#gidgegraphic

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DickKory Week Day 1: Flaws / Unconditional Love

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Kpop Demon Hunters Fic Recs: Some Addictive Rujinu

Nobody's Child by @zoinkssc00b: In a world where demons are subject to A/B/O dynamics, Rumi is in for a rude awakening about her alpha demon biology. Despite having 400 years to adapt to his own omega reality, nothing could prepare Jinu for being with her when it starts. Feat. a lot of fascinating world-building regarding the Saja boys, and demons in general.

my dear, i'll give you permisison by hexmunculus: all-human AU. When Rumi and Jinu are forced to collaborate by their respective companies, they struggle to even say a nice word to each other. But as Rumi presses on, she finds that the friendship they once had--long before their debuts--might have ended for a reason she would never have guessed.

ECHOES by @dayeongi: Rumi isn't exactly sure how she traveled 400 years into the past, but she certainly recognizes Jinu when she sees him. She can't watch him and his family struggle without helping them. But that works out, because as a girl out of time, she's going to need some help in return.

Tax Evasion by @emletish-fish: When Jinu returns from the demon world to be with Rumi, he' s woefully unprepared for life in the human world. Good thing Zoey has some ideas . Some of those ideas are going to lead them right back to the Saja Boys and unveiling the depth of their chaos.

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DC Fanfic Recs: Tim/Cassie Collection

Chains of Gold by @froldgapp: Cassie's time at college has its ups and downs, and during a particularly bad Valentine's Day, a chance encounter with Tim allows for re-connection and a little healing.

Connected by beef_wonder3: Tim's feeling disconnected. Cassie helps.

Blood of the Covenant by @soleminisanction: In which Cassie accompanies Tim on his quest to find Batman, and being together make all the difference.

Orpheus Rising by clockstrikesthree: Tim dies, and Cassie can’t handle it. She sets out to bring him back, Orpheus style.

Playing Detective by @weekend-conspiracy-theorist: Cassie reaches out to Tim following the events of The Trial of the Amazons.

i couldn't hide from the thunder and a sky full of song by @luvo27: It's Cassie's turn to have a breakdown and Tim's turn to offer a shoulder and solutions. Friendship fic.

My Memories Came Back (in the form of someone else) by owls_teddies_confetti_oh_my: Cassie is missing something. Multiple somethings that may really be some ones. Tim's heart has holes. He can't fill them no matter what he does. Jinny, Keli, and Amy are just along for the ride.

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DC Fanfic Recs: Bat-Bro Angst & Irony

Words Like Poison by nightwalker: After the events of Red Robin, Dick pushes Tim and Damian to mend their relationship. Tim suspects this will kill him more surely than the poison he's been finding in his coffee. (Note: to me, this is the pinnacle of Dick-&-Tim-resolve-their-RR-bs. Oh so satisfying.)

1-800 GOTHAM by @goldfishinaplasticbag: A young Tim helps Gotham as an emergency hotline operator. When he recieves an invitation to work with the Bats as his fake, adult pseudonym, he must conjure up a new persona to meet with them in person.

3:00 AM in Gotham by @inkpotsprite: With a heavy heart, Tim takes his leave of Gotham and the bats. They miss him.

A Thousand Ninjas by @silverwhittlingknife: Dick & Tim through the years.

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SW Fanfic Recs: Leia vs the 4th Dimension

Like Fire in Our Bones by acuteneurosis: The Force tosses Leia into the whirling dessert of Tatooine, years before her birth. There, she's found by the grandmother she never knew, and given a chance to write over the history of their family and the galaxy.

Of Queens, Knights, and Pawns by chancecraz. General Leia Organa goes to sleep on the day of her husbands death... only to wake up on the day her planet was destroyed. (As far as experiences go, she doesn't recommend it.)

Lé the Handmaiden Series by romanticinapanic: Cordé’s replacement is almost as close to the perfect handmaiden as one can be. Adept at both combat and politics, with a striking resemblance to Padmé, Lé’s only drawback is her mysterious, but burning hatred for Anakin.

