#because I can definitely have zack adapt! ]

[lokiinmediasideblog]

So for those that are planning to watch Twilight of the Gods and haven't yet. My review is the following:

It's very much a Zack Snyder plot but without the bad Snyder tropes of past movies (thinking especially of 300 here). It's edgy, has beautiful visuals (Snyder projects often do), and has plenty of equal opportunity sex scenes. Plenty of bi characters. Do they look like they'll kiss? They will and much more...

There are very interesting designs. I loved the voice acting and I'm glad Thor sounds much better than in the trailer (I think they edited what he actually says to avoid spoilers).

My main disappointment is the cliffhanger ending. I hope there's a S2 with some non-cliffhanger ending. I fear for the possibility of Netflix not renewing it and think all Netflix series seasons should never on cliffhangers.

It was definitely made with a lot of research. It takes its liberties, as there's some major differences, but I love how they adapted and altered things from the myths for the story's purposes. A lesser "not-like-Marvel" adaptation would have made Loki a Fire Giant/God a la Wagner. But they had the spider association instead!!

Something I really liked is that they made Loki sympathetic without turning him into an actual child. It's something I've seen a lot, and I'm just like "Cowards, there's plenty to work with without turning him into a child!" Loki feels very much like myth!Loki. He's very sympathetic, but you'll never forget that if he's helping, it's because the goals currently align. You'll be crying at the club for Loki, then go like "Oh shit! WTF Loki!?"

GOW has done antagonist Thor the best so far. For people whose Thor is their blorbo-from-myths (because some follow me), I must warn he's currently very much like Homelander (murderous, physically abusive, predatory) but without a fully developed reason to why he's like that YET. They implied interesting things, such as a fear of eternity and wants to die. If there's a second season, I hope it develops that further to make Thor more interesting. I didn't understand his weird fucked up relationship with Jormungandr, and don't think it was necessary to turn Jormungandr into a sexy snake lady to make Loki and his family sympathetic.

I thought his powers were very cool though and you're like "No wonder this guy is so hard to defeat." Like do you ever go like "How the fuck can this guy with a hammer defeat so many people? The plot armor is ridiculous." Here you won't. Actual storm good powers. And there's some very cool shit like he can do. Fight scenes are great.

[zepskies]

I am so happy to see your posts about Dark Angel! I love that show so much, it’s definitely one of my all time favorites, and I’m glad to see you’re enjoying it.

I was wondering what your thought are so far and who your favorite characters are if you don’t mind answering (for me Alec is definitely my number 1 but I really love Zack, Joshua, Original Cindy, and Sketchy for sure.)

Also I was wondering if you’ve seen season 2 episode 11 (The Berrisford Agenda specifically) what you thought of it? If not, I’d love the hear your thoughts when you do watch it:)

Hey lovely!!

Yesss I'm midway through season 2 of Dark Angel and I love this show. I wonder why it was cancelled. The writing was strong enough, the world is so interesting, the cast is great...maybe it just didn't have a broad enough audience at the time.

There were a couple of sci-fi shows like this that got cut too soon in the early 2000s (like Almost Human with Karl Urban and Michael Ealy).

My thoughts so far are that despite the relative simplicity of Max's "everyday" life as a Jam Pony messenger with her ragtag group of friends, this is a big show in a decaying dystopian world -- with interesting (and often horrific) elements of human experimentation, childhood trauma and indoctrination, and a struggle for transgenics like Max and Alec to form emotional connections because of that trauma (their training). It's very Winter Soldier-esque in a way.

And then with Joshua's character, they reinforce in season 2 one of the central themes of the whole show: people are confused by (and afraid of) what they don't understand. It leads Max and other transgenics to hide in plain sight. To try to live "normal" lives while trying not to expose themselves to the curiosity and the potential scorn of the world -- as well as the people trying to hunt them down; there's that too.

But similar to the show Being Human (also of the early-mid 2000s), what does it mean to be normal in society? Especially in this fallen, eat-or-be-eaten world after the Pulse.

My favorite characters:

The entire cast is awesome, but these characters really have my heart for real:

Alec

I mean duh. 🤣 But not just because it's baby Jensen. Alec's character is complex. He's cocky and endlessly flirtatious. (His brother/sister-like bickering with Max is hilarious.) He's highly intelligent and adaptive to change, due to his genetics and training, but because of that cockiness he can also be reckless. It gets him into some "unforeseen situations" that Max has to pull him out of.

But I literally just watched 2.11 "The Barrisford Agenda" last night, and I wept like a little bitch. 😭💔 Not only did we get Meghan Ory guest starring as his first love (she would later guest star on SPN and was Little Red Riding Hood/Ruby on OUAT)...

We also got the layers peeled back on this guy, to reveal just how deeply Manticore fucked with his mind. Rachel, along with her father, was his mission. His first undercover job.

He falls in love with her, despite the fact that he doesn't understand why she's got his head all turned around, cutting through the training in his head that insists he needs to fulfill his mission. (And that alone is so damn sad.)

He realizes too late that he wants to save her (and her father). But without giving too much away for those that haven't seen it, the scene near the end in the hospital room absolutely gutted me.

"I didn't understand. I didn't understand...how much I loved you."

Max

Played by the lovely Jessica Alba. I love to see a fellow Latina at work! 💅🏽

She's a badass. But she also learns how to fight for more than just herself. And how to actually face and deal with her trauma and start to help others (like Alec) do the same.

Original Cindy

Another lovely badass who I would lay down my life for! She's funny, unapologetically herself, and she has Max's back, come whatever, while still keeping her honest.

Joshua

My heart breaks for Joshua. He's so delightfully weird, childlike at times, while deeply insightful in others.

He longs to belong to the outside world, knowing he can't, without risking exposure to his transgenic friends. He discovers he's an artist! And he's a protector and a lovely friend. As a character says to him, "You're too good for us."

I can't wait to finish the back-half of season 2, though I also don't want it to end!! 😭 But in typical me fashion, my mind is already buzzing with a couple of story ideas for Alec x Reader. 🤣

[nitewrighter]

Oh! Mun! Have you seen Twilight of the Gods yet? :0c

If so, may I know what you thought of it? If not, will you give it a watch? >:0c

Admittedly I kind of sidestepped it for a long time because Zack Snyder is my nemesis and like... so much of his shit is so annoyingly fascist that I really didn't trust him with any kind of adaptation of Norse Myth, but eventually the art style piqued my curiosity enough to finally give it a try. The sex is more than a bit gratuitous and definitely feels more like a 'because we can' factor than something that really feels like tasteful characterization. The art direction is very good though (largely because it's very obvious they want to be Primal/Clone Wars Genndy Tartakovsky so bad...). On a plot level it definitely feels a lot tighter and a lot more well-thought-out than Blood of Zeus or DOTA: Dragon's Blood, but neither of those exactly set a high bar. All things considered, it's pretty solid, but I wouldn't put it on the same level as, like, Castlevania's first two seasons, and definitely not on the same level as Primal. I think I probably would like it more if it didn't have Snyder's filthy mitts all over it. I'd love to see this art style for an Elric of Melnibone animated series, tbh.

[themovieblogonline]

Batman As A Father In the DCU Makes Sense Due To Matt Reeves' Younger Bat-Verse

One of the most surprising announcements of the new DC Studios line up movies and TV shows is the one of the new DCU Batman. Gunn’s video let the world know that a new Batman will is coming to the DC Universe in a movie titled The Brave And The Bold. In that movie, apparently, Batman will be a father to a young Damian Wayne, who also becomes Robin. While this is, definitely a choice to make, it leads me to wonder if this approach is a reaction to the other Batman franchise currently going on over at Warner Bros. Discovery. Read on for how I think this new DCU Batman is more of a reaction, than anything else. James Gunn Separates The Batman(s) Right off the bat in the announcement, James Gunn made it clear that Matt Reeves' The Batman universe, and Todd Phillips’ Joker movies are separate from the main DCU. Those will be Elseworld titles; out-of-canon stories taking place that don’t connect to the larger DC shared universe. Which is a much-needed clarification. Great! Now, the main DCU Batman will be a version from Grant Morrison’s amazing comic book series that introduced the character of Damian Wayne. After a tumultuous relationship with Talia al’Ghul, Bruce Wayne learns that he fathered a son with her, Damian. With a newfound son back in his life, who then becomes Robin, it’s a challenge, unlike anything Batman has faced before. Fine. But that brings up some issues. Is The New DCU Batman Skipping A Lot Of His Comic Book History? Zack Snyder’s treatment and introduction of Batman in the old DCEU through Batman v. Superman got a lot of criticism. Mostly because he introduced a much older Batman with a lot of his comic book stories relegated to the character’s past. Fan’s felt cheated that they didn’t get to see those stories in live-action. In Snyder’s version anyways. His Batman was older, more experienced and spent significant years already as Batman before audiences ever met him. Which also means that one of the most famous DC Comics storylines, one that saw the second Robin, Jason Todd, murdered by the Joker, happened off-screen in this version. Similarly, if the DCU Batman is getting introduced with Damian Wayne as the fifth Robin, this automatically means that we’re losing a lot of the character’s history with the previous Robins in this universe. Not to mention a lot of character development for this DCU Batman. However, I think it all makes sense when you consider that we are concurrently going to get another Batman, in the Matt Reeves Elseworld franchise. The DCU Batman Could Be A Reaction To Reeves’ Batman Matt Reeves The Batman gave us a much younger Batman just coming into his own. So doing something similar with the DCU Batman would be repetitive and honestly, not that interesting. It would be watching two creators’ approaches to the same character, releasing at the same time. There would be unnecessary overlap and potential re-treading of the same material, even if the creators don’t discuss them beforehand. But that’s why I think the DCU Batman is older and a father, adapted from the new 52 comic storylines. DC Comics New 52 also introduced the idea of a Bat Family. So the new DCU focusing on that element of Batman stories is a brilliant move. And it’s also the best of both worlds. Because, as the DCU progresses, its new Batman can move forward by focusing on the creation of the Bat family, while introducing established characters in this new DCU, like Nightwing, Red Robin, Jason Todd and potentially many more without the baggage of origin stories. Their introductions can happen through flashback stories or whatever framework the creators choose to construct. While at the same time, Matt Reeves The Batman can move forward with a different take on how a younger Batman grows, the villains he meets, and potential Robins he might train— in a way that doesn’t step on the toes of the DCU Batman. It’s like having your Bat-cake and eating it too. Stay tuned here for more on the DCU Batman franchise as we find out. What do you think of an older Batman being a dad in this new DCU? Does it waste stories that happened in Batman’s past? Or are you excited for new stories of this version moving forward? Let me know in the comments below. Read the full article

