#i can't be the only one who sees potential in the most supernatural version of loki and the most mundane version of mobius

[sunderwight]

has anyone written a Loki series fic where Don the Jet Ski Salesman comes home one day to find his boys hiding something in the garage, and is tiredly like "is it snake? I better not go in there and find out you guys robbed a zoo--" only to open the garage door and see an injured, bewildered frost giant Loki prodding cautiously at a bag of doritos (the boys attempted to provide sustenance) (could be angst or good just be the version from the What If? episode trying to recover from a bender with Thor)

[purefandomonium]

Just realized I never did get around to posting those headcanons for this version of Red, so I decided to do that.

General:

Red in this iteration is more supernatural than sentient glitch.

He works using similar logic to another version I have of him, where he is linked to the cartridge and will never be very far from it. However, unlike the other version, it's not as simple as passing the game off to some other sucker. Red here is in full control of his fate, having figured out how to leave the game at will and even being capable of pulling players in and trapping them, although doing that takes a lot out of him so he doesn't do it often.

Once he's decided to torment a player, the only way they're getting rid of him is--well, they can't. The only options are die, die, or go insane and then die.

There's a 0.0000001% chance Red himself will get bored of the torment and leave without killing them, but that's basically never going to happen.

There is no way to harm him physically and it's impossible to damage the game as well.

The cart is in a perpetual state of just being playable and will remain that way regardless of what's done to it.

The Glitchy Red pokepasta exists in this universe, and Red is very aware of it. He does not enjoy hearing about it.

It's unknown if he's even the original Glitchy Red or some kind of replica. His whole deal makes zero sense. I mean, how does a game from the '90s, whose code is held together with duct tape, used gum and best wishes, suddenly develop a digital spirit? Perhaps some supernatural meddling was involved at some point... Red himself certainly won't tell.

Personality:

Is an asshole with zero remorse for his actions.

Tormenting players is a game to him, and it's the only one he'll play. He likes to see how long they'll hold up against the psychological onslaught. It's usually not long.

Despite how much he enjoys his violent acts of revenge, he does get bored of it. Most players don't survive for very long and he doesn't even need to try for them to break. He's capable of so much more yet never gets a chance to use his full power. (That's why he's so pumped when Reader shows up. Finally, a real challenge.)

He's perpetually bitter and dare I say angsty from the suffering he's been through.

He's capable of feeling any emotion, but his primary state of being is angry and spiteful.

On the off chance he is feeling something different, it's likely only because there's no one messing with the game. If left to his own devices he's actually quite contemplative and serene, and tends to spend his time basking in the sunlight or enjoying nature.

Is basically a bitchy cat when calm.

It's impossible to befriend him if you're someone in possession of the cart. By default, that makes you an enemy regardless of your intentions or even if you had no idea about it. Ex: Someone gives you a box of old games and junk and you tuck it away in an attic without so much as looking through it. Doesn't matter that you didn't know he was there, you do now >:(

The only chance anyone has to befriend him is if they're someone in a similar predicament/a fellow entity. Escaped tortured experiment who knows nothing but misery? Welcome to the club.

Might also consider a being who likes to torment humans a potential friend too, if given the chance. He does like his torture.

He's actually very intelligent and crafty. He knows how to get his desired results without even needing to lift a finger. Whether it be forcing players to destroy their lives, tricking them into doing his bidding, or making them agree to a terrible deal and trapping their soul within the game to be used as a spare punching bag.

A couple of players have managed to beat him at his own game and he's still holding onto that grudge.

Abilities:

Intangibility--he can interact with the world/people, but they can't touch him.

Limited mind control--he can hypnotize players and alter their dreams but can't turn them into full-on puppets unless they're really worn down. Even then, it's usually only limited to things like obsessively playing the game or forcing them to stay awake.

Can inflict a powerful sense of fear onto others without even needing to do anything. Think Patrick's "He's just standing there... menacingly!"

Energy drain--the thing that allowed him to break free of the game. Over the years he learned how to steal and harness players' lifeforce, using it to bring himself into the real world. It's also how he went from glitch in the matrix to full-on evil spirit.

Shapeshifting--mostly into glitches or Pokemon, but can do people too if he feels like it. He's used this ability before to imitate dead loved ones as part of his torment.

