#not to be like ‘she uses her power for evil!!!!!!!’ But. She uses her power for evil

[write-or-run]

Danny Phantom in YJ but its ALL of team phantom

so this idea assumes DP is set in the DC verse and Danny's identity is revealed to the town during Reign Storm. His parents accept him like in the series finale, and the town, grateful for being saved from Pariah Dark, has an unspoken rule not to sell out Danny's secret identity to outsiders (mainly the GIW).

All the Amity Park vigilantes are working together at this point, but the public dosent really know it. Now that they're no longer hunting their son's alter ego the Fenton parents continue doing their thing, but now they make gear specifically for their ghost son to use without it backfiring on him (mostly). Jazz gets some of the ghosts to do interviews and eventually branches out into ghost psychology, something that her parents had neglected to study before now.

Danny, Sam, and Tucker continue ghost wrangling, but the supervision of the Fentons proves to be surprisingly helpful and the trio finds that they have more time to pursue other things (space, eco-witchcraft, and tech respectively). Tucker and Sam's parents are on the fence about their friendship with Danny. Angela and Maurice Foley are talked down from their worries after Tucker points out that the dangerous ghost stuff will happen regardless, so he might as well have the local vigilante on speed dial. Jeremy and Pamela Manson are harder to convince. They're used to having to pick their battles when it comes to Sam's goth, ultra recyclo vegetarian lifestyle, but on this they're not budging. They try to restrict Sam's contact with her friends and even go so far as to get a restraining order. Sam is increasingly fed up with their controlling behavior and, inspired by the Infi-Map, Sam breaks into the ghost zone in search of an artifact that would give her power so that she would never be trapped. Obviously Danny goes in after her, but then Sam's parents storm the Fenton house to take back their daughter and accidentally fall into the ghost portal, so Tucker takes the Specter Speeder and goes in after them. By the time the Fenton Parents return home everyone is back and the Manson's have given in to Sam's determination.

Valerie Gray initially continues to operate on her own. She maintains a frenemy status with Team Phantom due to her mixed feelings on Danny's civilian and ghostly personas, between that and the revelation of Vlad's villainous career Valerie's worldview is really shaken. She throws herself into vigilantism and hers dad gets really concerned when Valerie starts running herself ragged. In a last ditch effort to make her stop Damon Grey goes to the towns ghost hunting experts and begs them for an intervention. The Fenton parents agree and the three of them sit down with her for a talk about safe ghost hunting practices. This fails to stop her, but the Fentons refuse to give up on the 'Junior Ghost Hunter' and start inviting themselves on her patrols .Things come to a head when Dark Danny travels back in time to ensure his creation. Seeing how desperate Danny is to avoid becoming evil, and fighting alongside the Fentons convinces Valerie that its okay to count on others and slow down and take care of herself. (and also the Fentons are low-key inescapable)

Pariah Dark's incursion through Amity Park was the last straw needed for the Infinity Realms to start really breaking into reality. There was already some leakage (see lazarus pits) but this was the last straw for a problem that has been brewing for thousands of years now. Life in Amity Park continues normally, because to them ghost stuff is normal, but for the rest of the world its a different matter.

The Justice League is going around dealing with the sudden influx of supernatural nonsense. The ghost attacks range from minor nuisance to city-wide threat. The magic leaugers are trying to find the source, but it's Batman who identifies Amity Park as 'Ground Zero' for ghostly nonsense.

also something something Amanda Waller and the GIW either team up or become rivals.

I'm literally writing this while waiting to board my flight so I'll try and flesh out this AU later

[punchitmrsulu]

For non-book readers interested in Louis’ response to Armand’s completely meaningless and empty “I could not prevent it.”

“Oh, but you could have prevented it! You know full well that you could have. You were the leader! You were the only one who knew the limits of your own power. They didn’t know. They didn’t understand. Your understanding surpassed theirs. You held sway over them. They feared you! You could have stopped them if you’d be willing to use that power even beyond your own self-prescribed limits. It was your sense of yourself you would not violate. Your own precious conception of truth! I understand you perfectly! I see in you the reflection of myself! I understand you only too well. That passivity in me has been the core of it all, the real evil. That weakness, that refusal to compromise a fractured and stupid morality, that awful pride! For that, I let myself become the thing I am, when I knew it was wrong. For that, I let Claudia become the vampire she became, when I knew it was wrong. For that, I stood by and let her kill Lestat, when I knew that was wrong, the very thing that was her undoing. I lifted not a finger to prevent it. And Madeleine, Madeleine, I let her come to that, when I should never have made her a creature like ourselves. I knew that was wrong! Well, I tell you, I am no longer that passive, weak creature that has spun evil from evil till the web is vast and thick while I remain its stultified victim. It’s over! I know now what I must do. And I warn you, for whatever mercy you’ve shown me in digging me out of that grave tonight where I should have died: Do not seek your cell in the Théâtre des Vampires again. Do not go near it.”

