#idk I'm just so disappointed

[problemswithbooks]

So, the Todoroki side plot got thrown in the garbage this chapter...

The less problematic stuff, aka, Geten being a Himura--pointless and just an excuse to explain the ass pull Hori pulls with the actually relevant characters. I think it's a neat that it turns out the Himuras were just as, if not more into Eugenics type shit than Enji. But besides getting a bit more background on Rei's family Geten being a Himura isn't important at all and really didn't need to be included.

As for the rest--it's trash and ultimately could end up with the Todoroki subplot's theme endorsing abuse.

I've seen people defend Touya getting ice as a power up as it proving Enji wrong--proving that Touya was always good enough. Maybe that could have worked if his ice came out only once he was accepted by Enji and at peace, but instead it's the opposite. We are told a Quirk break through happen when people are put in life or death situations. Touya is getting his ice after burning himself into a black skeleton.

Touya getting ice does the following:

Makes Enji right about the Quirk marriage. He and Rei produced a perfect combo first try and later got a second.

Enji was wrong to stop training Touya when he started to burn himself, and instead he should have just dialed up the training and tortured him worse than Shoto because that's what would unlock his ability.

The narrative is essentially saying child abuse is good actually. Again, because Quirks only awaken like this if the person is under extreme duress, if Enji had kept training Touya, but in a way where he didn't burn himself that wouldn't have unlocked his ice. Touya would still be stuck with his handicap and unable to reach his full potential. He wouldn't have become the perfect combo. Enji being non-abusive wouldn't have solved this problem.

The only thing that would have made Touya what Enji wanted is if he'd abused him more physically. If he'd kept training Touya and forced him to burn himself to the bone. Essentially his abuse would be rewarded.

The story is saying that if Enji had just stuck with it, and ignored Touya's physical pain than he would have gotten exactly what he wanted. Yet, instead he stopped the training Touya because it was dangerous for him. He should have spent time in other ways, developed a relationship outside fighting, but that's not the message Hori sends with turn of events.

It also just ruins any growth Touya could have had. He no longer has to see beyond his Quirk. It robs him of realizing that his father should have loved him regardless of his Quirk and more about Enji not seeing him for the perfect boy he always could have been if his father had just set him on fire at four years old. Touya's no longer wrong about anything--his dad should have kept training him, he should have been beat the way Shoto was. If his dad really loved him he would have let Touya burn his skin off.

To me the way Hori has included this power up for Touya ruins the subplot. Whether Hori intended it of not, it's now possible to read it as supporting abuse and self harm. Your kid can't do a thing because they're disabled--keep making them, eventually, once you beat the shit out of them enough they'll be the perfect kid you always wanted. Can't do a thing because you're disabled and it hurts you--keep doing it, even to the point of full body break down because in the end you'll achieve your goal.

It's become "See dad, you should have loved me because I was perfect the entire time!" instead of "it doesn't matter what your kids can do, you should love them anyway".

[batbabydamian]

DC July 2024 Solicitations - Comics Featuring Damian! 🦇

BATMAN AND ROBIN #11

7/10/24

Written by Joshua Williamson

Art by Juan Ferreyra

Cover by Simone Di Meo

Variant Covers: Juan Ferreyra, Travis Mercer, Christian Ward (1:25)

Bruce and Damian plan the perfect father and son getaway…to DINOSAUR ISLAND?! When the dynamic duo uncovers a deadly family secret, their investigation takes them on a fun-filled adventure to rescue one of Batman’s greatest enemies!

THE BOY WONDER #3 of 5

7/3/24

Written by Juni Ba

Art and Cover by Juni Ba

Variant Cover: Khary Randolph

The cunning Tim Drake has always been the smartest of Batman’s sons…and the most comfortable matching wits with the most sinister geniuses on Earth. Damian Wayne doesn’t like feeling outsmarted—to him, no smugly-written insult could ever be sharper than his sword—so when he’s forced to infiltrate a super-villain gala alongside the sneaky Red Robin, the biggest danger the two of them face might not be Lex Luthor but Damian’s own temper!

