#like the only issue i have is that writers don’t know how to handle teenage girls without making them weak and whiny

[therulerofallpotatos]

I love your comments! 🌺 Why do you think people hate ship Fivela so much?

You mean besides hayes code loving puritanical thought police reasons that pretend they aren’t the exact same as the Moms of Liberty gay book burning group with a leftist hat on?

That is 90% of it.

But for the more reasonable ones who simply dislike the ship personally, it’s not unreasonable to assume a lot of people just don’t like thinking of Aiden’s face and romance in the same sentence. Especially if you also look at the way people treat the ace! Five headcanon as if it’s canon when in fact there has never been any evidence supporting that headcanon either in the show or the original comics. Even less so in the comics, where Five is in fact a lecherous old man who is seen multiple times with strippers. People latched onto it either because they were projecting, wanted to infantilize Five (and ace people for that matter), or think the idea of a “13yo” having lustful thoughts is icky (side note: teenagers being horny is a well documented fact. pretending it doesn’t happen literally never led to anything good historically speaking. Side side note: Five is in his 50s and pushing 70 by the last episode.). Also I say “icky” because i keep seeing words like that as if we’re all a bunch of five year olds on the playground and someone’s parents’ kissed in front of us. I digress.

Most of this is whatever. Ship and let ship also means you’re welcome to have your notp. Just don’t be a judgemental dick about it. I only take issue when it is being judgemental or it’s crossing over into other behavior. Specifically the infantilization of asexuals, which as an ace myself I find frustrating to say the least. (treating asexual people like innocent little babies is acephobic. If you treat me like I don’t know what sex is or can’t possibly have an “unpure” thought, I will bite you and it will not be fun)

Aside from all that. There’s also just plain old ship wars. Nenufair has referred to Liliego as a cost sunk fallacy and that is at least partly true. I don’t dislike the ship, personally, but some people just cannot handle when their ship doesn’t go canon, isn’t validated in some perceived way, or isn’t as popular as a different ship. It’s a tale as old as toxic fandom practices and dressing it up in therapy speak and activist terms doesn’t make it any less a ship war. You’re just being extra insulting to people who are affected by and fight for those real issues on top of being obnoxious. If you just want more attention on your otp, then being nasty about it just makes other people want to block your favorite tag altogether. It’s no way to encourage creativity and discussion.

The execution of Fivela going canon is it’s own discussion which some people liked and some people didn’t whether they shipped it or not. I have mixed feelings personally, and yeah. I would have written certain things differently, but I’m also not the author and never was. I didn’t put Five on a pedestal the way some other people seem to have, and I’m partial to happier endings but that’s my writing preferences. This wasn’t actually my story, and I am mostly content to be along for the ride. A lot of people seem pissed because this wasn’t something they wanted and the writers didn’t listen and it’s really just revealing how entitled they felt to the team just taking their order down like this is a restaurant and not a story. People are rabid right now about the whole season and their notp going canon is an easy thing to latch onto especially if they need to address the cop in their head. This is the same fandom that seethes when Allison and Luther have a cute little childhood sweathearts romance in the show adapted from the incest superhero comics. Just like people go pissy when there’s incest in their incest dragons show or gore in their violence on display anime.

A lot of people also didn’t see it coming and felt blindsided. Some are going back and realizing the tension was always there, but many refuse to see it. There’s nothing like willful blindness to fuel a good outrage.

And for some it’s just not their cup of tea, but I doubt they’re the ones screaming right now. Not everyone likes an enemies to lovers arc or messy dynamics or love triangles. Some have been burned by poorly executed tropes in the past. Some just prefer softer less dynamic relationship development. I can’t relate, but that’s fine.

