#actually that entire comic run ruined my life so

[gossippool]

i'll be out here having a good day and then i'll think about wade wilson and the fact that he was a kid once and suddenly i'm not having such a good day anymore

[hazelnut-u-out]

Do you think about the whole Rick Prime thing? Did it kinda feel anticlimactic???

Yeeahhhhhh, but... I think that's the point!

At first, I was a little bit disappointed with how they handled the arc. I really thought Prime was going to be the Big Bad! Having the whole climax of C-137's arc with Prime as a mid-season episode felt oddly... dismissive? It was like it wasn't even a major event.

After sitting on this for a bit, I think I actually love how they've handled it. I think this is the first time I've really seen the show take something that perfectly fills a 'Television Run' format (i.e. big events at the ends of the seasons for cliffhangers, and so on) and subvert those expectations into something more like 'Real Life.' In my opinion, a lot of the show is shown as how characters involved view the events, especially in terms of tonality. That's why so much of the show fits these media formulas-- Rick views his life as a show.

I often refer to the majority of the show as 'Rick's Director's Cut' because we get events skewed from his warped perception of his own actions. (You can even think of 'Morty's Mindblowers' as Rick literally editing footage into a better story.) Of course, we see why he's sympathetic. As the viewer, we understand why he's doing what he's doing, even if we don't agree with it. He views himself as the 'sitcom dad'-- comically fucked up and abusive, but secretly caring. Rick believes that he's got just enough heart for his actions to be excusable, forgetting that the people he hides his intentions from aren't getting the 'full picture' like the viewer is. From Morty's perspective, Rick does these things for no reason-- unless you count not liking, caring about, or valuing Morty. Of course, we know that's not the case, but Morty doesn't. His family doesn't.

The Prime arc is fascinating to me because of the contrast between how Rick viewed it versus how it happened from the perspective of the viewer. Rick went into the Prime arc thinking it would be a massive, badass epic where the underdog comes out on top and the audience is satisfied with the conclusion. As the audience, this is probably the first time we haven't really been able to click with that, you know? It was unsatisfying, even for Rick, and now he's sort of saddled with, 'Oh, shit. This is real life. What comes next?'

Sure, they're little guys on our television screens. To them, though... that's real life. Real life is messy. Real life is unsatisfying. Real life is disappointing, the editing is sloppy, arcs aren't linear, and dysfunction and substance abuse aren't silly character traits.

The whole point is: What happens now?

In real life, what happens after your abusive parent passes away or you finally get revenge on the person who tore your life apart? In real life, what happens after you beat the shit out of the guy who assaulted you? Or after your dad apologizes for walking out on you?

There's actually a Malcolm in the Middle scene reminiscent of this concept. Francis was blamed by Lois from the time he was born for ruining their relationship. Throughout the entire series, his arcs deal with their broken relationship. When she finally apologizes, the pinnacle of his hopes and dreams-- the only thing keeping him alive, it doesn't help. It doesn't fix the years of psychological abuse he suffered, or the fact that he's as broken as he is because of her failure as a parent.

Another great example is in Adventure Time, when Finn thinks he's ripped Martin's arm off for causing him to lose his own. The revenge doesn't help. (Sorry, not digging for a link to the scene lmao.)

Those things aren't satisfying on their own. The fantasies and daydreams we barter through aren't feasible cures. That's real life. What happens afterward is what you do next. That can be a tough pill to swallow. There's no quick 'fix-all' for everything that's fucked you up. What helps? Hard work. Dedication. Time. Therapy. Grief. Acceptance.

Rick never really worked through the grieving process, you know?

There was Denial and Anger:

And where he got stuck... Bargaining:

After Prime's death? Depression:

Four decades later, we're finally on the cusp of Acceptance.

That's what that look into the hole was. That's what putting up Morty's picture was. That's what choosing to walk away was.

Acceptance.

In conclusion of my long-winded rant, I liked the Prime arc. Fits nicely into the season after the finality of 'Fear No Mort.'

Well done, writers.

Thanks for asking! <3

[clownfishbites]

Ok it’s time for the St Augustine Joker meta. Sorry if it got a bit long I just have a lot of thoughts.

I find it so interesting that he would bring up St Augustine in that moment. I wasn’t a huge fan of the run in general but I thought it had its merits and this bit was one of them because I’m a sucker for batjokes that is also religious fanaticism.

For St Augustine, ‘grace’ in this sense is not something that needs to be found or earned, the Catholic doctrine states that it is given freely, a gift from God to mankind.

Batman gives Joker grace when nobody in the entire world will, I mentioned it a bit in my last meta but think Batman: Cacophony, Batman: It's Joker time, Batman: Devil's Advocate and literally every time he doesn't kill him, or protects him from harm when nobody else would. He is giving him grace that does not have to be earned, it's a benevolent gift from the divine. Or at least that's how Joker is seeing it, a rationalisation for why Batman spares him when nobody else would.

St Augustine tells God that "it is only by Your grace and mercy that You have melted away the ice of my evil". St Augustine needs God in the same way Joker needs Batman, to act in opposition to his 'evil', to be worshipped with the intention of being the gravity that keeps him on Earth, or in his own words, the compass pointing true north.

I'm not going to get too carried away but I think it's a pretty interesting comparison that's existing here between St Augustine and God, and Joker and Batman.

"head towards God and remember, everything else is chaos"

If Batman is the entity that is salvation, the thing to be drawn to- he isn't just the opposite force, but the only other thing in existence, because Joker defines himself as chaos. There is Divinity and Chaos and that is all. It's a nice lens on Joker's perspective that every other living thing is a prop in his pursuit of Batman's love and attention.

Religion is a choice, but how could Joker pick any other divinity, when he freely acknowledges that Batman is his creator. One of St Augustine's concepts surrounding human creation is that of original sin- that being that everybody is born with sin, born tainted ever since Adam and Eve were expelled from the garden of Eden.

But if everyone is born tainted, lives tainted and there is no real assurance of redemption, what actually is the point in trying to be good, to be a virtuous person, if someone like the Joker can just come into the church and take your life. Or from the pov of the Joker what is the point in any of it if we are born ruined.

We return to the idea that Joker sees himself as beyond salvation in the traditional sense, he's in a sunk cost fallacy but with being evil. But just to push this to it's limit, his very existence shakes faith in a creator that is all good,

Where is the grace of God in a world that allowed him to exist?

In the absence of divine light and a creator that loves him, he desperately seeks the opposite, divine darkness and a creator that hates him. But Joker loves him no less for it because Batman is all that exists in his world.

"head towards love and everything else is chaos"

Here he's changed the words of St Augustine, altering it from following God to following love, and he says this while heading towards Batman which is...basically the entire point of this, Batman is his love, Batman is his divinity.

But even Batman has to devote himself to an idea bigger than himself, and he can only stand in opposition, his crusade would be over if he truly cleansed Gotham of all evil- OR, as Joker suggests in this comic, if he became happy. If he didn't have to exist in opposition, if the misery that fuelled his crusade was taken away

Joker can only stand in opposition too- we know this because we see how completely he crumbles apart when his opposition is removed.

Batman functionally exists as half of a whole, in his own way Joker's speech is confronting this reality, albeit in a much more roundabout way than he explains it to Selina.

And this is why neither of them can ever truly escape this cycle, their aspect of devotion would die the moment the other was removed from the equation, and with it divinity and chaos would cease to exist, and so would the world.

