#he's so powerful as an antihero man he's got all the makings for it

[righteousruin]

This whole arc in Gotham Knights is my absolute beloved.  I wish DC was brave enough to let Bane be a person

[clueless-fan-critic]

Nimona: Just Now Got Onto The Hype for This Movie

After my first viewing, the movie Nimona was a thrilling, fun adventure with so much love and passion behind it that it makes you want to root for the bad guy and antiheroes once again. This makes you question what side you should support or not. And I love that it makes that kind of statement in the film.

Based on the novel of the same name written by ND Stevenson, they built a story about what it means to be a hero or villain, even going to lengths of what one’s true self is in the face of adversity. There’s also a bonus of a gay couple being at odds with each other like any couple in media.

If you want to watch the most human film of 2023 staring a pink-haired shapeshifter, then let’s get into the deep stuff.

Freedom and Freethinking

Nimona is the character that embodies someone who’s comfortable with who they are, at least on the outside. However, Nimona desperately wants to belong in a world that doesn’t want them to exist. This can mean lots of things, especially being an allegory for being nonbinary or transgender, thus not conforming to society’s rigid expectations.

Ballister Blackheart is the black sheep of the society he was placed into, the outsider that doesn’t feel like they could belong. He was essentially molded into a role meant to change the status quo and was later branded a villain by the kingdom. Sure, he was framed for murder, but he was greatly disliked and mistrusted before for not being of a “noble” bloodline.

Ambrosius Goldenloin is more portrayed as the man stuck between duty and love as he slowly unravels from the changes to the status quo. He still remains loyal because of his status as the direct descendent of the founder to the kingdom. He benefits from the system he resides in unlike Ballister and tries to find a middle ground to what he wants and what is right for the system.

All the people in the kingdom are influenced by their belief that monsters are evil and slaying them is the only option, as well as being affected by the fear of an unknown world beyond the walls. While the people aren’t evil, they aren’t innocent victims either. They still benefit and follow the life built within the walls of their kingdom without questioning anything

Transformation

Each character undergoes some sort of transformation, whether shapeshifting or through emotional growth. Some can be considered good for them and much needed, while other parts are very, very bad for a lot of people. Ballister internally transforms from a warrior to a friend to a monster that can empathize with Nimona’s feelings of isolation. You can even argue that Nimona’s shapeshifting is a representation of being genderfluid and changing their appearance to feel like they’re free.

The Director’s transformation is more negative if anything. She essentially allows her own fears of losing security get the best of her to the point of letting innocent people die than see any other solutions.

What it Means to Be Human

I loved that it doesn’t shy away from making strong commentary on how people make judgements and are motivated by their belief of being right. Around the climax, Nimona transforms into a giant shadowy monster after experiencing all of the pain she’s endured and nearly took her own life because she believed she was a monster. This was a powerful scene because we can understand feeling like no one will love or accept you, but there’s that small act of kindness that brings you back from that darkness.

Now...

Nimona is a modern classic that deeply explores identity and transformation within their characters in a rich environment and complex themes. This film makes the audience reflect on their own views on what they consider different while understanding self-acceptance and challenging societal norms. It’s a must-see for anyone who feels like an outsider and wants to learn about self-love and freedom from rigid ideas of identity. All I can say is that I’m emotionally exhausted from the rollercoaster of feels that I’ve felt.

[effloradox]

it must be exhausting (always rooting for the anti-hero)

aemond targaryen x fem!reader

(a/n: didn’t expect to finish hotd was an obsession with this war criminal but here we are <3)

If you were to ask anyone in King's Landing, they would say that to catch the eye of the one-eyed Prince was a very dangerous situation to find yourself in. His gaze falls heavily on many and you wouldn't find a shortage of people praying to the Seven for mercy on your behalf if he felt you'd slighted him or his family.

It's hard to feel like that about him when his hand is placed against the small of your back as he leads you into a dance. You've never felt particularly at home in the Red Keep but with the adoration heavy in his gaze, you know that you're safe as long as you're with him. Only a fool would knowingly dare to offend him or the person who’s captured his attention.

You've had what you could only describe as a guard dog keeping an eye on you since you arrived at the Red Keep to be a handmaid for Princess Helaena. He once told you that from the moment he laid eyes on you as a boy he knew it was you he was going to marry. You were there when he lost his eye, and you watched the young boy who got bullied for not having a dragon shift into a cunning man with the power of the biggest dragon behind him.

He's a man of few passions, crafted by the Queen in a way that she failed with his older brother. Duty has always been at the forefront of his mind, and a need to uphold the honour of the crown where his brother doesn't feel the need to do so. It's of no surprise that if something were to take his fancy, it would quickly become apparent that it would easily grow into an obsession. His dragon, and swordsmanship were his more obvious priorities, but it’s a badly kept secret that his head was turned by someone in the Keep.

His marriage, whilst still an important match, is less of a priority than that of the Crown Prince, so when he informs the Queen that he intends to marry you, the minor war of attrition that begins lasts only for a few months. Alicent Hightower has never cared for anyone who would affect her future plans for her children, but she knows her son. She knows his mind better than any of her other children, and understands her son's obsessions and has long since stopped trying to sway his judgement. Whilst she can’t say for certain why her son has chosen you, she’s aware that if she were to try and divert his mind it might alienate the son that has the most potential to do the crown justice and so she decides it’s not a fight worth having. It’s not necessarily her blessing that you receive, but an acknowledgment that her son’s mind won’t be swayed from you.

You're aware he would kill for you. It's never been something you've doubted, that were someone to slight or wrong you, it would be incredibly easy for him to make them disappear. He's a Prince, and an excellent strategist; and dragons can lose their temper at the slightest thing. If word circulates around the servants of the Keep about you and it’s anything less than positive, you might just find that the person who started the rumour just so happens to disappear without a trace. If you were to ask, he would admit it to you in the quiet of your shared nights, but you don’t see the point in making him state the obvious. You accepted what he was a long time ago. After all, everyone loves an antihero, don’t they?

[artzychic27]

Just more DC Kids stuff, but now with the Akuma Class as the kids of DC Villains/Antiheroes

Marinette: Joker

It’s a… Little weird between her, Adrien, and Rose

Wears a lot of purple

She and Zoé have a mock rivalry going on

Keeps emergency tanks of laughing gas hidden all over the school for… Emergencies

Adrien: Harley Quinn

Every bit as wild as his mom, but Gabriel forced him to tone it down… Then he met his classmates

Carries around a sledgehammer for reasons

He and Marinette sort of have a brother-sister relationship going on

As an act of youthful rebellion, he will be dying his hair pink and blue

Alya: Riddler

Runs a popular blog called “Riddle Me This” where she challenges her readers to brain-teasing mysteries and puzzles

She also enjoys mystery novels

Has a cute pair of question mark earrings

Not very fond of her dad’s fashion choices. Especially that bodysuit

Nino: Clayface

Impersonates his friends, but it’s all in good fun

Very malleable skin

He likes to sneak into the cafeteria during lunch to grab seconds

He does pottery in his spare time. No joke, his stuff is good

Chloe: Terra

Prefers to work with diamonds rather than “Lame rocks.”

When she’s really pissed off, expect an earthquake

It’s a… Whole thing with her family and step family. Reunions are kind of weird

Well, as long as she’s finding free diamonds, it’s fine by her

Sabrina: Two Face

Like her dad, she can’t make decisions without flipping a coin

Coincidentally, the left side of her face has a birthmark she’s not particularly fond of, so she hides it with a lavender half-mask

Her dad keeps trying to get her to embrace it, though. (Good dad Two-Face, because yes)

She’s got a little coin purse!