[9haharharley1]

It's just really funny to me to think that Sephiroth doesn't have any music taste whatsoever because of the way he was raised. Like his exposure to music comes exclusively from other people, but he can't connect with it all.

The scientists listed to classical music exclusively if they listened to it all while he was in growing up in the labs, and I think he would have negative associations with it.

Then along comes Genesis with his indie music, and we all know he owns every copy and has seen every version ever of Loveless, which includes at least 2 different musical adaptations that he adores, probably one more than the other, and he's gonna force his friends to listen to them whether they like it or not.

Angeal probably doesn't have much of a preference for what he listens to, but it probably leans more towards classic rock and what would be the equivalent of 80's/dad rock. Sephiroth can vibe with that. He starts leaning more towards Angeal's tastes without really noticing it, but he can't quite connect to it.

Then Zack enters the picture, and he brings with him the top 40 pop songs and alternative punk. Stuff like late 90s/early 00's mix. It's still not right. Their voices sound a little too whiney, but their words paint a picture and resonate with the feelings Sephiroth has never been able to convey.

It's not until one day he runs into Zack in the Firsts' cafeteria, separate from the other levels of SOLDIER and infantry, and he's sitting with this tiny little thing. He can't be much older than 15. He's definitely not in the SOLDIER program, and he's wearing the infantry uniform with helmet on the table next to his food (far superior than the slop they feed infantry and troopers), and there's a little music player on the table between them. The volume is low, the words indistinguishable, but he's never heard such angry sounding music before. Curious, he walks over and sits across from Zack and the tiny trooper.

The little blond jumps and stutters over a quick salute, Zack gives him a cheery greeting and tells the little thing to relax.

"What is that?" Sephiroth asks, and he points to the portable radio.

Zack raises an eyebrow at him. "What, you've never seen a radio before?" He's teasing, but Sephiroth ignores it.

"I know that," he says, and his curiosity raises as he tries to make out the words to the song playing. "What is the music? I've never heard it."

"I-It's metal," the tiny blond speaks up through his nerves, and Sephiroth's gaze goes to him. The boy squeaks, his face goes red, but Sephiroth appreciates that he manages to hold his gaze.

"What's metal?"

The blonde's eyes widen, but before he can explain, Zack says simply, "It's angry growling into a microphone."

If the scowl his friend is giving him means anything, then Zack is only teasing again, probably over this same subject they've probably talked about before.

"It's not that simple, Zack, and you know it."

Zack grins at him, nudging his shoulder. "Do enlighten us then, oh wise chocobo!"

The boy practically squawks (or maybe warks) indignantly, and Sephiroth has to fight back a grin at the mental image. He manages to keep a straight face, as bright blue eyes turn back to him, a hint of a scowl still on a lightly tanned face.

Sephiroth does not at all expect what the boy has to sat.

"Metal is like... it's like when life sucks and you feel alone and empty. You put on some metal, and life is better because..." he pauses, looking down at his plate. "Because someone else knows that pain and the rage you're going through... ya know?"

There is silence between the three of them as Sephiroth takes a moment to digest that explanation.

Zack throws a dramatic arm around his friend. "Aw, my music is like that, too!"

His friend ducks under the arm. "No, your music is for when you're feeling sad and alone, and you don't know what to do with all those big emotions you feel constantly."

"Ouch, Cloud," Zack laughs. "I don't know if I should be insulted or flattered!"

The newly dubbed Cloud shrugs. "There's nothing wrong with it. Your music is fine. It's just not what I need to hear sometimes."

At last, Sephiroth speaks up. "I... think I know what you mean..." he says softly. Zack and Cloud end their rough housing, staring at him with wide eyes almost as though they had forgotten he was there. "About the pain and... rage."

He reaches across the table for the little radio, the song on it ending and segueing to a new one. He turns up the volume, aware of the eyes on him as he listens.

He listens to the soft opening chords, the added percussions. The quiet build of tension as it all rises together in sync.

Then, there is an explosion of noise, and Sephiroth can feel his blood pulse as the cafeteria is filled with the sound of heavy drums and guitars screaming in rhythm with the beat of his heart.

Their judging eyes watching me

It's all I've ever known

When I try to open up my heart

I am ridiculed and torn apart

Your damn jokes I'll never get to hear

Behind my back at my expense

There's something inside me

And I know it's good, I'm not evil

Just misunderstood

Do you see me now?

Do you hear me now?

You will know my name

Sephiroth listens to the song, unaware of how his breathing has picked up as he states down at the radio in his hands, unaware of Zack and Cloud's eyes on him. He listens to the words, listens to the drums and the guitars, internalizing the feeling of the music moving through him like it never has before, the singer's voice growling in his ears.

He doesn't look up again until the song ends and another is starting, still heavy, pulsing in time with his blood in his veins, and there is something so alive in the music he's never resonated with before. He's aware of the concerned furrow to Zack's brow, but his eyes meet Cloud's, and he notices the small smile on the younger man's lips.

Like he knows what Sephiroth is feeling.

Like he's felt it himself.

"You didn't break my friend with your angry music, did you, Cloud?" Zack asks, half-joking, half-worried.

Cloud just smiles, knowing and smug, and still holds Sephiroth's gaze. He props his elbow on the table to prop his cheek on his fist.

"It makes for excellent workout music, too," he states knowingly.

Sephiroth gives him a tiny smile back, maybe a touch feral as his heart beats in time with the bass. "Can you give me some recommendations?"

---

Maybe I'll clean this up and post it to AO3...

The explanation of metal is from a line in the movie Deathgasm.

The song is You Will Know My Name by Arch Enemy.

I want to write short thing where my faves listen to metal, go off on their boss Aggretsuko style at a company thing, and make-out sloppy style at a concert with a bunch of strangers cheering them on from a moshpit five feet away

[honorisen]

@strfe​ 🙼 starters

“Hey, you still doing okay back there?” Cloud usually didn’t need the extra help, but Zack couldn’t help himself but to check up. The wasteland’s surrounding Midgar weren’t exactly a forgiving place; one slip and there was no telling what could happen to either of them out here.

[trulyinspiringmovies]

V For Vendetta

“V For Vendetta” is thought-provoking while also delivering nail-biting action from a charismatic mystery man.

V is a masked anarchist terrorist who wants to start a revolution against the fascist Norsefire party of Britain. One night, he saves Evey Hammond from getting raped by Norsefire’s secret police. He asks if he can show her something and she agrees. He takes her to see the demolition of the Old Bailey and reveals that it was his own doing. Evey soon learns that she has gotten involved in something much bigger than she could’ve ever imagined.

