#this doesn’t mean i’m *not* here for the identity stuff. it means i am *also* here for the well-executed political intrigue!

[incorrect-spideytorch]

So, I’ve been thinking a lot about spideytorch lately (as I am one to do) and a question popped into my head:

What is the most important spideytorch comic panel?

There’s a ton of great options in my opinion, but I think there also is an answer (at least for me) so now I am going to subject all of you to my thought process. Get ready for a way to long post breaking this down.

The most obvious starting point has to be this classic

Johnny Storm is going full house husband for Peter Parker, I mean c’mon! add in the fact that he’s in his undies and the way that he’s leaning over peter… yeah this is a classic. This might be the most famous spideytorch panel out there, but I don’t think it’s the most important one.

Another classic (but more antagonistic?) one takes place, of course, at the usual place.

To me this is peak identity shenanigans and the stuff that fanfics are made of. The betrayal, the heartbreak, the complications that go into the conflicting way these two view identity, oh boy I could talk about that shit for hours, but as an individual moment, it doesn’t really crack most important for me, it needs a bit more affection (they’re very bad at affection sometimes).

Another panel that came to mind very quickly for me is this set.

Johnny literally only had to say his name and Peter knew exactly what he meant and what he needed. This is top tier levels of communication, both between them and from the creators to us. I think this is another one that I could talk about for hours. That being said, it doesn’t feel important enough to me.

A friend in the spideytorch discord server posed this panel as the most important spideytorch moment in the comics.

I’m just gonna put their quote in cause it’s great. “I think this is one of my favorite panels cause Johnny was just speaking generally and Peter was like ‘oh my god! Actual wise words form johnny’ but also, I love that this was a more important moment for Peter than Johnny.” I must say, this entry is extremely important to spideytorch and gave my choice a run for its money. I don’t have a huge reason for not making this one the most important, other than personal taste. For their relationship, this is a key moment and sets them on the path to actually being friends (at least on Peter’s end), but idk it just wasn’t doing it for me.

Another panel I was reminded of thanks to this submission was this moment.

It’s not quite as impactful as the past one by a long shot but I do think it’s important. After being rivals for so long, to see Johnny give a genuine heartfelt compliment to Peter is fantastic (haha). This feels like the other half of the previous set of panels. There we had Johnny encouraging a stranger and here he’s encouraging his friend.

Some other friends in the discord server suggested the moment that Johnny invites Peter over to watch his sex tape (yes this is canon).

(Not pictured, Peter swinging away and saying he needs to take a cold shower). Now I’m not saying that the most important spideytorch moment needs to be serious, but I think this moment might be too unserious to claim that title. This moment was huge for the fanbase because holy shit did, he actually say that, but for their relationship, I just don’t think it was as important as it was to us.

Now I do want to knock out a few honorable mentions that I would hate to miss.

First, this look given to Spidey by Johnny, I mean yeah, he’s in love.

And to balance the lovesick flirty scales I must expose Peter as well.

Next, this heartbreaking moment that basically admits to the audience that Peter’s world becomes chaos when he loses Johnny. That shit hits.

Of course, the moment that gave us the ship name.

A panel that lives in my head rent-free because honestly marvel what were you attempting to convey here other than the fact that Peter really wants to have hate sex with Johnny Storm?

To take us outside of our duo, this quote from Ben Grimm (EDIT: it’s was Peter’s clone Ben Reilly, which honestly only adds more drama), because honestly same.

And of course, I have to include the panel which showed us the first time (on page) that Peter told Johnny he loved him AND gave us canon proof that these two have “date night,” many a fic writer was fed well.

And how could we forget! THE USUAL PLACE! Literally any panel mentioning this is top tier because its so good, like the core of the fandom honestly.

Lastly, before moving on to my own more serious contenders I have to share this parallel that @sciderman shared because I love it.

Now to my serious contenders for the title of most important spideytorch panel (please remember this is all my opinion and I mean no shade). This will be a top 5, but just know some of these rankings are pretty flexible (even flexible with some panels from the beginning), and this question should not be taken as seriously as I am taking it, I am fully aware of that.

Number 5!

So, I know that I discounted the sex tape scene earlier because I didn’t think it was serious enough and it didn’t do enough for their actual relationship, but I had to include this one I’m sorry. A lot of this is personal taste but the implications here are *chefs kiss* The first time I saw this panel was actually on Pinterest with the caption “wait a second, did spider-man and the human torch have sex?” which says it all for me.

Beyond that, this moment also shows how they reach out to each other when they have problems. Strange children show up in Peter’s life and the first person he calls about it is Johnny. Again, this is not the most serious, but I love it. This moment shows the banter of their relationship, how they care about and rely on each other, and also potentially reveals that they’ve had sex. There’s a lot to take in.

Number 4!

I will be honest with you all, this moment is here almost entirely because Ben’s quote lives in my head rent-free. Everyone around them sees how they feel about each other besides them. When they were rivals others could tell they actually liked each other and when they became friends others could tell that it was deeper than that. I think I especially love this panel because it conforms that we’re not crazy for thinking there’s something there but also because Ben specifically cites the way Johnny looks at peter. That is very specific and says a lot. I can’t imagine Ben would say this if the looks Johnny gave Peter were purely platonic, and just ahhhh, there’s so much said here just in one line from Ben. There was of course the Ben moment earlier, which I also love, but something about this one, the more specific phrasing of it I think just shoots it up my rankings a lot.

Number 3!

If you’ve been following me for a while I don’t think this is a surprise at all, I have already done a very in depth post about this panel so I’ll keep my thoughts brief. Red Skull knows that hurting Johnny will hurt Peter, Peter’s Spidey senses go off FOR JOHNNY, and we are given so much angst potential, I love it.

Number 2!

This one is probably a more popular choice than my number one, and I totally get it. The excitement and joy bursting out of Peter when he finally realizes that Johnny is here, he’s real, and he’s alive really gets me. Plus, the added context to the uniform comment being that Johnny literally left Peter his family and his spot on the team in his will. The amount of pure love in this moment and its larger context is abundant, platonic or romantic, it’s there. I feel like everything I could say about this panel has probably been said before, but it is definitely worthy of being the most important spideytorch moment, even if I have one that beats it for me.

Number 1!

For those of you who don’t know, this panel comes from Peter visiting Gwen’s grave and talking to her. That fact alone breaks me in half but then the things he says to her shatter me. Every spider-man fan knows how much Gwen’s death broke Peter, it destroyed him to lose her. Just the fact that Peter admits Johnny brings part of him back is amazing (haha) because that is a hug feat. But then he shatters me even more with his final sentences. After Gwen’s death, we often get a peter who spends too much time as Spidey in order to avoid having to cope with Gwen’s death as Peter, but also as a way to cope with the loss (he’s a complicate man). Spideypool also gets a lot from that arc because of Wade’s reaction to Spider-Man not holding back as much and becoming less of a friendly neighborhood Spider-Man, and that’s true. The fact that Peter feels like he’s becoming who Spidey is supposed to be again when he’s around johnny is huge! But then! He corrects himself. He’s not Spidey again, he’s Peter. The real person, the man behind the mask, comes back. And then you get the final correction. He’s not just peter again, he’s *Gwen’s* peter again. He is the him that existed with Gwen when he’s with Johnny. That speaks volumes and breaks whatever parts of me are left. How am I expected to read this and not think that Johnny and Peter are soulmates?

Now, I will acknowledge that this is much more of a peter moment than a joint spideytorch moment, much like the moment suggested by discord friend earlier. If that disqualifies it for you as the most important spideytorch panel, I get it. However, for me that doesn’t matter mainly for one key reason. So many classic spideytorch moments show a lot of Johnny having feelings for Peter or making a move on Peter. There have been a lot of times when I’m trying to get a friend into spideytorch, and I feel like I have to clarify that its not as one sided as it seems. Johnny is much more out there with who he is and doesn’t hide his feelings very well (except maybe from himself). So, when we get any spideytorch moment that hones in on peter’s feelings and love for Johnny, that feels so huge to me. This moment alone proves that it isn’t one sided, Peter has deep feelings for Johnny, even if he’s not sure what they are yet, he knows that what they have is special, he wouldn’t be telling Gwen about it otherwise. While it may not be as famous of a spideytorch moment, its an important one, and for me it’s probably the most important one.

Anyway, this has been a way too long post about this topic but if you made it to the end thank you so much! I would love to hear other people’s thoughts on this topic so feel free to share those. Also, just a reminder that these are my opinions, and I am not in charge at all so don’t take it too seriously (unless you want to).

If you’re interested in hearing me, go more in depth on any of these panels (or any other spideytorch panels) shoot me an ask because I could honestly talk in depth for a while about most of these panels and I would love to do so. Thank you again for reading this way to long post and good night spideytorch nation.

#spideytorch #alt descriptions coming soon! #peter parker #johnny storm #peter x johnny #peter parker x johnny storm #mine :) #fantastic four #spider-man #marvel #comics #spideytorch meta #marvel meta #enjoy my chaos

[chamerionwrites]

“I like reading [X] because [Y]” ≠ “I like reading every single version of [XY] without any other preferences, standards, or selectivity.” What even.

#eg: i like reading spyfic because it often deals with issues of identity #i also think that if you can’t or won’t write geopolitics astutely then your spy fiction will inevitably be kinda mediocre at best #in a similar way that SFF with weaksauce worldbuilding is mediocre at best. the narrative stakes have no context or grounding #this doesn’t mean i’m *not* here for the identity stuff. it means i am *also* here for the well-executed political intrigue! #anyway vagueblogging ig but like. you can be after multiple things in a reading experience. this is why reading recs are a personal thing #reading tag #spies #my posts

[ladytauria]

“I’m going to ask you how you are and I would like you to answer me honestly.” chose your ship >:)

i went with jaysteph, 'cause i haven't written for them yet & they've been on my mind lately <3

i hope i wrote steph okay; i'm still feeling out her characterization ^^;

“So,” Steph says, perching on the arm of the couch like there aren’t two open seats right there in front of her. “Here’s how this is gonna work. I’m gonna ask you how you are, and you’re gonna answer me honestly.”

Jason crosses his arms. “You boss Tim around like this too?”

“Sure do,” she says breezily. “You’ve seen me do it.”

Jason purses his mouth. He isn’t pouting—though the look Steph gives him insinuates she feels otherwise. His arms twitch. He barely stops himself from crossing them over his chest, or slumping back into the couch. All of which would only further her—mistaken—impression.

When he doesn’t say anything else, Steph says, “So… Jason. How are you?”

“Peachy,” he bites.

Steph crosses her wrists and mimics the sound of an incorrect buzzer. “Nuh-uh, buddy, try again.”

“Oh my god,” Jason says. His head falls back against the couch.