I love cosmic batjokes.

[investingestincest]

TW /// MENTIONS OF SUICIDE

(Rambles)

I don't know if i can ever forgive antis for running so many artists off the internet because they found them gross. There are so many artists that come to mind but one that sticks with me the hardest is Columbo who was literally ran off Twitter for the most vile reason. I often see tiktok artists redraw that one Monster fanart of Johan and Nina that Columbo made. This was what pushed me to watch the anime in the first place and I get so sad when I remember what happened. They deliberately tried to ruin the artist's life and outed them knowing that this could get them killed. They wanted them DEAD over DRAWINGS. The length some would go to ruin someone's life is terrifying and so fucked up.

Don't even get me started on doxxing. At what point in your sorry little life do you decide to dig someone's private info and leak it to the whole world. And still claim to be more righteous than another ?

Not to mention those who harmed themselves or committed suicide because of harrassment.

I remember how a 13yo artist on twitter committed suicide because of the harrassment they faced (Not proship related). You know what those bastards did ? Went to their last post and filled it with nothing but mockery. They were editing the comic to make amogus jokes. A 13yo child.

I blocked and reported over 700 and yet there was still more. I've never felt so sick in my entire life. They had just gotten the confirmation that they pushed a child to suicide and their immediate reaction was to laugh about it. They killed a child and they laughed ?

This isn't even the first time this happened and I think that's pretty much what made me realize that antis (or just internet fiends in general) didn't actually give a shit about anyone else or the content that they "hate" in general, they just use it as an excuse to show how vile they truly are because what sane person would do that ? Instead of blocking and moving on, you put someone's life in danger for a fucking drawing ? For what, an ounce of validation from strangers ? Is this what it takes for these fuckers to ruin someone's life ? Validation from online strangers ? Laughing with your online friends about how you ruined someone's life, with others who'd probably do the same to you without a second thought if they deem you as problematic in their mind ? This is seriously all it takes ? Their moral backbone is as real as the fictional character they try so hard to defend.

Do you really think that the fictional character will appear in your living room one day and thank you for ruining someone else's life ? It baffles me how they think the internet is a lawless barren land where you can do whatever. Like this won't have consequences ? This isn't the 90s, your information and everything that you post is preserved in archives and can be dug up if you end up getting prosecuted. Besides, if someone finds out about what you did, reports you and you end up in court, what do you tell the judge ? That you were "only trying to protect a fictional character from the icky proship pedos on twitter" do these guys even hear themselves sometimes ? I'm so fucking tired of this bullshit man...

[whimsicallywiddershins]

Something people should talk about: Health Anxiety. AKA, being a hypochondriac.

Hypochondriacs are jokes. We are viewed as annoying, silly and nonsensical. Every medical drama will always have a patient who is a hypochondriac, who is the comic relief, the irrational man or woman who badgers the doctor and freaks out over nothing. In real life, people are annoyed and exasperated with hypochondriacs.

But it's a form of anxiety, like all of the others that are finally getting attention and acceptance on social media and in doctors' offices. And, considering that health care is not a sure thing in America, thay getting sick means you can't work, can't pay rent, can't buy food, that's a terrifying and real fear. Having a chronic illness or disability can cause a lot of problems. So its not an entirely irrational fear.

Anxiety can cause a lot of weird symptoms to your body. Random pain, especially in the chest, heart palpitations, difficulty breathing, extreme fatigue, numbness or pins and neeldes in legs, blurred vision, ect. And all of these can be symptoms to some big problems, like heart attacks, strokes, diabetes, brain problems, ect. Which is not reassuring when you are constantly afraid of getting sick.

Health anxiety is terrifying. Its the constant fear that your body will fail you, it's experiencing symptoms that scare you. It's the fear combined with the knowledge that it's in your head, but what if it's not? What if there is a problem, and not going to the doctor now will ruin your life? Can you even trust the doctor to know what they are doing? You've heard horror stories of misdiagnosis and dismissal. What if they think I'm crazy and stop actually checking? Those are the thoughts that run through your head.

So please stop treating health anxiety as a joke. It took me a long time to even realize what was wrong with me, why I was reacting this way. All because I had this bias in my mind that hypochondriacs are silly, useless, and irrational people.

[superemeralds]

Who is your oldest (like longest had) OC? When did you come up with them, or tell us what the inspiration was!

my oldest oldest OC is Diana, she's a sailor moon self-insert who's the princess of the entire galaxy (as opposed to usagi's pathetic reign over juuust the solar system lmao) and she was sailor star. To be fair thgouh, I did make her before i saw season 5 and that season ruined my entire lore and I kind of dropped sailor moon for a while after that akjfhkajsf but when i was 9 or 10 i started making this sailor moon season 6 comic where my oc was the main character obviously but i was also obsessed w like 5 other certoons and anime so it just all meshed together. also all the other characters wouldnt stop commenting on my character being sooo tomboyish and how she was seen as one of the boys and one conflict was her not wanting to be girly when she transforms... I WONDER WHAT THAT MEANT FOR ME.........🏳️‍⚧️

my oldest OC that i actually have like. well recorded inspo and history of (drew him lots, still use him sometimes) is saph.

he was my sonic self insert at first. in the very beginning he was sonic's long lost sister ♥ back then he used to work for eggman. also i only knew about sonic from sonic x and only the first 2 seasons existed in germany at the time i watched it, so i thought 1) shadow is one of eggmans minions 2) shadow is an ugly jerk and i hated him lol.

(the rest is under cut bc this came out suuuper long)

same story as last oc. at first trying hard to be girly, (also holy shit i found the poerfect img for this)

but that's uncomfortable so i'm making the oc edgy. (notice the "MALE NOSE!!!!") at this point the backstory was that he's a "clone" of sonic shadow and silver.

no wait even better. run around naked like the boy characters.

everyone always confusing the giiirl for a boooy and i genuinely got some hate for my character design bc i shipped him w shadow and wow u cant have a homo OCxCanon ship ewww lmao but oh well.

someone once dared me to do a genderbend and then i just changed the color from white to black and they were angry i didnt do a proper genderbend. while the anti version of the character was a proper girly girl with pink and sparkles and smiles and rainbows and skirts and frilly tops and stupid hairstyle. and ppl complained the anti looked more like a genderbend. (below is the "anti". i can't find the genderbend anymore)

for me it just was my first crack in the egg bc hey. i don't want to be preppy, i want to be emo. but im not allowed bc girls are not meant to be edgy. and im notally not projecting on the boy version of this character more than the girl one. nope.

with every year i reduced the hair pieces at the front lmao but ya after my egg cracked i focused more on making him cool andkeeping him gender neutral. Then i used him to prcess a lot of my ongoing hardships in life. the redesign also being bc of a big shift (well. yeah me transitioning socially lmao)

he's unfortunately associated a lot w that painful time so i don't use him a lot anymore

he came a long way though im proud of him. here's one of the most recent drawings together with his brother (also has lots of lore on how he happened but im not feeling like it rn to go on that tangent)

[donnerpartyofone]

