#The part I'm really sad about in all of this is how “tech bro” has become associated with basically everything tech

[upfrog]

An AI-generated art hot-take

Time to get some people mad at me.

I just saw a post where someone was expressing their frustration at generative AI, specifically the risk it poses to artists, and how it continues/worsens/partakes of a tradition of reducing art to a finished product. There was a particular piece of it that made me very annoyed, and I've seen this piece in a lot of posts about generated art. Well, it's past midnight where I am, I'm tired, and I'm tired of shutting up about my view on this.

"It's [AI art's] entire central premise is built on the grim truth that many people don't see artists as skilled laborers using years of practiced skill to create something unique, but as data to be exploited"

Some other posts also emphasize a perceived sense of entitlement to art; that AI art advocates feel it is unfair for artistic creation to be limited to the elect few.

I would like to give a very strong rule. Like all rules, no doubt you could come up with exceptions to it. But this rule is foundational to the world around us, it's development, and it's future.

Making it easier to create things is good. Period. Making it take less time, effort, people, and training to create things is good. Period.

Technology making jobs redundant is a good thing. It is the foundation of almost all human progress. We are all descendants of farmers who were cruelly put out of work by new technological developments. The day when one person and a computer can do the work of an entire department of artists will be a good day - we are not there, maybe we'll never get there. But technology making people redundant is good. Expanding the ability of the average human to do things is good. And the fact that we have gotten to the point where people are unironically saying "it's *good*, actually, that it takes years of practice and effort to be able to produce good art, and you shouldn't want it any other way" is... Perverse? Horrifying? Taking self-interest into the realm of actively tearing your fellow humans down?

To be clear (because this is the internet, and if I don't specify then someone will fill in the gap with the worst things imaginable) I'm not saying that a future where generative AI is extremely good, widespread, and accessible will not have downsides. The threats of bespoke scams, deepfaked videos, floods of bots with a superb ability to guide the narrative, and so on are real, dangerous, and may already be coming to pass.

I know that one aspect of the anti-AI-generated art kickback has to do with the nature of professional art, and the type of people who do it. "Art", broadly defined, is substantially a passion field. You don't do it to get rich, or to have a stable life. You do it because you love the work, and are willing to put up with a thousand downsides, annoyances, and more in order to do what you love. And having this taken away feels cruel in a way that, say, keeping grad students and accountants from having to manually calculate thousands of sums doesn't.

A few words of encouragement. Widespread literacy may have killed the scribal profession as it was understood at the time. But it opened up vastly more work than it destroyed, even if you just count the directly writing-related work. Mass-produced off-the-shelf clothing shrunk the tailor (as once understood) into practical insignificance. Does that mean that no one who is passionate about making clothes can work in the field now? No. We have far, far more clothing (insert anti fast fashion rant here, I'm all on board with that kickback), and more variety, and lots of people working with clothing. The development of software code compilers unemployed a large number of human compilers. In many ways, programming has gotten easier over the years, with a lower barrier to entry, more comprehensible languages, more resources, and so on. But that hasn't meant that software developers are stuck in an unemployment hell of too many job seekers and not enough openings. We, as a society, keep on finding more and more things we want them to program, and demand for the skillset keeps rising. I can't see the future. Maybe AI-generated art will be the end of employment for artists. Maybe the generative AI revolution is fundamentally different from every past productivity revolution. But I doubt it.

[xecutivecucumber]

Executive Cucumber's thoughts on the Bad Batch episode 3×08 (spoilers after the cut)

Forgive me if these thoughts are less coherent than usually, I'm pretty freaking tired atm. Thoughts are as much in order as I can manage.

Firstly, this episode was a much needed, lower emotionally charged break from the last...seven episodes of the season. The thing about stories is that they can't be running at warp 9 the entire time. It will burn your audience out. Heck, I'm at a lower energy, transitiatory part of my long fic. So yeah, this episode didn't cause the emotional damage and stress that the last 7 did, but that's a good thing.

Omega has the neurodivergent ✨️leg jiggle✨️

Poor dear needs a hug and for someone to free the Tantiss clones.

PHEE MY QUEEN

Crosshair's face when Omega says 'liberator of ancient wonders' I love him.

Okay, I know that a lot of people are upset about Phee not being more emotional about Tech. I've got a few thoughts on that. My expectations going into the scene with her was that she wasn't going to be mentioning Tech. So when she did, I was really happy. She doesn't need to bring him up in the conversation, but she does.

So let's dive a little deeper into this. There are only two people who have brought up Tech without any prompting so far: Echo and Phee. Omega only mentions him when it's a direct answer to Crosshair's question. Hunter, Crosshair, and Wrecker have not mentioned him once by name. Now, I think this is because Echo and Phee have both known loss and know better how to handle it. The rest of the Batch hasn't, before Tech. We have watched practically all of Echo's loss, but not Phee's. However, we know that Pabu is a place for refugees, which Phee likely is. She's lost at least a home, if not family and friends. Add on top of that Phee is just in general a world wide person, and I think we can assume that she's someone who's got a more healthy way of processing grief than our emotionally stunted soldiers.

Something that you do with people that you've loved and lost is remember them. That's what I see Phee doing here. She's managed to process her grief in the last 4 months, and she's keeping the memory of someone she cared about alive by mentioning him in conversation.

So yeah. I liked that scene and it warmed my Tech/Phee loving heart.

Anyways,

Oooooh Fennec!!!

