#all the women in the comic could've been- that's why i love the way they rebooted lyla for spiderverse so much tbh

[floating--goblin]

hnghnh obviously i don't like dana but i don't dislike her as much as it would seem from how i clown on her. like that's all funny haha. but actually i'm thinking about her

[missezramay]

ted lasso, post-finale thoughts.

I went into the finale thinking yeah, if the writing serves, I can accept any outcome even if it's not exactly what I want. Instead, I was hit with a plethora of mixed emotions I didn't expect to have. Confusion, anger, hurt, annoyance, small bursts of joy in between, and just deep sadness. Almost 20 hours later and I'm still incredibly dissatisfied and processing. For the most part, finales should provide a feeling of celebration and relief. I... don't feel any of that.

I'm just really trying to pinpoint why I'm so sad.

Of course everything inevitably has to come to an end. Of course Ted was always going to reunite with his kid. Of course it's not about winning or losing. Of course Tedbecca can remain platonic if that was always the plan. Of course that's the way life goes, but...

For a show (and this season particularly) that constantly encouraged us to 'believe' and 'hope' in the idea that 'everything will work out', all those 75 minutes did was take me on an unsettling, emotional journey for no concrete reason other than to mess with the audience (the opening scene was just adding salt in the Tedbecca wound I've had since S2). Because everything in a macro sense, "worked out". But the WAY it "worked out" does not sit well with me?? And it's supposed to? For a lot of people (on Reddit/Facebook, lol), it was enough?? Richmond not technically winning and Ted leaving like that without so much as a tear? What am I missing??

When I tell you I'm trying to embrace the good parts, I'm really trying. Yes to KBPR & the women's team, Yes to Colin kissing his fella, Yes to Rebecca & Mae & the guys owning the club, Yes to Roy becoming Manager.

So... why am I still so upset? Hmm, let's see.

The boys' musical number? The cutest. Ted didn't think so.

Nate's apology? Heartbreaking. Ted didn't bat an eyelash.

Rebecca begging twice for Ted to stay? Ted, absolute silence.

Beard staying/getting married in London to his toxic gf? Comic relief, haha, fine. Except Ted wasn't there as Best Man.

Don't even get me started on the huge disservice to the Roy/Keeley/Jamie triangle.

Now listen, I get that he misses Henry & Henry misses his dad. I'm not that cold. A father/son's love is important. It was always the catalyst for this show; for him to work on himself so he can be a better father unlike the one he grew up with. That's fine.

But on this particular week. His last week with his Richmond family. There was NO sense of him being sad to leave them. He can be sad about missing Henry but he can ALSO be sad about leaving. No, he just completely checked out. He let everyone pour out their hearts (Hannah's getting her third Emmy, mark my words) to him, and he just stone-faced the entire time.

THIS DOES NOT MAKE ANY SENSE TO ME.

The argument is that he was internally processing, he was overwhelmed, he was trying to distance himself so it would hurt less. Fair points, okay. But this is a television show, moreover, A FINALE. TV characters, while relatable, are heightened versions of ourselves, there so we can better process our emotions and learn to handle things better in our real lives. Ted deserved MORE dialogue and displaying MORE emotion than whatever this was.

We're never going to see him again. We're over here crying along with Rebecca, Nate & Beard, but he didn't sob once. Even though he spent three years building a family with them. I even thought, hey at least he left his legacy with Trent's book but newsflash, he wanted his name taken off that too! Complete erasure.

I just feel so robbed of better moments. Like there were nice moments here and there. But they could've been BETTER. Honestly, Nate & Rebecca's breakdowns were close to perfection, so much love there. But the lack of dialogue and Ted not reciprocating? Broke ME.

I just cannot. understand. this. choice.

Massive sigh. I'm just truly baffled by the way everything wrapped up and not getting the satisfied feeling that one half of the viewership got. Maybe I'm in the minority, but that means something. It carries weight. Also, for a "three-season arc" that was planned well in advance, why all the rewrites and parallels and fakeouts... it's just cruel. But as the theme says (and maybe this was a warning all along), yeah, I guess this might well be it.

This show has given us so much and the last season flailed for the most part. I don't want to disrespect the show by being negative and cynical (looks like I failed!!) or cast blame on anyone in particular. The cast/crew are amazing people and I'll be grateful for being a part of the journey but I'm just so sad and this feeling sucks and I will never get over it.

Going to miss them. x

[p0ckiiturtle]

So, I recently started hyperfixating on an old show I used to watch called “Winx Club”. It’s a 2004 Italian Magical Girl show that was really popular and soon made its way to the states.

I’d also like to point out that this show ran from 2004-2019. Just to give you guys a heads up on how long it ran for.

While it was loved by all, it did have many, many, MANY flaws. One of which was their love interests.

Sky: Bloom’s boyfriend

Brandon: Stella’s boyfriend

Riven: Musa’s boyfriend

Timmy: Tecna’s boyfriend

Nabu/Nex/Roy: Aisha/Layla’s boyfriend/fiance/crush I guess

And Helia: Flora’s boyfriend

Notice how Aisha’s list is a bit longer. I’m gonna get into that.

They all suffer from the same thing. A thing I like to call “The Lover Effect”. Basically, when a character is introduced, but their only trait is to be another character’s love interest.

They have no other backstory. No known morals. They’re just there to fall in love with the character. And nothing more.

A lot of shows struggle with this. Mainly with their female main characters, but there are some examples of the male characters suffering from this.

And Winx Club is one of the prime examples of this.

We know little to nothing about their pasts. We don’t know what their goals are. And they’re only there to serve the main cast. The Winx. Their entire personalities revolve around them being the boyfriends of the Winx.

I think the only characters whose past we know of are Sky and Nabu’s. And even then, it’s seldom said.

A while ago, I was researching for a video based on my own version of winx for my TikTok account (shameless plug, I know). And I came across this:

It was from the old Winx website. I wasn't aware of this when I was watching it cause I grew up on the Nickelodeon one, but that's besides the point.

It clearly states here that Riven's mom left him when he was very young. And according to him: She probably left for money. Resulting in his distrust of people and his 'bad boy' attitude. Specifically in women. This was never stated in neither the show nor the comics.

This could've been perfect ammunition for a good redemption arc for Riven. Why he's so distrustful and so standoffish of all of his friends. Why he's constantly pushing Musa away. He's too afraid that they'll leave him. And the hurt will start all over again.

But no. They don't.

Instead, they give some toxic relationship between two characters where they're both in the wrong, but decide to paint him as the bad guy cause 'ShE wOuLd NeVeR dO tHaT!!!!". They constantly breakup. And then when they decide to give him the slightest amount of character development , they just drag him back down to being the asshole character. And the whole cycle repeats.

Every. Single. Fucking. Season.

I'm not even kidding.

