#at the end of the day it’s a comic being adapted into a tv show

[credit-song]

When Anissa showed up

[gb-patch]

Sorry to send another ask amongst the sea I'm sure you're receiving, but I find myself more concerned about Rose being a sensitivity reader as I find more information. One of Rose's friends continues to insist that the conversation about Tamarack and male MCs was part of a larger discussion about biphobia in the fandom. However, they claim that Rose's position is "people erase Tam's bi/pansexuality by refusing to portray [her] as being attracted to anything other than men." This explanation of Rose's belief is, in-and-of-itself, biphobic. It claims that portraying Tamarack as attracted to men erases her queerness. This is textbook biphobia and bi-erasure that I as a bisexual encounter every day. It is NOT a good-faith defense of a queer character. It reduces us down to our partners and makes the claim that if we end up in a relationship that's "straight-passing," we're erasing our queerness. Especially as a bi sapphic myself, it reduces my identity strictly to the perceived-man I'm dating, and not my inner or previous experiences, or those of my partner. It's very uncomfortable that Rose, a non-bisexual, was discussing this like they're defending Tamarack's queerness when they're doing the opposite.

This is a doubly strange position when Our Life is a game about the acceptance of love in all its forms. The conversation could be different, MAYBE, if Our Life was a TV show or a book or a comic. But this is a game where people are meant to play as characters of their own design. I do not feel confident about Rose being a sensitivity reader for a game with bi/pansexual love interests if these are their beliefs about bi/pansexuality, particularly if they're unable to adapt their opinions to be relevant to different formats of media; this shows they're lacking in skill in the areas of media literacy and critical thinking.

I’ve been trying to make a post that presents the concerns people have about this, but your ask touches on the points I was going to, and I’d say it’s better to have it said by a player than me deciding what people are thinking. So, this is something that I want to make clear- that I see this and other asks/comments about it. What you’ve said is something a lot of people are unsure and upset about. I am sorry that you feel so out of place in this community now. And I am also sorry to players of any sexuality who use a male MC. That comment dismissed players and Tamarack’s identity.

It did come from a longer discussion about bi-phobia issues. The overall feelings were “if people did only want Tamarack to be interested in men, I really wouldn’t like that and wouldn’t it be a funny concept if Tamarack then left them for a woman?”. The comment itself didn’t encompass that idea at all. It does not give a good impression about where they’re coming from. It was unkind.

The viewpoint Rose is trying to have isn’t that “Tamarack can never express an interest in men” which would be wrong, it’s “I stand by the fact that Tamarack is someone who wouldn’t only be interested in men and no one else”. If it’s true that Rose likes Tamarack being interested in all genders and doesn’t want her bi-ness to be forgotten, I’d say that’s an acceptable view. If the point actually is that Tamarack should only be with women and if she’s not than Tamarack is no longer bi or she’s a bad character, then you're right- that isn't acceptable and that is going to get someone removed from the project. I do believe Rose agrees with what you’re saying and means it when they say they want to stop bi-erasure, not participate in it for real. But they had a very harsh way of talking about it.

I understand that people don’t know Rose and this situation has made them believe they do seriously hold that first view. But from working with them, there’s never been any feedback that shows an opinion of the sort.

Right now, I think that comment was being edgy and making a quick, very poorly-worded quip to people they’d been chatting with about that topic already. Rose has left the GB Patch discord servers, they used to be a mod, and may or may not ever be back in there. Rose won’t make blog posts responding to players going forward. They’re going to take a break from this and then try to give helpful feedback. We’re going to see if things can be okay from here.

And with this coming up, we’re all really aware that it’s something to consider about the game. I’m going to be as conscious as I can for any advice that seems to go against the character’s identities and I’m going to question my own knee-jerk choices for how I handle things. Other sensitivity readers will be able to give their viewpoints as well, so will the players. If the game’s content isn’t welcoming or is biased people will notice, and I’ll be here to accept what I’ve done. I don’t want that to be the result of this, of course. I hope the game will be thoughtful and considerate, but I can’t fire Rose at this point to try doing that.

No one has to keep following the game, though. I’m sympathetic to anyone who is too uncomfortable with all this to stay around.

[darkcrownninja]

MOS Pa Kent and MAWS Pa Kent

I find the polar opposite depictions of Jonathan in these stories incredibly fascinating.

MOS Jonathan shields and separates Clark from anything related his heritage, including things like his ship and powers. Encouraging suppresion and caution in Clark.

Actively telling Clark to hide his powers and never use them, scolding him whenever he used them. He is a man terrified of the world taking his son away from him, specially knowing he has no real way of protecting Clark from anything that may seek to harm him. So he encourages him to hide himself and avoid drawing any attention.

He is a more jaded and cynical man, immediately assuming the world would attack and try to kill his son (he ended up being right, which is its own can of worms), would try to rip his miracle child, his star baby away from him.

He only sees a world that would harm the child he so desperately seeks to protect, that child he loves more than anything.

MAWS Jonathan is the complete opposite of his MOS counterpart. He is the one that encouraged Clark to discover himself, to make contact with the ship, to practice his use and control of his powers, even turning that into a game a young Clark could enjoy.

He is aware of the shock Clark´s existence will create but in the end he has faith in humanity seeing Clark for what he truly is, someone who just wants to help others.

He is more optimistic and cheerful, thinking of the best and encouraging other people to do so too.

In MAWS, Martha is the one who is the one who wants to keep Clark away from anything alien, the one that clings to him and wants to keep him hidden.

While Jonathan is cheerful over Clark deciding to go public and help people, Martha is the one that is slightly reluctant (though not to MOS Jonathan´s level, like letting yourself get killed by a tornado because you don´t want your son to expose himself is extreme though somewhat understandable) to let him go, though she eventually gets on board and creates his trunks.

This dicotomy is reflected on Clark´s abilities.

Flight is one of his most characteristic abilities and it often serves as a metaphor for Clark feeling free and accepted, it comes in moments where Clark learns to love and accept himself.

So it is interesting to see how in MAWS it is one of the first he obtains while in MOS it is one of the last ones. Showing the difference in how their settings and enviroments reacted to them.

MAWS is honestly amazing and I am incredibly glad we got this adaptation of the Superman mythos. It is so unique and refreshing. I can´t wait for season 3.

Regardless of its flaws I genuinely love MOS and its depiction of the Kent family. Its different from what we are used to in comics and tv shows, but it offers a unique take on the Kents dealing with Clark´s powers. At the end the day Jonathan is just a father terrified someone will hurt his child and he won´t be able to protect him.

Anyways this ramble has lasted enough, love both pieces of media to bits.

[wander-wren]

sometimes i wonder about what fandom is going to look like in 5 or 10 years. i think we might have already started to see a shift.

because, look, most of the oldest, biggest fandoms are from tv shows and movies, in particular ones that go on for years and scores of episodes. star trek, star wars, stargate (is everything star?), doctor who, supernatural…even sherlock really got its biggest popularity boosts in the modern day from tv adaptations. marvel and dc were comics first, too, but movies made them more accessible; their “cinematic universe” tags are the biggest on ao3 by far.

but what tv shows are we getting now? short, 8-episode things that get canceled two or three seasons in, that are usually less-than-faithful adaptations of other media anyway.

what movies are we getting? well, marvel turns more to slop every day, and everything else is remakes and sequels no one asked for. the general populace will still go see them and find some good movies that they like, but there’s not much really for fandom to grasp onto.

the best shows for fandom that we’ve had recently, that i can think of, are stranger things, game of thrones, and maybe our flag means death. stranger things is dying off, especially since they’re looking at a 3-4 YEAR gap between s4 and s5. game of thrones’s popularity plummeted after its final season, we all know that. our flag means death is still chugging fairly okay, but after that second season a lot of the fandom dropped it, and with it now being cancelled, i don’t see it sticking around.

