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lewishamil10n · 4 years

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I L L U S I O N S

Day 1 – J2 cannot stop seeing Sam and Dean everywhere.

Warnings – Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Mental Illness (not really!), Dimenson Hopping, Fluff, Happy/Hopeful Ending

Sam woke up screaming.

Raw, violent, vicious yelling. His throat was sore, and at that moment he wasn’t even sure that it was him shouting.

Screaming as if he was in pain, that everyone he ever cared about was dead, that he back in the cage, that Dean had died again for him. Pain when he left Dean for Stanford, when his dad wouldn’t spare him as much as a glance, when Castiel had become human. Only, none of that was really true.

Dean’s hand grabbed him, pushing away his brown locks away from his eyes, cradling his face and looking right into those attractive green eyes. He was saying something, obviously reassuring, but he couldn’t hear it.

And yet, that wasn’t Dean holding him, giving him comfort and forehead kisses.

He wasn’t Sam Winchester, he was Jared Padalecki. That was Jensen holding his face, not Dean…not his brother.

‘Another Sam Winchester moment?’ Jensen asked, because he’d also get dreams like those too. They’d gone to the doctor’s about it, but they couldn’t do anything about it, and it may be schizophrenia.

No way halluications like those we’re that realistic.

He nodded his head slowly. Supernatural had ended over a year ago, and people were already stirring up drama for a reboot in the next decade. Jared was supposed to be on the set of ‘Texas Walker,’ next month, and Jensen would be directing most of the episodes alongside him. But for some reason, Sam Winchester wouldn’t leave him alone. He would be appearing in the corner of his vision, reading a book alongside him, even talking to him sometimes.

He’s going insane at this point.

Jensen can’t even properly have sex with his husband. Making feather kisses on his neck, flicking a nipple to get a mewl, lightly tracing his fingers over twitching thighs. Then Dean would be on the motel bed next to him, aggressively pounding into his younger brother, pulling on his hair and leaving dark purple bruises all over possibly. It’s harsh, relentless, cruel, and yet, loving, tender, a beautiful reminder that the two of them are alive, together, made it through another day.

A week later, Sam looks shocked seeing him in the same room. He was clearly out of place, and looked absolutely terrible. Somewhere in the beginning of season 14 then, when he was restlessly searching for his brother and trying to find a way to get Michael out of him. But his eyes are looking past Jared. He’s looking at Jensen, and Jensen is staring right back at him.

‘Your not Dean, are you?’ Sam’s voice is breaking apart, the bag on his shoulder falls to the floor and paper scatters everywhere, into their plane of existence. The two of them aren’t in the kitchen, in Jared seated on the small island while Jensen makes the two of them breakfast.

Jared’s sitting in an uncomfortable chair in the Men of Letters library, and Jensen yelps as he drops the angel blade onto the floor. There both wearing plaid and leather jackets, and heck, it feels like the two of them are back on the set. Maybe Misha or Alex with appear at any moment and give a explantion as to what the actual fuck is going on.

‘Uh, no. I’m not Dean.’ Jensen says, and Sam gives a sad smile in his direction. His eyes trail over to Jared, and he flinches underneath his gaze.

‘If your a shapeshifter, you two have a lot of nerves showing up here. Dressing up as me is one thing – but as my brother?’ He crackles, draws out the demon blade from the back of his waistband. ‘You clearly had the intent to kill him, seeing that you had the angel blade. I don’t even know how you we’re able to obtain that from Cas without him noticing. Sorry to break it to you buddy, but normal weaponry don’t exactly work on archangels.’

Sam lurches towards Jared, and Jared tries moving out of the way and trips over the chair leg. The air is knocked out of him for a moment and sees a blade hovering above his head, eyes widening and rolling to the side. Snatches the chair and holds it above him for protection, propped up on one elbow, and jerks his head back quickly as the blade goes right through the seat.

‘Sam! You need to calm down!’ Jared turns and staggers towards the bookshelf, holding up a large dictionary in front of him, Sam’s eyes dark with the intention to kill. ‘It’s us! Jared Padalecki and Jensen Ackles!’

That makes Sam freeze in place. ‘How are you–’

His body [alternate universe clone?] falls to the floor with a thud, and Jensen is across the room from him, arm still stuck in a throwing position, clearly surprised that he hit Sam Winchester and knocked the hunter out with a book.

‘Really?’ Jared gives him the bitchface. Jensen throws his hands up in the air, grinning proudly.

‘He was going to kill you!’

‘Was. As in past tense, Ackles! What if you killed him by accident?’ The body on the floor groans in pain. Nevermind, he isn’t dead. ‘We should probably tie him up. Before he goes on another rampage.’

‘I’ll go find the duck tape.’

🌻

Sam woke up, the back of his head in throbbing pain. He tried to reach for the back of his head, eyes opening wide as he realised his wrist and ankles were tied down to the chair. It would only take a few shakes to get it off, it wasn’t that tight.

Something cold touched the back of his skull and he flinched. ‘Hold still, Sam.’

Dean – no, not Dean – not a shapeshifter either – Jensen walked in front of him, placing an arm on his shoulder and stooping down. ‘You okay? I hit you a bit hard, sorry ‘bout that.’

‘Yeah. Mind, uh–’ He made jazz hands as emphasis and Jensen smiled sheepishly.

‘Oh right. Sorry about that too. I didn’t exactly want you killing your alternate universe counterpart.’ Jensen made quick work of the duct tape, and leaned out of Jared’s touch, passing him a smile as appreciation.

‘Are you guys hungry? I’ve got leftovers from yesterday night.’

‘Sure – I mean, who knows how long we’ll be stuck here, right? Might as well see if the food here tastes any different than the one back home.’ Jared shrugged, and Jensen rolled his eyes at his husband. ‘What? It could taste different!’

Sam handed them leftovers from yesterday night, eating in silence. The three of them sat there uncomfortably, not knowing what to say.

