#the red theme and the gif is rad!

[sparkbeast20]

The Dates before Christmas: Raphael

Santa's Reindeer, Raphael (Raphael X MC)

Summary: You thought that this might be the chance for you get Raphael's attention since you both drew Reindeer as your costumes for an event with the Student Council.

Note: This is part of @blackwings-with-angeleyes's The Dates before Christmas / On the Naughty List for Christmas. Also this is my first time writing for Raphael 😇

“I know you would look so cute wearing a Reindeer costume, plus~ with a red nose. You’ll be Rudolf's long lost brother. Raphael” You smile as you finish up suiting Raphael in a “Sexy” Rudolf two piece costume, with the sleeves and end of the pants with white fur to add some white in a totally brown costume.

“I don’t see why we have to dress up as Reindeers while the others are elves and Santa and Miss Claus.”

“We both drew Reindeer. Blame whoever ever wrote the choices on pieces of paper.” You move to his vest and make sure that you don’t ruin his work. “Besides, Luke is with us as Reindeer.” You were hoping that this could’ve been a couples thing, but alas Luke drew Reindeer too. And besides. You and Raphael aren’t really a thing.

You often drop hints that you are interested in him, but he often did not see it or is completely and utterly clueless with your advances.

You sigh internally at your silly attempt-

“Ouch!” Raphael’s almost quiet cry snaps you out of your train of thought. It turns out you accidentally prick his side with one of the needles which was helping you keep things in place. 

“Oh I’m sorry” you quickly pull the needle and hands away.

“It's fine. I was just startled, that's all” He rubs his hand, assuming where you poke him with a needle. With the same neutral expression on his face.

“Right, okay. Again sorry. I’ll- I’ll go and help Luke with his Costume” You quickly pack up and rush out of the room, not giving Raphael a chance to say something.

You power walk down the halls of Purgatory hall with your face all heated up with embarrassment, you want to slap yourself for making such a fool of yourself.

You feel you can’t face him, right now or at the party. “Oh great”

~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~

Later that day, you get dressed in your costume and head to RAD first instead of waiting for Luke and Raphael. You did help Luke, but you didn’t stay and told the little Angel that you would get dressed at the house of lamentation and made an excuse of needing to do some finishing touches on your costume.

The whole Academy joined in the event, though all the other students were wearing just Christmas and winter theme clothes, while the student council, exchange students and Mephistopheles for some reason are the only ones who are wearing Christmas Costume as agreed. And after what you did, you wish the entire student body were wearing costumes too, it would help you hide from Raphael.

Beel and Thirteen are Santa and Miss Claus respectively, Simeon is Jack Frost, Diavolo is a Frosty the SnowMan, Barbatos is a Yeti and the other brothers and Solomon are Elves. And Mephisto is a Reindeer too.

Lucky for you, even if you stand out wearing a Reindeer costume, there you and the rest of the group aren’t restricted in one place and all of you are free to walk around the Academy.

And since it was a Holiday event at RAD, there weren't any classes to attend. So you plan to avoid Raphael for the whole day.

Before noon, it seems that your plan is working. Not once you saw him, you did see Luke who was looking for you and told you that Raphael is looking for you.

You lie to him saying you’ll meet him but won’t. After hearing that he went off to the Newspaper room to meet up Mephisto,

All well so far. 

Until the clock strikes noon, as you walk down the hall with a please look on your face. You soon saw a red nose turning a corner, there Raphael turned his eyes and spotted you. Your pleasing smile immediately drops and you quickly turn heels and run the opposite direction. You heard him calling out your name and soon you heard footsteps chasing after you. You know you can outrun him. He used to chase down the brothers with a spare in hand, but now nothing is slowing him down. What’s more annoying, you're wearing a slay bell collar as part of your costume, which means it's going to be impossible to lose him when you have the sound of Christmas ringing every step you take.

You didn’t know what to do. But you did something insane. You made a hard turn and leaped out the window.

Was that insane? Yes, but you much prefer having broken bones then confronting your feelings- Wait! You have magic. So you use it on yourself to help you gently land down on the ground. 

As soon your feet touch the ground, you pant and look over your shoulder and smile feeling that you actually escape him. But soon you were shocked to see Raphael. Leap out the window too.

Things slow down for you as you watch an angel with a stir look on his face leap out the window as if he was just leaping over a box. His blue eyes shine for a moment, making your heart pound, and even with red nose and antlers. Raphael isn't less beautiful at all. In fact you remember one of the reasons you fell for him.

Everything around you starts to move back normally and you watch as Raphael lands gracefully on his foot and knee like some sort of super human. Which he is!

You snap out of your ogling state and quickly get back to running. You didn’t see him roll his shoulder and when he set his sights on you, with one boost from his foot, he made a dash at you at extreme speed, before you knew it. He quickly scoops you up in his arms and slows down by grinding his feet to a halt, turning to his side and sliding down for a couple of feet before stopping completely. You hide your face with your arms, and have the courage to look him in the eye.

Both of you ignore a bunch of eyes on you by the students near the area, all just witnessing what just happened seconds ago.

All they saw was one of Santa’s Reindeer leap out of the window, followed by a serious looking Rudolf. Then he sprinted and scooped up the first Reindeer in his arms. Even with the silly red nose and antlers. 

Raphael quickly stood up straight and turned around and walked with you in his arms, back to the building where both just jumped out off. Raphael pays no mind to the chatter around him as he carries you.

