shobogan | Recent Entries

You hate everything so purely. Oh, you poor thing; look at how much you hate yourself.

Zerxus Ilerez

Critical Role * Calamity * Credit

In my journeys, I've learned being a leader is a global effort, one that takes the wisdom of many.

Keyleth of the Air Ashari

Critical Role * Vox Machina

With new clarity, I can finally see my life as a series of compounding poor choices.

Percival de Rolo III

Critical Role * Vox Machina

It's not about winning. It's about proving a point. As I said, Nimona, I go by the rules. Not their rules. Mine.

Ballister Blackheart

Nimona * Webcomic

You can't go hurting people just because you're scared to face up to the darkness inside you.

The Doctor (Thirteen)

Doctor Who

I came because you're sick and you asked. And because sometimes, on a good day, if I try very hard, I'm not some old Time Lord who ran away. I'm the Doctor.

The Doctor (Twelfth)

Doctor Who

For too long, Limbo has held the spirits no one wants to face. The parts of us we condemn to darkness.

Madelyne Pryor

Goblin Queen * Marvel * 616

The Phoenix - like the X-Men - is not about vengeance. We stand for justice. But most of all, for hope.

Jean Grey

Phoenix * Marvel * 616

I'm Barbara freaking Gordon. Also known as Oracle. And I started fighting them ten minutes ago.

Barbara Gordon

Oracle * DC Comics * New Earth

And if a god will wreck me yet again on the wine-dark sea, I can bear that too, with a spirit tempered to endure.

Stephanie Brown

Batgirl * DC Comics * Future State

I'm Prince Kiriona Gaia the First, Her Divine Highness, First Lieutenant of the Cohort. Heir to the Emperor Divine, first of the Tower Princes. And I'm mega dead.

Kiriona Gaia I

Gideon Nav * The Locked Tomb

Don't you dare feel guilty about your talent. You survived, like witches have been doing for centuries.

Agatha Harkness

Marvel * 199999

code

Anonymous asked: Hi. I love your blog and as you seem to know a lot about Moondragon and Phyla-Vell I was wondering if you could help we with finding comics that involve them. I've only got Avengers vs Thanos for Heather and would like to know more... seeing as she seems to have been edited out of the Guardians' MCU version. Thanks.

First off, thank you anon! :3 You’re lovely, and I’m glad to help.

Heather was introduced long before modern cosmic Marvel really got going, in Iron Man 54. She had some skeevy storylines, though including one where she mind-controlled Thor into loving her. It’s unclear, though, how much of this was really her, and how much of it was due to evil cosmic possession. (Yes.)

Her redemption arc really begins in The New Defenders 125, ending in her apparent death in 152. In Solo Avengers 16, it’s revealed that her soul survived, and in 20, she and her cousin - Pamela, AKA Sundragon - adventured together in space.

Heather’s next appearance is in Infinity Watch, as the keeper of the Mind Gem. Next was Captain Marvel (1999), in which she attempted to aid Genis-Vell and fell for Rick Jones’ wife, Marlo.

This series is also Phyla’s first appearance, in issue 16. She’s Genis’ bio-engineered sister, determined to take the title of Captain Marvel because poor Genis is a hot mess. She and Heather start dating in issue 25.

Issues 1-25 are collected in four volumes:

Nothing To Lose
Coven
Crazy Like a Fox
Odyssey

Finally, we’ve got the beginning of modern cosmic, with Annhilation. Phyla and Heather don’t come into it much until the end; they play a bigger role in Annhilation: Conquest, GotG, and later events. I recommend reading everything, though, because it’s all excellent.

Here is a great reading list. o/

Unfortunately, neither of them are featuring in current comics; Phyla is dead, and Heather is…somewhere.

bluethespiai asked: I just read Batgirl: Flawed Gems and loved it, so I was wondering what else you would recommend for Barbara!Batgirl? Thanks!