Edges of the World by glompcat: Leia Skywalker believes she's ready for her trials as a jedi knight of the Republic. But nothing's gonna shake that confidence quite like swapping places with her double from a dark timeline. (Warning, unfinished)

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Gidge's Guide to Amethyst

I did one of these a while back, but with reeaallly low-quality images. These days, there’s more Amethyst stuff out there, and that’s worth an update in its own right.

Amy’s first appearance was technically in Legion of Super-Heroes #298 which featured a “pull-out preview comic” to entice people into picking up the maxi-series. I’ve yet to get my mitts on it to confirm if it’s just sample art from the maxi-series, or has dialogue/art never seen anywhere else. Regardless, your best starting point is probably gonna be…

I. 1980’s 12-issue Maxi-Series (+ follow-up Annual)

High jump-through-portal fantasy. Fantastic creatures, creepy villains, magical royalty, intricate world building that explains some things and lets your brain fill in the gaps for others, and consistently gorgeous art. Can’t recommend enough.

The annual shown takes place after the maxi-series and sets the stage for the ongoing series that follows.

Get it by Patron methods: Dc Universe Series Page DC’s Showcase via Amazon or Abe Books (Note: no color art for showcase, only black & white)

Get it by Peasant methods: Over here. 💎

II. 1980’s 16-issue Ongoing Series (+ follow-up Annual)

While there is a lot of fantastic stuff going on with the ongoing series, it is more of a mixed bag.

While I am forever in love with cover of issue #11, I remember turning to page 1 and wondering what the heck happened to the inside art. It’s not bad, really. It just doesn’t meet the high bar of the covers (or earlier interiors). Looking back, I realized the art was getting less detailed well before that, but my reading was all over the place as a kid bc I’d just read whatever issues I could find.

This here, at issue #12, is actually a good place to stop. By which I mean, the next 4 issues + special reek of grimdark edge-lord bs that doesn’t even make sense without reading Crisis on Infinite Earths. However, if you wish to proceed…

The final issue of the ongoing is technically a cliffhanger, and the Special grants the writers the extra pages they need to finish wrapping up their whole Lords of Order & Chaos/Dr. Fate tie-in.

After this, someone in DC editorial raised their pencil and went “Hey! What if we made the Gemworld the origin for one of our Legion of Super-Heroes villains?” And thus…

Get it by Patron methods: Dc Universe Series Page DC’s Showcase via Amazon or Abe Books (Note: no color art for showcase, only black & white) (Also note: Showcase contains both Maxi and Ongoing series)

Get it by Peasant methods: Over here. ⚔️

III. 1980’s 4-issue Mini-Series

This thing is all kinds of whack, but it is gorgeous. I get the impression that when Kieth Giffen and Mindy Newell were assigned this sucker, they just read a summary of the OG series and winged it.

Probably not, since they technically wrote those final issues of the ongoing, but that’s how it feels. Despite this, it’s grown on me like a fungus, and the mind-blowing art by Esteban Moroto is, like, 98% of the reason why.

Amethyst is always at her weirdest when Dc is trying to tie her in with the rest of the DCU. In this case, the mini is supposed to explain how a Legion of Super-Heroes villain has origins that go back to the Gemworld. Why? Idk. But if I remember correctly, it was even part of the advertising for this series.

Get it by Patron methods: … you can’t. There are no re-prints of any kind and it’s tough to track down. If ye crave this treasure, best ye look to piracy, matey.

Get it by Peasant methods: Over here. 🔮

IV. 2012’s DC Nation Amethyst Cartoon Shorts

In hindsight, these may have been made as the advent of the Sword of Sorcery series, but they really were a charming sip of water after two decades of nothin’. A cute lil’ standalone series that turns the Gemworld into a video game. Amy is then, of course, sucked into it.

Fun fact: the producer, @briannedrouhard is on tumblr, and often posts art and further ideas she had for the series.

Watch it: Full Series is officially free on Youtube. 👸🏼

IV. 2013’s Sword of Sorcery: Amethyst

This New 52 eight-issue (9 included the ‘0’ issue, oy) series got my hopes up after all those years, but I gotta admit I was a bit disappointed by the completely new supporting cast. Apart from Amy herself, none of the original characters made it into the series.

