#i do not know the plot of this comic at all i literally just hunted this down so i could source it

[xxplastic-cubexx]

charles and erik h*lding h*nds before getting executed in that one comic :/

girl i CANNOT stand them THEY ARENT EVEN IN THIS RUN BESIDES THIS

(Secret Empire #10)

[somerandomdudelmao]

so I often think about the concept of good and evil, and how it’s so human. How it fits the majority’s mentality and morality. And I just think it fits so well with Ecliptica and the other aliens on their ship (forgive me I forgot what their alien name). Cause the thing is, they aren’t human. They’re aliens from another planet. For all we know they might have different organs and stuff too. Who’s to say their morals are the same as ours? I feel like Oscar kind of figured this out in his own weird way, kind of just a quick “uh oh” moment for him. But the concept of good and evil is a human construct. Not alien. It’s obvious and shows just beautifully in your comic. the lack of empathy towards other races, the toying with their prey and feeling just because they can? They don’t see that as a problem. They don’t see that as bad. They see that as another day on the ship, they see that as having a fun hunting trip. They see that as a regular boring day where they do what they usually do. They don’t think they’re the bad guys and it shows. They are creatures with a big ego, deciding they are a superior race, and they think that’s all a good thing. And god it’s so cool. in fact, I bet they have their own versions of good and bad, which is actually so cool because what is their society really like?? What are common things they do? How many planets have they devistated without a single care?

anyway your comic is literally so cool and uh. Sorry for the rant lol

Oh my gosh, I absolutely love this ask. Thank you mcnfjfj. I have a little separate plot planned about the Marmor culture and their idea of right and wrong, evil and good. A little episode about their home planet and society.

[sualne]

I am vibrating over so many ideas for the vita carnis au ok like

Is luffy mimic just generally different or did laws encounter with the harvester kinda do something odd to him? Cuz I can think of messed up little ideas like how the carnis all seems to be connected (not a full hive mind but linked) from what we know so far so did law loose enough of himself to the harvester and get out alive (which just doesn’t happen) he’s not viewed as external anymore? Because that is a fun idea that over paranoid forever law is the only one who is exempt and will never figure that out.

Or another fun idea is that in escaping the harvester or conversely lost something TO law like I dunno, a small sliver of itself so once again law is just a non entity now compared to a target.

Fun enough idea but there’s something also creepy about luffy being a new subspecies of mimic who act more like scouts not just imitating to hunt but to LEARN

I need more ok I need more of this au

anon my beloved, my fucking beloved you can’t go around guessing my plot twists like that lmao im so happy but yeah!!! it’s still vague cause i’ve only been half thinking about it for a week but yea that’s kind of the idea!

the carnis are interested in law because he miraculously escaped that one encounter, his arm got eaten/absorbed like the rest of his family, it’s all gone, but law still has some of the harvester in him! not a lot, probably not detectable but the carnis know. that’s partly why neither mimic doflamingo or mimic luffy have any intention of killing him, they know he’s not a carnis but they can also tell there’s something carnis in him, it weird them out! it’s curious! so mimic luffy wants to know/observes law.

i think mimic luffy is a regular mimic but it’s a young one that doesn’t have a lot of experience impersonating people so he gets things wrong and is a bit slow. lowkey I wanted to have him be a representation of sort (including actual luffy) if not specifically autism masking but generally the feeling that you exist wrong and need to remind yourself to act human, that weird barrier and exclusion/isolation. having real luffy being a grieving self isolating guy who disappeared without anyone’s notice to be replaced by a more literal representation of his inner feelings but this time people actually like him even though they can't tell it isn’t him.

except law who one day had A Feeling that something was deeply wrong but still has no idea when it happened. and only starts taking interest in luffy now that’s he’s dead.

also about that comic, i wanted to show that law knew luffy’s laugh even if they weren’t friends/didn’t talk much but the monster that stalked and studied him specifically to impersonate him didn’t know what his laugh sounded like.

[boonalina]

is your Successor au inspired by @kyri45 's Bio Dads au? when I read it I noticed some similarities. BTW no hate if it is! it's completely fine if it's inspired!

or well, I guess the only similarity is the fact that in both the aus, Wukong and Macaque are somehow Mk's biological parents.

Ehh... no and yes..

No because: me and a lot of older fans were already thinking for a while that Mk had a lot of similarities to Wukong and Macaque. Mk being shadowpeach's kid has been a head-canon since WAY before the Bio Dads au was even a thing. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love kyri's au, but let's be real here, they're definitely not the first person to create that head-canon, and they probably know that too.

-

Yes because: I did already head-canon the "Mk being their kid" before reading kyri's comic, HOWEVER, it was indeed their comic that inspired that part of my Successor AU. ('That part' being that they're his biological parents in my AU as well.) But for the most part, my AU is very much different from kyri's.

Cuz I mean, like you said, "the only similarity is the fact that in both the aus, Wukong and Macaque are somehow Mk's biological parents." Well.. that and the spicynoodles aspect.

-

But like, if I were to do a Venn-diagram of the similarities and differences between the Bio Dads AU and my Successor AU, the similarities would literally just be:

>Wukong and Macaque are Mk's biological parents >There are spicynoodles implications

And then the differences would be too much to count. I mean, for starters, they don't even take place in the same timeline. Kyri's takes place in the modern time while mine takes place in ancient times. But the plots overall are just completely different lol.

-

I mean truthfully, my AU is a lot more inspired by the Yandere Wukong AU by @lopsushi . A lot more similar than the Bio Dads one but still very different. I saw their AU and thought "Hey, I like shadowpeach, I also like possessive Wukong. But I also really enjoy the DarkHorse duo.. Hmm what do to.. Oh I know! I'll combine all the head-canons I like into my own AU!"

(And yes, I will admit that the wrist circlets in my Successor AU were a bit inspired by the neck circlet that Macaque wears in the Yandere AU.)

