterious witch, and her dog is a Cerberus. You can tell the artists had a lot of fun with these scenes:

I also love the small detail of Erica starting her D&D Campaign at "Starcourt Tavern," which is fittingly symbolic for the place where her story and first encounter with elements from the Upside Down began:

One tiny question I have though: Where is Tina in all of this? She's been repeatedly name-dropped by Erica and Lucas in seasons 3 and 4, and yet she hasn't made any appearance on the show or in this graphic novel. We get Kelly, Tanya, and April, but we don't get Tina.

Oh well! 🤷

On a final note, in regards to where they take Erica's story in season 5, I'm wondering if she and Lucas will spend most of their time together for the last season as they deal with Vecna's impending invasion. The ominous ending for season 4 certainly suggests that:

Since Erica's also in the hospital with Max at this time, I wonder if she might even have a role in resuscitating Max from her current coma.

Additionally, I also believe that since the comics and season 4 placed a heavy emphasis on Erica's skills and knowledge as a D&D player, she may end up employing them in a way that brings Vecna's downfall in the final season. There's even an argument to be had that the scene of Erica in "The Hellfire Club" rolling a 20 for the team and defeating the D&D version of Vecna is foreshadowing that she'll have an important role to play in the Party's fight against Vecna.

Overall, a fun graphic novel that does a great job enhancing Erica's continuing character development. Check it out when (and if) you get the chance!

#stranger things #erica sinclair #lucas sinclair #dustin henderson #eddie munson #max mayfield #jason carver #vecna #stranger things comics #stranger things season 4 #stranger things season 3 #tgh opinions #tgh reviews #the duffer brothers

[danoofi]

A few of my Sonadow headcanon’s for you guys lmao here we go

1) Shadow doesn’t sleep like ever because he’s the ultimate life form and finds it to be a waste of his time. However, Sonic usually has trouble falling asleep because brain move too fast, so Shadow will pet him and scratch his fur to lull him to sleep. Sometimes Sonic returns the favor and it makes Shadow tired and he’ll fall asleep too.

2) Sonic has made Shadow (and eventually their kids) heart shaped pancakes every Valentines Day since they started dating at like age 17.

3) Sonic and Shadow didn’t have pre-decided names for any of their children, but just named them based off what was happening around them.

4) Shadow absolutely HATES the words “dude” and “bro”. Sonic finds it hilarious to see how worked up Shadow can get over it.

5) Shadow uses 50’s slang. One time he asked Sonic if he wanted to “play back seat bingo at the passion pit” and Sonic just stared at him for several minutes out of pure confusion.

6) Even though there was a proper proposal, Sonic and Shadow don’t have a wedding. Neither of them are into such a giant event that will most likely get disturbed by Eggman or the paparazzi. So instead they got eloped. They do have a party with all of their friends and family afterwards though.

7) They needed a witness at their elopement, so Tails was invited to be Sonic’s best man.

8) Considering the line of work they’re both in, Sonic and Shadow don’t wear their wedding rings on their fingers but instead on chain necklaces.

9) Shadow loves gift giving. If he sees anything that reminds him of Sonic even just a little bit, you bet he’s gonna spend a ridiculous amount of money. Sonic is slowly running out of room in their house for all of the gifts.

10) Sonic and Shadow both have PTSD because there ain’t no damn way they do every thing they’ve done and DON’T develop any kind of long lasting trauma from it.

11) Sonadow has a Christmas tradition of trying to catch one another under the mistletoe but they race and spar with each other and the loser has to give the winner a kiss under the mistletoe.

12) Their first date was at an ice skating rink. It was Sonic’s idea until he got there and realized he can’t skate. Boy hasn’t skated a single day in his life. It works out in his favor though cause like he gets to hold hands with Shadow the whole time.

13) Sonadow doesn’t necessarily fight often. They bicker a lot. But when they do have a fight, it’s bad. Someone sleeping on the couch bad. They kiss and make up eventually though.

14) Sonic will HARDCORE anoint himself all over Shadow. Just aggressively rub and nuzzle for ages until he’s satisfied enough with the amount of Shadow’s scent that’s on him.

15) Sonic is bi and trans while Shadow is gay. They go to the pride festival every year and Team Sonic/Team Dark are big LGBTQ+ allies.

16) Sonic has ARFID and Shadow always makes sure that there are plenty of safe foods stocked up. (Even those dreaded chili dogs)

17) If Sonadow were to be asked what their favorite features on their partner is, Sonic would talk about how much he loves Shadow’s smile and Shadow would mention how much he adores Sonic’s eyes.

18) Shadow’s top 3 favorite bands/artists (imo) are Tame Impala, The Platters, and MCR

19) Sonic has ADHD

20) Shadow and Sonic are absolute kings at karaoke. In fact, Sonic realized he had a big gross gay crush on Shadow because he heard him sing “My Way” by Frank Sinatra at karaoke with all of their friends while very very drunk.

#sonic the hedgehog #shadow the hedgehog #sonadow #gay hedgehogs #headcanons

[1wn8ure]

Theater of War

I have so many feelings and not enough words to state them

first of all THE CHASE SCENE my god Apollo whaling on Hob while he just fucking runs for his life?? perfection.

secondly andhera taking care of hob while also trying not to expose him if he doesn't want to reveal he's injured? YES PLEASE GIVE ME MORE

thirdly RUE BEING THE ONLY ONE CONSISTENTLY FOCUSED ON HOB'S HEALTH (INCLUDING HOB HIMSELF)????!?!?!?! YESS!!! YES OSCAR YES THAT IS JUST EXACTLY CORRECT because also like it's things like that that make it painfully obvious how enamored Rue is and yet Hob doesn't see it that way, doesn't notice it because he doesn't think he has any reason to find it, and even when he can't deny the things they do he finds another explanation that doesn't insinuate that the most elegant, honorable, courageous fey at the Bloom has fallen for stupid, subservient, cowardly Hob because how in the world could that be the truth? and also the metaphor of Hob literally trying to ignore his own pain until his life was actually endangered for the sake of political gains. i mean, who cares what happens to him, right? bringing consequences against prince apollo is much more important. except rue cares, and has for so long, and hob fails to see that

fourthly Hob and Rue I was begging for you to talk but NOT LIKE THIS. NOT LIKE THIS on the one hand I am absolutely sobbing and on the other I am so genuinely impressed by the storytelling capabilities of these players. the acting is impeccable and it makes me want to grab the two of them and shake them around a bit, or at least stick them in a room together for an extended period of time so they'll have time to get through all of their miscommunications before one of them storms off

fifth THEY GOT RENNER!!!!

sixth BINX!!! BINX I LOVE YOU WITH ALL MY HEART AND SOUL YOU MAGNIFICENT FEY thank you for being the person to say hey idiot, he loves you back you know. but also Rue's reaction to that was SO JUSTIFIED from their point of view. for all they know Hob received their raw, unedited declaration of utter adoration and didn't acknowledge it- even going as far as to give what Rue sees as a final rejection, agreeing to a political marriage for little more than a promotion. like yes that is perfect I love this cast I love Oscar so much but also I am going to be incoherent until the end of ep. 10 and even then it's a stretch

seventh IT WAS RUE! AND NOT FOR POLITICAL SUBTERFUGE, JUST FOR THE SAKE OF ENCOURAGING GENUINE LOVE OVER POLITICAL UNIONS there are so many possible events that could have resulted in the termination of gribalba's engagement but that was unequivocally the best choice imo. because now Hob is struggling with the exact dilemma Rue had fought to prevent, and on top of that they are declaring their love for them but apparently they did before?? how did he miss that??? and he's shocked and confused and maybe a little guilty but also he thinks he should be angry. he thinks he should still be furious that they maligned his court in this way and yet he can't, because how can he blame them for wanting to save someone from the pain he finds himself currently entrenched in? AND THE MOMENT IN THE HUNT you mean, Rue wasn't offended by his actions? then what the hell was the duel about? and also Wuvvy is here and she's not doing anything and altogether this is an influx of information that Hob was absolutely not expecting and he does not know how to deal with it but he thinks it might be explaining a lot of the things that had been hurting him since that fateful moment in the woods and he's starting to maybe, possibly, imagine a future where a graceful owl bear could actually love a pathetic goblin like him

(seven and a half) ANDHERA AND BINX! BINX AND ANDHERA!!!

#acofaf #d20 acofaf #acofaf spoilers #fey and flowers #d20 spoilers #dimension 20 #a court of fey and flowers #a court of fey and flowers spoilers #i am not okay #just not okay at all #but at the same time episode nine is the greatest thing to ever happen and will probably keep that spot until next week

[kaibutsushidousha]

Can you rate all 2021 & 2022 silhouette Servants?

1) Morgan is my 3rd favorite Servant in the whole game and pretty sure she already has her own post explaining why. The Morgan-Arthuria-Fujimaru-Oberon quartet parallels are really the best part of Avalon le Fae.

2) Another member of my level 100 crew. Taigong was my most requested Servant at the time of his release and what we got of him is certainly in line with what I wanted. Goofy but capable. Thoughtful except when his fear of disappointing gets the better of him. Great taste in waifus. All in all, I can proudly say that's the tactician I asked for.

3) Jue was one of the big stars of Traum along with Roland and Xu Fu. He's as pragmatic and ruthless as he can get but the narrative is no less sympathetic to his motives, ideals, and lifetime failures. Regardless of whether or not the Master he's so devoted to turns out to be an Olga Marie piece in some way, Zhang Jue still has a very important place in the overall narrative as someone whose story and character reflects Olga's own perhaps even better than Douman does.