Despite his origins, he can't interact with technology. He lost any ability to do that when he became what he is now. He still causes electronics to glitch out when he's near/his temper flares but only in the way supernatural entities do. Move the devices away from him and they'll return to normal with no damage done.

Teleportation--Only outside of a certain distance of the cart, as he can't be too far from it. He can only teleport himself as well, and has to actually have the cart with him to teleport that too. If he's got it, then he can go anywhere he pleases.

[paullovescomics]

Free Comic Book Day 2024

I thought it might be fun to write a little something about each of the comics I got yesterday at FCBD. So here we go. Part 1 of 5.

The Worlds of James Tynion IV - This includes samples from three different series written by James Tynion IV: Something Is Killing the Children, Memetic, and The Woods. These are all creator-owned series published through Boom! Studios. The only one of these I'd read before is Something Is Killing the Children. The pages here are, IIRC, the opening pages of volume one. The other samples also feel like openings. They are all intriguing. Each scene has a really good hook. They are all horror series. I'd say this is a good FCBD issue, as it definitely works as a promotional comic. You really want to see what happens next in each of these series.

Dying Inside - Mixed emotions here, because the story is about a girl who is trying to kill herself. It's not done distastefully, it's just inherently troublesome. I don't want to dwell on it. It's not a series that I want to read, but this opening chapter does end on a cliffhanger, so it does its job as a "first taste". Do not read if you are having problems with self harm or suicidal thoughts (the warning on the inside front cover says essentially the same).

Hellboy - As far as I can remember, I've never read a Hellboy story that I didn't like, and happily, that tradition continues here. It's 1983, and Hellboy is investigating a potentially supernatural death in Romania. In the process, he encounters a monster who can see into his past, showing us the readers glimpses of previous Hellboy stories. This is a cool way of showcasing the character's catalog, and it's a satisfying short story. Well done. The second story in this issue is a Stranger Things tie-in featuring Argyle, that dude from the most recent season who delivers pizzas. It's neat bit of backstory for him, and the art is nice. Good stuff.

Absolute Power - This one is billed as "the prelude to the epic event!" and that's accurate. It introduces the latest scheme by Amanda Waller, Supervillain. She has teamed up with Failsafe, who is apparently something like those robot duplicates that Superboy used to keep around to protect Smallville when he was away, but it's Batman this time, and it's super serious. Or, you know, as serious as a Batman robot duplicate can be. Waller is in charge of some new, super-powerful government program, and she's taken over the Hall of Justice (renaming it the Hall of Order). Okay, I love the DC characters, so I'm always interested in what's going on with them, and my comic-nerd brain can't help but be a little intrigued by wondering where the latest twists and turns are going, but I probably won't pick this up. The supervillain version of Amanda Waller feels like a lessening of the character. She felt more complex in the old Suicide Squad when she wasn't super. I know she doesn't have actual superpowers, but she's super like Batman or Lex Luthor are super: they have super resources, super smarts, super skills, super plans, etc. etc. Anyway. The art is great, and the write-ups about DC's recent events (Lazurus Planet, Beast World…) made me want to read those. Apparently Waller had a thread running through those that led up to Absolute Power, so good job with the longterm storytelling seeds. (Yes, I'm way behind with the superhero universes. The only current one I've been reading is Birds of Prey, which I love. I'm a mood reader, and the mood goes where the mood wants to go.)

[headlessandhellbent]

Ok I finished all 6 seasons of teen wolf

Most shocking plot twist: gay jackson

The only other plot twist in the entire show: Scott gouging out his eyeballs

My sexual awakening: possessed stiles

My sexual awakening: L y d i a

My sexual awakening: broken Issac

My sexual awakening: combination kanama werewolf Jackson

Most unnecessary character and most random undeveloped plot: Kira

Second most unnecessary undeveloped plot: Scott and Malia

Most frustrating undeveloped character: Lydia's mom/Lydia's family and background

Second most frustrating undeveloped character: that girl with the guns who was fucking Derek and then helping Malia

Most frustrating undeveloped plot: Kira and the sandwalkers??

Equally frustrating undeveloped plot: THE HALES???????????