I love Crosshair not knowing anything but it also makes me sad.

Hunter: try to get Crosshair to get his hand looked at

Omega: what do you mean 'try'

Thoughts on Crosshair and Omega scenes:

What did my poor boy go through????

Poor man is probably resisting the idea that it's in his head because he already HAD a thing in his head that ruined his life

Omega: you don't like anything

Crosshair: true

Your honor I would die for them. Also I find his 'true' to be a little sad (and adorable)

OMG THEY'RE MEDITATING (and they have somehow stolen YET ANOTHER thing from my fic, this time before I've even gotten past the concept stage)

Omega: you missed a lot

Crosshair: I know

He's thinking of Tech in that moment.

Oh my gosh her hand on his and how he lets her move his hand THEY ARE TRYING TO KILL ME.

The Bad Batch says take care of your mental

Thoughts about Space Everglades:

I really loved Wrecker this episode. He really got to shine. He has the most banter with Fennec, he gets to do his demo thing, he freaking curb stomps space alligators, and he's the MVP in getting the bug man. It was really nice. Also, 'YOU HEARD ME!!!!' Let Wrecker go feral.

Bro, I really liked the bar music. I like seeing more of the music that plays in universe.

Wrecker and Hunter are definitely having flashbacks to Cid this entire episode. Except Fennec gives them more intel.

Fennec is a delight as always.

My prediction to who she's selling them out to? Ventress. And I don't think Ventress' intentions are bad.

So yeah, a solid episode! I'm honestly probably going to leave a lot of the star wars subreddits just to avoid everyone and their dog complaining about filler. Which this was NOT.

And as the next episode is called the Harbinger, I feel like this might be one of our last breaths before the plunge and everything goes sideways.

Oh, and in case you forgot. Tech lives ❤️

[nitewrighter]

I think one of the reasons dc/warner bros like to push Batman (other than “cool/dark/edgy”) is ironically, it’s the easiest hero to sell toys of. As a character with no powers, he has to make do with tech, that means accessories! He can’t fly and doesn’t have super speed, ergo the Batmobile or batwing, or a bat jet pack! He needs different suits for different jobs, so that justifies variant figures! With other heroes, you’d just get the figure and that’s it. Why would the flash need a car? Why would Superman need power armor? If you’re old enough to remember, or research back enough, you’ll know the stupidity of the Superman mobile, or the just sad justice jogger. You could have a super figure’s eyes light up to show heat vision, but that’s about it. I guess you could have a green lantern toy line with construct accessories, but clear green plastic might be flimsy or too expensive, I don’t know. I’d think this was why they gave Wonder Woman a sword and shield, cuz they thought the lasso was lame, if not for BoYz DoNt LiKe GiRl HeRoZ! (Convo for another time, but even as a kid I hated that, and I was a boy)

So tldr, one of the reasons dc pushes bats is once upon a time they saw dollar signs at the idea of bat ji Joe.

Also the fact that you can make Batman Merch out of anything just by making it black and/or gray and just slapping a Batman logo on it--it's just probably a lot easier than finagling around other hero's color schemes.

Thinking about the Batsketball again...

But on a lore level, yeah, Batman is basically the "Cool Toys" superhero. You pretty much have every person in the DC universe commenting on how many "Cool toys" Batman has, or how much of a manchild having all those "Cool Toys" makes him. Like, I hate hate hate Frank Miller and of course I would fight him any day of the week, but the one thing All Star Batman and Robin had going for it was the GIANT BEAUTIFUL JIM LEE ILLUSTRATED BATCAVE PULLOUT MULTI-PAGE SPREAD. Like I need you to picture me in bed, giant glass of ice water on my nightstand, absolutely fucking miserable as I trudge through the worst fucking Batman characterization of my goddamn life, and then, AND THEN-- I go, "Oh, this is a pull-out," I carefully unfold it because library book, and then my jaw drops. I literally felt all the 8-year-old boy parts of my brain activate, and then you have young Dick Grayson's voice narrating it with five little words: "And it just. keeps. going."

A thing I really do like about all of Batman's tech and toys is they're all very tactile, and one of the things that's making Arkham Knight very fun as I'm playing through it is this factor of figuring out which of your little gadgets to use in which situation, and you're so proud of yourself when you figure out when the game expects you to use a certain gadget without the game cuing you to do so, or when you get a new gadget and then go back to all the parts of the map you previously weren't able to access without it (Baby "Square shape goes in Square hole" brain activation...) and the game also has very fun sound and vibration design and camera work to make using the various doodads feel very tactile even as it's happening in the game, but okay, let's take all those factors and pivot to Superman.

Superman doesn't have the Batcave, he has the Fortress of Solitude, and the Fortress of Solitude is not a Toy Chest like the Batcave is. The Fortress of Solitude is not a teenager's basement room to brood. The name itself is very intentional: It's Superman saying, "Yes, I save humanity, but I need breaks from it, I need a space to contemplate my work and my heritage, as well as get some distance from it for perspective, or else I will go fucking bonkers." And it's not just a house or a trophy room, either, it's a museum, it's an archive. I think about the Grant Morrison commentary about the bottle city of Kandor being a family heirloom like a snow globe or a music box--beautiful and yet distant, and that also sets a lot of the mood for the Fortress of Solitude: If the Batcave is a big toybox full of robot dinosaurs and a batarang target range and a lot of tactile stuff, then the Fortress of Solitude is a lot more, "You can look but please please please do not touch unless you really know what you're doing." You touch one crystal in the Fortress of Solitude and Jor-El's giant hologram head pops up booming 'KAL-EL, MY SON, THESE ARE THE PRECIOUS RECORDED HISTORIES OF OUR PEOPLE--' and you're like "Oh Jesus fuck how do I turn this off---"

One of the things I've come to really like in recent comics is how, as Superman has embraced having a family, that the Fortress itself feels warmer and more dynamic--Lois is using it as a space to research and write a book about Krypton, Kara tinkers with Kryptonian technology, Jon spent stints there as a toddler in Superman: Space Age, Krypto is there... It's actually kind of reflected how museums have become a lot more dynamic and kid-friendly in recent years. It's still clearly a space they all respect, but there's a much stronger element of enrichment than, "Look at this thing behind glass."

