flashybaby

[flashybaby]

Wanted to do a Tōkon: Fighting Souls version of Songbird

[flashybaby]

[flashybaby]

Looking through Letterboxed right now, apparently the Joker himself put up a review of it.

"0/5, funniest thing I've ever seen. I'll have to pay Todd a visit for some sequel ideas."

So... what's the consensus on that Joker movie? I know a lot of people thought it was crass to use the iconography of a supervillain and attempt to use it for a sympathetic character.

Oh I loved it. The direction was great, the music was excellent. Really a director at the top of their craft taking a hard edged, uncomfortable look at mental illness, show business, the collapse of the American dream and the obsession with celebrity. And I mean the cast, Robert De Niro, Tony Randall, Jerry Lewis, Diahnne Abbot and a script from Zimmerman that doesn't miss just... Oh no wait, I'm obviously confusing Joker for The King of Comedy, a film from 43 goddamn years ago that WB tried to pass off as something other than reheated leftovers by slapping a real life psychopath on the front.

(The Poster for WB's 2019 film 'Joker')

To call is crass is a deep understatement, trying to ride the wave of a mean spirited meme of people with no actual problems in their lives idolizing and philosophizing about a man who would turn them all into Jack-O-Lanterns for looking at him funny. As if it could possibly be appropriate to use the Joker, a criminal who is very much ALIVE and still committing his crimes on a semi regular basis to this day as some sort of a heavy handed metaphor for what, the underclass? It's insulting. To equate people who are struggling day after day just to guy by with the clothes on their back with a performative serial killer in a purple suit.

I've said it before I will say it again. Even if we knew a single thing about the Joker's life story for certain (which we don't) none of it would excuse for a SECOND the things he has done. He's insane in a purely medical sense, as far as the law is concerned, as far as the law SHOULD be concerned he is in charge of as many mental faculties as could possibly be needed to stand trial for his crimes. He knows the difference between right and wrong, CHOOSES to commit evil action and then chooses to do it again. To use him as any kind of general metaphor for the mentally ill or the underprivileged, the poor, the forgotten is to give the man far more credit than he will EVER deserve. The Joker is not your avatar, no matter what you're suffering he has no philosophy and certainly no philosophy that will have anything to do with YOUR well-being.

And you know what gets me? You know what REALLY grinds me up inside? When every single film with a tone darker than the Looney Tunes set in Gotham feels the need to make itself fucking important by trotting out the death of the Waynes. A real tragedy that happened to real people within living memory. To have actors playing Bruce Wayne and Alfred Pennyworth, two men who were directly impacted by the tragedy, who are both still ALIVE and working every day to overcome it. To put them in this movie making wild and fanciful accusations on Thomas Wayne's propriety, it's sick.

Thomas Wayne's son saw himself in this movie, an effigy of his own tarnished childhood pushed out under the spotlight for all the people to cluck their tongues and shake their heads at the grime and cruelty of poor old, broken Gotham.

Alfred Pennyworth, a man who has stood with his spine unbent and his heart unbroken for DECADES since the deaths of his employers and friends on that night in Crime Alley. Who drove in the middle of the night to pick up their son and has stood by him ever since in the NAME of that friendship and love.

You want to know what I think of this movie? I want you to ask Dick Grayson, or Tim Drake, or Cassandra Cain, or Damian Wayne what they think of the movie that lionizes the man who killed their brother.

[flashybaby]

Btw, something I want to point out that we all kinda skipped over, this guy’s complete disrespect for the real Infinity Inc with the whole ‘Luthor’s Infinity Inc should have kept going thing.’

It baffled me for a while why you supported superpowered menaces such as the aliens Superman or Martian Manhunter, or the freak Batman, or the supposed 'goddess' Wonder Woman. Then I saw you were a Luthor hater. Sorry you're a brainwashed puppet of the masses and not a free thinker. The Infinity Inc project should have kept going, by the way.

Oh good, one of you people. I've been prepared for one of you people.

