#sword gays showdown

[badass-queer-couples-battle]

Sword gays showdown, round 4 of bracket three

Propaganda:

For Adora:

Finding the sword kicks off the whole show. She transforms into a giant magic lady and is now in charge of saving everyone from the  big bag guys (which she used to be a part of). A bunch of stuff happens, but eventually her identity is now tied to having the sword. She is fully convinced that w/o the sword (and therefore She-Ra) she’s worthless. This culminates in having to destroy the sword or the world ends. She’s super depressed bc her whole self worth was tied to the sword and being she-ra. On the way to save her gf, she turns into way cooler she-ra (her own version of it that is not controlled by the sword which was made by her colonialist ancestors). Her sword is now part of her identity instead of her identity revolving around the sword. 

lesbian chosen one who was given a sword that activated her powers and made her into a living weapon, but she destroyed the sword to save her planet - and then made her own sword with her magic and saved the entire universe

For Ballister:

he could tell when his sword was switched out for a fake, graduated top of his class so we know he's a good fighter, also the scene where he's fighting is hot because he's so confident with a sword in his hand, also he's gay

A canonically gay, disabled, South Asian man takes down the government with his genderqueer shapeshifter sidekick/adopted daughter! He has a swordfight with his ex-boyfriend! in which he defeats about 20 knights singlehandedly! 

top of his knight class this man is a master swordsman

(Movie) He has used a sword since he broke into the Institutes training ground and ended up becoming a knight

He has very divorced vibes with Ambrosius and he uses a sword.

He's a legit knight! So, it's in the fine print.

According to the Nimona movie, Ballister here has been practicing the art of sword fighting since childhood to earn the trust of the city and he was SO CLOSE to becoming a knight. He's also definitely not dating another one of his knight mates (?). Nope. Not at all. This movie is super straight /s I think he also beats an entire army of knights with nothing but his sword and a chaotic good shapshifter so that's pretty cool. He's also south Asian, has a prosthetic arm he made himself and is honestly such a goofy guy (in a good way ofc) if that's anything.

[kiri-tired]

Kirito's homescreen quotes on SAO Variant Showdown!

source:

[hubristicassholefight]

Swordswoman showdown FINALS

Hornet (Hollow Knight) vs Xena (Xena: Warrior Princess)

(Better here in a "preferred character" sense, not "who would win in a fight")

Propaganda below cut

Hornet

Technically its not a sword but she wields a needle in a setting where swords do not exist and she wields it in an exceedingly swordlike fashion so. She counts; Girlboss demigoddess spider lady. She's been protecting an entire kingdom for longer than many of the other characters have been alive. She systematically kills her siblings for being too weak. She's simply the best.

#im pretty sure hornet can beat like. anyone in a fight.#have you ever fought hornet#its so fucking hard getting past her every time i play hk i go literally insane.

#i remember getting stuck on the first hornet fight on mt first play through and bring likr#''omg the boss fights in this are so hard!!!''#like what. you're not even half way through what are you talking about#you can't even DASH honey. you don't know what's diffcult or not in this game.

So, SPOILERS

but I feel like the "she systematically kills her siblings" part needs a little clarification. See, one of her siblings was used as a living prison for an angry god and that uh. Didn't work out for the sibling in question or anyone else.

This account is itself heavily abbreviated but it's likely that any other sibling Hornet encounters will be trying to take over as the god's new prison. She appears to challenge any sibling she sees to battle, in order to test their resolve against herself and her needle - would they actually have a chance against that god?

We never actually see her kill any siblings, but she does quite pointedly tell one of them that (to paraphrase) "My needle is lethal and I would feel no sadness in a weakling's demise."

Feels like a relevant quote. In any case, if they can't beat Hornet, it seems like her needle would be a far more merciful end than what the god would grant.

Anyway, a bit of additional material for @swordswomanshowdown :

As is the case for any cool swordswoman, it's not just her sword that's lethal, it's her with it. And Hornet's needle was custom made for her - the creators have said that, while other needles exist, hers was made specifically for her to wield, and its construction allows her to use her spider silk better in combat.

And another thing that I think makes her a good swordswoman: she's actually pretty thoughtful about how she uses it. There's a least one instance where she tries to warn someone off before fighting them! At the same time, when she does fight, she seems to enjoy it - during her boss battles, you can hear her laugh sometimes, as if exhiliarated. She's really got it all, as a swordswoman!!!

#HORNET SWEEP CMON PLEEEEEEASE#shes gay. shes the only sibling with a gender. shes a spider named HORNET. look like croissant. whats not to like

Xena

Warrior Princess

She wields a sword and chakram. Just had to submit a biconic swordswoman.

i love her. she made me gay as a kid. Anyway, her weapon of choice is her sword, she is obviously very good with it

#unfortunately i have to choose and i have to choose xena#a) utena had no warcry. b) xena fought gods. c) xena has kickass goofy comic book combat which is my favorite

xena didn’t just fight gods. she fucked up a girl’s life so bad that she (calisto) devoted her entire being to destroying everything that xena loved that ended up with calisto becoming a god in order to destroy xena, which didnt work because xena entombed her in lava. and then when xena and gabrielle encountered calisto in the (christian) afterlife (different from the greek one which they also fought her in), calisto dragged gabrielle to hell so xena became an archangel in order to save gabrielle and then sacrificed herself in order to undo all the harm that she did in calisto’s life and then when not!jesus (played by timothy omundson) revives xena and gabrielle, calisto impregnates xena with the reincarnation of calisto’s soul in order to end the cycle of hate. xena doesnt just fight gods. she creates and destroys them

#this isnt even mentioning her fighting julius ceasar several times#telling brutus that caesar is not his friend#xena and gabrielle’s souls reincarnating across centuries in order to kick ass and fall in love all over again#or the time xena became a god but tbh that ep is kinda ‘uhhhhh…..’ even if they did hire a consultant for it

#I think everyone here knows to vote for Xena. I think a couple people here might have some propaganda for Xena saved already#everyone remember that Xena/Gabrielle is CANON and that's a pretty big deal also#(does anyone have that Xena Loves Trans People interview around because that would also make good propaganda)

I love Xena ❤️ 😍 💖 ❣️

[gay-disabled-characters-showdown]

LGBTQ+ Disabled Characters Showdown Round 1, Wave 1, Poll 13

A character being totally canon LGBTQ+ and disabled was not required to be in this competition. Please check qualifications and propaganda before asking why a character is included.

Check out the other polls in this wave here.

Jedidiah A.A. Martin-Camp Here and There

Qualifications:

refuses to label his sexuality but BOY does he like men (looking at Mr Sargent for this one :3) also has ADHD! but its not known how attention deficient or hyperactive he is

also is a stupid cringefail loser who I want to push down a slide that's been fermenting in the sun all day during summer <3!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Propaganda:

Raised in a religious yet wealthy household, Jedidiah Abraham Adonias Martin--also known as "Jed", "Jeddie", "The archivist", "The clockmaker", or various misspellings and mispronunciations of his name--refuses to label his sexuality, but BOY does he like men (looking at Mr Sargent for this one), and also has ADHD! He may have dropped out of medical school and is "too repressed to write poetry", but he's still one of the camp nurses, alongside Sydney October Sargent! After talking to a bunch of birds, we found out that Jedididididiah will die on a Thursday (not a spoiler as of writing this). It has also been confirmed that he has a photo of Sydney on his desk (aww) and he plays D&D. Oh, and he's terrified of all things shelled. Would you like a snail as you think about voting for this loser? (affectionate)

Submitted by @spud-the-stupid

Ballister Boldheart-Nimona (Film)

Qualifications:

He has a boyfriend (and then they have a sort-of-breakup but they're back together by the end) and he has a prosthetic arm.

He’s gay and missing an arm.

He’s explicitly gay, in love with a man. He loses his arm then builds himself a prosthetic while on the run like a badass.

His boyfriend cut his arm off :( he uses a prosthetic now. His arm got chopped off after being falsely accused of killing the queen, he spends the rest of the movie with a prosthetic metal arm. His arm was also chopped off by his lover, Ambrosius Goldenloin, during said false assassination.

Canonically has a boyfriend and built his own prosthetic

Qualifies by both being canonically disabled (amputee) + canonically gay

Propaganda:

Please plz plz vote for him

His boyfriend cut off his arm. He made himself a prosthetic. He used his arm to block someone’s sword. He kissed his boyfriend. He has sad wet cat eyes, which isn’t relevant but still. He has them.