-

It was also a bit inspired by the Coldest Winter AU, what with Wukong hunting down and searching for Macaque. But I'm pretty sure Coldest Winter isn't even a shadowpeach AU lol.

-

ANYWAY!! Sorry for the rambling and the long answer! I've actually had some paranoia that people would think I copied other AU's so I'm glad I get to air this out finally. Just remember people, being inspired by something is NOT the same as copying.

You wouldn't look at The Owl House and say "hey! You copied Harry Potter!" now would you? No, of course not. You would say "Hey, I can tell this is inspired by Harry Potter."

Thanks for taking the time to read.

~Boonalina

[explodingchantry]

hi sorry to come into your inbox for this but i just need. to gripe. every new bit of info we get about the new DA game is making me more and more preemptively tired lol. mostly the way it's looking like eeevery bit of lore that's been revealed has something to do with such and such book. or this comic over here. or this podcast from two years ago. or THIS podcast that is happening now that's a ~discord exclusive~. or this youtube series. or this random VA talk show. etc etc ad nauseam. i am so tired of videogames coming with HOMEWORK you're expected to do just to know what's going on

Please never apologise for sending messages!!

I think its honestly REALLY funny how bioware just doesn't know what it wants. On one hand they say that the new game is fine for newcomers, the way they did for dai, and use this as an excuse for how dumbed down some of the writing is - but then in the other hand the majority of the characters and plot beats have origins hidden behind pay walls.

It was already bad enough when, to understand each game properly you had to have paid for the previous one's dlc (want to know anders' past as a warden? Buy awakening! Want to know wtf is up with Morrigan and the eluvians? Buy witch hunt! Want to know who tf corypheus is and what hawke and varric even have to do with him? Buy legacy! Want to understand ANYTHING about veilguard? Play the descent AND trespasser, our epilogue that we hid behind a paywall!!!!!) and you know at least the dlcs were pretty good on their own so I could forgive it a little bit.

But there's so much extra media now omg I haven't touched a single one of the comics because I'm not rly into American comics, I've read almost all the books and some of them are genuinely fucking mid. And at least back in the day the books were more... Bonuses? You DONT need to read the stolen throne to understand anything on the games, but it's INTERESTING. it explores characters you mightve been curious about. I love that ! Or the last flight is really interesting, just, to see how the 4th blight was beaten, to get to know those legendary heroes, and know why griffons went extinct. A bit annoying because you do need to read it to also understand how the hell they're coming back - but it still feels a bit more like a bonus than a necessity.

But then we have asunder, which also in general just kinda sucks as a book, that is really really needed to understand the mage rebellion, Fiona, Cole, and the cure for tranquility. The characters will explain a lot of those things to you in game, but it leaves you with the certain feeling that you're missing something. It's a huge advertisement for asunder.

Similarly wicked eyes and wicked hearts is hollow if you haven't read the masked empire which is also my least favorite book because it's so damn fucking boring I literally never managed to finish it, but it's mostly because I hate Trick Weekes' writing lmfao. Gaider was wildly misogynistic but my god at least he was entertaining as a writer whenever he didn't butcher female characters.

That's two major plot beats in inquisition that require reading one of the books. And ofc it's major villain and another major plot beat that require having played the previous game's dlc to properly understand.

And since then we've had so much more. I don't know. It's just complicated because I *like* book characters showing up and the books having importance in the sense that, I like reading and I'm a lore nerd lol. But I think there's a lot of frustration to be had as to the sheer quantity of extra media you need to consume if you want to be invested in the story. Because you could say "well just don't buy them then" but I LIKE dragon age, it's story, and plot, but omg some of the books and comics are also so hard to find and so EXPENSIVE. I think tevinter nights costs like 20£ if you want it on paperback rather than Kindle, and don't get me started on the dozens of comics.

At least the podcasts and discord only content isn't nearly as offensive, imo, because they're free. But also there's another issue with all of this extra content - it's that it doesn't get fucking translated. Not often, anyway. Not in as many languages as the games do. That means there are many, many many many players and fans who are just not allowed to learn more about their favorite game series because they don't speak English, because theyre not rich enough to buy 10 books and 20 comics. It feels a bit wrong

[tanadrin]

today was the whole-trilogy extended editions we-die-like-riders-of-rohan-in-a-26-degree-movie-theater marathon of lord of the rings, and i gotta say watching these movies two decades later,

they're still delightful

it's funny how they seem more and more an artifact of the period they were produced in (not in a bad way, mind)

it is annoying how little peter jackson trusts his audience. like. all major landmarks have to be within line of sight of each other. voice overs have to unambiguously lampshade every plot beat that was foreshadowed earlier in the movie. gandalf all but literally says at the end of the two towers "see you next time in... return of the king!" moments in the books that are already hella cinematic like the paths of the dead have to punched up just a little extra, like with an indiana jones skull slide. and it's just not necessary! trust your audience!

you can really tell what dialogue is from the books, and what dialogue is original attempts at tolkien pastiche, because even if you don't know the books encyclopedically, the walsh-boyens-jackson team is just. not at all up to doing the pastiche well. this isn't counting the lines that are absolutely cringe, like "let's hunt some orcs." or all of gimli's dialogue. god they do gimli so dirty turning a prince of the dwarves into the drunken comic relief.

when did we decide all dwarves were scottish, and they all used the same vaguely modernist angular architecture? i think it was before lord of the rings. was it in the 90s? the 80s?

was the Tomato Incident a spontaneous choice by john noble or a directorial decision? did they have to do multiple takes?

it's so fun watching these movies in theaters now because the bits that gets everyone to laugh or cheer are the ones that have seeped into pop culture in weird ways. "they're taking the hobbits to isengard," of course. "po-ta-toes." but also just aragorn kicking the helmet got a big giggle from the audience, because everyone was Thinking The Thing.

some extremely committed soul came in cosplay, with a thick elven-style cloak and everything, despite the fact it was unusually hot today and the Babylon's ac was not coping well. i don't know how they survived. i hope they survived?

