#its like. a bad comic book style fix

[thechivalrousfox]

As much as i love all the new hades designs i do hate the waist they gave nemesis. Let my girl have ribs actually.

Edit: why her head so small also.

[monsieuroverlord]

My honest reaction to this week's comics:

Spoilers Under the Cut:

Wolverine #50:

FREEDOM!

The ending wrapped up a little too neat, much like X-Force did.

Basically, before the battle against Graydon could even comence, Sabretooth got him first with a lethal blow.

I was kind of expecting a bit of a fight, but okay.

Also, Logan's a godddamn hypocrite:

How much have the writers just kind of glossed over? I'm guessing they've never read Remender's X-Force at minimum.

Like, Logan acting like killing your own son is inconceivable? It would've made more sense for Logan to harp on his angst regarding his own son here.

Sabretooth lures Logan to the heart of former Krakoa to be captured by the residue pit, but it just ripped his armor off.

But the side purpose of the armor is to reactivate his healing factor (because fuck it, of course it is).

The X-Force crew subdues Sabretooth, but Logan faces him one-on-one, and hacks him to bits as revenge.

This panel was actually a cool visual (artist did amazing):

With Akihiro front and center :(

And also Logan realizes (once again) that he's happier with "family" -- both found and blood family.

Laura doesn't get to react to her brother's death.

Phoebe turns off the Quire-head device (but we already know he's going to be resurrected anyway)

No Beaubier twin cameos.

Even Logan's man-pain is absolutely glossed over. Weirdly, he's not hating himself enough for a man who just lost his beloved son.

(I thought we were pretending that everything was fixed off-panel and he loves his son)

(The only other Akihiro cameo in this book. At least he doesn't have a beer this time)

Like, I know denial is a stage of grief, and its not unheard of to compartmentalize things, but we could still have had a moment where Logan just ~breaks~ at the end, you know? Like it all comes flooding in after the war is over and won.

I'm sorry, the ending was weirdly too hopeful for my tastes. It comes across as very shallow to me.

In general, I think the writing between Akihiro and Logan just lacks a lot of depth.

The most we've gotten from this writer is a brief mention or small moment here or there -- for example Jeff Bannister had mentioned once that Logan told him about Itsu during one of their hang-out sessions (from the Wolverine ongoing). Or Logan conisistently referring to Akihiro as "my son" with a more positive connotation.

There's just no real depth being built between Logan and Aki -- not even in monologue form. No reflection on how his son has grown and changed, become a hero, no thoughts on Itsu -- there used to be a time when Logan couldn't even look at his son without thinking about Itsu.

Its not like Akihiro was a product of a one-night stand -- he was originally a WANTED child. Logan not only married Itsu, but also knew he was gonna be a father before all that shit went down.

I'm just not seeing the expected reactions of man who was granted the opportunity to reconnect with his long-lost child in a relatively healthier format, only to lose him AGAIN. After implied healing progress was finally made. AND in a BRUTAL fashion -- that alone should be tramatizing.

Just in general, the writing style is great for a comic book format, but also, I think a lot of the plotline choices/character development are lacking if you've read up on Akihiro (and other characters in general -- Laura is written a little odd, like a mini-Logan)

As far as the side story by Larry Hama/Daniel Picciotto -- it was fun. It was a nostalgia trip. I have nothing to add and I liked it.

We also got ink pages (unlettered/uncolored) for the upcoming Wolverine series out in September -- Kurt is tracking down Logan, who is living with wolves again.

Hellverine #1

Oddly, I don't completely hate it yet. Like this issue had quality set-up, but its weird. The plot choices are weird. The implications of what's happening are weird. It's all weird. It's too weird to bash yet.

But its not bad writing, in terms of quality. The story flows well, it kept my interest -- but I still have reservations regarding upcoming plot deicisions.

Essentially, Akihiro, possessed by the spirit of Bagra-Gul, is going around hunting bad guys -- human traffickers, a corrupt priest, a cannibalistic supper club, etc.

The secret underground Pentagon organization is also trying to figure out the Hellverine is doing. They had harnessed Hellfire and infused into a bunch of of deceased elite soldiers--who immediately went rogue and escaped. But Aki/Hellverine showed up and tried to stop them -- presumably sensing the Hellfire stuff going on. But they managed to blow him up and escape while he healed.

In response, the Pentagon organization captured Logan, believing him to be the Hellverine (to be fair -- in the demon form, it looks a lot like him with a flaming skull). The head of the org interrogated him, lying about the Hellfire soldiers' origin, so Logan agreed to help him locate the Hellverine to take the soldiers down. Upon reviewing the video -- particularly at the moment of explosion, Logan recognized his son's tattoo.

The issue ends on a cliffhanger, with Aki going "flame-off" to reveal his beautiful face.

So Aki is NOT part of the secret underground Pentagon organization like I thought. He is an oddity. I'm assuming as this progresses, we'll find out why -- I'm currently assuming its an old shell, like a Krakoan era resurrection that was never disposed of properly, you know? Then mix it with demon-magic.

I still don't get the all the stitches -- I mean, if its an old shell, it would explain the mohawk (I miss the long, fluffy hair already. I mean, I guess the mohawk is more iconic, but he already has a unique tattoo, let him change up his style for a bit longer. I never got my messy hair-down panel ☹) .

But also, he 100% looks like Logan with a flaming skull in his demon form. Like, the tattoo canonically disappears, and he's short and hairy, and has Logan's claw placement.

The implications of it are weirding me out -- like I know Aki canonically has his father's shoulders, but he's taller and I've always headcanoned him having a relatively slimmer/wiry build overall. Mostly taking after his mama with hints of his father here and there. I guess it could be explained away with demon magic transformation, but I don't know how I feel yet. (like it would be weird to be specifically transformed into your father, right?)

The explanation for Bagra-Gul is that bonding to Logan fundamentally changed him -- as in, as a demon, Bagra-Gul still feeds on pain and violence, but now tinged with a sense of twisted justice so he feeds on the sinners/scum of the earth and taking the same demonic pleasures.

Does this mean Akihiro is also feeling his father's influence on Bagra-Gul? Is Bagra-Gul influenced by Akihiro at all? Does Aki know what he's doing? Is there even Aki's soul in there, or is it just an empty shell for a demon?

I guess we'll have to wait and see?

However, I am 100% worried with how this is going to play out. (Especially considering its likely the writer was planning this out since the beginning of the Sabretooth War arc)The Hellverine mini lines up perfectly to the relaunch of the Wolverine series. And I know I've said it before, but Logan only turns his back on civilization for two reasons: braining-washing or grief (or both.)

The caption teaser for Hellverine #4 is as folllows:

"HELLVERINE VS. WOLVERINE! BAGRA-GHUL has come for LOGAN's soul, but when the heat is on, who will survive - the HELLVERINE or the WOLVERINE?"

I really just hope it is just a fake-out and it means purifying Akihiro's soul and not making Logan kill him again. I am so tired. (and Aki gets to keep the character growth -- no hard reset making him a villian again)

But it really seems like they want Logan to hate himself for some reason and wouldn't be the first time they made him kill his son (or kids in general) to make him feel bad.

Or even just kill a shell of his son could be just enough -- Logan has never needed much to trigger the self-loathing.

Its lining up a little too well for comfort, if that makes sense.

I just want to be hopeful. Such as, maybe now that Akihiro is relatively front and center for this mini, we'll actually get some proper father-son relationship development. Maybe it'll end nicely wrapped up on a positive note -- where Akihiro is resurrected, relatively fine, and set up to join a new team, such as one of the books that hasn't been announced yet (Editor Tom Brevoort mentioned in an interview that there are still "first wave" new era books that haven't even been announced yet)

[pyromanicsghost]

I genuinely don't understand why people hate the new season. Spoilers to follow.

To start, the Five and Lila subplot was shit. I won't front - it existing outside of the plot made it easy for me to just act like it didnt happen. Diego and Lila and Five deserved better and it sounds like the actors knew it. But if a bad romance subplot could ruin a whole show, I'd hate a lot more things.

I'm on the fence about Klaus's plot - felt like sidelining him and was questionable. But also a natural part of Klaus's life. Lila had her kids, Allison had Claire, Diego his family, on and on. Klaus's whole life was avoiding being sober and then a huge focus on sobriety. This is his thing. All y'all loved his drugged antics and it gets messy and sad especially when facing it post rock bottom and change.

I see a lot of Ben being unimportant complaints - Ben was always auxilary and a mcguffin there to bond or split the group - Umbrella Ben was a concept, a guilt source, Klaus's conscience, Klaus's id...never a character and dead before the show ever began. Sparrow Ben was literally never part of this family and plot about the family embracing him would have been nice, but him having his own solo quest because he is alone in this world was also fine. Jennifer was a plot device - and in a comic book show about another apocalypse thats not neccessarily a bad thing - especially with a group of dynamic characters I care about on the board.

I see a lot of complaints about the lack of fun villains. What was Sy (I know who was in him but that performance was fun)? Gene and Jean? Those are classic villains that are right up there with the Swedes and the Handler. Hazel & Cha Cha are still standouts but thats not cause these guys sucked.

I see a lot of ending complaints - going from "it was all for nothing" to "it was harmful". If it was harmful for you please be safe and that's a personal decision each time - but also that's media sometimes. It wasn't an irresponisble move like The Magicians or 13 Reasons or other things that just don't consider the audiences needs in order to gain shock value and I don't think they did anything irresponsible with it.

(I am a survivor of unalive attempts, one right after magicians so I get it. And I'm a year sober re: Klaus stuff.)

But, I loved the ending. I don't think it was all for nothing. They saved thier families! They saved everyone! The whole world! Universe! Future and past! Their moms! Hundreds of people who died in their fight to save it, on either side because without the conflict caused by them they're lives were different! I wish the Flash, or Winchesters, or anyone else who keeps ruining lives and causing death and strife sometimes on an apocalypse scale or multiverse timesplit scale had, at literally any point, said "Actually we should value this over my mom/brother/self"...like the scale was apocalyptic. That has a cost. And wow they fixed more than even I hoped. The families? Nice. Hazel and his diner wife are where I got emotional - very nice touch to show everyone.

Why isn't there a kugelblitz? Either the deletion of the timelines and that energy removed the issue Golden Compass style or its a fun comic book show with time assassins and a new element called marigold.. take your pick. It's never been that deep.

The marigolds at the end were probably not thought about as much as anyone on here has. I thought it was just a fun finale goodbye, like getting a bouqet at curtain. I liked that Ben and Lila both had one.