yes, we can chalk part of this up to a new generation to of fans having this growing idea that fandom is super temporary, to be abandoned as soon as its not on trend. but media used to be on trend for a whole lot longer than it is now. seasons were longer, we had filler episodes, things were lower quality sometimes but at least they came out on a consistent schedule. i don’t mind if supernatural isn’t an artistic masterpiece, but if i was a stranger things fan waiting until 2026 for the final season, i would be annoyed if it wasn’t damn near perfect. that’s assuming i watched it at all—we’re all so used to not getting endings and moving on, so why would i bother?

i think there are two types of shows doing sort of okay about this. one is procedurals—9-1-1 is a popular one i’ve run into, and it started in 2018, around the beginning of the decline, but it’s managed 7 seasons in those six years, most of them with 18 episodes. the other is, honestly, anime—though we can and SHOULD talk about the terrible working conditions that make the fast turnarounds there possible. look at how big some anime fandoms are.

judging by the relative fandom popularity of other procedural dramas (grey’s anatomy, law & order, criminal minds), i think that’s going to remain sort of niche. fandom likes fantasy and scifi best, and they just don’t tend to have as strong of an overarching arc to dig into. at least, that’s why i wouldn’t watch them. i think there’s also a good chance these will start to die out in the coming years as well.

anime could also die out a little bit. better working conditions would necessitate less/slower content, and it’s true that most of the popular anime fandoms have been around for years, even decades.

so, what, no new, lasting tv show or movie fandoms anymore?

what will the biggest fandoms be in 5-10 years?

podcast fandoms have a shot. the magnus archives is still going strong, and i’ve been seeing a lot about dungeons and daddies. i think we’re kind of almost past the golden age for podcasts, but i am an outsider, so maybe that will change.

book fandoms seem like a kind of obvious choice, but they just don’t get as big without, you guessed it, a movie or show adaptation. and the downsizing has hit them, too—can you think of anything from the last 5 or 10 years that rivals harry potter, percy jackson, warriors, lord of the rings, hunger games, acotar…even game of thrones (asoiaf) again? i can’t. the collapse of the publishing industry is another post entirely.

2020 is really what cemented these changes, though they were starting in the late 2010s, at least. with actual industries shutting down, there was room for indie creators making things alone in their houses to pop up, and people had more time on their hands to try new things out and get into them.

the two things that have really been on the rise since 2020 is rpf and video game fic—often both combined. we’ve got genshin impact, call of duty, minecraft of course being huge, rpf of various youtubers, and k-pop rpf. now, i think rpf is contentious enough that it won’t really become the main fandom, but video game fic…might be it.

even video blogging rpf can often be a blurred enough line that people are more comfortable with it. and the thing is…youtube creators are actually more reliable than mainstream television these days. they need to be, to maintain their platforms. they need to not cancel series and to live up to their own hype as best they can and to not abandon the channel for 3 or 4 years at a time. and again, you can talk about burnout and unrealistic expectations and all of those things, but it’s still true.

maybe i’m completely wrong. maybe in 10 years the film and publishing industries will all sort themselves out and we’ll go back to the status quo. but i think this position fandom is finding itself in is interesting, and i wouldn’t necessarily be surprised if what’s most popular (both in the specific source material sense and the medium/genre sense) is different some time down the road.

[euniexenoblade]

Mordred do you have any anime or manga recommendations you havent talked about recently?

I feel like there's a lot of anime I never talk about for one reason or another, like RN I'm writing up a whole thing about maidime (maid anime) for my anime blog and if I ever get it done then yay but it's dragging lmao

But yeah, I really liked the adaptation of Children of the Whales, the world building is insane and the animation was so spectacular for a TV anime. Really stands apart from most shows.

I really like the show Erased. Time travel and time loops aren't that uncommon but still I felt that Erased found a really neat way to tackle the topic of it. It's a real fucked up story so trigger warnings for child murder and serial killer shit, but for real spectacular show. Basically there's a serial killer and dude goes back in time to be his kid self and uses his adult knowledge to try and stop the killer.

I mention this show plenty I think but I always need to sing it's praises, Humanity Has Declined is probably in my top 15 TV shows. It's such a fun, bright take on a post apocalypse and it's so funny. If you take anything away from this post, watch this show. Whenever I try to compare it to anything, the only thing I can think of is Adventure Time, it's a bright whimsical comical telling of happenings after an apocalypse. Though plot wise it's nothing like AT so, maybe the comparison isn't the best. But essentially the protagonist is a UN representative to go between the remaining humans and the newly evolved fairies. The arcs are in reverse chronological order and its lovely tbh lol.

Time of Eve is one of the first shows I really hooked into. It got rereleased as a movie, so whatever version you find is right. But it's about a world where there's robot house keepers and shit and one day the protag follows his robot to a coffee shop where robots meet and have the ability to be free. It's very nice and I should rewatch it I haven't seen it in a long ass time.

To get that yuri rep in there, if you've never watched Maria-sama ga Miteru (Maria Watches Over Us) you gotta drop your toes in. It's four seasons but you'll know if it's for you or not right away. A girl attends an all girls Catholic school and gets caught up in the student council and the personalities in it. Imo this is the premier Class S yuri and I love this series so much.

I could go on and on honestly.

As for manga, I'd say my manga opinions are very known cuz I post all sorts of screencaps and shit as I read, but considering most of that was on my old blog.

Read Liberta. Just do it. Vampire lesbian escapism fantasy. It's awesome.

The Summer Hikaru Died is a gay horror. Basically a dude's best friend goes missing and then suddenly turns back up months later. But the dude knows it's not his friend because he saw his friend's dead body in the forest. That's not a spoiler, that's like 4 pages in. It's phenomenal.

I think I see people try to disparage it these days, but Future Diary was a really good read. Dude ends up in a weird game where his cell phone tells the future and he has to kill other people who have prophetic phones (and vice versa) so they may become a new god. But on top of this one of the players is a yandere girl obsessed with being with him. The anime adaptation is good too just be ready for them to show. Too much. Watch the TV show version and not the Blu-rays, they uncensored stuff in the Blu-ray and it's such a weird decision when you see it.

Goodbye Eri and Look Back are both one shots by the Chainsaw Man author. Both deal with losing someone dear to you at a young age and both handle it in completely different ways. Both are fantastic though.

I could go on and on and on

[mamuzzy]

I only wanted to answer in reblog but it got so long i decided to make a separate post. But it had me thinking about media consumerism and how it could affect the open-mindedness for different shows soooo...

Here is a guide to...

HOW TO GET SOMEONE TRAPPED IN THE CLONE HELL

... not entirely a guide but more like an observation.

If we want to look at the problem with the fast-paced media consumer viewpoint, I think starting with the Bad Batch it's actually not a bad idea for someone who never watched Star Wars animated media before. It's sad but cartoons, animations can repulse people to watch things because they link them to child stories, something only a child would watch, also most of the people prefer live action instead of animated stuff. Especially if the said movie/series is quite old. cont. under the cut...

There could be a reason why people are not interested in clones

If a friend, family member, boyfriend/girlfriend/whatever only saw the movies and were not interested in TCW before, had not seen it as a child on TV, they will probably have prejudice against the clones. - They weren't the main characters in the movies therefor we have not seen them interacting that much with the main cast. - But even if you don't know star wars, you will probably know the clones for Order 66, white armored assholes who murdered the jedi aka good guys. And when the movies came out, inhibitor chips weren't in the picture. ---> this observations came while watching TCW with my dad who didn't like the clones because for this exact same reason: the clones basicly serve antagonist without question in a world where rules were set: jedi are good, sith are evil. -> I don't care that it is more complex that. It is what was shown. While he enjoyed the clone-centric episodes, he still stood at his point. They killed the jedi. End of story. - People have different interests :'(((((((

THE CLONE WARS 2003

Why do I recommend this first.