[fishsticksloser]

Can i request a funny platonic one-shot of rottmnt of leo and his little sister? (Mutant ninja turtle too at the age of properly 10).

Plot: so the plot is about the brothers, whenever there's a long, difficult mission they're about to have, one of the brothers must stay and babysit reader because 1, splinter is old and he pass out after milk and cake (and reader knows that) and 2, of how active she is; like she literally can run for hours, jump and do flips like there's no tomorrow, and today was leo's turn.

All leo did was leaving his sister unattended form 5 to 15 minutes just to read JJ comic book while she was watching MLP, turned out she went out of the lair and if raph caught a whiff of what happened leo won't live to see the next day, so now Leo is on a crazy goose chase to hunt his sister down who was running around New York City from rooftop to rooftop and from car to car.

And trust me when i say this; his mystic power and pun jokes aren't enough to stop reader.

Portal Kombat

Leo + gn!reader

Warnings: really bad puns, swearing, Leo centered 2nd person, this is kinda short

A/N: I don't know what it was about this, but I was having so much trouble writing this... :)

Previous  |  Next

"No one leaves. Right, Leo?" Raph gives Leo a look, eyebrows raised.

"Yes... No one leave..." Leo rolls his eyes, turning away from his older brother. Leo sighs exasperatedly. The other 3 brothers then left for patrol, leaving Leo and you at the lair. "Alright, Superstar, ready to watch My Little Pony?"

Both of you cheer as you make your way to the movie room, Splinter had already retired to bed. Leo put My Little Pony on for you, chilling on the couch with a Jupiter Jim comic. He zoned out as he read. After a while, he realized he was hungry so he sat up and put down the comic.

"Alright, Bee, time for dinner." He says, standing. "What do you wa-"

You weren't sitting where he left you anymore. He immediately ran around the lair, searching for the small turtle. He yelled your name, searching everywhere, until he saw the lair door open.

"Fuck me..." He groans. Leo quickly grabs his katanas and runs out the door. He makes his way topside and onto a roof only to see you talking with pigeons. "You know... Pigeons make terrible counselors..."

"What?" You ask looking at Leo, only to realize your mistake as a smile spread across his face.

"They can't stand the emotional bird-en." He smirks. Leo watches you, amused, as he watches you run off. He sees you jump to the next roof and quickly follows. He portals and ends up in front of you, you stop before you make it to him. "Damn... I forgot the next pun – do you have something to jog my memory?"

You quickly run away again, jumping from roof to roof. You hear Leo running behind you. You see a flash of blue and he's next to you suddenly.

"Would this be considered Portal Kombat?" He asks, laughing. You shove him and he falls into another one of his portals and is on the other side of you. "Portal Kombat II?"

"Leo!" You yell, changing directions again to get away from him. You fall through one of his portals, landing on your butt in front of him.

"Portal Kombat: Conquest!" Leo grabs your arm, pulling you up. Leo drags you back to the lair, pushing you onto the couch, a hand on his hip in disappointment. "Are you terra firma? Because you're grounded..."

[the-sinful-voice-witch]

SONAMY ongoing evolution

I've been playing Sonic frontiers and I watched Sonic prime and I read the IDW comics... Omg where's do I start???

Sonic frontiers is just a work of art in general, but the sonamy inside is just beautifully portrayed, I can say that Ian Flynn totally ships them 😌😌. I'm just so utterly happy how things had changed even if it took so many years

Sonic changed a lot his perception of Amy! 🥲🥲🥲 Also the detail of the umbrella line, remember that sonic was created in Japan, say fellow anime fans what does usually means when two characters share an umbrella? What does it mean when students in Japan draw an umbrella in the blackboard with two names written under it? It is clear that Ian Flynn totally knows the meaning and the MUSIC! Seriously those scenarios with Amy and that music felt like it came right out of a shojo anime😖😖😖💗💗

But also the feels... THE FUCKING FEELS!! The way Amy is kind of too calm with her situation but Sonic is just so worried and you could tell how worried he was even if he tried to play it cool... His expressions girl... Look at him with his cute ears dropped 🥲🥲🥲 Guys this game fed us good stuff... We shippers finally got what we had always wanted.

Next topic: Sonic Prime.

So I'm a bit conflicted, cause i only liked one of Amy's different designs and that was Thorn Rose, I'm obsessed with her hair but dude Rusty Rose? That could have been better... Also why Rusty Rose and not Metal Rose? Cyborg Rose? Badnik Rose? Mecha Rose? Robot Rose? Rusty sounds a bit degrading... It is because she was made like that by the Egg council? Pff also her robot appearance is just so ugly! What with that eye? But I love the dark concept and I love her SASS 🤣🤣🤣🤣Anyway my problem with Rusty Amy and Sonic is that it feels like the situation is not treated nearly as serious as Nine situation and boy ok you are a hurt loner with bully victim issues but Amy is basically dead, like there's no flesh or organs in her, she literally has a Birdy as a source of life and what is the outcome of that? Is there another outcome different from Gamma's fate in sonic adventure? Because the second Amy gets back her emotions she will want to release the bird... But more importantly... I can't wait to see Shadow react to her... This is the girl that reminded him of Maria, i really shouldn't but I really have high expectations for what kind of interaction will they have, we really need to see Shadow and Amy interact more let's be honest. As for the other Roses, there's no much to say about Black Rose but with Thorn we got good stuff too:

But I have to say one thing... Ok I know Amy is a strong power character but... It's a bit ridiculous that she could fight off characters like Rouge and Knuckles THAT EASY is just...🙃🙃🙃 Well i loved the part when he tries to reason with her all like: you liked me... A bit? Remember? And she is just so irritated and done with him already 🤣🤣🤣 but then... We also got this:

Actually touch her cheek you COWARD!!😤😤 Also when he was about to smash her and but stopped because he has a flashback of his Amy 😭😭😭, it's curious that Thorn Rose seems to be more impactful in Sonic than Rusty Rose which is ok but is odd plot speaking, after all Rusty is the one in the worst condition and is the one hunting him down, I'll just wait for next season and see what happens

And last but not the least I Shall say something about THIS!!