I never shy away from the fact that I’m a DC fanboy and that extends to the DC Vertigo comics. “V For Vendetta”, “Watchmen”, and “Batman: The Killing Joke” are the main reason why I give Alan Moore such high praise. Now, I know he’s not a fan of the movie adaptations of his works. To be completely honest, I hated the movie version of “Batman: The Killing Joke”. “V For Vendetta” and “Watchmen” have had significant portions changed for their movie adaptations. This has also changed the messaging for those two carefully crafted masterpieces. I’d argue that the changes still make for an enjoyable story and might even be better for it. For “Watchmen”, Zack Snyder changed the ending of the book from a random alien invasion to pinning a nuke on Dr. Manhattan. I thought it tied everything together a lot better than the books. In “V For Vendetta”, the themes of fascism and the complacency of the people were more ambiguous as to who was to blame. In the movie, there are clear good guys and bad guys. The movie also changes the reason for the rise of totalitarianism. Instead of nuclear fallout, it’s instead because of a virus that’s later revealed to be manufactured by the Norsefire party to get rich. This further cements the clear good guys from the bad guys. Still, I think this change makes for a whole new message that still works. Instead of exploring the ambiguity of governmental oppression, the movie focuses on the liberation from that oppression. I know a lot of people also complain about the overabundance of action in this movie, but I thought it was used sparingly. The times they did use action, it was top-notch. For a movie with a knife-wielding man in a Guy Fawkes mask, you’re going to have action scenes. There’s really no way around it. You also need to sell your movie, so it’s a bit of a give-and-take. It also leaves a guy like me who enjoys the philosophical aspects, while also enjoying dope knife fights, a lot to love about the film. Just like Rorschach from “Watchmen”, V is not supposed to be a good guy. But, they’re just so cool that you’re glued to every word they say. I think that’s what great characters do. They make you root for them, even when you know they’re wrong. Definitely check this movie out if you haven’t already.

★★★★★

Rewatched on November 5th, 2022

[thewickedmerman]

Winx Club - Casual Outfits (UPDATED)

Well, I decided to update the girls outfits with five outfits and even some different hairstyles.

Bloom

With Bloom, she has a very girl-next-door look to her. Her clothes are more simple compared to the others but still fashionable. Her fashion would be like a lot of Lindsay Lohan characters before the drugs, particularly as Cady from Mean Girls. Her fashion would also be like Paige Townsen from Famous in Love. And just because I think her main color should be red doesn't mean I'd have her in it all the time. She'd wear red but also would wear other colors like blue, pink, yellow, and sometimes green because of how great that looks with her hair.

Stella

Stella is very much the fashionista who always manages to stand out. Her style screams Fran Fine from The Nanny, Hilary Banks from Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, London Tipton from Suite Life of Zack and Cody/Suit Life on Deck, Sharpay Evans from the High School Musical franchise, and Elle Woods from Legally Blonde. She also would be the kind of girl that would likely get in trouble in school for wearing outfits that were in violation of the dress code but wouldn't care because it was all in the name of fashion. She'd wear a lot of oranges, blues, pinks, purples, and pastels. The fourth outfit is inspired by an outfit done by @geminineart so go support her and her amazing art.

Link to the outfit

Flora

Flora has a very bohemian style to her clothes. She's the definition of a flower child. She likes things that are flowing but also poofy tops. She's the only one who can wear a long skirt as a casual outfit and still make it look like something a girl her age would wear. She would wear a lot of pinks, greens, yellows, and oranges.

Layla

Layla has very much an athletic, dancer, tomboy style to her. Her style is kind of grungy but still fashionable. I did use her two main outfits from the show but I did make some changes. It also makes sense for her to wear crop tops because of how she's an athlete and a dancer, so showing more skin will keep her from heating up as easily. She'd wear blues, greens, pinks, and purples. I also did her in yellow and orange in the last outfit because black women look amazing in those colors. Plus, her hairstyles were the most fun.

Musa

I think that Musa's outfits are my favorite casual outfits I've done of the girls so far. Her style is very punk, street, and hipster inspired. A lot of her outfits also have Asian influence, which is why I gave her an Asian-inspired top for one of her outfits. I specifically was inspired by Asian punk street fashion. I also gave her a naval piercing and double pierced ears. The first outfit was inspired by work done by @marawernis so go support her and her amazing art.

Link to the outfit

Tecna

Tecna's outfits were a lot of fun to do because of how her outfits are very out of this world and alien-like. The material is metallic, which really makes them look all the more awesome and really suit her. Her sense of fashion is like an updated version of the Zenon outfits. Unlike that TERRIBLE live-action Netflix adaptation, Fate: The Winx Saga (Which didn't even include Tecna), I REFUSED to have a plus-sized woman in horribly unflattering clothes. Just because someone isn't skinny it doesn't mean they can't be stylish and fashionable.

Credit for the bases goes to SelenaEde of DeviantArt

[saw-x]

What do you think the next musical is going to be? Sorry if you reply this before. I believe is time to let other guys shine so I feel Seb is going to be the lead and I'm thinking Hercules maybe? To give the spotlight to every girl and maybe Gina is Meg and she signs I won't say I'm in love and it fits with whatever is happening in the season. My own wish is The little mermaid with RINA as leads but by far the same characters has never been leads twice. I wouldn't mind Descendents either

Hi - no worries I haven't answered this before.

I was under the impression that the musical they did had to have a stage/broadway version for some reason. I just googled it and Hercules does have one coming out in the 2022-2023 season, but I don't know if that is too new to adapt for the show. I think Gina singing 'I Won't Say I'm in Love' would be amazing though as it is one of my fave disney songs!

I actually get the feeling that the musical is going to be the little mermaid (like your wish lol). My reasons for this are 1. stage version exists. 2. movie coming out soon, can tie in promo for that and 3. it has been mentioned a bunch in the show plus there are heaps of characters so most can get a good part.

With Beauty and the Beast and Frozen both musicals were referred to before they were done in show in dialogue and plot points. Beauty and the Beast, obviously was the musical performed at Camp Shallow Lake with EJ and Nini East High before hsm and Frozen has been mentioned in the show a couple of times before (I am having trouble remembering when because its 7:40 am as I write this, but there definitely was a couple in s1/s2), plus it was hinted at when Dara and Frankie performed 'Into the Unknown' randomly. The Little Mermaid was kind of a big presence last season with the North High thing and how Zack Roy was in the broadway show, which is why I think they may circle back to it.

My personal dreams would be Descendants as well (I'm just obsessed with it if you don't know plus it is a core 4 which I think suits this show well), Tangled and Aladdin. I mean just imagine Ricky and Gina as Aladdin and Jasmine singing A Whole New World and tell me it isn't the stuff dreams are made of.

edit: plot twist - this morning I noticed all my hsmtmts music mixes are labelled Aladdin Original Broadway Cast... i wonder why

[demi-shoggoth]

2021 Reading Log, pt 32

156. PNSO Encyclopedia for Children: The Secrets of Ancient Sea Monsters by Zhao Chuang and Yang Yang. This is probably the least of the three PNSO Secrets of books. The text comes off as awfully judgmental about the swimming capabilities of a number of the marine reptiles covered within, and the inconsistencies in the art are noticeable (a Tylosaurus depicted with clawed flippers on one page, without on another, that sort of thing). A number of the anecdotes in the book were already inaccurate when it was written in 2015 (Elasmosaurus with swan-like necks attacking fish from above, plesiosaurs in general beaching themselves to lay eggs). I do commend the coverage, however. About five placodontids appear in the book, as well as several choristoderes and pistosaurs. And most books aimed at this age set view marine reptiles as a sideshow for the dinosaurs, instead of devoting an entire volume to them.

157. Bleeding Skull! A 1990s Trash Horror Odyssey by Joseph A. Ziemba, Annie Choi and Zack Carlson. This book is a collection of reviews about direct-to-video horror movies of the 1990s, almost all of them independently produced and shot on video. There’s a genuine affection for the movies involved—Ziemba is the director of the American Genre Film Archive, and you don’t have that kind of position if you don’t love schlock. It’s basically the book I wanted Analog Nightmares from last year to be: it’s not uncritical of the Z-grade movies on display, but instead can tell the difference between a good viewing experience and a bad one. And I may have developed a parasocial crush on Annie Choi based on her writings found here.

(note: this is not the cover of the edition I read, but that’s a library-bound copy that’s more than a century old. Unsurprisingly, no images of that exact version exist online, and it’s a pretty boring cover besides)

158. Curious Myths of the Middle Ages by Sabine Baring-Gould. The oldest book I’ve read this year, published originally in 1866, in an American edition from 1894. Baring-Gould was a pioneer of folklore studies, and is writing primarily about European myths—Prester John, Pope Joan, William Tell and the like. Baring-Gould has a passion for the idea of the Ur-Myth later espoused by authors like James Frazer in The Golden Bough, and like in that book is a little too eager to assume that the Indian version of all of these Indo-European stories is the “original”. He’s also definitely blinded by his role as an Anglican minister. He accuses basically everyone except Catholics and Anglicans of being idolaters and heretics (in later chapters he is especially huffy about Methodists secretly being holdovers of Druidism), is wildly antisemetic at times, and occasionally views stories as corrupted versions of the Biblical truth. A valuable resource for people interested in European myth and folklore, but not one to be taken uncritically.

159. Around the World in 80 Plants by Jonathan Drori, illustrated by Lucille Clerc. This book is as much about the social history of plants as it is about their biology. The countries the plants are attributed to are ones where the plant has cultural importance rather than necessarily being its origin. For example, castor beans are discussed in Italy in the context of Fascist torture methods, and opium poppies are covered under Australia because Tasmania is a major global supplier. The tone is droll, slightly moralizing, and very British. The illustrations, which to my untrained eye appear to be in pastels and colored pencil, are lovely. The book is worth checking out on their merit alone.

