#also. ive been doing like. a ridiculous amount of art in the past few days--all traditional stuff
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@jthmaau s squee........ yeah..........
#jthm#jthm squee#squee#my art#doodles#traditional#ya.....#god ive been obsessed w their art lately. i only found it like a day ago but i keep going back and just. looking at their work#its rlly. relaxing. idk the word for it but its nice#also. ive been doing like. a ridiculous amount of art in the past few days--all traditional stuff#theres some jthm stuff and invader xim and otherwise its all my own stuff#not sure if ppl would be interested in seeing them...? its been fun tho#im trying different things out
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2020 top 5
Rules: it’s time to love yourselves! choose your 5 (ish) favorite works you created in the past year (fics, art, edits, etc.) and link them below to reflect on the amazing things you brought into the world in 2020. tag as many writers/artists/etc. as you want (fan or original) so we can spread the love and link each other to awesome works!
i was tagged by @tinyarmedtrex !! thank you sm!!
okay so these are all about mike wheeler lmao which tbh is very indicative of the kinda year 2020 was, really just clinging to my favorite comfort character and all of my aus for him for dear life lmao. like i really tried to switch it up but tbh all my best writing is about mike which tracks lol
1. Milk and Honey - wheelzier
I am so proud of myself for how far I’ve gotten in this so far, like ive got an outline and everything?? who am i?? im really proud of my writing and my planning and how much writing i got done in whats a short amount of time for me lol. i wrote this when i had no job and no classes and was feeling v untethered, but @mikewheelerr is an angel and hyped this fic up so much and gave me to motivation to start it and keep with it, so thank you!! i wrote the first 8 chapters at the picnic table in my backyard every day for the last four weeks of my summer vacation, and it was honestly such a special experience. i love these characters and this ship and this story sm and im so excited to keep it going in 2021!! extra thank you to joy bc fr you are so amazing and this fic exists bc of you so thank you thank you thank you <333
2-4 are a trio of mike wheeler high school au pining fics that i banged out consecutively every other day at the end of july?? not sure what i was going through then, think folklore had just come out based on the titles, but whatever the inspiration was im proud of the end results lol so in order of publishing:
2. I Knew You’d Haunt All of My What-Ifs - madwheeler
this is a concept i’d been wanting to write for a while and it is in fact inspired by a real life encounter between me and my boyfriend a few months before we started dating lol so this one’s near and dear to my heart. also im proud of the characterizations here for both of them. and im proud of the setting/atmosphere. also i love mike acting all fussy but not hesitating before helping someone he cares about. madwheeler is a great ship for bittersweet pining lol it works so well for them and i really like the way it turned out here
3. nerd charming - mileven
horrendous title lmao but that’s probably just bc i was so excited to post it bc its so!! cute!! if i do say so myself lol. there is nothing that makes me happier than mileven fluff and this is just them being nerds in english class and having crushes on each other, its pure fluff but i love imagining el in an au and picturing what traits she would still have and what would be different. also both of them being awkward and sweet and nervous around each other, ugh just cute little crushes on each other ): they’re the sweetest ):
4. A Million Little Times - wheelclair
i!! love!! wheelclair!! god they know each other so well, we love that best friends to lovers with the angst and the inevitable fluff. i think this was my first time writing for them but im honestly so happy with the way it turned out, i think i captured their dynamic well while putting a romantic twist on it that feels natural. also im once again v happy with my characterizations. ugh i just love writing about mike working through his feelings and being a dramatic asshole lol. also p proud of the dialogue? i feel like staying true to characters’ voices is one of the hardest things about fanfic and i like to think i did a pretty okay job of it with this fic
5. If These Walls Could Talk - wheelzier
if i could choose a brand to have it would be friends to lovers smut with confessions and fluff that also gets a little kinky lmao. fr i love this fic sm, it’s like a speedrun of my two favorite tropes combined (friends w benefits and fake relationship) since they fake fuck as ~buds~ but then the tension breaks and tbh i love it lol like i said these are my two favorite characters to write, i love them, and i loved writing the banter. I love the fluffy ending with a touch of humor. i love the intimacy and the tension. i love how ridiculous the premise is lmao im so proud of this setup. also theres at least one joke about mike listening to mcr in there which will never not be funny to me lol
as usual i was super late on this lol so im p sure everyone i can think of has already done this, but if you haven’t please do and please tag me!! <3
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I am laughingpineapple on AO3
It’s a long list of character combos so the specific requests aren’t overly detailed, please draw at will from my general likes and general fandom likes in addition or as an alternative to any of those!
All requests are art or fic - for art, the stuff I like is the kind that depicts the characters doing something. I’ll always be happier with a very simple drawing of two characters walking together or sharing a cup of coffee than with an ambitious composition that looks like an Avengers poster. I also enjoy seeing them wear different clothes, getting a feel of what their fashion sense is like beyond their canon outfit(s).
Likes: worldbuilding, slice of life (especially if the event the fic focuses on is made up but canon-specific), missing moments, 5+1 and similar formats, bonding and emotional support/intimacy, physical intimacy, lingering touches, loyalty, casefic, surrealism, magical realism, established relationships, future fic, hurt/comfort or just comfort from the ample canon hurt, throwing characters into non-canon environments, banter, functional relationships between dysfunctional individuals, unexplained mysteries, bittersweet moods, journal/epistolary fic, dreams and memories and identities, canon-adjacent tropey plots, outsider POV, UST, resolved UST, exploration of secondary bits of canon, leaning on the uniqueness of the canon setting/mood, found families, characters reuniting after a long and/or harrowing time, friends-to-lovers, road trips, maps, mutual pining, cuddling, wintry moods, the feeling of flannel and other fabrics, ridiculous concepts played straight, sensory details, sickfic, places being haunted, people being haunted, the mystery of the woods, small hopes in bleak worlds, electricity, places that don’t quite add up, mismatched memories, caves and deep places, distant city lights at night, emphasis on non-human traits of non-human characters (gen-wise, but also a hearty yes xeno for applicable ships)
Cool with: any tense, any pov, any rating, plotty, not plotty, IF, nerdy canon references, unrequested characters popping up
DNW: non-canonical rape, non-canonical children, focus on children, unrequested ships (background established canon couples are okay, mentions of parents are okay), canon retellings, consent issues
Dark Souls
I’m only familiar with the first game+DLC! It’s probably relevant to mention that I think that linking the fire is kind of a dumbass move and Gwyn is an ass, but on the other hand Kaathe has his own agenda and there’s no winning move in this world, or at least no obvious one. Feel free to deviate from anyone’s canon endings, to make things happen that’ll stave off their hollowing. I am interested in any of these people meeting and possibly striking up a friendship, and also in exploring Lordran’s temporal/dimensional fuckery, where it’s possible to meet people who have been gone for ages…
Group: Solaire of Astora & Siegmeyer of Catarina: so much fanart of Sun Bro & Onion Bro being bros, so little fic. And yet, the potential! How’d they bounce off each other, what about the fact that Siegmeyer is apparently a proper Catarina knight after all while Solaire just painted his self-made insignia and left, what would Sieg think of Solaire’s quest?
Group: Alvina the Cat & Sieglinde of Catarina: dunno, kitty. I love them both and I want everyone cool to go on adventure with each other. What’s left for Alvina now that Sif is gone, Artorias’ grave desecrated? For her part, did Sieglinde, you know, (mimics Ash Lake)?
Ghost Trick
I am very interested in various characters finding about the erased timeline, but not getting their memories back, and having to live with being told about what they did but never remembering it. Exploring the ghost lore is great. All what-ifs welcome (what if they managed an acceptable happy ending but didn’t reset the timeline, what if a different party went back to the past and kept their memories, what if Alma’s ghost stuck around…) Also open to AUs here, especially for generic fantasy or sci-fi settings or the Final Fantasy ones I prompted last Yuletide.
For the non-canon sides of Jowd/Alma/Cabanela, please no infidelity? I’d be good with either setting the fic during the game timeline or some what-if thereof when the other spouse is dead or unavailable, or simply keeping them offscreen and not mentioning them (eg Alma/Cabanela beach day, Jowd/Cabanela precinct shenanigans)
For Jowd in general, I do love my big boy and enjoy milking that size difference for all it’s worth. In gen contexts too, it’s neat. him big.
Group: Jowd & Yomiel: I’d love to read about the intimate understanding that comes from their shared memories and the horrors they’ve mutually forgiven (and a penchant for morbidity they’ve gained from such horrors probably). Cat dads things welcome.
Group: Alma/Jowd/Cabanela: maybe once Alma and Jowd have figured out he’s smitten and that they do in fact reciprocate... they tease him to death, slowly and deliberately? Is it even a Jowd romance if there’s not an exhausting amount of teasing involved, I ask?
Group: Alma/Jowd & Cabanela: Cabs’ life is wild; his best friends’ home is a safe haven...
Group: Emma & Pigeon Man: Emma’s unsuspected beta reader...
Group: Alma/Cabanela: (taps mic) legs. And fashion!
Group: Cabanela/Jowd: a recent tumblr post made a convincing argument for Cabs liking to be in charge (the argument is just pointing at Cabanela, honestly). Jowd is... agreeable, by his own admission. But is it that simple?
Kentucky Route Zero
I love the ending and I’d love to see its themes and setting explored. I’m all for exploration of any of the game’s themes and for including any staples from adjacent genres - wanna go full-on American Gothic? Dip into surrealism? Take a leaf from Twin Peaks with tulpa / split narratives to explore the characters’ issues? I love AUs so that’s an option too. Or of course there’s Xanadu at the height of its glory, an infinite what-ifs generator. Were the requested characters part of it, what were their digital counterparts up to? A Xanadu narrative would be great! I’d also love to hear about any new spot along the Zero or the Echo river, or an expansion of some place that’s only mentioned by Will in HATATE or only gets a few paragraphs of text. Mostly, I just love all these characters so much and I’m going through the tagset’s options like a hyperactive cat. Any fragment of their lives will make me happy.
Group: Shannon Márquez & Conway & Conway's Dog: does Shannon get to see them after the ending? Even for a moment?
Group: Lula Chamberlain/Joseph Wheattree/Donald: so Lula went back to Mexico. Joseph is pensive. Did the events of the night shake up Donald, or what will it take?
Group: Junebug & Lula Chamberlain: artists! Outspoken... artists... with a complicated personality. Put them in the same room and...?
Group: Junebug & Johnny: where’s the strangest place they played in, and what did Johnny find there?
