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deathworlders-of-e24 · 1 month ago

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We finally did it. We slipped the surly bonds of Earth to step among the stars. It took over two decades of research, billions of dollars of taxpayers money, and almost every country on the planet working in tandem, but after the International Space Coalition was founded it was almost effortless.

Faster than Light travel was accomplished almost on accident. Just the right ratios of radioactive material and an ‘ever so slight’ gravitational anomaly generator was all it took. To keep the population safe from any possible drawbacks, the first launch of the FTL drive, or Warp, was conducted at Tranquility Base on the moon. Either that was minimum safe distance or there wasn’t any, so it was decided to just roll the dice. The Angel was built there, the ship that would go further than any before it. The drive was set for Alpha Centauri, the big red button was pressed, and off they went, 300 crew members, going faster than anyone else in the history of mankind.

After 4 months, 319 ‘people’ came back. The extra 19 individuals wore special thermal suits to keep their body temperatures stable, and each had scaled skin with varying hues of greens and grays, with elongated prehensile tails. Their eyes were almost solid black, save for some red around the edges. Their hands were like a chameleon’s with only 3 fingers each. If it hadn’t been for a heads up from the Angel’s captain, the first words out of the welcoming party mouth would’ve been “they’re lizards!” Honestly the only thing they had in common with us was that they were bipedal.

Apparently the people of the ‘Alpha System’ as we called it, the Quintins, were just as surprised to see us as we were them. 2 ambassadors, 7 scientists, 10 military escorts, and a partridge in a pear tree came with them back to Earth. They just had to see it, after hearing stories of home from the crew aboard The Angel. They had to see how a world so full of dangers, from predators to the sheer deadly climates, could have allowed such a species as humans to exist let alone thrive and advance far enough to get off the ground.

The surprises didn’t stop there either, as if finding out WE ARE NOT ALONE wasn’t a big enough shock to the human race. The Quintins weren’t the only species out there, they were in fact only one people in a collective, a Grand Assembly of Intelligent Lifeforms (it sounded longer in Quin tongue but they brought auto translators) or The GAIL, and the Human race was immediately eligible for probational membership. Developing the WARP capabilities was what sealed it. Faster than Light travel was the first prerequisite for joining the GAIL. The second was a planetary inspection, and since the Quintins were our first contact, who better? It was time to meet the neighbors for the human race.

That was 50 years ago. Now the Human Race were full fledged members of The GAIL, and the International Space Coalition was renamed into simply the Terran Academy, putting out graduates of every field imaginable. We had an entire fleet of WARP enabled ships, spreading human explorers into the depths of space.

The only problem these days were the rumors. 50 years of interaction with alien species had made one thing clear to the rest of the universe at large:

Their planet is completely unstable

Their bodies are unimaginably fragile while simultaneously unbreakable

They claim not to have a hive mind but nobody believes that for a second

They seem to ‘pack bond’ outside their own species

They’ll eat anything (maybe even you)

The Humans make no sense

THE HUMANS ARE DEATHWORLDERS!

AND HERE THEY COME!

(This will be an account of various humans and their travels through the known universe. Earth, also known as E24, is a terrifying deathworld. This should be fun)

#deathworlders of e24 #earth is space australia #humans are weird #humans are space australians #humans are deathworlders #humans are space orcs #humans are space oddities #humans are insane #humans are strange #humans are terrifying #humans are cute #humans are space fae #aliens #original story #writing

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tossawary · 4 months ago

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Okay, we finished "Kung Fu Panda 4" and I didn't like it. It was, at best, "okay" to me. It felt visually underwhelming, emotionally shallow, and the world it presented felt underwritten. There are bones of character arcs there that are... fine... but the actual execution felt hasty and unearned, with little sense of real danger or stakes, and they kept stomping on potential emotional depth by defaulting to jokes all the time instead of balancing that with quiet contemplation or real angst sometimes. It felt like a series of disconnected, television-quality, jokey romps.

Like, a lot of the fights in KFP1 were great because they were 1) visually stunning, 2) with real stakes and danger, and 3) serious emotional relevance. Tai Lung's escape sequence from his underground prison shows off how deadly and clever he is, building dread over the fact that he's coming for Shifu and Po. Tai Lung versus the Furious Five is Shifu's old student versus the new ones, on a precarious rope bridge, showing off how deadly and clever both sides are. (BOTH Tigress and Tai Lung are not happy Po has been chosen as the Dragon Warrior instead of them.) Tai Lung versus Shifu is rife with personal history and pain on both sides, as they tear into the Jade Palace during a thunderstorm. Tai Lung versus Po is more humorous, but it feels like relief after all that previous stress, and Po gets to show off everything he's learned physically and how he's grown emotionally.

In KFP4, the most visually interesting fight to me was when Po had fallen through the floor after the first Chameleon confirmation, so he was fighting the lizard guards in a dust cloud of inky silhouettes. It was visually different and could have presented a creative challenge with decreased visuals for Po, but it barely lasted a minute.

And none of the fights felt particularly emotionally compelling to me; a lot of them were very jokey and didn't have interesting stakes. The Chameleon is so painfully underdeveloped as a character and has no interesting emotional connection to Po. She DOES have an emotional connection to Zhen the fox, who I also felt was not well-developed, but that relationship also felt underdeveloped and without compelling emotional stakes to me, so their final confrontation didn't feel particularly satisfying. It didn't dig into the pain the same way confrontations with villains like Tai Lung and Lord Shen did.

