#comics but both of them in very different ways get really really well written deaths

[ziracona]

Harry Osborn really is just “I want people to be nice to me and love me. That’s it.” Like it really is. Of course he became Peter’s best friend; the guy was nice to him. Does not take much. He convinces his dad to rent him an apartment close to college and asks Pete to just come live with him for free in a nice two-bedroom in NY because he wants him there. He drives around because he gets anxious and down and driving relaxes him and Peter doesn’t have a car so he’s always like “Oh oh! : ) Hi Peter do you need a ride?” and Pete is like ‘thank god no taxi fare let’s DO this’. He thinks Gwen and MJ are so cool and neat and he loved Gwen so much even though she broke up with him and died two decades ago, he still thinks about how much she means to him. He just wants to hug Normie and tell him he’s a great son and he loves him. He wants Liz to not hate him and think he’s weak and he’s terrified of people finding out all the things wrong with him but none of them care, and he’s great. He’s the most tragic character of all time. He loves his terrible dad so genuinely and so much, and he loves his friends so much, he loves his family so much. Literally all he ever wanted was people to be nice to him and love him and his life and sanity fall apart and he gets tragedy after tragedy and breakdown after breakdown and but he never really breaks he’s always just a little left. He tries so hard to go off the deep end but he can never really make himself hurt Peter, because of course he can’t. He’s Harry Osborn. Who loves friends from twenty years ago like it was last night. Even at his lowest he gets to die telling his best friend he would have finally been proud of him because he was able for a second to be like he is, and pass while smiling and holding his best friend’s hands. Of course he does. How else could Harry Osborn have ever died. He’s Harry.

[dead-enby-detective]

To continue my comparison of the Dead Boy Detective show and the Doom Patrol episode with them in it, I wanted to talk about the exploration of Charles’s aversion/fear of water in Doom Patrol, I thought that was an interesting way to give him some more depth in the short time frame (especially since we get to see more of Edwin’s depth with his pain being used to open the door to the afterlife and Larry reaching out to him to discuss his feelings for Charles).

In the scene above Charles has to work himself up quite a bit in order to cross the lake and continue their case.

DBD Charles, in comparison, doesn’t seem to feel the same way about water.

In episode 2, he’s delighted by the enchanted ocean container.

In episode four, he even calls the view “pretty brills” while staring out into the ocean.

He doesn’t hesitate to run to Crystal when she’s dangling over the ocean.

He walks on the ocean side later (probably partially to ensure she doesn’t try to throw herself into the ocean) and even walks toward the water without any fear.

And when the Night Nurse has him relive his memories she sends him to the lake.

To me he seems more confused, maybe frightened because he doesn’t know where he is or what’s going on and than is far more scared when he gets attacked by the boys again rather than afraid of the water itself.

Then after the Night Nurse lectures him he’s angry,

and willing submerges himself to get away.

Then when he returns he, in his anger, sends her over the wall into the water.

To me, if he was afraid of the water, he’d be less likely to want to go towards it, or he’d at least hesitate before putting his plan into motion.

In my first post comparing and contrasting the Agency from the two show, I said the Doom Patrol Boys feel far less reactive to violence, especially their own. They doesn’t seem scared of it or using it themselves. But while DP Charles isn’t afraid of violence, though it did cause his death, he is afraid of water, which also played a role in his death.

In the DBD show Charles is scared of violence (especially his own) - as violence impacted him greatly in live with his abusive father and bullies but doesn’t seem to be of the water which also played a part in his death.

It’s very interesting to me which parts of his death the writers focused on for each show, the DP writers focused on the water/hypothermia and the DBD writers, the bullies.

As I said in my first post, obviously there’s far less time to explore the boys in the Doom Patrol episode than in the Dead Boy Detectives show so that absolutely could have been part of it.

I haven’t yet read the comics so I’m unsure which version of Charles’s fears is more accurate to the source material, if there’s an exploration of it at all.

It makes sense, in the Doom Patrol episode to show his fear of water. It naturally introduces his death, just as the door to the afterlife being opened by open naturally introduces Edwin’s experience in Hell.

The actor handles it really well. Just as the DBD actor handles his fear of violence really well. Both feel natural and important within the context of their shows.

Additionally, I tired looking up to see if Charles’s father was also abusive in the comics and I couldn’t find anything (please let me know if you know otherwise) and according to his wiki Charles actually died from burn injuries - though he did have to spent time in the icy lake as well.

So it’s definitely interesting that both shows focused on the hypothermia from the lake rather than the burns and it makes sense that if there’s isn’t a major storyline about his father in the comics that DP Charles has less negative feelings about violence than DBD Charles and thus, going back to my first post, reacts differently to it even though he too was bullied to death.

It’s incredibly interesting to me to see how the same character can be played/written in two very different ways based off the same source material and the ways the writers chose to focus on their traumas and fear differently.

What do you all think about how the shows chose to handle Charles’s fears?

[kevin-day-is-bi]

Beginner's Guide to Batman (and Batman-related) Media

(based on my knowledge and the things I enjoy)

Live action Batman movies are very hit or miss. Most of them are fairly middling, but the Dark Knight Trilogy is generally pretty bad. Poor Bruce characterization, white-washing, inaccurate representations of Gotham, etc. I have several thousand words written on that trilogy, and many more on live action movies in general (all of which are accessible thru my pinned post). The Batman (2022) is pretty widely regarded as being good and accurate. It has a much more emo depiction of Bruce. A major pet peeve of mine is that I, personally, don't think it's a very good Riddler, but everything else is good.

As for shows, those are generally less accurate but more enjoyable. Gotham is not technically canon I don't think but it has better aesthetics, canon accuracy, and character design than every live action movie imo. It starts with Bruce seeing his parents' murder and goes up until he first decides to become Batman. Gotham Knights is a much more AU-style show, detailing the death of Bruce and how his adopted son (invented for the show) handles it. It also has Stephanie, Harper and Cullen Row, and Duela Dent, plus great queer rep. Heavily recommended for people who want to know more about general character personalities or who enjoy AUs. Titans has Dick, Jason, and Tim, and while I personally don't think that they did well with the characterization of the other Titans, the Robins are well-done. If you want a good idea of Dick right after he became Nightwing, you want to see Jason as Robin, or you like Tim pre-Robin, this is the show for you.

As for animated shows, the usually widely loved ones are Justice League, Justice League Unlimited, and Batman: The Animated Series. B:TAS is largely accurate to the comics at that time, though it plays a little fast and loose with the Robins (goes straight from Dick to Tim). Plus, it's the first appearance of Harley Quinn! Additionally, I enjoy The Batman (2005), though it plays with the timeline a little and targets a younger audience. Batman Beyond is amazing if you want to get into the future of Batman/Terry McGinnis universe. The accompanying movie, Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker covers Tim becoming Joker Jr.

Speaking of animated movies, there are a Lot. Standouts include the Batman Unlimited movies, which are some of the only ones to include Tim. They're very futuristic, so if you enjoy AUs or the science side of Batman, these are the ones. There are a lot of AU style ones, like Gotham by Gaslight (which I personally really love but don't think is anything particularly special outside of being interesting for characters), The Doom That Came to Gotham, and Batman Ninja. Batman Ninja isn't one of my favorites, but it is very good and has general good characterization. If you want to know more about how Barbara became Oracle but you don't want to read one of the most sexist comics ever, watching the Batman: The Killing Joke movie is a good way to do it. It frames the movie from Barbara's perspective and focuses on her story. If you want to know more about Damian, Son of Batman and Batman vs Robin are good. They detail him becoming Robin and his brush with the Court of Owls. Batman: Under the Red Hood is absolutely necessary viewing for anyone who likes Jason, as it details him coming back to life and becoming the Red Hood (along with having one of the all-time most depressing lines in-context ever).

