#like I get that DC can’t permanently kill off a major villain

[betterthanbatman1]

How do you think jason would feel if the joker died in some random accident?

Okay, I had to think about this ngl.

He would definitely have mixed feelings about this.

Firstly, having the Joker dead is a positive, obviously. He could finally allow himself to be happy. Happy the Joker can’t terrorize anyone anymore and happy that he can finally live in peace without the constant dread that the joker is looming over him.

On the other hand, this complicates matters with the family. We know how much Bruce killing Joker would mean to him. Bruce killing Joker is killing his son’s murderer (ofc) but it’s also proving to Jason that Bruce did care about him and did love him. Because right now Jason thinks that his death was not enough and that he himself was not enough for Bruce to kill the Joker. In my mind, Jason lets himself get close because of the hope he has that Bruce still can fix his mistake ie killing Joker. But once Joker dies randomly, that hope is gone and then it truly is clear that Bruce didn’t care or love Jason enough to break his moral code. This kind of reminds me of the cycle of abuse and how abuse victims will stay with their abusers because of the hope they have that things will get better.

Then there’s also the fact that Jason himself deserves to beat the living shit out of Joker and watch as Joker dies under his hands. It would be very gratifying and therapeutic for him (and the readers, in my opinion)

Ultimately though I feel that Jason would be glad because now The monster is gone for good and there are much more positives because of that.

This is excluding the joker war and any possibility of there being different jokers because that’s just ridiculous

[shlabam]

TOP TEN COMICS BOOK VILLAINS WE PROBABLY WON’T SEE IN THE MOVIES

Superhero media is the hottest thing going right now. It was true ten years ago when the MCU was in its adolescence, and it’s even truer now. Even with film production on lockdown, Marvel and DC are still planning on literally dozens of their characters entering their respective cinematic universes. However, for the fans of the source material, things can be contentious. For every memorable Tony Stark quip, there’s Superman destroying an entire city because he’s, frankly, kind of dumb now. A major point of contention is how the various popular villains are utilized. Making an intimidating and potent villain in a comic book is very different than in a film. In comics, you have months to establish motive, powers, and backstory before the villain even makes their first move. In films, that all has to be compressed and spilled out in the scarce few minutes when Captain America and Bucky aren’t making bambi eyes at each other. To be concise, some villains adapt perfectly, and some, no matter how good they are in the comics, just don’t. And to be clear, this list is of popular villains who have the possibility of appearing in a big-budget film, so no, you won’t be seeing Ten Eyed Man or Big Wheel in there. Their powers are, respectively, having ten eyes, and being very good in business. (That’s a lie, he’s just a huge wheel who chases Spider-Man.)

10: Mr. Mxyzptlk:

Cool, let’s get this one out of the way. Despite being one of Superman’s oldest, longest-lasting, and most popular enemies from all the way back in the Golden Age, there’s no way in hell he will be in a movie. For the uninformed. Mr. Mxyzptlk is a 5th dimensional wizard-genie who appears every ninety days to torment Superman with his reality-altering antics, and can only be sent back to his home dimension if Superman tricks him into saying his own name backwards. Yes, it would be very dazzling, as Mr. Mxyzptlk’s powers in a movie would basically look like if Christopher Nolan directed Who Framed Roger Rabbit, but he’s a little too silly to fit in with the current “everything is gloomy and also a bummer” tone of the Superman films. This silly tone has lent itself perfectly to the Supergirl series, where he’s made a handful of appearances. Besides, if we get Mxyzptlk in a Superman movie before Brainiac, I’ll lose my entire freaking mind.

9: Hobgoblin:

There have been eight Spider-Man movies so far, and of those eight, four of them have, in some capacity, featured the Green Goblin. And that makes sense, right? The Green Goblin is easily Spider-Man’s most memorable and reoccurring nemesis, with Doctor Octopus and Venom close behind, and Peter Parker’s link with Norman and Harry Osbourn makes their tragic story perfect for film adaptation. On the other hand, we have the Hobgoblin, who is essentially Green Goblin with all the gimmicks, none of the Parker-adjacent backstory, and an orange and blue color scheme, likely tying him to the Denver Broncos [citation needed]. Still, in those four cinematic attempts at tackling the Goblin, none of them have quite gotten him right, and I can’t imagine this character, who is, even in canon, an intentional Green Goblin rip-off, would fare any better.

8: Starro:

Brave and the Bold #28 from 1960 featured the first story with the Justice League, and this story put them up against a very unique new villain: Starro the Conqueror, a giant telepathic starfish who can release tiny versions of himself. If these tiny starfish latch onto your head, you’re under his control and obey his commands. The Justice League have battled him fairly regularly over the last fifty years, and he’s a distinct and powerful enemy that the fans generally appreciate, leading to him being referenced occasionally in Smallville, Arrow, and Flash. Why won’t he ever be in a movie? Because if you’re a Hollywood producer, you stopped paying attention at “giant telepathic starfish”. Sorry. Maybe Shuma-Gorath will pop up in the next Doctor Strange movie, and he’ll set off a Twilight-esque wave of starfish monster movies! Then again, almost absolutely not.

7: Puppet Master:

Speaking of mind control, what’s scarier than that? For my money, nothing. Having your body and will taken away from you by an unseen force is a terror greater than death. How could you possibly make a villain based around such a chilling concept and have him not be scary? Well, maybe if it’s an old bald man in an apron playing with dolls. The Puppet Master is an ongoing threat for the Fantastic Four who is just that: he makes models of his foes out of radioactive clay, and makes them punch themselves and dance around and kiss each other, because he’s, y’know, a weird old man. Why is he such a consistent threat who hasn’t fallen into obscurity like other dumb gimmick-based villains? His stepdaughter, Alicia Masters, is the Thing’s longtime girlfriend. As long as she keeps appearing in movies (including being played by… Kerry Washington? That can’t be right), there’s always a chance he’ll pop up, but I don’t think any movie studio is that stupid, despite the quality of every Fantastic Four movie blatantly defying that prediction.

6: Bizarro:

Superman has always suffered in the villains department. When you’re essentially a god, what can they throw at you? As it turns out, Lex Luthor, almost always. But why not another Superman? Bizarro is essentially that, an imperfect clone of Superman who speaks in opposite speak - “Bizarro am good! Me not punch you until you live!” - and features the same abilities as the Man of Steel. Sounds great, right? Putting a hero against a villain with their same powers has worked for nearly every Marvel movie (shots fired). So why won’t we see him grace our silver screens any time soon? Because they’ve never really figured him out. Is he funny? Is he lethal? Does Kryptonite work on him? If he does everything the opposite of Superman, why does he wear clothes? Isn’t being naked the opposite of being clothed? Bizarro is a major Superman side-character and has made appearances in Smallville and Supergirl, but the idea of him being the Big Bad going toe-to-toe with Henry Cavill doesn’t sound like it would generate a lot of views.

5: Impossible Man:

You remember what I said about Mr. Mxyzptlk? Remember? So take that bit, but everywhere I say Superman, have it say Fantastic Four instead… yeah, that should do it.

4: The Wrecking Crew:

Thor has a unique quirk of having a very cinematic rogues gallery. Sure, most of the movies have pitted him against Loki, but if they were to run him up against the Enchantress, or the Absorbing Man, or Ulik the Troll, or Kurse, or even the Stone Men from Saturn, that’s not a bad movie! However, in one of the attempts to give Thor more of a mortal nemesis, they put him up against the Wrecker, who has an… enchanted… indestructible… crowbar. Yeah. Incredibly, the Wrecker and his Wrecking Crew have become very present characters throughout the Marvel Universe, essentially serving as “jobbers”, being rolled out to get beaten up by the new top hero or villain, but that may not work in a movie, where villains have to be seen as having some level of potency before being struck down. That means we’d need at least a short scene where it seems like Thor might lose to a guy whose power is “crowbar”, and that’s about as likely as an Edward Norton cameo in the next Avengers. Ho boy, they did NOT part on good terms!

3: Clayface:

When the movie-going public goes to see a Batman movie, they generally want something a bit more grounded than your typical superhero fare. After all, Batman has no powers, and therefore the most supernatural thing that should happen in these movies is a gas that makes you smile, or a different gas that makes you think your dead parents are back and disappointed in you. Might wanna put a mouth covering on that mask, Bruce! The one and only they’ve made a movie where Batman fights people with real, off-the-wall super powers (Batman and Robin), it did not go great. And those guys pale in comparison to Clayface, who is, yes, made of clay. In the comics and cartoons, Clayface looks awesome, turning his limbs into weapons and being very challenging to incapacitate, but in a live-action, realistic Batman adventure, we wouldn’t want to see the Dark Knight fight a poop-colored version of the T-1000, especially if it’s got the same chemical composition of a little dreidel that I made.