He’s so GOOD even though he’s having like the worst day ever (specifically talking about movie but webcomic also applies). He has the biggest wettest eyes how can you not root for him????

People love him! He kinda looks like a sad, poor little cat. A real soggy wet kitten man.

Let's see. He and Ambrosius are lovers, or at least boyfriends, from the moment they're introduced. Ballister gets his arm chopped off by Ambrosius during the false assassination. Ballister spends the rest of the movie trying to convince Ambrosius and the kingdom of his innocence, with a metal arm replacing his missing one. It originated the phrase "Arm Chopping is not a love language!" Did I mention he's a main character too?

Is a science nerd, built his own prosthetic arm with his non-dominant hand, accidentally adopted a trans chaos demon of a 1000yo being

A knight, Nimona's best friend and father figure of sorts, but the plot mostly revolves around him- Ballister is framed for murder and has to hide while trying to figure out who framed him and how to prove he's innocent. Nimona becomes his sidekick (he didn't want one, she just showed up at his place one day like a very chaotic stray cat) and together they form a great duo against the corrupt government. This is complicated by Ballister's ex Ambrosius, who accidentally cut off Ballister's arm and is a bit brainwashed by government propaganda. Oops. You should watch Nimona it's great 💞🦈

Submitted by @foulfirerebel (fifth person) and at least 7 others.

[gmaybe666]

What is on your s5 wishlist??

OHHHGGGGHHHH

this is very unoriginal and not groundbreaking but first and foremost and in no particular order:

-will and mike confess their love for the each other in any format , I don’t care

-THE PAINTING….is MENTIONED…..the truth comes out

-apologies, explanations from both sides

-will and mike kiss, again I don’t mind how they do it, just have them realise that it’s reciprocated and that it’s filmed beautifully with beautiful music

-them to come out to the party in a battle scene, could be cute?

-just byler in any sense or form , im so tired

-I would love their kiss to result in the death of vecna or the destruction of the upside down or something like that

- before the byler kiss, el breaking up with mike please

-max to come back!!!!!! el or Lucas saving her

-max and Lucas to reunite , max to feel okay again

-will to have powers? at first I was iffy about this prospect but I’ve read analysis and the signs are pointing to him having control of electricity or light and it would be sick to have him and el being siblings with powers 💖

-el to be okay and loved 😭

-to have will have a final showdown with vecna and have some sort of harry potter arc, confronts him for why vecna targeted him in the first place, perhaps vecna ‘kills him’ he comes back from the upside down, has the whole ‘you’ll never know love or friendship and I feel sorry for you’ and kills him with love

-I remember reading a rumour that the guy who played wills dad was at a st reading??? maybe he could come back to torment will in some sort of vision and he could get eviscerated

-mike damsel in distress , I like this idea, I want will to save him

-mike with a big ass sword, mike being the hero/the paladin

-mike smiling, will smiling, them laughing

-will /mike saying ‘I’m gay’ okay

-hopper being a hero, what he does best etc.

-the hellfire club joining the fight!

-Jonathan and argyle joining the fight and using some weird ass weapon

-sorry jancy- heads, Jonathan breaking up with Nancy to get ready for the war with vecna and kissing argyle halfway though the fight and them being boyfriends at the end

-argyle or Erica having some sort of secret weapon and working together

-Lucas having some sort of awesome weapon and cool ass outfit

-Dustin and Steve teaming up together and hugging each other and being brothers

-nancy also having some cool ass weapon and kissing nancy idk! I want her to shoot more guns

-more of Murray bauman being iconic/comedic relief

- a return to the small town vibe?

-vecna destroyed once and for all? how the demogorgon originated? how it came to be and then some sort of happy ending

-banging 80s music , sick ass battle music, synth music that makes me sob

-perhaps vecna victims could come back? and some sort of time warp in Hawkins could happen? idk

This was so long and I super apologise but there is sooooo much, lov u thank you for asking 🫵🏻💘💘💘💘💘💘

[albatris]

fuck it, jet's getting a sword

[scarlet--wiccan]

your ideal billy/teddy duo comic (plot, character designs, artists and writers involved etc)

One thing that I've always wanted to see is a comic about Billy and/or Teddy that was produced entirely by mlm creators. Vecchio, Robles and Gracia are all gay artists who've worked with the characters on recent titles, and I'm eager to see more from them. While none of these artists have ever shown the characters in a way that exactly suits my wants, they've each demonstrated a clear personal vision of who Billy and Teddy are that I can respect. I find that Vecchio and Robles, as illustrators, both articulate a gay sensibility in their designs and are able to represent a range of gay identities and expressions with not only dignity, but real love, which is frustratingly hard to come by. Oh, also, Kevin Wada covers, because duh.

Writers are a little bit more difficult for me. I love Anthony Oliviera and I know that he's got a lot of ideas for the characters, so I'd be delighted to see anything that he might pitch. Vecchio also does write, and his creator-owned series, Sereno, is an urban superhero story in a modern fantasy setting-- something he describes as Batman Beyond meets Sailor Moon. Based on that, I think he'd do a great job telling a story about a witch and shapeshifter from New York. I know that Sina doesn't work for Marvel anymore, but I've always wished he could've done Billy and Teddy in a sweet little rom-com miniseries, or even just a single issue special. He's particularly good at writing tender, funny, and just unapologetically gay characters who signal authentic elements of our culture and community without making them cheap or laughable. That is a quality which I find essential for Billy and Teddy, and it's part of why I want more mlm creators to work with them.

If you had asked me this question last year, I would have had an easier time pitching ideas for these characters. I'm eager to see what the future holds for them, but "rulers of an interplanetary nation" was never part of my vision for how Billy and Teddy would be spending their early twenties. I did have this idea for an ongoing series about their "college years", wherein Billy would be studying magic with Wanda and Agatha, and Teddy would work part time with Carol or Alpha Flight while attending community college or learning a trade, like piercing or tattoo artistry. The idea was that they'd often spend time apart, as they'd each be focusing on their own careers and having individual storylines, but they'd always come home to each other at the end of the day and lend each other support, in ways both mundane and super-heroic.

I used to imagine that they'd stay in that nice apartment Sunspot got them, which would act as sort of a crash pad/base of operations for a revolving cast of their friends. They could convert one of the rooms into a magical sanctum for Billy, and another into a study room or art studio for Teddy. Tommy, America, Kate, or whoever could crash on their sofa whenever they're in town or need to do a team-up. Wanda could help Billy ward the apartment so that he and America are the only ones who can portal in and out, but then Loki would find a way to get around the wards and cause trouble, and there'd be a whole dramatic reunion. The whole idea could easily be adapted as a Young Avengers ongoing if you widened the focus from the main couple and treated it as an ensemble piece with individually chunked plot-arcs, much like the original series.

Unfortunately, that idea no longer holds as much water as I'd like because, for one thing, they lost that apartment and never explained why-- it seems like it was passively retconned out in between New Avengers and Death's Head. More importantly, they now live in space, with Teddy being a busy ruler of an interstellar Alliance, and Billy his prince-consort.

I would still like to explore the idea of them pursuing separate goals and working in separate fields while never being truly apart. Empyre introduced a clever plot device wherein Billy is now able to sense Teddy's location and teleport to him instantly, no matter the distance, which, I assume, works in reverse as well. This feat of magic is made possible by their marriage, which binds them symbolically and draws on the power of their love. They can go anywhere and do anything on their own, and still be together again at a moments' notice, which is super romantic and also affords them more flexibility than most superhero couples. I would still pitch a series about Billy doing magic work on Earth while Teddy does diplomacy in space, and one can always warp to the other when they need backup fighting a bad guy. They could even switch back and forth between staying on Teddy's throne-ship, and getting cozy at Billy's little Manhattan apartment when they want to get away from it all.

I guess my final answer is that I want the two of them to be fully realized, individual characters whose love is illustrated through mutual support rather than, like, being glued to each other's hips. The things that I want to see Billy doing are very far removed from the things that I want to see Teddy doing. Superhero characters tend to lose momentum when you marry them off, and superhero couples tend to fizzle when you keep them apart, but Billy and Teddy's unique strength is that they're never truly apart, and their relationship never seems to lose steam-- they've been a pair from the start, and... they're a little obsessed with each other.