Once back in the building, he looks around and spots an open classroom. He heads there and finds the classroom is empty. He enters and kicks the door shut behind him and walks straight to the desk in front of the class. Once there he sets you down and you quickly turn your back on him. He raises a brow at your choice of action.

“Why are you avoiding me all morning?” Straight forwards as ever, which makes it even worse at your part. He doesn’t know how you felt about him, so seeing how you've behaved all morning seems cruel on your part.

You can’t do that to him.

So you have to say it, even if you get rejected or worse.

“I… I was embarrassed for what I did earlier”

“I told you it was fine-”

“No! It's not just that. I was embarrassed about how I feel about you.” You drop your arms and hang your head low as you continue “I tried to give hints that I like you more than just friends. But I think I was wrong. You don’t seem to be interested. And after what I did earlier might seem small to you. To me, it was a realization of how silly and stupid I was for doing all does hints-”

“I thought that’s how you treat everyone and don’t want to assume or misinterpret things.” Raphael cuts you off, which took you by surprise.

“What?”

“From what I heard from Luke and Simeon. And how the brothers talk about you. I thought that I was getting the same kind treatment as the rest of them.” Raphael closes his eyes, tilt his head slightly up and sighs “Plus, with all the other guys around you. I thought that I would never get a chance, Especially how we just known each other for just a couple of months”

He kinda does have a point. From his point of view, he seems to have no chance against the brothers, the royals Simeon and Solomon. Plus he wasn’t trying to stand out and is fine being in the background.

But that was one of his charms that drew you into him. That he wasn’t trying to impress you or win your affection. Thus spending time with him naturally with no underline hint of affection. Well at least not from the start. Now you do have feelings for this angel and it seems he does as well with you.

You shoot your shot here, if he rejects then no hard feelings. “Are you…” You lift your head up and look over your shoulder to see his face“Are you interested in being more than just?”

He opens his eyes, looks into yours before giving you a small yet genuine smile. “Yes. Are you?”

You bit your lip and nodded while playing around with the sleeve of your costume. “Yeah.”

He let out a small chuckle, then pulled up and offered his hand to you. You turn to face him, hesitated for a moment before reaching and taking his hand into yours.

Then he gently pulls you towards him and into a hug. Your face burns hotter, as you feel your arms touching his abs. Damn him for wearing a white crop top as part of his costume. That might have made up for him wearing a silly bright red nose and antlers.

Then before long you start to relax and press your cheek against his collar bone. “Come on. Day is still young” You nod and pull back enough to look him in his eyes. You smile and he smiles back. 

You two left that classroom hand in hand and enjoyed the whole day. You two manage to keep this under the radar right up until the after class party in the council room.

Where you two walk in together holding hands which immediately draw attention from the others, especially the brothers. Raphael sighs while you smile as if it was just a regular party.

Luke rushes over and greets you and comments how good you and Raphael looked even with the silly antlers, he was nervous since he in-charge of making all of the antlers while you and Raphael did the sewing, with Mephisto just providing the materials.

Speaking of the noble, he walked with a faint blush on his cheeks, it seemed that he got some teasing from the others it seemed. His reindeer costume isn’t as revealing as Raphael and added the red nose that Raphael is wearing, but he seems to be embarrassed by the costume overall.

Asmo walks over and asks to take a pic of Santa’s Reindeers with a cocky smile. You and Luke agree, Mephisto starts complaining, while Raphael stands there silent.

The first pic was with only you four reindeers, next you, Raphael and Mephisto pose in front of the slay with Luke sitting next to Beel in the slay who looks great in his Santa outfit, he even has the bread and fake belly too.

You, Luke and Beel smiled at the Camera, while Mephisto pouts and Raphael had his typical non expression, but smirked for a bit when he saw you smiling brightly.

 After that all of you went off in different groups, Raphael chatting with Lucifer, Barbatos, Solomon and Mephisto. While you're chatting with Simeon and Levi. Neither of them brought up the relationship.

As the night goes on, everyone expects Luke, are almost drunk due to the eggnog having Demonus in it. The ones who can handle their drinks are chatting, while the ones who are practically drunk are starting to liven up the party.

Luke, who is trying his best to stay awake, asks you to walk him back to Purgatory Hall. Of course you agree and tell him to wait while you make sure Raphael knows that you're leaving early with Luke.

He told you that he was waiting for you, he stayed sober for Luke sake since He insist of Simeon having fun with the others and you.

You three wave goodbye and head out.

As you three walk downtown seeing how Christmas themes are the streets are. Luke stopped, had a look of awe in his eyes. “Look! It's starting to snow!” You two stop and look up in the night sky to see snow start falling.

You smile wide as you stick out your hand and let the snow fall onto your palm. You watch as the snow lands and see how precious a snowflake is.

Luke does the same thing and even sticks out his touch to catch a snowflake.

As you two enjoy the snow fall. Raphael watches happily from the back.

Then he notices your hair is collecting snowflakes, and steps closer and uses his hand to brush off the snow of your hair, causing you to turn to him. He looks at you with a small smile before leaning in and gives your lips a quick peck. His red nose boops your nose then leans back. Before turning around and looking back at you two, he doesn’t seem to notice that Raphael kissed you.

“Looks like we're having a Snowy Christmas” He proudly announced which made you two look at each other and smile.

“Yeah it seems that way.” Raphael says to Luke, he smiles and turns to face forward and starts walking, with one last glance as each other. You two grab each other's hands, walking hand in hand as the sound of your slay bells rings as you walk as snow fell from the sky, and the flash of green and red of the store lights shine the streets

That walk back to Purgatory hall captures the feeling of Christmas.

