#(very tangentially bc he's not here but this comic is About him)

[madocactus]

ever wonder why cathal looks so different from his dad?

well, wonder no more!!!!

[hotpinkstaples]

didnt wanna hijack someone's post with the Disk Horse, but I just wanna note that bernard being tim's love interest in 2023 is VERY different from him being a side-side-side character in the early 2000s. i think there's definitely a generational divide on how the relationship's perceived bc there's absolutely a difference between how bernard and tim's relationship is portrayed during their time in school versus in adulthood.

part of reading tim's coming out story in the 2020s with relation to bernard is finally acknowledging that we finally broke tim out of his amber glass. this is also, i will note, a SPECIFIC kind of coming-out-story that won't resonate with folks who weren't living through that specific era of homophobia where the fallout of the AIDS crisis overlapped with the rise of mass surveillance and that post-9/11 grimdark take on superheroes across ALL media. it was a weird fucking time. it also won't resonate with anyone who wasn't "growing up" with tim during his time as robin. now, do you HAVE to know every little thing about tim to accept this piece of character development? no, you don't, but you DO have to take into consideration that tim was locked in the time vault for a veryyy long time and a lot of things, including his on-and-off with stephanie, were part of the status quo for his character long before dc decided to pull the trigger with tim's bisexuality.

but what happens when the forever-sixteen isn't sixteen anymore? he grows up! he gets to reflect! he gets to try new things without being held back by the amber glass. time is the key factor here! if you look at tim and bernard's relationship through the eyes of the robin run of that era, of course it's gonna feel weird! that tim could only really take bernard in doses, bc that tim was as much of an asshole teen as bernard was. with the breaking-of-the-amber, we now learn that tim had to do some serious reflection to get to the point where he could say that this guy he used to know COULD be someone special. if you follow tim's story through the lens of a closeted queer raised in the era of when that robin run was being published, tim's just another queer guy who's finally come to terms with the fact that, that dude he went to high school with who he just ran into at the target might not be so bad after all. he's kinda cute, actually. did he think he was cute back in the tenth grade? probably not, but he's not in tenth grade anymore, now is he?

could DC comics have created an entirely new character to serve the narrative purpose of tim's coming out special? sure. then we woulda had ten years worth of criticism from fandom about how tim magically found a guy superhot and thus dumped stephanie over it, and we would circle back to the same argument about whether tim was a douchebag for dumping stephanie for some rando, and that his bisexuality is an asspull versus 'relevant character development'. either way, it would have upset the status quo. now, is that to say timsteph was never real? no! tim and stephanie talking about his erratic behavior and him coming out to her was to SPECIFICALLY address how him being bisexual isn't meant to downgrade their relationship, or that their love wasn't real. for anyone who's still whining about timsteph not being real anymore bc bernbear entered the chat, i've long stopped seeing it as legitimate criticism bc there are YEARS worth of content with them to indulge in. shitting on a coming-out story and a romance that hasn't even had five real-time years to be explored is just straight up crass and highlights much more insidious problems in the fandom aka the rampant homophobia, quick-to-anger behavior of fans who never learned media or litcrit, and motherfuckers who ride or die for status quo like it'll kill them to enjoy something tangential.

long story short, timbern real and so is timsteph, and one of these days, inshallah bartkon will be real too.

[sniffanimal]

Don't reblog thai bc I don't want it to be like some viral post yet I want to make this into an autobio comics but an extremely formative experience for me was when I was 10 I went to a Juggalo funeral.

You see, my big sister was married to this guy at the time, and this guy's brother, Nick, was a Juggalo. My sister and her ex husband were tangentially Juggalos, I think. A lot of their friends were. Nick had a very unfortunate early death related to his interest in various illicit substances and firearms. I didn't know him very well, I don't think he was at his brother's wedding or anything. But since he was family, I attended his funeral.

My mom helped organize some of it, including a slideshow presentation to play on a TV in the church lobby. This was like 2007 I think, so it was a looping series of photos of Nick set to November Rain by Guns n Roses (odd choice but ok). I was standing in the lobby for a long time, I think I was handing out a little In Memoriam pamphlet or something. In any case I listened to nearly an hour of that song looping.

Once it was time for the funeral to start, I enter this little downtown capel/event hall thing. I think there were pews so it must have been a church. You know how at a wedding when the two newlyweds families are really different people? And you can see that clear divide down the aisle? That's what it felt like, because on one side you had Nick's family, somber and wearing dark formal wear and clutching tissues. On the other side you had his Family, most dressed down, or in their nicest Tripp pants. A few with black and white clown makeup on, as you do.

An important thing to note about my experience here, is that at the tender age of 10 years old I was incredibly sheltered. My big sister had moved out three years prior, and I wasn't allowed to really see any of her friends for any reason. My family minus her were very conservative, straightedge people. I had been to funerals before this, but the culture shock I got from meeting Juggalos like this as a small child was something that permanently etched itself into my memory.

Now, this was an open casket service. When it came time for me to pay my respects to a man I barely knew, I approached the coffin to find that he wasn't dressed up like his friends. He was in a suit, his piercings removed. But around him in the casket like an Egyptian Royal Burial were pill bottles, Kandi bracelets, and other paraphernalia. I didn't really know much about drugs at the time but there was definitely some glassware in there. Eyes wide, I went back to my seat to go ignore the eulogy and go home.