160. Hurricane Lizards and Plastic Squid by Thor Hanson. The subject of the book is how the behavior and evolution of life is changing in response to climate change. Range shifts, behavioral and phenotypic plasticity, and evolutionary adaptations are all covered here. The tone is conversational, and the topics covered flow well together. I like the focus on individual scientists, their research, and the recurring theme of all of these specialists pivoting to climate change studies as the 20th century ended and the 21st century began. What I didn’t like was how the last chapter doubled down on personal responsibility being the primary way to solve the climate crisis. The average person supports green policies! It’s the fossil fuel companies and their inroads into government that are preventing it from happening! Turning off the lights when we leave the room isn’t going to fucking cut it, Thor!

[recentanimenews]

FEATURE: Japanese Myths And How They're Depicted In Horror Anime

  No matter the time or place, the folklore and myths of the past always persist. The same can also be said for anime, especially when it comes to horror. Certain franchises, such as Shigeru Mizuki’s classic GeGeGe no Kitaro, have solidified the omnipresent status of traditional Japanese folk monsters in popular culture. Other series, such as Osamu Tezuka’s Dororo interpret traditional folklore in relation to historical periods and changing attitudes toward religion. More recently, series from the 2010s and 2000s, such as Bakemonogatari and Ghost Stories, interpret the classics with modern sensibilities. When it comes to stories with a penchant for horror, it would be far more surprising if they didn’t allude to a shared supernatural mythology — the ubiquity is the point. 

  Neko-Musume on her smartphone

The best horror always tries to do something new. While creatures like yōkai (a wide umbrella of supernatural entities) are well-known among English-speaking fans today thanks to series like Yokai Watch, these re-imaginings always tend to play fast and loose with fidelity. Wouldn’t it be boring if every vampire movie started and ended with Dracula? In a 2016 interview with The Comics Journal, veteran manga translator Zack Davisson emphasizes this important tendency to re-contextualize old folklore:

  “It’s a tricky question, as it is impossible to say what is ‘actual folklore.’ Vampires bursting into flame is considered ‘authentic,’ but that actually comes from the films, not folkloric sources. Folklore evolves and [Shigeru] Mizuki is an important part of that evolution. If you trace them back, most yokai we know come from Toriyama Sekien, who also just made things up. In fact, I would say that making up yokai is part of the grand tradition of yokai! If you are a writer/artist working with yokai and not making up at least a few of your own, you are missing the point!”

  The original spirit gun

  So that’s all to say — there really is no such thing as a definitive, one-to-one story based on centuries of tradition. Yōkai, as endearing as they are, are also just one part of the equation. Long-running anime such as Folktales from Japan and fantasy series Inuyasha-continuation Yashahime: Princess Half-Demon either re-tell or draw inspiration from that folklore. But that’s beyond the scope of this piece. Whether it be adaptations of urban legends about school bathrooms or vengeful spirits, I hope this round-up helps any casual or long-time anime fan appreciate how these series reimagine supernatural traditions.

  Fantastic Folklore: GeGeGe no Kitaro & Mononoke

  The late Shigeru Mizuki’s most influential character, Kitaro, hardly needs any introduction. In his book Yokai Attack! The Japanese Monster Survival Guide, translator Matt Alt describes yōkai as “the attempts of the fertile human imagination to impose meaning and rationality on a chaotic, unpredictable, often difficult-to-explain world.” Many yōkai are quite strange and sometimes even comedic. Scholar-artists, such as the previously mentioned Toriyama Sekien, are largely credited with inspiring their uncanny visual representations, making them the perfect subject matter for an accessible series.

  The tanuki plot world domination

The titular Kitaro himself is a half-human, half-yōkai one-eyed boy who travels between the human and spirit world to resolve monster-of-the-day conflicts with his friends. Although Mizuki’s Kitaro as we know it began serialization in 1960, Mizuki originally received permission to re-imagine the character from Masami Itō, who first created Kitaro in the 1930s in pre-war Japan. The most recent 2018 anime series re-establishes Kitaro in a modern setting, yet still adapts many of the most iconic stories. Characters such as Neko-Musume, based on volatile cat spirits called bakeneko, are updated with new designs while Kitaro mostly remains the same. Mizuki’s older creations, such as the jubokko (vampire tree) yōkai, are still featured alongside a new re-imagining of the “wall monster” nurikabe — inspired by the discovery of an Edo manuscript in 2007. The appeal of Kitaro isn’t so much the meticulous adherence to yōkai mythos, but rather Mizuki’s continual improvisation of the folklore-informed monster-making tradition.

  The Medicine Seller

Beyond Kitaro, other series, such as 2006’s Mononoke, dedicate entire storylines to a wider category of ayakashi (sea-bound yōkai) and funayūrei (boat spirits) written by none other than Chiaki J. Konaka. Later episodes feature bakeneko and nue (chimera monsters), but with a twist. The term mononoke itself refers to a variety of yōkai specifically referring to vengeful spirits possessing people or things. When it comes to series taking a more “fantastical” approach to folklore, both Mononoke and Kitaro thankfully never dissolve into simple rogue galleries of monsters — their (mostly) human protagonists largely remain the heart of their chilling saga.

  Horror-Historical: Osamu Tezuka’s Dororo

  Lord Kagemitsu Daigo makes a pact with the demons  (Source: Amazon)

  In Anime and Its Roots in Early Japanese Monster Art scholar Zília Papp comments Mizuki’s “Kitaro characters became synonymous with yōkai in the postwar period, continuing to the present time” compared to his peers like Tezuka. But if Kitaro made yōkai big in comedic manga, then Tezuka’s short-lived Dororo manga drove this interest toward the historical context of the Sengoku Period, or the “warring states” era of feudal Japan. 

  Rather than depicting spirits as purely whimsical mischief-makers, Dororo’s inciting event is a feudal lord of the fictional Daigo clan forging a pact with 48 demons, who persist to hunt his son long after the pact is forged. In his feature The History Behind Osamu Tezuka’s Dororo, Marco Oliveros comments that by depicting yōkai during this period, Dororo draws inspiration from actual shifts in changing Buddhist attitudes toward these entities:

  “One of the foremost examples of this change to yokai is the tengu. Wrathful and demonic, the avian creature tricked and assaulted Buddhist clerics and civilians alike, becoming characterized as the sworn enemy of Buddhism. The apparent hostility of these yokai to Buddhism makes their dark deals with Dororo's Daigo an unsurprising turn of events for the Sengoku Jidai era.”

  The Amanojaku is captured and sealed inside a Buddhist temple (Source: Amazon)

  Matt Alt’s 2016 translation of Japandemonium Illustrated: The Yokai Encyclopedias of Toriyama Sekien describes the tengu (mask-wearing entities usually depicted as half-man half-bird) as “deeply associated with the religion of Shugendō,” which originated during the Heian period; however they were depicted very differently in major Buddhist sects of the same era. Unlike solely “fantastical” stories of the supernatural without much acknowledgment to historical context, Dororo is interested in this context regarding capricious attitudes of spirits of people alike. Impressive malevolent entities such as kyūbi (nine-tailed foxes) also fight against Dororo’s protagonist, Hyakkimaru, typical of supernatural jidaigeki (period drama) horror stories set in feudal Japan.

  However, Dororo also features lesser entities such as amanojaku (tiny, goblin-like demons). According to the influential illustrated encyclopedia Wakan Sansai Zue compiled by Sekien-predecessor Terajima Ryōan, amanojaku and tengu were described as paired descendants of the evil goddess Amanozako (literally "tengu god"). According to scholar Haruko Wakabayashi in The Seven Tengu Scrolls: Evil and the Rhetoric of Legitimacy in Medieval Japanese Buddhism, tengu were symbolically invoked in inter-personal and religious feuds amongst Buddhist sects during the Heian period. The amanojaku depicted in Dororo is minor. But with a (simplified) understanding of its affiliation with tengu’s pre-Heian origins and its subsequent disavowal by influential Buddhist sects, Dororo's amanojaku cameo is an undeniable nod toward its theme of “old ways” impacted by a "new" institutionalized status quo.

  Hyakkimaru battles the nine-tailed fox spirit in its spectral form (Source: Amazon)

  While the nine-tailed fox spirit is flashy, Dororo’s amanojaku ends up pathetically sealed inside a Buddhist temple. Ironically, the amanojaku trapping scene pans from the top of a Buddhist statue, ending with the cartoonish amanojaku crushed underneath to visually imply its irrelevancy. Dororo is a story about the cultural and religious tensions brewing during this violent episode in history — making Hyakkimaru’s journey one that doesn’t simply depict supernatural folkloric tradition in stasis, but as something always under complicated socio-political stakes.

  Modern Ghoul School: Ghost Stories & Bakemonogatari

  What do you do if you can’t solve your evil spirit problems with a sword? For the most part, classics like Kitaro and Dororo take place in the past, or at least worlds very unlike our own. A traveling demon slayer never has to deal with student council or smartphones. 

