#i am being harsh

[katatonicimpression]

It's the middle of the afternoon on New Year's Eve and I have fuck all to do so let's watch the Sam episode of What If?

DISCLAIMER: This is the first, and so far only, full episode of this show that I have ever watched. It did not inspire me to watch more. So, that's my bias I guess.

Background

There was some controversy about all of this. Sam appeared briefly in the zombies episode in the first season of this show. He's already a zombie and is quickly killed (re-killed?) by bucky, who makes a quip about it.

The line feels kinda off, like they're trying to recreate the banter between the characters in the live action (finding each other annoying etc) but it falls flat. There's no love there. In civil war (which takes place before the canon divergence in the show), their banter still has a level of camaraderie to it. They're riffing off each other, and fighting together and saving each other. It's weird to have bucky quip at the prospect of sam's death in a scene that takes place after those scenes.

It feels like reading one of the thousands of "incorrect quotes" posts on this app that write Bucky being horrible to Sam for no reason. It's the exact same emotional experience. Put a pin in that.

There was another controversy related to this, which is that in the same episode, Sharon also dies. Allegedly, one of the main writers (matthew chauncey) said that they should give her a particularly violent death because "no one likes her... he belongs with peggy". This is an open expression of violent misogyny so yeah that's fun. What a piece of shit... allegedly.

Sam does not appear in any other episode of what if s1. When s2 came out, his absence felt conspicuous, and many people commented on it. In particular, there's an episode of s2 that is vaguely medieval/robin-hood vibes, and Sam is noticeably absent from Steve's band of merry men. Steve's best friend, closest partner of over 50 years of comics isn't there. The falconry themed superhero is not in the medieval episode. People rightfully called bs.

The show felt similar to reading posts and fics in the fandom, and the way that people will minimise Sam's existence in Canon. Put a pin in that.

One person involved in making it (I think a writer but I can't remember and I searched for like ten minutes it's NYE gimme a break) responded publically to these complaints. They cited a supposed uncertainty over sam's future in the mcu (specifically whether he was cap or falcon) as a reason for not including him.

This was very funny, because 1) There was no ambiguity over whether Sam would be cap - it was a dead cert since Endgame what are you on? and 2) no one would've been mad if Sam had appeared as Falcon.

This response had the same vibes as when random fans say weird and ignorant things in Sam's tag and, when confronted, will offer weird excuses that don't make any sense. Pin it.

The other bit of context here is the (admittedly heavy) discussion of how What If launched Captain Carter, a decision that had to have been made around the same time that they decided to do samcap. I've talked before about this; it's complicated and the discourse is annoying. But ultimately, it comes across very badly for the mcu that they created a white female british captain america (not captain britain from Excalibur, but specifically a captain america character) specifically to launch near simultaneously with a Black captain america. It looks bad and I don't like it.

Anyway, so after this person who's name i can't find put their foot in their mouth, Marvel released a few stills from s3, revealing that Sam would be in one episode. People were happy to see him, and (aside from the VERY VALID CRITIQUE that WhatIf!Sam doesn't have the eyelashes he so clearly ought to) people were mostly placated.

The Episode

I love mark ruffalo but his voice performance in the opening scene is not it. Also the narration is mixed a lot louder than the dialogue... which is a jarringly amateur mistake. Ok whatever i'm gonna try to keep my salty complaining sam-focused

So, the show opens with a version of the opening samsteve meetcute from CATWS. But this time, without a mutual exchange of vulnerability. This time Sam is just offering Bruce comfort.

Then he literally gives him therapy.

Then he takes him to Louisiana to the boat, a redo of the sambucky scenes in tfatws. I'm not the first person to point this out, but there's a big difference here. Bucky came to louisiana uninvited with a (technically unwanted, but still very impressive) gift for Sam and then spent the day working on the boat as a gesture of friendship. He was performing acts of service (or however you express it) because he wanted to preserve and nurture this relationship. He knew he'd treated Sam badly and wanted to make it up to him.