That's where the story ended for 10 year old me. An extremely bizarre funeral to introduce myself to the idea of found family and my sisters weird friends. I would tell this story sometimes if it felt right, and people enjoy it. A few years ago, I told my sister how I talk about Nick's funeral a lot and she gave me some more information: I didn't go to the after party (because I was 10).

The after party took place at a public park a ways from the chapel. The night drug on with at least one person chanting at all times "true clowns never die". There were whipits to be had, and public nudity to be enjoyed. Pretty sure there was some cop mooning that occured. Oh to have had 10 year old me know about what it really means when a Juggalo dies.

My sister divorced her ex husband a few years after that, and I haven't seen him in over a decade. If only he knew the impact his brother had on me to this day.

I'm going to go trawl Facebook and see if I can find any pictures from the event, since it seems like something my sister would have posted. Though she was probably still on myspace then. But anyways I just felt like sharing my Juggalo funeral story since it'll be some time before I can really make it into a comic to tell the story

[firelxdykatara]

Your reaction to Sylki means a lot to me. Its my first ‘problematic’ ship and all these people telling me I support incest are not helping me feel less ashamed and revolted by the perverse intrusive thoughts I deal with because of mental illness... plus I think Sylki is supposed to be immoral and slightly unsettling...this is LOKI we’re talking about. Ya know, the horse fucking narcissist. The damaged supervillain...

Honestly the fact that you, who hasn’t even watched the show yet have a more reasonable reaction to selfcest (an already established Loki trope) than half the fandom really shows just how much the fans woobify Loki. He’s not some innocent baby boy that must be protected from all the darkness in the world...he’s Loki. The god who indirectly caused the apocalypse in the myths?

Plus I feel like they’re missing the whole point here? The whole show is about identity and self acceptance? It’s just wrong and surreal enough to fit the tone of the story? It’s well written and really in character? It might mean a lot to people with severe self esteem/self loathing problems...

I couldn’t care less if it’s endgame, I even don’t think it should be...but all this hate is making me so conflicted and frustrated.

Sorry if that was long...just needed someone to vent to.

Honestly, like, I have been stunned by the vitriolic reactions to sylki in this fandom lmfao. As if Loki isn't particularly infamous in comics canon for fucking a stallion and giving birth to a horse (and he also fucked a giantess and she gave birth to a fucking wolf and a huge-ass snake, Loki's family tree is something else lmfao), and yet people think it's somehow weird that he'd be attracted to and entertain the idea of a relationship with someone who is only 'him' insofar as she technically fills the Loki-shaped hole in another version of reality?

Come the fuck on lmfao.

I get that a lot of the vitriol is coming from the biphobic idea that 'if this canonically bi character, who expressed his queerness on screen in words' (no I haven't watched the show but I did watch that clip and I'm not interested in giving Disney or Marvel asspats but I will still take my rep where I can fucking get it) 'proceeds to become involved with a character the audience perceives as a woman, it's queerbaiting and he isn't Really Bi', but I also cannot express adequately with mere words how much rage that instills in me lmfao. A bi man in a relationship with a woman is every bit as bisexual as a bi man who is single or a bi man in a relationship with a man or with someone of any other gender. He is still fucking bi regardless of his relationship status. And the idea that this on-screen confirmation of his attraction to multiple genders just doesn't count unless he's making out with a dude pisses me off to no end.

Sorry for that tangent, but yeah, I absolutely agree with you. At the end of the day, Loki falling in love with 'himself' (although it seems to me like it's been fairly well established that Loki variants aren't really him in anything but name because they've all led very different lives, or at least Sylvie has, although again this is just what I've gotten from tangential fandom osmosis and scrolling through the tags a bit out of curiosity) as an act of self-love and acceptance could be a really powerful piece of storytelling, and I think the people screaming about how 'it's basically incest' don't understand a) what incest is and why it's actually harmful (and why it literally cannot apply to self-cest no matter how you twist it lmao), and b) Loki as a character.

Anyway, keep stanning Sylki--endgame or not, canon romance arc or not, it looks like they have a really rich&interesting dynamic to explore and I hope the show doesn't shy away from that just bc some people are idiots.

[artcanary]

1-50

oh my god dude 

im gonna put this under a cut bc this is a lot. this is a ride, have fun i guess

1. Your first OC ever?god. its got to be Super Kitty. when i was like … an incredibly small child I used to draw comic strips about this feline caped crusader, who was friends with everyone in the city, and the comics always involved him stopping an evil banana man from stealing money from the local bank. He was paid with donuts for his service to the city. i still remember how to draw him. 

2. Do you have a personal favourite among your OCs?i’d get arrested if I didn’t answer this with Bronze, probably… but really, they’re very important to me

3. Have you ever adopted a character or gotten a character from someone else?man, i cant remember! i really dont think i have… P:

4. A character you rarely talk about?there’s loads of characters ive never even posted a single picture of on tumblr, i wouldnt even know where to start asdf

5. If you could make only one of your OCs popular/known, who would it be? bronze is the easy answer, but… i guess that could also go to Servant or Westrin. Servant has a comic project in the works that basically stars him, sort of a series of one-shots about the things he’s experienced, i feel like that would be a good thing to take off and run with. Westrin’s just fun as hell, i love the guy.