*John Timms Variant Cover appearance(?) + potential cameo

ABSOLUTE POWER #1

7/3/24

Written by Mark Waid

Art and Cover by Dan Mora

DC’s epic summer event kicks off with a bang, as the combined might of FAILSAFE and the BRAINIAC QUEEN has at last given Amanda Waller the ability to steal the metahuman abilities of every hero and villain on planet Earth. As chaos erupts in the streets and a massive misinformation campaign sways public opinion to her side, the founder of the Suicide Squad methodically targets each superhero dynasty one at a time, starting with SUPERMAN. But even in this darkest of hours, a resistance is forming…and BATMAN is out for vengeance. It’s a shocking blitzkrieg across the globe that is decades in the making—and will shape the course of the DC Universe for years to come! Brought to you by the superstar talents of MARK WAID and DAN MORA—it all starts here!

*John Timms Variant Cover appearance(?)

ABSOLUTE POWER: TASK FORCE VII #1

7/10/24

Written by Leah William

Art by Caitlin Yarsky

SUPER NO MORE! With the assault on Metropolis’s heroes complete, Amanda Waller’s latest living weapon, the Last Son, sets his sights on the other most powerful supers in the DCU…the Marvel Family! Will their combined powers be enough to survive this terrifying threat? In this biweekly series we'll see the ABSOLUTE POWER event through the eyes of evil—as told from the point of view of the TRINITY OF EVIL!

*Rian Gonzales Variant Cover appearance

NIGHTWING #116

7/17/24

Written by Tom Taylor

Art and cover by Bruno Redondo

Everything Dick Grayson has built is crumbling around him. His life is spiraling out of control and Heartless is at the center of all of it. Now Nightwing must leave his city. Can he take back the power he’s lost? Or will Blϋdhaven and its citizens be lost to Heartless forever?

[rythyme]

really not a fan of boston very explicitly saying "I want to be exclusive romantically but not sexually" only to be told "You're lying to yourself. I think you should be alone."

[razzle-zazzle]

Never going to get over the fact that in "The Royal Blacksmiths" Lou wasn't actually mad about the ninja part, he was explicitly upset about Cole's plan to steal the Blade Cup. Not once does he say anything against Cole being a ninja. Sure, maybe the whole theft thing overshadowed the ninja bit and Lou would have been just as mad, but like. His whole "I'm not gonna stand here and watch as you make a mockery of our family legacy!" line was after lines about how disappointed he was that Cole wanted to steal the Blade Cup. He said nothing about Cole being a ninja.

Which, given everything we've learned about Lily since, makes the family legacy line even more OUGH AUGH OUWOUGH

[addicted-to-the-knife]

I think it's very important that we bring back this inherent understanding that actors are also just some fucking guys (gender neutral)

[kuroo-hitsuji]

A fictional demon can actually be So Autistic-

[aroaceleovaldez]

i would like to say my ideal PJO adaptation (if i was being physically forced against my will to have to pick a live action adaptation over an animated one for some reason) would be a combo like writing of the musical + casting of the show + visuals of the movies

BUT the show actually does have the playwright for the musical as one of the major writers for like three episodes and that did nothing for it. so...

[pearlcaddy]

LOCKWOOD & CO. 1.08

[chaos0pikachu]

some of y'all taking this Viu thing hella personally lmao, as if BOC rolled up to your house and threw eggs on the door while laughing like the joker as they skedaddle away gleefully

when in reality they probably went with Viu cause it's a big streaming platform in Asia and helped foot the big fat price tag of the production since it's a "Viu Original"

[incorrect-hargreeves]

just finished the last season. only thing i liked was talking heads playing for the credits

[polite-pandemonium]

Me to me: don't get your hopes up don't get your hopes up don't get your hopes up don't get your hopes up don't get your hopes up don't get your hopes up don't get your hopes up don't get your hopes up don't get your hopes up don't get your hopes up don't get your hopes you toei has burned you so many times before you know better than this don't get your hopes up don't get your hopes DON'T GET YOUR HOPES UP

Also me: Hopes? High. Delusions? Strong. Theories? Brewing.

