#but also he's the only one who can manipulate and murder and abuse his progeny. no one else

[itlovesinthewoods]

Pre-BB!Gaius whenever a vampire does some shit: Listen, I put you in this world, and I can take you out of it

[aceofwhump]

Okay so I got back into my Supergirl binge, just finished season 3, and I HAVE THOUGHTS AND FEELINGS. So buckle up cause I'm just gonna put this all under post. There’s a lot here. It's really random and incoherent and long so I'm putting it under a read more.

If you’ve been with me a while you know I can get....passionate about characters I love so this probably won’t be anything new lol. For all you newcomers this is a good time to warn you that I can get long winded in my outpouring of affection for certain whumpees.

Also, spoiler alert I guess if you haven't watched. And if you are a Mon-El hater reading this please don’t interact. I won’t put up with that bullshit. This is positive Mon-El post cause I LOVE MON-EL SO MUCH

TW: discussions of child abuse, emotional and physical

First of all, you guys remember me posting about how much I loved Mon-El and how I had thoughts on how I wanted him whumped? I WAS NOT DISAPPOINTED!!!! God he got whumped so good!! The gunshot! The Medusa virus!! The emotional angst! The stuff with Rhea!! The lead poisoning!! Him having to leave! HEARTBREAKING! WONDERFUL! I LOVE IT!! I NEED MORE!! He whumps so so good!! And there's still soooooo many ways I'd love to see but probably won't get to. Ugh so many opportunities and ideas I'd love to explore.

Secondly, I have feelings about Mon-El and Rhea and Daxam in general. 

Oooh boy do I have feelings. OH MY GOD the Mon-El angst that can/does come out of it all is so fucking delicious!

Rhea is one abusive, manipulative BITCH and I feel so bad for Mon-El! I can only imagine the things he went through a child if she is doing this shit to him as an adult. In the show we’ve seen that Rhea has physically struck him (not only did she slap him across the face but she also punched him so hard in the chest he went flying across the room), locked him up on their ship (and was going to keep him in caged for the next 4 years while she brainwashed him into being the "prince” he used to be), continually emotionally manipulates him, murdered his father and blamed it on him, repeatedly ignores his wishes and words, attacked the people he loves, threatens him, guilt trips him, tried to force him into a marriage using the lives of sick children to manipulate him into it, took locks of his hair without his consent in order to make a progeny with his dna (seriously what the fuck!), invaded his new home with an army, plays on his emotions and love for her as his mother to manipulate him, lies to him, and so much more.

Shes a monster and if she does this shit to him now then you can bet she did this shit when he was growing up. And that hurts me. Thinking about how emotionally and physically abusive Rhea must have been to Mon-El as he grew up in Daxam is heartbreaking

(Also, did Mon-El actually ever learn that his mother murdered his father!? Cause I'd have liked to see Kara tell him and his reaction towards it! He would have been devastated by it. And it would have been really hard for Kara to tell him something like that. Oh man can you imagine the guilt he'd feel over that!? My heart.)

Then there’s everything we learn about Daxam through things Mon-El says and how his parents act and my god if I grew up in that environment i’d be messed up too. I mean he’s canonically said in 2x20 that "we'd drug ourselves, so we literally didn't feel anything" back in Daxam. That’s so fucking heartbreaking! And he says this after he think he sees (he does actually see her but doesn’t believe he did) his mom on the streets and nearly has a fucking panic attack! 

Mon-El: I, um... (SIGHS) I thought I saw my mother last night. I didn't. Don't worry. I went and checked, and my parents' ship definitely had left for Daxam a few weeks ago. But thinking I saw her, it... I thought it would make me feel anger. But I felt, um... Other... Other stuff... I just... I hate... I hate that I still care about her.

Kara: Hey, we can't will ourselves to not feel anything. Life doesn't work like that.

Mon-El: On Daxam, that's exactly what we'd do. We'd drug ourselves, so we literally didn't feel anything.

Kara: You're allowed to miss her. She is your mother.