“Look, I know emotional constipation is like—our whole thing, but… a little honesty here isn’t going to kill you,” Steph says. “I mean— Do you want me to bring up the B-word? ‘Cause I’ll do it, if it means we can bypass all… this.” She gestures vaguely.

Jason grimaces at the ceiling. “Please tell me the B-word is breakfast. As in, you want breakfast for dinner and will let this go if I agree to make you waffles.”

She doesn’t even dignify that with an answer. Which—yeah. Fair. If Steph wants waffles for dinner, Steph gets waffles for dinner, no bribery required. He’s easy like that. (It’s that thousand-watt smile—the way it leaves him weak at the knees, stomach fluttering. All that romance novel shit he never thought he’d actually have.)

Jason sighs, throwing an arm over his face. He loves that she cares. Really—he does. But he still hates talking about it. Like—okay. Some of it is easy. He can talk about how pissed he is that the Joker is still alive any day of the week. But when you get down to the other shit, the personal shit…

It’s harder. The words stick in his throat, like he’s swallowed a big glob of peanut butter, or like he’s got the worst flu of his life.

But Steph is asking—and. He’s trying to be honest with her. Even about the shit he doesn’t want to talk about.

Also, she’s serious about bringing up Bruce. So. There’s that.

 “How am I?” he repeats, as he picks through the snarled up briar patch growing in his chest. “I’m— not great.” Understatement. He feels like he’s unraveling at the seams, lately. Like, if he isn’t careful, eventually he’s going to unwind completely. “Everything has just been… a lot.” 

Steph slips off the arm of the couch; tucking herself up beside him. He can smell the honey of her body wash; the coconut of her shampoo. It’s nice. Almost as nice as the warmth of her, or the fingers that find his hair, toying gently with his curls.

“A lot?” she repeats, softer now.

“Yeah.” He drops his arm, twisting his torso so he’s curled toward her. He rests his hand on her hip, stroking it with his thumb over her shirt. “I don’t— I can’t point to one thing,” he says quietly. “It’s Bruce, a little bit.” It’s always Bruce, and often more than just ‘a little bit.’ “The city, too. Feels like—like nothing I’m doing, nothing we’re doing is helping. Changing anything. An’ I know that’s not true. I’ve seen the people we’ve helped. But— the bad shit just keeps happening, and. It just. Feels hopeless, sometimes. A lot of the time.” He pauses.

“An’... I’ve been thinking again. About all the stuff I missed out on. An’ I know it’s not too late for all of it, I know I can still— I can go to college. We can make an identity for me, somethin’ I can live in. But, I just. I think about balancing that with everything else, and it just— It’s a lot. I see you do it, and you— Baby, you do it amazingly, and— I want that too, but—”

Steph quiets him with a gentle finger to his mouth. She lays that hand on his chest, tracing the fading graphic on his tee. The other hand stays in his hair. “It is a lot,” she says quietly. “But it’s also nice, to have that break. That connection. Reminds you that all the shit we see isn’t everywhere. It might help.” Her mouth quirks, a little. “And as for B. I’ve hit him once. I’ll do it again, if it’ll make you feel better.”

Jason can’t help his grin. “Only if I can watch.”

Steph winks. “I’ll be watching for opportunities,” she says. Her expression gentles again; and she’s looking at him with an expression so fond that it makes mouth dry up, his eyes sting. “Until then— What do you say we take the night off, yeah? Turn the living room into a blanket fort, order pizza, and watch all those movies we’ve been wanting to see.”

“That—” He has to cut himself off; swallow and start again, when his mouth isn’t desert-dry. “That sounds great, babe.”

She kisses him, brief and fleeting. “Of course it does. I have the best ideas. Now, get moving, Jaybabe. You start on the supports, I’ll call the pizza place. The usual?”

“Yeah,” he agrees, rising to his feet.

He doesn’t know how he got so lucky, but he’s not about to question it. He’ll just have to make sure he never forgets.

#the tim line can be bc theyre exes; besties; or imply jaytimsteph #ur choice #jaysteph #stephjay #dcu #tauriawritesfanfic #deepwithintheabyss #asks and answers

[mereeples]

Maybe somebody can help me with this better on here.

I recently came out as aroace to my family (took 2 years to do, we’re a Christian family and was scared of getting backlash. They were very supportive with my decision though).

(This got long, added the read more so it’s not giant on my page, lol)

I wanted to find some content pertaining to the aroace spectrum because I wanted to see other opinions and experiences. I’m still trying to figure out where I am on it, y’know? But whenever I look up aroace content, especially on tumblr, it’s a bunch of people yelling about shipping aroace characters and why you’re a terrible person if you do ship them? I get it for some, because some of the ships don’t make sense to me depending on the character, but, I don’t know, I just feel hurt I guess when I see someone say that character CAN’T be with someone just because they’re aroace.

Now before anyone yells, bear with me on this: I’m not referring to romantic or sexual relationships. That argument I can understand, but some make it sound like someone whose aroace is incapable of love or compassion.

I know that I’m aroace because I’ve never been attracted romantically or sexually to someone before. I honestly don’t see myself in that kind of relationship at all. But it doesn’t mean I can’t love or someone else can’t. There are more loving relationships other than just romantic or sexual, a relationship can be a platonic or family oriented scenario.

I’m currently writing a story regarding a platonic marriage, because I was curious about the thought of one. The relationship is way different from a typical marriage, and I honestly like the thought of such relationships where you know you love that person but you don’t show it in a normal sort of way. Like, you just vibe well together and that’s all there is to it.

I don’t know, I guess I just want people to know some of the stuff I see being said hurts sometimes. I get your side of the argument when it comes to people getting romantic or sexual with a character, but it doesn’t mean they are incapable of other types of love or relationships. I’m still new to my spectrum, and I’m still trying to figure out things, but I can’t be the only one getting a tad hurt by this indirectly. I just want people to be a little more empathetic about the topic, I guess. This topic involves a person’s identity, and like all identities, they are not cookie cut the same.

I don’t know, does anyone else have a say about this? (Also, please be nice or let me know if I’m coming off offensive. I’m really just trying to get reassurance or someone else’s opinion on the subject).

(Also, does anyone have any other character interpretations of someone being aroace? I only know of one that I like and I don’t want to talk about him on this blog because I try to keep it PG 13. Only other fictional character I know about is SpongeBob, apparently he’s asexual…)

Keep your smiles bright even during the most bleakest moments in life. 🙂

#aroace #aromantic #asexual #aromantic asexual #fandom #just kinda need a friend #love #relationships #queer platonic relationship #need advice #need reassurance #I’d like more education on the topic too #be patient with me I’m autistic. and I’m not saying that to be cute

[artzychic27]

For the Actor AU, how did they feel abt the canon heroes' outfits? If they could, how would they have modified them?

Marinette: Basic as fuck! It looks like I’m wearing footie pajamas! If I were in charge of my costume, I’d give myself a full-on punk look because Ladybug’s are some badass motherfuckers. Oh, and boots that have soles equipped with a shock-absorbing cushion, and a heel that contains a reinforced spring to soften the shock whenever I land. And… Maybe a backpack shaped like ladybug wings to hold my Lucky Charms and anything I need to collect for my plan.

Adrien: Less leather! That stuff shrinks, and a full leather bodysuit is not comfortable. Also, because of the cat holders’ powers, it would be cool if heroes had some sort of medical supplies on them just in case, like stored in a utility belt. And I’m with Mari, those boots sound badass. What else?… Oh, definitely add some more color instead of just basic black.

Alya: Well, the Fox doesn’t seem like a combative hero due to the powers. I see Rena Rouge as a distraction, really, so her outfit wouldn’t be one of those “ready for battle” types. Here’s what I’m thinking, one of those noir-film type outfits. The hat covers my face a bit to give me an air of mystery, and the outfit would look almost casual that no villain would suspect me.

Nino: I mean… Carapace’s look is cool. It’s alright. I’m liking the goggles, but… I’d prefer if he had armor. He’s the fucking turtle hero! He should be ready to take any blow that a villain sends his way!

Rose: Where to begin? Look, you all know me; I love pink more than the next guy, but… Sometimes too much is too much. The Pig Miraculous strikes me as… More farmhand than ballerina. Yee, I know, the heroes come with a tambourine, but come on! While I do love the skirt, I’d trade it in for overalls, either shorts or a skirt. Oh, and add some black in there, too. Daizzi has a black circle around his eye, let him be represented!

Juleka: Studded jacket. That is all.

Luka: Oh, honey, either give me a hood so I can look like a cobra or get the fuck away from me with that outfit.

Myléne: The mouse strikes me as more of the elegant type, I’m not sure why. Maybe it’s the pastel pink mixed with the grey, but I see Polymouse wearing skirts over Pigella. But, that’s just my opinion.

Ivan: Honestly, I’m fine with the canon design for Minotaurox. Yeah, he’s got pockets and padding, I-I like it. And if you show me a better design, I’ll happily take a look at it.

Marc: … I think all of the effort went into making Rooster Bold’s costume. He’s got rooster hair, the little tallons on the back of his boots, and a fucking tailcoat! He and Mayura are the only ones to have tailcoats! I’m not complaining, though. I… I actually like it, but it is a nightmare putting on and taking off that wig.

Nathaniel: Well, I can say I sort of know how some of the girls feel, because that suit was tight as hell! You could see my hip dip! Also, I would’ve liked to have a different hairstyle and maybe some color, because I am the only male redhead around for miles. Oh, and climbing boots becuase, I’m a goat, duh.

Alix: … Do I need to say it? Okay, give me some active wear! I’m traveling through a shit ton of different timelines! I need someone sporty and active when I’m on the go. Also, I’ll need a backpack like Marinette.

Kim: Not hearing any complaints from me! I liked Roi Singe, but being Scarlet Beetle is way cooler!

Max: The glasses can easily come off. What I need is a high collar or a bandana that can cover the lower half of my face in case my glasses become askew or someone is able to place my identity because all I have on my face are some stupid glasses! God, I’m so glad I’m doing this new show now.

Chloé: Oh, I just want wings.

Zoé: Same.

Sabrina: Can mine just not look like my clothes, please?! I’ll take whatever, just not that!

Kagami: I would prefer if I had some form of armor and not a spandex bodysuit. It would need to be lightweight but also durable to allow me to travel faster, of course.

#miraculous ladybug #miraculous #nathaniel kurtzberg #marc anciel #marinette dupain cheng #adrien agreste #nino lahiffe #mylène haprèle #Ivan Bruel #alya césaire #chloé bourgeois #sabrina raincomprix #juleka couffaine #rose lavillant #kagami tsuguri #max kanté #lê chiến kim #alix kubdel #luka couffaine

[austin-chr-2-0]

Can we all just, as a group, collectively stop pretending that the Chucky series is actually a good show?