I have a humongous rec list for Babs I haven’t finished yet, but the Batgirl portion thus far:

Showcase Presents: Batgirl

They picked the worst cover for some reason, but this book is packed full of great adventures, from The Million Dollar Debut of Batgirl to Batgirl’s Last Case, where she decided to focus on preventing crime instead.

Batgirl: The Greatest Stories Ever Told

This one sports a much better cover! It collects issues from Detective Comics, Batman Family, Legends of the DC Universe, and Batman Chronicles.

Batman Family

This series is set during Barbara’s time as a congresswoman, with college-aged Dick as her aide. Unfortunately, Comixology only has a few issues; if you can track more down, I encourage you to do so. It’s an incredibly fun series, and really showcases Barbara’s distinct strengths.

Batman - Batgirl

This oneshot by Kelly Puckett explores Barbara’s first encounter with the Joker. It’s tense, tragic, and ultimately triumphant.

Batman: Batgirl (Girlfrenzy)

Puckett wrote another story years later, this one focusing on Batgirl hunting down Victor Zsasz.

Birds of Prey: Batgirl/Catwoman

Batgirl and Catwoman team up to take down a murderer (and also rob him). The story is continued in Birds of Prey: Catwoman/Oracle.

Batman/Superman: World’s Finest
Barbara appears in the fifth issue to team up with Superman.

ifninomiko asked: Comixology is currently having a sale on 520 different Uncanny X-Men comics. Are there any that you can recommend that are especially good where Scott Summers in concerned?

Giant Size X-Men is the start of the All New X-Men, and Scott plays a major role in wrangling them into a team.

98 to 101 is the storyline where Jean dies, and it’s an awesome showcase for the entire team. Scott in particular, well, it gets pretty intense.

109 - After an epic battle for the heart of the universe, Scott is having trouble dealing with Jean’s transformation, along with Corsair’s odd familiarity and Alex’s absence. Kurt gives him a valuable talking-to.

114 - After another battle with Magneto, Jean and Hank are presumed dead and the rest of the X-Men are stuck in the Savage Land. Scott isn’t dealing well. This is also his first flashback to the plane crash that destroyed his life.

125 - 128 is the Proteus arc, which includes Scott’s reunion with Jean, Scott helping Logan through a panic attack with violence, and Scott desperately trying to maintain his calm while Jean is hurt.

130 - 137 is the Dark Phoenix Saga.

138 is Jean’s funeral, which is entirely from Scott’s perspective as he remembers their lives from their first meeting to her death.

144 - Scott tries to move forward with his life. Highlights include him being called Scotty, playing pool with his optic blasts, being super awkward with Lee Forrester, and fighting a fear demon.

148 - 150 Scott and Lee are washed up on a deserted island; to make matters worse, he’s lost his glasses and has to work blind. Then Magneto shows up and dresses him in this.

153 - Kitty tells a fairytale. Trust me on this.

154 - 156 - Scott finally finds out who Corsair is.

168 - Scott parts ways with Lee, goes to meet his grandparents in Alaska, and meets Madelyne Pryor.

170 - They end up falling for each other. He reveals that she looks exactly like his lost love, and the fact that he’s a mutant. They decide to keep trying.

174 - 175 - Scott and Maddie have settled into their romance, but their happiness is threatened both by Scott’s continued grief over Jean and Mastermind being a huge dick. Scott’s near-death experience is heart-wrenching, and his speech to Jean’s grave is poignant.

176 - Scott and Maddie’s honeymoon is threatened by tentacles. Highlights include Scott’s booty shorts.

blackhorseandthecherrytree asked: ok so i have sort of a question, and i'm not one hundred percent sure who to ask: but: what's the best comics to read with Donna Troy?

:D My first rec is definitely The New Teen Titans; it’s a really fun series for a long time, and it explores and develops all of the characters in interesting ways, including Donna. Issue 38 - Who Is Donna Troy? - is the first story to tackle her origin issues, and I still think it’s the best one.