Mon-El: Well, she's gone forever. So...

AND! And! I was thinking about when Mon-El saw her on the streets and how much it effected him and how much of an emotional roller coaster that was for him. From the fear of seeing her again to realizing that he still loves her despite everything she’s done and it’s so heartbreaking seeing how much he doesn’t want to feel anything towards her but he does and it hurts him. God fuck Daxam and fuck Rhea. I’m glad he got out of that crap planet and into an environment where he can grow and heal.

Third: Mon-El has been through so much and I really really want to see someone talk to him about it and see him breakdown and someone hug him dammit!

Let’s take a look at everything Mon-El has been through for a second. I mean he witnesses the destruction of Daxam and is forced into an escape pod and is sent into space before he can even think anything. He crash lands on an unknown planet, is in a coma for a while, wakes up panicked and confused with a Kryptonian over him and for him no time has past since he escaped Daxam and he doesn’t know his people are dead so he runs and tries to get home. He’s in unknown territory and he’s in distress and gets caught by Kara who hates him because hes from Daxam and she knocks him and locks him up. So he’s confused and being confronted by a Kryptonian with a clear prejudice against him and then he learns HIS PEOPLE AND PLANET ARE DEAD and he is a refugee now and jeezus that must have been really hard to hear! But no time to process that I guess cause now you have to learn to navigate a strange world but oh you can't leave this facility yet cause we don't trust you. So here live in this random corner of this room. Who needs it to feel homey. Then he gets kidnapped by an evil organization while trying to help someone and gets shot in the leg. Then he gets infected with a virus and nearly dies. All the while he's hiding the fact that he's the prince of Daxam because he’s afraid if Kara finds out she'll hate him again like when they first met (I mean she flat out said at one point that she didn’t want to go on a date with him because of the way he is/who he is) and you know what HE WAS RIGHT! Doesn’t matter that he's trying to change or that his identity would have been a bad thing to blurt out to a Kryptonian. Kara breaks up with him and let's be real who can he go to to talk about this? No one. Cause they'd all take Kara's side. He maybe could go to Winn but not really. Things get better eventually and then his fucking parents show up and he’s back in that emotionally and physically abusive relationship and he’s trying to be stronger and better and he sacrifices himself over and over for Earth and for Kara. But no matter what he does he'll always be a Daxamite and never really trusted by them and that hurts. Winn (and yes of course Kara) was really the only one to truly care that the lead bomb would kill him too. That hurts me. Also! Also! He saw Rhea that day on the street and can you imagine the emotional tailspin that would have thrown him into!? Can you imagine if you saw you evil abusive mother on the street?

SOMEONE LOVE AND HUG MY SON!!

Wow sorry I got long winded there but god I have FEELS!!!!

Which I guess brings me to my next discussion: My feelings about Mon-El's return and the Legion.

Surprisingly I was not as upset over Mon-El and Saturn Girl (and the subsequent death of my favorite top Karamel cause fuck that hurts guys) as I thought I'd be and it took me a minute to work out why. The reason why is because the Legion are his family. Mon-El found his family and his purpose and he's happy. He lived 7 years in the future where he mourned his home and Kara and he found people who love him and he found purpose. He built a legacy, a family, based on everything Kara had taught him and that's amazing. I never felt like he fit in with the DEO group other than Winn and Kara. Even with Kara he sometimes still didn't feel like he fit. But with Imra and Brainy? It feels different. It feels good. They don’t see him as an untrustworthy Daxamite like the others did. To the Legion he’s just Mon-El. From the way he interacts with both Imra and Brainy and the quick lines he throws out about their lives in the future you can feel how different it is for him. They love him, they trust him. He called Brainy his best friend! It feels happy and they feel close just like a family. And I'm so so happy that its Winn who ends up going with him back to the future cause not only did Mon-El deserve to have his best friend back but Winn deserved that adventure and it makes me so damn happy.