[lookforsomeoneelse]

sahsrau and the ways in which the game’s story changes pt. 1: Sigonia-IV

aventurine’s story made me sad. maybe this is my way of coping. got aventurine’s sister’s name from someone who talked about her on this app. also i’m making a lot of assumptions about how it went down, but there were roughly 10,000 avgins that were involved. also apparently the avgins are based on romani culture and I have no idea about that either soooooooooo cw for blood and severed limbs. and maybe gore. and definitely mentions of death. and probably my ignorance too.

Ecclesiastes 4:1-3

Again I looked and saw all the oppression that was taking place under the sun: I saw the tears of the oppressed-- and they have no comforter; power was on the side of their oppressors-- and they have no comforter. And I declared that the dead, who had already died, are happier than the living, who are still alive. But better than both is he who has not yet been, who has not seen the evil that is done under the sun.

Kezia knew she was going to die. It wasn’t the greatest way to go down at the hands of the bloodthirsty Katicans, but what was honorable about it was that she would meet her end in the rain.

“Kakavasha must have escaped by now,” she thought to herself, “and he will survive.” Kezia held faith in her brother and in the Mother Goddess, Gaiathra Triclops, the one whom she served.

It was now time for the festival- and so she tossed her Knot into the bonfire as a sort of goodbye to this cruel life she had lived in, and lamented on her brother’s fate- he will go through many hardships and sufferings, but she knows that the blessing of Fenge Biyos will remain with him all throughout his journey.

It was a shame she’ll never get to see him again.

She regrets not saying more before their departure.

She had heard that some of the other bastard clans had made a deal with the Interastral Peace Corporation- the people who had promised to protect them on this very day- to make sure that they were all wiped out.

She held her makeshift club in her shaky hands. She didn’t want to die. Not like this. She had wanted to get married and have a family of her own.

And, for the first time in her life, her faith cracked like a shattered mirror.

The Mother Goddess had always let her down-

When Dad fell into the quicksand,

When Mother was caught and slaughtered like an animal,

And now, while she was facing down death.

She remembers one of the workers that came during that first day- praising the Aeon of Guidance and all their works-

And so, under her breath, unsure of how to do it, she prayed for her safety, she prayed for her survival, and most of all, she prayed for the opportunity to see her dearest brother once again.

As the sky wept for the fate of her people, the Katicans arrived, howling laughter emerging from within the storm.

do not worry child

Finding the sudden strength within her, she let out a roar.

i shall be forever with you

Her club slammed into the skull of a Katican, pulverizing it into a bloody mess.

i shall give you strength

Another near her tried to avenge his fallen comrade, and she cratered their face, producing a sickening squelch.

and when you are trapped in the darkness

She didn’t count. How many had fallen at her hands? 100? 500? 1,000? 5,000? All she knew was that the sky wept blood.

i shall bring you into the light

All around her there were the corpses of Katicans, Not a drop of her blood was shed, and nothing to threaten her in her vicinity. She looked down at her hands. Red. Her hands were red, stained with the crimson of those who had tried to end her life.

Kezia wept tears of joy.

“The Avgin always return back their blood debts,” she had remembered saying to her little brother.

It looks like they had a new debt to pay.

(A/N: I have no idea what the hell I just made. I have no beta reader, so there’s that I guess. I don’t have a structure either. I just made stuff up and used the wiki for reference.)

[unhonestlymirror]

Mavka and Perelesnyk by Sofiia Karaffa-Korbut.

I appreciate that she drew Perelesnyk almost the same way as Lukash.

Perelesnyk - an evil spirit, a seducer - for Christians - a "defiler of the marriage bed" who seduces married women - a flying spirit of seduction that lures women, makes love with them at night and takes away strength and beauty. He is imagined as a handsome, ardent young man with "wildly blown hair like the wind, with black eyebrows, with sparkling eyes".