You can always say it's made by the same guy who made Samurai Jack. Strategically speaking Clone Wars 2003 would be a good starting point despite not being canon anymore because TCW is adapting some of the stories shown here. It recaps well what happened between Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith. Also this is the first media where Asajj Ventress and Grievous were introduced, and where you can actually see Grievous in his prime, an absolutely terrifying foe who actually can mop the floor with the jedi. Lots of jedi were introduced here which later also appeared in TCW. Why is this important: Having familiarity with the characters shown in memorable scenes helps that you will recognise them later in other media. Like... Hey it's the jedi dude who stripped in the middle of a fight! Hey, aren't these the same guys who mutated an entire village out of fun who kidnapped Echo??? And so on. TIME: 25 x 5 minutes episodes full of action so it keeps up the interest, and... FORDO. 5 minutes of full clone badassery. While TCW emphasises on the theme that the clones are living, feeling human beings who can die exactly like a human, in CW2003 they are shown like really the badass super soldiers (especially the ARC Troopers) who were bred for war. How much time it takes an episode to watch is an important factor. Because someone who binge watches 10 x 1 hour long netflix series under one day without sleep, drink, eat is not a guarantee that they will be able to sit through 133 x 22 minutes episodes. The sheer numbers will scare them away, nobody has a time watch 133 episodes when you can watch like... 5 different series instead! STORY TELLING COMPARED TO TCW: CW2003 goes for mostly visual story telling instead of talking. It's suspenseful, it's scenic, it's extreme, sometimes silly (rocket-launcher clone in the elevator with zero fuck given is still my favorite) but it's guarantee that you will remember. TCW episodes are varying from episodic to two-to-four episode arcs, it has silly comic relief episodes, it has serious dark episodes, obligatory beach episode, obligatory valentine day episode, obligatory school festival episodes obligatory-just kidding lol , so the lenght of one story can be varying, so is the quality of them. So unless you have a hyperfixation, or are a completionist, or interested enough, the episodes - in psychologycal term -, won't urge you the continue. Because in one 22 minutes episode you got a complete story without cliffhanger it won't make you think, because all the questions asked in the beginning of the episode was answered at the end. It won't rush you to continue, because you know that probably the next episode will be about an entire different conflict. You can stop anytime without the feeling of "just one more episode, just one more episode". Also, it doesn't help that you know how the story will end if you saw Revenge of the Sith. The forementioned uglyness... It took me years to finish TCW. I hated when it came out back in 2009 despite loving Star Wars and CW2003 and only after a decade picked up my interest again, it still took me years to finish it anyway. Back then, I really hated how everything got quickly 3D in neglection of 2D. But can't say it's ugly because it's old, it was ugly when it came out! You really have to force yourself to accept how it looks until you are fine with it, because your eyes got used to it. Also some episodes were boring, not entertaining, I just lost interest and only came back later to continue and I even forgot what happened before. I can't remember most of the arc expect those I was interested in to rewatch it again in the last years. Yes, the quality will improve. Season 7 is beautiful. The visuals of Bad Batch is also beautiful. But between season 6 and season 7, years passed.

THE BAD BATCH

Why do I recommend TBB for someone who ain't got time for shit™:

- TBB season are 16 episodes long. It's friendlier than 133 number wise. - There are only a few main characters to follow. It's important because when there are a large cast of characters, it's easy to get confused who is who and with literal CLONES as main characters, it's hard to distinguish them from each other. I know I can distinguished them, because I'm so fixated on them that every single verbal and non-verbal gesture they make will shoot me into outer space. - The Batch uses popular character tropes, different looks, different voices and tones, so they are recognisable, therefore, you will remember them for the rest of the show. So it will be a chance that you will fall for at least one member of the batch. And then you'll be thirsting mess over one character and eventually you'll be staning all of them, and eventually you will seek out more contents,fanfics, fanarts, headcanons with them that will attract TCW characters or events as well that will lead further deep down into the clone-hell. --> You can start showing the Bad Batch arc TCW where Jesse, Kix, Rex, Cody is also present, so there are plenty of topic and characters to talk about later. Also... Who is this Echo guy, how did he end up here? You can show the Domino Squad episodes, Kamino arc, citadel arc... - This could be a double-edge sword, but TBB are shown resemblance to Delta Squad, Omega Squad and Null ARC troopers. You know Delta Squad from the Video Game, Republic Commando, while the Omegas and Nulls are the main characters of the book series with the same name by Karen Traviss. I say it's double edged, because without these fantastic characters we wouldn't have The Bad Batch, but also I can understand the fans who wanted the Deltas adapted properly instead. - In season 1, the "fillers" add to the story and the characters as well and they won't get episodic-amnesia. (they may have TCW amnesia though... yes, I look at you Echo.) - In Season 1, there is a clear conflict which shadow always lingers even if the plot of the episode does not directly touches it. - Returning characters from TCW like Rex and Gregor could make the consumer ask the questions: who are these guys and why are they important? Rex is cute, is there more episodes with him? Oh yes, my dear prey friend, there is a whole series about him. - I only say season 1 because I'm not entirely satisfied how season 2 were handled while I enjoyed the first one. My hyperfixation for TCW last year literally started with Bad Batch. The trailer was so misleadingly awesome I wanted to watch it before season 2 would come out, but I wanted to finish TCW first (finally!). Season 6 and Season 7 were basicly binge watch and it got me interested again in the previous seasons too.

STAR WARS: THE CLONE WARS 2008 (movie)

Why do I recommend this before TCW - It has Fox - Because sitting through a one-night movie is still easier than watching 133 episodes while maintaining the same quality of the show. - It has Fox - It shows the story how Ahsoka is introduced as Anakin's padawan the first time and we get a glimpse of their initial relationship and dynamic. - It has Fox - Basicly two arc in one movie but the introduced characters stay the same the entire time so you have time to get to know them, recognise them, and later you can remember them. - It has Fox - It has Fox.

TALES OF THE JEDI

It has that one episodes with the clones where they train Ahsoka. Possible questions could be asked: wtf happens at the END? Where is the rest of it? You can instantly show the last arc of season 7. Which would lead to another questions: wtf are the mandalorians, why Maul is here, wtf happening with Rex during O66, why is he hesitating to shoot Ahsoka? Now you can show the Chip conspiracy ARC with Fives! This Fives is a nice guy, is there more episodes of him? Oh boy~

And if they are interested in watching TCW with you..

- Watching together as spending time together usually helps. I think discord also has a function where you can stream movies to others. - You don't have to watch it in the exact order the episodes came out - Show arcs. There are lot of clone centric arcs. I literally collected all the episodes where Echo and Fives are present. --> Dad remembered Echo the whole time and he felt sorry for him. I showed the episodes in such order that his story could be followed easely. ------------- I know. I get it. Every episode is awesome. Every character is awesome. They are. They are all blorbos. They are our blorbos.

[batsyheere]

Hello..If you don't mind me asking, can I ask, what are your top 7 (or top 10) favorite media (can be books/ manga/ anime/movies/tv series/etc) and your top 10 favorite (fictional) characters from any media? Why do you love them all? Sorry if you've answered this questions before......

Oh, that's a fun question because it's constantly in flux. I get a hyperfixation binge and usually bounce around whatever I like because otherwise I get bored. But there are quite a few I go back to, and I always have a favorite character whether I like the media or not. So.

Top ten media? This is definitely not in order and I might ramble-

Danny Phantom

I come back to this one a little too often because of how the fandom has managed to make it so much more than the show- I love lore and worldbuilding and the way people have built off this show is fascinating to observe.

The Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation // The Untamed

This is another I return to a lot. It's a story of how everything goes wrong, and while there is a villain at the end, ultimately the blame is on the collective characters. It's also neat to see so many adaptations of the original material. I also like to remember that I had no idea this was a novel about guys pining after each other because I was just looking for something interesting to read and it got recommended by a friend. Who said nothing. And then mentioned I was equally as dense as some characters.

Homestuck

This one will always have a place in my heart for being incredibly weird and weirdly influential. Despite the fact I haven't read it again in years, I recall so much about it and enjoy engaging with my fellows- I volunteered at a con once and saw the most gorgeous Karkat cosplayer, we had a nice conversation while I tried to get the system to read their ticket. The community of this fandom is a nice thing, especially since at least once or twice a year we can see who is still in the world.