There’s forty-nine issues of New Teen Titans, and then we get into The New Titans. New name, same numbering. 50 - 54 is Who Is Wonder Girl?because in the Post-Crisis continuity, Wonder Woman hadn’t left Themyscira yet when Donna was rescued. So instead she was rescued by the mythical Titans, who raised her and other doomed children on another world before sending them home with false memories.

Not as elegant or as satisfying, but it’s still a pretty good story for Donna and the Titans.

In issue 55, she becomes Troia, to honour her new legacy:

This iteration lasts for 130 issues, and the quality…degrades, but there are still good moments for all the characters. Donna’s appearances become less frequent; she gave up her powers to save her son, lost custody to Terry after their divorce, and then lost them both, along with her step daughter, in a car accident.

Next comes Wonder Woman: Donna Troy, a one shot where she mourns her family and teams up with Diana and Captain Marvel to fight Neo-Nazis.

We get our third origin for Donna in Wonder Woman, issues 131-136. It’s ridiculously convoluted, but there are some really nice moments between Diana and Donna, and their familial connection is re-established. (You get more of that in Wonder Woman Secret Files 03.)

Then comes JLA/Titans, when both current and former Titans are pitted against the JLA. Donna has a really heart wrenching scene.

Next is The Titans - the team reunites! But none of them are the same as they were, and they need to figure out how they fit together now. I can only vouch for the first twenty issues myself, but I recommend them passionately.

I finished Wolverine and the X-Men, and I felt like writing a coda of sorts.

( she died to save us )

LOOK WHAT I GOT :D

I’ve been wanting a New X-Men Jean for a long time, because that’s the first actual comic I read with her in it, and that’s the first time I fell in love. (I had fond memories of the Jean from the animated series, but I was so young, they were pretty vague.)

I have a lot of issues with Morrison, with the run itself (when they get Loeb to come in and clean up your mess, that’s saying something) - but his Jean? She was amazing. He hit the exact right balance between compassionate and fierce, determined and stubborn, understanding and petty. She was a hero, yes, but also a human being.

I know so much more about her now, about her history and struggles and evolution, and it only makes me appreciate Morrison’s take more.

I’m still mad about how and why she died, but I don’t really him for that - and her last moment were reaching out to someone, trying to comfort an enemy. That makes me happy. That’s Jean, through and through.

I'm rewatching Wolverine and the X-Men because I never really finished it and it was fun. (Netflix has all of the X-Men it's awesome.) I figured I might as well offer my thoughts, so rambling and caps ahead.

( there's a war coming )

Don't mind me, I'm just experimenting with a plot bunny.

Lots of swearing, because Jason.

( Read more... )

Title: Tempest
Rating: PG
Character: Angel Salvadore
Warnings: Child abuse
Notes: Some dialogue taken from XMFC and New X-Men 118.
Summary: That was when she took the name Angel. It was the first time she chose anything; the first time anything was simply, truly hers.

( Tempest )

I redid my Mystique vid!

( Damn Them All )

( volving )

Crediting is appreciated!

Scattered thoughts on Elementary's latest ep:

( Read more... )

So, basically? I thoroughly enjoyed myself, despite some quibbles. Keep on keeping on, Elementary.

Oh, by the by - my mom's reaction to Bell's car accident? Oh no, he's cute!

Title: Reminiscent
Rating: G
Characters: Bruce and Steph. Bruce’s POV.
Timeline: Robin 124
Summary: Bruce said he’d visit Spoiler in the hospital. This is that visit.

It's evening when he arrives at the hospital. He makes sure he isn't seen as he traverses the grounds.

The window is open. He wonders if Stephanie had insisted.

He expected her to look frail, laying there, pale and bruised and covered in bandages.

She doesn't, really. The Spoiler looks like fallen warrior aching to get back up again, even as she sleeps.