Kim: Killer Croc

Born with sharp teeth and scale patches on his arms, legs, forehead, and torso

Flaunts them proudly

Gets along well with Fang

Likes to swim around in the Seine

Max: Lex Luthor

He a genius! So, canon

Dresses all fancy and shit like a mini business man

Had dozens of robot assistants, but Markov is his favorite

Gets along pretty well with Ismael despite… Everything

Ivan: Bane

Students keep trying to get him to join the wrestling team, but he’d rather just read

Like his grandfather, he’s ready to topple the government

There’s a bit of Venom in his system, enhancing his abilities by a bit

He can and will punch someone treating another person unfairly

Myléne: Scarecrow

All she has to do is look at you dead in the eyes, and you can see your worst fear, no Fear Toxin needed

Has straw-like hair that’s surprisingly easy to style

Hates seeing the scarecrows sold at Halloween pop-up stores. It’s just so insulting

Nightmares for her are like good dreams

Nathaniel: Giganta

Actually pretty good friends with Denise

A “modest” size for him is about fifteen feet

Not very fond of Lila after the stuff her dad said about his mom

His max height is 100ft

Alix: Cheetah

Don’t let her near catnip, alright?

Has fur on her forearms, thighs, and has catlike eyes

When she’s growling, don’t get near her. That’s how you lose a finger

Has a necklace made of the fangs of predatory animals she established dominance over

Rose: Poison Ivy

Her skin has a slight green tint to it whenever she uses her powers

The school’s local perfume dealer

She and Adrien became step siblings after their moms got married, and are loving every second of it

Is always giving flowers to her gorgeous girlfriend

Juleka: Catwoman

She’s the only klepto in class now

Grows her nails long and files them to a point

Shares Chloé’s love of diamonds

Dresses in a lot of leather

Lila: Doctor Psycho (Yeah, I’m including her)

Constantly using her powers to create all sorts of discord amongst her classmates

Has her dad’s temper, so she doesn’t rely too much on her lies

Always messing with Nathaniel

Alya absolutely hates her with a burning passion

[writingpracticetime]

As an urban planner by profession I devour this content and absolutely love it <3

For a prompt, if you want, perhaps the architect/constructor encountering the worst enemy of all, bureaucracy (in any context, pre or post antihero days)

(Original story for context: Here)

I love and hate you for this prompt. Love, because it's a great idea. Hate, because I am not an urban planner myself. I had to actually use my brain and google things to figure out city government positions and steps a construction project would go through. I'm pretty sure that I still got things wrong, though, because I have a mind like a spaghetti strainer. You might be disappointed or found out I wrote something stupid, or missed out on a crucial detail. If so, I hope you can still somewhat enjoy the story.

⸺⸺⸺⸺⸺⸺⸺⸺⸺⸺⸺⸺

You’d gotten used to recreating cities. This, though. This was your proudest achievement yet: a design of your own.

Not the best design you’d ever make, but smart and practical considering how young you were. And, as much of your work would end up being, it was strictly problem based.

The problem: New Houston had been devastated by hurricanes in the past. There were areas of the city particularly weak to it, haphazardly rebuilt as quickly and cheaply as possible. And hurricanes were only going to get worse and worse in the coming decades

The solution: the first city redesign you'd ever made. 

You had talked to people in the area and listened to a variety of experts: environmental scientists, material engineers, everyone who could have any insight. You had revised it several times, and landed on a design that most people agreed on. Your fantastic hurricane resistant city plan, with ample public transport solutions to allow evacuations from even the most vulnerable districts.

Now, of course, there was only the matter of getting the city to agree to it.

A simple matter, you thought. It would save lives. It would make the city a more livable place. With your powers, you could massively cut down any labor costs of the project. You were willing to do it for free, too, though Sandy tried to scold you for starting off with that offer.

So you submitted your plan.

"Alright," said the man behind the desk. "We can get this process started right away."

"Okay great," you said. "When can I start?"

He laughed. “Well, we need to run it by the Office of Finance first. Among other offices. We need to make sure that it's not going to cause more problems."

"But I talked to--"

Before you could rattle off every expert you had gotten to give their stamp of approval on the project's safety, Sandy stopped you.

"Kid," she said. "That's all informal approval. These things need to be officially signed off on."

"But Dr. Hansen said--"

"It's part of the process," Sandy said, soothingly. "Even if it's a good design, the city council can't know that without running it by their own people, right?"

"Right..." you said.

"I know you're impatient," Sandy said. "But these things are part of a system that exists to catch bad ideas from getting through. Just trust the process, alright?"

So you did.

⸺⸺⸺⸺⸺⸺⸺⸺⸺⸺⸺⸺

Email from Richard Cunningham,  Planning Director in New Houston at the time, to the Deputy Mayor. Honestly it's just what I need, some idiot breathing down my neck to spend a bunch of money on the shittiest part of this dump, with the shittiest people living in it. It would probably do the whole world some good if a hurricane wiped the lot of them out. It would stop the drain on the budget that all the welfare is costing us, at least. It'd probably up the Governor's chances of re-election, too, given how that block tends to do in the polls.

Here is what you do: nothing, as nicely as possible. Be helpful, act like we're all for it--Constructor has already talked up the stupid project to enough media outlets that if we trash it we'll have to wage a PR war against the lovely Ms. Cassandra White, who is an absolute shark. We don't need any of that.

Just keep delaying. It's not us, it's all these unforeseen circumstances that we can't possibly control getting in the way.

The public safety division will probably drool all over this stupid plan, especially with that liberal idiot running the show over in that department. So here's what you do: pile up as much work as possible on the safety committee, cut their hours, and pressure them to look at every single other item on the list they have first.

⸺⸺⸺⸺⸺⸺⸺⸺⸺⸺⸺⸺

It was months before the project limped over the first hurdle of the approval process.

"It shouldn't have taken that long," you said

"These things take time," Sandy said. "There is a lot of work that needs to be done by these branches."

"When can we start, then?" you asked.

Sandy’s assistant sort of laughs at you. "Not much of a polisci type, are you?"

You blinked. "What?"

"There's a bunch of different departments that need to agree on it first," the man explained. "It's okay, my kid's studying engineering and he's just like you. All this stuff is a big blind spot, huh? It always takes ages to agree on things like this."

"Well..." you swallowed some frustration. "As long as we can get it all done before hurricane season."

So the project got sent to the next committee, and you waited.

⸺⸺⸺⸺⸺⸺⸺⸺⸺⸺⸺⸺

Email from Mr. Cunnigham to R.J Green, Land Use Administrator. So I hear that you got that headache of a Constructor project sent over to you guys?

Email from R.J Green to Mr. Cunnigham Apparently so. But it needs my sign off before it goes anywhere, and I've just had the hardest time finding the paperwork on it. My memory's been slipping these days.

Email from Mr. Cunnigham to R.J GreenWell, what a shame. I'm sure it will turn up eventually. Also, remind me to buy you a drink sometime.

⸺⸺⸺⸺⸺⸺⸺⸺⸺⸺⸺⸺

The last one--and the longest one--ended up being the Office of Finance.

They told you it would be 2-3 weeks to review it. A month later, you emailed the Finance Director.

"There were urgent matters that the budget committee had to address first, so we have not looked at it yet but we are putting it on the agenda for the next meeting."

You waited for the next meeting. You heard nothing back.

"Apologies, but it seems there was a clerical error. Somehow it never showed up on the meeting agenda. We will address it next time."

And then the committee had to take extra sessions to review it due to concerns about where the money would come from. And then they said they needed to send it back to zoning and get another expert opinion on the long term effects of such a plan before deciding to put money into it.

"But we already got--"

"It is important for them to be absolutely sure," Sandy said. "It's a big redesign, and if something goes wrong it would look bad for all of them. It's natural that they'd be cautious."

So you ran around to get the second opinion from the specific expert they mentioned. And you did.

Not that it mattered, because by the time that you got it, a record-breaking hurricane leveled the city.

⸺⸺⸺⸺⸺⸺⸺⸺⸺⸺⸺⸺

Excerpt from an opinion piece titled "So What Happened to the New Houston Redesign?" written by Albert Jackson, member of the Heritage Foundation.

Now the thing is, every puffed up intellectual agreed the plan was great. Of course they did. I'm sure it was, when you're sitting at a desk in a university. 

But the new city isn’t going to pop up overnight, already built and with all of the kinks ironed out. You have to deal with the chaos, cost, and risk that comes with implementation. It would be a massive drain on the budget, and redesigning the whole city would put businesses on hold for weeks. Just think of all the small businesses that would never recover from the ordeal, and all of the people who’d lose out on their income.