Genuinely confused and had to write to the void and see if I'm alone or crazy. I recommend a lot of people read and watch more media for literacy and stop hoping for plots that are fanservice as they often tank good things and fanfiction and your imagination remain goated, often better, or touch grass and realize the silly fun comic book apocalypse multiverse romp may just be a lil dumb and that's okay...if you read all that I'd love feedback 🩷

And I loved so much more than this stuff! Claire being an actualized young adult and loving her uncle and mom and being a teen? Viktor getting the validation he craved. Diego getting his skills and lust for life back. The fucking cut from baby shark to "He's dying" and so many shots/editing/music choices that highlight the dark comedy this show is.

[thewebcomicsreview]

Do you know of any media, webcomic or otherwise, that have the same vibe that early gunnerkrig court did? Like compelling mystery with science/fantasy elements? I miss the old comic before coyote died :(

Nan Quest

What is it: In this spiritual sequel to Ruby Quest, a goat girl electrician sets out to fix a broken fuzebox and ends up ensnared in a psychological horror conspiracy.

The Good: Much more effective use of the simple MS Paint art style, with more color and some simple animations (animated panels being marked [A], a convention Homestuck would later adopt for its [S] sound panels). The characters are better fleshed out than in Ruby Quest, and the horror is more effective as well, with less gore and more tension.

The Bad: Though used effectively, the art is still MS Paint doodles. The story mechanics behind the mystery are much more ambiguous, which can be a plus.

Content Warning: Gore, threatened sexual violence.

You should read it if: You like Ruby Quest and/or psychological horror comics that can be read in a few hours.

Everything Is Fine

What is it: Maggie and Sam are a normal married couple in a very strange world where proving your loyalty is the key to winning, and the best way to prove your loyalty is to show someone else is disloyal. And also everyone wears mascot suit cat heads all the time.

The Good: Well-written characters, a novel premise, and excellent pacing. I'm not the biggest fan of the webtoon "really tall page" format, but it's taken advantage of at times for nice transitions

The Bad: The webtoon format can be irritating, and the worldbuilding is toeing the line between "compelling mystery" and "If there were two astronauts on the moon and one shot the other wouldn't that be fucked up?"-ism.

Content Warning: Gore, Suicide themes. Every page with such content has a warning on it (which works better in Webtoon format, actually)

You should read it if: You liked the dystopian fiction fiction books you had to read in high school.

Homestuck

What is it: You fucking know what this is.

The Good: Great character writing, high production values, one of the best soundtracks of really anything. The middle section (in which mysteries are slowly uncovered), is phenomenal and justifies the comic's existence.

The Bad: Most of the really bad stuff is in the sequel, Homestuck^2, but in Act 6 the story kind of goes up its own ass with the meta, and Act 1 is also a notorious slog for most people. Homestuck is an excellent sandwich with moldy bread.

Content Warning: Gore, sexual themes, some of it has not aged well (in that it's kind of edgy, but also a lot of casual ablest slurs)

You should read it if: You like seeing weird sci-fi mysteries unfold and like reading pages and pages of mostly-good dialogue, and you're okay with the fact that after all the mysteries are revealed the comic just kind of keeps going on and on instead of ending.

[lightns881]

Summary:

Dream is the best monster hunter in the league. George is an undercover witch on the run. Their lives collide after Dream gets cursed with turning into a tiny blob creature and the only way to turn him back is a kiss from George. But being partners with a bratty know-it-all witch is Dream’s worst nightmare. And after being outed a witch, George has no choice but to stick with him and the league. Will these two ever learn to get along?

OR

The comic-book style monster x monster hunter enemies to lovers au you didn’t know you needed.

PART I

SPELLBIND CITY, 2124.

The phantom’s ragged wings spread from hood to trunk of a 2125 Luxus Mage, which now lies in scraps. It flaps its wings and crashes from pillar to pillar inside the parking garage of a high-rise condo. A resident calls it in on a Monday morning, early enough that the streets are still lifeless and pitch-black. Thanks to their new interception technology, the League is on the scene to capture it before the Bureau even has a chance to send a monster control unit.

Dream and George are assigned the task because Bad thinks it’s simple enough that even they can’t mess it up. Or as he likes to say: “There’s no way you’ll crumble this muffin.”

It’s a joke, really. Up until George joined him, Dream had a hunter success rate of ninety-five percent. Now, it’s like he can’t even manage to catch a red-eyed bunny loose in a pet shop (to be fair, killer rabbits are so nifty there’s no way it doesn’t take anyone at least a full day of preparation).

Everything was much easier when the League’s sole purpose was to hunt and execute—none of this capturing alive nonsense that the losers in the Bureau swear by.

But whatever. If Bad wants him to bring this phantom back alive and tied up on a gold platter then that is exactly what he aims to do. He’s not going to let George get in the way this time. Much less this pesky curse that’s been plaguing his life for nearly a month now.

“Okay. Here’s the plan. I’ll advance from the left while you distract it. Then I can launch the net and you’ll cut it so we can haul it onto the van,” Dream says while he watches the monster peel the top of another car with its bony fingers. It buries his head inside, probably looking to devour whatever half-eaten lunch some idiot’s kid forgot.

“Got it?”

A moment passes before Dream turns and sees George leaning back on his seat with his arms crossed and the van’s manual covering his face. He’s also snoring.

“What the hell did I do to deserve this,” Dream mutters before he slaps George hard enough that he jumps awake. Then he wordlessly points at the monster and leaves the van with his bow and axe on his side.

George is still stretching his arms and yawning while Dream stalks behind the cars with his bow fixed on the phantom.

As Dream draws closer, he’s so focused on the phantom that he doesn’t notice when he steps on a pile of broken glass. The monster’s glowing green eyes and cutting horns are up and facing Dream in the time it takes him to catch a breath.

But just as the phantom pounces at him, Dream shoots the hook that pierces its blue scales and makes its shriek echo across the garage. Although the monster is on him now, it’s stunned for long enough that Dream scurries from under him and tightens the net around it, rendering it motionless.

“Are you just going to stand there or help me?” Dream grunts and gestures to the rope still attached to his bow that he’s unable to cut himself.

George has just finished his stretches and now sits against the van fiddling with his lapis ring. He watches Dream wrestle the phantom like he’s ready to change the channel.

“You seem to be holding up just fine,” George says with an almost smile, “and it’s not like there’s a much easier way of doing this that I could help you with.”

Magic. He’s talking about magic. The bane of his existence. The sole reason his life went from great to fucked from one day to the next.

Dream can’t believe fate’s cursed him to end up stuck with someone like him—bratty, careless, snobby. Worst of all: a witch. He’s everything Dream hates and more. It’s like fate wanted to point a finger at him and cackle. Or maybe that was just Sapnap. No, it was definitely both.

“Just cut the fucking rope.”

“Aye-aye,” George says with a salute and takes his time walking toward him.

He pulls a blade from his belt—the one Dream gave him when Bad welcomed him into the League. But someone like George was never meant to join their cause, not only because he’s a monster but also considering he was working for the Bureau just a few weeks earlier. However, as much as Dream wanted to argue with Bad on the decision, he was right. Given the circumstances of his curse, they had no option.

George kneels down and ever-so-gently begins to slice the rope. Dream glares the whole time, and it’s not until the rope is on the verge of ripping that he notices the grave mistake.

“No no no not that-” Dream says just as the rope rips. The phantom spreads its wings and breaks loose from its restraints, launching them back in different directions.

As the monster scrambles toward the balcony, Dream lunges and yanks its tail. The bone’s sharp enough that it cuts into his palm, but Dream isn’t about to let this fucker escape.

The phantom flings him around as it surges toward the end of the garage and out the balcony. Dream manages to shout George’s name, though it's only from the adrenaline. He’s left clutching knives six floors above the concrete sidewalk and rising.

As the phantom flies further and further from the garage, certainly about to get past the 100-meter limit of his curse, the only words running through his mind are shit, shit, shit. He holds his breath and thinks, here we go.

The transformation happens as quickly as the rest. His ears pop. A cloud of smoke blocks his vision. Suddenly, he can’t feel his arms and legs. He’s shapeless and holds onto the phantom’s tail with only his mouth, which now takes up twice his face.

He’s turned into a helpless blob.

And as if the situation can’t get any worse, with his beady black eyes, he sees the beams of sunlight peaking from behind the skyscrapers as dawn greets the sky.

Well, fuck.

The phantom bursts into blazes. Its body disintegrates into ashes. Now Dream’s falling three hundred meters to his death. He’s a lot more elastic and resilient in this form like a mix between a bouncy ball and a ball of clay, but he hasn’t exactly tested falling from such heights. He assumes he’ll end up splattered on the concrete like a piece of chewed-up gum.

Before he can test his theory, fabric, soft like silk, wraps around his five-inch body. All of a sudden he’s weightless—soaring through the sky on a blue cape.

The sensation of falling doesn’t leave him even after the cape drops him on George’s palms. Then the cape wraps around George’s back and morphs back into his lapis ring. Dream frankly doesn’t understand witch magic, and he surely doesn’t want to be anywhere near it. But he can’t say that it hasn’t gotten him out of a pickle once or twice. Usually thanks to George which he hates to acknowledge.

As he gazes upon the giant asshole cupping him in his palms and smiling, Dream glares (or at least tries to muster as much of a hateful look as he can in this white marshmallow form). Out of all of the curses that witch could’ve hexed him with, this one is the worst he could’ve never thought of.

“Looks like someone’s having a tough morning.”

Dream curses him out, but all that comes out is an incomprehensible pattern of squeaks. George laughs, and to get the stupid grin off his face (as well as get the situation done and over with), Dream jumps and lands a kiss on his lips.

Another cloud of smoke explodes before he can feel his limbs again, and he pats himself down to ensure he’s still intact. Meanwhile, George gags, spits, and wipes his mouth all dramatically like he’s just kissed a slimy toad. Dream can’t say he enjoys the method any more than George does, but he does laugh his ass off at the grossed-out look on his face every time.

It’s when he hears the distant echo of the Bureau’s monster control alarms that Dream wipes his mouth and says, “Come on.” He clips his bow to his back (he’s not sure how it is that he morphs with all of his clothes and items but then again he’s not sure how the physics of magic works). Then he says, “Let’s go tell Bad how bad you fucked everything up this time.”

LEAGUE OF MONSTER HUNTERS HQ. 10:37 A.M.

George sits with his legs wide and spins from side to side like a hyperactive fifth-grader during lunch detention. It’s one of the things Dream hates most about him—how kid-like he acts. Like he isn’t a full three years older than Dream with a whole engineering degree.

