#and like yeah I get a lot of characters have comics stories about brainwashing or something similar

[bbyboybucket]

I’m trying not be a hater rn, bc it may be really good but damn I wish marvel would move on from brainwashing/possession at this point or at least take a break. I mean they have wore that concept out by now, just recently we had Wanda brainwashing a whole town and then being possessed/brainwashed herself by the dark hold, we had the black widow movie which was all about brainwashing. Captain Marvel was Brainwashed. The Eternals were semi-brainwashed. Clint and Loki have been brainwashed. Even Peter Quill was temporarily brainwashed by his dad. This is just off the top of my head, there’s probably more.

I mean are you really telling me that there aren’t better, cooler things to do Isaiah than reuse a plot point from a previous cap movie 10 years ago? This just sounds so fucking lazy, it sounds like marvel thought “everyone liked a brainwashed super soldier friend in one cap movie, so we’ll do it again for this one.” LAZYYYY. We’ve seen it with Captain America, we’ve seen brainwashing in a million other marvel projects. Like holy fuck can we please let go of the “mind controlled good guy acting bad” and use some of the other cool concepts from the comics. It’s just disappointing bc I don’t wanna see the same concept used for the 3000th time when there’s so much story potential here

[cuddlefishextrodinaire]

so now that all of this stuff is happening in the dc batfam thing, with batman 2016, #148, i am now going to put in MY say because obviously, i have the best perspective.

so first off, yeah. Dc messed things up with the jason and dying thing. like, there's no reason you should bring him back that fast, which brings me to talk about the complaints people have been saying about how death is treated to trivially in the comics world, and how,if a character dies, you leave them dead.

permanently.

and here's me view on that:

yeah, i would say that this move that dc pulled is an example of a simple money-views grab, and is cheap, and i don't like it. they need to simply create better stories, if they want more views/money.

which isn't to say that death should be eradicated completely from the comics world. if you've many comics at all, you know that there are a LOT od characters dying and coming back, in both marvel, vision, image and dc comics.

i woulnd't say that this is a bad thing. simply that it can be abused and overrused very easily.

take, for example, the x-men (if you don't know who they are, then god help you, i don't know what rock you've been living under). they die ALL THE TIME. someone's always getting brainwashed or turning evil or having a mental breakdown. it's like a soap opera, and im not exactly a fan. but the point is, x-men are dying all the time, but what i would say slightly redeems it, is they actually talk about it. they mention how people are always dying and coming back, and, i can recall a comic where Death is really tired with shipping all of the souls to hell, and then they all just leave anyway when they come back to life. it's frustrating, and she felt that all her work was going unnoticed and was, in the end, worthless.

then we have, on the dc side, the batfam, with everyone dying, and coming back and having breakups and getting back together, and yes, it's somewhat like a soap opera. but i didn't really mind it, right until this 148 disaster. Like, yeah, they've lost pretty much all respect 90% of the characters involved, and i am not liking this.

they should let jason be dead for at least three comics, and show how his death (again) affects the characters, not just have him get bitch-slapped, die, and bruce suddenly repents of all of the trauma he's given the kids.

anyway, i don't really remember where i was going with this post, except for the fact that at this point, i think marvel's better.

have some standards.

[dailycass-cain]

Batman: Wayne Family Adventures gave us a NEW Cass-centric arc.  It FINALLY released in its entirety this past Wednesday so yeah, at long last I'm gonna dig in and my thoughts on it!  

Season 2 of WFA has given us a lot of Cass in appearances (sixteen of the so far forty-eight episodes released) though unlike Season 1 Episodes 90-91 is our first official Cass-centric dramatic story this season.

And it is a double salvo of treats.

First off we get a team-up of Cass with Damian. Something we've barely gotten in the comics. Literally, Gates of Gotham is STILL the only time these two have teamed up.

That was in 2011. We're in 2023. HOW IS THIS STILL THE ONLY CANNON TEAM-UP we've had between them?!

Yes, they've interacted more since 2020 (three times compared to just twice prior to that, and I'm being kind with one of those interactions).  So yeah this episode is already doing things the mainline hasn't broken ground on.

But as always WFA gives us the dynamic barely teased in the main line (but is laser-focused here), the big sister Cass worried for Damian on their mission who breezes how easily it'll be given its Mad Hatter they're dealing with.

Just like recently in Batgirls #16, there is an underestimation of the Hatter that in this adventure costs Cass as she's brainwashed to be his weapon. Hatter's dialogue in part 1 is our first real insight to criminals in Gotham know about Cass.

This is something NEVER brought up in the mainline comics nowadays (probably due to DC's fear of acknowledging either origin of Cass). So we're in this "Schrödinger's bat" situation where both are her origin, but are not shown.

Here, it's quite clear probably which origin is canon to WFA (more on that soon) as Cass is used by Hatter to kill Damian. For all Damian's own fighting skills well, this is the first comic mention of him acknowledging her and actually caring about her.

Like literally, this episode fully continues off the last Cass-centric episodes we got all the way back in Season 1 with Episodes 32-33 “All Seeing” where we saw things thru Cass's eyes. Here we see again how the family views her via Damian.

But not only that, this is Cass's greatest fear come to life (per "All Seeing" her being used as this weapon and not a person). Again writer CRC Payne just DELIVERS with the emotion by having the emotionally reserved Damian pour out trying to reach Cass.

I have to give major props as well to artist Geoniya Acuna too. The emotion is drawn in both characters' faces. The change in Cass's eyes when she's switched into "weapon mode".

All of it is just *chef's kiss*.

That jaw-dropping ending is a good lead into part 2 where we see the war in Cass's mind trying to take back control.  

And here we get the series showing us her origin for the first time. And oh my.  I so wasn't expecting to see this bastard again:

Due to DC not acknowledging which origin of Cass's is the defacto one has left David Cain in a curious state.  Because if they go into the old one he's like above.

If they acknowledge the newer one, he's basically Donnie Yen as Storm Shadow.

So it just shocks me to see WFA go for their take on the original origin. It's simplified and that's the point Payne having Cain talk to Cass this episode.

I don't see it as Cain actually talking to her, more a mixture of Hatter's mind stuff and Cass's own insecurities taking shape. Until she remembers a CERTAIN someone who she met when she was lost. 

Again, the episode takes HEAVILY into Cass’s old Pre-New 52 origin acknowledging Babs took her in (and the crowd who ache for this version of a mature Barbara go wild). I know you stood up and cheered when WFA went there.

Because of that, Cass starts to break free of the mind control. Remembering more the bonds she forged. Remembering the identity she took and if anything this is where the one slight I have for this issue.

The episode gives us the first ever clear look of the top section of Cass's Batgirl outfit.  I had to pause reading it, and was like "Gimme this WFA. I want to see this suit in action. You don't tease me like this."

This is the only negative I ever give WFA when it comes to Cass/Tim due to their troubled histories in mainline DC Comics. WFA is like, an all-you-can-eat buffet acknowledging it all.

By showing it, you do the Orphan identity a disservice. Literally, we're 99 episodes in, and the only time they've acknowledged "why" Cass adopted this identity was as a joke.

I get "why" it was added to the series. It was the identity Cass had at the time.  But the creators of WFA have done their own "rebranding" of the identity. Giving Cass a scarf or cape to the costume. A different mask than the one she wears in the comics.

I get it. It's because for script purposes it allows the creators to have her outside the mask and be more expressive.

It's just that... 

You tease us fans by showing this suit. You dangle that Batgirl crumb over us. You're just gonna make us want more of this WFA Batgirl costume now (after dancing around it last season).

Now I want it.

I want to see this costume in action. I know Acuna can handle it. Give them the chance someone!  Give us the Batgirls episode this series NEEDS!!! You just don't tease us Cass/Steph's costumes and expect us not to want MOAR!

Cause we do.

Back to the story, these moments break free from Hatter's grasp and we get that righteous beatdown he's so deserved for daring to do that to Cass (along with a cute sisterly moment of Cass picking Damian up).

Like, again the series does what the main line hasn’t. Given us this moment of the two (given their similar backgrounds) being there for one another when moments like these happen. 

Even more, a cute exchange after all said hijinks. 

These two episodes again were a nice sequel to the last Cass-centric arc paying off seeds that began there and we get some rich moments here.

The only thing is the Batgirl-in-the-closet problem which continues to hamper the series.

But I digress that's my own minor nitpick. I can fully admit and cast aside my own "fandom" to say WFA is doing the duty it can showcasing ALL the Bats why they have such loyal fans.

This was another amazing chapter that WFA just seems to pull for their female cast and I'm glad there's this balance between overtly cute, but also educating the casual fan to those not given the light previously shined on them.

That said, I think it's time for another Harper Row arc. She's overdue for one being introduced this season.  Just give us that perfect bookend for the character with another stellar arc.

The creative team knocked another home run with this Cass arc.  Kind of leaves me just wanting more. 

Am I greedy? 

Yes.  

But it shows how good this creative team is feeding that fan side to me with these characters. Make that crave occur. So yeah kudos to them. 👍

This was an amazing arc giving us things I wish the actual mainline DC Comics would give us. Something I feel is an untapped field just aching to be dug into and mined.

[talentforlying]

@pulpnovels: ♬♬♬ — SONGS I LOVE

lightning field - sneaker pimps! i initially found this song for my star wars dnd character (lady-107 my beloved) and it's been living rent-free in my head ever since. it's very on par with constantine's simultaneous regret and lack of it when he inevitably sticks his nose where it doesn't belong and gets cosmic, karmic backlash for it: he always needs to know what's going on, no matter how ugly it is. he makes himself look at the worst that the world has to offer, even when he doesn't want to. and he's always got this inner monologue of 'should have left it alone, shouldn't have opened the door, should have asked the questions', but he just keeps doing it anyway, and he doesn't give a flying fuck about the consequences so long as he gets the answers he wants.

strike me down / better left it all unknown / strike me down / should have held it all alone / wash the questions off my hands / i'm the fate in no one's plans / strike me down / give it everything you've got

ballroom blitz - sweet! this has been my car ride scream-along song since i was a teenager, AND it's some quintessential rich-the-punk-era constantine to boot!! absolutely balls to the wall bar fight banger, with a flair of hellblazer unreality to taste. there's no meta for this one, other than a nod to the 2019 john constantine: hellblazer ending that's due to be continued in january, this is just a get-off-your-ass-and-dance classic.

oh yeah! it was electric / so frantically hectic / and the band started leaving / 'cause they all stopped breathing / yeah, yeah, yeah-yeah-yeah

war pigs - CAKE! this cover and t-pain's are two of my FAVORITE covers ever made, and i feel like assigning constantine the band that did short skirt / long jacket is simply the right thing to do. aside from the obvious political commentary that aligns beautifully with constantine's attitudes towards bloodthirsty politicians and war, it specifically makes me think about the early warning - how i learned to love the bomb storyline in hellblazer issues 25-26, where a dying country town of brainwashed people worship a nuclear warhead at the neighboring american missile base. there's some really fascinating commentary in that issue, and of course it ends tragically, but there's also a sick panel of constantine (who cannot drive) doing donuts in a parking lot with a hot-wired car blasting music at top volume. the lyrics are so well-aligned to the story that i'm almost certain this was their inspiration for that two-parter:

now in darkness, world stops turning / ashes where their bodies burning / no more war pigs have the power / hand of god has struck the hour

+ 3 songs: for pronsias cassidy, underrated love of my LIFE, fire in the empire - william crighton is always what plays in my head during his duel with jesse, and the lyrics remind me intensely of him waking up in the river in the comics after being turned, what with the 'iron tears' being blood. also, man catches fire in the sun, just seems to fit.

i was out where the straight road ends / red dust rises, mighty river bends / i lay down on the sand / fell into a dream / the earth and the crow appeared / with a beak of eyes filled with iron tears

for sly gould, because he is SO cool to me, con man - dispatch is the song i always thought of when i saw his promo pics! feels both sinister and playful in equal amounts, and i would love to see a scene where it's playing in the background while henry thomas walk into a room with that coin spinning over his fingers.

he's just another con man sitting on a hill / you see him at the bull fight, closest to the kill / he lives up in a tower, sells dreams to the poor / no matter how he gets 'em, he always wants some more

and for dan torrance, also the love of my life, thanatos - soap&skin gives me major doctor sleep vibes. not only does it nail the movie ending right in the heart, but i think it also kind of encapsulates his hopeless spiral at the top of the book, and the dark tint that his shine seems to have after the overlook. idk, to me this song feels like both a sunset and a sunrise, which both feel like doctor sleep danny to me.

torn open tomb / i fell in your / cold fission bomb / i fell in your war / ages of delirium / curse of my oblivion

[aceoflilies]

Yeah.. Awakening's whole "Evil religion that is nothing composed of bad ugly old men and needs to be destroyed ASAP" plot bugged me alot, especially with the it being based in a country that dressed like an orientalist version of Egypt.