I will give them this though;

As much as I will shit on Nick for practically ruining Winx Club, at least they tried to give him a redemption arc. But it was put into a half-assed breakup scene where he had to 'find himself'.

MUSA WAS JUST AS BAD, BUT THEY NEVER FUCKING ADDRESS IT!

The next victim is Sky.

For those who don't know:

Sky is the crown prince/king of Eraklyon. His home kingdom. The most we know about him is that he possibly has daddy issues and was in a relationship before Bloom.

Now the way they went about Sky is interesting. Because they gave him a little bit of a backstory. But not enough for him to be an interesting character to me. The most that we know is that his dad is an asshole and his ex-fiancé was just selfish.

From what I've gathered from the show.

But what else about Sky? What was his childhood like? What was his relationship with Diaspro, his ex, like? When did Sky and Diaspro first meet?

In the show, it's stated that they were childhood friends, but for some reason, I don't believe that. Maybe it's my version of Winx clouding my judgement, but I don't care. Knowing how most marriages between the elites and royalty were mainly for political reasons back then, that was probably my reason for not believing the whole "childhood friends" thing.

We don't even know his relationship with his father. The most we know is that he has an older cousin who he doesn't trust for some reason after something he did back when they were kids.

But personally, I think him somewhat revolving around Bloom could work.

Imagine this:

Ever since you were a child, you were forced into a life of perfection. Your parents were distant from you, so you were raised by the servants in the castle. You're forced into an arranged marriage to some girl who can only think about herself, from your eyes. And that's all you know. Perfection. Perfection. Perfection.

And then all of a sudden, you meet this girl. She's outgoing. She's a bit shy. She has goals. Aspirations. But most of all, she's free.

You meet her parents and you see how strong of a relationship they have with her. She has friends in her school. She's made tons of mistakes, but no one criticizes her for them. After all, they're just mistakes.

And the more you're around her, the more you realize that your childhood wasn't good. It wasn't what you wanted. You realized that you needed your parents love. But because of their status, they never gave it to you that much. Only speaking to you at dinners or whatnot.

Sky wanting to break the mold and find his true self because of Bloom could work. With good writing and planning, his character could become far more interesting than the one we were given.

Next up: Brandon.

The most we know about him is that he's Sky's best friend/squire and is from Eraklyon just like Sky. We don't know jackshit about his family life. All we know is that he's loyal and a flirtatious guy. Even when he's dating Stella, he's still flirting with other girls!

Like wtf??

Sure, he gives Stella a heartfelt speech about always loving her for who she is, regardless of how she looks. But that's basically it. And I hate that the most I can give him is killing off his dad. Like, that's the most character I can give him. Because we don't know jackshit about his past. His goals. Or anything else about him. And it sucks.

Next: Timmy

I hate that we barely see any of him throughout the show. The most screentime we get of him is when he's searching for Tecna when she gets lost in the Omega Dimension. But the fact that he didn't go on that trip with Sky and Bloom just sucks. I get that they wanted to create some cute moments between them and they didn't want Timmy, the guy who literally found her coordinates, to be a third wheel. But his girlfriend was LITERALLY SUCKED INTO ANOTHER FRICKIN PLANET!!!!! I think he has every right to be on that trip. It could've shown his desperation and fear that he may not be able to find his love.

And as much as I love him when it comes to commitment and his girlfriend, he still falls into this category. because once again, we don't know his damn backstory. Hell, we don't even know where he's from!

Like Riven, Helia, or Nex. Unless it was specified in the show, we don't know where they're from.

I'm gonna assume that Timmy's from the same planet as Tecna, which is Zenith. A futuristic planet with highly advanced technology mixed with magic.

But here's the thing: The only thing about his character that may give me that answer is the fact that he's smart and likes to make robots.

That's the only reason why.

Nothing about his character design gave that away. Which may just come down to me being nit-picky. But I honestly don't care.

And I hate that I have to assume where he's from because the show never gives us any indication from his character.

For Tecna, she had no idea how to handle her feelings for Timmy and was constantly going back and forth on logic and heart because that was the norm in Zenith. Logic was their only answer. And for that, they probably have no reason for love or feelings.

Meanwhile for Timmy, he's automatically head over heels for her and has no problem confessing his love for Tecna. That could be chalked up to just how they were raised. But, as I've said before, we don't know how he was raised.

Next: Helia

WHERE. THE FUCK. DO I EVEN BEGIN WITH THIS MAN?!

You wanna know something crazy?

Originally, Helia was supposed to be a girl. But they changed his gender and made him a boy because Flora was the only one without a boyfriend. And they didn't want her to be single.

(Even though Aisha didn't have a boyfriend and was single until season 3)

The thing that gets me the most about Helia is that he's seen as the quiet and reserved nature lover of the group. Just like Flora. But even then, we barely hear from this fucking bastard.

Like, I get that he's supposed to be the quiet guy, but it's not like he's non-verbal. He can fucking talk!

SO MAKE HIM TALK!!

At least we know from context clues that he's most likely from Linphea. The same planet Flora's from. But that's only because he's friends with the fucking princess of Linphea.

I guess you could chalk it up to his love for nature and pacifist personality, but that could be applied to anyone.

What's worse is that I couldn't even find/give him a reason as to why he's like this. I could just leave it and just say that "It's his personality. He was just born like that", but I refuse. The most i could give him was a large family. 6 sisters with him being the middle child.

Yes, I took a page out of 'Loud House', but I feel like it could work. You have absolutely no idea how much your family can shape and affect your personality.

But that's just me.

Next: Nabu

This is going to hurt me because he's my favorite out of all of the Specialists.

I want to say he falls into this category. I really do, but a part of me just doesn't have the heart to. Especially since he was basically the perfect match for Aisha/Layla.

Both come from wealthy families. Both have only known perfection throughout their lives, but are trying to break that mold and want to be their own person.

And I think it's perfect! Even if they were in an arranged marriage, they could still make it work.

You just have to develop their relationship over time. Have them do little things that makes the other fall in love with them bit by bit.

Unfortunately, they decided to fucking kill him off in season 4. Literally the season AFTER HE WAS FUCKING INTRODUCED!

And it pisses me off so much!

But back to his "Lover" trope:

See, he doesn't fall into it that much. If anything, I'd say he doesn't fall into it at all since we, as an audience, were given more than enough content of his past to make a clear picture of him.

Is this me being biased because he's my favorite? Absolutely.

And I think the reason as to why he was so loved by the fandom is because he was something new. He wasn't a copy paste of the same person but with a different personality and character design. He was something fresh.

Until they decided to fucking axe that and give us shit.

I don't wanna go too much into detail for Roy and Nex. Their characters bored me to death.

All you have to know is that Roy was the equivalent of the rebound summer fling for Aisha and Nex is like Riven, but worse. At least Riven was somewhat interesting as to why he acts the way he does. Nex is just an ass for no reason.

