#what a bizarre yet official crossover

[mewymarsher]

Rocktober 2023 Day 20: Crossover

"Not matter what universe we're in, I'll always be your best friend!"

#rocktober #rocktober2023 #artober #artober2023 #mega man #rockman #captain n the game master #captain n #rush #rush mega man #photoshop #my art #Captain N was pretty much my introduction to classic MM #would watch the episode based on MM3 over and over again as a kid #what a bizarre yet official crossover

[teaberrii]

Chapter 5: Our First Dance

You and Dan Heng are a match made in heaven until fate takes him away from you too soon. Years later, you think you moved on with a mutual friend who shared your grief and stuck with you during tough times until you meet a mysterious man with a striking resemblance to your past lover and a hidden motive. You’re determined to get rid of him, but how are you going to get rid of a god?

Dan Feng/You

Notes:

Cross-posted on Ao3

Genshin Impact and Honkai: Star Rail crossover

Female reader

Chapter index at the end of chapter one

Support my writing

Later that evening, you’re on a video call with Stelle and March. After telling them about the bizarre scenario you’re in—besides being glad you got your neck back—they’re more than happy to help you pick an outfit for Signora’s wedding. Dan Feng had messaged you earlier, telling you that it’s a dark academia and masquerade-themed wedding, which you think is an interesting choice.

Your phone is propped up on a table near a body-length mirror near the door. An open suitcase with your clothes sits on a chair, but another pile is growing on the bed.

“Mm…” You see March shake her head on your phone screen. “Too flowery. Next!”

You toss the knee-length, strapless dress onto the bed and hold up a long, black halter dress that reveals your back and has a flirty side slit.

“This one!” March and Stelle say at once. Then, March smiles. “I bet Dan Feng will be blown away.”

How funny, you think, that this dress is the one you wore on your first official date with Dan Heng.

You were putting the finishing touches on your makeup when you heard the doorbell. After giving yourself one last look in the mirror, you went to the door where a handsome man was holding a small rose bouquet as soon as you opened it. Dan Heng smiled as soon as he saw you, and he didn’t shy away from admiring you in the dress that you knew he would like.

“Ooh, those are beautiful,” you said, taking the roses when he handed them to you.

“Not as beautiful as the woman standing in front of me.”

You laughed and welcomed him inside. “Where did you learn that pickup line, hm?”

You were walking to the kitchen when you felt his strong arms hug you from behind. “...I was just speaking what’s on my mind.”

As soon as you felt his lips against your neck, you turned around and put your arms around his neck. “Easy there, soldier. We’re going on a date, remember?”

Dan Heng kissed your forehead. “I know.”

But that didn’t stop you from leaning in for a kiss, which he gladly welcomed.

“...I’m not wearing it to impress him, you know,” you deadpan.

“Regardless,” Stelle says before March can retort, “It’s a nice dress. Not too flashy and not too underwhelming. You’ll fit right in.”

“This dress looks kinda familiar, though…” March says, leaning closer to her phone.

“Wait a minute,” Stelle says as if it just hit her. “Didn’t you wear this dress on a date with Dan Heng?”

The silence is loud, and you force a little smile.

“I did,” you say, “but that doesn’t mean I can’t wear it again.”

“Well…” March has her elbows on the table and her chin on her hands. “As long as you’re comfortable with it. If you are, then it’s gotta be this one.”

You put the dress aside just as your friends start talking about makeup and accessories, and it isn’t long before Caelus, Stelle’s twin brother, pops onto the screen. He gives you a quick wave while eating an ice cream cone.

“I heard everything from Stelle,” he says. “...I can’t believe Dan Heng has a lookalike.” He takes a bite out of his ice cream. "What’s he like?”

He’s not Dan Heng, that’s for sure.

“...Could we meet him?” Caelus continues.

“Yeah, I second that,” March says. “We didn’t get a proper introduction yet!”

“You two need to calm down,” Stelle says. “They aren’t even friends.”

“Oh, sorry, I forgot,” Caelus says, rolling his eyes. “They’re”—he bites onto the cone and uses his hands to make finger quotations—”’acquaintances.’”

“No,” March says. “They’re partners in crime!”

“Aren’t they neighbours?” Stelle asks.

Caelus looks into the camera, which he’s supposedly looking at you. “You and Dan Feng are a lot of things, aren’t you?”

“Thanks for helping me pick out my outfit, guys,” you deadpan. “Will keep you updated on the wedding tomorrow.”

And then you end the call before they can say anything else. Of course, that doesn’t stop the texts from coming. But after taking a glance, you clear the clothes off your bed, grab your pyjamas, and head for a shower.

◆◆◆

That night, you are asleep on your bed. The windows are closed, and the room is dimly lit with a small night light on the wall beside your bed. You quietly stir in your sleep, but slowly you feel a breeze brush against your skin. The smell of washed sheets changes into fresh flowers, and soon, you hear footsteps and soft conversations all around you. At first, you can’t open your eyes. Your body feels oddly light, and your head starts spinning.

Slowly, your eyes flutter open, and your heart almost stops.

You’re standing in the courtyard of the Xianzhou palace. You spin around, seeing people dressed in traditional robes and clothing walking from one place to another. You take a step forward and open your mouth but nothing comes out. No one notices you either, despite you being dressed in pyjamas, something that’s clearly out of place in this strange world.

You must be dreaming, and you’re about to pinch yourself when you see a young boy and girl running across the courtyard. Your eyes widen as if the sight sends an electrifying jolt through your body, leaving you speechless.

Is that who you think it is?

You’re about to follow them when another young boy runs past you, and your eyes immediately fall on him. That’s… That’s Dan Feng. At least, a younger version. His features are not as defined but look too similar to call it a coincidence.

“You two are cheating!” he yells.

“You’re too slow, Brother.”

You turn towards the other young boy a short distance away. And that’s… that’s Dan Heng. You're certain. His slightly puffy cheeks and wide, innocent-looking blue eyes. He looks the same when you first met him. Except this time, he’s holding a young girl’s hand.

“We’re going to leave you behind if you don’t hurry!” she yells with a smile.

Dan Feng pouts and immediately runs after them, and his hand brushes against yours. Surprisingly, you feel it. At least… you think you do. It’s like a gentle breeze that runs through your fingers. He stops and turns and you’re staring at each other, except all he sees is nothing.

“What are you looking at?”

The young girl leaves Dan Heng and walks up to Dan Feng. She also looks at you, but of course, she sees nothing.

Suddenly, Dan Feng grabs her wrist and holds it up.

“Looks like I still got the last laugh,” he says.

The girl frowns just as Dan Heng walks up. “You sure about that?” He nods at a nobleman who doesn’t look pleased as he approaches them with his hands behind his back.

“Are you done with your games?”

“If we say no…” Dan Feng says. “Can we keep playing?”

The nobleman frowns. “The three of you can come with me.”

As you watch them obediently follow the nobleman elsewhere in the palace, you hear a woman’s voice a short distance away.

“Who is that girl?”

You turn and see two maids talking and looking in their direction.

“...The only daughter of that famous calligrapher.”

“Ah… Now, why would he bring his daughter to lessons with the young masters?”

One of the maids shrugs. “I heard it was an innocent enough reason… His wife passed away recently, so he’s been looking for ways to get her out of the house a little more… Perhaps befriending the young masters is a way to try to get over her grief.”

“...Or a way to sneak her way into the palace’s fortune.”

Then, their voices start fading until you can't hear anything. And when you close your eyes and open them again, the courtyard is empty.

Suddenly, a strong wind forces you to lift your arms and shut your eyes. The winds get stronger… and stronger… until…

Your eyes snap open.

And you see the shadows of the lights on the ceiling and smell the washed sheets. You immediately sit up, feeling your heart racing in your chest.

It’s a dream. Of course, it’s a dream. But it was unexpectedly vivid. You glance at your hand; you can still feel the breeze and when you close your eyes, you can still hear their voices. You flip off the covers and head to the washroom, but as soon as you turn on the light, you almost gasp when you see the young Dan Feng behind you. You immediately spin around, but all there is is your necklace hanging off the little makeshift jewelry holder.

Once you’re back on the bed, you’re wide awake. As hard as you try, for God knows how long, you cannot fall asleep. You twist and turn, wondering why you'd have a dream like that. Who is that young girl? You must’ve seen her somewhere before... You sit up and glance at the wall separating you and Dan Feng's room before your head hits the pillow again. This time, when you close your eyes, your body relaxes.

And, for the rest of the night, you have no more dreams.

◆◆◆

The hotel is bustling with visitors when you enter the large ballroom reserved for Signora’s wedding. As soon as you enter, a tall man wearing a black and white suit hands you a white masquerade mask outlined in gold. You take it and look around. Of course, no one is without a mask. So, you put it on and walk further inside where there are floating LED candlelights around the room that are reminiscent of a popular fantasy story about witches and wizards. A giant crystal chandelier invites the eye upwards, mesmerizing its audience with all its sparkling splendour. You catch a hotel employee opening a door on the far side of the room, catching a glimpse of the grand dining hall just beyond it.

A man carrying a tray of filled wine glasses is making his rounds, and you grab a glass before he escapes your reach. As you take a sip, you hear:

“Oh…? Is that who I think it is?”

You turn around and see a tall man with short orange hair wearing a dark gray and white suit with a red tie. His mask is white with black glitter, and his eyes are as blue as you remember.

“Long time no see,” he continues, walking up to you. “You look as lovely as the day we met.”

You couldn’t stop fidgeting the entire ride to Dan Heng’s house. Today was the day he was officially introducing you as his girlfriend to his family, and you couldn’t be any more nervous. These were people of power and high status. It was intimidating to think that they would be scrutinizing and questioning you. Once you arrived, and Dan Heng parked the car, his hand found yours.

“They aren’t as scary as you think,” he said. Then, he smiled reassuringly. “They’ll love you.”

“I… Well… That’s the hope!”

He leaned over and kissed your cheek.

You and Dan Heng got out of the car, and he held the door—leading into the house—open for you. You stepped inside and Dan Heng led you to a spacious living room with beige marble floors and dark gray carpets in areas where there was furniture, which was all white with dark wood. The lights were part of the dropped ceiling with a design that looked like tree leaves. But, you had no time to admire the interior design as you were suddenly the center of attention.

Many faces were staring at you when you and Dan Heng walked in, and one of them was a tall ginger with blue eyes. He was the first to walk up to you and looked roughly the same age as you and Dan Heng. Before the mysterious man could say anything, Dan Heng asked:

“...What are you doing here?”

“Something came up,” Dan Heng’s mother said. She glanced at a woman who looked a bit older than her. “We were just sorting things out.”

“But then again… We’re family.” the ginger said, “And family is always welcome, aren’t we?” He ignored Dan Heng’s cold stare, stepped past him, and extended his hand toward you. “...I’m Childe, Dan Heng’s… brother from another mother, if you will.”

“I’ll be honest,” you say, looking away and sipping your wine. “I never thought I’d see you here.”

"You and me both, my dear." Childe stops in front of you, his eyes wandering down until they reach your necklace given to you by Dan Heng. "What reason do you have to be here?"

“I was invited.”

“Invited?” he asks doubtfully. “Enlighten me, love—”

“Don’t call me that.”

“You still keep in touch with Signora?” He puts a hand on the round table behind you and leans closer. You're about to walk away when he steps in front of you. You glare at him. “...What reason would you have to do that?”

You’re too focused on Childe to hear calm, steady footsteps approaching you. Just as a pair of sleek black loafers come to a stop, you suddenly feel someone’s hand around your wrist. You quickly turn and see Dan Feng wearing a black mask with red glitter that almost covers his entire face. You wouldn’t have recognized him if it wasn’t for his long hair combed to perfection. A black tie with red rose patterns rests over his dark red, pressed-fitting shirt made of velvet. It’s tucked neatly into his black pants that emphasize his long legs. Looking closer, his black blazer has an artistic pattern with light sparkles of gold.

Dan Feng smoothly pulls you back and steps in front of you, forcing Childe to step back. You smell a whiff of his cologne that reminds you of fresh lavenders in a forest.

“You’re getting a little too close for comfort,” Dan Feng says.

Childe narrows his eyes. “...Who are you?”

You catch Dan Feng’s stare when he looks over your shoulder. When he looks back at Childe, Dan Feng gives him a cheeky smile and says:

“Her partner.”

While that’s not exactly a lie, it’s easily misinterpreted, and you’re almost certain it's on purpose.

“Partner, huh?” Childe asks, looking at you. “Moved on, have we, love?”

“She’s not a fan of nicknames,” Dan Feng says. “...So, keep those to yourself”—he looks at Childe’s hair—”Carrothead.”

Childe glares at him, but there’s also curiosity and confusion along with annoyance.

“...Have we met?” Childe asks.

Oh? Has Dan Feng found himself another possible friend or acquaintance of his brother’s? Looks like staying close to you definitely has its perks. Dan Feng turns around, offers his arm to you, and says:

“Let’s go.”

There’s a brief pause before you take it and walk away with him as calmly as you can.

“The dress suits you,” he continues. 

“...Are you like this all the time?” you ask quietly.

“Like what?”

You glance at your hand around his arm. “Like… this.”

Dan Feng chuckles. “You just don’t know me well enough.”