4) Kagekiyo is perhaps the most successful example of a mixed Servant because Heian gave them a very emotionally powerful character moment as Yoshitsune (Kintoki's best opponent in Heian) while the Kamakura event gave them an equally powerful moment as Kagekiyo proper. Both sides are covered evenly and covered well. Kagekiyo proper is my favorite character in the Ushiwakamaru circle of characters (low bar, but I do like them a lot).

5) Homietrot is my friend. Homietrot is your friend. She's always there being devoted and positive when Morgan and Mash need her. I'm extremely glad she became a permanent addition to the main cast.

6) Miss Crane's event is very rightfully criticized for being a mishmash of idol fandom memes, but Crane herself is one part that's undeniably written with a heart. Also, her design is gorgeous, her less dignified expressions are excellent, her relationships to both her original Master and Romani made me feel things, and her Noble Phantasm is one of my favorites.

7) Quixote and Sancho have their bad jokes along the way but are overall a fun comedy duo with poignant character moments for both of them individually, a neat role in the narrative, insightful commentary about their own nature and how it reflects on other characters, and one of the most soulful profiles in the whole game. Sancho was all in all one of the best ideas possible for this character.

8) Kriemhild already has her own post about her part in Traum, so I'll just add that she's being pretty well-used in interludes and events.

9) Kiichi has a fun personality, is easy to mock as every Sakurai fetish combined, and provided the tengu lore that made me go insane at least twice, but the star of her debut is clearly Kagekiyo so she's a bit on the forgettable side as her own character (as opposed to as the representative of tengus).

10) Bakin speaks funny, had meaningful things to say about Chaldea's role in part 2, and rightfully calls Hokusai a shithead. He's a character I could love if he was a less boring event.

11) Feihu is an always welcome addition to the Investiture of the Gods crew but they kinda did nothing with him beyond "dad" and the stupidest questions about loyalty. It's a shame they sacrificed Tianhua's chances for a solo Servant debut, but the family gimmick was imo worth it.

12) Caren is Caren. Not even her memes are new. Welcome presence as a new member of the NagiKama friend circle, but it was it is.

13) Lostbelt Percival is one of those Avalon le Fae cast members I paid the least attention to. His opinion on fae is a thing I agree with, though. Can't comment on Pan-Human Percival because I'll only buy the first Aslaug novel next month.

14) Constantine had a charming relationship and an excellent death scene in Traum, but in both cases, Joan was the better side of it. Likewise in his epic duel, Quixote was the better side of it for such a wide margin it ain't even funny.

15) The Trung sisters certainly existed but not nearly as much as the Cons existed (and still constantly exist in merch). All I can say is congratulations to the Vietnamese fans.

16) Tametomo was a minor character in Traum, then he got a main part in his debut event and I still feel Traum did more for his character than the event did.

17) Galatea has cool pants, which are great but not great enough to compensate for her coming in and out of her debut event completely unaware of what was going on with Aphrodite. If she's going to be a side dish to an Olympian we'll never have, at least let her be emotionally involved with it.

18) Baobhan Sith's Eliza-like visuals are very significant: her whole character concept is "what if Eliza's character arc simply ended in CCC chapter 2 instead of evolving into the perfect redemption arc presented in chapters 5 and 7". Unfortunately, I can't care much about an undercooked version of a great character. At least she's good as an example of how Beryl works.

19) Huyan Zhuo is impressively obnoxious and about the most gratuitous and undignified FGO has gotten with waifubait. She's a good fit for her role of less mature foil for the baby version of Elizabeth Bathory but still solid placed on my bottom 5 Servants.

#fate grand order

[astral-from-afar]

Once again I am back to talking about a jjk poll because it's been on my mind today. I just wanna look at the top 10 and talk about the misogyny choices of the fanbase.

Megumi - I think Megumi's alright and I don't have anything against him. His involvement in the main story keeps him relevant but I dunno, I still don't have anything to talk about sorry

Yuji - I once again want to advocate that my boy Yuji should have been #1. He keeps getting overshadowed in these polls and I wish that he was given justice.Unfortunately this may be the last poll but Yuji will be no.1 in my heart.

Gojo - Okay let me be real I thought box boy would be #1 just to mess with Gege after he got released. Like Gege would 100% kill him off in the cruelest way if he was first but it would be hilarious nevertheless.

Geto - wait is this him + kenjaku? Geto has been getting more promo leading up to s2 + he's one of the more significant characters to the overall story so I shouldn't have downplayed his popularity. But I feel like he should be lower down compared to some of the other characters on the list.

Yuta - He's higher than last time so that's nice. I'm a firm believer that he should have been fourth instead of Geto and that gap was WAY too large.

Naoya - haha very funny. Yeah the guy with no character and was supposed to develop both Maki and Mai's characters and he was higher than BOTH of them COMBINED. Like what has he really done? Bffr. This is most likely due to him looking 'attractive' compared to other members of the Zenin clan who are NOT on the top 30. Like I said before, there are characters below him that have been in the manga way longer and had a far greater impact. But hey that's shonen fanbases for you.

Nanami - Another good day for Nanami fans.I'm surprised he's still in the top 10 and was expecting him to land around 14-16 but I was proven wrong. I do enjoy his character though so I don't really mind that he's in the top 10.Hope to see him shine in s2

Inumaki - Okay before I get sniped let's be real. He has not done anything to deserve being in the top 10. I literally ran an account counting how many days he was gone and there was barely any signs of him coming back until recent events occured. He really should have been in the 10-20s and while I do like his character I can't deny salmon boy was kinda irrelevant.

Maki - This is what happens to a female character in a shonen series. People always go on about how the female charcters in jjk are 'so developed' but when it comes to it, they are barely recognised in polls like these. Her achievements SHOULD place her to top 5 (top 3 imo) as her character has been integral in so many events and has one of the most emotional stories in the series. Her being below characters like Naoya and Inumaki is a disservice to her character and I urge people to reread her arcs to see why she is one of the best characters in the series.

Choso - Still salty about this. This is mainly because I consider Choso wasted potential but I feel like it's more criminal to see him be on here instead of Yuki. I know I am a resident Yuki fan so I may be biased but she has been in the story numerous times. Her ideals and philosophies are interesting and complex and her showdown against Kenjaku (although a bit dissapointing) is one of the most unique fights in the series. Two intellectual characters with a deep history with the jujutsu world and real word experiences going head to head. Then you look at Choso's arc with his brothers along with himself and it just pales in comparison. I do think Choso should have been in the 10-20s as he is still a good character but not having the SPECIAL GRADE SORCEROR and former STRONGEST SORCERER on the list. I'd also argue that this was a case of fandom misogyny as she is one of the more important characters but is constantly undermined or vilified by the fanbase

All in all, the list is kind of sad to see. Mainly due to the female characters being overshadowed by male characters who may not have deserved the place. I invite conversations to talk about the poll but I'm not fighting people over this

#jjk #popularity poll #it was nice to look on my previous thoughts #and see the differences

[mccoys-killer-queen]

Seeing Faster Pussycat/LA Guns/Tom Keifer Band in concert:

if you follow me on insta you know a LOT happened last night xD this is going to be a VERY long post I can just feel it. I gotta try and sort out my copious thoughts mixed in with all the events so we're gonna TRY doing this in chronological order:

*deep breath*

when I first got there 5 hours before showtime, I went inside to use the bathroom. Now this venue is relatively small, and they have a small restaurant upstairs (those are the bathrooms you have to use prior to doors). I went upstairs and I heard Tom soundchecking from there :o he was playing Don't Know What You Got (Til It's Gone) and it was making the room shake it was the greatest piss of my life

I was the 4th person in the general admission line and I was with these two guys, one of whom had a RAD hysteria tat and said I have Joe's (pyromania) haircut

this guy offered me free beer

one of these three people in front of me ended up being my "concert friend" (I'll refer to her as Robin) bc we talked so much and she's old enough to be my mom

Robin and the other two guys in front of me had VIP packages to see LA Guns' soundcheck so they left and I was first in line until only Robin came back

Slim Tender actually passed in front of us in line hours before doors opened but none of us really realized it was him

I got my photo pass and got in like 10 minutes before everyone else!! I ended up being front row at the barrier to stage left

Faster Pussycat's rhythm guitarist (Ronnie Simmons) gave me big Steve Clark vibes bc he's a skinny white boy with long hair who looked shy, did air split jumps while playing, and just in general felt Steve-y

Sam Bam is incredible and adorable just saying and FP sounded awesome like Taime sounds exactly the same as he did 30 years ago

They stole the fucking show I swear to god the night peaked with them imo

Phil was wearing a mesh tank top with a bandana and feathered hat he looked like a granddad trying too hard to be a pirate and the curly ass mustache didn't help

Phil looks like his 80s self is pretending to be old

Due to personal reasons I am now in love with Phil Lewis

he was dancing like a total dork it drove me insane I couldn't get enough

His speaking voice is so high???