Group: Conway & Johnny & Junebug (Kentucky Route Zero): their story is about finding individuality, his is about succumbing and losing it. Would any of them pick up on this mid-Act IV? Or just... talking about limbs and stuff?
Group: Cate & Will & Shannon Márquez (Kentucky Route Zero): a few months later, Shannon finds herself on the Mucky Mammoth again...
Group: Carrington & Weaver Márquez & Shannon Márquez (Kentucky Route Zero): maybe the cousins were trying to bond or reminisce or whatever and Carrington dive-bombed into the conversation, but in the end it was an enriching experience... of sorts?
Group: Carrington & Lula Chamberlain (Kentucky Route Zero): I don’t usually look for college shenanigans but this may be the exception? Or Art Opinions?
Group: Carrington & Clara (Kentucky Route Zero): would she even... get a word in? Maybe with the right topic?
Group: Carrington & Cate & Will (Kentucky Route Zero): Mammoth life! ...what does theater have to say about mushrooms again?
Group: Shannon Marquez & Weaver Marquez (Kentucky Route Zero): at the end of it all, Weaver was waiting. After this end, they can stand side by side again...
Group: Emily & Ben & Bob (Kentucky Route Zero): so what does it mean, like, poetically, that they were temporally displaced and Act I is in their future from Act V? Is it possible they were not aware of it?
Mutazione
The island, the sense of community, newcomers joining the community, gardens and music... I love the mood of this little game. Got ideas for some part of the island we haven’t seen? What stories do they tell each other about Moon Dragon and the first days of the new life it brought? The plants encyclopaedia was great - do Yoké’s archives hide some other cool tome? Please, if Graubert is mentioned, I would much prefer a sympathetic portrayal - he’s got his issues but I felt that the game was much harder on him than anyone else.
Group: Yoké & Karoo: I love the friendship between Yoké and Nonno and filtering it through Karoo feels even cooler to me. When did the big spooky bird first visit, did Yoké know or perceive what was going on?
Group: Yoké & Claire: book club book club book club!
Group: Spike/Claire: they’re so cute! Dinner at Mori’s? Swimming together?
Group: Nonno & Spike: I love Nonno’s role in the community and Spike’s role in the community, and they’re the two people who landed there and decided to stay. Could they bond over this?
Group: Dennis & Nonno: Important Tree Health Business!
Group: Bopek & Jell-A: Jell-A is the absolute coolest and Bopek grew on me a lot. Their friendship is adorable! What could they do together? As a side note, Jell-A’s place has the tightest interior decor in the whole game. How’d that happen, and does Bopek get a flair for vintage shapes and volumes in his weaving?
Group: Mori & Nonno & Yoké: FRIENDS. Friends for a long time, through so much pain. An evening together while The Youths (tm) are at Spike’s bar?
Yoké: catch-all Yoké request because he’s my fave! Doing Yoké things, being a big nerd, caring for books and plants and stuff
Pyre
The burning found family feelings, the revolutionary passion, the tension between topside social constraints and the kind of freedom allowed by the Downside! Thoughts about finding oneself at the end of an age, as everything crumbles down to form something new. I love all the themes, the solemnity, the heart of this game. I adore everyone in that Blackwagon+Dalbert+Celeste, so if you want to add a Nightwing or two to any prompt, please do! I also love all the Scribes and find Erisa a compelling tragic figure. Out of the other triumvirates, I’m “love to hate them” for Manley, Brighton, Udmildhe and Deluge and would not like to see them featured in sympathetic roles. My main interest usually lies in post-canon exploration when applicable, but I’m also into various adventures during canon. Pick a location or a place outside the map and see what happens? As for the ending variables, I’d ask for a peaceful revolution and Oralech alive, but no preferences for who’s up and who’s down, pick whatever works best for any given plot bunny.
Group: Tariq & Soliam: what were Tariq and Celeste like in their earliest days? Were they made or summoned from some sort of preexisting star consciousness? They’re wildly different scenarios! I’m good with either. Does Soliam then see Tariq as a child of sorts, someone he made, or something greater than himself? Did he mean to do that, to have these two immortals around? What does Tariq learn from the First Scribe?
Group: Tariq & Dalbert Oldheart: Any excuse for Tariq to hang out with the Fates for a little while, and treasure and be treasured by dear Dalbert...
Group: Oralech & Vagabond Girl: after all is said and done, Oralech’s view of the Scribes is probably... understandably... dire. So of course I want to see him talk it out with ae!
Group: Celeste & Ignarius: look, listen, if the various triumvirates just camped out near their respective Scribe’s place during the Nightwings’ years-long absence (not the only possible explanation for how you find them all neatly lined up before the first lib rite, but an explanation nonetheless, I think. just let me have my crack), that means Iggy was Celeste’s neighbor for a long time. Neighborly hijinks please?
Group: Bertrude/Pamitha: Pam returning from her travels, again and again, and finding a home in Bertrude’s lab, finding an understanding there... Bertrude’s attitude being thorny in a way that’s just what Pam needs to allow herself to open up... also: snake kisses.
Group: Volfred Sandalwood/Oralech: waking up and remembering that the mourning that’s set deep in your roots is for someone who never died, waking up and remembering that the bitterness that consumed you had made up a betrayal that never was, finding each other through these crumbling walls...
Molten Milithe: that’s the pov for a love letter to the Downside, right? And/or which Scribe did she bond with the most? Or the least for that matter?
Volfred Sandalwood: catch-all Volf’n’anyone request. I want to see our tree interact with any friend and foe you might fancy! Arguing for his beliefs, being a history professor through and through, finding himself in a tight spot and getting unexpected help, verbally tearing Brighton a new one if they ever cross each other’s path again...
group: Volfred Sandalwood/Tariq | The Lone Minstrel: Volfred’s zodiac sign is Cancer and Cancer is ruled by the Moon, so there’s that. I love how they both hold the other in the highest esteem, especially on Tariq’s part since he’s the immortal Herald of the Scribes and Volfred is, all in all, a history teacher, but listen to him and you’d think the roles were inverted. I love my nonviolent canon but could anything happen to either of them that may require a rescue, and/or some good old-fashioned h/c? What’s something that could make Tariq of all people lose it? How’s life 100 years on?
Shenmue
This game cares for the little things. I’d love to see fanworks that try to out-slice-of-life canon...
Group: Qiu Hsu & Xianzi Bei: cormorant kung fu adventure! Do they hang out sometimes?
Group: Hazuki Ryo & Shenhua Ling: any moment, discussion, small adventure from their travels together! I love their bond! For all its waifufication of Shenhua, S3 really sold me on their friendship and a shared brand of dorkiness. Alternatively, sometimes I remember that they’d be 50ish in the present day - how and where do you picture them?
The Silver Case
I‘m all for the surrealism, big things being introduced and never picked up again, Rashomon’ing it up with six explanations for the same thing where no single one can be true, people dying and then popping up again like nbd... maybe the thing I like the most is characters transcending their humanity and looming over the dystopian world like ominous avatars. Correctness’ first ending had me swooning, that kind of mood is unparalleled. I have played TSC, FSR and 25W so far and have vague memories of K7. I’m aware of the “everything’s connected” readings but that’s not my main interest in these games. For FSR-focused requests, I see Lospass as a real island but also a metaphysical place of transformation first and foremost, where strange things happen that don’t make sense elsewhere.
Group: Toriko Kusabi & Remy Fawzil: What’s Toriko up to when she’s not chasing Chris? I think it could be fun to throw her at Remy and see the island from their point of view!
Group: Tokio Morishima & Edo Macalister: since Tokio stayed at the Flower Sun and Rain... I’m interested in peculiar happenings on Lospass that are not centered on Sumio...
Group: Tetsugorou Kusabi/Sumio Kodai: Tetsu picked one hell of a crush, huh! What’s it like in the aftermath of the games, when Sumio is Like That? How does Tetsu grapple with Parade? Is Tetsu an anchor of sorts for Correctness Sumio, who seems (at best) to be existing on a slightly different plane of existence at any given time and could disappear if you blink too hard?
Group: Tetsugorou Kusabi & Shinko Kuroyanagi: I’m joining the “let these two be foulmouthed friends” masses - who’d be more fed up with the other’s nonsense, and in which ways would they be an unstoppable team?
Group: Shinkai Tsuki & Tetsugorou Kusabi: Both of them end their stories in the shadows one way or another, and defending their protégé may have had a hand in their misfortune one way or another. What kind of understanding could they reach? What IS Tsuki up to anyway?
Group: Christina & Catherine: anthro Catherine, as per the Placebo bonus chapter Yami, was unexpectedly charming. What was Chris before reaching Lospass, and did he also have a chat with her on the plane or on the island?
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OUTCAST. so...damn. i started this blog september of last year, and even though i took a really long break, im back here a year later and honestly? this has been an amazing journey. i did bias lists for every 100 followers for a while but this...is the first one ive done since my return and so i want to do it a bit differently. this time, im just going to say a few words about the people closest to me on here. thank you all so...so much for all you’ve given me here.
even if you arent on here, every single one of you guys means so much to me. that sounds cheesy and fake but im serious - this is just the people i talk to on a regular basis.
ive been through a lot these past few months, and the people on this list are really what have made life worth living of late.