“Is that so?”

Just then, soft classical music fills the ballroom, and a few couples are heading onto an open space. You’re looking away from Dan Feng when you hear him ask:

“Shall I surprise you even more?”

You turn back just as he walks in front of you. Then, he offers you his hand.

“...Care for a dance?”

You want to refuse, but as soon as you meet his gaze that’s warm and inviting, your hand is in his before you know it.

Dan Feng leads you onto the dance floor, and just before the official music begins, he twirls you once and pulls you close to him, his hand just barely touching the skin on your back.

“May I?”

As soon as you nod, his hand touches your back, his warm touch sending a brief adrenaline rush throughout your body.

“...Actually, this might not be a good idea," you say quietly, looking at the others. "I don’t really know how to dance."

“Don’t look at them.” His low voice takes you by surprise, and when you turn back, you’re once again staring into his warm, inviting eyes. “...Just focus on me.”

So, you do. You have one hand in his and the other is on his shoulder as he guides you on the dance floor.

Childe, with a glass of wine in his hand and the other in his pocket, watches you closely near the back of the crowd.

“...Not going to dance?”

Childe doesn’t turn his head but flashes Signora a look.

“Now, what’s the bride doing way out here?” Childe nods at the dance floor. “It’s your wedding day, and you’re not dancing?”

“This isn’t my song,” Signora says as Rostam walks up beside her.

Childe scoffs. “What’s the real reason you invited her?” Signora glances at him. “She has nothing to do with us anymore.”

“Someone sure sounds a little defensive.”

“The man she’s with.” Childe nods at Dan Feng. “...Who is he?”

“Why? Does he remind you of someone you know?”

“I’m not interested in playing games, Signora,” Childe says bitterly.

“I have a feeling you already have the answer you’re looking for,” Rostam says, and Childe’s stare turns cold. “...He’s a man who’s supposed to be dead.”

Dan Feng dips you on the dance floor and says:

“You’re a fast learner.”

As soon as you’re upright, you smile. “I try.” Then, your eyes land on Childe who—as soon as he makes eye contact with you—he disappears into the crowd.

“...Who is he?”

You quickly turn back to Dan Feng who still has his eyes on you.

“Childe. Dan Heng’s distant cousin… I suppose. The nephew of a distant relative of Dan Heng’s mother.”

“And what was his relationship with Dan Heng like?”

“Not good,” you answer, holding his stare. “All I know is what Dan Heng told me, which is that Childe wanted power within the company. But, they wouldn’t give it to him.”

As the music picks up, Dan Feng picks you up and twirls you around with your arms around his neck.

“Let me guess,” Dan Feng says after putting you down. “After Tsaritsa took over, she gave him a position of power at Lunae."

“...You did your research, I see.”

“But, there’s something I can’t seem to figure out.”

“And what’s that?”

“His relationship with you.”

You can’t hold his stare after that and look off to the side. But as soon as you do, you also almost step on his foot to which he asks:

“Is that something you don’t want to share?”

“We weren’t friends,” you say. “I barely knew him.”

Dan Feng continues staring at you. Are you telling the truth?

“I’ll take your word for it. But whatever past you have with him”—Dan Feng twirls you one last time, dips you, and pulls you close just as the music comes to a dramatic end—”you might have to start putting those feelings aside.”

You’re looking at his Adam’s apple when the song ends, and when you look up, his eyes are on you. His gaze is curious and it sends an unexpected thrill that makes your heart beat a little faster. But you sense something more beneath the surface. It’s almost predatory as if he’s waiting for something.

He lifts your hand and places a light kiss on the top of your hand where you can still feel it burning even after he lets you go.

“...Thank you for the dance.”

And then he walks off, feeling your stare on him.

The wedding is still going on when Dan Feng steps out for the men’s room. His mask is on the clean, marble sink beside him as he washes his hands. Then, the door opens, and as soon as Dan Heng looks in the mirror, he sees Childe with a look that’s an ugly mix of disbelief, confusion, and anger.

“...What the fuck?”

Dan Feng casually turns around and leans against the marble sink.

“Someone’s angry,” he says calmly.

“How… You… Who—”

“I’m very much alive if that’s what you want to ask.”

Childe walks up to him. “Who are you?”

◆◆◆

You’re sitting at a table, on your third glass of wine, when you notice that Dan Feng has been gone for a while. You glance at the empty seat in front of you and then at your phone.

Signora and her husband had just finished giving a speech, and the guests around the dining hall raised their glass for a toast. You and Dan Feng happened to glance at each other before a chorus rang around the room.

“Cheers!”

You’d wanted to ask about what he meant by putting feelings aside, but ever since you separated after the dance, other guests began flocking toward you and him. But that didn’t mean you didn’t catch each other’s looks from time to time.

Once you sat in your seat, your phone buzzed.

Carrothead has been keeping his eye on you. You didn’t lie… did you?

Without moving your head, you looked at Dan Feng from across the table.

Me? He’s looking at you. You’re the doppelganger.

Dan Feng crossed one leg over the other.

And are you not scared I’ll bring bad luck?

You almost raised an eyebrow at his response, and it took you a small moment to respond.

Then, I wonder if it’s bad luck I’m alive.

Once again, you and Dan Feng made eye contact, and you were about to put your phone back inside your purse when you felt it buzz.

Guess that’s up to you to decide, but…

You weren’t sure why you were anxious about his next response.

I’m glad you are.

…So I can kill you myself.

Dan Feng saw that you still put your phone back inside your purse, but you were almost refusing to look at him now, making it obvious that his words had an impact. Then, he stood and headed towards the men's room outside of the dining hall.

“Where’s your acquaintance?”

You turn and see Signora with a hand on the back of your chair and one holding a half-filled wine glass.

“No idea,” you say.

Then, she nods for you to follow her. So, you stand and start walking with her.

“He’s probably with Childe,” Signora says quietly.

You look toward the table Childe is supposed to be sitting at and find his seat empty.

“...Isn’t that bad?”

“Depends on how you look at it, I suppose,” Signora answers. “But, I’m sure Dan Feng can handle him.”

You hope so.

“It won’t be long before Tsaritsa finds out about him,” Signora continues once reaching a rare, quiet part of the dining hall.

“It sounds like this was your plan all along.” Signora gives you a little smile. “You invited us here because you knew Childe was going to be here, didn’t you?”

“He may be an annoying little brat, but he’s oddly loyal to Tsaritsa. He’s like her eyes and ears.”

“Guess that can also apply to everyone else,” you say.

“True… But, now that he knows… it’s only a matter of time before this gets to Tsaritsa. And, as a result, it’ll get your handsome acquaintance a one-way ticket into their little humble abode.”

“...In other words, you’re throwing him into a lion’s den.”

Signora chuckles. “That’s a good way of putting it. But”—her expression turns serious—”he’s not the only one who’s going to get roped into this. You can either say he’s just a man who looks like Dan Heng… or…”

It was that morning at the hotel restaurant that Signora proposed the idea.

“As risky and entertaining as that idea may be,” Dan Feng said, “it would be too easy to find out the truth. As soon as they take DNA, it would prove I’m not him.”

“You work in law enforcement, don’t you?” Signora put her teacup on the plate. “Tsaritsa pulled strings to make this family completely disappear without a trace. Surely, you could do the same if those records even still exist.”

“And am I supposed to believe you’re doing this because you and Dan Heng and his mother were such good friends?” you ask, keeping your eye on the door to see if either Dan Feng or Childe has returned. “There’s another motive behind your incredulous suggestion, isn’t there?”

“Don’t we all have motives?” You glance at her. “I want to get away from Tsaritsa. My company is still under her control whether I like it or not. Dan Feng… He also seems to have motives for getting close to the family. Whatever that is, well, it doesn’t matter to me because we have the same goal. And, as for you…” Signora fully turns to look you in the eyes. “...You can get closure.”

“...Dan Feng posing as Dan Heng…” you mutter. “That’s…. That’s too risky. They’re nothing alike.”

“Appearance is all that matters, my dear,” Signora says. “People change.”

Finally, the door opens, and Dan Feng walks in. But, Childe is nowhere to be seen.

Signora puts a hand on your shoulder but says nothing and walks off.

◆◆◆

Childe’s phone buzzes just as he leaves the men’s room. He has one hand in his pocket as he reads the text message in the “family” group chat.

It can’t be him.

Childe is thinking of how to reply when he sees a flurry of messages from the same chat.

Should we kill him again?

You’d be wise to watch what you say.

Childe slides his phone into his pocket, ignoring the continuous buzzing.

“...I think that’s a question I should be asking you,” Dan Feng said, holding Childe’s cold stare. “I have no idea who you are.”

“Playing dumb, are we? It’s not like you, Dan Heng. You were always so straightforward when you were with me.” Childe slowly started pacing. “Just like when, in a rare occurrence, you lost your temper when asking me to leave your girlfriend ‘the fuck alone.’ Did you forget about that?”

This man was testing him.

“Did I?” Dan Feng walked right in front of Childe. “Well, considering how you were acting towards her earlier, I wouldn’t be surprised if I did.”

Childe stops in an empty hallway and pulls out his phone. The last text is what silenced the group. A message from Tsaritsa.

Keep an eye on him.

Childe enters the dining hall, and his gaze sweeps the room.

You and Dan Feng are nowhere in sight.

◆◆◆

“I didn’t say who I was,” Dan Feng says.

It's just you and him in a small room somewhere in the hotel. You had texted him before he got back to the table that you wanted “to talk privately.” Without moving his head, he had looked in your direction and saw you nod at a door leading elsewhere in the hotel.

“...You’re not really going to pretend to be Dan Heng, are you?” you ask, keeping your voice low.

“Regardless if I do or not…” Dan Feng slips a hand inside his pocket. “I think”—he gestures to his face—”how I look is simply enough.” You cross your arms. “I bet Carrothead is already thinking of ways to get rid of me, and if they are”—Dan Feng looks you in the eyes—”it means they’re guilty.”

“I just don’t want the lies to get out of control,” you warn. “One lie comes with another and another… until they’ll see right through you.”

“Are you worried?”

Your face remains serious. “I'd be a fool if I wasn't.”

“...I understand you're worried about yourself." Dan Feng leans against a wall. "It's still early. You can still say you have nothing to do with me despite what happened earlier. And, whether I take on Dan Heng’s identity or not, I can say that you’re a woman who simply caught my attention. That explanation wouldn't cause any harm.” He pushes himself off the wall and walks towards you. “But then again, we’re partners and partners talk things out.” You slowly look at him. “So, what's your take on what I should do?"

Before you can say anything else, you hear someone rattling the door handle. And just before the door opens all the way, you act upon instinct and push Dan Feng against the wall beside the door just as it fully opens.

Chapter 6

Tag list: @lunavixia @aerithsthingss @boomie-123

#dan feng x you #dan feng x reader #hsr dan feng x reader #dan feng #imbibitor lunae x reader #imbibitor lunae

[basedkikuenjoyer]

You're a young Eiichiro Oda in 1982, let's assume like many readers of Weekly Shonen Jump you've been enjoying this silly little romcom about a boy being pursued by the perfect woman...as long as he gets over one minor hangup. You open up the chapter, it seems like a fun one. Just like our first it's setup around the idea a new boy is coming to live with the Oozora family and its four lovely daughters. This is the last panel you'd see. That's it, Hibari doesn't make her way back into serialization. Maybe if you were in the know you could piece together the manga has had some weird gaps. Kinda like Hunter X Hunter today. Guess Eiiguchi had health issues. We'd later hear he just couldn't keep up with the schedule of weekly releases anymore. He'll go on to have a nice, stable, but quiet career as an illustrator for businesses.

So, what exactly is tough guy Gekijiro up here shouting about? That’s a pretty iconic ethos for a guy that shows up and ends a popular series. To be fair, Stop!! Hibari-kun did love a fair amount of meta humor up to and including several bizarre interludes of author Eiiguchi taking over for a few pages. Often some little joke about being a pervert and his editors having to keep him in line. So from that vantage point it wasn’t hard to see where this joke came from. Hibari was one of the magazine’s then-twin pillars of popularity off the back of...fashionable young women and Hibari being trans making for this excellent setup to slip in a lot of humor that would be iffy to censors yet relatable to young women.

Subtle stuff you don’t always see today even. Casual jokes about periods, accurate sisternal cattiness. Perfect recipe for a crossover hit. Cute girls for that bit of eye candy, they’re real enough girls can enjoy too. Romcom fun with a little dash of action through MC Kosaku joining the boxing club. Starting to sound a lot like Ranma 1/2? Yeah, I’m pretty sure given the timing of her start on Urusei Yatsura these two were cribbing notes off each other back-and-forth. Rumiko Takahashi never really kept things as grounded as Hibari-kun though, which was probably it’s undoing.

See...I also wanted to take this little detour because of something from the start. Hibari beyond being a likely influence on a series like One Piece that so elegantly recaptures its recipe for crossover success had an interesting story on it’s own. The official line is that Hishashi Eiguchi turned in the final chapter and hid out in hotels from his editors. Leaving a short version and an abrupt end because he just couldn’t keep up with the stress. Problem is...it took until 27 years later, 2009, but we finally got a proper omnibus collection. 