I promise it isn’t. It’s nothing short than a literal fetish bait that you see on TikTok. I’ll admit, Don’s show was enjoyable in S1. This is no hate or coming after anyone, I’m simply stating what I see.

Not only is the plot more confusing than my gender identity, there’s clear racism in the show. Am I the only one who finds it so hilarious that Don nearly killed off almost every POC character? And only kept the one that was apart of the “main couple” thing Don is doing that’s equivalent to the foolishness they did in Highschool Musical? One of my good friends did a whole blog on it, their name is Mys and I’ll link it.

And not to mention how Don literally admitted to Jake being a self insert. Let me repeat that for those in the back — HE ADMITTED JAKE IS A SELF INSERT. Meaning that the only reason Devon is alive because he’s an extension of DON’S SELF INSERT. Don literally said that his experiences with Jake are “similar” like sir, just admit it already. And don’t get me started on the poor writing here.

Dambala and Christianity? This isn’t paganism bro, and Dambala is technically voodoo and hoodoo, and those different religions have Catholic and Christian roots and similar tools. Also, I don’t mean to point out the elephant in the room but Chucky and Tiffany are white. Hoodoo and Voodoo and the practice of Dambala is a closed practice specifically for who?? African people. And this is just the tip of the iceberg. How come nobody fucking points out how Alyvina, Lexy’s actor, gets sexualized left and right?

And so does Devon’s actor. And I would like everyone to realize that Devon and Lexy’s actors, BJ and Alyvina are technically MINORS. Zachary is an ADULT. So imagine how it must look being a minor making out with a full ass grown adult. That is CRAZY.

And I know what everyone is going to say; “Well there’s consenting so it doesn’t matter” and “Well the show had better representation, I’d like to see you do better” and worst of all “What did you expect the show to be 💀 It’s TV-14, meaning that it’s gonna be swearing, sex talk, gore” and I know what the Don apologists are probably thinking; that I’m just randomly coming after a show but it’s far from it, if you took the time to read this editorial.

And let me break it down before everyone gets to typing and removing. I’m not saying it should be all cupcakes and rainbows. I’m saying these characters should have more characterization. Devon’s confession being deleted was the worst “fuck you” decision ever. We could’ve had a chance for Devon to get characterized and show some vulnerability.

But no. Of course not.

And instead of taking a season to focus on Devon, we have a random YT character — Grant. Again, nothing for Devon. As an African American gay individual, I resided with Devon a lot and I was so confused on how he rarely has characterization. We don’t even get to see him have a grieving process!

I believe, no, I KNOW Don is using something that was introduced in Scandal, a tv show — this method is called dog whistle media/politics. It’s basically racism, sexism, homophobia, all that good stuff in a language so coded that it only affects the person they’re targeting. Like a dog whistle.

So when Don kills off POC characters, sexualizes children, doesn’t let Devon be emotional or vulnerable, IMMEDIATELY jumped into sex in S3, trust that POC and lgbtq people and creepy mfs on Reddit know EXACTLY what Don is doing. It’s a fine line between made for mature audiences and made for creepy audiences. Like the Wren situation on TikTok.

The only reason you all defend this show is because it stimulates you, in a weird, arousal kind of stimulation way or the simple fact it’s all the representation you all really have, and you shouldn’t settle for less.

For people who get stimulated by this show; It’s gross. You’re gross. Receive therapy.

In conclusion, the Chucky series by Don Mancini is not a good show. It is a cash cow, and a lengthened fetish post on TikTok. Do what you want, but I will tell you, if you enjoy that show, it’s not just because of the representation. Thank you for coming to my TedTalk.

#devon evans #jake wheeler #chucky #chucky series #chucky 2021 #austintalks

[musicfeedsmysoul12]

Can you explain why you ship batcest?! I’m sorry I’m just confused by why you like JayTim or DickTim or whatever…

I feel like I already answered this but: I just really like the dynamics of their relationships and it’s fun to go: what if they kiss?!? The pure enemies to lovers of JayTim and the freaking adorable puppy crush to love of DickTim is so good. I don’t want them canon. But it is so damn fun to read them as a couple. That’s it.

For a longer answer and as to why I explore these pairings:

I’m older then most of the people poking around in fandom and making their complaints. I’ve been participating in fandom for almost two decades, since I was a tiny preteen who was hitting puberty who suddenly got a BUNCH of issues we never figured out until I got older because hormone disorders suck ass and my autism went undiagnosed even longer. I remember my first fanfic found on Deviant art: a Harry Potter one where the golden trio and Ginny were the reincarnations of the founders and they got transported into another universe. I remember that so well because it’s just this core memory for me. Finding a place I could be me.

I went through multiple accounts and wrote some dumb shit. I roleplayed Loonatics Unleashed and did some stupid shit there to. I was a weird ass child.

I have been around for a while here kids. I read fucked up shit way to young (and it’s why one thing I am loud about is that kids shouldn’t be allowed to troll the internet without someone aware cause holy shit is some stuff messed up on here. My parents should have been watching.) and I did stupid crap. I was introduced to sex from fanfics and learned about sexuality and gender identity.

And one thing I learned through this is that: people need to grow the fuck up and realize that while fiction doesn’t exist in a vaccum it also isn’t as black and white as people like. Just because someone writes Jason and Tim kisisng doesn’t mean they are like: adoptive families don’t count or incest is fine and I’ll make out with my sibling now. It just means: hey this dynamic is interesting and let’s play with it.

Fiction does not exist in a vaccum. Racism and sexism along with other issues are common for fanfics, headcanons and comics. I recently admitted to falling prey to a few issues I was unaware of as someone who is white and grew up in a Baptist church town in bumfuck Canada.

But when people start whining over pairings it becomes a thing where all you can do is yell: ‘IT IS FICTIONAL’ and walk off. Cause anyone with critical reading skills can tell that it’s 1) not real and 2) not hurting anyone. If someone uses it to hurt someone and that’s the issue? Might as well get rid of all the books in the world and stop all TV and games because people use those as excuses to. So many people talk about the Bible, Twilight, the MCU and more being used to groom them. So… yeah. I don’t have an issue exploring pairings and relationships others would because it’s all fictional.

#dicktim #jaytim #fandom wank

[multiplicity-positivity]

Okay, this got kind of long. I have a question, or well, more like several. I’m just very confused right now.

So, I’ve known about plurality for a while and also there’s other people in my head but like most of them are me or sort of me, so I didn’t think I/we would count and just kind of collectively decided to not look into it. Like, even tho it feels just kind of right to call ourselves “we” and stuff, it just never felt like something we should try and figure out with others. We were just winging it and deciding for ourselves on our own identity terms.

But recently a friend of ours came out as plural and that got us thinking about it. But we don’t want to say to them “oh hey I think we’re plural too!” because we- well, mostly I fear it’d come across as rude or that we’re trying to copy them. Also we still aren’t like really sure if we count as plural?

Also, about the whole possible plurality situation, it’s like I (the one writing this) am pretty much always more or less aware of what’s going on, even when it sometimes feels like one of the others is more in control and I’m just watching. idk if that’s normal that I never go into my mind.

Also, yeah, almost all of the other people in here feel like they’re also me. Which, I recently learned about median, but idk if that really applies. My situation is more like Al’s or everyone’s personality and appearance and stuff we’re derived from me and also sometimes I can kind of see into their brain, like their thoughts and stuff? Like we share the same consciousness.

And I’ve heard advice that’s men’s to be encouraging that goes along the lines of “you are pretending or making it up because that would require a conscious choice to pretend.” But like- sometimes genuinely don’t know if I’m pretending. It feels like VR, simultaneously real and make-believe. Because I can see the thoughts of the the others in my head and most (but not all) are derived from me, I kind of feel like maybe I am just faking it or confused or in the wrong community.

One last note I will put about how I kept mentioning that some aren’t derived from me. There’s only 2 (out of the 9ish others) that aren’t connected to me and I can’t really see into their thoughts and feelings. So like, if we were plural, there’d be a chance that maybe it’s just us three? But I still don’t know and they don’t know either and the other 7 who are me but aren’t also don’t know.

Thank you for your time. Sincerely, Grey + possibly others

Hey Grey, we aren’t quite sure how to respond to this… so we’re just going to take it one point at a time. All hyperlinks in this post head to Pluralpedia, a community-driven plurality wiki.

- If you feel like there’s other people in your head, you can call yourself plural. It doesn’t matter at all if they’re all copies of the same person or if every headmate is incredibly similar. Plurality just means being more than one. So if you feel like you’re more than one, or you share your body and mind with others, that’s really all it takes to be plural.

- You should get to come out as plural on your own terms in a way that helps you feel comfortable. If your friend thinks you’re “copying them” by coming out as a system not long after they did… honestly, we feel like that is their problem. You know yourself, and you know you’re not copying anyone by living your most authentic life/lives, and that’s what matters most. If you need some more advice on coming out specifically, you can check out our post on the matter:

- Having a frontstuck host who always remains at the front is actually pretty common in systems. We see this all the time in plural folks of all sorts. There is even a term, specutien, that describes systems with a permanently frontstuck member.

- It’s possible to be monoconscious, multiple headmates sharing the same consciousness, without being median, so it may be worth it to look into that.

- We feel like many, many systems feel like they’re pretending sometimes when they’re actually not. However, even if you really are pretending (sometimes or all the time), as long as the plurality framework benefits you, and if you feel comfortable and happy calling yourself plural, then you’re plural to us and you belong in our spaces. End of story.

For some resources for questioning systems, maybe check out this post:

In the end, we can’t tell you whether or not you’re plural - you’re going to have to discover that for yourself. But hopefully something here can help or at leas put your mind at ease, if only a little bit. Good luck with figuring this out, we know that sorting out feelings and trying to make sense of whether or not you’re plural can be really difficult at the beginning.

#long post #questioning system #specutien #frontstuck #monoconscious

[pomrania]

For June 2023, I’m planning to do an art event where I’ll be drawing people’s queer D&D (or other gaming system) characters. That means I’ll need people with queer characters who want me to draw those characters. It’s the same thing as I did the last two years; but if you weren’t here for that, I’ll explain it now.

The TLDR is that if you have a queer D&D character (Pathfinder character, GURPS, Monster of the Week, any other gaming system), leave a comment here or send me a message, so I can work out a list of people who might be interested. If you’re not sure if something counts, ask me.

So, the non-TLDR version. There’s an event AdorkaStock has run called “Draw Everything June”, where new poses are put out for each weekday in June. (That worthy is being less active on dA, and currently has plans to host the event on their own site; if it doesn’t work out, then I’d use a different way to get their poses.) The pose is released the night before; I make a post about it, asking who’s interested; the next morning I check the replies, get into contact with someone who was interested in it, and I use that pose to draw their character.