I destroyed the house. I've been slowly neatening and cleaning and making things liveable bit by bit for weeks and it's all gone. People joke about the whole Sisyphus thing and they usually mean the rat race of work and bills and not getting ahead, but when I say every day is the same I really mean it. The drawers I "fixed" have stopped closing again because I had to look for something and my "organizing" couldn't withstand that, so now we're back to square one. The clothing I sorted and washed and put away is once again in a 3' deep ocean all over the bedroom, because I had to look for something. The art and comics and little gifts people gave me that I "put away safely" is all wrecked because I had to look for something. The little bags and boxes I made to consolidate different types of things are all over the place again, because I had to look for something. The jewelry I finally organized (after I destroyed more than half of it by trying to clean it) is a mess again because I had to look for something. And I didn't even find the main thing I was looking for, which had a very definite place-it-belongs and is more than a foot long on each side and would be awfully conspicuous in an apartment this size, and whose ENTIRE PURPOSE WAS HELPING ME STAY ORGANIZED, is just gone. I really don't get what could have happened, I must have just slipped into a fugue state and thrown it in the trash. I don't even think I spent my own money on it, I think my husband bought it for me which makes my chronic and destructive wastefulness even more shameful than usual. I was supposed to walk a block and a half to the pharmacy hours ago to find out if they had my backordered medication, so that I could know if I then had to spend the rest of the day calling other pharmacies for the same reason. There's no way I can do that very important thing now, even though the medication is directly related to why I just totally ruined the house and undid months' worth of careful, patient organizing so I could try to live something like a decent, normal life. I should have applied for jobs today. I should have worked on my project that could actually turn into a job if I really try hard. I should have done normal cleaning like laundry and dishes and showering. I should have run a few errands and gotten some fresh air. I should have read one of the many books I'm half way through. Just one of any of these things would have justified getting out of bed today. I should have done anything at all to just inch my life forward a little bit, to just try to be a little bit better than I was yesterday. But instead I'm just still living an endless repetitive day that started sometime when I was in my 30s, or my 20s, or when a was a child, a day I will never get to the end of because I can't complete anything. I can never get to the next step of anything. No wonder my family talks to me like I'm still the same laughably stunted and incompetent 12 year old they had to carry through life decades ago, it makes me mad that they won't treat me like an adult with real thoughts and feelings but actually I totally deserve it because from the day I was born nothing has changed. I'm still just lying around pissing my pants and wondering how I got all wet.

[tangarang]

So any word of Coupon Kids or are you unsure/trying to keep quiet about it for right now? I like quat's redesign. It's more visually distinct than the original.

tldr: I am trying to pick back up on Coupon Kids, reworking the story (yeah , the actual story) with a lot more intention! Idk how long it will take, but just know that I'm taking it seriously.

If you want the LONNGGG story of it, here it is!

Last time we left off in the comic, I was in quarantine with my niece and sister! I was helping to raise my niece so my sister could get out of a horribly abusive relationship. I was a full time nanny which was tough! Cause I had to still make rent from home on commissions, but no one was buying them because we all became RLY RLY poor all at once.... go figure.

I turned to Coupon Kids for support because umm I was kinda fucked tbh 6_6. I had run out of money and had no time to make more, but I SQUEEEZED out the last of the Halibut Jones arc! (which, even at the time of completion, I knew it was an underwhelming piece of work, but I finished it and I'm proud I did!) Thanks to everyone's support, I had enough financial padding that I could rely on Patreon's passive income and refocus on supporting my sister/niece as well as plan to make the move down south to continue my schooling once the quarantine let up. So thats where I had left the comic for the time being in terms of story, with a sprinkle of short strips here and there, but nothing plot related, because the plot was horribly fucked right from the get-go.

I had to take multiple severe hiatuses with Coupon Kids because I got my ass handed to me on several accounts through ought. Horrible breakup, friend break up, severe mental illness, best friend got cancer, best friend died, quarantine, unexpected parenthood, gallbladder disease, then school. All the while Coupon Kids was something I made in the deepest pits of my depression.

I absolutely hated my self, my work, and my art. That all looped back to being a strange source of peace for me to make stuff w/o fear of judgement. No one could hate Coupon Kids as much as I did. I was the #1 Coupon Kids hater and I ruined it by making it. (this is a retrospective pov obv... I dont think my work is worthless anymore thx wellbutrin lol)

Coupon Kids was very liberating to write in that I had no standards, but the lack of structure kinda eventually lead to its own downfall once I started to get better. I had a very loose idea of what I wanted the story to be, but I was so disoriented by chemical imbalance and weed (I smoked SOOO much weed) I didn't rly care about the ending because tbh I thought I was gonna be dead before I got anywhere near the ending. But then Kira died, So I officially abstained myself from death's sexy loins and committed myself to giving life another go.

Sorry for the autobio dump: its kinda hard to convey Coupon Kids development w/o getting into the nitty gritty of what I was going through at the time of making it. The point is this: I made Coupon Kids with the intention of it being a stain on my legacy- but then I ended up loving the stain and it's inhabitants. Its made coming back to it difficult, because I want to put genuine effort in it but that clashes with it's overall tone. Instead of creating in spite, I'd like to create it in celebration of my artistic short comings and to do that is to completely rework the entire moral of the story and all of the characters. If I'm gonna do it right, I'd like to take my time.

Not sure how many people made it to the end of this one! Sorry I'm so quiet about my process. tbh the last 4 years have been the best of my life despite holding a lot of dread. I'm doing a lot better now and am really excited to work on what I love and be grateful I have the power to do so ! So thank you for reading if you are still interested, it means a lot!

[ilovescaredysquirrel2]

My thoughts on the new Chicken Run 2 + other upcoming animated movies

I saw the new trailer for Chicken Run 2 and I'm having a roller coaster of thoughts rn.... I don't know how to feel. I think Netflix is ruining Chicken Run! I won't come after Aardman on this, even though I think there's more they could have done, I don't really know how they could make this work since Chicken Run isn't really their thing. Like, Chicken Run is MORE DreamWorks than it is, Aardman. Aardman had a lot of work and effort put into the movie, but it still counts as being more of a DreamWorks film. I think Netflix is mostly to blame, I also wish that DreamWorks would have more say-so in this. Like, DreamWorks needs to step up and take back what's theirs! Like I said, not entirely blaming Aardman on this, they're neutral and have to be, it's Netflix I'm angry at.

Okay, so this new trailer didn't really feel like Chicken Run. My bestie Georgia and I are huge fans of it, so we felt a little hurt seeing this new trailer. Of course we're gonna watch it, obviously because it's Chicken Run, but we're still not excited for it and have a lot of mixed feelings. We both agree that this didn't have the same vibes as the first movie, where they mostly focused on telling a story of an American rooster with a broken wing who helps a hen and her flock escape from a chicken farm in the UK, because the owners plan on killing them off for food. The story has a lot of heavy topics and fits perfectly for a DreamWorks movie, relating to real life situations. Chicken Run is the best example but also Kung Fu Panda and Trolls were good examples too. I think Chicken Run is mostly known for the serious topics, and I relate to Rocky so much, that's why it's my favorite.

