#it sucks because like everyone else in this comic she had potential

[raedshadowlegends]

Oh, I was curious about your opinions on Hecate. She falls neutral to mixed bag for me. I consider her an extention of systematic underworld issuessuch as BS legal code, not continuing her tirade against Hades for persuing a young Perse, and mistreatment of underworld citizens, but depending on how Rachel is writingher she actually gets to have a head on her shoulders. Lots going on there. Curious what you think or what you have heard.

For me personally, I thought she was pretty neat at the start. I especially liked the fact that she didn’t support H & P because of the age gap. But it all goes downhill once she helps Hades rip out Alex’ eye. Then she gradually becomes another H & P supporter and I just don’t care about her. I did like her at one point but I’m very ambivalent now.

She’s where she’s at on the chart because that complete 180° regarding Persephone and Hades is disgusting to me. The age gap is one of the things in LO that gets me HEATED. So to have a character flip flop so fast is just awful.

And as of lately, she just hasn’t done anything that interesting or memorable. All I remember of her from the past whatever episodes is that one panel that could’ve been cool but she had a derp face so it wasn’t. I know she’s been in a lot of episodes lately but I just don’t remember anything of significance.

I’m ambivalent with a pinch of pissed off regarding Hecate.

[yall-hate-kids-tourney]

Jane Crocker (Homestuck) vs. Anakin Skywalker (Star Wars)

Y'all Hate Kids: Screwed By The Writers

Propaganda below the cut

-

Jane Crocker (Homestuck)

(cw: brief mentions of assault)

The fandom blames her for the melodrama and problems in Act 6 and shit even though it was ALL the alpha kids who were terrible communicators and having relationship drama. She encouraged Jake to try having a relationship with Dirk even though she liked him too, she wants her friends to be happy even if she isn't. The fandom basically makes her the Stupid Bitch Who Gets In The Way Of Yaoi even though she quite literally made the yaoi happen. She's a victim of Act 6 being messy and written badly. Then we get to the epilogues/sequel. While she's an adult there, it's clear the writers just kinda hate her. She could definitely be a villain but they completely misunderstand her character in order to make her flat and completely in the wrong- even though some of the things she's saying in regards to Troll and Human society intertwining. It isn't looked at with nuance, Jane is just wrong and everyone else has to kill her. Like... hello??? If you're going to make her a villain do it right. Misogyny my nemesis. 

-

"Jane Crocker is initially introduced when, in order to win the game they have been sucked into, the original four kids travel to a universe where their grand/parents have been swapped with them and selected to play it instead.  She is the grandmother, now granddaughter of John Egbert, the first introduced character, and her hobbies include detective fiction, baking, wondering how to tell one of her best friends that she's in love with him, and avoiding frequent attempts on her life.

To explain that last one, she is the heiress to the Betty Crocker company and national monopoly, aka. Crockercorp, and has big plans about the good she can do when she finally takes power.  As she finds out in the game, the company is a front ruled by the Condesce, an alien queen from another universe who was gathering power on Earth so that she could leap into the game and thus take over the world it would create.  And she's happy to let Jane rule with her, so long as she puts on this computer and OBEYs.

After she is mind-controlled by the Condesce, Jane has little role in the rest of the story -- she is put to sleep and cured offscreen, and only shows up as a bit player in the final fight with no dialogue whatsoever to resolve her arc.  However, she does have one scene with her crush, Jake, while she is not herself that colours a lot of the audience reaction to her.  

Some context: During the game, she had chickened out during her confession to Jake, and he then proceeded to use her for relationship advice when their other friend, Dirk, succeeded in becoming his boyfriend.  After one of these chats where Jake reveals he forgot her birthday, she blows up at him for using her, which is the last normal conversation they have in the comic.

By the time she is being controlled, Jake is being held prisoner, and so with her inhibitions removed and priorities redirected towards Crockercorp, she tells him all about the future he'll have as her consort and repeatedly harasses and threatens him.  Because there is never any closure for this moment as both characters are shoved to the background, this is the fandom's last impression of Jane, which is used as evidence of her true nature whenever anyone needs to justify their hate for or demonization of her.

Although Jane has plenty of casual conversations with her friends early on that demonstrate her true character -- she is supportive of her friends to a fault, and is initially given the role of team leader but ultimately is too passive to fill it, one of the many reasons for her friends' frayed unity.  However, absolutely none of her traits and decisions are important to the plot, and her arc is dropped with her potential left unfulfilled, leaving it easy for her to be overshadowed by a single dramatic moment she had while explicitly out of character.

And that should be the end of the story, but it gets worse.  In 2019, Hussie released the Homestuck Epilogues, an explicitly ""dubiously canonical"" prose novel with two routes that many fans found so damaging and distasteful that they left the fandom entirely.  Between the book itself and the ensuing flame wars, the fandom was reduced to merely a fraction of its size, and most of the people now remaining belong to the camp that liked the Epilogues, or at least saw it as part of canon.

In both routes of the Epilogue, Jane, now an adult, becomes the authoritarian president of Earth C and coerces Jake into an abusive relationship.  This is worse in the Candy Route, where she is described as a fascist, declares a policy of genocide against trolls, regularly drugs Jake to have sex with him, and uses their kid to blackmail him into staying with her.  All of this ultimately causes her to be cast as a central antagonist in the HS team's ongoing comic ""Homestuck^2"" that continues off of the Epilogues.

All of this follows from an extrapolation of her behaviour while mind-controlled, which is somehow still applicable to her character once she is back to normal.   Now, the popular excuse for her mischaracterization is the backbone of current official Homestuck content.  And because her being an antagonist is key to the story, most fans of the sequel (which is now the majority of online Homestuck fans) have to buy into the justification for her actions in order to properly suspend disbelief and keep reading.  Thus, it is nigh impossible to find anyone who will engage with the canon -- and I mean /actually/ canon, not postcanon -- version of Jane.

Addendum: Although canon Jane is a teenager, I have to discuss how her adult postcanon self affects her perception and basically erases the original character.  Nonetheless, since postcanon Jane can hardly be called the same character, I don't think this affects Jane's eligibility."

Anakin Skywalker (Star Wars)

So poorly written for such an insane fandom that the actual child actor, Jake Lloyd, received enough hate mail to make him quit acting.

[laughterbynight]

Going to drop a little Tim Drake lore here bc I know how Tumblr is (and by extension TikTok since they love to steal content from tumblr) about reading comics and I think this is significant given how nurfed he is these days.

In Tim’s og run his FIRST master was Shiva. Even better, she saw him as a baby Robin in Paris while he was supposed to be training under someone else and chose to train him herself. She saw enough potential in him. That’s….huge. And I feel like it’s glossed over bc everyone just says all the bats have been trained by Shiva. But there’s definitely a difference. It just ticks me off when people act like Tim is just the brains and at best can twirl around a stick. Chosen student of Shiva. Remember that. I feel like so many people associate size with fighting prowess and that’s just not even true. ffs Bruce Lee was never the biggest guy in the room but that didn’t matter.

Did Shiva want something from Tim? Of course it’s Shiva. But she didn’t have to train him to get it. He was already willing to help her and did. His bow staff being his primary weapon is also courtesy of Shiva.

I’m just putting this out there bc if I see one more person acting like Tim is a weak fighter imma scream. I know writers can also be blamed for that but goddamn it gets old. He’s certainly above Jason because of the time he’s had training with Bruce and other masters on top of Shiva. Personally I put him over Damian too, again because of experience.