2: Red Hood:

A relative newcomer to the Batman universe, Red Hood is the revived body of Jason Todd, the second Robin, who was brutally killed by the Joker in one of the most controversial storylines DC Comics ever produced. Literally, fans called a 900 number to tell the writers to kill him off. A 900 number. That’s how much they hated the little turd. Anyway, Jason Todd, whom Batman and the rest of the world believed was dead, was revived by Ra’s al Ghul and became a ruthless villain. Since then, he’s gravitated more to the side of the hero, though one a bit more willing to spill blood than his mentors. Why won’t we see him in the darker, edgier Batman films? Because… that’s Bucky. It’s the same thing that happened in Captain America: The Winter Soldier. Teen sidekick killed in controversial manner, revived by super villain to be a thorn in said hero’s side, later changes his mind and becomes a good guy again, though with enough PTSD to fill a PTSD super store. The two storylines even occurred in the comics in the same year, 2005, to much fanfare and across-the-board declarations of one company ripping off the other, reminding the world of the great Aquaman-Namor debates of the 1940s. Considering that DC’s films have criminally underperformed compared to Marvel’s, the last thing they want to do is be accused of lazy plagiarism, so Jason Todd will likely remain a permanent fixture in the afterlife, hanging out with Batman’s parents and, at the rate that people are coming back from the dead, literally no one else. (Plus, if they can’t even get Robin right, how are they gonna do this?)

1: Mister Sinister:

Yes, he was teased at the end of X-Men Apocalypse, but ignoring that the film underperformed both critically and commercially, Mister Sinister is never going to be in a movie. It would make sense for him to appear, though, right? He’s one of the most present and potent X-Men villains, he’s played crucial roles in many memorable storylines, he’s got a sick cape, but… something a lot of comic book fans tend to overlook is his murky backstory, powers, and motivations. He was a biologist in Victorian London who did genetic experiments on homeless people in the hopes of finding clues about the oncoming threat of mutants. In this time, he unearthed the long-dormant En Sabah Nur, whom you plebeians may know as Apocalypse, and Apocalypse gifted him with great abilities. What abilities you ask? HA HA, good question! At various times, Sinister has displayed: telepathy, telekinesis, energy projection, shape-shifting, regeneration, and teleportation, but these powers will mysteriously disappear whenever they want him to get sliced up real good by Wolverine. Additionally, it has never been made very clear what Sinister wants. Does he seek perfect mastery of the human genome? Does he live to torment Cyclops? Is he a blind follower of Apocalypse? Is he just running through all the different kinds of goatee? Of course, in adaptation, the writers would pick and choose the aspects they’d want to use, but I doubt they’d want to untangle the Christmas lights mess that is Mister Sinister, especially when they’ve got a perfectly good villain whose power is just “magnets”.

[sinsins52]

Everything Wrong With Everything Wrong With Teen Titans Go! To The Movies

ORIGINAL VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bq3g4pJY07Y&t=0s

1.He’s slightly improved in a few ways, but he still has the same terrible intro that begs for likes.

2.He also still refuses to put his sinning intro over the actual title card. So really it’s Everything Wrong With _____

3.”A full minute of intros and I’m not even sure because two of them were for the WB” The 2nd one was for WB Animation, which is no different from all the other major animated films, it ain’t that long of a log sequence until the Marvel joke one.

4.”And already the first joke is them playing off the Marvel Cinematic intro. There’s so many Marvel jokes in this movie one might think they’re a bit bitter because they’re kicking their ass in the movie industry” Marvel is the dominating force in the superhero movie industry, and this movie spoofs a lot of that, so no duh there’s some Marvel jokes. Hell, there’s some potshots at DC, even in the first trailer!

5.”The welcome to Jump City sign is well within the center of the city. I think everyone knows where they are by the time they get that far in” That’s how it works in real though, or in the least my city is like that. And get used to him being pedantic, even by Sin standards..

6.”I don’t think anyone’s accidentally going to Jump City, one of the most riddled with crime places in the world, right next to Gotham or Metropolis” I…don’t get this one. I mean I don’t even know how to explain why you’re wrong I don’t even get your point. That accidentally really throws me off.

7.He sins all the references in this establishing shot, even though they are basically cute Easter eggs that are not sins.

8.”Batman’s not even liked in Gotham yet he has his own building” But maybe Jump City likes him fine. Also, this version of the DC characters is different in tons of ways, so why are you assuming it’s exactly like the other version in this case?

9.”I am upset that this isn’t even a gag character. It’s an actual person who exists in the DC world” That same world also has Kite Man and Condiment King. Just saying, the DC universe is weird and it’s not weird for a spoof movie to acknowledge this.

10.”Before he was crushing buildings with no problems, but now he can squeeze between them without them even building” He was punching at them before to destroy them as they were smaller than him but these two were a bit taller and there was a small space. Do the math.

11.”The safe is comically huge in comparasion to the actual bank” Congrats, you noticed.

12.”This why you can’t bring Starfire to a petting zoo” They were balloons. They pop. Come on.

13.”I get it, they’re supposed to be failed heroes but they’ve done plenty of stuff even in the TTG to be known within their own city” Maybe to the citizens or something, but not to this random villain we’ve never seen in the show before, and maybe he’s not super up to date anyway.

14.”Can’t Wonder Woman still fly in this world? I’m not sure why they gave her the invisible jet other than lol references are funny again”. If I had an invisible jet, I would show it off as much as possible…Maybe not “show” per say…

15.Also, the jet isn’t really a joke so that doesn’t apply here.

16.”Of all the heroes in Jump City, they had to pull out the A squad for Balloon man?” He still a pretty decent threat though, with all the destruction he was doing.

17.”They only make movies about real heroes” “But they’ll sure as hell make a Netflix original about just about anyone” If you’re referring to the Marvel shows, they're about pretty well liked and solid heroes, even Iron Fist isn’t that silly or an idea given their roster.

18.”The titans can afford to make their own movie, they have a private island and own a giant building” You mean like they do make? The one Robin dislikes because it is is so rnky dinky and he wants a serious Hollywood movie?

19.He really over analyzes a background reference to Young Justice.

20.”Further proof that the bat credit card has been canon all along” How does that Utility Belt movie prove this?

21.He shows off a fairly lo0ng clip just to sin another background gag. He likes to run the clips for too long, almost like he wants the video to be longer for extra watch time…

22”Breaking the 4th but yeah, he’s not Deadpool” That would work better if not for the actual Deadpool joke they make later. Oh and this character that character!

23.’I get it, this is a comedy movie-” And that’s when you should have stopped talking. His sin is that Slade being more comedic is “insulting” even though it really isn’t.

(By the way, this scene has them thinking Slade is Deadpool and Slade finds that comparison stupid because there’s plenty of guys with swords like him. The Titans would be amazing at Cinema Sins!)

24.He says he’s removing a sin for the Circe of Life spoof…but he ends up adding one. Whoops.

25.”Batman kills a baby-” In a dream sequence.

26.”This improvised song already has a billboard” A visual gag for a song is a sin I guess. Also, no sin removal for this?!

27.”This might be a bit overboard for a nitpick-” Lol.

28.”Would it have been okay if his dad wasn’t a cop?” No, but that fact does make it a bigger deal.

29.”Stan’s cameos are not subtle but neither are the references in this movie” And yet when they are subtle, you sin them anyway.

30.”Leaving them with the permanent injures” “And huge medical dat making him go right back to that life of crime-” Yes, because if he didn’t have bills, he’d just…give up crime for no reason? Also, I have no idea what he says but it sounds like “Dat” for screw it.

31.”Raven, who didn’t know the time cycles even existed prior to this was able to summon them from an unknown location because that’s how her powers work now” That’s how they’ve always worked but okay.

32.”When I think of rad, I definitely think of terseness are on tricycles” What, you don’t?

33.”What’s up with the 80’s fetishim in this movie? Take on Me, Tricycles-” I don’t think Tricycles are an 80’s thing.

34.”And Batman doesn’t remember the Teen Titans being the ones that pushed his parents into an alleyway to be brutally murdered” Eh, it’s scarring and all but I can buy him not remembering their exact faces and hey, they don’t dwelll on it too much since you’re not supposed to think about the logic in this silly movie too hard.

35.The bit where Cyborg and Beast Boy fal to be saved prompts him to go into this long winded rant on how it’s not possible. And I thought the previous sin was pedantic. This is after he sinned the movie for having bits that go on too long, by the way.

36.The sin counter randomly drops to 42 before going back to 85 in the next sin.

37.”Superman skips leg day, because that’s what happens when you can fly anywhere” …K?

38.”You already have Netflix, so there’s literally no reason for this” This is on a bigger scale and tell that to DC.

39.”Can you guys mainly do this so that Robin can get the movie? Wouldn’t this be the right choice?” I have no idea what you just said.

40.”He would have to keep up this facade all these years to compete these movies” Correct me if I’m wrong but there’s nothing to indicate “Jade Wilson” has been around for years, just that she’s a big director and those can rise fairly quickly sometimes.

(Frankly the real sin is that he didn’t just give the Robin the movie right away so can finish his plot quicker. Seriously, he just made it more complicated for himself)

41.”Slade, instead of using the swords and guns he has, decides to instead blow up an entire town” I think that’s far more efficiency in this case though.