The Billy story that I most want to see right now is a full Maximoff team-up. It could go in one of two directions: A) a quest to uncover Natalya's history and finally vanquish the Emerald Warlock, in which they're waylaid by Doom and other magic villains from their past, while teaming up with their magical friends around the world-- basically a sequel to Scarlet Witch; or, B) a showdown with Krakoa and a resolution of their relationship with Erik, which, best case scenario, partially reverses the Axis retcon and proves once and for all that the Maximoffs are mutants. If we got a longer series, we could actually do both plots-- they learn something about Natalya which leads them back to Erik, and the two arcs become a larger story.

The Teddy story that I most want to see is a Guardians-esque space romp with political elements featuring Teddy, Xavin and Noh-Varr as, like, a sexy-alien-boys version of the Gullwings from Final Fantasy X. Does that make sense? I don't have a great grasp on the political landscape of Marvel Space so it's a little hard for me to come up with details, but I know that the status quo has been totally upended, so there are going to be different factions and movements springing up, and likely no shortage of villains and space monsters rearing their heads when the dust of the war has fully settled. Teddy's a monarch now, but he's also been set up as this Arthurian hero-king, so I think there's still room for him to go on adventures and fight his own battles with his magic sword and, maybe, a crew of loyal space knights.

Having said aaaallll of that, I would absolutely die for a full-on fantasy adventure story with Billy and Teddy. I mean, Teddy's a king with a magic sword and his husband is a super-powerful witch. It's gotta happen. I'd actually be into them having a rematch with Mother, who is a pretty adaptable villain, in that her abilities and motives will differ depending on how she's been summoned. I'd also really like them to have a chance to go up against Sequoia directly, and on more even grounds. Quoi is such a great enemy for them because they represent the same generation of Avengers babies, and, actually, Quoi's origins are directly tied to Billy's-- their respective parents had a double wedding together. Sequoia and Teddy's arcs in Empyre paralleled and contrasted each other beautifully, but the two characters had no meaningful interactions. I want to see thems as arch rivals, and maybe, begrudgingly.... friends? Plus, I love that they're both alien princes who live in sci-fi stories, but whose aesthetics and powers are pure fantasy-- Quoi's a dryad wizard and Teddy is King Arthur, if King Arthur was a gay anthropomorphic dragon.

Anyways, that's my Wiccan+Hulkling pitch. The first arc is Billy and Teddy facing off against Sequoia in a magic forest that he's grown on his new planet, only to find out that they've been set up by Mother.

In the second arc, the three of them grudgingly team up against Mother while hashing out their shared backstories and giving Quoi, who's literally never had peers to relate to, a chance to fully come to grips with the way he was conditioned and manipulated by his father. Instead of conjuring dead parents, Mother seems to be able to summon dead children, which makes her particularly dangerous around the Cotati, Kree and Skrull, who've just emerged from a war and have countless recent dead.

In the third arc, Mother has freed R'kll and they've set their sights on Earth. Billy heads out with America and Tommy to ask Loki for advice on defeating her, while Teddy brings Sequoia before the Avengers as his charge in order to ensure that Quoi receives provisional immunity.

Loki is able to provide insight on how Mother might have been summoned and what the parameters might be for breaking the spell that's tethering her to Earth-616. It turns out that Mother is essentially holding Anelle's soul hostage and has been appearing to R'kll in her form. Mother's hold, at this point, has spread to the entire Alliance, and Teddy will have to defeat her or else she'll use it to destroy Earth and decimate his nation in the process.

Teddy recruits Wanda to help face Mother down. (side note, I'm desperate to see more of their relationship as in-laws.) Wanda agrees to work with Sequoia but insists on calling Mantis and making them talk.

The final showdown is the three boys, plus Wanda and Mantis, against Mother, R'kll, and an army of dead alien soldiers. Mantis and Wanda are able to pull Anelle's soul from Mother's grasp, but this doesn't banish her-- Mother's true anchor was R'kll, who'd been carrying Anelle's ghost in her heart ever since the destruction of Tarnax.

R'kll believes that she's always acted in the best interest of her nation, and she thought that bringing back Teddy's mother would finally make him see her way. Anelle and Teddy have a tearful reunion, but he admits that the only mother he's really mourned was the woman who raised him.

Wanda, Mantis, and Anelle, as a trio of mothers united with their lost sons, are able to reverse and seal Mother's power, which was based on lost children. They are not able to banish her, however, until R'kll steps forward and sacrifices herself, believing now that the best she can do for her nation is to rid the Alliance of the curse she brought upon it.

R'kll and Anelle begin to dissipate, but R'kll's sacrifice has called forth the spirit of Mrs. Altman, who is finally granted some closure and dignity in death by getting a chance to see how far Teddy's come and the peace that he's built in her memory.

Lots of crying! I made this sad. I'm sorry.

[canonicallyanxious]

sarah’s top 10 wlw media [that i consumed] in 2020

i noticed i read/watched a lot of really stellar wlw media this year so i wanted to make a list shouting out some of the amazing stories I found bc seriously this was a good year to be a wlw

note: these aren’t necessarily 2020 releases, just stories I happened to read or watch this year

1. Portrait of a Lady on Fire (2019)

Brilliant. Showstopping. Spectacular.

In all seriousness anyone who knows me will not be surprised at all to discover this ranks at the top of my list. It checks every box on the list of “Things Sarah is an absolute hoe for”: period romance, tender angst, references to Orpheus and Eurydice, GAYS IN WATER, a beautiful reconsideration on the relationship b/w the artist and the muse, “did you dream of me?” “no, i thought of you”, H A N D S... listen. i don’t have anything to say for myself this is just one of the most beautiful movies i’ve ever seen.

2. The Miseducation of Cameron Post by Emily Danforth

If I’m going to be totally honest I have a lot of trouble finding wlw YA novels I really vibe with. Nina Lacour’s books are pretty up there on my list, I loved Leah on the Offbeat when it came out, but for the most part i just find wlw ya stories hard to connect to. Reading this book changed that for me. Its portrayal of a tomboyish girl growing up in a really conservative area resonated with me so deeply, as well as her queer friends she was able to find and connect with even in the most traumatic environment. Cameron goes through some really heavy shit but the book ends on such a beautiful and poignant note of hope. This really is a book that made me feel seen.

3. The Half of it (2020)

Alice Wu said “I’m going to make a movie about a vaguely gnc Asian American protagonist who is a literary hoe and passionate about writing and music so basically Sarah as a coming of age teen movie protagonist” and you know what it gave me rights! This movie has no business being this fucking good for a teen coming of age “romcom”, for real. the absolutely phenomenal character work... the LAYERS in the writing... the cinematography... “gravity is matter’s response to loneliness” who said that” “I don’t know” “then you said it” I’M GONNA LOSE MY DAMN MIND!

4. She-Ra - season 5

The build-up to the series finale was just so incredibly well thought out and beautifully crafted months later i’m STILL shook about it. Catra and Adora’s relationship has been the driving force of the entire show, literally the nexus the whole story revolves around, and to know that all of it was intentionally building up to a romance is one of the most satisfying things narratively speaking I’ve ever experienced in real time. Also this entire season was just so beautifully written. Catra’s redemption arc, Adora’s arc and learning to harness her power without the sword, Spinnerella/Netossa’s heartrending side story, the final showdown with Horde Prime, just absolutely chef’s kiss.

5. The Last True Poets of the Sea by Julia Drake

This truly was the year of “Sarah finally gets all the quality wlw YA they have been needing and craving”! I just think the writing in this book is so brilliant, i love all the things Drake does with style and pov, and as a coming of age romance it’s just so charming and i love the aesthetic of it so much! Also i think this story is a brilliant adaptation of Twelfth Night, I mean frankly it didn’t even register for me that this was a twelfth night adaptation until after i finished it skdjnfsdknfs but as soon as I realized it it all made stunning sense. as well i just adore that the protagonist is allowed to be so complex and messy bc i feel like that’s actually pretty rare for female protagonists. it makes her all the more compelling as a main character!

6. On A Sunbeam by Tillie Walden

Gorgeous art, spell-binding world building [soft and dreamy space sci fi aesthetic!!!!!!!!!], there’s basically not a single man in this story, and all the characters are absolutely to die for. And the story is just so achingly tender, i love it so much. 10/10 would reread over and over and over again.