I’m well aware current comics don’t reflect this and I get it. Current main Robin is Damian and his whole “thing” is that he’s the firey assassin Robin. If Tim was better it would water down the concept to a lot of people, but it DOES do a huge disservice to Tim which sucks. I mean, they’ve nurfed pretty much everyone except Dick to play up Damian’s skills but that’s a separate discussion.

Just keep in mind Tim is not a weak or bad fighter. He never was. He was green, obviously, and tends towards being strategic. But my god he’s not considered an equal in the batfamily by Dick and Bruce as charity. He’s dangerous enough that he’s the one Bruce worried about if he snapped and he’s the one getting 1000 ninjas sent after him by Ra’s.

[kimberlyannharts]

actually I would love a rant about how JJ sucks as a character

Merry early Christmas to you then, Anon!

Like I think what makes everyone clutching their pearls over the sanctity of JJ’s character and place in the canon so ridiculous is he is barely a character in the first place.  He is a plot device in SotD, a narrative goal for Tommy, as the story wasn’t about JJ developing into someone worthy of the Dragon Shield or even an SPD cadet - he's already done all of that. The story was about Tommy realizing he should retire and hand over his stuff already.  And you have a son who’s pretty good at being a ranger, so……….he should take it!  Great!  That’s it. I genuinely don't know why they didn't do some kind of Goofy Movie-esque father/son journey together, especially if you really wanted to discuss this idea of him feeling like he's in his dad's shadow. His existence in the show amounts to namedrops and one voiceover line in the Ninja Steel special, and the only bits of characterization these amount to are he’s a kid who goes to karate camp.  To me it comes off like people are attached more to JJ’s POTENTIAL as a character rather than HIMSELF as a character, in like a “well, maybe one day they’ll give him his own book/show/whatever” sort of way, which….it’s been five years since SotD.  Hasbro is gearing up to do a reboot and even then, as we’ve talked about many times, they don’t want to put focus on cop characters.  Unless some stuff is getting retconned, I am not holding my breath.      

The reason I call Minh the superior legacy character by comparison is because there actually was time and space dedicated to showing how she stands out as a person and a character beyond her being Trini’s daughter; in fact, her being Trini’s daughter is the least interesting part about her (in no small part because Trini herself was handled very badly by that special.)  What makes her interesting is her personality, her relationship with Zack, how she’s suddenly thrown into the deep end of the PR world by way of great tragedy, and her arc from a vengeful kid to a true hero (the special’s shaky writing of this arc notwithstanding.  But at least I get what they were TRYING to do here.)  JJ did not have anything CLOSE to that.  

Something else about him that’s funny but also frustrating because it’s obviously not intended by the writers, but still happens WAY too often for my liking, is how his existence is honestly a detriment to a lot of women in this franchise kjkfdj he was the catalyst for the old SPD ranking drama, as him being green meant Syd and Z had to stay as pink and yellow (and no, them throwing in some random female OC no one remembers as blue does not make up for it.)  And then….Kat……well…..I think this belongs in a discussion that covers more than just JJ, as in a way how they handled Trini in OaA is a very similar situation, but the fact of the matter is that since JJ’s inclusion in the canon Kat’s existence has boiled down to being his mother rather than a veteran ranger with her own life and work, no matter how many times the show and books TRY to be like “No look!  See!  She’s a super cool badass wife who keeps everyone in line!  She’s off doing her own things, too, we swear!”  my brother in Christ the same 30th anniversary story that tries to show off how cool and independent she is ALSO has a scene where she’s like “it’s okay honey, you take care of the Ranger missions while I stay home with JJ, it’s fine :)”  They’ve made it very clear that JJ is Tommy’s son, Tommy’s legacy, while Kat is his stay-at-home caretaker, WHICH IS FINE FOR A WOMAN TO BE, but not in this narrative, where Kat’s time as a ranger is treated as irrelevant compared to Tommy’s. (A good example is how, in SotD, only Tommy was listed as JJ's emergency contact, with no mention of Kat. I'm almost certain there was an early draft of this book where Tommy did not have a wife.)  How do we have two (2) comic stories where we have married TomKat but Kat doesn’t morph.  And not as a plot point or character bit or something (I think it actually would be very interesting if Kat not having much attachment to her time as a Ranger was actually intentional) but just in a “we don’t feel like involving Kat in her husband’s adventures” situation.  Hello????????  I know that kind of feels off-topic to why JJ sucks but trust me, it’s partly his fault.  And it’s why I’m making such a big deal over the potential mother/daughter Ranger teamup for Kim and Olivia, because the alternate mother of Tommy's alternate kid has gotten such a raw deal.     

And the SPD/Dragon Shield combo is ugly.

[rosetheocto]

I was wondering what your thoughts on each of the Eeveelution Squad’s parents/relatives were? What do you think of each of them?

TYSM FOR THIS ASK!!

If there’s one thing ES definitely did right imo, it’s the parents for each of the Squad members. I love them a lot and ngl I wish we got more content centered around them!! They’re all pretty interesting! Special 12B may have sucked as a Series Finale, but I gotta give it credit for giving more life to the parent characters. They each have a lot of headcanon potential too!! (which helped fuel my love for them)

a lot of this is kinda headcanonish but I don’t really care lmaoo

Mollie + Jin (ft. Ralph)

MOLLIE ILY!! The circumstances that led to her and Ralph meeting Jin were so tragic, but seeing the three of them learning to survive after the Coastal Eevee Massacre was interesting to look at, even if it was brief! Like Jin being a Forest Eevee who was probably raised to hate Coastals because of their Classic Transformation, and yet he was able to break free from that prejudice on his own and rebelled from his tribe by saving Ralph and Mollie instead of killing them. Ralph not liking Jin at first is a bit more understandable than Lazuli with Speed, his family did try to kill him and his sister after all (and murdered nearly their whole tribe), but I’m glad he quickly learned to be grateful to Jin for helping them out! If only they were able to survive that wild attack…

I also love how Mollie was able to get back on (most of) her feet after the attack, being able to find a family in Rin, Bolt, and their relatives!! Mollie’s gone through so much and deserved better, and I’m so glad she was able to get some of that closure when reuniting with the triplets!!

Blaze + Brian

AUUUGHHH I LOVE THESE TWO!! Brian’s jokes mixed with Blaze’s exasperation makes for some pretty fun interactions between them! Their relationship is definitely one of the healthiest in the comic and it’s clear that they love each other and their family!! This scene of them especially lives rent free in my head. They’re so good, it makes sense that they’re fan favorites!! I have no other way to talk about it other than just keysmashing for a paragraph >w<

Sadie + Alexander

They aren’t really as focused on as the others, but there’s still some small bits of info that make me curious about their time before the berserker attack!! It’s said that they’re kinda speedrunning their life together, getting married at 18 and having their first child only a year later! Maybe they kinda rushed getting into a relationship in the first place? I wish we got a bit more spotlight on them before their death, there’s a lot I wanna know!!

Lapis + Alfred

LAPIS AND ALFRED SAVE ME… At first I HATED Alfred, same as everyone else did, but after finding out what happened to him after Lapis died and his thought process when kicking his daughters out I began to like him a lot more. He has flaws and has done horrible things, but he genuinely regrets them and wants to change for the better! His relationship with Lapis, as little as we saw of it, is something I really like!! One thing I find interesting with them is that unlike the others, they had their children’s surnames be different from their last names, the explanation EV gave being that they both wanted their family to start completely fresh.