In "The Forest song", it was, in fact, Lukash who seduced Mavka, used her and then left her for another woman. Which is surprising because mavky, the forest spirits, are usually the one to seduce humans. Athough the poem itself is trying to prove that Kylyna is a vile, evil vixen who stole someone else’s man - it's not really Kylyna's fault. And, of course, it’s offensive when the person you love leaves you for another simply because (s)he is richer, but this rather speaks about the character of the person you love, and not about the richer one. What kind of woman will give in to another simply because she is in love with the same guy? This is a rather positive quality for a person: go towards your goal, no matter what. It's not Kylyna's fault that she wants a family, and Lukash is not a goat on a string that needs to be led along. From Mavka's perspective: on the one hand, you need to fight for your love, but on the other hand, such "love" is not really worth fighting for. Even Lukash is not really to blame here, because there is no point in staying with someone you don’t want to be with. In this whole situation, no one is really to blame.

Anyway, about Perelesnyk. Athough he's supposed to be the seducer of MORTAL HUMAN women, "the one who drains woman's powers out" - he's here for Mavka, a forest spirit, when she feels really down after her break-up, and he basically drags her out of depression. Well, he tries his best. He doesn't actually get any benefit from this, he just wants to console his... coworker, even though she's in love with a human. Honestly, if I was being consoled by such a person after me being cheated on, even when he is not obliged to console me, I would probably think that I've made the wrong choice from the very start. But again, Lawless Heart, Pure Human-Spirit love.

The evil spirit who's being kind and the good human who's being cruel. Lukash and Perelesnyk are antipodes to each other and simultaneously, the two sides of the same coin. Sofiia Karaffa-Korbut is a genius.

For me, the moral of the story was that you need to choose not the one who gives you butterflies in your stomach for their exoticism, but the one who suits your nature.

If I was the writer, I'd name this poem "Wrong Choice or The Lost Opportunities" - athough, such a name would not attract a big audience, of course. XD

[howlingday]

Imagine Pyrrha having to fight Jaune's 7 exes. That be funny. Though if I'm writing it I would pick actually powerful people who would push Pyrrha. It's not as funny ilif it's a curbstomp. Maybe if I find a partner do write it.

I mean, looking back over Scott Pilgrim's opponents, Scott was literally just a guy who played guitar and could weirdly access video game logic, the latter of which being the less important skill in his set.

Meanwhile, you've got Ramona's exes consisting of a guy who can summon demons, a guy who can use vegan-based telekinesis, two guys who can summon twin dragon avatars through EDM powers, an urban ninja, an evil CEO, and freakin' Lucas Lee!

Overall, I think Pyrrha would be better off than Scott, though I wouldn't hesitate to put her toe-to-toe against curb-stomping opponents like Artoria Pendragon and Darkness Lalatina.

Of course, if we also go one-for-one between the different iterations of SP, then there's three paths...

1 - Original: Pyrrha is an asshole who realizes she's an asshole. 2 - Movie: Pyrrha and Evil Pyrrha live happily ever after with Jaune and... Oscar, I wanna say? 3 - Series: Pyrrha disappears and Jaune dedicates his existence to finding her.

[olivialau]

Shadow's Embrace Ch.1

Sukuna x Reader

Disclaimer:

This is a work of fanfiction based on the universe of "Jujutsu Kaisen," created by Gege Akutami. The original manga, anime, and characters belong to their respective owners and creators.

Notes:

This story unfolds in the Jujutsu world, set in a slightly altered universe where Sukuna inhabits his own vessel distinct from Itadori Yuji's body, making him a separate entity.

Summary:

Ryomen Sukuna, the King of Curses, becomes fascinated with a female sorcerer rich in potential but lacking control. Initially seizing her for his destructive plans, Sukuna aims to use her abilities through a binding vow. Yet, as he tries to dominate her, he finds himself intrigued by her strength and determination. Over time, his interest evolves from a strategic advantage to a deeper, personal connection.

---------------------------------------------------------

CHAPTER 1 - The Futility of Resistance

Sukuna had heard whispers in the shadows, rumors that stirred the depths of his domain—the existence of a powerful young sorcerer, a female with unrivaled potential, but little experience. It was said you had recently begun your studies at Jujutsu High, a place teeming with skilled Jujutsu Sorcerers.

“She must be clueless about what awaits her, poor thing,” Sukuna whispered to himself with a predatory glint in his crimson eyes. His plan was clear: to kidnap you, and bind you in a contract that would force you to follow his every order. With your abilities at his disposal, he would infiltrate the ranks of Jujutsu sorcerers, and wreak havoc. He would use you as a cover to facilitate his evil plans.

The King of Curses smirked to himself as he traversed the boundary between his domain and the mortal realm. Jujutsu High lay ahead, a beacon of light amidst the encroaching darkness.

With silent steps, Ryomen Sukuna ventured deeper into the heart of the school, his senses attuned to the faintest trace of your cursed energy. Tonight, he would find you. And when he did, nothing would stand in the way of his ambitions.