#The Dates before Christmas #obey me #omswd #obey me shall we date #obey me raphael #obey me luke #obey me mc #obey me raphael x reader #obey me raphael x mc

[apotoswizard]

Mobian Witchcraft: Knuckles the Echidna

Epithets: Rad Red, the Guardian, Protector of Treasures

Canon Abilities: Gliding, digging, boxing, strength, climbing, treasure hunting, communing with the Master Emerald/Chaos

Theme: Unknown from M.E.

Witchcraft Element: Earth, Water

Colors: Red, emerald green, forest green, purple

Associations: Resilience, solitude, survival, grapes

Correspondences: Nature conservation, animal care, gemstones (particularly green), money magic, protection, defensive magic, self-defense, finding lost items, lunar magic

Spirit Work Ideas: Imagine that you're the Master Emerald and he's your guardian, helps you find lost items and treasures, attracts wealth to you, assists you with making prudent decisions, helps with loneliness, helps with physical fitness and training, duty vs. desire (bonus: include Rouge)

Helpful Affirmations:

I am protected and safe.

I am rougher than the rest of them, tougher than leather.

I am the best of them.

I find what is lost.

I defend the environment.

I am part of Nature.

*Disclaimer: I am a skeptical open label placebo witch. These are my personal associations for my practice. You're welcome to believe what you want and use what helps you.

#ghost mumbles #pop culture witchcraft #pop magic #sth #mobian witchcraft

[sweetlyharley]

thank you so much for the playlist!!! (and sorry for my late thank you!!) I'd like to request a mood or stimboard for shadowsight (warrior cats) with flowers, nature, rootspring and bristlefrost in red/black/icy blue colors? feel free to decline if its too much!!

🌿-🌹-💧//⭐-🐈‍⬛-⭐\\💧-🌹- 🌿

SHADOWSIGHT STIMBOARD

#@ With themes of flowers, nature, and stars !!

!!! This stimboard was made by my dear friend RAD

(Sadly no Rootspring or Bristlefrost themes. Sorry!!)

#stimboard #warrior cats #Shadowsight #nature stim #flower stim #water stim #star stim #blue stim #black stim #red stim

[porcuprick]

A WAY TOO LONG CLASSPECT ANAYLISIS OF KRIS DELTARUNE

i do not apologize.

tldr: Kris is a Knight of Heart because alot of their shown abilitys and over all theme of protection (espically towards noelle) and infered insecurity relating to their soul line up mostly with knight and. come on. heart is obvious.

Heart is pretty obvious to me. Its all about Souls and the Self. The soul of course already being their defining trait. And identity in a way i also feel can be atributed to kris under the fact that alot of Kris's ACTUAL identity is hidden under the players actions.

A knight is said to Exploit and Weaponise their aspect. Or Exploit and Weaponise THROUGH their aspect

We see examples of this exploiting and weaponizing through Dave. Who exploites his aspect of Time to get a shit ton of grist and be pretty much to most active player in the session. Using time to get himself rad ass weapons early and get a few fraymotifs. Something even john at the top of his echiladder couldnt afford.

Dave also heavily uses time as a weapon. A prime example is [S] Dave: Accelerate. Also helps he's able to spawn timeclones of himself to help out in combat.

With examples of Kris exploting/weaponizing their aspect, deltarune itself has already shown this in the form of the spamton NEO fight Where Kris is able to WEAPONIZE their soul by turining it yellow. Allowing it to fire off blasts that destroy Spamton Neos bullets.

Witch might as well be a thing possable in homestuck seeing how Davepetasprite was able to engagde undertale style combat with Lord English. Who MIGHT AS WELL be a Knight of Heart anyway if we assume combined people sprites would combine their aspects.

Kris also EXPLOITES their Soul in fights such as the chaos king and queen fights, Where their able to use ACTs such as COURAGE, RED BUSTER and DUEL HEAL.

Kris is able to use their Soul to buff themselfs and their teamates via the Souls Light and enhance Susies RUDE BUSTER and Ralseis HEAL PRAYER.

So we have the more power style of analysis down. Lets look at the more personal side of classpects.

Knights have a desire to protect

We see this in Karkat who constantly tried to protect the friendship (blood) that unites the people he cares about.

And Dave who is constently trying to protect the alpha timeline by creating stable timeloops. The whole "Dead Daves are the enemy" thing.

while we dont have an example yet of kris protecting someones identity or something, We know that Knights Protect just In general.

See Davesprite. Who EXPLOITED time to become davesprite in order to PROTECT john from just skipping to the last gate and dying.

Protecting seems to be a theme with Kris in general.

Of course theres that scene where kris protects Susie from Kings atttacks all on their own without the players input. Susie even remarking on this.

But even before this scene Kris joins in on kneeling to the king in a bid to protect lancer as well.

People also often ask Kirs to protect Noelle.

A major case is Rudy trusting Kris enough to ask them to keep an eye out when he cant.

and also catti asking kris to protect her from Susie.

Noelle herself even uses kris as a form of protection often asking for them to help her in someway.

Including ducking behind them during the road crossing sections.

However like with susie kirs has shown that their willing to protect Noelle themself as well without the player, Such as when when they actively step back to try and block queen from getting a closer look.

and of course theres snowgrave

We can assume that some dialouge options are more accurate to what kris WANTS the player to say. Espically the backout options on the snowgrave route as the game makes it VERY clear that kris is shaken up by the snowgrave route. Susie even commenting on it once the group re-unite.