Considering how Alfred’s personality is like, I wouldn’t be surprised if his parents were more strict/abusive with him, and I imagine this is something he gets closer with Lapis over. Pretty much everything about her is a mystery other than her cooking for Alfred and his team and wishing for her daughters to evolve into a Vaporeon/Leafeon, but I imagine that she grew up in a similar household to the Arcanine. Also it kinda implies that the strictness/abuse they tried to get away from repeated with their daughters (ESPECIALLY Lazuli)

Sylvia + Franklin

I WANNA KNOW MORE ABOUT SYLVIA SO BADLY YOU HAVE NO IDEA!!! Her and Frank’s whole relationship is so peculiar to me! Especially with Frank’s feelings towards her being a Ditto! I like to imagine her and Frank never really got into a romantic relationship, and that Silvia and Gai came from a one night fling which led to her having their eggs. The exhaustion from that combined with her using energy to actively hold the Espeon form caused her to slip up and reveal her Ditto form to Frank… which kinda spooked him a bit and caused him to not even mention Sylvia’s existence to his kids but yea lmaoo

The two seem to still be fine enough to not cause any conflict when Sylvia meets her children for the first time, so I don’t think it really anything other than give Frank a nightmare or two. I imagine even if she was able to hold the Espeon form forever they wouldn’t have been in a relationship anyway. I don’t really see Frank getting into a relationship with anyone, and I headcanon Sylvia to have been a Wild (which aren’t really accepted in Sunny Town). I also just love Frank’s whole demeanor (especially when paired with someone like Brain), shoutouts to him!! Also shoutouts to Sylvia for technically being one of the few/only trans characters in ES!!

Ditto as Pokemon are a weird case of being assigned genderless/agender at birth, and since Sylvia doesn’t identify with those terms, and she physically and literally transitions in the way of being a female Espeon, she’s technically trans!! also I love her eyes they’re so pretty!!

Rin + Bolt

honestly, I don’t really care for these two as much as the other couples, but I still like them!! I like to think they both bonded over being Shiny in a world where they’re canonically discriminated against, or at least looked down upon enough to warrant bullying! I also like their dynamic with the rest of the squad and their families! Also shoutouts to them for being willing to save a wild Flareon who could’ve been a threat for all they knew, taking her all the way from the outskirts of Sunny Town to Terra Town!! I believe they were also rescuers, which is a neat detail!

[ravensvirginity]

If Azar and her group all purged their negative emotions and that became Trigon does that mean they technically birthed Trigon?

Yeah, they are Trigon's surrogate parents in a weird way. The guilt they feel over having created Trigon really impacts the way they raise Raven. Azarath having created Trigon and then refusing to fight him even though they do have the power to do so is so important to Raven's character. She feels like fighting him and keeping him at bay is her personal responsibility because she knows no one else who can will.

Trigon does actually have an actual mother who gave birth to him. We don't really know anything about her other than she was an alien Satanist.

Once he was born Trigon immediately killed her (on purpose with full consciousness) as well as everyone else in the cult. It's later confirmed that the demon who's technically his father is actually the amalgamation of all of Azarath's negative emotions who was given form by this ritual and impregnated the alien woman with itself (comics are weird), creating Trigon.

I wish the connection between Trigon and Azarath could be explored more. There's so much potential in the dynamic between Trigon and Azar. The Azar who raised Raven is the granddaughter of the Azar who created Trigon, over 900 years ago (lifespan is longer on Azarath; the Azar who raised Raven is over 200 when she dies). She has a plan to finally destroy Trigon for good, without sacrificing her and Azarath's pacifism, and it requires forcing the child she's raising to die.

Trigon, for his part, hates Azar and wants nothing more than to destroy Azarath, but it's implied he purposefully arranged for Raven to be taken in by Azarath because he knew both that she'd be safe from his enemies who'd harm her and that Azar would raise her in a way that would make her easier to control. He doesn't know that Azar's secret plan is for Trigon to get exactly what he wants (Raven under his control) because that's the very thing that will spell his downfall.

In New 52 his origin is basically just a worse version of this (instead of Azarath purging their evils and accidentally creating him, he already exists but gets a huge power boost by sucking up the evil from an alien race who has like an evil vacuum cleaner they use to purify their universe). It's way less narratively satisfying because there's no Azarath connection and also just kind of fails as an origin story because it never explains how Trigon was born to begin with or how he had the power to absorb the universe's evil, but it does have the insane detail that Trigon is literally his own father in this continuity. (Canon typical SA warning under the cut)

I don't really like much of the New 52 Trigon and Raven lore but this is forever canon to me because you can't put Trigon is literally his own father in a canon comic and expect me not to latch onto that forever

[talleyuh]

i’m a pretty big fan of DC comics (specifically the movies because there are just so many gosh darn comic runs out there but i do my wiki research) and the characterization of diana prince/wonder woman is so all over the place.

i feel like i haven’t seen an adaptation of her character that really served her well, like everyone makes her super boring? i often see the criticism of captain marvel that she had no real personality outside of being a strong woman and i see that a lot with Diana in the DCAMU. like yes she’s a strong woman but I feel like there’s so much more that can be done with that character.

all of her dialogue in the dcamu movies was just really flat and boring. when she took center stage in wonder woman: bloodlines she made for a really forgettable character. i liked that they showed the lengths she would go in battle when she blinded herself to fight medusa but i had to reread my letterboxd review because i couldn’t remember that. i feel like the writing issue could be said for all of the dcamu movies, but they’re not available to watch on max anymore so i could be wrong.

i’ve seen most of the dceu movies (i am the strongest soldier i know) and i just found diana in any movie past wonder woman (2017) to be flat, repetitive, and radiate serious nlog energy. the entire crux of her character is that we the audience is to find her attractive, but god forbid we mess with her or she’ll beat us up. or when she said “i’m unlike any woman you’ve ever met” what about all the other female superheroes out there? she only works in a sort of male fantasy-only girl on the team kind of vibe. kind of similar to early black widow from the marvel movies but with only a little more agency.

i revisited justice league and justice league unlimited for the second summer in a row and i feel like the episodes where we get diana center stage are some of my favorites. even though i have my gripes with bruce timm and the writing of diana there too, i think diana works a lot and she could’ve carried her own series with a different set of writers.

as far as i can tell in the in jl and jlu (and the 6 issues i pirated from the sensational wonder woman) diana is levelheaded, kind, compassionate, incredibly headstrong, and genuinely smart. sometimes she prioritizes the brawn a little more than strategy but she was raised as a warrior and i feel like that could’ve been an interesting arc to explore.

i really hate how in every adaptation i’ve seen, they made all of the Amazons seem like heartless misandrists. like according to greek mythology, ortrera (the mother of the amazons) was raised in a world where women were treated horribly so she left and built her own world with other women so they could live in peace and train to be warriors. i’m assuming that ortera’s daughter hippolyta (even tho she died) is supposed to be diana’s mom. i think that the pressure of basically being an heir to themyscira could’ve been a lot of pressure for diana to subscribe to her grandmother’s line of thinking and been part of the reason she even left paradise island in the first place. also women were oppressed because femininity was seen as lesser and i would’ve loved to see femininity not be villainized and have a place to flourish on paradise island where they would be safe to express themselves.

the more i watch dcau shows, the more i can tell that they were made by men for boys and no one else. diana and shayera were sidelined so much even though they were probably the most compelling, at least to me. i feel like the audience was supposed to side eye diana because she grew up in a culture that was misandrist but didn’t take the care to explain with nuance why that was a problem.

time and time again we see people write diana to reject femininity and denounce her womanhood in favor of her strength to show she’s just as good as a man, but that sucks. she has the potential to be such an interesting character on screen if someone is willing to put in the work. and i especially hate that we only see her embrace femininity when she’s in a romantic situation with a man. we see her talk a lot about the deep sisterhood she shares with her amazon sister, but i wanna see it happen. i want to see her embrace the women on the justice league, have girls nights with her civilian friends, complain about work, just exist as a regular woman living in america.

i’m so sick of every adaptation of her character have themes tied to surface level gender politics because we’ve already gotten the same character a dozen times when the other two parts of the trinity are given so much depth. so challenge yourself, write diana like a human being!!! she is so much more then her gender

[aingeal98]

The unofficial Siofs aingeal98 Robin ranking:

6. Tim. If he was such a good Robin then DC wouldn't be trying to make "the best Robin" one of his personality traits instead of actually making him interesting. I like him just fine but objectively, he's boring compared to the others. Yes even with the insane moments. Yes even with his dynamic to Bruce and the Robin mantle. Whoever started the rumour that he's an industry plant was dead on and it drags him down.