I get that this show is supposed to be for young girls. It's to encourage them that they can do anything. But you can have an uplifting girls show with interesting male characters.

With the reboot coming soon, I really do hope that the writers take their male characters into account and give them interesting personalities and not go down the Nickelodeon route and screw everything up.

From what I've heard, Iginio Straffi, the creator of Winx, is back to writing for the reboot. Even though his writing was flawed, I do hope that he's used these last 2-3 years in improving his characters and plot. From what I've heard, he's been working with authors from around the world. So this may be a sign of hope for the Winx fandom. Because god knows we need it.

[minas-linkverse]

Ngl I was going to ask about Breath of the Wild but I’d thought you’d get a million of those asks lol. I was also torn between asking about Wind Waker, so whichever one you want to answer more is chill!!

haha yea I thought I'd get a million asks too! Somehow even now this remains the only botw ask, I guess people just figured it must've been sent already 😅

Now to actually share my thoughts on botw... Man I hope people don't get mad at me.

I did not like it!. The first play through I had was mildly exciting simply due to there being a whole unknown world to see, but after a while that gimmick wore off. I knew that if I made my way to the cool looking mountain or interesting abandoned building I'd just find a bokoblin and/or a chest with a gem. Whats the point of a gorgeous expansive world when all I find is the same...! 😫

Oh wow! A town with a whole new atmosphere and culture I sure wonder what I'll get up to h- Ok they have the same shops with slightly different items. Ok cool. There's like a few small quests for more inventory filler I don't really need. Cool cool.

I understand that the game is really fun for some people, they'll do quests just to get to play more of the game. They want all that extra stuff to upgrade armour and really get into the nitty gritty mechanics of the game... But I did not. It was not for me.

Also ouugh the puzzles...! My favourite part of Zelda games is the puzzle solving, but these were in no way satisfying and often more fun to just break. Why would I bother even trying to get into the devs heads when A) I could just break it and B) I have too many options to consider! I can't possibly get a clean eureka moment when everything from monster guts to just climbing could be the solution...! Where's the engaging simplicity of knowing exactly what you have and following the devs' clues to reach the solution!! Waaaaaaaaaaaaa--

I also disliked the story, all the interesting bits in it happened a 100 years ago and I feel like I arrived late with a starbucks. I also will not get over the weird ending cutscene!! After countless fascinating memories of Zelda having very complex emotions at Link... What do you mean you're just going to have a vaguely romantic "Do you still remember me?" YEAH I DO, I thought u disliked me! Which is a fascinating story direction I would've loved continued but OK! I guess we're ignoring that! Women cant be angry that makes them less cute and marketable, I guess!!!!

I... Sorry this is so ranty, I've been holding it in a long time. I think there's a lot to love in botw and I wish I wasn't so sour about it. Other people's love and excitement for it is wonderful and I hope they keep making the art they love. If its your first game in the series and got you into it, that's nothing to be ashamed about. I'm just a grumpy old man waving at cloud /ref.

Honestly I think botw could've been wonderful if it was a new IP. It feels all the Zelda stuff was sort of glued onto a concept that wasn't prepared to carry that mantle. It would've been better off with a new exciting world and cast of characters. It still wouldn't be a game I much care for, but the freedom that could've granted the developers would've been a treat to see.

It's worth adding that even though I dislike botw, I want to treat the characters of that game with respect and care in my comic. I may not love them in game but I can see the passion others have and I am committed to make something worth their time. Your special guys are safe with me. I have 0 desire to dunk on them, and instead wish to honour the love you all have. In a way I'm learning to love them myself through that.

[soleminisanction]

Why did TD:R fail? Was it a flop? I could tolerate the art style but I’d feel bad if it was just for that.

There's no way for anybody on the outside to know for sure. You'd have to ask someone at DC, and they might not be able to tell you depending on the current NDA situation over there.

From the outside, I can tell you it sure felt like the art on the first arc is what tanked the series. I didn't have a problem with it either because I like stylized art (barring a few exceptions -- the coloring on Batgirls triggers my migraines), and because I gave it a shot I saw what they were going for. It was the art style that best suited the Clayface-gone-wrong tech the villains were using, and for establishing the quirky, offbeat and (some would say) off-putting setting and characters of the Gotham Marina.

But when the series was running, all you ever heard were two discussion points over and over again: the art is ugly, and how dare there be gay boys romance in my superhero comic, with people acting like Bernard was getting sooooo much more page time than, say... Lois Lane. Iris and Linda West. Selina Kyle. The romance between Dick and Babs over in Nightwing. The romance between Harley and Ivy in everything they're in. You get me.

(As if that relationship wasn't the thing that got the book greenlit in the first place, given that it scored DC a shitton of free mainstream press the year before.)

And the thing is, people are always going to bitch about the writing on an ongoing book. Always. Gestures vaguely at current comics discourse. It's a big-ass fandom, somebody's always unhappy with what they're doing, they always, always blame the writers, and that goes double for anything written by a young woman like Meghan Fitzmartin. Double double if that young women happened to shake up the status quo in a majorly progressive way, like say, making an established character canonically queer.

So if it had just been that the book probably could've gone on at least as long as Batgirls did. And when they switched artists, people who were invested in the Tim/Ber relationship and in Tim's ongoing story started paying attention again and actually talking about the story. But by then it was too late, the book had already been canceled and was wrapping up, and it was genuinely a shame.

The book is fine. It's not a masterpiece, but it's fun and perfectly workmanlike and it loves Tim without shitting on other characters -- even when he does get a "issue where he fights the other Robins" (I assume this was an editorial mandate because both Jason and Damian had similar issues in their solos around the same time and that feels like way too much of a coincidence) it's a) not actually them and b) mostly about praising them for how good they are and how the copies are inferior.

The above statement, admittedly, does not apply to the marketing around the book, which I can only imagine didn't help matters because it was very cringe.

So yeah, that's the long and short of it by my estimations. TD:R took a big artistic swing in its first arc that failed to connect with its audience and then was just never given the chance to recover. It's sad.

[lakesparkles]

Why do you like Gideon x Julie so much?/genq I'm not hating, but I've always really hated goosepowers (mainly bc both characters were really really mischaracterized and their writing was half-assed and rushed (esp Gideon) and the backstory for them was stupid and rushed in my opinion), but I'm really curious about what you see in it to like it so much/gen

First thing, thank for asking this in such a nice way! I'm glad you want to know my opinion about them and I'm sorry for how long my answer will probably be lmao

Okay, I think the best way to start is explaining about how I feel about the different adaptations of the characters:

Ramona is one of the only ones I prefer a version 200% times than the others (everytime I talk about her, pls assume I'm talking about comic Ramona). The other characters I kinda can see good sides in all different versions. Like Julie. To me she is the same in all of them?? (The different being the amount of screentime she has). Sometimes I see people saying "I like Julie in the anime but I can't stand her in the comics" and I'm very confused because?? She's the same character to me? But I love rude and evil women. Julie is the one character I would block someone for openly not liking because it'll hurt me.