‘So….’ Jensen started off. ‘Do you fuck Dean?’

Sam and Jared choked on their drinks. ‘Oh, look, you two are practically twins.’

‘Jensen! You can’t exactly ask him a question like that!’ His husband looked horrified, and Jensen gave him a look. ‘Not every universe is Wincest!’

‘No, no it’s okay. I uh, in this universe, we do.’ The hunter rubbed the back of his neck in embarrassment.

‘Look what you did. You made me embarrassed.’ Jared sighed.

‘Me? He’s technically you!’

‘You shouldn’t have asked him that question in the first place! It’s private because their brothers!’

‘We’re not exactly out either and we’re not brothers!’ Sam watched as the alternate universe couple quarrel with each other, and he smiled. It reminded him of how he and Dean would argue. And he broke down crying, startling J2.

‘Sam!’ The two of them jumped out of their seats, placing a hand on both sides of his back, looking at him with concern. ‘What happened?’

‘I’m – I guess I kinda feel tired sometimes? Someone is always trying to take Dean away from me, and I’ve gotten so sick of it. I just want him safe. Both of you know that. You’ve reenacted our lives. I can’t live without him. You two know I would do anything for him. And there are so many possibilities where I couldn’t save him from the monsters out there. Where I couldn’t save him from himself. And I could lose him again, to Michael from a different dimension for God’s sake. Sometimes I wish I could go back to the good days, where we we’re more concerned about killing demons and wondering if they were actually good than planning out ways to kill archangels from different dimensions.’

‘Hey, it’ll be okay. Trust us on that. Trust me on that.’ Jared smiled softly, giving him an awkward hug, because Sam was sitting and he was standing. ‘You have to keep fighting.’

‘Does it end well?’ Sam asked him, eyes sparkling. ‘Are we actually going to be okay?’

‘You know we can’t tell you that. It’s like, Universal Laws 101.’ Jensen replied, and gave small rubbing circular motions with his hand.

‘I know.’ He said sadly, and stood up promptly when he heard Jack’s voice.

Jensen patted his shoulder. ‘You just need to trust us when we tell you – you’re going to be okay. Everything is going to work out okay.’

‘Alex?’ Jared asked, then shook his head. No, not Alex. This wasn’t there universe. Jensen looked in his direction, not knowing what to do.

‘Stay here. And uh, thank you.’ The hunter gave the two of them a hug, and exited the kitchen, yelling Jack’s name.

And then, the two of them ended up in their kitchen, looking at each other back in their normal attire. As if nothing ever happened. The time stayed the same, the stove was still on, coffee still hot.

‘Did that just–’

‘I think so.’ Jensen turned off the stove, then went to Jared for a hug, kissing his forehead tightly. ‘Is Sam going to be–’

‘I’m sure of it. I mean, I know him better than he knows himself.’

They both snickered at that.

‘Do you think the only reason why we’re seeing these illusions – the alternate universes, the possibilities, the outcomes, is because we’re supposed to make them right? All the bad endings, all the self-doubt, all the lowest points?’ Jensen pointed out, shocking himself a bit. ‘We’re supposed to help them because we know them better than themselves?’

‘I-I don’t think I thought of it that way. But, I think so.’ The taller one giggled, leaning in for a soft peck on the lips. ‘You can be smart sometimes.’

‘Sometimes? Oh, I’ll show you sometimes, beautiful.’ Jensen hoisted Jared up and claiming his lips, long legs wrapping around his waist.

[Later that day, the two of them got a call from Misha saying that he was experiencing signs of dementia, stating that he was seeing Castiel everywhere he went.]

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bruh. BRUH I LOVE THIS. i love the concept of j2 meeting sam and dean and you did it so well! i also really liked the idea of all of it happening because j2 are supposed to do sam and dean justice. you gave me end-of-season feels ;-;

thank you so so much, and i’m so excited to see what else you’ve got for me! <333

#12daysofwincestmas #submission #wincest #j2 #wincestmas #wincestmas anon #long post #supernatural

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atopearth · 5 years

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Shall We Date? Ninja Shadow Part 7 - Kagura Route

Can see why everyone is surprised that Kagura will be watching over the heroine since he changes into a completely different person when he’s fighting. Most of the time, Kagura is very nice though. Let’s see how he came to be like this… Aww Kagura caught her when she fell off her ladder or whatever, I love how instead of the usual cliche where they would notice how close they are and immediately get off each other, Kagura instead tells her that’s it’s okay and she can take her time (getting off him) just in case she’s still hurt or shocked I guess lol. He’s considerate! Wow though, does Kagura take care of the whole Meiko Salon himself in terms of customer service, bookkeeping, ordering stuff etc?! Does he even sleep..?

It’s difficult for Kagura to warn the heroine about how crazy he gets when he takes off his eye patch, so I really felt that the other guys should have warned her, I mean it’s a sudden change and that Kagura even said that her being backup for Kagura meant having to stop him from going on a rampage once he changes, so I think the heroine should have been prepared about that. Especially since that Kagura nearly killed her. It felt kinda terrible to see Kagura go back to normal and blame himself for having done such a thing to the heroine though… Nice of the heroine to offer Kagura her lap so he can sleep better😊 Hmm so some kind of mission nearly broke Kagura mentally and that’s what brought about his second personality “Homura” who now takes care of all the killing and violent things that the normal Kagura can’t, so really, Homura is there to protect Kagura’s fragile heart that can’t take all that. I’m so glad the heroine scolded him for giving his life away so easily when Suetsugu wanted to kill them for being rude, Kagura needs to learn to treasure himself more! I’m so glad she stopped him before Kagura killed himself because he felt like he deserved to die since he can’t keep Homura at bay anymore and he thinks that he’s done too many bad things to ever be forgiven. I don’t know what Kagura is talking about, but just as the heroine said, she was already so torn over her brother’s death, she definitely doesn’t want to see others she cares about die ever again. Also, she’s right, Homura is just protecting Kagura, he may be a bit crazy and eccentric but that doesn’t mean he is a bad “person”.