Phil grabbed his left tiddy like twice during their set

guys I SWEAR I saw a tramp stamp on him with my own two eyes I SWEAR I saw it you gotta believe me

Phil pointing at my camera during the first fucking song and me not getting the shot ;-;

Phil replacing random lyrics with the words "Tracii Guns" (i.e. "nowww Tracii's breaking hearts in heaven")

Phil giving a speech about Tracii during Jayne and saying how he's been his best friend for over 30 years and how "no man has ever touched me like he has-"

Tracii: *pokes Phil's shoulder* C:

Phil: "-and I LIKED it"

Tracii: *pokes Phil's boob* C:

Ace apparently pulled his groin early in their set (I was on Tracii's side so I didn't see- I will elaborate more on this later)

since I was on the side of the stage with the exit, that meant the drinks were there too, so every time Tracii went into a solo, Phil would come over and would almost always interact with me and the teenage girls next to me

at one point I took advantage of this and I blew a kiss at him when he was in front of me, to which he went :O and slapped his cheek to show he "caught" it and I went fuckin ballistic

at the end of their set Phil grabbed one of Tracii's picks and crouched down in front of me and threw it to me (I CAUGHT IT)

was anyone going to tell me Tracii Guns is a dilf or-

I literally thought Johnny Martin was a woman the whole time- like I KNEW it had to be him but I was seriously second guessing myself because he just- he was in glasses and a scarf and a hat and he haS A VERY FEMININE BUILD

Phil saying he's happy to be "on top of this beautiful mountain again" (the venue is on top of a mountain) and it's so weird bc like ? this is just where I live? and he likes it? HE likes it??

apparently Phil complemented a girl on her tits during the show (she was showing a lot on purpose and bouncing a lot and he just kinda motioned bouncing tits with his hands and nodded- I'M TOLD- I didn't actually see any of this. Robin told me afterwards)

LA Guns stole the show I stg I had no idea how Tom was gonna top that it was the peak of my night

Tom was ethereal just saying he sounds T H E E. S A M E. HAS HE DID ON NIGHT SONGS.

Tom's knee high boots and tight pants hell yeah

Tom wasn't really playing with the crowd that much but he did slightly acknowledge me during Shelter Me by just kinda looking at me and singing

He played much more Cinderella than I expected I was LIVING

Tom saying we (him and the crowd) are basically related bc we're all from PA. So from this point onward I am related to Tom Keifer I didn't make these rules he said it himself

Tom during Nobody's Fool going "I SCREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAMMMM- *falls to his knees*" a capella, letting his voice absolutely shudder the whole building, and holding it forever and everyone going nuts what a fucking god

Tom betting we knew every word to Nobody's Fool which we DID

his playing just seems so smooth????

his wife Savannah being on backing vocals and them doing Don't Know What You Got (Til It's Gone) together was really cute ;-;

Before they did that Tom told us to "show him some Pennsylvania stars" (aka put our lights on during the song)

the stars actually coming out in the sky after the show ;-; <3

they did Long Cold Winter as an encore and I was dissociating thee whole fucking time so badly because I was THAT exhausted- like I didn't even recognize the song until the very end I was that out of it. I didn't have anything to drink- alcohol or not.

someone was holding a very good drawing they did of him and his wife the whole time and at the end of the set one of the roadies took it from her and brought it back, and came out a minute later asking if she wanted it back, to which she said they could keep it. SO yeah Tom and Savannah kept a fan's drawing of them ;-; <3

Tom's hair is still godly

I also never knew he has a nice butt 👌 and legs

When Tom was recording the video of the crowd he put on his insta he was like "hold on I gotta I make sure I recorded bc the other night I fucked it up and didn't get it..."

"...I GOT IT" *audience cheers bc yay Tom knows how to use a phone good for u honey we're proud*

Okay that's JUST from the show. Now here's where it gets crazy.

#IT LITERALLY WON'T LET ME TYPE ANY MORE #LIKE EVERY TIME I TRY TO TYPE MORE THE SAVE BUTTON DISAPPEARS #TBC in part 2: what happened AFTER the concert #this post gave tumblr whiplash #guys I literally have hundreds of photos to go through and that is NOT an exaggeration #i have 130 photos on my camera ALONE #that's not even counting what I took on my phone #concerts #la guns #tom keifer #faster pussycat #concert log #concert diary

[conradrasputin]

#3 He/mlock Grove, RomanxPeter, an og betrayal, absolute trash, worst experience of my liiiiiiiiife!!!!!!!! and I love them forever!!! they might honestly be my heart of hearts ship, I've dry heaved sobbed irl over them, and thank god, there's fic that elevates it to my comfort level.

I'd honestly prob be more casual blogging them here, but I know, I KNOW, there'd be the conception from this and surrounding blog's energy that the porcelain big lipped 'vampire' is the bottom

which given past celebrated content of similar builds, I see the point, and ships are subjective, and yet, INCORRECT

that's the wife, that's the bottom, his p**sy is beautiful, we all have certain ships we just can't budge on this, and here's one of mine, I know you understand 🙏

From day 1, the sass, the shorts, the sl**tiness, I couldn't NOT wife him forever.

#9 RosencrantzxGuildenstern, another dry heave sob ship idk why, I don't even need fic (altho there's excellent ones I've read for years), the film destroys me every time for whatever reason

my preference may throw you off, especially since Mr. Roth is one of my god tier bottoms in Res/ervoir Do/gs (LarryxFreddy forever+forever creamed peach Freddy forever)

but that just shows the power of this puppy dog bottom imo

how I used to remember my own name – and yours, oh yes! There were answers everywhere you looked. There was no question about it – people knew who we were and if they didn't they asked and we told them our names.

I'm never over every face/body language choice from both of them, their desperation for their impossible situation, the LOVE and how Guildenstern just needs to deep d*ck cream inside Rosencrantz to calm them BOTH down, they deserve it

example of their amnesia marriage:

#10 JimmyxHenry Ha/rdcore Henry

pov movie, u never actually technically SEE Henry, there's sort of a diff face for a second there, but I saw the director's promo face first, and it's such a nice face I imprinted on, so that's that

Henry, my darling, amnesiac cyborg, killing machine, and there's so much moments of DELIGHT from his character in the movie that shows his warmth and humor among all the chaos and violence, and I just want his legs up in the air , ya know?

(fun fact, his dad in the film is mr. roth)

Jimmy is the scientist that makes sure he meets Henry from the chaos Henry's in

the og jimmy is disabled from past movie events, but he has 'avatars' that, are technically connected to his mind, but have different personalities that imo jsut gives Henry multiple boyfriends

(soldier jimmy's my fav)

you may know this one:

(whole movie's on youtube btw, altho if you get pov motion sickness, avoid; oh also violent lol)

There's a character named Akan that technically has the only canon h*moerotic moment in the movie, but fun for what it was, I'll never proper ship

the back and forths between Henry+Jimmys, even a newly mute amnesiac Henry? >>>

If ur okay with violence, the little bits with Henry and Soldier Jimmy from 1:48 on is a good example

I was a bit proud of this edit, ngl, 😂😂😂 If I had photoshop/art skills? pow. gonna repost by itself tbh.

#panickcontent #prompt #Youtube

[masonsystem]

ok i will update this as time passes but anyways this is MYYYY list of miles morales issues that i actually like <3 will list them in (kinda) chronological order rn but as i add on issues that i read later i.. will not do that. ❤️ also im not listing down issues exclusively from his runs, im listing down any comic shit with miles in them that i like. yay! (but theyre all miles morales focused)

- Ultimate Comics: Spider-Man (2011) #5 this is the last issue of miles' origins arc! while i enjoy his spider-verse origins more, im actually OK with his original origins. tho i am not a fan of SHIELD butting in like, at all….. like straight up telling him that his uncle is the prowler? giving him his iconic SUIT? lame as hell.. but whatever! anyways i picked this issue from this arc specifically bc i think miles holding nick fury's hand is the cutest thing ever

- Spider-Men I (2012) this entire arc is great and imo the best miles storyline that bendis ever wrote for him. i dunno why its so good when it has the same amount of pages as every standard comic (17-19 pages). like not just the story and dialogue is good, but this is the best sequencing work ive seen from pichelli (the artist). this is kinda mean but nothing that bendis and pichelli put out for miles after this arc is as good as this LOL, like look how well these pages flow!

also it was peter's and miles' meeting in this arc that inspired the chaotic meeting between peter b and miles in ITSV 😊

- Spider-Man (2016) #10 its so sad that the only run thats titled 'Spider-Man' for miles morales, and not 'Miles Morales: Spider-Man' or 'Ultimate Spider-Man' or Whatever is written by bendis.. and is like. probably his worst run of miles yet but WHATEVER!! but yeah i havent properly sat down and read this run (as opposed to skimming it which is what i did) bc its just like. lame storyline after lame storyline... but this is the one good issue to come out of it. and out of Civil War II, which is the event this issue is having a crossover with.

quick summary of civil war ii: theres some dude who can allegedly see the future and is predicting that the superheroes will betray each other, and now the superheroes are split up against whether to believe these predictions and lock themselves up before these predictions come to fruition, or whether they should just chill tf out and ignore this guy. yeah. its... whatever. miles doesnt do much so i Dont Really Care. he does get a focus tho when the future-seeing-dude foresees that he will kill captain america! awesome!!!

not awesome for miles tho bc bendis-written miles is kinda lame but whatever. but anyways this issue deals with the aftermath of miles being accused of being a killer in his future, and how it deeply affected him, considering his family's criminal history. he has a supportive group of friends too that are there to comfort him so yeah! this is a really neat, touching, and heart-wretching issue.

- Spider-Man (2016) Annual #1 ok i said i hate miles' 2016 run but i actually really like the annual issue for it! its not written by bendis so maybe thats why lol. also ill be commenting on the first story of the annual not the second one. like i like the second one too but thats just ganke and miles fucking around in driving school.

so anyways this issue is kindaaa retconned.. like it was kinda? supposed to be miles' new origin for his immigration to 616 except.... no writer ever used this issue again, ever, so like.. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ the storyline is OK but what i really like abt this issue is two things:

1.) i really like that miles and uncle aaron's relationship is explored further here. like ill always love the exploration between these two bc i have prowler brain disease like you know this i know this im deep in the prowlerverse. whatever. but yeah i just really love the nuance in their relationship, i love that aaron is a product of his environment and is just looking out for miles the best he can. im not gonna analyze him too crazily rn so ill just let these panels speak for themselves:

and 2.) i really love that miles holds his ground and defends his existence in the last few speech bubbles. especially important in the context that this is his first run in 616, so he really has to affirm that he's earned his place alongside the already existing spider-man. miles is spider-man too and hes here to stay you son of a bitch!