---------------------------------------------------------

After your first week at Jujutsu High, you lay sprawled across your dorm bed, exhaustion pulling at your every limb. Only a few months had passed since your cursed energy had suddenly manifested, growing rapidly at an alarming pace.

Until then, your life had been tediously ordinary—a normal family, normal friends, and a sense of boredom that gnawed at your spirit. You couldn’t shake the feeling that there had to be more to life than this. And as if your prayers had been heard, your life was suddenly thrown in a whole other direction.

Everything changed the day your best friend got caught up in a mysterious incident, her life abruptly ending. Grief-stricken, you began sensing dark presences lurking in the shadows, just beyond your perception. At first, it was merely an eerie feeling, an aura of sorts, but soon, shadows and movements turned into tangible threats. You convinced yourself it was just the trauma of losing your friend playing tricks on your mind, until the creatures became undeniable.

In moments of emotional turmoil, a strange power started surging within you, like an electric current.

Then one fateful day, while walking down a crowded street, you bumped into a tall man with vibrant white hair and darkened round sunglasses, his compelling blue eyes hidden behind them. The jolt at his touch was unlike anything you’d felt before. He looked at you with an expression of amused curiosity, as if he knew exactly what had happened to cause the jolt.

This man, Gojo, began bombarding you with questions that were weirdly specific, as if he already knew your story—the strange sightings, the sensations coursing through your body, the surges that came on when distressed.

Through him, you were introduced to the hidden world of curses and Jujutsu Sorcery. Despite your age of twenty-two, an anomaly among the typically younger students, Gojo ensured you were admitted to Jujutsu High, emphasizing how exceptional your acceptance was.

Now, as you lay in your dorm, the weight of this new reality pressed upon you. You closed your eyes, trying to calm your racing thoughts. The stark contrast between your own ignorance and the other students’ extensive knowledge of curses gnawed at you. They wielded their cursed energy with a measure of control and confidence, while you struggled to grasp even the basics.

But you were determined. Resolute in your desire to control and tame the energy within you, you held onto the hope that one day, you could prevent others from suffering the same fate as your dear friend.

Unbeknownst to you, your own fate was about to be in jeopordy, as Ryomen Sukuna, the King of Curses, was drawing closer.

You sighed deeply as you pulled the blanket up, hoping for a peaceful night’s rest. However, just as you begin to drift off, a sense of unease prickled at your senses. Your eyelids fluttered open, adrenaline flooding your veins.

A faint noise tickled your ears, barely audible yet unmistakably there. It seems to emanate from right outside your dorm room.

Your heart skipped a beat as you sat up, eyes fixated on the door. The handle rattling with increasing urgency. You prayed to yourself that someone must have mistaken your room as their own, but when the lock gives away with a sudden, sharp pang. It dawns on you that this was no simple mistake.

The door creaked open slowly, letting in a ray of light from the dimly lit hallway beyond. A surge of overwhelming energy washed over you, suffocating and disorienting. It felt as if the very air around you thickened, making each breath a struggle.

Shadows seem to dance along the walls, and a chill ran down your spine. The room felt charged with a malevolent aura, unlike anything you’ve encountered before. Fear built within you, yet alongside it, a resolute determination. With shaky breaths, you braced yourself.

A mysterious figure with a strong build walked in, his confident presence commanding the space. At first, it was hard to make out his features. But as the faint ray from the corridor landed upon him, you froze like a deer in headlights.

Though you weren’t fully familiar yet with the world of curses and jujutsu, you had heard plenty about this man in your first week. Countless horrifying stories, drawings in books, and anecdotes filled your mind.

Ryomen Sukuna, the King of Curses, stood before you, his eyes gleaming with malicious intent. For a moment, you hoped to awaken from a bad dream, but every fiber in you knew this danger was all too real.

“Well, well, what do we have here?” Sukuna murmured, his voice dripping with condescension as he regarded you. “A lost little lamb, far from the flock.”

He stepped closer, the air thickening with his oppressive cursed energy.

“I’ve heard rumors of your potential,” Sukuna continued, his gaze raking over you with a mixture of intrigue and disdain. “A rare gem, they say, amidst the sea of mediocrity that plagues this place.” He hissed.

He tilted his head, a cruel smile curling his lips. “Tell me, little sorcerer, do you have any idea of the power that courses through your veins?” His voice was a low, seductive purr, but the underlying threat was unmistakable.