Then there’s the fact Bad chooses to treat him like a kid too. Never any repercussions. Never any real punishment (unless it involves punishing both Dream and George). Never any long-term consequences. George might as well be the teacher’s pet. He bats his pretty little eyelashes and sweet-chocolate eyes and suddenly everyone’s defending him.

Dream has only known him for a little over three weeks now, and he has already declared him his sworn enemy.

“I’ll be honest. I’m disappointed in you guys,” Bad says while watching them from across the table. He has that look his parents used to give Dream any time he snuck stray kittens inside his backpack when he got home from school. “I’ve given you easier and easier jobs and you still haven’t gotten us any good results. What do you have to say for yourselves?”

“It’s not my fault he can’t listen to instructions,” Dream says.

George scoffs. “Yeah. Because we’re always supposed to follow your call? Even though your plan is horseshit and there are better ways to trap a phantom.”

“What? Like witchcraft?”

Bad shushes Dream. “Lower your voice,” he says and peeks through the blinds to make sure nobody’s heard. As if they’re not in a sound-proof conference room and there aren’t barely any people at HQ so early on a workday. It’s not like they get paid to do this.

“Look, George. We made an agreement that we would let you stay here only if you refrained from using any magic for your own safety. We can’t exactly have our monster hunters finding out we have a monster—” George snarls and Bad clears his throat. “— sorry, witch, living under our roof.”

“We’re in an underground bunker,” George says.

Dream laughs. That’s another thing he hates about George: that sardonic know-it-all attitude.

“Point is—we can’t have this same argument brought up again and again,” Bad says.

“I’m not even asking to use glyphs. All I’m saying is that some of my inventions would be a lot more efficient and fool-proof,” (George shoots Dream a look while he says that), “and they’re technology. Not magic.”

“Being enchanted still involves magic. How are you meant to explain to everyone how they work?” Dream replies.

George pouts, though he has no answer for Dream. He does that a lot—turns toward that cute dumb face when things aren’t going his way.

Bad sighs. “Okay, look. Just think about it this way. You guys have no choice but to be a pair so you might as well make things easier for yourselves and try to get along.”

“Yeah. Like that’s gonna happen,” Dream says at the same time that George says, “Impossible.” 

Bad looks defeated. "Okay. Just go take five."

Dream doesn’t waste a second in leaving that suffocating room. He doesn’t even acknowledge Sapnap who’s been waiting in the hallway outside since Bad called them in there. 

"Don't wander too far or you’ll turn into a pumpkin," George teases. 

Dream doesn’t bother looking back and just sticks out his middle finger.

He walks past the brutes testing their electro-wave rifles in the shooting range. Past the kitchen where a robo-attendant is cooking a meal for someone snoring on the couch. Past the combat rooms where a class of newbies is learning the basics of hunting the undead.

"Dude, why are you in such a mood?" Sapnap calls as Dream reaches a simulation room and starts mounting his gear.

"Sleep in the hard-ass beds in this place every night and see how you feel."

He clips his headset on and readies the controllers. The Augment logo turns on just as Sapnap says,  "This is clearly not about living at HQ.”

"You try being around that asshole 24/7."

He starts with a warm-up session: two zombies and a spider. The zombies come at him from the sides and the spider is supposed to be a surprise attack from any direction, but Dream’s played this scenario enough that every scenerio is second nature to him.

"Come on, Dream. You can't expect him to be all rainbows and roses after losing his job, his house, his reputation, and turning into a fugitive with the Bureau on his ass. You're not the only one who got his life turned upside down by this. I hate to say it, but it wasn't even his fault."

"So you're saying it was mine?" he says then decapitates the first zombie with a clean swoop of his fake axe and puts the other in a chokehold. This isn’t exactly the optimal strategy for capturing, but the program was never meant to train them on that. Hunters were never meant to capture.

"Of course not, dude, I'm on your side. It was that fucking witch.”

Witches. Oh, how he enjoys setting those bastards on fire in these simulations. He slices the zombie’s neck open and blood pools at his feet. The spider takes him from behind one second later. 

“But also, you went against Bad's orders and walked into that fight without support. What did you think was going to happen?" Sapnap says, and it makes him waver. He misses his mark to pin the spider—that nimble little fucker. He throws it across the room instead and notices too late that he almost smacks Sapnap in the face because he can’t see him in the simulation. It’s his fault for standing around while he’s training.

"I didn't think I'd be turned into a marshmallow monster if that's what you're asking," he says and aims a slash at the spider. It misses. Since when are they this smart?

"Duh. But you can't rewind now, can you? So what are you going to do about it?"

As he dodges the spider’s attack, something takes hold of his leg and he buckles. He realizes then that he didn’t cut the second zombie’s head all the way through. His back was to him, so he didn’t see him regenerating and now he’s up against both a spider and a zombie with his head barely hanging from its neck.

"You two just gotta learn to trust each other."

"Hear yourself, Sap,” he says after decapitating the zombie, but then gets pinned by the spider and it bites him. The headset is designed to simulate the feeling of a fight with a ninety-nine percent accuracy, and he certainly feels it. His arms burn so badly that he loses strength on his arms and can’t hold the spider off.

“You're asking me to trust a witch.” He doesn’t mean to scream at Sapnap, but he’s in a tough position. The spider wraps its front legs around him and bites his neck. His body stings for a second before all feeling fades away and the screen reads ‘You died.’

He rips off the headset with a curse and slams it down a little too hard. He swipes a hand through his hair and asks, “Did they make this thing harder?”

Sapnap’s stare is dry. He says, “Are you forgetting that the witch in question saved you from being turned into marshmallow putty by another witch and then decided to stick around just so you wouldn't remain a white blob forever. At the cost of what? Becoming his maid?" 

"I'm not a fucking maid, Sap.” He puts down the controllers and decides he can’t train while Sapnap’s berating him. “It's called a familiar."

"So you're admitting he helped."

"He didn't not help. But still. Why does he have to act like such an asshole?" 

"I don't know. Maybe because you're both acting like assholes to each other. Bad's right. You two just need to learn to coexist. You don't have to like each other. But until we figure out a way to get rid of the curse, you're stuck together so deal with it.” Sapnap crosses his arms and looks at him the way he always does when he knows he’s won a conversation, but Dream doesn’t see it that way. “At least you know he's not trying to murder you else he'd already done it."

"I swear he's just playing the long con,” Dream grumbles.

“Just talk to him,” Sapnap says while opening the door.

“And say what?”

“I don’t know. Make amends. Kiss him for all I care. Anything to get Bad off my ass about talking sense into you. You’re not my goddamn kid, and you’re not even my partner anymore.” He mutters the last part and leaves.

Two hours later, Dream has failed two easy simulations and passed one. He decides he’ll add evening practices to his training schedule since he lives here now. While walking out of the showers, two of his colleagues stop talking when he walks by. It’s been happening more often. People think he’s fallen off, but he’s still the best hunter in the league by far. Nobody’s reached the number of kills he has. He's determined to prove he's still the best. 

George is in the lobby doing whatever he’s always doing on his laptop. It’s either that or cooped up in their room tinkling with his toys. He thinks Dream doesn’t notice him hiding them in the box in his closet every time he walks in.

"What do you want? Another kiss?" George says without taking his eyes off his screen. 

The guy watching TV nearby does a double take, and Dream chooses to let the comment slide so as to not satisfy George's attention-seeking habits, though he’ll be hearing rumors about it tomorrow.

"I was going to…" He has a hard time getting his words out so he clears his throat. "... say sorry for what happened earlier."

George looks up at that. “And what did happen earlier?”

Dream chews on the inside of his lip. Out of his peripheral, he notices the guy eavesdropping has not-so-subtly lowered the volume. It takes one glare for him to turn off the TV, leave the room, and let the door close behind him.

Dream shrugs. “You know.”

“Then it’s not an apology. You don’t even think you’ve done anything wrong.”

He almost replies “I haven’t” but he knows that’ll instigate another fight and they’ll end up in a worse place.

“I'll let you make more calls,” he says instead. 

“You’ll let me use my ideas?”

“You know we can’t do that, George. Bad said we can’t.”

“Oh yeah, and you’re always listening to him, huh?”

It was a mistake to tell him how he got cursed in the first place. Dream’s always been good at following directions (mostly, anyway), but the one time he doesn’t he suffers the worst consequences.

“You don't trust me,” George says.

“What?”

“That's what this is about. You don't trust me. Because of what I am.” 

Dream huffs. “Well, do you trust me?”

George stays silent for a second then says the most unexpected thing. "Yeah, actually." 

Dream stares, unsure of how to respond. He’s been assuming George feels the same mistrust and disdain for him because of how he acts, but this puts into question everything he thinks he knows. Before he can reply, Bad bursts in and says, “Zombie attack at Paradise Plaza. You two are up.”

“But we don’t handle civilian encounters,” Dream says.

“Well, you’re handling this one. The witch who summoned them is the same one who cursed you.”

To Be Continued...

[themyscirah]

For the Ask Game: ✍️!!

Okay homies I am going to be so real with you. It is 2am and I need to wake up early but who cares bc I forgot about this ask SO. top 5 (order not concrete) comic series I would write if I could

Number one. Green Lantern Corps. I looovveee the lanterns and want control over their lives like a puppetmaster. It would be so fun and I think everyone would have a great time. I would specifically want the corps book so I could focus on multiple characters, especially my less popular faves. This book in my mind wouldn't run alongside a Green Lantern ongoing title (GLC would be the ongoing) but rather some minis/maxis w gl characters I wouldn't be writing/in the main book like hal

SUI SQUAD SWISHY STYLE PLEASEEEEEEE ! Guys I could make it happen so bad. It would be a glorious thing to behold my masterpiece etc etc. I would need like 3k more words and a bit more thought to fully outline my vision but guys. Guys. The Amanda Waller tragic villainy spiral is everything to me. I am not going to go into it but there would be a lot of stuff to do with perception and how different characters see things/each other as well as politics. Oh my GOD so much politics. Internal with Dr Waller and her eternal power struggles in the govt and also w intl pol issues both used in the same way as the og for missions etc but ALSO in a deconstruction and examination of American imperialism and interventionism and all the isms present in the og and black ops in general and just guys. I could slay this istg. I may just be a freshman but I am I poli sci/intl pol major I would do this so HARD. maybe change the numbers between 1 and 2 actually this is fire

My star wars book focused on tattooine and moments in the lives of its residents, both notable and not. Idk if this is something I would want to do solo or an urban legends anthology style thing with multiple creators etc but yeah 👍 show me ppl on the hell planet going through it but being brave or kind or clever anyways despite the Horrors

Hmmmm gonna go with my bleez mini idea here just because thats one I thought about a good bit. Also bc I could fix her (the red lantern corps). Not bleez though. Could not fix her but I'd make it a bit better and more narratively compelling. This book would be nicknamed Fuck You Atrocitus if it really existed

I do NOT know enough to write this book and would need to read at LEAST (not kidding) like 500 issues before I felt at all comfortable writing this but like. Tom king is doing a shitty job right now and I could do a better Wonder Woman. So like yeah 👍

Aaaanyways these are my top 5 comics I would like to write (I think). Lots of variance in how much I've thought about them from having the whole thing plotted (bleez), to scattered plot elements (GLC), to the first arc beginning to plot itself as I write this post (Sui squad) to uhhhhh *crickets* (wondy) so yeehaw. Detective comics comics these ideas could be all yours for the low low price of whatever writers are paid

Work fast bc this deal is a limited time offer

[joviantwelve]

watched spiderverse

impressions and theories below!