It’s difficult to see Kagura and Homura changing between each other haphazardly since it shows how unstable Kagura is, does that mean Kagura destroyed Wakasa’s village or something? Homura is actually kinda amusing though, he’s very laidback but definitely genuinely cares for Kagura. It’s hard for the heroine to refute Homura on how they should be living to atone rather than yearning for death when her brother was killed by Suetsugu and she’ll never forgive Suetsugu for that. As someone who destroyed a whole village, how could Kagura bear the burden of all those lives and how it had tormented Wakasa to this day? How could Wakasa ever forgive him, whatever the reason was? It seems that Wakasa is more okay with it than I thought as long as he gets to know why. I guess that makes it even harder for Kagura to take it.

Not surprised that Homura waving around the dagger trying to hurt the heroine eventually made them realise she’s a woman when they slashed open her kimono, luckily Makoto came in time to protect her, but now Kagura is confined to his room. At least the heroine visits him every day giving him food and a daily update on what’s going on, maybe he’ll calm down a bit more and understand the heroine’s feelings better this way. She would never want to hurt Kagura. So, he was a part of the legion of ninja sent to destroy Wakasa’s village and he was one of the key ninjas… Glad Makoto picked him up when he was dying on the road, but I guess we should be glad for Homura’s existence because at that time Kagura told Makoto and them to kill him, so he was planning to leave him but when Kagura’s different coloured eye had tears and his hand clung to Makoto’s coat, how could he not save Kagura? I just never realised that Kagura went through rehabilitation and mostly worked at the Meiko Salon, he didn’t join the vigilante until just a bit before the heroine joined.

So, Wakasa was the first that went into a frenzy and killed Kagura’s subordinates slowly and cruelly with his drugs. Who wouldn’t if they had to see their village being destroyed? And the reason why Kagura was so injured that he needed Makoto to save him was because the Iga Ninjas ( Kagura’s clan) were fighting over the reward money and killed each other over it. Kagura didn’t want to be a part of it since he doesn’t care about money but they wouldn’t let him leave, and so Kagura ended up being the only survivor. I’m kinda disappointed that the heroine plans to go along with Toru in order to receive medicine from him that will merge Kagura and Homura. It’s not that I don’t understand her concern considering how unstable they are, but I feel like merging them would be cruel to both. They’re independent personalities that care for each other now…

It’s nice that Homura told the heroine of Kagura’s feelings but I guess that only made her resolve more firm to getting the medicine…not that I approve. Well, I’m not surprised that Toru gave the heroine to Willem to sell her as a test subject for medicine, I’m just kinda surprised that the heroine is shocked when they’re obviously not good people.. She could have escaped if they weren’t on a ship :( Luckily she acted so suspiciously in front of Kagura, it would be surprising if they didn’t follow and chase after her lol. Glad Wakasa and them knew to come along too! I’m glad Kagura could finally face Wakasa and sort things out, it’s impossible to forgive it, but considering the burden and guilt Kagura bore all these years and with Makoto asking Wakasa to forgive Kagura as well, things ended up fine.

It’s kinda funny to see Homura tease Kagura since he’s like teasing himself about him liking the heroine, especially when Homura tries to move closer to the heroine but Kagura gets so embarrassed about it hahaha. It felt really heartwarming to see them kiss tbh, just because it felt like they had to go through so many things to get to this point and I guess, the heroine really opened him up and saved him! XD Although it felt pretty anticlimactic in terms of how everything resolved, but I think it kinda shows that what’s important isn’t how it’s resolved or even whether it can be resolved, but instead the fact that you face the problem and try to resolve it. Facing it is the hardest part and it took Kagura many years to do that since he always tried to escape from it with death, with the existence of Homura and by hiding himself. It was especially great to see Kagura truly smile with such happiness!

It was so funny when Suetsugu’s assassination went well and Kagura went to Makoto apologising for the trouble he had caused, and so he said Kagura’s punishment would be increased workload at the Meiko Salon, and lmao that Kagura was grateful for the punishment whereas Homura was shocked that they had to do even more work hahaha. Otherwise though, it was pretty cool to see both Kagura and Homura interchangeably fight with their particular strengths. Hahaha omg when Kagura said he only takes off his eye patch and looks at his prey with both his eyes and the heroine thought he was going to punish her hahaha. It’s so cute how Kagura and Homura are so honest with their feelings now, so honest to the point that it’s too much since he does it in front of all the guys too hahahah.

Hahahah I love how Homura and Kagura are arguing about whose number one to the heroine and flirting with her in front of Makoto’s room😂 It’s nice to see Wakasa and Kagura hope to become friends from now on. Anyway, I quite liked this route, it’s not my favourite but I think it was very interesting to see the overlap with Ninja Assassin and have Wakasa be quite an integral part of the story. I just finished Wakasa’s route recently so I feel like Kagura’s route helped to round things up better with the background to Wakasa’s village. Considering the split personality, it was natural that it would be the main focus of the route but I also feel like there wasn’t enough romantic moments for me to think that they matched together. However, I do like how cute it is that both Kagura and Homura are so attached to the heroine lol.

#ninja shadow

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aion-rsa · 7 years

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Got Wood: 15 Plant-Based Comic Book Characters

In the regular world, plants don’t amount to much to us. They decorate our houses and gardens, clean the air, grow food, and occasionally get chopped up to make our furniture. They certainly don’t fight crime or try to take over the world. That’s where comic books come in.

RELATED: Men of Steel: 15 Superheroes That Are Metal AF

In the comic world, plants can become powerful weapons or even superhuman beings, fighting for heroes and villains. From Marvel to DC to independent comics, the plant world is one of danger and mystery. With the adorable Baby Groot set to return in 2017’s “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2,” it’s time for CBR to review 15 plant-based characters in the world of superheroes. We won’t be talking about characters who have power over plants, but ones who actually have plants in them or are made of plants.