( art cred )
❤ thank you so much. ❤
@westsurvived - MICHAEL. / god. id be lying to myself to put you as anything other than the first person on here and ive been trying to decide what i would say right here for the past several hours. i just...i can never put it into words because describing how i feel about you without just saying “i love you” is like trying to describe the taste of water, so let me try to express it another way. you were exactly what i needed, when i needed it; something really nice back in the midst of everything i left behind here. youre one of the biggest sweethearts ive met, and youve been nothing short of incredible. im so happy i came back even though i dont rp as much and even happier i came to know you better, because ive never been so genuinely in love with someone before. i hope you realize how special you are. you know ive been hurt a lot and youre still here anyway, watching all these dumb musicals and shows and playing games with me all the time. i fall more in love with you every single day, and honestly speaking, i dont deserve you at all, but im so happy youre here anyway, and i love you so, so much. ❤
@aoiiryuu - RURI. / oh my god, ruri. youve been here for me through thick and thin, and thick, and thick, and thick. youve become one of my best friends, and biggest pillars of support, and i can only hope to be the same to you. thank you so much, for not only listening to me when im down, but also for spending time with me when im not. playing games, watching things, and just generally talking to you are honestly some of my favorite things to do, and i hope you realize just how important you are to me. ❤
@riobeats - BIBI. / ohhh my gosh the amount of love in my heart for you is actually ridiculous, okay? bibi, youre so important to me and im so happy youve stuck with me all this time. youre so passionate about everything and i love to see it, honestly. thank you so so much ❤
@motherswrath / @westdrache - BANSHEE. / i dont exactly have a lot of warcraft friends, seeing as most of my connections are through playing overwatch, so having someone i can yell at about various warcraft things is super, super nice. youve been here since...damn near the beginning, and thats hella cool, too. im so happy to know you, banshee! ❤
@huitohil - ISRAEL. / ill slam dunk you into the dumpster next time i see you if you ever offer to buy me anything again ok. youre such a sweetheart and i appreciate your sentiments so much. youre kind to the point that you forget to take care of yourself but honestly youre really relatable and i absolutely adore you, okay? knock em dead ❤
@liightheld - BAMBI. / gosh even though i dont talk to you daily, youre still super chill and im so happy to know you! thank you so much both for talking to me and creating the group chat - youve introduced me to a lot of really good friends and i wouldnt give any of them, or you, up for the world. i would love to get to know you better! keep shining, bambi, you’re a star ❤
@beijide - ANDY. / youve helped me do one of the hardest things ive ever had to do, and im so happy to have met you. thank you so much for being here for me, even if we dont talk every day, okay? i hope this year is a beautiful one for you ❤
@infrasnipe - NAOMI. / naoooomiiiiii!!! you are a wonderful person, okay? your widow is on point and youre one of my favorite people to see on my dash and to play with in game. youre a smart cookie and youve got some crazy skill, too. thank you so much for everything ❤
@failedflight / @ohcaptaiin - ROBIN. / so my conversations with you are mostly down to whats said in the group chat but nonetheless im so happy to know you. thank you so much for talking to me and playing with me and whatnot, because it really does mean a lot! ❤
@wundertater - MORO. / what a sweetheart!! im so glad to have gotten to know you, honestly. your doggo pictures are so important to me, and i love seeing you on my dash or just talking to you, okay? thank you so much and i hope our friendship lasts a lot longer, too ❤
@foxkept / @hishonor - CHANDA. / gosh! im so glad 2017 seems to be ending on such a positive note for both of us! im so happy things are going so well for you and honestly youre an absolute darling. thank you so much for talking to me, i love holding conversations with you ❤
all of you meant so much to me. thank you so much for existing and talking to me ❤ ❤
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The Story of Mel’s Hole
My dudes, I’ve been away for awhile but that’s not to say I haven’t been doing any research on urban legends while I’m gone. So I’ve recently found a new obsession with the story of Mel’s Hole and let me tell you, this story is absolutely insane. I want to start by saying that it is almost certainly a hoax but it is a very, very entertaining one despite that. This thing really goes off the rails fast and once it goes off the rails in barrels down into a bottomless pit of bullshit from which it will never return. So let’s dive into Mel’s Hole shall we?
So the story starts off with a fax to Coast to Coast AM in 1997, basically this guy calling himself Mel Waters claims to be in the possession of a bottomless pit that has been on his property in Ellensberg, Washington since he bought it in 1993. So Art Bell is obviously into this and he gets Mel on the phone and the two start talking. The story starts grounded enough, Mel basically says that he’s had this hole on his property ever since he bought it and that the last owner knew about the hole as long as they owned the property too. So from here we can understand that this hole has been around for at least a couple generations but it’s totally been a lot more. He also gives some information on the appearance of the hole, saying that it is around 9 feet in diameter and that it has a three foot stone barrier around it, so imagine a rather large well in the middle of the woods.
So anyway, Mel starts to describe some of the properties of this hole. Basically he says that when he yells into the hole there is no echo, animals won’t go near it, and that he’s been lowering fishing line into the hole for an indeterminate amount of time that has gradually amounted to 80,000 feet of fishing line and counting. Now for those of you who can’t tell, 80,000 feet equates to about 15 miles of fishing line. So Mel here has a hole that goes down at least 15 miles but we still don’t have any clear indication of where the bottom is.
Mel goes on to describe that his neighbors have used this hole for garbage disposal for as long as he can remember. And these people are dumping everything under the sun down there. I’m serious, people drop garbage bags, tires, old refrigerators, even dead cattle. In fact, the people of Ellensberg, Washington didn’t become aware of the bottomless nature of this hole until they realized that after years of dumping their shit down there it never seemed to fill up.
So it’s around here that the story gets a little wacky. Mel tells this story about how he met up with a hunter who had an experience with the hole. The two meet up in a diner and the hunter tells Mel that when his dog died he buried the dog by dumping it into the hole. Now, questionable ethics aside, something really weird happens a few hours later. While this hunter is walking through the woods he sees a dog that looks identical to his old one, down to the same collar and tag. Unfortunately the hunter claimed that it appeared that the dog was hunting with someone else, which is...strange. But anyway, we now have a bottomless hole that brings dead animals back to life in some guys backyard which is pretty extraordinary if you ask me. This was especially extraordinary to Mel, so extraordinary that Mel went so far to write in his will that when he died he wanted to be dumped into the hole. Alright dude, whatever you want.
Other than that not much else happens in the first call, at this point Art Bell was allowing responses from the audience who gave everything from suggestions on how the measure the depth of the hole to volunteers to be lowered into the hole. Beyond that that was the end of the first call, Mel would call a total of five times. That’s right, that was only chapter one of this journey of ours.
So when Mel calls again a few days later he claims that the government has confiscated his access to the hole. From there the second call mostly consists of Art Bell and Mel Waters ranting on property rights and how the government can’t tell you where you can and can’t walk on your own property. But that doesn’t mean there isn’t some juicy stuff in this part of the story, for one we learn that Mel grows some dank weed.
Basically, when Mel tells the government agents (who are wearing yellow suits for some reason, thought I should bring that up) that they can’t restrict his access to his land, they tell him that they could pin a drug lab on him. And you know what, Mel doesn’t even deny this! No seriously, Mel straight up admits to having a drug lab where he researches “Native American plants not native to the Washington area.” And he doesn’t give any indication as to what those plants are but he assures us that what he’s doing is not illegal and that he’s simply “experimenting with natural herbs that can cure the flu and the common cold.” Like, yeah, sure dude, I don’t wanna kill your buzz but you sound ridiculous right now.
So weed aside, Mel gives us a little more information on the hole. For one, he claims to have met people who have seen the hole shoot a black beam of light into the air. And I’m just gonna tell you now that we never learn anything more about the black beam of light. Like, we just know that the hole does this from time to time, Mel’s never seen it but that’s OK. So we have a bottomless pit that brings dead animals back to life and releases negative light sometimes but never when Mel is in the room, OK.
Other than this the second call is just kind of boring. Mel talks about how the government agents are giving him an “offer he can’t refuse” and whatnot but there’s really not much else here. Onto the next call!
So for me this is really where the story loses itself. When Mel calls again it has been like two years, it’s now the year 2000 and Mel claims to have been living in Australia operating a wombat rescue operation. How has he managed to fund his move to Australia and a complex wombat rescue operation? Why, with the $250,000 monthly stipend he receives from the U.S. government for leaving the country and never talking about the hole again of course. No seriously, Mel at this point is living large in like Perth or something. So why is Mel calling Coast to Coast? Well he went back to America. Why did Mel go back to America when he wasn’t supposed to? He got homesick.
Was curing homesickness worth giving up $250,000 a month, Mel? Was it!?
Apparently not because when Mel gets back to America he gets wrapped up in a conflict between a police officer and a civilian that ends in the police officer asking Mel to come down to the station to fill out a police report as an eye witness. The next thing Mel knows he’s waking up in an ally in San Francisco twelve days later with IV holes in his arms, all his back teeth missing, and bruises all over his body. He also finds that the government has frozen all his assets in this time so it’s obvious that the feds captured him for returning to the U.S. So Mel is flat broke, stuck in San Fran, and the only thing he can do is tell his story to the world on Coast to Coast AM.
Most of the third call is Mel recounting what I just said and how he’s going to stay with a relative for the time being. But he goes on to say that he’s still researching the hole and that he has a few contacts he can talk to. This is where we learn that the hole has some other strange properties, that being that weird, parallel universe stuff occasionally appears around it. Specifically, Mel finds an old Nazi pistol that fires silently and an envelope of 1943 Roosevelt dimes. Now what does he do with these things? Well apparently he gave the gun to a friend who was a collector, I mean, whatever, dude. And as for the dimes, Mel claims to have used them for jewelry and sold them, not knowing that a dime from 1943 with FDR on it is a bit of a weird thing.
Now what reminded Mel of these weird aspects of the hole is the fact that he claims to have found someone who had one of his pieces of jewelry. He asks to look at the jewelry and finds that the dime was a little off, basically pointing out that the dime is from 1943 and has a mint mark of “B.” He goes on to recount some other experiences he had with the hole, most notably that a radio he had near the hole started to play broadcasts from the past.
OK, so this is a part of the story I’m a little shaky about, the Nazi pistol came up in this discussion and I’m not sure if the pistol is what made the broadcasts happen or if it was the hole but either way it’s still weird.
Other than this there isn’t much else to this call. Mel vows to call again with information on the hole and that he’ll be back someday. And of course Mel does return, two years later in Northern Nevada.
So Mel calls Coast to Coast again in 2002 and it’s in this call where the really good stuff happens. So after the third call Mel does more research into the hole and mostly comes up empty handed. But after awhile he gets contacted by some Native Americans (Native Americans show up a lot in this story for some reason) who want to learn more about the plants he’s cultivating. He gets in contact with the Native Americans and he tells them his tale of the hole and the Native Americans immediately know where they should go for more information.
So they go to Northern Nevada and meet with a group of Basque shepherds who claim to be in possession of another hole. So Mel spends a good chunk of time befriended these Basque shepherds until finally they agree to take him to the hole. And this hole looks pretty much exactly the same as the one in Washington except it has this strange metal “collar” as Mel puts it, all around the hole. And this metal collar is weird, man. Mel explains that the collar makes no sound if you hit it and that it radiates warmth, citing that the Basque shepherds camp next to the collar in the winter.
So Mel and the Basques conduct a series of experiments with the hole to find out its depth and properties. They have a winch and a cable that reaches down 1,500 feet and they use this to do some strange things. For one, they lower a bucket of ice down into the hole and when they pull it up they find that not only is the ice no longer cold but it can also be lit on fire. This fire ice produces heat indefinitely and one of the Basques takes the fire ice and uses it to heat their cabin.