It didn't feel like Po grew as a person at all. He didn't want to choose a replacement and then he changed his mind, but... I felt like we didn't dig into his resistance. I liked how emotionally vulnerable and also emotionally enduring Po has been in previous films, and I don't feel like we really got to see him open up and connect to Zhen properly.

Also, Po and Zhen felt like they were the same age, so... why is she a good replacement? Po didn't feel like the teacher between them. If there's a theme of "having achieved your goals, it is time to cultivate the next generation", I don't think the movie did it well. I think it would have been improved by the small change of making Zhen a child, obvious in both appearance and personality, very skilled in her own way but prone to making bad decisions and stuck in a bad situation. More vulnerable. More in need of guidance and support via Po's hard-won experiences. (Awkwafina does not make me think "child" or "youth"; her voice makes me think: "That is a grown ass woman.")

I think the movie would have been much more interesting if it had been about Po taking on his own students and struggling to be a teacher, with the different approaches needed for different children. (Movie Trailer Voice: "The Dragon Warrior takes on his greatest challenge yet..." Switch to Po's shocked face as he says: "Teaching?!") Frankly, it's a little weird that the Jade Palace doesn't have any younger disciples at this point anyway. I have vague memories of Po teaching the other pandas to fight in KFP3, but they were motivated by protecting themselves from an active threat, so it would be different.

Like, the first KFP movie came out in 2008. It has been a WHILE. Po is getting older. He's completed the arc of becoming the Dragon Warrior and Master of the Valley of Peace in the initial trilogy, sooooo... he SHOULD be looking forward.

We could open the movie with Po in some fight or another. It's cool. It's badass. Po is having a good time. Po saves the day and the local villagers, defeats the bad guy, and then at the very end... he gets a crick in his back from a relatively innocuous movement. Ow. He signs autographs for the crowd while holding himself at an awkward angle and trying to hide his injury.

Po then goes to the restaurant opening as he does in the movie. He helps open it while trying to hide the crick in his back. Both of his dads are there and concerned for him. One of them could whip out some funky "traditional" remedy for comedy purposes and Po is like, "Ugh, Dad, not again!" (This is a problem Po has dealt with before.)

Both of Po's dads should be visually older. Panda dad could have a cane now. Goose dad is still running around for his restaurant, but he's slower than he used to be and his eyes aren't so good anymore.

Goose dad has perhaps even hired a couple new cooks and servers for his newly renovated, larger restaurant. Things are changing. He needs the help. Po is too busy with martial arts. Goose dad is obviously struggling trying to teach and manage his new employees; one of the young cooks doesn't get Goose dad's explanations and Goose dad is frequently telling one of the young servers to stop playing with [object that is not a phone but is definitely standing in for a phone to the modern audience].

Po isn't surprised by this (he's obviously discussed it with his dad beforehand), but it's obvious that he feels both fondly for his Goose dad and a little sad that he's kind of been replaced. His face has a conflicted smile. He can even confide in Panda dad about this.

Or, perhaps Master Shifu is here! Master Shifu has come to the restaurant opening because he is friendly-ish with both of Po's fathers and enjoys the food. Perhaps it is implied that Shifu has come here with Po before. Shifu is by this point very used to Po's antics as the Dragon Warrior, and while he disapproves of the autographs for adoring fans on principle, he thinks such arrogance and fawning is dangerous, he by now trusts that Po's heart is in the right place and knows that Po will always put the Valley of Peace first.

Po is jump-scared by Master Shifu sitting beside him casually eating noodles. Shifu is relaxing a LITTLE into semi-retirement and also enjoys scaring Po like that. "I was here when you sat down," Shifu says calmly, and it is clear he's messing with Po. (Shifu is also visually a little older.)

Lines are exchanged which indicate their affection for each other (they've come so far!) and some of Shifu's opinions listed above. Shifu calls Po out for badly hiding an injury. Po whines about how this didn't used to happen so often. Shifu says some wise proverb about aging that Po doesn't process immediately, then Shifu translates bluntly, "You're getting older, Po, it happens."

Po whines a little bit. He gets dramatic and has some miniature crisis because he still feels young and childish at heart. There's a joke sequence where we zoom into Po's mind, perhaps with a different style of animation, as Po imagines fighting battles against bandits as an elderly panda with a long beard and a walker. Perhaps it could even be a diverging reimagining of his opening dream sequence from KFP1. He's still kicking ass somehow, there's just a bunch of jokes about the annoying parts of getting older. (The elderly Furious Five didn't show up because they fell asleep in the middle of the day or something.)

Po is snapped out of his daydream by something. Maybe one of the new servers dropped a stack of bowls, there's a loud CRASH. Shifu could be just sitting there calmly, eating, patiently waiting for Po to get back from his dramatic crisis daydream. Shifu is used to that by now.

Po is like, "Master Shifu, you're super old, right?" Shifu, unimpressed, says nothing. Po begs him for the secrets of kicking ass while being old and fragile. Shifu has some blunt, old-school badass response about pushing through the pain. And maybe Po is like, "Yeah, that's what a real warrior would do!" And then he reached for his chopsticks and somehow pulls at the crick again. Ow.

Shifu softens and says that Po has been the Dragon Warrior and a Master for some time now, he has learned a great many things, done a great many impressive deeds, and it is time that Po take the next step towards true mastery. He must take students.