TUMBLEWEED

The superhero Tumbleweed first appeared in 2008’s “Number of the Beast” #1, written by Scott Beatty and penciled by Chris Sprouse. Edward Dane was caught in the detonation of the Trinity atomic bomb test in the New Mexico desert, turning him into a collection of desert plants in the shape of a human being. Tumbleweed is made of desert fauna (mostly tumbleweeds and cactus) and has the power to control the flowers and branches inside him. He can adjust his shape by changing the way the plants are arranged, and also grow new ones inside himself.

With his new powers, Dane became Tumbleweed, a member of the World War II-era superhero group, the Paladins. Along with the other Paladins, he was kept inside a virtual reality simulation to keep him under control, but escaped in modern days. After the apocalyptic events of “Number of the Beast,” Tumbleweed used his powers to make an oasis in the Nevada desert in the post-apocalyptic world.

GOLDENROD

In 1984’s “Firestorm” #19 (written by Gerry Conway and Carla Conway, and penciled by Gene Colan), a broke lawyer named Frederick Delmar agreed to become a test subject for an experimental antihistamine drug called Nuvafed. The drug was just supposed to be harmless, but it caused a violent reaction in Delmar that killed him. Not wanting to admit the drug was a failure, Delmar’s body was dumped in a deserted field, where the body combined with the plants around him, bringing him back to life as a monster nicknamed Goldenrod.

Goldenrod went on a rampage to try to track down the people responsible for his transformation, but went up against the nuclear man himself, Firestorm. Goldenrod was made of plants and had the power to shoot concentrated pollen at his enemies, triggering fatal allergic reactions, and could also pollinate the area around him to grow plants that he could control. When he got out of control, Goldenrod realized he had gone too far and killed himself by dissolving into a cloud of pollen. A supervillain who kills with hay fever? Only in the comics.

BLACKBRIAR THORN

Created by Len Wein and Joe Kubert in 1984’s “DC Comics Presents” #66, Blackbriar Thorn was a Druid high priest whose sect was attacked by Roman soldiers. In order to escape, Thorn used his power to turn himself into wood so that he could hide in the forest. He intended to revert to normal upon being exposed to moonlight, but an earthquake buried him underground before that could happen. Thousands of years later, an archaeologist dug him up and put him on display in a Gotham City museum, where the moon’s light brought him back to life.

As a druid, Thorn has mystical power over the elements, able to cause wind and storms, even indoors. He also has power over plants, causing them to grow and move however he wanted, including the growth and shape of his own wooden body. Since his inception, Thorn has been a part of the DC Universe as one of the most powerful members of the magic community, often fighting heroes like the Justice League Dark, but also helping to stop the “Crisis on Infinite Earths.”

LADY WEEDS

2013’s “Swamp Thing Annual” #2 by Charles Soule and Jesus Saiz introduced the cruel and sadistic Lady Weeds. In the Victorian Era, Lady Weeds was an avatar of the Green, another dimension where all plant life is connected. It’s also the source of Swamp Thing’s power. Lady Weeds abused her power, though, deliberately causing the Great Potato Famine in Ireland that led to the deaths of millions, in order to convince the members of the Parliament of Trees (the Parliament helped other Green avatars like Swamp Thing) never to challenge her claim as an avatar of the Green.

Lady Weeds had all the power of Swamp Thing with none of the conscience. She could manipulate and control plants both within and outside of herself, was basically immortal as long as plants existed in the world, and could draw upon power from the Green to make herself superhumanly strong. She ended up becoming expelled from the Green and paralyzed, but reborn as an avatar of the Metal.

EL SEED

In 1992, the animated TV show “The Tick” aired “The Tick vs. El Seed,” written by Ben Edlund and Richard Liebmann-Smith with storyboards by Christopher McCulloch and Stuart Yellin. In the episode, the superhero Tick faced a humanoid flower turned revolutionary named El Seed. No one knows where El Seed came from before he went to school for agriculture, but in the process he developed a chemical “vitilizer” to make plants grow arms and legs, and rise up against humans.

El Seed wanted to raise an army of plant soldiers to overthrow humanity and have plants take over the world, and his chemical concoctions almost let him do it. He tended to avoid fighting himself, but had two female insectoids called the Bee Twins to do his dirty work for him. Fortunately, the Tick and Arthur managed to get the drop on him by infiltrating the plant army as “kernels.” El Seed should have branched out to helping people instead of overthrowing them.

TIMBERIUS

Timberius first appeared in “Incredible Hulk Annual” #1 in 1968, written by Gary Friedrich and penciled by Marie Severin. A member of the Inhumans, Black Bolt found him guilty of treason and banished Timberius to another dimension along with other rebels. When the Hulk was transported to their dimension, Timberius worked with Maximus the Mad to escape. They also tried to take over the Inhuman city of Attilan. As a member of Maximus’ guard, Timberius continued to wreak havoc as part of the leader’s mad schemes.

Like all Inhumans, Timberius was exposed to the Terrigen Mists, but the combination of plant DNA gave him a wooden appearance and control over plants. He can grow plant life and make it move, much like the other entries on this list, although he’s much more ambitious. Over the years, he’s fought the Silver Surfer, the Fantastic Four and the Avengers, but keeps on going.

FLORONIC MAN

Written by Gardner Fox and pencilers Gil Kane, 1962’s “Atom” #1 introduced Jason Woodrue as the Plant Master, who used inter-dimensional technology to grow plants in order to take over the world. However, an experimental formula later turned him into a plant humanoid and he changed his name to the Floronic Man. He later became a villain of Swamp Thing, and at one point, the Floronic Man even became a hero when he joined the Global Guardians who formed after the events of the “Millennium” storyline. However, he since went back to the side of evil.