There’s a reason things are the way they are, and sometimes it’s best to leave things be.

⸺⸺⸺⸺⸺⸺⸺⸺⸺⸺⸺⸺

You were on site, removing dangerous rubble and unearthing bodies, when they told you you’re expected to rebuild the city exactly as it was before. 

You flew into a rage. You yelled, and kicked, and threw heaps of scrap metal on the ground. You paced around and ranted. You picked up a severed arm that you had unearthed moments before and threw it at the poor messenger’s feet. 

“I’ll fill Cunningham’s house with all of the bodies I’ve found here–” you screamed. “Before I put this place back the way it was!” 

But you didn’t. Because Sandy ran out into the rubble after you when she heard, and calmed you down. You cried a little when she hugged you, because you had been working on your feet for twelve hours, and so many people had died, and you were so young.

“Good thing there weren’t any cameras around,” she told you afterwards. “And you didn’t use your powers to threaten anyone.”

“Maybe I should have,” you said.

"I know it's hard," she said. "But it's for the best. Acting angry: yelling, shouting, lashing out with your powers--that threatens people. And we don't live in a country where things are settled by threats and force. We settle things with the democratic process. Only villains threaten people to get their way, and the last thing you want to do is make anyone look at you and see anything close to a villain."

"But I did everything right," you said. “And they didn’t listen.”

"I know, I know," she tells you. "But when you look like a villain, people stop listening to you forever."

At the time it made sense. So you believed it. 

⸺⸺⸺⸺⸺⸺⸺⸺⸺⸺⸺⸺

January 14th, 202X

⸺⸺⸺⸺⸺⸺⸺⸺⸺⸺⸺⸺

Excerpt from a recording of a mayoral staff meeting held by Mayor Cunnigham, after getting elected due to his previous experience as Planning Director.

[Shuffling papers, typing, and occasional sound of footsteps.]

MAYOR CUNNIGHAM

--latest policy to the public. We need to pay off the city's debt, and so--

[A blast. Floor boards snap. walls crumble. People scream and run. A stones slam, and the people’s screams deaden as if every wall and window has closed in.]

DEPUTY MAYOR

Oh god, oh god--

DIRECTOR OF COMMUNICATIONS

Let us out! 

THE ARCHITECT

Is everyone alive, then?

[The second the Architect speaks, everyone goes quiet except for some gasping. The Architect's voice is booming and metallic, almost as though being amplified via a microphone from inside of the helmet the Architect has been seen wearing during confrontations with the police.]

CYBERSCOUT

Gimme a sec. Quick headcount-- Yep, looks like we got everyone in here and in one piece.

MAYOR CUNNIGHAM

You! Let us out immediately!

THE ARCHITECT

That won't be happening.

EXECUTIVE AIDE

What are you going to do to us?!

THE ARCHITECT

This isn't about doing anything to you. This is about what we all will do for the people of this city.

MAYOR CUNNIGHAM

If you think a single person here believes any of this is for the good of "the people" and not about your sick ego--

THE ARCHITECT

Mr. Mayor.

[Bonfire doesn't say anything, but there is a signature sizzle and the sound of flame indicating her presence. Mayor Cunnigham stops talking.]

THE ARCHITECT

Thank you. Now, I would like to talk to you about the city redesign plans. Which I proposed more than a decade ago now, and see you have not made progress at implementing.

MAYOR CUNNIGHAM

Because they were never approved, you–

THE ARCHITECT

I have since amended the plans. However, I have made modifications for accessibility. There are now safer pedestrian spaces, with particular emphasis on wheelchair accessibility. Areas have been modified so that a new light rail connects the wealthier districts with the “red line” ones. Also, all of the low bridges that made it impossible for buses to reach these parts of the city will be rebuilt to allow better movement by people who cannot afford cars.

MAYOR CUNNIGHAM

You're not fucking serious. You can't be rattling all of this--politically correct bullshit at me while you have a literal terrorist standing right there ready to fry us all!

THE ARCHITECT

I can't? (Pause) What about the current situation isn't registering, Mr. Mayor?

[Some of the villains snicker.]

THE ARCHITECT

Anyway, we have made arrangements for the city redesign to happen effective immediately.

MAYOR CUNNIGHAM

What? (Pause) You... no, you'd have to move the entire population out first, and house them, and then--that's too much to organize in such a short amount of time, too much cost--

THE ARCHITECT

We actually already have a plan to deal with all of that. It’s really only the residents of the poorer areas that will need to be housed during construction, since the wealthy areas won’t be affected so much that they will have to evacuate. The we will move residents of the districts being worked on to the--Grand Diamond?

CYBERSCOUT

Diamond Deluxe Resorts.

THE ARCHITECT

Yes. Funny how people are always talking about a lack of housing while so many hotels and resorts sit there, empty rooms just waiting to be filled... but that's off topic. We've already made arrangements for all members of the city to be moved immediately to the resort while I restructure everything and my friends help me add the finishing touches.

SENIOR DEPUTY MAYOR

"Friends."

EXECUTIVE AIDE

The people there haven't agreed to this! You'll be uprooting people from their homes--even if it's a good plan, you can't--you need the people's consent!

THE ARCHITECT

(Audibly smiling) What a good point. (Turns, armor can be heard shifting) What's your name?

EXECUTIVE AIDE

I... Uh... D-Destinee...

THE ARCHITECT

(Turning, again) You'd probably get along with Bonfire, over there. She said the exact same thing, you know. Right when I was ready to just go and do all of this. Helping people without their consent is... what did you call it?

BONFIRE

A shitty idea. (Pause) And also paternalism.

THE ARCHITECT

Exactly. Which is why we did research and found out that people have still been petitioning for these changes to be made, and also we went around polling to see how many people in the area would be willing to be temporarily relocated in order to allow for construction to happen. I even talked to some people in the community and the new changes are based on their explicit feedback.

But I am glad that someone in this room immediately thought of it.

MAYOR CUNNIGHAM

And what are you going to--you clearly aren't asking for my approval. What are you here for?

THE ARCHITECT

Just to have you make the appropriate announcements to let everyone know that the area will be evacuated in order to make repairs. You will sign the order, make the announcement, and stay in here guarded by my friends until the plan has been enacted.

MAYOR CUNNIGHAM

....I'll tell everyone that I've been kidnapped. They'll bring in the police--the National Guard, if that's not enough.

THE ARCHITECT

I suggest you first consider whether the budget can afford replacing the entire city police force. 

[The entire room goes dead silent.]

Perhaps you should run it by the Office of Finance first. 

[Mayor Cunnigham takes a sharp breath. There is a long moment before he breaks.]

MAYOR CUNNIGHAM

Fine. I-I'll do it.

THE ARCHITECT

I'm glad to hear it.

MAYOR CUNNIGHAM.

But you can't--I know you won't be keeping us forever. And the second you're gone--I'll tell everyone. And I'll have every bit of your fucking charity redesigns right back down and put up the way it should have stayed.

[Pause. A heavy step as the Architect moves. The Mayor audibly cringes.]

THE ARCHITECT

You're right. I can't stay. I can't determine what will go on in this city forever. I suppose if you, and the people here, decide to bring down what I've built then I can't stop you.

But they'll know it was done. They'll know it can be done again. They’ll know what it was like to live in a place designed to shield them and raise them up.  And you won't be able to tear down the memory. Now, the paperwork.

[Recording ends.]

[twojstarywiniary-ofiszal]

In Poland 2 former members of Sejm (lower house of parliament) got arrested after the court found them guilty of (basically) entrapment. And it's so fucking funny, lemme give you a timeline:

- First coalition of PiS, LPR (League of Polish Families, an anti-EU party whose member recreated "Młodzież Wszechpolska" inspired by a pre WW2 organization that used to make sure that the Jews couldn't sit down during lectures and now organises fascist marches) and Samoobrona (Self-defence, right wing pro-farmer anti-capitalist party about which the story is about)

- The leader of Samoobrona, Lepper, was an... Interesting figure. The Central Anti-Coruption Buero lead by the 2 arrested geniuses forged evidence and tried to entrap Lepper. This didn't work, and because the action was basically orchestrated by PiS against it's coalition partner, the government collapsed.