6. Two OCs of yours that look alike despite not being related?real talk now… there’s at least five different characters that i refer to as a whole as “bronze-tangential”, who started out as, “what would bronze be like if they were in this world?” and then becoming their own thing within said world because i just get stupid attached 

its an epidemic

7. Are your OCs part of any story or stories?nearly all of them, actually. that’s the main reason i make characters, after all! too many to really go into specifics here, again P: 

8. Do you RP as any of your OCs? If you do, introduce one of your RP OCs here!not often, but i think Bronze and Westrin are the most common ones. unless playing a character in dnd, or running an npc in dnd counts… then a whole lot more hahaha

9. Would you ever be willing to give any of your OCs to someone else?it depends on the circumstances. i don’t really like the idea, though. 

10. Introduce an OC with a complicated design? Westrin’s old getup is a pain to draw, and there was one other design i did that I cant find anywhere… whichever way, i dont often tend to draw super complicated things often 

a couple fakemon ive designed though… heheh those can get pretty finicky

11. Is there any OC of yours you could describe as a “sunshine”? hmmmmmmmm my immediate thought was Eric Silverdale from a comic i was working on a few years ago. hes a darling, i want him to be my friend irl

12. Name an OC that isn’t yours but who you like a lothow could you do this to me i love each and every one of all my friends ocs GOD the first one who comes to mind is @d20-official‘s Smith, whos Bronze’s friend… everyone in that DND party actually

13. Do you have any troublemaker OCs? Rated on a scale from “harmless” to “honestly somewhat frightening”: -Baromet (charming and quite friendly but definitely a kleptomaniac),-Westrin (demigod of bards and travelers), -XEN09 (a nonsense hacker), -Conny (needlessly contrarian and dumb as HELL), -Enza Colie (long fucking story but hes a good-for-nothing), -Hemlocke (mad scientist, chaotic evil), -Iris (AI and hacker, VERY bad), -The Terminus (glitch-in-the-matrix demon, chaotic evil), -and Sydd (the Queen of the Faeries, hopefully the danger there needs no explaining :’D)

14. Introduce an OC with a tragic backstory Mmm… there’s a few of them, most obviously Lent (whose background I did a short comic about). Basically his entire town got eaten by ghosts and turned into zombies, he only barely survived with a sliver of his soul left. 

15. Do you like to talk about your OCs with other people?yes, i often discuss storylines and such with friends

16. Which one of your OCs would be the best at biology (school subject)? Probably Bronze’s dad! I don’t talk about him much, but his name’s Devon Reed, and he was a biotech developer specialising in android design. 

I often describe him as being something of a reverse Arthur Weasley - a very fatherly scientist fascinated to the moon and back with the concept of magic. 

17. Any OC OTPs? having trouble thinking of a lot of them right now, but there’s Eric + Lent & Naiadine + Tailias from Emerald Sigil, Avken + Baromet from my space campaign world, Sydd + Wyvv from my unnamed campaign world, and I’ve been considering Westrin + Servant as an interesting dynamic in Servant’s story

18. Any OC crackships? My character Bismuth and @autistictimeknight​‘s oc Eros. Theyre so fucking in love, I love it. Its been awhile but I do still think about them sometimes.

As I recall, Eros is an empath, she can read other people’s emotions. But Bismuth is a robot, and Eros can’t read her. Because of this Eros can let go of her fear of unintentionally manipulating the emotions of her date, which would hold her back from most other relationships. 

19. Introduce an OC that means a lot to you (and explain why)Hey, meet Bronze! I definitely do not talk about them every five minutes, why would you say that. 

Bronze was with me through two of the hardest years of my life so far, and being a DND character they grew with me, both as a fighter and as a person. They were non-binary before I started using those pronouns, they were the first character or person or anything who I fought someone about using the right pronouns for, they make a great icebreaker for if I want to see how someone reacts to non-binary pronouns … 

One funny anecdote about Bronze is that when I first made them, their “gimmick” was that they would sometimes glitch out and mess up their speech, mostly because I wanted an excuse not to engage in the roleplaying (which I was very bad at). The interesting thing is that as I got better at interacting with the group, we both grew out of needing it very quickly. 

I’m very proud of Bronze. 

20. Do any of your OCs sing? If they sing, care to share more details (headcanon voice, what kind of songs they like etc)?Westrin is a bard! His singing voice sounds like Bill Wurtz and these are his theme songs.

21. Your most artistic OCProbably Westrin again, he writes a lot of songs… and Hallux is a game designer?

22. Is there any OC of yours people tend to mischaracterize? If yes, how? I honestly dont know… no-one talks to me about them, haha! 

people use all manner of pronouns for bronze, though. 