Everyone in the trailer seemed so out of character, especially Rocky and Ginger. Rocky was the main character in the first movie,m and it's okay if they wanted it to focus more on Ginger for the sequel, I totally get that! They barely showed him in this new trailer, however. I'm actually really mad. And when I saw how they changed Ginger's personality, I felt like crying! For so long, I saw her as one of my comfort characters, she seemed tough and strong but also very understanding and sweet in the first movie. It seems like they're just making her the just tough baddie in this and I'm really upset. Like, I didn't see her understanding and sweet side like in the movie. It's so hard to se my favorite characters like this. Plus, them firing almost all the voice actors. Like, Julia Sawalha stills sounds the same and this new lady who's voicing her sounds nothing like Ginger! I bet they only hired her because she's more popular than Julia. I also know there was some drama with Mel Gibson in the past, he might be a little bit of a jerk sometimes but he's still the OG voice of Rocky and there's no replacing him. Disney didn't replace Ellen in Finding Dory and Ellen's not a nice person either. Plus, what did Timothy Spall and Phil Daniels do to get replaced? NOTHING! I heard the voices and those are NOT Nick and Fetcher's voices... maybe favorite DreamWorks sidekick duo and I absolutely can't handle this. At least Jane Horrocks, Imelda Staunton, and Lynn Ferguson are in it still (I feel bad Imelda always gets stuck playing/voicing the worst characters, but she voiced an absolute icon in Big & Small).

To be 100% completely honest, I actually think Babs is the only good thing about this. Like I said, I'm also happy that Jane Horrocks is still voicing her, because I think she's perfect for this role. I love how Babs is the only one who's kind of in character, and also has more screen time. I don't want Babs to just be a comic relief, but I love that she has more funny lines. She's one of my favorites in the first movie, but I think it's safe to say that she'll be my favorite in the sequel. This still doesn't feel like Chicken Run to me, and it definitely doesn't feel like a DreamWorks movie. This feels like Netflix was trying to get ownership from DreamWorks and force Aardman to team up with them... however, I'm still going to watch this. Another good thing is Frizzle, she seems like a sweet character (I feel like they're going to make Babs and Frizzle be a couple, watch them be lesbian. Just watch, I can predict the future). If it were up to me, Babs is better on her own she don't need no love interest.

So after the long rant about Chicken Run 2 Dawn of the Nugget (ew I hate that "Dawn of the Nugget" title), I have other movies I'm way more excited to see. It used to be a Chicken Run sequel I was waiting for almost 3 years, but now there's other movies that look way better. It hurts, because I'm a huge fan of Chicken Run but at least Trolls 3 looks amazing! I don't know how I feel that they gave Queen Poppy a sister but she seems cool. I just hope we get that wholesome Broppy romance we're all hoping to see! I'm also really excited for Illumination's "Migration" which is about ducks, but what really won me over was this movie called "Butterfly Tale" which looks absolutely adorable. I love how it focuses on a boy butterfly and a boy caterpillar, because butterflies were always seen as a "girly" thing so HAH! Boys can like butterflies too! ^u^

Anyway, tell me your thoughts on this! Any other Chicken Run fans here? any DreamWorks or Aardman fans want to add to this too? What about Trolls 3? I'd love to read your comments!

[linaisfunny]

SAD HEADCANONS FOR SIREN BECAUSE I LOVE MY CHAT AND WAS TARGETED

1#. Due to the God mouth, It’s harder for Siren to differentiate between reality and his own mind. He’ll debate with himself for hours if some stuff that’s happened to him was, “really real.”

He’ll fall into rabbit holes of wondering if anything that happened was actually true, or did he even get out of the God’s mouth? Is this some hallucination? Is he real?

Usually, the only way to calm him down form these is talking to others. It grounds him and makes him focus on the conversation rather then his failing mind.

(Sometimes when it’s really bad, it’s him who feels like the phantom among real, living people.)

2#. He has to remind himself that he’s not a Prince anymore and doesn’t have to be, “Perfect.” Doesn’t have to smile a certain way or act a certain way. Sometimes, though. Sometimes, once he makes even the smallest mistake in his appearance or speech or even tone, he freezes. He made a mistake, he’s not supposed to make mistakes, he can’t make mistakes, he’s supposed to be perfect, he’s supposed to be the perfect Prince-

Sometimes. Sometimes. Siren gets a little frustrated when he makes a mistake. He has to be perfect, anyone would. Of course, perfect people don’t get frustrated, do they?

3#. Toxic positivity. Even to the point of insanity; Siren will find away to make himself the joke. His feelings and thoughts unserious and unimportant. Everything always just one big joke. Never to others, but always to himself. Never wants to ruin a mood, ya know? He’s fine, his arm could be cut off but, “Oh, no! Yeah, I’m fine. Totally! Just a scratch, don’t worry, I’ll be fine. It’s fine. I’m fine and everything is fine.”

Everything is always fine. He’s always happy and everything is always fine.

“If you’re not joking, why even speak in the first place? If you’re not smiling, what’s the point of showing your face at all?”

5#. Insomnia. His head keeps him up for hours. Constantly just going; like he’s running from something and just has to stay up. He’ll just wonder around or do something; seeing, reading, writing, drawing, crying. If he breaks in the night it doesn’t count. It never counts. He’s hidden by the twilight; nobody can see and nobody can hear. It’s only him and his shame. The daytime is showtime but the night is his backstage.

It’s okay to cry when there’s no mood to ruin or people to piss off. You just gotta look presentable in the morning. What a sad little jester.

7#. He’s scared of the dark. Siren has told nobody about it; they’ll laugh. He knows they will. (Even he can’t take himself seriously) but…God. He hates the dark. It makes him feel watched. Like there’s people surrounding him; just around the corner. Something following him. But thats childish. So he doesn’t tell anyone.

8#. He’s very sensitive to how people perceive him. He’s terrified that people will see right through him, that they already do. That they see the sad little boy he really is. But, what Siren doesn’t know is, they don’t.

The only reason Kappa noticed in the comics is because he was caught at a bad moment (in the night) he played it off well though. He’s horribly depressed and jaded and nobody has the even the slightest idea.

Siren thinks everyone can see through him; everyone else thinks they do and see a funny, genuine man. They don’t.

9#. He likes being angry. Just a little bit. He spent his entire life in a castle. Trapped. Left to his own devices as the people around him died(he feels like he died with them) alone. The days blurred, the months went hazy and the years fell through his fingers like sand. Then, he was angry. So devastatingly angry. Beyond furious. At his own mother. Then finally, it was almost like a new side of him was unlocked. He was someone bitter, mean, passionate, loud, jaded, violent, someone angry. Someone alive!

That anger, that betrayal; it breathed life into him. Melted his icy world and then set it on fire. Boiled his blood, restarted his heart, made his muscles shriek. He could feel his heart beat and lungs breathe for the first time in his life. He was alive! He was alive! He was alive!

And then he swallowed down his fury and never touched it again. Never showed it. He was alive; then he stopped his own heart. Sometimes though; in the darkest of nights, he breaths once more.

(It’s not enough, it’s never enough, but showtime is soon.)

10#. He hates himself. Siren truly cannot stand himself. He wants to crawl out of his own skin. Wish that he was never born the way he was. Himself.

But that doesn’t matter. Because he’s fine. And he’s happy! And funny! So it doesn’t matter and everything is fine.

Everything is just great,

Everything is just fine.

HOW DO WE FEEL ABOUT THIS ONE CHAT??? SMASH OR PASS?? CRINGE EDGELORD OR BOMB?



[inseparableduo]

"I really hate how my boss will sell me and my brother's services without warning. I was in the Netherlands selling speed while my brother got high in the bathroom when I got a call. Apparently, my boss made a connection with some crime lord back in another country. Long story short, he told the guy me and my brother would be his personal bodyguards."