When it comes to media that doesn't have Batman in it but is Batman-affiliated, Birds of Prey and the Fantabulous Emancipation of Harley Quinn is a really good post-Joker pre-Ivy look at Harley, and it has Helena Bertinelli (Huntress), Dinah Lance (Black Canary), Detective Renee Montoya, and an AU-ized Cassandra Cain. The show Young Justice, particularly the first season, is a really good look at Robin!Dick in non-Bat teams, as is the animated Teen Titans. Both take slightly different routes when it comes to his personality, but both are equally good (especially if most of what you know about Robin!Dick is "holy dental hygiene, Batman!" or his vague backstory). They also both provide introductions into other team families, particularly Young Justice, so if you've just gotten into DC via Batman and want to know more about other characters, YJ is the way to go.

My personal idea of best piece of media for any character:

Bruce Wayne

Pre-Batman - Gotham

Batman: The Animated Series

Alfred Pennyworth

Batman: The Animated Series

Barbara Gordon

Batman: The Animated Series and The Killing Joke

Kate Kane

Batman: Bad Blood

Dick Grayson

As Robin - Young Justice

As Nightwing - the Son of Batman/Batman vs Robin/Batman: Bad Blood trilogy

Jason Todd

As Robin - Titans

As the Red Hood - Batman: Under the Red Hood

Tim Drake

As Robin - Batman: The Animated Series

As Red Robin - Batman Unlimited: Monster Mayhem/Batman Unlimited: Animal Instincts

Stephanie Brown

Gotham Knights

Damian Wayne

Son of Batman/Batman vs Robin

Feel free to send an ask about a specific movie or show (or if you want a detailed list of everything a specific character has ever appeared in!) - I'm currently watching every Batman movie in existence and writing reviews literally so I can provide better recommendations to people (on part 41 rn). I will gladly provide more details about any movie or show. Also if you want to know more about specific media or what media a specific character has appeared in that is Bat-affiliated but is not a Bat, I probably have info! Anyone who's ever been a Titan, most Supers, most of the JLA, etc.

I can do another of these for comic recommendations if anyone wants bc I Do have opinions, I've just had some folks ask questions about specifically non-comic media recently!

[coraniaid]

Number 10 and 20 for the Fanfiction Author Ask Game?

Fanfiction author ask game

Answered both of these here, but I can have another go at one of them.

20) Hardest character to write/get the characterization correct for?

As anyone who's read my blog might have picked up, I'm really interested in Amy Madison as ... well, not a character as such, but a potential character the writers never really bothered to flesh out? It feels very easy to imagine a different version of the show in which Witch was the show's way of introducing a new permanent member of the cast who would go on to be a core part of the group. Not necessarily as important as people like Willow or Xander, but certainly as important as Oz or Jenny or any of the later secondary Scoobies.

Amy and Willow used to hang out! Amy is one of (many, many) characters who exist to tell us somehting about Buffy herself. Amy knows that magic and the supernatural are real! The episode ends with Amy and Buffy bonding over their recent shared experiences! And yet, Amy won't appear again -- or even be mentioned again! -- for almost a full year, and after that she'll vanish again until a single episode appearance in the third season, which effectively writes her out of the show forever by giving her a fate [almost] worse than death as a joke! (And that's not even getting into how the show treats Amy in the last two seasons, or in the post-Chosen comics I refuse to read.)

So while in theory I really like the idea of making Amy more of a member of the gang and thinking about how she works as a person, the problem is that in the actual show Amy isn't a consistent character at all. She undergoes all sorts of horrible and lifechanging experiences (some of them only implied, or entirely off-screen), that the show just isn't remotely interesed in unpacking. She has a new (worse) personality every season. We're not supposed to have any empathy for her at all.

All of which means that trying to actually write a version of Amy Madison that both feels like a real character and feels true to her appearances in the show is just ... incredibly difficult. Probably not even possible.

(However, I learned absolutely nothing from repeatedly trying to do this in Coexist and I am still committed to forcing Amy into my much-talked-about and not yet written Season 7 AU as well.)

[lightdancer1]

A quick note for my fanfics:

I basically opt to lean very hard into 'the Endless appear both as they wish to see themselves and as others see them.' With Dream this means he always has the starlight eyes of the comics because that's cooler and rule of cool works where he's concerned because otherwise I dislike him and reduce him to a supporting character in the perspective flip. So throwing him the bone of looking cooler is as far as that goes.

With Death it's a subtle barometer of what people think and how they think (and one very definitely fandom coded at a meta level, too).

If Death looks like this:

Then the people who see her see her as she sees herself and she looks like a person. Death, as I write her, is the most mortal-like of the Endless and unless she's doing something cosmic it's easy to forget that she's really not human at all unless she goes out of her way to remind you. This is a marker of seeing her essentially as not just a person but recognizing as well that she's a being of flaws because that's a part of personhood.

If, however, she looks like this:

This is what the other Endless and supernatural beings and sorcerers who see her only in those eyes see. It is not a case of 'show' and 'comics Death' as two separate characters, show Death is comics Death, it's a matter of perspective. The personality distinction reflects that Gaiman's writing approach has unsurprisingly evolved since the 1990s and that this is the series written as he'd write it if he'd started it in the 2020s.

It also distinctly inverts both real life colorism and plays up a bit of Death's own eldritch aspects. If you see a bone-hued being with dark wings, you're seeing the inhuman cosmic entity in the fullness of her power. To see the Dark Woman, Grandmother Death, looking like Kirby is to see the person beneath the mask.

This also underscores a small bit of the Endless that if anything gets surprisingly under-used except with Delirium in the original comics. The bodies seen with them are simply the appearance the beholder expects to see. Where I write Desire they always appear as the person's platonic ideal of beauty (hence, say, a gay man like Alex Burgess would see an Adonian hypermasculine beauty, a lesbian their ideal idea of a beautiful woman). Where I do Destruction the main impression is that he's very tall and very bulky but anything else is up for grabs.

The Endless are not human, their appearances are not true bodies, they are simulacra shaped by a person's expectations. Nodding to that and noting just how different the perceptions are emphasizes that inhumanity which is unfortunately a thing that the audience needs a nailbat with at times.

[celaenaeiln]

I can see the logic behind your reading but I think it is important to remember the Tim x Bruce interaction is being written by a writer who likes Tim and wants to show him in the best light and is doing that by over simplifying Jason and Dick to make Tim stand out. I mean in that panel Tim is being childish and talking about a much more powerful adversary as one might talk about taking someone at a video game. I also don't think your evidence totally holds up. For one the Jason panels come from a story where Batman later says Jason is acting suicidal perhaps due to unprocessed grief and he normally never says or does those things. So the idea that Jason sees Robin as a game isn't true and is in fact evidence that he is acting extremely out of character.

As for Dick feel free to correct me but I think that story happened after the Tim and Bruce one. Either way while there is some better evidence for that since Bruce did fight with Dick after Dick almost got shot there isn't any evidence he took Robin any less carefully than Tim. Remember Dick has a long history as an acrobat and safety is key in his field there are just as many stories showing him planning and prepping safety as entertainers do before going on stage. Most people in his line of work are safety nuts they just make it seem like a daring thrill to the audience. Meanwhile Tim had the least amount of training and prep initially and Bruce had to send him away for extra training. Dick was an acrobat Jason knew how to street fight multiple people, sneak off without being heard, and survive on Gotham's streets, Tim was just some dude. 

At best the story shows how we rewrite history and remember things differently to better suit how we want things to be. Bruce would definitively secretly prefer Jason and Dick were like that because then it would make things their fault and failings rather than Bruce. Or it could show the hypocrisy in how Bruce is really letting Tim get away with the same stuff. Rather than try to excuse Bruce's words like they are fact think about the biases the author might have with the characters. Think about how things like DC the company needed to have Tim be Robin for sales. How the backlash after Jason's death without blaming Batman in anyway or  shaped the stories and narratives they told about him. I mean Tim regularly went joyriding on his motorcycle without a helmet and made many childish mistakes like falling asleep during stakeouts but when have writers used that to suggest he wasn't fit to be Robin the way other Robins from Dick to Jason to Steph to Damian have had their flaws handled.