The whole "protect women from being kidnapped by evil desert religion" and "women in the evil desert religion are just brainwashed and need to be rescued by a real man" thing, also really bugged me, it again doesn't help the conflict in the story is ended only by killing everyone in the bad religion.

Awakening mixed in misogyny with racism. The game depicted every female antagonist as a brainwashed victim that needed to be rescued by a man.

Yeah, that about sums up my thoughts about how Awakening's villains were depicted, on reflection. Not to mention the DLC characters' portrayal--Aversa's entire support with F!Robin is horrid, from the entry premise of "foreign woman stealing Robin's 'man' with her sex appeal" to the fact Robin even entertains this notion for a second and gets in petty fights with Aversa as a result. Definitely emphasizes the misogyny inherent there (and don't even get me started on how different F!Robin's supports are from some of M!Robin's for no good reason). Gangrel just being the comically evil guy who's there for some reason is a pretty big waste too--he considers what he's going to do if you do supports, but it doesn't change his ending being "he does nothing positive and goes and dies" or, if you marry him as F!Robin and invoke the "I can fix him" principle, he's just a single-word footnote. (That entire support is really... not good, too.)

There is one other woman who I'd argue isn't portrayed as "needing to be saved", but... Tharja is an entire can of worms in herself. Talk about the orientalist gaze, a fetishization of stalking, and a depiction of brutal child and spousal abuse as "funny". She's in no way "good" Plegian representation, and it still baffles me she's as popular as she is (I know why, but it still confounds me). And then they have the nerve to make her 'incarnation' the only lesbian romance option in Fates, as a child character no less.

Robin is just about the only Plegian to not be stereotyped as some horrible person (Henry is the other Plegian that's playable, and he's got little care for human life, at least in the localization) and that's because it's their alter-ego from the future that's a terrible horrible person and they actually lost their memory and were cared for by The Good Guys!

I just wish the developers would take five seconds to flesh out the group of eeeeeeevil people they have in every game (even Three Houses leans back on a goddamn "super advanced secret society pulling the strings", even though they could just as easily have written a reasonable multi-sided conflict). Or at least to avoid stereotyping them so heavily. Appreciate the discussion, by the way, anon--hadn't really had the chance to organize a lot of these thoughts before.

[tornrose24]

A basic-ish summary of every MCU movie villain and antagonist for those who aren’t into the MCU like I am.

(Not counting shows because I’m not THAT insane. Also Spoilers, but you probably don’t care if you’ve either seen some of these films or have no intention on watching them.)

PHASE 1 (Not a lot of good villains here I’m afraid)

Iron Man’s Iron Monger- The first of many to steal Tony’s tech and your average ‘corrupt businessman’ who was like Tony’s co-worker/surrogate dad-mentor. Also happens to be The Dude. Kind of not impressive for the first canonical MCU villain.

Incredible Hulk’s General Ross and Abomination– The best example as to why the MCU isn’t as pro-military as you may think. (And later was dumb enough to think he’d have any power over the Avengers). The other one is your basic ‘villain with powers equal to the hero’ who ends up becoming one of the better characters in She-Hulk.

Iron Man 2’s Whiplash and Justin Hammer–I honestly haven’t seen this movie, but basically it’s another ‘guy who steals Tony’s tech’ and has whips, but not the fun kind. Also some dude who I think is meant to be the discount version of Tony Stark (and is played by an actor whose voice you might recognize as one of Dreamworks Animation’s best furry icons.)

Thor– Thor’s trickster brother who is the first of the most memorable villains…. And one of many ‘Tumblr Sexy Men.’ Comes off as smarter than Thor (and you might like to know what he’s SUPPOSED to look like if you have a thing for giant men in Marvel’s ‘What if”). Honestly I think Thor is the more attractive brother.

Captain America’s Red Skull–The head of a fictional branch of one of the most hated political parties in history so yes you should immediately hate him…. Also I’m angry because THAT is how you could pull off an accurate book version of the Phantom of the Opera with make up. 

Avengers’ Loki–Loki again, but at least they picked a good villain for the big crossover. Screws with everyone’s heads for most of the film and tries opening a portal to space with a ‘totally not going to be important later on’ scepter and cube. Honestly his defeat at the hands of the Hulk made me laugh so hard that it’s still funny years later.

PHASE 2 (Slightly better, but mostly ehh...)

Iron Man 3’s Mandarin–I’ve never seen this movie either, but the villain managed to anger a lot of the comic book fans for a good reason. Hope you aren’t an Iron Man fan if you know what I’m talking about. But chances are you know the twist because it’s that famous.

Thor Dark World’s Malekeith–…. Damnit you just HAD to waste poor Christopher Eccleston’s talent, didn’t you? You promised me his character would get a good back story, but you’re dumb obsession with Loki cut down his screen time and turned him into another generic doomsday/conquering villain who just happens to be an elven version of Two-Face by a certain point. 

Captain America’s Winter Soldier–Steve’s handsome brainwashed buddy with a metal arm. Was made so by Red Skull’s main right hand man whose idea of immortality makes black and green computer screens into nightmare fuel. Was also put on ice and un-frozen and re-frozen several times throughout the years. Oh yeah and something about a twist villain but I think you’d figure out who it was almost instantly.

Guardian’s of the Galaxy’s…. Ok wow I’m seriously blanking out on his name right now… Oh yeah, Ronan– Another genocidal maniac who wants to kill people just because. Was stupid enough to be distracted by Star-Lord’s dancing of all things. He’s especially lame.

Avenger’s Age of Ultron’s Ultron–Tony’s never ending bucket of dumb ideas leads to the creation of a genocidal robot who sounds like that California guy from The Office. His idealized ‘final form’ gets its own personality and becomes Wanda’s boyfriend before he gets dibs on it. He’s… somewhat entertaining, but kind of ‘eh’ at the same time.

Ant Man’s Yellow Jacket–ANOTHER ‘corrupt businessman’ who makes poor choices like doing business with Hydra people or going after Scott’s daughter. The latter proves to be the last mistake of his life and I would have personally kicked his ass if he harmed that sweet child. Also pretty bland. I heard he’d be coming back for Ant-Man 3, but I’ll be annoyed if he become’s the MCU version of M.O.D.O.K. like I heard about.

PHASE 3 (They get a lot better here… also Thanos is here too.)

Captain America Civil War’s Zemo–some random Sokovia survivor that did the impossible and turned the Avenger’s against each other…. At least we got a couple of good fight scenes between the heroes thanks to him.

Doctor Strange’s Kaecelius and Dorammu (or was it Dormammu? Some of these names are nuts)–That guy from Hannibal, but with magical powers, bad eye make up, and was dumb enough to not read the fine print. The other is a large purple dude (no, not that one) from another dimension that Strange defeats by trapping him in a time loop and thus annoys him into leaving. I’m guessing he’ll be important later.

Guardian’s of the Galaxy 2’s Ego–A giant planet that managed to turn into Kurt Russell and is basically Star-lord’s biological dad. Does and did some horrible stuff, but I don’t want to spoil it because the ‘wham’ moment, but it made me go ‘oh no’ right before Peter reacted.

Oh yeah, there’s also a golden lady and a guy with a name that people make fun of as if he’s a Captain Underpants villain, but they just serve as obstacles.

Spider Man Homecoming’s Vulture–A guy that got screwed over by the government and Tony turns to the black market with stolen alien tech, and flies around in a flight suit that’s way cooler than the comic book version. Is played by none other than the original Beetlejuice and 1989!Batman. Somehow ends up in what appears to be one of the least liked superhero films ever several years later (and even the die-hard fans are confused as hell by that).

Thor Ragnarok’s Hela and Grandmaster–If you wanted a hot female villain who wants to conquer you, has an understandable rage about being erased from history, and has a soft spot for her giant doggo, then boy do I have good news for you. Also there’s an obvious slave owner played by Jeff Goldblum so of course you’ll find him  despicable, but he’s Jeff Goldblum so of course you’ll be too charmed to care.

Black Panther’s Killmonger–T’Challa’s cousin who has understandable reasons for wanting to lash out at people who harmed all black people across history and modern times, but is too full of anger to realize why his methods are wrong. Would also make for a TERRIBLE boyfriend, so I hope you don’t fantasize over him. I can’t really find much to make fun of this guy since a lot about him really isn’t that funny and his final lines will haunt you long after you’ve seen this movie.

Avenger’s Infinity War’s Thanos- The giant purple dude obsessed with getting all the stones in order to make a gauntlet. Thinks killing half the universe’s population will save the universe. A favorite amongst most MCU fans and movie fans… but honestly he’s an abusive dad, so he doesn’t deserve much praise.

Also has four children with different names related to the color black, but you’ll only care about his other kids so I’m not going to bother describing them.

Ant Man and the Wasp’s Ghost–Lives up to her name by not being completely solid, but also completely hates it because it’s killing her… Ok, look–some villains WANT to be cured or get health care which was what Ava wanted and her condition did seem pretty awful. It was nice to see Janet heal her and then Scott and the Pym family made sure she’d have access to what was basically free health care and medication. (Is also going to appear in the Thunderbolts film and I won’t be surprised if she’s shipped with either Yelena or Antonia.)

Captain Marvel’s… was it Yorg? Rogg? Yrog?–Typical ‘mentor who is actually the bad guy.’ Honestly it says a lot that the cat was the best part of this movie.

Avenger’s Endgame’s Thanos–Basically Thanos from 2014, but still a tenacious A hole that tries to keep the Avengers from undoing what his future self did instead of just letting things play out. I mean it DOES lead to an awesome epic final battle (though the best experience comes if you’ve seen MOST of these films by this point). But the fact that he caught onto it feels like a ‘need to have an obstacle.’

Spiderman Far From Home’s Mysterio–They REALLY thought they could pull a twist villain? Seriously?! It’s a freaking Spiderman villain, why would you pull that off with this guy?! Anyway its some dude that claims to be a hero from another universe, but he’s ANOTHER person who Tony somehow annoyed. Uses special effects and illusions, a team of misused Stark employees, the drones he steals from Peter… but is too stupid to listen to any warnings when it comes to his personal safety. Is also a huge gaslighter and the kind of person you wouldn’t want in your life.

PHASE 4 (Some of these were surprises, but there’s more in the Disney plus shows that I’m not covering here.)

Black Widow’s General… Drekov? Drakov? (I give up). And Taskmaster–He’s not a good villain. Your typical evil general even. But he had a lot of women brainwashed to be his soldiers and had them sterile whether they wanted it or not, so of course you’ll hate this disgusting pig like I did. (And he gets defeated and it is oh so satisfying when it happens.) Taskmaster… you’ll either like the reveal or hate it, but a non-spoiler detail is that they are the ‘anything you can do I can copy it.’