"What made it worse is, our boss still expected us to do our usual work for him. On the bright side, with all the corpses we were collecting working for two crime lords, we were able to covert a lot of the bodies into magic fuel. Still, I hated it."

"The man wasn't as bad as my actual boss. No, no one could be worse than him but, at least, he has real strength to secure this place. This guy just used fear. He was infamous for killing anyone on a whim. Or really a coin. He would flip a coin whenever he was... unhappy. If it landed a certain way, it was then and there you would die."

"Even the smallest actions would earn a coin flip. I think the guy was too much of a fan of comics but, whatever. I thought me and my brother were safe but, one day, he flipped the coin on my brother. I couldn't accept that. For once in our lives, luck was on our side but, we didn't forget that moment. After all, he even did the same to me."

"At that point, we had worked with him long enough to become close to his crew. Of course, everyone loved me. I am very adorable, after all! I took it a step further and really got to know them. Their wives and kids knew me and my brother's names, we showed up at family events and gave gifts to them all the time. We were like family to them."

"We also trusted enough to handle all that guy's affairs. I mean, believe it or not, me and my brother are very good at our jobs so, we are trusted to do a lot. We knew very well what he was trying to achieve, what he valued, what was important to him. So, I took it all away!"

"Everyone that he loved? Who previously were simply too scared to run away from him? We got them to trust and love us more than they could ever fear him. Eventually, he realized me and my brother had ruined the goal he had been working for his entire life. Not only that, but he realized we stole all of his money."

"He didn't bother with a coin flip. No, he simply demanded the others to kill us but, it was no use. They weren't in on it but, they couldn't bring themselves to kill us. In fact, they chose us over him."

"You know the saying Rome burnt in a day? Well, in about 3 hours he was no more and everyone had decided to make us their new boss. When we got in touch with our real boss and told him the news, he said we performed better than expected."

[dailycass-cain]

Batgirls #13 Review

Batgirls #13 closes out the quick two-issue parental arc as we also pass the one-year anniversary of the comic. Did it continue the highs of the prior arc or did we have another clunker two-parter? Well, here are my thoughts on the issue and arc as a whole.

I'll start with the negative. Because I know many are probably waiting for me to tear into the parts that I didn't enjoy and yeah... there's a big one in this issue.

Lady Shiva in this issue barely felt like Lady Shiva. She felt way too aggressive toward Stephanie and I get that the issue "has to have" a big fight. But..

.. I think it would've been nice subversion if that didn't even occur this issue between Shiva and Steph. Once the cat was out of the bag. It just felt so... off seeing Shiva defend Cass this much.

I mean it's better than being evil and careless but... to this extreme?! I would've enjoyed it more just to see Stephanie just laid it all out when Shiva figured it out.

But... Shiva in all of this and the history with Cass-- just felt wrong. Shiva has never tried to mold Cass into being something she wasn't.

She didn't have anything to "mold" at all. It feels really odd in a way because it feels like negating this bastard, David Cain, the one who truly was trying to "mold" Cass into being a killer.

I think that's always lost in the Pre-Flashpoint origins of Shiva where she was just about manipulated and used by David Cain, the true monster of this whole origin.

This bit always seems lost in how truly a monster David Cain was in this all. How the unexpected side-effect is that he actually did care for Cassandra in the end and didn't treat her as coldly as he did Shiva.

Which is why that bit of dialogue felt so off-putting. The thing Cass is so standoffish about Shiva is (prior to the revelation of being her mom) is Cass sees Shiva as a path she could've gone on if she stayed on the path of being a murderer.

That brings me to the OTHER problem I had with the Shiva/Cass stuff in this issue. The entire crux feels so much a retread of stuff we just had TWO YEARS AGO in Batman & the Outsiders.

And here we are this issue with a completely opposite variant:

That's the WHOLE thing we're waiting for. The next PROGRESSIVE STEP.  More an understanding a common ground the two can have between one another but mutually respect the other's lives.

Heck, we're not a year from Shiva trying out actively having a team and doing hero stuff (even if the story was pretty EEEEEH). That should be the new ground for Shiva. This life outside the League of Assassins. But still being Shiva. The line blurred between good/evil.

I get that Shiva is a hard character to write, but when the stories of prior writers literally have set that up. All it takes for the next is to carry that on (or at worst spectacularly ruin it).

Thankfully, writers, Michael Conrad and Becky Cloonan didn't ruin it and we don't have an Emi/Shado situation on our hands. BUT...

This wasn't the dialogue to have between Steph/Shiva this issue. There could've been more. MUCH more to crack into the depths of the relationship between these two and how both struggle but TRY to be there for one another now.

It just comes off as 😬toward the end issue's end Shiva pulling a Darth Vader (but if we're to believe what Steph says) she doesn't really want to rule the League with Cass by her side.

That's why I'm BEGGING both the editor and writers to do a better job with these two next time around. There are better stakes and areas to dig with the two. It just feels like a big retread (when you could've brought up B&O and that BoP run).

Because it's obvious we're getting more of this subplot again once the Hatter and Cluemaster stuff runs it's course. I pray! We don't get a Emi/Shado situation (or worse a Cheshire) because it's soooo cliché at this point with the murder moms and their daughters.

I'm BEGGING for a subversion of this trope so bad. Cass/Shiva could very well BE that subversion. It just takes the right writers to do this on the right path.

My please for the love of GAWD no more of this. It's lazy and by even saying these words makes long-time Cass fans scream internally.

Because I was doing exactly that when reading that bit of narration.

Because my mind flashes instantly back to this:

I HATE that the Shiva/Cass/Steph stuff brought this issue down for me because there was A LOT of good too with this issue resulting in a "mid" then a dumpster fire like say #7-8.

Because the story AROUND the Shiva stuff is GOOD. The Cluemaster stuff is unnerving and creepy as heck. I'm really curious to see where the writers take Arthur here and how it relates to Steph.

Then there's the Babs' stuff in the issue. I think this two-parter was the best-written and best-used bit of Babs in the entire series. Cass/Steph in trouble leading to Babs being Batgirl makes the stuff have higher stakes.

I've been harping how Babs showing up as Batgirl in the series so far has been-- meh. This issue was the first time it felt her being Batgirl here was worth it. Now, let's see this same be used for her as Oracle to boot.

Likewise, the twists and turns Babs/Bruce have with surprise special guest star, Zatanna in unraveling the mystery of how Cass/Steph got body switched.

Again, the reasons as to WHY Cass/Steph got body switched were fascinating. Really the only downside to all of this is how quickly it all ended.

I feel we didn't get a FULL day of Cass/Steph living out the other's life in the other's body. Exploring the differences and similarities. Seeing Steph maybe see the world thru Cass's eyes. Likewise, Cass seeing the world in Steph's.

There could've been one more issue here to have some of that fun. It's truly a pity we had to skip right to Shiva/Cluemaster stuff.

Likewise, I did enjoy the narration boxes in this issue. Barring that one box-- HICCUP.

The boxes did their thing, but also told the reader to, "HEY READ THIS TOO!" Which it did in spades by giving us shoutouts to Birds of Prey and Batgirl Vol. 1. Now give Steph some of that love with nods to her in Robin and Batgirl Vol. 3, please.

If this book does want to claim new readers, it might as well leave these nuggets for them to go dig to find these issues. It also makes jobs easier for me, because I don't have to say, "READ _____ for this!"