That’s the real last scene. I know that “Shonen is dead” line is that kind of meta joke because it turns out we did have the full chapter. He makes that pretty clear. Here’s our real abrupt finale. What!? Oh, so this new arrival wasn’t just some random dude. He’s a trans boy who’s a perfect mirror of Hibari? Total macho dork and peep that line up top. Not only do we get the explicit “man at heart” cliche (Hibari dances around the equivalent but never goes so blatant) but he’s taking hormones? Uhhh...even more modern stuff focused on being a positive take on these themes like Wandering Son at most sorta gloss over the particulars of medically transitioning. Worth noting a strange little legal quirk, because of a dodgy interpretation of WW2 peace agreements Japan was one of the few countries to have an out-and-out ban on the procedure until I believe 1993. 

Doesn’t mean people didn’t do it, and this is a series about a Yakuza family. Characters casually talk about shooting up meth or underage drinking. Knowing all this though...anyone else getting the impression this may have been a little more of a veteran mangaka making a stand? A magazine pulling the plug to be more kid-friendly? The story had been trending away from being a silly romcom a while before. This shift in the plot is huge, but it’ll be forever resigned to “what could have been?”

That’s the main reason I got really excited seeing a Hibari in One Piece who has the right look. I’ve wondered about this for a while. We only have what Eiguchi is willing to say in public interviews, it just isn’t the norm in the industry to air dirty laundry but he has progressively opened up about the series over time. It’s tripped me up since even before Wano really, timing and popularity and shared elements make this feel like such an influence. Now we’re seeing things that poke at those lines more. I’d love to see Eiichiro Oda pull in Hisashi Eiguchi for one of these interviews he’s been doing.

#one piece #stop!! hibari-kun #eiichiro oda #hisashi eguchi

[thetoxicgamer]

John Cena posts Overwatch 2 teaser amid crossover rumors

An Overwatch 2 John Cena collaboration looks more likely than ever right now, as the professional wrestler turned actor shares a cryptic post to his Instagram page amid rife speculation about an upcoming Overwatch 2 character. As we head towards the Overwatch 2 season 6 release date, many streams of the Blizzard FPS game have been interrupted by a mysterious figure ‘hacking’ into their broadcast to tease the Overwatch 2 Invasion update. The ‘hack�� shows a mysterious hooded figure, who seems to go by the name Enigma. As players have begun to pick apart the various details that have shown up, they all point in one direction: WWE superstar John Cena, also known for his roles in movies including Bumblebee, Trainwreck, and the Fast and Furious series. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nGK17tTsG78 HTML-style code seen on the stream of Nathan ‘KarQ’ Chan and shared by Reddit user Umarrii includes the font family ‘Felix-Antony’ (Cena’s two middle names), a shortened URL that links to an image simply reading ‘JC,’ and the color code ‘#042377’ – which translates simply to April 23, 1977, the day Cena was born. Of course, while speculation is running wild, there’s been no official confirmation from Blizzard as yet. However, as the prophecies foretold, “The Champ is here:” Cena himself has now delivered a very up-front tease via his own Instagram account. With no additional comment, Cena shares a seemingly random image of Overwatch being played. Given his propensity for very bizarre and off-the-wall posts on the social media platform, it might be easy to write this off under normal circumstances as Cena just being Cena, but this time he leaves a clear paper trail to follow. The screenshot is actually a link to an official ‘Overwatch 2 dev hang’ on Blizzard’s channel, with a specific timestamp to 1:12:05 mark. Jump to that moment in the stream, and you’ll hear Overwatch 2 developers are talking to several big streamers about some of the crossovers and collaborations they’d love to see in the game. The pieces seem to all be right there – suggesting, in the most likely case, that Cena will be providing the voice for mysterious hacker Enigma in the upcoming story content. Who better for an ominous, behind the scenes mastermind than mister “You can’t see me,” after all? Of course, with nothing yet officially confirmed and Cena’s own love of winding up his fans, it’s worth keeping a grain of salt to hand for now. Until we have more official news, take a look through our Overwatch 2 tier list and we guarantee you’ll Never Give Up in your ranked games again. You also won’t want to miss our interview with Overwatch 2’s Mercy actor Lucie Pohl, where she shares what the iconic character means to her. Header image of John Cena provided by James Selesnick and edited for use under Creative Commons 2.0 license. Read the full article

[usedcarmania]

All About The Chinese Vehicle Brands In SA

In total, five Chinese marques call South Africa home, albeit with varying degrees of success.

The belief that came to light two decades ago has officially come to fruition; Chinese vehicles are here and many are already driving them or considering them when search for cars for sale from Cape Town to Gauteng.

Although not yet implacable to every South African, the rate of development by automakers from the People’s Republic has been such that memories of their initial arrival on local soil have become a distant memory.

Put simply, Chinese cars are fast winning the minds and crucially, wallets of buyers for being exceptionally well-priced and for having features you wouldn’t normally expect at the sticker price asked.

The outcome, as evidenced by the February National Association of Automobile Manufacturers of South Africa (NAAMSA) sales is obvious, with Great Wall Motors (GWM)’s Haval division placing ahead of favourites such as BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Honda, and Mazda, while resurgent marque, Chery, celebrated sales of 10 000 units in February, after returning to South Africa two years ago.

At present, five Chinese automakers have a presence in South Africa, with an indirect sixth being Malaysian brand Proton, whose X50 and X70 SUVs are spun-off models derived from Chinese parent company Geely.

The focus though is on the brands that originate from China and as such, The Citizen has provided a short history of each, together with their respective products and pricing.

BAIC

One of China’s oldest automakers, BAIC, or Beijing Automotive Industrial Corporation, has been operating since 1958, with perhaps one of its most recognisable vehicles being the Beijing Jeep (BJ) that continues to be produced today after 58 years.

Despite an early alliance with the long-defunct American Motor Corporation (AMC) to sell Jeeps in China going astray in the late 1980s, the brand, today, acts as a parent for the Foton marque, in addition to having joint ventures with Hyundai and Mercedes-Benz under the Beijing-Hyundai and Beijing-Benz banners.

More rocky as has been BAIC’s presence in South Africa though that started with the D20 hatch and sedan launched and sold by stealth, followed by the crossover-inspired X25 that sold in slightly better numbers.

Even more bizarre was the opening of a new plant in the Coega IDZ in Port Elizabeth in 2018, now Gqeberha, which has seemingly been a white elephant despite the brand stating it obvious.

Matters have seemingly been improving though as last year, it unveiled the X55 which falls under the premium Beijing brand, while the BJ range, minus the ‘J’, consists of the B40 Plus and soon, the B80.

Chery

Founded in 1997 and, therefore, one of China’s newest automakers, Chery’s first attempt came after by of a licensing agreement with Volkswagen to sell the first generation Seat Toledo in China under the A11 and Windcloud names.

Since then, it has become one of the biggest marques in China in addition to being one of the first Chinese brands to set up shop in South America and certain African markets.

In South Africa, Chery’s initial arrival sparked less than favourable comments for its copies of the Daewoo Matiz and Toyota RAV4 which were the QQ3 and RAV4. Later models, the J1 and J5, also failed to gain a foothold and by 2018, it departed the local market after what had been nine years.

Since returning in 2021, with a range of radically different SUVs, the Tiggo 4 Pro, Tiggo 7 Pro, and Tiggo 8 Pro, the brand’s popularity has skyrocketed to the point where everything that happened in the past no longer has any recollection.

Great Wall Motors (GWM)

Perseverance has been the key for GWM as is today, it remains the only Chinese automaker to have remained in South Africa without leaving or reinventing itself since the influx began two decades ago.

A powerhouse not only in China but also Australia, South America, and even parts of Europe, the now almost four-decade-old marque has come a long way since the early days of the Hover SUV and the Nissan Hardbody faced Isuzu copy-cat bakkies.

Celebrating 16 years in South Africa this year, GWM very much now rates as a bakkie nameplate as its premium division, Haval, has taken over the SUV and crossover mantle.

As such, the GWM name features only the Steed and P-Series bakkies, both strong sellers with the latter having been a particular success since its debut in South Africa two years ago.

Haval

Officially launched 10 years ago this month, Haval entered South Africa in 2018 as GWM’s version of what Lexus is to Toyota.

Stemming from earlier models such as the H2 and H6 that become hugely successful, the introduction of Jolion in 2021 catapulted Haval to new highs with sales exceeding expectations and often bridging 1 000 units a month.

JAC

Initially called Hefei before having its name changed in 1997 after what had been 33 years, JAC Motors, short for Jianghuai Automobile Company, has forged its success by way of joint ventures with Volkswagen, Hyundai, and DR Automotive that sells its vehicles with DR badging in Italy.

Although renowned for the infamous Sehol brand produced in conjunction with Seat and Volkswagen, the marque is perhaps better known for its commercial vehicles ranging from bakkies to light-duty trucks often powered by engines sourced from Isuzu.

This is the case in South Africa where, since 2017, JAC has been selling the T-Series bakkie range set to be supplemented by the T9 later this year, and the X-Series line-up of small trucks.

Despite being lesser known than BAIC, Chery, GWM, or Haval, JAC has made steady progress, with the unveiling of the T9 tipped to be a watershed moment for the brand.

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Original source: https://www.citizen.co.za/motoring/chinese-vehicle-marques-ranked-in-south-africa/

[superman86to99]

Super-Titles Round-Up (January 1994)

1994 was the point when there were officially as many if not more Superman spin-offs, specials, and miniseries out every month than actual Superman titles, so here's a new section to (briefly) talk about each of them! January was a pretty light month compared to what’s ahead (Superboy, Steel, and the Supergirl mini all started in February) so I'll be padding out this post with some late '93 Superman appearances we hadn't talked about before. Here we go:

S.T.A.R. Corps #1 (November 1993)

S.T.A.R. Corps was a pretty bizarre miniseries that mostly exists to make you wonder how the hell S.T.A.R. Labs hasn't been shut down by the government and/or bankrupted by all the lawsuits resulting from the freak accidents that happen there every week. This issue starts with Clark Kent and Lois Lane attending the inauguration of S.T.A.R.'s fancy new Metropolis facility, since the old one imploded during Armageddon 2001. Of course, it takes less than one page for this building to start coming apart too, courtesy of a soldier who was accidentally fused with an experimental armor and lost control of his weapons.

Clark is buried in the rubble, and then Superman swoops by to punch the poor soldier, whose only crime was volunteering for a S.T.A.R. project. He should have known better, though.

And that's the extent of Superman's contribution to this series. The soldier eventually forms a sort of super-group with other people mutated by S.T.A.R. accidents (including Kitty "Rampage" Faulkner), but I believe they never showed up again after the end of the miniseries, hopefully because they won a class action lawsuit against the lab and they’re all retired now.

Valor #14 (December 1993)

Valor, the character who’s basically Superman but with a deadly allergy to lead, is dying from... a deadly allergy to lead. Valor asks Superman what’s it like to come back from the dead, and I guess at this point Supes was tired of saying “actually, I only went into a deep stasis and...” so he goes along with it.

The part about them being brothers is a reference to Valor’s Silver Age version, Superboy’s fake big bro “Mon-El,” because this issue was written by Mark Waid and he just can’t help himself.

Bloodbath #1-2 (December 1993)

These unfortunately oversized issues finish up the terrible “Bloodlines” crossover that ran through most of DC’s 1993 annuals, including the four Superman ones. I read this atrocity mostly to check out the scenes featuring Sasha Green, the personal trainer murdered by Lex Luthor Jr. in Superman #77 and then brought back to life as a superpowered being by the Xenomorph wannabes who are trying to invade Earth in this crossover. Turns out Sasha only shows up for three pages in the second issue, where she briefly teams up with Garth Ennis’ Hitman (the only noteworthy character to come out of this crapfest). They’re both carrying giant guns when they bump into each other because, again, 1993.

The two blow up a giant monster, and then Hitman realizes he can’t read her mind because she’s a zombie or something and they part ways. According to the DC wiki this was Sasha’s last non-flashback appearance, but the story of her murder will play a big role in the Superman titles in the coming months.

To my surprise, someone who DOES show up for more than three pages is the all-new Eradicator, who helps Lex Jr. and some S.T.A.R. geeks analyze one of the captured aliens. Later, the other aliens come break out their buddy and the Eradicator tries to take on all of them alone, but it... doesn’t go well for him.

That’s the last time we see him in this series. I can’t imagine any ‘90s kid reading that and going “Man, I hope I could read about this badass every month!” And yet, the very next month...

Outsiders #3 (January 1994)

As mentioned during the new Eradicator’s introductory issue in Action #693, the Outsiders, Batman’s old B-team, have been framed for the murder of an entire village in Europe. The Eradicator for some reason decides it’s his job to avenge those people so he tracks down the Outsiders and starts fighting them. It... doesn’t go well for the Outsiders.

Before he can rip out any other appendages, however, the Eradicator finds out that the evil-looking vampire king who sent him after the Outsiders is actually the one who murdered that village, so he’s like “Whoops, my bad! Let’s team up.”

The Eradicator would stay with the team for the rest of this series, so this was the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

NEXT TIME: Superboy! Supergirl! Steel!