23. Introduce OC that has changed from your first idea concerning what the character would be like?I’m gonna go with Enza for this one. Enza Colie was originally written entirely because I wanted an antagonist for a short starring his sister, Jane Colie. But the more I fleshed out his reasonings for acting how he did and explored his character, the more I realised he’d make an even more interesting character if allowed to have a redemption arc, too. 

I just want to state for the record that I was very reluctant to the idea, and he basically dragged his way out of the villain pit entirely of his own accord. I am dubiously proud of him, and also a bit scared. 

24. If you could meet one OC of yours, who would it be and why?Probably either Eric (Big Man, Best Friend), Crocus (Mother figure), Reed (Father Figure), Westrin (hed just make a good friend u kno??), or Bismuth (she makes good conversation!)

25. The OC that resembles you the most (same hobby, height, shared like/dislike for something etc?)probably the homestuck fan-troll Hallux, but that’s mostly because they were based on a troll-sona I made awhile ago. They’re a hope/prospit game designer who is small and full of rage and love

oh, and there’s dave! dave’s a superhero speedster, existing in a modern-day superhero version of seattle. theyre idiot, just like me,

26. Have you ever had to change your OC’s design or something else about them against your will? this is an interesting one… i don’t think ive ever had something Bad in a design ive done called to my attention by someone, but I did create my character Servant at around the same time I was first really expanding the diversity of my casts. (since i don’t talk about him often, a little context: he’s a magic spirit creature bound to human form to serve the royal family of the land and follow their orders.) 

somehow, younger-and-more-stupid me managed to have the revelation that making this “eternal slave” character literally anything other than a white man, especially as a white author, would be Pretty Not Good. im … thats really, really not something i should pat myself on the back for, but i do consider it one of the biggest bullets dodged in my artistic career so far that i realised that not all representation is good representation so quickly, before i could make that incredibly, incurably stupid mistake. 

after that, trying to make sure my characters and their presentations don’t harm anyone pretty much has become a paranoia. i don’t seem to have stepped on any toes yet, but when it inevitably happens, please let me know - i didnt know, and i want to fix it! 

27. Any OCs that were inspired by a certain song? None that I can think of, actually! I don’t really do that often. 

28. Your most dangerous OC? god damn it i have no idea!!! is it the terminus? glitch in the matrix god of chaos motherfucker?is it sarle? terrifying calculating scientist with the power of the soul at her fingertips ??? is it ares??? is it athena????? is it petra?????? the gatekeeper???? 

… actually, the gatekeeper might be it, if “dangerous” just refers to “the amount of raw power it can wield”. the Gatekeeper is a titanic entity that exists in interdimensional multiverse space, and its implied to have the ability to create and destroy entire universe bubbles at will. for what cosmic purpose, no-one knows. 

at a more personal scale, though, literally all of the aforementioned characters are pretty bad to run into too. 

29. Which one of your OCs would go investigate an abandoned house at night without telling anyone they’re going?god. Mina or Tawn. Tawn is the Indiana Jonesy type and probably dumb enough, but also competent enough not to get into too much trouble there. Mina would probably drag her friends along. 

30. Which one of your OCs would most likely have a secret stuffed animal collection? XEN09. No-one knows, because no-one knows xir personal identity. Xe absolutely does, though. It’s less of a secret if you know xir in person, but good luck finding out about it otherwise. 

31. Pick one OC of yours and explain what their tumblr blog would be like (what they reblog, layout, anything really)dave just reblogs memes all the time tbh. they like to keep tabs on the ridiculous superhero news going on, and they show human jokes and cat videos to their alien gf. they dont really post or add to posts, but they talk in tags a lot. 

32. Which one of your OCs would be the most suitable horror game protagonist and why? i want to say tawn because i literally just realised ive been imagining their voice as sounding like luigi this entire fucking time and i never realised until this exact instant

33. Your shyest OC?probably baromet. they prefer to keep to themself in their hideout, with their collection of shiny things. they don’t really enjoy trying to communicate much, mostly because they expect to get yelled at. 

34. Do you have any twin characters?Yes! At least two sets; 

- Crocus and Sarle. (x) (x) They don’t exactly have a very well-developed relationship, but they are both quite important to the plot of my campaign world, and they are both very interesting. Crocus is a motherly figure who just exudes friendliness, while Sarle is .. very much not that, a researcher studying very gruesome things and pushing the boundaries of reality. 

- Jane and Enza Colie. I haven’t talked a whole lot about either of them here, but I’d rather leave their story to do the talking whenever I get around to it. Essentially, the both of them were intended to do the dirty work for their crime boss family, but Jane ditched to study medicine. Most of the conflict between the two of them comes out of Enza not understanding why she made the choice she did, and coming to understand how he’s been manipulated. 

35. Any sibling characters? I can’t really think of any off the top of my head, I should … I should really work on that. 

I can talk about Westrin, though. Westrin (a demigod of many things, but namely bards, travel, travelers, and people who are lost) often becomes close friends with mortals, sometimes practically adopting them. These people who consider him family, and people who have received his blessing, are able to use his surname, Brilanta, as their own if they choose. So I guess all of the Brilantas are siblings, at least in spirit. 

Oh, and XEN09 has like, seven siblings. Xe is the second-oldest, and least remarkable. 