42.”For a plan this is pretty retarded” Ugh.

43.”Added camera shake to make things more intense” Yes, that is why they did that, well done. Also, I hardly even noticed that here.

44.”-And I don’t mean that shitty Netflix original series were Starfire looks like a hooker” It’s not for Netflix and something that way you worded that bugs me.

45.It says Episode Sin Tally.

SINS VIDEO SIN TALLY: 45

SENTENCE: Mind Manipulation

Yep, our old friend Moliminus actually beat SeriesSins to it. I wanted to give SeriesSins time to do his video, but his taking his time so here we are. I will do his sometime in January if all goes well. I think this is the most sins for an off brand video, but that’s only because this video is 27 minutes long for some reason.

Anyway, I want the SinsSin post that goes up closest to Christmas to be a Cinema Sins video, so we’re doing Off Brand sins next week as well. And with it, we go back to a 2000’s animated movie.

[pro-bee]

“She knew you wouldn't be pleased.” “Then she never knew me at all”

Let me get this off my chest:

THIS ENTIRE CONVERSATION IS BULLSHIT.

...

Now that that’s out of the way:

This entire conversation is bullshit.

I’m sorry, but this is the mother of all plot devices.

And this is coming from a show where a major character was introduced in her first episode as the sister of the assassin who killed her predecessor before shooting him, has killed off at least one major character a season For Reasons, has terrorist plots endangering Washington DC at least once a year, retconned character histories and past actions to repeat plots, INTRODUCED A HALF-BROTHER TO POINT #1′S VILLAIN TEN YEARS AFTER KILLING HIM OFF FOR NO REASON only to then kill him off, etc.

I’m saying, there’s a lot of bullshit on this show.

But this takes the cake.

Long-lost children are cheesy at the best of times, and that alone would be enough to make any fan raise their arms in frustration.

Even though on the flip side this is Confirmed!Tiva. 

It’s complete character assassination for Ziva, which is so unnecessary, especially given how she was written out in season 11. 

The Ziva who longed for something permanent (HER WORDS), who’s had feelings for Tony arguably since season 4 at the very least (IN THE SHOW’S WORDS), who knew how much family meant for Tony, who knew how committed he was to her ( “I can change with you”/ “I just want you to come home, with me” / “Hardest 180 of my life” etc.), who knew how much he’d grown in the last year before she left and stood by her side after she was in turmoil, who was trying to better herself and heal her old wounds and turn a new page?

You’re saying, Show, that that Ziva wouldn’t have told Tony she was pregnant?

(The very man she said she loved -- AGAIN, ACTUALLY IN THE SHOW IT’S ON TAPE PEOPLE)

NO FUCKING WAY.

(more under the cut because WE’RE IN FOR A WILD RIDE FOLKS)

[[more]]

First of all, it kills me (no pun intended) that this probably adds fuel to the fire for the Ziva-haters who thought she was selfish, because, well, that sure proves their point, doesn’t it?

It almost seems callous, like it was to get back at Cote de Pablo for whatever it was that went down when she left the show.

Except I don’t think the writers/producers were actually being that nasty or inconsiderate. Because given the show’s history -- by that I mean, trying to inflict the most Tragic Man Pain™ on its male characters -- I honestly do think they just thought this was a great way to create Drama and didn’t think twice about what this meant for the female character in question.

Again, I give you: Agent Lee, Jackie Vance, Diane, Paula Cassidy, and I’m sure lots of others that I can’t remember at the moment, but the point is that they are all female characters whose deaths were written specifically to heap more tragedy onto a male character to give them something to fight for/feel guilt over.

(I don’t really count Shannon & Kelly, since their deaths were pre-Show and were part of Gibbs’ origin story, nor do I count Kate’s, because that’s probably the one death that I feel was probably a legitimate “Gotcha!” for the audience to drive the story. Then again I’ve never actually seen season 2 so what do I know.)

So what I’m saying is killing Ziva off is bad enough. 

But now adding another layer to that with her hiding said male character’s child from him for almost three years is even more infuriating, because it perpetuates the stereotype that so-called “independent” women as Orli puts it completely eschew their male partners’ feelings, doing what they want and damn the torpedoes. And in this context, specifically reverts to the notion of Ziva essentially being a stone-cold (former) killer who lacks any empathy, especially towards the supposed love of her life.

Which, if you are a Ziva fan, you know is untrue, and there is ample evidence to the contrary on the show. Ziva was traumatized and self-destructive and often made terrible life choices, but when she felt safe she was also compassionate and warm-hearted and generous. 

But this decision by the writers throws that out the window. They hand-wave it off as, “well, she decided she didn’t need no man and had a baby by herself,” when we know that’s pretty much the opposite of what she was -- hell, did they watch the season 10 finale?! I don’t know if the fact that it seems like they genuinely didn’t even think this through or realize how it would look softens the blow or makes it worse.

The only way I can even remotely fanwank this so that Ziva doesn’t seem like a total self-centered jerk (and let me clarify I DO NOT THINK ON ANY PLANET THAT ZIVA IS A SELF-CENTERED JERK but that is what the subtext of this writing implies) is if you explain this away by thinking that Ziva was so terrified when she found out that she was pregnant that she froze and put off telling Tony until one day it just seemed like it was too late.

(I may or may not have written a fic about that. I may or may not get around to posting it if I ever finish writing about this episode. It’s been sitting on my computer since July.)

It’s not a good explanation, by any means, but it’s like you have to twist yourself into circles to make this even remotely palatable. And it shouldn’t be palatable, because this flies in the face of 10 years of character development.

The Ziva who grew up with a distant father and a presumably unhappy mother (from the flashbacks we’ve seen), who never really recovered from her family breaking up as a teen, who gravitated towards this group of people an ocean way from her homeland and came to consider them her chosen family, who started to think about her future and settling down and planting roots and having a family of her own, who canonically loved Tony -- you’re telling me this person would decide to cut the father of her child out of her life because she was “independent”?

Yeah, right.

Ziva was (is) reckless, impulsive, temperamental, brash -- all of these things, yes. But callous? I’ve never thought so.

Looks like I got ahead of myself.

- Poor Tali. She cried throughout the flight, enduring more in her last day than most people do in a lifetime. - Does she even know? I mean, does she understand? - All she knows is that her mother has gone away. Ziva assured me you were the only biological possibility, in case you were wondering. - I wasn't. But if she had any doubts that would explain why she didn't tell me. - No doubts. Yes, she's the image of her mother, but the eyes are all you, Tony. - If I'd known she was pregnant, I would've been there in a second.

First of all: MY HEART. That poor little nugget.

Second: UUUUUUUUGH my head hurts. Because whyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy.

There’s so much to unpack here.

Let’s take the first hair-pulling morsel: the “biological possibility.” Which is one of many hints about how little Orli knows him.

Part of me really likes this, because again I enjoy how Tony doesn’t give Orli even an inch. But also, because you get hints of before here -- in spite of everything that is happening, of how his life has just been flipped upside down over and over again in the last 24 hours, some things remain, like the fact that he knows the timeline and he knows Ziva, and he knows there was no one else.

Orli may not know what they were, or may assume that they were casual or a one-time thing, and is almost clinical about how Tali came to be. It’s just a totally different mindset to where these two were and who they were three years ago.

But it’s Tony who gets me -- despite his own grief, and now yet another shock, he’s cognizant enough to know that some things still hold true. He’d have every right to be angry right now and imo should be, but  he can separate that from what he knows of Ziva. That whatever they were that summer/fall, it meant something.

Yet he follows it up with his own doubts, because now that that possibility has been introduced, maybe that rewrites things, like maybe what he thought was true then was just an illusion, just like everything else is now. Because he probably never thought Ziva would drop off the face off the earth for three years and leave him on the sidelines, and never thought she’d end up blown up in a house fire when she’d quit law enforcement years ago, and definitely never thought she wouldn’t tell him that she was having his baby. So maybe she left him and never told him because there was more he didn’t know, maybe he’d read the whole situation wrong after all.

(Also, the eyes may be Tony’s in, um, spirit, but the baby actor playing Tali looks so much like Ziva, eyes and all, that it’s hard to believe they could have casted that part any better. I mean she’s even got Ziva/Cote’s wild curly hair, that’s crazy.)

If I'd known she was pregnant, I would've been there in a second.

Oh, Tony.

Sigh.

Because this is exactly the guy who left Ziva on the tarmac, who committed to her in that field, who searched for her for months, who stood by her when her life was in shambles, who stepped back to let her find her happy ending even if it wasn’t with him on more than one occasion.

We know all Tony wanted was to be by her side. He would have left everything behind if she’d said the word, and he would have brought her home if she’d wanted it. So he let her make her choices, even if it killed him. (And her WHAT.) But if he would have been by her side the second he knew she was pregnant, would have dropped everything because really, he wouldn’t be giving anything up at all, because that’s what he really wanted. And that’s what so tragic about PPF and now “Family First,” because they both want the same things but neither can voice them for their own reasons. Tony, because he’s trying to give her space and let her figure out what she needs when she’s ready. And Ziva, because she doesn’t think she’s deserving of him or in a space ready to be the partner she thinks he needs. Now, we see everything they’ve missed out on -- in even greater relief.