Equally as frustrating undeveloped plot: the entire mental institution background and patients and explanation of what each floor housed

Second most frustrating undeveloped plot: stiles and his dad after he's back from the train station / the entire meaning behind the train station?????? And where was it

Third most frustrating undeveloped plot: Scott and his dad. Who explained the supernatural to him and how did he go from not knowing anything to fully being involved when he left at that one season finale threatening Scott they need to talk. Melissa couldn't have explained it in 5 minutes like the show claimed and his suddenly on Scott's side

Plot with most potential that didn't fail but was interesting: THEO AND THE DOCTORS/N*ZI!!!!!!!

In retrospect most unnecessary character: Derek??????

What I want to see: a spinoff of stiles flying around the country solving fbi cases like Criminal Minds called something like The Mind of Stiles and he brings his banshee gf/wife Lydia with him and she solves his cases with a lot of eye rolling and sighing at stiles' stupid theories like a Lydia version of House but for criminal cases.

Overall rating: 4.5/10: tbh wouldn't recommend unless you want a show that has undeveloped characters, plots, and storylines. ALL the actors are extremely attractive tho. Like extremely.

Tbh I can't wait for the movie tho.

[lol-jackles]

What's your take on Wanda Vision? I think it's one of the most overrated Marvel series ever. It's just a long version of Supernatural's Changing Channels with better CGI, imho. Changing Channels at least has deeper meaning. Wanda Vision is just a story about a supposed superhero who can't escape her lover's death, ended up destroyed other people's lives, then finally got her penance in a way. Never knew Marvel could be that lame and predictable x

Oh man it didn’t even occur to me it was like Changing Channel! I like Changing Channel so much more, though that’s not saying whole lot.  Hmmm, maybe I need to see Changing Channel again, it’s been so many years.

I'll be honest, I watched Wandavision while answering Asks on tumblr so I probably missed a lot of important details.  With that confession disclaimer out of the way...

Sitcoms are my guilty pleasures but making the first 3  episodes complete sitcoms which have no connection with the storyline when you have only 9 episodes did not help in making this series interesting.  Am I right to think the meta-commercials had no significance whatsoever in the storyline other than to, I dunno, confuse people?  Speaking of having no significance with the storyline, did Monica, Jimmy Woo, and Darcy need to be there?  I like them and thought Jimmy and Darcy were underrated in their respective movies, but if you remove those three and the majority of SWORD from the series would anything change much?  

I give WandaVision credit for making me care about Wanda and Vision where I was indifferent to them in the movies to the point I didn’t give a rats ass that Vision died.  Wanda was one of the few good things about Age of Ultron, but then they gave her a cardboard personality in the proceeding movies.  WandaVision tapped into potential of both characters and made their romance adorable and believable.  Vision got a character arc of questioning his identity. Vision vs White Vision was quite cool but very short. How White Vision was defeated with logic was smart but a bit anticlimactic. I don't know where he flew off to but I hope it is revealed in a future project.

Elizabeth did justice to Wanda's storyline as she went through grief, anger, love, and redemption (well, except that Westview hostage thing).  The maturity she displayed in the finale by dissovling the Hex even after knowing what she will lose was commendable. She finally moved on from  Vision's death.  The White Vision twist and the fact that Wanda had not stolen Vision's body was the most amazing reveal for me in WandaVision.  My only issue with Wanda's storyline is they kind of made her a villian in the end.  Even if you ignore her brainwashing and torturing Westview as an accident, she  purposefully did the exact same thing to Agatha in the end, and no one calls her out on it. Not even Vision.  WandaVision is supposed to be a show that talks about grief, but there’s a difference between doing something bad, and, oh I dunno, ENSLAVING an entire town against their will because you’re sad.  They can’t excuse when the main character mess up due to their screwed up morals,  I felt like WandaVision does.

Readers know my issue with MCU villains.  I am one of those who very firmly believe in the principle of "every story is as good as its villain."  Apparently MCU disagrees and thinks every villain should be sympathetic or worse, relatable.  Screw that MCU.   So I just did not care about Agatha. yeah she has a quirky personality but I didn't find her interesting.   I also didn't like how the whole show was “It was Agatha all along!” but she wasn't even the one pulling the strings. It was Wanda all this time.  Wanda vs Agatha was a meh battle. It could have been much better if there was more variety in the attacks. The fight was mostly Wanda throwing hexes at Agatha and dying until she had enough and defeated her.  

Final score: 6 out of 10.  One point deduction for each sitcom episode and another point deduction for the boner joke.