36. Do you have OC pairs where the other part belongs to someone else (siblings, lovers, friends etc)? I already talked about Eros and Bismuth up there a ways in question 18, but I’ll talk about another relationship here. @autistictimeknight​‘s character, Nova the Alchemist, is mentor and adopted parental figure to my character Munna. Munna … Munna isn’t a very good apprentice. She tries very hard. 

37. Introduce an OC who is not quite human That’s most of them, I’m not quite sure what to say here. Bronze is an android? Bronze again? Westrin? All the aliens ?? 

38. Which one of your OCs would be the best dancer? man. uh. westrin or jean. or perhaps valencia. 

39. Introduce any character you want ??? uhhhHHHhhHHH Lord Brillium is the reigning deity of the Cloud Kingdoms in the other campaign setting I’m working on. They represent light and the quest for knowledge, and spend most of their days in the Cathedral Observatory watching the stars. 

40. Any fond memories linked to your characters? Feel free to share!one time bronze flew a hover-bike through the stained glass window in a cathedral blaring all star by smash mouth on their iguana

also one time bronze rickrolled a rakshasa demon and then pulled updog on it like, two minutes later

another time bronze scared off an entire army by pretending to be an automated security system 

41. Has anyone drawn fanart of your OCs? If yes, maybe show a picture or two here (remember sources & permissions!)ive got a whole little folder on here from all you blessed people !!!! right now ive got a drawing quinn did of one o fmy characters as my lockscreen

but i think the one i’ll really never ever get over is this piece of Jane, by @rabendraws​ / @owoltron​: 

(i bet you thought i forgot about this, dude. dude. think again.) 

42. Which one of your OCs would be the most interested in Greek gods? this is kind of a weird question, m, I feel like Bismuth would find learning about the mythos utterly fascinating, as would Tawn. 

43. Do you have any certain type when you create your OCs? Do you tend to favour some certain traits or looks? It’s time to confesshaha. uh. i might. 

aside from the entire “bronze-tangential characters” thing i mentioned awhile back, I tend to really like designing characters with hair color lighter than their skin color. it just looks so cool man. i love drawing freckles but dont put them on enough characters. i like really curly hair, but also really long and flowy hair. i like drawing triangular body types, and pointy/prominent noses. 

44. Something you like about your OCs in generaluhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh this is a really vague question. m. m. 

45. A character you no longer use?there’s old versions of characters, but a lot of my older ones have been somehow repurposed. I guess there’s Turien, my first-ever DND character, who’s just kind of sitting dead now. Haven’t really done anything with him other than a pretty recent tangential character. 

46. Has anyone ever told you that you treat your OCs badly?Not that I can think of.

47. Has anyone ever (friendly) claimed any of your OCs as their child? Im certain it’s happened, but I can’t remember any specific instances. 

48. OC who is a perfect cinnamon roll, too good for this world, too pureSpring. spring knows nothing of th dangers of the world who is letting them into fights someon eneeds to stop this

(spring roll, hehe.) 

49. Which one of your OCs would most likely enjoy memesim not sure what this question is asking since many of my ocs actively enjoy memes including but not limited to westrin, dave, bronze, xen09, iris, and doctor archersen

50. Give me the good ol’ OC talk here. Talk about anything you wanti think. i think im going to pass on this one. i gave you the good old oc talk. your damn turn, yall: 

if you have any questions about any of these guys feel free to shoot one at me!

thats all from me im tired and its one am. techskylander you absolute madman 

[magdalenes]

actually okay no i know i just made a post about how i love her but let’s talk about michelle, really talk about her, because she was incredible in spider-man: homecoming (bless you zendaya, you slayed and our cinema — four hundred people full — loved you and the whole film. we applauded at the end, i shit you not, with some even giving it a standing ovation)