Alright buttercup let's quit the chitchat and get right to the root of things, shall we?

("President Luthor" was a very in depth historical account of the Luthor administration written by political analyst Ronald Troupe. It is the most recommended source on the subject and a book I both own and had to read for a historical ethics class) Luthor, and his supporters are operating somewhere between a deep Randian self delusion as to the nature of power and a very mundane and pitiful kind of bigotry. All mixed up together in a noxious concoction that's been poisoning society at large since the industrial age at the latest and probably far before Randian politics even had a name. Put in order to fully pry apart the Luthorite "philosophy" we need to take them on one at a time. So let's.

In simplest terms Lex Luthor is a bigot. And he's not even a principled bigot. He hates Superman, the Martian Manhunter, aliens and metahumans and magic users because they have power that he doesn't and have the ability to protect themselves from the dominion that he feels he is owed. He knows people are easier to control when they are kept divided from one another and that anger and hatred sells better whether he's selling weapons to Bialyan dictators or selling xenophobia to the American electorate.

Luthor, like so many heartless billionaires before him sees his own success as both anointing and justification. The final stop on the crazy train of the capitalist prosperity gospel. He's rich and successful and therefore is also a moral good because only good people, smart people, wise people are gifted with success and power.

I hate to tell you my friend but that is bunk on every level. Lex Luthor is a snake whose success comes from the kind of underhanded skullduggery that ALL success at that level comes from. He's lied, cheated and stolen everything he has ever gained and he's left broken bodies, homes, families and communities in his wake because he simply doesn't care who gets hurt because HIS prosperity is higher. Because he's a business leader, right? And employer? Because he just plain knows how to get shit done. And that? THAT is why superheroes piss him off so bad. Because every time he sees Superman lift up the rubble from a chemical explosion HE caused. He sees the court fees he'll have to pay when his safety violations are dragged in front of a court. He hates to see the Justice League standing as vanguard against existential threats because he calculates in his head how much he could be strong arming the United Nations to paying out for some kind of privatized security force.

Superheroes are too principled to be bribed, too powerful to be threatened, too connected to be divided and too unassailable to be undercut by the newspapers he keeps in his back pocket. He's afraid of them for the same reason McCarthy was afraid of them in the 50s. Because he knows for a FACT that eventually he will step out of line and they will come down on him like a bag of hammers simply because it is RIGHT. He despises Superman because Superman has power that Lex Luthor knows he would abuse. And so he must convince himself that ALL people would abuse them. Because for all his genius he doesn't have the two cents worth of wisdom needed to feel the yawning, flinty pit where his heart was supposed to grow in at some point. And the best part is even DECADES after the world got to see him for who and what he is, when he got impeached by the representatives of our republic for putting life on Earth at risk to make Superman look bad. TWICE. He still has yippy little terriers like you marching along at his heel. And he wouldn't spit on you if you burst into flames.

[flashybaby]

Trans folks! I mean this so seriously:

Carry a pocket knife. Keep pepper spray on your key chain. Take a gun safety course. Have a baseball bat in your car. Buy a dashcam. Learn to punch without hurting your wrist and knuckles. Keep a mask in your bag.

No matter how safe you think your town/city/country is, it's important to know how to defend ourselves and our queer siblings.

[flashybaby]

Tumblr X-Men community, how do you feel about the costume decisions for my Marvel vs DC crossover fighting game hypothetical?

Base roster X-Men characters above the keep reading, DLC X-Men characters below.

[flashybaby]

tumblr: on languages

[flashybaby]

hi everyone hello my name is @estrogenesis-eeveeangelion and i am brand new to tumblr can you reblog this post in case anybody randomly wants to follow me just because i seem niceys? thanks 😇😇

[flashybaby]

[flashybaby]

My Marvel Universe: Year One

I apologize if this first year is rather uninteresting. It's the setup year after all, this is the beginning. The start of the age of Marvels.