And well. The obvious fact that its not kris telling Noelle to proceed.

However. The abort option that happens pre-berdly fight has kris yelling

"Im protecting her from you!"

witch could easily be infered as kris trying to tell this to the player, As even Berdly has to ASK if kris is talking to him.

So yeah. A pretty big focus on Kris and Protection. Even though most of it is directed to Noelle.

and while the aspect of noelle being a childhood friend can seem like a more BLOOD related action.

Dont Forget that DAVESPRITE a knight of TIME gave up both his timeline AND his humanity in order to protect John, His best friend. a simular blood-ish action proformed by a non-blood knight.

theres also of course the idea that knights hide part of themselfs under insecurity.

And while theres not alot of evidence for this with kris it seems. They do still hide their soul before slashing the tires.

And it would make sense for kris to be afraid of their friends finding out about their possession. Could you imagine if this whole time your friend was just being puppitiered by someone else? How would you know if any of their actions where geniuine?

even when kris freaks out after the spamton neo fight their still unable to explain anything.

Insecurity about their possession situation, something tied to their HEART i feel makes sense i feel.

So yeah. Theres my dumb stupid analysis thing on why i think Kris Deltarune would be a Knight of Heart thansk for reading, get out of my house.

#deltarune #kris dreemurr #kris #classpect #knight of heart #analysis

[introject-resources]

pronoun set for dj met from the okegom series! req by anon! with themes of red, violet, loudness, and maybe some themes of radios? hopefully this helps!

(red theme)

red/reds/redself

crim/crimson/crims/crimsons/crimsonself

ro/rose/ros/roses/roseself

rose/roses/roseself

apple/apples/appleself

aub/auburn/aubs/auburns/auburnself

burg/burgundy/burgs/burgundys/burgundyself

staw/strawberry/straws/strawberrys/strawberryself

scar/scarlet/scars/scarlets/scarletself

ruby/rubys/rubyself

poppy/poppys/poppyself

garnet/garnets/garnetself

fire/fires/fireself

flame/flames/flameself

📌/📌s/📌self

📍/📍s/📍self

🌹/🌹s/🌹self

💥/💥s/💥self

🎈/🎈s/🎈self

🍒/🍒s/🍒self

🍓/🍓s/🍓self

🚨/🚨s/🚨self

🍎/🍎s/🍎self

🧨/🧨s/🧨self

☎️/☎️s/☎️self

🌶️/🌶️s/🌶️self

🐞/🐞s/🐞self

💢/💢s/💢self

🍄/🍄s/🍄self

(violet theme)

purp/purple/purps/purples/purpleself

vilet/violets/violetself

orch/orchid/orchs/orchids/orchidself

lilac/lilacs/lilacself

lav/lavender/lavs/lavenders/lavanderself

🍆/🍆s/🍆self

🔮/🔮s/🔮self

👾/👾s/👾self

🍇/🍇s/🍇self

☂️/☂️s/☂️self

☔/☔s/☔self

🌂/🌂s/🌂self

(loud theme)

loud/louds/loudself

yell/yells/yellself

scream/screams/screamself

shout/shout/shoutself

boom/booms/boomself

bang/bangs/bangself

ex/explosion/exs/explosions/explosionself

🗣️/🗣️s/🗣️self

🔊/🔊s/🔊self

(radio theme)

rad/radio/rads/radios/radioself

broad/broadcast/broads/broadcasts/broadcastself

rec/record/recs/records/recordself

call/calls/callself

📻/📻s/📻self

🎙️/🎙️s/🎙️self

🔘/🔘s/🔘self

📡/📡s/📡self

hoping these are enough because i was kinda struggling to come up with some

DNI : endos, maps/zoos, anti-kin, anti-mogai, radfem, transmeds, basic dni criteria

#💭 #pronoun list #neopronouns #pronouns #system #irl #kin #kinnie #fictive #introject #endos dni

[bluskye]

@violenttempest

parson's house was everything blu had missed about the starlight commune and though he loved to travel the world with his soulmate, at least the town they suddenly couldn't leave had something right up blu's alley. at the commune he was able to spend his time doing all the recreational gardening that he wanted AND he had loads of spare time for all the art projects and activities he could dream of.

today's art project – tie dye.

even though blu hadn't seen a town as small as huntsville before, the one thing he had realized was the the lack of varying colors. for some reason, people were really down with greens and brown splotchy type fits here and he just didn't get it.

noting one of the commune members in his vicinity he immediately perked up, "oh! oh! HELLO THERE! hi, i'm totally doing this rad survey on tie dye shirts – would you be interested in helping a bro out by casting your vote? i haven't quite decided if this is parson's house worthy or not yet, y'know? but i was really trying to bring a splash of brightness into the world by making us all some tie dye and stuff,"

letting out a quick chuckle of laughter, the man scrambles to gather up a couple shirts, tossing them over one shoulder so he could display them one at a time, "okay so – i know this one is totally on the nose and all but this one i call... dedication to sunny." brandishing a sunshine swirled tie dye he waves a vanna white hand over the swirls of yellow and orange, "this next one is like WOAH, y'know?" flinging another shirt over an extended arm, he utilizes his free hand to illustrate the corner rainbow swirl, "totally rainbow. totally screaming a rad pop of color. diversity and all that." the next shirt he tossed over his arm he'd utilized the pinch method, creating a galaxy themed tie dye, "and this gorgeous beauty here is called... the universe." hand extends as the words leave his lips, though he pauses as his face falls, "wait... don't tell me – i NEED to go back to the drawing board, am i right? i bet dedication to sunny needs a sprinkling of red in there – you're TOTALLY right."