okay so peter obviously has the main arc in this film and i love it, the kid was endearing and wonderful and lovable and hilarious and always tried to do the right thing and i love him, but he’s not the only one with an arc. michelle’s admittedly comes off as pretty minor when considered against some others, like peter’s, but it exists. it’s there. and that’s a pretty important thing to acknowledge, when you consider what her arc’s about: friends. more importantly, having them. let’s start with who she is. by the way, if you haven’t seen the film, i would stop reading now if you’re avoiding spoilers, because i can’t promise i’ll be avoiding them. also heads up for probably confusing parentheses bc i go off on tangents so!! michelle. michelle who we first see calling out peter and ned for “we should probably stop staring before it gets creepy” — “too late, you guys are losers”. that was in the first trailer and don’t get me wrong, it was the perfect timing for that comment, and definitely introduced us, in one line, to who michelle is. but it’s the next thing she says that i want to focus on. i feel like it may have made it’s way into promotional material for the film but i don’t remember; either way, it was the moment, for me, that highlighted an important trait about michelle (her honesty, though that’s not really all it is — it’s something that would be self-deprecating in almost anyone else’s mouth, but doesn’t quite hit that note here. it’s raw, i guess, like a punch in the face, because you don’t expect anyone to say something like “i don’t have any friends” without some emotion being attached, and while there are the barest hints of emotion there, it exists as something different entirely and i just really wanna applaud zendaya on a job really well done), as well as set up her arc’s key words. “i don’t have any friends.” whilst it’s subtly hinted as the film goes on that it’s not the only reason she’s sitting with them, it’s definitely the strongest contender. (also, bless ned; i don’t know anyone else who would consider someone sitting at the opposite end of your table ‘sitting with us’ and i love you for it. ned was a blessing) anyway! michelle is this wonderful, observant girl (“i’m not obsessed with him, i’m just very observant” was wonderfully-delivered as a line, and i love michelle for managing to inject dignity in that statement when everyone is staring at her after she reveals her observation of peter (and also how many of the same extra-curriculars she and peter have lol), even if it’s perhaps not entirely true; not that i’m positing that michelle is obsessed with peter, because definitely not, but there is definitely the subtle hints of a crush and this is tangential kinda but I REALLY LOVE HOW THEY DID THAT, like she’s not the love interest in this film and it’s subtle and definitely is not the defining aspect of her character and i just love her and i love this movie) who fits in protesting around the academic decathlon (after WINNING it, my GIRL) and seems to eat toast at parties hosted by the most-popular senior in the school (seriously i’m probably seeing this again next week but if anyone sees it before me or can remember: was she making toast at liz’s house lmao). she’s dry and clever and sits in detention when she doesn’t have it because she likes drawing people in their crisis points and shows them the pictures i cannot even express to you how much i love this girl also i don’t want to understate the washington monument moment. i never actually caught their teacher’s name but to me he will always be professor cligoris from community. anyway, when prof clig turns to her, because the rest of them are heading up to washington monument, and she realises what she’s getting at and informs him she doesn’t really want to celebrate or be involved with (i can’t remember exact phrasing so if anyone does please shout out) something slaves built, and then when prof clig is like “oh i’m sure slaves didn’t—” and then the guard in the background is just shaking his head a little in the background and michelle’s matching expression, i just. i think it’s a really good highlight of a particular way race dynamics can play out: prof clig doesn’t know slaves built the monument, doesn’t even think about it, because he’s never felt he’s needed to. even though he is the adult, the educator, he is coming from a place of historical (and modern day) privilege; it’s not something he’s thought about because it’s not his historical oppression, it’s not emblematic of historical atrocities that have ramifications on his culture today — or, it is, but those ramifications don’t actively work against him, so he doesn’t have to think about it. and liz goes up, and michelle stays down; both legitimate choices, both incredible girls. i’m just still buzzing that they showed us a character making that choice.

also, marvel’s never been the best with diversity amongst its cast, and i’m not going to suggest that this movie somehow makes up for it, because it doesn’t. i’m constantly frustrated as a biracial pasifika woman that i never see anyone who looks like me in these movies i love (i’ve long since given up on seeing someone pasifika in marvel films (though i am unbelievably excited for taika waititi’s thor), but just in general, it’s so important to see more poc in these movies) but this is the first marvel movie i’ve seen set in new york that is actually populated with enough diversity to look like it could actually be new york. also, the high schoolers actually look like teenagers! i’m in awe! i fucking love this cast anyway i’m getting really distracted. all right, so we have michelle in all her blunt, smart, politically active, toast-eating, cool outsider glory. and we have her arc words: “i don’t have any friends.”

and then we have the washington monument scene, a moment that only peter is privy to, though michelle doesn’t know it’s peter. michelle, on the ground — michelle who says “can’t believe you guys are at this lame party”, michelle who is involved in several extra-curricular groups but is usually alone outside of them, michelle who voluntarily attends detention, michelle who says “i don’t have any friends” — michelle points up at the monument that’s cracking and cries out, worriedly (it’s literally the most earnest emotion we’ve heard from her all film; generally she’s dry and fly af), “my friends are up there!”

honestly, it didn’t occur to me until after, because i was so swept away in the moment, but she says it. my friends. and peter — peter hears it. spider-man does this odd stumbling double-take at her words, and at the time i thought it might be his surprise at seeing her there, or his concern at what she said regarding the whereabouts of their team, or just his general panic. and honestly, i still think that. peter parker is smarter than me, but i think even he would be too caught up in everything to realise what she said. but she still said it. i don’t know if peter would click or remember later — honestly, he had a lot of stuff going on. but she still said it, and he does know that, even if she doesn’t know he does.

we see michelle with the gang other times, of course — with peter in detention, with ned and the others at the dance, etc. — but it’s her final scene i want to draw you to, the academic decathlon meeting after liz leaves. michelle is named captain, and they’re all clapping for her and it’s so pure and ned looks honestly excited for her and peter looks earnest and it’s just so pure — and then she says, “my friends call me mj”. (i’m gonna revisit that in a moment, but i need to finish the scene). ned turns to her, like, “i thought you don’t have any friends” and she pauses, then says, “i didn’t” and i fucking died.

we go from michelle at the beginning, on the very end of the table, alone and away from even losers peter and ned — because they may be losers, but they’re together. michelle is alone. we go from that michelle, saying “i don’t have any friends”, to michelle at the end, surrounded by her decathlon team, clapping for her, happy for her, acknowledging her deserved captaincy, saying “my friends call me mj”, saying “i didn’t [have any friends]” but now i do.