It feels likely a completely different fantasy series with an “Amethyst” label slapped on it. That said, Aaron Lopresti’s art is beautiful, and this version of Amy—Amaya—eventually joined the New 52’s Justice League Dark and picked up a bit of a cult appreciation over there.

That said, I’ve had some spoilers for her time on JLDark, and the storyline is just a bit… too… dark for my tastes. So I’m quite content to see her nu52 series retconed, even though I did nearly collect all 9 issues.

Get it by Patron methods: Dc Universe Series Page TPB via Amazon or B&N

Get it by Peasant methods: Over here. 💜

V. 2019’s Wonder Comics - Young Justice: Gemworld

Remember how I said Amethyst always gets weird when she collides with the greater DCU? Yeah, forget I said that. Never mind. Most brilliant combo idea since peanut butter and jelly.

No, I’m not biased not at all bc I’m a big Young Justice fan. Nope. Ok. Maybe a lil’ bit. While the continuity here is it’s own thing, there are a lot of nods to the original Gemworld in the world-building.

Does this series fully explore the potential of all the ideas in it? Frankly, no. YJ fans complained a lot about the lack of breathing space in this series for a reason. But I’m still happy with it and happily re-reading it for the fun ideas it slaps together.

If you are reading this for the Amethyst, however, there isn’t much point in reading past issue 6, aka volume 1 of the trade. After that point, Amy stops getting much spotlight, though she remains on the team’s roster until the series’ end.

Get it by Patron methods: Dc Universe Series Page TPB via Amazon or B&N

Get it by Peasant methods: Over here. ✨

VI. 2020’s Wonder Comics - Amethyst Miniseries

The fact that both this series and the YJ one appear under the “Wonder Comics” label is a bit misleading. They do not share any continuity at all. However, the opening splash page of the first issue references multiple events from original Amethyst continuity!

Later world-building details make it clear that this is a different version of Amy and the Gemworld, but Amy Reeder’s affection for the original series remains apparent.

Get it by Patron methods: Dc Universe Series Page TPB via Amazon or B&N

Get it by Peasant methods: Over here. 👑

VII. 2021’s Amethyst, Princess of Gemworld by Shannon & Dean Hale

This one is actually a kid-oriented graphic novel. Again, with its own continuity and world-building. I think the thing that stands out to me the most about this take is that the Hales give Amy a kid brother and make him quite relevant to the plot.

It’s pretty stand-alone and not really marketed as a comic book per se, but it is charming and the art is quite cute.

Get it by Patron methods: Graphic novel via Amazon or B&N Get it by Peasant methods: Over here.

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In Summary:

“Original” Amethyst Continuity (by Dan Mishkin & Gary Cohn and later Kieth Giffen & Mindy Newell ) is contained in Volumes 1-3. This is made of up the Maxi-series, Ongoing, and Mini-series from the 80's.

New52 Sword of Sorcery Continuity (by Christy Marx) is completely separate and self-contained.

Wonder Comics: Young Justice continuity (by Brian Michael-Bendis) is separate and self-contained, but has many nods to original continuity in it.

Wonder Comics: Amethyst mini-series continuity (by Amy Reeder) is mostly separate and self-contained, but implies that it shares events with the Volume 1 maxi-series.

Kid-friendly properties like Brianne Drouhard’s DC Nation shorts or Shannon and Dean Hale’s graphic novel make for fun additions, though they were not marketed as though they might tie in with any comics.

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DC Fanfic Recs: Titans Spotlight

Language of Commitment by batofgoodintent: Kory gives Dick a deadline. It's a test with their future at stake. Dick/Kory.

Dinner of Doom by flameonbette: Brain and Mallah take Gar prisoner. Then they invite him to stay for dinner. Mentions of Gar/Raven.

The Last of the Real Ones by dottie_dc: Vic wrestles with his sense of self. The Titans try to help. Sometimes try is the key word. Heaven-Heavy Souls by Anonymous: Jason Todd and Tara Markov meet in the afterlife.

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I played the otome Even If Tempest and am experiencing a bit of obsession. So have some wallpapers.

Thanks to @rinmemesuoka and zerochan.net for the transparencies.