  In a previous article, From Bakeneko to Bakemonogatari, I discussed all the possible lineages of the catgirl character archetype. In that piece, I claimed one of the more accurate representations of the bakeneko today was Bakemonogatari’s Tsubasa Hanekawa’s cat spirit-possessed alter-ego. It’s not simply because she is a supernatural catgirl, but rather her portrayal was obviously informed by the wider context of pre-existing bakeneko mythos. Is it possible for a “modern-day” series to tackle yesterday’s folktales while still preserving the uncanniness of the past?

The spirits possessing Bakemonogatari’s cast, referred to as “oddities,” all nearly function like vengeful mononoke spirits. For example, Bakemonogatari’s first arc, Hitagi Crab, features a crab “oddity” haunting classmate Hitagi Senjougahara. The existence of heikekani (face-shaped crabs allegedly the spirits of drowned Heike warriors from the Sengoku Period), might be a parallel, considering the arc’s theme of unresolved conflict. Another arc, Suruga Monkey, features an “oddity” taking the form of a beastly paw growing on classmate Kanbaru Suruga’s arm. Senjougahara and Suruga's crab/monkey relationship can be read as alluding to the well-known Buddhist tale “The Monkey and the Crab.” According to The National Gallery of Art on its 2019 The Life of Animals in Japanese Art exhibit, the monkey and crab are usually depicted as friends, then compete until they either make amends or resolve their conflict. Often the subject of artistic interpretation, it’s no surprise this tale found its way into anime as a metaphor for teen drama.

  The kids scan a talisman and e-mail it to exorcise internet demons. Yes, this really happens.

  In comparison, the 2000 series Ghost Stories is best known to English-speaking audiences for being an edgy comedy. However, its original source material, a book series titled Gakkō no Kaidan (School Ghost Stories), is more akin to a heavily researched Goose Bumps. Written by folklore scholar Toru Tsunametsu, the series showcases various urban myths and monsters, most famously “Hanako” a ghost girl who haunts school bathrooms. A 2014 NPR piece describes the most popular version of Hanako being a schoolgirl in WWII “using the bathroom when a bomb fell on top of the building.” Although Hanako gained enough popularity from the books to warrant her own spin-off anime series in 1994, she only makes a handful of cameos in the 2000 series. Entities like the previously mentioned amanojaku also appear, alongside shinigami (death gods) depicted in many other anime.

  How to channel your ghost powers for success (Source: Funimation)

  Hanako, because of her relatively modern backstory, is just as ubiquitous. Versions of Hanako appear in an episode of the 2018 Kitaro and most recently in the 2020 series Toilet Bound Hanako-kun. Tsunametsu currently edits the Folklore Society of Japan’s official academic journal, no doubt a testament to his priceless contributions to folklore representation in anime.

  Who You Gonna Call?

  There’s no way to tell the same ghost story twice. With such a layered history, contemporary anime have a nearly endless well of folkloric material to pull from. Recent series like the hit Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba and Toilet Bound Hanako-kun prove that fans will never get enough of the supernatural, just as long as things stay fresh. 

  Hanako politely warns the ghost-hunting kids

  Long live artistic liberty and specters trying to watch you pee.

      Blake P. is a weekly columnist for Crunchyroll Features. His twitter is @_dispossessed. His bylines include Fanbyte, VRV, Unwinnable, and more. He'd like a tiny yōkai cat.

  Do you love writing? Do you love anime? If you have an idea for a features story, pitch it to Crunchyroll Features!

By: Blake Planty

[maxwell-grant]

What’s the difference between a pulp hero and a super hero?

There is a common sentiment when discussing pulp heroes, when compared to superheroes, that positions the two as if they were separate by entire eras, with pulp heroes being as distinct from the superheroes as the dinosaurs are to mankind. But then again, the dinosaurs never really went away, did they? 

Oh sure, they endured a great extinction, they downsized and ceded their thrones to the tiny little rats that scurried in their shadow, who then grew to become just as big, and then even bigger, but they never went away. They simply adapted into new forms and formed new ecosystems. We call them birds now.

The gap between Superman and The Shadow is merely 6 years, hardly much of a generation. There are those that argue that the Marvel and DC universes still have pulp heroes, that Batman is (or was) one, that characters like The Question and Moon Knight carry on the tradition. We have characters like Hellboy, Grendel, Tom Strong and Zack Overkill as original, modern examples of pulp characters, strongly identified as such. Venture Bros had in 2016 the best modern take on the Green Hornet. Lavender Jack is still going strong. So the idea that pulp heroes are defined solely by being old and outdated isn’t exactly true, when clearly there’s still enough gas in the tank centuries later for stories with them to be told.

Is there any meaningful distinction between pulp heroes and superheroes? If not, can we identify one?

Costume is definitely a big part of it, as Grant Morrison famously argued in his own summation. Of what he considers the big difference between the two: 

“What makes the superhero more current is the performance aspect. That's what The Shadow and those other guys don't really have. Their costumes are not bright, and they don't have their initials on their chest, and everything isn't out front and popping like the superheroes. I think we can relate to that about them because in the world we live in, everyone has a constant need to be a star. I think superheroes are keyed into that parallelism. They're performers. They're rock stars, and they always have been.

And he’s right, to an extent. It’s definitely tied into the central differences between The Shadow and Batman, as I’ve elaborated. While The Shadow was far, far from the only type of pulp hero, the superhero’s costume has long been defined as THE thing that sets it apart from every other type of fictional character. At least, when it comes to American superheroes. 

Because the “criteria” for superheroes is nowhere near as set in stone as some would like to believe. Our basic definition of superheroes is based around comparisons and contrasts to Superman and Batman, and how they fit into what we call “the superhero genre”. The existence of a superhero genre is, in and of itself, debatable, and any working definition for superheroes is inevitably going to have too many exceptions. 

Superheroes are not defined by settings, like cowboys or spacemen, or their profession, like detectives. They can’t be defined by superpowers (Batman), a mission statement, having secret identities (Fantastic Four, Tony Stark), being good people, or good at their jobs. The costume, the closest there is to a true, defining convention, still has a considerable share of exceptions like Jack Knight’s Starman, a great deal of the X-Men who do not wear uniforms, or most superheroes created outside the US. The most basic definition of superhero is of comic book characters with iconic costumes and enhanced abilities who fight villains in shared superhero universes, but even that falls short of exceptions by including characters who are not superheroes (John Constantine and other Vertigo characters, Jonah Hex, the Punisher). Some people would call Goku or Harry Potter or Lucky Luke or Monica’s Gang superheroes, Donald Duck has literally been one. “Character with a distinctive design and unusual talents who fights evil” includes virtually every fictional hero that’s ever achieved a modicum of popularity in a visual medium.

Even telling stories with super characters doesn’t mean you’re going to be writing a superhero story (Joker). Superheroes are not defined by settings and genres, but they can inhabit just about any of them you can imagine. Horror, westerns, gritty crime drama, historical reconstruction, romance, space adventure, war stories, surrealism stories. As Morrison put it, they aren’t so much a genre as they are “a special chilli pepper-like ingredient designed to energize other genres”, part of the reason why they colonized the entire blockbuster landscape.

Aviation became a thing in the war years, so they started producing en masse aviation pulps as a subgenre. Zeppelins became popular, so they had a short-lived zeppelin subgenre. Celebrities starred in their own magazines. The American pulps were different from the German pulps, or the Italian pulps, or the Canadian pulps. In China, wuxia arose at a similar time period and with similar themes and distribution. In Brazil, we have “folhetos”, short, poetic, extremely cheap prose often written about romantic heroes and “cangaçeiros”, the closest local equivalent to the American cowboys. In Japan, “light novels” began life as pulp fiction, distributed in exactly the same format and literally sold as such. Pulp fiction has long outlived any and all attempts to define it as 30s literary fiction only.

Likewise, “pulp” and “pulp heroes” are terms employed very, very loosely. Characters like The Shadow and Doc Savage arrived quite late in the history of pulp fiction. You had characters like Jimmie Dale, Bulldog Drummond, Tarzan, Conan, a billion non-descript trenchcoat guys, and before those the likes of Nick Carter and Sexton Blake, dime novel detectives who made the jump to pulp. You had your hero pulps, villain pulps, adventure pulps, romance pulps, horror pulps, weird menace pulps. Science fiction, planetary romance, roman-era adventures, lost race adventures, anything that publishers could sell was turned into pulp stories starring, what else, pulp heroes. 

How do you make sense of it all?

The main difference to consider is the mediums they were made for. 

Pulp heroes were made for literature, superheroes were made for comic books.

Superheroes NEED to pop out visually, to have bold and flashy and striking designs, because comic books are visual stories first and foremost, who live and die on having attractive, catching character designs and the promise of an entertaining story with them. Pulp heroes, in turn, can often just be ordinary dudes and dudettes and anything in between in trenchcoats or evening wear or furry underwear, or masters of disguise rarely identifiable, because the only thing that needs to visually striking at first glance in a pulp magazine is the cover, so your imagination can get ready to do the rest. Smoking guns, bloody daggers, a romantic embrace, monsters hunched over ladies in peril, incendiary escapes. The characters can look like and be literally anything.