Po reacts with incredulous surprise.

Cut forward. On the way back to the Jade Palace, Po is complaining to Shifu about how he still feels like a student most of the time. Shifu counters that Po taught the other pandas how to protect themselves. Po says that that was a special case.

And maybe Po is a little nervous about change, but the thing is...? I feel like Po would be REALLY excited to have his own students once he settled into the idea a little. Po is a kung fu nerd. Po should know a lot about famous master-student pairs. Po is also maybe a little lonely with the Furious Five gone. (Allegedly, the studio was not keen about the cost of hiring Angelina Jolie back for even a few lines as Tigress.) Po loves learning about kung fu and sharing his love for kung fu!!! I would love to see a character honestly THRILLED for this next stage in their life.

Po should be EXCITED to train his own "Furious Five"! He loves them! He loves that stuff! He wants his own team!

Po and Shifu get back to the Jade Palace and it turns out that Shifu (being the all-knowing control freak that he is) has apparently already selected three new children to be Po's first students. Shifu has chilled a bit but still loves planning his students' lives for them.

(The other benefit to this is that we don't have to waste valuable screen time finding these students. We can learn about the backstories as the movie goes on, but we can for now go straight into Po bonding with these new characters and struggling with meeting their individual needs.)

(I know that Universal allegedly set a strict limit on the length of the movie, because they felt like kids wouldn't be able to pay attention to a long one, and also shorter movies allow for more screenings in a day and also more money.)

Po is excited to share kung fu with these new disciples, but he gets tripped up by the fact that each of these three kids has their own personality quirks and learning styles. They have their own skills. They have their own flaws and vulnerabilities. (One of them could even be connected to the main villain of this movie somehow. A "traitor" stuck in a bad situation.) They don't always get along with each other; they're each vying for Po's attention. (Maybe one of them actually wanted to be taught by Tigress and is grumpy about getting Po.)

Po tries to cook a great meal for them to share together and he can't even get that right on the first try; the kids all have conflicting likes and dislikes. One of them doesn't like dumplings at all! The horror!

Po: "What's wrong, buddy? You're not eating your food..."

10-year-old Student (whose family was killed by the movie's villain): "The only thing that I'm hungry for... is VENGEANCE."

*lightning flashes in the background outside the window and everything*

Po: "...Okay, I love the energy, but that's not on the menu right now. We have tofu."

Student: "...I don't like tofu."

Teaching presents the opportunity for Po to mishandle various situations. He might accidentally upset all three of the kids in different ways. He might feel a little resentful that Shifu shoved him into this without warning and is barely helping. He starts to get stressed when a new mysterious villain shows up in the Valley of Peace and he has to handle that AND three struggling children at the same time. Maybe he gets a little snappish when the kids don't listen to him in a dangerous situation.

And I think Po would feel especially badly about this because of how he has been occasionally failed by each of his father figures. His goose dad discouraged him from following his dreams and has been jealous regarding Po's birth family. Shifu was an ASSHOLE to Po at first. His panda dad was tragically absent and their relationship is sometimes a little awkward. Po thought that his bad experiences would have made him automatically good at this, because he knew how to be better, but it feels like he's doing even worse.

Po and Shifu could have a great heart-to-heart over this, where Shifu ends up (indirectly perhaps) apologizing for springing this on Po, but insists that Po is already doing better than him and that he did it because he knew Po would be a great teacher. Shifu could also pledge to help a little more, Po need only ask. He doesn't have to do it alone.

(I thought that Po's dads in KFP4 didn't have a good storyline. They were overly comedic in a film that already had enough comedy on Po's side of things, and I didn't think that the attempts at emotion near the end landed. They didn't have a compelling role in the film. And Shifu was basically absent from the movie. It's possible to just hire different actors if the originals are too expensive, isn't it?)

Vulnerable students would bring serious stakes back into the fights. Po in KFP4 was essentially unbeatable, with little to fear in almost any situation he entered, because he can handle himself even against dozens of enemies by this point. But his students cannot do that! He would have to protect them! And if there's two or three of them, then he can't easily protect all of them at once. One of them could get injured in some fight to up the stakes for Po.

I don't have anything more concrete from here, because that would involve creating proper student OCs for Po and working out how their arcs would mesh with the Chameleon or another villain. I like the idea of one student secretly working with the Chameleon as per the actual movie. Perhaps another student could have actually lost their family or their home because of the Chameleon, which later puts this student in greater emotional conflict with the "traitor" student.

It's just... if the idea was to challenge Po and have him grow as a person, I don't think they achieved that effectively. He felt a little flat to me. Overly naive and condescending. I was not compelled by his relationship with Zhen, which felt a little shallow, without good chemistry, and like it was happening more between equals than someone Po could really teach. A trio of new students or something like that would have breathed even greater new life back into the franchise.

Hmmm... anything else to say... The people I was watching it with and I picked a bunch of nitpicky holes into the plotting and world building. Nothing super duper egregious. Just a lot of things that didn't add up well or could have been tweaked. (Why were the names "Steve" and "Scott" used in this movie??? It's a joke, but it's not a very funny joke, and it feels representative of a larger lack of attention to detail. It's a shallow joke at the expense of the cohesion of the world and now I'm distractedly confused as to when Western elements were established in this film franchise. Surely there was a Chinese pun to be made there that didn't have to appeal to anglophone audiences???)