(also its funny that he says he isnt an avenger when he becomes an avenger like a year or 2 later. lmfao. he also gets a What If? issue where he becomes captain bitchmerica and thor so... LOL?)

- Generations: Miles Morales Spider-Man & Peter Parker Spider-Man (2017) get a load of that fucking title. anyways this is an anthology, meaning it fits fucking nowhere in continuity and is just here for you to get your kicks in, hell yeah. its some fanfic-esque plot where miles morales gets transported to the past where peter parker is only on his like, 2nd or 3rd year of being spider-man. how does miles get back to the present? who fucking knows! dont worry about it.

whats striking about this comic is that miles isnt meeting some more modern adaptation of peter parker, hes very much meeting the peter parker that was published in the comics from the 60s. the same moody, grouchy, beaten-up-by-life peter parker from the 60s that revolutionized comics. even the art style of this comic reflects this.

its a very introspective and intimate comic. no big fights. just miles morales meeting the actual first spider-man. despite the ending rubbing me the wrong way at first, i eventually warmed up to it. at first i had thought it was saying something like "only peter parker is the true spider-man", but as i thought about it some more, i realized what it was saying was this: spider-man will always distinctly belong to peter parker, and to the writers and artists who established his early and iconic premise and storyline. this does not mean that spider-man does not belong to miles morales, but it means there is always a threshold for miles to reach for, and that isnt necessarily a bad thing. it is a legacy being shared with miles, and it is an amazing one.

(and its one that hes steadily living up to, in his own way ❤️)

- Marvel 1001 (2019) this is literally a one page special in a book of one page specials so ill just post the whole thing here! its just kamala and miles being cute and pranking each other 😊 and its by the artist of the champions, whom art style i love!

- Champions (2016) #25, #26, #27

shadow spider suit is here..... what else is there to say!

- Ironheart (2019) #6 kinda a continuation of the champions weirdworld arc that i just listed, bc it focuses on miles and riri who were paired together in that arc. i think the character dynamics between them are great, theyre both pretty introverted heroes but riri is more confrontational while miles is more withdrawn. it makes for a very interesting duo, and i wish they were paired up more often </3

cute little issue where these two are cute together, and also some pretty ominous commentary on the whole 'miles is not originally from this dimension' thing. like it gets handwaved away but miles was literally kept in captivity for like, 2 months without even being aware of it, and the reason for his captivity is bc he's from another universe that he doesnt even always remember. some dark shit honestly.. i love it!

- Miles Morales: Spider-Man (2019) #4 such a silly slice of life issue. miles and his friends skip school and its so cute and silly and its so!! fun!! its got an A plot where miles is skipping school with his friend while still running into spider-man troubles, and its got a B plot, where jonah j jameson has reincarnated into a spongebob-looking vice principal and is trying to catch miles and gang skipping school. this dual page spread is possibly my favorite from ahmeds entire run:

it reminds me of the tt2003 comics where they had a bunch of chibis on the margins, i love it so much!

- Free Comic Book Day 2019 Spider-Man just a oneshot for free comic book day, so its not tied to any on-going arcs whatsoever which is great! set in 616 so u got both peter and miles just chilling.

despite this hysterical first page that i love so so much, its a very chill and introspective issue, that reflects on nostalgia. its a sweet and solid issue!

- Miles Morales: Spider-Man (2019) #12 & #13 BILLIE IS BORN!!!! CONGRATULATIONS AND APPLAUSE!!!!

but besides the blessed introduction of the beloved billie, i really love the interactions between miles and aaron in these two issues. aaron reluctantly re-enters a life of crime to pay off a debt he acquired after saving miles, and miles reluctantly has to stop him from committing said crime. neither of them want to fight each other, ESPECIALLY since rio is about to give birth, but they both have to do what they have to do.

(i wanted to post a pics of their dilemma at first but this makes me laugh too much so im putting this here instead)

its a very great two issues, that explores miles' complex family situation really well and with a lot of nuance. and now that ive read bendis' original prowler run, i can see how this mini-arc has several callbacks to that. where bendis' prowler run ended with death (uncle aaron's), this arc concludes with new life (billie's). which i think is beautiful :') i prefer ahmed's take on uncle aaron a lot more than bendis', bc miles having a living and supportive family has always been the strongest aspect of his character imo.

- Miles Morales: Spider-Man (2019) #15 the leadup to this, issue #14, is not that bad either honestly! but the only parts i really like from it are the fact that it leads up to this issue #15, and that theres some dialogue from miles where he kinda recalls bits of earth-1610. so anyways regarding this issue.... i really like how honorable the spongebob vice principal is. he endangers himself to defends his students, and those students includes spider-man!! (he learns of miles' secret identity in this issue)

hes just a really cool character. my only complaint is that i wished ahmed dragged this on a bit longer, with more instances of spongebob vice principal trying to catch miles skipping class, so that when he does eventually protect miles and his identity, it wouldve felt much more impactful. but this is just a little nitpick, and i still love this issue ^_^ its DAMN good!

- Miles Morales: Spider-Man (2019) #24 this issue is the calm before the storm (clone saga).. but who gaf about that! this issue is just miles and kamala doing fuck all, and its just really sweet and cute.

a very well-needed breather of an issue, except for the part where miles gets to express his RAGE!!!!! also i love this artist's work sm (carmen carnero). their work is my favorite artstyle for this run!

- Marvel's Voice: Comunidades (2021) probably my most favorite miles story ever ❤️ talking about the last issue of this volume, not the one in the middle.

anyways, i love everything about this story. i love how proud miles is of his culture. i love this beautiful artstyle with strong dynamic lines and warm tones for the colors. and the commentary about diaspora from black panther is so touching. i love that he tells miles that no matter the distance, you will always be the same people your ancestors were. nothing can take that away from you, and we will always be family in that regard.

and i love how much he loves billie, and how he loves that they will come from the same worlds. these panels might be my favorite miles morales panels ever.. this issue warms my heart and makes it aches in the best possible way ❤️❤️

- Miles Morales: Spider-Man (2019) #42 saladin ahmed's farewell to miles morales and honestly what a way to go out! wow!! despite not being the biggest fan of his run, i really love this issue!! :D

it neatly wraps up the various elements that he bought to miles morales' mythos for the past 3 years, and in such a creative way. i adoreeee the tarot idea in this issue. and i LOVE that (i think) all the previous artists who worked on this run came back to illustrate different sections of this issue, with different artists illustrating a different tarot card.

sean the bully is here. spongebob vice principal is here. shift the clone is here. kenneth the non-binary fashion designer kid actually designs something that slays for once!

tiana is here! billie is here! hell even the rhino is here again, and the irrelevant villain from the first arc! miles with a living and supportive uncle, proud parents, and a loving friend group are here! i may not agree with all of ahmed's writing choices, but he did not slack when it came to expanding miles' cast <3 its a beautiful and perfect way for ahmed to sign off from a series :D

oh!! and one of my biggest complaints with ahmed's run is how he kept piling trauma after trauma onto miles, but never really gave him time to sit down and cathartically process or acknowledge them (unless it was done in the insane evil clone of miles turns into a dictator in an alternate future arc which i still havent read). but he finally does in this final issue, where it makes him strong enough to beat the villain from this series first arc, but this time without the help of captain bitchmerica!

not the most ideal acknowledgement of his trauma by my standards, but honestly thats ok. bc miles' next writer, cody ziglar, picks up the torch and makes sure miles is Breaking The Fuck Down and acknowledges all this trauma, baby!

- Miles Morales: Spider-Man (2022) #1, #2, #3, #4, & #5 basically the entire Trial By Spider arc. i love this arc. i love this new villain, raneem rasheed, and i love how shes actually related to miles' lottery backstory! cannot believe it took 10+ years for that aspect of his character to be explored, but better late than never ig. the artwork for this is also phenomenal, tho theres some sequencing aspects that are a bit hard to make out, but its very minor. i love the coloring very much.

i already posted quite a bit about raneem, but i really love her character. i love her ruthlessness, rage, and grief. and i cant wait to see her again 💜

- Marvel's Voices: Spider-Verse (2023) both miles stories in this book are pretty good, but im gonna talk abt my favorite of the two, which is 'Training Day' by cody ziglar, which has this world famous panel here:

(i love how miles is the exact opposite of his movie counterpart LOL)

its basically miles' story from comunidades.... 2! what more can i say. i love babies and i love (GOOD) social commentary!!

^im too tired to ramble (again) about how much i love this dialogue. like look at that.... self-awareness in a superhero comic <3

- Miles Morales & Moon Girl (2022)

such a cute comic! moon girl is such a cute and precocious character... really not much to say here LOL its short, snappy, and sweet!

