Whenever Inko is out with her six year old son, Izuku, he’ll carry loads of stickers to hand out to every person they see on their outing. Most accept the sticker if they don’t notice his shoes first because as soon as they do that’s when their kindness evaporates, but, Izuku doesn’t give up because there’s only one person who’s seen his shoes and not given him a hard time for it. There’s a black haired boy with eyes the colour of liquid gold when the sun hits them who they always bump into when they’re out. Inko’s pretty sure the boy can’t be more than a couple years older than her boy. The boy has never said his name, and she can tell Izuku’s been itching to ask, but, knows better to be patient. She’s also noticed that he treats Shouta a tad different than everybody else, they get to choose which sticker they get. For this boy in particular he doesn’t get to pick which sticker he gets, instead, he gets given Izuku’s favourite sticker from that pack. After the first couple of times the boy received the stickers from Izuku, he realised it wasn’t going to stop, and felt terrible about not giving anything in return, so, he started giving him his favourite, most smoothest and prettiest rocks that he could find. Inko has to actively stop herself from squealing every time they interact because she’s obsessed with penguins, and she knows that penguins are one of the most loyal creatures out there because they choose one partner to spend the rest of their lives with. One of the ways they show how in love they are is by giving each other presents (mainly rocks, but, she reckons stickers can work just as well considering her boys aren’t birds) she can tell that this is only going to grow into something beautiful. She’d be right, it only takes a year for them to find out that the boy’s name is Shouta, and that he’s only a year older than Izuku. They start hanging out more, even going as far as going to each other’s houses. They make friends with Shouta’s parents and they have dinner together. Inko watches as their boys’ eyes soften and hands linger as they get older. She’s not surprised when her boys (they’re grown men to everyone else, but, she’ll always consider them to be her boys) come home one day for dinner to tell her they’re dating. There’s a lot of tears and tissues, but, ultimately she’s ecstatic for them.
rocky: im not a scientist, im like the least qualified person on this ship, the only reason i survived while the actual scientists died was pure dumb luck :(
ryland grace's internal monologue like every five seconds: oh my god this guy is like a supergenius, he's literally the best engineer i've ever seen, there's no way every other eridian is this smart, like do you even KNOW how cool you are-
meanwhile grace is like: im a coward, im selfish, i put myself over the entire world, im not brave
and rockys like: grace is the bravest person ive ever met. he is brave and selfless in ways he cannot see yet and if he will not tell himself that then i will say it for him
in a world where grace eventually goes back to earth when erid is ready to make full contact. he's officially an eridian and earth dual citizen and is a physically very old man. it's also been a lot of earth years since he was here, especially due to time dilation. he comes off the eridian lander in a hoverchair accompanied by rocky in his little xenonite suit and is like wow, fresh air. rocky isn't it so beautiful here. rocky this is the ground i used to walk on. rocky this is the food i used to eat. rocky these are the people you helped me save. amaze amaze amaze.
and his speech has taken on eridian habits from years of only really communicating in eridian: he drops and raises octaves to show emotion, he's speaks melodically and with a rythmn that pings as music when you first hear it. his creaky old man voice is that of somebody who has spent their whole life singing, somebody who speaks for a living, because he's both of those things. his syntax is strange and his sentences are structured oddly. he looks around at everything with the delight and wonder of somebody who thought he'd never see any of this again.
he watches a sunset. he watches the rain fall. he watches a spider spin a web. he watches a waterfall. he smells and tastes and feels and sees and hears all of the things he left behind. he misses his home on erid. he's never been happier to be anywhere in his life. it's strange. rocky, it's strange. this isn't home, anymore. but it's still part of me. rocky, it's strange.
there's a statue of him in every major city he visits. he stands in front of the school he used to teach at, which was named after a dead president when he was here. now it's called ryland grace memorial middle school. it was named for him as the sun got brighter and the earth mourned his sacrifice yet again, but praised him for saving them. the lab he used to teach in, on the days he got to lead practical experiments, is named after rocky. rocky, it's for you! they love you, too! rocky, this sign is for you, it says your name!
eva stratt is an old woman, now. she was pardoned, in the end, in the wave of relief that followed the beatles' arrival with the taumeba. she's lived out the rest of her life quietly, ambition tamped down in the wake of it all. she's still sharp. harsh. she greets grace with an, "I told you so," but even after so many years, grace can see that she's glad to see him. glad he survived. glad he doesn't seem angry with her.
and it's not that grace has forgive her. he explains this to her over a cup of strong, black coffee. rocky explores the forest to give them time to speak. it's not that he forgives her. what she did, the decision she made for him, it wasn't right. it wasn't good. it saved the world, yes, but it wasn't fair. but. but, he says. i have a good life. i have friends. i have a classroom. i know now that you were wrong about me, back then. i am not a coward, and i am not selfish. i was afraid. i was terrified. i was lost. and now i am none of those things. i do not forgive you, but i am not angry with you, either. it is what it is. rocky and i, we saved two worlds. i can live with that, even if i don't forgive you. and eva stratt nods and understands. and they finish their coffee.