Now Gideon. I love Gideon so much that sometimes I forget we don't know much about him. The thing is that he's an almost complex character to me and this is the reason I can't stop drawing and writing this dude. I need to understand his mind. And the way I like doing so is taking parts I like of every version of him and creating a Gideon in my mind that makes sense to me. And somehow this is what makes me like Goosepowers too.

All Gideons have their own flavor, but something that tends to be the same is that he's alright as long as everything is under his control. Things being out of his control makes him upset, and he would do anything to make sure it won't happen - I mean, his whole reason for almost killing two people in the comics as because Ramona broke up with him and how dare she?? (This is why I like his backstory in the anime. He truly doesn't know how to deal with being rejected)

I like to think this is the reason he's so "not himself" during his Gordon Goose episodes in the anime. He's just wondering who he even is now that he has nothing. All his biggest fears became true so he doesn't care anymore.

And Julie is just... Everything that he dislikes in that sense: she yells at him, bosses him around and he has to do what she says because he's at her house now. I swear I wrote a whole fanfiction about this, to try to see how he felt in that moment. Maybe he likes Julie because she makes him feel free from all of that thoughts. Or maybe he doesn't like her at all and, inside, is just waiting for a moment he'll be able to change her as he wishes. Maybe he doesn't know himself, he doesn't even know who he is.

And another thing is that Gideon dating Julie doesn't make him a better person. It's the opposite, it's makes him worse because he's sudenly such a good boyfriend and it shows that he was always able to change. He could've been a nice and loving boyfriend for Ramona this whole time and the only reason he wasn't is because he didn't want to. And I'm still crying about how good this plot could've been in the anime if Ramona didn't stop sudenly caring about Gideon or how badly he treated her and how Julie, her friend, is dating him even knowing exactly how he is. The potential this plot had,,

I have a lot more to say about Goosepowers (and the Julie part of it, but that is a totally different story and I already wrote too much) This is the way I see their relationship and feel totally free to disagree. These are mostly my headcanons, after all!

[am1ca]

You know, I've been thinking about this lately, but for a Cybertronian, it must be TERRIFYING when someone like Elita-1 or Arcee walks into the room. Because not only are they extremely intimidating individuals in their own rights, but these are mechs that have specifically chosen to paint themselves in the same color as energon. (At least in Elita's case, but I like to think Arcee's was a conscious decision as well).

Like. The gall you have to possess in order to walk around every single day, wearing the same shade as your people's lifeblood, is INSANE. (And I think in some comics it's mentioned that this is exactly the color of innermost energon, which is SO METAL).

Even after the war is good and done with, she continues to keep up with that *very specific* shade of pink. And I think this is often discounted by the people consuming Transformers content because to us, it's just a silly little shade of pink on a girl robot. This subversion in her color scheme is especially cool to me in continuities where Elita-1 is a known threat, like IDW. Hell, during the whole Carcer debate thing it's shown that she literally TOWERS over Starscream. She may not be a tank, but she's huge, and she makes sure to use this to her advantage. This isn't even to mention how utterly brilliant she is. I'd be willing to bet that if things had gone differently, she could've made an absolutely ruthless leader of Cybertron. In my mind she rivals Megatron and Optimus in all aspects.

It's no wonder the Council is so afraid of her. Elita-1 is a mech that's proven time and time again that she's wickedly intelligent, ruthless in battle, and knows how to make a statement. She's spent her time intentionally making herself as big of a threat as possible in every way. She literally acts as her own warning sign (that paint just SCREAMS 'I know how dangerous I am, and so should you'). Honestly, I'd piss myself if I ever met her on a battlefield or if I ever had to debate against her.

One last note, I really enjoyed the way Elita's character was handled later on in the IDW comics. It was amazing to finally get her out from Optimus' shadow and not only give her some actual characterization but to see her become so vastly DIFFERENT from her earlier counterparts. This Elita means business. She's independent to an insane degree. I really love the way she got to reclaim the pink as something that's no longer just a color she was given because she's a girl robot, but as a critical piece of her character and a part of WHY she's so feared. I just love Elita-1.

I'd like to really explore this whole concept (when I have some more time for it) within my own AU. Because this kind of stuff is incredibly fascinating to me. I have some very specific ideas on both Warframes and Femmes, and this is one of those perfect tie-ins imo. Love it when women get to be evil <3

[laufire]

april reading meme!

BOOKS

We Will Devour The Night by Camilla Andrew. The version I read is available in the author's ko-fi (aninkwellofnectar), and the final version will come during fall of this year. I've talked about this saga before (The Essence of the Equinox), and I still recommend it to those of us who like complex characters (especially female characters), gothic horror, and lush prose. This is a sequel, and I like it even more than the first instalment. It gets deeper into the darkness of the world and it's an amazing read. The third and final part has started been posted on ko-fi as well, for anyone interested.

Why Does He Do That? Inside The Minds of Angry and Controlling Men by Lundy Bancroft. I wish I could make everyone read this book. It wouldn't fix everything, because it runs against a lot of people's deep-seated belief systems, but maybe it would make SOME of them start second-guessing those beliefs... Anyway. A MUST read in terms of abuse and intimate partner violence.

Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë. I read the book for the first time about 15 years ago, and only reread it now. I loved it even more than the first time. The atmosphere, the revenge tale, the love story between Catherine and Heathcliff, all the ways these families' lives affect the others, how you have to parse through Nelly's account of events... I still wish I could hit Lockwood in the head with a stick lol. Just once. Not even too hard! But hit him in the head, I would xD

COMICS

Batman: Huntress/Spoiler - Blunt Trauma. One of those "it could've been so good if it was good" comics. It would've had to NOT been written by Dixon, of course. His ideas about these two characters are palpable here. He's met real women and girls, I know this, but he's completely failed to take anything from these meetings into account to understand them as people. And boy, does it show in his writing.

Green Lantern: Willworld. I've had this comic in my list for aeons and I moved it up when I found out its author would be writing Jason's upcoming ADITF "what if" story starting July. I really liked this one, and how it showcased Hal's character. It's not a guarantee I'll like his Robin Lives run, because comic writers have biases and blind spots and huge gaps in their knowlege regarding certain characters, but "he seems to be a good writer" is already a huuuuge leg up compared to most modern Jason content lol.

JLA: World Without Grown-ups. This was interesting because I've watched the Young Justice (cartoon) version of this premise, which is VERY different, from the villains to their goals to the handling of the crisis (since the cartoon had an established teen team), down to the emotional beats (the Zataras). They're too different to be compared, tbh. This one was quite fun though, and it made me feel very fond of Bart. Also Tim's parasocial relationship with Jason's memorial made an appearance LOL.