Next they decide to use a live specimen, so they take a sheep and they try to take it to the hole. Now this sheep is freaking out, it does not want to be anywhere near this hole, so they have to knock it out. When the sheep wakes up it starts making these horrifying noises before it gets lowered down into the hole. Now this is where the story just loses everything, it hasn’t just gone off the rails, the story is now miles away from the track perpendicular to the rails.
The first thing they notice is that the hole seems to be absorbing the sound of the sheep’s screams. There is no sound coming out of the hole. When they eventually feel like it’s time to pull up the sheep they find that there is no sound or movement coming from the box they lowered it in. They take the sheep out and find that it’s dead, so they perform an autopsy.
The first thing they notice is that this sheep is cooked from the inside out, now that alone is weird enough and it’s pretty creepy too but Mel goes further. Inside the sheep they find a massive tumor where its organs used to be. This tumor is pulsing and slimy and everyone is freaking out, it’s terrible. So they decide to cut open the tumor and what do they find? A fetal seal, no seriously, a fetal seal with flippers and a snout, it even has an umbilical cord. And this thing is moving, slowly but surely it moves towards the edge of the table until Mel picks it up and lowers it to the floor. Mel then notices that the seal has human eyes and the two have a moment. I’m talking a spiritual experience between Mel Waters and the alien tumor seal. Mel then adds last minute into the story that before this he was diagnosed with terminal cancer and that after meeting the seal his doctor found that the cancer was gone.
THE. ALIEN. TUMOR. SEAL. CURED. HIS. CANCER. GUYS.
So after this long moment, the seal nods to Mel with a look of infinite compassion and leaps back into the hole. WhAt?!
This is about where the fourth call ends. The fifth call is mostly just dealing with the aftermath of what happened in the fourth call and it’s still pretty great. For one, the fire ice can now destroy houses.
So the fifth call starts with Mel telling Art Bell that after months of burning in a furnace the fire ice crashes through the floor of the Basque shepherd’s cabin furnace and all. It’s here that we learn a bit about the properties of the fire ice. So this shepherd had noticed that when he was in his house his skin would feel dry and everything just felt really dry. Finally when the fire ice crashes into the floor it’s almost like it makes everything get drier faster, but the shepherd still sleeps in the house though, it’s whatever. So what we can assume is that the fire ice absorbs moisture and as it absorbs moisture it gains weight and it absorbs more moisture exponentially with more weight.
So one day the shepherd comes back home to find that his entire home has been reduced to wood dust and that the furnace that he was burning the ice in has now sunk further into the earth. So the Basques call up Mel and Mel calls a contact he has in the government or something and the government confiscates the ice. And I guess the government is used to dealing with problems with bottomless hole byproducts or something because they don’t take any more action beyond taking the ice away.
So after this Mel talks about the seal again. Apparently the seal has started to return to the surface and this time it can talk, sorta. Well, I kinda think it’s a little better than talking because the alien tumor seal doesn’t just talk, it communicates telepathically through the shepherd’s boom box. That’s right, this alien tumor seal communicates through a boom box! And I’m assuming it speaks Basque which would be insane.
And you know what happens? One of the Basques tries to record the conversation but unfortunately everything the seal says just comes out as static. But apparently the seal says some interesting stuff about how the ice could destroy the Earth and how there are people from other dimensions who want to live on Earth once a nuclear apocalypse has taken place. Yeah.
And there’s some other stuff I didn’t talk about, namely I skipped over this guy who calls himself Red Elk who calls Coast to Coast from time to time who claims to not only have visited the hole but be aware of the complex doings of the parallel universe beings that come from the hole. I’d listen to that stuff but honestly it seems a bit too out there and I don’t want to entertain the stereotypes of Native American spirituality from a guy calling himself Red Elk. Maybe one day, guys, but I’ve had a lot for one week.
But I think it’s safe to say that this story is fake. Like, it starts off well enough, with a strong basis for a story with the bottomless pit. But once the alien tumor seal comes into play it gets a bit weird. So a lot of you are probably asking why I even decided to talk about this if it’s such an obvious hoax. Well for one I just kinda thought it was a fun story but it’s also got a major following of people who are searching for the hole. Yeah, there’s apparently a good number of people looking for the hole and the history of how this story came to be is pretty weird in of itself.
For one, people who have searched for the hole can’t find any evidence of a person named Mel Waters ever living in the town of Ellensberg, Washington. Now that government cover up story is a pretty good one because it’s possible the government just destroyed all documentation of Mel ever being alive. But I think it’s safer to say that Mel Waters was a fake name. Mel does give an email in some of the calls though so if you’re interested in investigating I guess you have a lead there, I’ll post the recordings of all the calls at the end of this post. But the fact that Mel found every possible excuse not to reveal his bottomless pit to the world tells me that what he was saying was a lot of hot air. It also would be far from the first time Coast to Coast got prank called, it’s just interesting that this guy called five times over the course of about seven years. But his story left enough of a mark to become somewhat of a modern urban legend which is interesting in its own right.
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addiction: a life update
so im gonna post an update on my life. not that yall want it or will even read it but i really need this rn soo. also theres a lot im not gonna iclude bc i wanna talk about addiction. theres a lot to be said about gow i used sex as a coping mechanism, my relapses with self harm, and my journey w medications and mental illness. ill save that for another time. also huge trigger warning for addiction, rape, and suicide.
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i started drinking back around 2013 when i was 15. from there, i became a high functioning alcoholic for the next three years. i would always start my day drinking, always took tumblers w alcohol to school. no one really noticed until around my senior year when it really started to become more of a problem due to having been in a really sexually abusive relationship. i did it to cope with everything. i was scared about the future since i never thought i was going to make it past 17 and my 18th birthday was slowly approaching. i was scared about college and growing up and what i wanted to do with my life. i remember being really drunk when receiving my awards and scholarships at a school district function. i remember i found it funny that a fuck up like me was representing my high school and seen as a really successful student while i was masking my drunken state.
by the time i went to college i was blowing through cash for alcohol, i stole from bars, i stole from frat guys. i lied a lot. i did a lot of stupid shit.
during this though, my following on twitter was growing steadily. my drunken thoughts and actions became peoples entertainment and was sensationalized by those around me. people would recognize me as sandia goth in public, people wanted to party w me, people wanted to hang w me, people loved that version of me.
in 2017 i started abusing pills after being raped at a party. i was really drunk when it happened and i dont really remember it. that night is one of those regrets i have to carry with me for the rest of my life. at first i would abuse sleeping meds. later on i started to abuse the fuck outta my antipsychotics. eventually i was prescribed ativan, a benzodiazepine, and that was the beginning of my downward spiral. i was constantly downing pills with a bottle of vodka every night. i was always really careless. i had it in my head that maybe taking all those pills and drinking would eventually end up killing me and that one night i just wouldnt make it home. i dont remember a lot from that period in my life. i remember vague things like stading out on my dorms balcony while all the color around me was extremely saturated and everything was shiny. i remember waking up after a really bad bender in my own vomit. i remember how disappointed my sister was. i remember staring at the bathroom floor.
i hit rock bottom that december, i had tried to commit suicide multiple times in my life but this time i felt like it was a lot more real and a lot more final. it didnt happen though. i dont remember christmas and in my drunken state i lost the christmas present my sister was so excited about giving me. looking back at pictures you could tell that i wasnt there at all and that my family was taking notice.
in january 2018 i checked myself into an inpatient hospital to get sober. i was terrified. i showed up to the hospital intoxicated. they ask you a lot of questions when you come in and i remember talking about everything and just laughing about it. the assessor was really creeped out. they made me sleep it off in a waiting room before they let me into the unit.
it helped a lot and i met a lot of people i wont ever forget. it was kind of weird being the youngest there and group was rough. i remember staying in my room and not being able to go eat because my heartrate was at 52 and i felt actually dead. the withdrawal process was really difficult and staying off was even harder. the first thing i did when i was discharged was drink a whole lot, get high, and had my friends drive me across half of the valley going 90 on the freeway while blasting lcd soundsystem with the windows down at 3 am.
after that i decided that it was time to really stop. my parents had cleared out the liquor cabinet and moved me to a room downstairs with no lock where they could keep an eye on me. they found my stash and threw it out. i also started smoking a lot of fuckin cigarettes. i was sober for about 5 months.
i started drinking again but just socially. a healthy amount. i was good except for a few hiccups here and there until march 2019 when i was raped, again, at another party. i was sober this time which really fucked me up. i remember everything and still have nightmares about it. i started abusing medications again and smoking a lot of weed. i was high for about three weeks before i became suicidal and called the cops on myself so i could be hospitalized. i would end up being hospitalized for two weeks. when i got out i started snorting ambien (which is fuckin wack and i dont recommend). that landed me back in the hospital two weeks later. i would be hospitalized two more times before being stable enough to not have someone taking care of me 24/7.
and we come to now. last week i relapsed. i got really sick though bc the wine i drank was spolied. it really scared me though because i thought my braincells were dying because of all the pills i had snorted (i literally thought this) but it was just the wine. it kind of scared me back to my senses though that that path is not the fuckin way to go.
ive recently gotten back to the things i love: music and art. i reopened my tumblr acct, found my sketchbooks from high school and dug up my old music. doing all of this, including doing a lot of research on my old icon gerard way, watching life on the murder scene and crying because ive been there, and seeing frank iero live, has (as ridiculous as it may sound to most that someone you look up to can be a saving force) made me consider getting clean for 2020. for real this time.
sometimes i miss her. the sadia goth everyine loved and looked up to. i lost a lot of friends when i got sober and even more followers. thats not important in the grand scheme of things, it was an empty sense of validation for me. whats truly important is that im not her anymore. im me. addiction prone, mentally ill, over medicated, lonely, sad, artistic, gives no shits, emo trash, goth icon, uses way too many gerard way references, astrology loving, empathetic to a fault, me.
i know that this is something im going to struggle with for the rest of my life, but i really want to go forward knowing that im trying my hardest and giving it my best shot. this is possibly my hardest feat, my biggest challenge in life, but im trynna make it and ill sure as fuck never let it take me alive.
xoxo,
-sandia goth
(alondra)
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Wednesday Roundup 15/6/2017
So this is a day late but in my defense I had a ridiculous amount of comics to get through with no one to blame but myself here. And you know what? I genuinely enjoyed almost everything. But does that mean every comic was good this week? And even so what did I think was the best?