#superman #S.T.A.R. Labs #lar gand #bloodlines #sasha green #Hitman #eradicator #outsiders #rampage

[weirdmarioenemies]

Name: The Ghost Gang

Debut: Pac-Man

Fufufu... frighteningly Funky Friday, friends!

This post has been waiting patiently in the drafts since my Pac-Man fixation way back in July, and it has really been about time it gets to be posted. And what better Friday to talk about ghosts than the one before Halloween? I can think of two. One would be Friday the 13th, and the other would be a Friday that Halloween itself falls on. But I’m posting it today! On only the third most ideal of Fridays!

Yes, I’ve already talked at length about some Pac-Man ghosts, but there are so much MORE. And they’re all so wonderful. My Best Ever Characters list includes “Ghosts” in the Namco character section, because they are all so wonderful. And now we’ll talk about some more notable ones!

So, here we have the Ghost Gang of Blinky, Pinky, Inky, and Clyde, in and around their Ghost House, in an image I got from the Annoying Orange Wiki. Though I love them all, I’m not gonna talk in depth about ALL of them, and out of these four, I’ll give the spotlight to my darling Clyde.

Look at him. Do you think he’s darling? Yes, you do. You are probably aware that each ghost has their own behavior, and Clyde will target Pac-Man until he gets close enough to him, then entering “scatter mode”, where he will instead move randomly. Why change it up when you’re so close? Does he even WANT to catch him? Well, I have a theory...

The official Pac-Man Twitter has not one, but TWO posts showing Pac and Clyde as friends, emphasizing the importance of kindness. And it’s just Clyde he seems to be friends with... so this has me thinking, they’re Secret Friends! While Clyde is part of the Ghost Gang, he doesn’t actually WANT to attack Pac, so he targets him to make it LOOK like he’s doing his job. When he gets close, he sort of just lingers around to try and seem like he’s doing something while not actively trying to get him. It’s the perfect strategy, and the others have never found out, and Clyde and Pac get to be friends, and it makes me happy.

Before I talk about some more ghosts, I’d like to analyze the ghosts as a whole! Pretty much every Pac-Man game has its own self-contained “canon”, if you can call it that, and each one brings its own interpretation of what the ghosts truly are. And my favorite of those is that of the very first game!

The first Pac-Man has three intermissions, famous for being where the second-most iconic Pac-Jingle is from, but they deserve to be even more famous for how bizarre they get. The first is pretty standard, with Pac being chased by Blinky, only to turn the tables and chase Blinky instead. The second, however, has Blinky get his sheet caught on something sticking out of the ground and rip, revealing a human-like leg! Are the ghosts just people wearing sheets...? Nope! Because in the third and final intermission, Blinky’s sheet comes ALL the way off, revealing him to be some bizarre flesh blob, wearing a sheet! Awesome! Is this true for all four of the ghosts? Is just Blinky hiding this embarrassing secret? Pick whatever explanation you think is funniest!

My SECOND favorite is from Pac-Man 2: The New Adventures, a wacky point-and-click style adventure game where you manipulate Pac’s emotions in order to make him do funny things. I highly respect whoever thought this should be localized as the direct sequel to the most iconic video game of all time. But in this one, the base of villainous operations is a creepy factory, and if Pac gets caught in the machines, he turns into this familiar shape! Is... is this factory MAKING ghosts? Are they artificial? Wow!

The other iterations don’t have nearly as wacky implications for how the ghosts came to be, but I’ll tell them anyway. In the Pac-Man World series, they seem to be naturally occurring creatures native to the Spectral Realm, who entered Pac-Man’s dimension and began to live on Ghost Island. In Ghostly Adventures, they’re the souls that were forcibly extracted by the Pac-People who were on the losing side of a world war that killed Pac-Man’s parents, and are now forced to spend eternity in the Pac-Man equivalent of Hell. Bo-ring!

And now time to talk about even more ghosts you may not know about!

Clyde is the only member of the Ghost Gang I’m actually going to talk about here, because there are so many ghosts that the world needs to know about! Like Orson from Pac-Man World! He built and piloted a scary robot Pac-Man and kidnapped Pac-Man’s friends and family, but he just wanted to be loved. Pac does not accept this as an excuse. He eats Orson without a shred of remorse. I guess it’s justified from his perspective. They become friends later, though! Canon ghost friend!

Speaking of canon ghost friends, there’s Miru from Pac & Pal (she’s the pal)! I know she doesn’t look like a ghost, but she might be one. It’s kind of unclear. But I love her so here she is. She helps Pac by collecting fruit for him, but this gets fewer points than Pac doing it himself, so some players don’t like it. I, however, think it is worth losing a few potential points in order to let Miru feel like she’s helping.

Yet another friendly ghost is Yum-Yum from Junior Pac-Man! She is the daughter of Blinky, and she and Junior just want to be together, but of course, their parents will not allow it. That, however, is what ultimately allows them to be together, as while their parents are off bickering, the two little lovers are able to escape together! How lovely! Too bad Junior Pac-Man is in some bizarre copyright limbo and Yum-Yum never appeared again. Goodbye.

Here we have Bash, who is a somewhat strange character. He looks like he’d be the big bad boss of all the ghosts, right? Maybe even their ruler? Well, maybe he is, but we don’t know, because he was made exclusively for the Pac-Man crossover event in Sonic Dash! He never appeared again! I think he should, though! He’s funny. Despite his apparent authority, he just talks like a school bully.

One of the newest ghosts at the time of writing is Creepy, who as I’m sure you can tell, debuts in the Pac-Man DLC for Minecraft! This DLC is kind of weird. But good weird, because Miru is playable! Her most major role ever! But this is Creepy’s paragraph. He explodes, and this hurts not only the player, but his fellow ghosts, and even destroys walls, which crumble into glitchy text! Especially neat is that, when eaten, his eyes remain black with white pupils as they retreat to the Ghost House!

The VERY newest ghost at the time of writing is Itchy, from Pac-Man Party Royale! Itchy is not a “dangerous” ghost, but a “mischievous” one, and I think that’s great. As far as I know, they are only capable of inverting a player’s controls, but new effects were said to be included at some point. What a pleasant design, too, with the seafoam coloration and black sclerae! And how magical it was to witness a NEW GHOST revealed in real-time, during the time when Pac-Man was all I could think about! What are the odds? The odds were high. It’s the 40th anniversary year.

Finally, I will leave you with this little fellow. He appears in Pac-Man Arrangement, and is constantly vulnerable, even acting like a Power Pellet when eaten! However...

He can combine with the other ghosts to transform them, giving them new abilities! Blinky gains the ability to charge forward, Pinky can now hop to far-off points in the maze, Inky creates a mirror duplicate of himself that mimics his movements, and Clyde wanders around spitting up extra Pac-Dots in places Pac-Man has already been. That’s so cool! I love this ghost! I love that he has cute little nerd glasses, I love his role in the game, everything! Why haven’t we seen more of him? What’s his name, anyway?

I see.

#clyde #orson #miru #yum-yum #bash #creepy #pac-man #pac-man world #pac & pal #minecraft #sonic dash #pac-man arrangement #i am not going to tag the last one's name #Funky Friday #not mario #mod chikako

[curligurl0896]

So getting to read @thejakeformerlyknownasprince 's FMA AU reminded me of my own ideas for a FMA/Animorphs fic. A crossover, in this case, a Megamorphs of sorts (complete with rotating narration) because I really want an excuse to have the Animorphs interact with the characters of the FMA universe. I don't have enough ideas worked out to confidently write a whole fanfic yet, so I think I'll just share some of my ideas so that at least they don't stay inside my head forever like the vast majority of ideas that I either never finish enough to post it or just never get around to at all, especially when my brain is always generating new plot bunnies instead of focusing on developing the ones I already have, it's so distracting lol

(Also maybe y'all could give some suggestions if you wanna, I'd definitely appreciate it lol)

Anyway, here it is:

First off, the answer as to how exactly the Animorphs end up in the FMA universe: I was kicking around a few ideas for this, and was originally thinking something along the lines of like, a freak accident that somehow results in them ending up in front of the Gate of Truth, but I think a better idea would be for an alchemist (or perhaps even several alchemists) to end up in the Aniverse, get Yeerkified, and the Yeerk (or Yeerks, as it may be), intrigued by the memories and knowledge of an alternate Earth where you can manipulate matter and shape it according to your will with nothing more than a well drawn chalk circle (or even less than that if you've been through the Gate, as the Yeerk(s) will eventually discover), lured in by the idea of a legendary object that supposedly can be used to circumvent a pesky little law known as Equivalent Exchange, decides to pull something of a "Tom's Yeerk and his Yeerk buddies a la book 52" deciding to start their own colony in the FMAverse where they won't have to answer to the Council of Thirteen or the Visserarchy (well, at least the ones higher ranked than the Yeerk in charge, who, I imagine, would have to be a Sub-Visser at the very least to have the power to arrange all this) in addition to being able to use alchemy, which, much like the morphing power, can be used for a massive variety of things, ranging from merely convenient to pretty damn useful in a pinch to OP as fuck to even just downright terrifying.

It takes a lot of time and meticulous planning, of course, as they have to find a way to transport the Yeerks, their ship, and all the other stuff they'll need to thrive over there through the Gate and into the FMAverse-- all while in a universe where alchemy flat out doesn't work. The Yeerks have to figure out how to get around that issue, and it takes at least a year of research and using their new hosts' alchemical knowledge to work out a solution, but they work it out, and soon enough they get everything set up and ready to go. At some point, the Chee find out about this secret unknown project going on, inform the Animorphs about it, and Jake decides that they should at least check it out on the off chance that it's something big.

That's where the story officially starts: with our team of traumatized teenage shapeshifters at the location where this thing is being set up (haven't figured out the where yet). They've spent the past several days spying on these Yeerks, but still aren't sure what exactly is going on-- they keep talking about opening a gate-- and aren't sure if it's worth it. Marco's convinced the whole thing is ridiculous, especially after overhearing a human Controller mention something about a "Philosopher's Stone" ("What is this, Harry Potter? Are they gonna wave wooden sticks around and yell in Latin?") . Rachel is bored at this point, and just wants to kick ass and call it a day-- they were probably up to no good anyway. Cassie isn't particularly keen on the asskicking part, but she's been having a bad feeling about all this that she can't shake, and Tobias agrees that something fishy is going on and says they should wait a few days-- after all, from what they've gleaned, whatever plans these Yeerks had would be set in motion very soon. Ax, being Ax, declares as usual that he'll just go along with whatever Prince Jake orders, though when Jake presses him about his opinion, he just says he isn't sure what to make of it. In the end, they keep it up for a couple more days, and sure enough, the time comes for the Yeerks to "open the gate", whatever that means.

After all the time they'd spent spying on the Yeerks, it is conveniently now, when the Yeerks are about to do their thing, that they're discovered. It quickly turns into a fight, and the Animorphs attempt to bail as they're soon overwhelmed-- and then the Gate is opened.

None of them had any idea what to expect next. They certainly weren't expecting the blue lightning that erupted around them in a massive circle, seeming to originate from the curving lines that had been so painstakingly carved into the floor. They aren't expecting the atmosphere to turn dark and purple and creepy, or for a giant grey eye to suddenly appear beneath them, or for wavy black tentacle arms to come out of that eye. And they definitely were NOT expecting to abruptly find themselves in the white void of Zerospace.

Only they aren't in Z-space, exactly. Surrounded by it, sure, but somehow they stand there, as if on solid ground, surrounded by the eerie blankness that had once nearly suffocated them to death.

Each Animorph is utterly alone, with nothing and no one else in sight. That is, until they hear a voice, one that sounds like several voices speaking in unison, and suddenly they see a figure-- or, more accurately, an outline of a figure, with only shadows to mark where the figure ended and the void began. The figure is shaped like a human in all but Ax and Tobias's case: the figure Ax sees is shaped like an Andalite, and Tobias's version takes the form of a bird.

Truth gives the whole "I am God, I am the world, and I am also you" speech, then informs them they can't pass through the Gate without payment. Suddenly, there's a huge gateway where previously there was nothing. Truth is unconcerned with the fact that these "A-ni-morphs" have zero clue what's going on-- it simply takes the required toll and sends them on their way.

Except the toll is literal body parts-- which, even then, isn't usually a big deal for an Animorph, but in this case it absolutely is a big deal, because, as they'll soon discover, there's no way they're going to just replace their lost limbs through morphing. It's expressly forbidden for one to simply have nice things in this universe; in other words, Truth isn't letting them off the hook that easily.

The discovery that they're not able to replace their lost body parts through morphing is especially horrifying to Ax, because, well, y'know... book 40. The one that every Ax fan, and really anyone who otherwise genuinely enjoys Ax's character, would like to pretend never fucking happened.

In fact, given Truth's precedent for irony when extracting payment from people who've opened/been through the Gate in the series, I have no doubt in my mind that Ax would end up suffering the exact same fate as Mertil. Andalites, after all, place high value on their tail blades, especially the warriors; it's their number one go-to weapon when shit hits the fan. Ax himself is such a warrior, in fact it's a huge part of who he is as a person. Needless to say I think yeeting Ax's tail blade would be the exact kind of twisted irony that Truth would employ.