Colin Wilke's appearances. I am MOURNING this kid. He has like 9 appearances (and a couple of them are barely a few pages) but each one is gold. Bring him back. Make HIM Damian's best friend. Integrate him in the storyline!! His character and his dynamic with Damian had so so much potential. I am definitely going to include him in my fics.

Batman: Li'l Gotham. (plus the two stories introducing it in Batman Annual #27 and 'Tec Annual #11). A couple of things conspired (including me finding out there's a version of Colin in this lol) and I ended up reading it while I was sick. It's mostly fun fluff (as opposed to just corny fluff) and a quick read without much meat in it, but a few things nudged the inspiration muscle and Dustin Nguyen's art is adorable.

Batman Tales: Once Upon a Crime. I liked this one more than the above! It follows in that universe (a Gotham where everything is smaller and cuter lol), mixing it with some fairy tale vibes. Pinocchio!Damian is A Concept. Although my favourite story was "The Snow Queen", with Mister Freeze. The art goes into a whole other level in all of these, but especially that one.

Batman: The Chalice. Bruce Wayne receives the Holy Grail. I read this one in my list of Talia appearances and hers is the part that interested me: Ra's wants the Grail to make her immortal, like him, and Talia tells him that she has no desire to live forever. Her words are "Having lived my life in your company, the prospect of eernal life is not the attraction for me it might be for another." There are A LOT of things you can read into that sentence, and one of them, to me, is the idea that death to Talia would be an escape from Ra's, which is... interesting. Sidenote: this one was written by Dixon, who once in a while gets his wired crossed and is not wholly terrible with female characters xD

Ghost/Batgirl. I hadn't heard of Ghost before but I'm kinda curious after reading this mini run. I found a lot of the concepts it worked on (resurrection, mind control, etc.) quite interesting, although I ended up feeling the execution didn't delve too deeply into them. It's an story I might want to reread and pick apart at some point, though.

JLA: Tower of Babel. Yeah, THAT arc lol (also part of my Talia-reading). I also read JLA Secret Files and Origins #3 (in May, though), which shows Talia's whole thoughts on it as she steals the plans + some of the consequences the whole thing has for the other bats whose teammates no longer trust them (Dick, Tim, Barbara) + the wording of Bruce's contingency plans (which btw includes acceptance of lethal methods against Clark lol)... he certainly got off easy after this añsdlkfjasdf. Honestly, imo, the most selfish, cowardly thing he did was walking out before the JLA could tell him they'd voted him out. I know he and the comics probably won't frame it like that afterwards, but that's how it felt to me. The very least he could've done is face his teammates.

[chicagosfinest2021]

Y'all I just need to vent, so if you ain't interested feel free to go on with your day/night. . .

So I know that everyone is entitled to their own opinions, because we all live in our own realities and experience the world in our own unique way, yadda, yadda, yadda. . .

And I get that not a lot of people were jumping around and stomping their feet after seeing 'Wakanda Forever' for various reasons. And I can get with that. Trust me there are TOOOONS of high profile, blockbuster movies and franchises that I either think are highly overrated or have 0 opinion on, and I'm not trying to hurt anyone's feeling about it either. Do you. But I once again came across yet another person on social media bitching and moaning about the fact that the mantle got passed on to Shuri, and them complaining about how it "should've been someone else".

Now even though I WHOLLY disagree that the mantle could've/should've/would've been passed to anyone else but to the one person who was technically next in line anyway. . .I'm a sucker for playing devil's advocate and don't mind hearing people's SOLID reasons for disagreeing with the final decision.

But that's just my frustration: in the months since the movie debuted, I have yet to hear any rational sound reasoning from anyone on why Shuri should NOT have become the next Black Panther. 90% of the time, it's just simply the fact that she's a young woman. Other people claim that her physique and stature should've disqualified her immediately (although the women is long, black and sleek. . .literally like a black panther).

I hear people saying it should've been M'Baku, or Nakia, or Okoye or Queen Ramonda. . .and of course you have those who were so in love with Chadwick/T'Challah that they felt that the mantle should've been discontinued altogether and died along with the actor, which to me is although is understandable, it's non-sensical. Once again, as with other plot points in the film, I just really feel like people weren't really paying attention to what was going on and are just letting their personal feelings get in the way. Shuri was not only the brains behind all the gidets and gadgets and the science that provided her brother with the assistance he needed to carry out his duties as the Black Panther. . .but she is literally THE NEXT OF KIN!! Plus she became Queen/Black Panther in the comics!! To refute all of that and say "Yeah well, seeing her as the next Black Panther gave me a tummy ache. . ." is just ridiculous and doesn't hold water with me.

I have no idea if or how they are going to move this franchise along going into the future, but I can tell you with 0 shame, Shuri, Princess of Wakanda, the Black Panther, The People's Princess, was the hero a LOT of us needed and needed to see.

[mischief-and-tea-by-the-sea]

For the give me a character ask: Ororo Munroe (Storm)

Give me a character; and I’ll break their ass down:

How I feel about this character

I think her powers are pretty badass, and she's very regal and elegant. That said, sometimes she really rubs me the wrong way. I like her, but at other times - and mind you, this is comic Storm, not movie Storm - such as when she told Bobby that he was worthless and useless and she didn't understand why Charles ever gave him a chance, that just really pissed me off. He'd already been struggling for years with his self-esteem, not understanding how he fit into the X-Men, worried that he was never useful to the team, etc, and then she vomits this bullshit on him, and while that was still post-AvX, and I wasn't thrilled with the characters who were shitting on Scott and Emma post-AvX (and unfortunately for a while Bobby and Kitty were among the ones being assholes to them), I still thought her comment was a low blow. And for as pissed off as I was at Logan through that whole mess, I thought her superiority bullshit telling Logan "I didn't give you permission to leave the school" (while he was without his healing mutation) was way out of line. So, I guess all that to say I have a pretty love-dislike relationship with her a lot of the time. In the comics, at least. In the movies, I mostly like her. I mean, she's the better of the two adult women X-Men. All the people I ship romantically with this character

T'Challa, though that never works out for her. Definitely Thor, though I haven't written it yet myself, but they'd be a good ship. I think I'd ship her with Warren - there was something in X-Men Evolution where they had some really good chemistry. That's about it, though. I know she's got a canon thing with Logan, but I'm not fond of them as a relationship dynamic, nor am I really fond of the shippy dynamic they've always hinted at with her and Kurt. My non-romantic OTP for this character

Honestly, Scott Summers. I think, when she's not got her panties in a twist over his leadership, they've got a really good working friendship and partnership. I don't like it when she acts like a bitch to him when he's not focusing all his attention on Jean - that's just bullshit and none of her business, but otherwise, when they're getting along really well, they're a powerhouse of teammates who can get shit done. My unpopular opinion about this character

I really think that she lets that "goddess" thing get to her head too much of the time. One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon.