January: 

32 year old Doctor Stephen Strange’s hands are irreparably damaged due to a car accident. He will never be able to perform another surgery again. Not long after, he disappears entirely, going completely off the grid with his last known sighting being in Tibet.

20 year old fashion icon Janet Van Dyne and 32 year old scientist Henry Pym meet for the first time, due to Pym’s fascination with Janet’s unique abilities, and a belief that it would be compatible with his pre-existing research into ants. They form a working relationship.

February: 

35 year old scientist Reed Richards, 28 year old scientist Susan Storm, 36 year old pilot Benjamin Grimm, and 17 year old flying prodigy Johnny Storm go missing after taking a joyride with an experimental spacecraft and getting blasted with cosmic radiation. They are proclaimed missing, but assumed dead. 

40 year old scientist and former teacher Charles Xavier finishes preparations for Xavier’s School for Gifted Children, hiring people with unique capabilities, as well as average people, as staff. 

27 year old inventor and CEO of Stark Industries Tony Stark finalizes work on his repulsor technology, creating energy weaponry.

March: 

The missing Reed, Ben and the Storm siblings make their grand reappearance as the Fantastic Four, doing battle against the recluse known as the Mole Man. This is the official start of what will be known as the Age of Marvels.

The government agency SHIELD becomes a public entity following this, having begun private investigations into many scientists that could push the field of science to unseen heights.

Professor Xavier, emboldened by the support the Four received following their first appearance, hosts a scientific conference revealing the existence of mutants to the world. The controversy that follows does not deter the Professor, as he begins his own plans for a mutant superhero team following in the Four’s footsteps. 

26 year old Bruce Banner finalizes his research into gamma radiation, preparing to show his findings to his backer, 50 year old General Thaddeus ‘Thunderbolt’ Ross.

April: 

The Fantastic Four continue to stun and amaze the world with their exploits and scientific discoveries. 

In response to the growing anti-mutant sentiments sweeping the world, Janet Van Dyne comes out as one, becoming a stalwart advocate for mutant rights. 

Bruce Banner’s demonstration of gamma weaponry goes awry, as he goes into the blast zone to protect 16 year old drifter Erica ‘Ric’ Jones, becoming a monster known as the Hulk. 

Pym’s research into Janet's mutant biology provides results, as he discovers unique energy particles that grant her the ability to shrink her size and becomes able to recreate them, though he can’t recreate her energy blasts or wings. He calls them ‘Van Dyne Particles’ at first, though Janet gives him permission to call them ‘Pym Particles,’ which the media and scientific world runs with. With this discovery, Janet and Pym become a superhero duo, at her insistence for positive mutant representation, becoming Ant-Man and the Wasp. Janet acts as an active superhero, while Pym acts as more of a scientific advisor.

May:

Tony Stark goes missing following a plane crash in Madripoor where he’s kidnapped and tortured by a gang of pirates using his technology, ending up with shrapnel lodged in his heart. With the help of 73 year old physicist Ho Yinsen, he manages to create a life-support system to keep himself alive, and create a suit of armor that manages to help him escape from the pirates, though sadly, Yinsen dies before they can make it out together. He is rescued in Singapore by his best friend and 29 year old U.S. Air Force Captain James ‘Rhodey’ Rhodes. 

The Hulk becomes seen by some as a hero for helping to defeat villains like the Abomination and the Bi-Beast as well as his gentle nature when calm and by others as a villain for his destructive rampages. He himself just wants to be left alone.

36 year old ruler of Latveria Doctor Victor Von Doom has his first encounter with the Fantastic Four, officially beginning a rivalry between himself and their leader, Reed Richards based off of their history in college.

Janet quickly becomes a superstar of the burgeoning superhero community, with Pym becoming a juggernaut of the scientific community alongside Reed Richards. There are rumors of a romantic relationship between the two, which isn’t completely unfounded.

26 year old lawyer Matt Murdock begins his first work as a vigilante, though he hasn’t developed the Daredevil persona as of yet, merely acting as a nameless fighter.