Suddenly Sukuna’s hand shot out, his fingers wrapping around your throat with a tight grip. The pressure cut off your air supply, sending a jolt of panic through you. Your heart pounded as you wondered how Sukuna had managed to bypass all the security measures in the building.

“Do you feel it? The weight of my power pressing down on you?” he taunted, his voice laced with delight. “and this is only a fraction of what I can do.”

You struggled to draw a breath, your hands clawing desperately at his iron grip, but it was futile. Sukuna’s strength was beyond a mere human's strength.

His face inched closer, his hot breath caressing your cheek. “With the right… training, you could be of great use to me.” The implication in his words sent a shiver of dread down your spine. “So woman, what will it be? Will you join me willingly, or do you want to have some fun first?”

Despite the fear consuming you, a spark of defiance flickered within. You had barely managed to control your cursed energy in the past week, but now, with adrenaline coursing through your veins, it felt almost natural to conjure it up. Desperation fueled your actions as you channeled the energy through your hands and shot a powerful blast at Sukuna.

His eyes widened momentarily as he felt your cursed energy manifesting. A faint smirk played on his lips, as if he had been anticipating this very reaction.

With lightning-fast reflexes, he released his grip on your throat, effortlessly deflecting your blast of cursed energy back at you with a casual wave of his hand. The blast sent you reeling backwards, colliding with the wall behind you.

“Nice try brat,” Sukuna purred, his voice dripping with a sadistic pleasure as he stalked towards you. “But ultimately, futile.”

He loomed over you, his towering presence casting an ominous shadow. “You dare to strike at the King of Curses, huh?” His lips curled into a cruel smile.

Sukuna’s hand grasped your chin, forcing you to meet his gaze. “I admire your spirit,” he murmured, his touch surprisingly gentle. “But I wouldn’t make a mistake like that again if I were you.”

With his hand still firmly on your chin, you felt utterly disgusted by his display of power. You couldn’t help yourself from glaring back in anger.

Then his grip tightened, and you felt a flood of his cursed energy coursing through you, overwhelming your senses. “Now, submit to me.”

Surprised by your own unwavering defiance, you gathered your courage- and spit, and spat in his face. You knew you couldn’t win, so the least you could do was oppose him until your very last breath.

Sukuna’s eyes narrowed dangerously as your saliva hit his face, a low, rumbling growl escaping his lips. The air crackled with his rising fury, the walls of the room trembling under the weight of his immense cursed energy.

“Insolent fool,” he snarled, digging his nails into your jaw.

In a sudden, lightning-fast motion, Sukuna’s free hand shot out, grabbing your wrist in a vice-like grip. You felt your bones grinding together, the agony searing through your nerves.

“I graciously offered you a chance, you know?… To join me willingly,” he hissed, his face mere inches from yours, his hot breath caressing your skin. “But it seems you require a more… persuasive approach.”

With a swift, brutal twist, Sukuna snapped your wrist, the sickening crack echoing through the room. You cried out in agony, tears springing to your eyes.

He leaned in closer, his lips brushing against your ear. “You will learn to fear me, little sorcerer. And when you do, you will beg for my mercy.”

Sukuna watched with twisted satisfaction as the pain flickered across your face, your cries of anguish music to his ears. He relished the power he held over you, the ability to break your spirit with a mere flick of his wrist.

As you struggled against his grip, Sukuna’s eyes seemed to gaze into your soul. “Pathetic,” he spat, the contempt in his voice unmistakable. “Is this as far as your resolve goes?”

With a swift, brutal motion, he struck you hard on the side of your head, the impact sending you reeling into the darkness of unconsciousness.

Your limp body crumpled to the floor, a final testament to his overwhelming strength.

And the last thing you heard before slipping away completely was Sukuna’s voice, low and menacing. “When you wake up, you will realize the futility of resistance.”

---------------------------------------------------------

Thanks for reading! The following chapters are posted.

[ashoss]

So this has been slow cooking in my brain for a few days, but I was mulling over Steph and the different criteria you were mentioning, and your mention of Janus got me thinking, so I present my absolutely ABSURD idea for her godly parent: Cardea, the goddess of door hinges LMAO She's seen as the protector of the home and particularly of children because she keeps evil spirits from crossing the thresholds into their homes, and she's closely associated with Janus. According to Ovid, “her power is to open what is shut; to shut what is open.”

I liked the idea that she seems like a completely random minor god and I think it lends itself well to Steph's insecurities and angst about not being like the other bats and feeling like she doesn't belong. Because HINGES? Her godly parent isn't powerful and terrifying and or even a war god; she's completely mundane, on top of being Roman unlike the other members of the batfamily (or most of them, depending on your other choices). At face value, it just seems like another "reason" that Steph shouldn't be a hero.