Percy Jackson

Where most people get into mythology thanks to Rick Riordan, Greek mythology got me into Percy Jackson. Modern day interpretations of myths are so intriguing, even if some interpretations could be argued with. It's also funny that I got my first Percy Jackson book at a summer camp. (It is not a surprise that I now have an EPIC the Musical fixation.)

Lord of the Rings // The Hobbit

I'm a huge classic fantasy nerd and this was a way I bonded with my grandfather over the years before he passed. It's influenced a lot of how I interpret other takes on fantasy and sets such a high bar. I also like that it's an encouragement of hope and faith in the little things of life that make it worth the fight. I wrote a lot of high-school papers on Tolkien.

Batman / DC Comics

While I do love comics, I do have a returning fancy in the Gotham Knights and their allies. Especially since in a world filled with corruption, an unjust system and too many broken pasts, it shows a person can make something of themselves to help others rather than just hurt. And that it is never too late to turn onto a better path. Also, just like LOTR, I wrote a couple of papers on Batman in college.

Star Wars

I grew up on Star Wars. Even with this weird output to the franchise Disney is trying to put out, I feel there are parts of it that are great to come back to. If I had to pick specifics I would mention the Mandalorian, but I favor the era around the prequel trilogy- both before and after.

Critical Role / Dimension 20 / TAZ

If I could just say DND I would but I had to list the top three for me. As I mentioned before I'm a hug fan of worldbuilding and lore. I also really like complex characters who are neither good nor evil, just trying to go about their lives. Found family is also one of my favorite tropes, and these three pull that off effortlessly.

Howl's Moving Castle

Both the book and movie are fantastic, I enjoyed both forms of this story in a way that I only ever enjoyed the vast differences between the How To Train Your Dragon movies and books. I like how it's a good example of adapting a book without being entirely off-putting.

Arcane

Just barely making this list because the second season just came out. But honestly? Arcane is so good. It takes such an artistic approach to its animation and gives vibrancy to its characters you don't typically see outside video games or movies. The story writing and dialogue are excellent- I could rant all day about it.

And now, Top Ten Characters from media...

Shang Qinghua from SVSSS

So many reasons. Top three? Such an unreliable narrator, understandably a sell out and holds a better romance than the technically main character of the novel.

Obi-Wan Kenobi from Star Wars

He's on the sidelines of a lot of the main story as a mentor, brother, friend- despite being one of the most tragic characters in the entire timeline.

Stiles Stilinski from Teen Wolf

My friend dragged me into watching the show because she didn't want to watch alone and he was the most redeeming quality of it. The sarcasm, the wit, the untapped potential.

Dick Grayson // Nightwing from DC Comics

A complex character with an even more complex series of issues in his life that never let him have a moment to breath half the time. He has so much repressed rage it's funny he's considered the happy one.

Kim Dokja from Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint

This one is basically me being way to empathetic with a character and another reason for therapy. He needs a hug.

Aizawa Shouta from My Hero Academia

As weird and "way too much" the fandom can be, Aizawa is worth it. Crazy and a mentor figure.

Taako from The Adventure Zone

Again, love complex characters. I also like convoluted pasts and people with intimacy issues who are also huge flirts.

Fai Fluorite from Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicles

This poor guy was my first "wow what a character" for way too many reasons to list. Probably the crippled sense of self worth.

Ruby Rose from RWBY

She has such a good character set up and had such a strong sense of self. That plot did NOT help, but she's coming out stronger for it.

Yor Forger from Spy X Family

This one is purely because I love pure of heart dumbasses with too much badass and not enough sense.

As much as I like certain pieces of media a lot it's not a guarantee that I like the characters, and vice versa. Anyway, thanks for letting me ramble! This is what is currently on my mind when it comes to immediate favorites, though I definitely love far too many pieces of media- a lot of anime, and a lot of fantasy.

[avidbeader]

Okay, I am two episodes into "Dead Boy Detectives" and I am loving it. It's blending its own mythos into the Sandman-verse nicely. it's got lovely banter and conversation that doesn't tip over into I'm-Joss-Whedon-and-I'm-so-clever territory. Everyone in the main cast is brilliant in their role.

Some potentially spoilerish thoughts below for both the "Sandman" comics and "Dead Boy Detectives", along with a dash of salt.

I think I'll finish watching the season first, but I am definitely curious about reading the original comics and seeing whether the developing slow-burn between Edwin and Charles was ever a thing when the characters died at 12 years old vs. 18. There's one scene in the comics that shows that boarding-school students were screwing each other frequently, so canon-in-comics Edwin was obviously aware that queerness is a thing. And I'm guessing TV Edwin probably knows the theory as well, but never considered it for himself, with being stuck in hell for so long and then focusing on avoiding Death and finding purpose with the agency. But as we've seen with "Sandman" and "Good Omens", Gaiman and the people he chooses to work with him are very deft in adapting the comics to television, hanging onto the core elements without clinging to them. At first I was rolling my eyes a bit at the massive popularity of shipping Dream with Hob Gadling on the strength of one episode, knowing that Gadling-in-comics is only shown in romantic relationships with women. But after seeing the directions they've gone in with "Dead Boy Detectives", maybe they will do something with that...even though it will still end with Dream dying. And a bit of salt that occurred to me: I have no idea if the antis have discovered DBD yet and await their mental gymnastics over their pet fake grievance of ages - do they count as two 18-year-olds because of when they died? Or is Edwin perceived as decades older than Charles because he's existed longer in death? Is that the makings of a dreaded power imbalance? And do they even take into account that the original comics characters died at 12? Will they consider Edwin a pedophile in the case of Esther's crow, given he is only days old as a human? And the answer is no, of course they won't, because they always try to pick what they think will be canon and slander all other options with lies and deliberate misreadings like the hypocrites they are. Anyway, salt over and I'll watch more tomorrow.

[tyrantisterror]

If you were ever given the keys to directing or writing a Spider-Man story (or write a Spider-Man fanfic), how would you handle each of Spider-Man’s villains? I’d love to see a more heroic take on The Lizard!

I'm afraid I don't really have a clever take for Spider-Man - I'd probably end up just doing a fairly predictable rehash of the 60's comics, with a dash of some of the newer characters thrown in, like a less good version of Spectacular Spiderman (the cartoon, not the various comic runs of the same name).

Like, I wouldn't change anything about Green Goblin, he's perfect as is. I wouldn't change Sandman or Electro or Rhino from their OG 616 takes, I like them as goons with varying degrees of humanity between them. I'd probably have the most fun with Mysterio by way of doing a lot of Occult and B-Movie homages for Spider-Man to scooby doo his way through. Dr. Octopus would take a lot from Alfred Molina's portrayal because it's my favorite of all of them.

It'd be very unpopular, but I would not portray Kraven as an "honorably hunter," but a vainglorious braggart in the vein of those survivalist reality TV show stars that were so popular a decade ago - with the dated-ness of that being part of his motivation to do something bold to get back into the spotlight.

Lizard would just be a bestial animal in lizard mode rather than an Inherently Evil Reptile Man, and not even a particularly aggressive or vicious animal at that - more a hazard because he's large and scared than predatory.

I would buck the current tradition and portray the symbiote as not necessarily evil/corruptive, with its breakup with Peter being a result of poor communication and Peter being freaked out at how closely he's bonding with an alien parasite than a result of the symbiote turning him malicious. That's how it was originally portrayed, and I like the idea that the symbiote is (initially) a neutral figure and only becomes a threat because of a bad breakup, with Eddie, its second host, being the one who brings genuine hostility into it.

I would make Carnage very silly and hammy while still being destructive - like Johnny the Homicidal Maniac but with goo monster powers.

Kingpin and the Enforcers can continue to be elaborately themed Mafia supervillains, there's nothing that needs to change there.