SPOILERS OBVIOUSLY!!!

ok so

1. glad they made the spot so cool. underrated villain in the catalogue

2. I FORGOT IT ENDED ON A CLIFFHANGER AUGH!!!!!!! SOBBING

3. a lot of moving pieces tho so I can see why that was a necessary decision. matrix 2/3 vibes over here

4. totally called miles getting sent to the wrong dimension. number was wrong, mom's eye color was wrong, she said his hair was different.......tragic tho

5. I always love and hate it when a groundbreaking piece of media uses ideas I've had for a while LMFAO. like it's so frustrating in the sense that "now people will assume I am ripping this thing off" but cool in the "YES THE WRITERS FEEL ME" sense.

my main Rixile story has the "you're an anomaly not supposed to be here, as you are now, to begin with" kinda thing, complete with accidentally getting yeeted to the dimension you technically relate to but isn't your home, where everything is now bleak because history spun away from its course so bad.

so anyway RE: the end of the movie, I take it this is the typical comic book "crime rules the city" kind of dimension cuz there's just no hero at all. always fun!!

OK ACTUAL THEORIES

6. prowler miles will become good after being inspired by spider miles. i hope

7. I'm assuming the main theme is "you CAN fight fate because fate is just a made up concept" cuz they've already talked about the "predetermined events" just being based on their study and models and shit. science is meant to be challenged. prophecies are also meant to be challenged. this is just a prophecy with science on top. and might also be a metatextual commentary on comic book AU-type characters?!??!? maybe??

man we're really into meta movies lately huh. the EEAAO nod was very funny

8. in that vein I'm also assuming whatever happened to that dimension miguel hopped into was not directly related to him being anomalous but rather him mistaking correlation for causation. and showing him you maybe CAN rescue a dimension from collapse would challenge that worldview. and hey we have a collapsing dimension right there already in the story! let's fix that!!

9. it would be cool if there was a spacetime loopy thing going on and spot is what caused that thing to happen tho, and miguel just got the wrong idea from it. though I guess that might be too far from the other message of "shit just happens sometimes and you have to deal" and I don't want them forcing a golden ending or anything. just might be cool if miguel is mistaken. lighten up a little mr. manpain

FINAL THOUGHTS

10. spiders-man was my jokey wish for these movies and he was not there, tragically, but there being a third movie is at least some hope for me.

I don't even need him to do anything big I just want lord & miller to point out how fucking horrifying his concept is in their typical joke style

11. finally I liked all the cute little references here and there. in the best way you can do it which is "unobtrusive but if you know you know." spectacular spider-man finally recognized after all this time. jk simmons recognized as the only actor that is allowed to play JJJ. gotta love it.

[cherokeegal1975]

Bored...sort of. That and I really want to drum up some interest in my book. This is the one that sells when I do make a sale. None of the other five sell at all. I know it might not be possible, but I'm willing to try to get this book on Netflix as a cartoon in the visual style of either The Dragon Prince or in the visual style of Blue Eye Samurai. I've never seen The Dragon Prince, but hope to do so someday. I've seen blips though and it's caught my interest, though I'm a little confused about the series order. I no longer have access to Netflix, but it's a goal of mine to get my own account someday. I really enjoyed Netflix and it's because of that brief time I did have access to it was when I learned enough about the shows to see that yes, this book of mine really could fit in. It'll take a shit ton of money...like about $3000, which is my ballpark estimate not including the book cover illustrator's fees (the Kindle ebook cover stays put as is, but I want something for my paperback and hardbound cover art, mine looks plain and homemade).

This observation is as unbiased as possible, I'm looking at my story as a whole and as a product. But, if Netflix is willing to post something on their site like Bright, which was a good foundation for an idea, but the movie was crap. Or, a miniseries like He's Expecting, which was based on the comic book of the same name that was only recently translated into English from Japanese, (and that one was okay, though it got a lot of criticism...more than it deserved I think) and Winks, the live action adaptation of the cartoon that was pretty good but I wandered off from it and never returned for no reason. I did want to finish it even if its origins were a bit silly. Then there is Reble Moon, which is getting a lot of advertising but isn't' that great...not terrible, just not great. So, I think mine has a chance there. So, I'm not just boasting or full of hot air. If I could just get the funding, I'd really do my best to get it there.

I'll need to get an editor, then a publisher, then sell one thousand copies of my book and no less, get the interest of a literary agency that works with Netflix (I think I found one) to propose my book and see what happens. I don't have to have it on Netflix, but it would be so cool if it made it. I just hope my Mom will never find out, because I don't want her to know it's an mpreg. I gave her a copy, confident it'll just be a keepsake on her shelf. And that's exactly what happened, along with Eden Symbiotic. Mental shrug. Oh well. I suppose she's a little proud of me anyway for making those books. Too bad I'm not earning a lot of money from them. I'd use it to go back into the books to help them be more successful and to fix a few mistakes I missed. I've spotted a couple of them, but I've got this hands-off policy until I get some professional help for them.

In the meantime, here's the audiobook. And if you can't stand the sound of my voice, or my music that I composed for intros and outros because I couldn't find any free music and made due with what I had, here's the link to the book on Amazon:

How does one get a sponsor...or sponsors for a book? I may never be able to afford to fund the project myself. GoFundMe is a bust. Based on my research and personal experience with being online and trying to get attention for my work, my campaign bomb out even before it gets started. Barely anyone wants to notice my work even though I happen to know that it really does have some good potential.

[pocketbelt]

Bayonetta 3 (Switch)

Bayonetta 3 comes far closer than I expected to glancing the face of Devil May Cry V that it's kind of nuts. The sheer amount of original, inventive weapons with a diverse spread of fairly unique styles, each with its own unique demon transformation, it's fucking nuts to behold. It's actually no wonder Bayo 3 took so long to complete when it has so many toys, and on top of that has a unique second playable character and the giant demon summon mechanic and lots of one-off setpiece mechanics and a whole No More Heroes-esque minigame mode.

It has a lot of really fun ideas, fucking funny cutscenes, and its introduction of its own Nero in Viola is pulled off really well and she's a delight. It's a really good action game.

Kind of.

Problem is I think its entire new roster of enemies (the green-and-white toothpaste of the damned creatures) not only suck to look at but they're not very fun to engage with. Singular big enemies are common in Bayonetta, but 3 relies on them more than its predecessors and they don't react to Bayo's attacks and moves and their own movesets are often boring or bad. They are leaned on to really force you to use the Demon Slave mechanic, where you hold ZL to pass control to a giant demon with a really simple moveset to break guards and weaken foes, but those aren't fun to use. The camera is mounted to Bayonetta, they're fiddly to control, enemies often just stun or grapple them and many bosses automatically one-shot them if they're out for more than 3 seconds, so you just don't have any good use for your magic meter where it used to be really handy.

So much of Bayo 3 just isn't fun to play despite all the fun ideas. This is really made worse by the game performing really quite badly a lot of the time, which was agonising coming off of the basically flawless performance of the Switch ports of 1 and 2. I guess we need the Switch 2 to fix that.

Also, the Bayonetta games were never the best about plot, but Bayo 3 really takes the cake. Every cool idea or fun idea is deflated heavily, the villain isn't set up at all, has no motivation given, he's just printed from the Comic Book Movie Villain Template (nebulously sci-fi/magic blurring god-like entity that has an endless army of bug/goo/demon men and monsters to siege infinite worlds, seeks the MacGuffins to make Big Sky Laser happen to gain Infinite Power) and slapped onto a tepid Multiverse plot.

The ending badly tries to copy DMCV's ending pretty directly, but also wants to do it while ending on a "tragic" and "shocking" note with a hope-spot after the credits, so it ends up fumbling every bit of it and missing really obvious better ways to do it. You don't really come to Bayonetta for plot, but it does kill a lot of interest in the series when the surrounding context for the content is so fucking badly done.

I guess with Kamiya driven out by management's commitment to financial suicide, we won't see Bayonetta continue anyway, but even if it does I can't say I care to see where it goes. Alas and alack, may Kamiya's next work hit like Bayo 1 did.

[theharpermovieblog]

#HARPERSMOVIECOLLECTION

2023

I re-watched Swamp Thing (1982)

As a kid I rented Swamp Thing with the thought, "Wes Craven directed a Swamp Thing Movie! How could that possibly be bad?" Nobody said I was a smart kid.

When Dr. Alec Holland's lab is attacked in an attempt to steal his research, Holland is accidentally transformed into the creature known as Swamp Thing.

One upside of Wes Craven's swamp thing can be illustrated by the comic book-esque transitions. The movie isn't taking itself too seriously which is nice. A downside is rather than be a comic book style, the movie does feel far more like the B-horror/sci-fi that craven is accustomed to.

The problem is It's not enough comic book fun and with a PG rating it doesn't have the violence that makes most low budget horror fun.

Swamp Thing has its ups and downs, and the blend of it's two mediocre halves do end up making a decently entertaining whole, but I wish it had more to offer.

The film has the low budget look of a Friday the 13th sequel and the musical score follows suit.

Ray Wise and Adrienne Barbeau do a decent job in their roles.

The Swamp Thing costume is definitely cheesy and fake looking. But, let's not fault the movie for that. With a meager 3 million dollar budget, corners were definitely cut while making this movie. Not to mention, they filmed in the swamps of South Carolina during a muggy summer. Honestly, it sounds like a nightmare to have made this movie. My dream is to make a movie, even a low budget movie. But if someone gave me that opportunity and told me that the only catch was I needed to film in a swamp, I might have to sleep on it.

All things considered, Swamp Thing isn't great and it isn't terrible. It's a bit middle of the road. I go back to the idea that if this had been rated R, with Swamp Thing pulling bad guys apart, it'd probably be remembered much more fondly. Sure the last 20 minutes or so have some fun, but It's like if you took the gore and boobs out of The Toxic Avenger. Sure, you made a movie about a weird gross superhero, but did you really do your job.