You might notice that this requires me to know what their character looks like. If somebody already has good visual reference for their character, that’s great. If they don’t have reference for their character, then I can work with that; more specifically, work with THEM, to make a reference sheet I can use. And if they don’t really know what their character looks like, I can ALSO work with that, and help them figure out what their character might look like.

I can do all that stuff while working on a picture, but I’d really rather do it ahead of time. (Plus that’ll give me something to do that isn’t my Mermay piece, which is always good.) Thus, why I’m making this post now.

A few things I need to address:

“I don’t want to impose --” This isn’t imposing. This is literally me asking for people to let me draw their characters. Can I make it any more explicit?

“I’m sure you have lots of other characters to draw instead of mine --” Sometimes that happens, but in the past, what’s more often is that I don’t have ANY characters for a pose, and I have to hunt around for anyone who might be able to help, and/or beg.

“You’ve already drawn stuff for me --” And I’m perfectly capable of choosing someone else to draw stuff for, if I decide to, and all else being equal, I’ll generally pick a person who hasn’t gotten art from me before. BUT that’s “all else being equal”; and I’d really much rather have a lot of options to choose from.

“You literally drew my character last year.” Which means that your character will have lower priority (but maybe there’s a pose they’d be perfect for). I’d still like you to leave a note here, because I have a terrible memory for people; I’m not joking when I say that I can’t remember who it was, even if I chatted with you a lot about it. (I have literally forgotten that it was my MOTHER who did certain things; if HER identity can slip my mind, please believe me when I say it’s nothing personal.)

“I have multiple characters.” Awesome; some poses have two or three figures in them, and it’s easier when I just have one person to talk to about it, instead of two different people for two different characters.

“Why don’t you draw your own characters?” Because of how my brain works. Seriously.

“Here’s my character, you can just use them for whatever pose you choose.” That doesn’t work for me.

“I probably won’t be available while you’d be working on a drawing.” Then we’ll just have to work out as much as possible ahead of time; and while I prefer having regular feedback from the person whose character I’m drawing, so long as I know ahead of time that you won’t be around (and thus I won’t worry that you’re ignoring me), I can manage without it.

“But what about --” If you’ve any further questions, just ask them; not only am I not a mind reader, I’m also somewhat tired at the moment, so I prolly forgot to include a bunch of stuff.

#no fandom #not a reblog #personal

[psychewritesbs]

Chapter 212: Fester—Megumi's sense of self

Y’all.

Cursed JJK-Sunday.

So much for me being like “oh yeah catharsis is fucking amazing guys, you should defo try it every once in a while.”

And then laughing like a maniacal and tacky Mexican telenovela villainess because I loved the idea that Gege was about to make Megumi suffer and...

Joke’s on me... that cursed cat is a sadist and landed a low blow and now Megumi’s beautiful sense of self is... 

HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO BE NORMAL ABOUT THIS?!!!!!

It’s personal under the cut btw.

Literal picture of me waking up to see the JJK leaks first thing in the morning on Wednesday:

Just because I am not using the evil laughter doesn’t mean I don’t have other tacky af moments up my sleeves. 

But... as per usual, today I wish to go on a massive tangent. 

As I said above the cut, this got personal real quick.

Like, yes, let’s talk about how cruel it is for Tsumiki’s memories to be used against Megumi by Yorozu... 

And how cruel it was for Yuji to have to witness Sukuna take over Megumi’s body despite his best efforts to not just protect Megumi, but to save him...

Gege went to town with the irony this chapter... 

And how sad it is for Yuji to continue to undervalue his life as a mere cog that has served a “practical” purpose in the grander scheme of things. 

I personally really, really want to see Yuji love himself but like... I also know my kind and we can be very self-loathing.

Yes. All #the things.

Gege was seriously saving all of the good stuff for last. 

That said, I want to focus instead on how chapter 212 is a culmination point to a number of disparate and seemingly unrelated factors with one thing in common--Megumi and the major reorganization to everything that he is and stands for. 

Updated warning:

So today I am most interested in exploring Megumi’s sense of self because if there’s one thing that is clear to me is that I’m here for Megumi. 

As a result, this turned into a sort of introspective headcanon exploration on the nature of the sense of self or self-identity using my interpretation and relationship with Megumi as the basis for it. So just keep that in mind if you keep reading because as much as I care about “canon Megumi”, my interpretation of him, however “accurate or not accurate” it might feel to others, is inevitably a projection of my own psyche.

Thing is... and I am not sure that I’ve harped enough about it in my rambles but... as an amateur art historian, I see art as a mirror upon which we can see ourselves reflected both as collective members of humanity, and as individuals. One is a macrocosm to the other after all.

This is why I am a huge proponent of how the characters we love are reflections of our deepest sense of self whether we consciously recognize it or not. 

Megumi being relatable af

That said... Megumi’s sense of self has always been incredibly relatable to me and this post captures that experience really well from a personal perspective. 

So... yeah. Episode 23 in the anime is THE reason I read JJK.

I know I’ve said this three hundred million times I’ve been keeping track, but seeing Megumi step into a version of himself beyond his self-perceived limitations was one of the most inspiring and beautiful moments I have ever witnessed in animanga. 

It awoke in me a desire to do the same for myself and inspired me to find a way to go about it. A desire to exercise my free will to overcome my fate, to exercise my sense of agency to take control of my life. 

So to see Megumi’s sense of agency, his free will and consciousness get snuffed (even if it’s only temporarily) by Sukuna was... personal, not to mention a complete shock.

And yet... in retrospect it makes so much sense that things arrived at this point. Not just from a foreshadowing perspective, but from the perspective of the sense of self. 

For some time now I’ve seen Megumi as a character on an identity defining character arc. Meaning that the events in JJK were shaping how he sees himself in relation to others and his place in the world around him. 

Whereas prior to this arc Megumi was insecure and had a limited perception of himself...

During Shibuya he developed a confidence in himself and his ability to exert power over his environment that was not there before and that we got to see shine through in the events that followed Shibuya.

Perhaps that is why I always had the feeling that in the CG he was going to go through a reversal of his previous character development up to The Origin of Obedience arc where he kept “loosing” and bumping into obstacles he was afraid to tackle.

Rather, starting with Shibuya, Megumi kept “winning”. He was shown to combine his incredible intelligence (boy can manipulate people like a boss and there’s something very object-relations about it) with the new creative ways he was learning he could use his shadow-based Cursed Technique.

The sense of self and the proverbial glass ceiling

Now, given the nature of an identity-defining character arc, I felt like there would come a time when his current understanding of himself would be challenged by an outside force just as he was beginning to “coagulate” this new, more confident identity.

After all, Gege has shown us several times how when a sorcerer reaches the pinnacle of strength (self-knowledge) and takes it for granted, they get knocked down by their humanity (their shadow)--everything that they didn’t know that they didn’t know about themselves and the world around them.

Side note: I LOVE that Gege drew a soul in the panel above! This man is into soulmate bonds and soulmates recognizing each other and I love him all the more for it even after what he did to Megumi.

In other words, it’s like an invitation to never take our sense of self for granted. Because the moment you THINK you are The Strongest, you are quite literally putting a glass ceiling on top of who you THINK yourself to be. 

The moment you THINK you are “enlightened” you are in the ego’s grip, an illusion created by Wetiko/Mara that severely limits how you see yourself in relation to the world around you.

“No tree, it is said, can grow to heaven unless its roots reach down to hell.” In other words, as above, so below--an enlightened being is most human insofar as their shadow keeps growing right along with them.

To be clear, I’m not saying that Gojo is not THE Strongest. I am saying that Gojo was so confident that he was THE Strongest, that he failed to take into consideration, not just Kenny’s existence, but his own human ego’s emotional attachments--an opening that Kenny exploited if you think about it.

For a limitless being such as Gojo, his downfall was his limited human ego attachments. He might be an enlightened being, but he’s still human.

Also, just a friendly reminder that ego is not good or bad. Don’t fall for the bad reputation that the word “ego” has picked up over the years. Psychologically speaking, ego is your sense of self and YOU NEED IT to move through and experience your reality.

Anyways... that’s how we got here... Gojo got sealed, which allowed for the chain of events to unfold as it did, and that brought us to this particular culmination point...

The reason I bring up Gojo’s “weakness” is because Megumi is going through the same thing. The moment Megumi THINKS he’s got everything under control, well...

Megumi is betrayed by one of his most important people’s, and as a result his consciousness or sense of self gets snuffed like a candle in the wind.

Enchain 恵+活

So, real quick before we keep going... Just to emphasize how important kanji is in JJK: the Japanese phonetic spelling for “enchain” is “kei + katsu” and the kanji Gege used is 契闊.

The individual meaning of each kanji character doesn’t matter as much as swapping kanji that have similar phonetic sounds. 

There are several kanji that mean different concepts that have the same phonetic sound, so you have to find the right combination: 

Like the kanji for 恵 (kei) + 活 (katsu). Which, if you recognize the kanji for “kei”, it’s the kanji used in Megumi’s name. As for the kanji that replaced “katsu” (活) it means “Live / Resuscitation / Being helped / Living”.

I think I read about this from this user.

Boom. 

Gege hiding clues in the kanji? 

Ok moving on...

We all know Sukuna wanted to use Megumi for something nefarious and that he was waiting for just the right moment to activate his binding vow.

What’s interesting to me is that the precise moment that Sukuna was waiting for had everything to do with finding the right opening for taking over Megumi’s psyche. As it turns out, that was when Megumi was at his most vulnerable, which is, as I’ve said over and over and over and over again, one of the qualities Megumi deeply rejects about himself. More on this in a bit.

Basically, Sukuna’s opening was Megumi’s sense of self being weakened by the utter emotional shock he was in because of the reveal about Tsumiki. 

Like... we seriously have never seen Megumi show this much emotion, this strongly. And there’s something almost... idk... infantile about the way he’s depicted? 

I’m just throwing arrows in the dark here, but I get massive “abandonment issues” vibes. Almost like we’re seeing Megumi’s ego regress to a stage in his childhood where he last felt the sheer terror of betrayal and abandonment.

Gege you sadist! He’s seriously out to punish Megumi like the wrathful “God” that he is.

But going back to the idea of Megumi’s vulnerability being exploited because he assumed that Tsumiki had awakened a Cursed Technique instead of being a vessel for a sorcerer from the past...

Not only is this, again, an ironic reversal on how he looked down on Remi’s vulnerability for believing Reggie’s empty promises (even though she probably had NO clue that her lover’s consciousness did not exist any longer), but, again, it’s Megumi feeling vulnerable, a feeling he rejects.

Self-obliteration vs. self-affirmation

I have to thank Fellow Fishie #7 for helping me see this because I was so caught up in the shock to my own ego and so engrossed in my own experience of Megumi that I had failed to notice how Megumi’s self-obliterating thoughts and behaviors were a big part of Sukuna taking over his body.