- 2 dumbasses have charges pressed against them.

- PiS wins the elections to parliament and gets their guy into the presidential palace.

- They stack the courts with their judges to the extent that the EU and the new government no longer believes that that they are courts.

- Going back to our antiheroes, they lose in the 1-st court.

- Following that, the president attempts to pardon them. 1-st complication: at the time they were appealing the verdict and it was yet to become a rightful conviction and the constitution allows the president to pardon anyone AFTER they are convicted.

- The second court sends the case back down cause it was bad on procedural grounds. The president claims his pardon was legit.

- The 2023 election: PiS loses power, but the 2 bastards become members of Sejm.

- The court finally, without more chances to appeal convicted the Dumb and the Dumber. President still says nope my pardon is legit.

- Marszałek sejmu Szymon Hołownia (who has been called a gigachad and made a livestream on YouTube of Sejm meetings), our version of the speaker of the house, gets their verdict and kicks them out of the Sejm as they were convicted during their terms.

- The 2 criminals demanded that the court says that there was no conviction and that they lost their mandates illegally.

- The Marszałek had to send their case to the supreme court. You remember how PiS stacked the courts and the new government doesn't recognise any of the juges appointed illegally? Well, one of the chambers of the supreme court is not recognised by the government. And so, despite the fact that the 2 dipshits asked him to ask the false court about it, he sent their cases to another chamber.

- In the real one case is done by all legitimate judges and is yet to be finished. The other, however, was had an illegally appointed judge presiding over it and he sent it back to the non-recognised chamber. Right now the 2 chambers are fighting over the case files.

- In the meantime, a court demanded that the 2 asshats be arrested.

- The president invited them into the presidential palace. 2-nd complication he can make the police leave it. The situation was compared to PAC-MAN, where the president is the ghost, going through the halls, kicking the cops out, and them going in through another entrance.

- Finally, the police went in while the president was talking to the Belarusian democratic opposition leader.

- The guards, reportedly didn't resist.

- President drove back as fast as he could and here is the dumbest conspiracy theory: Autobus-gate- a broken down public transport bus blocked the president's way and some say that Trzaskowski, a pro government president of the capital city, Warsaw, put the bus there to obstruct the president way.

- Now the president says that the 2 cretins are political prisoners, arrested for fighting corruption, and in the best example of the pot calling the kettle black is saying that because the 2 guys with single-digit iq if summed up aren't in Sejm any laws it'd pass would be unconstitutional and he would either veto it (which the government doesn't have enough votes to overcome) or send it to the constitutional tribunal (one of the illegally staffed courts whose decision could only be changed with maybe a constitutional amendment, so the same amount of as for the veto)

- The gigachad Marszałek moved the next Sejm meeting to avoid the shitshow that'd happen, no matter how fun it'd be to watch on the livestream.

- PiS organised a protest in front of the presidential palace and only a couple hundred people showed up, to compare with the former opposition marches like the march of the million hearts which had tens thousands of people on the streets at least.

[random-blep]

genshin character head canons but it's only the characters I wanna talk about

Kaeya: he definitely has like muscle, but he's very good as dressing himself in a way that still gives him that figure. Also I think Kaeya has curly hair and for a while to fit in he straightened it causing a lot of hair damage. Personally I think of hoyo wasn't a coward his skin would be a lot darker, like no longer are the days where it looks like he just went to the mall for a tan. Secretly has a feral survival mode in his brain and if it is triggered there will be bloodshed.

Diluc: personally I enjoy his body type on game but ever since I have seen dad bod Diluc and I mean like the dad bod that has muscles not the beer gut dad bod I have been in love. I live for him having really unruly hair, like it takes dedication every morning to make him stop looking like a feral man. Another man that always knows how to dress to impress. I think he's pale as hell cause he cannot tan because all he does is burn. Ragnvindr genes may be strong but that does not mean their eyesight is, man's should be wearing glasses but refuses because then he would be any stereotypical guy pretending to not be a secret vigilante/hero/antihero. Jk they're just uncomfortable to him and annoying cause Kaeya teases him about his thick glasses then. Always ready to spill blood, just give him a reason and a target and he is doing it.

Fischl: personally I don't think of her much but I would enjoy her much more if she was shown more nerdy. Yes I saw that summer island thing where she fought her shadow self but I'm talking I wanna see her carrying a sketchbook or journal , I think her outfits should be less revealing and more covering. She needs to rock more of either a goth or alt style to fit her persona more. Also I think she might be one of the characters that would be pretty good if she was a little chubby.

Kazuha: somehow he is your adopted son, your emotional support little guy, and the plug all at once. I enjoy him very much. I know little about him but I feel like he is albino and I feel like his other senses are more heightened because his vision isn't the greatest so his other senses picked up the slack for him. That red streak in his hair is either a weird genetic anomaly for his bloodline or it's just a dyed streak. I'm leaning on the dyed aspect and each member of the Kaedehara family dyes a streak of their hair at some point. I heard this one head canon once and I love it, Kazuha used to have longer hair but as a criminal who was scheduled for execution his hair was cut short so it wouldn't get in the way when he would be beheaded and now he doesn't let it grow out because seeing himself with longer hair is hard because it reminds himself of his dead friend.

Thoma: listen yes he has basically become a house husband in a way. I do believe he does have lots of muscles under his uniform, he trains a lot and idk if you know this but house work is hard. This man is a people pleaser but he also believes sometimes you gotta learn things the hard way. I have no idea when Thoma came to Inazuma but I genuinely did see him and Diluc as friends when they were younger before he came to Inazuma. The whole blockage of Inazuma off from the rest of the world made sending letters home to his friends difficult but Thoma always found a way to make sure his letters made it on a ship. 100% believe when he got his vision Diluc was the first person to receive a letter with the news because they now had matching pyro visions.

Wanderer: he is small and thin and I can see him having no problem fitting in a box. I think he had long hair and kept his hair long until the fatui got their hands on him. They cut that away. Also think modifications added to him were basically torture but also I hold no doubts Dottore messed around with whatever stuff he's got inside of him. Added stuff removed stuff, all to see what would happened. And when his powers were unlocked he struggled with suppressing those cause he never had to do that before. I feel like I'm some ways he's super human like but there's just a few things that are odd about him. Like technically doesn't need to breathe, doesn't produce spit at all, isn't sure what's painful and how much pain he's supposed to deal with on his own or get medical attention for same with wounds, can dream but when he doesn't he is just in an unconscious void like he can think fully and he hates when it happens cause it's like he's floating in nothing. Also man has to have maintenance on his ball joints regularly so they don't get fucked up and he could totally remove a limb at any time. Funniest thing he ever did was slap childe with his own hand in place of slapping him with a glove.

Xiao: this guy right here. I feel like he either cuts his hair himself and doesn't look in a mirror or like he does it on impulse cause it's too long and in his way and Zhongli sees it later and is like "do you need help fixing your hair?" Cause it's not a great hair cut. I feel like Xiao had long hair once and now he never wants it again. This man could have so many talents if he let himself enjoy things like hobbies. Can drink alcohol but probably only ever does it in social situations and by that I mean he's with exactly one person and he trusts them and likes their company. Like all adepti, he can use powers without a vision, he only has his cause celestia was like "here" but he didn't even notice it and only keeps it on his person since he prefers to have a human form. He is the shortest anemo boy just barely being beaten out by the most precise tool to measure height in genshin. Having them stand in water and see who stands and who swims.

[scullysflannel]

i remember seeing your post about why bcs is better than breaking bad, with this last episode, how do you think it stands as an antithesis of breaking bad?

it's become even more obvious this season that better call saul is not at all the antithesis of breaking bad, even though it is the antithesis of the kind of antihero story breaking bad exemplified. both shows are about moral agency in the wild west. they assert choice as identity (you are what you choose to do) and ask whether those choices redefine you or just reveal who you are intrinsically. they're both about men who become the architects of their own destruction and about how one person's actions can trap others.