But anyway, yeah, Superman's stories are really more, like, fantastical than Batman's, so it goes to reason that Superman-play is more daydreaming and broad imaginative concepts while Batman-play is more physical and tinkering. So Batman in general is more likely to have lots of toys.

[rateaters-sutff]

THE CONVERSATION BELLOW SHOW AN ACTUAL UN ALTERD CONVERSATION I HAD WITH AN AI ART TECH BRO:

I'm not going to censor his name since he has deleted his account

He posted a really low effort ai animation on r/ animation, to which I responded with this meme:

Fig 1. The inciting incident

He then responded to me with this defending his decision using Ai art assets:

Fig 2. I responded that he should at least say parts were done with AI. Note that at this point, I meant no ill will and just told him that stating he used ai would be a good practice. This will get worse with the screenshots that follow:

He then stated it doesn't matter if he uses AI and that he made it "not for bragging rights"

Fig 3. I responded that crediting who/ what did what, helps the viewer not misarribute skills to him. And that always crediting what/ who did what aspects of a project is a good practice. This will set you up for the kicker he's about to say in the 4th screencap.

He then states that he infact,

doesn't need to credit anyone for the work they do in his projects because he paid for it.

And that as long as he pays for art, it is his, and he doesn't need to credit anyone.

Fig 4. He claims that he has copy right over his AI image, and if he needs to credit Ai, does he also need to credit Adobe too???

I then claim that he doesn't infact have copy right due to a recent court ruleing. As well as the fact that professional creators do credit their software. As well counter his claim by stating it is not like using a reference, because he didn't even make the art generated in the first place.

Fig 5. I also profess confusion over the claim that you don't need to credit free lancers for art.

This will get worse I promise:

He now states he does make art because he edits AI images.

Fig 6. Please note his "edits" were so minimal that I was able to spot it was ai before his short even ended.

I respond with this.

Fig 7. Yes this is still ongoing and will get worse

Now, when I engaged in this conversation, I did not expect him to try to send an NSFW AI generated Mona lisa, but

Fig 8. My comment is in refrence to him failing to send an image, and my assumption that he was banned off the subreddit.

Though evidently, this is not why

I then respond with this. Ignoring the absurdity of what he tried to do 5 seconds prior.

Fig 9. This thread will now get really sad and kind of pathetic

After all of this nonsense he goes to a separate subredit to complain about what happened. Key points being he only has ever done "south park level drawings". People who recognize he uses AI are "smart asses" and his reference of " bragging rights" as a reason to do art

Fig 10. This is kinda sad tbh.

This will certainly stick out in my mind for years to come. Notably beaucuse of how nonsensical and devoid of compassion his arguments are. But also the fact he tried to send me NSFW Ai generated Mona lisa as a counter argument.

[hebblog]

This dude's opinions are pretty strong, and I don't think I 100% fully agree with them, but it is a stance on generations interactions with tech / the real world I hadn't really thought about. AND it also got me thinking about GenX...

My parents are Boomers, my older bro is GenX (me and my lil bro are Millennials) - and it's crazy to think about how GenX basically disappeared from the cultural zeitgeist. What I mean is; growing up in the late 80's / all of the 90's, GenX was everything. All of pop culture was directed towards them, politics were either fighting agains them or trying to win them over, parents were constantly trying to figure them out...they were everything. Even nowadays, GenZ is dressing like them, listening to their music, editing their content to look like it came from that era, etc. But actual GenX'ers aren't talked about in that context at ALL anymore. For example; Elon Musk is part of GenX, but I'm willing to bet everyone considers him to be just a crusty old guy. For the most part I feel like GenX has been lumped in with Boomers as being "out of touch old people" in a way that Millennials won't be - because of our connection to popculture, tech and the online world in the way that is talked about in the attached video! Also in a much simpler way; you just never hear the term "Gen X" being thrown around anymore. It's like one of the most powerful generations who built themselves up as being "against the grain" allowed themselves to be swallowed up by the people they claimed to be against. Kinda sad.

[hiddens-eden]

That Bitch!!

Word count: A lot

Pronouns: He/Him

Paring: Reader x Male!Avengers

Spelling checked: No

Warnings: Homophobic slurs, Homophobia, cussing, minor assult, possibly triggering (idk)

Summary: High school Au, where reader is not very popular and the senior prom comes around. Though, just because he's not popular does not mean he doesn't have admirers. Say most of the male avengers (because I'm a slut for a reverse-harem). But with admirers, there will be haters. However, (Y/N) knows how to put them in their place.

"Soooo, (Y/N) the senior prom is coming around" You lifted your head from your book to see your two best friends, Natasha Romanoff and Wanda Maximoff

"And?"