[starglewcrossing]

🥰

#stardew #stardew valley #sdv #sdv harvey #this why I always end up with Harvey #he is just the sweetest and says stuff like this 😫🥺 #and imo he’s very exciting despite him thinking he’s boring #imo he has one of the best 10 heart events #I haven’t done everyone’s 10 heart but I’ve read on the wiki for them #this dude faces his 1 fear for the farmer #to show he is basically willing to do and face anything with them #and it is soooo romantic omg #I love this game so much because it adds layers to what people consider even the most #mundane characters #🥰❤️

[oviids]

pls share some of your spn fic recs 🥺🥺

ok, a few things first:

followers and mutuals who do not have supernatural brainworms, kindly avert your eyes

i don’t normally rec or even read much fanfic any more but this is a CRISIS ok (cont.)

there is so. much. content for deancas out there and i have incredibly high standards, several ancient ao3 bookmarks, can speedread, and want to spare you guys the experience of wading through it all.

i also have a section for spn femslash since I was pretty into that back in the day (sadly a lot less fan content for this :/)

I don’t really like au’s or pure smut (I honestly usually just skim or skip those scenes) so if you’re mainly looking for that kind of thing this probably won’t be very helpful to you. jsyk.

i’m not great at describing stuff but i’ll do my best, i’ll also try and add tw’s when neccesary.

i wil try and keep updating this with any other decent fics i find, feel free to rec stuff too since i’m like 7 years behind.(edit 1/25/21) this is getting looooong so i’m going to start making another list on my spn blog rather than update this one

(edit 1/3/21) since this has gotten pretty long i’ve added rating/approximate word counts and marked my particular favorites with an asterisk.

Dean/Cas fic:

So Says The Sword*** - explicit/85k. FUCK its good...au/time travel where dean is not pulled out of hell by cas and says yes to becoming the michael sword. honestly could serve as an alternative to actually watching the show, if you want to get into dean/cas without actually doing that to yourself.

Fata morgana.*  - teen/6k, pst s9 finale. very bela centric and i love it, she finds cas looking for dean in hell.

Redemption Road -misc/600+k. an incredibly long fic from a collaborative writing group back in the day. canon divergent from the end of s6 on, has a cool take on godstiel and the leviathans, as well as the lovecratian mythos connection. ngl when i reread it i only made it about 28% in but imo the casual reader can actually stop around there, the rest concerns a lovecraftian apocalypse that is still good (i think i don’t remember it very well) but not required to enjoy the first half. if you prefer i have an ebook version i can send you on gdrive.

Someone Who's Feeling For Me* - mature/45k, s12. they run into lisa braeden and dean thinks cas is into her while cas thinks dean still likes her. treats lisa way better than the show ever did and the miscommunication is pretty funny rather than annoying.

a turn of the earth - mature/95k. time travel fic where cas from s10 keeps showing up in deans life from a few years before s1 to right before the hellhounds take his soul.  slow burn, good character study, and at one point cas punches the dad in the face and it rules.

On the Wings of War - teen/85k, canon divergent s5. dean accidentally becomes the Horseman of War. plays fun, fast and loose with biblical lore, michael has some rights.

Named - mature/95k, alternate s5. EXTREMELY blasphemous in a fun sexy way. manages to predict metatron almost to a T. there’s one major character death and its literally jesus christ, everyone is very sad about it and it sets the rest of the story rolling. an alternate interpretation of cas’ mission to raise dean from hell which had me on the floor. ngl its kind of misogynistic at points, but its from 2010 and tracks with late oughts-2010 spn (sorry anna the author did you dirty here:/).

The Girlfriend Experience - explicit/15k. uhhh i don’t normally rec or even read smutty stuff unless someone i know is specifically asking for it but this has stuff like sam trying to be a good ally and dean thinking holding hands with cas is ‘kinda gay :/’ minutes after having gay sex with him.

i crippled your heart a hundred times - explicit/19k, s8. cas confesses his feelings and dean spends a long time getting his head out of his ass about it. truly hits different after the actual confession, despite being written six years early it feels like its actually what could have gone down more or less if the writers weren’t talentless demons who hate us.

My Roots Take Flight** - mature/125k. reverse au where cas is a hunter and dean’s an angel...OR IS IT???? an alternate retelling of s4. tw for briefly being set in a psychiatric hospital/the hospital being mentioned somewhat frequently throughout the fic, plus more references to torture in hell and heaven than usual.

The One Thing You Can't Lose* - teen/4k.you know those posts about how cas is a super-strong super-tough ancient warrior but he just lets dean tug him around because he likes it? thats it thats the fic.

Hands, From Which All Things Are Built - teen/14k, post s8′s ‘goodbye stranger.’ cas is on the run with the angel tablet but keeps in touch with sam and dean by text, he and dean still manage to be terrible at Actual communication.

Autrement, Danger - or, The Account of an Exceedingly Long Day - mature/30k, post s11. a monster that takes the appearance of your soulmate leads to some wild miscommunications and dealing with years of repression, also dean gets to see cas’ true form which is always cool. tw for non-graphic mentions of underage sexual assault/sex work.

Down to Agincourt - mature/explicit/900++++k, endverse continuation. endverse!cas survives his encounter with lucifer and discovers another time-displaced dean from s7. i’ve only read the two of four parts but its really good, veeeeery slow burn, has a lot of fun oc’s and takes a rather surprising but (imo) entertaining and intriguing turn into Hellenic history and mythology. usual tw’s for endverse/endverse!cas but nothing graphic, it’s actually pretty light-hearted (relatively speaking of course).

Nothing Equals the Splendor** - explicit/8k, THEE finale fix it fic you’ve been waiting for! posits that the entire final episode was just a (very bad and lame) djinn’s vision.

like moses and batman and james dean - explicit/31k, post s8. explores dean’s trauma and internalized homophoba from his technically canon experience with sex work and its impact on his relationship with cas. the sex work itself isn’t really shown in any detail but it’s still a relatively heavy fic.

Crazy Diamonds - explicit/25k, s4/alternate s14. fresh-out-of-hell dean and dean from 10 years in the future are displaced from time and sent to each other’s present.

where the weeds take root - explicit/30k. au where the men of letters kick them out of the bunker and they accidentally move out into the country, get over their codependence and semi retire. featuring chicken coop building, sam volunteering at a dog shelter, gardening, and blissfully mundane domesticity.

No Resting Place - teen/6k. djinn dream fic, switches back and forth between cas’ dream of being married to dean and retired from hunting to the aftermath when he wakes up. tw for brief mention of suicide since, y’know, djinn dream.

any port in a storm - mature/52k. post s8 finale. cas and dean have to pose as a couple going through a rough patch for a case and actually deal with their emotional baggage, cas struggles with being human and metatron is up to stuff.

all this and heaven too* - explicit/7k. in the author’s own words ‘...a love letter to every trans person who ever projected onto Dean Winchester.’ absolutely unzipped me emotionally and theologically, its just. so good. tw for very brief mentions of internalized transphobia/dysphoria.

Because it is* - mature/6k, finale fix it. killing chuck does not bring back anyone back and the winchesters spend a very long time dealing with what they’ve lost, cas and dean SOMEHOW still manage to have signifigant communication issues even after the confession. tw for suicidal thoughts/brief attempt.

Vena Amoris and Other Old-Fashioned Bullshit* - teen/4k, s6. when cas fell for dean it automatically soulbonded/angel married them, shenanigans ensue when dean finds out during the angel’s civil war. funny and actually written back when s6 was airing so cas is still (or at least pretending to be) kind of an OP asshole which is fun.

Rinse, Repeat - teen/3k, s8. angsty character study of cas as he’s reprogrammed and trained to kill dean. not really dean/cas since its just cas’ pov of canon events but its beautifully written and ends with him snapping out of it through the power of love (also now a canon event!).

Emergence - explicit/59k, canon divergent after s11. dean meets a hunter he only recognizes as their friend claire novak’s missing father, but soon realizes he might be the answer behind the mysterious void in his memories and feelings (aka everyone’s memories of cas are completely wiped away for three years).

Cuckoo And Nest - explicit/10k, early established relationship/character study, cas tries to figure out how he fits into dean’s life and space in the bunker.

Build a Home* - teen/20k, canon divergent s12. sam and eileen are cute and turn the bunker into men of letters/hunters hq and everyone but cas moves in, mutual miscommunication issues and pining ensues.

Down in the River - teen/5k, early s8, cas prays to dean in purgatory while sam and dean try to figure out a way to get him out.

Teaching Poetry to Fish* - mature/52k, ?? BC through the entire series/canon divergent s14 and 15. retelling of crucial scenes throughout the shows timeline from cas’ pov, feat. actual fish and poetry.

the minor fall, the major lift - gen/4k, post confession/finale fixit. dean goes into the empty to save cas and runs into several old friends (and enemies).

With the Kisses of His Mouth* - teen/3k, gen later seasons. dean and cas keep kissing by accident.

Remaining Grace - explicit/109k, alternate s6. au where cas asks dean for help with raphael and dean, of course, does. tw for temporary major character death/semi-graphic depictions of alcohol withdrawal.

The face of heaven.* - teen/10k, au, dean is a regular guy and cas is a fallen star (think ‘stardust’, kinda).

Stories Are Made of Mistakes*  - teen/5k. newly human cas has trouble getting used to a human body and humanity in general, but still figures out that he and dean are A Thing before dean does.

Hurry Up And Wait - mature/21k, canon divergent s12. a fairyland and quite possibly LOTR related case comes up and dean goes full fanboy, mary is introduced to the wonders of the peter jackson adaptions, many references and comparisons (including between cas and dean’s ‘friendship’ and arwen/aragon). also charle is still alive and has just been doing fairy stuff this whole time.

There Are Many Things - explicit/28k, s9. cas is extremely lonely/touch-starved and trying to figure out this whole human thing, as well as where he and dean stand after being kicked out of the bunker.

It's A Long Life to Always Be Longing - teen/40k, post s11 finale. amara helps dean by putting him in a magical coma so he can finally get some much needed rest and show him possible futures for him, sam and cas. meanwhile sam and cas go on a roadtrip (or several) to find componets for a spell to wake dean up. really good sam and cas friendship, they actually talk about their shared lucifer trauma and stuff.

Non-Photo Blue - gen/2k, s4/5/alternate s5. fifty moments from cas’ memories of dean.