7. The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon

The fantasy wlw story of my absolute dreams!!! This book is over 800 pages but it doesn’t feel like it, seriously, i inhaled it all in one day bc the story moves along at such a good pace and everything feels so naturally laid out. i absolutely adore the world building in this, i mean really how can you go wrong with DRAGONS??? and also the love story b/w Ead and Sabran in this story is insanely fucking good. nothing makes me more tender than the bodyguard/royal trope ABSOLUTELY NOTHING

8. This is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone

The writing in this is so, so breathtaking. I don’t even have the words to describe, it’s just such a beautiful book. it’s so beautiful that it made me, a known epistolary hater, into an epistolary lover. ITS POWER.

9. The Owl House - season 1

This one is only not as high as the others on the list bc I’ve had less time to get invested in it than shows like She Ra. But it is an insanely cute watch, i love the characters so much especially Luz, I love her relationship with Eda, I LOVE EDA, i love the way her friendships with the other characters evolve so naturally over the course of the show, and really it’s just such a fun and sweet show I adore it so much. [and fine okay amity’s crush on luz is the cutest damn thing i’ve ever seen are you happy]

10. Druck - season 6

ABSOLUTELY DO NOT @ ME also if i’m going to be 100% honest the only reason why this isn’t higher on the list is because at the time of writing this only two and a half episodes have aired sdkjfndksjfnsdkjfnskdnfskjn but really if you thought i wasn’t going to put a story about a black lesbian falling in love with a vietnamese bi girl on this list you are out of your damn mind

[honorary mention: @boxesfullofthoughts​‘ and my cyberpunk OCs Charlie Tang and Harper St. Clair I mean i am extremely up my own ass at all times but i can’t put my own characters for a story i haven’t even written yet on this list skjnfskj STILL I LOVE THEM AND WOULD DIE FOR THEM AND I HOPE THEY BOTH KNOW THAT]

[mrallnight57-blog]

The Crystal of Mordokia

Chapter 17

    

      Jenny and Litias stood there silently. At this point, Jenny wasn't sure what to say, or what to do. Suddenly Litias broke her silence. "Meaah! Damn it! I shouldn't have told you that pretty one. Now you will just use that against me."

      Jenny took offense to Litias's comment. "I don't want you to die!"

      Litias was becoming more angry. "Oh you will. You will betray me just like the people of Mordokia!"

     Jenny was trying to think of something to calm Litias down. The last thing she wanted was to be on the receiving end of Litias's wrath. She also wasn't fully convinced that Litias was as evil as she said she was. Something about the way Litias acted made Jenny think there might be some good in her. After a moment of thinking, she remembered something Litias had said about The Hero. A hero that Jenny was pretty sure Litias secretly admired. "Didn't you say The Hero believed in giving people second chances?"

     Litias frowned. "I've had way more than two chances."

     At the moment, Jenny wasn't concerned about what Litias had done on another world. It wasn't like she could arrest the creature for it anyways. In fact besides conspiring to break into a government facility, the only real crime Jenny could arrest Litias for was literally being a illegal alien.

       Jenny was about to tell Litias that at the moment it's past didn't matter, but before Jenny could say that. Litias got right in her face, and started talking. "You think I can be redeemed pretty one? You know nothing about the terror I can bring."

     Jenny tried to say something, but Litias put it's hand on her head, and said. "I will show you." Suddenly Jenny lost consciousness, and began seeing visions of another world.

*************

       The Story of Litias.

      I was discovered by the Drow Elves. They came from a matriarch society. Their society leaders were elven priestess, who obeyed their gods. Their weak pathetic gods. I changed all of that.

     I started my reign of terror by destroying the drow churches. Of course by doing this, I had angered their gods. As each one came for me, I put them down, by the end I made The Drow worship me. That's when I turned my focus to the rest of Mordokia.

      Years ago before The Legendary Hero, The Drows were at war with the High Elves. The Legendary Hero had brought an end to the war. It was time for me to start it again.

      I took attacked every major kingdom of the High Elves. Me and my dark forces, tore down their castles, took their leaders out of power, and enslaved their people. With in a few years. I had taken over their entire world.

     For centuries I ruled. Leaving Drow in charge of The Kingdoms. Eventually the High Elves rebelled. They sent their heroes, and every time I took them down, and forced them into servitude. Their was one hero though who ended up earning my respect.

       His name was Cage, he turned out to be one of the High Elves greatest warriors. Some even compared him to The Legendary Hero. He was rather intelligent too. Instead of coming at me directly, he and his group of warriors hunted down several magical artifacts. One of them was a sword, that could apparently cut through anything.

      When his group finally did come attack me, they were successful in defeating my armies, but when the final showdown  came between me and Cage. All hell broke loose.

      He discovered that the sword he had could not harm me, but it did block my magic, so it made him a worthy foe. Then the unexpected happened. During our battle. Something crashed in the side of the mountain where we were battling, which caused a cave in. Me and Cage were trapped in side the cave. Which meant we had to work together, if we wanted to make it out of the mountain.

       Once the two of escaped the mountain, we both saw something we had never seen before. I know of it now as a star ship, but at the time, I had no idea what it was. When me and Cage opened the vessel. We found a girl, unlike any girl we have ever seen before.

     The Girl was elven like, but smaller. She had a tail, and a face of a yellow fox. I could tell right away, that Cage had become smitten with her. So I made a deal with him.

     I allowed him to take the girl, but I kept the craft. Once he agreed to this, I made him the ultimate bargain. I told him if he wanted the lands of the High Elves, he needed to give me all of the magical artifacts he had collected, and in exchange he could take the land of the High Elves on the condition that his people stayed out of the Drow Lands. Cage agreed to this, but before I could celebrate my victory. The girl from the sky, who had been unconscious this entire time. Awoke and gave me a dire warning.

      The girl from the craft was named Sarabella, and she said that she came from a another world, and above Mordokia was a space station being ruled by a Powerful Woman, and eventually she will come looking for her, and that there was no way to stop her. Once she arrives she will take over Mordokia.

     At first I didn't take this warning seriously. Why would I. I had never been defeated in battle, and Mordokia still belonged to me. Even though I gave some power back to the High Elves, I still ruled Mordokia. There was no one more powerful than me, but I was wrong.

       Several days later I met Ravenerress. At first she tried to cut a deal with me. Saying if I returned her ship, and the girl who was inside it, she would leave my world alone, but I was arrogant, and challenged her to battle. This was a mistake. She annihilated me. It was the first time ever felt pain. Once she was done beating me. She said I had five days to bring her the girl, or she would destroy Mordokia.

       Beaten, and broken, with a army that had been decimated, I found myself turning to the High Elves for help. I told them about Ravenerress, and discovered that she had been on our planet before, and she was the one who defeated the Legendary Hero. At first the High Elves weren't sure what to do, but Sarabella had a plan. She said her people were on the the skybase, and if we could get up there, we could save her people, and destroy the Sky Base. It would weaken Ravenerress, and with the help of her people, we could defeat the Red Tyrant.

     At first I wasn't sure how her people would do in battle, but discovered that after only being on Mordokia for five days, Sarabella had already mastered several advanced sword techniques, and several different fighting skills. She claimed she had never battled in a day of her life. These skills just came naturally for her.

    After seeing Sarabella's skills, I decided to go along with her plan. We would wait for Ravenerress to attack, then as Cage and his warriors held them off with the magical artifacts I returned to them. Me and Sarabella would take her craft and go to the stars.

     On the Fifth day, Ravenerress attacked, she brought her army, and brought her army. She left the skybase defenseless. Me and Sarabella went to the base, and it was nothing like I expected. I saw things that I have never been exposed to before. Technology that would make your world seem like it was still in the stone age.

      Finally me and Sarabella found her people, but when we found them, I was once again left speechless. They weren't captured, in fact they had been left free to roam the ship. It appeared that they had no hardship thrust upon them. When Sarabella asked them to join us. They refused, they acted as if they were brainwashed, but they were under no spell.

      It was at that point, Sarabella begged me not to destroy the sky base, and I finally agreed. Only because if I did defeat Ravenerress, her skybase would be mine. So we returned to Mordokia, and found that the Armies of Mordokia had surrendered, with very few casualties, and Ravenerress had made a deal with Cage. Ravenerress decided to spare Mordokia, and even let them keep Sarabella, but in exchange Ravenerress would take me in her place. I would now and forever have to serve Ravenerress.