"What do you mean and? Prom is the most important part of senior year!" you saw Wanda's face turn into a pout

"Even if I wanted to go, I don't have anyone to go with. The boys here avoid me like the plague" you started to go back to your book when Natasha grabbed it, putting it on her desk

"They only do that because they like you, and they're boys. If it makes you feel better, I don't have a date"

You looked at Natasha with confusion covering your face "How? You're one of the best people I know"

"To be honest, it's because boys are skank's" She shrugged

"Hey! Not all of them are!"

"You only say that because of Vision" you saw a Natasha smirk while Wanda blushed and turned away

"Not all of us will remain single for the rest of our day's" she may have tried to mumble her response, but you heard her and chuckled

"Even so, I'm not going"

Hearing that, the boy's lost all hope. To be honest, they all were going to try and ask you to the dance

"Then go with us" Natasha more demanded than asked

"What about Wanda" you turned to her "Aren't you going with Vision?"

"Well, as we always say bro's before hoe's" (que Vision sulking in the corner) the three of you burst out into a fit of laughter

"I-I guess" you managed to choke out between laughs

"Then come on!" Natasha pulled you out of your seat

"Where are we going?"

"To get some clothes for prom, duh" as the three of you made your way out of the classroom and into the hallways you were stopped by Peggy Carter and Pepper Pots

"What do you guys want" you asked scowling

"Cut the shit (Y/N)" Pepper sneere

"What are you talking about?"

"You're trying to seduce all of the guy's in the school!" Peggy shouted

"...What?"

"You heard me!"

You looked to Natasha and Wanda "Do you know what they're talking about?

They both shrugged and shook their heads

"LIARS!!!" Pepper screamed

The commotion drew the attention of the students that were in the classroom and hallways

"What the hell is going on..."

"Don't know let's just go" Wanda tried to push you past the two girls, but before you could go anywhere Peggy grabbed your arm tightly

"STEVE WILL BE MINE!!! SO DON'T TRY AND TAKE HIM AWAY" she raised her other hand and slapped you across the face. The people watching let out a collective gasp and wondered what you would do

"THE SAME WITH TONY" Pepper raised her hand to slap you too but was stopped by a firm grip on her wrist and her body couldn't move either. It was Natasha and Wanda

"Slap him one more time I break your wrist" Natasha clutched Pepper's wrist even tighter earning a hiss from the woman

"Maybe I should break her legs for good measure" Wanda stated coldly

You put a hand on their shoulders causing them to turn to you "Stop, if Peggy's slap is anything to go by, it would not have hurt. Just release them so we can go" They let her go reluctantly, but not without giving her one last glare. As you were about to leave you hear a classroom door open and turned to see the men of the hour, Steve and Tony

Immediately the two girls ran to the guy's whining about how you 'assaulted them'

"What the actual fuck"

"Really Peggy?" Steve asked

"Yeah! I was so scared!"

Then the crowd of people started to yell about how you were the victim, you only grinned. Tony and Steve looked enraged

"Why would you lie about something like that!?" Tony shouted

"What's wrong with you two?!" Steve spat walking towards you

"(Y/N) I'm sorry they did that to you" he looked down sadly

You lifted his chin up to look down at you(unfortunately you were shorter than Steve) "It's not your fault they're crazy. Don't beat yourself up that much" You turned his head to the side and planted a kiss on his cheek "I'll see you later Steve"

You turned and started to walk away with your friends in tow. Leaving a blushing Steven and extremely jealous group of males

"He has no idea what he just did, does he?" Natasha asked Wanda

She shook her head "Not a clue"

"Well lets get this over with"

They nodded and started to search for Tux's and Dresses stores. Once you found one, you all got your own fitted and talored dress and tuxedo's. Natasha doesn't really like dresses so she got a white women's tux. Wanda got an elegant white dress that draped behind her. You got a white tux with flower-like adornments. You all like the fact that you were somewhat matching. The girls completely gushed about how good you looked, but you had a weird feeling.

"I'm going to get another outfit just in case"

"Just in case what?" Wanda asked

"In case a pair of crazy ass girls decide to pull a prom cliché and try and ruin my suit"

"Seems reasonable"

You started looking around for a suit and you found it. An outfit that made you smile happily. You turned to your friends showing them the outfit "Found it"

They just smirked and nodded

~Next Day~

The last thing you were expecting today was to get asked to prom by one of the hottest guys in your school, but here you were. Steve Rogers was infront of you with a bouquet of your favorite flowers, shyly rubbing the back of his head

"I'm sorry Steve, but I'm going with my friends" once you said that he looked like a kicked puppy and you couldn't take it! So, you sighed.

"However, even though I won't be able to go to prom with you" you took the flowers from his hand "I'm willing to go wherever you want anytime your free" you smiled softly at him. He immediately perked up and gave a fast nod, making you chuckle. He asked for your number and you gave it to him and he gave you a kiss on the cheek before running off. 'Guess that's payback' you blushed hiding your face behind the flowers.

Over the week until prom you kept getting asked to the dance by almost every guy in your school. But, again you turned them down and re-scheduled making them happy. However, with most of the boy's attention on you, some of the girls started to get jealous. They would make snide remarks hoping to hurt you, but they never did. Afterall, you had your friends and they can help you through anything.