a handful of grace's students, the last class he taught before being wrapped up in the end of the world, they ask to see him. not all of them. some of them didn't make it through the disasters that came with the years long dimming. some of them never really believed that grace was the one who saved the world, falling into the rhetoric of those who say the whole thing was a hoax, and the weather patterns fixing themselves is just proof of it. but the ones who do come are surprised when grace remembers each of their names. remembers where they sat in his classroom, and the jokes they thought were funny and the jokes they thought were lame. they talk to him and he remembers throwing them beanbags in the end of the world and trying to make them laugh. when grace laughs at something rocky sings into the world, he's laughing through more than a few tears. he tells his students, the kids he saved the world for, that they've just been called leaky blobs by the other savior of the world.
when his students leave, grace sits in the setting sun, strong and warm, and looks out over the ocean. rocky, isn't it beautiful? rocky, don't you see? we made this possible, rocky. we saved them. we saved this. rocky, we did it.
and for maybe the first time since it all started, grace believes it. rocky, we did it. we did it. we saved them. we did it.
I noticed that a lot of reading orders out there are unnecessarily complicated, which is probably scaring lots of new readers away. So here is Bird’s ultimate guide for newbies who want to start reading NightWing comics!
Robin: Year One
Robin & Batman
Teen Titans: Year One
He founds the Teen Titans, though all of their stories are like, ancient. If you want to read them, you can find a reading order online. The only one you really need to read is
The New Teen Titans: The Judas Contract
I’m going to skip some stuff now, but they aren’t suuuper important. This guide is just for beginners- if you want to flesh out your knowledge, I can provide a more detailed guide in the future. But the issues I’m excluding aren’t super important! I leave you with one piece of advice: Devin Grayson sucks. If you see her name on the cover of a Dick Grayson story, brace yourself.
NightWing (1996-2009)
Also you should totally read NightWing: Year One!
Some time in his 1996 solo series, he creates the Outsiders following the events of
Titans/ Young Justice: Graduation Day
For more info on the Outsiders, read
The Outsiders (2003-2007)
Let’s move on now. The next few stories are crucial to his character. Essentially, Dick becomes Batman for some time.
Batman: Battle for the Cowl
Batman and Robin (2009)
Then New 52 happens. Read
NightWing (2011-2014)
Now, the next things I’m going to recommend are important background for what will soon happen to NightWing. I cannot stress enough how much you should read them. You will seriously be so confused if you don’t.
Justice League: Trinity War
Forever Evil (search up a separate reading guide for this)
Following the events of Forever Evil comes my favorite NightWing story ever!
Grayson
It’s actually so good omg. But anyways, moving on, it’s Rebirth time!
NightWing (2016-2021)
NightWing (2021-present day)
LMK if you have any questions, or if there are any other reading orders you want!
Compiled first for my personal use and tidied up for @jonkentweek ! Goes up to June 2024 and includes every appearance of this character that I could find. I used ComicVine's archive to track these down, which is both fallible and constantly being updated, so there might be some mistakes. Also, I did my best to highlight the occasions where Jon was a significant character in a story and to skip the ones that were just a non-speaking, one-panel cameo, but those were personal judgements and your mileage might vary.
Color key (and apologies for the eye strain): Red are issues in which Jon is a central character, not just a cameo, Blue are crossover events, Orange are stories that take place in alternate universes/are non canonical
Optional stuff you can read for historical context:
Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow? (1997) a classic possible future story, which is, to my knowledge, the 1st time a character named Jon who is Superman’s kid appears
Son of Superman (1999) a self-contained, now AU, story about a teen Jon Kent, very classic 90s young adult comic with all the tropes that come with that, but enjoyable as the proto-iteration of Jon as an idea
Canon appearances start here
The Final Days of Superman crossover event: Superman (2011) 51-52, Batman/Superman (2013) 31-32, Action Comics (2011) 51-52, Superman/Wonder Woman (2013) 28-29 (This is the origin story of the Clark, Lois and Jon that the comics follow in Rebirth. Largely ignored by writers, as it was written to patch up New52 weirdness, but there are occasional references that might be confusing if you skip it completely.)
Convergence (2015) 5, 8
Superman: Lois and Clark (2015) 1-8 (Establishes Jon and his family in the DCU)
The Man of Steel (2018) 1-6 (central from issue 4 onwards)
Superman (2018) 1, 4-12, 14-16, 20, 29-32
Adventures of the Super Sons (2018) 1-12
Justice League (2018) 9, 23-25, 34, 52, 75, Annual 2022
Super Sons/Dynomutt Special (2018)
Super Sons: The Polarshield Project (AU trilogy of graphic novels)
Supergirl (2016) 8, 30-33
DCeased (2019) 1-6 (what if DC but zombies?)