       Litias ended the vision. Jenny stared at Litias for a bit trying to think what she should say. As she was thinking, Litias began speaking. "Now you see what you are dealing with. I am a conqueror, and with me I bring darkness. So now that you see what I am. You probably want to destroy me."

        Jenny sat silent for a moment, then shook her head. "No. Everybody has darkness inside them. When I was a young, I was bullied alot, especially when I came out of the closet. When the other kids at school, discovered I was gay. They made my life a living hell. If I had your powers when I was younger, I would have destroyed everyone, and everything in my path. My sister helped me through, the tough times though. She was a loving and compassionate person, and when she died, I dedicated myself to law enforcement. I didn't do that just to find her killer, but I did it because, I wanted to help people just like she did."

       Litias stared at Jenny for a moment, then the creature stood up and placed her hand on Jenny's shoulder. Jenny smiled and looked up at her, that's when Litias said. "You know everything you just told me about yourself?" Jenny nodded, she thought her words had gotten through to Litias, and she would reconsider giving the contract to Gothic Mirror, and find another way to break it's bound with the Demon. Then Litias said. "I knew that already, but thank you for sharing."  Jenny's jaw dropped, and Litias went back to her desk.

[badass-queer-couples-battle]

Sword gays showdown, round 3, bracket three

Propaganda:

For Ballister:

he could tell when his sword was switched out for a fake, graduated top of his class so we know he's a good fighter, also the scene where he's fighting is hot because he's so confident with a sword in his hand, also he's gay

A canonically gay, disabled, South Asian man takes down the government with his genderqueer shapeshifter sidekick/adopted daughter! He has a swordfight with his ex-boyfriend! in which he defeats about 20 knights singlehandedly! 

top of his knight class this man is a master swordsman

(Movie) He has used a sword since he broke into the Institutes training ground and ended up becoming a knight

He has very divorced vibes with Ambrosius and he uses a sword.

He's a legit knight! So, it's in the fine print.

According to the Nimona movie, Ballister here has been practicing the art of sword fighting since childhood to earn the trust of the city and he was SO CLOSE to becoming a knight. He's also definitely not dating another one of his knight mates (?). Nope. Not at all. This movie is super straight /s I think he also beats an entire army of knights with nothing but his sword and a chaotic good shapshifter so that's pretty cool. He's also south Asian, has a prosthetic arm he made himself and is honestly such a goofy guy (in a good way ofc) if that's anything.

For Amaya:

Badass super strong disabled lesbian general who can and will take you out. Doesn't need a sword to punch you into next week, but will use one anyway.

She’s married to another sword gay and she’s also disabled so I love her very much 

First deaf character I saw in any cartoon, she's very badass and protects her kingdom's border, later falls in love with an elf warrior princess she once fought. In the new season, they're planning their wedding while trying to navigate political tensions between the elf society and humans. Some of the elves aren't super into the idea of a human marrying one of them, which isn't for homophobic reasons but still (I believe) meant to mirror real world conservatives (really liked a scene with Janai's brother telling Amaya she's fine as a girlfriend for Janai but actually *marrying* her is too controversial and political. Whoever wrote this did a really good job).

She’s currently engaged to another lady, she uses a sword, is a general badass.

General Amaya is a standard sword lesbian with a cool shield and some funny "lines" example: "This bread is...." *bashes bread on table with no damage to the bread* "Weapons grade"

[hubristicassholefight]

Swordswoman Showdown Round 2 Part 1

Utena Tenjou (Revolutionary Girl Utena) vs Xena (Xena: Warrior Princess)

(Better here in a "preferred character" sense, not "who would win in a fight")

Propaganda below cut

Utena Tenjou

She is a duelist in the duel games who fights so she can become a prince! (But is that really such a good idea?); This show is my favorite this ever and she has so much gender inside her. So much. Lesbian and butch in training. By the end I'm in tears and I want her to be okay. She's so powerful but in the end how powerful can any of us be?

Was battle girlfriends with Anthy. Beat other students in sword duels to “win” Anthy.

Xena

Warrior Princess

She wields a sword and chakram. Just had to submit a biconic swordswoman.

i love her. she made me gay as a kid. Anyway, her weapon of choice is her sword, she is obviously very good with it

[gay-disabled-characters-showdown]

LGBTQ+ Disabled Characters Showdown Round 1, Wave 1, Poll 8

A character being totally canon LGBTQ+ and disabled was not required to be in this competition. Please check qualifications and propaganda before asking why a character is included.

Check out the other polls in this wave here.

Renarin Kholin- The Stormlight Archive

Qualifications:

Renarin is canonically autistic and gay (or at least MLM).

He's canonically autistic + has epilepsy, and he's been confirmed to be gay and have a crush on a male character (which will.be explored more in future books)

Canonically gay as confirmed by word-of-god; canonically autistic and has anxiety.

Renarin is canonically autistic and gay.

Propaganda:

Renarin is one of few characters in epic fantasy literature who's canonically neurodivergent or queer - it's rare enough to just see one of those things! He is also the best, just all around. He is so reckless and has such a strong moral compass: like he ran to help fight a giant crab monster with no weapons, no armor, and no training; he jumped into a 4vs1 duel to help his brother, with no armor, no training, and a sword that deals him psychic damage anytime he holds it.

He's autistic and gay; disability is a big part of his story; he's so much of an outcast that he was the first person to join his world's extra-marginalized order of sinister-but-not-evil magic users; and while he's quiet and self-contained, he's full to the brim with suppressed rage. Sidelined second son and quasi-cursed prophet. I fully believe he can take this tournament by storm.

Renarin is autistic, epileptic, and queer as the day is long. As a kid, he struggled to win his dad's approval due to his inability to fight as well as his abled brother -- but these days his dad's wised up and realized that Renarin actually kicks ass. When Renarin gets magic powers, he isn't "cured"; he's still epileptic, he's still autistic, and he still has a crush on the strapping young alien lad in his squad. Not only does he break down class barriers by hanging out with ex-slave humans (he's the prince of a major kingdom), he breaks racial barriers by dating an alien who's entire race was, until recently, enslaved by humans. Overall, he's a complete badass who is getting more confident, more appreciated, and more gay with every book in the series.

Loam Arnault-Entropic Float

Qualifications:

she canonically has arthritis and chronic fatigue, and is canonically bisexual and omnigender (using all pronouns)

They're chronically disabled (dont remember their condition :() omnigender, and pan!

i don’t remember what it is (or if that’s even said) but his disability gives her trouble walking some days and on others makes it so they can’t get out of bed. bisexual &nonbinary omnigender!

Canonically disabled, nonbinary omnigender and bisexual

Propaganda:

listen. i love him. oh my god i love aer. their disability and queerness are both central to the narrative. due to it being disabled, she is not taken seriously where he comes from. xe has given up on insisting on its gender being respected - every time thon tries, its taken as a sign he is having a bad day symptoms wise, which in turn is taken as though she has never grown up past being eight years old. through the game proper, it hides hir disability most of the time. to ask for help is to let someone know. and throughout their entire life, everyone who knew has treated him as stupid - perhaps not always, but everyone has. this is why she doesnt really want to get out of the anomaly; this is the first time fae has had friends who dont know, and therefore dont have "a reason" to infantilize it. star hides everything behind a chipper demeanour. well, that demeanour isnt entirely a lie; she is really silly and pleasant - one of my favourite things he says in the entire game is "isnt blue super bad for computers? like blue balls of death or something?". upon being asked "where do you come from that computers have balls?", they respond "well, how do they reproduce if they dont?" in conclusion. Loam my beloved.

silly guy... oh he's a lil bit fucked up actually

:3

I’m disabled and queer and Loam makes me feel so seen. He’s an incredible character, I love her dearly, I need everyone to understand how incredible they are.

The qualifications and propaganda correspond, @prinxe-with-no-crown is the first submitter @mythologeekwriter is the fourth and there were two others.

[sleepyssnail]

What REALLY happened in Voltron Season 8

It’s been a year, I’m not over this and probably never will be, but this made me feel better and really happy.

So, in no particular order here’s what I think actually happened in Voltron season 8. I needed to make this happen.

This directly follows my “What REALLY Happened in Voltron Season 7” headcanons.