I wouldn't do Black Cat because she's literally just a Catwoman ripoff and I'd rather focus on rehabilitating Mary Jane when it comes to Peter's love interests.

Spot would be done ala the Spider-Verse films because it's a great take on him and let's be honest, no one's going to un-see that version of him when he's brought up.

MCU Vulture being a scavenger of superhero tech was a cool take that gives his names more meaning than "is a bald guy with robot wings," so I'd go ahead an adapt that too.

And there's dozens more but I think at this point you've got the jist, none of it's very interesting. I'm not exactly a fanfic writer, most of my creativity is funneled to my own stories these days, and has been for a while now.

[etaleah]

My Sonic Predictions and Hopes for 2024

Admittedly some of these are things I want to see happen rather than things that are likely to happen, but what the heck, I’ll list ‘em out and see if any of them end up coming true. 🤷🏻‍♀️

A one-shot for the comics involving either springtime or Valentine’s Day. I think spring is more likely since (1) they’re avoiding romance and Valentine’s Day is a romantic holiday, and (2) having a springtime one-shot nicely follows the trend of having Endless Summer and Winter Special one-shots.

I’m pretty pessimistic about the third movie still happening in 2024 given how stubborn the studios are being about the strikes, so I’m guessing the release date will be pushed back to 2025. However, I do think 2024 will bring us a trailer/teaser with some news about casting and whether any new characters besides Shadow will feature.

Part 3 of Sonic Prime, which will likely involve something bad happening to Shadow for reasons explained here. PLEASE LET THIS ONE BE TRUE I NEED PART 3 NOW

A DLC, update, or some kind of “Plus” pack for Sonic Superstars since that seems to be the trend now.

I doubt we’ll see much more for Frontiers since it won’t really be a new game anymore and will have already had a big update. Maybe a few minor tweaks like a new outfit or pair of shoes.

A new Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games title since 2024 will have the Paris Olympics.

More Sonic Symphony tour dates, one of them probably being New York since that’s a really big city for them to leave out.

More merchandise, possibly featuring Shadow to tie in with the third movie.

The Knuckles TV show released on DVD (hopefully).

The comics will take a darker turn again. They seem to alternate between dark, serious arcs and fun, light-hearted arcs. Right now, they’re on Misadventures, which is fun and light-hearted, so I suspect that at some point in 2024, things will turn serious again.

I also suspect that Starline might be revealed to have survived after all, but that could just be wishful thinking on my part since I like his character and was sad to see such a cool villain go so quickly.

Another visual novel or some kind of storybook thing that builds on the success of Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog. No way is something that successful gonna be a one-time deal.

A remaster or re-release/port of an older game. The titles I think are most likely are Sonic Adventure 2, Sonic Heroes, and Sonic and the Black Knight. Adventure 2 would tie nicely into the release of the third movie (especially if they’re adapting its storyline) and they clearly know how popular it is since they released a new figure for it and put City Escape in one of their other games. Heroes is possible since it’s 20+ years old, had some songs included in Frontiers, and the franchise as a whole seems to be leaning toward having more playable characters and team/partner-based play. Murder and Superstars lean into this hard, Origins added Amy, and Frontiers will soon have other playable characters too, so I think they’re testing the waters for a game with an ensemble cast. The launch of the Fast Friends comic series on their socials also shows a lean in this direction. Black Knight is possible since 2024 would be the game’s 15th anniversary, the storybook setup was well received in Murder, and they seem to be calling attention to it by putting its characters in their mobile games.

Again, these are just guesses and I could be wrong about all of them. We shall see… 👀

[milowing]

i just finished binging the dead boy detectives show, and i need to get my thoughts out, warning for spoilers

no spoilers tldr: its rlly good please go watch it i need a season 2.

now, onto the review(??):

it is very VERY different from the comics. this isn't *necessarily* bad, in fact i have no problems with pretty much any changes the show made, i just get antsy about cbms/tv shows changing the source material, bcs that happens all the time (i love the blue beetle movie but i will never forgive it for victoria kord). so here are some changes i liked: i liked the explicit queerness, i liked niko, i liked the fact that there were people in the afterlife actually looking for them, i liked how they wrote tragic mick (i love him so much), and i liked the setting change; some i didn't mind but would hate in the comics: edwin's magic, the whole brains/brawn thing?? (istg if a single one of you decides to portray charles as stupid, i will kill you), crystals personality & dynamic with the boys (she was fine but so drastically different from her comic self i would've preferred her to be an oc tbh), the removal of squooshing, the fact that the dead boys don't take cases from the living, edwin's hell being so much more violent, and the fact that they actually call themselves the dead boy detectives (i could be wrong but i've read all of their solos and i don't think they've ever done this??). the only change i really outright dislike is charles' death. i loved the part where edwin took care of him and read to him, but him being killed by the same bullies who killed edwin in the same place is just so much better than the lake. also, once again, crystal was a fine character, but that is just *not* the crystal palace surname-von hoverkraft i know!! where is her obsession with video games? where is her tech savvy? where are her insane parents?? i hope that one day we get an accurate cartoon adaptation of the toby litt run.

now moving on to the show itself!! i really liked the plot, the fact that it was semi-episodic, the cast of characters and actors was incredible. i just really liked it lol. tbh the literal only part of the show i didn't like is the fact that edwin and charles didn't kiss by the end. like... not even once. i wouldn't mind this if this wasn't a netflix show that wasn't getting much buzz, because i'm 99% sure this show isn't going to be renewed. also it felt kind of... idk, queerbait-y?? like there's obviously queer characters and content, but it feels like i watched this *for* edwin and charles' relationship and then they never got together. i feel like shows do this a lot, where, yes, there's a queer character, but they just aren't allowed to be in a happy relationship and get with the person they love. like idk it just makes me kind of angry, especially since we're probably not getting a season 2. i liked literally everything other than that, but it's just such a big scar on my enjoyment of the show that i can't help but mention it.

i don't really have much else to say other than: i really liked it, go watch it.

[importantangeldefendor]

OC superhero team profile

impossible girl : Real name: Saturn

Height: 5'8

Gender: F

How they act: positive , excited, and often times eager to share any facet of being alive with others

Core traits: Genuinely loves everyone.

Strengths: loving, creative, patient,

Weaknesses - Conflict avoidant, naive, overly forgiving, self-loathing

Likes: Musicals, community service, superhero stories, stuffed animals

Dislikes: Difficult conversations, the Celestial shards, having to Hurt others, HATES being in pain .

Backstory: She lived with her abusive transphobic mother before "The Great Shine" caused her to gain telekinesis . She accidentally injured her mother before running away . She ended up playing as a homeless superhero for a bit before being found by the AHRA and eventually adopted by one of its directors, a friendly alien named Kalari.

While being a child in the agency, she meets Danera, aka the world's smartest teenager (at the time) who promptly takes her under their wing.

3 years pass more or less peacefully until the 2nd celestial shard appears and the plot kicks off

Favorite TV show: Sailor moon

Favorite food: Burtali, an alien fruit from her Alien mom Home world.

Animal woman real name: Danera stripes

Height: 5'6

Gender: F

How they act: Goofy, smug, smarter than you, Playful .

Core traits: utterly brilliant, still finds ways to overestimate herself, intensly curius and deeply loves her friends - ESPECIALLY Jupiter.

Strengths; Determined, brilliant, adaptative

Weaknesses: Prideful, holds important information, manipulative, kind of a dick sometimes .

Likes: Math, junk food, fighting games, Nature documentaries .

Dislikes: Cheaters, not knowing tf is going on, being bored, magic, just all of it.

Backstory: She was a child genius who was discovered by the science society at an orphanage after she successfully auto mated the whole thing. She met and bonded with Row Wilkins, a fellow brilliant scientist, and worked with them for a handful of years.

However encountering the celestial shard during the great flash, she not only gained the ability to turn into animals but soon came around to realizing the whole "protecting the world from the shadows' thing was never going to work out so she decided go Join AHRA . There she later and became incredibly close to Jupiter, considering her like a little sister.