5. Jason. Objectively a great Robin with a tragic end he didn't deserve. No real complaints he's only this low because the other four do it better.

4. Dick. The original. I understand why people would put him number one, there would be no Robin without him. He bounces between second and fourth for me but I do think the three people above him took the mantle and improved on it, similar to Wally West with the Flash. Still undeniably a great Robin.

3. Duke. Not an official Robin but he deserves a place here. The We Are Robin concept was good actually. Like all DC concepts it had potential to be great but they didn't give it the attention and writing it deserves. I do like Duke better as the Signal than as another Robin but in terms of taking Dick's legacy and doing something good with it, he's top 3.

2. Damian. His backstory sucks because no one read a Talia comic before coming up with his character since DC is full of clowns. BUT he's kind of the perfect next gen Robin. His dynamic with Dick is excellent, his suit is the only Robin suit to actually look cool and the way he shakes up the batfam is fun as hell. I hope he stays Robin for a long time and that someone is capable of reworking his backstory so it can keep it's key elements without turning his mom into an ooc evil racist mess.

Stephanie Brown. The girls that get it get it. There's never been a better Robin. They had to kill her off because she was too good and it made everyone else look bad in comparison. Best dynamic with Bruce. Best redesign of the costume. Best hair. Best character despite editorial sabotage. If DC wasn't filled with sexists Steph would have been THE Robin. But alas we live in a society, and only true intellectuals are left to pick up the scraps and see the masterpiece that could have been.

[ryuichirou]

Replies

Hi! We have a lot of replies related to our previous posts today, plus some random ones :) All twst-related, quite a lot of AzuIde ones.

Anonymous asked:

Hello hello! Just popping in to say I love your art before disappearing and lurking silently behind the screen and just liking your posts for the next few months! From one fan in a fandom populated with antis to another, thank you for your service in creating the tastiest pieces ever seen in the Twisted Wonderland fandom!

Hi Anon! Ahhhh thank you so much for your kindness and support, we really appreciate it! <3

You’re very welcome, and thank you again. We’re so lucky to have people who are into our stuff following and supporting us. Let’s keep having fun with this amazing cast and 19812739187 potential relationships and scenarios that they could have.

Anonymous asked:

In reference to the last question about Idia and Azul, when in their relationship did the comic about Idia losing the board game and being forced to, ahem, “compensate” for it take place? Were they a thing or was Azul just being a creep? 😅

(this is related to the first reply from here and this comic)

A little bit of both lol When I was drawing it, I had in mind that even if they weren’t dating by that point, they already had something. They’re already flirty, maybe even had sex a couple of times…

Which doesn’t mean that Azul isn’t being a creep mind you lol

Anonymous asked:

I saw a sketch you posted with fem!Idia and just plain old regular Azul and I was wondering if that changes their dynamic at all?

I actually did talk about it, but it was about a year ago, so I’ll reiterate!

For the majority of aspects of their relationship it would stay the same. But Azul is all about keeping appearances and creating a certain image to make a good impression (and then profit from it), so at times he’ll try to act like a perfect boyfriend (or even fiancée): he’d bring flowers, talk about inviting Idia to a romantic dinner. And it isn’t even 100% for Idia: it’s for everyone else to see how perfect their relationship is and to be jealous. He enjoys this role of a gallant princely… beau. Even though both of them know that Idia is (first and foremost) his friend who knows that he is as much of a nerd as she is… So Idia doesn’t play along.

Once again, it doesn’t happen all the time. For the most part they just play board games and talk shit about everyone, like they always do. But every once in a while they’ll start arguing because Azul wants his rich genius girlfriend to also look somewhat presentable, and Idia would absolutely hate that.

Then again, I guess Azul would do that to regular!Idia too…

Anonymous asked:

Dare I ask what Idia did that merited that “one little spank”?

(this is related to this comic)

He was probably being annoying lol Azul is that one person that Idia loves to poke, because he isn’t as terrified of him getting pissed at him. Well… maybe he should be.

Anonymous asked:

I know Idia is basically ass-less but I don’t think I’d be able to resist smacking it at least once just together his reaction. Hopefully, it doesn’t send him to the hospital….

Don’t worry, his ass (the lack of it?) is sensitive, but as long as you aren’t Azul or anyone else whose slap would break 30 bones, it’s all good! The prospect of hearing Idia’s terrified little “HIEE—!!“ is way too alluring.

artfulhero-m asked:

Your dick sucking headcanons got me thinking about how Azul can't because Azul be the kind of guy to put it in his mouth then immediately be able to tell exactly how long it's been since it was cleaned and also probably what that person last ate recently based off the pre and he is NOT risking his mood to be ruined because his partner's pre tastes like he was just chugging energy drink or something lol

(this is related to this post)

Omg yes absolutely. He has a lot of reasons not to want to put any dick in his mouth, and this is one of the major ones: he doesn’t need all that information, and he WILL judge that person and nag at him, especially considering that this certain someone chugs nothing but energy drinks…

characharing asked:

Riddle sucking like that hamster with the banana meme

Yes. Absolutely. Always. This is his spirit animal.

hipsterteller asked:

Rollo is probably bottom after seeing that art

(this is related to this art)

Yeah, he absolutely is… If being a bottom was a sport, Rollo would be a champion. And he is a virgin…

blackbutlerfandomnerddomain asked:

Every student LOVE Rollo, like wet dreams, love letters, collections of his stuff, the usual highschool/collage romance

Of course! His vice president is super lucky to be able to hang out with him more than the other guys, but every student loves Rollo.

Anonymous asked:

Who do you think Vil had his first time with?

While there are a lot of possible scenarios, we tend to think that Rook was his first. We have an entire post about their first time together! Another possible option is Jack, I guess.

Anonymous asked:

New headcanon, Rook likes to wake up Vil in the morning with a kiss like Snow White. His lovely beautiful Roi du Poison deserves to be awaken in a romantic fashion.

Awww, this is so sweet!

And also much more romantic than to just have Rook staring at Vil until he wakes up… He should definitely do that, Vil deserved it.

Anonymous asked:

After re-reading book six I gotta ask: Any opinion on Azul/Riddle? Thought towards the end they were kinda cute together but also the way Azul pushed for riddle to be both a doctor and a lawyer felt very "I can use you in the future"

I talked about them in our post about book six, and also we have a hc post about them!

We don’t really ship it much, but their interactions really are great. And I also really like the fact that Azul considers Riddle useful, I am 100% sure that they’ll exist in each other’s lives even after graduating NRC, even if they won’t be romantically involved with each other.