I was not impressed by the "and then everyone clapped" ending where all the spirit villains told Po that he was cool. It felt like it was undermining previous storylines to have all of them find their inner peace and not try something. Like, uh, the 3rd movie starts with Kai having been imprisoned in the spirit realm for a long time and busting out because he's still a jerk, so even if Kai has magically chilled now, why are ALL of them in peaceful agreement? I would have thought Tai Lung and Shen and Kai would all fucking hate each other. This is taking off their nasty edges without having earned that development.

I feel like I just watched someone miss the obvious turn because they decided that going another direction would be "more fun" or "better" somehow, but it was not. Just take the obvious turn and give Po his own "Furious Three" kid students! (They're workshopping the name.)

#kung fu panda #tossawary watching #fic ideas #long post #spoilers #tossawary script doctoring

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genopaint · 9 days ago

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Been in a big Axel the Alligator mood lately so I redesigned some characters the last couple days and even introduced a new villain!!

Here's some of the notes I included about them all from twitter :) it's below the readmore

To go along with the new Axel the Alligator arts I did a bit ago, I figured I should draw the No-Name Grunt again! I gave them a bit of a make over from last time

Most notably their suits are now purple to match Camilla the Chameleon's, since they are her henchmen after all!

If you don't recall, these are basically Axel's goomba. The basic bottom of the barrel enemy the main characters fight. They're all a part of Camilla's seemingly never ending gang. They all follow her every order because they're obsessed with her, but she can't even be bothered to remember their names. Thus, the No-Names. Instead, they're each given a numbered belt and she just calls them by their number.

There's TONS of No-Names, that's why there's even color variations for the grunts you encounter. But there's even different classes of No-Names.

Like bruisers, fliers, stuff like that. However, I want to redesign them a bit more cause I wasn't 100% on their old designs. SO you'll have to wait and see if I bother with them. But you get the idea, the grunt kind of represents the whole army of underlings anyway.

Oh, and of course... No-Name 10,000. The super special ultra rare No-Name encounter. When you defeat it, it drops TONS of gold and exp!

Also some really quick sketches for some of the other No-Name classes with this suit redesign. I think it's cute they're all kind of matching but now I worry maybe they're not unique enough? Before their suits were all different colors... idk... Much to think about...

It's gonna be a WHILE before I get to make an Axel the Alligator game so I'll keep thinking on it lol

And of course there's probably gonna be a lot of No-Name enemy types it all just depends on what I would want / need for each game I suppose lol.

They're like Badniks, they reuse a lot of old ones but new ones or variants could show up wherever it's needed

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And of course, where there's No-Names, there's the No-Name generals! Similarly, Camilla doesn't care to remember their names. But they're juuuuust important enough to be allowed to command her underlings when she's off doing more important things.

Uno the Uromastyx is Camilla's original #1 super fan, and as such is the leader of the generals. He's a bit stuck up and loves to wave the fact he's #1 in the others faces.

Dos the Daboia is a bit of a loser and is ALWAYS panicking. He's constantly worried his suit is too blue.

And Tres the Tree Lizard is a chaotic girl who loves explosives. She's constantly building bombs to create chaos. Whenever the No-Names use explosives, they're probably her creations.

They're the ultimate undying loyalists to Camilla, and they all HATE Carnage and Behemoth because the trio was there first and yet Camilla makes Carnage and Behemoth her right hand men. Out ranking even the No-Name generals.

But of course, Uno, Dos, and Tres stand no chance at ever beating either of them. Even if they gang up on them.

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Two more Axel the Alligator characters! Sol the Saurus I've shown before and has a shiny new redesign. But Ceaser the Ceratops is his brand-spanking-new rival!! Pretty neat!

These two existed from before the meteorite came... What on earth are they doing in present day???

Sol fights with a giant sword that builds energy as its swung, and Ceaser fights with a giant shield that builds energy as its hit. They used to be allies but that was a long long long time ago

Also I'm not 100% on Ceaser's design or name so don't be surprised if I touch it up

Also here's an updated height chart with the No-Names and these dinosaurs. Again it's not 100% accurate but it gives an idea (Behemoth IS taller than Dos it's just a bad pose I promise)

also a comparison with some short guys in front of the dinosaurs :)

My concept is that Axel characters don't really stop growing as they age (which I believe real reptiles do the same thing?) so since these dinosaurs are from ancient times they'd have grown a CRAZY amount in the mean time. idk

#axel #axel the alligator #character design #scalie #anthro #oc #my stuff #reptile #dinosaur #uromastyx #daboia #tree lizard

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hellzyeahthewebwieldingavenger · 4 months ago

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It is obvious to me that Zeb Wells is only writing ASM because no one else wanted to. I'm old enough to remember the early 00s when Wells first started writing Spider-Man. He was essentially a fill in guy even back then. He was never deemed good enough to get an ongoing to himself. His stories back then were mediocre at best, the one exception being the origin of Jameson, which was legitimate good but also notably not actually about Spider-Man himself.