This illustration hit me right in the kokoro, date with hands holding and Sakura petals... is pure shojo manga energy!! I'm so blessed 😭😭💗💗

And of course the important reminder that Amy is a POWER CHARACTER and that's why she and knuckles make a good POWER SIBLINGS team as I stated in their own post about them... And dear Silver fucking gave her a COLOSSAL hammer 😂😂😂do not mess with the pink hedgehog buddy, and of course Sonic knows exactly how awesome she is as it should be, seriously she is really getting better and better, i really hope we'll see her in the next movie

[redrikki]

Teen Wolf Rewatch - Season 1 Review

Season 1 of Teen Wolf serves the same blend of camp, horror, and teenage coming of age drama as my youthful fav Buffy the Vampire Slayer, but by making the monster the protagonist, it changes it up in interesting ways. Scott is a fascinating choice for the lead, not just cause he's a werewolf, but because he's not a hero. He doesn't want to be there, he's only involved in the plot to protect himself from it. He's the victim of people who would be the heroes of monster hunting shows like BtVS and Supernatural or the antihero protagonists of a roaring rampage of revenge film. Making Scott the main puts Teen Wolf into interesting conversation with those other genres and shows.

This season does a good job of setting out the themes that will define the rest of the series. Revenge is an open spiral of destruction. Monster is as monster does. Power is an obligation to act and the pursuit of power hurts everyone including you. Poor communication kills. Violations of characters bodily autonomy and mind makes for compelling suffering.

Returning to season 1 and reminding myself of where Scott started gives me more appreciation for where he ends up. He changes so much! Yes, he's still a dorky sweetheart, but his priorities are radically different. Season 1 Scott is a selfish, immature child. He refuses to give up a sport he loves and worked hard on just because playing endangers himself and everyone around him. He plans to kill a man, not for justice or to protect, but so he doesn't have to live with lycanthropy. That's a far cry from season 6 Scott who gives up college to protect Beacon Hills and tries to save the lives of his enemies. Insert that's growth.gif here.

Hey, you know who else in season 1 is selfish and immature? Literally all of them! Stiles is out here living his Hardy Boys/comic book fantasy with zero thought as to the impact of his adventures on everyone else. Allison is so desperate to be strong she's putting arrows into people over it. Derek is so into his trust issues he alienates everyone who might have willingly helped him by trying to intimidate and manipulate them into it. Lydia is using her "friends" and cutting off bits of herself for just a sliver of validation and do not gets me started on Jackson. They all grow so much from here and I'm looking forward to watching it all over again!

Scott/Allison is central to the season, but I was kind of cold on it until the last episode. As an aromantic asexual, I have been bewildered, bored, and exasperated by teen romance drama since I was a teen. It doesn't help that their relationship isn't based on anything more solid than lust. Scott needs Allison to feel normal and in control at a time when he has none, but he doesn't trust her enough to share what he's going through or respect her enough to make informed decisions about her safety or their relationship. It isn't until the moment in the season finale where he trusts her to help him fight Peter and where she knows what he is and decides to love him anyway that I really started to ship it.

The vibes on this show are impeccable, but the cracks in the writing are already starting to show. There's all these continuity errors. When was the fire? How many died? What classes are the kids in again? And don't even get me started on the timeline. This show desperately needed a show bible, but whatever I guess.

[nerdby]

So the new Deadpool & Wolverine trailer was released.

There have been some people saying that -- surprise, surprise -- the TVA is going to be a villain in the movie and I'm not sure why but they seem confused about why the TVA would be villains.

Peeps, the TVA are cops and they're probably the most accurate depiction of cops in the history of copaganda.

Like they spend the ENTIRE first season of Loki trying to kill a very obviously trans-coded Sylvie -- literally hunting her down to kill her. If y'all don't know nothing about that ya need to Google Trans While Walking laws in the US. It literally lets the cops arrest ANY trans people they think could be sex workers. New York was one of the first states to repeal the law in 2019. But it's not just Sylvie, the TVA is after -- they just straight up MURDER anyone who steps out of line in ANY timeline EVER.

And in season two they commit MASS GENOCIDE against hundreds of thousands of variants in branched timelines for no fucking reason. Just because they existed.

"Oh but Milo the thing was melting down--"

Yes, and that was proven to be a completely moot point because even after they fixed the thingamajig -- I forgot the name and I don't have Disney+ right now -- it STILL fucking melted down because of Kang bullshit.

"Oh but Milo remember when Loki became Yggdrasil?"

Yes, Milo remembers Loki becoming the God of stories and custodian of the multiverse. That's the actual term from the comics. It's not the same thing as being a janitor. Exactly....? Cause his job is kinda to just be there and make sure things don't get tangled up and fucked up so....Huh. Is Loki a janitor?🤔

Welp, I'm sure that'll offend some batshit fanperson somewhere.

You know what else Milo remembers?

When Loki went back and saved the bad cops who committed MASS GENOCIDE and recruited them to work for the TVA again. And also that by the end of the second season the TVA's job was to observe and intervene to prevent -- basically they're the fucking thought police. Literally.

They might be worse than the fucking cops -- the TVA might as well just be the Marvelverse version of the fucking CIA. TVA. CIA. Why am I just now noticing this?😶 Anyway, there are whole ass lists of history books -- nonfiction -- and documentaries about why the CIA are terrorists so....

But getting back to DP & Wolvey....