Anonymous asked:

I hope to one day see Lilia go through all the bottoms and leave them all shaking messes 🙏

Grandpa is too old for this type of gymnastics..! Just kidding, he’ll leave them all shaking messes lol And THEN he’ll collapse.

You know, I think out of all of our “tops”, Lilia has the most potential bottoms ship-wise… him and Floyd, both of them have quite a harem due to their flirty nature.

So yeah maybe one day you will see Lilia going through all of them. I would like to see that…

[electrificata]

here are my late night talk show thoughts.

i think in the modern era the only hosts who understand the potential of the format are eric andre (obviously), craig ferguson, and. ok i want to say ziwe but she has one bit she does and was not allowed the time to develop beyond that (i think she could) (ferguson took literal years to get into his groove and he was only allowed because a) white guy and b) some fabulously weird, impossible-to-replicate network circumstances i could go into another time). conan is good but i ultimately dont find him interesting in a long term way. if there were old people here theyd probably demand i have opinions about letterman or carson or something. i do not. suck it. wendy williams presents an interesting conundrum to me, her vibe is quintissentially daytime but i think the warm, slightly unhinged gossipyness of her show would translate really well to late night. ACROSS THE POND graham norton is good at what he does but im slightly bored because hes been doing it the same so long. i like how incredibly gay alan carr is but i cant deal w him in large doses. jonathan ross eh.

now, there is also the question of politics. i reallyl genuinely question the value of addressing political issues in late night tv monlogues/obviously colbert was on the fuck-trump beat for the entire administration, and john oliver and the daily show make an entire premise out of comic political commentary. its fundamentally useless. i think it just makes people feel smug. sure they occasionally learn something, but like. how much. and does it spur them on to greater action or learning? eh.

oliver is occasionally nice for edutainment, but id say its...how do i put this...not that late nighty? hasan minhaj's show was on netflix, and had a similar format, and worked just fine at any time of day. i really think shows like this do great if you slapped them onto the msnbc lineup or kept them on streaming. like its a different thing.

WHAT IM SAYING. is that the ideal late night host has to combine charisma, warmth, wit, and anarchy. they cannot be overly impressed with their celebrity guests. you need to look incredibly beautiful, talented, famous people in the eye and talk to them like a friend from college you havent seen in a long time - of course youre happy to see them and youre engaged and interested in them, but you see them as fundamentally on the same level as you. ferguson could make anyone feel like the prettiest girl in the room. andre makes everyone fear for their lives.

some people i think would do a really good late night show: laci mosely. scam goddess is great and i think acts as an audition on its own. amelia dimoldenberg probably. cant actually think of anything else right now. oh, right. ME.

[meggettes]

Bridgerton spoilers I am live-blogging below LEGIT SPOILERS

—Spoiler Break—

Episode 2 (blazed thru e1)

Eloise is a stand up comic that’s why she sucks so much lol at least now she’s found an audience maybe she might calm down (no im not thinking of my sister why would you say that)

Will Colin finally woo Penelope with writing? With his pen even??? 👀

i am feeling Francesca so hard the quiet observant pianist is so strong

Benedict is my FAVORITE would he third for the mondriches I could believe it

Was totally unprepared for Cressida character development but am surprisingly fully here for it

Also what the fuck even pen’s own mother believed she isn’t lovable that is so messed

Colin is the only one who is like of course you’re lovable (i know because it me, he doesn’t yet think to himself)

STAHPPPPPPPPPP “kiss me it’ll mean nothing just pls” IS NUTS AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

This is only episode 2!!!!!!!!! Way too early in this trope!!!!!! Unless…

Unless it’s a turned table!!!!!!! Aaahhhh!

Episode 3

THIS ROMANCE NOVEL ASS OPENING 💀💀💀

STOP ITS HIS DREAM I AM DECEASED

THE TURNS HAVE TABLED

he dreams in bodice-ripper 💀

Better than I could have anticipated he is so down bad what a puppydog babygirl

Oh my god who is danbury’s guest is it Sophie’s stepmother??? Is that how Sophie is going to bewitch Benny boy at the final ball of the season??? (I am Benedict centric in case you couldn’t tell) (so much so that I actually read his book) (they’re gonna change it a bunch but I can’t wait to see how that season goes. and then the Francesca and Gregory seasons)

Alone under the willow tree scandal-scandal-scandalous (if anyone saw)

They are so— I am so on board now the mutual pining I had no idea this was what we were in for thank god legit better than I expected

Wow literally what the fuck is wrong with people saying this fucked up shit to this girls face

if Ben wouldn’t third for them I would 🥵

GALLANT that’s the word! He is being very gallant! Not enough gallantry about I’m afraid

I am here for this Debling guy and our shiny Penny! The banter is superb :)

Also is he a Shakespearean actor is that why he knows what to do with his arms (nothing, properly)

Also I fucking love Eloise’s embroidered surcoats they are glorious

Is Cressida more likeable now because there’s a persistent sadness in her eyes instead of the meanness of previous szns

Is Colin really looking so different this season because his tailoring is different than everyone else’s? And they claim it to be “French”??

Speaking of tailoring, Penelope looks like a leading lady now instead of previous szns because her new wardrobe finally gets her waistline correct. It was much too high previously, making her look uncomfortable and juvenile. This proper underbust empire waistline is so gorgeous makes such a difference

Omg Cressida’s spark of interest in lord naturalist is so sweet!

camel thru eye of needle ✨Jesus Reference✨

ok Cressida and rugged bird man endgame

has anyone else noticed each of the Bridgertons has a prevailing one of the five senses? Daphne touch, Antony smell, (Benedict I would say is sight,) and Colin seems to be taste. Or maybe it’s just a mouth kissing thing. But I guess we shall see. Oh and Francesca sound.

HANNAH NEW HERE SHE IS AHHHHH

And as a potential interest for Benny okay!! Two faves sharing the screen let’s watch em cook

Francesca is so pretty wtf who is this actor she looks like belle from the animated beauty and the beast disney like fr right off the cel n her big baby browns

This balloon hullabaloo! Dashing strong menfolk! Let the swooning and fluttering commence

The innovations ball!

Oh? OH?? Violet suitor???????

Put this dress of Cressida’s on the Met Gala carpet!

OH DANBURY’S GUEST IS HER BROTHER IS VIOLET LOVE INTERESTEST

OH FRAN HAS A LOVE INTEREST I AM ALL ABOUT THIS

TILLY DO LESS (love her all about her)

Violet mom of all time aww she loves her kiddos

Stop he is not

Don’t

Please COLIN

oh thank god

THIS TENSION AHH

Debling is a great guy

randomly this cellist looks like Daniel Brühl kinda

Aw Violet sad for her boy

Ditzy sister preggers??

this episode y’alllllllll

Episode 4

Iike this red hair pale blue dresses combo on my girl Nicola is STUNNIN make those Irish eyes SPARKLE

This Francesca suitor is so WONDERFUL

they are CUTE

John Sterling!!!