Anyway, it's fine. But if you want a Swamp Thing fix I suggest picking up the Alan Moore written comics.

[lastoneout]

Got asked if I had any tips for new artists during my stream today and I figured I'd put them here too:

Draw, seriously, just do it. This is the hardest part and also the most crucial. Just run at it screaming and refuse to back down. You just gotta do it.

Always do your wrist/arm/shoulder stretches before drawing and make sure to take breaks to stretch/re-center yourself if you've been going for a few hours or more! (Here's the stretches I do, and they help with gaming and writing and desk work too, they're just a good idea all around!)

Try to draw less from the wrist and more from the shoulder(move your arm more and your wrist less basically). That and stretches will help you avoid carpal tunnel which is never fun.

Consistency is only something you need to worry about if you're like, working in the industry/doing some types of commissions(like an twitch emote bundle or a comic book). If you're just starting out or only drawing for yourself it literally doesn't matter. Like, I don't think I've ever drawn a character exactly the same way twice, it's fine.

Don't do warm up drawings, do warm up scribbles. Doodles circles and squares and lines and swirls until you feel nice and lose, then start actually drawing.

If you're between 50-90% done with something and you REALLLY start to hate it, keep going. You just gotta power through, cuz chances are it's perfectly fine(or even really good) and your monkey brain is being a jackass coward chugging that impostor syndrome juice.

If you finish and you still hate it put it away until tomorrow or the day after and then look again. Never EVER trust your negative opinions about your art(or anything) if it's after like 8pm.

Re: the above points, as an exampke last night I HATED my new pngtuber model that I'd spent literally all day on. Went to bed and in the morning was like "oh this is good actually". Trust me, tired burnt out you is not a good judge of quality, especially the quality of something you've been staring at for like 4-5 hours.

If, after all that, you still hate it, that's okay too. It's a bummer, but don't try to force yourself to like something just cuz you spent a lot of time on it. Chalk it up to experience and move on to the next thing!

Do everything in your power to not compare yourself to others. It won't get you anywhere. Instead learn to look at other people's art and find what you like about it and try to break it down or do it that way yourself. Dont fully copy/trace ofc, but really think about how something looks and see if you can figure out why you like it and/or how it's done.

OH MY GOD USE REFERENCES. Anyone who says not to use references is talking out of their ass. You think figure drawing classes are bad?? That artists draw from life just for shits and giggles?? No, its because you need to know what shit looks like to draw it!!! USE REFERENCES!!!

Same with youtube tutorials, especially for learning to use digital art programs. Do take everything with a grain of salt ofc(we've all seen the "masculine vs feminine eyes" shit or the trash trend of "I fix my viewer's bad art uwu" ignore that crap) but you can learn all kinds of shit for free on youtube.

If you can feel yourself burning out fucking stop drawing a take a break. Even if you're in the middle of something, or part of you wants to keep drawing. Burn outs suck and it's gonna take a lot longer to get over it if you push yourself until you crash instead of just acknowledging that you're hitting your limit and stopping for a few days. The art will be there when you get back, your health should always come first!

If someone tells you thick line art or anime style or whatever is bad, ignore them. All art is subjective. Draw what you want how you want. Even if it's all thick line art or you stick to sketches or only do anime stuff or chibis or humans or furries or goddamn stick figures just draw literally whatever. If this is just a hobby for you there's no reason to push yourself. Draw what makes you happy, fuck everyone else.

Anyway that's all I've got for now, might add more tomorrow when I'm less tired(and I encourage additions for other artists as I'm self taught and had to learn most of this the hard way and thus I'm sure I've missed stuff) but yeah, just draw my dudes, this is supposed to be fun. You deserve to have fun.

[fixing-bad-comic-art]

usually i dont like 'fixing art' but honestly i have to make an exception for you bc alot of this shit is just that (as a hijabi seeing that sexualization burqa killed the rest of my cognitive abilities)

like yeah, this is weirdly something ive been thinking about for the last few days. so you're going to have to put up with me rambling for a bit

for some context that most of you probably just dont have bc the last time i talke about it would probably be from over a year ago at this point, when i named this blog it was obviously based on Bad-comic-art's blog. and when i chose the url for this one i didn't think about how it would read to others. because like, the word "fix" never meant "make better" to me? it just meant "change". i think this is bc i grew up around a lot of people who spoke English as their second/third/fourth language, who were all trying very hard to make sure english was my first. so a lot of words that had wierd or imprecise translations got jumbled up in that mess, and fix was just one of them. that combined with my aphasia just made for the perfect time bomb of a url.

At first i just picked at which ever ones felt especially awkward to me, and then i started noticing trends that got me grinding my teeth. especially after a lot of people came forward to talk about how they felt better about themselves after the impossibility of the og arts proportions was pointed out. Because like, a lot of western comic art is meant to look fairly realistic, stylized, but still realistic, and that means that its a lot easier for our brains to internalize the proportions and ideals of theses styles as like, correct? as something that its worth comparing real skin and bone too without really realizing your doing it.

beyond that, ive always tried to focus more on things that were sexist. pieces where making sure a ladys tits and ass were center stage was more important than not snapping her back to do so. on sorta shining a light on how Weird a lot of these male comic artists were depicting women because them being sexy was more important than telling a story where they were characters.

and later once i had more context for some of the characters, and with a lot of help from my followers, i started being able to spot which ones were being whitewashed, and did a few of those edits too.

the dust one was very obviously an Issue that i didn't need explained but that one is still like, if i had to pick one piece to define what id want this blog to be, it would be that one. because it perfectly encompasses all my issues with a lot of comic art. Her being sexy was more important to that artist than her being a character with a specific religious background that wore a specific for of modesty garb bc thats what she wanted to wear.

and like mild tangent- this is why i try so hard to match the original as closely as possible. these styles arnt Bad usually. a lot of times they're just rushed, and doing edits to show what the artist could have done if they'd had the tims to do it always just felt like giving the original a second chance to shine? but some of the ways women and minorities especially are depicted, is just gross, and shows a clear sorta mindset. I want to match the originals in these cases to prove that the og artist, within their own style, could have depicted these characters with respect, but just chose not to.

beyond the edits i do that fall in the former categories, sometimes i just want to make people laugh so i do goofy things to art they dont like very much. thats always felt like sharpying a mustache on one historical figure or a other in a friends text book. just something harmless and fun to share in the back of the class room.

like i guess my tldr on this is this: bigotry is bad and i just want to make people happy by posting little edits on the internet.

[joy1579]

self indulgent

I've been sad. so i wrote a thing to make me less sad. maybe it'll make someone else less sad too or at the very least they can laugh at my “cringe” but either way it did make me less sad so goal accomplished.

Mc and jumin organize a bookshelf jumin asks what neko girls are and MC short circuits his brain for a couple of seconds. no smut just fluff

Moving hadn’t taken long. You had opted to donate your furniture to the local homeless shelter since Jumin’s penthouse was furnished with the highest quality furniture you could dream of. Honestly most of your things paled in comparison to the lavish goods Jumin considered tawdry. Still there were a quite a few boxes you had decided to save, filled mostly with sentimental keepsakes and the few odds and ends that catered to your specific tastes. You were practically finished by noon save the three or four boxes that sat in the main room next to the larger than life bookshelves. Certainly there was plenty of room on them. You never where a fan of negative space on bookshelves but if you were being completely honest that had more to do with how many books you needed to fit in such a finite space. Jumins bookshelves had plenty of room with just enough negative space to look perfectly balanced and while you knew Jumin had told you to do whatever you wished this felt intimate. Bookshelves where holy spaces after all, housing books that change hearts and minds alike that shape the soul and … okay so maybe you just really liked books and that made them seem important to you either way this was definitely something you wanted to do with Jumin. When you heard the door rattle with Jumin homecoming you bolt towards it excited to greet him after work.

“Jumin! Welcome home!” you cried bouncing in place as he made his way inside. You smiled as you saw the creases in his brown flatten and the stress slip from shoulders when he saw you. You waited all of 5 seconds for him to close the door giving you both some privacy from the bodyguards stationed outside before you pounced, leaping upon the business man wrapping your arms around his neck. You delighted in the deep honey of his laughter as he caught your waist in kind and kissed the top of your head gently.

“darling. I’m so glad to be home. How was your day? did you get settled?” Jumin asked as you pulled yourself back slightly giving him room to loosen his tie and set aside his coat.

“everything is in its place except um Jumin there is one thing I need if you don’t mind”

“name it and its yours”

“I wanted to share your bookshelves and I was hoping that maybe you could organize the books with me?” you admitted shyly. It had seemed like such a good idea in the beginning he could show you his favorite books, walk you through his favorite plots and tell you his favorite quotes and you could do the same with him. Yet now as you presented the idea to him you worried. What if he was to tired he had worked all day after all, what if he thought you too needy, or your books to childish. what if he didn’t want your books displayed in the living room because they weren’t very pretty, all of his books where gorgeous leather bound tomes or mint condition hardcovers, yours where second hand at best many where decommissioned library books or garage sale rescues, broken in battered and bruised by years of use. It would make sense to have them put away in a back room where they couldn’t tarnish the pristine collection Jumin had on display. Perhaps you where spiraling, working yourself into a nervous frenzy in the span of a few seconds.

“nothing would make me happier love. We can call the chef to start dinner and begin emptying the shelves for rearranging while he works.” You couldn’t help the smile that spread across your face or the giggle that escaped your lips. The surprise on Jumins face was evident if only for a second before it gave way to a warm sort of fondness. “had I known simple redecorating would make you this happy I would have stayed home and done it all with you” he said affectionately running his fingers through your hair.

“it’s not that I just,” you paused face flushing a bit “books are a big deal, ya know? My dad used to tell me that every book you read becomes a part of you and that you can learn more about someone by the books they love than by the words they say so I wanted to share that with you” jumins eyes where so soft and gentle in that moment you felt your breath hitch “I want to know everything about you and, and I want you to know everything about me” suddenly his lips where on yours fervent and full of passion the hand that had been in your hair now on your chin guiding you too him. The kiss was short and when you parted from him he stayed close, just a hairs breath from your face.

Jumin voice was little more than a whisper as he asked “how is it that every day I manage to fall more in love with you?” you couldn’t help but lean forward and kiss him again an all too familiar giddiness bubbling its way through your soul. You loved this man more than life itself and you knew that would never change.

 “so your ‘Encyclopedia of Fairies’ should go next to the Catherynne M Valente series so we can reference it while reading agreed?” you giggled thrilled that his collection of mythological reference books slotted together with your fae fiction so perfectly. Puzzle pieces connecting to create a masterpiece.