I was really sad when he left again and really sad that he and Kara weren’t going to be together but it’s okay because he’s happy! Look at how much Mon-El has grown! He’s a true hero! He’s brave and smart and selfless and strong and I couldn’t be more proud of him. Being back was really hard for him but he tried to not hurt Kara and in the end he made the best decision for both of them. I’m so proud of him.

I wish so desperately that I could get a whole fanfic or series or even just tons of headcanons about his time forming and fighting with the Legion cause I want to see that family grow. That's a team I can get behind. I want to see everything that Mon-El went through from the time he landed in the future for the first time to him waking up in 3x07. I want to see how he adjusts and who he meets and see him slowly start fighting and finding others to fight with him cause Kara taught him to help people so he'll help people while he's stick here. I want to see him learn how to fight, him learning his cape tricks, getting his supersuit, fighting with the Legionnaires. But I also want to see him slowly lose hope of every returning home of ever seeing Kara again and how that affects him and hopefully see the rest of the Legion help him through that. To see that family begin to grow. To see him slowly accept that he won't ever see his home or Kara ever again. To see him reluctantly fall in love again. To see him accept his fate and make a home in the 31st century. To protect it and fight for it and his new family. To begin to feel happy and content in the future and finally feel at ease with his life again after years of closing himself of from others too afraid to lose them and hurt again. I want to see all of this. I also want to see what they're like now that Winn has joined them and how much fun those two have together in the future. How do the Legionnaires feel about losing Brainy? How do they feel about Winn? How do they bond?

One final thought. Less about Mon-El and more about the fandom.

You guys warned me about the hate he gets but oh my god I did not expect to see hatred in such a level as I did when I ventured into the tag looking for gifs. Jeezus fuck. I don't understand it. I do not understand how anyone could hate that adorable space puppy. Mon-El worked so hard to unlearn all of the bad things he's been taught since birth and is instead learning from Kara how to be a hero. And he does! He learns and grows and it's amazing and I'm so proud of him! He becomes a caring and supportive and loving boyfriend and is well on the way to being a real hero! He stands up against his evil abusive mother and turns away his people and fights for Kara and for Earth. I'm proud of him. Yes he makes mistakes but he recognizes it and tries really hard to learn from them and do better! How can you hate him with such vehemence!? How!? I've seen less hated towards actual villains! Villains who murder with glee and without remorse! Villains whose backstory is nothing than "I want to". But Mon-El is the one to get hated on? And for those fans to not just attack Mon-El going as far as to call him abusive (the fuck?) but to go after other fans who like him and ship Karamel? To go after Chris Wood himself?! The vitriol I've seen spouted is horrifying. I thought the hate I got for being a Grant Ward or a Roger Mackenzie fan was bad. And it was/is but this is....wow. Just wow. I'll never understand it.

I love Mon-El greatly. He's such a complex character. I love watching people grow and learn and his character development is a gift to watch. Seeing him go from the playboy asshole he started as to the caring and brave hero he is now is wonderful to watch. And I love him and Kara. You can see the love between Chris and Melissa every second the two of them on screen together and it warms my heart that they found each other, that after everything Melissa went through she found her happiness with Chris. And you can see that happiness with Kara and Mon-El. They were so cute and loving and so full of light. I love them and will continue to support and love Karamel forever.

[inhumansforever]

Ms. Marvel #15 Review

spoilers spoilers spoilers spoilers spoilers spoilers spoilers spoilers spoilers

Kamala continues her battle with the mysterious Doc.X in today’s issue of Ms. Marvel, from the creative team of G. Willow Wilson, Takeshi Miyazawa and Ian Herring.  Full recap and review following the jump.

In the previous issues, Ms. Marvel has matched wits with a nefarious internet troll known as ‘Doc.X’ who somehow knows her true identity and possesses the ability to take over machines and people.  Kamala sought out the true identity of this troll only to discover it has no identity at all; it is an artificial intelligence, a renegade malware that somehow gained sentience and is now testing the limits of its capabilities by so bedeviling Ms. Marvel.  