I know she's not quite a truth god, but I feel like the idea of a hinge and keeping things locked/closed or the idea of thresholds and boundaries between places is kinda similar to secrets and secret identities. Hinges keep doors closed or can be used to open them, and in a way, Steph is acting like a hinge on the door of her dad's secrets. And the bitter irony of her godly parent representing security, that neither her dad nor her godly parent could provide for her 😭

Also the idea of a goddess of hinges is very funny to me LMAO

Also also thinking about how Roman society centered on family and emphasized the role of the father and had the concept of piety towards one's parents as a virtue, and how Steph rebels against that by fighting against her dad to bring him to justice :''') Roman virtues were the core of Roman society, and all "good" Roman citizens were expected and encouraged to strive towards possessing these virtues, but Steph defies these expectations!

But if you're really really undecided for her, I think it could also be interesting to have her remain as an unclaimed child! Like she's clearly still a demigod because she has the general demigod abilities like ADHD and dyslexia, clear sight, heightened senses, etc, but her godly parent never claimed her and no one can figure out who her godly parent is! Still plays into her angst really well and it's a little meta too LOL

ok but think about how much hinges are actually utilized in life. if she has powers regarding hinges or something maybe she could could control them? keep them closed to keep something inside without necessarily locking it, keep them open to prevent someone from shutting the door. akljsd i dont know maybe theyll come across a situation involving hinges that requires steph for something lol

i do really love the minor god idea though. her being the daughter of a minor, not really well known god, or a god that has control over a mundane thing would cause for some really good angst like you said. feeling like shes not good enough for the bats, that shes not powerful enough. she cant control luck or communicate with the dead/heal like cass and jason can. she isnt as fast or as stealthy as dick. she can't persuade people like tim can. it further separates her from the rest and i really think that could be interesting. like yes, shes far stronger, faster and smarter than any regular person, but next to the bats?

i hadnt thought of unclaimed steph either! also really good for angst - like everything in addition to the last part + a fucking god that doesnt even want to claim her as their child??

[wndaswife]

Wanda Maximoff, A Monster: Character Analysis through Jeffrey Jerome Cohen’s ‘Monster Theory: Reading Culture’

Essay | Word count: 1538

By analysing Wanda Maximoff through Cohen’s Monster Theory, Wanda’s signification as the Other is revealed to be attributable to Marvel as defined by a hypermasculine American culture and its respective signifying values, proving her body to be that of a cultural one — the body of Marvel’s monster.

Cohen’s theory postulates the monster’s body as cultural, whose existence comes into formation once signified by means of the signifier’s cultural value and attitudes. What is pushed to the margins becomes distinguished as the Other and thereby becomes a symbol carrying epistemological significance, embodying everything that is culturally unwanted, foreign, and uncomfortable according to the signifier. 

If there are monsters signified, it is because we understand ourselves as not monstrous, but even by distinguishing ourselves from them, they go nowhere for they are distinguished from within the subjective, therefore all monsters and non-monsters reside exactly where they had prior to signification — together. This theory paradoxically exposes that there is nothing that isn’t; there is only existence, and one that is unitary, for to contrast one another is to be signified as one or the other, working from within a system of signification that achieves only distinction but never separation, for all signification occurs subjectively, meaning from within. This is what allows the ‘inside’ and the 'outside’ to be one in the same. It is why we cannot exist without our monsters and vice versa, and why as long as there is an existence of anything, monsters are necessitated. 

Monsters are villains whose counterparts are heroes. The image of a traditional superhero is simple — a muscled and capable man driven by the pursuit of justice, who fights and triumphs over evil. Traditional Marvel superheroes are all this but with an additional facet of militant patriotism, with one of their most infamous faces, Captain America, being designed specifically for WWII propaganda targeting American men (Roach & Mangels, 2024). Superhero culture is hypermasculine, calling for men to identify with and feel gratified by viewing idealised hypermasculine culture (McIntosh, 2015), with each of the always-triumphant original male Avengers resembling a significant feature of said culture — Hulk as glorified violence, Captain America as patriotism, Iron Man as financial wealth, Thor as godliness, and Hawkeye as fatherhood, and each with character designs showcasing an ideal male body.

To have a franchise that showcases idealisation appealing to men means that its targeted audience are men that feel the pleasure of ego-gratification through self-identification with what is displayed on screen (Mulvey, 1975), which is, specifically, hypermasculinity that has ideal men front and centre, making this specific audience Marvel’s signifiers while its movies embody their audience’s cultural values and attitudes.