The second season of Loki was basically -- the plot was a metaphor for the importance of police reform, right? But here's the thing we need to remember about TVA agents: They're only humans. Some of whom are perfectly okay with committing widespread, mass genocide and I don't know if we're gonna see Loki in DP & Wolvey, but I feel like that Loki might maybe be sitting on his Yggdrasil throne going,

"Son of a bitch -- Sylvie was right. You people are just infuckingcapable of not being terrorists."

Hopefully cause I swear to fucking fuck if I have to see Loki defending the CIA -- even though he can be a little delusional at times so it wouldn't exactly be out of character -- I will just not be okay. I will set the fucking cinema on fire. Not really but I will fantasize about it🤣

And that's why I think we're gonna see them turn on Wade and Logan, though. Because the good eggs are just outnumbered by the bad eggs unfortunately. The TVA is gonna use Wade to do their dirty work and just be like

Anyway, I'm sorry my thoughts are kind of all over the place right now. I might be moving soon and I'm kinda manic right now. I don't know why I'm telling you that😂

[funkygaypeopleinmyphone]

Nothing gets me into a fiery rage more than thinking about 343 has handled the Halo series after Bungie left it off on such a high note. 1, 2 and 3 were good, ODST and Reach were godlike, and they expanded on the universe quite a few times with books and comics and all that. And then 343 came in and just completely gumbled most of it up. CEA was cool, but basically just kitbashed Reach and upscaled Halo 3 assets together and lost some of the original touch the game had back in 2001.

Halo 4 was, ok? The best part was Cortana's story, going into more depth about rampancy and how it affects AI, especially one that we've known and loved for over a decade at that point. The Forerunners were fucking stupid personally, it's hinted to and LITERALLY SAID IN HALO 3, that humans are forerunners, just after the shitshow that was all the rings firing off. 343 Guilty Spark literally says that Chief is a forerunner, and then they just whipped it around and said "well actually he's a reclaimer because blablabla" ok whatever, they do flesh it out more in expanded works and explain it in Halo 4 so atleast theres that. Del Rio is an asshole to the savior of humanity for no reason. The sudden art style change that makes no sense is stupid, like you could've delayed the change until the Infinity rolled around. The Diadact is just space voldemort turning humanity into NFTs after being on r/nofap for 100,000 years, who then dies pretty unceremoniously to a shit ass grenade in a quick time event.

Halo 5 is.... fucking just Halo 5. The Cortaba story is so bad, why did you bring her back as an antagonist? Why didn't you stick to the marketing that was actually a really cool idea about Chief going rogue and hunting the truth. Where are the Marines? Why do I have to fight the Warden Eternal like 20 times? Better balancing than 4 i guess, but god the plot is just all over the place. And that fight scene with Chief, Chief was abducted as a child and forced into the spartan program and trained to be a cold brutal killer of the UNSC's foes. Without Mjolnir armor he straight up merked 2 ODSTs in hand-to-hand combat. This 7-foot-augmented-out-the-ass man had an equal match in a mass produced Spartan 4? Sure Locke is ONI so he's got some spice to him and he's still a Spartan wearing similar armor to Chief, but come on, you can't tell me a guy who saves humanity for breakfast is on a similar level to Halo Nightfall guy.

Infinite is strange. They basically drop Halo 5's characters for the most part, give Chief new (remastered Mk.6) armor, bring back older models of guns and stuff with a new coat of paint (Reach AR, Battle Rifle, now the DMR) and blow up Cortana and the Infinity within the first like, 30 minutes of the game. Ooooo the Banished except wait after Atriox's not-death they're pretty incompetent and are gettinf roflstomped by Chief and are really only good at killing UNSC off screen. The open world shit was ok, but for Halo i dont think its entirely the best idea to go for whatever Far Cry ass shit they pulled. Bringing back the old designs was really cool and much better than the sterile, clean, sharp edges of 4 and 5. Their armor and weapons looked like brand new toys while Infinite's look more realistic and have a bit more wear and tear to em. But its also missing a ton and just kind of ends off on a weird half note for the story. Like where are they gonna go with this? Idk, its just weird.

343, make more stories without Chief. I know Chief is the figurehead of the franchise, but for god's sake please please please make side stories in the universe. I want to see how humanity recovered after the war, how the different species in the Covenant took the end of the war. Exploring Forerunner sites? Side stories in the human-covenant war with ODSTs and Marines! You could totally make the Harvest campaign into a game! Give us the origin story for Sgt Johnson and how he and others did during the opening months of the conflict! Give us more on the Insurrection! You've done it before, Halo Forward Unto Dawn was actually a really cool movie, why don't you do some more stuff like that??

Idk, I love Halo but 343 gotta step their game up

[semi-sketchy]

#i do hope this arc doesn't go with whisper apologizing and tangle being justified if she really was trying to “honor the old team” #i'd rather it went into a “i don't hate you i'm just upset with you” angle #let whisper be angry and upset #let tangle know why #please don't push whisper to say she was wrong for being upset #i say that because i don't actually trust it not to go that way

Welp.

Aight issue 58 leaked and I'm actually gonna take a swing at this comic now because I genuinely did not think it could get to this level of bad. Like not even just the senseless Tangle and Whisper drama, the whole arc so far is just flat out bad and I wanna unpack it.

1. Tangle and Whisper drama

Let's get the elephant out of the way first.

This was dumb and had absolutely no point whatsoever.

All this leads to is Whisper apologizing for...not helping everyone and being a bad teammate?

Because yes, throughout this arc she has totally been uncooperative and not helping the team at all!

Oops.

Even in the context of the previous issues, she went off on her own to hunt Mimic again, fearful he'd hurt her friends to get to her even though she already went through that whole shtick and then she fought Surge to try and protect a town.

Please, tell me more about how she was being selfish and "not helping anyone."

This is not an empowering moment. This is an embarrassment, both to Whisper and Tangle. This has fully turned me off from Tangle.