Then he was one of many rotating writers during the Brand New Day era of 2008-2010. In theory this was a promotion of sorts as he was actually writing ASM. But the nature of the tri-monthly set up sort of meant that inevitably there were gaps to be filled, they just needed material. Roger Stern himself did a few issues here and there in that era, but not many. Yes, Wells was working alongside people who (at the time) were either big names (Mark Waid, Joe Kelly, Bob Gale) or (again, at the time) fan favourites like Dan Slott, so in theory he was being elevated. But to my recollection they tended to give the BIG stories in that era the other writers. Slott opened BND, did the first event story New Ways to Die and did ASM #600. Joe Kelly reinvented the Rhino, reintroduced Black Cat and (ugh) resurrected Kraven the Hunter. Fred Van Lente reintroduced Chameleon and Mary Jane. And Waid did...I forget but he did something significant.

In contrast the only BIG story I recall Zeb Wells taking point on was Shed, which was to the Lizard what One More Day was to Peter. The absolute character destruction wherein the Lizard (in his lizard form) is at least implied to have raped a human woman and is confirmed to have eaten his own human son. The story concludes with Spidey being shocked that the Lizard is capable of talking even though he's been able to do that since the very first Lizard story. It was such a catastrophe that Marvel had to steadily walk it back through at least 3 different stories, two of which were by Slott. When even Slott is like 'um...this went way too far', you really went too far.

By rights Wells should have been in Spider-Man writer's jail forever after that, but instead he got to be a lead writer on an era where ASM was again tri-monthly, except this time with only 2 other writers, none of whom nowhere near the fan favouritism nor had the Big Name clout of the original BND era. And to top it off, it wasn't even about Peter it was about Ben Reilly who was suddenly Spider-Man again, following a run by Nick Spencer which had blatently tried and wanted to undo One More Day but was forced to awkwardly change direction. It was obvious that this was thrown together last minute out of desperation, Ben Reilly was basically just Peter Parker's understudy.

Then after all this Wells, the old man (at least compared to the other writers from the Beyond era), the guy who's most famous contribution was something Marvel walked back, a guy's who's best contribution was an obscure story and from 15ish years ago gets the top job? Meanwhile the former writer goes off and starts a substack?

It reeks of desperation. It reeks of 'No one but this guy WANTED the job'. So, ironically, despite it being over 20 years, even when Wells gets the biggest job in Spider-Man you could have, one of the biggest jobs you could ever have in the industry, he is still just a fill-in writer. The fact that his run' is incompetence at best, cynical spite at worst, speaks to why he wa not deemed good enough for the top job until the point where no one else wanted to do it.

And why does no one want one of THE biggest jobs you could have in comics, arguably in American literature?

Because of One More Day.

Because Marvel's narrative that writing a married Spider-Man was just soooooooo hard and such a turn off to potential writers was probably lie back in 2007 and definitely an exaggeration.*

Because it has been close to 20 years since One More Day and these all time great Spider-Man stories have not materialised. And even the ones people (rightly, and imo generally wrongly) regard as really good (like Superior) either didn't require Spider-Man to be unmarried/single or they would've likely been better if he had been married.

Because making Spider-Man unmarried did not attract back lapsed readers who disagreed with him being married.

Because making Spider-Man unmarried did not attract new readers in significant numbers, indeed the scant new/younger readers they got were happy to read about him being married (as evidenced by Renew Your Vows and the current USM's success).

Because One More Day and their anti-marriage agenda is SO bad that the fandom has NOT let it go all these near 20 years.** And never will. We have, and we will continue, to bring it up, complain about it and that wound will only be reopened every single time anything like Dan Slott or Zeb Wells run crops up.**

So, Marvel are in a lose-lose situation.

The pro-marriage writers (of whom there will likely be more and more as the younger generation who grew up with it roll in) do not want to write ASM because they will not be allowed to undo it and their work to even alleviate it will either be derailed during their run, or else reset ASAP, as happened with Nick Spencer.

Meanwhile anti-marriage writers (of which there were not that many and their numbers ever dwindle) do not want to write ASM because they know their work will also likely be interferred with and more poignantly they will have to deal with us fans very loudly (and louder than ever thanks to modern technology) yelling at them for reinforcing the anti-marriage/anti-Mary Jane agenda.

Simply put, most writer's, especially if they are talented, can make an easier buck on anything other than Amazing Spider-Man, regardless of whether that is one of the Big Two or indie.

And so, what Marvel are left with is desperation cases like Wells and Slott or talented people who come in for short bursts like Joe Kelly.

That is, of course, unless they give their customers what we have wanted for over 16 and a half years!

*As evidenced by the fact that in 2007 we had THREE Spider-Man writers, Straczynski, David and Sacasa, who were all pro-marriage and wrote generally good stories, often leveraging Mary Jane and her marriage with Peter in the course of doing that. In fact one 2007 comic specifically about their marriage was nominated for an award.

**And, in fact, many writers for Marvel (like Nick Spencer) can be counted amongst those fans unhappy with it.

***Indeed, for those younger fans who maybe knew little of pre-OMD Spider-Man or only know about Spider-Man comics from Youtube and social media, Wells run has them believing and perpetuating that Spider-Man has now been ruined. It was ruined long before now of course, but Wells via Paul and the rest of his run has spawned a new generation that despises Marvel's treatment of Spider-Man. Paul has essentially become a meme!

#zeb wells #mj watson #spider marriage #marvel #marvel comics #spider man #spider-man #peter parker #mary jane watson #mary jane watson parker #one more day #brand new day

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zoetiger-1106 · 8 months ago

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The Chameleon is actually a really complex character and here's why.

Disclaimer: This post will contain kfp 4 spoilers as well as include info from interviews and the animation featurette and I will be analyzing the movie pretending that everything had deeper thought put into it even tho it's most likely not the case sometimes

For those who haven't seen it, have the absolute criminal offense that screwed with the story telling of this movie because it is important context.