~Prom Day~

"Are you sure we should do this?" you were REALLY nervous

"Come on! Don't puss out now!" Natasha teased

"Yeah! You came this far already!" Wanda smiled

You sighed and straightened your posture "Yeah, you guys are right. Let's get in there!" You cheered along with your friends and opened the prom room door

Narrator PoV

As the door opened, someone looked over to it letting out a gasp at what they saw. This caused most of the people in the room to follow their sight and look at the door as well. Eyes widen at the sheer beauty of the new arrivals

(Y/N);

Natasha;

Wanda;

~Out of Narrator PoV~

"Guy's they're looking at us" you wanted to perish right then and there, but your friends put a reassuring hand on your shoulder

"They're looking at us because we're the most gorgeous things they've ever seen" Wanda grinned as you all walked through the room catching everyone's eyes

"Just lean into the attention" Natasha said to you

"I'll try" you chuckled lightly

"(Y/N)!) you looked behind you to see Steve waving at you, then start blushing

"Don't you look dashing Steve" you grinned at him as he turned an even darker red

"Maybe, but not as dashing as you" you both chuckled and started talking to each other

"Wow forgotten already" Wanda wiped an imaginary tear from her eye

"Oh! I'm sorry guys!" You apologized profusely

"Don't worry about it! I'll just go and find Vision. Have fun~" Wanda winked before leaving

"I'll go find Clint too, he's sad he didn't get to go with you" she chuckled before walking off

"They're both something" you smiled before turning back to Steve

You and Steve kept chatting and joking with each other. While you were talking you noticed Tony, Peitro, Thor, Bruce, Bucky, Stephen all gather around you joining in your conversation. You didn't mind, but Steve is another story. He was giving small glares to everyone who talked to you.

You were talking to Tony and Bruce about upcoming tech when you felt a tap on your shoulder. You turned only to be met with a bucket full of red fruit punch. You wiped your eyes to see Peggy, Pepper, and some other girls smirking.

"Thats what you get you stupid slut!"

"Know your place!"

"Just leave so we don't have to see you!"

A chill ran down yourself as you turned to see the guy's glaring coldly at the girls, ready to throw the "You should never hit a girl" rule out the window

You just sighed and signaled for them to stand down. Then, you looked towards Wanda and Natasha, giving them a nod and making your way to the exit.

The boy's tried to get to you, but Wanda and Natasha stopped them while smirking

"Yeah, you better get out of here whore!"

"He's probably going to cry!"

"Pathetic!"

"Who would ever love something like that!"

"Besides, dating a guy when you are one is disgusting!"

"Yeah! They need a strong woman in their life!"

This made the boy's heated. They are ready to destroy these girls for talking shit about you, but they were stopped by Wanda and Natasha again

"Why do you keep stopping us!?" Thor boomed

"He'll deal with them, just be patient" Natasha said firmly

"And we think you'll like him even more when he gets back" Wanda's smirk grew

Needless to say, they were all confused. But they let it slide...for now. Minutes passed and the girls were still talking about you. The guys are on the edge of their seats ready to pummel every single one of them. But then the door opened making everyone's head turn and eyes widen. Their jaws were on the floor as you walked in sauntering over to the girls

(Y/N)

You wore a black crop-top shirt with a black crop-top leather jacket draped over you shoulders. Possibly the most catching thing about your new look was your dress pants with thigh-high boots. Once you reached the girls you took off your shades to reveal a beautiful make-up look

(this is all optional, you can change it if you want)

You wore a black crop-top shirt with a black crop-top leather jacket draped over your shoulders. Possibly the most catching thing about your new look was your dress pants with thigh-high boots. Once you reached the girls you took off your shades to reveal a beautiful make-up look

"Ugh! You're a guy! You shouldn't be wearing make-up you slut!"

"I may be a slut, but I'm the baddest slut out there. You're just mad because no matter how hard you try you'll never be like me and I also figured out why you obsess over guys who want nothing to do with you. Your father probably left you and your family because he said he was going to get milk, so that left you without a prominent male figure in your life"

"Wha-"

"And when you attempt to get guys you have no chance with it somehow fills that hole of longing you have. You don't love them, you see them as a tool you can use for your own wishes"

"I-"

"I'm not done. Why are you homophobic? Because you can't help it when someone can share their sexuality without being afraid and you can't? Because it's not 'natural'? Let me remind you that just because something is natural does not mean it's good. Besides, it is natural considering it's been observed across many species. Even ones who have not been in contact with humans. So, I suggest you shut up and leave because I don't allow cunts in my presence" you put your shades back on and walked to the group of males + your friends

The girls started crying and ran out of the room with their faces in their hands

"Woah, (Y/N) that was badass" Natasha gave you a high five

"Good thing I recorded it" Wanda said holding her phone

"Wait what! Delete it!"

"Too late I already posted it! :P" Wanda giggled

The boys weren't paying attention since that whole encounter got them *ahem* excited, so now they're trying to calm themselves down

As the prom slowly started to resume (Y/N) was asked by almost everyone to dance which he of course obliged. He kept getting complimented about his looks and how he told each girl off. Soon it was time to announce the prom King and Queen. (Y/N) voted for (M!Avenger Name) as prom King and (Wanda or Natasha) as prom Queen

"Now it's time to reveal the prom King and Queen!" everyone started to clap and cheer in anticipation

"This year's prom King is....(Y/N) (L/N)!!!"

You were shocked! You weren't even a candidate as far as you knew. You slowly made your way to the stage as everyone started to cheer for you. Once on the stage, you were given your crown and sash by the previous prom King who congratulated you.