Oh, Tony, indeed.

But our mourning doesn’t get a chance to fester because irritation is far more salient at the moment:

- Which is precisely why she didn't tell you. She didn't want to disrupt your life any more than she already had. - That was not her decision to make. - You know better than anyone how fiercely independent Ziva was. She did not need a man to complete her. She was quite comfortable and confident raising Tali on her own. - Without ever telling me. - Actually, she came to regret that decision as Tali grew, but she struggled with how to break the news. She didn’t— she knew you wouldn't be pleased. - Then she never knew me at all.

UUUUUUUUUUUUGH MAKE IT STOP.

Like I spent the last 20 paragraphs extrapolating, the idea of Ziva being so “independent” that she wouldn’t tell the father of her child -- who she was in love with and knew loved her -- that she was pregnant is absolutely unconscionable and inexcusable. 

It’s not like Tony is some random hookup or one night stand who she’d never see again. Tony is the guy who she’s stood by for almost a decade, who she’s seen grown and has grown along side, who’s been something to her in varying stages that whole time, who was even more something to her that summer to the point that they were planning on spending their newfound unemployment doing that something together indeterminably until the shit hit the fan. 

The Ziva we’d grown to love for eight seasons wouldn’t unilaterally decide to deny Tony’s right to be a father (like she wouldn’t deny her child’s right to know her father) because she was independent. The Ziva who yearned to rebuild the family she lost as a kid wouldn’t knowingly repeat those same secrets in her own, or at least I’d be hard-pressed to believe it.

But I have no problem, unfortunately, believing the writers would find it perfectly acceptable.

(Which is why I’ve fanwanked it as Ziva being paralyzed by fear but WHATEVER SHOW)

It reeks of, “those man-hating independent women, they just hate us all so much.” (Misogynistic much?)

Again, this whole notion of Ziva “not needing a man to complete her,” is such bullshit, because that’s not the fucking point, and it contradicts everything we know about her. That doesn’t sound like her, and sounds more like someone making a superficial, impersonal assessment of her. (I could almost believe this was a cover for something or someone than I could believe this actually came out of fictional Ziva’s mouth.)

On the flip side, though, I like that Tony’s starting to get angry, because he should be. As much as I love Ziva and she is my favorite, this whole plot stinks, and Tony has every right to be mad right now. Because this sucks, and this is a huge betrayal, and none of this makes sense. So I like that he’s calling Orli out on her bullshit, and by extension, Ziva out on hers too. (As much as that hurts.) I like that he’s saying no, this is not okay, and just because you have an excuse for something doesn’t excuse it. Ziva being “independent” (blech) doesn’t excuse not telling him about Tali, no matter how matter-of-fact Orli presents it.

It sucks. Plain and simple.

I mean, I suppose Orli reassuring him that Ziva regretted shutting him out softens the blow a little, and lends credence to the idea that she just didn’t know how to get out of this mess -- which, to be fair, is kind of her M.O. when she gets into trouble -- but it still is beyond frustrating.

But then the second part of that statement, “She knew you wouldn’t be pleased,” is MADDENING.

MADDENING I TELL YOU.

Because again, if there’s one thing Ziva knew from the last time she saw Tony, it’s that he would be pleased. That he practically spelled it out for her back then, and that he wanted a future with her and she wanted one with him. (Again, I give you this.)

He wouldn’t be pleased? OF COURSE HE WOULD BE PLEASED.

Shocked? Yes. Confused? Probably. Though on the other hand he would have known exactly how that happened. 

“Not pleased”? Not a chance. 

It would have been what both of them had searched for.

So, Tony has every right to be angry.

And it saddens me that he thinks that Ziva never knew him at all if she believed that of him, because of any of them Ziva knew him the best, and she would never have thought that of him, but the writers went there, why?

MAN PAIN.

That’s what this all comes down to.

ARGH.

I’m going to end this now because I’m just talking in circles, but to sum up: Tony yes, Orli no.

[robotnik-mun]

Robotnik Art Historia- Part Four: Age of the Eggman

Welcome one and all to the Robotnik Art Historia, where we examine the visual depictions of Robotnik over the years! Well beautiful friends, we’re close to the end here, and it’s rather appropriate given that the particular ‘era’ of the books covered here is where things really began to end for the old Robotnik, with a new Robotnik emerging to take the place of the old- Robo-Robotnik, an early one shot villain, who after devastating his own Mobius was moving in to the current one in order to re-live the thrill of conquest. Uploading his consciousness into a body modeled after the modernized Eggman design from Sonic Adventure, he would take over as central villain to the book, and usher in a time when SEGA would finally start exerting more and more control over the book in order to align things more closely to the games, having decided that they wanted a more consistent depiction of their mascot and his world. To sound off that declaration, an adaptation of Sonic Adventure would become the first major plot after issue 75. Afterwards came what I like to call ‘The Dark Ages’.

Now, for each person, when and why ‘The Dark Ages’ started up is a matter of interpretation. Personally, I place the deterioration of things as happening after the Sonic Adventure adaptation finished- this is era that would give us Green Knuckles, the Love Triangle, Freedom Fighters In School, and the thrice accursed art of Ron Lim (more on him below). It was an age of uneven storytelling and even more uneven art. Yet despite having long since been permanently killed off, Robotnik managed to linger on all the same. Fittingly, this era would feature some of the crappiest art of Robotnik yet, and at the same time would signal his temporary return to the books... in what was probably one of the worst Sonic issues ever. 

19. Chris Allan

A former regular on the Archie Ninja Turtles comic, Chris Allan theoretically should have been a perfect fit for the book, having demonstrated more than enough skill in drawing anthropmorphic animals that would qualify him to handle Sonic. Unfortunately, Allan was a rather prominent example of what I call ‘Sonic Complacency Syndrome’- it’s when an otherwise skilled and competent artist’s abilities turn to complete shit when they try to do Sonic. It has felled more than a few, and serves as a good illustration as to why it takes effort to do this shit right- Allan’s Mobians were poorly, poorly executed, and try as he might he could never quite get them right. He was selected to illustrate the ‘Tales of the Great War’ stories, which helped to flesh out the (underwhelming) details of the Great War and how Robotnik came to be Warlord. While his Mobians were sub-par, he managed to do a pretty good job with Robotnik. There was nothing in particular that stood out about his take on the guy, but given how the rest of his work ‘stood out’, that’s prolly for the best. 

19. Frank Strom

Frank Strom’s enduring legacy on the Sonic Book was the creation of the Dragon Kingdom and all the characters associated with it, including the infamous Monkey Khan. Frank Strom before working on Sonic was heavily involved with DC’s Looney Tunes comics as a writer, and worked extensively in Adult Comics. When it came to drawing for Sonic, he was.... not really all that good, at least when it came to Mobians. He had more luck with humans, including Robotnik, and was among the few to draw the guy before he had the bionic earsa nd eyes. While there is nothing especially bad about how he drew Robotnik, there’s something very... off, about the way he looks. Bit of an uncanny valley thing going on there. And as many before him did, Strom is yet another to draw Robotnik with a bulbous nose. Out of all the features that artists drawing the guy seem to mess up, it’s more often than not its his nose- which is ironic, given that this design has the least exaggerated nose out of any Robotnik and Eggman out there. 

20. Suzanne Paddock 

Susan Paddock is a bit of a mystery- she has only two Sonic works to her name, only one of them being a proper story, and I can’t really find much of anything about her career outside of the hedgehog. Still, the one story she illustrated for was perhaps one of the most out there ideas in all of the book- a story where Sonic winds up in a rules obsessed zone and has to clear his name with the help of a lawyer Sally Acorn called “Sally McAcorn”. Yeah, that’s not dated or anything (for those of you who weren’t children of the 90s, Fox in those days had a comedy tinged lawyer show called ‘Ally McBeal’, best known for birthing the ‘dancing baby’ meme of the early internet).

 Anyway, Paddock’s art style in general was really weird, and her depiction of Robotnik was no different- in this Zone an AI called ‘J.U.D.G.’, at some point in the past there was an organic Robotnik, and just... look at him. He has teeny tiny T-rex arms! And his body looks like it was glued onto his legs! Damn this was a weird ass story, and I’m still not clear if it was meant to be implied that the past Robotnik became J.U.D.G.E or not... yeah in addition to being weird, this was a crappy story in general. It was also the last time Robotnik in any form would appear in a Super Special, as between this stinker and the even worse ‘Naugus Games’ the line was cancelled. 

