#but I'm neglecting the essay I was SUPPOSED to write to focus on this tumblr essay instead

[visionofhope04]

Here for the angst of neglected batsis, imagine or hc them of moving out if the house when they are 18 and let's say they meet some spirit and they have their memory wiped and transfer to the marvel universe to restart their life and more happy, then the dc/marvel merge together because of a big threat and batfam sees batsis is heavily pregnant and married to our favorite deadpool charater Colossus?

How would they reached if batsis just can't remember them and keeps on telling them they have the wrong person?

I LIKE THE WAY YOU THINK. Guess who's back!! Sorry it took me so long to get this out, I haven't had the motivation to write until recently. Also OOC warning bc I don't really know him well besides the Deadpool movies. I almost freaked out bc I haven't used the tumblr website in so long and it got updated so I thought I lost all my drafts. So glad they're still here, whew. Not beta read so I'm sorry if there are any mistakes!

---

It's been a year since moving into your apartment and you couldn't be happier. College was going well and you were taking classes you enjoyed. However, you haven't made any friends yet which led you to spend your free time reading or surfing the web. Jason didn't come by much due to having his own life and vigilante things, which you understood. It didn't mean you couldn't be a little bit sad about it though.

Even though you were enjoying your life, you still felt as if there was something missing. You'd been trying to figure out why you had felt this way but nothing came to mind. Any time you tried to brush off the feeling, it came back stronger. You did your best to ignore it and continue on with life, but it was always there, nagging you.

It had been a long day. College was so stressful. Your professors kept hurling projects at you that had deadlines that were practically impossible to meet. You just wanted it to end already and be on summer break. Then, you’d be able to sleep how long you wanted to without the fear of being late for class or forgetting to complete an assignment.

You sat down at your desk and pulled out your laptop, preparing to continue an essay that was due in three days. Suddenly, you began to feel nauseous. Confused, you attempted to ignore the feeling in favor of completing the essay. A few seconds after trying to focus on your laptop screen, you saw a bright light.

"My child, you will be saved from this life." A strangely comforting voice said.

Then everything faded to black.

---

"Hello?!"

A voice. A voice? But you live alone and no one has the spare key to your apartment. You slowly opened your eyes, groaning and quickly shutting them again once a bright light blinded you.

"Oh you're alive, thank God. Can you speak?" Whoever this was seemed to have been panicking before, slightly less though now that you had indicated you were alive. You groan as you push yourself up off of what seems to be concrete. Concrete? You're definitely not in your apartment. You crack your eyes open again, this time with less difficulty, and come face to face with white lenses of a mask. Blinking again, you register that the lenses are attached to a red material with black lines.

"Ah!"

"AH!" The figure yells and jumps back, startled by your sudden surprise.

"What the hell are you supposed to be?" You asked, tilting your head slightly to the side.

"What do you mean? I'm Spiderman." His voice was a bit high pitched, he sounded like a teen at most.

"Spiderman? You've got to be joking. There is no Spiderman. Go home kid, crime fighting isn't a game." Sure, you may be a hypocrite, seeing as you are an ex-assassin who began learning how to kill at around 5, but at least you had training. What did this Spiderman have? From how startled he was, you assumed he had barely been trained, if at all.

“What? I'm literally Spiderman! I'm Queens' hero!"

"Queens, New York?" You thought you'd still be in New Jersey at least.

"Uh yeah. I don't think there are any other places called Queens that have a Spiderman."

"Again, Spiderman? Seriously? You couldn't think of a better name at least?"

"Hey! There's nothing wrong with Spiderman!"

"Sure kid, keep telling yourself that."

He was about to protest when suddenly, someone else dropped into the alley.

"Hey Spidey, who's this lovely lady?" A person in an all red with black suit with two swords on his back and guns strapped to his waist called out. The person seemed to be a male, around 30 years old.

"This 'lovely lady' is very confused. Who are you?" They keep multiplying, and you'd never seen this person either.