Honestly I don’t know how to write these intros for people who wouldn’t be here to read my opinion anyway so let’s just jump into it.
Marvel’s All-New Wolverine, Marvel’s Amazing Spider-Man: Renew Your Vows, DC’s Detective Comics, DC’s Gotham Academy: Second Semester, DC’s Justice League of America, Image’s Motor Crush, DC’s Superwoman, IDW’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, DC’s Titans, IDW’s Transformers: Salvation, DC’s Wonder Woman
Marvel’s All-New Wolverine (2015-present) #21
Tom Taylor, Leonard Kirk, Cory Hamscher, Terry Pallot, Michael Garland
Okay I need this issue to reread a million times over because there are just so many things I love all at once. Like, oh my gosh. I was almost in tears multiple times because relationships! Healing! Supporting each other!
Wade and Gabby alone could just about make this issue perfect, but then you have Laura and Daken hugging and worried about each other, and Old Man Logan being likable for the first time in any of my readings of him. There’s so much I enjoy, though I find the cover rather deceiving. This is much more of a Howlett family reunion than anything else, though I did enjoy Riri’s parts in it.
I just eriously adore these characters and it meant a lot to see them all come together like they have here and that cliffhanger HURT so much more for it.
I will nitpick the art a bit because we’ve been doing so good about keeping Laura in the Wolverine costume which is much preferred to her X-23 wardrobes, for sure, but this issue it pretty much looked exactly like one of her old costumes without the midriffs and it was kinda weird. I know she took off a lot of her armor for skin contact but it’s... idk. It was weird.
The main thing I’m happy about though is that as we go on, I realize that literally all of the Marvel books I’ve kept are going out of their way to not involve themselves in Secret Wars and it’s kind of beautiful. Laura and Gabby are stuck on an island that’s quarantined (and I can pretend Wade’s there with them instead of whatever’s going on since I dropped Deadpool for the summer crossovers, thanks Tom Taylor!), Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur are literally off world, and the rest are non-616. So yay me!
Marvel’s Amazing Spider-Man: Renew Your Vows (2016-present) #8
Gerry Conway, Ryan Stegman, Jesus Aburtov
For those who don’t know, Mary Jane Watson is genuinely one of my favorite Marvel characters and is easily one of the reasons I ever stuck with the Spider-Man comics for as long as I did was because of my interest in her and wanting to see her and Peter.
I can also thank her for my genuine attraction to redheads probably.
But one of the main reasons that I’ve loved this book so much is because, as written by Gerry Conway, this is the Peter and MJ of my dreams. I love them so much, and the complications that comes from their relationship and from growing older, raising a daughter, and MJ’s desire to continuously be the glue to keep both Peter and Annie together logically causes her to seek out a way to continue being Spinerette without syphoning off Peter’s powers.
It’s almost like growing old, having a stable relationship, trying to keep things fresh while raising a kid, are all dramatic and worthy of good storytelling in their own right or something HMM.
Anyway, yes it’s completely on the nose where this is going and it’s a little curious how MJ’s not immediately aware of the connection between what’s going on with her right now and the horrible, arguably traumatizing experience she and Peter had, but who knows what’s canon anymore lol
Basically, I sideye a bit from a story point of view, but this series continues to make up for it with the real thing that matters to me: these characters and their development.
DC’s Detective Comics (2016-present) #958
James Tynion IV, Aluaro Martinez, Raul Fernandez, Brad Anderson
Honestly I really love the slower issues where Tynion takes more time to make moments for the relationships between the characters and give us interractions we didn’t know we wanted -- Kate going with Luke and Jean Paul to a basketball game, Cass and Clayface being adorable by reciting a play, Bruce at a poker game with a bunch of assholes in homage to Almost Got ‘im!? It was a lot of fun honestly.
...
Okay I take issue with Cass’ dialogue. I know she was repeating lines from a tape and such but it’s weird to see her make so much progress when just two issues ago she was almost monosyllabic. Like... I want to see Cass gradually learning, I want to feel her frustration with hitting walls, I want to see her struggle and achieve despite the struggle because that gradual progression was honestly something we weren’t delivered in the former canon. We have a great opportunity for it here.
But y’know. I’m particular with Cass and it’s hard to say where her baseline for reading and speech even is in this canon because her dyslexia may be in tact but her circumstances growing up are completely different. So I don’t know.
Now. I’m a sucker for Bruce and Zatanna team-ups because I’m a schmuck but I’m really excited for next issue. Had a lot of fun with this one. This feels like a decent pace for Tynion -- at least in my opinion.
DC’s Gotham Academy: Second Semester (2016-2017) #10
Brenden Fletcher, Becky Cloonan, Karl Kerschl, Adam Archer, Massyk, Sandra Hope
This comic is speeding toward an end and I’m not sure if I’m ready!
From the beginning, for me at least, the selling point for Gotham Academy has been just how much these kids felt like real teenagers and real friends with all their various relationships and connections, platonic or romantic or something in between. And it’s powerful to see that coming to play as an advantage to completing Olive’s arc, but also as a disadvantage since the consequences of many of her actions hurt that much more.
I’ll save a lot of my thoughts for a complete wrap up of the series but overall, very happy and very grateful for the continuously good read that is GA
DC’s Justice League of America (2016-present) Volume 1: Road to Rebirth
Steve Orlando, Jody Houser, Ivan Reis, Andy MacDonald, Stephen Byrne, Jamal Campbell, Mirk Andolfo
WE GOTTA GET THE BAND BACK TOGETHER. WE’RE ON A MISSION FROM GAD.
In all seriousness, I’m a huge fan of Vixen and Ryan Choi as well as a big fan of Justice League International, as it was in its 80s glory. So my interests with this particular lineup were piqued from the beginning and I made myself wait for the first volume to dive in.
For the most part, this is a team gathering exercise. Characters that have lacked the spotlight in the last few years -- Vixen, Ray, Killer Frost, and the Atom -- were given whole issues to reintroduce them to this continuity. And honestly those issues were great. I really, really love the updated origins for them and feel that they’re a good blend of honoring the past of the characters as well as adapting them for a new world.
Lobo, Batman, and Black Canary took back seat, but considering that there were already tensions showing within the group, I think it’s safe to assume that giving the spotlight to the rest of the team won’t always last this long. Things are nothing if not explosive among these members.
I really did mean it when I said this is a team gathering exercise, because there’s no first case to unite everyone. There’s not any real antagonists or team-ups we see to speakof. It was just getting hte jLA together.
And for me it’s enough to get me intrigued, though I’d completely understand if people told me it was far from enough for them.
Now they just need to add Big Barda, Booster Gold, and Ted Kord and I’ll be satisfied.
Image’s Motor Crush (2016-present) Vol. 1
Brenden Fletcher, Cameron Stewart, Babs Tarr
I was not the biggest fan of this team’s Batgirl team though I appreciated the aesthetics and what not. There just never seemed to be a storyline that really interested me and I couldn’t be sold on the characterization for Barbara. So I kept hearing about Motor Crush for the last year and was really itnerested in it so I wanted until this volume came out and.
Well, quite simply, I’m in love.
Tell you what, those biker gangs that kept coming up really confusingly out of place in Batgirl make a hell of a lot more sense now that I can see this team’s actual passion project.
So I love Motor Crush a lot, I’m really invested in Domino, the mystery that is her origins and the powers of Crush itself. I love her relationship with her ex, Lola, I love her father -- I love just about everything and the cliffhanger really surprised me.
I will say that while I love having a world that speaks for itself rather than constant narration, it’s a little hard to follow this world entirely, I’d like a bit more explained than what has been, but at the end of the day I’m very excited to see more.
DC’s Superwoman (2016-present) #11
K. Perkins, José Luís, Ray McCarthy, HI-FI
You know, I have made it clear that I’ve been worried about this title for a while now, really just hoping it was going to find its direction and wow us with the great potential that is the Super Family outside of the main Kent triad. And I feel like that’s for good reason -- the end of Jimenez’s run let a lot of people feeling justifiably scorned, there was a mishandling of a lot of heavy and important subjects that were raised, and at least the initial stuff with Perkins taking over kind of left one wondering if they had a fully formed direction to go toward next.
But I am really glad that I stuck it out for this long because the family of John, Lana, Nat, and everyone else is so important and so fundamentally different from the dynamics found elsewhere in the new familial renaissance of the DCU that I needed it. And I hope it continues to emphasize these relationships and how important they are to each other.
I’m still unhappy with how anxiety and mental illness is being handled in the title and find it lacking since it was brought up to begin with and now being ignored. That subject alone is making me rethink my disinterest in Green Lantern books as a whole because I have loved and felt inspired so far by what I’ve seen of Jessica Cruz and their handling of anxiety, and it’s why I picked up Silk at the high recommendations of a close friend.
So I’d like for mental illness to be treated better in this title -- the least it can do after bringing it up and treating it the way it did at the end of Jimenez’s run, but there’s so much value in the non-nuclear family dynamic of the Irons household and of the uniqueness of Lana’s powers and her approach to fighting crime that it’s worth it. For me anyway.
IDW’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2011-present) #70
Kevin Eastman, Tom Waltz, Mateus Santolouco, Ronda Pattison
I knew the end of this storyline was going to be, at the very least, explosive but wow, WOW I had no idea how many twists and turns it was going to take in that time. That was a phenomenal ending to the Mutanimals storyline for the time being, and I just feel so bad for Slash, down to my core. I’m so worried about him, and whenever he will be allowed to recover.
At least I hope he’ll recover.
This series is seventy issues strong and i’m just so blown away by the way they still manage to keep me on the edge of my feet while so many different storylines and character developments are happening at the same time.
I mean, I even feel for Old Hobb here!
I do suppose a complaint I could hold here is that the titular turtles themselves have ultimately not been very front and center throughout this storyline, and that really showed in the conclusion, where for the most part they were lost to the colorfulness of the huge, colorful supporting cast that has been developed over the years.
For me, personally, I think that’s honestly okay. We can’t have the same story over and over again with only the main four characters driving the narrative, and it’s been a long standing tradition in TMNT for a good 30 years now to sort of embody the concept that our main guys don’t really look for situations to get involved with but sort of fall into them naturally.
Not to mention it’s probably a strength that 70 issues in, we haven’t once repeated plots or stories or put any of the characters on a loop of development to end up right back where they started. I don’t think the achievement of that can be understated, especially as we near that landmark #75!