Of course there’s also anyone convinced that Aiden must have been coerced or something into doing a simple kiss scene as a grown actor pushing twenty years old. People love infantilizing Aiden and it’s actually really getting on my nerves. The whole age gap discourse in general has been poisoned by pedo hysteria and judgement assholes treating grown adults like babies who can’t possibly know what’s best for them instead of looking at each individual relationship and looking for mistreatment. It’s much easier to assign a number to things as a shortcut for “bad” and “good” than to recognize abusive behavior both in others and yourself. I’ve seen nothing to suggest Aiden was mistreated on set in regards to his romance arc with Lila, and unless I do, I’m not going to assume the worst here anymore than I did when Hermione and Ron got together or...I don’t know, Tony Stark and Pepper Potts.

Anyways I have a job interview to get to so I’m sorry if this is barely coherent ramblings. I just woke up and I had some venting in me ig. if someone more eloquent than me wants to expand on anything I said, I just ask we try to remain civil.

[whenthemarshmallowmettheslayer]

My thoughts on Smallville 1x08 “Jitters.”

Confession: I watched this episode the other night.  I’m watching it again because I enjoyed it so much. Okay, now that I’ve said that onto the episode. 

I drag on the Smallville writers (for context I’ve been ranting about the show on several discord servers I’m on) but I want to compliment here in these opening scenes. The writers are showing the Kents are poor instead of simply telling it or simply having Lex offer a loan one episode and then never showing the Kents financial issues again. We actually get to see how oh, Kents don’t have money to spare. We see this in how Johnthan fixes the truck himself instead of going to an auto mechanic. We see this in how Martha is going to handle a plumbing issue herself instead of calling a plumber. 

A small detail I like that makes this house feel lived in is how there's several cabinet doors left open that we can see behind Clark when he’s opening the fridge. I have a habit of opening cabinets, grabbing what I need, and completely forgetting to close them until a minute or more has passed. And then it’s ‘oh shit, I’ve got to close that.’ 

Also is it just an universal farmer thing for farmers to own a truck with a toolbox on the back? Because my great grandfather was a farmer and he had a truck with a toolbox in the back just like how Johnthan does. 

Jonathan: “I’m definitely raising your allowance.” 

Some thoughts here. 1.) Clark probably isn’t going to get that allowance raise after the party. 2.) We know Clark does the work of several farm hands - even though he’s juggling school - because this is mentioned in the episode the Kents needed a loan so my question is where does that saved money go? Is it given to Clark’s allowance? Is money the Kents keep to pay for stuff they need? Is it set aside for Clark’s college fund or for his first car? Looking back knowing what I do now…. Jonathan probably should have let Clark keep that truck. The Kents can’t afford a new car for their son and even if they go with an older car they’re still going to have to pay for repairs unless the used car is still in dealership warranty. But Jonathan was too prejudiced to accept it because of who Lex’s father was. I could understand vetoing the truck if Lionel was the one who gave it but it was Lex. I just **shrugs** I’ve got thoughts on Jonathan - I like him but he frustrates me - and I don’t know how to convey them so moving on. 

Clark”....It’s a couple nights at Metropolis-”

That party of Clark’s was selfish. I understand that the Kents had to return early because of the plot but the in-universe reason they came back early is because they called several times the night of the party. Clark never answered but other people - people who told the Kents they didn’t know Clark - did. They left their trip after one day. I've got mixed feelings about this. Cause on one hand they deserve to celebrate their anniversary but at the same time they have to spend several hundreds of dollars on this trip because they’re staying at a hotel for several days and meals. That’s not counting any activities like going to movies, going to see a play, going shopping, or whatever. And it just leaves a bad taste in my mouth because what two episodes ago they were talking about a bad loan Jonathan accepted. I just they should spend money on themselves but at the same they were going to spend a pretty penny on this trip before they came back earlier. 

Is Earl going to hold a bunch of teenagers and a man hostage this episode? Yes. Do I want to hug him? Also yes. So far Earl and Jodi are the only villain of the week characters I have empathy for. I was really happy last night to learn Lex is getting him medical help. Until canon states otherwise I’m going to hope Earl eventually gets to live with his family. 

Janitor dude: “Earl see that's the talk that got yourself canned. Now, if you got as problem get some help.” 

Dude. With what health insurance?! This is America. Also those doctors likely can’t do shit because they don’t know what caused the issue. There is also the fact that meteor rocks are volatile. There are no rules and regulations on how it is handled. And like most rules and regulations they’re gonna be written in blood. 