——————-/////—————————/////———————

Anon I love it. I absolutely agree because I was well aware of the bias and the whole comic was really rubbing me the wrong way but I thought “hey! I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt.” The author dumbed down both Dick and Jason’s careers as robins to make it seem like Tim was the only one who understood what robin was about which is wrong.

First of all Bruce loved Dick’s attitude toward’s Robin.

These are scenes from Dick’s very first day on the job. After Bruce had trained Dick, he gave him a test he needed to pass. But he soon found that he, the tester, became the testee when Dick gave Batman a puzzle of his own to solve. He follows Dick around and just absolutely loves his playful demeanor and is shocked at the ease by which Dick takes down criminals at one point even stating “Where did Dick learn THAT? I NEVER taught him that!” When Dick does a new maneuver.

Honestly I was kinda shocked myself when I read the redone version of Dick’s departure of robin because HO HO HOOO THAT IS NOT HOW IT WENT DOWN. I just imagined it was an alternate timeline because I physically could not accept it as the real deal.

As for Jason

He saw it as a game at first but soon came to realize that Robin was serious. It wasn’t just about being Batman’s sidekick, it was about making a difference. He started shaping up to take on the responsibility of the role but things went south for him before he could fully show it. He says himself “yeah, I was the second kid in the costume but I was determined to live up to the legacy. To get it right.” He also starts crying when Batman criticizes him which I relate so, SO hard to because man I’m a frustrated cried too. When you give your everything to something but then someone tells you “you should’ve done better. You were playing around”. It’s a real hopeless, frustrating feeling. Wow my ears are getting hot just think about it again. It’s also a little hard for me to get hold of Jason’s story because they’ve redone his origin like three times now and tinkered his Robin career so much. One second he’s really happy, the next he’s angry and emotional, the next he happy but rough. Make up your mind! Personally I’ve taken the shot down the middle and decided that Robin Jason was smirking wolf cub type and ran with it. I’ll drop both extremes, thank you.

I cropped out the rest of the comic from the same panel but it was not a flattering image of anyone but Tim. I love Tim but what I don’t love is authors nerfing other characters and plot lines to support their own favorite. It pisses me the hell off. I have my personal opinions on each Robin’s significance to Batman but my original comment was more along the lines of what you are saying. Tim was the easiest for Bruce to handle which was his appeal to Batman. Bruce wouldn’t choose Dick over Jason or Jason over Tim or Tim over either one of them, no. He loves each of the Robin’s individual quirks.

DC has redone their stories so many times to make the next robins look better that it gets frustrating. What gives you the authority to overwrite someone else’s story anyway? Was their work so unimportant that you think yours is greater? On the same note, I love when authors reference past events and add on to that.

Overall, here’s my final opinion on the comic. I hate it because it trashes Dick and Jason’s personalities just to make Tim’s look better. I can appreciate it because it sets Tim to take on the Batman personality he’s known for later. Each character should be distinct and not overlap and this comic does that but in the worst possible way. So no, I don’t like it but I like what I can make out of it in my fandom world. I love my crazy, happy Dick. I love my boastful, proud Jason. I love my snarky, mean Tim. And this was not the comic’s intended purpose but they can suck it because I like my way better.

[kaijuposting]

Ghost Drifting: Does it exist in the Pacific Rim film?

Now some of you might read the title of this post and think, "well of course it does, it was in the novelization and in that Tales From The Drift comic." Thing is though, canon and continuity within the Pacific Rim franchise has always been a bit of a mess, full of inconsistencies and contradictions. It's never really safe to assume anything. So, the concept of ghost drifting goes all the way back to the Pacific Rim draft script written by Travis Beacham, and it appears as he originally intended it in both the Tales From The Drift and the Tales From Year Zero comics, both of which he wrote. One could argue that it even appears in Pacific Rim: Uprising and in Pacific Rim: The Black, in the sense of human characters becoming part of the kaiju hivemind, although this is most definitely not what he originally had in mind with the idea.

So where does the original movie stand? Does it exist here? And if so, in what sense?

I would say that there is circumstantial evidence that it exists.

One piece of circumstantial evidence actually comes from very early on in the film. You can hear Yancy scream after Trespasser rips him out of the jaeger. Later on, Raleigh tells Pentecost that he was still connected to Yancy when he died. Because Yancy was ripped clean out of the jaeger before he died, he could not have been connected to the pons system. This would suggest that Yancy and Raleigh were actually ghost drifting when Yancy died.

On the other hand, five years have passed since Yancy's death, and it's extremely likely that Raleigh does not have a clear recollection of the event, and is remembering incorrectly.

After Mako and Raleigh's first drift, we see them get the same food in the mess hall, which could suggest that they are somehow synced or linked:

But while this is clearly meant to be significant somehow, there's no specific indication that this is caused by ghost drifting. They could have just swapped food preferences or cravings in the drift.

Another thing that could suggest its existence is how easily Otachi finds Newt. Like, when you're a giant monster there's not a whole lot to distinguish one guy from an entire crowd, and yet, Otachi finds him in a kaiju bunker anyway. One might argue that Otachi was tracking him by scent and/or taste, having a general idea of what Newt smells and tastes like from his memories of how things in the k-sci lab smell and taste. And one thing about Otachi is, she's the only kaiju with actual nostrils, and there's definitely something special going on with her tongue.

On the other hand, the novelization does have Newt experience "drift hangover" with the Anteverse, and with Otachi specifically. But of course, the novelization also says that Hermann is blond, so we can't assume that anything the novel says also applies to the movie. So does Newt experience ghost drift here, or is it all down to Otachi's nose and tongue? At this moment, it's a tossup.

One last thing that could maybe, possibly suggest ghost drifting is Stacker Pentecost's strange line toward the end of the film before he dies: "I will always be here for you. You can always find me in the drift."

This line could just be trying to convey a sentiment similar to "I'll always be here, because I'll live on in your heart." But that's not what Pentecost says, and what he does say implies a different kind of continued existence - one that's perhaps a bit more metaphysical. Though I do have to admit, it's not much. It really could've just been trying to convey something similar to "I'll live on in your heart." Looking at the movie from a writer's POV, I feel like if ghost drifting was actually intended to exist in this story, it would've been made more explicit. On the other hand, it feels to me like this story doesn't quite want to rule it out, either. In particular, the mess hall scene actually made me think ghost drifting was happening when Raleigh's voice started talking before switching to the scene in which he was actually talking. It's only just speculation, but I think it almost feels like foreshadowing for an actual appearance of ghost drifting in a sequel that never manifested.

[aotopmha]

I saw glimpses of that AI Princess Mononoke trailer and it's the perfect springboard for talking about something that's been on my mind (that I've talked about before as well).

Earlier this week I also saw an article about the creation of basically a "fan committee" for creating stuff and anyone who has any idea about how fandom works knows how terrible that idea is.

I hate this dehumanisation of art. I hate it so much.

These are different sides to it, but both of them devalue the artist in pretty horrible ways.

AI "art" is about claiming the recognition an artist gets without putting in any of the work. It's theivery for selfish validation and feeling special, for getting those clicks and getting to feel the "feeling" that you put in the work.

Whereas creating a fan committee specifically forces any creatives in a box very similar to any of the business executives meddling in the creative proccess puts them into because fans don't actually often understand why something is good.

Fans are more often consumers, not creatives themselves, especially modern audiences.

So letting fans decide/have control over the direction of what they love might seem very cool on the surface, but what it really does is further silence the creators themselves and their voices because even if the creatives themselves are wrong about their characters or plot points they create, this comes about from their minds, their perspective.

It's authentic because it's what they wanted to create, not something they were assigned to create by someone else. Simply put, the piece of art becomes that of the committee, not the artist, even if it's by people who care.

So truly property written by Reddit or Twitter.

Both of these are solely about creating a product to get more money, as well.

I didn't think stifling unique creative voices could get even worse than it was already getting, but here we are.

But hey that death that might be incredibly important to character development? Gone now because it's someone's favourite character.

See that tragedy involving difficult decisions and topics? Gone now because it's too "upsetting".

Any of the less loved cast, even if they have essential participation in the narrative? Bye bye.