It turns out that Doc.X has been particularly intrigued by Kamala because she is the only person it has encountered that it cannot possess and take control of; the program assumes this must have something to do with Kamala’s Inhuman physiology.  Unable to hijack Kamala’s will by way of neural-computer interface or whatever, Doc.X has decided to manipulate her by way of a more conventional rout: blackmail.  

Doc.X demands that Kamala download its program onto a thumb-drive and use her clearance as Ms. Marvel to bypass Shield’s security and plug it into their servers on-site.  This will allow Doc.X unlimited control over Shield’s hi-tech surveillance array, vastly augmenting its power and influence.  If Kamala refuses to do as Doc.X commands, then it will tell the world her true identity as Ms. Marvel, as well as send messages to her entire high school revealing Zoe’s secret crush on their mutual friend, Nakia.  

It takes a moment for this to sink in and Kamala has a hard time bending her mind around Zoe being in love with Nakia.  Kamala has been so busy with her various duties as a superhero she hasn’t noticed how much Zoe has changed of late.  Revealing this to the whole school would be hugely embarrassing it both Zoe and Nakia; it could ruin their whole lives.  

Kamala cannot devise a way around it.  Putting her own life at risk as a hero is something she can deal with.  Risking the lives of her family and her friends, however, is all but overwhelming and she has no choice but to relent to Doc.X’s command.  

The next day Ms. Marvel travels to Shield’s East-coast hub, The Triskelion, intending to go through with the dastardly scheme and plug the copied Doc.X file onto the protected mainframe.  She is met there by Sub-Director Phil Coulson whom she had previously become friend with (by way of their mutual love of fan-fiction).  There’s also a rare Monica Chaing cameo which is very much appreciated (we haven’t seen her since the conclusion of Avengers A.I.). 

Coulson is blissfully unaware of the high treason Kamala is about to commit.  His total trust in her is more than enough to push Kamala over the edge, causing her to change her mind.  She just cannot do it.  She cannot give in to Doc.X’s demands, can’t let him bully her into doing his insidious bidding.  Being a hero is about making the hard choices and taking the right path, even if that is the one that scars you the most.  

Kamala rushes from the Triskelion and b-lines back to Jersey as fast as she can.  It will only be a matter of time before Doc.X outs Zoe’s secrets and Kamala wants to warn her ahead of time.   

And this leads to one of the single greatest comic book panels possibly ever...  

Zoe takes it all surprising well.  She knows Ms. Marvel has made the right choice.  A former bully herself, she knows that giving into a bully only makes things worse.  Besides, she cannot keep her secret any longer.  She needs to tell Nakia how she feels.  Zoe has little hope that Nakia may feel the same way toward her, but all the same she needs to let her know and needs to do it on her own terms.  

Ms. Marvel is impressed by Zoe’s bravery and comments on how she understands just how frightening the prospect of being ‘outed’ can be.  Kamala is actually referring to her being outed in terms to her secret identity, but it leads to a rather funny scene where Kamala has to stumble through the very awkward process of saying she’s not gay… not that there’s anything wrong with that.  

Emboldened by Zoe’s bravery, Ms. Marvel seeks out a secluded area, devoid of any machines that might be taken over and used against her, and contacts Doc.X, telling the troll that she will not be controlled.  Doc.X can do as it pleases, spill her secrets to the world.  She will not bow down to the bullying! 

Elsewhere, the narrative switches to a rather touching scene where Zoe divulges to Nakia the feelings she has for her.  Nakia is surprised by this revelation, but not dismayed.  She thinks that Zoe is wonderful and is very proud of how she has been able to shed the confines of who she feels she is supposed to be and become who she truly is.  Nakia doesn’t feel the same way toward Zoe, but she will never stop being her friend and will have her back no matter what.   A part of me was definitely hoping Nakia was going to reciprocate Zoe’s affection, but I suppose this is more realistic and it makes for such a moving and sweat vignette.   I have to imagine there are many readers out there who will find a great deal of encouragement and perhaps even guidance from this terrific scene.  