I think better call saul is doing it in a much sadder and richer way. jimmy is acting out of deflected love, in a system that gives him fewer options to succeed without bending the rules. walt is handed an out early on from his wealthy ex-partners, but he doesn't take it because of his pride. he does what he does for entirely selfish reasons: money, power, ego, control. I've seen some pushback against walt hate on the premise that it ignores the humanity in the writing or whatever, so let me be clear: walt sucks because he's written like a human being. he's terrible to his son and only dotes on him when he wants to feel like a big provider. he ignores and lies to his pregnant wife. his students don't like him. he thinks he cares about jesse, but he's manipulating him, and he's at his most affectionate when he has the most control over him. that's not real care. I do think in the later seasons it sometimes borders on ridiculous how loathsome walt can be, and he's not the best character on breaking bad (jesse, skyler, mike, and hank are all more interesting. marie and gus are cooler). but the writers took care to root the worst things about him in personality traits that clearly predated his little meth empire. this is not a good guy we caught at a bad time. this is a small man who's masked his bitterness in socially acceptable ways for years.

in better call saul the chain reaction is more tangled. jimmy takes the opportunities that he's given to change, and then he tanks them, and his self-sabotage is both a fatal flaw and a response to legitimate structural problems in the legal system. (the rules are harder to justify when those rules are designed to maintain a status quo that makes upward mobility so hard, makes forgiveness so hard. think of jimmy's speech in "winner": one teenage shoplifting incident will follow you forever. they are never, ever letting you in. he got a whole law degree, but it was from an online university, so should it count?) he's much more shaped by other people than walt is ("people tell me how they see me"). better call saul builds on the big ideas in breaking bad but really commits to making the world around the fucked-up guy fucked up too, and it makes the tragedy so much deeper. because ultimately it's still a story about personal responsibility, just as breaking bad is. even when you have no good options, you still have to live with your choices.

being a prequel pushes better call saul to be smarter (which is what I was saying in the post you mentioned). it makes the characters more reflective. shoutout to the new yorker article that pointed out what it does to the show that the actors look older, as if the characters are trapped reliving their pasts without the power to change them. jimmy believes his fate is sealed, and as a result we get to watch him seal it. it's agonizing. that's where better call saul diverges from the breaking bad antihero formula: there's no (lasting) thrill in watching him make bad choices because we know what they'll do to him in the long run. but rebuking the walter white problem doesn't make better call saul breaking bad's opposite; it just makes it a more fulfilling version of the same story.

[myrskytuuli]

What if Striker was an antihero with redeemable qualities in an au?

That would be really cool and interesting AU.

Now that you brought up Striker, I'm going to use this ask as a springboard to ramble a little bit. I find it interesting that Striker got a pretty popular fandom characterisation of a working-class hero fighting against the establishment after his introduction, and then the backlash that resulted when he made his second appearance didn't line up with that fandom characterisation, because if you look at Striker's character in every episode, it doesn't actually change.

In the Harvest Moon Festival, Striker immediately starts bullying Moxxie, for no good reason, expect that he is servile and fragile. I would assume that Moxxie hits a lot of stereotypes of what many higher class demons think of Imps, as they are the disposable servant class, and Striker seems to find someone who isn't better than the stereotypes as a justified target for abuse. Then of course his pitch for Blitz: "we could be the most dangerous beings in hell". What he values more than anything is being the biggest and baddest person in any room. Striker in that episode is someone who is very open about being proud of being better than other imps. "You and I are superior to most of our kind". This isn't a man who is angry that the caste system exists, this is a man who is angry that he isn't on top of the caste system. He's not mad that imps are treated like dirt, he's mad that he is being treated like an imp.

Western Energy is completely in line with this motivation. The conceit and the self-hype and the explosive anger that the world around him doesn't treat him like he believes he should be treated.

And in Oops we see the disdain he has for imps like Fizzarolli, who in his eyes, are so weak that they have to latch themselves to someone more powerful to survive. And he is fully ready to kill Fizzarolli out of spite for the crime of needing the patronage of a high class demon to make it in this world. Both Moxxie and Fizzarolli (in his eyes) are people who are not good at violence and try to solve conflicts with appeasement, and he is so ready to be the boot that stamps them down.

Now, this is getting into theory time, but I wonder if the fact that he is very clearly some kind of hybrid plays a role in this. I don't find it impossible that he might even be a royal bastard himself. I could very well see him being a result of some royal snake fooling around and then getting rid of their embarassing imp affair, leaving behind a child who both has had royalty take everything away from him, but at the same time deep down feels like he should also be entitled to the status that the royals have.

But that's all just my own thoughts and theories. As for AU where Striker gets to be a hero, there could be a lot of ways one could go about it. And I personally think that the angle I would start exploring that would be by tackling Striker's tendency to put himself on a pedestal that also prevents him from having any actual positive relationships.

Ironically, he's such a badass that if he didn't treat those around him like he does, he could easily gain all the respect he desires by using all that badassery to help and protect other imps.

But of course in canon, he doesn't care about gaining respect of imps, because why would he care what those lower than him think. The respect of those weaker than him means nothing to him. But it would be interesting to think how he could arrive to a point where that changes.

[l-flyhight]

"Antihero po and shrew luthera"

Edgy panda

Loosly based of the original storyboard that had such a different vibe then what we got. Po was broody and often thought of himself as a failure.

In this au after being picked as dragon warrior he wasnt taken so kindly. Shifu couldn't train him like the five and instead po sought to train himself.

Him and tigress have animosity and often thought he was nothing but a failure. He broke tai lung. Smashed his fingers in. Broke his legs and bsnished him.

Shen met his end by po literally throwing a brokem mast at him and hitting through it to end him. "Eat some inner peace!"

Freed the remaining pandas. the inhabitants were wary of and shunned them even still. So po took leave with them finding that he no longer felt the need to find or wish for acceptance from the 5 or the vally.

The pandas live on the mountain outskirts of the vally. Not far. They built a sort of shanty/slum town. Po offering aid to those unfortunate enough to be outcasted from the vally. A huge polar bear warrioress being one such member.

He fights kai and masters chi like a weapon. Is able to use it to open his body for greater feats of strength and power. Po defending the town and begrudgingly the valley aswell. Ksi nearly takes his chi, as he is encased in jade the other pandas fought to help him. The 5 though spared thanks to po finially gave him aid. Much to kais surprise the jade cracks and explodes. Po stands before him and his chi burns so great its actually seen. A dragon takes shape from his chi.

Po beats kai to a pulp and uses a form that breifly takes chi only to send it back at the user double the force, rendering the soul from the body breifly.

"You talk of the evil and wrongs of the world when all i see is it looking back at me!"

The five try to make amends and hes had enough.

Later

Luthera is being beaten on a roadside but not down, fighting and stabing out an eye of an assailant. The knights of england are making an example of her. Shes a woman and must know her place. The knights and she a noblewoman - a diplomat set foot in china to apprehend the weasels for grievous crimes against the queen.

Po sees them beating on luthera but doesn't intervene. Watching and assessing the situation. He does eventually step in and breaks the arms of two.

They flee leaving a bloody Luthera. Still clutching her blade. Shes wounded bad. He takes her bsck to the village and shes just as vicious to him.

Eventually they form an understanding with each others pain and form bond.

"Where i come from women know their place. Put on this earth to kneel before their husbands. To birth sons for the realm. Nothing more.

I wanted to fight so i disguised myself as a man. It worked for awhile. However I was found out and lashed. Tortured and sentenced. I refused to be anyones breeding sow.

Being beaten doesnt hurt. Nor do the lashes. Not anymore. I will have my freedom. So saving me was rather pointless...

The panda froze. Realisation on her situation.

"You...wanted to die..."

"By my terms. If i cant have my freedom to do so as i see fit then give me that solace to die by my choice, saving me? You just prolongued the life that isnt worth a damn to anyone"

More edgy more violent. More sensative themes. Racism on pandas. More adult.