Shang Chi’s Wenwu–A once immortal evil overlord that gave it all up to live in peace with his wife and raise a family. But proved to be a tragic reason why ‘going straight’ doesn’t come without a cost when his wife dies. Ends up going evil again and puts his kids through hell. And then thinks his wife’s village resurrected and abducted her so he’s trying to bring her back. Honestly I can’t find it in me to make fun of this guy, but losing your wife doesn’t give you a reason to be a shitty or neglectful parent.

Eternals’…. It’s a mix of Arishem, Kro, and Ikaris (yeah, no surprise there)– Some giant space god who created the Eternals and told them not to interfere with Earth’s fights (explaining why they were missing from key films) whose using our planet as an egg that’ll kill us when a new space God comes out. And is also voiced by the same guy who voices Sesshomaru (no seriously I’m NOT making that up). Kro… is one of the monsters the Eternals fights that gains powers every time he kills one of them… and Ikaris is ‘TWIST VILLAIN’ who is only so because he is stubbornly devoted to Arishem’s intents… and he’s like one of the blandest MCU character’s imaginable. 

Spiderman No Way Home’s… ok there’s five villains (sadly we were one short of having an actual Sinister Six line up) and they get their own entries:

Green Goblin–Here to make Peter suffer and to remind the other MCU villains what a TRUE super comic book villain is meant to be. Back to scare the crap out of you and gets to ditch the mask to allow Dafoe’s terrifyingly good acting on full display. Rightfully earns his position among the MCU’s scariest villains and will keep you on edge if you’ve seen the original Spiderman film.

Doc Ock- A reversible Octo plushie in human form who just happens to look attractive. Provides one of the best fight scenes in the MCU, but gets one of the most amusing of defeats at the same time. If you’ve seen Spiderman 2 and care about him as much as I did, you will also love his character arc. He was also the main reason I wanted to see this movie since he’s my favorite. (And thank GOD they didn’t do the body swap thing from the comics).

Electro–Thor’s villainous counterpart minus a hammer…. Well actually its still Electro, but throw away the blue theme, give him a better outfit, and let Jamie Foxx do this thing. Also a MASSIVE improvement over his first appearance that has nods to his comic-book self. Not to good when it comes to making sure he destroys something properly.

Sandman–Name pretty much says it. Just fed up with everything like most people who don’t care about the MCU and wants to go home to his daughter.

Lizard–A scaly boy that just wants to turn people into lizards and also knows like the audience that things will inevitably go sideways. Ends up in the truck during a chunk of the film for reasons that are obviously to save money. Probably one of the few characters in the MCU to be naked throughout the entire movie.

Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness’ Scarlet Witch-What happens when an MCU hero turns evil and kills almost everyone on sight just to be able to kill an innocent teenaged girl for her powers. A worthy successor to Sam Raimi’s villains and who manages to be genuinely scary in a few scenes. Also I hope you watched WandaVision before seeing this movie otherwise somethings won’t make sense… oh right, the real villain here must have been Disney Plus in that case.

Thor Love and Thunder’s Gorr–What happens when a God fails to protect their people. Goes killing gods (which we won’t see much of) because one of them was a lazy ass who wouldn’t save his daughter from death. Probably one of the few best things about this movie and honestly you’d be rooting for this guy after seeing how most of the gods in this film ARE actual jerkasses. Also the movie wants to make him scary but he’s either too tragic or too corny for me to be scared of him.

And though I have yet to see it and it’s hard to tell if Namor should count as an actual villain yet, I propose that the REAL villain for the last film of phase 4 to be….

Black Panther Wakanda Forever’s…. The cancer that killed Chadwick Boseman– F*** you. You took away a wonderful human being from the world. A compassionate person who was well loved and admired by many. A man who was an actual king in spirit with true dignity and grace. You took T’Challa from us, but his legacy will live on in both the MCU and in the real world. And while I’m at at, F*** you for killing so many others that didn’t deserve to die so soon.

[fairymascot]

hi! this is the link to the tweet

https://twitter.com/ivygirl851/status/1537784566274043906?t=IwwAmRSbYQ4Xt7AT79HTXg&s=19

(clickable link to tweet)

ah, yeah, i've seen this person around on twitter! i don't disagree with their take necessarily, but i do find them to be a bit militant about it.

the thing about comics is, there is no 'one correct' characterization. characters get passed off from writer to writer, get thrown into various bizarre and forced arcs due to the higher ups' whims... you can have five different people say they're fans of a character and each have radically different ideas of who the character even is. i know what *i* want to see in my poison ivy characterization, and i can point to several canon examples that incorporate it, but in the end it's just a few drops in a bottomless sea of contradictory depictions.

i totally understand being protective of ivy and not wanting to see her demonized in canon. first off, from the get go, i think we can all agree 'cares too much about the environment' is kind of a weird trait to give a supervillain! on top of that, she's a woman, she's queer, she's a victim of parental abuse at the hands of her father & intimate partner abuse at the hands of woodrue. she saved harley for no reason other than not wanting her to suffer the same way she did. she's traumatized, she's empathetic, she wants to make the world a better place. that's why it's incredibly jarring to see some writers twist themselves into a pretzel going ARGHHH NO, WOMAN EVIL ACTUALLY BECAUSE something something evil seductress something kissing men to death something. there's a lot of bad, forced, sexist takes on her in comics. wilson's take, however, isn't like that at all.

wilson's ivy is unhinged, she's vengeful and violent, and she wants to see humanity rot. she is also painfully human herself, she is suffering, she is lashing out as a result of her own trauma and pain, and she aches for harley all the while. it's undoubtedly a villainous take on her character, yes, but it is sympathetic, nuanced and compelling. you can tell wilson has put a lot of thought into what makes ivy tick, how she sees the world, how the human and the green side of her are constantly struggling against each other. i think she's doing masterful work so far, and it's very reductive to say she's doing wrong by ivy's character just because she's not forcing a redemption arc (which, let's be real, isn't her choice to make to begin with). and looking at how shallow, juvenile and frankly boring harley's character has been since her redemption, i sure am glad ivy hasn't fallen to the same fate. honestly, let women be problematic. let them be unhinged and fucked up. imo, ivy shouldn't be redeemed to join harley, harley should instead fall off the wagon and go back to committing crimes with her sexy plant gf. but i digress.

there's so many takes on ivy's character out there. in one story, we see her saving a young girl from a pedophile kidnapper. in another, we see her looking with near-murderous intent at a similarly aged girl for plucking a fistful of daisies at the park to give her mother. there's versions like the original superhero girls where she's a teenager who attends superhero school, and is really shy and sweet and nerdy and wouldn't hurt a fly. there's takes like her reboot origin story where she becomes poison ivy in a fit of rage after working for waynetech and suggesting they could improve sales by brainwashing everyone in gotham, which unsurprisingly gets her fired. in injustice, she says she wants nothing to do with children. in cycle of life and death, she makes herself three of them.

long story short, it's meaningless to get overly invested in one version of her character and then actually expect canon to cater to you. pick and choose the stories that fit your preferences. complain online if you want, sure. but the way this person appears to be in an ongoing online crusade against dc in general and wilson in particular just seems... pointless. i enjoy hero ivy, on rare occasions where it happens, and i enjoy villain ivy, and somewhere-fuzzy-in-between ivy. all of these can work. all of these can make great stories. to me, the most important aspect is whether she's treated with actual respect by the writers and artists, and whether the end result is an actually good story. to which wilson's work so far answers with a resounding yes.

[brightbeautifulthings]

Winter Soldier: The Complete Collection by Ed Brubaker

"'There are things from the Winter Soldier days that I'm just remembering. Weapons left in the field... dangers I can still prevent. I think maybe that's the path... a way to the redemption I've been looking for.'"

Year Read: 2022

Rating: 4/5

About: James Barnes, former Winter Soldier and the latest Captain America, is dead. At least, that's what the world believes, and Bucky prefers it that way for now. Once upon a time, Bucky trained other Soviet soldiers like himself, and when some of them are discovered and woken from stasis, he and Natasha Romanoff set out to track them down before they cause too much destruction. One of them has been awake for longer than they realized, and he's about to make it personal. Trigger warnings: character death, violence, explosions, guns, abduction, brainwashing, captivity, implied torture, guilt.

Thoughts: I love the way Brubaker writes Team Cap, so I'm slowly working my way through that series. This collection starts off a bit bonkers with killer gorillas and Doctor Doom being a total diva, and yeah, it's about as weird as it sounds. It almost feels like it's exaggerated for comedic effect (or maybe Doom is just Like That; it's my first experience with him in the comics), which is somewhat at odds with the darker tone of the Winter Soldier story. The story finds its stride when it settles into the soldier plotline. It's briefly touched on in the MCU, but as someone who's fascinated by Bucky's history, it was cool to get a closer look at his time training the other soldiers. To no great surprise, one of them ends up being the major antagonist of the run, but I like the glimpses of empathy we see in others like Dmitri.

I enjoy Bucky's narration a lot, which helps fill in some of the story and calls to mind voiceover films like Sin City. I also just love him as a character, and Brubaker writes him with all the nuance and self-hate we've come to love from Sebastian Stan's performance. This collection is peak WinterWidow content, which also feels like a completely wasted opportunity in the MCU. I never figured out why they didn't explore Natasha and Bucky's relationship more, except for the fact that they don't know what to do with their female characters and Bucky is treated as little more than a side character. (I love the MCU, truly, but it's not without its issues.) In any case, if you ship that, this is absolutely the collection for you. Lots of battlefield partners, kisses, and angst, angst, angst. I love them together, so I had a lot of fun with it, and I enjoyed seeing other Avengers pulled into the story near the end.

While I like the artwork generally (lots of black and red in the color palette, which really sets a mood), I found it difficult to follow some of the action scenes. I can't tell if that comes down to Guice's illustrating, or if it's just that the battle scenes are so chaotic, with so many characters, guns, and explosions. I had to backtrack a couple times just to figure out what was happening or who was saying what. Also, how dare they call this a complete collection when volume four isn't included? Which, fine, Brubaker didn't write that one, but now I'm going to have to chase it down.

[sarcastic-salem]

If you’re into the whole natural aging that’s fine. I agree that no one should have to spend their whole life constantly preening and covering themselves up in 10lbs of makeup. If they don’t want to. You’re allowed to grow your hair heart long and snarled and gray, you’re allowed to free the titties — seriously, I do that a lot. No bras or binders if I’m at home.

You could even go live in a dirt hut in the middle of the Smokey Mountains and have a mud bath.

If you want to.

But here’s the thing some people enjoy makeup. That doesn’t mean they wear it every day or reconstruct their face like a mask with contouring. As far as I’m concerned, those people are extremists. With probably very bad self-esteem issues.

So maybe you oughta work on building people up a bit instead of dictating their appearance, yeah?

Some people enjoy being sexualized and that includes men, women, and enbies.

And ffs do not turn this into a conversation about how problematic the character Harley Quinn is. Because she isn’t. Saying otherwise only goes to show that

You missed the entire point of Birds Of Prey and her origin story. BoP has a stronger feminist message than Captain Marvel. That message is that women should build each other up in order to take down the patriarchy. Which is why it has a reputation as “misandrist trash” among the incels.

You haven’t picked up a comic book or tuned into a Batman animated film in about 10 years. Harley is an ANTIHERO with her own set of ethically grey morals. She has been problematic in the past but she has also —

-Owned an animal shelter

-Worked as a psychiatrist while working to overcome her own mental illness

-Placed her daughter, Lucy, in her sister’s care so that the Joker would have no access to her

-Stopped the Joker from blowing up a fucking orphanage

She’s even an honorary member of the Batfam because she has helped them solve crimes. And annoyed the shit outta them in the process.

Why, because Bruce Wayne — a man who has gotten two of his children killed and doesn’t believe in therapy — has a better sense of empathy, and a better understanding of the psychological ramifications of domestic abuse, manipulation tactics, and cult brainwashing headgames than anyone

Who guilt trips people for wearing the clothing & makeup that they want to wear

And I am not intentionally sexualizing mental illness in anyone. My point is only that

The character Harley Quinn enjoys being sexualized.