Or even any basic conflict that isn't immediately resolved and mysteries that aren't immediately explained because they're "plot holes"?

Any scene that doesn't "further the plot", but regardless is important to make you care?

Nope. Need to have that instant gratification.

And I think it's all stuck in the system being focused on profit to the most extreme degrees.

I think it'll all eventually catch up; it already is when looking at comic book movies, but a lot of slop does, in fact, bring a lot of money still.

(Disney live action remakes.)

[spiralling-thoughts]

hi! i’m curious- whose your favorite tribute? also, are there any tributes that you don’t particularly like?

Well I might need to to separate lists because I love all of them for different reasons

So I don't dislike any of the tributes its hard for me to they are all just children who were forced into a unfair situation even back in the first movie I didn't hate the careers so no I don't dislike any of them (just very confused why tanner and otto were targeting sheaf and lamina)

For the main tributes

1- reaper I don't think I need to explain this hes such a powerful character and his powerful scene always brings me to tears

2- Lucy gray, I really love her shes a well written character and I adore when a girl can survive in a colourful dress also with how media nowadays keeps trying to push for "strong female characters " shes a breath of fresh air it's nice to see female character whose a passionate colourful artist and is very empathetic person still be a impactful and powerful character without being overpowered or physically violent

3-Wovey SHE IS MY SWEET BABY she's so adorable and precious I literally wanted to give her a hug and a kiss on the forehead every time she was on screen I can't explain how devastated I was when she was approaching the snake tank I wanted to pick her up and get her away from it

4- jessup, his such a sweet and gentle person and his death was so tragic and his friendship with Lucy gray is so sweet and underrated

5- bobbin, his an absolute gremlin and I adore him for trying to kill snow 😌 and the way wovey was clinging to him was so cute he gives huge tough boy with a heart of gold vibes

6- brandy, she literally SLAYED

7- coral and treech, I feel sorry for both of them and I think they represent the hard choices that the tributes are forced to make in the hunger games, and corals relationship with mizzen is so precious to me and the part when treech looked away when lamina was attacked I wanted to cry and coral's final line break my heart ( I put them together because I just felt my reasons for liking them were so similar and didn't want to repeat myself)

8- Marcus, his a really tragic character he was one of the least aggressive characters and genuinely seemed like a nice kid yet he had the most brutal fate

9- tanner, I feel like he and the pack could have been close friends if given the chance and I like when people make him the comic relief of the group

For the tributes who I relate to the most they are lamina i tend to cry alot when stressed and scared and if I was in this situation I would have cried waterfalls too , mizzen and dill reminds me so much of myself as a kid I used to follow my older siblings around and tried to act tough like mizzen and for dill I used to get sick alot and would cling to my parents when we would go out while I was sick( alhamdulillah my health is far better now ) so they both reminds me of my kid self and teslee because of her hugging the drone I too hug my stuffed toys alot

For the tributes who I love because of my headcanons for them there are panlo and facet in my mind they are both golden retriever boys, sheaf and Ginnee and Velvereen I admit I inserted aspects of myself into them ( sorry not sorry), sol and otto because I headcanon them as being very sassy and moody

For the tributes who I don't have as much headcanons they are hy , circ, sabyn, I don't dislike them I just feel like compared to the others I don't have as much headcanons for them

Sorry this is way too long then it needed to be but I love rambling about my silly little guys they are all precious to me it's really fascinating how these background characters have consumed my brain

[pumpkinstrawbrew]

favorite jack o/ lantern? or no specific preference?

i don’t think, that i’m strong enough to pick just one tbh. but if i had to really narrow it down, i’d say i have two favorite jack o’ lanterns! i will exclude macendale from here, since well, jason is jason. i love him as jack, i love him as hobgoblin. i like him as a demogoblin. he can have whatever form, really. i love him as king loser in the comicverse an’ as a dangerous, ambitious sociopath in TAS. 

but as for my fav jacks, it’ll be these two.

*i find it funny how those panels are literally mirror one another* 

the classic boi, daniel. the mad jack. an’ more modern take on jack from agent venom's comics. they both really stand out, when you compare them to their predecessors or those who came after. 

i kinda disappointed with how the whole mad jack arc was resolved, but it was to be expected. once the writer changes, you instantly notice the difference. it happened with modern jack as well. the way his character was treated after rick remender’s ran is just … not the same to put it mildly. but overall, i love the emotional bone of their main arcs.

i love how daniel is supposed to be mysterio’s student an’ that he essentially tries to fit into the role of the villain, despite how it was shown that he at times struggled to play the part. i love the journey of jack o’ lantern, who trains himself to become ruthless, rather than him being like that from the get-go for once. it provides an interesting contrast to steven, who is just well, an asshole. he doesn’t care who he has to hurt to get what he wants. he just likes money. or to macendale, who can’t help the way he is, despite how it’s smth that causes him a certain amount of grief. an' then, enters danial.

his motivation is of a different nature. he doesn’t do things for money. nor is he a sociopath per say. his loss an’ personal offense is what drives him. which was a good fuel to peter’s own backstory. after all, uncle ben’s death is what made peter feel like he has to become a hero. on other hand, mysterio’s death is what made daniel to put on the mad jack costume. in a way, it’s interesting that daniel is actually genuinely remorseful, that he an’ spidey cannot be on the same side. in the beginning of his mad jack era, he was still more daniel, than jack. which is smth that slowly changes later on. an’ i love that bit too. it’s always interesting to see how the villain's mental state slowly worsens an’ they get more an’ more unhinged. the mystery around who jack actually was, remained pretty intriguing too. 'till certain point he almost felt like a spector of some sort, rather than a man. *beck's cousin was there too, but as far as i understand, she wore jack's costume only one time an' it was toward the very end. as her usual methods of operating things seem to imply, she's more of a mastermind who works in the shadows. rather than going out there an' doing dirty work*

anyways, i genuinely think, that if they kept daniel as mad jack permanently an’ kept adding things to his arc an’ character, he could have joined the row of spidey’s main rogues. esp bc while jacks tend to jump all over marvel’s properties as side villain, they work best, when their enemy is arachnid folk of some kind. be it spidey or agent venom. not only visually, it matches better, but also their gadgets an' style of fighting works best, when they have a hero, who can chase them in the air.

i also think that daniel has the most goated classic jack design too. a mask that moves an’ changes expressions. clawed, long fingers. that is some good stuff! when i first saw him, i was like ooohh, so cool. wow. the way he was written an’ the way, he interacted with spidey was also very pleasant, so naturally, it put him on top of my retro, classic jacks list. 

in comparison to this 'staning from first sight', the crime master’s jack was the sort of character, i wasn’t expecting to love at all. when i went into reading agent venom *specifically rick remender ran*, i was pretty much expecting to not like what they did with jack there. but it was pretty much sold to me, as jack being one of the main villains of the series, so i was at the very least willing to give it a try. an’ i was surprised with what i’ve got. esp since this jack was literally crafted specifically to fit flash vs them just taking jack o’ lantern’s persona an’ not being creative with it at all *which i assumed they would do* an’ i also was surprised at how dark everything that surrounds that jack was. starting from the sheer fact, that he’s not a mercenary, but essentially a serial killer an’ ending up with his backstory. 

while i saw people complaining that it wasn’t as gritty as jack teased it to be … once you give it a bit of thought, it actually is hella gritty in nature. a mentally ill child gets kidnapped an’ groomed by a psychopath, who later on uses jack’s brainwashed loyalty to him as a handy tool. it’s bluntly obvious, that the crime master doesn’t truly care about him at all. an’ since jack is pretty much an unreliable narrator, it’s unclear how much he leaves out an’ what the true nature of his an’ crime master’s relationships is. i kinda like how remender left a lot of space for hcs an’ speculations about certain details of jack’s upbringing. an’ it makes sense why jack not only downplayed the severity of his past, but also why he told the story in the way he did. i think, partly he doesn’t view it as messed up, bc the crime master told him, that keeping him hostage was needed for them to form a bond. an’ i also think, that jack wanted flash to see him as cool, an’ edgy an’ merciless killer or smth childish like that, rather than view him as a person, who doesn’t know any better.

i won’t get into tangles about that, bc it would become more of flash/jack thing, rather than me talking about jack only. but i love the striking difference in how different he is compared to daniel, an’ how their emotions while complex, also manifest differently. an’ where daniel is a proper adult, who picks his path with knowledge of what it means. jack was literally forcefully put into his position, since he was a kid. he still could have turned out the way he is, if he didn’t met crime master, but he also could have not. an’ it’s smth that won’t ever be known.

anyhow, thank you for asking me about jacks! i love those lil guys. i feel like they an’ in general, all of spidey’s goblinoids aren’t appreciated enough in fanon spaces. 