21. J. Axer 

Jeffrey Axer was one of a number of artists on the book who started out as a fanartist, and easily one of the most well regarded- bringing to the book an incredibly detailed anime-influenced aesthetic, he was responsible for some of the most gorgeous artwork to grace the early 2000s era of the book. Which is why its such a crying shame that the only times he got to draw Robotnik 1.0 where in a pair of Pro-Art pieces, both of which were miscolored. Seriously, why is it so hard to remember that his eyes are red against black??? Why??? Ah well- Axer’s Robotnik was cool looking, taking much of the SatAM Robotnik and making it fit into the anime aesthetic very nicely. I especially dig  the fang-like eye teeth and attention paid to his cheek bones. 

22. Ron Lim

Hooo boy, Ron Lim... I still wonder if he was a victim of Sonic Complacency Syndrome or if he just didn’t give a shit. Either way, Lim was a former Marvel hotshot who was particularly well known for his work on Silver Surfer. I am convinced that the reason he got the job at Archie was purely on the basis of having been a big name at Marvel, because lord almighty his artwork was just horrendous. Well, that’s not entirely fair- Ron Lim is in fact a very skilled artist, but the problem was? He was a poor, poor, poor fit at Sonic with a near total inability to even vaguely grasp the kind of style you’d expect for a Sonic book. What was worse though was that despite how awful his work on the book was, Ron Lim stuck around for a long, long time, to such an extent that he was practically the main artist for the book for much of the early 2000s. Yeah, not fun times. 

Naturally, his touch of dung extended to his art for Robotnik. Much like Penders, Lim struggled to reconcile the realism he was used to with the toony exaggeration required of the book, and ended up failing on both counts. Ron Lim’s Robotnik as an end result was a stubby, wrinkly looking guy whose appearance made it seem as though he had been sculpted from butter and was in the process of melting. Not helping matters at all was the fact that the story he appeared in was one of the very worst of the series, and a personally despised one. Lim’s Robontik is noteworthy in that it might be the most realistic looking of the various attempts at drawing Robotnik... this however was not a good thing, as much like Penders, Lim’s Robotnik was caught in an awkward area between realism and tooniness, and executing neither well. Still, this wasn’t the worst drawn Robotnik on the book. That distinct honor would go to the next on our list...

23. “Many Hands” 

Many Hands. A name which will live in infamy. Okay technically ‘Many Hands’ wasn’t a person but a bunch of people, but twice this name has popped up and twice the end result was just odious. Look at this. Just... look at this. Do I really have to explain why this is awful? He looks like a deflated baloon, his shoulder pads are all wrong, and the coloring and shading is just *garish*. This is probably the worst drawn Robotnik in the entire series, and given all the shitty art that came before and after that’s REALLY saying something. 

24. Dawn Best 

Another of the ‘New Wave’ of fanartists-turned-pro that hit the book in the early 2000s, Dawn Best was a much anticipated addition to the books, having made a name for herself in fan circles as a superb artist. She showed a great deal of promise, much of which was unfortunately squandered thanks to Ken Penders’ absolutely abominable inks making a hash out of the bulk of her art. While he slowly improved down the line, the damage was done. Regardless, Best remained pretty popular. She only managed to draw Robotnik once- her take on Robotnik was an especially chunky and brutish looking specimen, with a shaggier and more unkempt mustache than most. As I say far too often than I like, its a shame we could not have seen more from her... both regarding Robotnik and in general.

And thus we bring this chapter of the Historia to a close. Well friends, it’s the beginning of the end now- after this there will only be one last post to this artist retrospective, as we exit the Dark Age of the book and enter into what was a bright and shiny renaissance- the Flynn Era!  

[robininthelabyrinth]

Fic: Interconnect (ao3 link) - Chapter 7 Fandom: Flash, DC Legends of Tomorrow Pairing: Mick Rory/Leonard Snart

Summary: Fate has decided that Leonard Snart and Mick Rory are soulmates.

Yeah, okay, they’re good with that.

(for @coldwaveweek2017)

A/N: Instead of doing different fics for coldwave week, I decided to do one with multiple chapters, each based on the various days.

Chapter 7: Free Day

—————————————————————————————–

“Mick!”

Mick barely looks up from the medbay bed he’s been on the last few days, ever since the Legends flew the Waverider to STAR Labs after killing Savage. He’d been on 24/7 Gideon watch ever since they’d realized exactly how badly he was taking Len’s death.

Hell, that was even why they were here, at STAR Labs, instead of travelling the timeline fixing things the way Rip had originally wanted to. The other Legends were worried sick about Mick and didn’t want to go without him, so they’d overruled Rip and demanded they stay until Team Flash gave them an answer about how to fix Mick.

Not that they could.

It wasn’t something that could be fixed.

A lifetime of Len’s voice in his ear – gone.

Finished.

Exploded.

Mick always thought they’d go together.

“Mick!”

He shudders a little. He can still hear him sometimes, the echo of him.

“Mick! Damnit, you know how I hate it when you ignore me!”

That –

That wasn’t an echo.

Mick looks from side to side, making sure no one is paying attention to him, not even Gideon, and leans over to the plate of food he’s been uncharacteristically ignoring. “…Lenny?” he whispers to the fork.

“Yeah, it’s me. I’ve been trying to get ahold of you for ages.”

“What, really?” Mick asks, alarmed. The Time Masters had talked about time-lag – about people growing old without realizing it – stuck in a loop –

“Yeah. It’s been, like, hours now.”

No, just Len’s typical ridiculous drama.

“I thought you got blown up,” Mick says. He’s still a bit wary, but – this feels right.

“I did,” Len confirms.

“Okay…and?”

“And what?”

“If you got blown up, you’re dead,” Mick points, quite reasonably in his mind. “If you’re dead, we can’t talk.”

“Uh,” Len says. “Actually…”

“You’re dead?”

“No. I mean, not really. Sort of. Has Barry ever discussed ‘the Speed Force’ with you?”

“…no?”

“Have him do that. And tell Cisco he owes me a rescue. And – oh, shit, gotta go.”

“What?! No! I just got you back!”

“Yeah, well, unfortunately, in the Speed Force, everything is the Speed Force, and said Speed Force doesn’t exactly appreciate me getting around the whole ‘death’ thing by talking to you.”

“...are you talking to me using Death as an object?”

“No,” Len says. “I’m not dead, I told you. Also, animate things don't work, you know that, and I'm not willing to try with possibly-animates. That being said, she did let me borrow her necklace so I could talk to you.”

“She? The speed force?”

“No, Death. Keep up.”

“I’m confused.”

“Yeah, this shit’s a mess. I’ll explain later. Shh, warden’s coming.”

Mick obediently shuts up.

Then he gets up.

“Gideon!” he roars with an energy he hasn't felt since Len's nattering voice cut off. “I need Barry Allen and Cisco Ramon, now!”

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Lisa," Len says. "Mick and I have a major life announcement to make."

"You're already married, neither of you can get pregnant, and you've already come back from the dead once," Lisa says, not looking up from her magazine. "Hit me with your best shot."

"We've decided to take someone into our little family," Mick says.

"Oh, adoption. Uh-huh," Lisa says, eyes still firmly on the pages. She even turns a page. "Sure you are."

"Why so skeptical?" Len asks.

"You're too wrapped up in each other to raise a kid," she says dismissively. "And you know it. So what is it really?"

"It's not a kid," Len says. "It's a dragon."

"Dragons don't exist."

"Cheep," little Smaug says.

Lisa pauses and finally puts the magazine down.

Len beams at her.

"Is that a mechanical dragon?!"

"Smaug here's an AI," Mick says. "Bleeding edge future tech from the year 3000."

"3004," Len corrects.

"Right."

"You - that - it can think?"

"He was gonna be discontinued," Len says.

"We decided to step up," Mick agrees.

"Oh god it can breathe fire, can't it," Lisa says flatly. It's not even a question.

"And ice," Len says cheerfully, and reaches over to tickle Smaug's belly.

For all that he has exposed mechanical parts - fancy looking gears and cogs and circuits which are probably more decorative than functional - the majority of Smaug is covered in a very realistic synthoskin that replicates the feel of baby-soft scales.

Smaug gurgles happily.

"If it's a computer, why is it acting like that?"

"He's an AI," Len corrects her. "And, well, he's not full grown yet. Still building up that processor power."

"It's a baby. A baby dragon AI."

"Yep."

"Yeah, no, I'm out," Lisa declares, throwing her hands up in the air and walking out.

They wait until fifteen seconds have passed and Lisa's stomps have mostly faded away into the distance.

"How long do you think we can pull this off before she realizes we only have him on loan until the time aberration's fixed?" Mick asks.

"At least a week," Len says confidently. "C'mon, let's go scare Team Flash."

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The door flies open with a crash.

Everyone in the room spins around to glare, their eyes filling with anger, the larger members of the group starting to stand and crack their knuckles with anticipation of a beating.

"Hi, there," the man at the door says. He's wearing a blue parka, rather unseasonable for the weather outside, and he's smirking like he knows something they all don't. "Please, don't let me interrupt your fascinating discussion."

"Oh, you interrupted all right," one of the biggest guys replies. "Who the hell are you?"