Not to mention the lack of self-affirming thoughts and behaviors.

And this REALLY got me thinking. Like... REALLY got me thinking about the nature of self-identity and self-sabotage and self-hatred and how despite our best efforts at developing a sense of self, we are afraid to interface with the world and choose instead to stay within self-obliterating comfort zones.

For reference, an example of a self-obliterating behavior would be “addiction” (as an extreme example) and a self-obliterating thought would be rejecting your vulnerability. 

How so? With addiction you are numbing the self, and by rejecting your vulnerability you are inherently rejecting a part of your self.

In Jungian Psychology, the goal of psychological maturation is wholeness--that is, bringing the contents of the shadow to the light of consciousness and being able to hold the tension of all of our contradictions as human beings.   

During maturation and identity-formation, however, the ego creates an idea of itself. As we experience unpleasant feelings like shame or guilt, a lot of the personality traits associated with those unpleasant feelings get pushed into the Shadow to protect the ego’s idea of itself.

i.e. you know that moment when you come to the cold realization that you have been doing the exact same thing you hate about others? It takes A LOT of psychological strength to be able to see this truth about oneself and not reject it.

If I am honest, this is why “anti” stances baffle me... 

So any time you consciously, or even worse, unconsciously reject aspects of yourself, you are self-obliterating. As a clue, projection is one way you can recognize when you are rejecting aspects of yourself.

In Megumi’s case, we know he rejects both good and bad people. Megumi is neither good nor bad. To Megumi’s consciousness, neither of these personality traits apply to him. Other people are good, and other people are bad. 

Meaning, good and bad exist outside of himself and he is not good because if he was good he would be weak-minded and pretentious...

And he’s also not bad because, if he was bad, he would have no brains and zero emotional capability what’s up with this translation omg now I want to go read the Japanese raws...

Actually, reading these panels I am noticing just how skewed Megumi’s opinion is of both. His take on both good and bad people is immature at best.

BUT ANYWAYS... the point I am trying to make here is that, despite how much more confident in his abilities his sense of self has become, Megumi still self-obliterates and doesn’t realize it.

I think the main reason I agree that if Megumi dies right now is inconclusive and anticlimactic, is precisely because his sense of self is a beautiful example of what is possible for our self-identity when we step outside our self-obliterating comfort zones and step into self and life-affirming thoughts and behaviors.

If I had to say what it is that broke my heart about Sukuna taking over Megumi’s body it is precisely the fact that I’ve been rooting for Megumi to keep growing, to keep bettering himself. So to see him loose agency over his soul and body it just... guh. It gutted me.

Again. It’s PERSONAL AND I CAN’T BE NORMAL ABOUT IT. LIKE... WHERE AM I SELF-OBLITERATING (other than the obvious) AND HOW DO I STOP MYSELF FROM SELF-SABOTAGING?! WHERE DO I NEED TO BE MORE SELF AFFIRMING IN MY OWN LIFE?

The thing is that Megumi’s confidence in himself might have increased, but his emotional intelligence and self-awareness stagnated. And again, what happens in JJK to a character whose self-awareness stagnates? They get put in the fucking corner after having their vulnerability and their very humanity exploited.

To complicate things, Sukuna is Wetiko personified, a sense of self corrupted by the illusion and trappings of ego. Sukuna is self-affirming but not life-affirming. So whatever actions Sukuna takes in Megumi’s body, again... it will be self-affirming but not life-affirming for Megumi’s ego.

In other words... if Megumi’s sense of self is still alive somewhere in there, this is the ego death I’ve been waiting for. 

IF he’s still alive, the real test to his sense of self comes after Sukuna leaves his body.

idk if this makes sense but the content of this lecture will be on your finals. Please study properly. 

All of this to say...

TLDR; in conclusion

You son of a....

How am I supposed to continue to call him Daddy Sukuna?!!!! It feels SO wrong on SO many levels.

#jjk ch 212 #god I love jujutsu kaisen #give me back my megumi

[clonerightsagenda]

I was going to save this for one of my podcast girls week entries, but I wrote it out and then thought, why sit on it, so here is today's ladies night content before I go on a walk: Alien zombie Alana Maxwell is an underutilized concept and here's why.

She'd be cool with it. Maxwell works with AI who are ported between containers without that changing who they are, so she's primed to view her mind and memories being rebooted in a new container similarly. I don't think she'd have any identity crises. Also, her dad was a preacher, she's not on good terms with her family, and she tried to ditch the holiday party, which makes me guess she's ex-Christian. How better to spite your Christian parents than coming back from the dead in a distinctly non-God honoring way? This could generate some interesting conflict with Lovelace, who is significantly less cool with it and might be annoyed and dismayed to see someone else taking alien resurrection in stride. Bonus points considering I hc Lovelace as being raised Catholic and the soul question being an additional level of identity angst that Maxwell immediately dismisses.

The aliens have motive. It's clear that watching through their surrogates' eyes doesn't mean they understand what they see. Once Lovelace gets back to Earth, they might want help with context. They seem to have grasped that humans don't like multiple copies of a person running around, and of the others they have on file, they dislike Kepler and Cutter, and Rachel and Riemann were there when Cutter killed one of their meatsuits, so Maxwell seems like the one they'd have the least aversion to. Then she would immediately try to talk them into roadtripping to see things in person, which is how we can get all the other interactions I'm describing.

The aliens have opportunity. It's not stated what the crew did with Maxwell's body, but the likely options are either tossing her into the star or freezing her on the station, which later went into the star. Lovelace was frozen (albeit alive) when she got scanned, and Word of God is that the Dear Listeners are perfectly capable of creating a functioning surrogate from a corpse. If you don't want to go that angle, almost everyone got hit by multiple rounds of stellar activity in "Persuasion". However, the corpse angle creates an opening for...

Fun body horror. I am a 'came back wrong' enjoyer and think it would be very good if the aliens got their scanned corpse up and running but didn't fuss too much about the cosmetic stuff. Maxwell's skin is colder than it ought to be. She has a gnarly scar on her forehead. Neither of these bother her much, but she's not a fan of the tingling neuropathy left over from tissue damage or the brain fog from the bullet that went through her head. (A fun parallel to the issue she first helped Hera with. Hera is now in the brain damage club with Doug, Miranda, and Maxwell. She hates this.) She can fun-terrorize Jacobi with perma-cold hands and real-terrorize Minkowski by making her look at the hole in her head. She's honestly over it but it's still funny to watch her squirm.

The Hera thing. Hera was furious with Maxwell immediately after the mutiny, and although her opinions softened near the end of the show, I think she'd be furious again if Maxwell actually showed up. She embraced non-human solidarity with Lovelace and now here's Maxwell. What is she supposed to do, have non-human solidarity with her too?? Did Maxwell become an alien to spite her??? The nerve. I got the impression that Maxwell saw her actions during the mutiny as for Hera's own good - better than deleting her, right? - just as she was willing to ignore Hera's wishes and erase her memories in Memoria. She'd probably insist on that if they had a chance to argue about it, and I could see Hera throwing the restraining bolt incident in her face. ("If you're so comfortable putting something into people's brains to make them more useful to you, I'm sure you won't mind hearing how Jacobi got that scar on the back of his neck.") Could be juicy, is my point.

Meanwhile, Jacobi: Of course this is my very good friend Maxwell back from the dead. Yes this has implications for the version of myself I listened to die screaming. No I'm not going to unpack that.

Finally, I think it's a missed opportunity that Pryce and Maxwell never got to meet. I suspect pre-mutiny Maxwell would want to believe she was ethically better than Pryce while pre-finale Pryce would see Maxwell as a bleeding heart amateur, but after all that? I think they'd still get each other's hackles up, but there's room for some interesting interaction, especially as I think Miranda's memories would start trickling back after a while, and immortal alien surrogate Maxwell is basically her white whale. Miranda trying to navigate social niceties enough to determine an acceptable way to ask someone for tissue samples. Maxwell might be willing to swap some for custody over a few of Pryce’s experimental AIs.

In conclusion, while I enjoy postcanon scenarios dissecting people's trauma, I think it's fun if while everyone else is grappling with the Horrors, Maxwell is also there enjoying herself. *commercial voice* Add an alien Maxwell to YOUR postcanon today.

#for 12 low payments of $0.00 #perpetual perpetual ladies night #wolf 359 #visibly undead Maxwell dragging an alien doing a really bad human impression around Florida: :D #everyone else seeing this: D: #spending my last day of winter break blogging furiously

[blorb-el]

saw your post about the things you'd like to see in a superman story and now i'm curious about the nsfw version 👀 if you'd like to share ofc!

mmm. see I have tried not to nsfw on this blog but you know what. fuck it. if famous author vladimir nabokov wrote a horny superman poem and had the absolute temerity to make it good and then send it to the new yorker and ask them to publish it for money in 19fucking42... (x) then i can do whatever i want on my blog

anyway. some Concepts. this turned out as less fic ideas and more personal headcanons. LONG post since i mostly haven’t talked about this. all of these are Free Real Estate if anyone is inspired by them

Even more for nsfw headcanons than sfw, I am above all interested in what the author is interested in. like, choking does nothing for me in and of itself, but everyone was so dang enthusiastic about it that now i'm invested and would absolutely read That Fic

for nsfw headcanons I have two different headcanon versions of clark for any piece of dc media. (yes this is how my brain works. blorbo all the way down). one looks identical to or nearly identical to a human. usually a cis man, however trans man clark also very good. the other has genitals that cannot be mistaken for human, usually some kind of retractable system. plus or minus some good ol' tentacles depending on the vibe. I went a little more into this + the Kryptonian names for such parts here. most of my headcanons are for alien biology clark, but going into a fic I think of any alien biology as a bonus, I don't expect it (there are, after all, a whole bunch of canon panels that go He Looks Totally Human No Xeno Here Guys!!. Every time I see one of these I like to imagine that some poor sucker at DC has seen something they do not like in the alien biology tag on ao3.)