#violenttempest #sophie & blu || 01 #threads

[pastelsceneselfships23]

floodland, spirit phone, and symbols for the f/o ask game? (for anyone you like, or even multiple)

*dances bc i chose eds*

floodland - what is your favorite thing about your f/o, whether it be something appearance-related, or personality-related? Good question bc ... for eddie its just... everything about him 🥺🥺 Like...ok to begin with it's his personality because.. jesus fuck- he is such a badass and a rebel.. skeptic kid omfg.. yet god i love his god-wholesome awful puppy eyes bc they break me internally so for god's sake i'd do anything to spoil him when he gives me those,,, stupid puppy eyes... I also love how badass he gets for being a rebel in nature-- even at the,,, end of the book (fl1ght of 1carus coughs coughs ok debate what you want but ill never not think of him also in the BOOK) but i wont say spoilers in case bc,,, yes. but i will say about what he does in the book that i fucking love :" ) I love that omg.. he is such a simp in nature and and and omfg i loVE that he talks so much about LOTR!!!! I don't know anything abt LOTR and oMFG... he even gives his bestie Ronnie (My GIRL ILY forever(tm) ) a 1 hour lECTURE of Elven politics of Tolkien??? Like hoNEY!? Ronnie in the book was like 'uh yeah excuse me im done" roNNIE GIVE HIM to mE BC I wouldn't MIND It when he will talk LOTR on me 🥺🥺🥺🥺 just let him to the talking to me ill listen-

anYWAYS appearance? I... ever since i was 10 years old, im always into men with long hair- Eddie's such a bonUS-- him w/ a badass battle jacket? SO freaking RAD!!!! I love that most of his room is bunch of metal band posters,, I wouldn't know if he knew most of the hits but im sure he is a big judas priest fan- and a accept, King diamond fan bc... after THOSE posters it really mADE ME LISTEN ALL OF those!! and im ... thankful for learning more of them on the way. It's been a year and.. one of my favorite band albums,,, from one of Eddie's band's is probably Accept's album; Russian Roulette. I would suggest it if anyone wants to hear it too omfg.

spirit phone - does your f/o believe in the supernatural? (if they are a supernatural creature, how do they react to people who don’t believe in them?) Oh eddie? Idk... I.. oh m y god Eddie sure has debated about whether he believes in aliens or not,, but i think he pretty much does... he really is the type to believe on them.. Sometimes.. he doesn't believe much like fairies, big foot, moth man etc. so.. hes a skeptic sometimes... but when it comes to space, he always go with deep questions like... 'what if life is actually out there other than earth??" "are we like... not alone in this universe?"

symbols - what’s a popular misconception about your f/o?

Honestly... I would say somethin controversial and unpopular thing but... i think i'd skip that one bc that... wOULD hit a yikes into my card in this hellsite so... I'll put other thoughts instead if you excuse me,,, omg.. a really big misconception is people think Eddie's necklace is either Red, or black-

uh look, I realized by research... it's actually tortoise shell made! because it's not even red or black! It's a color of darker brown with half transparency with it...

honestly seeing that,, it really made sense!! another one? The ring Eddie was wearing?

its not dark, its actually a vintage looking mood ring-

this really made me felt like I resemble him a lot bc... i actually own a mood ring that has a hermes theme to it.. it looks old as well : ) I got it from the planetarium in Salt lake city..

#🎸eddcos⛓ #🎸eddie munson💀 #cosvin speaks #;w;

[aikofanfan]

Comin in with a part two!

Satan

This time MC just plain got pissed off by some demon trying to get Satan mad enough to lose a hold on his anger. Trying to get him in trouble.

“Oi! Why not fuck off before I punch your nose so hard you shit it out eh???!!!”

Now the demons of RAD have no reason to be scared of MC, they’re a human- but the way their eyes glowed a bright shade of green that matched the Avatar of Wrath They turned heel and ran the other way.

“Hmph! Jackasses. The lot of them.” MC blew their bangs out of their face “Trying to get one of my boys in trouble. Oooh they’re lucky they ran.”

Satan on the other hand was staring at MC wide eyed. Blush clear on his cheeks. Why did he find that so….attractive? He’s seen them angry before but the eyes glowing was new.

MC waved a hand in front of Satan’s face. “Hello??? Anyone home???”

Asmodeus

Leave it to Amso to finally be the one to point out the eyes.

“What? Why are you staring at me like that?”

Asmo had asked MC to check out this new outfit he got (strawberry themed with a little strawberry short cake purse, adorable) and MC’s eyes were glowing pink.

“My sweet little shortcake your eyes! They’re glowing pink!” Amso giggled, skipping over to MC and making them look at his full length mirror.

“Eh?” MC was now confused.

“It started when when I step out after changing.”

“All I did was think of how cute you looked.” MC murmurs to themself.

“I knew you couldn’t resist me~!”

“OH SHUT IT.”

Beelzebub

This time MC had to use their pact or someone was going to get killed.

“BEEL CALM DOWN!!” It was dim in the kitchen and all Beel saw was two red dots looking right at him as froze and sat on the ground. With a flick of a switch the light was on and MC yawns but still looked worried. Their eyes still glowing.

“Whoa….” Beel softly gasps to himself as MC walks over.

“Is this about your human world cheeseburgers? Cuz no one ate them. I hide them for you.” Beel didn’t even hear what they were saying since their eyes were still glowing, not having released him from the pact.