The new man's smirk widens. "No, no," he says. "Please, keep going - I'm sorry, were you talking about the evil conspiracy where the Jews run the world, or was it the way witches manipulate the world using their own persecution and deaths to win minor rhetorical arguments? The arguments are so similar I can scarcely tell, sometimes."

"Oh, great," one of them sneers. "One of you people."

"We've got a right to be here," one of the other members of the group bleats. "We're exercising our right to assembly and free speech. In fact, you're oppressing us by interrupting, which is the exact opposite of what you claim to value."

And then he smirks, satisfied and smug that he's made his point.

"Oh, no, no," the new man at the door says. "You mistake me entirely. I've donated literal diamonds to the ACLU in support of the idea that there isn't anything legally wrong with non-violent free speech, even where I think the content of that speech is disgusting. But here's the thing you assholes overlooked -"

"What?" a member sneers.

The man at the door pulls out a gun that glows a cold blue light. "I don't much care about what's legal, personally, and since I'm not the goddamn government, your ‘rights’ don’t mean jack shit."

"Captain Cold," someone gasps, putting the pieces together at last.

"The supervillain?! But he's from Central."

"He," Len says, "is on vacation, and beating up neo-Salemists - or neo-Nazis, honestly we never really cleared up which ones you are - is really just a perk."

The room erupts in chaos, only to be silenced when Len fires off a blast to the ceiling.

"I know this isn't going to help your unwarranted sense of persecution," Len says, musing. "But I just wanted you to know that I'm a queer black Jew who's also cursed, so, you know - yeah. I'm 'one of them' as one of you so eloquently put it."

The room flees for the back entrance only for a gout of flame to emerge from the gun of the large man standing watch there.

"Having all the fun without me?" he asks the gun in his hands.

"Hardly," Len tells his own gun in return. It's a big room, and Mick's getting over a sore throat; there's no need to shout. "You know that what's yours is mine."

"Yeah," Mick says, grinning at his prey. He's probably regretting their promise to Barry that they wouldn't kill or permanently harm any of them, but hey, that's life. Beating them up will be nearly as satisfying, and then with luck the lesson (don’t be a bigoted shit or else) will be absorbed in a wider scale. "Yeah, I know."

And then they move.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Aren’t you supposed to be mad at me?” Mick asks muzzily. They’ve been weaning him off the good drugs, but he’s still not entirely with it all the time. Illegal clinics are good for strong drugs, though they do have a tendency to cut it off too fast.

The clock on his bedside table huffs in offense. “I am,” it says. “But you know what these places are like! They’ll cut you off the drugs the second they think they can get away with it, which they won’t if they think you’re hallucinating.”

“Why would I be hallucinating?”

“Because you’re talking to random objects?”

“No random,” Mick says. “They’re you.”

“Sweet, but irrelevant when your medical practitioners have a very cleaned-up version of your medical history.”

"...oh."

"Anyway, what does me being angry at you have to do with anything?"

"Well," Mick says, marshalling his thoughts. "First off, you weren't yelling."

"Of course not," the clock sniffs. "I'd wear out my voice for all the yelling. Besides, I'm more the cool, calm, slinky sort of bad guy..."

Len's imagining himself as a James Bond villain again, Mick knows it.

The term 'slinky' gives it away, really.

"Second," Mick says, and the clock pauses in its daydream - no, Mick's not sure how he can tell, but he can - to listen. "Second, there's what you were talking about."

"What about it?"

"You were talking about your secret Harry Potter fan theory," Mick points out.

"So?"

"That's not 'angry person' conversation."

"I could list hockey stats instead," the clock offers, mild tone not hiding the bite.

"Harry Potter is fine," Mick says quickly, because it is. It's just weird, that's all.

It's not until Len has gone off in a flounce to yell at his latest crew - he's hooked back up with Scudder and Dillon for some godforsaken reason, which is only going to end with somebody dead, Mick knows it - that Mick gets it.

Len isn't talking just for the sake of talking.

He's chatty, yes, and he loves the sound of his own voice, but he doesn't monologue. He's a dialogue sort of guy - quips and puns and stuff like that.

No, that monologue was for Mick's benefit.

So he wouldn't feel alone, trapped in a hospital bed.

Mick snorts, fond smile spreading over his face as he shifts around a bit to get comfortable.

Len was honestly ridiculous sometimes.

Mick's not alone.

After all, Len's always there, all around.

Always.

[geek-gem]

OK KO The Power Is Your's

3:39 pm I've just watched the episode and okay gonna say this first. I missed the first part a bit and started at the part where this giant spray was being well spray a can of it.

DONE WITH THIS AT END I MENTIONED SPOILERS

Because I was watching this video talking about these leaks about possibly PlayStation All Stars Battle Royale 2 being announced this October which is this month and just those leaks from 4Chan were deleted and just like the guy said just....take it with a gain of salt but the fact that stuff was deleted makes me think. Including how just....the choosing just these four characters at first sorry whatever this is something else.

But basically I missed the first part a bit.

Honestly I did like the episode. Yet really just it's not my favorite. But yeah I missed the first part and that could of affected some of my thoughts. I'm talking about the part where the world gets sprayed.

Yet I also wanna talk about this. I'm not a fan of Captain Planet yet I'm thinking I forgot if I've ever seen the show maybe. Including I seriously question why the fuck Ian and who else decided to think of this crossover could be a good idea. Yet I'm sounding like a douche but what the episode shows and speaks I think I get what it's trying to do. Oh head no it doesn't suck.

Really let's say and I am one of the people just it's not a major game. Yet I'm not the biggest fan of Captain Planet's being included in a game called Cartoon Network Punch Time Explosion XL which I have for PS3. But also me being not the biggest fan and despite the theme of the show. I think I have seen episodes when I was very young.

But sorry let's talk about the episode. So it seems like a Captain Planet villain shows up and teams up with Lord Boxman and his robotic children, they start some pollution with a spray mainly around the plaza despite the world is shown. Including the villain makes the mention some people believe climent change however it's spelt doesn't exist.

Let me say just yes their are people who seriously think that oh head yet I believe come on it's obvious it exists.

KO is the first to notice this. Yet Rad and Enid don't give a shit despite the signs. Including with KO finding out it's Boxmore on the other end doing this. Also seeing it's kind of well yeah flooded. One of the original Planeters however it's spelt but one of the people who has one of the rings arrives and KO and him team up.

Including with Rad, Enid, and that skeleton guy and bear guy I can't believe I don't know their names yet. He gives me them rings too.

KO has heart and honestly that fits him so much.

Rad had fire.

Enid has water.

The other two skeleton and bear have wind yet they have to share.

Basically them and the other guy summon Captain Planet and try to kick the villains ass, yet because of Boxman and his robots he basically disappears not killed.

Then they try to summon him again but the others argue and the original guy mentions of why the others got jobs and KO is able to get them working together again because of his ring of heart.

I'm honestly gonna say this episode was silly. Yet it's mainly due to how I remember how weird it is. Including just I am not so used to Captain Planet yet I just....I forgot if I ever made fun of him. Yet I grew up around people who didn't like the character. It's just weird and yet this could apply to any person who's a fan of a franchise or series that has a crossover with a series they were never really a fan of.

Yet yeah it was funny at times but I feel and I was thinking about the episode of what it was trying to do.

But I wanna mention this I don't know just if this is the episode itself or my tv yet I saw some black lines going back and forth a bit like it was something old long ago. It's not too noticable yet it's something I saw. I thought it might be something they did on purpose and the episode was gonna end like all of a sudden and we go back to the real world of OK KO and the characters go like what the fuck in a way.

But no it doesn't end like that. Including I wanna say it seems Boxman develops a crush of some sorts on this Captain Planet villain yet she goes away because something you can make anywhere dirty or just the shit that happened. Including it breaks Boxman's heart despite how silly it is of how it's portrayed one of the times I found funny.

Now we get to the ending. When KO mentions stuff like everything is back to normal and some shit. Captain Planet talks about how that's not really true.

I think I had thought of this during the episode. Listen and wanted to talk about this OK KO is a light hearted show yet it's very meaningful at times.

But during the episode and I don't wanna cause drama but basically just I feel the whole episode was trying to tell us something. I know I'm sounding stupid because it was trying to teach us this.

Basically Captain Planet and the other guy sorry forgot his name and just I'm sorry out of focus not seeing the first part and I don't focus on names at times unless their said a lot despite I remember it was shown. But they talk about how even if Captain Planet can clean some stuff up. It's gonna keep happening. Including the other guy I think it was him no must be him said climent change is permanent.

Then we get to just the weirdest part of the episode. Where it seems to be the most silly.

Yet I was well kind of horrorified ha lol okay to smile yet everyone such as Captain Planet, the other guy, and the other people who originally had the rings come back, in their original art style. But to make things no not worse oh my head but crazy KO, Rad, Enid, and Mr. Gar show up and just is very weird.

Wanna be honest if I can but some what disturbing. Meh I don't wanna say I hate it. Yet I'm shocked they did that. Because it's just okay not out of nowhere but you don't expect it.