June:

28 year old Tony Stark officially begins his work as Iron Man, posing as his own bodyguard.

Thor Odinson is sent to Midgard, or Earth, by his father to learn humility, taking the guise of 34 year old doctor Donald Blake. He quickly becomes a notorious superhero, as both theologists and scientists are baffled by his mere existence, and as a result, the existence of magic.

Professor Xavier and his allies, 30 year old Sean Cassidy and 23 year old Shiro Yoshida, known as the Japanese hero, Sunfire, go around the world to find worthy candidates for his X-Men team. They discover a mysterious man in Japan with incredible healing capabilities as well as claws of the rare metal adamantium going only by the name of Logan, a 23 year old Kenyan-American woman with power over weather being worshipped as a goddess named Ororo Munroe, a 20 year old Russian farmer with steel skin named Piotr Rasputin, and a 24 year old German circus attraction with a blue demon-like appearance and the ability to teleport named Kurt Wagner. They are hired by Xavier to serve as staff at his school, as well as to be the founding members of his X-Men.

Ben Grimm, the Thing, and the Hulk have their first confrontation when the Fantastic Four are asked to hunt down the Jade Giant, quickly becoming rivals with each other as the Hulk suffers his first ever loss.

July:

WWII hero and former member of the Invaders, a government superhero team made by the Allies, Namor the Sub-Mariner makes his first reappearance in an encounter with the Fantastic Four. It’s rumored that the reason for his seeming immortality is his half-Atlantean biology. 

Earth has its first public experience with extraterrestrial life, as a small squad of Skrulls impersonate the Four using their shapeshifting abilities in an attempt to discredit them and have the public destroy them.

Tony Stark works with Reed Richards and Henry Pym to plan an expo to show their super-science to the world. Bruce Banner is invited, but chooses not to attend due to his condition, allowing them to discuss his research without him.

The X-Men are officially brought to America to serve as staff at Xavier’s school after a month of training and preparation.

August:

The Stark Expo goes off without a hitch, defended by Iron Man and the Wasp, who become fast friends, from the tech thief known as the Beetle, 33 year old Abner Jenkins. It is noted that one of 47 year old scientist’s Jonathan Drew’s radiation treated spiders went missing, assumed to be killed by foot traffic. Sadly, expo creator, organizer, and primary funder Tony Stark is unable to attend and demonstrate, his primary assistant 28 year old Virginia ‘Pepper’ Potts filling in his place.

The missing spider bites and empowers 17 year old Peter Parker, attending the expo with his friends, 18 year old Harry Osborn and 17 year old Mary Jane Watson as a birthday present from his aunt and uncle. Over the next few days, Peter’s life radically changes as he gains superpowers, using them to compete in a wrestling shoot match for profit. He allows a criminal to get away, leading to his uncle, 50 year old Benjamin Parker, to be shot dead, widowing 48 year old May Parker. Following this, Peter Parker creates the identity of Spider-Man. In his first official night as Spider-Man, he’s spotted crawling out of his window by Mary Jane, who keeps his identity secret out of respect and love.

Professor Xavier goes searching for the first students of his school, finding 15 year old Scott Summers in a foster home with bandage wrap forced over his eyes, 16 year old Hank McCoy excelling in his athletic pursuits with his gorilla like body, and 14 year old Bobby Drake having frozen a homophobic bully in a block of ice for calling him a slur. 15 year old Warren Worthington III is given to Xavier by his father, an old friend of Xavier, for his own protection. This gives Xavier an idea.

September:

Peter breaks into the Fantastic Four’s Baxter Building, as a way to ‘try out’ for the team, in hopes of getting a job. While told off by the team, he does make friends with them, particularly Johnny, due to being the same age.

Signs of alien activity in Earth's history starts to become apparent, as the Fantastic Four battle against an ancient robot sentry claiming to have been created by a race known as the Kree.