CUTE!!!!!

her tweed over-jacket is taking me out of it a bit

BACK IN THEY ARE CUTE

Sitting in companionable silence!! Sparks flying among introverts!! Dare I say

Ok Mondrich, keep the club just don’t work in it! easy solutions

GIRL HE PROPOSED THE PROPOSAL OF MARRIAGE AND YOU HAVE UR HEAD FULL OF COLIN THOUGHTS

AND HES DOUBLED DOWN WITH PROSTITUTES AND GOT HIS HEAD FULL OF PENELOPE THOUGHTS AAAAAHHHGG

sweet Fran is such a quiet lil cutie pie aww

oh shit Colin realtalk wow cook king the lads were not ready for it not on his level

Violet, mom among moms

Can there finally be a season with no broken proposals pls it upsets me how much that happens on this show like it’s a casual thing to do

widower slow burn with widow ready for it here for it golden bachelor

is this……. ship inklings bw Eloise n Cressida rn

Omg Danbury isn’t one bit a fan of her brother

OH MY GOD

Lord Kilmartin WROTE her SHEET MUSIC

She’s Not Drinking The Lemonade

Lol Colin gonna get a front row seat to Pen’s proposal ughhhhhhh tensionnnnnn

AHH MAY HE CUT IN

JK about the ship-inklings actually but that was a nice moment

Oh Debling is iq-eq smart and I like him he is a sharp cookie he can’t propose to her now he likes her too much to get in the way of all that

OH COLIN FUMBLED

Oh no his feelings are hurt :( no proposal

He’s a straight shooter girl he’s straight shooting you oops

pennnnnnnnnn

RUN WHITE BOY RUN

HATE when diagetic music is off key with the score it is a PEEVE

Frannie is so happy awwww

POLIN are they going to KISS in the CARRIAGE

ON HIS KNEES???????

TORTURE????????

momentary 💔 but immediate 💓

SMOOCH CITY

Carriage hookup!! Titanic who!! Steamy!!!!!

AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH

way to go girl speedrun from never been kissed to finger blasted in the back of the family limo

FOR GODS SAKE PENELOPE ARE YOU OR ARE YOU NOT

END OF FIRST HALF (!!!)

Epilogue

this part 2 teaser what drama what will he do when he finds outttt

[dark-mega]

It's funny how you're taught that nurture plays an immeasurable role in who you are while also being taught that YOU play an immeasurable role in who you are. The thing is, deep down nobody really believes nurture plays an immeasurable role in who you are while also believing that YOU play an immeasurable role in who you are, at least in a consistent way. Deep down people want it to be one or the other depending on the person they're judging so they sort people into two groups. Those who are the way they are because the world forces their hand, and those who are the way they are "just because". That's sadly how you get characters like Adrien Agreste and Jack Horner. Like Astruc said, everyone knows Adrien is "perfect", but does flawed things because the world forces his hand. And everyone knows nurture played no role in creating Jack Horner. He is the way he is "just because".

You see this is actually showcased by Jack,Adrien and Chloe

Chloe was molded by her nurture since every aspect of her personality was because of someone else’s influence. Her mother her pure hatred for anything that she doesn’t like but also her need for attention, her spoiled personality and the fact she sometimes is a giant brat but also her relationship with Sabrina which may have come from the similar relationship their fathers have (showcased by mega leech) and finally Hawkmoth & ladybug molded her personality in different ways; Ladybug for the better and hawkmoth for the worse but Chloe never really did anything to build character herself, she just learned from others

Jack was molded by himself since every part of he’s life is nothing but him having the wrong reaction, loving parents,a thriving business and a mansion, yet he still envy’s the fairytale characters, Jack choose to be like that

And Adrien a bit of both since he’s obviously emotionally easy to break and manipulate thanks to he’s father but he molded himself has someone with… “attitude” to say the least which is showcased by he’s alter ego “cat noir” which showcased he’s self built sense of rebellion

On a side note can i talk about how this talks about Adriens character and hawkmoth has a villain?

people always debate if Ladybug should be the protagonist but cat noir having not only having this personal conflict but also hawkmoth being he’s father shows he has more potential than she could ever had

They try to give them a Spider-Man and Green Goblin kind of rivalry but that doesn’t work with ladybug and Hawkmoth

Good villains have something that puts them against their Hero

Batman and Joker are complete opposites

Death is Puss in Boots biggest fear and motivation for the wish (literally) going after him

Green goblin and Spider-Man are in similar situations, both have the power to change the world but Peter learned to use this power to better the life’s of others even if he’s sucks, meanwhile Norman used this power to better he’s life while ruining others to better he’s already great life (not talking about the movie version but more like of the comics and other series version)

Hawkmoth does not have any kind of connection with ladybug or parallel or anything, at most he makes her life a stress for having to save Paris while also being her crush father. But outside of that the character that fits better has Hawkmoth enemy is Adrien

Jack exists not only so they can get rid of the wish and have a big bad to defeat since death is unbeatable, but also to showcase the kinds of villains. A movie Can have, the movie doesn’t pretend he’s puss biggest enemy but he’s the worse person in here

Gabriel is the worse person but still fails to be anything more than a villain, he lacks the enjoyment of Jack or the sympathy Goldilocks & the three bear give and he’s not even near the level of intimidation,fear,power and personal connections Death has with puss

[strawberrybrunette]

Spoilers for a super old TV show called Static Shock

I just had a thought that maybe the best brothers to go save Camille would be Mikey and Raph because Mikey like before won't give up on his family and Raph knows what isolation can do to his own psyche and would absolutely hate the idea of Leo going back to another Dimension with the risk of not being able to come back.

Raph also was the one who heard the phrase

"Anatawa Hitorijanai."

It would also give some potential Permafrost vibes with Mikey and Camille, what if all that time in the dimension didn't just turn her "Kooky?" What If it really did some psychological damage? Making her feel abandoned and lost without a sense of identity.

If you ever seen Static Shock you'd recognize this line.

"The voices in the dark, they call me Permafrost"

What If being trapped in another dimension caused her to forget even her own name (maybe in the dimension all she's ever called is a mutant.) Making her fearful of everything and everyone, making her lash out at anyone she sees as a threat (ie: The giant snapping turtle and smaller turtle with a weapon and the ability to open PORTALS SHE COULD GET SUCKED INTO.) and it isn't until Mikey (Who along with everyone else would find out about Camille.) Calls out her name during the fight leading to-

"Y-You know my name?"

Maybe Camille would say something along the lines of-

"If they did they wouldn't have forgotten about me!"

But Mikey would finally find the right words to console her, telling her she wasn't forgotten, that when they found out they had a lost sister they never gave up on finding and bringing her back.

And remember when I mentioned this phrase?

Anatawa Hitorijanai.

Raph would be the one to tell Camille that she's not alone but in this case it would be like telling her "You'll never be alone again."

Camille finding out that someone, anyone was willing to go to such lengths to find her finally causes her to break down and stop fighting Mikey and Raph, they'd find a way back and maybe in some comical manner step into the portal home right as Leo and Donnie walk in with (a possibly beat up and exhausted.) Frida.

Itd Also lead to this heart-warming scene with the two sisters coming to the same conclusion, that after all the pain they've been through they both want to heal.

ROTTMNT FANS.

I have a question for research purposes-

If two turtles had to go find one sister each, Frida with Big Mama and Camille in the Other Dimension who would actually be better for story arc purposes?

Would Mikey and Donnie go to save Frida?

Mikey who refuses to give up on family and Donnie who has the opposite of Frida's abilities and could mirror her desire to gain Big Mama's approval.

Would Leo and Raph go to save Camille?

Leo who has BEEN to another dimension before and is willing to sacrifice himself to protect and save his family and Raph who knows how loneliness and isolation can take a toll on the psyche (he also has some impulsiveness that might make it easier for him to fight Camille if she's also unpredictable.)

OR THE OTHER WAY AROUND?

[showtoonzfan]

I’ve already made my own post about how utterly frustrated I am with how Vivzie wrote and designed Alastor and then had another chance to redesign, and then fumbled the bag again.