Even as Woodrue, he was dangerous because of his knowledge of plants, but as the Floronic Man, Woodrue gained the ability to control and combine his body with plant life. His powers increased when he ate parts of Swamp Thing and connected with the Green, making him able to control plants all over the world. In the New 52 reboot, Woodrue became the Seeder, fighting Swamp Thing for the right to be the avatar of the Green.

POISON IVY

“Batman” #181 (1966), created by Robert Kanigher and Sheldon Moldoff, introduced the supervillain Poison Ivy to the DC universe. Poison Ivy was a botanist injected with experimental poisons by Woodrue that transformed her into a toxic woman who could control plants. Obsessed with plant life over human beings, Poison Ivy became an eco-terrorist who fought, robbed and even killed in order to fund her attempts at destroying humanity and saving the natural world. That’s made her one of Batman’s deadliest enemies.

Poison Ivy can control plants, making them grow and move wherever and however she likes. She can also connect to plants with her mind, communicate with them over long distances and is immune to all forms of poisons and toxins. Poison Ivy herself is riddled with poisons, able to kill someone with a kiss alone, and can also produce pheromones to control people’s minds (particularly men). She tends to fall on the side of evil, but isn’t above working with Batman on the side of the heroes every now and then.

BUSHROOT

In the 1990s Disney superhero TV series “Darkwing Duck,” Darkwing fought a lot of weird villains, but one of the strangest was Reginald Bushroot. In the 1991 episode “Beauty and the Beet” (created by John Behnke, Rob Humphrey and Jim Peterson), we met the mild-mannered scientist named Reginald Bushroot who experimented on himself and became a half-duck, half-plant hybrid.

In his new form, Bushroot could control all plants around him, making them steal and fight for him. He’s also still a genius and uses his knowledge to breed new plants for different purposes. Though Bushroot has a lot of power, he’s not really a bad guy. He just wants to help the world and find love, even going so far as to try to create a female plant for companionship. He can also regrow parts of his body that are injured, making him immortal. He’s always a thorn in Darkwing Duck’s side.

KRAKOA

Written by Len Wein and penciled by Dave Cockrum, 1975’s “Giant Size X-Men” #1 introduced a new team of X-Men assembled from mutants around the world. Cyclops explained that they needed to find the original team of X-Men, who had gone missing on a remote island named Krakoa while looking for a powerful mutant. When they arrived on Krakoa, the new X-Men discovered that the island itself was the mutant they had been looking for.

When an atomic bomb had detonated near the island of Krakoa, the radiation caused the entire island to mutate into a single conscious entity. All the trees, flowers and plants on the island could work together to fight the X-Men and drain their life energy for Krakoa’s purposes. Though the story was later retconned to say Krakoa was just a hallucination caused by Xavier, it was one of the X-Men’s most bizarre adventures, fighting piles of rocks and tree branches trying to kill them.

SEQUOIA

Sequoia first appeared in “Fantastic Four” #325 (1988), written by Steve Englehart and penciled by Rich Buckler, as the result of years of plotting and development for the character Mantis. Created by Steve Englehart and Don Heck in “The Avengers” #112 (1973), Mantis is a half-Vietnamese martial artist who was raised by a sect of the alien Kree. She joined the Avengers, and began a journey to become the Celestial Madonna, a legendary woman prophesied to give birth to the most important being in the universe.

She finally mated with a Cotati tree in human form and gave birth to Sequoia, who has the power to absorb and control energy, using it to create energy beams and heal himself. Sequoia (who also goes by Quoi) also gained incredible psychic powers on the level of Thanos and can survive without food or air, thanks to his plant-based biology. He’s become one of the most powerful beings in the universe, which is pretty impressive for a tree.

PLANTMAN

Making his debut in “Strange Tales” #113 (1951, written by Stan Lee and Joe Carter with pencils by Dick Ayers), Samuel Smithers was an orphaned British botanist who become convinced that he could give intelligence to and communicate with plants. He invented a gun designed to bring plants to life called the “vege-ray,” and used it to become the supervillain Plantman. Over time, Plantman developed plant-based versions of himself called “simuloids,” which he used to do his bidding. Some of them have been programmed with his mental pattern to the point that they are essentially Plantman. Over time, his body mutated from exposure to the vege-ray energy, and allowed him to merge with the Earth’s biosphere.

Plantman can animate and control any form of plant life. In his simuloid form, Plantman has superhuman strength and resistance, as well as the ability to control and change form. He’s living proof that plants are out to get us.

MAN-THING

“Whatever knows fear burns at the touch of the Man-Thing.” That’s the slogan of one of the most powerful monsters in the Marvel Universe, who first appeared in 1971’s “Savage Tales” #1, created by Stan Lee, Roy Thomas, Gerry Conway and Gray Morrow. Dr. Ted Sallis was a scientist working on a variation of Captain America’s super-soldier serum when he was attacked by thugs trying to get his formula. Sallis was hurt and injected himself with the serum in order to try to save himself, but instead mutated into a monster made from the swamp.

The Man-Thing is a terrifying creature, made even more fearsome by his powers. Man-Thing is superhumanly strong and fast, thanks to his huge plant-based body, and can heal and regenerate from any injury, but also has empathic powers that let him sense fear and evil intentions. Those emotions make him seek out the source, excrete an acidic compound, and burn whatever causes it. So if you see Man-Thing lumbering towards you in the middle of the night, try not to be scared…if that’s possible.

SWAMP THING

A scientist working in a swamp on a secret formula gets attacked and his own formula mutates him to become a plant-based monster. No, this isn’t a repeat of the last entry. This is Swamp Thing, created for DC in “House of Secrets” #92 (1971) and later rebooted in “Swamp Thing” #1 by Len Wein and Bernie Wrightson. Whether Swamp Thing was developed independently of Man-Thing is a matter of debate, but the two characters diverged wildly after their origin.