“yes I think that’s perfect. I can’t wait to read her interpretation of such ancient mythos. I also have ‘The World Guide to Gnomes, Fairies, Elves and Other Little People’ if you’d like to add it to that shelf” he said grinning like a child at show and tell.

“oh my goodness yes! That’s perfect and your book on Romanian vampires should be near my ‘Dracula’ and ‘vittorio’ that way that shelf over there can be dedicated to the occult, hauntings, and psychic reference books”

“that sound wonderful and takes care of all the written word but we still haven’t found a place for your comics” Jumin informed glancing toward the woefully large stack of manga you had brought.

“not comic Jumin manga and yeah I think we’re out of space though. I um I didn’t think I had that many books. Sorry” you admitted not meeting his eyes. He tilted your head up to look at him.

“there’s no need to apologize it simply means that tomorrow we can go shopping for another shelf and the next day we can organize those. I’m quite curious about ‘la petite cossette’ you said these where Japanese but that is most certainly a French title.”

“oh I actually think you’d like that one a lot it’s about a man who falls in love with a woman in a cursed portrait its actually pretty tragic in the end.”

“How interesting” he mused retrieving it from the pile of books and skimming through it “the art is truly enchanting and you said that manga has its own subculture?”

“yeah from neko girls to shonen action tropes it has its own vocabulary, history and groups of people its really fun”

“neko girls?” Jumin repeated and your eyes widened at his confusion. This was definitely something he of all people should know about! You jumped up and sprinted to the closet you had filled earlier that day with the few cosplay supplies you had. At the time it had taken nearly half your pay check but if Jumin liked them right now the purchase then would be completely justified. You put on your surprise as quickly as possible before rushing back out to greet Jumin who had just made it to the edge of the living room to come find where you had gone. He froze for a second processing what you were now wearing. White cat ears that moved and twitched fairly believably and just as he was able to cope with that your made paws with your hands and tried your best “nya”. For a moment you feared you may have broken him. He didn’t move his face blank, eyes fixed on you. You tried again hoping to spur some sort of reaction from him “nya?” you said turning to the side slightly to show off the other half of your surprise a white tail complete with pink bow and bell at the base where it attached to your skirt. You tilted your head to look up at him through your lashes trying every trick in your arsenal to look as cute as possible but nothing. He was completely frozen. “Jumin? Hello?” now you were getting worried “darling are you okay?” you asked placing the back of your hand on his forehead to feel for a temperature. The second your hand touched him however his face flushed.

“neko girl.” He muttered “that’s neko as in cat” you could see him trying to calm himself. Fiddling with his shirt sleeves and attempting to stay in control. You smiled standing on your tip toes to kiss his cheek and whisper in his ear.

“am I a good little kitten at least?”  you couldn’t contain your giggle as you heard him choke slightly before scooping you up bridal style.

“certainly not, in fact I think you’ve been a very bad little kitten.” He said his voice deeper than normal as he carried you back towards the bedroom.

[becomewings]

The Most Beautiful Moment in Life <I’M FINE>

     BTS Universe Story Highlights, pt. 1 / 4

» pt. 2

Introduction

BTS Universe Story, a mobile game published by Netmarble, was released on September 24, 2020. While the majority of the app is essentially a sandbox and engine for users to create their own interactive stories, it also includes official and canon BU content. The first eight segments were introduced between the release date and December 2020, gathered under the title The Most Beautiful Moment in Life <I’M FINE>.

“I’m Fine” is half of the I’m Fine/Save Me ambigram introduced in the Love Yourself era. Notably, all of the BU content available in the game so far falls between events of the webtoon Save Me (also called HYYH0 in its logo) and The Notes 1—chronologically, that is, while bearing in mind that time resets to the morning of 11 April Year 22 whenever SeokJin fails to avert a tragedy among his six friends. I want to assure anyone who is unable to play the game that you are not missing any new, major plot beats from the overall BU narrative. Instead, the stories provide more insight into the motivations and consequences of SeokJin’s decisions in the earlier time loops, as well as more depth to individual characters and their circumstances.

The goal of this guide is to summarize each of the eight stories and highlight noteworthy details, especially if they are not yet present in other BU media. Within each story (which I often refer to as an arc, due to their character-focused nature), episodes must be played successively, but the stories themselves can be played in any order. I will present them over a series of posts in the order they are listed under the <I’M FINE> heading. The Prologue and NamJoon’s arc are free to play; the rest are paid content. Please note that due to the app’s Terms & Conditions, I will not include in-game footage here. The images in this guide are sourced from the official trailers/videos and the live action MVs as appropriate.

Content warning: contains references to death, suicide, suicidal ideation, child abuse, domestic violence, blood, homicide, depression, trauma, PTSD

This guide contains major spoilers and includes references to other BU media

Do not repost, copy, or quote without permission

Game Mechanic

Before diving into the summaries, I would like to address the primary mechanic of the game: the user’s control of character choices at designated moments in the stories. It’s a primary marketing point that the player can influence the progression of the narrative, with a frequent in-app tip also declaring, “stories’ endings can vary depending on your choices.” The latter is not strictly true—and it cannot be true due to the structure of the game. Choices are presented within most (not all) episodes, but each episode is an isolated unit: episode 2 provides the same content regardless of what you choose in episode 1. Since the consequences of your decisions are not cumulative, each episode reaches the same ending, and each decision inevitably rejoins the “main” story path (effectively reducing the script size).

So what is the point of this mechanic? While the system is not nearly as complex as what major platform titles are capable of nowadays (I suspect due in large part to the story creation portion of the game), it does foster a sense of interaction with the narrative that isn’t present in static visual media like comics or film. The episodes with choices also have incentive for replay to discover the impact of changing a character’s dialogue or action. Sometimes the differences between the outcomes are inconsequential, but other times you unearth new details, interactions, or memories that are missing in the other path.

I say this partially in reaction to all of the comments and tweets I read for the game trailers and even Smeraldo Book twitter’s choose-your-own-adventure style teasers with The Notes 2 excerpts released last summer. Many users expressed excitement, through words or memes, about finally being able to give the boys the happy ending they deserved. I don’t fault anyone for wanting that happy ending—I wish for it, too. But no matter what the rather overzealous marketing has claimed, I don’t believe that the canon ending of BU is ever meant to be in the audience’s control. But I do feel that this mechanism fits the BU narrative. It echoes the “countless loops” SeokJin has experienced in an effort to save his friends, the choices he must make at every crossroad, and the butterfly effect those actions have on all of their lives. I think it is reasonable to interpret the simple branching paths in the game as alternatives SeokJin has explored across multiple loops in his struggle to find the “right” way forward. I’d love to hear if you have theories of your own!

Prologue

The prologue is a brief episode introducing SeokJin’s repeated struggle and failure to save his friends. He wakes up yet again in his bed on 11 April Year 22, the beginning of the time loop. After reflecting on the tragedies that keep befalling the others, SeokJin realizes that he has only tried to fix the problems he can see. He wonders: “Have I tried to understand the root of my friends’ misfortunes? How much do I really know about my friends? Maybe I was never brave enough to confront their real scars and the worlds they’ve been living in. But I need to do it. Because it may be the key to saving them all.”

How to Offer a Hand

In this story, SeokJin attempts to prevent NamJoon’s arrest after he gets in a fight with a rude customer at Naeri Gas Station, his place of work. The first episode opens on the night of 11 April Year 22 with NamJoon curling his fists, glaring as crumpled bills lie untouched on the pavement. (The money looks similar to the shot from the I Need U MV.) SeokJin reaches for his shoulder, but NamJoon shrugs him off and strides away to punch the customer who deliberately dropped the bills for him to pick up. The gas station owner runs over at the customer’s furious shouts and orders NamJoon to apologize. He refuses, and police officers soon arrive and charge him with assault. No one listens to SeokJin’s protests that the customer started it first. The man sneers as NamJoon enters the police car. “Do you even have money for a settlement? Hey, you’re done for.” NamJoon is sentenced to prison again, and SeokJin hears glass shattering before the loop resets.

Rising from his bed on the morning of 11 April, SeokJin reflects on his failed efforts so far. He has hit the customer’s car, called for NamJoon in the middle of the incident, and stopped the fight himself, the latter of which caused his friends to avoid him later. The fight has even escalated; the details are unspecified, but the audience is provided an ominous shot of SeokJin speaking to a police officer alone at the scene. NamJoon is not the kind of person who would normally respond to that kind of provocation with his fists. SeokJin realizes that he cannot merely stop the fight but must discover and fix the true cause of it.

With this in mind, SeokJin heads to Naeri Gas Station during the day and tries to engage NamJoon. This is their first time meeting since they both returned to Songju, although SeokJin has experienced it in many loops already. “It’s been a while,” he greets (as he does at the end of the Blood Sweat & Tears Japanese version MV). Before SeokJin can dig deeper in their conversation, NamJoon is called away by his boss. SeokJin enters the small employee break room which serves as NamJoon’s living space when he’s not at the container, hoping to find some clues about his friend’s life. SeokJin locates something bundled in newspapers. If the player chooses to open it, he sees a strange shard of glass inside that may belong to a car or motorcycle headlight. He continues on, finding the book Cosmos by Carl Sagan and a notebook. SeokJin hesitates over the invasion of privacy but decides to read it since he needs all the information that he can gather. The journal entries detail NamJoon’s daily life since returning to Songju: his work at the gas station isn’t too bad despite the occasional rude customer; he purchased a book and hopes to get more in the future; he picked up a second job at a wedding hall to help catch up on bills; his brother NamHyeon got in trouble again, leading to more expenses; and his dad’s health has worsened, with hospital bills after an emergency surgery rising to levels that the family cannot afford. SeokJin knew that NamJoon was the de facto head of household due to his father’s illness but was unaware that it was to this degree. He feels sorry for NamJoon yet is also impressed by his maturity, for NamJoon never writes how difficult his situation is.

NamJoon arrives and asks what SeokJin is doing in the room. If the player chooses to answer “reading” instead of “just sitting there,” SeokJin privately observes that the conversation flows more easily when they talk about books. NamJoon says he must leave and declines when SeokJin offers to wait for him there. SeokJin knocks over a pile of books along with money and receipts as he stands. He thinks it is unusual that NamJoon picks up the books before the money. The books seem to be more than a hobby to NamJoon, holding special meaning. Walking to his car, SeokJin wonders if it is pride or determination not to falter that keeps NamJoon from journaling his grievances. He realizes that money is a constant source of frustration and misery to NamJoon, and that’s why he can’t stomach being insulted over the customer’s dropped money. SeokJin’s new plan is to prevent NamJoon from picking up the money. He also calls Palgok County Hospital and offers to pay the patient bill for NamJoon’s father. Anticipating that NamJoon will be angry if he finds out, SeokJin says the payer is Songho Foundation.