[fzzr]

The Eminence in Shadow is Premium Garbage

The Eminence in Shadow is the best anime of the Fall 2022 season. I enjoyed it more than Bocchi the Rock!, Mob Psycho 100 III, Chainsaw Man, Spy x Family Part 2, and all the rest, and it's not close. There's nothing else I looked forward to every week more.

We have to start with the protagonist. Cid "The Eminence in Shadow" Kagenou looks every power fantasy protagonist and attempted parody of the same dead in the eye and says, with the swagger of one who won before the battle began, "I am not here because I want your throne. It is already mine, and you sat upon it by my grace. Your time is past now, for I have come to reclaim what never belonged to you." Kirito hasn't finished grabbing a weapon before he is reduced to one inch cubes. Ainz Ooal Gown freezes in place, eyes empty, with no answer. Anos Voldigoad gives a knowing smile and steps aside. Rudeus Greyrat stands with tears in his eyes, grateful to be freed of his burden. Rimuru Tempest bows with grace. Maple doesn't know how she got here, but she's very happy for him. Kazuma and Subaru are nowhere to be found. A thousand other guys with messy hair and dark cloaks are silenced, with no time even to cry out.

The basic concept of Eminence is thus: Our protagonist has always wanted to be the ultimate badass. Realizing this is not possible in our mundane reality, he truck-kuns himself and is reborn in a fantasy world, intelligence and ambition intact. He does the usual isekai thing where he becomes stronger than anyone else with magic no one else uses mostly off screen - we're not here to see him struggle to earn his power. We do see him recruit Alpha, his first disciple in Shadow Garden, the underground antihero agency he made up to fight the Cult of Diablos, which he also made up. He decides for this scene that she will be descended from the hero to explain why those baddies wanted her blood.

Wait, "he decides?" That's right, Cid/Shadow is making it up as he goes along. He is playing a character, and the only way he knows how to do that is to actually become that character. While not being the magical Punisher, he plays a background character. He's not so good at that role - he keeps stumbling into relevancy. Eminence is improv, and Cid is very good at making things up and getting everyone to play along.

When Cid goes to the obligatory high school for aspiring magic knights (where he plans to be a C student), it turns out the princess in his class is the next target of the Cult of Diablos! Not one to leave a prompt like that unfulfilled, he yes-ands that encounter into one of the greatest statements of badassery you will ever hear. When Alpha and the rest of Shadow Garden show back up, he's grateful that they still enjoy their little game and are so accommodating of his quirks. He can't say that out loud, of course - that would break character. He just makes whatever cryptic statement feels right to him at the moment.

The world really does seem to revolve around Cid, and like the thousand shadows of his glory, he has no idea. As Shadow, the leader of a secret agency/cult of personality, he obviously has a harem of badass bombshell beauties in tight magic spandex, and just as obviously he's completely oblivious to their worship. As Cid, aspiring nobody, he has a separate, ever growing harem of less badass bombshell beauties. He is fully aware of their attention, but having an increasing number of ladies lusting after him doesn't fit the background character vibe, so he does his utmost to avoid their ever-compounding thirst. You heard me right - Cid/Shadow has two separate harems, so he gets to parody two different types of oblivious harem protagonist. There's even a power fantasy within that power fantasy, as the Shadow Garden harem regularly shows off how much better they are than Cid's collection of extremely eligible bachelorettes.

The 11/10 strength of Eminence is undoubtedly in its dialogue. In multiple places Cid/Shadow delivers lines with more impact as comedy than some of the most powerful statements in serious dramas deliver even once. I honestly struggle to find a comparison here. Monogatari is another shining example of dialogue, but even it never quite reaches that height.

Eminence does not have a deep emotional thread binding it together. It has no subtle themes woven into an intricate plot. The point of this exercise is unadulterated fun, and Eminence has that in spades. As for the rest of the factors that go into making a good anime great: The music is good all the time. The simple animation is consistent, and the expensive scenes really flex that budget. There's a bit of background CGI, but seriously who cares.

Conclusion

Score: The Eminence in Shadow is 9/10. Hammy, scenery gobbling dialogue can be found anywhere. Eminence manages to implement some of the best bad dialogue ever and it makes no apology, while also being gripping in its own way.

Recommendation: The power level requirement here is quite high. Eminence is only of interest to those already familiar with (and maybe a bit tired of) power fantasy/isekai anime. Additionally, it indulges in occasional fanservice you wouldn't want someone to see over your shoulder. However, if you do fall in the target audience you really should feel obligated to watch it.

Comparisons

I already said it's better than every isekai ever made. As a parody of power fantasies in general, it is perhaps best compared to The Misfit of Demon King Academy. That protagonist, Anos Voldigoad, is reborn with all the knowledge and powers of a nigh-omnipotent Demon King. He can literally reduce someone to a puddle of blood with the beat of his heart, and resurrect them with a snap of his fingers. Unlike Eminence, Demon King Academy has no winks at the audience - its position as parody is derived entirely from being presented as a straight implementation of the premise turned up to 20. As such, I think Eminence allows itself more room to play in that space. If you end up liking Eminence, Demon King Academy is a good pick for a follow-up watch.

How to Raise a Boring Girlfriend is the universal solvent of anime comparisons. It has many secret weapons, but the hook is in the title. Megumi stubbornly avoids classification under any well-established romcom stereotype. She's a nobody, a background character, a storytelling blank slate. In short, she is naturally what Cid tries his hardest to be. So, let's compare what these two anime think a background character actually is. Megumi defies tropes. Whenever someone tries to paint preconceived characterization onto her, it slides right off. You have to actually get to know her to understand her. Cid's view of a background character is instead someone you don't get a chance to get to know in the first place. He wants to be the guy who gets rejected to show that the love interest is picky. He wants to be the first guy to die in an action sequence to show the stakes are real. He wants to be disposable. So, to Saekano, a background character is someone you just haven't gotten to know. To Eminence, it's someone you never will. A subtle difference, but since Saekano is taking a look instead of taking the piss, it's the more interesting way to look at it.

Final Words

I will indulge myself in stealing borrowing from Susan Sontag's Notes On Camp. "Not only is Camp not necessarily bad art, but some art which can be approached as Camp... merits the most serious admiration and study." Eminence is not necessarily Camp, but it swims in those waters. I recommend you watch Eminence for the sheer audacity that it was made in the first place, but if you have a particularly open-minded professor and are desperate for a topic for a term paper, well... you might as well have fun with it, right?

[see-arcane]

Reading your rants on how the Dracula cast got done dirty, I was wondering if you had one up your sleeves about our boy Van Helsing? Because like. He gets turned from a well-meaning doctor that is in over his head but trying his best to mister Macho Vampire Hunter Male Power Fantasy guy and like. I feel like that misses a lot of the point of his character? He's not fueled by hate or anything, just an open mind and a desire to protect these young people he cares for

Honestly, I think people just spin a wheel and throw a dart when it comes to one of their favorite games, What Character Archetype is Van Helsing Today!?

Mild-mannered old gentleman Van Helsing (as played by Van Sloan) who gets to deliver the finishing blow (because the cast in 1931 was cut down to 1/5 its ensemble)?

Peter Cushing being Peter Cushing*? (*A man as tailor-made for the gothic genre as Vincent Price?)

Funny foreign man as portrayed by Hopkins doing his absolute best not to turn the guy into a cartoon despite his direction?

Whatever this is*. (*A cartoon.)

I'll give some credit to most directors starting out in roughly the ballpark of his character. He's consistently a good man trying to save others from a grim fate and putting himself at great risk to do so. But somewhere along the line, he got zapped with the same transformative ~reinvention~ that characters like, fittingly, The Doctor of Doctor Who did. Less 'brave and wise old man doing his best to protect others,' and more 'ooh hoo hoo, look at this mysterious, sage, and powerful badass!'

As for edgy dark pasts, we do get hints in the book that he's suffered some personal blows--potentially from the undead--once upon a time, but it doesn't give him the antihero treatment as a result. It just makes him earnest in wanting to ensure history doesn't repeat.