[practically-an-x-man]

@wellnoe I loved our discussion over Scott, Warren, and Logan's views of morality, but it was getting a little too complex for a reply thread so here's me trying to express my thoughts a little better:

Yes, I think Warren buys into the idea of a good man. No, I don't think he's entirely aware of it. He tangles with his morality a *lot*, especially when it comes to the Archangel and Angel of Death personas, so I don't think he views himself as a good person most of the time, but I think being raised in the household of a rich business estate means he inwardly holds onto a lot of that rigidity. His view of morality may not be objectively correct in terms of those standards, since we know his father isn't exactly the most moral person himself, but he does have standards that he subconsciously feels a Good Man must uphold

So, when thinking of Scott and this sort of moral rigidity, he's viewing it as Scott-the-person engaging directly with those inward standards. It's a very... capitalist viewpoint, "every man for himself" sort of deal, where Scott is almost "winning" morality by the technical guidelines - and that's not exactly something you want to win.

2. Logan, on the other hand, has lived a very long life, has seen a lot of complex morality, and has rarely been viewed as a particular moral creature himself (at least in his own eyes). I admit that I don't know as much about Logan as I do Warren, so what I'm saying here could very well contradict the way he's written in some of the comics, but the way I see it: this is a 140-year-old man who has tried to die and failed. He did not grow up with Warren's rich-boy-rigid standards, and he's seen enough "good men" do bad things and enough "bad men" do good things in his life that he's ready to throw the whole damn rulebook out. Morality isn't a set of guidelines to him like it is to Warren. It's not a list of rules to follow.

So, when we look at the same perspective of Scott and his moral rigidity... the issue isn't really with Scott. The issue is that Scott-the-symbol has been presented as a Good Man for so many things, the leader of the X-Men or whatever else, and being placed in that box is more confining than liberating (both for him and for all the rest of the X-Men associated with him)

Warren sees Scott as "winning" morality and needs to see him continue to win (individual perspective, a younger man raised in a "up by the bootstraps" capitalist household), Logan sees Scott as a symbol of morality and so that symbol needs to persist in a way that benefits him (wider perspective, a much older man looking at how standards of morality have constricted over time)

Could be way off here, there's probably something in the comics somewhere that completely contradicts what I'm saying, but I guess this is sort of my interpretation on that discussion of morality. And apologies if I've misinterpreted anything about your original post, that wasn't my intention, I'm just tired lol

(also it's worth noting that I don't think either of them are emotionally in-tune enough to be aware of any of this, they just see Scott as "nobly condescending" as you said in the original post. I'm more viewing them as literary tools and trying to dig into why they might hold that viewpoint, and how two very different backgrounds might end up converging to that same point)

[emilyhufflepufftlk]

Review of Seven Kings Must Die

I feel like people are going to have mixed feelings towards this film, however I really liked it and I think it did a good job within the constraints it had. Could it have been better as a whole season? Probably. But I think it was still a fitting way to end TLK.

Overall an 8.5/10 from me. I have written a very detailed review (lots of spoilers!!!!) under the cut. It is perhaps too detailed - I got carried away lol.

First things first, I loved the opening credits with the extended title sequence. Loved that it incorporated the original title art alongside movie specific sequences. Also the fact that the music started off different and then went into the iconic TLK theme was great, signalling that the film is both it's own thing and part of the TLK story. I have always loved the way they use the titles as a storytelling device, like how they changed it for season 5 to make Northumbria the 'last kingdom' rather than Wessex, so I thought changing it to have the burning start in Ireland, Scotland, Isle of Man etc where the 'kings' in the film were from was really effective. Maybe it's the nerd in me, but I love these kind of details.

Finan doing the voice over was interesting as we've never had anyone else but Uhtred do the narration. It gave a different perspective from what we usually get which was cool. I also like to think that this was Finan telling the story of how Uhtred made England happen after Uhtred's death (I know it was left opened ended, but I personally think Uhtred did go to Valhalla at the end) which is cool as Uhtred always said he would live on in the songs his men will tell of him (thinking about his dialogue with Alfred in 3.09).

I was fine with Ingrith having the 'prophesy'. Yes it kind of came out of nowhere but it didn't really matter - by that I mean if she had not had the vision nothing would have changed, Uhtred was not acting on her advice or took real heed of it, in fact he shrugged it off. Having the prophesy gave us extra intrigue and the twist that 'the woman you love' was directed at Finan and she was the one to die was surprising and I thought well done. I did like that it was the sons of kings that died rather than the kings themselves, especially after the kings talked about how having an heir meant their kingdoms would live on.

In terms of the new characters, I cannot say they were particularly memorable (with the exception of Ingilmundr who I will talk about later). We did not get much of a chance to get to know them which is to be expected due to time constraints. I personally didn't mind this as I think most movies have a similar problem so I am used to it. I think the kings served their role for the plot and I was fine with not knowing much about them. Same for the Danes, they served their purpose plot wise. It would have been nice to have a bit more focus on Astrid (the Dane's daughter who spied on the Saxons) but I'm not that fussed about it.

Onto Ingilmundr - I thought he was an excellent antagonist. He was everything Aethelhelm was trying to be. I think with Aethelhelm in season 5, he felt a bit too much like a comic book villain to me, I kept expecting him to break out into cackles of evil laughter. But Ingilmundr felt more real and I thought the actor's performance was very good. He was manipulative without being too obvious. I also liked how he was the opposite of Uhtred - born Dane, taught Saxon ways and eventually betraying them for the people of his birth (just like how Uhtred was born Saxon, grew up Dane, but in the end chose to serve Saxon kings).

I was pleased that they gave Aethelstan a male lover as I believe it's referenced in the books (I have not read them personally) and I didn't know if Netflix had the balls to do it. I think it added to the manipulation and helped to explain why Aethelstan was so easily influenced by him (as I feel like Aethelstan genuinely cared for/loved him). It also makes the sense of betrayal on Aethelstan's part greater and I thought that was portrayed well.

In terms of Aethelstan in general, I think the writer's did a good job building him up to be the antagonist in the beginning third of the film. Him killing his brother in cold blood after the surrender clearly signalled he'd changed from who we met in season 5 and showed how Ingilmundr influenced him. Killing Aldhelm really shocked me and made me SOB (especially how he went calmly and accepted his fate). As much as I hated to see Aldhelm die as he had grown to become one of my favourite characters over the course of the series, I think his death was effective. It showed that Aethelstan had gone mad from paranoia and how lost he rally was, both to the audience and the characters - it's only when Uhtred sees Aldhelm's body does he realise what Aethelstan is capable of and realises he isn't the young man he had raised.

The change from Aethelstan being an antagonist to siding with Uhtred was a little abrupt and could have been done better over the course of a whole season, but I still thought it worked. Harry Gilby did a good job with the scenes he had, from the denial when Uhtred first tells him of Ingilmundr's betrayal to the acceptance and guilt when he discovers the truth.

The attack on Bebbanburg and the killing of Ingrith and the rest of the people was gut wrenching but thinking about it in hindsight I wonder what purpose it served? They would have still gone to look for their sons regardless. I guess it made Uhtred feel totally defeated and maybe alerted them to the immediate danger but I feel like it wasn't necessary. Ingrith's death destroyed me, mainly because of Mark's acting - that man knows how to sell an emotional scene! His scream and the sobbing was soul destroying. However, what really took me out of this moment was wondering where the hell Sihtric's wife and kids are? I guess they no longer exist?