Movie'verse, I wish she could've shone a lot brighter than Jean. But then I hate Jean with a fiery passion that will never change, and in the movies, Jean and Logan were the bright shining ones that everyone else paled next to, and it was gross. Storm deserved to shine a lot more in the movies than they let her.

Comic'verse, I really wish they'd quit making her slum it with Logan. I like Logan (most of the time), but they only tend to hook up when he's not chasing Jean (so Storm becomes a consolation prize when he can't be with the redheaded menace) or when he's not in tons of panels with Scott.

Thanks for the ask!

[pigeonfancier]

I hate how the darkskinned indigenous-coded man with more "nonwhite" features is written with no characterization other than being violent and abusive while the more light-skinned native man with light hair is shown as gentle and understanding. The scene where the indigenous women are shown staring in awe at Shuna drawing a bow feels particularly bad, I feel like it promotes the idea of white women being the ones who can introduce change and "save" women of color.

I got some hate on the elfquest forum for posting my criticism, ppl were telling me my opinions are "ill-conceived" and "dont like dont read".

This was sent November 2023, and I'm replying now, because I just remembered.. I wrote a response and then drafted it for all of eternity? I am truly a paragon of communication.

But yeah, everything about Shuna's books and plots is just shit. I was a bit more mealy-mouthed about this last year, but: the Pini's love their blonde, blue-eyed saviours, and the Sun Villagers' position as a rare exception feels largely like they were just trying to make their product stand out among other comics of the time. Once it did, the job was done, and they got to lean back into the white saviour shit. Antagonists look more ethnic, protagonists look more white (or will gradually shift to looking more white over time).

I'd add more analysis but you caught it basically on the nose. Shuna's entire narrative is not great, and it is an example of why having an editor to rein in creatives is generally a good idea. Most people need someone who is not invested in your story or your characters to produce objective criticism, because that editor is a hell of a lot closer to how your readers will perceive your work. I don't think the Pini's think of any of their writing preferences as racist, nor do they really care if they are - they are in their mid 70's. But it might have been a different story back in the 90's or 2000's.

Or might not have! Who knows?

Also, yeah, that's the Elfquest forums for you. The Father Tree Holt one born after the closure of the original might be better, but I doubt it - I know I joined when it began and was not impressed. It's a lot of the same people from the official forums, and subsequently, it's largely just a continuation of the same problems. The problem with older fandoms tends to be people largely wailing 'don't like, don't read' when it comes to criticising works. Which I almost understand, when you've been reading a series for the last forty five fucking years: for some people, that level of investment will come with a certain amount of defensiveness. I do not have that with media, but I can understand where it comes from.

But it seems very silly to me. Not everyone likes analysing media, and that's perfectly fine! Forums are great for that conflict, because instead of trying to shut down a discussion, you can just simply not click the thread. You don't have a feed that'll try to shove shit at you, you can literally just not click the fucking thread.

I still side-eye the fact I made a thread on the original forums discussing the biomes of Abode as a bright-eyed, bushy-tailed teenie, full swing into my obsessive EQ stage, and was promptly told by multiple people that I was overthinking it, I shouldn't bother, and it was silly to focus on shit like on the feasibility of biomes / speculate on how the biome could've ended up in the canon way over how it would appear irl. But that was the response to almost any variety of genuine analysis of the material on the forum, tbh, even down to things as relatively easy as "is Strongbow an asshole?", or "how long do the wolves actually live for?", or "do you guys think that the narrative has a weird take on consent?". I'm still slightly salty over that years later, obviously, haha, so not surprised that "but WHY are you trying to engage with the material instead of just fawning over it?" mentality carried over to the new forum.

[hawkgirlz]

Oml people calling Shayera Hawkgirl or saying she’s Latina rep pisses me off because 1. She’s on,y voiced by a Latina actor and was only casted because Timm and writers were racists who liked how “exotic” her accent was. 2. She doesn’t even like going by that name?? I don’t understand why they made Shayera Hol who distinctly went by Hawkwoman in the comics because she hated being called a girl, Hawkgirl. Should have just made her Shiera then.

(Also making a race of colonizing hawk aliens Latino is racist as hell especially when there actual Latino superheroes (though judging that they gave Kyle Rayner Hal’s look I don’t think the writers cares about representation beyond making John and Mari the sole black rep.)

EVERYTHING YOU SAID!!!!!

no one ever wants to talk about how much damage the dcau portraying hawkgirl as a white redheaded alien did when it was kendra who was the hawkgirl in comics before the dcau even aired. the fact that kendra's actresses in live-action received racist hate from dcau stans because she wasn't a white redhead gets so largely ignored. ciara renee and isabela merced both have received comments about shayera, them even getting mad that hawkgirl was 'racebent' (ciara being worse for obvious reasons). and it's even more egregious because these women aren't even playing shayera, they're playing the hawkgirl whose ACTUALLY non-white. certain dcau stans were even hating on hawkgirl (2023), even saying that 'THIS was my hawkgirl' with a picture of a redheaded shayera. no one wants to talk about how the dcau practically birthed these racist incels and how it's nearly impossible for kendra to have the proper adaptation she deserves without racists losing it because they want their white redhead. and all regarding a superhero name that shayera actively despised decades before the dcau aired. it may come off as petty for some but because the dcau image has been so heavily engrained into these incels, it's why i'll always hate their hawkgirl. it planted a nasty image that fed these people and a lot could've been held back had they just called her hawkwoman. it's a tiring argument to always have to use against racists because one cartoon didn't want to be comic accurate. and i'm hoping the dcu changes that and gives the hawks the comic accurate adaptations they deserve so we can give a rest to that white hawkgirl nonsense.

i questioned why on earth certain people (who also hate kendra) would be stupid enough to accept thanagarians as their representation. they'll accept shayera being their latina representation over kendra who actually is latina. especially when shayera is very clearly a white redhead. also the way the dcau adapted the thanagarians was just straight up ass. the message of genocide victims becoming genocidal + that aspect NEVER getting addressed again, shayera being stupid enough to somehow not know they were planning on destroying earth despite her spying on the jl for their WEAKNESSES, the plot of them even needing earth in the first place not making any sense whatsoever when it really could've been any planet they needed to destroy. they tried so hard being original that everything became insanely inconsistent, unlike the hawkworld take in the 90s where we actually see thanagar.