"Did you hit your head or something? You've never heard of or seen Deadpool? The most handsomest, most awesomest, funniest, killer crime fighter?"

"Uh nope. Also, I'm from Jersey, how did I end up here?"

"Good question. What's your name?"

"Oh, it's-" You stopped in confusion. "I actually don't remember. It was just at the tip of my tongue but I don't remember."

"Oh great! Amnesia! Just what we need. I'll let you handle her Spidey and I'll go stop some bad guys, 'kay?"

"What! No, don't leave me here!" Deadpool was already sprinting away.

"Let's get you to the base. Colossus and the others will know what to do."

---

They did not, in fact, know what to do. Colossus sent Negasonic and Yukio to contact Professor X, while Spiderman went to contact Tony Stark (I'm still emotionally scarred from Endgame so no, he won't be dead, this is my fanfic and I can keep him alive if I want to) and Deadpool went back out to patrol. You were left alone with Colossus.

Uncomfortable silence sat between you. Just as you were beginning to get antsy, Colossus broke it first.

"Do you remember anything at all?"

"I'm... a college student. I live alone in an apartment in New Jersey, I think. I used to fight crime until... I don't know, it's fuzzy. I'm an ex-assassin who has been training since I was 5. That's all I remember."

"You can remember that but not your name?"

"Look, I don't know okay? I don't know what's happening or why I can't remember anything else. I want to remember who I am, but I can't. And it's so... so frustrating! Your suspicion is understandable, but it is not helping."

"I apologize. This is a stressful situation for you. I will be more considerate."

"Thank you."

---

They could not figure out what happened to you or why you suddenly appeared in Queens one day. Your memory remained fuzzy, so you were stuck. As time passed, you and Colossus grew closer. You became so close that he told you his real name, you became a couple, and you got married. Seven years passed, you were 25 and you'd been trying for a baby. You both felt the time was right and that you'd be able to handle parenting.

Colossus came home from work one day, spent and tired. There you were, waiting for him at the door as usual.

"Hi my love, long day?" You fiddled with the positive pregnancy test behind your back.

"Yes darling, when is it not?"

"Well, we're going to have to figure something out, because there's no way I'll wake up every night to take care of our baby."

He looked confused, then realization hit. "You're..?" He looked so happy and hopeful, you couldn't contain your happiness. A huge smile lit up your face.

"Yes, we're finally going to be parents!" You pulled out the pregnancy test and held it up to him.

He laughed a joyful laugh, tears began to fall from the corners of his eyes as he embraced you. It must've been infectious because you began to tear up too. You remained in each other's embrace for a while, just existing in the moment. Time felt irrelevant as you basked in your shared delight.

---

8 months later, your belly had swollen and grown. Everyone was happy for the both of you. You and Colossus were both eager for your little one to arrive. You'd both decided to wait for birth to find out the gender. It didn't matter to you whether it was a boy or girl, just that they were healthy (gender's a construct anyway). The pregnancy had been going great so far, but this time of easy-going was about to get ruined by your husband's job.

---

Your world had merged with another because of some cosmic threat. Great! Your husband would be preoccupied trying to fix the situation, which meant that you'd be alone. Selfishly, you wished that they could let your husband stay with you so close to your due date, but you knew he had a role to play in saving two worlds.

Seeing your loneliness, Colossus decided to bring you with him to the Avengers' base. He hoped you'd be able to befriend some of the people there. You entered the compound and your eyes were drawn to some men standing beside a set of double doors. They all had suits on, black hair (one guy had two white streaks in his hair) and most had blue eyes, except for one man who had green eyes. He was also noticeably the darkest of the group. They felt familiar to you, especially the man with green eyes. Have you met them before? Who were they?

As your husband was discussing some details about the meeting, you couldn't help but watch the group of men. Not knowing why you thought you knew them annoyed you. As if they could feel your eyes on them (they could), they turned around in sync and locked eyes with you.

Their eyes widened and they all exclaimed your name in various degrees of disbelief. They rushed over to you and your husband protectively stepped in front of you

"How do you know my wife?"