Her side of the apology basically boils down to "I'm upset that you're upset at me, I did what I did to help us" complete with waterworks, leading to Whisper being like "no, no, you were right, I'm sorry for being triggered, I need to get over my trauma" and that is just manipulative. Top it off with Tangle NEEDING to be told what was wrong when she had a VISUAL REACTION upon seeing how affected Whisper was, and that just makes Tangle a bad friend.

You can have messy apologies in writing, it's more realistic and interesting for characters to have faults, but this whole thing was written around Whisper being in the wrong when she really didn't do anything. Seriously she gets about three pages dedicated to her apologetic speech while Tangle gets two panels.

And again, that's all that comes of this. It only serves as a do-over on Whisper's growth from their mini series. It has no effect on anything else. This was pointless to include and just wastes time.

2. The city expanding is solved way too quickly, for the convenience of the reader and not for the plot

This is actually the exact same problem I had in Frontiers. All concepts of mystery and suspense are thrown out the window just to feed exposition to the reader/player.

This is it. They come to a conclusion as out there as "the city is alive" with clues as shaky as it's bigger and the damage from weeks ago has been fixed. No build up. No evidence. They don't have to work for the information. That wild idea is just accepted.

I take pot shots at Xenoblade 3 for lacking build up, and I can't believe I'm saying this, but I have to give that game a bit of credit because at least there everyone needed some form of confirmation before accepting a concept as weird as there being two Noahs.

This type of writing does not serve the plot or characters. It's just a quick and frankly lazy way to give the reader context. If you can't make the reveal/realization of the information your plotline revolves around even feel earned, you've failed your job as a writer.

3. Sonic has to be taught the power of friendship and teamwork.

Sonic T. Hedgehog actually learns it's good to work with others. Something he's literally been doing this entire comic. Like please name a single time he hasn't been working with at least some part of his ensemble to complete a goal.

I suppose it's trying to be a response to this line from the previous issue, however Sonic never suggested going at it alone. He literally said they should work as a team and get the job done together.

This isn't even a case of "play the games" because it doesn't bother being consistent with itself.

4. Why is Sonic deferring to Lanolin

Does everyone forget this is a part of Sonic's character?

But it's because she's the next Sally stand-in. That's why he's tolerating her scolding and following her orders. Forget the fact that she's the least experienced one on this team and knows it herself, this mission was her idea so clearly she's in charge!

I don't dislike Lanolin and frankly I don't really care that Flynn is trying to find someone to make the new de facto Sally, better Lanolin than Amy in my books. However, this bossy bitch attitude is pretty far removed from when we last saw her. She was more easily startled, a bit submissive yet still kind and courteous.

Really not the type of person I'd expect to be saying things like this.

And therein lies the problem. By trying to make different characters into Sally, it erases what personality they had before that was arguably more interesting. If they want to say Lanolin just changed and grew into this, then they should've given us some indication.

I said before what makes a new character compelling is seeing how Sonic inspires them, but we don't get to see that journey with Lanolin because it's glossed over in a small summary.

Well, maybe her character arc is just kicking off, she is still jumpy and breaks down after they fell in the portal, after all. Maybe the whole boss-man routine is just a facade and Sonic will offer her encouragement and teach her it's better to be true to yourself, giving her the confidence to lead her own way– oh, nope. That's Tangle.

Where the hell does Sonic fit into this universe if none of these OCs really need him for anything?

5. The great OC debate

I've already said my peace about why I'm not fond of the huge focus on OCs in IDW, so I won't repeat myself here.

Part of me gets it, there's less restrictions on entirely new characters than there are on the pre-established game cast. Of course, those restrictions –or "mandates" as they've been coined– exist for a reason and should really only be a constant hurdle if you refuse to learn, both from your own mistakes and other official media.

If you are frequently getting notes about your portrayal of a character that is not yours, the fault lies with you and not the person giving you the notes.

Creating a bunch of characters as a way to get around that process does nothing to address the actual issue.

Of course, I've seen it said with this arc, "stop complaining about all the OCs, a bunch of the game cast is coming in soon, so just wait!" Oddly enough, that's another issue I'm having with this arc and the comic in general.

I am frankly fatigued by the amount of times they mash tons of characters together for a big ol' Avengers-style gig. Is it too much to ask that some of the extended cast that aren't named Tails get used in smaller, more personal ways rather than giant team ups?

We've gotten some of those, don't get me wrong. It's been a bit since the last huge cast clash, but it's just not something I'm itching to see again, especially after the story has revolved around OCs like Belle and Surge for awhile. I want more small-group adventures with the game cast so they can truly be utilized in a meaningful way.

6. There's too many big subjects fighting for space on the page

The Diamond Cutters fiasco played no role in anything, partly because there just didn't appear to be time to show it actually causing any tension. Lanolin's introduction and self-doubt as a leader comes and goes very quickly without any build up or foreshadowing. The expanding city, while being the main focus, is figured out way too fast on loose clues. They try to teach Sonic a "lesson" but it never actually bothers to show him having issues with that subject.

Everything is rushed and not getting enough time to fully cook, causing pacing problems. There's already this many things competing for focus and they're just gonna throw more characters at it. That's not gonna solve the issue. All of these points should be significant to the story, yet they are condensed to hell and no part of this plot is actively being played up in the slightest.

I'll be honest, I don't know if I even want to bother with this comic anymore. I liked Scrapnik Island, but I am just growing tired of the mainline stuff. I didn't even bother reading #57 until the leaks happened, my dash blew up and I went "SURELY there's some context in #57" only to find there was none. We're only two issues in and this arc is already suffering with pacing problems and has shown no redeeming qualities.

If this is the quality they've settled for so far, then I'm scared what they're gonna do with Team Dark.

[crystal-wingeddragon-spikes]

What is your opinion on Danny Phantom: A Glitch in Time?

Seeing, its positive reception, I am a little worried to say I don't like it.