[valzhangism]

so we all agree that chapter was ass right

[natjennie]

I really don't know enough about politics to make this point with any real meaning but. it's just incredibly disheartening to see people, especially from other countries, like "the answer is to VOTE!" which I mean. yes of course. but also, we did that. in 2016, remember. we voted hillary and won the popular vote. but we got trump anyway. which sure was a different landscape at the time but. it's just a reminder that a lot of times voting isn't enough. our system is fucked from the very core and yes in the long term voting should fix things and yes we need to stay hopeful and vigilant and not get discouraged but. give us a second to feel like shit first. because things are extremely shitty.

[beloved-child-of-the-house]

i stand with you in the face of a defensive misunderstanding of what critique is.

i think understanding what a critique actually is is a skill that increasingly is not taught. i remember going through freshman art courses feeling the frustration that all negative, nasty, unhelpful, and missed-the-point-entirely feedback is so commonly conflated with critique, and then critique gets a bad name because everyone remembers the time someone said their painting looked like an asshole (true story, altho now i think i would take it as a compliment) instead of the time a teacher or friend or classmate helped them uncover a hurtful bias or think of new ways to explore the same idea or how to connect it to related ideas or how to look up and understand other people's ideas on the same topic.

anyway i think you're great.

ahhh you're so kind to me!! i appreciate your support, and i think you are great also.

i have experience with giving and receiving critique as a student myself, and i think it was the best part of my degree! i majored in creative writing in college, and critique was just a generally accepted part of learning to become a writer. i don't even remember people being especially worried about receiving critique on their work. we had guidance on what kind of feedback was useful, but we were still at liberty to give it as we saw fit as like messy 19 year olds. the standard was that we gave it both written on printed copies of the work AND aloud in front of the whole class, and the writer receiving it was not permitted to speak during the critique. understanding how people are perceiving your work is important!

i don't have any particularly negative recollections of the critique process, although once in a high school writing class, the boys in the class told me that my male characters touched each other too gently and real boys are more rough with each other. in particular, they took issue with me writing that one boy nudged another. nudging is too soft. nudging is for girls. that was more than 20 years ago, and i still think about it sometimes because it was such an interesting perspective! i did not take their advice, though.

i should dig up that piece and see if it reads queer in any other ways. i think that's what they were getting at. (actually i once had a non-fiction class tell me i was in love with my roommate after reading an essay i wrote about her)(i did not listen to that advice either, but having 12 acquaintances tell you that you're gay in 2006 before you realize it yourself is Truly Something!)

i think people have conflated criticism and critique and think that being more openly analytical is the same thing as being negative. but analysis is so fun to me! analysis is why i joined fandom in the first place, and it's why i write fic! can we trust each other to be respectful and to speak in good faith even when we're not singing each other's praises? for me fandom would be better if we could.

oh i also want to clarify that i don't think it's impossible to demonstrate that you've thought deeply about a piece of fanwork while remaining completely positive. people do it all the time and do it very well!

i know i sometimes have tunnel vision wrt my own perspective. in a lot of situations, i wish it were more acceptable to be more direct, and i know people sometimes find the way i express myself to be kind of shocking. i know a lot of people like to be spoken to more indirectly than comes natural to me, and i don't mean to imply that my perspective is the only correct one or that there's no good reason to err on the side of gentleness/politeness in our responses to amateur art and writing. i just think that at a certain level of circumspection, it feels like we're all holding each other at arm's length.

i think for people who can't bear to feel exposed, making and sharing art is always going to be painful and difficult, and maybe too painful and difficult to enjoy the process unless they're sure of a soft landing. but like. the rewards of being loved only come after the mortifying ordeal of being known, right?

[varilien]

welp that's a wrap for this year ig. it's funny i think this year would have been another oops all trigun except that whenever i got really super busy FAR too busy to make trigun art i did usually end up doodling something else lmao

december's spot is @stardvst-diving's lysithea :)

[taylorsabrina]

PLEASE LET THERE BE A COLLAB WITH SABRINA ON THIS NEW ALBUM PLEASE OH PLEASE!!!!!!!!!!!