"Wife?!" Some of them shouted. They were beginning to cause a scene.

"You're pregnant." The one with green eyes observed. He seemed to be having some sort of crisis.

All their eyes darted to your belly, making you uncomfortable. You placed your hand over your stomach and attempted to discretely hide behind your husband. This did not go unnoticed by them.

"You don't remember us?" The shortest of them questioned.

"No, I've never met you guys." You were very confused.

The man who appeared to be the oldest said your name. You stared at him as he studied your eyes, presumably to see if you were lying. It made you feel vulnerable and unsettled, couldn't they leave you alone?

"We're your family."

The guy with the white streaks in his hair scoffed. "You didn't treat her like she was family. I was the only one who cared for her when she was younger while you all ignored her and let her suffer. I'm glad she doesn't remember what you all did to her. She's clearly living a much better life without you lot in it."

This was getting more confusing by the second, although you felt there was truth to his words. Did you forget these people? They seemed very convincing if they were lying.

"I'm sorry but I really don't remember you guys. Maybe you have the wrong person?"

"No we don't! You disappeared one day and now that we've finally found you, you're saying you forgot everything!"

"That is enough. Please leave my wife alone, she does not know you, and she does not need the unnecessary stress of trying to remember people she's never met. Do not approach her anymore." Colossus guided you away from the men, who stared longingly at you. The heartbroken expressions they had after your husband's speech would follow you often. Were you sure you'd never met them before?

---

Words: 1,847

[mxgoldenwood]

I really want to talk about Faustus and Mephistopheles??

I've just read this play for a literature class and the instructor mostly wants to discuss the power of Marlowe's blank verse and why it's so effective, but I really want to talk about the way Marlowe describes damnation and how it's left mostly up to interpretation whether (or how) Faustus might have escaped being literally dragged away to torment in hell.

Could he have repented and been saved by God?? The play goes out of its way to say YES.

BUT ON THE OTHER HAND... could he have been more sincere and thorough in his denouncement of God and then actually been hailed as a hero in Hell?? I feel like that's a solid MAYBE.

Throughout the whole play, Mephistopheles and Lucifer expound on that idea that Hell is the absence of the grace of God. It's not really about the traditional fires and pitchforks that people tend to imagine. Faustus is reminded to never think or speak of God, and promised that if he will put his faith in Lucifer instead, he'll be rewarded for it. But what does he keep doing throughout the play? He KEEPS bringing up God and Christ, lamenting that he's done horrible things that can never be forgiven, and this and that about the 'wrath' of God.

Regardless of one's personal philosophies about religion or the nature of God or the Devil, this situation just reads like...

Mephistopheles tells Faustus "It was a really tough break-up, and we are NOT friends anymore; God has the best house, but since we sided with Lucifer, we're not allowed to go back, not even to visit. So hey, it definitely sucks, but if you want to be friends anyway, we'll do it under one condition. Say you'll never mention God around us, because we really don't like being reminded of that whole thing, and you're in."

Obviously Faustus is like "I've never even met God, and he probably hates me for talking shit about him, so let's do this."

Everyone else tells Faustus, "PLEASE, they're really not nice people over there. Just say you're sorry about the shit-talking, and you can come to God's house."

Faustus gets all caught up in this pre-game party he's having with Mephistopheles, but he's constantly guilting himself about the shit-talking and the betrayal; he regularly talks about how God must hate him, and even when his time is running out, people keep telling him, "you just have to say you're sorry, it'll be fine, God will totally let you come over," but he insists that, no, he was a huge dick, he can't be forgiven, and how tragic it is for him that he can't go to God's house now.

Why wouldn't Lucifer and his friends be mad?? All Faustus had to do was NOT talk about God, and all he wanted to do was... talk about God. Of course they were going to beat him up for coming to the party and dragging everyone down, ruining the vibe, again, just when they were starting to forget the whole thing.

None of this is to endorse the idea that Faustus should have renounced God completely (obviously the play wants you to understand that he just had to repent), but it is fun to think about "what if."