DC’s Titans (2016-present) #12
Dan Abnett, Kenneth Rocafort, Dan Brown
Bleh. BLEH. I was holding out judgment on the twist of Wally and Donna and Roy ending up in some kind of love triangle because I wanted the context but honestly the context is kinda... bleh. It would be awesome if we lived in some world and time where Donna’s origins were not constantly retconned and thus the source of her characterization in every run of every thing she showed up in. Which is by no means a new problem but still.
And my opinion is... Wally and Donna are both going through a hard time and Wally is having to accept that his life is fundamentally different from the previous world he knew, that he can’t just badger people into returning things to the way they were -- especially Linda, who he loves but it’s a very one-sided relationship as a result of the parallel universe paradox and stuff. It makes sense to me that in a ploy to gain some sense of control over that, he and Donna both would try to take fate in an unexpected direction, into their own hands.
But making it a love triangle with Roy just kinda keeps my eyes firmly rolled into the back of my skull.
I overall like Lilith, Dick, Garth, and Karen��s development and characterization in this issue. I think they’re taking Lilith in interesting directions and I’m really curious about what her omen means for the future, since apparently there’s a traitor among them. And they set up plenty of reasons for various members to be that traitor in this issue but I can’t help but assume already that it’s going to end up being a twist. Good twist or not remains to be seen.
IDW’s Transformers: Salvation (2017)
John Barber, Livid Ramondelli
I’m going to be completely “original” here and say that I’m not a fan of Ramondelli’s at for the various Transformers comics. i know! I know. Shocking, never said before, completely going against the general fandom consensus. I’m such a brave soul. I know.
Okay, joking aside though... I didn’t think the art was bad in this one-shot. Actually! I’d argue a lot of it was even good. He may not be my favorite artist and I’ll think that his colo gradients are butt ugly most of the time, but there was better handled action sequences than usual, the characters looked like they had weight, and we even got a range of expressiveness in the characters that is... well, frankly, not usual for Ramondelli.
So other than that shocking revelation, I thought Barber performed good once more on tying the TF universe together again, answering some prior plot points and nicely knotting off loose ends. Trypticon being a Titan is not the biggest revelation in the world, but the development of Sandstorm and the Dinobots was great, and I loved just how devious Starscream truly is under Barber’s pen even though I’ve fully been enjoying the characterization for him in Till All Are One.
But the most important thing of all: SPARKLINGS. SPARKLINGS. All I’ve wanted for years is baby transformers so I am HAPPY BEYOND BELIEF. THEY’RE NO LONGER A DYING SPECIES AND THESE PRECIOUS BABIES COULD BE BORN WITHOUT EVER KNOWING THE CIVIL WAR AHHHHHHHH
DC’s Wonder Woman (2016-present) #24
Greg Rucka, Bilquis Evely, Romulo Fajardo Jr.
WOW! I mean, just wow! What a resolution to everything. I have so many emotions for Diana, for Barbara Ann, for even Veronica Cale of all people. Etta and Steve were great, the art was amazing.
It’s just such a relief and such... honestly just an amazing feat that Greg Rucka is beginning to wrap up this just phenomenal run of Wonder Woman
I really enjoyed how everything turned out and it was so remarkable to see Diana’s resolution to save Veronica but also to not turn her back on her friends and loved ones as well as the torment it is for Barbara to not be able to get into Themyscira after all her life’s work.
And I liked Diana’s assessment of Veronica at the end, it was true and also blunt to the point of cruelty. But fitting also.
It’s amazing what a turn around I’ve personally felt when it comes to Veronica’s character because in all honesty I was not a fan of her most of the time in the preboot, but Rucka really has fleshed her out and done something unique with her perspective now. There is tragedy but there’s also less deniability for her fault in all of it.
I’m sad to be coming toward Rucka’s end on the run, but I’m also so happy to see the love and passion he’s put into everything culminating to what it is now.
This is a genuinely hard choice but I think if I go by what tugged on my heartstrings the most, what gave me the most joy overall and just feelings unrelenting from start to finish, I would have to say that my pick of the week is All-New Wolverine. I adore this series and I couldn’t be happier with this issue and how they’re keeping my precious Marvel girls faaaaaar away from Secret Empire. A close second would be Wonder Woman but really I would happily recommend my entire pull this week. It was a geat week for comics.
But that’s just my opinion! I’d love to know your thoughts. Agree? Disagree? Think I missed something I should’ve picked up this week? I’d love to hear from you!
#Rena Roundups#SPOILERS#Wednesday Spoilers#All New Wolverine (2015 )#Amazing Spiderman: Renew Your Vows (2016 )#Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2011 )#Detective Comics (2016 )#Gotham Academy: Second Semester#Justice League of America (2016 )#Superwoman (2016 )#Titans (2016 )#Wonder Woman (2016 )#Motor Crush#Transformers: Salvation
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half awake and almost there - 4
4- Coffee house AU of doom continues. Harry Potter AU. Hinny. Fluff and stupidity.
Parts: i. ii. iii.
or read it at AO3.
iv.
“Harry, thank god,” was how Ginny greeted him the next time he worked up the nerve to visit the shop again. Or to be more honest, worked up the nerve to deal with Sirius’s increasingly smug looks.
“Machine broken again?” he asked.
“What?” asked the frazzled-looking Ginny. “Oh, no. A completely different kind of disaster.” She pointed towards one of the back tables.
A scowling redheaded man about the same age as Harry sat there, half draped over a newspaper.
“Is he bothering you?” Harry asked. He was sure she could deal with almost anything on her own, especially now that he knew about her past career, but was still more than happy to help.
After all, he was a regular, right? That seemed to be the sort of thing a regular might do.
“Since the moment I was born,” she sighed.
He frowned. “What?”
“He’s my brother, and he’s driving me batty!” she said, nearly shouting at the end.
Her brother looked up from his newspaper. “It’s not my fault your life is so bloody boring! All you do is work and go to class. I didn’t fly all this way to sit and watch you do a shite job at being a barista.”
“No,” Ginny said, red in the face now, hands on her hips. “You came all this bloody way to spy on me for Mum!”
“Well, I can tell her that your life here sucks, that’s for certain,” he shot back.
Ginny’s hands fisted as she took a step towards him, and Harry was a little scared she might resort to physical violence. “I don’t think punching brothers, no matter how annoying, is a good way to keep a job either.”
“Oh, and how many jobs have you had to keep, Harry?” she snapped.
He flinched.
“Oh, god,” she said, dragging a hand over her face. “I’m sorry. I’m such an arsehole. Ron has just been getting on my last nerve.”
Harry shook his head.
She touched his arm. “Really, Harry. I’m sorry.”
“It’s fine,” he said.
She held his gaze for a long time as if trying to make sure he meant it. As if she actually cared.
He looked back over at the brother to find him watching them with narrowed eyes.
“What did you need?” Harry asked.
Her hand dropped from his arm. “Well now I can’t very well ask you for anything.”
“Ginny,” he said, rolling his eyes.
“I just want to…send him somewhere. Somewhere that is not here. I don’t know the city all that well yet… Maybe you have some suggestions?”
“Uh, sure,” Harry said. He wasn’t exactly a local himself, but he’d been here enough years to make a stab at it.
“Bugger,” she said as a small crowd pushed into the shop. “I’ll be right back.”
Harry cautiously crossed over to Ginny’s brother. “Ron, is it?” he asks. “I’m Harry.”
Ron pushed to his feet, proving to have a few good inches on Harry. They shook hands.
“Bored, huh?” Harry asked, extricating his hand from the slightly over tight pressure of Ron’s grip.
“Out of my bloody mind,” Ron moaned, leaning his head back in exaggerated distress.
Something told Harry that Ron probably wasn’t much of an art museum, seeing-the-sights kind of person. Tapping his fingers on the back of a chair, he tried to come up with something. Well, he supposed there was always the great American pastime.
Pulling up information on his phone, Harry asked, “How do you feel about baseball?”
Ron shrugged. “More of a football bloke, myself, but if it gets me the hell out of here…” He slid Ginny a wary glance, and Harry could see that he was actually a little afraid of her.
“We’re in luck,” Harry said, thankful it was Saturday. “There’s a game today.”
“When?” Ron asked, looking hopeful.
“Now,” Harry said. “And there are still tickets.”
“Good enough for me,” Ron said, getting to his feet. “How do I get there?”
“I’ll take you,” Harry found himself offering. “Haven’t been to a game in ages.”
Ginny chose that moment to reappear. “You’re going?” she asked Ron, looking very happy at the prospect.
“Apparently we’re going to a baseball game,” Ron said, pulling on his coat.
“What?” Ginny said. She turned to look at Harry, eyes wide. “I didn’t mean you had to take him somewhere yourself! You must have more important things to do.”
He shrugged. “It’s not a big deal.”
She looked back at him as if she were completely mystified. “How are you real?” she asked.
He wasn’t at all sure how to take that.
As they moved to leave, she grabbed Ron’s arm, giving him a look that seemed very capable of killing. “Be nice to Harry. He’s the only friend I’ve made in this bloody country, so if you run him off, I’ll be pissed.”
Harry lifted an eyebrow at his elevation from regular to friend, but in no way wanted to argue against it.
She glanced at him, looking a little embarrassed, but no less resolute. “Permission to abandon him to his fate if he bothers you too much.”
“Ugh,” Ron said. “Have I mentioned today that you are by far my least favorite sister?”
“I’m your only sister, you prat,” she said.
They surprised Harry by giving each other a hug, and he wondered if insults were just a way of life between them.
“Now get out of here,” Ginny said, shoving Ron towards the door as if the hug had never happened.
She touched Harry’s arm again as he passed, and he was growing to like that far too much for comfort. “Really, Harry. Thank you.”
He smiled at her. “No problem.”
* * *
Luckily the Nationals were playing a home game today. They only missed the first three innings, which meant there was plenty of play left to keep Ron distracted.
It made Sirius twitchy when he got normal seats instead of one of the boxes, but there was far less chance of anyone noticing him in the stands. Besides, he didn’t want Ginny’s brother to think he was a… What was the word Ginny was so fond of using? A ponce.
Ron sat down and looked around. “So what exactly does one do at a baseball game?”
“Besides watching? Mostly eating and drinking.”
This seemed to pique Ron’s interest. “Brilliant. Well within my skill set.”
Harry waved over the closest vendor.