you're correct about the representation part too and what gets left out is how vixen was the only black woman in the dcau and was heavily mistreated for shayera, the WHITE woman. she could've had her stuff from comics adapted but they chose for her only storyline to be surrounding the crackship love triangle. even more insane because some *white* people even excused her treatment, saying that john/shayera are 'interracial representation' so the way vixen was treated wasn't that bad. like lol. give me a break, we can barely get two non-white people as a couple together in comic media in this day and age. irdgaf about 'interracial representation' unless the two people actually are non-white. also about how non-white women consistently get disrespected, both in fiction and in real life, when a white woman gets involved with a non-white man.

another aspect regarding representation, bruce timm himself called comic john stewart a black panther party member as an insult solely because he fought against racist cops which is why he wanted to make john a military soldier. another thing to note is that the black panther party were very pro palestine, against police brutality, etc. so the fact that bruce timm had a problem with the group because 'politics' says a lot. but you'll see dcau stans proudly ignore that part too.

it also ties into the fact that simon baz got erased in the failed attempt at a dcau revival that was justice league vs fatal five. like yeah, of course the arab muslim man whose origin revolves around getting tortured by the FBI for a crime he didn't commit gets left out of the timmverse. and it definitely wasn't a dc embargo thing considering he was supposed to be in the cancelled gl show meaning bruce timm PURPOSELY left him out!

anyways that's all i have to add! but yeah, i wish majority of these dcau stans actually had a brain and didn't just cloud themselves over nostalgia.

[myfaveisfuckable]

Rants!

Dante/Raiden: This ship comes from the 2006 Playstation Magazine (PSM) issue 110 endpage drawn by comic artist Adam Warren (most known for his comic Empowered) depicting the hypothetical timeline where the PSM swimsuit special is replaced with a 600 page erotic “Dante/Raiden slash fanfiction.” In this panel Dante’s DMC2 design is shown above Raiden’s MGS2 design (notably the most hated versions of these characters at the time, though considering Warren’s feelings towards Dante and Raiden, this pairing was most likely shown to baffle the reader with a well beloved charactered and a much hated character doing something “humiliating” aka. participating in homosexuality). Dante says “Why can’t I quit yew,” a reference to brokeback mountain, and Raiden says “Please be gentle… like snake”

Obviously this panel is meant to be a joke at the expense of both women who write fanfiction, and gay people, made more clear by the second appearance of “Raidante” in Warren’s work, in which Dante is reading yaoi fanfic and remarks “As if I’d settle for someone as lame as Raiden if I was gay!” However, likely because he has never played Metal Gear, Warren fails to consider the thematic implications of this pairing, considering the narratives of each character.

Dante is a demi-human, ashamed of his demon heritage but forced to reconcile with it. To cope with this, he adopts the persona of a “badass devil hunter with a devil may care attitude” as a form of escapism. Because he cannot accept his nature, nor can he come to terms with his past trauma of demons killing his close ones, he remains in stasis and cannot form deep connections with others.

Raiden is human by nature, but was robbed of his flesh by the patriots. Raised a child soldier, he is emotionally stunted and has very little personality to call his own, resorting to grasping at the persona of “Solid Snake” and tacking on his mannerisms to fill what gaps are left in his development. Even after starting a new after the big shell incident, he relapses again into the ego-less being he was at the age of 10, proclaiming himself a weapon and throwing himself at danger and death in the belief that it’s his purpose.

Both of these people are fundamentally unable to connect with others, breaking all of their connections and distancing themselves both out of fear of getting hurt and genuine inability to retain relationships. They use violence and self sacrifice as substitute for meaning in their life, and degrade themselves to that of a sword. Then, when meeting someone who they recognize all their behaviors in, what would happen? Do their own tactics of isolation work on themselves? Do they cancel out, or override each other?

Adam Warren is too much of a coward to explore this concept in a 600 page fanfic, so I will.

Jon Connington /Myles Toyne: "Myles had been possessed of jug ears, a crooked jaw, and the biggest nose that Jon Connington had ever seen. When he smiled at you, though, none of that mattered"

What if you lost a big battle and got exiled, and you blame yourself for the death of your crush. And then you join a mercenary company and found love, but what's this? IT"S THE METAPHORICAL GHOST OF YOUR CRUSH WITH A STEEL CHAIR! You leave behind the company to raise your dead crush's son, as a way of redeeming yourself, and then Myles dies, and also sike! it was all a lie, there was never anything you could've done to make up for your failure, and Myles was in on the lie from the beginning . Part of the tragedy is built on the Aegon Blackfyre theory, if everything was built house of cards of lies and guilt -- Myles caught feelings for a mark but sent Jon off to fight for a lie anyway.

I love how much of an idealist and a horrible judge of character jon is when it comes to his romantic interests. 'oh his nickname is blackheart but he's actually really kindhearted and nice'. The two bits of flashback dialogue we get from myles (he is mentioned 14 times in the text and has been dead for 4 yrs) are 1) 'i like if people think i'm scary and cruel, i consider that good method of leadership' and 2) monologue about razing a town to the ground with civilians in it, as a kind of pointed 'you wouldn't have lost that battle(and everything) if you did this' example (It's definitely Myles fault that Jon inevitably commits warcrimes when TWOW comes out). Bonus non jon pov, 3) eating the food of a pair of orphan children and then laughing at their request for help. Yeah Jon, I'm sure he was nice to you personally, but Imma be real, that nickname is deserved.

there are 5 fics in the tag, 2 of them not in english, a whopping 0.009% of the ASOIAF fic tag.

[fearthhereaper]

Tw. Rape: the writers decision to make aegon a rapist who watches his own children fight for sport is comically bad. I can’t take this criticism of him seriously because I can’t take the writing itself seriously. It also does not mix well with how tgc portrays him (which I love personally cause you can see him putting in the effort to understand and humanise aegon) because that is not someone who watches children like they are wild animals fighting in a pit, especially not his children. And the way half the fandom glosses over how daemon is a rapist while hounding aegon is disturbing. He is shown in the show to seek out blonde maidens in brothels (we all know that when someone in a brothel is a “maiden”, she is most likely a child”) to quench his thirst for his teenage niece. And in the books mushroom says rapes Rhaenyra and, if the show wanted to go with mushrooms account as they did with aegon, they should have kept it in.

I agree completely.

That's why when I'm asked about liking Aegon over Rhaenyra, or just Aegon in general, I have to explain that I like what Aegon could've been more than what we're actually showed in the series.

That Aegon is just a laughable caricature meant to make the other side look morally superior. That's it. That's his role. He's not there for nuisance, or even to make people consider the fact that while the throne is Rhaenyra's by the order of birth Aegon's claim, as a son, is important too.

Why make him a man who wants to fight for his family, his children's survival, when you can just make him a spoiled, whinny, man-child rapist, right? Makes rooting for the "right" and "correct" side so much easier for the general audience.

To be quite honest I think that either the writers are stupid as hell and unable to write a compelling, multifaceted story or they simply chose not to because they know that the general audience can only comprehend clear good-guy-bad-guy stories.