"Now for this year's prom Queen!" she opened the envelope

"This year's prom Queen is...(Y/N) (L/N)?" she said with confusion, but the crowd cheered even louder

The teacher looked towards the Principle who came on the stage "It seems that the majority of you voted for (Y/N) twice. Since this has never happened before we have decided that (Y/N) will be this year's prom King AND Queen!!" The previous prom Queen put the sash on you and gave you the crown to hold. She smiled and congratulated you. You were still in shock 'Prom King and Queen?!'

"(Y/N)! As the prom King and Queen, do you have a few words for the crowd?"

You stepped up to the mic "(Y/N) (L/N) breaking gender norms since (birth year)!" everyone laughed and you chuckled "One more thing, if someone tries to hurt or degrade you, look to your loved ones for help. They will always be there for you and if not then give me a call at (***)-***-**** I'll be there for you" you winked and started walking off the stage

Once you were off the stage you were swarmed by a huge crowd

"(Y/N)! Congrats!!!"

"That was such a good speech!"

"You rock!"

"You're so amazing!!"

"Thank you everyone!" you smiled making all of them swoon

"Hey, (Y/N) guess what I did" you looked at Wanda

"What did you do?"

"I may or may not have recorded not only you confronting the girls, but the prom King and Queen ceremony and posted it online" she giggled nervously

"..."

"(Y/N)?"

"Kill me now"

"(Y/N), No!"

A/N: Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed! Pictures used are not mine! Will I do a part 2? Maybe! Bye my little otaku's!

[thorinkingoferebor]

finished HFW! some random thoughts behind the cut (spoilers obviously for the entire games)

- firstly: LOVED IT! I loved the first one as well but honestly, the sequel improved on so many things and I honestly loved the story! That was the thing I was most worried about because for me the whole Zero Dawn mystery was so central in drawing me into the first one but I was very quickly sold on the new storyline and I'm so here for part 3!! Super interested to see where it will go as well, not just with regards to nemesis but in general. like there are a few things that made me a bit uncomfortable about GAIA's plan and I'm very curious if those points will be addressed. (also, I wanna see Elysium! i bet something fishy is going on there!)

- speaking of the storyline: I guessed almost every single beat of the main plot even though I watched like zero trailers or anything. I'm not saying the story is predictable, I'm saying if you just assume all the 'old ones' constantly make the worst, most selfish and most capitalistic decisions imaginable you get the premise of this game. Love that. How people play it and not get the whole tech-bro criticism is beyond me. Anyway, RIP El*n M*sk goo, wish I could have set you on fire myself.

- a lot of the things I felt were left unaddressed in the first game got their spotlight this time around which was great and so natural. Don't wanna go into too many details here but the prime example is aloy's relationship with others. How she was almost always alone on missions in the first game, how she always just dropped in and out of people's lives, helped so many but in the end, you still feel so alone. In this one, not only do you get company on most (all?) main missions but you have companions actively making an effort to stick with aloy AND calling out both aloy and liz for being closed off and how eventually that will do more harm than good. Felt strange having the base empty after the final mission. I'm very much looking forward to what the next game brings in that regard!

- the aloy/beta relationship is fantastic!!! one thing that struck me as so unhealthy during the first few hours of the games (and the last one tbh) is how little aloy acknowledges that she is her own person. she always seems to see herself just as a cheap copy of liz whose only purpose is to complete her work. and yes there is some technical truth to it but through beta and her companions and experiences i feel like aloy sees herself a bit more as a human now, related to but not identical to liz. and she acknowledges how much HER life experiences have contributed to the great person she has turned into + how she doesn't have to do it all alone.

- LOVED the new (and old) companions. Every single one of them is so damn loveable! I hope we see them all again in the next one. Still sad about varl though. I really wasn't expecting that. I was expecting someone to die but really varl would have been my last guess. That really hurt :(

- i like a lot of the new stuff they added but honestly didn't get much out of some of it. Food? Rarely used it and if i did it was only the 75% health one. Melee combos? Neat but honestly whenever I used them it was more of an accident than on purpose. Guess it comes down to player style here and I'm just not a melee person and I'm definitely not a 'remember this 6 button combo when you're in the middle of a battle'-person^^. But I can see how others might have really liked those additions so I'm not against them though I'm glad I never had to use them exclusively^^ That being said, I still absolutely hate all those times challenges. Just hate them. Did them this time around to get the 100% completion but will never ever touch them again. (And omg the number of times I had to rage quit the whole "R1 R1 *pause* R1" melee pit instruction or whatever they were. Like what do you mean *pause*?????? HOW LONG? If it's a wrong input tell me what I did wrong? Was the pause too long? Too short? Hated that...)

- quick note on relationships again: super pleased honestly that aloy didn't get a romance option in this game either. I mean it would be nice if she turned out to be aspec but even if she's not, it's in character for her not to be into romance given the situation. it was nice to see some casual queer background rep as well (I think at least 2 queer couples and one non-binary person) plus alva's girlfriend and of course tilda/liz which i am so excited about! My 'harold they're lesbians' senses were tingling from the start and it was nice to get a confirmation there. Also really loved tilda (carrie anne-moss <3). didn't expect but also wasn't surprised by her betrayal at the end. makes sense, no one good joined that ship in the first place and no one good survives 1000 years on it. I'm not doubting her intentions and I do think she loved liz but I think just like liz did, we eventually figured out she wasn't exactly who she pretended to be.