But the true highlight this issue? The best thing I utterly adore and am HYPE for #14? Is the art by Jonathan Case. I mean... Jorge Corona and Neil Googe were good and 10s but Case?

There's a Bill Sienkiewicz style here that I adore (maybe @empatheticcain was on that the stuff with style was more a nod to Seinkeiwicz's Batgirl First issue) because Cass throughout this looked so gothic by Case in costume and colors.

Can I also just say how astonishing Case did ALL the colors, pencils, and letters this issue? Like dear GAWD this makes the next issue. The story will basically him using Conrad and Cloonan's script (which I'll give it to them this was a finely tuned issue).

Like please put Case with more of Conrad and Cloonan please. Two issues is just too little. This art is exquisite and gives some of the critics by making Cass/Steph more their age than say much younger.

Baring the Shiva/Cass stuff this issue could've been amazing. It just needed a better look into the past and dig better angle than what we got here. Thankfully everything else was top-notch.

Again I'm begging the writers to do a better job with the history of the character. Please give us subversion in this case and do this mother/daughter relationship between then be consumed by the predictable tropes. There's something really good to mine here.

What can be mined can be truly something UNIQUE. As it stands I am hyped for the next issue because Case's art was a revelation. So to those who've been off the book. Buy Batgirls #14 the art alone by Jonathan Case will be worth it as it will be a silent issue.

No narration boxes.

No weird dialogue.

Just Case using his style to showcase the story and I think we might have something truly special coming January 17th.

[zahri-melitor]

No Man’s Land

I made it back through! As I said before, my last read through was over 15 years ago, so it was a lot of fun seeing what I remembered and what I didn’t. This really is one of the best Batbook events. The departmental level planning and plotting really stands out; there’s only a couple of times events are repeated between titles (most of the duplicates are actually in Azrael, now I think about it; particularly the Azrael-Catwoman storyline. Clearly they understood they couldn’t trust people to read Azrael) and the story flows with very few contradictions/out of order events/obviously skipped bits . The biggest overall ‘wait what?’ timeline issue is ‘how long was Tim actually IN No Man’s Land and how many times did he sneak back in after being rescued’, because the suggestion he was inside for 2-4 weeks before being airlifted out is hilarious given he then proceeded to spend over a month staking out Pettit and got back in for the Christmas Eve summons quite easily.

Highlights from my read: Bruce Wayne (as opposed to Batman) has some really good stories through Cataclysm-Aftershock-Road to NML. I adore when comics take the time to break out what Bruce can do as a Wayne compared to what he can do as Batman, and both are on show here.

Legends of the Dark Knight #125: the conversation here between Jim and Batman is something that’s been building for over 6 years, since Knightfall. And yeah, the payoff is worth it. They both used their words!

Being a big event, we got multiple 'day in a life' comics for outsider PoVs or minor characters, which are one of my favourite things. I'm a huge sucker for an outsider point of view. Lots of ordinary Gothamites just explaining why they stayed and what community means to them (and also that Gotham talks to you when you have bat rabies). I particularly adore the little red headed agent of Oracle's in SoTB #92 who is so EXASPERATED by Clark Kent ruining her stakeout. She's got a job to do! Stop ruining her report!

Among this is also some of THE defining Leslie characterisation in Chronicles #18, of why she's a doctor and her philosophy on care. Now, the way the story used Zsasz to frame it was irritating (please Leslie, O neg is in such short supply I PROMISE you there are half a dozen people in your hospital camp here right now who need it more than Zsasz), but what can you do. "I will provide treatment to everyone" doesn't have to mean "I'm using an invaluable resource on the least deserving/needy person in this hospital" but it does mean "everyone deserves my care and best effort".

Barbara is at her best, here. Not only does this run highlight her skills as an information broker, troubleshooter and dispatcher, but everyone finally starts turning up regularly to the Clocktower to hang out/have meetings! Early 2000s status quo behaviour has been ACHIEVED. The story would not have worked without her.

Just a BUNCH of Gotham Rogues have really good stories here. What Penguin contributes to the city's dynamics is just so very on display as he runs the entire city's black market. Two-Face's trial of Jim Gordon is some iconic storytelling. Ivy is mostly around via her physical absence - she only appears on page for Fruit of the Earth and in the Harley Quinn intro to set up the Harley & Ivy status quo - but she pins a lot of the territory warfare in place via holding Robinson Park, starts her road to redemption, FINALLY gets rid of those terrible 90s tights (ugh I dislike that costume) and honestly probably helped a lot of people survive NML. And uh Black Mask himself doesn't have the greatest storytelling but his HENCHES do. 

Harley finally gets her promotion to the main universe (and her intro doesn't suck). Joker is fine I guess...ok yes I do actually like Endgame and it's solid Joker storytelling, even as shooting Sarah Essen is the most cheap and lazy angst ever (And then! Jim and Bruce are there in front of Joker who is asking to be arrested after he hurts their family! Again! This story has never been told before oh wait it's the 10 year anniversary edition).

Every Bat vigilante (minus Steph) gets a lot of solid character work and stuff to do. Steph's stuck off in her pregnancy arc having Dixon Lectures On Ethics, but does get that Helena team up during Cataclysm at least. We get Cass and David Cain! JPV remains the saddest wet cat in Gotham and the universe causes terrible things to happen to him (seriously how did you end up getting blown up and in worse shape than HELENA for the finale)! Dick confirms he's back in the family full time and will come if Bruce asks! Tim and Dick have adorable sibling adventures together! There’s an entire Dick/Babs hurt/comfort storyline! Tim Having Parents is actually plot relevant and helps end No Man's Land (also his team up with Wally in Keystone is the funniest thing ever. Wally's like 'HOW DID YOU GET MY PHONE NUMBER...oh yeah you asked Dick')! Helena gets masses of page time even as the plot (and Bruce) does her dirty! Even the LANGSTROMS get page time and character changes (that scene where Man-Bat takes Barbara flying is just beautiful).

[crusherthedoctor]

3, 5, 6, 13

Have you ever unfollowed someone over a fandom opinion?

No. I would only unfollow someone if they're being extremely unreasonable, and their asshole behaviour is escalating.

Has fandom ever ruined a pairing for you?

*looks over at Sonamy*

I was always indifferent to it, but the sheer spectacle made over it has made me beyond sick of it. In fanworks, Sonic is often made OoC for the sake of the ship, or his side of the matter in general is an afterthought at best, because it's said that Amy deserves his love because "she's earned it". They'll waste valuable question time on the Twitter Takeovers over Sonamy stuff. If Sonic and Amy are onscreen together for even a moment, no matter what it is they're actually doing, everyone will hail it as proof of Sonamy. And of course, they'll go crazy when they actually do tease it, using it to shut everyone else up because "Sonamy is Canon, deal with it", even if that teasing is incredibly minor and fated to never go anywhere.

It's a weird feeling looking at all the Sonamy VS Sonally wars over the decades, and not giving a solitary fuck about either of them. And yes, this was already the case long before a certain cardinal sin was initiated on my end. *coughs over horse noises in the background*

Has fandom ever made you enjoy a pairing you previously hated?

Can't think of any.

Unpopular opinion about XXX character?

Sonic: I'm sick of people going one extreme or the other with him. He's not Mr. Principles, nor is he completely selfish to the point of only helping others for his own enjoyment. And I especially dislike when fans misinterpret his role in Black Knight and use it to claim that he's a full on anti-hero. No, he's a legit hero and good person who just so happens to enjoy what he does rather than adopting the usual superhero mantra, and has to make the occasional tough decision for the good of the long run for everyone. What's hard to get about that?