He reaches forward slowly, silently, and brushes the damp strands of hair from her face. He sees the potential in her, but it would be selfish to utilize it. (It's bad enough, a part of him says, that he needs Tim.) It would be better set to something else; something that won't snuff that light out forever.

He's half way out the window when he hears her voice, hoarse but strong.

( stop right there, buster )

Written for (re)definition, a genderqueer fanworks fest:

Who We Are
Fandom: Homestuck
Prompt: He wants people to understand that being bigender isn’t a funny quirk or part of his whole bifurcation motif, it’s just who he is.
Characters: Sollux and Terezi
Warnings: Binarism (internal and external), reference to bipolar disorder
Rating: PG

Trapped
Fandom: Animorphs
Prompt: Somehow being a hawk makes it feel less and less important to keep trying to convince themself that they are a boy.
Characters: Tobias and Cassie
Warnings: Body dysphoria
Rating: G

On The Wind
Fandom: Avatar: the Legend of Korra
Prompt: It sounds corny, but Jinora really does prefer to spend time alone with the sky bison most of the time. At least the sky bison never call them “sister” or “daughter” or “girl”.
Characters: Jinora and Korra
Warnings: Internalised cissexism
Rating: G

Mama & Papa

Walk in the park and it's getting dark
And I don't wanna be alone
Miss my Mummy and I miss my Daddy
Won't you please bring them back home

Left of Center

If you want me
You can find me
Left of center off of the strip
In the outskirts and in the fringes
In the corner, out of the grip

Superchick

I wear a disguise
I'm just your average Jane
The super doesn't stand for model
But that doesn't mean I'm plain
If all you see is how I look
You miss the super chick within
And I christen you Titanic
Underestimate and swim

Humpty Dumpty

Say you were split, you were split in fragments
And none of the pieces would talk to you
Wouldn't you want to be who you had been
Well baby I want that too

Fly

Everybody wanna try to box me in
Suffocating every time it locks me in
Painting their own pictures then they crop me in
But I will remain where the top begins
Cause I am not a word, I am not a line
I am not a girl that can ever be defined

Fix You Up

What I wanted most, what I wanted most, what I wanted most
Was to get myself all figured out
And what I figured out, what I figured out, what I figured out
Was that I needed more time to figure you out
There’s not a lot for you to give if you’re giving in
And there’s not a lot for you to feel if you’re not feeling it

The Tower

She says I need not to need
Or else a love with intuition
Someone who reaches out to my weakness
And won't let go
I need not to need
I've always been the tower
But now I feel like I'm the flower trying to bloom in snow

Run The World (Girls)

My persuasion can build a nation
Endless power, with our love we can devour
You'll do anything for me

[DOWNLOAD]

Title: Mnemonist
Fandom: DC
Character: Barbara Gordon
Rating: General
Warnings: None
Summary: A photographic memory is a double-edged sword.

Nothing is ever forgotten. Images sink into her mind like ink into skin, portraits of her
past that never fade.

It gives her an edge no weapon will, and it can't be taken away from her. Brutal crimes, vital clues, secret files; they're stored forever behind her eyes.

She remembers the way Jason fought, unbridled passion driving every strike. She remembers the way Sarah walked, each and every stride as brisk and confident as the last. She remembers the way Stephanie flew through smog and stars with Cassandra.

She will never forget her mother's smile.

She'll never forget his, either.

Title: The Quiet Night
Fandom: DC
Character Barbara Gordon
Rating: General
Warnings: None
Summary: She thinks she remembers everything, but she doesn't.

Sometimes, when Barbara sits high above the city's spires, she almost remembers. It's an ache in her chest that she can’t quite place, a wistful thought that she can’t quite grasp.

As she stares at the sinking sun, the breeze against her lips almost feels like a playful kiss, the warmth on her skin a tender caress.

It's only for a few moments, stolen from a time that never was. The breeze dies, and the warmth fades, and she is alone in the dark.

She searches the sky for a familiar smile, but all she can see are dead stars.