Unlike Man-Thing, Swamp Thing retained his intelligence and identity as Alec Holland, living as an exile in the swamps of Louisiana. He has incredible strength and power in his vegetable form, and can grow himself into different shapes. He can also disassemble himself and create new bodies from any plant matter, allowing him to go anywhere and live forever, as well as control other plants that aren’t part of him.

Alan Moore’s run in the 1980s made him a more monstrous and philosophical character, questioning his existence and identity. It would later be revealed that he wasn’t actually Alec Holland turned into a swamp creature, but rather that he was the swamp itself transformed into thinking he was the scientist.

GROOT

Groot first appeared in 1960’s “Tales to Astonish” #13 by Stan Lee, Jack Kirby and Dick Ayers as an alien plant monster who wanted to try to conquer the world. He’s obviously changed a lot since then, beginning in 2006 as a captive and later a member of Nick Fury’s Howling Commandos. From there, Groot joined the Guardians of the Galaxy and became a true hero.

Groot is made of a wood-like structure that allows him to change shape, growing and shrinking all or parts of his body at will. He can also change his body to become covered in thorns, perfectly smooth or any other texture in between. Whenever he’s damaged, he can grow himself back from any individual part, even able to survive being almost completely destroyed and growing back from just a twig to full sized, which he’s done several times. Though it seems like he’s a simpleton who can only say “I am Groot,” he’s actually very smart. He’s also extremely loyal, especially to his best buddy, Rocket Raccoon.

Which is your favorite plant-based character? Let us know in the comments!

The post Got Wood: 15 Plant-Based Comic Book Characters appeared first on CBR.com.

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frstbiitten · 7 years

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The Woman in Blue || Chapter 23

So here’s the new chapter (after a long time... I know) about Frost’s life before joining the Lin Kuei.

There will be triggers so I keep it under ‘read more’ for safety.

Sidenote: this is written in first person.

Tags: violence, muder, abuse mention.

SF? Is she part of the SF? An agent, a spy, the girl next to me has been doing her job all the time, so this… This could mean that someone out there is spying me. I could be a bomb, ready to explode at any moment, then, what else? I am on the verge of dying all the fucking time, but Amara wanted me to live or otherwise she would have let me die, there must be a reason, what the hell is going on?… those SF guys want me dead or what?

“Special Forces… agent Amara Bennet, start spitting out all the data you have or I’ll make this night the worst night of your life.”

I am completely unsure if I am her main target, and the way she speaks, it’s sharp like a blade causing a nice touch of fear in the eyes of whoever this assholes identity is. It made me tremble inside too, this is the real Amara, but I always thought that she could hide a violent side, more refined than mine, she could hold it perfectly, she is trained to be good and bad at the same time. Is scary, but fascinating at the same time. Somehow it calmed me down the fact that she has this guy tied up to one of my chairs, judging by the look of his eyes, I will have a dirty chair in the next hour probably.

“He is dead! Okay?! Chapman is fucking dead!!”

“Yeah, okay, alright… and who did it? Because I won’t believe that story of ‘he went on a rampage and killed everyone, then he slit his throat with a knife because that's what drugs make you do!'… that’s bullshit.” Oh fuck, oh fuck, I never told her that I killed Chapman, and the scene looked like straight out from a horror movie, is still painted behind my eyes, I did it… I killed them. “So speak… do you know who did it? I don’t care about it, but c'mon, someone will take advantage of it and will take control of the money and the drugs, you don’t have nothing to lose…”

“SHE DID IT!”

The man screamed and looked at me with fear, the same that feels for a girl who just kicked his ass and is pointing at him with a gun is feeling it for me. I could consider this as a thing that I should feel proud of, now people fear me more than before, slowly, the myth of the icy girl that died twice is being rewritten. My ghost decided to take revenge, cursing those who hurt me with a painful death, cold, devouring their heat with icicles and crystals of frozen water. One survived, and he is spreading the word, I’m sure that he is telling everyone that I am dangerous.

You are a fucking monster.

Of course, I am sure as hell that I am, and he is wise of feeling scared over my presence.

“… that dude… he told us what you’re capable of… said you almost killed him, and he is not gonna stop until you are dead… he sent me to tell you this…”

So this means that Anthony is alive? Well, all the hints pointed at him, and I know I didn’t hurt him enough to making him bleed to death, but I should have killed him. He should be dead, he should be rotting in hell for what he has done to me and the girls he used before for the same intentions, I am not afraid anymore of thinking about him, his face, his warm blood over my face. Sure is like drinking poison and spitting it later in hope of not feeling any kind of effect, but god… I would love to have him in front of me right now, round two, I am so desperate for a round two, and he is too. Otherwise, this guy wouldn’t be here, and I am not scared at all of hearing his name again.

“Anthony…” I began to say, just to remember how it sounded when it slips from my tongue. “… Anthony… I can’t believe that I loved a liar.”

“Please, Eirwen… don’t do it…” I heard Amara say, she knows what is about to happen, she got the information that she wanted, but now has to deal with me, and the fact that I am a piece of a bigger puzzle. He is gonna hunt me like a tiger, after all, point at me with his loaded gun, this time will be loaded, I know.

“Where is him?” My voice demands, I know I’m about to lose control, but I won’t hold it down this time, I will let it free. And he doesn’t answer my question, such a simple question and I can’t believe I have to repeat, this time, I could see that he was about to spill it out. “Where is him?”

“Could you control this fucking bitch!?” He asked at Amara, expecting that she would tell me to shut up and calm down, but instead of proceeding and acting in his favor, she took a step backward, a smirk appearing on her lips, the gun no longer pointed at him. She won’t need it again, knew that calming down is not a thing that I like to do.

“Eirwen… have fun with him.” I heard her say, giving me the green light to unleash hell, or make him speak, one way or another, he will suffer if he keeps that holding that secret for himself.

“Answer… where is Anthony?!”