Tails: "I'm wildly inconsistent" does not count as fixing him. Neither does repeating the exact thing that Forces!Tails got slack for to an even more inexcusable extent.

Knuckles: The idea that he tries to see the good in people despite his standoffish nature is fascinating to me, and it's a shame that it's only been brought up for the sake of making him look stupid when he falls for another one of Eggman's tricks. It'd be nice if this got delved into more, in a way where it doesn't screw him over for once… Just don't turn him into Principles the Echidna.

Amy: Like @colony-drop-program, I recognize the… importance(?) of Amy's crush on Sonic, but I find all her other traits infinitely more intriguing.

I also wish people would remember Tails was the one who actually blasted his way through Prison Island. It's become common for fans to give Amy all the credit for that one.

Bean and Bark: Not that I'm super invested in them or anything, but I suppose it'd be nice if they got more opportunities to be the good guys they were intended to be rather than always being pigeonholed with Fang as the Hooligans thanks to Archie. Fang strikes me as a loner type anyway.

Shadow: I don't think I'll ever be on-board with him officially joining G.U.N. I'm fine with him forgiving them, and maybe having a connection of some sort with them afterward, but being a full-on agent himself? I dunno man. After his long life as Gerald and Black Doom's tool, I'd rather he carve out a future where he can be truly free, without needing to answer to any superior.

Rouge: She's not a villain. She's not a villain. She's not a villain. She's. Not. A. Villain.

The entire point of her role in SA2 is that, oh shit, she was only pretending to be on the bad guys' side, and ever since SA2, she's been a loyal ally to Shadow and helped out the other heroes with little hesitance on multiple occasions. She may be a jewel thief, she may have her rivalry with Knuckles, but she's proven time and time again that she's a far better person than most people and comic writers give her credit for.

Cream: I've seen some Amy fans hate on her for supposedly stealing some of Amy's traits, but that's a disservice to her. You can have more than one character in a franchise with similar traits, since they can be explored from different angles. Compare this to a character like Eggman Nega, who really is nothing more than a leech who requires the real Eggman to be split in half in order to seem more impressive.

Silver: Of the many reasons why I'm not interested in him, one is that his schtick gets old very quickly. There's always something to turn his future into yet another Bad Future, and after a while it becomes comical how often his efforts to avert one catastrophe and make a Good Future get revoked by the following catastrophe. Combine that with how he has actual friends in the present, and he might as well just stay in the present full-time and kill two birds with one stone… but then fans would complain about him losing something special to him. Cue frustration.

Also, fans can insist all they want that Silver trusting Mephiles was due to sheer desperation, but until they release the Snyder Cut of '06 where this is actually shown, it's nothing more than a headcanon. You can explain writing fumbles with headcanons, but you can't defend them with headcanons.

Elise: She's not a bad character. Underdeveloped, yes, but the hate she receives is largely exaggerated.

Marine: Her accent annoys me far less than Bunnie's. *mic drop*

Eggman: This notion that he needs to be softened up in order to be fleshed out is ironically a shallow one. He was fine the way he was. There's more than one way to expand on a villain.

Also, he shouldn't be underestimated just because he's a human instead of a god, a demon, an alien, etc. Bowser is an overgrown turtle who can breathe fire when all is said and done, and he still came close to conquering the universe on two occasions. If Bowser can do great things, so can Eggman.

Metal Sonic: It's possible to explore his identity crisis without making him turn traitor. If anything, him staying devoted to the guy who is the real Sonic's arch-nemesis adds an extra compelling layer to his insanity.

Lyric: I actually like his design? Yeah, he's still a crap villain and another one to throw onto the Fucks Eggman Over pile, but his design is at least more interesting than Mephiles the Druggie and Dark "Waiter, There's An Eyeball In My Taco" Gaia.

Infinite: Even if he was meant to be played completely seriously, and the idea of him being parodic to at least some degree isn't actually true, he's still a better maybe-parody of tryhard villains than either Scourge or Surge.

Sage: While Eggman using her for his own ends is preferable to him genuinely caring for her, the mere idea and circumstances of her character is something I'm very opposed to. I just don't like anything that could even vaguely be fitted into the role of Eggman's Bowser Jr, because no matter how it's presented in canon, fans will reduce Eggman to little more than Sage's father regardless. And I'm forced to see a shitton of "wholesome" family bonding regardless.

It doesn't help that beyond her relationship with Eggman, she doesn't have a whole lot of character anyway. The Heavies had more character in Mania, and they had no dialogue whatsoever. Black Doom arguably had more character, because at least with him, I can remember that he doesn't know what lightning is.

The Egg Bosses: They don't work. There is no reason why Eggman would forgo his robots in favor of anthros who, despite his ways of keeping them under his control, still talk back at him, something that the doctor has consistently been known to hate. Eggman having one organic right-hand as the Lefou to his Gaston is fine (like Starline or Agent Stone), but anything more than that just feels wrong IMO.

Tangle: Out of all the IDW-exclusive characters bar pre-Flynned Starline, Tangle is the one I'd be willing to give a chance if she were in something where her characterization wasn't exaggerated to the point of having room temperature IQ. I like the basic concept going on with Tangle, with her being well-intentioned but just a tad overeager for her own good, so I feel kinda sorry for how hard she got flanderized. Compare that to many other characters exclusive to this comic, who I instead wish would just fuck off and never return.

Starline: YOU WERE THE CHOSEN ONE. IT WAS SAID YOU'D SIMP FOR THE DOCTOR, NOT USURP HIM. CAST ASIDE THIS TIRED CLICHE, NOT FOLLOW IT TO THE LETTER. *cries like Ewan McGregor*

Surge: If a character has been shoved in my face relentlessly as the central focus of a character study for over a year, yet I feel as though I know nothing about who they really are by the time it's concluded, I'm gonna say that character might not be very good.

Mario: I cheered when he appeared at the end of the second movie, but why Chris Pratt?

[samasmith23]

Maria Castle (and Jason Aaron) officially declare: "The Punisher No More"... while gloriously pissing off right-wing chuds in the process!

I just read the final issue of Jason Aaron's 12-issue Punisher maxiseries, and here it is at long last! The scene in which Frank Castle's entire career of mass-murder and fascistic vigilantism is openly denounced by his now ex-wife, Maria!

This scene alone is what officially piqued my interest in wanting to read this book! Although Aaron is one of my personal Top 5 favorite comic book writers, I was initially uninterested in reading his recent Punisher run despite hearing critical praise for it due to both my personal overall lack of interest in Frank's solo-titles (my past exposure to him has mostly been through uneasy team-ups and/or rivalries with other characters like Spider-Man & Daredevil...), as well as the real-life controversy surrounding the Punisher's signature skull logo being co-opted by police officers and white nationalists (even though Aaron's run changed the logo in-response to said-controversy by having him join forces with The Hand ninja-cult). But when I heard about this scene on the day the final issue of the maxiseries dropped, it alone convinced me to want to actually read this series for myself, as it demonstrated Aaron's commitment to actively deconstructing the Punisher as a character while refuting his toxic & harmful ideology!