- last but not least (and i don't want to geek out too much here buuuut) i do love the new threat they've set up because it perfectly aligns with their overall theme of including potentially problematic technology currently on the rise. The first one did the robots eating organic matter like 2(?) years before i read an article about exactly that sort of research actually being carried out and now this time around it's machine learning AND I AM FUCKING STOKED. look machine learning is great, it's revolutionary, i'm not arguing that BUT it's fucking terrifying. Like when i was teaching programming i started and ended my lecture course with a chapter on the ethics of coding in particular when it comes to machine learning because you wouldn't believe how much unethical shit happens because people don't understand how biases are introduced and then amplified in machine learning codes. so this is great, nemesis taps straight into that. You feed a code with enough garbage training data and it's bound to produce garbage and nothing else and in this case, it's genocidal garbage^^

some final screenshots too 😭what a great game :D can't wait for the DLC next year or so to replay it :D

[gronjon44]

Welp... here we go...

If you dont want spoilers then I recommend you skip this entire post because I do not respect this film at all to not talk about the shit that happens in this film.

⚠️AFTER THIS LINE ITS ALL SPOILERS⚠️

This films wants to be an emotional gut punch but it is so... I your face about it. Emotional beats are either predictable or just... they don't hit. And the ultimate sacrifice from Bhgs at the end while sad just doesn't hit anything. And the plot of "Oh the main villain manipulates the kid to go against his dad and the villain ultimately joins the rival team" is really predictable. And I know that in the end this is a film targeted to kids and thats fine. But this film felt like it was trying to be too hip and too aware (the entire joke about LeBron acting hip and the 'don't dab' comment is just not funny)

The jokes

The jokes in this film do not land for me, albeit 2 (the joke about Sylvestar grabbing Michael B Jordan instead of the actual Michael Jordan was ok and the fact Wiley Coyote was in Mad Max was really cool) ; most the jokes either fell flat or completely missed the mark (this film tried to be hip and modern with its humor and honestly it was more cringe than anything else.

Also idk if this was intentional or not, but can we stop making jokes about how companies are stealing our info and spying on us? We get it Zuckerberg is trash Facebook and other big companies are taking our personal info but seriously it does get old. Mitchell's vs the Machines was at least clever because it was about a big tech company abusing it's power. Space Jam: A New Legacy is about an A.I trying to make himself feel better cause he doesn't feel appreciated and is projecting his issues on a kid he cyberstalked for a whopping 3 minutes.

The Plot

The films Plot is predictable, short, and a around not engaging. The idea of bringing another pro basketball player to aid the Tunes in another wild game for their survival isn't the problem, it's the rest of the Plot that's the problem.

The first film had a simple enough Plot that worked really well (The Tunes have to win a basketball game against roided up aliens or they'll become Amusement Park attractions, and they need a bow retired player to hp them win) Its short and sweet and it works.

This film felt the need to overcomicate it by forcing a dramatic subplot into the fold which, can work. You can have a dramatic subplot while still being a Zany and fun film. But SJ:NL can't seem to decide which to focus on; it goes from zany and over the top one moment moment then gives you tonal whiplash when it jumps to the dramatic bits in the plot.

I genuinely think that this film would've benefited from focusing on the zaniness over the drama, since frankly that's always been the focus of the Looney Tunes

Loony Tunes: Back in Action and Space Jam 1 are two tonaly similar films but both have better comedy and each have their respective dramatic beats, though their both saved for the climax of the film.

LT:BIA and SJ1 both have they're own dramatic subplots (M.J makes the deal with Smackhammer to raise the stakes of the game and J.D has to save his father from the Chairman and his plans. The difference here is that these films, while adding a level of drama, don't let the drama overshadow what tnis film is actually about (the Looney Tunes)

SJ:NL let's the drama completely overshadow the actual Tunes and isn't really engaging (to me anyway)

Also I'd like to say that, while giving this film a video game feel was an interesting concept it just reminded me more of Pixels or The Emoni Movie (though this wasn't NEARLY as bad as the Emoji movie I'll say that)

That's something else about this film. It feels like one big advertisement for everything WB owns (much like how Emoji Movie was one big Smartphone ad) and while that isn't inherently a bad thing it can be a hinderence to the film as well (I wanted to watch the films that cameod in this film more than the actual film itself)

The Characters

Look this is the Tom and Jerry film again, we don't go to this film for LeBron and his fictional family (if some people do then that's fine) but most of us go to see the film for the Tunes and the cartoon asthetic, and there's plenty of that here. But I'd like to actually care about the human characters in this film frankly.

Let's just get this out of the way, LeBron is not a great actor. He tries his best yes but he is not a great actor in this film; he reminds me more of Vin Deisel when he acts (he has a voice yes but he doesn't act physically. It's like he's trying to have his voice match the film but his body isn't in tune with it.

Now I don't wanna hate on kid actors, they do what they can and they're kids. But listen this kid was not interesting at all, and id have rathered the film not include him (or very least make him more interesting other than the "Gosh Dad stop pushing your ways and beliefs onto me" archetype.

The Tunes are fine I have no beef with how they treated the Tunes (all for ONE detail)

The way thsi film treats the Tunes in this film bothers me on so many levels. "Send him to the Rejects" "Losers" The fact that they treat the Looney Tunes like they're some forgotten property is really unsettling to me. The Tunes have never been forgotten the notion that they ARE forgotten bothers me so much, regardless if it's a plot point for the film. The Looney Tunes are some of the most recognizable faces in ask of media, and I get this is supposed to be a "New School vs Old School" message like with the Father vs Son but my God I do not like how this protrays the Tunes.