He gets over himself eventually-- well, sort of. However, it takes him a long time to truly come to terms with it-- instead of accepting that the attitudes he'd been taught his whole life regarding those who aren't fully able-bodied are actually shit, I feel like he'd be more likely to double down on them, internalizing them, and actually go into full-on self loathing as a result.

He holds his metaphorical tongue, though, upon seeing that Tobias has suffered a payment that is arguably far more cruelly ironic-- given that Tobias is a bird, given that his initial attraction to the morph that eventually became his default body came from the sense of freedom and escapism only provided through flying, I think it's fairly obvious what Truth would take: his wings.

As for the others: Rachel has lost her arm (for basically the same reason Ed did), Cassie loses her hands (which she uses to, you know, help injured animals and stuff), and as for Jake... well, it was a bit of a struggle, the best I could come up with is the idea of him going blind much like Mustang did after being forced to open the Gate (though maybe not for the same reason, though... idk. If anyone has any better suggestions, please let me know lol, I couldn't think of any solid ideas for what body part would be ironic for Jake to lose). Marco is the only one who doesn't lose any outwardly visible body parts-- what he loses is his voice.

At some point, they are discovered, taken into custody by the Amestrian military, and eventually they end up in Colonel Mustang's office. Mustang listens to their story with a massive dose of skepticism. He isn't sure what to make of these bizarre barefoot children, nor their claims of fighting bodysnatching slugs from outer space by turning into animals, nor their wingless pet hawk, nor... well, he could only assume the other creature was some sort of chimera, although he had zero clue what animals could have possibly been used to make something with blue fur and extra eyes.

At this point, they're about to do a morphing demonstration to prove to the Colonel that they aren't completely batshit, when suddenly the door is slammed open, and a teenage boy with blond hair and sharp golden eyes comes sauntering in, accompanied by a hulking giant covered head to toe in a suit of armor.

The boy immediately starts shouting at Mustang, calling him a bastard and accusing him of wasting his time, to which Mustang responds by merely rolling his eyes and sighing, as if this sort of thing happens all the time (spoiler alert: it does). After a moment, the kid stops as he takes notice of the other kids standing in the room.

"So," he says, calmly, as if he wasn't yelling at his superior just a moment ago, "what's the deal with these fuckers?"

The casual use of the kind of language that would have surely landed them in hot water back home was quite shocking, but they don't comment on it. Instead, Rachel says, in a voice sweet as honey, "Oh, look, Marco. He's just as short as you are."

Before Marco could turn to glare daggers at her (come on, it wasn't like he could argue back in that moment), the boy goes absolutely ballistic, and the armored guy has to physically restrain him as he screams obscenities at Rachel ("The fuck did you just call me, you freakishly oversized bitch? I'll show you too-fucking-short-to-fucking-sit-at-the-fucking-table-without-a-fucking-booster-seat! Call me short one more fucking time, I fucking dare you to! You think I give a shit that you're a girl? I'll fuck that pretty face of yours right up, just you fucking wait--")

"Brother!" The armored guy cries. "Calm down!" Then, to the Animorphs: "I'm sorry about my brother's behavior. He's, um, a bit sensitive about his height."

"A bit sensitive" is the understatement of the century, but none of the Animorphs call him out on it. They're too dumbfounded by the sound of his voice, which sounds sweet, innocent, and, despite his size, sounds like it belonged to a boy no more than nine or ten years old.

And that's where I'm going to leave it for now, since I've spent way too long on this post already. I have a few other ideas, but mostly in bits and pieces, not really any more comprehensive plot points beyond this point. Please do let me know what you think!

#animorphs #fullmetal alchemist #crossover fic #partial outline #i really just want to write them interacting #and to talk about ed's staunch refusal to kill in comparison to the fact that the animorphs have crossed this line countless times #even cassie who's the pacifist of the group #but besides that ed and al could pretty much be honorary members of the team #even if they can't morph #i mean they definitely have enough trauma to qualify don't they?

[davidmann95]

So RWBY/Justice League is apparently a crossover that's actually going to happen. Of the little we know right now, how do you think that's going to pan out?

Anonymous said: Those questions about Superman and Batman in RWBY seem prescient, because I'm hearing that an official crossover is in the works

Anonymous said: Um, so there's a legit Justice League/RWBY crossover coming

Anonymous said: So, that official DC/RWBY crossover, huh?

Anonymous said: So, how about that DC/RWBY cross, eh?

Anonymous said: No more speculating how Superman would fit into RWBY when DC themselves are providing their own answer XD

The immediate thing that leaps out beyond the Kingdom Hearts* level of utterly out of nowhere berserk this premise is: while the RWBY comic had a couple minor sequel hooks, and I don’t know how it did in its original digital chapters or in trade, as a monthly periodical it was selling poorly enough that DC didn’t bother to print its last physical issue after the return from the Coronavirus shutdown, and while I thought it was great a lot of fans complained about its art and characterization throughout. I hoped for that sequel, sure, but I wasn’t expecting the book to be regarded internally as anything but a sales failure, nevermind not only continuing it but tripling down in the most extreme and bizarrely specific way possible that’s neither intuitive (unless you have special interests like me) nor surface-level ridiculous enough like Batman/Elmer Fudd that people will buy it just to see how it works. I don’t understand why this comic is happening when no one but me wanted this.

(* The Kingdom Hearts comparison is apt because they were similarly close to the top of things I’d love to see cross over with the DCU that would obviously never, ever happen because that’s too precise and random a combination of my interests. Even if this is legally possible where that isn’t, that would still be conceptually simpler.)

I was asked a couple times in the past about how Superman or Batman could make sense in RWBY’s setting, and it turns out I was closer with the latter than the former - that rather than a dimension-hopping traditional crossover, this is reverse-engineering what the assorted members of the League would look like if they had always been part of Remnant ala JLA/Planetary, some of the old DC/Marvel crossovers, or the more recent Batman/The Shadow. Which actually fits really well with the series regularly evoking assorted fairy tales and mythologies with their characters; this bunch is just one more set to be added. Though that raises several more thoughts and questions:

* The solicit refers to them as Clark Kent, Bruce Wayne, and Diana Prince, but will they actually be referred to as such in the story, and will people comment on them not fitting with the color-based naming conventions of that world? Or will they be renamed and evoke their sources purely through iconography, ala Ruby not literally being Little Red Riding Hood?

* How much will the origins of the assorted characters be changed? Batman, Cyborg, and Aquaman would all make perfect sense within the ‘rules’ of the setting with few major alterations, but will Superman still be from Krypton and Green Lantern a space ranger, or will they simply be ordinary humans with thematically reminiscent backstories and Semblances/weapons that evoke the classic powers? I think the latter could work, but I imagine the former is more likely (even if Bennett might keep it vague on some of the details to preserve the aura of mystique and avoid changing the shape of the world too radically) simply because everyone’s surely aware that fans would complain about being ‘ripped off’ for getting the characters ‘in name only’ otherwise.

* Speaking of changes to fit the setting, between being a Faunus and the apparent low-tech traditional armor look of his suit, is Bruce Wayne in here not operating from a position of wealth? You’d just think as a given the Wayne family would be easily plopped in as business rivals to the Schnees and Alfred would be on a first name basis with Klein, but it seems Bennett might have something very different in mind. Also, little disappointing he simply has a katana rather than those collapsible batarangs that turn into swords that Ellis always gave him which would fit perfectly here. And, as so many have already asked: how miserable is he every second of every day in a world where everything is also a gun. At least this isn’t a universe where anyone’s gonna think he’s irresponsible for training teenage sidekicks.

* And if we’re going into individual characters: RWBY Barry Allen is adorable, what the hell. He just looks so dopey and hapless, I sure hope he doesn’t ever have to die to stop the Anti-Monitor. We’re definitely getting a meeting with Harriet that retcons in that he’s the other person with a speed Semblance she mentioned running into, and if he’s tapping into the Speed Force then the jokes that that’s what Harriet does are probably gonna become at least a little bit canon.

* Are the Themyscirans magic, given all magic has a very important common root in this world?

* I don’t think there’s a dud redesign in the bunch? These are all really inspired in their own ways, which is good because unlikely as it seems this is I believe the first time we’ve really gotten any sort of official interpretation of “here’s what the DCU would look like as a Shonen”. Go ahead and say the hell with it and make it Earth 28, I’ve thought before making that an anime Earth would fit with the map.

(By Ag_Nonsuch)

* Bunch of obvious ways these characters can play off of each other: Ruby is paralleled with Wonder Woman on the cover, and I’m curious how Bennett will play that, but she makes most sense next to Flash, a super-fast fan made good, or Superman, a character she so deeply if unintentionally evokes on so many levels I felt I had to make clear when describing her that I didn’t solely appreciate her as a psuedo-Superman analogue. Weiss makes sense up against Batman either as a wealthy heir or a Faunus who’s likely faced his share of pain from the Schees who either way are cold perfectionists defined by inner pain stemming from their families, or Wonder Woman/Aquaman as fellow ‘royalty’. Yang is paralleled with Superman on the cover and that makes sense with the two country bruisers with issues regarding their lost parents, though she’d also make sense with Aquaman as the ‘temperamental’ members a lot of the time of their respective teams, or Cyborg as they both deal with their relationships with their bodies after requiring prosthesis. And Blake pretty much has her pick: like Superman she uses an article of clothing to ‘pass’ and shares the commitment to justice, she and Batman are dark children of privilege (or not in this case, though in this world they’re both Faunus), she and Wonder Woman both left the island homes where their people were safe to try and make the rest of the world better, she and Aquaman are both Faunus royalty, and Green Lantern is about overcoming great fear and in Jessica Cruz’s case specifically about the guilt of running away.

* Will this be entirely flashbacks to the pre-series/Beacon years, or will those be flashbacks set from a ‘present’, and if so when? What happened between the siege of Haven and the train setting off for Argus is the most loosely-defined period in the story and is right on the heels of the end of the original RWBY mini, so I’d imagine it fitting here. And given they apparently join together “to take on a force unlike anything they've seen before” rather than purely the character work of that previous book, what might that be?

* Hey, superhero comics/superpowers as an idea already exist in this universe, will that come up?

* If we can get one single scene in this and it’s going with a “yes they’re still aliens and magic and whatnot” premise I want Clark, who hasn’t thought of being Superman yet and therefore is still at least somewhat hiding his powers, being wracked with guilt over not pursuing becoming a Huntsman and therefore not being there at the Fall of Beacon. Which is a ridiculous thing to take the blame for, but of course he would, he’s Clark, culminating in trying to apologize to JNR for Pyrrha dying he feels in part because he was a coward (when they don’t even have the faintest concept for why he would think he should have been there or could have done anything).

* Once all’s said and done, how is their presence in the world justified as not being a factor in the series proper? It’s simple if they’re ‘ordinary’ analogues who can go off to quietly have adventures elsewhere, but if not then some of them either have to be shuffled off stage or presumably left with their stories incomplete, with a little afterward of “and they went on to be the greatest heroes of all...later, after the scope of team RWBY’s main adventures so that we never have to directly address them again” to avoid them becoming unavoidable major factors in the war against Salem.

In the end, will it be DC’s best comic? No, though I imagine one of their better ones this year. Will it be among the ones I look forward to most each month? Right up there with Yang and Reis’s Batman/Superman baby, this is a miracle freak of fate and I’m gonna appreciate the universe bending over backwards to make entertainment for me and me alone while it lasts. Given I finally checked out RWBY in the first place because I was curious about Bennett’s original comic, this is a heck of a full-circle moment.

#RWBY #Justice League #Batman #Flash #Wonder Woman #Superman #Green Lantern #Aquaman #Cyborg #Barry Allen #Jessica Cruz #Ruby Rose #Weiss Schnee #Blake Belladonna #Yang Xiao Long #JNPR #Marguerite Bennett #Aneke #Stephanie Pepper #Emanuela Lupacchino #Opinion

[bamfdaddio]

X-Men Unabridged: Hellfire (1980)

The X-Men, those often stripsearched mutants that have sworn to protect a world that hates and fears them, are a cultural juggernaut with a long, tangled history. We’ve been untangling that history for a while, but sometimes, you really want a more in-depth look. Interested? Then read the (un)Abridged X-Men!

(X-Men 129 - 131) - by Chris Claremont and John Byrne

Since I think Scott, square extraordinaire, would also say: “I know squat about rap, but this Vanilla Ice dude is excellent,” I’m not putting much stock in his musical opinions. (X-Men 130)

Before we finally reach the apotheosis of the Phoenix saga, we’re going to take it a little slowly by focusing on the first three issues of 1980. They are basically the ramp-up to the end, putting all the pieces in place for the X-equivalent of the Red Wedding, the Bridge of Khazad-Dûm or the explosion of Alderaan. But, before smashing the board, Claremont introduces three new queens to the game. Here they are, in order of Awesome:

Emma Frost, or The White Queen; a telepathic HBIC with ambitions beyond dressing up in lingerie;

Kitty Pryde, or Sprite (Shadowcat, these days);

Alison Blaire (Dazzler), a disco dolly with light powers who unfortunately starts out as a relic of time gone by.