Tall Grass - explicit/57k, canon divergent post series. cas becomes the ultimate plant dad. feat the wayward sisters gang, cathartic character growth, fun oc’s, domesticity, and lots of actual botanical info-dumping.

on vessels - no rating/gen/2k. established dean/cas, cas tells dean about how he used to imagine what it would be like to have him as his vessel.

search for tomorrow on every shore* - teen/11k, post-finale (extremely derogatory). some angels in jack’s new heaven act out and dean gets temporarily resurrected in 2003 and runs into his younger self.

Architecture of the Minotaur’s Heart - explicit/45k, very canon divergent post s1. dean’s new house seems to have a life and mind of its own, while in his dreams he sees glimpses of a world and apocalypse that never came to be and an angel that looks strangely like his mysterious neighbor, cas. loosely inspired by the book house of leaves (which i highly recommend for fans of weird horror).

The Distance Of The Setting Sun - explicit/17k, post s5. established dean/cas relationship, team free will finally takes advantage of cas’ abilities to go on vacation around the world.

diamond star halo - teen/5k, s11. dean lets cas use him as a temporary vessel while he recovers from rowena’s spell, sam is a long-suffering third-wheel.

Make Known** - teen/16k, s6/7. dean struggles to understand how cas could have become his enemy and whether he ever truly knew him in the first place.

blunt little instrument* - mature/1.4k, post finale. dean finally confronts his father in heaven, very cathartic.

my heart a compass*** - teen/10k, post confession. the empty forces cas to re-experience his most regretted moments while dean tries to snap him out of it and bring him home.

A Crash Course in Someone Else's History - teen/11k, s6. cas from the very start of s4 is brought forward in time by s6!cas to distract the brothers from his and crowley’s plans.

The Cuckoo Father - mature/8k, s7 au. the woman who found cas in the river post-leviathans does not marry him bc he was sent to her by god or whatever, but actually identifies him as jimmy novak and sends him back to claire and amelia.

The Dead Dean Clause* - teen/5k, post alt s5 ending. team free will celebrates surviving taking down lucifer by getting blitzed, cas lies to a cop and gets an impromptu driving lesson. title/description sound dark i know but it’s actually very funny and light.

Suck It, Judy Garland - mature/20k, s12 (after the ‘i love you...i love all of you’ episode). cas and sam have to pretend to be a couple for a case and dean is NOT happy about it.

By Daylight and In Dream - teen/16k, s5. pre-dean/cas, dean invites cas to use his dreams to hide from the other angels. tw for very brief mention of a memory/dream of alastair sexually assaulting dean.

The Five People You Meet in Heaven - mature/22k, post-canon. an actually happy (if sometimes bittersweet) heaven endgame written several years ago, though some details are rather eerily similar to the show’s ending.

heaven is a place on earth* - teen/2k. dean’s pov of some of the times cas left him behind throughout the show, and one alternate ending where he finally gets to stay.

I Cleanse The Mirror - teen/20k, alternate s6. dean’s body is stolen by an ancient elemental and his soul has to hitch a ride in cas’ vessel.

an exploration of gender; angelic*** - mature/4k. *oscar isaac voice* lets get into angel gender politics!! aka cas is trans.

Zenith - explicit/33k, s9. after 9x06 an angry witch curses cas with the ability to see supernatural beings and human souls.

La cucina. - gen/3k, alt s9. dean goes wild helping a newly-human cas find out what kinds of food he likes, or the early s9 domesticity we deserved!

Dean Winchester, Cocksucker at Rest***** - teen/7k, post-finale. john and mary finally come over for dinner and john reacts to dean/cas in a rather predictable fashion. SOOOOOOOOO good omg, its so funny and a little sad and very very cathartic. part of a series that has a few other really good short fics.

The Way You Didn't Go - teen/5k, s15. coda to 15.09, dean has nightmares about the moc!cas timeline.

On Drowning - teen/28k. dean saves cas after he nearly drowns, they both try and deal with the physical/mental fallout (aka the fic where thee iconic “you only touch me when you think I’m dead or dying” originates). tw for realistic depictions of drowning/triage/misc medical information.

The Thirty-Six Questions That Lead to Love* - mature/13k. claire has dean and cas pretend to be her gay dads for a case and they play the titular 36 question game, get mistaken for swingers, and birdwatch, among other things.

Assorted F/F stuff:

Deep Breaths* - mary/ellen, au where mary said no to azazel’s deal and let john stay dead, still becomes a milf.

Like Rebel Diamonds - krissy/claire, they become hunter gf’s on the hunt for cas to kick his ass for taking jimmy. not-so-stealth dean/cas as well.

To Ash and Bone - anna/ruby, same author as the previous fic (p much all of her stuff is good from what i recall). au where ruby is a witch and helps anna when she’s cursed.

Holy Clockwork Angels - jo/ruby, STEAMPUNK au with very cool worldbuiilding.

At Day's End - jo/anna (my fucking KINGDOM for more jo/anna content, the dean/cas parallels are allllll there), au where they are both at the camp in the endverse and gfs.

these posts - ok so not actually a fic but i’m now obsessed with this hannah/meg dynamic.

Tagelied - mary/ellen, the true story of how ellen got into hunting before angels interfered.

Hell's Bells** - meg/abaddon, alternate s8/9 where meg survives crowley’s attack with sam’s help and teams up with abaddon (who she has a sk year old crush on) to take back hell.

The Ecstasy of the Rose - anna/ruby, anna travels back in time to escape heaven and becomes a signifigant part of ruby’s old human life.

Angel Underground - anna/jo, kind of an urban fantasy au with a very intriguing premise (sadly its very short, i’d love to see more if this ‘verse).

Clover, Flame - billie/mary, billie was always the reaper that showed up to take mary after her death(s) over the years.

Drag Me To Heaven - anna/ruby, a variant on the ‘last night on earth’ thing with dean.

Come Home* - jo/anna, canon-divergent au where anna is the new waitress at the roadhouse and helps jo set up a (probably not really) haunted house for halloween.

#if you told me i'd be doing this in 2020 three weeks ago i'd have laughed in your face :/ #deancas #supernatural #fic recs #spn femslash #destiel #fic #the alie tag #spn posting

[ultrahpfan5blog]

Brooklyn Nine-Nine: Season 5 Retrospective

Finished season 5 rewatch a few days ago. Season 5 was an eventful year for the show, on and off the screen. Off screen the show got cancelled on Fox, had a huge public outcry over the cancellation which included several celebrities, and then got picked up by NBC all in 48 hours. It was an exhilarating time as a B99 fan. Lot of stuff happened on screen as well, Jake and Rosa were in prison, team got them out, Jake and Amy got engaged, Rosa came out as bisexual to the precinct and her parents, Holt was in the running to be NYPD Commissioner, Amy became a Sergeant, and then Jake and Amy got married. Eventful season to say the least. Its also my favorite season of the show.

Honestly, this season is about as close to perfection I felt with a season. In other seasons there are at least an episode or two which I felt were meh or problematic. Season 5 is near flawless. I think Return to Skyfire is the weakest of the episodes but its still pretty fun. There are several episodes of season 5 that all rank in the top 10 B99 episodes in my opinion. The show also takes some risks with a couple of experimental episodes. There are episodes with a lot of heart, there are episodes that absolutely hilarious, there are ensemble episodes, there are two hander episode. some excellent new guest stars, and many great recurring stars.

I think the two prison episodes are pretty interesting. Tim Meadows as Caleb is absolutely amazing. He is so likable and low key hilarious that the fact that he's a cannibal who eats children always feels like a dark surprise. He and Andy Samberg make for a fun duo. The first of the two episodes is particularly fun. The show doesn't hesitate to show the danger of Jake being in the prison, especially the situation he finds himself by the end of the premiere. The show does connect one story to the next pretty seamlessly with the end of the Melanie Hawkins story connecting the the Seamus Murphy story which then connected to the Holt commissioner story. There are also a couple of really good experiments in experiments and story with The Box and Show Me Going. The Box is B99 at its most confident. Apart from Gina very briefly at the beginning and Boyle very briefly at the end, the entire episode really hinges on only three characters. Jake, Holt, and Sterling K. Brown's Dr. Davidson. Its a brilliant showcase for all three actors and all three characters. I believe Brown got a Guest Actor Emmy nomination for his performance and he's brilliant as the smarmy Dentist who really is in control for majority of the episode. Braugher and Samberg were old pros with their dynamic at this point and this is fantastic Jake and Holt episode because you completely get why Jake wants so badly to prove that he's right in front of Holt why being cast as the screw up and the idiot in the interrogation frustrates him so much because we know how much Holt's approval means to him. We also see why Terry call Jake his best detective back in season 1 because of how he riles up Davidson to get the confession at the end and getting the approval of Holt that he wanted. Its an incredibly satisfying episode and one of the show's best imo. Then there is also 'Show me Going' which is a surprisingly tense episode in which nothing tense actually happens on screen. The episode does a great job working with the fact that the only knowledge the squad has is that Rosa is on the scene of an active shooter situation. Basically we are in the same situation as the characters. Since all the characters are on edge, so are we. The show does a nice job balancing humor and recognize the danger of the situation.