If there's a small silver lining, it's that in most adaptations, he's kind of treated as the epitome of Knowledge = Power, because it's hard to have him involved in a Dracula story without him and his foreknowledge of vampires being vital in helping the rest of the otherwise uninformed/unprepared cast. While he isn't a magician, he is given a sort of eccentric Odin/wise wizard vibe because rather than a Stuffy Old Man we get an amazingly open-minded and proactive scholar for the period he was written in.

Out of all the characters in the cast, I think he's one of the few who gets the fewest bad deals from directors, but yeah, nobody's ever quite hit the mark in my opinion either

[stillswearing]

Kendall Roy? Not like other girls.

Actual title: Beyond Shakespeare, a dive into the American white male antihero archetype 

[Edited and reposted]

As Succession comes to a close, comparisons between Kendall Roy and other iconic onscreen antiheroes have been thrown around online. And as a lover of white boy media over the years, I got into thinking about my favorite 40-year-old nepobaby media mogul.

The way I see it: What sets Kendall apart from typical antihero protagonists, like Walter White or Michael Corleone, is that he starts as a cringe fail loser. And I kinda wish all white boy corruption arcs in the future be as pathetic and hilarious and upsetting and sharply written as Kendall Roy’s.

CORRUPTION ARCS

We know corruption arcs or negative arcs. It’s one of the ways a protagonist becomes the antihero. Walter White and Michael Corleone begin as competent, fairly nice guys living decent lives. And the thrill of their story is watching them reluctantly (and then not reluctantly) apply their skills to increasingly morally grey situations until they're fully consumed by power and they lose everything.

Whereas characters like White and Corleone are introduced as men who already had the makings for greatness (Walter, a genius chemist, and Michael, an intelligent marine), Kendall is introduced as a 39-year-old child who can’t close the Vaulter deal. And while Walter's and Michael's disillusionment and corruption began reluctantly as a result of a sudden disruption in their lives (Walter with cancer, and Michael with his dad’s assassination), Ken's path to becoming Logan is the baseline - not a disruption - for his character.

This is cool because corruption arcs don't typically work like this. A protagonist's competence isn’t usually doubted in corruption arcs. And how can you even bring a character down if they're already a disillusioned loser hungry for power at the very beginning? 

While White and Corleone have a slow descent towards unscrupulousness, there’s no reluctance on Kendall's part in hurtling towards, well, evil. He's always wanted to be his dad. Even after going to great lengths to act out against Logan, as a result of trauma and abuse, Kendall was always meant to revert back to his baseline - his desire to be king no matter the cost. The typical corruption arc doesn't really apply to him because he's already corrupted from the start. So how did they make his story compelling? 

By laying it out as a hero’s journey. A really fucked up one.

A HERO’S JOURNEY

In overly simplistic terms, a hero's journey is one where the character goes on a quest and comes back a changed person. Think: Hiccup from How To Train Your Dragon. The protagonist starts from the bottom and rises to the top, learning valuable life-altering lessons along the way. Hiccup starts out as a weak child sidelined by his dad & peers but grows up to be Berk's chief like he always dreamed of. A zero to hero.

And that’s literally Kendall Roy; he's the Hiccup of Wall Street. He goes from being a bitch ass failure who can't close Vaulter to being Waystar's CEO like he always dreamed of. The key difference is that Hiccup has altruistic goals & values (because he's a character in a wonderfully scored children’s animated adventure series) and Kendall doesn't (because he is in the wonderfully scored HBO show Succession). But regardless of their different morals & end goals, the journey they go through is the same. 

Kendall’s story cannot be framed as a descent to wickedness, unlike in a typical corruption arc. His is an ascent from loserville to winner…ville. It’s about becoming the man he was always destined to be. 

A bad zero to a bad hero. 

ANTIHEROES

As a result of this distinction from other white male antiheroes, Kendall Roy as a character achieves something his predecessors have had a difficult time doing well: Be an obvious, glaring, clear condemnation of the patriarchy and its many forms of violence.

Ok, stay with me.

See, characters like Michael Corleone, Walter White, Tony Soprano, and Don Draper are all widely considered well-written, compelling antiheroes. (No, I will not be putting Tommy Shelby on the list because Peaky Blinders truly deeply sucked - fight me. And full disclosure: I haven’t seen The Sopranos and Mad Men, but I think my point still stands.) Audiences know they’re bad people, but we understand them and even root for them. Or at the very least, we understand why people would root for them within the logic of the series they’re in. This is the power of storytelling, of framing, of choosing who’s at the center of the narrative.

Things get messy when audiences (and even creators) empathize with these men’s corruption so much that they sometimes lose sight that the antihero archetype is a critique as much as it is an understanding of this specific white man who does violent things. After all, how can we critique something we do not understand? 

Moreover, stories usually draw the audience’s sympathy for antiheroes by putting them in conflict with a way more malevolent character. That way, the protagonist's morally grey decisions look less destructive in comparison. As a result of being the center of the narrative, these problematic asshole fathers can be easily interpreted as “simply misunderstood”, or worse as “justified and enlightened and aspirational and cool. fuck yeah.” Along the way, people forget that these antihero stories were meant to be a commentary on the patriarchy.

It’s also why many female characters around these antiheroes suffer undue vitriol from viewers. We empathize with these bad boys so much, that the women are seen as nuisance, as hysterical creatures in the way of the antihero's destiny and goals. When really most of the time, women in these stories are the voice of reason, stopping these douchebags from exercising monstrous violence. (Skylar White, I will always love you.)

KENDALL ROY

Not our Kenny though. Unlike the intelligent, suave, and capable antiheroes that came before him, our man was Uncool and Cringe since Day 1. As said, being a failure and inept is key in a hero’s journey, especially at the beginning. That’s why I understand why so many viewers actively dislike Ken. (He is my most favorite character though, no one comes close.)

Sure, we deeply empathize with Kendall over the course of four seasons. He is a victim and a perpetrator of abuse. But at no point does the show hold back in portraying his violence as the actions of a truly pathetic, emotionally stunted, insecure man-child.

I have to mention my awe for Jeremy Strong at this point because, in lesser actors’ hands, it would have been nearly impossible for anyone to empathize with, root for, and even cry for, Ken. He did not have the luxury of playing an antihero that starts out as competent and likable before things turned sour (as in a traditional corruption arc). All of Kendall’s weaknesses and ugliness were right there at the very beginning of the show and they were continually highlighted throughout all four seasons. His actions are rarely portrayed as justified, let alone aspirational. He fails and makes the wrong call all the time.

And yet Strong plays Kendall so masterfully, that we always see Kendall as both the abusive man and the abused child whenever he’s onscreen. It's a genius move on Armstrong's and Strong's part to create Kendall Roy in this manner. By placing Kendall as a hero on his way to becoming whom he was always destined to be, instead of a character who turns to a dark path as a result of a disruption in their worldview, we the audience are able to hold both the evilness of Ken and his kindness, as well as his incompetence and his strength, in our minds simultaneously every time.

We really understand Kendall, and it's why we can deeply hate him. He is an empathetic explanation AND clear condemnation of white male patriarchs in society. Antiheroes before him may have been as complex as Kendall Roy, but they could only wish that they had his clarity as well.

CONCLUSION

Rooting for Ken means differently for various people. Rooting for him can mean hoping he fails to be Logan and breaks out of the cycle. But it can also mean hoping that he finally gets what he wants and succeeds Logan.

I’m mostly in the latter camp. 

There is catharsis there, in watching a shitty human being achieve his ultimate empty dream of being the shittiest human being. This is a hero’s journey after all.

A bad zero to a bad hero.

[aecholapis]

If there was ever a new Brave show, what would you want it to be about/what would you want it to involve?

Oh, what I wouldn't give to see a new Brave emerge from the depths of Sunrise's animation studios. But the chances are slim, infinitesimal even, microscopic to the point that I've given up hope to see some kind of series revival one day. At least we're still getting figurines and HD Blu-Ray remasters of the animes, but that's pretty much it.

What we are left with is our imagination and perseverance and thankfully, some fans have those attributes in abundance. I'm not going to call them out by name - you all know who you are and you should know your efforts are greatly appreciated by this small fandom.