Now that we have that whole thing out of the way, let me explain to you how the Chameleon's character is shown through more subtle things instead of just very in your face exposition/ storytelling.

1) Cammy's insecurities

The first time she was in on screen, Cammy was established as being in charge of Juniper City via commanding the local crime lords. She is hidden among them for the first part of their conversation, where she observes them badmouth her before she reveals herself, but even before the reveal, we get hints to her being there via the line "You forgot the shape-shifting sorceress part" that she throws into the conversation after the bear crime lord insulted her appearance.

Despite showing herself as in control and well put together, her need to interject hints at the fact that she does still have some underlying insecurities regarding her true form.

That insecure aspect of her character is further proven by her summoning Tai Lung first (I'll get to that later) and a statement from Viola Davis where she talked about how she did the character voice for Cammy

The underlying implication that she has internalized when masters told her she was "too small, too lowly and that kung fu wasn't [her] destiny" is proven even more when you take into consideration that she exclusively transforms into species that are larger and more physically powerful than her.

She literally says: "I grew, I excelled, and I got everything I had ever dreamed of." Everything BUT kung fu. The one thing she wanted to do from the very beginning. So, with that context, the "dream" she got fulfilled to a degree was the power. Conventional, physical power.

People have told her kung fu wasn't "her destiny" so she decided to take matters into her own hands and do what she believed to get her to where she wanted to.

To quote the Stephanie Ma Stine, the director who actually cared about her: "Because she has this anger that's been build up from always being invisible to everyone else, her transformation process actually reflects her anger."

All those years of being over looked and seen as less than had such an impact on her that it consumes ever part of her being. That lizard needs a hug and therapy, your honor.

As I said, I wanted to get into why she summoned Tai Lung first (chill I know this was not actually as thought out as I am interpreting it to be but hear me out.)

Tai Lung is everything she isn't and couldn't have been.

He is tall and conventionally powerful. Even if you knew nothing about his character, you could take a look at him and know that man is strong. On top of that, he had received formal training at a renowned school by a renowned master. Taking his kung fu first and foremost is not only the fulfillment of a wish she's had her whole life but also a power move on it's own; while not able to do kung fu Cammy still managed to beat someone who was what the schools she had gone to all those years ago would have considered the ideal student.

Also can we acknowledge how the water dragons (those are not komodo dragons idc how often it's stated) clap for her after she's done with Tai? Show of hands from all the mentally ill people who'd get their henchmen to clap for them too because they desperately need praise 🙋

Similar can be said for how she makes the people of Juniper City bow before her when she is paraded around; it makes her feel powerful.

Lastly I'd like to point out that her line of "Third rule of the streets? [...] Some would say it's the most important. Noone is interested in your feelings." Is probably something she got from people not caring about her feelings back in the day when she tried to pursue her passion.

2) Cammy's knowledge & skill

"Those bonds (the cages) are enchanted with some very old and very powerful magic. You'd need at least 10 Dragon Warrior's to get through them". Not only can she create such strong (presumably) chi based bonds but she can make them in batches and with ease. Between the scene of her accepting tributes from the crime lords of the city and Po's vision about her plan we can see her enchant multiple cages at once.

Not only that but she knows advanced chi techniques as well as how to open portals to the Spirit Realm. That is not easy information to come by Cammy has been researching chi in general for god knows how many years.

I don't know if I have said this on this blog before but her not being redeemed is such a wast because she could have not only helped Po further his mastery in chi but also aid in replacing a lot of the scrolls in the JP since she is knowledgeable on history and the history of kung fu and master too.

You honor that lizard is a nerd and deserves to geek out with Po.

I'd also like to point out that not only is she able to shape shift but do it incredibly swiftly. She can be seen switching forms in a matter of seconds even mid combat. Not only that but she has so much control off her body that she was able to create that dragon from of hers by transforming parts of her into different beings with little to no effort. That forms for incredibly stable too; she only transformed out of it to change her strategy.

Her incredible amount of control over her body funnily enough also shown by her 3d model alone. As stated by Sean Sexton the head of character animation "The Chameleon had 8130 controls. You could move every single part of that character [...]"

Lastly, I need to talk about how she genuinely is like Po.

I've seen people say that she can't do anything on her own because she just steals people's kung fu when no. No that is not the case. After having stolen enough master's kung fu to have a wide knowledge of the craft she was able to mimic and adapt to Po's style without having to steal anything from him. If she wouldn't have been given the opportunity to learn kung fu she would have become like Po and been able to master techniques based on simply observing them.

TLDR: Cammy is a great character this fandom is just horrible to female villains

#kung fu panda #kfp #the chameleon #kung fu panda 4 #live laugh love the chameleon

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r3dmooon · 2 years ago

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👋 Hi! Uh I was wondering if you would do a Wally x reader (gn) with reader being a zoologist showing him pictures of animals! I feel like he would be rlly interested in wolves and ostriches because they are like Barnaby and Poppy but just not so colorful. And not on two legs. :>

a/n: omg so many people have been requesting even tho my requests are closed 😭😭 (but I like the ideas so I'm writing them anyways 😔)

wc: 0.5k

Master List

❥When you moved in all the neighbors were curious as to why you had what seemed to be a sanctuary. Some parts caged, an indoor structure, and then your home which was a bit on the big side.