Speaking of the rejects, let's talk about AL G Rythm.

My God this is the most uninteresting villain and his whole plan is so easy to spot from the start of the film. "Oh look at me, I have a bruised ego cause I feel unappreciated in my time and im gonna project my issues on this kid I cyberstalked while praying KING JAMES would bless me with his support." Holy shit my guy you have a bigger ego than Tony Stark and its more bruised than Bruce Wayne's back after Bane was finished. He is one of the most bland villains I've seen in awhile, and the Goon Squad is no better. The Goon Squad is nothing but cool designs and a refderence to more popular Basketball players (and yeah they're supposed to be cronies but at least make them cronies with personality; the Nerdlucks were funny, had personality, and were an integral part of the story (also the fact that they ACTUALLY HAD THE NERDLUCKS CAMEO in in film but they were rooting against the Tunes just... Ehhhhhhhhhh) And the Goon Squad was boring and didn't add anything say for AL G. stealing the kids algorithm to make his own team.

Also sidenote, them constantly calling him "King James" got really annoying really fast. Like we get you gave yourself that nickname, you're the current too NBA player rn and all that but you don't have to keep saying it my God.

Now what did I actually like about this film. Well quite a bit actually.

For starters, the animation was top notch and everything looked great. I thought the 2D models were a little odd at first (too shiny compared to the faded sleek of the original) but they grew on me. All the CGI models of the Tunes looked really great, say for Sam who just looked really weird to me (probably cause he loses his hat by the end and a CGI Yosemeti Sam without a hat just looks strange)

The Tunes also felt exactly how they should in a Space Jam film, Bugs especially. Yes Daffy was his usual comedic self and I like how they had him try and be the manager of the team instead of a player, and every other Tune was just as zany as usual; honestly of all the Tunes I'm genuinely impressed with how they treated Bugs (till the end)

Bugs was the most interesting to see in the film, wherein every character left Tune World except Bugs and he kinda became this Castaway parody (with his own makeshift Porky Pig dummy) and he was just really lonely and stayed true to the Looney Way and he just wants his family back. That entire subplot is the most interesting part of this film hands down; the only thing about Bugs's arc I didn't like was the end which was predictable, but i was still more invested in Bugs's arc than anyone else's.

Also when they showed the Tunes on the other WB worlds in the Warnerverse that's not the name ik but it's basically the Warnerverse the only Movie refferences that i thought were clever were Mad Max, Austin Powers, and Themyscira. And as much as it pains me to admit it the Rick and Morty Gag with Taz was probably the funniest of them, and I don't even like Rick and Morty anymore.

The Matrix was just eh, Yosemite Sam just didn't land, Game of Thrones was just not funny and I won't apologize. As far as the cameos/refferences in the end I'll say it again, I wanted to watch the movies and shows that cameod more than the film itself. I'm not gonna try to list them off but some highlights were seeing Gremlins, the Mask, every Tim Burton Batman villain/Adam West Batman, Thundercats, and Scooby Doo. Aside from that this was all just one big add for Warner Bros.

So I'm gonna try end this on a note that I know alot of people are gonna bring up or use to say shouldn't be brought up: Nostalgia.

Listen. This film has the same issue that alot of modern film reboots tend to have, which is the fact that it has to match the same hype as the film that came before it.

Now I'd like to say that this isn't gonna be a Power Point on reboots, God knows this is long enough as is, but the issue with alot of reboots is that they try to remake something that more often than not did the media justice the first time around. Robocop, Nightmare on Elm Street, Ghostbusters 2016, litterally every Disney L.A Remake. This isn't to say these films can't be good, or even surpass their predecessors. But more often than not they tend to miss the mark either just barely or drastically.

And here's the thing, this argument can also apply to sequel films that are following up an iconic film that for fhe most part is still very prominent in modern media.

Space Jam has, for better or for worse, remained one of the most iconic films every made, if not for its premise alone. And when they announced a sequel it was only inevitable that people compare it to the original because, let's face it, we want the new film to live up to the original.

We want this new shiny film to live up to the film we all knew growing up as kids and adults, seeing the Tunes on a basketball court for the first time back in the 90s. And frankly, this film did not do that for me.

This film, to me, wants to be what Space Jam already is. But it felt the need to try and thats the first step it failed; it wanted to be hip and aware and make loads of refferences to the original

This film has a similar issue to Ghostbusters:Answer the Call I think, where in it wants to stand on its own two feet, but jt cant help but constantly remind us of a much superior film. We know they've done this before you don't have to keep saying it "We need help with a basketball game Lola!" Been there! Done that!" "So you want me to help you win a high stakes basketball game? One that could very well decide both our fates? Hmmmmm where have I seen that before?"

This film is like that one kid in class who already proved he was right, and is still trying to prove he was right.

If you think this film is great and you enjoy it just as much as the original that's perfectly fine, I'm not gonna try to overshadow your opinions, I just want to share mine.

In the end, I'm gonna rate this film a solid 4/10 (and most of that 4 is the comedy and the animation and the Tunes themselves.) Can you watch this just for the Tunes? Absolutely. Can you like this film more than me? Also absolutely. Do I think this film would've been worth it if I'd have seen it in theaters? No not at all I'm glad I waited for HBO Max.