A Clark who looks human I think is fairly well adjusted, he's had sex, he knows what he likes and what he doesn’t even if he may have hangups about asking for it. A Clark pre-serious relationship that doesn't look human, I hc has either not had sex or has only ever had sex with his clothes on and without being touched himself, only giving (for some reason allstar gives me this vibe) (sidenote: i do not mean to imply that this is not a perfectly valid and fulfilling sex life for many people!). he does genuinely enjoy being a service top. he just would also like to be in a relationship with someone who he could trust with his identity...

then he meets Lori in college (lori lemaris, for the uninitiated, is precrisis superman’s hot mermaid college gf, which is a sentence that rules. she should come back in a comic not written by frank fucking m*ller). alien4mermaid. for the first time he’s in a relationship with someone who not only knows that he’s not human but is not human herself. When she has to return to Atlantis it breaks his heart (canon). this ties into my Ideal Superman Timeline, where this is where he leaves college, at the end of his sophomore year, and scrapes together the rest of his degree with remote credits while traveling the world, learning what doing good looks like worldwide, and Finding HimselfTM. however this post is not about that.

that’s the background I usually have in the back of my little brain when I’m writing. Other stuff, mostly superbat but relevant to clois...

despite not having much experience he’s like. annoyingly good at pleasing his partner because 1. i said so 2. he is incredibly focused on their pleasure and 3. he’s got built in biofeedback receptors.

early on i think he absolutely ties himself in knots about wanting something, being allowed to want something, and feeling strange about judging himself for wanting something. the queer experience. man’s on three levels of overthinking. like, i think he enjoys the feeling of holding his partner’s arms down or thighs apart while he’s going down on them, feeling the muscles flex against his hands, knowing he has them pinned, but at the same time feels guilty about liking it.

ultimately he’s pretty vanilla himself, but since his partner’s pleasure is so important to him, he’s open to experiment and try things out.

Again early on, I think this backfires. There are certain things he is really uncomfortable with that i don’t think he’s aware of until they come up. He doesn’t like feeling examined or scrutinized, which I think would come up with Bruce early on in their relationship. Something about an old childhood fear of being looked at too closely. For the first few times, I think he’s more comfortable with the lights off.

dcau. bruce wants to try some sort of roleplay scene involving ropes/bondage and clark goes along with it because he can tell bruce likes it, but at the same time he’s lowkey getting triggered... clark’s very good at hiding stress, but bruce notices and pauses before it goes too far. clark just lies there still as a statue for a few seconds, says the safeword (’pearl’), and just as bruce is reaching out he’s bolted straight out through the window and up and away. bruce feels like garbage. clark feels like garbage. clark comes back once he’s ready, and because bruce doesn’t press for details, clark feels safe enough to choke out a few words explaining that it reminded him of what happened on apokolips with lashina. clark Gets Help. this fixes the ENTIRE dcau from that point on and neither of them die sad and alone in bapmanbeyond.

similarly i know it’s a fic trope but i don’t think he finds depowered/blue kryptonite sex inherently more enjoyable. in my headcanon he’s grown up with his powers - while they can be overwhelming at times, they’re also comforting, and the sudden silence is distracting. Also at any given time when he’s depowered there’s a little voice in his head going ‘what if an airplane has a jet engine failure right now. do you know how many people could die? and you’re doing this to get off? selfish.’ this is a statistical improbability, of course, but it’s bronze age canon he has anxious thoughts like this.

retractable dick very handy in such emergency circumstances. the annoying thing about sex with clark is that it’s very very good 92% of the time but 8% of the time they will be deep into it and then clark will freeze, do the damn head tilt and then WOOOOSH. and his partner can’t even feel bad about it because they’re adults and both understand that saving a life is more important than an orgasm. besides he will make it up to them thoroughly.

he gets WAY better at communicating about sex and desire eventually, but only really with his partner. i think at heart he’s a modest and reserved person, i don’t think he’s ever going to be joining in “locker room talk.” (however AU where he does is incredibly funny)

("praise... 'kink'??? what do you mean praise 'kink.' what do you MEAN. are you people not praising your partners??? ARE YOU NOT LETTING THEM KNOW HOW WONDERFUL THEY ARE??? THAT'S - PEOPLE THINK OF PRAISE AS A KINK?????!!" - a man at the absolute end of his rope. facial expressions going through all five stages of grief.)

leaves hickeys on bruce’s neck, mostly because he wants to and he knows bruce is into it, but also knows the man’s got an inexhaustible supply of turtlenecks. he is aware of exactly where the turtlenecks end and does not leave hickeys higher than that. possessive streak, in a very considerate way, but still.

as he gets more secure and comfortable he loses the jealousy. possibly he enjoys the idea that bruce has so much experience and still chooses him.

if his partner says ‘do what you want with me, i’m all yours,’ i think 9/10 times it’s slow body worship and massage. sometimes not sex, sometimes it’s just too relaxing. it’s an indulgence for him to just be allowed to be slow and present. physical touch is a big love language and once he’s in a relationship he can freely give it, he loves to do just that.

the last 1/10 times is when he’s tired and stressed. he can and will pick up his partner and rail them into the mattress/against the wall/into thin air while floating. this is where the auxiliary tentacles come in handy. he gets them off though even if it’s supposed to be just about him for once, he feels too weird if he comes and his partner doesn’t.

on really really bad days his partner will pick up on how down he’s feeling and will uno reverse card and body worship him and it will make him cry a little

finally here are some panels that made me break out laughing. first off. he can tell just how hard he's getting. ah. impacted.

(action 423) imagine he's the one getting railed and it’s going Great and then all of a sudden he’s just like. “velocity - 4mph. impact pressure - 15ppi.” in his best Broadcaster Anchorman Voice. i think this would be very funny. bruce would be into it lois would NOT, however it would make her crack up laughing, which is what he'd be going for, so everybody wins. he’s a doofus at times and sex is NOT excluded from that

(WF 104) vibrators don't work on him. very sad! however. with superspeed. he IS the vibrator. (supers :handshake: flashes). I don't think he'd be much for toys himself, I think there's something very satisfying to him about body-to-body contact, but if a partner requested them he's happy to indulge them.

#januariat #thanks for the question :^) #you'd think if i could write this much as meta i COULD FINISH MY WIPS HOWEVER. #what do i even tag this as. unhinged. #nsft #superbat

[celestiall0tus]

Long Road - I See You

Beginning || Previous || Next

            Tikki rose from her sleep. She stretched and paused seeing Marinette was gone. She flew up and saw only Gimmi curled up on the chaise. She headed towards the door downstairs when Gimmi stirred.

            “What troubles you?” Gimmi asked.

            “I need to find Marinette. She’s missing.”

            “She’s with her mother on the sofa. They fell asleep watching a movie.”

            Tikki flew over to Gimmi. “What happened? Is Marinette ok?”

            “No. Her heart is troubled. Would you help me think of a solution?”

            Tikki tilted her head. “I can, but aren’t you, well, him?”

            Gimmi stared ahead, then looked down. “I’m not quite sure what I am yet and yet there is some understanding that doesn’t make sense. Things I shouldn’t know but do. That sort of thing. And yet I can’t make any sense of it all.”

            Tikki hummed and sat beside Gimmi. “I don’t quite understand, but I’m here to help.”

            Gimmi nodded. She shared the concerns that Marinette had and the burdens that now weighed on her heart. Tikki looked away at the mention of Adrien.

            “This is… worrisome,” Tikki admitted.

            “I was afraid that was the case. What should she do then?”

            Tikki grimaced. “I… I feel like I would say she should push through, create something new from these revelations. Build something new and beautiful from it all, but something feels off. I want her to pursue love, but something just isn’t right.”

            “Is it the boy?”

            “Maybe? But it couldn’t, right? Marinette fought for a year to overcome her anxieties and everything just to win Adrien’s heart. Admittedly some of her methods were questionable, but she should be able to enjoy the reward, right? Surely, she does still love him, and he loves her.”

            Gimmi looked at Tikki, then at the floor. “That feels… wrong. At least, how you worded it. Is it really a reward one should pursue? Isn’t love supposed to be a mutual feeling that both pursue? Did both pursue it?”

            “Well, I mean, yes? It was a whole thing that got really complicated. They didn’t know each other’s identities and it caused a big mess. Chat Noir loved Ladybug, and Marinette loved Adrien. Then after so many rejections and other stuff, it switched around. Then Adrien loved Marinette and Ladybug loved Chat Noir. But even at that point, Marinette wouldn’t herself love Adrien despite him liking her. Then they started dating and there was more nonsense about being able to show affection and… and….”

            Tikki looked at Gimmi, whose face was twisted in utter confusion.

            Tikki chuckled nervously. “Yeah, it was a mess, but that’s love, right?”

            Gimmi’s face returned to a neutral position as she looked at the floor. “That doesn’t feel right either.”

            “What do you mean?”

            Gimmi’s eyebrows knotted. “Well, love is… equal.”

            Tikki gasped silently. She looked at Gimmi and saw a light in Gimmi’s eyes she had seen many times in Velze’s own eyes. She waited with bated breath for Gimmi to continue.

            “Love is… acknowledging your partner, friend, family, anyone. You respect who they are and what they want. You want them to be happy, but also for yourself to be happy. The truest of loves being honest and open. You know everything about the other and hold no judgements or harsh connotations about the other.”

            Tikki watched as Gimmi’s eyes lit up and smiled. She smiled as Gimmi slowly floated up and twirled.

            “Love is accepting the other as we are. We don’t change those we love but embrace their true selves. We don’t take away what they add to this world but lift it up as high as we can. Let the world see what we love and admire so much. Be their wings to help them soar, but also their anchor to keep them grounded and not lose themselves.”

            Tikki’s jaw dropped as lights formed around Gimmi. Gimmi shut her eyes and spun around. The lights shifted between every color of the rainbow and shaped into hearts. Tears welled in Tikki’s eyes seeing some lights flare out of Gimmi like a mane and tail.

            “Love is… freedom. It is letting those you love to be free to live as themselves. To be free to be yourself. Love is setting them free, not keeping them caged. Love is finding happiness for the other, even when they aren’t around. To wish the best for them, no matter where life will take you both.”

            Tikki smiled and flew up. She grabbed Gimmi’s hands and spun around within the light show. Gimmi looked surprised, then smiled with a familiar warmth. She knew it well; it was Velze.

            “Love is unbelievable,” Tikki said.

            “Love is reasonable,” Gimmi continued.

            “Adventurous.”

            “Hesitant.”

            “Peaceful.”

            “Frustrating.”

            “Love is fantastical.”

            “Love is real.”

            Tikki and Gimmi pressed their foreheads together as they laughed.

            “Gimmi?”

            “Yes?”

            “Do you have my memories?” Tikki asked.

            “I don’t.”

            “Then look into them. See what I have over the year and judge for yourself what needs to be done.”

            Gimmi nodded and closed her eyes. She delved into Tikki’s memories of Marinette. She bore witness to the long year Marinette spent obsessing over Adrien, stalking him, keeping him from all potential romantic partners, attempting to stomp out the feelings just to fall again until they were finally together. She watched the mess of them dating with Gabriel keeping them apart, the dysfunction of their communication, and forcing themselves to move at an uncomfortable pace due to their friends.

            The lights faded away. Tikki and Gimmi stopped and openly cried.

            “Is this what she thinks love is?” Gimmi asked.

            Tikki bowed her head. “I’m sorry. I failed.”

            “Not in the way you think. You couldn’t be what you are now. None of you could.”

            “Will you help her as you had with us so long ago?”

            “I… will?”

            Tikki grinned and hugged Gimmi. “Thank you. Thank you for everything.”