Keith confessing to Lance while the sunsets, and Lance smiling and realizing this what was he needed and wanted before accepting and saying it’s about time.

Allura accepting that her feelings for Lance were only platonic, and realizing she still has strong feelings for Lotor and offers him a chance to start again slowly.

The two get together soon after Lotor gets further in his rehabilitation

Pidge making another rover to follow her around

Coran getting the Castle of Lions 2.0 and him loving everything about it

Shiro getting to hang out with the paladins and spend time with them out of uniform.

Everyone wearing their casual clothes and not their garrison jackets.

Keith: I don’t have my jacket anymore

Lance: That’s okay, I went shopping and got you a new god awful cropped jacket

Keith: ...this is perfect and I’m never taking it off.

Shiro getting to keep and use his paladin armor after Coran made some upgrades.

Lance using his sword to save Keith in a fight

Lance: Heh, like that samurai?

Lotor teaming up with Matt on a side mission and the two of them talking about alien technobabble while Adam groans about having to go along with them.

Coran making friends with Iverson, Curtis, and Adam and telling them ALL about Altea’s histories and how to properlly brew a batch of nunville.

Lotor opening wormholes and controlling the teladuv in place of Allura when she leaves the Atlas to fight alongside the team

Hunk showing Shay around the Atlas and giving her a bracelet made of seashells.

Shiro and Adam holding hands on clear day and giving each other gross kisses on the cheek

Hunk singing the clear day song to Keith around the Atlas just to get on Keith’s nerves.

Lotor and Pidge working together to get Allura a dress like her altean ones and both failing before recruiting Romelle and Adam to help because Gays™ have a fashion sense right? Right?

Hunk helping to repair one of the MFE ships and being really bright and talkative about it

Pidge making a small robotic rose pin for her mom that blooms and changes color based on the chemical readings in the room.

Keith getting splashed with quintessence and taking on galra features for a while and getting judged for his apearance by some of the more prejudiced Atlas crew, but the team stands up for him.

Kolivan and Krolia finding that handfuls of Blade of Macaroni members survived and they regroup.

Matt outright flirting with different BOM members.

Lotor fighting against Honverva on a planet’s surface and saying she made her decision by choosing quintessence and power over her family, and how he’s making his desicion to stand by his new family.

None of that weird entity stuff or talking with the paladins of old, instead it’s a proper showdown and a solid face off between the paladins, Allura, and Lotor against Honerva and her own army.

Shiro talking to his family and missing them but knowing they love him.

Lotor joining the blade of marmora on a mission and realizing he could’ve had this community and comradery his whole life.

Adam mentoring the MFE pilots and giving advice on different things

James reluctantly apologizing to Keith about bullying him (the other MFE pilots made him do it) and Keith saying it doesn’t matter anymore, but looking obviously upset about it.

Rizavi: …good job Griffin, you made it worse.

Griffin: I WHAT YOU TOLD ME TO! IT’S NOT MY FAULT

Lotor and Acxa reuniting and having a solid platonic friendship.

Lotor teasing Acxa about her crush on Veronica

Shiro and Adam getting married.

Allura and Lotor holding hands and standing in a field of juniberries on New Altea before kissing gently and leaning against each other.

Pidge working with Matt and other technological geniuses to improve society and work together to build and make things better.

Hunk working on different planes and having his own private garage for his machines, but still having time to cook and hang out with his friends.

Shiro getting to relax and just be free for the first time in years.

Keith and Lance proposing to each other on the beach with the sunset in the background.

Matt becoming a Loreal hair model.

[theliterateape]

I Like to Watch | Shang-Chi and The Legend of the Ten Rings

By Don Hall

Hearts and Minds

The United States posited a slew of reasons for invading and occupying Afghanistan. Some were justified, others were falsified. The reason given most often was the amorphous win their hearts and minds nonsense as if any country could be won over by occupation at home and ridicule from across the ocean.

Hearts and minds are not won over with force or material goods. Hearts and minds are won over with ideas and those ideas cannot be sledgehammered in but more subtly presented. Those ideas have to be normalized.

Back in 2008—clearly a big year for LGBT rights—the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation did a survey of more than 2,000 U.S. adults 18 and older and found that two in 10 of them had changed their views of gays and lesbians in the previous five years to a more favorable one.

Their reasons? 34 percent said their views were influenced by seeing gay or lesbian characters on TV, and 29 percent said it was by a gay or lesbian character on film. Hollywood has been streaming LGBT characters into American homes for decades. The arc of inclusion may be long, and it bends towards pop culture.

Characters in comic books have advanced the conversation. Although independent comics lead the way with characters like Maggie and Hopey in Love and Rockets, for years the Comics Code Authority—and cultural attitudes—limited the role of LGBT characters in mainstream superhero titles. Over the last couple of decades, however, LGBT characters like the reimagined Batwoman and Green Lantern Alan Scott have made their way into comics, and both Marvel and DC have featured superhero storylines that featured same-sex marriage. 

No question that this is a wonderful thing for those LGBT consumers—seeing someone like you on a big or small screen is important and valid. That, however, is not the most important part of greater and more diverse representation in pop culture. What increased exposure of those most marginalized does, more than anything else, is win the hearts and minds of the majority of Americans.

This is the same for black Americans. In recent years, we see more and more black men and women on our screens, in our Netflix queues, on television and Hulu. For millions of Americans (and not merely white Americans) this slow reminder of the humanity of black Americans de-stigmatizes and expands the reductive monolithing of 14% of our population away from stereotypes and into the homes of people far less likely to encounter blacks in their communities.

Contrary to the concept that America is fundamentally racist, I'd argue we are fundamentally segregated. The flyover states with the majority of Americans unexperienced in the multicultural experiment (Iowa, Kansas, Arizona, Maine, Nebraska, Utah, both Dakotas, Vermont—all of which have less than five percent of the entire state population who are black) are populated with people who watch movies and television. 

These folks who have little contact with black Americans on a daily basis have representation in their theaters and homes every weekend and every night. They spend their money (but more crucially, their time) watching The Protege, Candyman, Summer of Soul, Escape Room: Tournament of Champions and All American, Insecure, The Chi, and The Equalizer. This is significant and, while foments often glacial changes in attitudes and mores, grows a deeper understanding and empathy with every viewing.

Which brings us to the MCU. Arguably a juggernaut built upon the successes of white male protagonists as the MCU has gained in worldwide popularity and influence so has Kevin Feige's commitment to expanding those cultural boundaries with increased inclusion. Black Panther is far from the best Marvel movie or even comic book movie in existence but it was a cultural moment that a major studio had never before created.

Sure, whole communities of black people buying out theaters so that black children could celebrate seeing heroes who looked like them was significant but more significant was that millions of white fanboys watched an all-black cast in a movie that included Afro-futurism and incredibly badass black women at its core play out in their backyards.

The Master of Kung Fu

Shang-Chi was created by writer Steve Englehart and artist Jim Starlin, debuting in Special Marvel Edition #15 in 1972. Created as a response to huge television success of Kung Fu, the character was originally known as the son of Fu Manchu and, when the rights to that character were denied, became the son of Xu Wenwu, the Mandarin. At one point, he was a part of Heroes for Hire which featured both Iron Fist and Luke Cage.

It is notable that the genius of Marvel is in connecting the past with the coming Phase 4 whether by intention or retroactively. The Ten Rings army was responsible for kidnapping Tony Stark way back in 2008. Jumping ahead to Iron Man 3 we meet Trevor Slattery, the fake Mandarin and then a Marvel One Shot that shows Slattery kidnapped from prison to meet Xu Wenwu. All in set-up for the latest MCU addition.

More like Thor than the typical origin film, Shang-Chi dumps right in the middle of things. The movie begins with the backstory of Xu Wenwu (Tony Leung)—narrated entirely in Mandarin Chinese by Jiang Li (Fala Chen)—and his possession of the ten rings. In the comic books the rings were on his fingers with each designated with a power. Now, they're more like martial arts practice rings, five on each arm and capable of pretty much anything the special effects team could come up.

Then we meet Shang-Chi (Simu Liu) and his friend, Katy (Awkwafina). The two are a winning combination and, wonderfully, are not romantically involved. Parking cars by day, singing karaoke by night until, on a San Francisco bus, the Ten Rings gang (lead by a giant white dude with a laser sword for a right hand) attack him for a pendant left by his deceased mother.