I’m glad that there’s some people who are unapologetically open about how often she mishandles her BIPOC and queer characters (thought I was alone out here for a second) because the (minority) of most fans who disagree, usually do so in fine print partly because it’s like walking on eggshells doing so.

Like seriously, most of the fandom on twitter has got to be some of the biggest dick riders I’ve seen, you’d think they’re getting paid instead of Vivz.

I love the concepts and characters and do draw fanart for it but as far as [mainly financial] support goes. no. These characters and concepts slap when I pretend they aren’t written and designed by Vivz

When it comes to Alastor, EXACTLY! That’s why my post was so long and ranty when I was talking about his “redesign” because like you said, she had the chance to change his OBVIOUS problems but didn’t do shit. It really irked me, especially how she had the opportunity to finally use some more color variety since he was too red but again, she didn’t do anything, and thanks to her, he’ll probably melt in the backgrounds unless these artists working on the team know how to use colors but I doubt it. Oh, and now CHARLIE’S all red thanks to her, when she was literally fine before in my opinion. She looks too similar to Al, and now she’ll barley stand out. 😑

And yeah, I’m glad people are realizing she isn’t the best at writing LGBTQ+ characters. Charlie and Vaggie were literally afterthoughts and only existed in the story because Viv’s friends thought they were cute, Vaggie is a lesbian and yet Viv decided to keep her joke of a name, her two openly gay characters Angel and Stolas just spout sex jokes all the time like stereotypes, Blitz is used for gay banter as well, Sallie May just feels like an afterthought for brownie points, all I can say is trust me, there’s BETTER LGBTQ+ rep out there people. 😬

When it comes to the Twitter people, holy HELL yeah. It’s not just Twitter, it’s YouTube as well (cough Saberspark.) I don’t have a problem with people genuinely liking the shows, but Christ are some fans SO blind with their head up their asses. It’s sad too, I’ve come across channels who actually criticize media, but suddenly when it comes to Hazbin and Helluva boss, they’re biased and say it’s the best and phenomenally written without giving a lick of genuine criticism whatsoever. I can’t say what anyone else hasn’t already said about this, some of these people need to wake up because Viv at BEST is a mediocre writer who needs to improve. Her storytelling skills are zero, she’ll SAY something about a character without properly conveying it, she relies on edgy dialogue and curse words instead of actual jokes, I could write a library on the issues as a writer she has, (which is why this blog mainly exists lol) and the fandom just constantly sucking up to her isn’t helping at ALL. How is she supposed to improve if everyone keeps saying she’s perfect? Literally the main thing a critic should know is no matter HOW good a story is.......it can always.....ALWAYS be BETTER. There’s always room to improve no matter WHAT. That’s why I was so happy to find a few videos who DO actually critique her shows (I made the playlist post for Hazbin and I’ll do it for helluva soon) without blindly asskissing it.

And lastly, yeah, again it’s sad. I’m interested in Hazbin, I think the show has SO SO much potential to be something truly amazing, I love how it’s about redemption for people who are already gone, and I love the character concepts. There’s obviously a way this could all WORK, it’s just...Viv that’s ruining it so far. I’ve seen so many fan comics, songs, fanart, fanfics, SO many good ideas by fans that are 10x better than Viv’s. I know I’m sounding petty but I just want her to improve, and if she can’t, I hope there will be OTHER writers on the team for this show once it comes out, writers who are PROFESSIONAL, who know how to handle certain topics, writers who know what they’re doing instead of dicking around because vivzie ain’t it. I hate how everyone acts like she’s this goddess who doesn’t need criticism whatsoever because her animation and colors look so pretty and was able to make this indie show. People say she’s either perfect or use the excuse that she’s indie (which yeah apparently excuses that no it doesn’t) and fans need to wake up and start realizing that she’s not perfect and needs some work.

[korra-the-red-lion]

An Observation from an MCU fan.

Hey everyone, Korra here. I just got back from Thor Love and Thunder the other day, as well as finishing Ms. Marvel and I’ve been having these thoughts for a while now but I’m going to try to put them in words. It’s perhaps a little bit of a criticism of some of the recent MCU ventures, a little of my own personal feelings, and just some thoughts in general I suppose.

The biggest one that I’ll talk the most about is too much content in too little time. I think we all know what I’m talking about, if you’ve been a part of the MCU fandom for as long as I have been, or even if you’re a causal fan. But in the past couple of years, there has been more Phase 4 content than nearly all the other Phases put together. And I’m being real here, I think some has been fantastic while others haven’t been. Mostly the shows I think have suffered from this.

The shows are all extra long movies with a whole lotta stuffing, except for maybe WandaVision. The Falcon and Winter Soldier was just a long Captain America movie with way too much going on, yet nothing happening all at the same time. Loki wasn’t bad but it spent too much time on Loki’s “redemption”, even though we had a very satisfying one through the movies that paid off gloriously. At least the show is getting a second season. Hawkeye was a fun venture, and I think Kate’s story was well done even if I found the ending to be a bit lackluster. I didn’t love Moon Knight, but that’s mostly because I felt like the show dragged on for too long whereas it would have worked as a movie to get through some of the meandering the show did. Ms. Marvel was a very character driven show that had a pretty weak plot in my opinion. WandaVision had the most satisfying character moments and plot moments, and if you skip/ignore the post credits scene, it tells a beautiful story about accepting grief and loss as part of life. I think the largest issue for the shows stems from the lack of proper vision and focus. Kevin Feige is busy watching over ALL these projects and I personally feel like you can see it now. Most of the shows needed someone to step in and say “No that can be removed, and maybe do this instead.” I’m all for creative decision making, don’t get me wrong. But if you’re using these shows to build stories into more movies and stuff, then they need to be engaging and connect to the larger picture somehow. 

Now the movies are still fun, entertaining popcorn flicks, as they should be. But I’ve found myself wondering, “Did we need an Eternals movie? Was Thor Love and Thunder and now a potential Thor 5 needed?” I thought after Endgame we’d see a switch to focus on what I thought would be the new generation of newly introduced Heroes (Captain Marvel, Black Panther, Scarlet Witch, Doctor Strange) since Steve, Tony and I thought Thor’s stories were finished. But every new project is introducing us to a new hero, someone else to keep an eye on. I’m excited for the idea of the Fantastic 4, loving the comics and the cartoon since I was a kid, but on top of everyone else it’s a lot. The Eternals introduced us to at least 5 people we need to keep an eye on. There are so many new characters that I feel like I’m losing track. Also, it does suck to me that our OGs (Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, etc) got to have franchises that they didn’t share the spotlight with, but Captain Marvel and seemingly some others don’t get that same curtousy. Am I excited about Kamala and Monica showing up in the Marvels? Absolutely. Am I little bummed out that we know very little of Carol’s life since she left Earth and now have to watch her share her storytime with two other people, one who just had a nearly 5hr movie to tell her story? Yup, I am. I’d be more down if this was the third film. And I love Yelena, don’t get me wrong, she’s one of the best new characters introduced, but I would have loved if the Black Widow movie was actually about Natasha. I mean, me and every other person who wanted a BW movie only asked for a Natasha solo film for 10+ years, so it would have been nice to see her get a trilogy like the boys.

At this point, it feels like the MCU cares more about bringing in the newest hero instead of focusing on the ones we already have. And I know the Pandemic caused mass delays and they’re playing catch up now, but there is literally a new MCU project every couple of months and if you don’t watch all of them, you’ll be lost when heading into the newest project. Didn’t watch WV? Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness might not be a enjoyable if you didn’t. Didn’t watch BW? Might miss out a pretty big reason why Yelena is even in Hawkeye. 