Yeah, I know Margot Robbie did not enjoy it as much and that is why she was an executive producer on Birds Of Prey, and if you watch the movie you will see that Harley is a lot more covered up in BoP than in Suicide Squad 2016. In fact, one of the complaints mostly commonly mentioned in the hateful reviews for the film is that “Harley wasn’t hot enough anymore.” My own step-father said that when we walked out of the cinema, and I had to stop myself from smacking him.

Sadly, dressing in uncomfortable outfits often comes hand-in-hand with acting gigs and I think that all actors should have more say over their character wardrobes. Hollywood, however, tends disagree.

And if anyone has any objections to Pinhead’s presence, I seriously suggest you pick up a copy of Clive Barker’s Hellbound Heart.

Seriously, though, why do you think poledancing classes exist?

Do you think there are no strippers or models anywhere on this earth that don’t enjoy their work? Seriously?

Like I said, you can be into the natural aging thing.

But the second you start shaming people who aren’t into it, you become an asshole👌🏻

Sorry about the monster long essay about Harley Quinn — absolutely not the point of this post. But the second I list her as a feminist role model, my inbox gets fucking flooded with TERFy radfem bullshit.

[princess-of-the-corner]

Avatar Ty Lee AU: The Ba Sing Se arc. I really want to hear heroic Azula use her greatest line: Don't flatter yourself. You were never even a player.

Oh boy oh boy.

So like. This. This takes up like half of Book 2 and also just.....

I debated on this for a while. But since in Canon, Azula was Book 2's main antagonist and still a threat in Book 3, but she's a Hero in the AU, I had to figure out how to replace what she does. I debated about generic things of random Fire Nation people and not focusing on any one person...

But in the end it works better if I create an OC to replace Azula as the antagonist.

And said OC got..... she got away from me.

I called her Noriko which is very ironic given that the comics exist and she really is this AU's Harley Quinn and yes that implies things that I am intending to imply.

Noriko: "Capturing the Avatars and my Fiance's traitorous family? What a perfect wedding gift, don't you think? Only thing better would be kicking off the honeymoon with your execution!"

Zuko and Azula: "Hold on you're gonna have to give me a hot minute to process all that what the FUCK?!?!"

Noriko first shows up in 'The Chase', comes back for 'The Drill' and then of course ends up pulling the whole coup situation but that goes slightly different.

I'll come back to that though.

So when everyone first gets to Ba Sing Sae, the Fire Nation kids pick up quick on 'Oh this is some propaganda shit!'. Which means they know to play by the rules and leave the Dai Li alone until they have more to go on.

Iroh still somehow ends up opening the tea shop because I can't have him not do that!

And then there's Jet. Boy....

Ofc they ran into him last book and that was a trainwreck. So he's just jumping right to where he's attacking them and accusing them of shit.

And Toph goes 'who the hell....????' because she is the only one who never met him. And the rest of the Gaang just pulls a gaslight gatekeep girlboss and pretends 'what? we don't know you? Why are you yelling at us?'.

He gets arrested and they /kinda/ feel bad but.... can't really do much.

While our other new characters get their own stories in 'The Tales of Ba Sing Sae', the only one I'll talk about right now is this version of Zuko's because yes he does still go on that date with Jin! And so does Sokka. Because polyship. And they're like 'Hey there's also another girl Suki but she's off doing her own shit right now we'll talk about that later!'. So yeah Zuko/Sokka/Suki/Jin is the endgame ship here.

Speaking of Suki, since Noriko is a grown ass woman and can't disguise herself as the Kyoshi Warriors, Suki does not get captured!

Also while the Gaang gives Jin half-truths about who they are, she figures out some stuff. Like that half of them are Fire Nation. But she assumes they're just defecting from the country not. Ya know. Kinda important.

Anyway! Back to Jet!

THey're all sus as hell when he shows up acting nice and just skip to figuring out the brainwashing. So they figure out the whole Lake Logai thing. They go down and they get Appa back my baby!!!

I am actually letting Jet live in this AU! But this whole situation is a slap to his black-and-white mentality. The Firebenders are the ones who saved him after Earthbenders kidnapped, brainwashed, and tried to kill him. He doesn't join the main Gaang because there's a lot of history there and he needs to sort some shit out. But he does gather his old group again and agree that, no matter what, the War needs to end and the Fire Lord needs to be stopped.

Now! Telling the Earth King about all this shit goes down similar to Canon! But the Gaang all splitting up for a bit happens differently.

Both Sokka and Katara go off to see their dad. Ty Lee and Aang got that info about the Guru and the Avatar State so they go look into that. Mai offers to go with Toph because she knows that no matter how much you say you're fine, confronting your 'shitty yet caring' parents is hard.

Iroh, Zuko and Azula stay in Ba Sing Sae and deal with the Earth King.

Suki actually does show up as she wasn't captured earlier, which means Zuko can introduce her to Jin and they hit it off well!

Of course everything goes to shit. Because Noriko's way into the city was through disguising herself and a handful of her soldiers as refugees being let in. She had laid low for a while, but heard about the drama with the Dai Li and strikes a deal.

While most of the Gaang are elsewhere, she and her group attack the city, with the Dai Li helping her. Zuko, Suki, and Jin do get captured at this point and sent to the Crystal Catacombs and Zuko just has to explain the stuff he left out when talking with Jin before.

Zuko: "So...... you probably noticed I was Firebending during that fight…"

Jin: "I already knew that part. I'm not an idiot. You can't light a bunch of lanterns that quickly without Firebending. But why did the crazy lady ask you where the Avatars are??"

Zuko: "Uh… That'd be Ty Lee and Aang."

Jin: "Okay. Okay you probably should've mentioned that. But I can handle it! Is there anything else I should know?"

Zuko: "..... My father is the Fire Lord? We're going to kick his ass but I think that's relevant."

Jin: "I'm… I'm just going to lay down and contemplate my life. Goodnight!"

Now! Back to Noriko's take over! We have that 'you weren't even a player' scene where the Dai Li is torn between following her or Long Feng. But while Azula is here for intimidating powermoves, Noriko has no issue killing the competition. She might still do the powermove though because that's also fun for her but she does totally kill the fucker.

A lot of the actual fight goes the same. Though no Avatar State is used. Ty Lee does get zapped with lightning thanks to Noriko though, and Iroh lets himself get captured to buy a few minutes for everyone to escape.

On the bright side, Ty Lee is doing a bit better than Canon!Aang had with the lightning thanks to not having been in the Avatar State. And they also have Suki and Jin still with them!

[arotechno]

Jughead (2015), Issues 1-6: Discussion and Commentary

"I am like unto a god, Archie Andrews. Respect me as such."

Recently re-typed and ready to go, here is a broad discussion of the first volume of the Jughead reboot comic series. I was originally going to review each issue individually, but given that the first six comprise one story arc, I decided to do the whole volume in one go. That means this is a bit crunched for time and therefore not quite as in-depth as I wanted to go! But I encourage you to read the comics for yourself, if you are able.

This will not be spoiler-free, for the record! The images here are taken from my own copy using my phone, so they're not the best quality! But they also aren't especially crucial to this commentary, so you'll have to bear with me.

I just really like the inside cover art for this volume, alright (it's also the cover of issue 5)? I can't help it, I'm aro, I see heart imagery and something in my brain goes haywire.

When we first meet Jughead at the beginning of Volume 1, he comes off as lazy and apathetic, at least on the surface. After an all-nighter of playing video games, Jughead is dragged to school by Archie. There, they find that Betty has started a new campaign to save Fox Forest, a beloved local greenspace that is being threatened by Veronica’s wealthy father, Mr. Lodge. Jughead is… not very interested in Betty’s cause, to put it politely. It’s not that he doesn’t care about Fox Forest, but he does not believe that Mr. Lodge would be convinced to change his mind by a petition. He tells Betty as such, and she remarks that he lives a very hollow life.

“Man, you’re so cynical,” Archie tells him. “Is there anything you’d actually fight for?”

The answer is yes. What ultimately gets Jughead to fight for something? Food—well, kind of, but we’re getting ahead of ourselves.

When Archie and Jughead get to class, they learn that the principal of Riverdale High, Mr. Weatherbee, is being replaced out of the blue by a new guy called Stanger. Stanger is a stiff, serious type, and he immediately starts making changes: new uptight teachers, a strict dress code, new bootcamp-esque curriculum, and most importantly, supposedly nutritious slop to replace the food in the cafeteria.

This sends Jughead down a bit of a rebellious path—he’s not a rule-breaker, but he’s perfectly comfortable with bending the rules in his favor while narrowly skirting around getting into trouble. He starts selling burgers in the cafeteria, with the proceeds benefitting Betty’s fundraiser for Fox Forest.

(Hell yeah, Jughead, unionize that student body! Sell those burgers! You have nothing to lose but your chains!)

This stunt gets Jughead on Stanger’s bad side immediately, and a slowly simmering feud between them ultimately boils over when Stanger plants a knife in Jughead’s backpack to get him expelled. Thankfully, his dad is able to talk his sentence down to a week’s suspension, but that doesn’t stop his friends (and his mother) from worrying about him.

As an aside, I’d like to take a moment to appreciate Mr. Jones.

“Something’s off here and I’m not sure what it is, but I am sure Jughead didn’t bring a knife to school. My boy’s weird, but he’s not a criminal.”

I really like this line from him to Betty. He clearly knows his son and is willing to stand up for him, and it’s comforting to me, especially viewing the story through the lens of Jughead being aroace, that Mr. Jones is not at all bothered by his son being a bit on the strange side, as long as he’s still a good kid. Nothing but respect for Forsythe Jones II in this house.

Something fun and unique about this volume in particular is that in every issue, Jughead either falls asleep or passes out, and has an elaborate imaginative dream about the events of the story. In one he’s a pirate, for example, and in another he’s visited by a descendant of Archie’s from the future, who belongs to the time police. But towards the end of the volume, the line between these daydreams and reality seem to blur for Jughead. He comes to the conclusion in one particular nightmare that Stanger is trying to brainwash them all into becoming mindless agents for his evil organization—and then he realizes he may not be that far off from the truth.

Jughead brings this realization—that Stanger is using the school as a sort of training ground for secret agents—up to his friends, and understandably, they aren’t convinced. They worry that the compounded exhaustion of multiple all-nighters playing games and the stress of being suspended has started to get to Jughead, but he vows to prove it to them.

I mean, damn, Betty, that kind of hurts. (Don’t worry, Betty is actually a good friend, as I’m sure we’ll get into later in the series.)

To make a long story short (and to avoid spoiling the entire plot for those who haven’t read it!), Jughead does find proof, and once he does, his friends are immediately on board. They are ultimately able to save the day, and once it’s revealed that Stanger and the new teachers are ex-CIA trying to brainwash the students (no, seriously), Mr. Weatherbee is re-instated as principal and things return to normal.

I’m leaving out a lot of nuanced details, mostly for the sake of time, but there are a lot of surprisingly weighty moments to this first arc, and Zdarsky’s character writing is incredibly endearing and funny, while still hitting the serious moments when it needs to. There’s an interesting underlying commentary in this arc about military recruitment and U.S. propaganda; Stanger says that he specifically chose Riverdale because the students are so average. There’s something to be said here about the way the military industrial complex preys on average or underprivileged teenagers to convince them to serve when they feel they have no better path to take. It’s an almost funnily serious commentary for Zdarsky to make with a seemingly silly and off-beat comic series, and I respect him for that.

(If you recognize this panel, it’s because it appears on the page where Jughead’s asexuality is canonized. What a good page. So good that nobody ever points out this panel.)