But before we can expand, Claremont shrinks the cast: Banshee, who sold his voice to a sea witch has injured vocal chords, stays behind on Muir Isle, retiring officially. (It’s gonna be a while before he returns to the X-Family in any true capacity - I think it might be the 90s?) It’s the first time since Thunderbird’s death that the core cast changes, and it’s not that surprising that Sean gets the shaft: Banshee, who has been positioned as the older, more experienced member of the team, has had very little to do (and Claremont has seemed reluctant to flesh him out the way he has the rest of the X-Men). Sean is essentially a decent, upstanding man who has mastered the use of his powers: there’s very little way to go without breaking him down or changing the course of his character. (If you’re a fan of him, go read the Phalanx Covenant and 90’s Generation X: it’s the best use of Sean.)

Polaris, Havok and Jamie also stay in Scotland, choosing a quiet life without superheroics. (For those familiar with X-Factor, this is where you laugh and laugh and laugh.)

Jason Wyngarde, meanwhile keeps fucking with the Phoenix, using his psionic fantasies to unleash her darkest self.

Jean’s darkest fantasies amount to little more than a Victorian bodice ripper, which is adorable. (To be fair, if I were trapped in a lusty prison of my own design, I´d probably dream up my own Downton Abbey soap opera where I was sleeping with all the hunky house boys, so…) (X-Men 129)

Scott, meanwhile, reveals the sheer depths of his repression by admitting that he never let himself feel the grief for Jean’s death.

If you think it’s weird that Jean falls for a sleezeball like Wyngarde, remember that the love of her life is a man who is so repressed that it took him 5+ years to tell his friends he had a brother. Her taste in men is questionable at best. (X-Men 129)

The whole “I accidentally picked up a stray thought” has to be such a bullshit. It’s like your sister claiming that she heard from a friend of a friend that you like someone, while she actually just read it in your diary. Telepaths are snoops, Jean, own it.

Speaking of telepaths without boundary issues, Professor X is back from space! He immediately slips back into a stupid, patriarchal role and treats this X-Men team the same he treated his X-Men in the sixties. Scott is like: dude, these aren’t the same dumb teenagers we were, but Xavier won’t listen. Their squabble is interrupted by Cerebro, alerting them to the existence of two new mutants! One in NYC, one in Chicago.

Somewhere else, the Hellfire Club is revealed to be listening in: they have bugged the mansion a long time ago. While most the Inner Circle is featured in some way in this arc - we finally get to see Sebastian Shaw’s face! - the main villain here is the White Queen. She’s coordinating the attack on the X-Men and is looking to recruit Kitty for her Academy in Massachusetts.

It’s kind of bizarre that it took so long for this plot - an emerging young mutant is an object of interest for two competing factions - to be a main plotline, considering it’s such a staple for the X-Men mythos as a whole. (See, for example: the New Mutants, Generation-X, the Young X-Men, but also Rogue in the first X-Men movie and the whole of X-Men: First Class. Hell, X-Men Evolution’s first season was practically built on this trope.) It is kind of fitting that one of the mutants introduced this way is Kitty Pryde, the first X-Man that would be completely Chris Claremont’s creation.

While teacher’s pets Cyclops, Phoenix and Nightcrawler can go to New York, Xavier takes Colossus, Storm and Wolverine to a suburb in Chicago (“to monitor them in the field”, fuck you too, Chuck). In the Windy City, we meet plucky YA-novel heroine Kitty Pryde, who’s being tormented by headaches.

The KISS-poster in Kitty’s room is fortunately the only crossover we’ll have between the X-Men and the KISS-comics published by Marvel. (X-Men 129)

Just after a certain Ms. Frost has pitched her Academy to the Pryde parents, the X-Men arrive. While Charles works the parents, Ororo takes Kitty to get some ice cream, letting slip the secret of the X-Men.

Wolverine reading a titty mag in an ice cream shop while both Ororo and Charles are trying to convince people they run a legitimate school is a hilarious mood. (X-Men 129)

Kitty’s appearance is supposed to have been inspired by a young Katherine Hepburn, which is particularly evident in these panels.

Anyway, they are promptly attacked by Hellfire droids, who spook Kitty into jumping through a wall. Finally, her powers are confirmed: Kitty can become intangible, ‘phasing’ through objects. When the X-Men defeat the droids, Emma Frost comes along to finish the job, psychically overwhelming Storm, Wolverine and Colossus. She abucts them, not realizing Kitty has stowed away in their… floating… hovercraft… thing. She also manages to abduct Xavier.

I love how Emma’s to-do-list was:

Abduct the X-Men

Strip them naked (X-Men 130)

The Inner Circle and their motivations are slowly fleshed out: they’re all in it for power, money, glory. (Emma would love Lana del Ray.) But they’re not a united front: Wyngarde considers Phoenix the road to power, Emma believes in raising (and controlling) the next generation of mutants and Shaw… Well, Shaw is a clever opportunist, not afraid to sell out his own kind. (It’s heavily implied the Hellfire Club helped fund Lang’s Sentinel program.)

Through Jason, we pick up the thread in New York, where Jean and Scott visit some shady club downtown. Nightcrawler is stationed outside. Inside, Jean enjoys the relative perversion of the clubbing crowd, until Jason shows up and twists reality, shunting her to ‘their wedding day’.

It’s never made explicit, but in between the lines, it’s highly probable that Jason seduced Jean, violated her body and mind. That, combined with the whole BDSM/Marquis de Sade atmosphere of the Hellfire Club where the men are fully clothed and the women prance around in lingerie amounts to a whole lot of ick, ick, ick. (X-Men 130)

In Chicago, Kitty skulks around the compound of Frost Enterprises. She manages to creep up to Ororo’s cage, who gives her a number to call. Before she can do anything else, Emma sees her, calls all her henchmen cretins and orders her to get that pigeon kitty. Kitty flees and manages to get a call in.

Kurt picks up the phone in their limo (which feels super swanky for the eighties!) and Kitty delivers her warning. Kurt is then promptly attacked, as are Phoenix and Cyclops. Together, they make short work of their attackers, with the aid of Dazzler. Introductions follow:

Dazzler’s “nope” tells you about 80% of what her character is about. (X-Men 130)

It’s funny to see how relatively unknown the idea of mutants still is. Kitty doesn’t even consider it, even though freaky shit is happening to her, and Dazzler hilariously doesn’t give a figgin where her powers come from. (Though she may just be in denial. Anyone who wears a disco ball around her neck can’t be accused of good common sense.) In ten, twenty years, I bet there’s tons of teenagers in the Marvel Universe who get headaches or weird growing pains and fear that one morning, they might wake up a mutant.

It’s odd how Cerebro picks up Dazzler as a ‘neo-mutant’, even though it’s obvious she had her powers for a while. It might have to do with the fact that Dazzler wasn’t created by Claremont and Byrne, but by Tom DeFalco and John Romita Jr. However, because editorial wanted to Dazzler’s debut to make a splash, so they added her to their best-selling book and she had to be shoe-horned into this plot. She was originally intended to be closs-platform - there were plans for albums, Bo Derek would star as her in movies - but since Marvel had the keen foresight to introduce her just as disco was dying all of this got shelved. After a solo series, she’ll become a pretty solid B-Lister X-Man in a couple of years. (Should I be covering her solo series? It’s only very tangentially X-Related. Sound off below!)

Cyclops, Phoenix, Nightcrawler and Dazzler Trojan Horse their way into Frost Enterprises and make quick work of the White Queen’s cronies while Emma is creepily making Storm her personal plaything. Kitty, meanwhile, manages to free Wolverine by phasing through the electronic lock. Jean recognizes the Hellfire Club from her (fake) memories with Jason, but doesn’t connect the dots quite yet.

Emma, frustrated that her plan is falling to pieces, takes out her ire on Storm, threatening to lobotomize her. Jean… does not take this lightly.

“I understand you call yourself something of a telepath” is absolutely the most badass line Jean has ever uttered. Fuck yeah. (X-Men 131)

With the White Queen defeated (rumors of her death are greatly overrated), the X-Men can briefly regroup. Dazzler does not join the X-Men, being too into the idea of becoming the mutant Madonna, while Kitty is delivered back to her parents. To prevent a nasty scene, Jean casually alters the memories of her parents, removing the memories of Kitty’s involvement with the kidnapping of the X-Men. This also neatly prevents her parents from realizing what a horrible idea it is for a 13 year old to join a superhero squad. (Even if she has a defensive power.)

This arc ends with the two people who love Jean the most voicing their concern:

When you look up ‘muhahahaha’ in the dictionary, this picture of Jason Wyngarde will be the definition. (X-Men 131)

Hold onto your butts, people. We’re almost there.

#x-men #x-men abridged #abridged x-men #professor x #cyclops #phoenix #storm #banshee #wolverine #nightcrawler #colossus #sprite #dazzler #shadowcat #emma frost #hellfire club #mastermind #sebastian shaw #chris claremont #john byrne

[edgy-ella]

WB distributes both JoJo's Bizarre Adventure and Urusei Yatsura on home video in Japan. With this knowledge, what would a crossover honestly be like between the two?

I’ve never heard of Urusei Yatsura so I have no idea. If you respond with a synopsis and a “oh man you TOTALLY need to watch it” I will vaporize your fingertips.

Here are all of the JoJo crossovers that I’ve actually put some thought into. Most of these series have absolutely zero connection to JoJo and I don’t care! Most of these series are very tonally different and I don’t care! I just think that these would be funny.

Animaniacs: This is one I briefly talked about a while back. TL;DR, the Warners walk in on Jotaro and Dio’s fight and proceed to annoy them both. Kakyoin could also help for a great water tower gag for obvious reasons. I like to joke that this could happen because WB owns the distribution rights to JoJo outside Japan, but realistically it’d never happen. I also don’t trust the writers of the reboot to do it justice.

Death Note: I think it’d be funny to have Light be forced into part 3, 4, or 5 and have to pretend to be a Stand user with Ryuk as his “Stand” while also keeping the Death Note hidden. While all three of these parts would give Light something or someone who he’d play off of well, I think he’d work best in part 4, official timelines be damned. I like the idea of taking a character like Light out of his element and putting him in a position where he’s more vulnerable to everything else going that most other characters, and JoJo just so happens to be a great backdrop for that.

Invader Zim: honestly I just think it would be funny for Zim to accidentally bring Kars back from space and then have reconquer the planet once Kars inevitably fucks shit up. That’s it. This idea also works as a Zim only story but I think it’s funnier for lil tiny Zim to square up against buff almost-naked vampire god man.

Speaking of crossovers, I have an ask in my inbox about the Smash Bros Assimilation AU that I haven’t quite gotten to yet, but rest assured I will get to it eventually! I just have a lot going on right now and there’s a lot to cover for that AU.

#ask #jojo #death note #invader zim

[aion-rsa]

Zack Snyder’s Original Vision for Justice League Faded Long Before His Exit

https://ift.tt/3buaKS6

As Zack Snyder’s Justice League prepares to showcase the director’s true vision of the 2017 film long-sought by a vocal segment of the fandom, behind-the-scenes details have emerged about the director’s exit from the theatrical film, providing interesting context to its upcoming debut as an HBO Max miniseries. It seems that the official—devastatingly heartbreaking—explanation for Snyder’s departure from the film actually overshadowed some behind-the-scenes strife.

Picture this for a Justice League plotline: Bruce Wayne (Ben Affleck) falls in love with a recently widowed Lois Lane (Amy Adams). While the notion of a Batman/Lois Lane romance is not entirely unheard of in the annals of DC Comics, it might seem awkward for a film franchise that was still taking its first steps. Nevertheless, this was a major angle that Snyder intended to inject into the film, as revealed in a lengthy Vanity Fair exposé. Of course, the romance, which would have directly followed the events of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, obviously didn’t make the film, and—barring some secretly-shot scenes for the Snyder Cut—it is unlikely to ever happen. However, it was apparently typical of the now-revealed clashes that Snyder had with Warner Bros. in the lead-up to his 2017 exit.

“The intention was that Bruce fell in love with Lois and then realized that the only way to save the world was to bring Superman back to life,” Snyder explains of the idea that Warner nixed. “So, he had this insane conflict, because Lois, of course, was still in love with Superman. We had this beautiful speech where [Bruce] said to Alfred: ‘I never had a life outside the cave. I never imagined a world for me beyond this. But this woman makes me think that if I can get this group of gods together, then my job is done. I can quit. I can stop.’ And, of course, that doesn’t work out for him.”

Backtracking a bit, Snyder—having come off hits like Dawn of the Dead, 300 and Watchmen—was auspiciously tapped to shepherd Warner’s wider aspirations for DC Comics films starting with 2013’s Man of Steel, which debuted Henry Cavill’s impressive iteration of the Blue Bomber. However, the film was a winding rollercoaster of dark drama that stood in stark contrast to the Marvel Comics movies against which it was designed to compete. Thusly, it banked $668 million worldwide—by no means a flop, but well short of Warner’s expectations, especially against the film’s $225 million budget. Regardless, the studio gave Snyder a mulligan and allowed his vision to further manifest mostly unfettered with 2016’s Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, which introduced Ben Affleck’s Batman, Gal Gadot’s Wonder Woman, Ray Fisher’s Cyborg and—in a bizarre, context-deprived cameo—Ezra Miller’s The Flash.