That night, SeokJin returns to the gas station with the excuse that he forgot to fill up earlier. The luxury car arrives with a honk, and NamJoon hurries over to assist. He shakes with anger when the customer drops the money on the ground. “Why aren’t you picking it up? You don’t want it? What’s with that look? Pretty arrogant for a part-timer, aren’t you?” goads the customer. SeokJin intervenes. Whether the player chooses to have him advise NamJoon not to pick it up or to order the customer to pick it up himself, the end result is the same. SeokJin asks the customer, “Why are you harassing a pitiful part-timer?” The customer drives away, and something about NamJoon seems off. His face is expressionless, not mad or humiliated. “SeokJin, you…” He stops. “Never mind. Thank you for your help.” The words sound difficult for him to speak.

SeokJin believes that he has saved NamJoon, although this ending feels sloppy. He continues on in the loop to rescue JungKook and later YoonGi, but uneasiness plagues him. Though he meant to help NamJoon with his actions, SeokJin wonders if he hurt him instead. On 5 May Year 22, he returns to the gas station and follows NamJoon when he leaves work early. NamJoon enters a bookstore, and SeokJin sneaks in after him to watch from afar. He overhears employees talking about NamJoon, worrying that he might dirty the pages of the book he’s perusing. NamJoon is too absorbed in the book to notice one of them calling for his attention. SeokJin recalls a memory from their school days when he found NamJoon reading alone in their classroom hideout: he asked why NamJoon read so diligently, and his friend explained that he found it comforting to empty his thoughts of everything else while focused on the book. In the present, SeokJin wonders how he forgot how much books mean to NamJoon. He sacrifices some of his food and transportation budget to afford them, but they enable him “to endure the weight of the world he’s forced to bear on his shoulders.” After realizing this, SeokJin wants to apologize for carelessly sympathizing with the reality that NamJoon has weathered alone.

The next episode is from NamJoon’s perspective, revealing his excitement over being able to purchase a book for the first time in two months. He wants to buy two but can only afford one. The employee at the register sighs and asks why he leafed through a book he wasn’t going to buy. NamJoon apologizes, and she mutters, “So dirty.” He notices his reflection, clothes worn and smelling of gasoline, and realizes she’s talking about him, not the book. He tries to shake off these depressing thoughts, but he is still not accustomed to this treatment despite experiencing it regularly at work. As NamJoon begins to exit the store, the security alarm goes off. The employees demand to check his bag despite his insistence that he didn’t steal anything. Their certainty of his theft angers him. NamJoon allows them to look through his bag, and they are suspicious of the like-new book in it which he brought from home. One begins to call the police until SeokJin appears, vouching for NamJoon by saying he saw everything. The employees accept that the alarm malfunctioned and excuse their suspicions as a mistake.

Outside, SeokJin asks NamJoon if he is all right. NamJoon is thankful but wonders how SeokJin materialized right when he needed him. “How’d you find me here?” he asks aloud. SeokJin explains that he happened to notice him while walking through the neighborhood. NamJoon wonders if it’s because they said goodbye on a weird note last time. He thanks him and turns to leave. SeokJin calls after him. “I’m sorry. I wanted to apologize. I didn’t mean to upset you that day at the gas station. It was a mistake to have called you pitiful. If my rash actions hurt you, I’m really sorry.” NamJoon accepts his apology, believing it to be sincere, and says that things would have turned out a lot worse if SeokJin had not intervened. Thunder rolls overhead, and NamJoon uses the impending rain as his excuse to depart. He declines SeokJin’s offer of a ride and runs home, feeling his friend’s eyes on him.

Before he can settle down to read at home, NamJoon receives a call from his cheerful mother. She thanks him for paying off the entire hospital bill. NamJoon is perplexed and asks what’s on the receipt, since he didn’t pay it. His mother wants to leave it be, but he insists that they investigate so they don’t get in trouble or sued. She reads that the Songho Foundation is credited as the payer. NamJoon calls the hospital, introducing himself as the guardian for Kim YoungMin, but they can’t transfer him to the administrative department at this time. Disappointed, he looks up the foundation’s website, unable to recall why it sounds familiar. He wonders why a scholarship foundation in the city would get involved with him. Spotting photos of a recent launch ceremony on the site, he recognizes a few people: Songju High School’s principal, the familiar-looking face of the foundation’s chairman, and SeokJin. First, NamJoon forces a laugh, and then it’s difficult for him to breathe. He thinks that SeokJin really had pitied him at that moment. The only thing keeping NamJoon going is the idea of getting through life on his own strength. Why does he have to live like this?

The last episode opens on 5 May back in SeokJin’s perspective. He is confident now that he has saved NamJoon, although it occurs to him that a better alternative may have been to simply pick up the money himself instead of stepping forward. (This decision is enacted in a later loop and depicted in the Euphoria MV.) While reflecting on what comes next to save his other friends, he receives a text from NamJoon. “What’s your account number? I’ll pay you back for the hospital bills. I don’t need your help. I’ll handle my concerns on my own.” Heart sinking, SeokJin wonders how he found out. With a sense of foreboding, he tries calling NamJoon, but no one answers. SeokJin texts him back, pretending that he doesn’t understand, and tells NamJoon to call him. SeokJin’s second attempt connects while he’s gathering his car keys to visit the container. “That’s enough. Just send the account number over text,” NamJoon instructs. SeokJin coaxes him to talk for a moment, and NamJoon asks flatly, “Are you going to apologize again?” SeokJin attempts to salvage the situation, but his friend turns cold when he insists that NamJoon is misunderstanding and that he just wanted to help. “So, why? Why are you helping me?! Yeah, you’re always a good person. You’ve done nothing wrong and I’m the one misunderstanding.” SeokJin apologizes again. NamJoon refuses his request to meet in person. “No, I thought maybe there was a reason for everything you did… But I guess I misconstrued it. I’ll pay you back, so I’d prefer if you stopped contacting me.” Long after the call ends, SeokJin stands holding his phone, feeling that the glass is going to break at any moment. He wants to believe that it’s not over, but hope is slipping through his fingertips.

The episode finishes in NamJoon’s perspective. On 8 May and 9 May, he accepts part-time delivery work and reflects on his three jobs. Whenever he thinks he’s at his breaking point, he focuses on his new goal of returning SeokJin’s money. On 10 May, NamJoon wakes up to his buzzing phone and is called in to work. On a scooter, he passes by a bus stop and notices graffiti. (This is the same bus stop, with matching graffiti, that appears in the Highlight Reel.) Mesmerized, he wonders if it’s TaeHyung’s. As soon as NamJoon looks up, the scooter’s brake fails, and he crashes. The shattered glass on the cold pavement reminds him of the headlight shard and the kid who looked like TaeHyung. (So the piece of glass SeokJin saw in April was really a memento NamJoon retrieved from the scene of the crash in the mountain town, where the delivery boy whom he privately called TaeHyung died. This event is described in NamJoon’s 17 December Year 21 entry in The Notes 1.) NamJoon’s vision grows blurry, and the distant sound of an ambulance doesn’t come any closer.

The arc concludes there, but it obviously marks another reset for SeokJin. It is interesting to note that in this failed loop, NamJoon suffers the same fate that he narrowly avoided in the snowy mountain town before returning to Songju.

Please stay tuned for the next Highlights post featuring JungKook and YoonGi!

[htmlerror]

☕ + wfa

i do not like wfa with ham, i do not like it, sam i am.

I have a lot of problems with Wayne Family Adventures. The idea for it is solid enough, but the execution is. bad. I've put my thoughts below the cut because this got long, so I hope you don't mind me going in depth on my feelings.

Duke Thomas as a POV character - I'm plagerizing heavily from my convo with @phamtai about this. Def check them out for more info and better insights than mine into the character. Duke is extremely well established in canon despite only having been around for a decade or so. Remarkably, it's taken until WFA to butcher his character. Duke in this series is too polite. He's too clueless. He's been presented as the Relatable Kid archetype that he doesn't fit. In canon, Duke has never not been self-assured. He's a relatable character, yes, but not because he doesn't know what's going on. He has experience as a hero long before the batfam became involved. And since then, he's bonded with them. WFA doesn't show his connection with Cass, his dynamic with Bruce or Jason, and completely ignores his conflicts with the family. In a supposedly family-focused product, those are damn near cardinal sins. He may as well be a totally new character. Duke has been watered down so much for the sake of this series. WFA could be a vessel to explore so many things about him that we don't see a lot of on the regular page. We could see a dive into the parallels between him and Bruce, the full psychological impact of losing his parents, epecially in contrast to Jason, how his world view and morals differ from Batman's, the daily consequences of his powers, or the fallout of his mourning independently for the friends he's lost. But those would be interesting angles WFA doesn't seem eager to explore. If you can't imagine a version Duke punching a cop just because they're a fucking cop, you're doing it wrong. Another issue is, unfortunately, Duke's role as the only Black batman member. I shouldn't need to explain why it's problematic to be showing his as constantly less knowledgeable and presumably skilled as the other bats. (No, it doesn't matter that Dick and Damian are drawn with dark skin. Dick has been written as a white man for nearly his entire existence. The person who retconned that is notoriously racist and has spent years defending her inclusion of sexual assault in her writing. I have no issue with Dick being Romani, but just changing the color of his skin is not the way to do it.) DC has recently had a push towards inclusion, on the page an behind the scenes. This is good, of course. Though if they really are committed to representation and inclusion, it needs to be an effort seen across the board. Faux pas like this paint a pretty obvious picture.

The Webtoon format is shit - Webtoon is a great platform for indie writers and artists. It's not my style of content, but I get the appeal. IMO, it's ridiculous to accept a professional comic publisher shitting out 12 page fluff pieces. Yes, the weekly comic format has been phased out for a reason. Yes, halving the workload is a possible way around that restriction. But there just isn't a good enough reason to do it. It's a pretty obvious ploy to seem "hip" and "get in with kids these days." It's lazy and frankly kind of embarrassing. For anyone who doesn't know, a standard comic book is usually 24-28 pages. This isn't an arbitrary number, it's part of the format for the art form. That length allows for necessary plot developments in a serial story line while also giving the characters, themes, and artwork time to breathe. Furthermore, it's what most comic readers have come to expect over the decades. Halving that wouldn't necessarily be a problem, there are plenty of examples of well made shorts out there, but coupling that WFA's love affair with single panels and splash pages is a major issue. Say you make a 12 page comic with 4-6 panels per page. You have 48-72 panels to work with. You can sit a compelling story into that, with or without heavy dialogue. But bring that down to 12-24 panels, and you have one of two options: either 1) ultra-compress your narrative or 2) reduce the plot to compensate. Ignoring the formatting choices, WFA is a convenient reason for DC to keep the worst of the status quo in the bat titles. There's no need to acknowledge criticism of Bruce's treatment of his family when they can simply point and say "Jason's throat hasn't been sliced open here! And look, Damian hasn't been left with the crushing guilt of his grandfather's death! We even let Tim exist as his own character!" WFA doesn't change anything, it shows that DC is aware of its problems but would rather outsource them than put in the work to fix it. There's a special kind of rejected feeling that comes with being told "I hear you, I just don't care.