“Beel?”

“I forgot why I was so mad and I don’t feel hungry anymore….”

“Dude.”

Belphegor

“Wake up Blephie.” MC shakes the demon but not even a stir comes out of him.

MC sighs, their eyes glow purple. “Belphegor get up before Lucifer blows a gasket.”

Right away Belphie sat up and yawns, looking to MC all grumpy till he noticed their eyes.

“Yeah yeah I know. The eyes now then-” MC released him from the pact but stops talking when Belphie cups their face and brings them closer.

“Do that again. I didn’t get a good look.”

“Now is not the time for that.”

#nerd speaks #nerd of the blog #obey me #obey me shall we date #obey me satan #obey me asmodeus #obey me belphegor #obey me beelzebub #obey me mc #obey me hcs

[stranger-who-writes-fiction]

Folks, FOLKS.  Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow #7 is here and it is SO HECKIN’ GOOD. 

And do you know what this Very Good issue of Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow is called???

CHAPTER SEVEN: “HOPE, HELP, AND COMPASSION.”

*cue happy nerd flailing set to the rad guitar version of the Supergirl TV theme*

ISSUE CREDITS: “Hope, Help, and Compassion.” written by Tom King, art by Bilquis Evely, colors by Matheus Lopes, letters by Clayton Cowles, and edited by Brittany Holzer w/ asst. editor Jillian Grant and senior editor Mike Cotton.

THE PLOT:

Having captured Krem at the end of issue six, issue seven finds Ruthye, Comet, and Kara ready and waiting for the Brigands. 

Half the issue takes place on the surface of an oceanic/aquatic planet, where Ruthye and Comet keeps tabs on Krem.

The other half of the issue is set in space, as Kara takes on the Brigands’ ship, the Bonnie Prince Charlie.

Thus we’re back in True Grit territory, as this set-up is lifted right from the novel. (Mattie is left alone with Chaney while Rooster takes on Ned Pepper’s gang.)

(I also just realized the other day that Krypto being poisoned/needing an antidote is a nice stand-in for Mattie’s encounter with the rattle snake.)

SO there’s this really great balance of the tense, character-driven drama between Ruthye and Krem, while Kara gets this sweeping, epic space battle and it is just. So. GOOD.

I figure the best way to approach this one is to break it up into those two sides so LET’S GO.

A GIRL AND HER SUPER-HORSE

Alright so before we get into like, you know, the writing and the character stuff let’s talk about that ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRT!!!!

I kinda touched on this a little bit in a previous post re: these pages but man, THE COLORS.

By now, it should come as no surprise that Evely and Lopes are MASTERS of creating unique alien worlds and populating them with amazing detail, but I gotta say. That water? The transparency and color transitions from the shore to the sea? A truly impressive flex.

Like there is. SO MUCH that goes into coloring a page like this. For one, aquas and purples are notoriously tricky in print, as CMYK doesn’t really play nice with them. So even getting that vibrant sea green takes a significant amount of planning/work, to say nothing of the color holds and textures and whatnot.

Just absolutely gorgeous, and such a great contrast to the yellows, reds, and oranges of Kara’s portion of the book!

Again, mentioned this in my previous post but I love the way the beach environs offset the reds of the...space apples? And Comet’s cape.

Speaking of Comet and space apples, some other Very Good Panels:

I love this one because it’s just adorable? Like, Evely is so great in this issue, reminding us that Ruthye is a very young girl who is in the midst of an emotionally trying ordeal--there’s excellent expression/character acting later on, but here? Just! A cute li’l panel of Ruthye’s physicality that emphasizes how tiny she is. And the little floating fish! 26/10.

(Ruthye’s legs dangling over the side of Comet reminds me of that great panel from issue three, where Kara’s putting her on the bench before they go flying.) 

Another detail I loved, Ruthye’s very tiny bite compared to Comet who takes like. Half. XD

Oh, right, should just like. Give major props to Evely for all of the HORSE DRAWINGS.

Horses are hard, man. XD

Also Comet EMOTES which is even TOUGHER to pull off.

Damn this creative team for making me like Comet the Super-Horse.

DAMN THEM.

Right, sorry, okay. So. As we’ve established, the colors and art are splendid, and work in perfect tandem with the writing.

The story starts out very light and airy (just like the art!) as Ruthye casually chats with Comet, and ultimately persuades him to let her talk to Krem.

Because, see, Kara has left Comet with Ruthye so that Ruthye doesn’t just. Murder Krem. 

There’s really great humor here, in the form of Ruthye sassing Krem. 

But while Ruthye initially seems in control, both in terms of the conversation, as well as in control of her own emotions, Krem quickly gains the upper hand, as he (also quite casually!) tells Ruthye how he came to kill her father.

I have said it before, and I will say it again: Evely is *so good* at nailing characters’ expressions and emotions--the body language, the subtleties in eyebrows and mouth shapes--in the above page, I love how Ruthye leans into Comet, almost trying to hide from the terrible things Krem is saying. And the fact that the action is given these three huge panels to let the moment play out over a period of ‘time’ and breathe is wonderful (along with the steady push-in on her face and tears. Which are beautifully rendered, I might add.)

CONTRAST THAT with Krem’s unchanged, unfeeling face! NOT ONLY does that emphasize his cruelty, but also let’s us know that this guy? 

We get an echo of these three panels on the next page, where Krem...kinda unknowingly makes a (potentially fatal???) error.

Like. Krem had her on the ropes! She was beat! Emotionally devastated!