❥Boy were they fascinated when you brought your variety of animals. You had many different types of fish, foxes, wolves, panthers, cougars, ostriches, parakeets, monkeys, lizards, snakes…it existed, you probably had it.

❥You even had a little Venus Flytrap plant <3 It ate insects…it's close enough (shhh this is the self indulgent part).

❥The others came by a lot. It was like every time they visited, they found a whole new batch of animals they swore you didn’t have before. Frank loved coming by to see the insects you kept.

❥Besides Frank, the other person who came around the most was Wally. He couldn’t help but his curiosity for all the animals you had! You’ve brought a whole new world to them all (even though it’s technically out there…) and he loved the constant little facts you couldn’t help sharing to him. He just watched you intently as you told him that you feed your Betta fish live mealworms so it had more vibrant colors.

❥He’d also ask questions. “Barnaby came from what?” He was quite astounded that those…intimidating wolves were technically Barnaby’s ancestors. He found it quite fascinating since the dog seemed like the exact opposite.

❥”What did you call that? An ostrich? It reminds me of Poppy, just less colorful.” Wally would muse. “Ostriches and Emus are some of the biggest birds! Perhaps Poppy is a descendant of one.” You would humor.

❥I think Wally would love your chameleons the most. He loves watching their eyes dart around. Not to mention how they eat. He finds it so cool watching its tongue dart out faster than he could process. Not to mention that it’s color changing! He gets so much inspiration, wanting to paint it and then watch it walk over the painting and change its colors. So fascinating to him.

❥Wally will also stay by your side and watch you feed them all. For someone not used to watching wild animals feed…he’s not too phased. He just smiled as you fed your Venus Flytrap small crickets, to watching you feed your Grizzly Bear whole salmon!

❥He admires how much you go out of you way to take care of all your animals. He even offers to help you! Though ferrets and cats he tends to avoid. They’re just such rascals and he would hate for them to ruin his hair :( (But he can’t stand the sad look you give and ends up with ferrets and cats alike covering him from head to toe! They love him sm).

❥In conclusion, Wally becomes your partner of maintaining the zoo you’ve created. It just means he can spend more time with you after all <3

#welcome home #wally darling x reader #wally darling #welcome home x reader

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uncharismatic-fauna · 1 year ago

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Uncharismatic Fact of the Day

The Parson’s Chameleon is in no hurry to grow up- this species has one of the longest incubation times of any reptile. Eggs on average take two years to hatch, one juvenile was recorded taking a total 781 days.

(Image: A juvenile Parson’s chameleon (Calumma parsonii) by the Chester Zoo)

If you like what I do, consider leaving a tip or buying me a ko-fi!

#parson's chameleon #Squamata #Chamaeleonidae #chameleons #lizards #squamates #reptiles #uncharismatic facts

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owlight · 2 years ago

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Trafalgar law x Gn!reader [reptiles are cool]

Summary: law is trying to get much needed sleep,but unfortunately to him ,(y/n) got other plans for the evening

Word count: 842 (: short but sweet

Tags: fluff,reader likes reptiles,Law is very sleepy but trying to be a supportive boyfriend , fun facts about reptiles,adhd coded reader ngl, not fully read proof

Also Thank u @nekomacheercaptain for listening to my lizards rant and for the the headers pics ily 💞🦭

Law lay on his bed, exhausted after a long few days of having to travel in Wano ,fight big mom and Kaido then having to deal with more mess after,he can't believe he is finely back on the polar tang for some actual rest. He closes his eyes, humming himself to drift off to sleep, but his thoughts kept wandering back to the events of the big fight,the last meeting with Luffy and his crew...tch he will secretly misses them....Just as he was about to slip into unconsciousness, he felt the bed shift as his lover climbed in beside him,With The energy of a rabbit for some reason

"Hey Law, are you awake?" his lover asked, their voice full of excitement,unlike everyone else,(y/n) time at Wano county could been described as a whole adventure of their dreams,they really enjoyed the country and they were so fascinated with Kaido Dragon form,they almost didn't move away from the fight and law had to room Thier ass to safety ,ever since the crew came back to the polar tang,(y/n) occupied themself in the library...law should have Guessed there was a reason for that

Law sighed, knowing that sleep was now out of the question,since (y/n) was clearly as awake as Luffy high on Sugar"What is it?"law asks as he keeps his eyes closed, perhaps hoping his lover would see him trying to sleep and have mercy on him

"I was reading about reptiles today and I wanted to tell you all about it" they said, bouncing with enthusiasm , clearly not noticing law trying to sleep,law almost snort at Thier enthusiasm it's so...giddy to witness,he open one eye to look at them,seeing Thier face basically glowing ,Law raised an eyebrow, not particularly interested in the subject matter but he wanted to humor them for now "Do you have to do it now?"he asks,voice sound bit too sleepy to his taste

"Yes, I have to tell you now! Before I forget" they exclaimed, grabbing Law's hand and pulling him into a sitting position,law groans as he sits ,he looks at his partner with as much as focus as possible"Did you know that some snakes can sense infrared radiation?"they tell law with so much excitement it threw law off his sleepiness for a moment,he blinked, trying to process the sudden burst of energy "No, I didn't...I didn't know that" he mumbles

"It's true ! It's so... interesting! Do you think a snake devil fruit user can do that too-actually and And did you know that most lizards can change color to match their surroundings?,that's why sometimes you see them looking colorful then out the blue they are kinda dim as they move around ,it's so cool that's chameleon are not the only ones in that aspect " they continued, their words tumbling out at a rapid pace ,law sleepy mind trying to catch up with them as best as he can,they continue "And some Some species of lizard will go their entire lives without drinking water! That's why there's so many lizards in alabasta living so freely!"