By the end of Volume 1, we see that Jughead maybe isn’t as apathetic and careless as he seemed to be. Sure, he got up in arms about food of all things in the beginning, but it stopped being about food very quickly, once he realized that something truly messed up was going on. And it bothers him, deeply—at one point, the gravity of the situation begins to weigh on him so heavily that he nearly gives up entirely, convinced that there is nothing they can do and that they ought to just lie low until they make it out. But he does end up making things right, with the help of his friends, and in the end, he does decide to help Betty out after all. It’s the least he can do, really. You do get the impression that although Jughead’s friends often don’t take him seriously, they’ll always have his back when it counts—and he’ll do the same for them, even if he’ll insist on being a bit snarky about it.

(That slightly cynical attitude is still there, though, and truthfully, Jughead wouldn’t be the same without it.)

To close out, I am just going to share some of my favorite panels/quotes that didn’t fit elsewhere, including some choice Aro Moods. I hope this (admittedly brief) discussion of Volume 1 convinces you to read the comics, and to join me again when I cover the next arc. Until then, cheers to Chip and Erica.

Jughead’s attitude towards Archie’s romantic problems will never not be funny to me. He’s just like “RIP to you but I’m different.”

Kevin. :/ Kevin come on, man. Mr. Zdarsky, sir, this is character assassination. (Jughead’s face in the corner is a reasonable reaction.)

This one’s gone around so many times before (as have a bunch of other aro moments that I don’t think I need to bother re-posting here), but I just think it’s neat. Don’t worry, Betty lets go.

Aaand lastly, I just really like this line from Jughead. “The world is out of our hands, pal. You just gotta make your own weird way in it.” That we do, Jughead. That we do.

[bigskydreaming]

If you were editor of Nightwing's book ever since at least the start of Rebirth to today and you were given free reign, what would your story mandates?

Oh no, this is dangerous. LOL. Hmm, I have no idea what to shoot for here, so I'll try to keep it to ten. That's reasonable right? Ten is good. Yeah. Is fine.

Okay, so, in no particular order:

1) Let Dick be competent 101. None of this him having to play hype man for every other character to pop up in HIS title bullshit. Nope. That's not what they're there for. He's the lead man, LET HIM BE THE LEADING MAN. Like sure, everyone has their areas of expertise, he doesn't need or have to be the best at everything, blah blah blah.....but its about the nuance. All of that is kinda lip service because the thing is, you don't go into MOST comic books and NEED to be reminded of that because the lead characters of those books are all constantly getting saved or shown up or chastised by every guest star in their books, you know? This is a very weird, very niche phenomenon very specific to Dick's character, and I'm super over it. I'm here to read about the guy who has literally been doing this longer than most superheroes twice his age. The guy who's been doing this since before he hit double digits. The born acrobat. The destined ultimate warrior or whatever of Gotham's Ornithological Society Of Murder and Pretentiousness. Gimme that guy. And that guy doesn't need to be 'humbled' every other page, because the thing is, he's not some egomaniac to begin with so the everpresent need to humble him doesn't actually come off as humbling! It just comes off as pandering and not even to actual fans of the actual character, so its like.....wyd DC.

2) Let other people take responsibility for their own crap with Dick rather than always just expecting a mea culpa from him. I'm so unbelievably tired of the words I'm sorry from Dick. I love personal accountability, so I never thought I'd have to say this about a character, but enoooooough. They have made it completely in character for this dude to apologize to everyone ELSE for being brainwashed, getting amnesia, being KILLED, like.....the amount of things he's groveled for forgiveness for when he didn't actually do a damn thing wrong or worse yet, was the ACTUAL victim of is like....pretty damn staggering. And meanwhile, there's nary a peep of apology from the people who regularly insult or belittle him, get physically violent with him, take advantage of him or take him for granted, etc, etc, etc. Its entirely too one-sided and imbalanced, and the pendulum needs to swing the other direction, like YESTERDAY, and in a fairly big way, IMO.

3) None of this Baby's First Social Justice Awakening 101 crap. I'm sorry, but no. Especially not when you go out of your way to acknowledge that Dick is Romani, only to then turn around and act like he's only JUST had his eyes opened to an awareness of like, classism and poverty and the real struggles people face day to day? Sorry not sorry, but especially for other white writers out there, do not use people of color as self-inserts for dipping a toe into Learning To See Past Privilege. And especially when talking about a character who has a history of being actively abused and hurt by the system and institutions of power, or hell, even leaving out that particular origin story, who has still been out on the streets helping people since he was a literal child. You can not tell me that this is his first face to face experience with social issues, or the first time he's had the inclination to try and address those head on. (And its also particularly egregious that the people second-guessing Dick in his own title and giving him reality checks or acting like they have more of an awareness of all this than he does like, happen to all be white? OPTICS. LEARN ABOUT THEM. COMMON SENSE. GET SOME.)

Know what would actually be a better way to approach this? Flashbacks. Show us Dick running into situations that make him think back to a case when he was still Robin, when he and Batman had started fighting over their approaches to things, actually SHOW us those conflicts and how their viewpoints had started diverging, and how much of that was due to Dick not having the same experiences as Bruce, or the same standing in society, no matter what house he lived in. THEN you can jump BACK to the present, with the reminder/awareness that this is something that isn't NEWS to Dick, but that he in the past felt he was forced to make his peace with as something he wasn't in a position to do that much about....only NOW, he's in a very DIFFERENT position, and suddenly it just hits him how he's still acting like he did when he was limited in resources or in having to be part of a chain in command or having to factor other responsibilities into things....now he ACTUALLY has the power and the resources to make meaningful change in the ways he ALWAYS wanted to, but maybe just needed time to figure out HOW.

Like you know what would have made Shawn Tsang's story arc so much better? If Dick didn't just remember her as the Pigeon's one time teenage sidekick he'd briefly fought as a kid, but like.....if he remembered her as someone he and Bruce had FOUGHT about. Because he didn't agree with sending someone to juvie for defacing public property as a form of political protest, when it was someone's LIFE who was going to be irrevocably damaged by that while the damage to the city could be fixed with a check, and what made Dick any more deserving of Bruce's leniency and faith in his potential or underlying goodness than Shawn?

But he was still a kid himself back then, and when Bruce responded with his usual conviction, talking about the importance about rule of law and etc etc, Dick just didn't have the words to get through to him then, to get him to understand that this wasn't just Dick not getting it because he was too young, it was BRUCE not getting it, that Dick was literally just saying well he wasn't too young to have been in juvie himself, and of the two of them, he's the one who has experience there so why was Bruce's opinion on whether this was the punishment that fit the crime the one that got to hold more weight here? When Dick's the one who knows what that punishment actually LOOKS like beyond the abstract, for whom it was a reality that still haunts him in ways that even defacing a few statues of some rich old fucks doesn't deserve?

Or hell, go back FURTHER than when he was Robin. Idk where any of those posts are, but I've always wanted to see something where Dick maybe runs into someone he remembers from his time in juvie, maybe a guard who is like, the source of the reasons Dick mistrusts figures of authority and is so hung up on independence and not being under anyone's thumb, or maybe someone who was in there with him, another kid who looked out for him when he didn't have to, etc. Gimme Dick tackling head-on his firsthand awareness that there's no rehabilitation to be found in a jail for kids, when most of those kids don't even need rehabilitation in the first place and only did what they did in order to survive or escape from worse situations or like, were there purely because of racist cops, etc. Let him go after THAT system, driven by personal experiences and memories that maybe only hit him in full after recovering his memories from the Ric Grayson arc, like they're things that he put in a box in his mind a long, long time ago because he didn't have the spoons or reserves to deal with them when he was a kid still so traumatized in so many ways, like, something had to give and so he put all those memories away for another day and just....never got back to them because life kept hitting him with new and fresh trauma every week.

But now something has him thinking back to those early days in Gotham, and reminding him that not everyone had a Bruce Wayne willing and able to give them an out from that place or acrobatic skills to escape it on their own, and like. You want to do something about the cycles of violence in Gotham and Bludhaven? Why not start with the places that literally MANUFACTURE cruelty on an institutional level, that teach kids that no matter what they did to get put there, even if that was nothing at all, they're all going to be treated the same way and given no reason NOT to do whatever it took to be top dog in a dog eat dog world by the time they got out.

There's SO many better approaches to social awareness in the Batbooks than what we're seeing, and like. Sheesh. The bar is way too low.

4) On a related note, if I'm editor of the Nightwing book, the FIRST thing I'm doing is making it a priority to find a writer of color for that book, ideally someone of Rom descent. Its waaaaay past time to let a Romani writer take the reins on Dick, Wanda, Pietro or Doom, aka some of the only prominent Romani characters out there? You can't tell me that there aren't talented writers who identify as Roma who would be more than willing to add their perspective to Dick's archive of narratives, and if an editor's gotta go looking for them? Go fucking look. DC and its fans have milked a lot of mileage out of the idea of Dick being Romani with very little in the way of nuanced storytelling to show for it in the past twenty years, and if DC wants to trot out little reminders that Dick is Romani every couple years, like in the form of a freaking line that has no follow up or expansion to any degree and is offset by an internal monologue that otherwise reads as incredibly privileged, the least they can do is TRY to expand on that with the narrative perspective of someone they claim to be representing via that character.

And no, this isn't gatekeeping, this is prioritizing. Its not about preventing other writers from writing this character, like just for the hell of it, its about being proactive about finding a writer who can write specific aspects of this character that have long gone unaddressed or poorly represented. And like. Okay. Its not easy breaking into the comics industry for anyone, but its particularly not easy for marginalized writers. Most every major comic book company just recites 'make your own stuff first and then show us that' but when you're a writer specifically, finding a compatible artist to partner with on creator-owned indie stuff first, when those artists are in the same position as you are and apologetically and understandably tend to have to take paying work over yours if you can't pay except on the back end, like....there are a lot of hurdles to getting your start in comic books, and while there are more and more marginalized writers in comics these days, DC and Marvel kinda fucked up, because you know what?

After being told 'make your own first, then we'll talk,' writers DID do just that....but then found out that well, due to the ease of online distribution and access these days, for any writers who CAN find an artist to partner with, its a hell of a lot easier to get their content out there these days WITHOUT a major publisher behind them.....and for a lot of marginalized writers in particular, its worth it to keep full creative control in exchange for smaller circulation. Especially when they don't have to deal with editors 'softening' their work to make it more palatable for audiences that quite frankly aren't necessarily their primary target. So yeah, marginalized voices are becoming more and more present in comics, but Marvel and DC for the most part are keeping the same voices centered they always have, and what these voices have to say is becoming less and less relevant and outdated. Because much like this arc from Taylor, even when they DO dip their toes into story matter that's of interest to wider audiences, they're doing so to a degree that still puts them years behind the conversations everyone else is having.

5) The same holds true of disability representation. I stopped reading Taylor's run for a lot of reasons but his way of responding to people unhappy with his depiction of Babs was a key one. If I'm editor on a book, and someone tweets at one of my writers that their depiction of a disabled character was hurtful because it feels like they're doubling back on everything Babs has ever said about not being defined by or ashamed of her disability and now its being treated like a dirty little secret, and that writer's response is essentially to just laugh at them and say there's nothing wrong or ableist about their writing of a disabled person, TO a concerned disabled person? That writer's ass is getting fired. Full stop.

Either you give a shit about this stuff or you don't. Don't pay your readers lip service about how important social issues are to you and how much you care about using superhero narratives to inspire people on these matters if you're gonna turn around and show your ass the second you don't feel comfortable and prioritized by the conversation, like it wouldn't exist without your oh so valuable contributions. ESPECIALLY if you don't identify as sharing the same identity of the marginalized character you're writing. You are a guest in someone else's lived experiences at that point, and you think you've got the right to belittle and talk down to the people who LIVE THERE? Fuck off, my dude.

6) Re-center Dick as someone who the superhero community RESPECTS. I love seeing Dick depicted as someone who has an awareness of his own limitations and an appreciation for what others bring to the table, and so I'm not opposed to him calling on others when he needs to.....but I also would like to see more of the opposite. But not in the way we usually see it these days, where he's asked to come help with a crisis and then usually second-guessed the whole way, and then sent back home without so much as a thank you when its done. Yawn. Sorry. I've read that story by now.