Then, Sam invited him to stay the night (or, rather, accepts bucky's self-invitation to sleep in his house), because he's nice and welcoming and generous yes sure. But also because he likes Bucky back, despite everything. They both want to be friends and partners.

That's not happening here. It's just Sam offering Bruce his home because he is apparently motivated by a desire to help random white men he meets.

It reminds me of the countless fics and hcs that write Sam exclusively as a caretaker and therapist for bucky or other white characters. It reminds me of the takes that rewrite canon to make him be the one to pursue bucky with a desire to help and nurture him - a thing that has never happened in canon. Urgh. Pin that thought up with the others.

Oh and of course, we can't have a story about samcap without paying tribute to our holy special boy steve for a bit. Whatever it was just a few overly long shots.. still annoyed me though. Wow I really am a hater.

Oh and Bruce is the one with the arc? He's the one the episode is about? But his change of heart happens entirely off screen and with no implicit turning point? Lol. Lmao even.

And "friends who accept us for who we really are." I want to take this entire writers room aside because no. You can't end with a thesis statement that wasn't the theme of the story. Go back to school.

Am I Nothing but Negativity?

It was nice to see sarah again! Shame all she got to do was scream then get violently shoved to the floor.

Ok but in general, once the episode gets started in earnest, it's fine.

I did genuinely like seeing Sam again. I like him in the lead, even if the episode was about Bruce, Sam was still the main character and that was fun to see.

Mackie's voice performance is strong.

I enjoyed the 0.0003 seconds of sambucky. I liked seeing Sam and Monica together.

"The man wants to have tea with Lenin." This line is so bad it's good again. Yeah he probably would. And he'd be fine. Vlad would love the guy, everyone does.

I like the visual of Sam facing down a giant kaiju and just chatting to it. That's very sam coded. That and Sam with the shot of the monsters walking past him and him standing strong.

What is the Point of this Show?

There's nothing spectacular in this episode. The dialogue is astoundingly predictable, the jokes fail to be funny.

At times, the animation style (much like TDP which recently finished) feels like it's holding them back. A lot of the quieter, less actiony, shots are ugly frames with people walking less naturally than sims do. And they do have some more expressive stuff in the busier scenes, so it's not artistically empty, but it's not doing a lot for me either.

Maybe it's an interesting technique for those who know more about these things, but honestly regular 2d animation would've been (i assume) cheaper and potentially better. Then again, if it wasn't visually distinctive, what else would it have going for it?

Conceptually, a mcu what if show is an amazing idea, but in practice IN MY VERY BIASED OPINION, it's done very little with that potential. The comics offer such a rich trough of ideas that could be spun into very entertaining short episodes with versions of the characters that would otherwise not be able to encounter those story beats. Hell, Sam in particular has an entire massive part of his character cut from the mcu (his powers) that they could explore... and that would be really well suited to animation!

But they've stuck to the comparatively shallow mcu lore for most of it.

I've seen people express disappointment that it's ending after only 3 short seasons and I see why. This is obviously the sort of thing that you could do so much more with. But I also feel that the writing is uninspired and betrays a real lack of interest in the worlds of most of these characters.

I Hate its Vibes

So let's take a look at those pins, shall we?

We have:

Ignoring Sam most of the time

Mischaracterising his relationship with Bucky

Writing him as a caregiver, a nurturing therapist only

A lack of an internal world and motivations beyond his desire to help others

Ignorance over his character's history including his powers and the depth and longevity of his relationship with steve

Nonsensical excuses when faced with criticism, unintentionally displaying even more ignorance and incuriosity over the character

I mentioned that writers comment about sharon earlier for a reason. The vibes are not good. They are rancid. They are reminding me of every dumb post I've ever read on this site. Every weird jab at the character for stupid, racist reasons. Every fic with the "magical negro" trope. Every moron i can think of tbh.

Yeah, so maybe I'm not being fair to this show. The episode was uninspired, but not bad. I liked seeing sam do things. If people gif him looking cool in it, I'll reblog it I guess. But I'm not gonna watch the rest of the show, and I won't mourn the fact that it's ending.