[Spoiler]

There is so many concept to explore about Danny Phantom post-Phantom Planet, but this comic decided to focus on one of the most popular fan favourite story, Dark Danny from the future. (I know he was supposed to return for the series finale before Butch Hartman wanted the series to be lighter). And it does so while also adding sub-plots of Vlad/Dark Danny redemption, and (on a lesser degree) Ghost King. All of these are popular points that I do not care for.

It is truly a waste that it did not explore what possible deal Vlad had with Fright Knight. There is only one dialogue saying that the deal was off.

It is kind of too blatant with its fan service. I know the saying, "Let's pretend Phantom Planet did not exist." and this comic executes it literally.

It is an excuse to reset the universe and resume the status quo of the show. I know this show is inspired by Spider-man, but why follow this universe resetting gimmick.

I never like time travel story for this reason.

Also, I think the angst of Danny's parents hunting him down is getting tiring. By season 3 we and Danny should have already known that if they ever find out, they'd still love him. If memory serves, it is in "Masters of All Time" and "Reality Trip".

Why should Danny wipe his parents' memory at the end of "Reality Trip"? His reasoning is beyond me. I firmly believe that it is because Butch Hartman took over season 3 and instead of creating a new show status quo with his parents helping him, the production deemed it easier to just reset it back.

It is frustrating that Danny, once again, agree to let his parents hate ghost him, for absolutely no reason.

It has all I don't like, redemption story, universe resetting, loose ends that got buried, no Dani (although it is possible she will return), evil? Valerie that now exist outside time.

The quality is strange. It does have truly beautiful art style, bes illustrated by the great fight panels, but it also has low quality screenshot from the show as back ground. It is really noticeable in certain angle of Fanton Lab, Pariah's keep, etc.

[shoechoe]

There has been some small debate whether Gaz caring for Dib in Florpus is in character. I know she can be a jerk to Dib but I was wondering how you felt given their relationship in the show.

To answer your question straight: I don't think it's "out of character" so much as it is an intentional change of character.

Overall, I am not really a fan of the changes to Gaz's character in Florpus- I think it softened her character traits and didn't add in anything interesting enough to prevent her from just becoming sort of dull compared to her original self. But out of what it changes, her relationship with Dib is probably what I like the most about it.

(I hope you don't mind me talking about my feelings about Gaz in general here.)

I think Gaz was always the weakest main character in ZIM, which is a shame, because she's also probably my favorite character besides ZIM himself.

In the show, functionally, I feel like Gaz was intended to be a sort of opposite personality to GIR while playing a similar role to him. Dib treats her like a sidekick despite her being pretty much useless for help if not actively sabotaging his plans (like GIR with ZIM), but instead of being hyper, stupid, and random like GIR, she's prone to anger and revenge and is very smart, but would just prefer to be left alone.

In execution, however, she just doesn't do anything interesting in the series most of the time. She's only given something like two things she enjoys (pizza and video games) and she actively avoids getting involved in the plot out of disinterest. On one hand, I do find this interesting (I always saw her video game fixation as her version of Dib's paranormal fixation), but this does limit her scope for getting involved in the story a lot.

Most of what Gaz does when she's not sitting there playing video games just involves bullying and getting revenge on Dib or being on a one-track road to get back to eating pizza or playing video games if anything is in her way. (This is unlike GIR, who is constantly doing new random stuff, which makes him varied and more fun to watch bounce off of other characters.)

I still like Gaz very much, obviously, she has some very funny moments and I love her "creepy little girl" shtick, but in the show, out of the four major characters, she's definitely the weakest. You could probably take her out of the series and not very much would change.

-

Florpus was an attempt to not only mend her relationship with Dib a bit, but also I believe push her into the plot a bit more. However, I dislike a lot about the way it's done. My biggest thing is that I don't like how her personality feels watered down. One of the things I think was so fun about Gaz in the show was that the traits she did have were pushed to a comically extreme point- this is just not there in Florpus.

Her meanness got downgraded to being kind-of-but-not-too mean and kind-of-but-not-too sarcastic (as opposed to the show Gaz, who literally tried to end all life on Earth on a whim that one time). Nothing about her Florpus design or character is "creepy" at all, despite "creepy" being one of her main descriptive traits in the show. The only trait that was kept "intense" was her video game obsession, which leaves her just being... kind of boring.

I do enjoy how it doesn't just make her bully Dib the entire story, and like I've said before, the scene where she comforts Dib for being sad was very cute. However, I don't think they needed to weaken the rest of her to get to that. I think she could've been creepy and intense and mean while also caring about her brother and not treating him terribly beyond teasing him and not wanting him to drag her into his alien hunting shenanigans.

In short: I do think her caring more overtly about Dib is a change in character, but it's a good change. I like the rest of her alterations a lot less.

[mad-hunts]

what made you choose this muse? 👀

oh?? *double eye emojis* okay, i LOVE you for asking me this question, NGL. so thank you very much for the ask, my friend!! i really do appreciate it. now, as for what made me choose this muse... let me just say that a lot of it had to do with the fact that i may or may not have had this big fixation with the batman rogues (and honestly, i still do, though it's ehhh... kind of less extreme now LOL) a few years ago because i just think they're really neat, you know? like they're all meant to challenge bruce in a particular way and/or aspect, i think, and that kind of attention to detail is * chef's kiss * and i'm honestly not too sure how i came across it anymore (i thinkkk i had accessed the comics from this totally legitimate site *wink* at the time, which basically means i torrented it JSJ) but i wanted to read some comics from zack snyder's run in particular AND that is how i was originally introduced to the character. this is because he was in one of the comics related to death of the family and when i tell you that i was sort of fascinated by barton's character in there, albeit HORRFIED as well since his literal first appearance showed him in a mask made out of his deceased father's face (like seriously, WTF dude? LOLLL), i mean it.