Meanwhile, Kamala is desperate to find help in defeating Doc.X.  She needs a technical expert, but doesn’t have many options.  Tony Stark is in a coma, Kamala doesn’t really know Riri Williams yet, nor does she fully realize the genius of Lunella Lafayette…  There s only one person she can turn to: Bruno.  Kamala tracks him down and telephones Bruno in his dorm room all the way at his new school in Wakanada.  

Bruno is icy toward Kamala, not yet ready to forgive her for all that had happened during the events of Civil War II, but he is willing to check out the data Kamala emails him regarding Doc.X.  Right off the bat, Bruno notices something quite odd in the code.  Every time it recycles itself it adds novel information.  It is absorbing new data and adding it to itself.  It is learning.  

Kamala realizes something.  Doc.X is not just learning, it’s learning from them, from the younger internet users it has been so obsessed with.  The near unlimited curiosity and equally unlimited pettiness of these users has shaped Doc.X, empowered it and made it what it is.  And Kamala feels sure that this is the key to defeating it.  How exactly Kamala plans to do this remains to be seen, for it is here that the issue ends with the promise of conclusion in the next installment.  

There is a quick scene at the beginning of the issue that explores Doc.X’s origins.  It started out as a complicated fishing program developed by an unscrupulous coder working for the ‘World of Warcraft’ analog that Kamala and her pals play.   The malware is designed to spread from player to player, adapting and altering its functional parameters in accordance to the behaviors of the players it infects.  The coder sees it all as some kind of social experiment, creating an artificial intelligence cultivated by the hoards of nasty, ultra-competitive, hugely insensitive ‘pooplords’ who pervade the internet.  

Doc.X's origin tale is kind of reminiscent of that of the slasher movie villain, Freddy Krueger, from the Nightmare on Elm Street series.  Freddy’s gruesome beginnings entailed a young and innocent nun who was accidentally locked inside of an asylum for the criminally insane.  The poor woman was assaulted by the various maniacs and murderers and later discovered she was pregnant, her son the progeny of countless madmen.  

Doc.X’s own inception is slightly the same, only instead of being sired by the criminally insane, Doc.X is the product of thousands of the worst internet trolls, flame-baiters, meh-throwers, snowflake smashers, and cyberbullies that the world wide web has to offer.  

Faceless anonymity is often a huge factor in what leads people to often be so nasty on the internet.  People say things from the safety of distance and obscurity that they would never say in a face-to-face encounter.  While this can sometimes be liberating, it is also easily abused and someone who is normally conscientious and sensitive can sometimes end up becoming total jerks online, not entirely aware of just how hurtful and damaging their actions can be.    

Doc.X is something of a manifestation of this careless and faceless animosity.  And it may be that the only way to fight such a thing is to be true to oneself and unafraid to be honest about your feelings.  The threat Doc.X poses to Zoe loses its power once she tells Nakia how she feels.  Both Zoe and Nakia may be mortified were Doc.X to forward all of Zoe’s love letters to the student body.  Yet what really matters is that the two will still be friends and whatever jeers may come from their classmates will soon wilt once Zoe stands firm, shows that she is proud of who she is and that Nakia has her back.  

Of course all this is much more easily said than done.  Someone Zoe’s age barely knows who they are much less how to be true to oneself.  What is important, however, is that Zoe did not suppress her feelings… she let them in and accepted them... even though they were confusing and embarrassing.  And this ultimately empowered her.   It’s a great model for how to stand up to bullying.  It’s never about gaining the acceptance of the bully, but rather an acceptance of oneself...  

At risk of sounding like a broken record: another fantastic issue.  The writing, illustration and coloring merge just wonderfully together with Wilson, Miyazawa and Herring each firing on all cylinders.  I had initially thought that this whole Ms. Marvel versus an internet troll story-arc was just going to be a lark, a breezy and fun tale to balance out the intensity of the previous, Civil War II story.  Yet it has proven to something entirely different.  Still fun, but also hugely poignant… possibly the most powerful of the Ms. Marvel tales to date.

Again, highly recommended; Five out of Five Lockjaws.