But then he went and did a sexism. XD

She’s able to refocus her anger and hurt and thus is back in control and we get that same ‘hiding’ action but in a more overtly ‘I’m plotting your downfall’ way.

I mean. LOOK AT THAT SMIRK. XD

And then it’s here, at this point, where Ruthye’s portion of the story at last directly connects to Kara’s, so let’s backtrack a bit and discuss...

THE BATTLE OF CAPES

Kara’s entire half of the book is just!!!

It’s all caption boxes/narration, much like issue 6; however, as Ruthye reveals on the very first page, this information is not firsthand, and she had to do research in order to record what occurred in Supergirl’s showdown with the Brigands.

Ruthye also mentions that epic poems have been written about this fight which evokes a sense mythic scale/scope to what we’re about to read--this is not just Supergirl taking down a bad guy. This is The Battle of Capes. Poems have been written about it. So many poems in fact, that there are good ones and, in Ruthye’s words, ‘shoddy ones’ as well!

I. LOVE. THIS.

Like. I’ll be the first to admit that I like earthbound Supergirl stories. I think that’s an important part of her characterization, that she finds a home on Earth. (Eventually! She doesn’t have to love it at first. See: the Best Episode of Supergirl, “Midvale” XD)

But I also love the idea of the Super family just. Existing for millennia and their galaxy-spanning adventures becoming the stuff of legends. (See, the Extremely Awesome “Legion of Superheroes: Millennium” by Bendis and “House of El” comic by PKJ.)

So I love this set up, I love this mood, I love that Ruthye is like, ‘Yeah, I hate that part in that one poem, “The yellow of her hair, the red of her lip, the wreckage and ruin of every ship.” 

As I’ve said before, this book does such a great job of not only establishing all these alien worlds and cultures and whatnot but also making them feel lived-in. Like it’s cool that there are poems about this battle--it’s even cooler that a character has an opinion on a very cheesy line from one of those poems.

*Patrick Stewart voice* World building!

And, of course! The art works in perfect harmony, selling this sense of pure scale.

PAGE ONE! RIGHT OFF THE BAT! We see Kara, larger than life, even appearing larger than the planet below, thanks to the composition of the page! Solid, strong, resolute! We can EASILY imagine Supergirl besting any foe! Weathering any attack, no matter how savage!

And then BOOM.

HUGE DOUBLE-PAGE SPREAD OF THE REVERSE ANGLE, and Kara is now dwarfed in comparison to the Brigands’ ship--we see the literal size of the obstacle and we KNOW that Supergirl’s in for a fierce fight.

And it’s here, in said fight, that we get some cool, vaguely meta bits.

For one, Kara facing down the Brigands’ cannon fire calls to mind the shot of Superman beating back the ray gun from the classic Fleischer cartoon

(This isn’t the exact shot I’m thinking of, but hopefully conveys the idea. XD Like there’s a better one where Clark is actually flying and smacking the laser beams out of the way.)

ALSO Ruthye specifically muses on why a fight between Supergirl and the Brigands would be interesting, if you know Supergirl is going to beat 'em.

And this book has a pretty great answer, to the common complaint from readers that the Super characters are boring, or hard to write, because they’re too powerful, or too ‘good.’

‘You know they’re going to win, so why bother?’

As per Ruthye: “No one has a monopoly on power.”

Essentially: There are any number of threats one can simply INVENT or IMAGINE. Because this is fiction. You’re literally making stuff up, so. Make up some more stuff! XD

Again, as per Ruthye: “There are faster bullets. There are stronger locomotives. There are taller buildings. It is a universe of wonders and mysteries, and being born under one sun and raised under another does not mean you have mastered its limits.”

Brilliant. Amazing. Spectacular. Insert orsonwellesclapping.gif here. XD

Okay, time for my favorite paaaaage:

Gonna quote the text for easier reading, as it’s small on the page: “And so with that unprecedented barrage, one that might have laid waste to any number of solar systems...Supergirl fell from the sky and toward the planet below. The heat of reentry began to warm her and, as she described it to me, there was a feeling of comfort in it. It reminded her of Krypton, of coming home after school and her father overheating the laser grill, raising the temperature in the whole apartment. She could see him dashing though the kitchen to tell her that everything was all right, he’d got it under control, just don’t tell your mother when she gets home. And Supergirl would smile knowing she’d got something from her father not many ever got, a secret. And as she continued to fall and the flames hugged her even closer she saw her house burn, she saw her parents burn, she saw her world burn. Until all she had left was that secret and no one to whom she could tell it. And knowing that, that she was the only one in the whole universe who could tell the story of her father and the laser grill, she knew she could not die that day. Her life was one of trillions. But that memory was unique and needed preserving.”

SO LET’S SEE. BEAUTIFUL SPACE IMAGERY. MEMORIES OF KRYPTON, OF HER FAMILY AND HER WORLD. THE PEACFEUL MEMORIES GIVING WAY TO THE DESTRUCTION OF HER HOME. DECIDING THAT SHE NEEDS TO KEEP LIVING. SHE WILL KEEP GOING. SHE WILL NOT DIE THIS DAY.

1000/10 S-Tier Supergirl content, Tom King, Bilquis Evely, and Mat Lopes understood the assignment.

BUT THE GOOD KARA CONTENT DOESN’T STOP THERE. OH NO.

So Kara manages to board their ship and take the Brigands on directly but they gain the upper hand--she goes down, and it’s at this point that we’re BACK to where our stories converge!

BRINGING IT ALL TOGETHER:

Gosh, this part was so good.