and i think this was because there really wasn't a lot of information about him even within the comic besides that his father was this pretty monstrous guy who forced him to go on 'hunting trips' with him when he was a kid, as you all may already know, and later got killed by jim gordon... and after disappearing for some years, he came back and just. Decided to do something that's completely normal (sarcasm haha) and help the joker cut off their face??? which is an utterly INSANE plot point, of course, but i really do enjoy the more horror-based stories surrounding the batman lore so i immediately wanted to see what else i could find this character in. and much to my dismay, barton only appeared in ONE other comic besides that one before the writers were like ' welp. i guess we're done with this guy, because he's served his purpose ' LIKE OMGGG. i did not want to believe that they literally just had him be the primary antagonist in one comic, and a secondary in the other, because i honestly could see a lot of potential in him as a formidable threat towards heroes + i really wanted to know more about what EXACTLY he was making these 'dolls' of his for.

but unfortunately, the writers of dc sometimes are WACK and don't always pursue plot-lines that would be very interesting in my humble opinion / kind of subvert from the norm. so i decided, to hell with it, i was going to make him MY original character now because if they weren't going to make more content with him in it... then i will MUAHAHAH 😈 nahhh, i'm kidding, but that is pretty much what i was thinking whenever i started to develop him and basically make him into a fully-fledged person rather than just an antagonist with limited backstory to him + that was one-dimensional. anddd i wanted to delve deeper into the subject of how barton became the way he is in particular, because although his environment was most definitely a factor in his role in 'gotham's underground' now, everyone has to take full responsibility for their actions anyhow and his was to be a violent as well as overall abhorrent person. for, although the fact that he also has ASPD plays into this, it is not an excuse for any of his behaviors.

so yeah! all in all, the reasons behind why i chose the character of barton specifically to portray was because i think that the writers of DC reallyyy missed out on the opportunity of creating a complex villain and just in general doing something more with barton's character than him just simply being 'that guy who cut off the joker's face.' plusss, once i got the idea in my head that he was a blonde man with curls? it was all over for me, y'all, i'm not gonna lie. i was OBSESSED / j LMAO i'm joking, but for some reason, i could just see my current fc suiting him. and that's about all i have to say about it for right now but i hoped you liked my response to this!!

[mxharleyhua]

Harley Hua ~ Task Thirteen: Short and Sweet

What is your favorite book from childhood? I was just talking to Elliot about this the other day, but I loved Watchmen. I know it's not really for children, but my parents didn't. I also had a more age-appropriate book I loved, because the art was so beautiful in it. I remember it took place in the woods, but not what it was called or what the plot was. But it was so detailed, and colorful, and had a unique art style.

Do you own an item that comforts you when you’re sad? Do my art supplies count?

What makes you happy? I seem to have a one-track mind tonight but after a long day I love to go home, take off my cochlear implants, light a candle, and spend hours painting. I do my best work in the middle of the night when everyone else is asleep. What are three things you like about yourself? I like almost everything about myself. That sounds like a cop-out, but it took me a really long time to learn self confidence. So maybe that's the first thing I like - that I'm a confident person. I also like the discipline I have to eat right and work out every day so that I can have the body I always dreamed of. And I love my sense of fashion. It's so much fun to dress up for all the events we have here in Merrock.

Which season is your favorite? Summer, easily! I love the heat, getting to spend a lot of my free time at the beach, and how much brighter everything feels; literally and emotionally.

Do you believe in the supernatural? What are we defining as supernatural? Ghosts and witches? Or are more religious symbols such as Gods, angels and demons also supernatural? Being raised both Jewish and Chinese, I got a lot of mixed messages as a kid. Parts of my Chinese culture are clearly against Jewish law. But I didn't grow up orthodox, so I've always taken it with a grain of salt on both sides anyways. I was generally discouraged from things like magic, or ghosts and demons, unless it was coming from a Chinese family member. I think my parents disagreed with how to raise us in that regard and tried to compromise, but it just made any of it being taboo feel nonsensical. Anyways, both cultures say not to mess with ghosts but I really want to go ghost hunting one day. Name a song that has a deeper meaning to you You've activated my Deaf card. What do you think about social media? I think it's great! Obviously, there are some drawbacks. But it allows people to connect in a way we couldn't have just a couple decades ago, and connects vulnerable people to resources that they need. How many queer communities have thrived on websites like tumblr? I remember being a teenager and seeing people like myself online when I didn't know there was anyone else like me in Merrock. It was lifechanging! What would be your dream job? Illustrator. Specifically, illustrating comic books but I also really want to do childrens books too. Name three things you don’t leave the house without My keys, obviously. And my phone. Normally I have my wallet or my cochlear implants on me, but not always. With so many places having tap-to-pay now, you really only need those two things. What is your favorite comfort food? My grandma is an amazing cook and she does this delicious lamb hot pot. It's a good thing she lives so far away, because I could not stick to my nutrition goals if I had the opportunity to eat that every week. Are you an active person? / What do you do to stay active? Is water wet? Technically not, but that's not the point. When I'm not painting or instructing a class, I'm almost always on the move. I try to spend two hours at the gym every day, although that's not always realistic with my busy schedule. I get a lot of steps in, walking around and giving tours at From Brush to Canvas. And I grew up doing gymnastics and cheerleading and try to practice so I don't lose my ability to do some of those stunts. Even as I've transitioned, I've managed to keep a lot of the flexibility I grew up with. I also live in the ocean in the summer, whether I'm surfing or swimming. Name your three biggest inspirations (people-wise) My brother and my grandma are easily my first two. Leaving my family for the third one, I think Gerda Wegener was amazing and pushed boundaries on sexuality and gender with her art in a way I really admire. What is currently your favorite airing show? I don't watch a lot of TV. When I'm at home, I like to take off my cochlear implants and enjoy the silence. And after a long day, the last thing I want to do is read captions for an hour straight. But I'm really excited for Echo to come out in a couple months. If you had to go anywhere right now, where would you go? If I had to? A warm, tropical beach that has complimentary cocktails and crystal-clear water.