Comic books are a sequential art form where art and writing come together to tell a story, and every illustration must serve the story and vice-versa. It needs to give you an incentive to keep being visually invested in whatever’s going on. Pulp literature stays dead on the page unless animated by your expectations; you may have the illusion of submitting to an experience, but really it’s you expending your imagination to otherwise inert signals. You have to provide the colors and flashy sequences and great meaning yourself, and as a trade, you get much more text to work with in novels than you do in comic books, where the dialogue and narration are fundamentally secondary to the visual, whether it’s a superhero punching stars or a monster covered in blood.

Each art form has its strengths and weaknesses, of course, which are only accentuated when each tries to be of a different kind. There's been pulp heroes that tried making the jump to comics, and comic heroes that made the jump to literature. There’s good, even great examples, of both, but even at their best, there's always some incongruity, because that's not the medium these characters were made for. 

Superheroes are characters defined by being extraordinary. The pulp heroes are too, in many cases, distinguished from their literary antecessors because they were too uncanny and weird, a middleground between the folklore/fairy tale heroes and the grounded detective and adventure characters such as Sherlock, and the later far out superheroes. But they don’t necessarily have to be extraordinary. Sometimes they can very well just be completely ordinary characters, caught in bizarre circumstances and managing them as best they can, or simply using skills available to anyone who puts in effort to do good. Often enough the extraordinary comes in the form of a bizarre villain, or a tangled conspiracy, a monster from outside the world, a unique time period. The extraordinary is there, but it doesn’t have to be in the hero. 

That is, I’d argue, the other big fundamental difference between the two. "Superhero” is a name we use to define a type of character who fits an extraordinary mold, a Super Hero. It’s a genre, it can be every genre, it’s a shared universe and a stand-alone epic. There are guidelines, structures at work here. Grids, page count, illustrators. The Big Two and their domain over the concept. Academic usage of the term, standards that rule the “genre”, when it is defined as a genre. Malleable and overpowering and adaptable and timeless as the superhero may be, it’s still bound by a certain set of rules and trends.

The term “pulp hero” is a term that we use to label just about any character that happens to star in something we recognize as “pulp fiction”, even if it isn’t literally written in pulp, even if it’s decades later. It’s a “metaphor with no brakes in it”. Superheroes can be pulp heroes. The most powerless, unlucky, homeless bum can be a pulp hero, there were entire subgenres of pulp stories based on homeless protagonists or talltale stories told in bars. The cruelest villain can be a pulp hero. Boris Karloff about to stab you with a knife named Ike IS a pulp hero, and so is a space slug on a warpath (look up what happened when Lovecraft and R.E Howard collaborated).

As much as I may dislike the idea of pulp heroes largely only existing in the shadow of superheroes nowadays...that is kinda appropriate, isn’t it? Of course they are going to live and make their homes in the place where the sun doesn’t shine. Where Superman and co would never go to. 

Of course the 90s reboots of these characters failed. Because they tried turning these characters into superheroes, and they are not superheroes. They can visit those world, but they don’t belong in them, or anywhere else. They live in places where the light doesn’t touch, worlds much bigger and darker and more vast than you’d ever think at first glance, worlds that we still haven’t fully discovered (over 38% of American pulps no longer exist, 14% survive in less than five scattered copies, to say nothing of all pulps and pulp heroes outside of America). Not lesser, not gone, despite having every reason to. Just different, reborn time and time again. The shadow opposites.

In short: One is represented by Superman. The other is represented by The Shadow. There are worlds far beyond those two, but when you think of the concepts, those are the ones that things always seem to come back to.

[thattimdrakeguy]

I was recently re-watching a nicely done deconstruction of Batman V. Superman on there’s one line there that perfectly summed up why the very idea of the films premise had inherent flaws that were doomed once the film itself started production:

In a paraphrasing manner, [Using source materials including The Dark Knight Returns and in particular for it’s portrayal of Superman, a subtle adaptation of Ayn Rand’s the Fountainhead not as a proper deconstructive take of the former or reimagining take for the latter but as ‘iconic and definitive’ versions that are meant to both fight and eventually team up, it’s like] “taking Spaceballs, cutting out the funny parts, and releasing what’s left of it as [Star Wars] Episode 9 because that’s what they did here”

Here’s (at least part 3) the review right here:

https://youtu.be/uuwxDLdXALc

Zack Snyder didn't adapt the Dark Knight Returns Superman. Just the Batman of that story. I believe Zack Snyder tried to avoid using that kind of government tool interpretation of the character. Which can be seen in the end of Man of Steel where Superman literally takes a satellite they were using to track him out of the sky.

Didn't watch any of the review yet (love those kind of videos tho, thank you for sending it <3) but just wanted to point that part of it out.

However trying to start up a new franchise with a middle aged, battered, broken Batman, with a fresh up and starter Superman and expecting it to be a more clear-cut adaptation that can last for a bit is--a bit of bad forward thinking. Also however, Zack Snyder did in-fact plan to kill of Batman more or less. So in the long run it wouldn't have really mattered anyways.

I don't think it was trying to be a huge deconstruction of Superman anyway. From my understanding it was just to be like "What if Superman was a real dude?" hence why everyone either loves him, or is terrified of him, and overall he's like "Shit this is heavy."

Which personally I think that's really interesting, and I like the movies partially because of that.

Though again, if they wanted a long lasting franchise full of crossovers that's supposed to, in some fashion, mimic the world of the comics, it's like breaking a bunch of parts off of different toys and expecting to make a big Voltron out of it (I never watched Voltron. So does that make any sense?). Basically, it's very silly to think that was going to work.

Which is why Zack's original plan wasn't this big and ongoing--while Warner Bros. had to side step and be like "Wait a second...this isn't what Marvel's doing at all!" when the clues were out in the open. To which I say, either invest in your product as it's art a person is making for you, or start all over again with a different artist. Don't break a person's art piece to make it something else, because that's insanely disrespectful.

I am rambling about stuff that is not even relevant anymore. I apologize for that. I just have a lot of big thoughts on the weird existence of that franchise in-general.

I guess maybe I was tryna say I have a similar albeit different opinion over it, and I got lost while I was saying it.

[dalekofchaos]

What DCEU’s Lex Luthor should’ve been

The problem with Lex Luthor in the DCEU is this. Jesse Eisenberg’s Lex Luthor... is just annoying, whiny,  sleazy, annoying little know it all brat who keeps bringing up his father and acts more like a mix of The Joker and Riddler than Lex Luthor. All Eisenberg’s Lex was…just annoying. He is not a threat that could be the brains to Superman’s brawn or pose a threat that brings the Justice League together and he is just an annoyance. 

Lex Luthor is cunning, he’s a genius, a criminal mastermind and will ignore all ethical boundaries until his goals are met. When Luthor is in the room, he owns it. Every word that comes out of his mouth is meticulously planned and he is a master manipulator. The reason why he is such a brilliant Superman villain is because even though he has no physical powers, he can always beat the Man Of Steel on intellect alone. And the worst part? He believes his crusade against Superman is just and to some degree would have reasons some might believe him. 

Here’s why the DCAU Lex will always be the Lex we all want in the movies.

“Do you know how much power I’d have to give up to be president?” Is such a terrifying line. Clancy Brown again and again demonstrates he is THE definitive Lex Luthor as a cunning, intelligent and egotistical villain.

The other problem with DCEU’s Lex and even Clark is the way they directed Clark in MOS would justify comic and DCAU Lex Luthor. The reason why Superman isn’t scary is because he was raised with such strong values. Taking that away and replacing it with “Maybe you should have let those kids die” and “You don’t owe this world a thing” makes him very frightening, because it means that it’s a lot easier for him to do stuff that essentially proves Lex Luthor right. Oh, but wait. there is nothing that could make Lex right because he’s essentially an idiot and literally has no message or motivations to warrant that claim. Because if he did, then he’d be inadvertently portrayed as right. Snyder knows what he’s doing.

Like you had major destruction in Metropolis in Man Of Steel and you didn’t use that angle for Lex. Like there could’ve been major segments in BVS where Lex is promoting Lexcorp for cleaning up and rebuilding Metropolis. Giving jobs to the good citizens who lost their jobs and reparations to those who lost their homes and loved ones in the Kryptonian attack on Metropolis. Lex buys out the Daily Planet and orchestrates slander campaigns against Superman, like “Put your faith in humanity and Lex Luthor, not the Kryptonian.” Even convinces Batman that Superman is the enemy. Like come on...it was practically RIGHT IN FRONT OF YOUR STUPID FUCKING FACE ZACK, AND YOU WENT IN THE COMPLETE OPPOSITE DIRECTION FOR LEX LUTHOR...

  Also as much as I hate Brian Azzarello, especially after the Killing Joke adaptation.