Ron raised an eyebrow at the prices, but gamely ordered a wide variety of the foods being offered.
“This is disgusting,” he announced happily around a mouthful of chili cheese dog.
They sat in silence, which seemed fine for a while, but seemed to drag on. Not that Ron seemed disturbed by it, but Harry’s knee starting bouncing up and down.
“So, are you in school?” he asked out of desperation after another five minutes of silence, only to wince. God, when had he become one of those people he hated?
Ron just shrugged. “Nah. Finished a while back. Not that I ever did anything with it, mind you. But one of my brothers has a business. I’ve been helping him out a lot lately.”
More brothers? “How many of you are there?”
“All together? Seven.” Ron seemed to fumble for a moment.
“Seven?” Harry echoed. As an only child that sounded…like a huge amount.
“Uh, yeah,” he said, something about the question clearly making him uncomfortable. “Plus Mum and Dad. Hasn’t Ginny told you all of this?”
“Oh,” Harry said, shifting in his seat. “No. We’re not… We barely know each other. I just…came in for coffee one day.”
“Ah,” Ron said, as if this somehow finally all made sense. “She adopted you.”
“What?”
He shrugged. “She does that. Not like, tuck you in bed and feed you up adopted.” He snorted as if the image itself was ridiculous. “The thing about Ginny is that she generally has no patience for people. But if for some reason she’s decides you’re worth it, she just kind of latches on. It can be bloody impossible to get rid of her. Of course, it also means she’ll burn the world down for you if she has to, so it has its benefits.”
Harry blinked. “I don’t think…”
Ron held out his bag of kettle corn. “You won’t have met her roommate Luna.”
Harry shook his head, taking a handful.
“When you do, you’ll get it.”
Harry wasn’t sure what to do with this assumption that he would somehow be part of Ginny’s life enough to meet her roommate. Then again, he was here watching a game with her brother, so this was already all surreal enough.
Around them the crowd rumbled with disapproval.
Ron glanced about. “What happened?”
Harry nodded down towards the field. “Runner called out on second.”
Ron squinted up at the jumbo screen, watching the replay
“What?” he roared. “Are you blind or something?”
Harry looked at him with wide eyes.
Ron winced. “Sorry. Is that not the way baseball works?”
“No,” Harry said. “That’s pretty much exactly right.”
Ron grinned. “Oh, good.”
The next at bat, Ron chucked a handful of popcorn over the ledge. “Come on, you bloody tossers!” he bellowed.
Harry laughed, shouting along with him on the next play, and helping himself to a chili cheese dog.
It was probably the must fun he’d had in years.
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ROUND II OF THE MINI REFUSE (HAHA THIS JOKE STILL ISN’T FUNNY)
PART I: BLACK MIRROR//SAN JUNIPERO
While I was a fan of all of the Black Mirror episodes that we covered in class, this one really stood out to me. Not because it was scary, or sad, but because it was shockingly happy and sweet. The first episode of Black Mirror that I ever saw was Shut Up and Dance, and if I’m being honest it was scary. I watched it late at night at a sleepover, and it was essentially the equivalent of watching a horror or thriller movie for me. That’s the atmosphere of most of Black Mirror’s episodes. But San Junipero has an overwhelmingly positive energy, especially compared to the others. I’m sure most of us have thought about what life would be like if we grew up in a different decade, and the technology in this reality makes that possible- sort of. I really loved this take on immortality, because it really does seem like something that could be possible in the future. I also think that this episode posed an interesting question to its audience: if you had the opportunity to live forever, would you take it? They make it look so appealing! You can live in whatever decade you want, potentially with your loved ones, in a place where you don’t have to worry about anything. When I was younger, and this is gonna get morbid for a second, I always thought that I wanted to die young. But life is unpredictable! I might meet a person that I want to be with forever tomorrow. Or maybe I already know that person. Or maybe we won’t even have a choice of whether or not we want to live forever in the future! The point is, nobody knows what tomorrow holds and that’s part of what makes this episode so cool.
Another thing that I wanted to talk about is the 80s aesthetic throughout the episode. Throwing it back to the 80s has become increasingly popular in modern media, with Stranger Things, The Goldbergs, Freaks and Geeks, The Americans, the list goes on, and I love it. I’m one of those annoying teenagers who constantly says “man, I just belong in a different generation”, and the 80s, while not my top pick, have always been very attractive to me. Performing in The Wedding Singer this year also opened up my eyes to how fun 80s style really is. It was really refreshing to have a Black Mirror episode take place primarily in the 80s, especially when they are usually set in the not-so-distant future. Additionally, I loved the LGBTQ representation in this episode. I also thought that Yorkie’s story was one that a lot of people would be able to relate to, especially in older generations. Many don’t act on their sexuality for their whole lives out of fear of being publicly shamed, and Yorkie’s story is a perfect example that it’s never too late to pursue what you love. Good job Black Mirror, you made me cry instead of jump, at least for one episode.
(get ready for lots of gifs, after that gif comment in class)
PART II: THE KILLING JOKE
It’s no secret that I am not Batman’s biggest fan, but I really did enjoy this comic. Prior to this unit I was 100% team John Green on this debate. Batman doesn’t even have any powers what’s so great about him anyway?!?!
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I still keep some of my opinions from BB (before Batman), for example, I still think that Batman would be nothing without his villains, especially the Joker, but I now think that I understand why people love him so much. No one person is purely good or purely evil, and that’s what Batman is all about, in my eyes anyway. I also like the way that Batman is depicted in this comic, especially compared to The Dark Knight Returns. Batman in this version is much more focused on actually helping people as opposed to “fighting his inner darkness”. The Killing Joke Batman is a Batman that I can get behind. He still has his dramatic voice overs, but they aren’t so ridiculously over the top and cheesy. I also really like the art work of The Killing Joke, and the panels are way easier to follow. AND THOSE MOVIE LIKE TRANSITIONS! For someone not too familiar with comics, the cinematic approach made reading The Killing Joke much more enjoyable for me.
I mentioned that I still believe that The Joker is the real star of Batman, and I think that this particular comic strengthens that argument. The reader gets a sense of how evil he really is, but also the extent of his sanity. He’s chosen insanity to avoid dealing with his trauma, and the reader is more sympathetic to the Joker because of this. “Ignorance is bliss”, and the Joker is really just this common saying to an extreme. He would rather not feel anything at all than feel the pain that he was subjected to in his life, and I think that everyone can understand that, regardless of whether or not they agree with his choice. I particularly love the quote “I’ve demonstrated there’s no difference between me and everyone else! All it takes is one bad day to reduce the sanest man alive to lunacy. That’s how far the world is from where I am. Just one bad day”.
PART III: THE SHINING
I did see this movie before we watched it in class, and I watched it again after, but I really valued the discussion that came from our group screening. I wanted to watch The Shining because of its “classic” status, and it also helps that it’s ranked #60 on IMDb’s top rated films. In fact on IMDb, the tagline that’s posted is “a masterpiece of modern horror”. As soon as the word masterpiece is tied to something, there’s a 99% chance I’m going to want to check it out, yes I’m a pretentious snob like that.
I think part of the reason that I love this movie is that I’m not one who’s immediately turned off by a complicated and ambiguous story line, in fact it intrigues me. The Shining was like this year’s Psycho for me. It checked off all of the things that I would want from a movie: a unique score, dedication to character, innovative shots, and a plot that makes you think. Having a recognizable score is an amazing feat in filmmaking, and I think that The Shining accomplished that. Sure, you probably wouldn’t be able to hum a few bars like you could Jaws, or Star Wars, but you know it when you hear it, and knowing it when I heard it landed me a quick chat on twitter with one of my favourite social media personalities. It’s pretty crazy to me that Jonah Green was mentioned in my very first blog post over 2 years ago, and I’m still an active supporter of him to this day. Jonah has stopped posting regular videos, but over the past few weeks he has been doing nightly livestreams where he’s been talking about some more thought provoking topics that people in the comments suggest. During one of these streams he walked through a room where someone was watching a movie, and I caught just a couple seconds of what sounded like The Shining. A couple of hours after the stream he tweeted that he would be chatting with people for a little bit while watching some horror movies, and what happened next is as follows:
(probably what my face looked like after that exchange // side note: how is Jack Nicholson’s face so simultaneously hilarious & horrifying??)
In summary I’d like to thank Kubrick, Mr. Edwards, and the Academy for this award. In all seriousness, this was cool, but really it’s a testament to the power of film! I’ve only seen this movie 3 times but I was able to recognize it from a small audio clip! That’s how you know you’re doing something right. The classic Kubrick ambiguity of this movie only makes me want to watch it again and again. The characters are so defined and fully realized that I would definitely be extremely uncomfortable around Nicholson in real life, or want to give Duvall a hug. The amount of continuous tracking shots made me so excited (I mean, Birdman is one of my favourite movies if that tells you anything). I’m not a horror movie junkie by any means, but this is a movie I know I will continue to enjoy for years. To finish off this section let’s take a listen to that bit of the score that I’ve been going on about shall we? (skip to about 3:58)
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PART IV: GENGHIS KHAN
My favourite, everyone’s favourite. It’s finally made it’s return.
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This is probably one of my favourite music videos of all time. When my good pal Lacy sent it to me and said “we should learn the dance”, I’m gonna be honest I wasn’t expecting too much. Little did I know that opening up that link would have such an impact on my life.
If this weren’t sent to me, I can almost guarantee I would’ve never stumbled upon the masterpiece of Genghis Khan (the video, not the cruel emperor). Honestly though, all jokes aside, I think this is a great video for a few reasons.
1. That dance sequence really is spectacular, 10/10 choreography
2. It showcases a family with two dads in a normal (ish) way
3. Catchy tune
4. The song is much more meaningful alongside the video component
5. Face jewelry??
6. Visually pleasing shots with that 80s vibe again
7. Singing and dancing guards! Especially the little penguin flap move starting at 2:32
8. The best dance move ever at 2:55
9. Edwards put it on our grade eleven exam, which made me feel so much better after having an emotional break down from being late
10. The song never got too popular, so I don’t hate it for being overplayed
As a gift to the world, I cut a particular clip which is my favourite part of the whole video, so I hope you like it.