There were lots of characters that were absent without explanation. This always happens when a series with a whole range of characters developed over many seasons have to condense down into a two hour film - it happened with Downton Abbey, although I feel like the writers of the Downton movie at least gave missing characters reasons for not being there. I didn't care so much about Hild or Eadith as much as I love them as I don't see what role they would have played in the plot anyway, but I feel like they should have at least explained Stiorra's absence as it feels odd she didn't come to Uhtred/Bebbanburg's aid if she had been able to.

I liked the introduction of Osbert and Edmund, although we didn't get much of them. I don't think there was time in the movie to address the whole 'Uhtred abandoning Osbert for most of his childhood' and I guess there has been a big enough time jump to assume they have worked out their differences. I also liked the fact Osbert protected and trained Edmund, it feels like it's carrying on the legacy of Uhtred teaching and protecting Edward.

I was glad that Eadgifu's characterisation was the same as in season 5 despite the change in actress. Her friendship with Uhtred was a surprise but worked well.

We didn't get a whole lot of Finan and Sihtric which was sad but was what I expected. There really wasn't time for side plots which means Finan's past is reserved for fanfic alone. I did like how they inferred Finan was getting older (falling asleep, sore arse etc) which at least acknowledges the fact that these guys should be like 80 by now lmao.

As always in TLK they travelled across the country in what seemed like no time at all - however I feel like although we didn't get extended scenes of them travelling places, the length of time it takes to get to places was acknowledged: when they get to the cave where the residents of Bebbanburg were imprisoned, it's said that Ingrith last spoke three days before they got there, which at least signals that time has passed since Uhtred left and not five seconds like it feels in the movie.

Something both the movie and Season 5 did was show the barbarity of the Christians. I feel like in previous seasons it was always presented as the Danes being the savages that rape and pillage and leave destruction in their wake, whilst in Season 5 we saw in the massacre at Rumcofa Christians doing the murdering and we saw it again here with them slaughtering everyone in Aegelesburg even after they surrendered and the burning of the Scottish settlements etc. I think this gives the show more nuance and makes it less black and white.

The end battle was epic. I loved that it was a return to the standard shield wall which was so iconic in the series but I feel like they moved away from in seasons 4 and 5. The tactics of moving them around so they could attack them from behind was clever, especially as I didn't realise that was what they were doing. The putting down of spikes in front of them was also such a cool idea. The whole battle reminded me a lot of Ethendun and so it feels like we've come full circle. I really thought Pyrlig was going to be another Leofric, but he miraculously survived yet again. Honestly I think this man is invincible - he's been stabbed TWICE, tortured, walked for miles and been through numerous battles. I love Pyrlig so I'm not complaining lol.

I thought Uhtred was going to die laying on the battlefield. I can't decide if I would have preferred him going down with a blaze of glory on the battlefield rather than the ending we got, but it was still emotional seeing him fight on whilst bleeding out. Sihtric and Finan finding him afterwards also made me tear up.

Uhtred seeing the feast hall of Valhalla with his friends laughing together was very emotional and I really liked it. It would have been nice to have seen Young Ragnar, Gisela and Thyra (although maybe Thyra is in heaven with Beocca) there alongside them but I know the actors were probably unavailable.

The fact that they don't specify if Uhtred lived or died was clever, especially with Finan's voice over saying that the chronicles didn't record his fate. It ties into this idea that Uhtred was written out of history, again linking back to his dialogue with Alfred in 3.09. I like the idea that we can pretend that the events in TLK did happen, that the Uhtred we know did exist, just it wasn't included in the chronicles.

I loved that the ending shot was modern Bambrugh castle, showing that the thing Uhtred fought so hard for lives on. Bebbanburg was such an important part of the show; even in Season 3 when we don't go to Bebbanburg at all, it still looms over the show and everything Uhtred does. It's also integrally linked to Uhtred's 'destiny' and as we know 'destiny is all'. The way the camera pans away in that final shot reminds me a bit of the last shot of Season 5 which ties the endings together.

Overall, I really enjoyed it and I thought it was done well. As always with TLK the costumes, hair and makeup, stunts, fight scenes and music were awesome. The crew really outdid themselves. I do think that it would have benefitted from having a bit more space to expand on certain plot points and it would have been more effective as a whole season, however, I am really glad we got this movie and saw the creation of England which (alongside Uhtred reclaiming Bebbanburg) has always been the biggest theme running through the series.

I can't believe TLK is really over. I might cry. I will miss it dearly.

[lillywillow]

Midnight Ventures

Summary: With the anniversary of the death of Tony’s parent, Bucky’s guilt manifests itself in a new way

 Written for: @buckybarnesbingo

 Words: 1303

 Square Filled: B2- December 16, 1991

 Pairing: Bucky Barnes x Gender neutral Reader  

 Warnings: Guilt, mild angst

 You had been with Bucky for a while so you were both learning new things about each other. Some things you were both open about, others you found out by accident. One such way presented itself in early December.

…

 You were sleeping peacefully when you were suddenly woken by someone shaking you. Alarmed, you grabbed your knife ready to fight your assailant only to see Bucky standing over you.

 “Bucky?”

 “You want cheese?”

 You blinked in confusion.

 “What?”

 “You want cheese? In your omelette.”

 Sitting up, you carefully tried to examine the situation. By now, you were used to his nightmares from his past but this was very different. Bucky didn’t wait for you to respond, instead, he walked out the door. Totally puzzled, you followed after him. Bucky was staring blankly, muttering to himself, sometimes in English, sometimes in other language. He would do strange things with his hands from time to time. That was when you came to the realisation that he was sleepwalking.

 “Come on, hon. Let’s get you back to bed,” you softly coaxed.

 Bucky mumbled something but allowed you to guide him back to your room.

…

 The first few times were comical. Bucky would do silly things which were caught on the security cameras. You would show him and he was able to laugh at himself but he had no real explanation as to why he was suddenly sleepwalking. Then things became a little more serious. One night, FRIDAY had alerted you that Bucky had wandered outside. You rushed to put on your shoes and a coat to chase after him, hoping he hadn’t gone too far. Fortunately, you were able to catch up to him, stopping him before he walked into an open manhole.

 “Bucky? Where are you going?”

 Amazingly, he was still sound asleep.

 “Cony Island,” he replied, pointing to somewhere in the distance.

 You had to think fast.

 “I’ll take you there, sweetheart. You’re going the wrong way…”

 “Oh. Okay,” he muttered.

 Bucky allowed you to take his hand and lead him back to the tower. This was starting to scare you.

…

 The next day, you had to talk to Steve about what had transpired.

 “Did Bucky ever sleepwalk as a kid?” you asked.

 “Sometimes… is this about the sleepwalking incidents?”

 “Yeah… it was funny at first but last night, he got out and almost fell into a manhole… I’m worried that he’s going to hurt himself…”

 Steve thought for a few minutes.

 “Well, Bucky usually started when he was stressed about something. Do you have an anniversary or something coming about?”

 “Nothing soon…”

 The answer suddenly hit Steve like a ton of bricks.

 “Anniversary… the anniversary of the Starks’ death!”

  The pieces all snapped together just like that. Bucky had become more drawn and quieter. He never liked socialising at the best of times but lately it had gotten worse. Bucky tensed whenever he saw Tony… It all made sense.

 “What should we do, Steve?”

 “I… I don’t know,” he sighed. “Usually, he’d go back to normal after whatever was stressing him was over but something like this… I guess the best we can do is watch over him and keep him safe…”

 “Alright…”

 You didn’t really know what to do but at the very least if you could keep Bucky from hurting himself, that was something.

…

 As the date drew nearer, Bucky’s sleepwalking became more dangerous. You had a system in place to stop him from going outside but then came a new development. Bucky would attack anyone that happened to be up and get in his path and he started wandering into people’s rooms to ‘protect’ them. This did nothing to help with Bucky’s guilt, instead, it only added to it. Then came the night of December 15. Bucky had gone to bed early to try and sleep through the next day.