When Marvel’s signifiers are men who are fed pleasure through the ego-constituting hypermasculinity showcased within the movies, it is necessary to question how Marvel depicts its female characters — namely, Natasha Romanoff, the sixth original Avenger.

Natasha is an emotionally-reserved Russian ex-spy who left her foreign associations to join the American superheroes, and who repents for being unable to birth children (School of Politics and International Relations, 2020), going so far as to call herself a monster for being forcefully sterilised (Whedon, 2015, 1:08:26). She is a sexualized object on account of her character’s presentation, used for the audience’s pleasure during scenes like that of her debut, being tied to a chair in a room of powerful men and flirting with them in her mother tongue; her propagandised Russian Otherness contrasting American patriotism is pleasurably-utilised by the male audience, thus this Otherness is categorised and thereby controllable. Her death is used as a plot device for Infinity War and inspires her male comrades to reach their goal of beating the villain — a trope known as ‘fridging,’ allowing for male characters to benefit from the objectification of their female counterparts’ deaths as motivation for their hypermasculinity to further embody the idealised man by achieving their goals. In hypermasculine culture, Natasha Romanoff is Marvel’s ideal female character. 

Wanda Maximoff is everything Natasha Romanoff is not. In Avengers: Age of Ultron, Wanda debuts intent upon destroying who she understands to be the American terrorists who bombed her third-world country and killed her parents. She hails from a foreign country, Sokovia, whose Slavic-inspired language is fictional and thus incomprehensible though it carries heavy similarities to Russian; Tony Stark describes her in a scene: “She isn’t a U.S citizen, and they don’t grant visas to weapons of mass destruction” (Russo & Russo, 2015, 1:00:47).

Wanda is a foreigner, not technically legal in America, and dangerous. 

She is also characterised by her unstable emotional conflict; she is angry and naive when she is first introduced — hysterical, young, and not an American citizen — who later cannot decide whether she wants to fight alongside the Avengers due to her fear and indecision, and whose powers are connected to her uncontrollable emotional tension.

Wanda Maximoff is everything monstrous to Marvel’s target audience; she is a hysteric foreign young woman who not only hates America’s most patriotic heroes, but who is introduced with the goal of destroying them. Her uncontrollable anger stems from a unique perspective as a victim of war at the hands of America and American billionaire Tony Stark’s weaponry, a man who also happens to be one of if not Marvel’s most beloved face alongside Captain America, who also is not spared her hatred as shown during a scene where his caricature is drawn in graffiti and titled ‘fascist’ in Sokovia. 

Interestingly, as if breaking a fourth-wall, the series WandaVision newly introduces Wanda as the typical American housewife, inspired heavily by classic American sitcoms. She loses her foreign accent completely, and plays the role of a mother and a wife as the traditional American Dream would outline.

It is only until she steps out of her illusion that has permitted her to live the American Dream away from reality that she is again faced with being the Other. Angry and hostile in the face of the American military as she had been from her debut, Wanda stubbornly refuses to let down her magical facade that brainwashes and holds captive citizens of Westview within her sitcom setting, a constructed reality in which her family and children exclusively exist. Her foreign accent bleeds vaguely into her angry speech as she denies the American militant man’s demands for her cooperation.

In the scene, Wanda steps out of her constructed American fantasy and into the real world, appearing back into her modern clothing and into her place as the Other, very literally announcing, ‘Your ideal woman is a sham, Marvel, and this is reality.’ What’s more, is that Wanda then transforms the American military sent to control her into circus performers when she absorbs them into her sitcom fantasy — your ideal woman is nothing but a fantasy, and you are fools for fantasising about it. 

In the film Avengers: Age of Ultron, Wanda makes it clear that not only does she detest Tony Stark, but considers him a monster. Ultron, the antagonist of the film, is an AI robot created by Tony intent on destroying humanity to achieve world peace. In comparing Tony to the antagonist, Wanda says, “Ultron can’t tell the difference between saving humanity and destroying it. Where do you think he gets that?” (Whedon, 2015, 1:26:57).

To Wanda, Tony Stark is the American ideal man embodied, signified by her as a monster and therefore turned into a symbol whose process of signification can be understood as follows: Originating from a war-torn third-world country whose war victims consist of Wanda’s people and her parents, monstrosity is defined by Wanda as an inability to understand what true justice is within the topic of international and general warfare — a morally-profound understanding that highly-honoured, American, hypermasculinized heroes need not only never concern themselves with, but who are praised in spite of never bothering themselves with wondering about, which is precisely what Tony Stark, the Avengers, and the American military in WandaVision embody. 