You know what story arc I freaking LOVED as a kid, back in the 90s? In Green Lantern, when Kyle Rayner first became the sole GL, one of his very early arcs, before he ever joined the JLA or anything....was him realizing how little he knew about being a superhero. He was like, my predecessors all had a full fledged CORPS to teach them everything they needed to know, but I had a few lines of exposition from a funny little blue guy in a red pillowcase and then I was off to the races. That's not good enough. There's so much I don't know about being a hero, I don't even KNOW what I still need to know.

So he went on kinda a superhero training roadtrip. He went to Metropolis to ask Superman for advice, he went to Batman to learn from Batman and Robin (Tim at the time). He went to Wonder Woman, Sentinel (Alan Scott, the first Green Lantern), etc, etc. And in the end, Kyle very much became his own kind of hero who wasn't just a pastiche of all those other heroes and the advice they gave him, but like....this put him on the road to that.

And I'd love to see something like that happen in Dick's solo title. We've seen him train in a team setting, we've seen him train the other Robins.....I'd love to see like, young superheroes from OTHER books, not ones created by the title, but like names people actually recognize from other franchises, like, guest star in Nightwing's book to learn from HIM, specifically. I wanna see something where Wally looks at the latest speedster and is like, you know what, if you really wanna be the best hero you can possibly be, then Nightwing's who you gotta go to, because there's no one I trust to make a better hero out of someone than him. I want the newest kid on the JLA block to worry that people aren't taking him seriously because of his age or experience, and he's always hearing them talk about Nightwing and how young he was when he started and so if anyone knows something about how to gain the respect of your older superhero peers, that's the guy to talk to.

Gimme Dick's couch being crashed on at various times by a half dozen new or upcoming young superheroes who all heard or figured out that if they really want to up their superhero game, Nightwing's the guy to see.

7) Bring back Bea. There's no long paragraph expansion on this, its really simply. Bring back Bea. She was one of the freshest breaths of air in Dick's supporting cast in ages, most of the current run is based off her character direction in the first place, she's literally the best suited TO help Dick in this venture, and the reasons they gave for writing her out of Dick's life were all bullshit and they just wanted to focus on his previous relationships, which would be fine if they didn't fall into the same two endless cycles of bring back up, go nowhere with, awkwardly avoid each other for years, rinse and repeat. Like. Bring back Bea, please and thank you, the end.

8) Focus on new villains. Heartless is meh, but the idea of new villains is still better IMO than rehashing Blockbuster, Zucco, etc. Like, nostaglia ain't it. If I want to read Blockbuster fucking up Dick's life, I can do that. They're called back issues. The thing is, love it or hate it, the Blockbuster arc WAS iconic. It left its mark. And anything that doesn't leave just as much of a mark, if they're going to bring him up again, is just gonna be a waste of time, you know? It'll just dilute his overall presence when like, what he was - worked fine as is. We don't need Round Two.

The trick to good villains, IMO, is they have to speak to a fight that needs fighting.

What I mean by that is....the best villains are those who resonate on a more instinctive level because they embody something that already exists in a reader's mind as a conflict that needs fighting. Like, if superheroes exist, if the embodiment of larger than life presences and forces devoted to protecting the world from various things are real....then their villains need to embody the kinds of fights or conflicts that NEED larger than life figures to combat them, at least on a one to one level.

Look at Superman and Lex Luthor. Superman at his core embodies the strength of community. He's the ultimate hero of the people, his essence is that he was the last survivor of a doomed race who was raised by two honest, hard working people to see the beauty in just being ONE of them, in using what he had on behalf of all of them and not just himself. In contrast, Lex Luthor is basically the embodiment of capitalist greed, of excess, of the entitlement of being able to have anything with a snap of your fingers and thus assuming that gives you divine mandate to make the kinds of choices that he sees as only his right to make.

He hates Superman, ultimately, because Superman is the WRONG savior of the people. He wants their only savior to be HIM, half the time he honestly believes he's saving the world FROM Superman, but just as often he's perfectly content to be the villain and not shy about it....because Lex Luthor's ultimate motivation is he wants everyone to know when he's dead and gone that LEX LUTHOR WAS HERE. He genuinely doesn't care WHAT his impact or legacy is at the end of the day, just that it exists and it overshadows most everything else...because all that really matters to him is the irrefutable proof that HE mattered. And thus at their cores, Superman and Lex are perfectly opposed. Ideally situated to eternally be in conflict, their own forever war, because their core natures are incompatible. They CAN'T compromise, without compromising themselves and essentially ending up as someone totally other than who and what they are already.

And you can go down the list. The Joker is the chaos to Batman's order, while Mr. Freeze is the stagnancy of that order taken too far, he's what you get when you freeze everything in your grief and refuse to let anything go on, anything new grow, because that would mean having to admit once and for all that what you're mourning is really gone. Two-Face is the ultimate embodiment of Man vs Self, a once good man at war with his own worse nature, and reminding everyone who looks at him how easily they could fall to the same fate.

And so on and so on. What Dick needs, is more of the same. Like, as much as I'm not a huge fan of Talon stories, I maintain that the Court of Owls were a great foil for him - just they tend to be poorly used in canon as well. But I also think how poorly they come off in canon has a lot to do with canon not really touching on WHY they're such a perfect foil for Dick....and that's Dick's history with being outside the system, mistreated and even exploited by the system. Because the Court, their core concept, is they ARE the system. They are entrenched, enfranchised, institutional power, passed down through generations, dynastic control that is a perfect counterpart to the dynastic power of the Wayne family, embodied in its youngest generation in the form of Bruce's FOUND family, the children he adopted regardless of whether or not his peers found them deserving of that honor. The Court, and their entire....thing...about the Gray Son, is the entitled fury of those denied something they deem theirs simply because they WANT it, and who will burn the whole world down rather than admit defeat or let someone else have it instead.

And that resonates. It could resonate a lot MORE if DC would actually lean into those concepts and allow Dick to explore how the Court are nothing he's not used to, they're literally made up of the same people who have looked down on him ever since he came to Gotham, but now they're actually a face and a name put to all those attitudes, something he can literally FIGHT BACK AGAINST. The Court are literally human-sized embodiments of everything and everyone who's tried to confine Dick since his parents' deaths, tried to define him without his permission, tried to make him other or lesser than who and what he is.....and who thus now exist in a form that Dick can literally BATTLE. So that he doesn't HAVE to just take this stuff lying down.

Thanks to the Court, he doesn't HAVE to just passively accept it, that this is just how life is, that some people are going to view him this way and think this about him and there's nothing he can do about it. He CAN do something about it, in superhero stories. He can kick its ASS, in the form of the Court of Owls and everything its members think about him and intend for him. He can refuse to bow down to them, to accept their mark on him. He can say lol, no, and then blow their shit sky high, ideally with a little help from his family. He can BEAT them, in this incarnated form, and in doing so, even though he can't beat everything they stand for and represent, that victory still matters, still means something symbolic to readers it resonates with.

And that's what we need more of. Villains created specifically to embody concepts that are diametrically opposed to Dick and what he represents. The system, yes, but also villains who embody the kind of tyranny and control he fights back against in his constant battles for autonomy and self control. Villains who embody the 'new hopes' of a second generation just like Dick himself is the focal point of the hopes embodied by the second generation of heroes. I'm actually not the hugest fan of multiversal constant Dick Grayson, but I might like it more if he had an opposite number there, someone he was specifically contrasted with. Idk.

But you get it.

9) Dick having a social life. Gimme the Titans and his siblings showing up JUST to show up. We have room enough for at least a couple pages every other issue where we just get to see these characters having some breathing room, taking a beat to stop and be something other than just a superhero, to be human as well. There's more to life than 24/7 fighting, even for them, and that's largely been lost in modern superhero comics, which kinda sucks, because that was what made most of the more iconic and lasting dynamics between various characters like, STAND the test of time. The larger than life battles between good and evil might be what many of us come to superhero comics FOR, but the relatable back-and-forths and ups and downs of their private lives spent with friends and family tends to be what keeps most of us coming BACK. And lately its all just mission, mission, mission, and I'm like blah, blah, blah and its like, meh, meh, meh. Y'know? Give the guy some down time, and let his friends come spend it with him.

10) Boone. This is purely self-indulgent, but if you know anything about me, you know my obsession with Robin: Year One, Dick's brief time at Vengeance Academy, and the hate/hate relationship he has with his brief frenemy from that period, Boone aka Shrike. This character has SOOOOO much potential to be Dick's true archnemesis and rival, and like. *Sobs* I can't get into it all again. Its too much. I can't do it.

Okay, I absolutely can. And will, probably. But like. Later.

BONUS ROUND:

Other thing I would absolutely insist upon if I were Nightwing editor....

GET THAT FUCKING MEME SHIRT ABOUT BRUCE SLAPPING DICK THE FUCK OUTTA HERE.

Like. Seriously. WHAT THE HELL. Why would you double down on THAT? Why is Babs STILL wearing it? (Last I checked, like I think I saw it in a scan from last issue? I'm pretty sure its still there? If not, forget this entire rant, and I am very embarrassed. Okay not that embarrassed. I don't really care if I'm wrong here but like, in case I'm not)...

WHY. Who thought that was funny? No, seriously, on behalf of any other abuse survivors who like me are SERIOUSLY not amused, who the FUCK thinks its FUNNY to have one of Dick's best friends sporting a shirt that no matter what it represents IN universe, to readers OUT of universe, is always going to call to mind the fact that this meme only freaking EXISTS because of all the times DC has obliviously and without acknowledgment written Bruce abusing his children, including the BFF that Babs is literally wearing that right in front of.

Like omg do you hate her, DC? What other possible reason could you have for thinking that would be a cute, funny thing for her to wear around the guy getting SLAPPED, by his DAD, in your shirt's iconography.

Okay I'm done.

LOL.

Sorry, that last one was brewing for awhile. Deep breaths. Woo.

[drowning-moonlight]

My review for Rocket’s arc in Young Justice Phantoms

Transcript under the cut

Hello!

This video will be a review of season 4, episodes 18-21 of Young Justice so there will be spoilers.

Okay  so I liked the arc decently well enough. There were parts that I really  enjoyed and parts that I found lacking. Which is how I feel about all  of the other arcs. Each one had things that I liked and didn’t like. Now  with this one, it’s Rocket’s arc and my main issue with it is that it  just didn’t focus that much on Rocket. I feel like we didn’t learn that  much about her as a character. I mean we kind of did with her  interactions with her son and such but we didn’t get anything at all  about her backstory.

Now in the comics, that being Milestone  Comics, Rocket - real name Raquel Ervin - actually becomes a hero by  talking a guy named Augustus Freeman into becoming a hero - this being  Icon. They actually met when Raquel broke into his house and tried to  rob him. Then she saw that he had superpowers and thought he would make a  great hero. She demanded to be his sidekick and she designed their costumes! But none of this is  mentioned in Young Justice so there is the possibility that this isn’t  her backstory on the show. Still, I would have liked to have seen some  backstory for her, whether it’s the same as in the comics or not.

In  the other arcs, we did get to learn new things about the focus characters, or  at least saw some of their backstory. With the first arc, we got to learn more about M’gann’s relationship with her family and that really added to her character. Way back in season one she mentions that she always wanted an Earth sister and implies that she didn’t get along with her sisters on Mars. And in her arc we got to meet one of those sisters and their interactions with each other really added a layer to M’gann’s character. In Artemis’s arc we see great interactions with her sister Jade and even flashbacks that add some context to some of their interactions in season 1. In Kaldur’s arc, there was an episode where he talks to his parents about the past and we learn more about his backstory which explains his personality pretty well. Zatanna’s arc is a little lacking in this area, the same with Rocket’s. We did get some flashbacks of her childhood but that was from her father’s perspective, not her own but it did still give us insight into her character a little bit. Now I do think Zatanna’s arc suffers from not focusing on her so much as it focuses on Klarion and Vandal Savage. I feel like Rocket’s arc suffers similarly by focusing a little too much on the Zod family.