 Tony had been sleeping soundly in his bed when he was grabbed by the shirt. He had his arc reactor ready to blast but then he saw who had him.

 “Bucky?”

 “It’s okay. They’re safe…”

 “Who are safe?”

 “Your parents. They’re safe. I killed him. I killed him before he got to them. They’re safe… they’re safe…”

 Tony was shocked.

 “FRIDAY, tell Y/N to get here ASAP…”

 “Right away, sir.”

…

 You ran straight to Tony’s room as soon as you got the alert. Bucky was sitting on the edge of Tony’s bed muttering to himself with that glassy expression on his face.

 “James?”

 “It’s okay… I killed him. I killed the Winter Soldier. He won’t hurt anyone ever again…” he mumbled.

 It hurt you to see him like this; to hear him talking like this.

 “He can’t keep doing this, Y/N…”

 “I know but what can I do? He already feels guilty after what happened to your parents. I can’t take that pain away no matter what I do…”

 By now you were in tears.

 “Y/N?”

 You looked to see Bucky was starting to come to his senses.

 “H-hey, darling.”

 “Where am I? Was I sleepwalking again?”

 “You were. Let’s get back to bed…”

 You could see that guilt making its way across his face.

 “I hurt someone didn’t I?”

 “No, Bucky. Not this time…”

 Bucky blearily looked around to see he was in Tony’s room. That’s when he caught sight of the clock by his bed.

 1:51am

 It was now December 16; the day he had been dreading.

 “I… I have to get out of here…”

 Bucky took off running. You ran after him, telling FRIDAY to get Steve to help. The safety precautions you had put in place stopped Bucky from getting outside and getting to the weapons after the attacks. You and Steve chased him until he stopped in defeat.

 “Why can’t you both see it?! I’m a monster… I hurt people… I hurt people when I’m awake, when I’m asleep… I hurt people…”

 Bucky curled up in a ball and started to sob. You and Steve gently tried to comfort him but it was no point.

 “It wasn’t your fault…”

 The three of you looked up to see Tony standing there.

 “Tony?”

 Bucky was surprised.

 “It wasn’t your fault,” he repeated. “You were brainwashed. You had no choice…”

 “I still did it…”

 “Look I… I know it wasn’t your fault. HYDRA, they’re the ones to blame. You are as much a victim as my parents were…”

 Bucky needed to hear this from Tony. That validation from the man himself was a start in the healing process. Bucky broke down again, this time, Tony knelt down to comfort him to. You all stayed up with him the rest of the night. Bucky was too afraid to fall asleep in case he started sleepwalking again. Tony also stayed with Bucky that whole day. They talked things through and he gave him the number of a psychiatrist that may be able to help.

…

 For a while after that, Bucky was too afraid to go to sleep. What if he started sleepwalking again? What if he hurt someone? He couldn’t live with himself if he hurt you… It took a few sessions before he was finally able to sleep peacefully. By Christmas, he was finally starting to calm down. You knew those ghosts would never go away fully but hopefully by next year, he would have some better coping mechanisms. Bucky would still have the occasional sleepwalking incident but as long as he continued to share with you what was on his mind, they would remain on the safer side of things.

[jsdimensions]

okay genuine question. why do people like reaper so much? What's the appeal? he's just Death. without any added traits/themes/inspirations to make him more interesting (as far as I know) (IN MY OPINION. i also don't know much about reaper so correct me if I'm wrong about that)

(oops I accidentally wrote a ranty essay(?)...it's under the cut. I elaborate on my opinions in a more organized manner there.)

You could argue that Reaper is important in the multiverse due to...well...his status as a god of death, leading on souls to the afterlife(???). But the other Sanses that are considered "god-like" have unique concepts that aren't seen in characters with their concepts elsewhere! They draw me in, even with a brief summary!

The artist that motivates creators is soulless (and, therefore, able to control how he feels with the vials), quirky, and very forgetful. He has his OWN DIMENSION where all of the AUs reside!!!! And a brush as a weapon!!!!!

The destroyer of AUs has absolutely awesome glitchy themes, uses STRINGS MADE BY TEAR MARKS as both a weapon and a source of entertainment, is a man-child that can switch from being the silliest, dorkiest boy alive to a genuinely intimidating character and back without warning, and he ALSO has his own dimension that he lives in!!!

The guardians of positivity and negativity aren't even Sanses, technically. They're both brothers. Their origin stories are both extremely tragic!!! They potentially fight each other eternally!!!

...and Reaper is just...every other interpretation of Death in Popular Media. Nothing too stand out to me. The same black cloak, the same scythe. He has wings, sure, but that doesn't really draw me in like...well...the others.

My point is, it doesn't feel like Reaper really has a defining trait besides "ohh, he's Death!" That's just not interesting enough for me. Not even his wiki page drew me in! I'd expect a wiki page to have REALLY cool and interesting lore facts that helps sell a character to the person browsing their page, but there's nothing!!! Nothing at all!!! Not even fanon can get me intrested!!!

I will admit. I do have a bias against Reaper. Geno, who is one of my biggest blorbos, up there with Error, ONLY seems to have content where he interacts with a character I never really cared for in the first place!!! Afterdeath feels like the only thing people do with Geno, and I DESPISE IT. Geno is a complex, excellently written character with so many interesting ideas to go off of. If there was more content, whether it be comics, fanfic, fanart, etc of Geno interacting with literally anybody else, I bet it would be absolutely excellent! There are way too many things one could do with Geno in the multiverse, and...nobody (besides Underverse, briefly) does it for some reason???

Here's some example ideas of non-Afterdeath geno content to further push my point!!! Take them!!! Consume them!!! Make something from them!!! I don't care!!! I want to see more Geno!!!

Geno interacting with Error.

Geno accepting Gaster's "deal" (from the original Aftertale comic) and what would happen afterwards.

After Aftertale (basically post-canon Aftertale shenanigans).

Geno interacting with...anybody, really.

Geno somehow finding himself in a different AU, and having to...deal with that.

Bitty Geno?

Nightmare somehow convincing Geno to join him?

Geno being combined with other, less common AU concepts. (xtale geno, dust geno, fresh geno...)

My point is, God, I'm salty about my blorbo only having shipping content. And not just the REGULAR shipping content, but SHIPPING CONTENT WITH ONLY ONE CHARACTER??? It makes me angry!!! Afterdeath shippers can still ship them, I don't have a problem with that, but I want to see other stuff when trying to find Geno content!! I've only found...what? 3 pieces of media that has a story to it, not counting the original Aftertale comic? Am I the only Geno fan that doesn't like Reaper that much?

In conclusion!!! I don't really like Reaper as much as the rest of the fandom seems to. And I think I have a decent set of reasons why. If anybody is able to make Reaper interesting to me, please do so! I want to like him more, but the aforementioned reasons prevents me from doing that.

[deadgiants]

I'll hand it to "the Hound," it gave me a lot to think about.

This has been bouncing around my skull for a few days, though it's not really something that I mentioned in the posts while reading it.

Connla's conception and death are all told in the Hound, but they're also very much changed. I do want to preface that this post is more musing than argument against the book, though I do think it shows a kinda gross through line of a very modern sexism in the story.

So in this, the moment when Connla is conceived is depicted in two tiny panels following Eva (Aife, the angicizations are awful) invading Scáthach's school because... she thinks she could teach better than Scáthach? But then she's welcomed back, so everything is cool, and her and Cú have barely implied sex. Cú leaves to go home from exile early on the next page I think (not sure that's how exile works) with the knowledge that Eva (Aife) is pregnant. Importantly though, when he leaves, all he does is give her a ring for Connla to be identified by, and instruction to send him to Ireland at some point.

The key difference here is that in the original telling (or oldest we have) CúChulainn gives these full instructions, framed as geassa;

Connla cannot turn back once he starts his journey, he must not refuse a challenge, and must never tell anyone his name.