I would've preferred if Zack Snyder took inspiration from Lex Luther:Man Of Steel. 

At least then. Lex would've had a motive and actually had a message worth telling.

Imagine this. 

Lex worked hard all his life. Studied for years to increase his knowledge. Did everything he could to escape his abusive father and the town he grew up in, and eventually became one of the richest people in the whole world. And then this alien comes out of nowhere. He sees all the destruction he's caused and sees the terror he could represent. But the people love him? and suddenly everything is all about him and everybody seems to love him...and Lex can't understand that at all nor can he do anything to be like Superman. He's human after all. All he can do is view Superman with distrust and think of the worst cases possible.

What if this flying man decided to rule us all? What effects will this flying man have on humanity? Will he actually prevent humanity from evolving by making them dependent? Those are the questions Lex Luthor has and in his mind, he's the one in the right...and if you really think about it, some of his concerns are quite valid. In his own way, He believes he's helping humanity by trying to eliminate Superman and that one day, humanity will understand why.

In his mind, Lex Luthor is the Man of Steel determined to save the world from the evil alien.

But we’d see this is all a facade. The true Lex is nothing but a megalomaniacal maniac, a genius who gives a reason why he hates Superman, but at the end of the day, is just a petty jackass who refuses to help advance humanity until he gets what he wants. 

And in this case, Zack should’ve casted Billy Zane, Mark Strong or Bryan Cranston as this version of Lex.

Like, I’m not for rationalizing characters like Lex, but come on it’s better than the whiny idiotic spoiled brat we actually got in the DCEU. 

[maldito-arbol]

Let’s talk about the GP zodiacs (Part 2)

HOLSY HSIT I LOVE THE GP KIDS SO MUCH AND THEIR SIGNS ARE SO INTERESTING

Thank u to puff-poff for shooting me with an ask about the gp kids, I think our brains just assimilated

One more note: I should’ve mentioned this in my last post but compatibility between signs doesn’t only apply to romantic relationships, it applies to any kind of relationship like friendships, family relations, etc. It’s just that when it comes to more platonic relationships, wholly incompatible signs are more likely to be able to work something out together. As an example, I’m a Gemini, and I’m about 300% certain I could never ever in my life date a Pisces, but I do have a few Pisces friends that I get along well enough with.

Okay same drill—sign, element, infodump, GO

Violet

Birthdate: June 12th

Sign: Gemini

Element: Air

Overview: SQUEALS GUYS ITS VIOLET MY BELOVED. WE’RE BOTH GEMINIS THEREFORE WE ARE THE SAME PERSON. I’m kidding but no, Violet being a Gemini makes her 100x easier to project onto. So I mentioned before that Air signs are the least in tune with their emotions, are the thinkers before they act, are horribly indecisive, and these very much apply to Geminis as well. However, the most iconic trait of a Gemini is the ability to switch personalities at the drop of a hat whenever it services the group of people they’re in—what most people call the ‘two-faced’ part of Geminis. Hey, I promise you that being two-faced is actually a pretty cool and useful asset when in the hands of a decent human being. It means we get along well with a lot of different people, and if we don’t, we can act like we do as if it’s nothing. This asset, however, can turn into a curse of sorts in that a lot of us have...NO IDEA what our actual personality is. We reshape and remold ourselves and copy traits from other signs to fit in so much that we lose sight of who we are as an individual, and therefore we have a very hard time figuring out what we truly want. This is where the indecisiveness comes into play—ask a Gemini what they want for lunch and you’ll get a “what? Huh? Oh, you pick. I’m fine with whatever.” I know Geminis best because I am one, pls forgive me for rambling so much more about them than the other signssss.

Okay so first of all, let’s talk about Violet adapting to other characters to ‘fit in’. It’s not as obvious because Violet DOES seem to have one very fixed personality, but Violet prefers to speak through actions rather than words, so I would call her following Emma to help the children at GP a Gemini move. She could’ve simply dragged her to Lucas—she’s probably strong enough to do so, but instead she decided to go along with her. This isn’t to say there’s no pushback of course, as Air signs Geminis aren’t idiots, so they’ll often try to reason with others (particularly fire signs cough cough) to try to bring logic and critical thinking into the conversation. However, when that fails, they can still be counted on to support their friends even if they disagree. This is why Geminis and Leos are soulmates you heard it here, the stars said Violemma is the way. BUT ALSO CAN WE TALK ABOUT HOW VIOLET’S THE ONE ADAM LISTENS TO DURING THE LEUVIS BATTLE. YOU WANNA TALK ABOUT BEING ABLE TO GET ALONG WITH A LOT OF PEOPLE, THERE YOU GO.

Anyway it’s also very much worth noting that while Violet can seem very harsh at times (bc Geminis will put you in your PLACE), bringing her logical kind of advice into conversations can be a very helpful comforter.

On another note this scene is so gay?

Compatibility and ships: hellooooooo Air sign Violet you are compatible with other Air signs (Aquarius, Libra, and Gemini) as well as Fire signs (Leo, Sagittarius, and Aries). Usually you’ll see Aquarius and Sagittarius as the most compatible with Geminis but I disagree with that because I have never met a Sagittarius I like so I’m still pointing fervently at Leos and the fact that Emma is a Leo. Listen. Violemma is the way. I am determined to convert all of you to Violemma if it’s the last thing I do. Geminis simply cannot help themselves around Leos they fall like a fucking anvil for that bright, golden-hearted dumbass energy. If there’s any Leos in the tpn fandom let me know I might just propose to you.

Oliver

Birthdate: October 25th

Sign: Scorpio

Element: Water

Overview: the first time I looked up Oliver’s birthday I went “Scorpio???? REALLY????” but then this is another case where the more I think about it, it does indeed make sense. If Leos are the natural leaders of the Fire signs, then Scorpios are the natural leaders of the Water signs. Where Cancers and Pisces will often lose themselves to their emotions, Scorpios have a very strong handle on them. I mentioned before that Water signs are at the highest emotional level, but Scorpios are a bit of an interesting case because you oftentimes won’t even notice that they’re very emotional people. They try to act like Air signs in that way, but their true colors are always there, waiting to be coaxed out.

For Oliver, you can clearly tell that his emotional bond with his friends and especially with Lucas is very high—but even so, he doesn’t let his emotions cloud his judgment or his ability to adapt to the situation at hand. Where earth signs are very fixed and difficult to move, water signs are always moving and changing to find solutions best suited for new circumstances. The best example I can give is the part where the music plays early, and despite internally panicking about it, Oliver is the one who naturally steps up to calm everyone down.

Scorpios are great at handling others’ emotions as well as their own, which makes them marvelously empathetic leaders. We stan.

Compatibility and ships: as a Water sign, Oliver is compatible with other Water signs (Cancer, Pisces, and Scorpio) as well as Earth signs (Taurus, Virgo, and Capricorn) so speaking broadly that makes him compatible with Pepe (a Pisces) and Zack (a Cancer) but narrowing it down, Scorpios are usually best with Tauruses and Cancers. Idk if I’m the only one who ships Oliver with Pepe but I know there’s a few people who ship him with Zack—so congrats to you guys, you won the stars’ approval.

Lucas

Birthdate: November 28th

Sign: Sagittarius

Element: Fire

Overview: yall,,,, when I found out Lucas was a Saggy Titty I legitimately guffawed out loud. Lucas and Sagittarius is so funny.... because it’s so wrong. Saggy Titties are the definition of chaos, they’re brazen, impulsive, and constantly changing. Like think of a frat boy in a house full of beer and pool tables and hot girls and you get Sagittarius. This is why I have never met a Sagittarius I like—because they have frat boy energy, and even non-male Sagittariuses require wayyy too much energy for me to handle. I guess the only time Lucas really does act like a Sagittarius is in his childhood with Yuugo, and the way he’s a lot bolder and outgoing versus the quieter older Lucas we have now.

It is important to note that Lucas has been through a lot of trauma and lost a lot of comrades which could very well change the a person’s entire outlook and turn their personality 180 degrees—that could be a large factor, although on the flip side, Yuugo still fits his Capricorn sign even after going through what he’s been through. Different events affect different people differently. Lucas was most likely knocked entirely off his Sagittarius high-horse very quickly when he arrived in Goldy Pond. But if I had no prior knowledge of who he was beforehand, I very well might’ve pegged him a Leo like Emma or even another subtle Aries like Norman. So yes, he does indeed have fire energy, it’s just generally very lackluster and farrrr away from Sagittarius’ level.