Shang-Chi doesn't need those magical rings to completely kick ass—he is the Master of Kung Fu without them. The sequence is fun, fast, clean, and ends with Katy contributing to the graces of saving an entire bus load of citizens while Shang beats the shit out of the thugs.

And off we go. A Macau fighting club run by his sister that is like an underground MMA for magical beings. An escape on the side of a building fighting ninjas. Some flashbacks informing the secret city behind the trees where his mom came from and how Shang became the warrior he is at the hands of his father. A water map on the floor. Sir Ben Kingsley and a faceless furry with wings. More backstory. Two dragons. A showdown. An arrow. Two end credit scenes.

It's a fucking Marvel movie, after all.

The lengths the director (Destin Daniel Cretton) goes to find authenticity in everything from language, customs, and dress to be a fully realized Asian American film as well as a superhero ride is laudable. His treatment of Xu Wenwu is one more in a chain of villains who seem less villainess and more driven by sorrow or justifiable rage.

Early MCU baddies were nuts. The Red Skull (power hungry madman), Obadiah Stane (power hungry madman), Malekith (power hungry Dark Elf madman), Ronan (power hungry...you get the picture). More recently, the MCU is moving away from the Good vs. Evil narratives and presenting a more complicated version of opposing forces in the universe.

Thanos, while a genocidal monster, was still persuasive in some way. Not the insane, cackling lunatic one would naturally associate with villainy but a being with a sense of purpose who does not see himself to be the bad guy. Kilmonger from Black Panther is the same—his rage is justified and only his means are nefarious. Xu Wenwu is less an evil warlord and more a grieving widower weary of conquest and unable to connect with his children.

Making even the master criminal relatable while simultaneously rooting for the hero is no small feat. It demonstrates a complexity of thought and perspective one would not expect from superhero movies and represents opportunities for the discussion of who our bad guys are in the non-cinematic world.

Combining that sophistication with an increasing diversity in who are the heroes—black, Asian, Latina—makes everyone relatable.

That's the crux of the foothold pop culture has on change. Make everyone relatable and even the kid in Kansas who has only known the two Korean kids in his class can find purchase of the magnificent multicultural country we continue to forge.

[itsclownhours]

okay so i don’t know if i ever mentioned it but while watching merlin i’ve used a google doc of weird title ideas to rename all of the episodes and now that i’ve finished the series i would like to share with the four people who always like my posts the absolute nightmare that is the contents of this google doc (spoilers ahead, technically, i think)

merlin Things Historians Pretend Aren’t Gay: The Unlikely Adventures of Bitchface and Go Fuck Yourself

1x01 the dragon’s call Neither Boss Nor Employee Paid Enough to Deal With Each Other

1x02 valiant Everyone Should Learn First Aid (This Has Been a PSA)

1x03 the mark of nimueh Let’s NOT Wipe Out Humankind

1x04 the poisoned chalice I Fell Into a Deep Hole

1x05 lancelot You’re Valid, I Support You

1x06 a remedy to cure all ills This Is Absolutely the Right Decision

1x07 the gates of avalon I Go For an Unwanted and Unexpected Swim

1x08 the beginning of the end The Small Child Is Annoying

1x09 excalibur Ya Dun Goofed

1x10 the moment of truth The Regular Fuckface Returns to the Town of Fuckface

1x11 the labyrinth of gedref Guys, It’s Been Three Weeks Since I’ve Eaten a Vegetable: My Destiny as a Bad Cook

1x12 to kill the king Ultimate Showdown: Murder Father versus Murder Daughter

1x13 le morte d’arthur Dreams Do Come True (And That’s Not a Good Thing)

2x01 the curse of cornelius sigan The Good, the Bad, and the Okay I Guess

2x02 the once and future queen The Broken Ribs Poked Our Lungs

2x03 the nightmare begins I Need an Explanation, What Is Going On

2x04 lancelot and guinevere I Approve (This Time)

2x05 beauty and the beast part 1 This Wasn’t the Family Meeting That I Was Expecting Tonight

2x06 beauty and the beast part 2 I Am Saved From Certain Death By Being Killed

2x07 the witchfinder Those Stories Aren’t Real

2x08 the sins of the father How to Traumatize Your Children: 7 Proven Methods to Help You Screw Up Your Kids Deliberately and With Skill

2x09 the lady of the lake Can’t Wait to Tell This Story to My Grandchildren

2x10 sweet dreams Getting Distracted by a Hot Girl Only Leads to Bad Things

2x11 the witch’s quickening The King Can Go Fuck Himself

2x12 the fires of idirsholas Everything is a Goddamn Ordeal in This Family: Top 10 Anime Betrayals

2x13 the last dragonlord I Turned Out Liking You a Lot More Than I Originally Planned

3x01 the tears of uther pendragon part 1 Ask and You Shall Receive...Sometime Next Year

3x02 the tears of uther pendragon part 2 In Which Everything Goes Wonderfully Wrong

3x03 goblin’s gold Let’s Pretend This Never Happened (A Mostly-True Memoir)

3x04 gwaine This Is Why I Don’t Socialize

3x05 the crystal cave Man Miscast in Role of Father

3x06 the changeling Successfully Evading Responsibility

3x07 the castle of fyrien The Dumbasses Take a Road Trip

3x08 the eye of the phoenix Tone It Down a Bit, Geez

3x09 love in the time of dragons Hey, Look, Old People

3x10 queen of hearts Running From Your Dad: I Know Exactly What I’m Doing (No, I Don’t)

3x11 the sorcerer’s shadow You’re a Special Kind of Stupid, Aren’t You?: Merlin Makes a Rash Decision

3x12 the coming of arthur part 1 Orphan Does Her Best to Fit in After Horrible Childhood

3x13 the coming of arthur part 2 There Is Absolutely No Way It Can Get Worse (It Got Worse)

4x01 the darkest hour part 1 Oh, Look, a Ghost

4x02 the darkest hour part 2 Unfortunately, I Am Alive

4x03 the wicked day Didn’t See That One Coming

4x04 aithusa I Wasn’t Prepared For Parenthood

4x05 his father’s son I Stab a Bitch: Aggressive Negotiations Make Everyone Hate You

4x06 a servant of two masters And God Said, “Let’s Not Give This Bitch a Break”

4x07 the secret sharer Apparently, Agravaine Does Have Some ’Splainin’ to Do

4x08 lamia The Boys Are Here

4x09 lancelot du lac I Call Shotgun (Said the Dead Man)

4x10 a herald of the new age Possession or Obsession?

4x11 the hunter’s heart I’m Bitter and I Won’t Stop Whining (Solitude Was the Only Logical Ending)

4x12 the sword in the stone part 1 I’m Packing Up My Crayons and Leaving

4x13 the sword in the stone part 2 A Guide to Giving Up

5x01 arthur’s bane part 1 My Boy!

5x02 arthur’s bane part 2 My Boy! Part 2: Electric Boogaloo

5x03 the death song of uther pendragon Way to Go, Dumbass

5x04 another’s sorrow Live Every Crisis Like It’s Your Midlife Crisis

5x05 the disir Why Am I Like This?: Merlin Is a Fucking Bitch

5x06 the dark tower What the Hell? I'm in Hell (I Have a Heated Make-Out Session With My Lifelong Enemy. Who Would’ve Thought?)