Some of them have made a great effort to come up with new ideas for their own original shows that have sprung from their imaginations and they are kind enough to share it with the world. As someone who loves reading about pretty much any thing and everything relevant to the media I'm obsessed with at that time, I also love reading about other people's take on the already existing and well-established fictional worlds.

I've already mentioned my own and the OCs that are part of it, but to be honest, this is not exactly the direction I would take the franchise if I had a say in it. There are many great ways one could revive the Yuusha series and my own silly idea of a story is not it. There are too many themes that don't fit with the overall tone of the series - it needs to be as light-hearted, emotional and thrilling as the original one... which it isn't.

I'll list the answer to your ask under the cut if it's alright with you.

First of all, one thing that I would love to see is a way for the producers to link the shows together. It can either be done with little easter eggs or references to the old shows,

There is a reason why almost all Braves follow a pattern in terms of plot progression and action and I think they should bring that back. The monster-of-the-week format has worked well with almost every series and while it's definitely not the perfect way of storytelling, it makes for fun times.

Let the villains be silly, give them control over some ridiculouly huge thing and watch them decimate the protagonists with it until they learn its attack patterns and defeat it with the power of friendship. It wouldn't hurt if they did it once or twice every ten episodes.

We need more villains who are evil for the sake of it. They don't need a thorough reason to destroy the universe. And give us our beloved morally grey rivals/antiheroes turned allies back, please.

Nowadays I feel that most characters aren't as colorful as they used to be, but not here, nuh-uh! They need to have at least two primary colors in their frame (RYB, RGB or CYMK, doesn't matter which one) as long as they wear it with pride. Example: my man Draias is a walking fashion disaster, yet he doesn't care about his appearance and I love him for it.

I want the Braves to originate from

✨ s p a c e ✨

not Earth, thank you. While I don't have anything against human-made robots or those who were created by our planet's nature, the thought of them being aliens is so much cooler.

The OST would be a banger for sure.

Another thing I want to see is a more in-depth exploration of the themes and issues they deal with. BPJD had its fair share of addressing themes that are usually targeted at older viewers rather than the actual target audience of pre- and elementary schoolers. I don't want that to get lost in a new show. Children are just as capable of understanding and dealing with heavy themes if they are offered an explanation for everything they might not fully comprehend.

While I don't like humans in robot media in general, BPJD was probably the only show where I think they handled them well. THe human side characters weren't as prominent as they had been in the previous and following Braves. The robots were finally in the spotlight and got the development they desperately needed. Yuuta and Deckerd had a unique bond, they were like siblings and that was so wonderfully presented that I couldn't help but like their pure, albeit codependent relationship.

More platonic relationships. More focus on friendships. More familial love and found family. More bromances, more womances. The same amount of explosions and action.

And please let everyone be normal about women, GGG Final was just. No. (I love you, Anryuu, but the rest of the cast were done dirty)

As for the plot, anything would work. Aliens invade the Earth, philanthrophic Braves come to defend it. Maybe they've been fighting the other guys for a long while, maybe they haven't. What matters is that it should be something that makes sense for a Yuusha show.

And give them badass designs, please.

[adamwatchesmovies]

Escape from New York (1981)

Escape From New York is a man’s movie. It makes you want to grow up and become the same kind of tough, play-by-your-own-rules, get-it-done kind of man as Snake Plissken. If your brain tells you this isn’t possible, you can still gather enjoyment from the terrific premise, memorable characters, dialogue and imagery.

In 1988, a 400% increase in crime has pushed the U.S. government to transform Manhattan into a giant maximum-security prison. Walls surround the coasts. The waters are patrolled. Ways out have been destroyed or mined. Criminals are sent in and allowed to do as they please but can never leave.

Nine years later, the President of the United States (Donald Pleasence) is forced to land inside Manhattan after terrorists hijack Air Force One. Taken hostage by the Duke of New York (Isaac Hayes), the only viable tactic is to use a man who will fit right in: former Special Forces soldier Snake Plissken (Kurt Russell).

The premise is wild but the film knows it. There’s a cynical and ironic sense of humor throughout, such as intercom messages that announce that, should they choose to, prisoners can choose suicide rather than be sent to Manhattan. The Statue of Liberty overseeing the world’s biggest and most inhumane prison is not a coincidence. It allows us to accept the wild setup and move on. You can see the film’s influence everywhere from video games such as Batman: Arkham City to thinly-veiled homages like Neil Marshall’s Doomsday. There’s a certain joy that makes you mutter “… yeah!” after every one of Kurt Russel’s lines. He’s so cool with his one-liners and remarks about how crappy the situation is you can’t wait to see more. Watch this picture and you’ll never see an eyepatch the same way again.

Made on a shoestring budget, the picture feels authentic. Had it been filmed today, it would feature big stars in cameo roles and elaborate set pieces. Instead, the prisoners living in New York have crude weapons whose simplicity is brutal. They try to glamorize their world as best they can with the resources available, but you never forget the hell they’re living in. The gladiatorial ring Plissken ends up fighting in looks like something you’d see in some middle-of-nowhere American town whose name you only hear about because the locals went too far and got somebody killed. Instead of going for spectacle, the film focuses on its characters and the ticking clock: if Snake can’t get the president out of there within the time limit, the world will be plunged into nuclear war. With a hero like Snake, you can’t be sure of the outcome. The man lives 60 seconds at a time. He’s only doing the mission because it’s his way to a presidential pardon. Even so, our antihero is so bitter he may botch the mission just to stick to police commissioner Bob Hauk (Lee Van Cleef).

Multiple viewings of Escape from New York bring to your attention the details that make it a special picture. It makes an immediate impact but the film’s climax, its willingness to go all the way with its premise, and its iconic moments give it lasting power. (On Blu-ray, August 4, 2018)

[hobiebrownismygod]

I'm back with the sonas!!

The first sonas name is Santi and his spider name is Sea-Skipper because hes a surfer boy who was bitten by a colossendeis australis sea spider. He is in his early 20s, like 20-21 early and his color pallet is literally just the aroace flag with the acception of brown for freckles and a tan for skin. He's got enhanced agility, balance, speed and reflexs but little to no adhesive grip (it only lasts a few minutes and needs concentration..) He hasn't been accepted into the spider society and never will be because miguel says he's too immature and reckless as spiderman, being less of a hero and more of a teenager swinging around in latex. which is kinda true,,,

Then theres Kian, they use any and all pronouns but loves being called Spider-Man. I've drawn her and Santi before but I don't have the art on me rn because I haven't been home for a week. His suit is everything to do with love, even if they were bitten by a regular spider. Her special abilities consist of durability, speed, night vision, wall crawling and then the basic spidey start pack things. They're more reserved and quiet but that doesn't mean she's shy.. He's a burst of energy. They're often mistakenly called Spider-Woman even if he has a masculine voice.

Then there's my sona :DDD His suit is a mix of patches and stitches. The main color a mossy green color with brown and other "tacky" and murkily colored patches on them. He has organic webs unlike most people and usually wears a heap of bracelets or bandages over the weird lil funky bumps the webs come from. He's such a silly guy.

And my FAVORITE WOOO BABY Morgan! His Spider name is the Anti-Spider but some people call him the Dark-Arachnid. Morgan isn't a villain, but he makes it clear he isn't a hero. He's got powers now! He doesn't care about the greater good. He cares about possessing the greatest things he didn't even know about before he was bitten. His suit is all black with gold accents, gold around the eyes and even cool chrome eyes instead of the regular material. Theyre extra glossy. He has a generally dark color pallet, and even a darker complexion. But what sticks out about him?? His crystal clear spinky wunky cutie patootie blue eyeballs.

-Jsauce

aww poor Santi, does he even want to be part of the society?? Is he like 1610 who keeps begging Miguel to let him in

What’s Kian’s Spider-Man name? Are they just spider-man or are they something else? Lovebite would be cute

omg ur sona sounds so cool they’re all earthy!! Do they have a spider-name?

Morgan sounds awesome ngl. But…and this is a very important question…does he have soft blue eyes or bright blue eyes because there is a very big difference and I cannot with sharp blue eyes they’re pretty and all but they’re terrifying. Although it might add to his overall vibe of being more of an antihero than a hero