[trconlyme]

Okay,

I really like team 7 (both Naruto's and Boruto's).

But I have to say that my FAVORITE mixed Shonen squad is Jujutsu Kaisen's 1st Years, Gojo Team.

They are really in sync, and at first glance we might draw some parallels to Kishimoto's adorable genin: we have the lovable fool with sealed murderous demon, the cool brooding guy with a majestic bloodline and a sad background, the energic fierce girl with a loud personality and the genius white haired apparently neglectful but caring sensei.

But I feel that in jujutsu the gang is more balanced. Maybe it's the fact that they view each other as equals and are developed with similar care.

It is clear that Itadori is the protagonist. And we have a hidden legacy power awaiting Megumi down the line. But Nobara has her own goals and motivations that do not relate in any way to the boys. Not to mention the progression of her powers and personality. This is something I always felt Sakura could have benefited more from. Don't get me wrong, I'm a complete Sakura fan. But I feel that much of her growth was a bit overshadowed by the fact that all of her story revolved around Sasuke and Naruto. And she didn't get much attention from kishi, compared to the boys, or even Kakashi. So her character always seemed a little shallow. This is the same Bleach and even My Hero Academia (the girls are never as explored or acknowledged as the guys)

And this is pattern repeated across the shonen genre. A pattern that has no real reason to exist, since girls also are considered an audience for the genre and having female as protagonists, or at least well developed characters, only makes the work better (ask Miyazaki).

Kishimoto once said that he did not know how to write female characters. A good start point would be to pretend they are guys. Attribute to them the same depth of feeling you would to a male character. Do for them the same complex story and motivations. And have them be females at the end.

No need for the overly dramatic antics (comedy might be excused), no need to focus only on the romance plot (it is usually the main plot for the girl and a subplot for the boy), no need for shallow stereotypes. I don't even mind the fan service, do go on to sell your merch. But I bet you would sell even more if the characters were more interesting.

We have had some development on the shonen female character trope: the Promised Neverland gave us protagonist perfection on Emma (including talking no jutsu). Not to mention villain master Mom and side villain.

Shingeki no Kyogin gave us bad ass Mikasa (more or less since her life revolves around Eren, but it's understandable why), it also gave us a plethora of good and diverse female soldiers and even a mad sadistic scientist!

Black Clover (bad animation as it may have) gave us Noelle (she may be head over heels for Asta, but her plot is about self worth, untapped potential and overcoming trauma), she has a back story, goals, motivation and powers unrelated to Asta. All the female characters in black clover seem to have a love story going on, which is a pity. But at least they are as strong as the male characters.

And I don't say we should only have badass female characters that are stronger then anybody. But also several types of strenght and weaknesses. What I want to see more are COMPLEX WELL DEVELOPED FEMALE CHARACTERS. Just as we have male ones.

We could also mention Fairy Tail and One Piece as early examples of female characters on the same level as male ones (at least on some aspects)

And then we have Nobara and Jujutsu Kaisen.

Not as strong as the others, still beggining, but with potential. She has a strong personality, a simple and yet nice background. A flawed and still lovable character. She is selfish and considerate, childish and brave. Pragmatic and loyal. She becames friends with the guys (which is much more believable than falling for any of them) and interacts with them like a normal girl. Kishimoto once said that Sakura was supposed to be a normal teenage girl. But I feel like Nobara is a much more faithful depiction of one (either western or Eastern). Including the "shallow" interests of shopping, eating sweets, sightseeing and etc.

We also have a female version of rock Lee sort of. Not able to see curses, but still a master of cursed weapons. I remember thinking why Rock Lee couldn't be female, and now we have a version that is just soooo good!

I love Nobara and the characters of Jujutsu. I hope we see more of this type of female characters in shonen. And I love the interaction of the main trio.

I love the anime I talked about and by no means do I want to shit on them. Anime has come a long way with female representation. All I'm saying is that we can go further, we need to go further.

I know I went on a tangent here, but well. It's my Tumblr.

Thank you for reading my essay.