I guess my conclusion is that it's very funny that Marvel placated disgruntled sam fans with a still from this episode, and then when it finally comes out, it's everything we've ever complained about.

[hinamie]

inflict

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

Who is this sassy lost child?

[First] Prev <–-> Next

[bread-wizards]

I actually think Dorian and Orym should fight more.

Remember when their slowly building tension over and entire episode (full of passive aggressive remarks and blame throwing) led to threats? And how after, Orym thanked Dorian for handing over the crown sadly because he knew Dorian would be mad at him? And Dorian couldn't even look at him because he was legitimately hurt, thinking Orym was disappointed in him for doing what he thought was right? That was peak.

The fact they went from that to their current closeness and trust is the best part of their entire dynamic. Their relationship was hard fought and still will be. They will fight for it because they respect and care for one another deeply, and their disagreements don't change that, only improve it.

[shitpostingkats]

Riz Gukgak and his bloody hands

SUCH a metal visual and motif. Kalina, Baron, they tease him for it, they twist it into one of his worst qualities, just as they belittle that he his heart, leverage his fear that he cannot love anyone enough.

Riz Gukgak loves. He will claw himself to shreds on love. He will dig through reality, lacerating himself on crystal, just to help his childhood friend. He will hiss at the devil, he will bite out eyes, he will do anything to help his friends feel safe. He will attempt to eat an entire dragon. Out of love for a father he barely knew.

"That’s you saying “I love you” to the people who matter to you the most."

[pangur-and-grim]

hey! i have been following your story trying to land a book deal closely and saw you've been successful so far! that s awesome, really happy for u. i'm hoping to get published too so seeking advice - do i understand correctly that instead of polishing my writting i should just dedicate my time to cultivating internet presence instead? if i got it right your follower numbers was a huge influence on gettign an agent? thanks!

I'm getting bad vibes from this ask, but I'll answer you as if it were genuine.

people in the real world do not care if you have a Tumblr blog. I got rejected by agencies and publishers 67 times, and only ended up with an agent because the guy thought my book was funny.

after I finished my book's first draft, I spent 11 months editing and revising it based on feedback from beta readers and agent rejections, draining my savings so that I could work on it obsessively, and now I'm right back in the editing/revising stage ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ I get that "lazy influencer who succeeds instantly" is a trope, but I overwork to the point of damaging my health and have found barely any success.

[elbiotipo]

Like I've always say fantasy encompasses all the possibilities of human imagination and there is no reason why you can't have a fantasy setting with magic and such in contemporary times, either on Earth (plenty of examples) or another entirely different world, but I personally refuse to get TOO close to modern day settings with fantasy because the mere suggestion of "magic and computers" reminds me of Shadowrun and Shadowrun's worldbuilding is, how can I say this without being too harsh... como pisar caca descalzo.

[3-aem]

chill tf out i was just giving an advice, you have no right to treat random ppl like that, especially when i was just trying to help. you’re a proper asshole, hope ppl realize that

who tf asked for it though

here i’ll spell it out for you since you clearly don’t understand and id like you comprehend why you giving unsolicited advice is broadly seen as entitled and a dick move by the entire creator community online: we are not an art critique circle

if your criticism ever hurts someone and stops them from wanting to draw you failed as a critiquer. your criticism wasn’t constructive it was destructive. and the chances of this happening on the internet is High.

point blank: you don’t know if someone is doing drawing something someway because they like it or not. and you voicing your opinion is thus not ‘helping’ as you so very much want to believe, it’s entitlement to think you know better.

people draw and post on here to get away from real world where critiques from ur boss or ur colleagues actually matter.

there are times where creators solicit advice or suggestions. give them there.