I did like the parts in episode 19 when Lor-Zod was explaining his backstory and it was inter-cut with Saturn Girl and Chameleon Boy telling the same story but from their perspectives. Like from Lor’s point of view, he is in the right for wanting to rescue his parents while the Legion thought he was evil for that because his parents are criminals. It was really cool to see differing viewpoints of the same events. I thought it was an interesting way of handling a lot of exposition.

Now I did actually like Lor-Zod to be honest. Didn’t really care for General Zod but I never really like him in any adaptation. He’s just not a character that I enjoy. Lor-Zod’s determination to get his parents out of the Phantom Zone was kind of  sweet though. Like yeah I know they’re villains and have done awful things but  still it was sweet. Even if it is kind of far removed from the comics. Lor in the comics actually fights against his parents and gets raised by Superman and Lois as a Kent. Maybe that could still happen in Young Justice? Time travel is possible so maybe Superman could travel in time and then take baby Lor away... uhm although that would be kidnapping... hmm so maybe not... Anyway. I found the song they sang in the Phantom Zone kind of cringy. I know that’s a small thing but when they started singing I was like, “Really? Y’all are doing this?” I get that it was supposed to be brainwashing Conner into being loyal to Zod but still. I felt like it lasted too long. I know it wasn’t very long but I feel like a couple of verses could have been cut and that little extra time could have been given to, I don’t know, Rocket.

I just feel like she didn’t get enough screen time for it being her arc.

A  big point of contention in the show’s fandom is how she handled her son  Amistad’s Autism and then how her feelings about that were mirrored to  her feelings about Orion. Now I don’t have Autism or claustrophobia so I  can’t really speak on how accurately either of those were portrayed.  I’ve seen people saying that Amistad was written relatively accurately  as an Autistic characters and I’ve seen people say that it wasn’t  actually great representation. I think it’s important to note that  people with Autism aren’t a monolith and each person is different. I saw  a lot of people saying that him eating the cookie in a specific way and  being sensitive to strong smells and not liking disruptions to his  routine were things that many Autistic people can relate to. Some were  more upset about how Raquel handled Amistad than how Amistad was  portrayed. I saw people say that it was accurate that parents of  Autistic children would be frustrated and I saw people say that Raquel  shouldn’t have been so dismissive of Amistad’s needs. I personally didn’t like that  scene at the beginning of episode 18 where she’s pretending to look for  his wool hat. Like she looks under the couch and stuff and keeps saying  “no hat” over and over which felt condescending. I get it was to show her frustration  and stress but still I kind of wish that part was left out. Even Amistad’s facial  expression during that scene showed that it was upsetting him. But you  can argue that this is just a character flaw for Raquel and that all  good characters should have some type of flaw, which is fair; characters should have flaws, even heroes. But still I  can understand why many fans didn’t like this aspect of her character or how the show handled it.

This  sort of plays into her judgement of Orion as well. So I understand her  calling him a monster after he becomes unstable and hits those two  larvae children. I get that and I don’t blame her for having  apprehensions about negotiating peace with him. The problem that I have  with her judgement of Orion is how she felt about him after learning his  biological father is Darkseid. I mean, she has several teammates who  have evil relatives. She’s friends with Artemis, isn’t she? And  Artemis’s dad is a villain and Raquel never seemed to judge her for  that. Granted, Sportsmaster isn’t quite on the level of evil as Darkseid  but you get my point. It just felt kind of out of character for her to judge someone for having an evil family member.

Though I will say, it was good that she acknowledged that they got off on the wrong foot and apologized. It was at the beginning of episode 20 and while it wasn’t actually Orion but Ma’alefa’ak, it was good that she realized they needed to make amends. She didn’t know it wasn’t actually Orion of course but it was still a nice gesture that showed Rocket’s maturity.

Okay, yeah Orion could be a jerk and stand-offish but really the only bad thing he did was hit the two larvae. And, yeah that was bad; he shouldn’t have done that but still. I feel like Rocket was a little too judgemental of him. Like when she got mad at him during the meeting for saying their off-topic conversation was of little importance. He was definitely a jerk in the way that he worded it but he was right. Them sidetracking the peace negotiation with talks of romance and birthdays was kind of... unprofessional. I think Orion was right to call them out for that. I get Bear wanting to extend his condolences about Superboy’s death but the conversation should have ended there.

The only really important thing we got from that off-topic conversation was that Forager was thinking of staying on New Genesis. But to be honest, I don’t really care much about that. Okay, a little bit of a tangent: I had some issues with season three and one of those issues was that I just didn’t care that much about the new characters. I didn’t care at all about Brion, or Helga, or Forager. I just didn’t care about them! The only new character that I even kind of cared about was Halo. And speaking of them, I don’t like that the writers had Rocket use the wrong pronouns for Halo. Okay, I know Violet said that they didn’t mind she/her pronouns but they did very clearly state that they preferred they/them pronouns. Now they only said this to Harper Row but I would have assumed that they could tell the whole team. I can understand the New Genesis gods not knowing and calling Halo “she” by mistake but I feel like Rocket should have referred to them with ya’know “them.” But I’m going to blame the writers for this.

Going back to Forager though, since I didn’t care that much about him in season three, I didn’t really care about the romance either. It was kind of cute. Them reading Shakespeare made me think of Jason Spisak’s YouTube videos of Wally Reading the Classics, which did warm my heart a little bit. (I’ll link on of them down below.) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ftf-sMzRuBY For context, Jason Spisak is the voice actor for Forager and Wally West so I liked the little reference to him as Wally quoting Shakespeare. He voices another character doesn’t he?....

OH! Razer! He also voices Razer. That’s something else  that happens. Boy do I have some  feelings about Razer. I LOVED seeing him again. Was not expecting it in the slightest. So Razer is a character who had only ever appeared in Green Lantern: the Animated Series. This was a show that aired when Young Justice seasons one and two were airing on Cartoon Network and were both canceled at the same time. Which is a real shame because Green Lantern: the Animated Series was actually a really good show. I’m not even a big fan of the Green Lanterns but I did still really enjoy that show. And now one of its main characters has appeared in Young Justice. Could this mean a revival for Green Lantern? Maybe? I could only hope. It deserves a season two.

Speaking of Green Lanterns, it was sad that Tomar Re died. And it was extra sad that he was killed by a Kryptonian considering he tried to save Krypton. I do love some irony. But he shouldn’t feel guilty about not saving Krypton because really what could he have done to stop a sun from dying? Oh and it was interesting to learn that he knew Superman’s biological father and uncle. So we have confirmation that Zor-El existed on Earth-16 so maybe his daughter Kara does too. It would be cool to see Supergirl show up at some point.

My only issue with that would be that there are already soooo, so many characters in Young Justice. It felt crowded back in season two and it’s only gotten worse. I think that’s one of the reasons why some of the arcs and story lines don’t follow their focus character all that much: because there are too many characters vying for lines and screen time.

Maybe if there were less characters, we could have gotten to see more of Rocket.

I  hope she’s featured strongly in the next arc, which I know will be  Nightwing’s, but that’s set up as being about finding Conner and Rocket  can definitely help with that since she now has some key knowledge about  the Phantom Zone projector getting destroyed and all. She did see Bioship’s lasers destroy the projector, even if she doesn’t know what it was. So maybe we’ll see a lot of  her in the last arc. I’m looking forward to it!

Let me know what your thoughts were! Did you love this arc? Hate it? Feel indifferent to it? Should there have been more of Rocket? Do you think they handled Amistad’s Autism well? Or not? Let me know! I’m always interested in what other people thought.

Bye!

[pilferingapples]

Les Mis and ATLA

oh wow unexpected !

..Ok so! Les Mis basically happens in the aftermath of France's own attempts to Take Over the World, Empire-Style; so going with that! AtLA -verse , in the immediate aftermath/years following Zuko's coronation!

(disclaimer: I am in no way an AtLA Lore Expert; this is about Vibes. I'm sure it'll contradict like nine billion points of canon that I don't know. )

..you know what I can come up with backstories and all for Valjean and Javert etc but lbr this is AtLA -verse, people over 40 exist to be Mentors and Background characters , this one is about the Fantine , the Amis, and Patron-Minette

also I guess at some point Marius and Cosette will like...exist but they'll be Very Children ; Marius is probably all of five at the start here and Cosette's only going to be born in the early years of Zuko's rule so

-Fantine:

one of the uncounted and uncountable war orphans left by decades of world war. Her background is entirely unknown, even to her; grew up in a little border colony. Post-war, she's made her way to the Fire Nation capital to find a better life and new friends. Her story is about the ground-level struggle for the least powerful people in her society so there's a better sense of what the political maneuvering is in reaction to (and she'll be part of it by like the middle of the first season? yeah, I'm thinking big Main Character energy for her in this)

-The Amis are Mostly Teenagers but that's never stopped anyone in the AtLA-verse from being plot relevant!

- Enjolras, Courfeyrac and Prouvaire are from important Families in whatever part of the Fire Nation equates to "the South". Like a lot of children from such families, they were sent to Capital City to be hostages guaranteeing their families' loyalty learn the necessary leadership skills for people of their rank (and be hostages guaranteeing their families' loyalty). This has of course given them lots of time to hang out together and bounce around ideas about how (a) the Current Regime Sucks and (b) the Nation could do Better. Enjolras is an ace firebender and fighter, Courfeyrac is one of the best swordfighters in their class, and Prouvaire...is a poet. Who has a lot of Spirit-World visions.

-Feuilly is part of the small (non-literal) army of artisans responsible for all the artistic flourishes that make Capital City and especially the palace grand and imposing and the living propaganda piece it needed to be during the war. Friends with Enjolras, Courfeyrac and Prouvaire since they were all kids, united by mutual outrage that their country is Like This. With the war over, they're all hoping to grab the chance to see the new government won't ever repeat the (horrifying, almost world-ending) faults of the old.

- Bahorel is the only fire-bender in his farming family--the only remaining firebender, anyway, because his parents made sure he kept that secret, because peasant kids with firebending don't get trained to be elite guards, they get chucked into ships and tanks to server as engine fuel-makers, and his family was not having their kid used that way. Now that the draft is not a thing anymore, though, he's free to let loose and maybe check out the Other Options for an energetic youth who wants to hit things with fires.

- Joly and Combeferre have been friends since they both got funneled into the Fire Nation's version of the Polytechnic; they were fully expecting to be battlefield medics and are incredibly relieved that's not their immediate future, and very excited at the idea that maybe now they can focus on some Exciting Theories They've been Developing About--

--Legle and Grantaire are just in the city because their parents moved there in the last few years, and the two of them fell in together. They managed to get less of the brainwashing school than most kids their age and class by virtue of just. Not Going. Slacking Off For Greater Justice!

TOGETHER THEY FIGHT CRIME ORGANIZE A POPULAR MOVEMENT FOR A MORE DEMOCRATIC FIRE NATION, so the country won't be plunged into another 100 year war the next time some Fire Lord gets a bug up his cloak

but Can They Succeed when the Patron-Minette, the old regime's hit squad, is trying to undermine them at every turn and destabilize the new government's efforts at peaceful relations with other Nations ? Will Our Heroes figure out who's behind these reactionary efforts? Is Javert just gonna be a comic-relief heavy? DO WE HAVE GUINEA PIGS?? WHO KNOWS but we know there WILL be lots of awesome fight sequences and everyone will get a chance to Unlock More True potential and like with a cast roster like this and only two known Benders, there will be at least a few people discovering their True Gifts etc

plus lots of trippy Spirit World storylines ! Whooo!