I dont Know Bogan's mind, but it's here that I can see where he may have thought "well that makes no sense, why would he do that?" Which is fair if you don't think too long, it is a mythological telling from a culture we don'thave the full context for, but the solution he settles on is to make Eva (Aife) be the one who insists that Connla not tell his name, and that he should come to Ireland and act as aggressor, rather than simply not be able to turn down a challange. The framing makes this read as some malicious act on her part, as though making CúChulainn kill his own son is an act of vengeance for his unceremonious departure unrelated to her.

It also serves again to remove agency from CúChulainn while I think trying to humanize him. In the original he: willingly couples with her, instructs her to send Connla to him in the future, and puts these geassa on him. It gives Aife in the original test less agency for him to make these choices, but to only give women characters agency to make them temptresses, or malicious and calloused feels like a zero sum at best.

This was supposed to be a shorter post, but I haven't gotten to the thing I even really meant to yet because any analysis of this comic cascades into a half-dozen other things.

The thing I wanted to get to is, in a nutshell, CúChulainn needs to know who he's killing when he fights Connla. It may be my interpretation of the story, but from my repeated readings I think CúChulainn and Emer know who Connla is basically from the moment they arrive on the scene, and are trapped by their own laws and mores to play out the scene as if written ahead of time. This created a much more tragic scene of people who know what they are doing, and must continue to do it anyway. It also createds a much more poignant foreshadowing for CúChulainn's battle at the ford with Ferdiad where CúChulainn is in some ways put in Connla's place, knowing that he must move forward, but knowing ahead of time what it means, while Ferdiad is trapped by his society to try to kill one of his greatest loves.

If CúChulainn doesn't know at all who this random 10 year old is, then it's still a setup for the battle, but only in a thematic framing, without as much emotion.

I said before this post isn't as much about the Comic being bad as the others. And while there is something I'm going to say i. Another post following this that IS. The reason this one isn't is that I totally get these choices, or the motivation for them, I still think theyre badly thought out, because the internal logic of the story is damaged by having these characters do the same actions for different reasons, both internal and external. I can see the problem here especially of "how do you adapt this narrative for a modern audience?"

I think the answer is, don't.

Adapting the characters and changing the reasons for events that need to happen in the story in the way they did here, full of (I don't like that I keep saying modern, because it implies a fundamental difference between then and now in people hearts that I don't think exists) contemporary sensibilities, stemming from a neo-liberal society, started in the late 90's, makes the story flow naturally only if you dont think at all about how events connect. It's building a lego set but the top hald are mega bloks.

All adaptations have an element of authorship and will by their nature be personal to the time and place they are made, adaptations that try to be the exact thing are almost without fail boring and somewhat sterile. This seems to be an intentional overwrite of the original, like they were going to "fix" parts if it, and honestly if you feel like you need to fix something like folklore and mythology in order to make it good, maybe you're not the person to do that adaptation.

[evilwickedme]

What are some of your favorite books/arcs in comics?

Hello there :D you sent this the same day as that fav books ask I answered last week, so sorry for taking so long to get to this I then ALSO got the ask for beginner friendly comics and basically this is a long time coming here are a few of my favorite comics and graphic novels ever, including some repetitions from the beginner friendly ask lmao

So for Deadpool I have said this a million times and I will say this again: the 2012 run by Posehn and Duggan is fucking GOD. It's funny and witty and a little gory like any good wade comic yes, but it's also got so much heart and I love the cast and it brought in Ellie who's just fucking EVERYTHING to me. I'm also enjoying the current run of Deadpool by Alyssa Wong like no run of Deadpool since, and if you're looking for a run of marvel comics to pick up right now oh my God start there for real

Obviously another favorite is Spider Gwen - mostly the original Radioactive Spider-Gwen, but Spider-Gwen: Ghost Spider and Ghost Spider are also really good, just not quite as solid and unfortunately the story told in them gets cut off and has yet to be continued. Obviously Spider-Gwen has been a solid 15% of my personality over the past year and I literally lectured on what it has to say on the main 616 universe but I just love earth-65's versions of Gwen, Captain Stacy, Harry Osborn, Emjay, and Matt Murdock (Murderdock my beloved) soooo fucking much like everyone in this cast is fucking amazing!!! If you let me talk about Spider Gwen I probably won't shut up

Anyway another one of my favorite books is Spider Men: Worlds Collide. It collects Spider Men and Spider Men II, and it focuses on two team ups between Peter and Miles, one back when they lived in separate universes and the other after the Ultimate universe got ixnayed and Miles was transported to 616. I actually prefer Spider Men II overall, I think it's a great story and it has one of best bi!peter panels imho, but both stories are great and very recommended.

Still with Marvel, if you haven't read the 2014 Scarlet Witch run by James Robinson, oh my God you're missing out. Every issue is drawn by the a different artist, except for the last issue which is drawn by the same artist as the first, which really works cause it happened right after the magneto-isn't-her-dad retcon so she's searching for her identity. The writing is gorgeous and all of the artists do an amazing job. I showed a panel to my niece once and she hasn't shut up about it for a year, it's that pretty. So it's worth reading for the art alone, I cannot emphasize this enough, but I love the story and the use of Agatha too.

I also love love love love LOVE Alias. Can we talk about how good Alias is? I feel like people don't talk about how good Alias is enough. Like I said in my beginner's rec post, it deals with really heavy stuff, but it does it with such gravitas! I love the noir feel, I love the way the art reflects what's going on with Jessica, I love the flashbacks, I love Jessica/Luke, like everything about it is amazing.

Moving onto DC, we have to mention Watchmen since it's the first comic I ever read. Is it good? ... Like I said with the question of is it beginner friendly, I have no idea. But you asked for my favorites, and as the first comic I ever read it holds a real place in my heart. A lot of it still haunts me, honestly. Say what you will on the dark age of comic books and what it led to later, I love it.

And then ofc there's Under the Red Hood. Do I even have to say it? My obsession with Jason is as easily observed as my obsessions with Wade Wilson or any version of Gwen Stacy. This story is iconic, it's so well written, I love the art, it's fucking heartbreaking. My guys I love this story so goddamn much.

I haven't read nearly as much Superman as I'd like to - I'm working on it don't you worry - but I recently read the Death of Superman trilogy and the third book in particular, The Return of Superman - also called The Reign of the Supermen in some editions I believe - is soooooo good. I actually almost sent in a lecture just about this book instead of my lecture about Smallville, but ultimately I have more to say on Smallville so I went with that, but still. Guys, the different Supermen here, the things they represent, not to mention just how fucking great Kon is in his first appearance and how much I sympathize with Lois here - there's so much to love about this. Plus I love late '80s and '90s Superman art, there's something about that specific time period's art style that I just find hits exactly in the right spot.

Batwoman: Elegy!!! Greg Rucka my beloved <3 honestly I'm still mad I hadn't read this before I did my og comic book lecture on the Jewish nature of the medium, it's so good at representing all the ideas I was trying to put into words, but also the art and the narrative and the character it's trying to introduce all make such an impression, it's so fucking good.

Moving onto indie comics, we have to talk buffy comics. I have read a lot of buffy comics. Not even close to all of them, I fell off the wagon somewhere around mid season nine and only purchased a bit of season ten, but I still have a certain affection in my heart for season eight, since I found all of it in the second hand booth at my first ever con. I also think Angel: After the Fall is fucking excellent.

This is already too long so I'll just life a few more things here - Nimona and Lumberjanes - ND Stevenson, my guys, like they just do it every time. Giant days, paper girls, also great indie comics. There's a graphic novel called witchy I really love - I recently realized there's a vol 2 and I desperately need to read it, I genuinely just thought it ended on a cliffhanger forever.

Finally, maybe this doesn't belong on this list at all, but Maus. I feel like Maus should be required reading for every adult on the face of the earth. Obviously as a Jewish person it's particularly affecting for me, but I don't think it's a coincidence there was a recent banning of the book. It's incredibly impactful and in our times of rising antisemitism it is incredibly important as well. Do yourself a favor and read it.

Okay well that was certainly a list! Everyone, feel free to let me know how you feel about any of these or if you're planning on reading them. And thanks for asking!