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PART V: EDWARDS
Here we go. What a crazy journey we’ve been on together, am I right ladies? I totally copied Brynne with this one, but there’s no other way I’d rather finish off this post. Edwards, we’ve been sharin’ laughs together since ‘13, how crazy is that? Back when I was obsessed with Grey’s Anatomy and the bottoms of your jeans weren’t ripped to shreds. Man those were the days. One thing that I won’t forget from grade nine is getting an essay back after you marked it and seeing scribbles all over the front page. My first thought was “wow, that bad?” but it turned out it was just the art of your son who wanted to help you mark. To tell the truth, I think you probably added a couple chicken scratches for your own satisfaction, but that’s beside the point.
Sadly, I’ve only got two other chicken scrath- I mean yearbook signatures from you (what was grade nine &ten me thinking??) but they’re pure gold.
I don’t think I’ll ever live down this Grey’s Anatomy thing, but don’t worry, I’m not cringing as hard as Kepner is about it. Also, you’re eating your words now huh? You WISH I didn’t take your grade 12 class, you gotta be careful what you put out into the universe!
I’m only kidding, I know I’m your favourite student, and yes, I know that you can’t reply to this post to deny it. I really just wanted to give you the shoutout that you deserve for putting up with me for 5 WHOLE YEARS. Think of all the time you could have saved only marking normal-length blog posts instead of the novels that you get from me. Think of all of that time you could’ve spent making fun of other kids instead of just me (and Brynne obviously, you are ruthless with that one). Think of all of the laughter that you’d have accumulated within you because you weren’t exposed my quick wit and hilarious jokes. I wanted to thank you for always being there to share a laugh, a new video, or a difficult conversation. You’ve done so much for so many students and I know that I will never forget the impact you’ve had on my life as not only a teacher, but a role model. I actually remember the first day of high school, I was doing a tour of the building with my link crew leaders and as we were walking through the english hallway one of them asked, “Do any of you have Mr. Edwards this year?”. I looked down at my timetable and sure enough, there you were for second period english. They then said something like “Aw he’s an awesome teacher, you’re gonna love him”, but that was such an understatement. I know that I will be added to the bottom of the never ending list of kids who comes back to visit you, but I don’t mind. You’ll be at the top of my list of teachers who inspired me to be unapologetically myself, and that’s something I can’t thank you for enough.
Alright, we’ve made it to that part of the post where I talk about the best Viral Friday submissions and I’m very proud to say that the class actually liked my picks this year. So, since I don’t have to fight anyone, I can simply appreciate the best submissions from the whole class (my own included obviously)
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Wednesday Roundup
We have a new addition to the party this week! Ghostbusters 101 -- and I’m very excited to see where all our continuing stories lead us. So let’s look into ‘em without further ado...
DC’s Batman Beyond, DC’s Detective Comics, IDW’s Ghostbusters 101, Marvel’s Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur, DC’s Wonder Woman
DC’s Batman Beyond (2016-present) #6
Dan Jurgens, Bernard Chang, Marcelo Maiolo
Well, I will give this comic one thing: it truly understands what attracts fans like me to Batman Beyond as a franchise to begin with: everyone giving Bruce crap for his stupid, stupid ideas and the consequences he doesn’t think out all of the way in canon. And Matt and Max are easily the best parts of each issue for that reason. That and Max’s undercut. The best things.
Alright, so I was completely accurate in my assumption last issue that the fact that every batboy in the franchise got a shoutout because it’s going to turn out that Damian has now been brought into the fold of the Beyond universe. And it’s probably going to have something to do either with the AI of the new Batsuit or with the plot from the DCAU where Ra’s takes over a younger descendent’s body in order to regain his own youth -- formerly it was Talia, now it is logically Damian.
mkay.
It still makes me angry that we don’t get shoutouts to Kate, Cass, Steph, Harper -- literally any woman in the franchise while the boys get every solitary universe but whatever.
Not really whatever, but I am willing to grant that the comic is still young and there’s an opportunity that as ‘Tec works to make the extended Batfamily’s stars rise, that they will receive some due credit in the Beyond timeline as well. Batgirls: Futures End anyone? Just food for thought.
Anyway. This was an enjoyable issue, but a rather quick read compared to everything else this week. Most, if not all, of the meat was put into that last page reveal because of course it was. But here’s hoping the pace picks up next issue now that everything’s out of the way.
DC’s Detective Comics (2016-present) #957
James Tynion IV, Christopher Sebela, Carmen Carnero, Karl Story
A one-shot issue? A complete story that focuses on character development and world building with previous setup being paid off and future setup being presented? Are we sure this is the Detective Comics run I’ve criticized for its pacing and drawn out stories for the past year? Are we sure this isn’t a bizarro world issue I got a hand on somehow?
Okay, all joking aside, I have been harsh on this run in the past but I think this issue proves pretty much everything I have critiqued before because Tynion, with help from Sebela, focuses on his strengths -- character, voice, simple storytelling devices, and presenting a critical opinion of the genre while also very much showing a love for it.
This is honestly why I have been baffled by people who have said they hated Tynion’s characterization of Steph in this run. I didn’t like how he wrote her in Batman and Robin Eternal, but almost everything in this issue embodies the parts of Steph I have loved about her character over the years. Striding the line between insider and outsider, loving and protecting Gotham while questioning and being critical of the harm Batman’s crusade has don, not wanting glory but still wanting to be be better and to help. She’s confident, she’s resourceful and clever, and yet there is a loneliness and sacrifice to how she’s chosen her path. And even if she doesn’t mention it directly, because we’ve followed Steph as she got to this point we know there’s still a question about how she’s affording her equipment, where she’s living, who she’s in contact with, whether or not she’s going to school.
This issue gave me so many feelings and it really does reward me for having confidence in the creative team seeming to have a plan and direction for Steph as a character. Something, I should note, I don’t always feel the most confidence with when it comes to this run thus far.
More comics like this, Tynion. I’m begging you.
IDW’s Ghostbusters 101 (2017-present) #3
Erik Burnham, Dan Shoening, Luis Antonio Delgado
On the basis of my three-issue policy, I am happy to say that I am as excited as I can be on the direction of IDW’s Ghostbusters 101. The quality of the Ghostbusters franchise as it’s been handled by IDW for over a decade now has always been among the top tier of comics and probably one of the more under appreciated productions of the medium. I mean, I read them but how many of you read them?
Erik Burnham has become the defining crafter of what I consider “my” Ghostbusters as it comes to the original cast, and I have been very excited to see how he and Dan Shoening translated the recent 2016 cast into the multiverse and into their distinct styles of writing. And I’m more than happy to say that it translates beautifully.
The team ups we’ve all been waiting for since the very first announcements of the rebooted movie has finally come...
And by that I mean that, finally, in the third issue, after two issues of buildup, we finally have some interactions between the Original Crew, the Real Crew, the EXTREME Crew, and now the Answer the Call Crew.
... See, one of the barriers for entry into these comics is you kind of have to accept that almost all the comics are written with the Big Picture in mind. Erik Burnham has always been a slow burn of a writer, and that was very much evidenced not only with my favorite of his Ghostbusters runs -- the Ghostbusters (2013-2014) run -- but especially in the IDW crossover of Ghostbusters/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. He takes his time, and the buildup will have payoff, but it might be a bit slow to wait issue-by-issue for for some fans who want the immediate excitement of the characters interacting.
I mean, I’m a fan and I waited until I could read all three of the first issues together, if that tells you anything.
It is a joy, and worth picking up for fans. Just be aware of your tastes before judging too hard.
Marvel’s Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur (2015-present) #19
Brandon Montclare, Natacha Bustos, Tamra Bonvillain
If you care about the future of the medium and about comics attracting younger fans, or just having goo wholesome comics for all ages, I have no idea why you aren’t already reading Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur because it is just one of the prettiest, most inventive, and most genuine all-ages books that I’ve read in a long time.
Lunella and Devil have become such an iconic pair, and the beauty of this comic is how the effort and storytelling are treated with the authenticity and effort of “adult” aimed readers, including having Lunella’s point of view be prominent but obviously still marked by immaturity and lack of experience, while still very much at its heart being the story of a child in a world of superheroes, growing and learning and becoming herself even when she doesn’t necessarily know what that means.
The at is gorgeous, specifically the coloring of this issue is just jaw dropping, and getting Lunella into space and having her so attached to Devil to bring him along in a ridiculous but wonderful dinosaur-sized space suit is just amazing.
I love everything here in this comic and really hope those of you with kids in your lives or just the love of good superhero comics with unique tones and stories are picking this up already.
DC’s Wonder Woman (2016-present) #23
Greg Rucka, Liam Sharp, HI-FI
We’re coming to the end of Rucka’s amazing run and I’m just very grateful at the moment. I’m grateful to this run and I’m grateful that the Present Day stuff finally actually caught up in quality with the Past storylines because man it was super shaky for a while there. And it really took the whole picture unifying for it to really work for me and that’s probably going to mean that on re-read, at least for me, the parts I have been critical about when it comes to this run will read better.
...
Okay the racism won’t read better. Seriously, what was the point?
But Diana won with love. Veronica will still have a reason to be antagonistic with Wondy even though she saved her daughter. Diana and Hippolyta met each other again for at least momentarily. There were so many good things -- especially good conversations. Liam Sharp’s art was pretty top notch.
Just overall this was a good Beginning of the End, so to speak, and I’m really looking forward to where we go from here.
So the books this week were very different in tone and story overall, but it has to be said, with the maybe exception of Batman Beyond which still had a pretty prominent female characters feature, this week is really the week of Superheroines. And I love that. I love that we’re at a time and place in comics where women and girls are allowed to be so many varieties of characters and still heroic, still masters of their own stories, and still geared toward so many different tastes and audiences.
It really shows, at least for me, what’s going right with the industry at the moment, and I hope it progresses that way.
But it’s time for the pick of the week, and as much as I really enjoyed all the comics this week, I’m going to give this week’s pick to Detective Comics. It was a great stand alone, it was very focused and character driven, and it’s just so wonderful seeing Stephanie’s independence and more individualized view of justice getting to be front and center of a ‘Tec comic. The times where she was treated with this amount of respect as Spoiler were few and far between in the previous continuity and it’s good as a fan to see that the current creative team can love and appreciate the 2000s comics and draw from them while still adjusting and moving past their flaws.
But that’s just my opinion on today’s pull! Do you guys agree or disagree with me on any of them? Think I missed picking up something great? I’d love to hear from you! See you next week <3
#Rena Roundups#SPOILERS#Wednesday Spoilers#Batman Beyond (2016 )#Detective Comics (2016 )#Ghostbusters 101#Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur (2015 )#Wonder Woman (2016 )
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