            Gimmi furrowed her brow. “You’re welcome?”

            Tikki flew back and bowed. “I’m going to return to Marc. Will you tell Marinette that I’ll see her soon?”

            Gimmi nodded. Tikki nuzzled her, then left. She remained in the room as dawn’s light poured in.

            Gimmi was unsure of what Tikki asked of her. What did Tikki mean “as she had with us so long ago”? Why did Tikki bow and had a sudden shift in compliance? She was certain Tikki would be upset and push back as Ivan had, but it was absent. An uncomfortable feeling rose and consumed her.

            Gimmi flew down to Marinette’s vanity table. She inspected herself in the mirror. A tiny white body, cicada wings, and big sea green eyes. There was no mane, tail, horns, or many eyes. She was herself, she saw it clearly, but the feeling remained. She reached out and touched the glass. Her reflection shifted to that of Velze. She gasped and flew back as her reflection returned to normal. She shook her head and returned to the chaise.

            Gimmi knew who she was. She was Gimmi, kwami of reality and shell of Velze. She wasn’t him. She was him only in concept, nothing more.

#miraculous #miraculous ladybug #miraculoustalesofladybugandcatnoir #au #miraculous au #alternate universe #mlb fanfic #fanfiction writer #fanfiction #fanfic #all that remained #all that remained au #long road au #long road #miraculous tikki #mlb tikki #ml tikki #tikki #gimmi miraculous #gimmi #kwami oc #kwamis #ml kwamis #canon divergent au #canon divergence

[zahri-melitor]

New(ish) Comics (this is the best week of the month, no lie)

Batman – Santa Claus: Silent Knight #1: this is fun. I like the way Bruce and Damian are written together. I am annoyed Babs is out as Batgirl. I'm amused that Tim is very specifically excluded from the story that involves real Santa given he'd not be wondering 'ooh oooh is Santa real' like Dick is here.

Someone had better give Darkseid some coal, is all I can say.

Batman #139: …so we really are running Batman and Batman & Robin with contradictory plots right now. Cmon. There was even a way to finagle this so that Damian could be living with Bruce and have Zdarsky’s plot still work! Grump.

“I’m coming for you, Joker. I’m coming for all three of you. For the last time.” (actually there’s a printing error in this line and the letterer has ‘For the the last time’) I disbelieve this Zdarsky, sorry, though if you could figure out a way to get Joker out of the Bat books for a few years I think everyone would enjoy that.

Now that aside, I do want to note that apparently my decision to (re)read all of Henri Ducard’s appearances seems to have been prescient, given Zdarsky has just referred to ‘manhunting’, ‘training when I was young’ and ‘Paris’ all together. That’s Ducard. That trio is 100% Ducard. Sounds like I need to finish Henri Ducard’s post-2016 appearances, which I was delaying. So Batman: The Detective and Batman: The Knight are jumping up my reading list. (And a quick look at ‘Lucie Chesson’ says she’s from Batman: The Knight, so yep, gotta read)

Joker + dolls always makes me think of NML Endgame, personally.

Birds of Prey #3: Damn this continues to just be a solid read. Thompson keeps hitting yet another 'look I can be trusted' target every issue.

I could do with at least 30% less Harley commentary in this book, but I do acknowledge that at least half the team are unlikely to talk much in a combat situation. Future!Maps is cute and as I slowly approach Maps content I’m excited to meet her more. Also… SIN MY SWEETHEART. I have been waiting for this hug for SIXTEEN YEARS. (Literally. I was in DC fandom in 2007 when they were torn apart). Also loooooooooool Ollie got curbstomped by Diana, sucks to be you Ollie.

Blue Beetle #3: Oh I couldn’t help myself (in terms of how many panels I already posted), but Blue Beetle is doing such interesting things right now. Victoria’s finally being acknowledged on page as being super sus and villainous (rather than just slinking around being sus and concerning me deeply). I’m getting more and more worried about the identity of the Red Beetle. We got Traci back! Which from what I hear means that Trujillo is glossing over some of Traci’s recent characterisation, but we’ll see how this tracks (and in any case, re-establishing Jaime’s connections to the magic/dark side of DC via Traci is helpful if we’re about to do a Dan Garrett story).

Free my girl Dani Garrett if we’re doing a Dan Garrett storyline, she’s an autistic mildly amoral archaeologist and I desperately, DESPERATELY want to see her arguing with Victoria Kord over who ‘owns’ the scarab while Jaime’s standing in the middle going ‘excuse me nobody owns Khaji Da, it’s its own being! And my friend!’

Fire & Ice: Welcome to Smallville #3: hello Jimmy Olsen! Hello Turtle Jimmy lore! (I love how silly this book is. I do enjoy JLI stuff that doesn’t take itself seriously) I’m getting attached to a few of the new villains, particularly Linka Grodd.

Shazam! #5: MARY SIGHTING. Darla remains tiny and adorable and I love her too. This comic remains committed to ridiculous fun villains (and Waid and Mora have apparently been off raiding the ‘underused weird Silver Age villains’ list). Mr Dinosaur is an amazing addition to the canon. (And yes. Billy rebuilt the moon. Oh Shazam!) Also I see we are still back firmly in the ‘jealous Freddie’ plot that’s been hanging around for a while.

Warlord #25: this week we check back in with Tara, Mariah and Machiste. Grell’s done some fabulous art for the splash page that I really really like.

Travis is fighting *checks notes* snow giants as he's still too ashamed to come hang out with his friends and partner after the whole 'I killed Joshua' incident a few issues back. He's also cutting all sort of things with his Damascus Steel sword which I have to remind everyone and note is highly suspicious damascus steel, because it's made from a RIFLE and there is no way the type of steel used was able to be worked as damascene, given it likely was alloyed wrong.

I love Ashir here (the guy actually wearing clothes) as firstly, look! A rare appearance of someone with most of their skin covered! Secondly, Travis' burn of "I didn't know you had character".

Anyway, Travis is moping a bit here about being a lone warrior. You could go and hang out with your friends any time you want, Travis. You're the one who left, not them.

#z canon read throughs #newish comics #tuesday spoilers

[uselessheretic]

Overall, I find the way OFMD fandom interacts with race, especially in regards to Edward, to be extremely disappointing. I’m saying this from a perspective of someone who is Black, but also as an outsider to Māori culture. I wish people would put in a greater effort to do research before commenting on how they assume race and racism interacts with Ed. I also don’t feel anywhere close to an expert because again, I am not Māori or Polynesian, which is why I prefer to just keep my mouth shut and continue learning about things so I don’t write anything stupid in my fanfictions. So, take anything I say with a grain of salt where I’m continuing to try and educate myself as time goes on and encourage others to do the same. 

The vast majority of posts I see that talk about Ed and his cultural identity are made by people who are not Māori, but still speaks as an authority on it. I’m not saying you can’t talk about Ed and race if you’re not Māori, not at all, but people need to put in the work of researching cultures outside of their own instead of going off of vibes or assuming their own experiences will translate over. 

And this isn’t a personal attack on anyone or their meta, but something like assumptions on how Ed would conceptualize his biracial identity doesn’t necessarily copy over from other biracial groups (I’m biracial Black/white for what it’s worth) and you’re better off looking towards how many Indigenous cultures think of multiracial experiences. But Māori identity isn’t reliant on blood quantum and New Zealand never had a push to force its Indigenous population to prove their ancestry. Even when doing census taking in the early 1900′s the determination of whether someone was Māori or European was based off of the Māori idea of whakapapa which is a concept I don’t think I can do justice to explaining so here’s an article. But was largely based off of self-identification and connection to the culture. I’m severely over simplifying this, and this doesn’t mean there isn’t an inherent lack of cultural conflict for people of mixed Māori descent, but I’m just trying to express that racial identity differs globally, and if you’re going to talk about Ed’s experiences of being biracial, you need to contextualize it. 

Race in the 1700′s didn’t operate the same way it does now, and in general, race in modern day America is very simplified in comparison to other parts of the world because of our unique history. This isn’t to say it’s better or worst here or anywhere else, but that racial categories form differently depending on time and location. Looking at stuff about Ed especially is hard because, and I feel like I’m going insane every time fandom ignores this, there was next to no European contact with Polynesia in the early 1700′s. James Cook is still 50+ years out from his lil exploration trip! What this means in the show is... complicated which is why I assume they haven’t deep dived into Ed’s race/cultural identity because I’m pretty sure Blackbeard was originally written aracially (which essentially means he was written white,) Taika asked if he could be in the show, and Jenkins went “yeah sure there’s no reason why Blackbeard has to be white!” and they decided to not focus too heavily on Ed’s race in s1 and will probably only go further into the topic if they hire a Māori writer to give the topic the care and attention needed. This doesn’t mean Edward is white! He is still racialize as a poc! But for right now, it’s pretty safe to say in my opinion that they’re deemphasizing, not erasing, Ed’s race for s1 until they can take the time to craft a more in depth storyline. 

But I guess speed running some random misconceptions I see in fandom that again seems to be reliant on vibes and assumptions:

Donkey is not a slur against Polynesian people. I think misinfo comes from people seeing the term “moke” which means donkey and connecting this as a slur 

Moke is also not a slur against Polynesian people, for the record. It’s Pidgin Hawaiian and used by locals in the same joking manner one might say redneck. It’s not leveraged by white people against poc. 

Donkey is also not a slur against mixed people. You’re thinking of the word “mule” which is a combination of a donkey and horse and makes up the term mulatto. These are different animals. Mulatto is also specifically a slur against mixed Black people, not Polynesians. 

The drawing of Blackbeard in the book isn’t a racial caricature. Racial caricatures exaggerate specific ethnic features to perpetuate stereotypes and there are specific ways Māori caricatures look. The picture of Blackbeard we see The Kraken based on is actually a play off of the real life drawings of Blackbeard, probably updated to look more like Taika. 

There are specific traits used in caricatures of Māori people and specific stereotypes associated with them. You can see some more information about that here. Just because a picture of Ed is mean, doesn’t mean it’s a racial caricature specifically. That is its own thing. 

Also, Izzy didn’t buy Ed as a slave y’all sdkjbfjsd

The transatlantic slave trade didn’t work this way. I know this is going to sound stupid, but the enslavement of Native Americans was actually illegal. This didn’t mean that it didn’t happen (you can read more about this here) but it took a specific under the table form of using alternative language like indentured servitude. It’s true that Black pirates captured were sold back into slavery if captured instead of hanged, but there aren’t really? Many accounts of Native American/Indigenous pirates in general, so I wouldn’t make broad sweeping statements that this is true for them as well. Either way, the enslavement of Native Americans was largely of children and women in specific locations, and wasn’t fostered by the transatlantic slave trade. 