[taiblogcomics]

How The West Was Wing

Hey there, gray zoners. We continue our journey through the second MLP/Transformers crossover this week, like we're doing all this month. It's a not-really-a-theme month! Let's get into it~

Here's the cover:

Here's another fantastic poster-like cover. Everyone likes Starscream, yeah? And... most people like the Wonderbolts...? Probably. Rainbow Dash is a main character, so of course she's liked. And people like Spitfire, I feel. I think people used to like Soarin, but that was way back when he was A) one of the only Wonderbolts at the time, and 2) one of the only male characters at the time. I think he fell out of popularity and into a lot of pie jokes. And Fleetfoot is also here! Remember when the comics shipped her with Big Mac? Good times~

So, if you recall last time, the Decepticons tried to steal magic from Equestria and instead accidentally resurrected King Sombra. That's a pretty bad mistake, especially since Sombra then brainwashes several ponies (including half the Mane 6) and a number of Transformers (including Megatron). So the remaining members of all factions have to team up to defeat Sombra. And that's where we are! We open with Starscream and the other jets I don't know flying on patrol with the Wonderbolts. Rainbow is taunting Starscream, which is deeply enjoyable.

Spitfire advises Dash not to antagonise the giant robots armed with missiles, but Dashie is her usual flippant self. Spitfire also worries they might be out of their depth, and to punctuate this, an enemy patrol begins shooting at them. Starscream calls for everyone to attack, while both Soarin and Skywarp point out that blowing up brainwashed allies isn't going to be helpful when Sombra is defeated. Like, no exaggeration, Skywarp says "You can't make an army out of dead soldiers". This is a real line in an official My Little Pony comic book. That's amazing.

Since Skywarp is actually being reasonable, Rainbow Dash and Spitfire drop down to formulate a plan with him. Essentially, the Wonderbolts use the clouds to create a cover, then signal the Seekers with a Sonic Rainboom. This gives them an opportunity not to shoot everyone but drop an Energon net over the enemies, immobilising them. Starscream taunts them, noting that there will always be a need for pawns on the battlefield and having visions of himself as a king. He's shaken out of it when Thundercracker calls for three cheers for Rainbow Dash.

I think I noted this last week, but every issue in this is broken into two smaller stories, just like the first crossover. Just noting that, because here's our second story. Apparently Cybertron has deserts, with bundles of wires forming the tumbleweeds. This is what happens if you don't untangle the cables in that box in your garage. Despite her nature, Applejack here is giving some noir-esque narration. Are cowboys the noir detectives of the Old West? A “rust storm” starts up, which does explain a lot about the desert existing in the first place.

Applejack just keeps moving forward, following the sun because it's the only thing she understands out here. Fortunately, she's not out here alone for long. Unfortunately, the one she's encountered is a Transformer named Wildwheel. I don't know this guy, but from what I gather (and the four word bio the comic provides), Wildwheel seems to be a defector from the Autobots. He wants Applejack out of his territory, and AJ just wants through his territory. And the two of them are about to have an old-fashioned duel over it.

Rather than guns, both of them draw a whip. Applejack's is rope, and his is a big electro-whip. The fact that she can match him with it is impressive to both Wildwheel and the readers, and even moreso when she takes out Quickstrike, who'd been sneaking up on them. Hey, I know that guy! I had a toy of him from Beast Wars! Me even having a particular Transformers toy is so rare that it's worth noting. But while they're complimenting each other, Wildwheel strikes again, and Applejack is unable to retaliate in time.

She flinches, but it wasn't the earth pony Wildwheel was going for. It was another brainwashed Transformer, Skids this time, sneaking up on the group. Wildwheel reasons that a bunch of brainwashed folks are more dangerous to his territory than a single pony, and Applejack casually reminds him not to underestimate ponies. He looks at Quickstrike on the ground and agrees, ending the duel and saying Applejack's earned his respect. He's gonna help her get back home, and she says he'd love it there. She has a friend who can make them matching hats, if he likes. And the pair walk into the sunset, as any good western should end~

Both of these are fun little stories. The Seekers and Wonderbolts teaming up makes perfect sense, and it’s always nice to see Starscream get undermined. I don’t know this Wildwheel, but he seems a good fit for AJ. Plus it makes up for the previous crossover, where she teamed up with nobody and just fought the Insecticons. And it was just neat to see not only a Transformer I knew but even had a toy of. That doesn’t happen every day~

Next week, even more crossover fun! And if you thought a cover with Starscream was cool and popular, well... Let’s just say, Soundwave superior~

[ofcowardiceandkings]

I think you mentioned listening to podcasts? Do you have any favorites to reccommend? I've run out of content :(

that i do !

im not entirely sure what kind of podcast you'd be interested in but i'll throw out a few of the goodies in my huge library of stuff , i'll miss out a few of the HUGE podcasts that have been all over tumblr though

a LOT of it is true crime or human interest stuff , or history because im nerd ,, and a few of these dont have nearly enough attention so [shrug] i'll try to keep this short i guess lol this isnt EVERYTHING ive got in my library or listened series' by any measure

i AM gonna pop a shout to both Stuff You Missed in History Class and Stuff You Should Know from iHeartRadio because their HUGE archives have kept me from losing my mind many times over , and they cover a wide range of both important and wacky topics

BomBARDed (ongoing) this is the only fiction podcast i have happening right now really but its DAMN GOOD ONE .... it's an actual-play D&D 5E podcast in the DMs own musically-inspired world, focussed on a group of multiclass bards going to music school !! and all players (+DM) are members of the Texas band Lindby !! and they actually use and play music in the show with one original song an episode !! Kyle's worldbuilding and storycraft are truly incredible, and (Nick) Goodrich, (also Nick) Spurrier, and Ali's characters are in depth and interesting as well as an absolute powerhouse :') i actually made a piece for its first fanzine, Bardic Dreaming, which published earlier this year and is free to view now, all the players and the community are super wholesome its just very good overall 💙

History & Humans;

Fall of Civilisations (ongoing) legit one of my favourite podcast finds, im so glad my youtube autoplayed one of these ... it took me like 2 hours to realise it was 1) not the same as what was playing before and 2) had been on for 2 hours and wasnt near finished lmao. anyway, this is a series by historical fiction writer Paul Cooper, and is honest to all thats good one of the best documentary series ive encountered in years - and ive consumed a LOT of documentaries. it covered the downfall of various civilisations through history, and the episodes run from an hour to FOUR hours depending on the topic. its so chill to listen to and just get done, but over the pandemic all of the episodes have been given full movie-quality video versions too on youtube if youre more of a visual person.

Casting Lots: A Survival Cannibalism Podcast (on series break) yeah that says that lol ... its a SUPER niche topic but its very interesting and treated very well despite being kind of comical at times, the hosts are just naturally funny lol ... it delves around from the history of cannibalism in whole regions to specific incidents as recently as the 1970s, and of course the first episode is about the Donner Party, and it covers things ive never heard of despite being kind of important ?? anyway Alix and Carmella are good eggs

Sawbones (ongoing) i probably dont need to mention much here other than say that Justin and Sydnee saved me from being SO BORED sooo often, the history of medicine is wacky as hell and its what most of my history GCSE was on so [shrugs]

Cautionary Tales (on series break) this was a wild-card find lol ... it's by Tim Harford "the undercover economist" who writes for the Financial Times, and its topics kind of weave modern topics and science with how to learn from historical errors ... its a bit weird but well worth a go, also each series has a few celebrity guest voice actors which is pretty awesome

Ephemeral (ongoing) this is a very strange but thought provoking series about sounds and other things just barely saved. topics include the last castrato, the hello girls, hand-stamped records, the spread of kīkā kila music, and acoustic fossils of wild places.

Neat! The Boozecast (ongoing) history and bartending whats not to like lol ... hosted by Teylor Smirl and now their dad Tommy, they're just digging around in how important booze is to human culture

True Crime (white collar and weirdness);

Swindled (ongoing) this is an amazing show full stop. A Concerned Citizen details some of the most impactful and unruly things to happen in white collar and corporate crime. very factually accurate but given the sheer bullshit of the topics the deadpan snarking is [chefs kiss] absolutely warranted ..

American Scandal (on series break) this one is a series within a series type, and spends a few episodes at a time poking holes in some of America's biggest scandals, from a dramatised but fact-based point of view. such as what the hell was going on with Enron, how big tobacco was forced to own up to covering its own ass, how Iran-Contra happened, etc. it also now has a sister show called British Scandal, which does the same thing for British cases but with a slightly different format.

Missing in Alaska (finished) this was a fascinating series, a deep dive into what happened to two US government officials who disappeared on a small chartered flight in Alaska in 1972. it goes some really strange places, but it actually turned up a lot of previously unknown information through the audience. John Walczak's new series in a new feed is Missing on 9/11 which looks into what happened to Dr Sneha Philip.

Pretend (ongoing) Host Javier Leiva holds interviews with anyone living a lie, or who have been touched by them. con artists, snake oil salesmen, former cult members, catfishing victims, anyone and everyone.

Power: The Maxwells (finished) hosted by journalist Tara Palmeri, the story of media tycoon Robert Maxwell from nothing to empire to mysterious death and the scandals uncovered after he was gone.

Lets Talk About Sects (ongoing) Sarah Steele covering cults from around the world, in particular those in Australia - where she is from. She often has former members on the show to share their stories, and share knowledge of how they left. each story has the relevant content warnings at the start of each episode.

Brainwashed (finished) investigation of the CIA's covert mind control experiments, centred on the experiments performed at a hospital in Montreal, and its cultural impact.

Dr Death (2 series finished) two series investigating huge cases of fraud and medical malpractice, and how they were brought to a stop. series 1 covers Dr Duntsch and his horribly butchered neurosurgery, series 2 covers Dr Fata and his fraudulent cancer clinic

The Immaculate Deception (finished) untangling the weird and disturbing fertility fraud of Dr Jan Karbaat, who fathered children himself through his fertility clinic, and the impact of his deception. later episodes also touch on other similar cases.

True Crime (Violent/General);

The Casual Criminalist (ongoing) Simon Whistler of-the-many-youtube-channels cold reads a script about the case of the day, with some of his daft commentary thrown in.

Southern Fried True Crime (ongoing) Crimes from the American South hosted by Erica Kelley, she puts all the facts out there but refreshingly for true crime she doesnt hesitate to tell you if she thinks someone is human garbage lol

They Walk Among Us (ongoing) probably one of the most popular UK crime podcasts, very measured and well put together, not weird or annoying about it either.

All Crime No Cattle (ongoing, feed slowed down for now) specifically about crimes from Texas, hosted by Erin and Shay, they're very sensitive hosts and a lot of the cases they cover shed light on why the Texas criminal system is how it is or show an impact at a national level

Canadian True Crime (ongoing) Canadian crime from an Aussie who's lived there for a decade, Kristi is again a sensitive and measured host covering some important topics

True Crime (Violent/Deep Dive);

Hitman (finished) journalist Jasmyn Morris digs around in the sticky tangle around a book published by fringe publisher Paladin Press, and its apparent use as a blueprint in the killing of a mother, her friend and her 8 year old boy for financial gain.

Camp Hell: Anneewakee (ongoing) this series is exploring how a wilderness camp "correctional facility" was endorsed by the Georgia care and juvenile reform system, despite widespread abuses and shady practices the whole time. warning for csa and child cruelty throughout.

True Crime Bullshit (on series break) this one is a huge huge rabbithole but a very interesting one where the host Josh Hallmark has spent years digging into the life and potential crimes of Israel Keyes. Keyes is often mentioned as a serial killer with no pattern, but in picking it apart thats not quite true, and has sparked some re-evaluations of missing persons cases and stumbling upon information the FBI has redacted organically. there's also a series in the middle looking into the crimes of Kelly Cochran

Forgotten: Women of Juárez (finished) this series looks into the huge numbers of missing women of Ciudad Juárez, the strange circumstances surrounding them, and the potential cover-ups and corruptions on both sides of the border, trying to give a voice to all of the forgotten women and girls and their families without answers. the series itself is finished, but a spanish language edition is being released every week now.

aaaaaand i'll call it there before i list everything lol, i hope you find something to plug your boredom hole with !!