After being interrogated by the likes of Doctor Strange, Wolverine, Black Widow, and Moon Knight, Frank receives judgment from one final figure in the form of his former wife, Maria. Now able to fully announce her intentions to divorce her husband without a mob shoot-out to tragically interrupt her this time, Maria openly condemns all of the murders that Frank committed in both her and their dead children's names whilst revealing that she arranged for all of Frank's numerous weapons safe-houses to be confiscated. Half of the monetary real-estate from which would go to herself so that she could start a fresh new life, while the other half would be donated to charities in their children's names. As Maria herself states, "That's how you honor your dead family, Frank. Not by using them as an excuse for slaughter," before saying goodbye to her ex-husband for good as he awaits judgment for his crimes from Earth's Mightiest Heroes...

Holy FREAKING crap! This is the literal embodiment of giving the "reason you suck" speech if ever I've seen one! Not only does Maria freely express all of her personal justified grievances with her sadistic ex-husband, but she completely refutes his murderous & fascistic "might-makes-right" beliefs, and punishes him for his crimes by financially defanging him whilst simultaneously donating half of said-money & resources to worthwhile causes that ACTUALLY contribute to helping individuals hurt by corrupt societal systems, rather than further perpetuating said-corruption like Frank's murders have done.

And what makes Maria's berating of Frank Castle even more satisfying to read is that it ultimately managed to royally piss-off the far-right fascist scumbags who glorify & appropriate the Punisher's iconography in real-life. Seriously, when Punisher (2022) #12 was first released I witnessed several Comicsgater chuds whining and complaining about Marvel "ruining the Punisher's character forever" and Jason Aaron "emasculating Frank Castle." Additionally, said-CGers argued that Maria Castle was "unlikable" for robbing Frank of all his weapons and safehouses (except... I can honestly sympathize with Maria here since if I was also resurrected from the dead and found out that one of my relatives committed multiple mass-murders "in honor of my legacy," then I'd be pretty pissed off about it as well...).

And all I have to say in response to these bigoted manbabies' complaints about Aaron "ruining Punisher" is this:

GOOD!

If Aaron's Punisher maxiseries, and specifically the scene of Maria Castle condemning Frank, managed to anger the very same fascist rightwingers who blindly idolize the Punisher (despite his original creator Gerry Conway intending the character to be a cautionary figure about the failures of the justice system), then that fact alone makes this deconstruction of both the character & concept of Frank Castle a truly worthwhile endeavor! While the series ends with Frank using the last of the demonic magical powers granted to him by The Beast to escape the Avengers' captivity, along with the Archpriestess of the Hand trying to indoctrinate another troubled American youth similar into becoming her cult’s next "Fist of the Beast" (reflecting the sad reality of how fascist systems can continue to exist in society even when notable individuals are defeated), it appears that Marvel is officially retiring Frank Castle for good. Even though just last month Marvel released a new Punisher miniseries written by David Pepose which stars an ex-S.H.I.E.L.D. agent named Joe Garrison adopting the mantle, the epilogue of Aaron's maxiseries reveals that Frank had permanently banished himself to the Weirdworld alternate dimension, intentionally avoids fighting in local conflicts but instead provides shelter for war orphans (indicating that he might have actually taken his Maria's words to heart).

In my opinion, this is a far more satisfying conclusion than the alternative of having Frank killed off at the end of the series. This means that he actually has to put in ACTUAL effort to find some form of atonement or rehabilitation, rather than simply evading punishment for his crimes through death.

Overall, Jason Aaron's 12-issue Punisher maxiseries was a phenomenally inventive and thought-provoking character analysis and deconstruction of the truly violent & unstable individual that Frank Castle is (even long before he officially adopted the skull logo), whilst simultaneously analyzing and critiquing the circumstances that contributed to Frank's fascistic and murderous beliefs, as well as their negative impacts on his interpersonal relationships with individuals such as his wife Maria Castle. Although sadly, the way Aaron brilliantly ended Frank Castle's career as the Punisher in Issue #12 was sadly overshadowed by the controversy generated by a certain OTHER comic that Marvel released the exact same week... namely the publicity-stunt shock-death of Ms. Marvel (aka, Kamala Khan… aka, my all-time favorite superhero) in Zeb Wells' Amazing Spider-Man (2019) #26...

Sigh... at least Kamala was fortunately later resurrected over in the X-Men titles and was given the awesome Ms. Marvel: The New Mutant miniseries written by her MCU actress, Iman Vellani (which I've read and absolutely loved)!

But aside from that, the Punisher by Jason Aaron is easily one of the best modern comics that I read in 2023, with Issue #12 being the absolute thesis statement of what this series is truly about! I highly recommend it to anyone who desires a complete refutation & condemnation of the murderous scumbag that Frank Castle is and always has been.

From Punisher (2022) #12 by Jason Aaron, Jesús Saiz & Paul Azaceta.

[hezuart]

Hey, you recently reblogged the first page of my ‘Rewind’ comic, which is the continuation/fix-it I asked you months ago if I could make and in your reblog you wondered where I’ll take it.

I actually finished the whole comic months ago and even made an animatic video of it (you can easily find it on YouTube), so you can see how the rest of the comic goes. Plus I’m making a midquel comic for it too.

Plus I’m thinking that if anyone continues to ask you about what happened to Six in your ‘Channel change’ comic, perhaps point them in the direction of my ‘Rewind’ comic. That way the boys can still have their happy ending in your comic, but Six and someone who was left out entirely of Channel change aren’t left in the dark.

Though I do find it your explanations pretty biased with how you mentioned how Six ruined Mono’s life but neglect to mention that he ruined hers too by releasing the Thin Man and cursing her with the hunger that ended up costing Six’s innocence and humanity. And given that he is the one who cursed her with the hunger in the first place, RK’s death is partially on him.

Oh im very excited to see the animatic for it!!! I noticed there were more pages with links, I'll have to go and read and reblog those too.

I don't recall if I said Six ruined Mono's life. But Six purposefully dropped him, while Mono didn't know the Thin Man was behind the door until he opened it, and he also didn't know the Thin Man would capture Six and cause her hunger pains. (which aren't really explained even now) I don't think Mono knew he WAS the Thin Man either.

We don't know why Six dropped Mono, we just know that she came to hate him after he destroyed her music box.

I will say, I adore Raincoat Girl and Six's relationship you portrayed in the comic! But in the actual game, Six and the Raincoat girl sadly don't have much of a relationship. They assist each other, but not more than necessary. Raincoat Girl is being chased by the Butler. She runs straight past Six (who was collapsed on the ground) without helping her up. Someone bangs on the door of the shed, highly likely to be Six. Raincoat girl locks it, refusing her entry. (and potentially leaving her for dead; or as bait)

At the end of the story, Raincoat girl dies, and the game suggests that Six goes down to a boat and snatches her raincoat to wear for herself. (What kind of person wears a dead friend's clothing?)

and also I don't know if the mobile game is canon or not since it seems like Tarsier studios had a different backstory in mind for Six (growing up in the city instead of lost at sea hopping from ship to ship)

But the point is we don't have any explanation for why Six is the way she is. She has a malicious side to her, she is untrusting, she's a lone wolf, but she also knows kindness, she also knows when she needs help, she also finds comfort in soothing music, and she's best known for fleeing from situations and usually only harming people when absolutely necessary.

Her ending being ambiguous in my Channel Change comic is only to let the viewers know she's not part of Mono and Seven's story because intentional or not, bad things have happened to them when Six is involved.