The season has probably my favorite B99 episode and definitely by fav B99 Halloween episode with HalloVeen. Whereas the last three Halloween episodes were predictable or spoiled from the promos, this one actually threw a genuine surprise. I knew Jake and Amy would get engaged some point in the season, but I expected it to be on the much hyped 99th episode. Instead it can much earlier with HallowVeen and its a delight from start to finish. Its great to rewatch the episode because you pick up little signs that Jake was a bit more desperate to win than usual. First when he says that planning for the heist is what got him through prison time, and then when he says to Boyle that he has to win this time and this heist is way too important. On first watch, these details just slip by as regular overzealous Jake but they have additional poignancy on repeat. The actual proposal moment is handled beautifully in a very peraltiago way where it is both funny and romantic, with Charles' reaction being the cherry on top. There are quite a few strong related episodes that follow. The Venue being a fun return with the Vulture, Two Turkeys being a TWW reunion with Smits and Whitford returning as Amy and Jake's fathers. Its a better Thanksgiving episode than the previous season Smits appearance. Bachelor/ette party is another glorious episode with wild, fun shenanigans with Reginald VelJohnson appearing as himself. Jake & Amy is a very typical wedding episode where everything goes wrong but its perfect in all the right ways. Its heartwarming and sweet. You get more examples of how Jake and Amy are perfect for each other with Jake knowing the inside and outs of how Amy stresses out, and then ending on a wonderful B99 wedding with Fred Armisen returning to make a cameo appearance as Mlep(clay)nos. The episode was designed to work as a series finale since the potential for cancellation was there and while it leaves the season on a cliffhanger about Holt's job, its the sort of cliffhanger that we could have interpreted positively if the show hadn't gotten picked up by NBC.

The 99th and 100th episode of the show were also memorable. The creators chose to acknowledge the 99th episode in a way that most shows acknowledge the 100th episode, in true 99 style. Its a full ensemble episode barring the absence of Chelsea who would return on the 100th episode. Its a typical road trip episode which kickstarts the Holt commissioner storyline. It also is the episode where Rosa comes out as Bi to Charles. This was obviously a big story for Stephanie since she is bi as well and she championed this story. It gets explored in further depth next episode, but Stephanie Beatriz gets to do some of her best work in these two episodes, showing her vulnerability without losing her toughness. Game Night honestly feels very true to not just coming out as Bi to your parents but true to any child who has to confess something that would be against their conservatives parents' values. I think Game Night is a fantastically bittersweet episode and Danny Trejo is brilliantly cast as Rosa's father. The episode positions him as the parent whose reaction Rosa is most worried about and I love how they show that while its difficult for him to grasp the concept bisexuality, he comes around to accepting it and accepting Rosa. But the episode is still bittersweet with Rosa's mom not having come to terms with it. Its also an excellent Rosa and Jake episode where we see Jake endure incredibly uncomfortable situations to help Rosa. Its a characteristic that helps make Jake so endearing that he's willing to cross all limits for his friends.

There are lots of fun and hilarious episodes in between. Craig Robinson shows up as Doug Judy in The Negotiations which is another fun ep. Kevin and Jake get a great episode dealing with their dynamic in Safe House. Rosa and Amy have some fun in White Whale as the Sleuth Sisters. Pimento returns in Gray Star Mutual for some more crazy shenanigans. Gray Star Mutual also has my favorite cold open of all time with Jake leading a suspect lineup in a rendition of 'I got it that way', totally forgetting the crime that he's got the lineup for. Its pitch perfect and I've lost count of how many times I've seen that cold open on youtube. It basically has its own fanbase and introduced so many people to B99. We also get to see Naseem Pedrad as Jake's sister Katie and the end up having a cute dynamic. David Fumero shows up in The Puzzle Master. There are also pretty funny episodes dealing with some serious subject matter such Jake dealing with his own doubts in his ability to do his job after Prison in Kicks and Holt dealing with gambling addiction in Bad Beat. All handled very sensitively.

All in all, this was a fantastic season for the show. I had a blast rewatching it and it ended the Fox era in spectacular note. A 9.5/10. Now on to season 6.

'

#b99 #brooklyn nine nine #brooklyn 99 #raymond holt #jake peralta #terry jeffords #amy santiago #rosa diaz #charles boyle #gina linetti #andre braugher #andy samberg #melissa fumero #terry crews #stephanie beatriz #joe lo truglio #chelsea peretti #peraltiago #sterling k brown

[ellasadventuresinfandoms]

Okay, back in May @isolatedphenomenon asked me if I had an les mis fic recs and I went "oh boy do I !" and then promptly fucked off and disappeared from tumblr for like 6 months...

Anyway on the off chance people are interested, here is my vastly too long list of  my favourite les mis fanfic (that I'm almost 100% sure I'll have accidentally missed some of my favourites off of...)

The vast majority of these are main pairing Enjolras/Grantaire, so I've put those first, divided into multi-chaptered and then one-shots. Below that will be other pairings!

Multi-chaptered

• Witch Boy Series : magic AU, starting with Grantaire solving Enjolras' curse - this is just Incredible world building which gets better as it goes on - my favourite is the Babet interlude

• World Ain't Ready : you know how fandoms tend to have a fic that is just associated with it ? in my experience, for les mis this is it - and well deserved ! High school, fake dating AU with some of the most engaging writing

• BE : Enjolras is dragged back into theatre production, helping Eponine put on a production of Hamlet - really love the characterisation in this, and this is really one of those modern AUs that actually feels like real life - really good writing

• After the End : the definitive apocalypse AU in my eyes - les amis are an underground resistance to the dystopian government - really wonderful characterisation of Grantaire and the amis

• You never have to wonder; you never have to ask. : I tend to find fic by scrolling through bookmarks of a pairing, which means I often see repeats; this is a fic that if I see I just re-read cause I know I'll enjoy it - the amis sparked a failed rebellion, and now 18 months later Grantaire ends up staying at Enjolras' after returning to Paris for Marius and Cosette's wedding

• Your Heart on Your Skin : Soulmate AU with flower tattoos marking important emotions and events - wonderful concept and world building 

• Impatient to Be Free : Daughters of Bilitis AU - if that doesn't make you excited I don't know what else to say to convince you (aside from saying the author is a simply wonderful writer)

• You Dance Dreams : Okay. Not to be over dramatic, but this fic did genuinely qualitatively change my life, in that it was the first thing that got me looking up contemporary ballet and now that's like one of my favourite things and big hobby So. Also its really great writing; music/creative arts school les amis with Grantaire choreohraphing the ballet for Combeferre's opera, with a heavy emphasis on Grantaire realising he really never actually got over Enjolras

• philia : this one is an absolute classic to me, but not given nearly enough recognition - one of the more realistic college AUs ever written, and the writing of Grantaire is so good because it hits the perfect balance of sympathy and annoyance about his behaviour (that's a genuine compliment) 

• Coffee Hooligans : fucking tragedy this never got properly finished, Enjolras leads the amis as social justice vigilantes and tries to hide the criminal bits of his life from R

• Fighting the Hurricane : Pacific Rim AU that's less an AU and more just placing the les mis characters in the Pacific Rim universe. Really good and riveting read, also super interesting depiction of Grantaire

• Weaving Olden Dances : Fairy AU - Grantaire "claims" Enjolras to prevent his execution - really good writing, love Grantaires characterisation 

• Paris Burning : canon era (sort of) where cities have a physical being - Grantaire is Paris and becomes entangled in Enjolras' revolution - oh the world building is truly *chefs kiss*

• Euphoria is You For Me : Enjolras and Grantaire keep meet cuting in a wonderfully written Brooklyn - feels like a love letter to Brooklyn at times, and I really like the characterisation of Grantaire 

• so please just fall in love with me this christmas : Enjolras works for the environmental company Grantaire volunteers at, and keeps getting secret gifts at Christmas - I sound a little like a broken record but the Grantaire characterisation is very good

• You Are the Moon : Wild West esque Space AU - Grantaire has to call on the amis to help rescue Valjean and Cosette, despite Grantaire leaving the amis 6 months before. On re-reading the Enjolras characterisation feels a little rushed, but overall fantastic story telling and the Grantaire arc is a Delight 

• Pandemos : Enjolras is aphrodite, and seeks peace from all his suitors in R/Hephestus' cave

• Pining for You : Hallmark christmas romance - Grantaire returns home to work on his father's tree farm, and Enjolras is the lawyer helping prevent the farm being sold - cute as shit imo

• Once We're Kings : Fantasy AU - a country hosts a ball to marry Prince Enjolras and the rival country sends Grantaire as a fuck you - one of the best ways of doing Enjolras as a prince in a fantasy and just really nicely written

• Never Bitter and All Delicious : Fairy Godmother AU - yes really, yes its genuinely a very good read

• On One Condition : Fantasy AU - Enjolras is a bored knight who finally goes to check out the local dragon, which turns out to be Grantaire - I really like how they capture Enjolras' stubborn nature and it's such a well written soft growth of love between them

• That's How Easy Love Can Be : Les Amis work at a primary school; and its secret santa time! very fun portrayal of Enjolras

• The Lark and Her Lieutenants : re write of canon where Cosette is the leader of the revolution - just *chefs kiss*

• If You Tickle Us, Do We Not Laugh : Grantaire is Enjolras' secret android - really good at writing a relationship that's incredibly loving but just keeps being antagonistic and coming off wrong 

One Shots

• True Colours : AU where you leave colours on the people important to you - Enjolras and Grantaire falling for each other is so soft and gently written its lovely, this is genuinely one of my favourites

• Keep It Kind, Keep It Good, Keep It Right : this one is so good to me, because it builds off my pet hatred of everyone assuming Enjolras doesn't care about (or at least actively show he cares about) his friends

• blooming : very soft post-dystopian utopia that has just a really wonderful sense of hope and light to me

• and the wall leaned away (or: The Pros and Cons of Tilling) : perfectly realised characterizations of the amis, Grantaire needs a date to her final year art exhibition - deals with anxiety over protest in a way that actually hits for me

• not just one of the crowd : R helps run a leftist bakery and bike repair shop - very cute characterisation, and I think more les mis fanfic should link to anarchist essays

• Lovesickness : Enjolras is an idiot and thinks he's sick rather than having a crush - the writing of Joly and Combeferre in this is some of my favourite depictions of these two

• If there's a rocket, tie me to it : absolutely heartbreaking sci-fi AU about the amis as doomed mecha pilots

• Where I Fall is Where I Land : Enjolras is a Roman commander as Rome's power is leaving England, and then meets the pict Grantaire (+ fun soulmark stuff !)