Editor in Chief of the famously anti-superhero, pro everything else left news organization the Daily Bugle, 52 year old J. Jonah Jameson hires Peter Parker due to his impressive photography skills, not knowing that he’s secretly Spider-Man, Jameson’s most hated hero.

October:

The X-Men, made up of Logan, Ororo, Piotr, and Kurt make their first public appearance under the identities of Wolverine, Storm, Colossus, and Nightcrawler respectively, fighting against the mutant supervillain, and Xavier’s old friend, Magneto, ?? (40 years old, physically) year old Holocaust survivor Erik Lensherr, preventing him from taking over a military base. While they are considered heroes, anti-mutant bigots take into account the casualties that they failed to prevent, holding them to impossible standards that other heroes aren’t.

Xavier discovers the 15 year old mutant Jean Grey in a New York suburb, sensing an incredibly powerful being within her. He decides to take her in personally as his direct ward due to this, as well as their similar powers.

Xavier officially opens Xavier’s School for Gifted Children, taking the five young mutants as students, as well as training them to be potential X-Men.

Peter meets Bobby, who is acting as a superhero named Iceman without Xavier’s permission, and they become fast friends. 

November:

The Kree send an up-and-coming Accuser, Ronan, to investigate and judge Earth due to the Kree Sentry’s destruction. He does battle against the Fantastic Four, with them handily beating him despite the power of his Universal Weapon. He determines that Earth is a curious planet worth keeping an eye on, inspiring the Kree to send more agents.

The Skrulls make their first bid for revenge against the Fantastic Four, using cosmic rays to empower one of their greatest warriors, Kl’rt, giving him all the powers of the Fantastic Four, though not as powerful. He almost beats the Four due to his tactical mind but is beaten by Reed making a device to temporarily depower him.

The Four are invited to the highly advanced isolationist African country Wakanda, having a brief encounter with its king and champion, the Black Panther, 30 year old T’Challa. They help him defeat an enemy from his past, 55 year old Ulysses Klaw, and inspire him to become a superhero and ambassador to Wakanda in the states with him appointing the head of his royal guard, the Dora Milaje, 33 year old Okoye, as regent. He also provides the scientific group of Richards, Pym, and Stark with a small cache of Vibranium, a metal with the power to absorb and redirect vibrations that Wakanda has in abundance, for the sake of scientific progress.

Thor and his sibling Loki have their first battle on Earth, with Loki using the power of the Norn Stones to temporarily enhance a gang of criminals to gain enough power to battle against Thor. Loki is defeated, deciding to plot out her next machination more carefully, while some of the criminals retain the power given to them by the Norn Stone, contained in their leader’s crowbar. They later go on to form the Wrecking Crew.

December:

Peter has his first encounter with a man who could be considered one of his greatest enemies, 43 year old Doctor Otto Octavius, Doctor Octopus, a brilliant man denied the recognition he believed he deserved, using his technology to commit crime. He gives Peter his first major loss as Spider-Man, beating him to the point where he considers quitting altogether. Following a pep-talk from Johnny and Bobby, Peter goes after Octavius again, this time beating him.

Sights of a silver being riding on a surfboard in the sky are talked about, most believing it to be nothing more than people seeing things, or hoaxes, or whatnot. The sightings stop after about a week.

The students of Xavier’s School go on their first mission, battling against the Brotherhood of Mutants, a third party in the conflict between Xavier and Magneto, led by Mystique, Raven Darkholme, stealing the idea of training young mutants from Xavier, while adopting more of Magneto’s mindset. The Brotherhood’s membership includes: Mystique’s wife, Irene Adler, Destiny, who has no stakes in the conflict between Xavier, Magneto, and Mystique, merely working with her wife out of love. 15 year old Anna-Marie, Rogue, a troubled girl with the power to steal skills, power, and energy via touch, who forms a rivalry with Jean Grey after temporarily stealing her powers. 14 year old John Allerdyce, Pyro, who forms a rivalry with Bobby due to their opposite power sets. 15 year old Fred Dukes, the Blob, a kid with a layer of protective blubber and personal gravity control, who joined just to be loved and formed a rivalry with Hank McCoy, now going by Beast, due to seeing the two of them as ‘monsters,’ and upset that Hank was loved while he was hated. 16 year old Lance Alvers, Avalanche, a mutant with the power to create quakes, forms a rivalry with Scott Summers, now going by Cyclops, due to his insulting of Xavier and for beating Slim within an inch of his life during their first battle. And their final member, 16 year old Remy LeBeau, also known as Gambit, with the power to charge kinetic energy into objects, who forms a more friendly rivalry with Warren Worthington, now going by Angel, due to his friendly disposition, though they still battle due to being on enemy teams.