“You think I’m gonna tell you?”

“And you think I’m not gonna hurt you?”

My fist landed hard on his face, icicles were over my knuckles and now they were piercing his cheek, making him bleed from wounds, the ice was encrusted in his skin and every slight move hurt to him judging by the scream and the furious growl. Amara let out a gasp at the scene in front of her, she stopped holding her pistol, I knew that she was expecting something like this.

“Now… tell me, where is him?”

“… he told me that you were a wild thing…” He said while blood began to drip from his lower lip, it was already bruised thanks to Amara, she already made a great damage on his face. “… but I don’t have a single idea of where he could be…”

“Maybe…” Anthony could be in the city right now, drinking his favorite vodka while getting high, my mind thought about him with another girl, poor woman who gets kissed by his poisonous lips and lured with empty promises. He could be here, or not.

“Chapman is death… he could be in charge of the drugs, at least be part of one of those gangs around the city.” My attention went to Amara, I don’t know what she is been trying to track down these last months at Chapman’s side, but it seemed that it wasn’t what it was looking for. “It could be… he was just having fun with some crazy fairy dust when I thought that he was providing everyone with illegal weaponry.”

“I… what do you mean?”

“That he wasn’t the one the right target of my mission… at the HQ we noticed that some cities around the country began to increase the violence related to gangs, that their weapons were provided by someone from a higher place, you know, a leader… we thought that they came back to the continent.” She took a moment to think in silence, the man that she tied to the chair with the hope of having some new information was confused as much as I was, this is beyond of what we could understand. “… maybe, but just maybe the Black Dragon are responsible of this, they are dangerous, appearing only to create chaos, I don’t think that Chapman or Anthony are part of it…”

“Black Dragon?… What kind of edgy fucking name is that?” The man asked while he tried to speak without moving his mouth too much, part of his face is paralyzed with the cold.

“They are just… troublemakers.” She simply said without giving any other explanation.

“Alright… now… are you gonna let me go?”

Amara looked at me, a smirk on her lips, I knew what she was thinking about, and honestly, he deserved it. She already did her thing, and it was time to put him down for good. With a single touch of my hand over his face, his skin began to froze and the screams to fill the room, icicles biting the skin and making it bleed while the ice spread through his face. Soon his head was consumed by the ice, unrecognizable and gruesome, he stopped screaming and with a single kick, his head was gone, nothing but crystals over the floor that probably will take me an hour to clean, but at least I won’t have to listen to him again.

“Seriously, you would be a great soldier or agent if you were part of the Special Forces, but I think that is not the right place for you.” Amara untied the body from the chair, we would think about a way to dispose of later, it made me laugh the idea of working for SF, it didn’t feel right to me, and she knew it too.

#{the woman in blue}#tw: violence #tw: abuse mention #tw: murder

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rebelthroughreading-blog · 6 years

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Silver Kiss by Annette Curtis Klause

With her mother’s worsening sickness, her father’s gradual distance, and her best friend moving, Zoë finds unlikely company in a boy is a vampire.

Quick Information

price: $9.99

number of pages: 224

ISBN: 978-0385734226

publisher and date: Dell Publishing 1990

author’s website: none

genre: juvenile fiction

main subjects: vampire, death, young adult, supernatural

Plot

Zoë’s mother has terminal cancer, she never sees her father anymore, and her best friend is on the eve of moving. In her loneliest hour, she looks for any company and purpose in her life and finds Simon, a beautiful boy with a dangerous past that has come to town with murderous intentions. Zoë and Simon must work together to save people from a dark force and find happiness where they could not alone.

Who’s reading it?

Written on a 9th grade level, high school students are most likely to enjoy and appreciate the story.

Why did I read it?

When I was younger, I read Blood and Chocolate, another book by Annette Curtis Klause, and was enamored. It changed the way that I thought about werewolves and supernatural. Of course, once I heard that she had a vampire book, I had to read it. So many people have regarded the story as one of the best in supernatural fiction, and after having read it, I agree.

Evaluation

Zoë’s life speaks to many young adult’s today. The loss of a parent, whether through death, divorce, or so other tragedy, the loss of a friend, through the same ways, and the loss of hope is so abundant that a book like this, that really captures that sense of despair crashing down. What the book also does is show that the possibility of regaining hope is possible. For Zoë, she is finally able to see that she can still be happy despite the sadness that threatens to overwhelm her. For Simon, having lost his brother first, then his mother through a brutal murder to later find out that was his brother, and then to watch as his brother continued his murderous ways until he, Simon, could stop the brother, is another kind of loss and inward battle. Yet, through the help that they could provide to each other, Zoë and Simon were able to find the happiness that they both sought, even if that meant finding a new kind of sorrow that comes with sacrifice.

Before they can get to the part where they have found hope, Zoë and Simon have to be in despair. Zoë wants desperately to see her mother, but she feels as though everyone is keeping her away. Her dad is never home to talk to her, often because he is at the hospital with her mother. She sometimes feels as though her mother no longer needs her and her father no longer loves her. She tries to prove her worth by being there for her mother but only proves how afraid she is and feels that may be the reason that she is not allowed to be at the hospital very long. Her best friend is moving, and she wants her to stay but knows that there is nothing that she can do. She is annoyed, because her friend is always talking about the move and feels as though the friend is not thinking of how it might make Zoë feel. We feel how conflicted Zoë is as she makes her decisions. She debates on whether or not to respect her parents’ wishes and stay away from the hospital despite how she feels. She is conflicted on how to treat her friend who she sees as both being unaware of Zoë ‘s feelings but in the right to have her own as well. She needs help but does not know how to ask.