I miss the days when you could watch the movies and only be expected to watch the movies to be excited about the crossovers and team ups, but even if you missed one, that was okay. I liked watching the Defenders series and them being in their own little section of the MCU. I liked Agents of Shield just did its own thing. I liked Runaways and it having three self contained seasons that didn’t require hours and hours of prior knowledge.

Maybe there was no point in writing this post except to get my feeling out there. I still like the MCU, been a fan of it since I was 12 years old. But I’m starting to feel some fatigue from it, starting to see a dip in some quality storytelling. Not every movie needs to be CA: Winter Soldier or Thor Ragnarök level of good story telling and overall enjoyment, but I feel like we’re getting some weaker stories from the TV shows and it’s starting to show up in the movies as well because there’s too much for one man to focus his attention on. Don’t get me wrong either, Shang-Chi was probably one of the best Phase 4 movies out there so far, and probably one of the best Phase 4 properties in general, as well as being one of the better MCU movies. I absolutely loved WandaVision, I’ve watched it twice and think it’s even better the second time around. But I really thought tFatWS was boring. Thor Love and Thunder was okay, but it needed to be tonally controlled because some parts I thought were just a little cringey.

Maybe all I need from the MCU is to slow down. Focus on storytelling again, focus on the effects. Focus on the emotional impacts. And honestly, maybe not focus on churning out TV show after TV show. On average, they’re just “okay.” Anyway, guess I just wanted to get these thoughts out of my head. It’s fine if you disagree with me, it’s not going to offend me. If you read this far, thanks.

[archies-litterbox]

You know... tonight I'm thinking about how I and much of the rest of the fandom had alot of positive feelings about Wizards, even though it had its share of imperfections, in comparison to ROTT, which had such an overwhelmingly negative response.

And I think it's because much of the criticism of Wizards was centered around what we didn't get to see, while criticism of ROTT is largely centered around what we did see (and what we shouldn't have seen).

Two of the most popular criticisms I saw of wizards when it first came out were:

1.) The story was so tightly condensed that there was alot that didn't get to be explored.

2.) Zoe didn't get to have a larger role.

And I think both of these criticisms share one uniting sentiment: we wanted more. The audience loved what we did see, and we wanted to see more of it. We wanted more of Douxie's time in the spotlight/more of Camelot explored/more of The Pink-Haired Girl And What She Means to Douxie. It's INTERESTING and WE LIKE IT.

Since the show only had ten episodes, there was alot that had to be squeezed down/removed to fit in the time allowed, but Wizards spent the time it did have giving us amazing characters, compelling dynamics, and interesting lore expansion that the audience was ENTHRALLED by, to the point where much of the criticism of the installment comes down to: the audience was so intrigued/fascinated by this content that the fact that there isn't more sucks.

Now... cut to Rise of the Titans.

With its runtime of nearly two hours, it theoretically had the chance to do more of what Wizards, as great as it was, couldn't fit in: more of Douxie in the spotlight, expansion on his other relationships (like Zoe & ADP), compelling lore expansion, and smart utilization of characters & completion of character arcs for a satisfying ending.

And... it didn't deliver.

Firstly, let's get one of the big ones out of the way: it used a good ~10 minutes (?) of its runtime, which it could have used for doing something like 1.) a scene of characters who didn't get to interact much in the trilogy 2.) showing us why douxie and nari stopped running/them running at all 3.) my personal favorite, a scene of human jim coming home to his mom - and used it to give one of its side characters with the best character development I saw in the series... one of the grossest "comic relief" subplots I've seen in a long time. I would have rather Steve not been in the movie at all (like perhaps he heard arcadia was in danger and went to make sure his step-dad was okay) than seen that.

...Moving on.

What Douxie was able to do in the movie was good: he was VERY enjoyable to watch on-screen, and his big brother/baby sister dynamic with Nari was simply too precious.

But, like Wizards... it wasn't enough.

After finally getting his chance in the spotlight in the last installment, Douxie was sidelined and kept losing the people he loved left and right for what seemed to be for the mere sake of making him suffer (Nari dying as she killed Skrael/Archie getting stuck in the Hong Kong Trollmarket) when he'd already had to grieve Merlin in Wizards. He also doesn't use his most iconic item from Wizards: his spellcaster guitar. Sometimes, honestly, it seems like all he was there to do was 1.) suffer 2.) do spells (guitarlessly) to help people out and 3.) scream "NARI!"

(But Colin's voice acting DE👏LI👏VERED! Everyone's did, really. There were honestly alot of other aspects to the movie like voicework/animation/music that were really good and it sucks to see it dragged down by all the staggering missteps in writing.)

And arguably the worst aspect of that? His sidelining wasn't even unique to him; to me, every protagonist from the subsequent series' post-trollhunters seemed to be sidelined for the sake of Jim's spotlight.

Which wouldn't have been a problem... if it was used for any other confliction/crisis than him doubting being the trollhunter without the amulet, a question that was already answered in Trollhunters.

Aside from the fact that Jim felt strangely out of character, the whole ~confliction~ he had over being an amulet-less Trollhunter was redundant and felt unnecessary (I sort of wanted Merlin's ghost to show up and thwack him and say "WHAT DID I SAY!? WHAT DID I TELL YOU!?" and dip back out). In my opinion, a better confliction to explore would have been his connection to his humanity, which he'd just gotten back, or coping with what he'd done as a beast under the order's control. But instead, it badly recycled an old aspect of his arc that was already discussed in Unbecoming.

Besides Jim being what I never thought he'd be, an irritating and honestly sort-of unlikable protagonist, other characters were greatly underutilized as well.

...Especially Nomura.

First of all, they made the ridiculous decision to send two trolls with Douxie to Brazil in the daytime, knowing trolls TURN TO STONE IN THE SUN. But THEN, just for the sake of showing how deep Nari is under control, she pulls Nomura into the sunlight and shatters her when she gets petrified. It happens out of nowhere for complete & utter shock value.

To me, it seems like they brought in Nomura for the sake of having Nomura, and then they didn't know what to do with Nomura, so they killed Nomura.

And honestly, not knowing what to do with the characters and deciding to just nerf/kill them was this movie's whole thing.

But it's okay, because we have... the COP-OUT-ENDING-O-MATIC 3000! 🥳🎉

Oh, wait, sorry... the kronosfere.

[underwhelming party favor noise]

There's really no need to repeat myself on what it did - if you watched R*TT, my condolences you know what I'm talking about, and if you've read this far along, you're probably ticked about it too.

So, because of this little ball of SHAME AND BAD THINGS combined with Jim's edge-brood OOC-ness, not only did the movie give us underwhelming/unsatisfying/devastating-and-not-in-a-good-storytelling-way plotline and giving us so much that was... bad, it took away everything that was good - everything we loved. It was the second worst thing introduced in the story (the first is the entire garbage heap that is 7 kisses = MPreg (even though akiridions are projections from CORES)), and to be completely honest I WISH skrael and bellroc broke Nari and Douxie's spell before nari could say "kronosfere will make right"

(...AND the ninth configuration thing too tbh)

So... while Wizards spent the short time it had giving us something amazing, Rise of the Titans, instead of continuing to deliver on what Wizards couldn't fit in, squandered the potential it had as a finale and used its time to give us gross subplots/frustrating once decisions/underutilization, as well as to take everything else down with it at the very end with the Green Shame Orb.

And... yeah. Technically, it's not exactly two months post-ROTT anymore, because it's like 2 am on the 22nd, but I thought about this a lot felt compelled to share.