• You Started Foreign to Me : Enjolras moves to america and R is the overnight grocery clerk who helps her learn Spanish - cute fluffy lesbians with a wonderfully written driven Enjolras

• Love Is Touching Souls : very cute soulmate AU - and one I really love for really truly considering the implications of soul marks and creating historical lore around it

• Ten Years : R is a musician, and it non-linearly charts his relationship to Enj from high school to 10 years later

• put up with me then I'll make you see : Grantaire lives above Enjolras, and its christmas - I find it to have a very fun interpretation of pining Enjolras

• A Cat Called Trash Can : this was one of the first les mis fics I ever read (yes I know it says it was published in 2020, but I think it has to be a re-upload or something?) and it does still have a special place in my heart - Grantaire rescues a cat, but Enjolras is the only one with an apartment free to look after it 

• Still I'm Begging to Be Free : inception AU where les amis have to rescue a sleeping R from his own brain

•I'm in it for You : cw: illness, cancer - R has cancer and is being a martyr about telling his friends so Enjolras drives him back from chemo

• walls come tumbling down : sky high au - a very good high school AU with the perfect level of campy superhero powers

• This brave new world's not like yesterday : Enjolras needs a job, so ends up working in a bowling alley with Grantaire and bonding

Enjolras/Grantaire/Combeferre

• In Defiance of All Geometry : les amis are a student co-op house, Enjolras and Combeferre are pining friends and Grantaire is the newbie

• Still the Same : this is very good writing and very compelling - if you can get over the (imo) plot hole of Enjolras working for the FBI. R was an art thief Enj put away and is briefly helping the FBI out, and Combeferre is Enjolras' husband

• To Kingdom Come : cw: war and PTSD from that, Enjolras and Combeferre are part of a group of refugees that have crossed into a more fantasy land, and Grantaire is a lone traveller from that land that attempts to help - that was a shit summary of this very emotional, wonderfully written fic about war and love in all forms

• Gonna need (a spark to ignite) : I always love a twist on a classic trope, and this is a very fun take on the soulmate AU - Enjolras loses feeling in his soul mark as a child, falls in love with Grantaire and then his soulmate, Combeferre, turns up

Eponine/Cosette

• Pretty Girls Don't Know the Things That I Know : simply stunning writing - perfect example of soft writing about a harsh world

• she knows her way around : Eponine and Cosette bond, ostensibly so Eponine can find out about her for Marius, and their interactions are so playful and realistic, its wonderful

• always find me floating on oceans : Cosette stows away on Eponine's pirate ship - I do always have a soft spot for eposette fics (not just cause I ship it) because they truly characterise Cosette in a really considered and interesting way

• There's No Making Love : I'm putting this under eposette even though there is some significant enjolras/grantaire content, because the Cosette characterisation is so fun and cute

• round and round again : this fic really beautifully translates Cosette's bad childhood and then isolated teenage years, and the impact that would have on her as an adult into a modern AU

• Underwater Thunderheards : this is based off the book The Scorpio Races, and is just a really nice short fic  about longing

• How To Change The World Without Taking Power : Marius has a crush on Cosette and she's tried being polite and subtle in turning him down, so just ends up fake dating Eponine instead

• blood red fruit and poison's kiss : Snow White AU - Cosette as Snow White

• The Winters Cannot Fade Her : Snow White Au 2.0 - Eponine as Snow White - this was written as a pair to the one above which is just so cute to me

• marriage à la mode : Cosette and Eponine run a bridal shop together and it's very cute !

• Temporary Hold : I personally find this a really fun and very unique take on Cosette - with exams coming up she decides she needs to get laid on the reg and so hits up Eponine to act as if they're already long term girlfriends

Combeferre/Courfeyrac

• better than you had it : fake dating but kick it up an emotional notch - Courf and Ferre pretend to still be together after breaking up for a family event

• take flight, come near : nice and cute low fantasy, where Combeferre runs a dragon sanctuary and Courf finds an injured dragon

Rare Pairs

• The Future's Owned by You and Me : cute Enjolras/Feuilly with actual radical politics and real life organising difficulties and wins

• First Dates and Other Dangers : Combeferre and Grantaire agree to go on a blind date and it's awkward until it isn't - just cute !

• after midnight : Combeferre has insomnia and meets Grantaire in various all night fast food chains

• as you are : Bahorel and Jehan getting ready together

• Almost Romantic : Jehan works at a museum, and takes Combeferre on a little tour

• Understudy : Jehan/Combeferre, with Combeferre's insecurities regarding being seen as second best to Enjolras

• Here There Be Dragons : Courf/Enj/Ferre - Courf and Enj are superheroes and Ferre is the doctor that patches them up

• To Let it Occur (Laisser Faire la Nature) : Feuilly has a stupidly long stopover in Paris and meets Enjolras

• rule of three : Courf/Enj/Ferre as spies and loving boyfriends

• Good Rhetoric : snapshots of cute cuddly courf/enj/ferre

• subluxate, dislocate, replace : found family and chronic illness with Joly/Bossuet/Musichetta

• Strike stone, strike home (like lightning) : so this fic took one minor piece of lore about Tolkien's dwarves and made a beautiful j/b/m fic from it

• Almost Inevitable : Bahorel/Feuilly friends-with-benefits

• god only knows (what I'd be without you) : Bahorel/Feuilly with a closeted Feuilly and a beautiful Feuilly and Eponine friendship

#les miserables #fanfic rec #les mis #les miserables fanfic #les miserables fanfic rec

[aceofwhump]

Hey! You know so much about Cursed, how old would you say all the main characters are? I tried looking but couldn't find anything about it online and there's not much info in the book 👎👎

(this got long. I apologize in advance)

HI! Good question. Yeah ages are tough. They are never really discussed within the show at all except for Merlin who has been alive for like 500 years (book and show have him alive at least at the fall of Rome). Nimue is described as "a young Fey" or "a teenage heroine" in all the show descriptions but that's kinda vague imo. In these cases, when the specific ages are not said and there are no clear indicators of age such as school years I tend to go with the actors age. So, going off the year that the Cursed show came out, they would be:

Squirrel: 13

Nimue: 24

Pym: 26

Morgana: 26

Arthur: 29

Gawain: 31

Lancelot: 34

This is what I use when working on my fic tbh. I'm a lot more comfortable using the actors ages for the characters ages here.

Now there are a few moments in the book that tell us or indicate ages for a few characters.

For Nimue, there is one short line in the book that says:

“But Lenore, surely you can’t suggest . . . I mean, Nimue is too young for such responsibilities.”

“True, at sixteen years she would be young for a Summoner,” Lenore acknowledged, speaking as though not surprised by the turn of events, “but her rapport with the Hidden should outweigh such considerations.

For Gawain we have this to indicate his age:

Nimue glowed inside at the name. She remembered being seven years old, her arms clutched around Gawain’s neck as he carried her on his back through these very same woods. At fourteen, he knew the special gifts of every blossom, leaf, and bark of the Iron Wood, remedies, poisons, which tea-brewed leaves bestowed visions and which captured hearts, which chewed barks induced labor and which bird’s nests predicted the weather.

So we know that Gawain was 14 when she was 7 and if she's 16 in the books then that makes Gawain 23.

We have this quote for Squirrel:

Nimue turned to the Iron Wood and saw ten-year-old Squirrel standing in the monk’s path, bewildered, blood dribbling down his cheek as he dragged a sword behind him.

Arthur is AT LEAST 16 probably a few years older than that. I'd say probably 18:

And by Arthur’s sixteenth year, his father had become a local institution, a knight errant, scribing his adventures to song, settling into the comfortable robes of a storyteller.  And so it was until the day three English knights, not much older than Arthur, rode into the village, seeking only thievery and violence

We’ve got these passages for Merlin’s age:

“Merlin is only the most feared sorcerer of this age. Of any age, for that matter. He’s mentioned in historical records dating back to the fall of Rome. He’s hundreds of years old.”

and

Nimue had a glimmer of hope as she turned to Merlin, curious for his answer. But in that moment, Merlin almost looked his full seven hundred years.

This lovely passage for Iris’ age:

It made Iris smile inside when she learned the Fey Kind had named her the Ghost Child. This meant they feared her, just as they should. At eleven years old, she was already a spirit of death. Some of the older brothers might still laugh when they met her in person. She was only four feet tall.

And then there's this line about Uther:

At only twenty-six years, Uther was a young and insecure monarch and loath to admit error or weakness.

SO! Based on all of this, the book characters ages (that we know) are:

Nimue: 16

Squirrel: 10

Arthur: 16-18

Gawain: 23

Merlin: 700

Iris: 11

Uther: 26

I didn’t find anything to indicate the age of Lancelot  other than knowing he’s been with the Paladins and Carden since he was a young boy. I'd say he's probably the same age as Gawain but I can't be sure. Pym is logically the same age as Nimue seeing as they grew up together and are best friends. Morgana or Morgan le Fey is Arthur’s half sister but they don't say if she's younger, older, or the same age.

And that’s all I got! Hope it helps!

#cursed #cursed netflix #ask #anon #mod post #mod replies #not whump #cursed ages #cursed meta #i guess? #just tagging so i can find later tbh