5x07 a lesson in vengeance You Know That There Is Nothing That I Love More Than Just Chilling and Drinking Poison. Seriously. I’s Great

5x08 the hollow queen An Unexpected Visit Leads to a Change in Career Paths

5x09 with all my heart A Trip to Memoryville (I Hate It)

5x10 the kindness of strangers Don’t Accept Rides From Strange Relatives

5x11 the drawing of the dark Why Didn’t I Just Walk Away? Oh, Right. Because I’m an Idiot: In Which Merlin Fucks Up

5x12 the diamond of the day part 1 We’ve Been Tricked, We’ve Been Backstabbed, and We’ve Been, Quite Possibly, Bamboozled

5x13 the diamond of the day part 2 How to Mistakenly Assume You Have Everything Under Control

[cynthiaandsamus]

Custom Toonami Block Week 79 Rundown

Code Geass: Lelouch is establishing the official United States of Fuck Imperialism which is like the UN but actually does stuff, plus he has to deal with the fact that CC’s lost her memory and is acting like a demure slave girl harem choice from a VN. Charles is still trapped in the Human Instrumentality Shadow Realm so everyone figures this is a great time to unify everyone against Britannia. Kallen beats the shit out of Suzaku for being a dick to her all this time and the Knight of Ten is making his rounds because they realize they forgot to give him any buildup and he’s going to be a miniboss later so they have to cram all his being a dick personality into like five minutes while all the Knights of the Round assemble to prepare for an attack on Japan once the National Federation is formed. Llyod and Cecile for some reason enhanced the Guren for Suzaku even though he’s clearly more used to the Lancelot but apparently they enhanced it too much and made it a death machine like the Talgeese in Gundam Wing so Suzaku has to stick with the Lancelot. Looks like the Guren will have to sit and collect dust unless a certain pilot is rescued and then immediately has a convenient upgrade. Amazingly all the countries go along with everything Zero says and give up their militaries and have the Black Knights be the official military of the Federation. I don’t know how that works given that the Black Knights have been struggling to fight off one nation’s military idk how it’s supposed to substitute for a dozen nations’ military but I guess they conscript support and troops from the other nations or something. Charles comes back on the tv after the Federation is formed and is all “Awww what a cute little UN you have, fuck off bro.” which you’d think this’d be the perfect time for him to just out Lelouch as Zero and wreck the Black Knights’ morale but he doesn’t for some reason and they’re just gonna fight. Lelouch is freaking out and knows that having everyone want to murder the Britannian royal family includes Nunally so he calls Suzaku who just straight up goes “Bro cut the crap are you Zero or not?” and after so much plotting and scheming Lelouch just comes right out with it. Suzaki agrees to protect Nunally as long as Lelouch meets him alone at the Kururugi Shrine where this all began.

Inuyasha: This is another one of those Modern Day filler episodes which are always fun. There’s just something about Inuyasha running around in modern Japan being Spider-Man and saving people and catching bank robbers on the way to deliver Kagome’s lunch that’s so thoroughly entertaining. Basically Inuyasha spends this whole episode jittery that everyone’s so chill and ready to relax after Naraku just got away and is probably an inch from death but after a big adventure in the modern era where Kagome is as usual unprepared for her test, he ends up passing out on the bed after insisting a little battle with Naraku wouldn’t exhaust him. It’s a really cute little episode to let everyone bide some time and reflect on the past arc now that we’re starting a new wave of filler before we get to the Band of Seven and Mt. Hakurei stuff.

Yu Yu Hakusho: The first match of the tournament is about to begin and Botan, Shizuru, and Keiko come in with Koenma who is sick of baby jokes and puts on his bishonen disguise to impress everyone. There’s some neat lore about how they gave Koenma the guest team every year to bribe him into not shutting down the tournament without giving him anything of value and how the bloody show of the Dark Tournament pacifies the demons so they kill fewer humans, so that’s cool. Since Yusuke is still passed out, Kuwabara is de facto Captain and decides on simple one on one matches while the other team Captain just kinda roasts an eight of the crowd to see if it’ll wake Yusuke up. Kuwabara’s in the first match versus Prototype Killua, complete with afterimages and yo-yo tricks. They size each other up for a while and Kuwabara shrugs off getting his fucking neck broken surprisingly well while they go back and forth with “Well I can track YOU better” for a while. Togashi really loves his yo-yos of death so those have Kuwabara on the ropes and turn him into a fucking kite ready to slam back down into the arena, so yeah, Kuwabara’s having a rough time of it.

Fate Zero: Waver’s been having strange dreams about Iskandar, and not the ones people usually have about him. So he goes to get a basic history lesson on the historical figure that’s been chilling on his couch for a few weeks and spending all his money on xbox live arcade. They also go through all the ridiculously obvious historical inaccuracies and Iskandar’s just like “idk bro, I’m here so the book must be wrong” which is hilarious because Fate also does this with more modern historical figures that we have pictures of and shit so they basically sit there saying all historians have no idea what they’re talking about and gaslighting the field of history as a whole. On the way back Waver’s upset that Iskandar’s so awesome that it basically takes any effort on his part to win and it won’t be an actual achievement despite the fact that they’ve taken out like… one servant, MAYBE, and most of the other historical figures are equally over the top. But still Iskandar says that if your aspirations are big enough it doesn’t matter how big or small you are, everyone’s tiny in the grand scheme of things and clawing at greatness you can’t truly perceive is what matters. Also Caster and his boy have found the wreck they made of their workshop of dead bodies and are kinda fucked up about it but also ready to fuck up more people because God sucks or some shit. So Caster summons a Bloodborne monster which you think more people would notice and mention during Shirou’s time, like nobody in UBW ever said “Hey remember like seven years ago when a giant Bloodborne monster appeared in the river?” so I’m guessing there’s some kind of perception blocking going on. But yeah everyone’s gonna jump on the Bloodborne Monster next time for the season premiere.  

Konosuba: So we pick up where we left off and Kazuma is working off his debt by… killing more toads. Wow this world really is like a video game, we get the same five enemies over and over again. However they’re fucked without Darkness throwing herself into monster orifices looking for a good time so Yunyun has to save them. We already met Yunyun in the OVA so it’s kinda weird to be re-introduced to her here in basically the same way but their relationship is basically like Gai and Kakashi if they only did the lame dorky challenges Kakashi suggested when he’s too lazy to think of a good one. Also there’s a cat now, I don’t think that really comes to anything, just a scene of Megumin going “we have a cat now” and everyone’s like “kay”. Kazuma and Megumin play Naked Chicken to see who can get more naked before the other backs down and end up taking a bath together because they’re both stubborn assholes. Also we get a quick snippet of Yunyun and Megumin’s backstories which you can basically make Yunyun’s the swing scene from Naruto (idk why Yunyun is bring out the Naruto references in me today) and Megumin is stealing bread like Les Miserables in increasingly bizarre and disgusting ways because she’s ridiculously poor or some shit.

Sailor Moon Crystal: So turns out that Usagi and Mamoru BOTH had their shots with the ‘fucks everything up’ sword with a pocketwatch and… the discarded gems of the four knights? Idk how that works given they were humans and also dead but what baffles me more is that both Usagi and Mamoru very obviously did not get hit by the sword but decided to fall down dead and not move for a couple minutes despite their shots very much being blocked and there being no blood. Anyway Queen Metalia has the crystal, bullshit is happening, 1000 years of darkness, you’ve seen Xiaolin Showdown, you know the drill. The remaining four Guardians get a cute little flashback of Usagi saying what she likes about them and then they give up their lives to revive her inside the dark energy blob of Queen Metalia and crystals and lights and shit happens and swords and wands are pulled out of nowhere and you know how a final boss goes, they beat it with the power of believing in themselves and shit like that. Also apparently the only difference between sealing Metalia away and killing her is hitting the giant bullseye on her forehead so yeah, hopefully she’s down for good this time. I don’t want to complain because this show was genre-defining but it’s hard to find things to say about something so generic and milktoast, it’s the Seinfeld problem where there’s been so many more interesting iterations that it’s just kinda “get on with it already” at this point. The only real markedly noticeable thing about it is how plainly and unashamedly it is about being a power fantasy for teen girls, and there’s something to that, harmless power fantasies can be fun but it just feels like the physical mechanics of this kind of progression being “She feels this shit REALLY HARD” is less exciting than some of the alternatives

Durarara!!: It’s the big Masaomi backstory episode and we get the whole deal of how he formed the Yellow Scarves and got into a relationship with Saki because Izaya wanted to orechestrate a gang war because that’s what Izaya does all day is orchestrate gang wars. It’s kind of amazing how many kids in this show are like “I don’t know how it happened but one thing led to another and suddenly I was at the head of one of the largest gangs in the city” like they kinda really yadda yadda over how that actually happens. But anyway Saki gets hurt in the gang war and Kadota’s gang has to save her because Masaomi’s adrenaline wears off at the last second and he can’t try and rush in and save her. I mean Dota’s van got there first anyway so how much he’d have been able to help would be doubtful but he feels bad about not even being able to try and Izaya says that fear and failure of his past will dominate his future actions which is exactly what he’s doing by letting his paranoia and frustration lead him to a war on the Saika army. Dota-chin tells him to face up to it and stop running or live with the shame of lying to Saki but Masomi can’t do that and his shame and determination to reverse the situation leads everyone into chaos as Anri discovers his secret.