Favorite TV show: Cosmos

Favorite food: Gulab Jamun

Glueman: Real name: John lamar

Height: 6,0

Gender: M

How they act: responsible, straight man, anxious, complainer

Core traits: Would do anything for the people he loves, Comically out his league, indomitable spirit

Strengths: Quick-witted, stubborn, responsible, hard-working

Weaknesses: Close-minded, just a pinch of sexism , over estimates himself, doesn't do self care

Likes: Family sitcoms, Schedules and people following them, chemistry, superhero comics.

Dislikes: Eldrich abominations, Progressive rock, Sexy men (they make him question himself)

Backstory: He grew up in a somewhat normal, abliet dysfunctional household and was forced to take care of his sister from a young age. He overcame these obstacles and eventually got a degree in chemistry.

On a seemingly ordinary day, he was driving his sister to school when the celestial shard crashed right into them, to which his sister grabbed and briefly absorbed the shard before disappearing in a giant flash,

As a result, he put his chemistry career on hold and dedicated himself to joining AHRA to find his lost sibling. 3 years of hard work (and successfully inventing an entirely new substance) have put him here . Let's hope he doesn't die along the way!

Favorite TV show: Malcom In the middle

Favorite food: Mac and cheese

Goliath real name: Ava Hope's

Height: 6'10

How they act: Gruff, Sarcastic, Prone to brooding

Core traits: Terrified of the world but just brave enough to keep going with the help of her friends.

Strengths: Accepting, self-aware, empathetic, strong sense of justice.

Weaknesses - Depressed, Internally terrified, Body dysphoria.

Likes: Gay pop music , superheroes writing horror fiction,

Dislikes: Emo music, board games, junk food,

Backstory: She was an ordinary (very pretty) college girl when the shard exploded in NYC, granting her mile super strength and furred arms . She played at being a hero for a bit before being captured by the COUNTER CONSPIRACY AGENCY and was expiermened on to harness her unique power .

This failed - but not before turning her from a 5'5 Woman into a towering furry giant with incredible strength that barely looks human . Naturally this wasn't exactly a pleasant expiernce!

She decided to quit any chance at a normal life when , attempting to attend her little sisters graduation had AHRA called on her . All this shaped her into being an callous and cynical person far from the idealistic girl she once was.

Still, she refuses to give into what was done to her and chooses to use her powers for the good of mankind .

[ariel-seagull-wings]

@thealmightyemprex

"Fox TV and Marvel Comics decided. By summer of 1993, the show had been a runaway No. 1 hit for six months and we had completed writing the second season of scripts, bringing the total stories to 26. At that point, Fox committed to three more seasons (39 more episodes), and I, executive Sidney Iwanter, producer Scott Thomas, and director Larry Houston visited Marvel’s New York offices to brainstorm and discuss various characters and bits of storyline we would all like to see in the next 39 half-hours.

“Phoenix” and “Dark Phoenix” were at the top of Marvel’s list.

The only direct adaptation we had made so far was “Days of Future Past,” which we had suggested, and it and the two Phoenixes were the only direct adaptations we ever committed to. Every other story used bits and pieces from the books, but these were the “big three.” 

Primarily we focused on Jean Grey (who was going through the Phoenix transformation) and on those people who cared most about her. Secondarily, we focused on Xavier, whose connection to Lilandra brought the worlds beyond Earth into our stories for the first time.

When we looked at the many subplots in the books, we trimmed them away or bolstered them, depending on how they helped support these two central through-lines.

We were excited to do it because we had felt that we had underused her in the first two seasons and this gave us a chance to give her more screen time. Second, by now we had established that she was a kind of emotional center for the team–someone who could talk honestly with any of the others, who understood them–so we knew she would sustain a good story focus for our team of X-Men.

As a “children’s show for Saturday morning TV,” we were always aware of the tight limits we had on sex and violence–limits far tighter than the comics had.

Luckily, since we were focused on Jean/Phoenix and Xavier and Lilandra, adjusting secondary characters wasn’t a big worry for us. Also, we believe we got the intensity of Jean’s Black-Queen sensuality across in her dialogue and in Catherine Disher’s performance. Jean-as-Phoenix is so much bigger, more dramatic, in animation than Jean-as-Black-Queen that we never felt the loss.

First, we knew from the beginning we couldn’t have Dark Phoenix destroy an inhabited planet, so we worked with that disappointing limitation from day one. We hope we got across how deadly she could be. Second, we very much believe that killing Jean off would have been the proper heroic sacrifice for the story.

We didn’t for two reasons. First, we needed her for the remaining 20 stories–a problem in all comics and serialized TV.

And second, we’d had a convincing seeming-death in “Phoenix,” which was then revealed to not be Jean’s end after all. We didn’t want to repeat that.

We thought up the shared sacrifice of the rest of the team (10% of their lives–a handy cheat) as a way around it.

I wish I knew (and that they had asked us to help). Animated TV comics-adaptations and live-action feature comics-adaptations are similar but not the same.

The great TV critic Brian Lowry thinks animation suits super-hero-comics adaptations better than live action–something about suspension of disbelief. Mutants with super-powers are hard enough–then in these cases you add space aliens. You can get lost in the spectacle.

I believe that the recent Spider-Man animated feature was better than any of the live-action movies, most of which I enjoyed a great deal. When in doubt, keep the story simple and trust in the characters to propel the story (the movie Logan is a good example).

She asserted herself. As writer Mark Edens and I laid out the first, then the second season of stories, we kept coming back to needing to use her in scenes, often to reveal depths of other characters.

She was an emotional center, trusted, a glue that helped keep the disparate team together. Luckily, she was a true legacy character, so no one ever felt we were being intrusive by featuring her."

(Eric Lewald)

[colleendoran]

Hi!! Congratulations on absolutely smashing that Kickstarter! I was actually wondering the same thing the other person asked about: in the hopefully extremely unlikely scenario of Amazon depriving us of season 3, could we potentially crowdfund it? We did conjure up a million in a day, there's no telling how much we could amass for our happy ending. Do you think that this would be an option?

I am definitely not the person to ask. Only those who own rights to the show have the ability to act on any of this.

Even if they did want to do a Kickstarter to raise money, I wouldn't know what their contract with the studio says about the matter. If Amazon chooses not to renew, remember they may still hold the rights for some time after, which could prevent the project from being moved elsewhere for awhile.

Or not. I don't know.

I am not privy to these matters. I am adapting the book to graphic novel, and nothing else.

Publishing, licensing, and film/TV deals are incredibly complicated. I used to be a creator rights advocate, and yet I was always running into new iterations of horror whenever I read a contract. Agents and managers are there for a reason. They have to stay on top of these things. One sentence in a contract can change your life.

And since I'm also a former self publisher - one of the creators who was part of the original self published comics boom of the early 1990's - I have plenty of experience with just how complicated creating and producing a major print project by yourself is.

It's expensive, and time consuming, and when I was doing it all, I barely had any time left to create the art.

I can say this: a million dollars is only a fraction of the amount that would be needed to produce one episode of Good Omens.

That would be one mighty Kickstarter, though.

The Good Omens fandom is a powerful and glorious force.

But right now, the show is out of my hands and above my pay grade.

[popculturebuffet]

HCG: Garfield His 9 Lives Retrospective: The Book (Patreon Review for Emma Fici)

Happy Halloween all you happy people! Yes at long last and after lots of work on these title images i'ts time to talk about Garfield His 9 Lives in this three part retrospective. And yes there's a third one. I'm doing this during spooky season for a few reasons: I already covered garifield's halloween adventure, the lab cat segments in all three versions and primal self in the book are horror and the exploration of diffrent identities garfields had just felt right for a season about putting on costume and being something or someone else for a night.