Fandom isn't bad, but - Everyone is familiar with the incorrect quotes format by now. Sometimes they're funny, most of the time they tend to over-saturate. WFA is like if a incorrect batfam quotes blog was a comic. It's a steady supply of one-liners and references, sure, but it lacks any real substance. If that's what you like, I can't fault you for it, but it's not going to be everyone's cup of tea. The way the batfandom has piled onto the "this is the best thing ever" bandwagon is concerning to me. There has been good batfam content in canon, you just need to know where to look for it. The lack of critical analysis of the project and dismissal of critiques is always an alarming pattern, but the way WFA has come to be the odd face of the fandom is just bizarre. It's everywhere, as you know if you've ever tried avoiding it. Thinking about WFA being the default interpretation of these characters makes me nervous. They lack the depth their canon counterparts. I don't care if you enjoy WFA, I do understand the appeal of it, but for the love of the gods, take it down from it's pedestal.

WFA is... fine. It's yet to commit any sins too egregious, but, like all DC properties, it's a ticking timebomb. I won't be surprised when it goes off, and I can't say I'll be sad to see it go. Ao3 has better content, anyway

[wonderfulworldofmichaelford]

Michael in the Mainstream: The Suicide Squad

Suicide Squad has frequently been touted as one of the worst comic book movies ever, and honestly? I don’t really agree, even if I almost wholeheartedly agree with every criticism of it. The editing is bad, the story is a mess, the Squad’s friendship is nonexistent, characters like Waller act like absolute idiots, Enchantress is a bad character and an absurd villain for these people to face… And yet, the core cast of scoundrels are all pretty likable when you wipe off the crap they’re buried under. These characters all could have shined bright if they were given competent writing and direction; the ideas are there, but the execution is unbelievably flawed due to excessive executive meddling (and probably a bit of pretentiousness on director David Ayer’s part). If only there was a director capable of taking the concept of a bunch of C-list villains getting together and performing dangerous missions and, along the way, becoming a found family…

That director thankfully exists, and his name is James Gunn. Gunn has already shown twice that he is capable of doing “a bunch of assholes become a found family” really well with the two Guardians of the Galaxy films, films that have a lot of style and flair that help make them the best films in the MCU, and considering Suicide Squad was mangled the way it was to try and be more in line with his Guardians films, it only makes sense to pull him in to give Task Force X another shot. Why settle for imitations when you can get the real thing? It’s not like he was doing anything else while Mickey Mouse put him in time out for naughty tweets, after all.

But this isn’t Gunn under the thumb of the Mouse, oh no; this is Gunn allowed to go absolutely wild. This is Gunn given the budget of a modern superhero film and asked to make a Troma picture, with all the blood, gore, and cheesiness that entails, and by god did he pull it off. Right from the get go we are given a taste of just what sort of movie we’re in for as a mangy child-murdering weasel man shows up and Nathan Fillion detaches his arms from his body to gently tap enemy soldiers on the head, and somehow things only get wackier from there.

Gunn seemed to actively go out of his way to fix every single problem of the original film. The characters, for instance, are all fairly similar to those of the first film. Bloodsport is clearly the stand in for Deadshot, but where Deadshot was just your average charming, funny Will Smith role to the point it could get distracting, Idris Elba makes Bloodsport a tired straight man to the wacky antics around him and portrays his growth through the film very well. Peacemaker is the jackass of the team in the vein of Captain Boomerang, but where Boomerang had little use in the narrative despite being the best and funniest non-Harley member of the team, Peacemaker is given his full due, with John Cena making him one of the funniest assholes ever put to film and even giving him a bit of depth and moral complexity. King Shark, AKA Nanaue, is obviously Killer Croc’s replacement, but where Croc was bland and really just stood in the background the whole movie, Nanaue is a sweet, charming, funny oaf with brutal strength who is just absolutely lovable and adorable, all capped off with hilarious vocal delivery from Sylvester Stallone himself. Polka-Dot Man is something of a replacement for El Diablo, though while El Diablo was really bungled by the narrative despite being well-acted and sympathetic, Polka-Dot Man is given ample opportunity to be funny, tragic, and useful all at once, and gives him a bit of an arc (pretty impressive for a character who was added in solely because Gunn googled who the lamest DC villains were). And finally, Ratcatcher is something of the replacement for Katana, being the second woman of the squad and the token good teammate, though where Katana was awkwardly shoehorned in at the last minute, Ratcatcher is clearly the heart of this team and brings the band together. Overall, the new Squad is leagues better than the original, and you will care for this band of criminals by the film’s end.

Returning characters get their due as well, particularly the ones really screwed over by the first film Waller and Flag get it the best of all. In the first film, Waller’s entire scheme was stupid, nonsensical, contradictory, and basically everything she did went against what was told to us about her, namely that she is a master manipulator. It was really a waste of Viola Davis, who had the presence and mannerisms down but who was constantly being failed by a shoddy script. Thankfully, that’s not the case here; Waller is very much the ultimate, manipulative girlboss she should be, from using her own troops as a distraction for another team to threatening Bloodsport with his daughter getting raped and murdered in prison over a minor offense if he doesn’t join her Suicide Squad. She is a stone cold bitch you will love to hate, and is easily one of the best comic book villains in film now (quite the turnaround all things considered). Flag is an actual character in this movie, with great chemistry with the members of the new Squad, particularly Bloodsport and Harley. Much like Bloodsport, he also gets a bit of a rivalry with Peacemaker going, which ends up being entertaining and even leads to a truly sad moment late in the film. Quite impressive for a guy who did nothing but spout awkward exposition in the first film.

Then we have Harley. I’m going to be honest, Harley has never been written better than she was in this film. While Robbie has had the character down from day one, the scripts have consistently failed her. The original film did nothing with her but sexualize her and have her spout crappy one-liners, and while Birds of Prey was a massive step up and had her written as she should be, the overall narrative of that film didn’t quite give her the due she deserved due to her feeling like a passive character pushed around by the flow of the plot. Here, though, Harley fully grasps at what’s given to and takes charge when she can, leading to one of the best action scenes in a film full of them. She ahs great interactions with her teammates and is just consistently funnier than she ever has been before, and it makes me happy to know someone who loves this character as much as Robbie does is finally getting to truly shine as she deserves.

The music and editing are vastly better. Remember how the original film had a new licensed song every minute, and almost all of them made no sense, and the music that played for Deadshot was exclusively rap artists (which was lowkey kinda racist)? Well, Gunn is bringing his ability to weave songs into the narrative with this one, but he also gives plenty of time for the music composed for the film to shine. As for the editing, gone are the obtrusive comic-book style cards that announce stupid throwaway details (and in a few cases, plot points you will very likely miss), replaced by more amusing and less obtrusive gags. The movie is also cut in a way where, you know, it makes sense. Everything flows naturally, and while there are a couple of points where time rewinds so we can see how we got to a certain point, it’s never so confusing that you can’t follow it.

The stakes are vastly overhauled. It made zero sense in the first film that Waller would assemble a team that consists of people whose powers range from “is good with weapons” to “is an Aztec fire god” to “is a big ugly crocodile man” to take on Superman-level threats. This is like if you sent a Boy Scout troop to fight Godzilla, it’s just not gonna end well and there’s an absurd disparity in power levels. Here, the team is being sent on a general black ops mission and have their skills selected by who would be most useful for the mission, and while they do end up taking on something a bit outside their context in the form of a certain cyclopean starfish alien, it’s a bit easier to swallow because of the buildup and because “big angry alien” is a lot more sensible as a threat to black op vigilantes than “ancient interdimensional witch goddess with a zombie army.”

Most importantly, though, is that this film lives up to its title. This is very much a suicide mission, and where the last team made it out relatively unscathed, this film suffers a lot of casualties. Characters die for gags, characters die suddenly, you might think a character is going to be a big, important part of the plot only for them to be dispatched right when it seems they’re getting going. For a film like this, it works perfectly, and some of the deaths are absolutely hilarious. That being said, you can kind of predict who lives and who dies based on star power alone; do you really think Harley’s gonna bite it? Come on.

I don’t really have many issues with the movie, but I will reiterate: this is essentially a Troma film with a massive budget, made by one of their alumni. Troma is a studio that makes gory, gross, and awesome B-grade movies and a similar irreverent mentality is on display here. If you can stomach gore, violence, and absurdity then this is a film you’re probably going to get into, but it’s definitely not the kind of comic book movie for everyone. Thankfully, it is exactly the kind of comic book movie for me. It honestly feels like the sort of movie I’d want to make, where I take a bunch of stupid C-list villains with dumb powers and give them actual development and characterization to the point the audience feels something for them. You’re going to be moved by a girl who controls rats, a stupid shark man, and a depressed dude who shoots polka-dots from his hands, and you’re not going to care.

I really hope they follow this up with another one, especially if they bring James Gunn back. There were a lot of characters he considered for the team, and a lot of them have potential, be that hilarious or dramatic. I mean, the man considered Mr. Freeze, that guy could be one hell of a leading man! Round out the team with some of the considered ideas like Rainbow Creature, Solomon Grundy, Chemo, Livewire, Punch and Jewelee, Man-Bat, Dogwelder, and the almighty Kite Man, and you’ve got one hell of a Suicide Squad! Also, maybe get Gunn to consider Crazy Quilt and Condiment King.

Really, the possibilities are endless, and that’s what the fun of a Suicide Squad movie should be: seeing the dumbest dregs of comic book history thrown into a place where they’re probably going to die horribly. Gunn managed to get that when Ayer couldn’t, and the results are perhaps his magnum opus. This is Gunn at his best and most free, unchained from the restrictions of forcing a film to tie into a bunch of others while also using all the tricks of his signature style to craft a damn fine film that easily holds up on its own outside the context of the DCEU. These are the kind of comic book movies we need, so let’s hope this film gets the respect it deserves so it acts as a wakeup call for studios content to churn out