I even wanna say I was thinking when I saw that. People on Tumblr mainly OK KO fans are gonna have a lot of fun, for some stupid meme shit and people's reactions being WHAT THE FUCK WHAT THE FUCK for me just seeing in a real realistic versions of characters I like drawn like that was weird.

Yet I feel people are gonna have fun with those and people are gonna be freaking out because I was bothered to by that ha okay to smile.

But I'll just skip to this and wanted to say this before I wanted to write this and okay maybe during the episode.

I think of Ian and seriously no offense if someone else helped with him this please tell me yet I keep reading this was Ian's idea. Yet I feel like what he was trying to tell us with this episode was this.

Guys this shit is happening for real. We are seriously ignoring it. Our world is in some real shit and I'm talking about climent change. Theirs actual fucking people who don't believe in that shit so to prove my point I'm gonna bring a character from my childhood and have him crossover with my own show. We did to do something, we need to help the planet, our president fucking sucks he's one of the people who doesn't believe in climent change. We need to actually fucking help or some shit.

Okay that was a bit too long. I wanted to mention the president thing just I don't like talking about politics at times and our president if I remember has said he doesn't believe in climent change. I don't wanna make that the big deal of this. Also seriously the past few weeks have sucked and I question the government at times and even said one time I'm surprised we haven't....become the Helghast and overthrown our government. That's a reference to Killzone and just some stuff has made me question of reblogging stuff about some news sorry.

Really it was a nice episode I don't mind it. But it's not my favorite and during yeah looked at my last paragraph. Ether it's just me or I'm not the biggest fan wow I am being a big hypocrite.

Yet I was gonna say I'm not the biggest fan of crossovers like this. These silly short ones. Why I mentioned I'm a big hypocrite I liked Rugrats Go Wild where the show Rugrats crossovered with The Wild Thornberrys, the Nicktoons Unite games, and that Jimmy Timmy Power Hour trilogy. Those are ones I mostly enjoyed because of them being stuff I like.

Including I wanted to mention I'm so used to awesome kick ass crossovers such as the guest characters in games like Mortal Kombat, Injustice, also yeah the comic book stuff such as DC crossovers but I'm talking about other stuff. Including PlayStation All Stars Battle Royale, and despite Marvel vs Capcom Infinite seems to be the weakest of the Vs Capcom games some of the story haven't watched all of it. It's very simple yet it's nice to see some interactions despite some choices being made. I even like Mortal Kombat vs DC Universe yet that game is weak compared to others after it.

Also Mortal Kombat vs DC Universe is the reason why I seem big into crossovers okay the Nicktoons Unite games started it or some shit. But playing MK vs DC when I was younger when it first came out inspired me to think of and draw a shit ton of Cartoon Network vs Nicktoons.

Including I'm one of the few or many people who wants a Sega vs Capcom. I even talked to myself last night I'm surprised Sega and Capcom haven't done that yet, and me discussing Sonic has been in T rated games before.

But also I wanna talk to my friend about how I would be horrible at picking characters for the Sega side because I like Sega and some of their games. Yet the first big characters list I had to make it to 48 when I put 9 Sonic characters because I felt they were important.

That got off topic yet was talking about crossovers.

Got tags done and well I put spoilers and was gonna put now but yeah I put spoilers in case despite the tag 4:29 also was gonna say again I'll see the new viewing to see the start 4:29 now turned 4:30 pm forgot to mention this.

I wasn't the biggest fan of the Steven Universe Uncle Grandpa crossover despite at first liking it and I did like Uncle Grandpa, but over time just meh I have to grow up I just don't like it much. Yet this episode was enjoyable and silly but not one of my favorites and I in the words of Lori Loud I littertly talked about crossovers 4:31 pm

[briangroth27]

Justice League Review

I really wanted to like this. While I hated Batman V Superman, I found good points in both Suicide Squad and Man of Steel despite their flaws and absolutely loved Wonder Woman, which immediately became one of my favorite superhero films. I wanted to believe DC’s films were on an upswing with Patty Jenkins’ movie, but even with low expectations, I wasn’t a fan of Justice League. I don’t think it’s terrible, but I did think it was very boring.

Full Spoilers…

Justice League’s plot was fine and made sense—perhaps minus the convenient weirdness of a parademon leaving the impression of Mother Boxes on a wall when it blew up at the beginning—but didn't thrill me at all. I liked the friendlier tone of the movie and its superheroes, even if not a lot of the jokes landed for me. The effects were good, but the action wasn't memorable. I can't help but compare this to The CW’s latest DC crossover, Crisis on Earth-X; the four-part crossover did have a more luxurious runtime with an extra hour allowing them to do more, but each episode was packed full of engaging characters and moments that made me cheer and geek out. Justice League had none of that. The CW's multiverse is definitely my preferred DCU.