For those who haven't heard of it Garfield His 9 Lives was a 1984 graphic novel, with two prose pieces, anthology. It has a very simple, brilliant concept: Garfield reflecting on his 9 lives, with each having it's own style ranging from realistic to sketchy to pretty standard stuff for garfield and each story being a different tone. While about a third of the stories are pretty standard for garfield, if putting him in cave settings and space for two of them for some added flair, the bulk do whatever the hell they want: we've got a full on noir story with realistic cats, a stephen king feeling horror story, a sci fi horror escape from a testing lab, a goofy modern fable with vikings, a sugary sweet children's fairy tail and even an out and out three stooges homage.

9 Lives is a great book, and well worth picking up or reading on the internet archive (which is down at the time of this article). It's a gloriously creative concept and I wish garfield was allowed to experiment more like this. What makes it even more specail, besides getting i'ts own tv special we'll talk about next time is that Jim Davis wrote 2/3 of the book himself, likely still collabing with is artists with only Babes and Bullets, The Garden, and Space Cat not being written by Davis. It shows off an incredible creative flexibility you wouldn't expect from someone whose always come off extremley corprate in how he built his strip, with said strip all but confirmed to be ghostwritten these days. It's a strange, unique bolt of creative lightning.

This retrospective will cover this and the other two versions: The 1988 Special adapting some segments (with Babes and Bullets getting it's own special in 89 i've already covered) and switching out a few. There was also a third take on this concept at the end of Boom's 2010's Garfield Comic Book that i'll be capping off this trilogy which isn't as well known and I hadn't read till getting ready for this trilogy. So if all this sounds intresting then join me under the cut as we see that when you've got 9 lives baby you've got 9 ways to loose

As a heads up all of these photos are taken from my phone as Internet Archive is down as i'm writing this and I had no other way to get scans.

Written by Jim Davis, illustrated by Paws, Inc. staff

Yup your seeing this right the book begins with a short bit portraying Jim Davis as God

Yeah.. that's how this book begins. The special uses a similar gag, we'll get to that next time but in the book paws inc itself is used for the creation myth of cats.. including whoever this lady is in a bill lives sweater

This is a refrence to comic strip Bloom County, which had previously killed off one of i'ts biggest stars bill the cat. Bill was created as the most unmarkatable version of garfield imaginable

Naturally as it tends to when you write a strip that's a haven for snarky dorks, Bill became a success and the strip rolled with it: he's been a movie star, dead, a three time presidential canditate, an evanlecial preacher, a rockstar, Donald Trump, the consort of presidential cat Socks Clinton, a brainwashed pawn of Micheal Eisner, and many, many more I don't have time to get into. He was also in Bloom County's revivial revealed to be Garfield's actual son

Fun fact I pulled that from one of my own posts, a review of a wish for wings that work. I will refrence the fact garfield is a deadbeat dad any time I get the chance. The best part about this joke is it's entirely in character for Garfield to be a horrible parent. Though I bet arelene at least acknowledges her kid.

Anyways I just love this nod as it shows Jim didn't take the mockery of Garfield being merchandised to hell personally and it's a cute nod.

Everyone complains when God Emperor Jim Davis decrees cats get 9 lives when everyone else gets one. He has a good reason for it though.

It's that that makes the joke work, this weird wonderful image of Jim Davis as a cat god man cat. It's a cute opener that gets us into our proper 9 lives, each introduced by garfield himself and I like how each bit does inform a bit about his personality.

Written by Jim Davis; illustrated by Davis, Mike Fentz, and Larry Fentz

Our first segment takes us back to Caveman times, and is drawn by Mike Fentz and Larry Fentz. The Fentz' worked at Paws Inc, working in the liscensing division doing airbrushed art for story books, comics and what not and thus do a bulk of the art here. They do a great job perfectly aping jim's style with the watercolors and air brush giving them an extra pop, a nice break from the flat coloring most comic strips get.

Cave Cat on it's own.. is fine. I'm not a fan of caveman times set stories, or ones where characters get stranded in a lost world type place. I love a good dinosaur, dinosaurs are the best, but cavemen...

It's exactly what you'd expect from "Garfield in Cavemen times" minus Jon being his cave owner. Which is something I do like and carries throughout the book and the special: While we see Odie twice as a bookened, here as Big Bob a giant dinosaur that kills cave cat with the worlds first and last frap tree playing fetch, we don't see a reincarnated Jon. It allows the lives to breathe and be there own thing. Jon isn't getting reincarnated through time and Odie's two counterparts can be chalked up to "genetic ancestor" and "coincidence". I wouldn't mind using counterparts entirely, but I do like trying to do something diffrent, break out of the mold and see what garfiled would be like divorced from his supporting cast and life.

Cave Cat exists, it has one or two good gags, and that's about all I have. Next

written by Jim Davis and Mike Fentz; illustrated by Fentz

The vikings is fucking weird and I love that. So one of Garfield's past lives was a viking, just like Ralph Wiggum, and got frozen in present day. The vikings try to pillage, get beaten down by modern society, get normal jobs and it's .. honestly kinda funny. And i'ts even funnier seeing them break out of their mundane lives and disappear into the mists after Garfield The Orange finds their sacred otter. It's not among my faviorites here, but as I write about it I can't help but admire it's weird style, realistic beautifully drawn characters, and bonkers nature. Does it make sense as a reincarnation? not really. Is it fun... yes.

written by Ron Tuthill, illustrated by Kevin Campbell

I can't find much on Ron Tuthill but Babes and Bullets is a pretty solid short detective story that sneaks in some great jokes while it's ad it from the name Sam Spayed itself, to the obligtory thug roughing him up being his landlord. If any of that sounds familiar, you too have clearly seen the full animated special, which I reviewed previously and might still be my faviorite garfield thing. The story is about the same: A widow with instant chemistry with Sam shows up, he solves the mystery of her husbands death and his secretary turns out to have been in love with the victim but innocent. A lot of the jokes, plot beats and what not are the same and I was shocked on this read by just.. how much was done beat for beat and how much it fit, having enough goofy stuff for garfield but still feeling like a decent detective story, if one where you don't get all the clues as you go which blows but I get it being hard to do that. This is the longest story in the collection but it's still fairly short.

There are a few changes from the special: the big one is that everyone in this version.. is a cat, a realistically drawn one at that.

I"m also proud to say this is the first corpse in garfield history! Hooray! But yeah for the specail everyone else is a human for some reason likely because they didnt' want everyone to be garfield sized. The realistic part is likely budget as it was likely faster to do the garfield house style than this. This style is also mildly offputting. Later furry detective work blacksad got the ballance down better between human and animal, being realistic but not so much it's weird.

The other is that it's a battle for a reverened position here rather than academia. The change.. dosen't affect the story for the most part with only the ending, the culprit praying for forgivness, having a touch more impact in this version. All in all a pretty good time.

written by Jim Davis; illustrated by Davis, Mike Fentz, and Larry Fentz

The Exterminators is fun and one of my faviorites. I'll rank all of these at the end, but this is a highlight.

The Exterminators is a Three Stooges parody, and while I've never watched the Three Stooges, I still get the gist enough: Three idiots, one smarter than the others, do slapstick. It's simple, it works and it fits Jim Davis penchant for slapstick like a glove. I adore the opening

And there client lady in general is a LOT of fun, from this scene to her "oh boy here we go" reaction to the exterminators to her reaction when garfield waves around a shot gun

This.. this is a true gift. Garfield's first corpse and now his first shotgun. Shotgunfield.