But you know Law couldn't help but be amused by their excitements about the subject Despite his exhaustion, he found himself smiling at their enthusiasm as they spoke,so much spirit and excitement, it's adorable in his opinion.."That's fascinating" he said with humor in his voice.

"I know, right?" they said, settling back against the pillows,law himself watches them laying down on the bed "There's so much to learn about them, I'm going to start a journal to write all about them from now on,from each island we visit,I have already few pages written down... it's going to be awesome" they tells him with excitement lacing Thier voice

Law leaned back against the headboard, then he moves to lay in bed,head hitting the pillow, he was feeling his eyelids droop as he spook"I'll have to take your word for it, let's talk more about it tomorrow shall we?right now I need to sleep before I end up speaking non Sense" law mumbles with tiredness in his voice

(Y/n) pouted, but reluctantly settled down beside him and Started cuddling him, Law wrapped an arm around them, feeling their warmth and the gentle rise and fall of their chest as their breath slowed down, showing they are going to be good for him for now and let him sleep,law closes his eyes and drifts off to sleep holding them tightly to him as they smiles gently closing Thier eyes as well joining him to sleep, law last thought and feelings was him feeling grateful for the presence of his lover, even if their interests were vastly different most of the time,he can't help but love them for how they are.

#one piece #one piece x reader #trafalgar law #trafalgar d water law #trafalgar law x reader #law x reader #one piece fanfiction #trafalgar d law x reader #trafalgar d. water law #trafalgar one piece #trafalgardwaterlaw #trafalgar law x y/n #trafalgar law x you #owl writes

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lovelytayforce · 11 months ago

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Dragons Among Us Theory!!

Alright, KFP4 trailer is out and I have a couple of theories that all point to one similarity and that is; DRAGONS! Now, we all know this is the Year of the Dragon and all that jazz but this trailer takes it to another level from beginning to end so let's start how we always do here and press play; at the very start! We start with this Gate called a Paifang which is commonly used as an entrance for shrines, it can also be used for common structures and architecture but ssshh! Now, we all know this is the Year of the Dragon and all that jazz but this trailer takes it to another level from beginning to end so let's start how we always do here and press play; at the very start! We start with this Gate called a Paifang which is commonly used as an entrance for shrines, it can also be used for common structures and architecture but ssshh!

This gate is obviously made from natural materials such as burnt paper which is common practice in said shrines during the new year to make wishes along with Wood which is a Chinese element! So, we might have hints of chi manifesting into the elements of the mortal realm into something far more mystical than we have ever seen within the series! Now, this is closely connected to Dragons, dw I didn't forget! Our first hint is Tai Lung here, aka "The Great Dragon", he's only here for this one sole reason. (People aren't gonna like hearing this but he's gonna be the last bit of energy for what is to come!) The Chameleon cannot truly transform into others perfectly, there is always an imperfection such as when she transforms into the elephant which has designs upon her head on its trunk, Tai Lung has red pants instead of purple, and Po as we've all seen is rather spiky! This all leads to ONE THING, she is a shapeshifting Dragon! And one that fits this description is Shen/Chen in Chinese mythology and makes sense of those weird aquatic like Lizards in her army that match no know species we know of. Aka they are Dragons in disguise acting as normal lizards.

The second thing is her tail here. It grows rather than switches and flips and sheds scales of different colors as she did with Tai and Po, this I believe along with the shadow that follows is her true form.

There could be a number of reasons why she wants Po's staff much less chi that aligns with the power much less essence of a Dragon because she is either a fallen dragon, an old god whose Shrine was left in the past by locals, or merely a Dragon wishing to ascend above what she is. It explains why the Director calls her more mystical than Kai, The Maker of Widows! She's an ancient being whose already tapped into chi and the nature around here along with knowing Dragon style already! And shoutout to my boy @thegreatying for telling me about Tibetan Temples cause I was confusing them with another type of Chinese temple so peep that info here!: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tibetan_Buddhist_architecture Honestly, this is going to be one of the best villains of this series with this concept alone, we are finally getting hints at Dragons and the door between the mortal realm and Heaven (aka the spirit realm) into the plot that continues on from what kfp3 left behind. The fact that chi is now normal and accessible makes beings like her look less special and less powerful. But gives her an opening for something even bigger than we could all expect!! So, that is my theory, that The Chameleon is just a code name for her taken form and that in reality, she is a shape-shifting Dragon and her army is also Dragons in disguise! With the themes of temples, shrines and maybe some commentary on Tourism in our future and how they affect old shrines and gods when we find it too inconvenient to visit them... Or maybe just maybe we'll get a hint at a true god-or maybe a Demi GOD YOU KNOW WHO IM TALKING ABOUT WUKONG! Anyways, that's all for now~!

#kung fu panda #kung fu panda 4 #the chameleon #Po #Tai Lung #dragons #theory #fan theory #headcanon #kfp4 #ThegreatYing #ya boy came out with the research #dont let anyone tell you fanfic research doesn't help #taylor talks #its still fuck awkwa in this house

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