i just !!! i love michelle so much and maybe it’s not a hero arc, or learning about the importance of looking out for the little guy, or even learning to listen (which was probably happy’s), but it’s still important. it’s still meaningful. i went into that film being sure i’d love zendaya’s character. i came out of that film not only loving her, but rooting for michelle “mj” jones.

aaaaaand let’s talk real quick about the mj thing, because it’s not the point of this post but i still want to. personally, i love mary-jane in the comics, but her film presence has been pretty lacklustre, and michelle is quite different to her but i also really really love michelle, like holy shit, and i think she’s an incredible mj. i don’t know what role she’ll occupy going forward. they said she’s not mary-jane watson, that she’s a completely new character, and technically, that’s true. she’s mj, but she’s not mary-jane. they also said she wasn’t a love interest this movie; that’s also true. liz was. however. she’s not mary-jane, but she is mj. she wasn’t a love interest this movie, but she was nursing a well-hidden crush on peter. so maybe in spider-man 2, who knows? personally, i’m rooting for it, but more than that, i’m rooting for her. as a character. spider-man: homecoming gave me so many wonderful things, like a wonderful cast, the best use of donald glover since community (”i like bread”) which also snuck in a miles morales reference, a great ferris bueller’s day off homage, my favourite film incarnation of peter parker, the wonder that is liz allen, an a.i. named karen who is more supportive of peter than most adults are in general, high schoolers that looked like high schoolers, an updated version of a bully instead of a jock meathead and ned wearing an awesome cowboy hat because it gives him confidence (ned is such a fucking blessing) (also i hope he one day meets groot wearing that because groot’s reason for not liking hats gives me life), but michelle “mj” jones might be the gift i appreciate most.

[magdalenes]

actually okay no i know i just made a post about how i love her but let’s talk about michelle, really talk about her, because she was incredible in spider-man: homecoming (bless you zendaya, you slayed and our cinema — four hundred people full — loved you and the whole film. we applauded at the end, i shit you not, with some even giving it a standing ovation)

okay so peter obviously has the main arc in this film and i love it, the kid was endearing and wonderful and lovable and hilarious and always tried to do the right thing and i love him, but he’s not the only one with an arc. michelle’s admittedly comes off as pretty minor when considered against some others, like peter’s, but it exists. it’s there. and that’s a pretty important thing to acknowledge, when you consider what her arc’s about: friends. more importantly, having them. let’s start with who she is. by the way, if you haven’t seen the film, i would stop reading now if you’re avoiding spoilers, because i can’t promise i’ll be avoiding them. also heads up for probably confusing parentheses bc i go off on tangents so!! michelle. michelle who we first see calling out peter and ned for “we should probably stop staring before it gets creepy” — “too late, you guys are losers”. that was in the first trailer and don’t get me wrong, it was the perfect timing for that comment, and definitely introduced us, in one line, to who michelle is. but it’s the next thing she says that i want to focus on. i feel like it may have made it’s way into promotional material for the film but i don’t remember; either way, it was the moment, for me, that highlighted an important trait about michelle (her honesty, though that’s not really all it is — it’s something that would be self-deprecating in almost anyone else’s mouth, but doesn’t quite hit that note here. it’s raw, i guess, like a punch in the face, because you don’t expect anyone to say something like “i don’t have any friends” without some emotion being attached, and while there are the barest hints of emotion there, it exists as something different entirely and i just really wanna applaud zendaya on a job really well done), as well as set up her arc’s key words. “i don’t have any friends.” whilst it’s subtly hinted as the film goes on that it’s not the only reason she’s sitting with them, it’s definitely the strongest contender. (also, bless ned; i don’t know anyone else who would consider someone sitting at the opposite end of your table ‘sitting with us’ and i love you for it. ned was a blessing) anyway! michelle is this wonderful, observant girl (“i’m not obsessed with him, i’m just very observant” was wonderfully-delivered as a line, and i love michelle for managing to inject dignity in that statement when everyone is staring at her after she reveals her observation of peter (and also how many of the same extra-curriculars she and peter have lol), even if it’s perhaps not entirely true; not that i’m positing that michelle is obsessed with peter, because definitely not, but there is definitely the subtle hints of a crush and this is tangential kinda but I REALLY LOVE HOW THEY DID THAT, like she’s not the love interest in this film and it’s subtle and definitely is not the defining aspect of her character and i just love her and i love this movie) who fits in protesting around the academic decathlon (after WINNING it, my GIRL) and seems to eat toast at parties hosted by the most-popular senior in the school (seriously i’m probably seeing this again next week but if anyone sees it before me or can remember: was she making toast at liz’s house lmao). she’s dry and clever and sits in detention when she doesn’t have it because she likes drawing people in their crisis points and shows them the pictures i cannot even express to you how much i love this girl also i don’t want to understate the washington monument moment. i never actually caught their teacher’s name but to me he will always be professor cligoris from community. anyway, when prof clig turns to her, because the rest of them are heading up to washington monument, and she realises what she’s getting at and informs him she doesn’t really want to celebrate or be involved with (i can’t remember exact phrasing so if anyone does please shout out) something slaves built, and then when prof clig is like “oh i’m sure slaves didn’t—” and then the guard in the background is just shaking his head a little in the background and michelle’s matching expression, i just. i think it’s a really good highlight of a particular way race dynamics can play out: prof clig doesn’t know slaves built the monument, doesn’t even think about it, because he’s never felt he’s needed to. even though he is the adult, the educator, he is coming from a place of historical (and modern day) privilege; it’s not something he’s thought about because it’s not his historical oppression, it’s not emblematic of historical atrocities that have ramifications on his culture today — or, it is, but those ramifications don’t actively work against him, so he doesn’t have to think about it. and liz goes up, and michelle stays down; both legitimate choices, both incredible girls. i’m just still buzzing that they showed us a character making that choice.