Down on the planet, Comet gets all squirrelly; something is wrong!

Cut to the Brigands above, and we get this moment:

The Brigands delight in Supergirl’s apparent weakness, in her BEGGING for mercy. 

And we, the reader, might even think, ‘WHOA, Kara’s in a tight spot!’

BUT THEN.

BUT THEN.

It is revealed that Kara is NOT begging for her life, but is in fact TELLING COMET TO STAY WITH RUTHYE BECAUSE SHE NEEDS HIM.

HEROIC, SELFLESS-TO-A-FAULT KARA, USING SUPER-HEARING, IN ADDITION TO THE OTHER GOOD STUFF?!???!???!

WE LOVE TO SEE IT.

Like, if I had a bingo board of all my favorite Supergirl stuff, this issue would check off so many boxes. 

Time for another quoooooote:

“Her power was great, greater than you can imagine. But it was not just measured in terms of the pull of her muscle, the cool of her breath, and the heat of her eyes. No, her power also derived from a whole life dedicated to kindness. From day after day defending others from the wicked. And thereby earning their loyalty. So that she did not often walk alone.”

I know for a fact there are Hardcore Supergirl Fans™ who, as recently as issue six, still feel that King is doing a bad job, and fundamentally doesn’t understand Kara. 

To which I say: We’re reading different books, clearly.

BECAUSE HERE SHE IS, LADS. 

IN A COMIC TITLED: HOPE, HELP, AND COMPASSION.

King better stick the landing so that I don’t look like a dang fool again, I swear. XD

Comet continues to become agitated, to the point where Ruthye realizes that Kara needs help, and Ruthye urges him to go assist her.

She swears on her dad’s grave that she won’t kill Krem, and so, Comet takes flight!

AT WHICH POINT WE REALIZE! This whole time, as Ruthye was giving Comet the space fruit and relating the story of her ponydog, she was cleverly gaining his trust, so that she could convince him to leave her alone WITH KREM! And that her promise to Comet was a LIE!!!

GASP!

And thus issue seven ends!

SOME ADDITIONAL MISC. ART APPRECIATION:

I love the mix of close-ups on Kara as well as these wider shots of action during the Big Brawl sequence.

And like, the shape here! Of the Brigands being pushed back by Kara, it’s immediately clear what is happening, and dynamic and oversized and super.

And here we get an absolutely brutal bit of panel-to-panel action, as in the first, the green Brigand has his arms open wide, ready to fight Supergirl, who is being both pushed and pulled through the air by chains and laser canons...

And then WHAM, the green Brigand’s hand is wrapped around Kara’s head, forcing her into the ground, which is almost alive with movement in the form of action lines and blur and grit and crackling energy bursts, snaking across the page.

You FEEL the impact in a collection of lines and colors on a page.

And these are just! A handful of panels!

The whole book--heck, THE WHOLE SERIES is just so expertly rendered! I can’t get over it! XD 

GAAAAHHHHH It’s just so GOOD.

Also, side note: Love all of the designs for the Brigands. 

It kinda reminded me of the great space...bar? Comedy club? brawl bit from Supergirl #24, drawn by Doc Shaner:

(And listen, I love Shaner’s art, but you can see the difference in style--there’s an inherently rigid quality in the more ‘traditional/classic’ superhero art; there’s very little fluidity and implied movement.)

(Static, I guess, whereas Evely’s inks--the heavily repeated diagonals and action lines--really get these still images to MOVE. They practically VIBRATE with potential energy!)

(Anyways!)

What else, what else.

Oh! I don’t know if it’s a deliberate nod or just a cool coincidence, but I like that Ruthye has purple eyes, because Lois Lane is typically depicted as having purple eyes as well.

(The Lois Lane image below is a Clay Mann cover, colored by Alex Sinclair. From...Action Comics, I believe?)

AND SO, IN CONCLUSION:

I can’t get over how great this book is. XD

It reminds me a bit of Matt Fraction’s Hawkeye. There was a book that took a character who was very firmly mid-tier in terms of ‘brand recognition’, and applied a heavily stylized, almost indie sensibility to a small-scale, self-contained comic series to great effect.

And I love that we’re getting the same treatment for Kara.

Like. Do I want this book to be an ongoing so that we can get more Evely and Lopes art? Of course!

But the tight focus and pacing, as well as having a fixed ‘end-point’ is really to the book’s benefit, and, hopefully! Will mean there’s an evergreen trade that will sell really well and convince DC to make more Supergirl stuff.

(Maybe once King has more time, he can do a sequel series. XD)

 Also, as I’ve mentioned before, I get the sense that Sterling Gates doesn’t care for the direction of this book, but I’m really glad that King incorporated Supergirl’s motto. (Which was penned by Gates.) I kinda feel like...as folks have praised this book, there’s been a tendency to throw previous Supergirl comics under the bus, which is a shame. Because Gates and Igle really did so much for rehabilitating Kara’s whole deal after the garbage early 2000s books. 

We don’t gotta tear down what’s come before to praise the new stuff that we got! XD

Anyways. It’s just a nice little nod to Gates’ impact/work on the character.

SO NOW WE WAIT FOR THE FINAL ISSUE. NUMBER 8. 

I’m not...too? Concerned? King is pretty good at narratively satisfying endings.

I am worried about Krypto, though. I NEED THE GOOD BOY TO BE OKAY. XD

Until next month!

#supergirl: woman of tomorrow #dc comics #comic analysis #long post #gif #gifs #supergirl: woman of tomorrow spoilers