[so-sick-of-17]

Seriously?! There is a chat gbt Anderperry fic on ao3? Gag! Get that away from me. No one wants to see your disgusting chat gbt story. I can’t call it a work because no work was done and I can’t call it fanfic because how much of a fan could you possibly be if you don’t write it yourself!? “I wanted to see a happier ending to the movie.” There are hundreds of stories you could have picked from that a real person actually created because they care about the characters. They are all infinitely better than anything a computer could have produced because they actually have a human connection and people who actually are capable of liking the movie and the characters. That tag is my happy place and it is tainted by that monstrosity. Normally I would be incredibly annoyed no matter the fandom, but for Dead Poets Society?! Really?! The movie about how art is tied with humanity?! Did you watch the movie?! Every single character would be disgusted by the use of ai to produce art. Art doesn’t exist without humanity and some cheep to imitation is an insult to anyone that actually works to make art.

[bananafire11]

Dare i say.... royalrabbit is growing on me

[shoezuki]

have to do my final essay for my banned books class n i aint started yet n im jus tryin rn to start it. but the prompt/topic is a vague 'can books harm adults?' and i have to base my argument on one of the books we have been assigned n like

its kinda hard. because obviously i have to argue it through the lens of book banning, but so much banning is done at a school system level and sometimes public schools. and tbh like i wanna say Yes books can harm people but then what kinda harm? because the kind of 'harm' i think would be for books like manifestos or propaganda or some sorts of misinformation things.

and i COULD argue that books can 'harm' adults in terms of harm being. discomfort. but is that harm? does someone being uncomfortable with something mean it harms them? and even if i go with this concept of 'harm' being discomfort or causing people to be disgusted, possibly triggered, then i still would not argue such justifies banning books because sometimes the Purpose of books is to 'harm' people in such a way. like naked lunch or lolita.

idk im rambling. like im tryna figure out which book to base my argument on and i wanted to do american psycho but i dont have much time to read it all properly. i could do to kill a mockingbird but i dont think that really can harm an adult. maybe the bluest eye then because that one is. yeah. but i havent finished it either. ugh

[xxplastic-cubexx]

Ppl who say charles is "a piece of shit" doesn't understand that 1: characters can have NUANCE and 2: these comics have a million different writers for each run with varying degrees of quality for each character and storyline. Some writers fuck charles up bc they dont like him/dont know how to write him. And i dont count those characterizations of Charles bc the "flaws" they gave him are in bad faith interpretation of the character. Now i love me some hypocritical asshole charles but thats not the point of his character, which is that he always struggles with trying to have a peaceful outcome which sometimes in order to get that, you have to be a manipulative asshole to bring the peace. Doesn't mean you have to like doing it either (subconsciously is a different story for a different time)

(Also sorry for giving you a wall of text lol i love your art hope you're doing well)

its just especially Interesting with charles because it's not as if Every Other Character is perfect and saintly and has never made a mistake. like i think everyone understands these characters have nuance and they'll never act 100% in the right, its only really with charles that i see people blow up his mistakes (and sometimes misinterpret his actions if not outright make up Bad Things hes done) and act as if he's ONLY ever done wrong and EVERY action he's done was done with evil or misguided intentions

[muzsmocsing]

Peerless Confusion: the ending of svsss book 3

One second we're in a collapsing cave trying to remove Xin Mo's influence in the most painful way one could think of, causing everyone involved severe emotional AND physical damage. Then I turn the page and boom, it's sunshine and rainbows on Cang Qiong Mountain. Everyone is alive and well the world is restored and the suddenly happy couple rides off into the sunset. Genuinely, from the bottom of my heart, what the fuck happened??

[weaponizedmoth]

The Rite of Spring, Sacrifice.

[cripplepunkbarbarian]

Thinking about how Doorman is probably the reason that Francisco is so adamant in his dehumanization(?) of spirits and insistence that relying on them is a childish weakness to be outgrown.

And also how that precanon dynamic between their respective mentors has had an effect on both Isabel and Isaac as individuals plus (subsequently) Isaac’s overall view of Isabel.

Anyways. It’s like 1am as I make this, aka missing them hours apparently.

[kuromi-hoemie]

my friend asked if i would consider us to be in a qpr like sir... i don't know how u feel about me or us in general, and i asked, and am waiting for a response but now i can't think about anything else until i hear back