Reed Richards and Susan Storm set a date for their wedding, that being the anniversary of the debut of the Fantastic Four.

[flashybaby]

This is potentially life saving information everyone should know.

[flashybaby]

🌟 A Plea from Gaza: Rola’s Story 🌟

Hello, my name is Rola, and I am a mother of two children living in the Gaza Strip. Our lives were once filled with love, laughter, and dreams for the future. But everything changed on October 7th, when the war shattered not only our home but our entire world.

That morning, my family and I were enjoying coffee together on the balcony. Out of nowhere, an explosion erupted, shaking our home violently. My husband and son ran for cover, falling over each other in panic, while I stood frozen, still holding my cup, unable to process the chaos around me. When I looked out the window, I saw that our neighbor’s house, once filled with life, had been reduced to rubble. Ambulances rushed to the scene as people scrambled to rescue the injured and pull bodies from the debris.

The bombings didn’t stop. At night, the rain poured heavily, and the cold seeped into our bones. I stayed awake, covering my children to keep them warm and praying for their safety. But safety is an illusion here. Another explosion shattered the night, and our neighbors’ home was destroyed. Their children, who had been sleeping peacefully under a blanket, were found lifeless, their cover soaked in blood.

I looked at my children with tears in my eyes and thought, How can I protect you? We had to flee our home with nothing but the clothes on our backs. We left behind my children’s toys, their clothes, and their beautiful bedroom. Everything we had worked so hard to build is gone.

Our Current Reality Now, we are displaced and living in a nightmare. Food is scarce, and prices are unimaginably high—$10 for a kilo of sugar! The fear of death hangs over us constantly. My children deserve a life of joy and hope, not one defined by fear and loss. Why can’t we live like everyone else—go to work, visit family, and watch our children play in safety? Why do our children have to grow up surrounded by death and destruction?

How You Can Help I am pleading for your kindness to help us rebuild our lives. We need your support to: 💔 Rebuild our home, so my children can feel safe again. 🌍 Evacuate from Gaza, seeking a future where my family can live with dignity. 🩺 Provide urgent medical care for my children, who need protection from this nightmare.

Even the smallest donation can make a difference. If you can’t donate, please share my story. Every share brings us closer to hope.

What Your Support Means Your kindness is not just about helping us survive; it’s about giving us a chance to dream again. To rebuild what we’ve lost and to ensure my children have a future filled with possibilities, not fear.

Thank you for taking the time to read my story. Your support means the world to us. Let’s work together to rebuild hope, one step at a time.

🌸 Please share our story and consider donating today. 🌸

[flashybaby]

[flashybaby]

Comic Helmut Zemo fans, please help me block out the correct tags, I don’t wanna see a fucking generic guy’s face when I see my beloved megalomaniac, I wanna see pookie’s beautiful purple striped mask.

[flashybaby]

'Don’t Just Do Nothing: 20 Things You Can Do to Counter Fascism' is a zine by Jewish anarchists on how people can organise and act in this changing terrain. Download it (it's free), read, print and distribute it IRL!

[flashybaby]

I want you to remember:

The fascists hate you too and they just will pretend otherwise until after they've killed the rest of us, before they turn on you.

Edit! It's been blazed by now. Thank you, though!