also, marvel’s never been the best with diversity amongst its cast, and i’m not going to suggest that this movie somehow makes up for it, because it doesn’t. i’m constantly frustrated as a biracial pasifika woman that i never see anyone who looks like me in these movies i love (i’ve long since given up on seeing someone pasifika in marvel films (though i am unbelievably excited for taika waititi’s thor), but just in general, it’s so important to see more poc in these movies) but this is the first marvel movie i’ve seen set in new york that is actually populated with enough diversity to look like it could actually be new york. also, the high schoolers actually look like teenagers! i’m in awe! i fucking love this cast anyway i’m getting really distracted. all right, so we have michelle in all her blunt, smart, politically active, toast-eating, cool outsider glory. and we have her arc words: “i don’t have any friends.”

and then we have the washington monument scene, a moment that only peter is privy to, though michelle doesn’t know it’s peter. michelle, on the ground — michelle who says “can’t believe you guys are at this lame party”, michelle who is involved in several extra-curricular groups but is usually alone outside of them, michelle who voluntarily attends detention, michelle who says “i don’t have any friends” — michelle points up at the monument that’s cracking and cries out, worriedly (it’s literally the most earnest emotion we’ve heard from her all film; generally she’s dry and fly af), “my friends are up there!”

honestly, it didn’t occur to me until after, because i was so swept away in the moment, but she says it. my friends. and peter — peter hears it. spider-man does this odd stumbling double-take at her words, and at the time i thought it might be his surprise at seeing her there, or his concern at what she said regarding the whereabouts of their team, or just his general panic. and honestly, i still think that. peter parker is smarter than me, but i think even he would be too caught up in everything to realise what she said. but she still said it. i don’t know if peter would click or remember later — honestly, he had a lot of stuff going on. but she still said it, and he does know that, even if she doesn’t know he does.

we see michelle with the gang other times, of course — with peter in detention, with ned and the others at the dance, etc. — but it’s her final scene i want to draw you to, the academic decathlon meeting after liz leaves. michelle is named captain, and they’re all clapping for her and it’s so pure and ned looks honestly excited for her and peter looks earnest and it’s just so pure — and then she says, “my friends call me mj”. (i’m gonna revisit that in a moment, but i need to finish the scene). ned turns to her, like, “i thought you don’t have any friends” and she pauses, then says, “i didn’t” and i fucking died.

we go from michelle at the beginning, on the very end of the table, alone and away from even losers peter and ned — because they may be losers, but they’re together. michelle is alone. we go from that michelle, saying “i don’t have any friends”, to michelle at the end, surrounded by her decathlon team, clapping for her, happy for her, acknowledging her deserved captaincy, saying “my friends call me mj”, saying “i didn’t [have any friends]” but now i do.

i just !!! i love michelle so much and maybe it’s not a hero arc, or learning about the importance of looking out for the little guy, or even learning to listen (which was probably happy’s), but it’s still important. it’s still meaningful. i went into that film being sure i’d love zendaya’s character. i came out of that film not only loving her, but rooting for michelle “mj” jones.

aaaaaand let’s talk real quick about the mj thing, because it’s not the point of this post but i still want to. personally, i love mary-jane in the comics, but her film presence has been pretty lacklustre, and michelle is quite different to her but i also really really love michelle, like holy shit, and i think she’s an incredible mj. i don’t know what role she’ll occupy going forward. they said she’s not mary-jane watson, that she’s a completely new character, and technically, that’s true. she’s mj, but she’s not mary-jane. they also said she wasn’t a love interest this movie; that’s also true. liz was. however. she’s not mary-jane, but she is mj. she wasn’t a love interest this movie, but she was nursing a well-hidden crush on peter. so maybe in spider-man 2, who knows? personally, i’m rooting for it, but more than that, i’m rooting for her. as a character. spider-man: homecoming gave me so many wonderful things, like a wonderful cast, the best use of donald glover since community (”i like bread”) which also snuck in a miles morales reference, a great ferris bueller’s day off homage, my favourite film incarnation of peter parker, the wonder that is liz allen, an a.i. named karen who is more supportive of peter than most adults are in general, high schoolers that looked like high schoolers, an updated version of a bully instead of a jock meathead and ned wearing an awesome cowboy hat because it gives him confidence (ned is such a fucking blessing) (also i hope he one day meets groot wearing that because groot’s reason for not liking hats gives me life), but michelle “mj” jones might be the gift i appreciate most.