Super Sons: The Foxglove Mission
Lois Lane (2019) 3-4, 6
Legion of Super-Heroes: Millennium 2
Legion of Super-Heroes (2019) 1-12
Dark Knight Returns: The Golden Child
Green Lantern: Blackstars 2-3
The Terrifics (2018) 25
Teen Titans (2016) 15, 43, 45-46
DCeased: Hope at World’s End (2020) 1, 4-5, 9-15
Robin 80th Anniversary 100-Page Super Spectacular (in the short Super Sons story)
DCeased: Dead Planet (2020) 1-7
Super Sons: Escape to Landis
Batman/Superman (2019) Annual 1
Challenge of the Super Sons (2020) 1-14
Dark Knights: Death Metal The Last Stories of the DC Universe (2020) (in the Superman short story)
Dark Knights: Death Metal The Secret Origin (2021)
Dark Knights: Death Metal The Last 52 War of the Multiverses (2021) (in the Superman parts of the story)
DC Nation Presents Future State (2020) (intro, information and behind-the-scenes for Future State)
Future State: Superman of Metropolis (2021) 1-2 (Future State is another possible future, meaning that it’s not necessarily canon, but it takes place in the future of the main canon, not in a complete AU, like say, Dark Knights of Steel. Technically not necessary to understand main universe stories, but a few popular characters and characterizations were brought over to the main universe.)
Future State: Justice League (2021) 1-2
Future State: Superman/Wonder Woman (2021) 1-2
Future State: Kara Zor-el, Superwoman (2021) 1
Future State: Legion of Super-Heroes (2021) 2
Infinite Frontier (2021) 0 (establishes the main universe status quo from this point on, feat. a synopsis of Jon’s life up to here)
Challenge of the Super Sons (2021) 1-7
Superman: Son of Kal-el (2021) 1-18, Annual 1
Shazam! (2021) 1
Superman Red and Blue (2021) 6 (in the short story The Special, but this mini series in general is cute and I recommend it)
Justice League vs. The Legion of Super-Heroes (2022) 1-6
Superman & Robin Special (2022) 1
DC’s Round Robin (2021) 2 (in the short story Superboy: The Man of Tomorrow)
Nightwing (2016) 89, 91-92, 101-104, 110, 112-113
Earth-Prime (2022) 2 (story based on the CW show Superman and Lois)
DC Pride (2022) (in the short story Super Pride)
Justice League: Road to Dark Crisis (2022) (in the short story Team Up)
Dark Crisis (2022) 1-7
Dark Crisis: Young Justice (2022) 1
Dark Crisis: Worlds Without A Justice League: Superman (2022) 1
DCeased: War of the Undead Gods (2022) 1, 4-5, 7-8
DC’s Terrors Through Time (2022) (in the short story Trick or Treat)
Dark Crisis: The Deadly Green (2022) 1
The Death of Superman 30th Anniversary Special (2023) (in The Life of Superman short story)
Dark Crisis: The Dark Army (2023)
Superman: Kal-El Returns Special (2023) (in the short story Distractions)
Lazarus Planet: Assault on Krypton (2023) (in the short story Electric)
Batman (2016) 131-132 (in the Tim Drake Robin chapters)
Superman (2023) 2-3, 9
Lazarus Planet: Omega (2023)
Power Girl Special (2023)
Adventures of Superman: Jon Kent (2023) 1-6
Superboy: The Man of Tomorrow (2023) 1 (edited version of the story in Round Robin)
DC Pride (2023) (in the short story My Best Bet)
Titans: Beast World (2024) 3-4, 6
Titans: Beast World Tour: Metropolis (2024)
Trinity Special (2024) (taken from the backups of Wonder Woman 2023 plus some extra)
Yes, when the original post is deleted from the server (not just the blog, but the Tumblr servers), there is no root post for notes to be added onto, and also no root post for time to be counted from, so it starts from zero. Most computer operating systems use Unix, which was launched in 1971 with t.he epoch date of midnight on January 1, 1970 as 1. Therefore zero is one second behind that date: December 31, 1969. Also, very unfortunately, this also means nobody except you and anyone you reblog it to will see this explanation, as you cannot open the notes to see comments when there are no notes.
This first image from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope is the deepest and sharpest infrared image of the distant universe to date. Known as Webb’s First Deep Field, this image of galaxy cluster SMACS 0723 is overflowing with detail. Thousands of galaxies – including the faintest objects ever observed in the infrared – have appeared in Webb’s view for the first time. This slice of the vast universe covers a patch of sky approximately the size of a grain of sand held at arm’s length by someone on the ground.
Just because the James Webb Telescope is getting all the attention right now DOES NOT give you a right to shit on the Hubble Telescope!! She has been in operation since 1990! That's 32 fucking years of helping us pursue humanities greatest dream!! She has made incredibly important scientific discoveries and has sent us the most stunning pictures of our universe. Put some respect on her name!!!