The problem here wasn’t that Batman, Aquaman, Cyborg, and Flash didn’t get solo films first. If Justice League were the same film with previously established characters, it still would’ve been boring. You don't need to give each hero a separate movie to establish everyone before teaming them up. Suicide Squad proved that, though that film should’ve trusted itself not to reiterate who everyone was three times over in the first act. Justice League could’ve easily introduced iconic versions of these heroes as established superheroes in their corners of the world (enough people know Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman at least to understand the gist of them), had Cyborg go to them for help controlling his machinery, and then used him as our eyes into the world of DC’s biggest heroes. Instead, what we got was several half-baked character arcs, an uninteresting and lackluster villain, and forgettable action.   Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot) was great as usual, but I hate that they reiterated that she'd been doing nothing (at least in public) between World War 1 in her film and BvS. I wish she'd responded to Batman (Ben Affleck) calling her out about not being a public hero with a retort about working all those years in secret or something (I refuse to believe she sat out World War 2, for example). At least it didn't seem like people were surprised to see her when she stopped the terrorist attack in her introductory scene, so we know she's been active since the epilogue of her film. I also didn't like that they confirmed she's Zeus' biological daughter ("you have the blood of the old gods") rather than magically-imbued clay (her film left it open-ended, with Ares calling her the child Zeus and Hippolyta (Connie Nielson) “made” but not elaborating on what he meant or giving her a major reaction to that comment), unless Zeus' blood is what brought the clay to life. It was bizarre that they seemingly depowered her so much against Steppenwolf (Ciaran Hinds); how can she defeat Ares alone but not this third-stringer with help? There’s no reason a demigod like her shouldn’t be on Superman’s level, and if the only reason for depowering her is to justify the need for Superman, that’s a failure on the writing level. I would be all for Diana leading the League, so I was disappointed that even though they set up an arc about that with Diana being unsure of herself in any leadership position, it was still Bruce's show in the climax. Her reluctance to lead was an interesting wrinkle to her character and bit of reflection on Steve Trevor (Chris Pine) I didn't see coming, so I'd definitely like that explored more. I did like her respect for Superman (Henry Cavill), though as I saw pointed out elsewhere, more time spent with him in BvS (or at least some kind of line about her following the impact he was having on the world) would’ve helped to sell that connection better. I thought Cyborg (Ray Fisher) had the most interesting arc of the heroes: his cybernetic body parts were taking over his body and continually upgrading him, but into what? That was a fresh spin on the routine “am I still human?” cyborg question and I wish they had expanded on it more. Those upgrades should’ve been a much harder struggle for Vic to fight against, but once he joined the League that concern was almost totally forgotten. It seemed like all the pieces were there to neatly wrap his constant upgrades into the Mother Box plot; perhaps his cybernetic body could’ve attempted to help Steppenwolf or even just sped up the planet-destruction by working against Vic and the League to unite the Mother Boxes, since his cybernetics were created by a Mother Box. This would’ve given him a fight to control himself, but the movie just let him take control anyway without even attempting to explain how he could suddenly control the growth and development of his cybernetics in the epilogue. Assuming his fight with his cybernetics isn’t actually over, I would be interested in learning more of his story and watching him struggle with the idea of what he's becoming vs. what he wants to be. There’s a solid solo film in that idea and I’d definitely be down to watch it. As for Flash (Ezra Miller), I didn't feel like much of anything about his character was justified. The Batman of this universe was a dark, violent, paranoid murderer who branded criminals (knowing they'd get killed in prison for it) and tried to kill Superman. That's pretty much the exact opposite of someone this Barry would look up to or think is cool. Barry finally getting a job at the CCPD didn't feel motivated by anything he wanted—he was clearly into science, but he also wasn’t investigating his mom's murder at all—and it just seemed like a more permanent job to appease his father (Billy Crudup) than the result of a drive to prove his dad innocent or even just to contribute to society by pursuing justice in his day job. If lines referring to his attempts to solve his mom’s murder were cut out of the film, fair, but from what was on screen he definitely wasn’t trying to do that; if he were, getting his iconic crime lab job would’ve been about finally getting to look into that case officially instead of just being “hey I got a real job.” Barry’s refusal to move forward in life in any way was just...disappointing, and the film gave no real reason for it. I'm not sure why he was characterized as the scared one in battle situations, when he seemed much more confident in his cameo in Suicide Squad and his powers allow him to see any danger in slow motion; “inexperienced” doesn’t have to mean constantly overwhelmed, as the Justice League cartoon’s cocky Flash handily demonstrated. The kind of fear the movie saddled Barry with would’ve been more suited to a Cyborg whose power usage allows his cybernetics to overwrite him faster or to Aquaman (Jason Momoa), who literally admits he doesn’t want to die by getting involved. I also don't get why having no friends was necessary for Barry’s character. He makes a comment about people being “too slow,” so I could understand super speed being such a burden if Barry couldn’t turn it off, but he clearly can in this movie. Instead they focus his loneliness on not understanding people or their affection for things like brunch, which…if you don't understand or like brunch, just don't go to brunch. That disconnect from society seems like such a weird choice for what’s arguably the friendliest character in the comics’ Justice League. Barry could've been just as eager to join Bruce’s team because it would be fun, an adventure, or simply the right thing to do. Getting into the world at the end of the movie with his new job would’ve felt like more of an accomplishment if there was more to his societal disconnect in the first place, or if he’d found a greater understanding of other people by the end. Miller got a few fun moments/lines and delivered them well (particularly his confusion and surprise about Clark seeing him move at super speed and their competitions), but while he was likable and I give them props for trying something new, I wasn’t a fan of this direction for the character. Grant Gustin’s still my favorite Flash, though I’m glad there’s one for every fan. Even though I didn't like the Batman of BvS, I appreciate that they used his actions there to fuel his growth and development here. That's what I wish they'd done with Clark in BvS in the wake of killing Zod (Michael Shannon) in Man of Steel. That said, it would’ve been nice for other characters to comment on Batman’s 180 from killing criminals and his significant change in demeanor; have all those actions just been forgotten and forgiven? I wish Bruce had pushed Diana to be the leader more; they could've used his "Superman is evil and must die" blinders in BvS to justify Bruce doubting himself and his leadership choices. They could also have shown Bruce struggling to trust people with god-like powers to be actual heroes, fighting the urge to create defensive strategies against his own teammates (which would’ve been perfect had Cyborg’s robotic components had a mind of their own) and/or insisting on being the leader. I did like that he seemed very humbled here instead of the uber-confident and insanely prepared Batman of the past two decade’s comics, cartoons, and movies. I loved his comment about Clark living in the world while he hid from it; his insistence on raising Superman from the dead absolutely felt more like guilt than just a strategy for defeating Steppenwolf and that was perfect. While it would’ve certainly helped if BvS showed us more of the hope Superman specifically was bringing to the world, I liked that Bruce voiced the lack of hope he was feeling and that he realized he couldn’t do the same for the world (though it makes no sense that, say, Diana couldn’t have stepped up to that “protector of hope” title). I smiled at the use of Danny Elfman’s 1989 Batman score, but scoring a scene of “evil” Superman with John Williams’ iconic theme didn’t make much sense. While I do like this evolution of Batman better than the character Affleck introduced in BvS, I’m pretty Batman-ed out and am not really looking forward to his solo film purely because there is so much Batman out there already. I'm glad they finally brought some warmth and humor (and bright color!) to Superman. His introductory cell phone "interview" was well done (even if, as I’ve seen pointed out elsewhere, giving offhand interviews and talking to civilians was not something Man of Steel or BvS established in their depictions of Superman; if anything, he actively avoided explaining himself until it was too late). I'm very glad I was wrong about Clark being brainwashed into being Steppenwolf or some other evil force, since that would’ve given us a third “dark” Superman in as many movies. I do wonder why (and when) Barry went back in time to tell Bruce about Lois (Amy Adams) being “the key,” though, and the League’s fight with the revived Superman felt much more obligatory than exciting. The race with Flash was fun though, I’m glad they focused on evacuating bystanders, and I really liked Clark’s reunions with Lois and Martha (Diane Lane). I wish the film had taken the time to have Clark deal with the idea that he was essentially carrying the entire world’s hopes on his back and to show us his reaction to the loss of hope in the wake of his death. Just dealing with coming back to life (beyond a joke about feeling “itchy”) would’ve been an interesting moment. I liked that his powers were on full display throughout the film, though again I don’t think he needed to be so much more powerful than the rest of the League. I didn't think the CGI removal of Cavill’s Mission: Impossible 6 mustache looked weird. It was weird that Bruce and Clark didn’t seem to care about their secret identities at all; they both had open conversations in front of total strangers about their superhero alter egos and Clark walked around the farm without his glasses on despite an army of movers there. Kent is going to have a very awkward conversation with Perry White (Laurence Fishburne) about his resurrection too; I wonder if they’ll gloss over that. Either way, I think I could definitely be talked into giving Cavill’s Superman another shot in a solo movie. I fully believe he could give an excellent performance of a more iconic Superman with better material. Aquaman was mediocre. My favorite version of the character is the Batman Brave and the Bold “Outrageous!” adventurer king, and this was similar, but ultimately I wasn’t pulled in by the character as presented here. I did like the moment where he accidentally sat on the lasso of truth in front of the team though. Arthur not wanting to die was an understandable motivation for not helping at first, but I wish we'd gotten an idea of all those other things he wanted to do with his life and a better arc of him getting over his fear of a premature death. Similarly, taking responsibility for the Atlantean Mother Box felt offhand and underdeveloped; I’m not really sure why Mera (Amber Heard) wasn’t on her way to following Steppenwolf when Arthur showed up (maybe his arrival interrupted her exit?), prompting Arthur to really argue his case for why it should be him pursuing their enemy when he’d spent so much time avoiding Atlantis and his place there. In light of his showing here, I'm not really looking forward to his solo movie next year. I also wasn’t thrilled that they seemed to be embarrassed of Arthur’s ability to talk to fish and downplayed it. I didn't like that both Diana and Lois were so completely crushed by the deaths of Steve and Clark. They both seem like they should be stronger than that (Diana even got up after it and killed a god!). Mera was fine, but neither she nor JK Simmons as Commissioner Gordon got much to do. Alfred didn’t either. Steppenwolf was so bland and poorly drawn as the villain. His CGI wasn’t the best and they isolated him from large groups of civilians for the most part, lessening the connection to the world-destroying threat he actually posed (endangering one nameless family we see and many we don’t isn’t the same as unleashing him in a city). He had no argument with the heroes (even killing Amazons only resulted in a few flashes of anger in Diana and his attack on Atlantis had no effect on Arthur) or a belief system that clashed with theirs beyond "I want to destroy this planet." His motivation was that he’d been banished from Apokalips, so they could’ve elaborated on that to make him a better foil for these outsider heroes—particularly Diana, Clark, and Arthur—and how far they’d go to fit in, but didn’t. For some bizarre reason, the writers instead chose to give him a plot that looks for all the world like a rip-off of the Infinity Stones. Why not just do Darkseid if they had to go to the alien well (or better yet, Brainiac)? I think it would've been smarter to do the Legion of Doom here. They could've said the Legion wanted to take advantage of the fact that the biggest hero was dead by swarming and wiping out the rest once and for all; Lex was even already spying on all of them! You'd already have built-in animosity between the heroes and their villains, a simple reason to explore each of the heroes’ homes/lives outside their costumes, a villain team-up isn't something Marvel has done yet, and you'd have a variety of villainous personalities with personal vendettas and different abilities instead of a tall guy with an ax and a faceless horde of parademons (who were no scarier or more menacing than Ultron's drones or the Chitauri) collecting Mother Boxes. Speaking of the parademons, at least some of them were innocent people and not one of these heroes cared about killing or curing them.

At this rate, I hope they don’t do Darkseid at all. He’s been used as the ultimate DC villain far too often and it doesn’t seem like he’d be very different from what they just did with Steppenwolf. Apokaliptan forces didn’t prove to be impressive or imposing here either. Hopefully the sequel—if there is one—will bring an awesome Legion of Doom battle (the second post-credits scene certainly implies this is happening) and will continue the series’ upward trajectory. On a side note, I’m annoyed that apparently the film division won’t let Arrow use Deathstroke again because he’s involved in the movies; what’s the point of having separate universes if both can’t use all the characters? This is especially silly given Arrow was using Slade long before the movies wanted to.

Justice League may have dropped the ball on using and exploring (or even finishing) the interesting character arcs it introduced, but at least the DC film writers have good ideas at the core of most of the characters they’re playing with. The movie left me eager to see more of Wonder Woman, Cyborg, and Superman in their solo films. That said, this movie should’ve been treated like it was the only film in the DC cinematic canon coming out in the near future, not a springboard for everyone’s spinoff films (that was also rushing to compete with Marvel’s Avengers). They should’ve all had arcs that concluded here, rather than just taking half-steps toward their “real” development in their future films. Hopefully DC’s stated lack of focus on strict continuity will allow them to take greater strides in character development in each film, rather than parceling out a single arc over several movies. This movie proved there are interesting, unexpected stories to tell with these characters while ushering in a friendlier, more classic tone, and I hope future DC films learn from Justice League’s missteps to fully realize the full potential of these heroes.

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