The ending is also fun as the cats argue over who has to eat the mouse, only for them to make the client eat it.. and she realizes mice tastes pretty good and adorably goes off with her new best pals. It's a weirdly heartwarming ending to this delightful slapstick nonsense.

written by Jim Davis; illustrated by Gary Barker and Larry Fentz

This ones' a bit of a tonal shift, notable not only for making it to the specail with only one bit of censorship but for being a Stephen King kind of horror/sci fi goverment conspiracy story. I mean he dosen't do them often but you get that vibe. A cat is tested on and tries to escape disection. It's simple, harrowing and beautifully drawn

As you can guess this is the part that didn't make it to air and I feel makes it more effective. The twist ending, that the experiments turn the poor cat into a dog who easily evades protectoin is fatnastic. I'ts short, harrowing , has lots of nice shading to really set the grim tone of this one. It's excellent stuff and i'm shocked they went with something like this for this anthology. And in any other garfield product it'd easily be the most experimental, unsettling thing here, while still being pretty mild.. but well... you likely know what's coming. Before that though

written and illustrated by Dave Kühn

The Garden is a trippy , 3d modeled surreal fairy tail.. sandwitched inbetween two of the darkest stories in garfield history. Why Jim Davis decided to put it here I have no idea and it's instead put between the more jokey "King Cat" and "Court Musician" in the special, where it fits a lot better. It's a silly goofy fairy tale about a little girl named chloe who has a great design, I love the big scarf and bigger hat, her Orange Kitten who never grew up, and the surreal wonderland her uncle todd built. It's a cutesy story and not entriely for me, but I admire it's story book sense of wonder, unqiue visual style and it's ending where after being warned to not open a box on a checkered toadstool they get real close.. thend on't, deciding Uncle Todd's trust is more important. There's no big dark twist like you'd think, Uncle Todd didn't make this world using the blood of the fraggles and the bones of the care bears. It's just a cute story about a child and her best friend who happens to be garfield.

written by Jim Davis; illustrated by Jim Clements, Gary Barker, and Larry Fentz

So we're finally here: Primal Self. The only one of these 9 lives people talk about often. Which makes sense I mean... the ending of this one is horrifying, shocking and well done horror. It works well yet still feels horrifically jarring in a Garfield collection which previously had him as Moe or palling around with a child in a fantasy world. I'ts not entirely out of step but I can see how seeing garfield like this

Is going to be a lot. Primal Self is awesome though.. a tense simple horror story about a cat being confronted by the spirit of it's primal instincts, the domesticated meets the horrifying reality of nature.

The results.. are not pretty

That last shot is just chilling.. this poor animal about to kill it's person simply because some horrifying primal.. force awakened something dark and terrible inside it. It's a well done bit of horror. Is it the best fit for this book... probably not. But on it's own merits i'ts excellent and chilling, with a scratchy unfomortable yet raelistic style that fits the horrifying tone.

written by Jim Davis; illustrated by Gary Barker and Valette Hildebrand; color by Doc Davis

I love this: it makes perfect sense that in a book about garfield.. his own current life would pop up and I like that Davis used the format to tell a story that would be possible in the comic strip but take months of panels up.

So we get what's essnetially Garfield: Year One. We see his origins being born in the back of an itallian restraunt hinted at by the arc with his mom, as well as WHY they were seprated: he would've eaten everything otherwise and they share a fairly tender goodbye.

He then ends up in the pet shop where we meet my faviorite one off garfield character old eli

It used to be that lady what attacked Garfield, Jon, Odie and Some Guy when they were all stuck in a curtain

but come on.. how can you not want to take him home and bury him. He's a sweetheart. He's the snoopy's awkward teenage nephew of Garfield Characters and like Snoopy's Awkard Teenage Nephew he'll never be far from my heart

Thankfully Jon walks in to take garifled home, and Garfield clinging to his face gets Jon to accept his new cat overlord. Here they retcon Odie's origin to streamline it instead of being brought in by Jon's best friend Lyman who either was killed by garfield's clearly insastiable blood lust and kept in the basement or went off into the wilderness to take photos of wild life depending on who you ask.

He trains his new brother well, and we get Odie saving garfield from an ice cream truck which makes Garfiled greatful.. but not so greatful he won't spin it for his grandkits a decade later.

Garfield is a charming segment that's got some great jokes, a solid story and a nice bit of worldbuilding. I'll even take the lyman erasure as it's telling only 5 years into the strip he was already being erased from history. I mean it's so easy to do you can just take out that first panel and that that about sums up Odie's origins and Garfield's thoughts on his new pal.

written and illustrated by Jim Clements

Our finale.. is kind of a weak one to go out on. Garfield's in space and deals with a lite vgersion of red dwarf. We get a good gag or two: his defenses are a cat paw.. that's literally declawed, his computer is a computrized odie, and the vending machine dosen't even work. With this one , like Cave Cat in hindsight but more on that next time, the special version doing this but better soured me on it. It's not bad , it's nciely drawn and I really like the ending

But said ending dosen't quite feel like a proper climax for the anthology the way the ending of the film version is. STill it's not horrible or anythign it's just kinda... there.

RANKING

Since a certain someone will ask me to do this if I don't and because it'll be fun, i'll be ranking the stories for each version, then for the final BOOM studio version ranking the stories from all three versions in one big pile.

Primal Self: The short run time, sheer brutality and gorgeous art put it up top.

The Exterminators: it's wacky good fun with a great guest character and garfield with a shotgun.

Lab Animal: Tense and gorgeously drawn. An easy pick.

In the Beginning: A cute way to start the book

Babes and Bullets: A solid detective story, the adaptatoin simply does it better

The Vikings: Didn't think this one would be so high but it's just goofy fun

The Garden: Nothing I hate, just not really for me.

Garfield: I like it a lot it's just the other stuffs a touch more creative

Cave Cat: I'M NOT GOOD WITH PREHISTORIC STUFF OKAY?

Space Cat: A bit of a whimper to end on

So with that we can close the book.. and turn on the tv as next time I look at garfield's OTHER 9 lives, seeing what they replaced, what they changed about the segments they kept, and why this specail is so damn well loved. Spoilers: I'ts because i'ts really good. Thanks for reading.

[which-star]

Can not believe Silk was only introduced in 2014 by the way, thought she's been around way longer than that for some reason. Do you want to see her in any other major pieces of media like the MCU or BTSV?

ah yes, she's a pretty new character. I totally understand why you would think she'd be older though! Personally, I would love to see her in live action and btsv but particularly not the mcu? There's definitely a way for it to be done really well! I don't know if I trust them to, but the appeal of seeing Silk on the big screen is really high -- not gonna lie -- so I will probably be more forgiving if the mcu does decide to adapt her and fumble the bag. But with the whole Sony stuff, they might never be able to -- oooh a Sony adaptation could be cool! I really liked Venom!

BTSV I'm 100% gunning for. I was praying she would be in the ATSV trailer and I still have hope she'll be in the next one. I really want to see what sort of art style they'll choose for her along with her movements! There's so many cool things that separate her from the others (and the one, bunker-sized thing) and she played such a big role in the original spiderverse comic event that it feels unfair if she doesn't make an appearance at all. I have a small theory that since the third movie is going to be about disproving Miguel, we'll get the intro cards ("My name is Cindy Moon, and for the last however-long-it's-been, I've been the one and only... SILK") to spider-characters that have nothing to do with the original Peter Parker origin story.

Otherwise, I still have a candle lit for the Silk Amazon TV show that is rotting in developmental hell right now. I think Silk is a character that would do well in a live action and I would love to see it executed well, along with a different interpretation of her character. There's so many ways they could take her character and great runs to fall back on, from the original iconic 2015-2016 run with all the tension with Black Cat to the recent 2021 and 2022 runs that are more conducive to shorter seasons but still serve as a good jumping off point. I could go on about the different ways they could represent Cindy's Korean-American identity, but thats not the point of the ask.

More than her appearing on screen is that I wish she would have more runs! Marvel is treating her like a reserve character right now and only giving the big names ongoings (only bringing her out every AAPI month and maybe a mini), which is affecting her negatively in sales, popularity, etc. I think that working on her library of iconic runs will be more beneficial overall, because when she is adapted to the screen, the writers there will have more to go off of! I think the fact that we're getting yearly minis is good, since it means that Marvel hasn't forgotten about her, but I wish they would take the plunge to give her a loooong ongoing because it WILL pay off in the end. She'd be so much more popular if they did!

Thanks for the ask, I love answering them! This ended up being a lot longer than I expected it to be, but most things do. I hope you had an enjoyable day, anon, and/or continue to!