I don't understand how Daemon's faults can be so easily ignored while Aegon's are used to call real life people rapist apologist and even worse things. My only explanation is that his fans see him how Aegon's fans see Aegon. A character that is better in fanon than in canon so why not just ignore what we're showed. The only difference that matters I think is the fact that Aegon's fans don't excuse his actions and pretend they never happened.

Also the bias from the main, general audience. Daemon is on Rhaenyra's side (the protagonist we have to support otherwise we're bad feminists) so he can't do no wrong. The fact that he lusts after underage girls, the fact that he grooms her, marries Laena who was younger than Rhaenyra, then leaves her for another child, (also the fact that he's her UNCLE) is irrelevant because he's sexy and dark and deadly and whatever other nonsense they can think of so it doesn't matter, it's all good, he's actually a feminist king who respects women.

At the end of the day they was fans treat these characters is completely dependent on whether they're on the side of the protagonist or the antagonist. Protagonists' side will never do anything wrong because the audience will turn a blind eye to it, while the antagonists will always be ten times worse than they are.

(the fact that the writers think that way too doesn't help)

[liege-of-the-bees]

S7e16: Stag

Everything I have seen abt this episode so far has been insane I'm so fucking excited

Fuck why did they have to bring Grundy back

ARCHIE LEARNING WHAT BISEXUALITY IS

Also Betty being like 'I want that, men and woman. I want that'

Lizzo has been such a non-character but that scene was fun

OFC BRET OWNS THE PORN FILMS

'WE WANNA WATCH THE STRAIGHT PORN TOO'

See the 'Jughead coincidentally being gone everytime horny stuff goes on' would be so much funnier if Jughead was made Aro-ace canonically like in the comics. Sex plotline start and Jughead just gets magically summoned elsewhere

Cheryl just wants to paint naked women

Kevin and Clay canonically watch gay porn in the Babylonium

'Gal pal' Kevin and Clay know what you're doing Veronica don't even pretend

ARCHIE GLANCING OVER AT REGGIE

POLLY???

This is the funniest way they could've brought her back

Nothing more subtle then developing lesbian pinups in the school darkroom

Fellas is it gay to watch gay porn together

POLLY AMOUROUS

Veronica has a crush on Polly and you can't convince me otherwise

Please don't push the Jughead/Veronica thing again. Not after the misogyny. Not after the lesbianism.

IF YOU WANT TO MEET A FRIEND OF MINE (My girlfriend)

This Polly is actually so fun

'GAL-PALS'

This is the gayest straight porn scene ever

OH WAIT IT'S GAY PORN

THE IMMEDIATE CUT TO CHERYL PAINTING LESBIAN PINUPS

The funniest fucking way for Archie and Reggie to discover their bisexuality

They should shower together

Julian clocked them so hard ngl

It's gonna be another wrestling movie isn't it

God I wish Evelyn was there to react

Clay: 'I think you should have gay sex Archie'

THE THREESOME???

Fellas is it gay to have sex if its also with a woman

ROSE'S TURN

Betty that's your sister please

Oh never mind it's not incest she just wants it to be her

PENELOPE

THEY WERE AT IT ALL NIGHT?

'Expanded our horizons'

FELLAS IS IT GAY TO SAY I LOVE YOU????

Cheryl's gothic horror returns

I love you Cheryl you're doing great sweetie

Get her Betty

God I'm so attracted to Lili Reinhart

THE SLAP SINGLEHANDEDLY BRINGING BACK DARK BETTY

Fuck off I will not accept this as anything but Veronica's comphet

Homophobia

[spider-xan]

I liked Spider-Gwen at first, but then actually read the comics and they weren't. That Good. She is a good character in ITSV/ATSV, but idk I still feel indifferent about her. And she's been, once again, relegated to just The Love Interest by the majority of fans. Regular Gwen is Peter's love interest and Spider-Gwen is Miles' love interest. Nothing else. It wouldn't bug me if people weren't so obsessive about her, most fans are like "Gwen HAS to be there she HAS to we NEED Gwen!!!!" and it's very annoying. It especially annoyed me that people were drooling about the fact that Insomniac might (or might not) include her and make her Miles' age, so they can be together. Completely disregarding the fact that Hailey exists.

I like her design and all, but she's very meh to me, speaking as a woman myself. Beside the things I've mentioned, my biggest gripe with her that she feels like a completely different character and not a variation of Gwen Stacy. With alternate versions of Peter, while they feel slightly different, they still have the character's essence. The only thing she shares with the OG Gwen is the blonde hair and name, she might as well could've been an OC.

Yeah, this actually is p much how I feel about Spider-Gwen as well tbh! I actually do remember when she debuted and it was coming off hot from the massive spike in mainstream popularity she got after the first TASM film came out in 2012, and I think a major selling point was that her comics would explore what if Gwen lived and got spider superpowers - so I was surprised when I read the comic and aside from having blonde hair, a strong personality, and a cop father, she was basically a new character, rather than if 616!Gwen had a different life; I know a big Spider-Man fan on here wrote a really good meta post examining why Spider-Gwen fell flat for her that I don't have the link for on hand right now, but I remember it discussed the odd choice of taking away Gwen's science skills from 616 when that was a trait that set her apart back in the 1960s and would have been interesting to explore if she had spider powers.

But yeah, like, I would consider myself on the flexible side with adaptations instead of being a strict textual purist, but I agree that you do have to keep a core spirit to a character or else they may as well be a new character with a superficial resemblance, and that's what Spider-Gwen felt like to me - if she had been branded as Spider-Liz Allen or just a new Spider-Woman, I wouldn't have thought of her as actually being a Gwen with someone else's name.

And yeah, you're right that Gwen in general often gets reduced to a love interest who doesn't exist independently of Peter or Miles. (My controversial TASM opinion is that she's not really written as an independent character so much as the perfect girlfriend for nerds.) In Miles' case, it also happens in reverse where the non-Black fandom struggles to think of him as a character separate from Gwen, in stark contrast to how Peter is not treated that way by fandom unless they're hardcore shippers who only ship - and then yeah, you get misogynoir like people screaming, 'Where is Miles' girlfriend??', re: Insomniac Spider-Man 2 while posting a picture of Spider-Gwen and erasing Hailey.

Anyway, yeah, I agree she does not and should not be in everything, and it honestly bugs me when people try to point at Miles by comparison and act like she's on par with his importance when she's not - Miles was groundbreaking and still important to this day on a meta level bc he was an Afro-Latino Spider-Man who became THE Spider-Man in his universe and took Peter's place originally amidst a lot of racist backlash to that change in the (Ultimate comics) status quo, whereas Gwen is far from the first white woman Spider-Woman, nevermind the only one, like, no, she is not the Miles Morales of (white) women.