There is a specific history of enslavement of Polynesian people called blackbirding that involved mostly kidnapping and tricking people in South Pacific Islands and taking them to other locations, often Australia, as “indentured servants.” For the most part, the Māori weren’t impacted by this btw and this was largely in the 1800′s with questionable and shifting legality under British rule where it’s unlikely that the navy would have sanctioned this. Often, the navy were the ones holding court charging people accused of illegal slave trafficking (but also the navy fucking sucks, the rules would change, and people were rarely punished.) Again, this is the 1800′s though because, and I cannot emphasize this enough, the Māori were currently chilling in New Zealand in the early 1700′s because the last time someone tried to land their ship on land, they got chased the fuck out and nobody came back for 130 years. 

Either way, none of this would apply to Edward who is a British citizen (which we know since he joined the navy!) and can’t just be enslaved. Again, as stupid as it sounds, there were specifics rules to who could be enslaved where you can’t just point towards the nearest brown person and buy them from the navy. For Polynesia and a lot of Indigenous groups, the way the slave trade operated for them was much more similar to human trafficking of today where people were kidnapped and transported to far off foreign lands where they didn’t speak the language. This legit would just not happen to Ed and it’s not something likely to be done under official navy business. You can’t accidentally buy a slave it’s just not done. 

Basically, I just want people to do their research before making assumptions on what’s going on with Ed and his identity. I feel severely under informed on the nuances, so again, I simply just try and keep my mouth shut. For a lot of people on here who aren’t Māori or Polynesian, this is a whole new subject that we aren’t taught about in schools and isn’t often brought up in activist circles outside of the region. Please just remember to verify information, and to not assume your experiences translate over on a 1 to 1 basis because race is complicated and changing especially in the 1700s. 

#ofmd #our flag means death #edward teach

[co-mixed]

Fall of X (either a breakdown or a rant)

Full of spoilers 

We all know Marvel has an affinity for soft reboots. It seems things are going to change radically. But then after a big boom nothing really changes. I personally am still wondering whether Fall of X is going to be like that or if it’s about to shake up the status quo (again). 

I don’t know. I hope changes are coming because Krakoa isn’t my type of setting. But even if not much is changing, I’m still here for the ride. Because the ride is really something.

What’s up

After yet another Hellfire Gala things go awry because of a series of simultaneously executed attacks. Because the majority of Mutants are forcibly relocated from Earth (supposedly), we are left with a small group. Among them are Kamala (who is still coming to terms with even being a mutant), Emma (who is rightfully pissed but surprisingly well prepared), Nightcrawler (who is now spider-man), Firestar (playing a traitor), Shadowkat (who now kills) and some others. 

See that’s why this arc works for me. Everyone is pushed to their absolute limit, and everything they do now is dictated by revenge and despair. Say whatever you want, functional and healthy doesn’t work in fiction quite as well as the opposite.

That’s why I already love this event. 

Nostalgic vibes

It started for me with Mutant First Strike. An attack on a small town is staged by Orchis to look like an act of mutant aggression. We see a Krakoan relief team at work and it’s quite enjoyable. Because the whole thing reminds me of the classic X-men motto - protecting those who fear and hate them. It’s an idea that Krakoa stepped away from and for me, it never felt true to the core idea of the series. 

And then, narratively, the story pushes you back to the good old Civil War days and Stamford. 

Naturally, you see propaganda at work, Orchis and comrades spinning the events to present a twisted image of what had happened. It’s vivid and very actual. But that’s when I felt that the classic X-men aren’t really that far gone. 

Reliving past experiences

The event sure has many great storylines. Like yet again Jean dies (or so, again, we think). This leads us to a story by Louise Simonson which kinda works as a stunning epilogue for the character. Jean goes back to pivotal events in her life and wonders what could she have done differently. A what-if style story that Simonson gets very right because come on, mutant legend here. The issue with time-displaced Jean stuck with me more than the rest. Maybe it’s because I genuinely enjoy AUs, or maybe it’s because Jean is still very much a plot device and her young version isn’t. She also makes a pretty sick old-school Magneto.

The other arcs are about Phoenix and Maddie. The former is as big and bad as ever, the latter just reminds you how lousy some characters have it. Maddie really deserves better (but that’d be boring).

Jean though… she comes to terms with all she’s ever done and accepts it. I mean… if there’s a perfect moment to let her die for good, this is it. But what are the chances… 

Origins

I love an origin story, the last one I got with Escapade (loved it!), but now it’s Ms. Marvel. Let’s skip the story of why she has to be a mutant and get to the interesting stuff. Kamala is all about her identity. Her hobbies, her family, her friends and teams, being inhuman, hero, etc. But as soon as she awakes on Krakoa, she embraces another identity. And see, I love how she almost immediately puts on an X-men uniform. (Unlike Disney’s Kamala who just throws away mutation as another label! What’s wrong with ya girl???) 

Anyway, before she gets to snap on the X-belt, she has a fantastic exchange with Emma. Because let’s be fair, no one schools teens better than Emma. When Emma continuously tells Kamala that she has to be really careful because being a mutant on Krakoa and being a PR stunt for a thriving nation is one thing, but living what they’ve been living before is completely different. and now with Orchis getting the upper hand, it’s straight up terrifying. Of course, Kamala doesn’t listen, she actually rushes into it because she wants to stand with her fellow mutants and that’s amazing (regardless of her mutant power never having been activated). Which is another thing well approached. It’s not even about power, but it’s about who you are.

Multi-layered, right? From Hellfire Gala we spin into the story co-written by Sabir Pirzada and Iman Vellani. It’s a character story with a ton of self searching and it’s definitely something that hasn’t been as common for mutants lately. More of them deserve their own arcs away from teams. I don’t know how well Marvel’s gonna do with separating Ms. Marvel from the X-men but so far she has enough on her plate. Plus, the character’s pretty popular so… who knows. 

This was definitely one of my favorite runs in this event. 

Weddings (and still no funerals) 

But let’s get back to Emma. If life on 616 is a chess board, Emma is a queen. You always expect her to be two steps ahead of everyone and she’s been very very smug. But after the gala she, while still reasonably prepared, is devastated. She believes the cuckoos are dead, her teammates are scattered, and she is pissed at everyone. Plus, she doesn’t know it but Kate’s killing humans now. Things are pretty bad. 

She teams up with Tony, things for him suck too with Feilong taking over his company and tech. In the process, comics threw in giant iron-man-looking sentinels which is something I’d love to see in the MCU. So Emma and Tony accidentally come across each other while fighting an iron sentinel, and end up in sewers plotting revenge on Feilong. 

That’s what leads to their “wedding”. No, they aren’t actually married, and Emma didn’t even use her real identity. But you know what… you know what? Emma and Tony have always had good chemistry and despite this being an almost business relationship, it really should be more. I mean if anyone could be a power couple… they’d be like ‘Roro and T’Challa but without the crown. And we could use a power couple. Not like Scott and Jean who are pretty much just a couple and not like Emma and Scott, the living proof that behind every mediocre man, there’s a great woman. 

So yeah I’m rooting for them. Give me a fake relationship romance in the middle of my superhero story. Note - all the fun parts happen in Invincible Iron Man, not in any of the X-Men titles. 

Where the hell is Storm?

I already mentioned that Krakoa was attacked but so was Arakko. And this is where I have some room for a negative rant. I don’t particularly enjoy this sci-fantasy setting. It gave Storm and Sunspot a couple of good stories mostly showcasing their power and smarts. But really, I think they both should be on Earth. Arakko mutants are really random, their dynamic is very fantasy-like, they have no thought-out place in any story so they’re stuck between being an interstellar problem and something four or five mutants from Earth have to deal with. Neither really works. Not for me anyway, and this is my breakdown. 

The amazing Spider… crawler 

Kurt’s never been bitten by a radioactive spider but yet there he is, wearing Peter Parker’s backup suit, and getting into a complicated ship with Silver Sable. The fun part is he’s doing whatever (or whoever) a spider would do. All the elements of a classic spider story assist Kurt in trying to reimagine himself and atone for the little murder rampage. But of course, being a mutant and pretty much banned from Earth, how well do we think this is gonna go? I love this run because it’s a fun mix and again, character-centric. Plus, it has romance or at least strong character chemistry. And to make things more interesting a distressed delirious Mystique is running around. Meanwhile, in another book, Destiny is falling apart because she believes Mystique is dead. 

Let them people go

Actually, this is one of two other arcs I don’t particularly get. One focuses on the misplaced mutants on a piece of Krakoa with Mother Righteous, Hope, and Exodus with religious euphoria turned up to a 100. Does Krakoa sound more and more like a cult? Yeah, it does. 

And then Realm of X is Saturnyne again. I was tired of her after X of Swords. So I read it for continuity but I don’t really feel like talking about any of it. Skip. 

Everyone gets an arc

Iceman gets a solo arc. He’s dead and preserved by his inhuman boyfriend. The concept is certainly interesting and I’m excited to know what’s happening next. Because if there is poetry in it, I’d like to see where it leads. 

I love when mutants mingle with the rest of the world as much as possible. That’s probably why I was pretty happy to see Unity Squad back in action. It’d be absurd for the rest of the heroes to just ignore mutant issues like they often do. So only fair that they try and rebuild at least some of the trust. Can’t be easy with heavy propaganda but will definitely open up possibilities for creating good stories.

Here we go again

I definitely have to mention murderous Shadowkat. All her recent development culminates in that. And it’s pretty damn realistic. On one side, who can blame her? On the other, kill no human and all that. 

But to me, that’s what Krakoa was always about. Not peaceful coexistence (which may not even be possible) but a utopia that eventually leaves you hollow and angry. Which brings to mind parallels with Jasmine’s world peace from Angel s4. 

Also, this again reminds us how cultish Krakoa is (was?).

Kate’s actions though, like Emma’s are rooted in despair. Both are convinced that the desert-dwelling portion of non-combatant mutants is dead forever. That feels sorta like Age of X-man, in my opinion, unfairly hated for no good reason by many fans. I genuinely enjoyed that arc. But remember how Blindfold kept saying that this is forever and Scott was convinced she meant that everyone else is forever gone. Yep, same thing. (Except it’s with the Five alive and well so resurrection is still present. And still bugs me a lot.) 

I’m still not fully caught up on what’s up with everyone. For instance, I haven’t been keeping tabs on Rogue and Gambit, mostly because first their Excalibur stint bored me and then they lost the spark they had when they weren’t married. I might still change my mind but I’m not holding my breath.

I might not like everything that’s going on but there are arcs and runs I enjoyed immensely and that’s more than enough reason for me to keep coming back to X-runs. 

All that writing and I still forgot Children of the Vault. What's even up with them? Idk but looks interesting.

#x men #xmen #marvel #marvel characters #marvel comics #mutants #long reads #comics #comic books #krakoa #fall of x #jean grey #emma frost #kurt wagner #kate pryde #iron man