Dawn of Justice would go on to gross $873.6 million worldwide—once again, not a flop, but nevertheless disappointing for Warner, who had maintained faith and even upped the budget for Snyder’s sophomore DCEU effort to $250 million. “When Batman v Superman came out and we did get a negative reaction from the fans, it was disheartening for all of us,” laments production head Greg Silverman. “Zack had made these movies, like 300, that were such crowd-pleasers. And that was our job—to make crowd-pleasers. And here, we have made a movie together, and it didn’t really please the audience.”

Read more

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Justice League: How Christopher Nolan Helped Prevent Zack Snyder from Seeing the Whedon Cut

By David Crow

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Martian Manhunter in Zack Snyder’s Justice League Details and Look Revealed

By Mike Cecchini

Indeed, Batman v Superman was not generally regarded as a crowd-pleaser, and was instead widely lambasted by both critics and audiences alike, manifesting as a marathon of moroseness passing for poignancy, showcasing a titular conflict between the two heroes held together by flimsy load-bearing motivations, weighed down further with unexplained Justice League-foreshadowing scenes (notably the aforementioned Flash cameo and the “Knightmare” sequence,) referencing an imminent invasion from planet Apokolips. More importantly, it didn’t create the watershed cultural moment that Warner needed to effectively whet audience appetites for the Justice League team-up, which was clearly its main purpose. Thus, while Marvel continued to bask in billions with likeable icons—and even made icons of non-mainstream titles like Guardians of the Galaxy—Warner was stuck with DC movies permeating with unrelatable angry gods who hate each other.

Consequently, while the studio soured on Snyder by the time production for Justice League had commenced, there was an unfortunate fatalism, since the die had been cast on where the story was headed. After all, Snyder came into the film with a vision that was far too lofty even for a director who was still in the studio’s good graces, much less one perceived as having led it down the primrose path. Further tinder for this proverbial fire was scattered with a top-down edict from Warner chairman and CEO Kevin Tsujihara, who mandated that the picture would be only two hours in length, and that DC Entertainment creative chief Geoff Johns and Warner Bros. co-production head Jon Berg were to be on-set every day to, as Snyder puts it, “babysit” him.

“It was really tricky and not a position that I loved, to be honest,” Berg says. “I tried to be forthright about what I thought creatively. My job was to try to mediate between a creator whose vision is instinctually dark and a studio that perceived, rightly or wrong, that the fans wanted something lighter. I was respectful of the director and didn’t pursue things that were coming at me from the corporate side that I thought weren’t in line with what would make the best movie.”

Snyder maintains that having Johns and Berg watching over his shoulder didn’t bother him, and that “they weren’t that threatening.” Yet, they constantly pressed him to inject humor into his otherwise-serious content. “It wasn’t anything that was too outrageous,” says Snyder, but it nevertheless created a contradiction, especially as the ambitious designs Snyder teased in Dawn of Justice—many of which sidetracked that film—were being systematically erased. Thus, Justice League seemed to be a tug-of-war production, as Snyder moved ahead with his vision, only to see concepts nixed outright (like the Batman/Lois romance,) and even lose produced ideas like the spinoff-teasing romantic subplot between Ezra Miller’s Flash and Kiersey Clemons’s Iris West (the latter of whom was cut from the film altogether,) and a proposed return of Harry Lennix’s Man of Steel character, General Swanwick, who was to be revealed as a disguised J’onn J’onzz/Martian Manhunter; concepts that, for those in the know, represented the intended heart of the film.

The laborious process continued even after Snyder and wife Deborah (who serves as a producer,) were dealing with the passing of their daughter. Yet, Snyder officially exited Justice League in May 2017—two months after the tragedy, which was initially cited as the primary reason. “It’s such a lightning strike in the center of this whole saga,” says Snyder. “And in a lot of ways it has informed everything we’ve done since.” However, it was clear that the escalating acrimony between Snyder and Warner Bros. was the heretofore unspoken other reason behind the split, after which the studio tapped Joss Whedon—fresh from his own acrimonious exit from Marvel Studios—to pinch-direct the picture and have it ready for theaters by November. Of course, as Ray Fisher, and an increasing number of personnel now allege, that tenure led to a different—inherently toxic—problem.  

Regardless of where one stands on the perpetually polarizing topic of Zack Snyder, his exit from the ambitious crossover film was undeniably one of the saddest stories to hit the industry in quite some time. However, its tragic aspect turned out to be the emotionally heavy straw that broke the back of Snyder’s rapidly weakening relationship with studio Warner Bros. Thus, with most of those studio restraints now shed, it makes the upcoming arrival of the labor of love that is the “Snyder Cut” even more intriguing.

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Zack Snyder’s Justice League hits HBO Max on Thursday, March 18.

The post Zack Snyder’s Original Vision for Justice League Faded Long Before His Exit appeared first on Den of Geek.

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#aion-rsa #Den of Geek

[caydeus]

rules: pick 5 shows, then answer the following questions. don’t cheat. tag some people - tagged by @njess04 thank you for tagging me!! I had a lot of fun with this (*ˊ꒳ˋ*)

One Piece

Demon Slayer

Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure

Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood

Carole & Tuesday

who is your favourite character in 2? Tanjiro is always #1 but I also adore Kyojuro//

who is your least favourite character in 1? Easily the Celestial Dragons 😂

what is your favourite episode of 4? There’s... too many ohman. It’s a show where every episode is one that I absolutely love.

what is your favourite season of 5? Sadly there’s only one season but I love it regardless

who is your favourite couple in 3? I’m not sure if this is for official couples or not but if not I like GioMis a lot for their dynamic and bond (*ˊ꒳ˋ*); if official, Jonathan and Erina for being absolute sweethearts. (I haven’t gotten past part 5 yet to discover more)

who is your favourite couple in 2? SabiGiyuu

what is your favourite episode of 1? Alright, here’s my essay—// The episode where Luffy defeats Arlong, first meetinf Ace, Luffy beating Crocodile by using his own blood, seeing Water 7 for the first time, Robin saying she wanted to live, Luffy using gear 2nd, Luffy pushing the zombie back into the grave, BinKS’ SAKE, seeing Sabaody for the first time, Luffy punching a celestial dragon, Luffy/Law/Kidd team up, Luffy reuniting with Buggy, Luffy reuniting with Bon Clay, Luffy and his crew crashing the Summit, Luffy and Ace’s team up, Crocodile telling them if they’re gonna protect Luffy they better do it right, Law coming in with the save, EVERY ASL EPISODE, the crew reuniting—// (I’m going to stop here because I’m listing too many hhhhh)

what is your favourite episode of 5? Probably episodes 3, 12-14, 16, 22, and 24.

what is your favourite season of 2? There’s only one season so far and I am thriving off of it

how long have you watched 1? Since it was on 4Kids 😂 Luckily I rewatched it when Funimation got it to erase the terrible 4kids censorship/VA

how did you become interested in 3? I didn’t care for it much until I caught my mom watching Part 3 so I joined her. After that we ended up binging Part 1 & 2, before continuing with 3 & 4.

who is your favourite actor in 4? I realized I just listed non-live action shows ahah but I love them so much// Character wise, Edward Elric 4ever

which do you prefer, 1, 2, or 5? Oh no. One Piece always has top spot in my heart but slowly Demon Slayer is climbing up the ladder exceptionally fast 😔🤘Carole & Tuesday is also a heartwarming show to choose from.

which show have you seen more episodes of, 1 or 3? 1 because it has over 900 episodes oof.

if you could be anyone from 4, who would you be? Den. I get to stay home and be fed all day.

would a crossover between 3 and 4 work? The very thought makes me laugh because I can imagine Al’s stand being his suit of armor’s appearance

pair two characters in 1 who would make an unlikely but strangely okay couple? Nami and Carina. Even though she’s a film character, I can see a pair of girlfriends out stealing together

overall, which show has the better storyline, 3 or 5? Both are good in their own way. Jojo is more action pack and character driven which is something I enjoy while Carole & Tuesday is more casual with a pair of girls who just wants to make music together.

which has better theme music, 2 or 4? 2 absolutely. The soundtrack feel incredibly well executed when introducing new threats, comical scenes or warm hearted moments. Of course, one can never forget Tanjiro’s song playing for the first time with vocals.

#tagged

[emilybettsource]

The announcement that Arrow would be ending with its upcoming eighth season probably didn’t surprise that many fans. As much as the show has been exploring new types of storytelling and focusing on different characters this year, at the end of the day, it’s still the story of Oliver Queen. And that seems to be headed toward a natural – and likely bittersweet – endpoint with the “Crisis on Infinite Earths” crossover next year. (Plus, we have to assume that star Stephen Amell probably wants to do something besides climb salmon ladders for a living by now.)

However, the news that Emily Bett Rickards, who plays Team Arrow’s resident hacker genius Felicity Smoak, would be exiting Star City at the end of Season 7 probably came as a much bigger shock. It seems almost impossible to imagine Arrow without her, period; let alone envision a final ten episodes in which Felicity will have no real role in wrapping up the narrative she’s been such a huge part of.

Her departure will mark the true end of an era, as Arrow says goodbye to both its leading lady and one of the team’s founding members. We still don’t know precisely how Felicity will exit Star City – though Arrow’s 2040 flash forwards have given us a pretty good idea of the isolated nature of her life going forward – but we do know this: the show will never be the same again once she’s gone.

Felicity Smoak is, in large part, the glue that holds Arrow together. Though she is perhaps the least physically capable member of the team when it comes to throwing a punch, she is as much a hero as anyone who suits up in a vigilante mask or hood. Her enormous heart, her compassionate nature, and her refusal to back down when facing the worst sorts of odds make her the kind of woman any of us might aspire to one day become.

As Team Arrow’s resident hacker and IT whiz, Felicity has always played a key role in the day-to-day operation of the group, even though she herself rarely ventures away from her tablet or computer keyboard. She’s brilliant, unashamed of her intelligence, and utterly capable, doing everything from managing remote missions to performing surveillance to hacking the FBI or CIA. And over the course of her time on the show, her character completely turns the idea of the nerdy superhero sidekick on its head.

Felicity’s character ticks a lot of the boxes of the (traditionally male) dorky computer geek: A fast talker who’s socially awkward, sarcastic, and maybe just a little too smart for their own good. Yet she is also a woman who unabashedly embraces her feminine side, choosing cute dresses and high heels as often as jackets or T-shirts, and who puts a priority on building lasting emotional connections with those around her.

Her compassionate nature is invaluable, and her vivacious personality provides a much-needed ray of sunshine in the otherwise dark and grim world of Arrow. (This is particularly true during the show’s earlier seasons which primarily dealt with Oliver’s family secrets and seemingly endless quest for vengeance.) She’s brave, loyal to a fault, and willing to stand up to those she thinks are doing wrong, even when they’re her friends.

That Felicity ultimately becomes Arrow’s female romantic lead is another bold choice on the part of the show – and not just because she’s the sort of character who, stereotypically speaking, almost never lands the hot guy at the center of the story. The decision to pair her romantically with Oliver represents one of Arrow’s first major departures from its comics source material, and established the show as one willing to take risks and tell its own story on its own terms. From a relationship perspective, her big-hearted sincerity offers a refreshing contrast to Oliver’s near-continual angsty brooding, and her refusal to compromise her beliefs to fit his often provides much-needed alternative perspectives within their group.

It’s true, though, that much of Felicity’s time on Arrow has largely revolved around her relationship to and/or with Oliver.  Over the course of seven seasons, she’s been his admirer, his teammate, his girlfriend, his ex, his wife, and now the mother of his child. But Felicity has never been defined solely by her feelings for Oliver, and whatever their Facebook relationship status may be at any given moment, she still possesses desires and agency of her own.

Arrow, however, has not always done its best by Felicity when it comes prioritizing those desires as part of the story. The show has occasionally felt as though it didn’t quite know what to do with her character, particularly once she and Oliver were officially together. Arrow has a longstanding tendency to resort to emotional melodrama when cornered, which means we’ve watched a lot of bizarre storylines over the years that seemed to exist solely to put “Olicity” at odds.

Yet, as Arrow explored more of Felicity’s darker side in recent seasons – her regrets, her insecurities, her own past as a hacker, her messy relationship with her parents, and her rage at the situation that landed Oliver in jail – her character became much more complex and layered. She’s experienced tremendous growth over her time on Arrow as a hacker, as a businesswoman, and as a leader in her own right. Felicity is not a perfect woman by any stretch of the imagination, but neither is she a damsel in distress waiting for Oliver to swoop in with his bow and save her. She is smart and tough, complicated and quippy, loyal and brave, sometimes reckless and always stubborn in the best possible way.

Her character has come so far from her first scene all the way back in Arrow’s third episode, when she was just a tech support girl charged with fixing Oliver’s broken laptop. But it’s precisely because Felicity Smoak has grown into such an integral piece of the show that she’ll leave such a big hole behind when she’s gone.

#emily bett rickards #felicity smoak #collider #lacy baugher #arrow #articles #press

[hope-for-olicity]

The announcement that Arrow would be ending with its upcoming eighth season probably didn’t surprise that many fans. As much as the show has been exploring new types of storytelling and focusing on different characters this year, at the end of the day, it’s still the story of Oliver Queen. And that seems to be headed toward a natural – and likely bittersweet – endpoint with the “Crisis on Infinite Earths”crossover next year. (Plus, we have to assume that star Stephen Amell probably wants to do something besides climb salmon ladders for a living by now.)