Simon, several hundred years old, has lost his mother to a murder and has been turned into a monster by the monster that used to be his brother. He has spent his several life times just surviving, living day by day tricking and killing people to sustain himself, and later hunting down his brother to stop him from the murderous rampages on which he goes. He feels as though he has little purpose in life, especially knowing that even if he were to find purpose and happiness, he would outlive them. When he speaks to Zoë, he knows that if he allowed himself to find that true joy for which he had been longing for so long, she would quickly be ripped away from him too by her short lifespan. He needs help and also knows not how to ask.

It is Simon who reaches out. In the preface, we see Simon briefly come out of his despair when a cat reaches his heart. He remembers that he can love, but she dies and he is alone again, but this time, he understands that the compassion is necessary to survive. He cannot continue living through days so unhappy - hopeless - and destined only to end the lives of others. When he sees Zoë, he can feel that passion again. The audience can see the swell of hope that buds between the two characters. We long to feel the change in both of their lives.

The use of the supernatural gives the audience a barrier between the reality of the story and their personal reality. Like all great stories, it speaks of the problems of the real world, specifically with young adults. Murders by a bloodthirsty and deranged monster is easier than to think that someone might actually commit those crimes. The idea that you might immediately fall in love with someone is easier to think about if that person has magical powers that make him attractive. The supernatural is different enough from the real world to be attractive.

The Issues

supernatural

violence, specifically involving children

The Silver Kiss has far less “issues” in the way of its appropriateness than other books such as The Chocolate War or Thirteen Reasons Why. Within this story, we do not get the vulgar language or sexual implications like in so much of the young adult literature. Instead, we have vampires. Vampires are evil creatures that survive through literally draining the blood and thus the life of living humans, often in terribly brutal and graphic ways. In many cultures, the vampire or respective creatures murder for fun, like Simon’s brother Christopher. Christopher enjoys manipulating women and savaging them instead of just killing them. He loves the violence. He kills all ages without discrimination. The murder delights him. He can use his supernatural powers to control his victims. He can manipulate their feelings and their desires. He has superhuman strength and weapon-like fangs.

Simon too has these same qualities. He uses his powers on Zoë to make himself more desirable. He makes her want to kiss him so that he can have what he wants. He previous victims were all under his spell to both see him as attractive and then complacent enough for him to feed on them. The vampires can use these powers to completely render humans powerless and thus unable to defend themselves.

Simon is “frozen” at seventeen. Christopher was not even a teen when he became a vampire. Both were changed into monsters as children. Even if Simon’s change is more easily accepted as he was almost an adult, Christopher was still a young boy. He is a child murdering. An adult turned this child into a life-sucking monster who is committing the acts of violent serial killers.

So why should we read it?

The supernatural, specifically the vampire, is extremely appealing to young adults. There is something about the mystery of being slightly off from the normal person, the inherent darkness that resides within the monstrous beings, and the idea of a human overcoming that dark power that draws the attention of those most impressionable. What teenage girl does not love the tall, dark, and mysterious guy who could drain the life out of her, in the most provocative and sexy way possible, but does not because he loves her? Very few. I would wager to say that the majority of teenage girls at some point in their lives find that somewhat attractive, even if they do not want that to happen in their real lives. This does not mean that we are teaching our children to go hunting for the mysterious people that may cause serious harm to them and the world around them, but we are saying that those people exist. For comparison, the vampire is like Han Solo from the Star Wars series. People love Han Solo. They either want to be him or they want to date him. He is appealing, because he is the “bad boy.” Real people who have those bad boy characteristics are not the best people with which to be acquainted. Real people are not for whom they are looking. They are looking for that mystique that does not exist.

It is true. Children becoming monsters and committing acts of graphic violence out of the love of the fear and pain is terrifying. We would hate to live in a world where children murder for fun. The evil inside these monsters is the most terrifying thing we could ever imagine. These are stories where the innocent prey on the innocent; where our children are totally and completely corrupted. But in the real world, they are. In the real world, children murder people.

How can we use it?

So why do we let them read about that mystique? Because they are going to find it eventually anyway. They are going to find the mysterious older guy who may be harmful or may be lonely. They are going to see that other children and young adults mean harm to them and the world. They are going to have to face this in real life, so we should introduce it to them first through the eyes of more positivity. Do not start with “You are destined to suffer” instead we say “You may suffer, but you can always find hope again. Use this drastic leap from reality to fantasy to help teach our youth about the real world without them feeling the uncomfortable familiarity of their own lives. Let them deal with their losses by seeing that others too have been in the same places. That is always a great help in the grieving process.

Booktalk Ideas

Simon decides to die after his life has lasted so long and his purpose has been fulfilled. He finally found a possible source of happiness that he knows he will not have forever and still decides that death is the appropriate response. He ends his life knowing the pain that he is inflicting on Zoë. Is his death a suicide? Should we treat his death as a suicide or should we treat it like an elderly person passing when their time has come? Is his death justified even with the pain that he may have caused for the future?

The epilogue includes a passage where Zoë sees Grimalkin, who she had never met, and Simon, who had died. Both interact with her and discuss a life after death. Are their apparitions magical? Previous to this incident, though we know that vampires exist with supernatural abilities, are we assuming that this is the same kind of ability or something more meaningful? What is the purpose of Zoë having these visions? Are the readers unsatisfied until they know that Simon and Zoë can eventually find peace and each other?

What else can I read?

Twilight by Stephanie Meyer

Look for Me by Moonlight by Mary Downing Hahn

Awards and Lists

1993 Sequoyah Young Adult Award

1991 Best First Novel

Professional Reviews

Alleen Pace Nilsen and Ken Donalsen (1991), English Journal - https://search-proquest-com.libaccess.sjlibrary.org/docview/237282436?accountid=10361&rfr_id=info%3Axri%2Fsid%3Aprimo

Patti Spencer (1994), English Journal - https://search-proquest-com.libaccess.sjlibrary.org/docview/237298601?accountid=10361&rfr_id=info%3Axri%2Fsid%3Aprimo

#annette curtis krause #vampires #vampire love #YA #young adult #supernatural #death #murder #fiction

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