Compatibility and ships: okay so I know the only Lucas ship with any weight to it in this fandom is Yuucas, and here’s the thing,,, A Sagittarius and Capricorn combo is the most horrifying fucking couple imaginable and I’m stan so hard. Realistically speaking, your Capricorns would try to put a leash on their Sagittariuses because man. I forgot to mention how childish Sagittariuses can be (though the frat boy comparison should’ve been a clue), and holy shit that poor Capricorn is gonna get ripped to shreds by their Sagittarius. Imagine like a super pompous cowboy trying to ride a furious bull that’s trying to buck him off like there’s no tomorrow. Capricorns are people who want complete control over themselves and their partners, while Sagittariuses,, Saggy Titties just want to see the world burn. Put them together and you could probably cause the End Times Apocalypse. But you know what? Good for them. I think Yuugo and Lucas love each other enough that the toxicity that comes with typical pairups with these two signs is about nonexistent between them. But I fully believe they could still destroy an entire planet and that’s valid of them to do so. Anyway moving on!

you wanna talk about another Sagittarius that makes absolutely no sense?

Paula

Birthdate: December 9th

Sign: Sagittarius

Element: Fire

Overview: My authors I am begging you, stop putting character birthdays in the Sagittarius zone you clearly don’t know what a Sagittarius is.

Since I refuse to acknowledge Paula as a Sagittarius, let’s talk about what sign she actually acts like because I said so. Paula’s a Virgo. Fight me Shirai. (Also im sus that shirai is virgophobic because where the fuck are my virgos. There’s like zero major characters that are virgos, and the characters that ARE don’t even act like virgos. I’m coming for your small intestine Shirai) so as earth signs, virgos are generally pretty resourceful and of course level-headed. They’re kinda shy and reserved, but they’re also very hard workers you can count on when you need to get a job done. Nary will you find a Virgo that procrastinates or attempts to weasel their way out of a mission they’ve been given. The unmovable earth in virgos shows through in how committed they are, and we can see all these traits in Paula. Though she’s a quieter member of the GP resistance, you can tell just how much of an asset she is to them. She doesn’t run, doesn’t lose her cool, and she’s good at pointing out important details.

Pls let me decide your characters’ birthdays for you Shirai I promise I am good at it.

Compatibility and ships: I guess, astrologically speaking, as a Sagittarius, Paula does fit pretty well with Sonya because she’s a Gemini. I actually know next to nothing about Paula ships but I do know she’s lesbian and her and Sonya are cute but I also ship her with Barbara because reasons don’t ask questions I WILL bite you anyway they’re compatible too because barb’s also a Gemini.

Lot of Geminis, don’t you think? Yes I do. Let’s talk about them.

Sonya and Sandy

Birthdates: June 3rd and May 22nd respectively

Signs: Gemini

Element: Air

Overview: these two are what I call the gemini twins bECAUSE THEYRE ALWAYS HANGING OUT AND ITS SO TRUE GEMINIS LOVE EACH OTHER BUT ALSO ITS SO WEIRD THAT WE GET ALONG. imagine like two of those one way mirrors facing each other where it just goes on and on and on for infinite mirror and that’s what two Geminis hanging out is like. Look, they’re literally thinking the same thing and it’s so great

Anyway there isn’t a whole lot of Sandy and Sonya content to go off of in the first place, but them being Geminis seems reasonable to me—at the very least they are indeed meant to get along well and they’re so in sync I could cry. Plus they’re pretty intuitive and able to think right on the spot as they’re facing Nous and Nouma (at least at first) My man Shirai also.. really likes Geminis for some reason because they keep popping up. So instead of one Spider-Man meme it looks more like this,

Compatibility and ships: not gonna dwell too long on this section because from previous ones you may already recall they’re compatible with each other and I guess with Paula as well as I must begrudgingly accept the fact that shes canonically a Sagittarius.

Pepe

Birthdate: February 19th

Sign: Pisces

Element: Water

Overview: so I mentioned before that water signs are at about the highest emotion level, which makes Pisces a very sensitive group like Cancers. But Pisces in general are known for being the kindest and most accepting people as well, which means they’re able to make a lot of friends very easily. They’re basically that one person you sat next to in class who started a conversation with you just to be nice. Now again, there’s not a whole lot of Pepe content to go off of, but we can tell he’s kind and loving to his friends and the other kids in GP. One thing I can mention is that Pisces usually are the one of the nosiest of the signs, and they get very bothered by lies and secrets (this is true for a lot of water signs, but Pisces are the worst in my experience) so we got this single piece that may have a little bit of the Pisces in Pepe showing:

Compatibility and ships: So as a Pisces, Pepe is only compatible with Oliver and Zack considering they’re also water signs. Everyone else is Fire and Air, funnily enough, but the Pepe ships with those two are super cute I think so it’s ok.

Zack

Birthdate: July 7th

Sign: Cancer

Element: Water

Overview: so do I think Zack fits his sign? Yes, in a way I do. I already went into Cancers when I explained Don, so quick recap: Cancers are some of the most sensitive and empathetic, so their loyalty to their loved ones is pretty close to on-par with an Aries. And while Zack isn’t as outwardly emotional as someone like Don, the Cancer in him shows up well in that he’s constantly taking extremely difficult missions he doesn’t want his friends to risk, and he shrugs off any injury to himself.

This might just be a me thing but almost every Cancer I’ve met has a habit of doing That. I am so concerned for their safety. I guess though, if I hadn’t known his sign beforehand, I 100% would’ve pegged him an Aries.

Compatibility and ships: I already went over this with Pepe, but Zack is compatible with Pepe and Oliver. Y’all ok listen to me. OT3. Make it happen. Between them they have every sign in the element of water. They’d be unstoppable.

Gillian

Birthdate: September 30th

Sign: Libra

Element: Air

Overview: here’s a fun one. So as I previously stated, air signs are usually out of tune with their emotions, but where that causes Aquariuses and Geminis to repress or hide them, Libras,,,, just dump them everywhere. Listen I know Libras are supposed to be the sign of the balance scales and they have a thing about the world being perfectly balanced which makes them more prone to revenge bUT ALSO. MY first and foremost takeaway from Libras is that they all suffer from Rich Bitch syndrome, in which they obsess over material items and every Libra has a thing about cute girly stuff change my mind. HOWEVER, they’re often very chaotic as well, the kinda Sagittarius of the Air signs. So like a super cute and seemingly fun girl who will probably murder you in your sleep.



I’m sorry I can’t take it I’ve been laughing at this for the past fifteen minutes it’s too funny. Anyway, Gillian’s Rich Bitch Syndrome appears through her fashion statement. Her PINS. omg. Gillian your Libra is showing.

Compatibility and ships: as a Libra Gillian is compatible with other Air signs (Aquarius, Gemini, Libra) as well as Fire signs (Aries, Sagittarius, Leo) but she’s most compatible with Aries and Sagittarius so—— Paula yes, but also Nigel because he’s an Aries! Speaking of Nigel,

Nigel

Birthdate: March 27th

Sign: Aries

Element: Fire

Overview: Aries Nigel doesn’t come as a surprise, let’s be real here. I delved into Aries before with Norman, so just as a recap: Aries are so intensely loyal to the ones they love and would do absolutely anything for them even at the cost of their lives, and this can make them prone to outbursts of anger and/or impulsivity. Here’s your one image of Aries Nigel, I don’t even have to explain:

Compatibility and ships: so I already said this but Nigel is at his most compatible with Gillian. Are there other Nigel ships?? Pls let me know I’m very curious.

Aw, it’s over now :(

I loved talking about the GP kids they fill the void in my heart. Now to move onto talking about the demons because the silliest idiot requested it and I am beyond ecstatic to spout pure headcanon bullshit. If you’re feelin excited then feel free to keep sending characters my way I will be happy to ramble about their canon zodiac or my headcanon for their zodiac

Edit: i forgot to link part 1 to anyone who wants it and doesn’t want to stalk my profile to find it

[louella-grace]

@dreamsofahero​

A couple months after Zack had recovered from his coma, everyone had settled into a routine.  Work as Mercenaries, back up for AVALANCHE when they needed it and normal every day life stuff.

It had been hard to adjust to at first, Louella   has nightmares about  Zack and cloud dying but she tries not to let them bother her. She still occasionally dreamed about Angeal and Genesis still being  alive,  but by now she had come to see these dreams  as them visiting her from the after life, which gave her some comfort.

Cloud  and Zack  naturally had less trouble adjusting, probably because being a SOLDIER you had to adapt to any situation quickly.

Currently,  it’s a  quiet evening just as the sky is starting to darken.

Louella  walks into the safe house provided by the Turks that had  saved Zack from his ultimate demise, with a tired sigh.

“Zack, Cloud,  I’m back”   the mission she got was troublesome, she’d been given the run around  by the person who owed her client money, and she had  to kill a bunch fiends while running around to get everything done. Thankfully, the client Gave  her extra for the trouble.  

Then she had to find someone’s cat, because it kept running away from Zack and cloud, probably because of them being Mako enhanced.

“Ugh, I’m tired... Give me some of your energy guys. I still need to cook dinner.” 

“ You don’t have to Cook for us Lou. We can go to 7th heaven. Right Zack?“ Though, he does like her cooking it’s delicious and he definitely appreciates it.

He can tell how tired she is, and she did  help him and Zack out with the cat job. The damn thing  bit him and scratched Zack. It was a real  pain. From now on he’s going to leave pet related jobs to her, they don’t seem to like Zack and himself.