However, the news that Emily Bett Rickards, who plays Team Arrow’s resident hacker genius Felicity Smoak, would be exiting Star City at the end of Season 7 probably came as a much bigger shock. It seems almost impossible to imagine Arrow without her, period; let alone envision a final ten episodes in which Felicity will have no real role in wrapping up the narrative she’s been such a huge part of.

Her departure will mark the true end of an era, as Arrow says goodbye to both its leading lady and one of the team’s founding members. We still don’t know precisely how Felicity will exit Star City – though Arrow’s 2040 flash forwards have given us a pretty good idea of the isolated nature of her life going forward – but we do know this: the show will never be the same again once she’s gone.

Felicity Smoak is, in large part, the glue that holds Arrow together. Though she is perhaps the least physically capable member of the team when it comes to throwing a punch, she is as much a hero as anyone who suits up in a vigilante mask or hood. Her enormous heart, her compassionate nature, and her refusal to back down when facing the worst sorts of odds make her the kind of woman any of us might aspire to one day become.

As Team Arrow’s resident hacker and IT whiz, Felicity has always played a key role in the day-to-day operation of the group, even though she herself rarely ventures away from her tablet or computer keyboard. She’s brilliant, unashamed of her intelligence, and utterly capable, doing everything from managing remote missions to performing surveillance to hacking the FBI or CIA. And over the course of her time on the show, her character completely turns the idea of the nerdy superhero sidekick on its head.

Felicity’s character ticks a lot of the boxes of the (traditionally male) dorky computer geek: A fast talker who’s socially awkward, sarcastic, and maybe just a little too smart for their own good. Yet she is also a woman who unabashedly embraces her feminine side, choosing cute dresses and high heels as often as jackets or T-shirts, and who puts a priority on building lasting emotional connections with those around her.

Her compassionate nature is invaluable, and her vivacious personality provides a much-needed ray of sunshine in the otherwise dark and grim world of Arrow. (This is particularly true during the show’s earlier seasons which primarily dealt with Oliver’s family secrets and seemingly endless quest for vengeance.) She’s brave, loyal to a fault, and willing to stand up to those she thinks are doing wrong, even when they’re her friends.

That Felicity ultimately becomes Arrow’s female romantic lead is another bold choice on the part of the show – and not just because she’s the sort of character who, stereotypically speaking, almost never lands the hot guy at the center of the story. The decision to pair her romantically with Oliver represents one of Arrow’s first major departures from its comics source material, and established the show as one willing to take risks and tell its own story on its own terms. From a relationship perspective, her big-hearted sincerity offers a refreshing contrast to Oliver’s near-continual angsty brooding, and her refusal to compromise her beliefs to fit his often provides much-needed alternative perspectives within their group.

It’s true, though, that much of Felicity’s time on Arrow has largely revolved around her relationship to and/or with Oliver.  Over the course of seven seasons, she’s been his admirer, his teammate, his girlfriend, his ex, his wife, and now the mother of his child. But Felicity has never been defined solely by her feelings for Oliver, and whatever their Facebook relationship status may be at any given moment, she still possesses desires and agency of her own.

Arrow, however, has not always done its best by Felicity when it comes prioritizing those desires as part of the story. The show has occasionally felt as though it didn’t quite know what to do with her character, particularly once she and Oliver were officially together. Arrow has a longstanding tendency to resort to emotional melodrama when cornered, which means we’ve watched a lot of bizarre storylines over the years that seemed to exist solely to put “Olicity” at odds.

Yet, as Arrow explored more of Felicity’s darker side in recent seasons – her regrets, her insecurities, her own past as a hacker, her messy relationship with her parents, and her rage at the situation that landed Oliver in jail – her character became much more complex and layered. She’s experienced tremendous growth over her time on Arrow as a hacker, as a businesswoman, and as a leader in her own right. Felicity is not a perfect woman by any stretch of the imagination, but neither is she a damsel in distress waiting for Oliver to swoop in with his bow and save her. She is smart and tough, complicated and quippy, loyal and brave, sometimes reckless and always stubborn in the best possible way.

Her character has come so far from her first scene all the way back in Arrow’s third episode, when she was just a tech support girl charged with fixing Oliver’s broken laptop. But it’s precisely because Felicity Smoak has grown into such an integral piece of the show that she’ll leave such a big hole behind when she’s gone.

#felicity smoak #precious badass cupcake

[binkywinky]

hi! Comics rec anon here! to answer your question, I'm not entirely new to comics, have read a few but not enough to say I have a specific type. The first series I read was all the jessica jones comics which I really liked, also the miles morales series which i enjoyed and the spidergwen series which was cute but the art was kinda annoying lol. i also like a couple of dc ones like mister miracle. so i think i prefer a general rec from you since the comics world is so big. thanks in advance!

Got it. Hmm… let’s see. It’s probably easiest to break it down by publisher then. I’ll try to give a mix of ongoing, finished, and “classic” stories. 

Fair warning, I read a lot of comics (probably about 60 per month, and that’s not including manga), so even though this may feel like a long list, it’s short for me.

Marvel

Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man - Relatively new series, and it’s been fantastic so far. Great art, and a bit more grounded than the Amazing Spider-Man run (which is also great). Stellar art, too.

Miles Morales: Spider-Man - A little YA-ish at times, but overall enjoyable. You get to see a lot more of Miles’ personality in this one, which is always fun.

Superior Spider-Man - Because nothing is more fun than seeing a semi-reformed Otto Octavius try to be a hero.

Captain Marvel - Kelly Thompson does a phenomenal job with this series. She has a great hold of Carol’s voice. Would highly recommend Kelly Sue Deconnick and Margaret Stohl’s previous runs to give context (Captain Marvel 2012-2017, Mighty Captain Marvel, and The Life of Captain Marvel).

Jessica Jones - Not sure if you’ve read Kelly Thompson’s recent run or just Bendis’, but hers is definitely worth a read.

Avengers (2019) - actually a solid run. I would check this out if you’re more into crossover, large-scale storytelling. They’re in the middle of War of the Realms, though… so maybe wait until like August or September?

Immortal Hulk, Daredevil, and X-23 - also good. I read them off and on (not really my fave characters to read on their own, I enjoy them in ensembles), but the stories are solid.

Rogue & Gambit - mini series that I absolutely love by Kelly Thompson (she does great character work) that came out last year. Mr. & Mrs. X is a follow-up to it and also tons of fun (nearing its end as well). 

Runaways - I fell off of this when Brian K. Vaughn left, but I can say up through his run ended is well worth the read.

As far as classic stories, Infinity Gauntlet, The Dark Phoenix Saga, X-Men: Age of Apocalypse, Secret Invasion, and Secret Wars would be my first recommendations.

I would’ve recommended Spider-Gwen: Ghost Spider, but maybe wait on that. It’s about to end soon and transition to just Ghost Spider (where she leaves Earth-65 and comes to Earth-616 where Peter and Miles are). Same for X-Men. I’m currently reading Uncanny, but X-Men is about to be overhauled soon. So probably hold on that front.

DC/Vertigo

Honestly, not the biggest DC fan (I lean more towards Vertigo actually), but there are a few that I enjoy.

Action Comics (starting at #1000) - I am not a Superman fan, but I enjoy this series, which says a lot. I enjoy what Bendis is doing with him in this run.

Naomi - a new series, also by Bendis, following the story of a young Black girl who is investigating the circumstances around her adoption. Don’t want to give too much away, but probably my fave DC run at the moment. And Jamal Campbell’s art is fucking gorgeous.

Dial H for Hero - it’s fun. It’s weird. Not for everyone, but maybe give it a shot.

The Flash and Batman, New 52 runs - New 52 gets shit from fans a lot, but I thought these runs were awesome. Very good story-telling.

Dark Nights: Metal event - Probably one of the best things DC did in a long time. It’s a massive event that pretty much reworked the DC universe and all the characters. Enjoyed it immensely.

Heroes in Crisis - this miniseries ended very recently. It’s a story focused on a major event that happens at Sanctuary, a rehab for superheroes suffering from mental health issues (e.g. PTSD after doing something that nearly killed them). Not your usual superhero story, which I liked.

American Carnage - very gritty story focused on a white-passing Black man who infiltrates a white supremacist organization. It’s really fucking good.

High Level - I picked this book up randomly because the cover looked cool. I’ve been reading it ever since. I would say it’s weird sci-fi/fantasy/cyberpunk adventure. A little strong on the language, but very interesting story and great artwork.

Birds of Prey - awesome series with the DC women. A little shaky sometimes, but Gail Simone does really good character work. Her run is probably the only one I’d bother reading.

Deathbed - miniseries by Vertigo that ended maybe a year ago. It’s so bizarre and hilarious and out there. I loved it.

Batwoman (J.H. Williams run) and Batwoman: Rebirth - Kate Kane, my favorite lesbian superhero. Williams did a great job in his run (and the art is to die for). Don’t read the back half, they change writers and it’s a goddamn mess. But then Marguerite Bennett (a queer woman) picked it up in Rebirth, and it got awesome again. Also, shout-out to Greg Rucka for officially making her queerness canon in 52.

Wonder Woman - Wonder Woman’s my fave of DC main characters (along with Martian Manhunter and Wally West I & II), and my favorite run for her is Greg Rucka’s. He does a surprisingly good job of writing women. The run is over at the moment, but I’d check it out. Good stuff there.

For classic stories, Kingdom Come, Watchmen, Flashpoint (precursor to New 52), and Neil Gaiman’s Sandman are some of my faves.

Image

Image is probably what I read the most. Definitely has the most diverse pool of comics to choose from.

Saga - My favorite comic series of all-time. I’ve gotten so many people to read this and they love it. It’s weird - really weird, actually - but the storytelling is phenomenal. And it’s on hiatus right now, so plenty of time to get caught up.

Ice Cream Man - This series is so fucking weird, but I love it. It’s sorta like… Tales from the Crypt? Different stories (mostly horror) that all feature this demon ice cream man.

The Weatherman - This series is such a goddamn delight. I don’t want to ruin the plot but just… yeah. Read the first issue and it just goes crazy from there.

Man-Eaters - Sort of a niche story. Basically, this takes place in a society where when women get their cycle, they turn into giant cats and maul men, so they’ve given them pills to keep them from menstruating. Sounds weird? Wait until you read it. Probably a highlight series of the year for me. 

Black Science - You might not like the art in this one, but maybe give it a shot? These scientists are trying to solve the problem of limited resources on Earth by hopping across dimensions for new ones (infinite dimensions, infinite resources). Only problem is, their machine got damaged so now they hop uncontrollably to whatever dimension it chooses for however long it decides. It’s a wild ride.

Middlewest - An interesting take on parent/child relationships and how the consequences of abuse, anger, and depression can manifest in dangerous ways. Sounds more bleak than it is - the story actually has quite a bit of humor.

Excellence - Very new series, but with a PoC lead, about PoCs, with mostly PoC creators. A story about a secret society of Black magicians and a son whose next in line to take on the mantle, and it’s pretty fucking cool. Issue 2 comes out this week - check it out!

The Walking Dead - I don’t think I have to explain this one, do I? Zombies.

Lazarus and Lazarus: Risen - Sci-fi story set in a dystopian society where the world is ruled by like 15 or so families, and they each have a Lazarus to fight for them. This is told from the perspective of the Carlyle family’s Lazarus, Forever. 

Die - If Dungeons & Dragons and Jumanji had a baby, it would be this book. Sounds weird, but once you read it, you’ll find the description to be accurate.

Anything from Brian K. Vaughn - I have yet to read something from Brian K. Vaughn that I don’t like. Saga, Paper Girls, Y: The Last Man, Runaways, Barrier… his shit’s always good.

Independents / Not Marvel, DC, or Image

Some of these are nostalgia-based, so fair warning.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer (BOOM Studios) - very new series that’s out. Great art. If you were a fan of the show, I think you’ll like it. It’s a re-imagining of sorts. There’s also an Angel series that just started.

Nancy Drew (Dynamite) - Listen… I could not stand Nancy Drew as a kid. Never got into it and thought it was boring as hell. But I really loved this miniseries (another Kelly Thompson run). It’s maybe 5 issues?

Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers and Go Go Power Rangers (BOOM Studios) - Honest to God, if you had told me 3 years ago one of my fave comics would be a Power Rangers one, I would have laughed in your face. Both of these series are really good and provide the continuity, nuance, and characterization the show lacked. Fan of the show or not, I’d say it’s worth checking out if you enjoy the teenage superhero genre. Also, just some really amazing art and world-building.

Anything from Jinxworld - This is Bendis’ own publishing company. He’s put out Cover, Pearl, Scarlet, and United States vs. Murder, Inc. All of them are really good.

Umbrella Academy (Dark Horse) - This is the series the Netflix show is based off of. Right now, they’re doing Hotel Oblivion in the comics, but start with Apocalypse Suite and Dallas.

So, there you go anon. There are FAR more I would recommend, but I tried to give a good range of books for you to choose from without (hopefully) overwhelming you. And if you have any questions, I’m more than happy to talk about any of them.

#binky answers anons #binky talks comics