As such, Wanda Maximoff is a political and cultural body for what she symbolises in the real world’s American warfare involving third-world countries; she is the symbolic embodiment of American warfare and its consequences, a body which is the site of constant contestation due to being signified either as monstrous or not by principle of which political and cultural values the viewer subscribes to. Her signification becomes lucid and subjective to the audience’s values, turning her into a site of contestation itself; because she has been constructed as Marvel’s monster, Marvel’s culture is revealed for what it is — American and hypermasculine.

WandaVision introduces a new discursive practice that is the literal materialisation of what Cohen exposes about monsters, revealing not only Wanda as a monster, but a further truth that due to the very fact that there is an ‘outside,’ the Other must be contra another in order to embody Otherness, and that whoever is opposite the Other becomes the Other’s Other — the monster’s monster. 

Both Wanda Maximoff as a character and her role in WandaVision reveals not only the truth of Marvel’s culture, but the larger picture of what is politically and culturally existent and relevant. This epistemological revelation is something revealable only if the analysed subject is a monster, and Marvel ensures she is.

・・・・・

Bibliography

Ashok Jaipuria. (2022, February 14). Avengers : AoU - Steve saw his graffiti | Deleted HD scene [Video]. YouTube. [https://youtu.be/gnkxM1fvNMs?si=OOwFnDcPv1xjLfxB]

Cohen, J. J. (Ed.). (1996). Monster Theory: Reading Culture (NED-New edition). University of Minnesota Press. [http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.5749/j.ctttsq4d]

McIntosh, J. (2015, November 27). Why is the Marvel universe — and the geeks who love it — still obsessed with hypermasculinity? The Independent. [https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/captain-america-civil-war-our-fixation-with-hyper-masculine-films-damages-all-of-us-a6750366.html]

Mulvey, L. (1975). Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema. Screen, 16(3), 6–18. [https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1093/screen/16.3.6]

Roach, D., & Mangels, A. (2024, May 3). Captain America. Britannica. [https://www.britannica.com/topic/Captain-America]

Russo, R., & Russo. J. (Directors). (2016). Captain America: Civil War [Film]. Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures

School of Politics and International Relations. (2020, January 10). Superhero(ine) movies: popculture’s struggle with patriarchy. Global Gender Justice. [https://globalgenderjustice.wordpress.com/2020/01/10/superheroine-movies-pop-cultures-struggle-with-patriarchy/]

Whedon, J. (Director). (2015). Avengers: Age of Ultron [Film]. Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures

[princess-of-the-corner]

the only thing i can really think of, with TA's track record of how he handles anything with Chloé, is that they might use Andre's abandoning her as a good thing and god it would suck ass but unfortunately i can believe they'd go "see! she's so evil even her oh so caring and innocent-in-everything dad doesn't want her!"

oh no that's exactly what it is.

Like that's. That's not considered 'horrible' at all. This is a good thing because clearly he's the victim of her abuse because he was powerless to stop her from taking advantage of his money and power.

You know despite the fact that he raised her to act the way she does and gave her full reign of his money and power never saying no to whatever whims she had.

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

The girls are plottinggggg

[First] Prev <–-> Next

[noblegreytea]

just started book two and it's so funny to me that holly immediately accuses artemis of being the culprit for the first crime she sees. artemis is the winner of the worst first impression ever competition and his prize is a nemesis for life after one meeting

[creepydoll-lady]

I have a headcanon that I occasionally enjoy indulging in that Donna would have been the ideal vessel for Eva. However, in the early stages of Donna's transformation she did not need the flowers to produce her hallucinations and even Miranda was not immune to her powers. It's uncertain whether Donna herself has control over what she makes people see or whether it is taken from the memory stores of the Black God but either way Mother Miranda is not sticking around to investigate. Not when Donna has such a latch on her mind. Not when she has to watch her Eva's death over and over again.

I like to think that it was Miranda who separated Donna's cadou and implanted it into Angie, spreading her consciousness out so she is incapable of storing enough power to affect Miranda herself. And then, of course, she fiddled the notes, scratching out how she was an unfit vessel, placing the blame on Donna.

[quekerahkerah]

Every time i see some beautiful shiny special edition book on instagram only to read the synopsis and find out it's another Painfully Fucking Bland Romantasy YA 😭

[djsadbean]

so what if,,, cherie had a girlfren who owned a plant/flower shop next door,,,,

[whumpypepsigal]

me watching LOTR the rings of power for the plot :

the plot :

morals be damned i am supporting his rights and his wrongs

[swordmaid]

shri’iia mood board