Sidenote: I like how it’s established that Earl has a family. If he dies then not only does his wife lose her spouse but she will be a single mother. Earl is fighting to get answers so he can be in his wife and child’s lives. Also I wonder if meteor mutation can be passed onto children. I know Earl’s kid is too old for this to happen but I wonder about this in general. 

I’ve ranted about this multiple times but whoever worked in costume and design in this show deserves a fucking raise. Why? Because they are telling us the Kents aren’t well off with money. Clark is constantly wearing the same articles of clothing throughout the show instead of a new piece every time we see him. This book bag in this scene looks like the same bookbag from earlier this season. (Martha - she’s not in this scene but I’m bringing her because I’m talking about the costume and design team being great - often wears the same grey coat.) Chloe and Lana meanwhile have a wider selection of outfits. Lex meanwhile - I’m not even going to talk about colors yet - has driving gloves. It’s such a small detail but it says a lot. It says Lex has money to spend because most people don’t own driving gloves. Driving gloves aren’t needed in this time period the way they were in the past because of early steering wheels. Driving gloves are not a necessity nor are they common. Yet Lex spent money on them which shows he has money to spend on his interests in sports cars. Also Lex is often seen wearing purple. Purple is a color associated with royalty and wealth. Fun fact: there was a time where only Roman emperors could wear Tyrian purple. 

Okay back to the show. Who invited all these people? I know Clark didn’t. Maybe Lex? I know Lex is behind the fireworks. 

Lana has this thing of politely calling out implications of her love life and it’s so funny to me. I did not remember this trait of hers from when I watched the show as a kid. I do wonder why Lana abruptly stopped wearing her necklace. 

I know the show is trying to set us up to like Lana/Clark but I don’t like the pairing already. Lana is painted as this nice girl - she’s friends with non popular kids (nevermind we’re just told this instead of actually seeing Lana and future villains of the week hanging out in the background before the x villain of the week episode), she’s interested in breaking apart from the expectations people have of her, she’s against academic cheating, she’s willing to tutor people for free, and so on. The thing is. She is one of the two characters outside of Clark and football players who know Whitney kidnapped Clark, stripped him, and tied him up in a pole where Clark stayed for hours. And she’s still with this guy. I just. I admit I ship Clex and those two are going to be a mess as the show progresses but the thing is Lex calls out Clark’s bullshit (which I don’t always think all of Clark’s bullshit is actually bullshit but that’s not the point). Clark calls out Lex’s bullshit (which again I don’t think Lex’s bullshit is actually bullshit but again not the point). It feels more even because they are critical of each other. Where as Clark never has a moment of ‘Lana knows what her boyfriend did to me and she’s still in a romantic relationship with him despite calling me her friend. Do I really want to be with her?’ I feel like Clark and the show itself puts Lana on a pedestal. I hope that the shows allows these two characters to be critical of each other since they’re eventually going to be canon relationship.

Chloe:”It’s a class field trip.” 

Lex: “What did you do wrong?” 

Kid me did not understand Lex was the funniest character on the show. (Clark is the second funniest btw.) 

Lex has a type and it’s brunettes. This lady, Victoria, Desiree, Helen, and Lana. If Lionel’s goon - I feel like his name starts with d but I’m not sure - from an earlier episode has the same hair color as his sister then her too because the goon had brown hair. 

Also I like how the plumbing issue from earlier is brought up again. 

Clark: “I’m officially dead” 

Lol. Clark you’ve been dead. 

I love that we’re getting background on Martha. Johnthan is so enamored by his wife. 

Lana: “It was kind of last minute. I didn’t realize I needed your permission.” 

I get mixed feelings about these two. (Sidenote: I respect Whitney asking Lana to come outside instead of arguing in front of everyone.) Because on one hand Lana has a right to hang out with her friends without inherently telling her boyfriend. On the other hand Lana has a history of not telling Whitney she’s hanging out with Clark - a previous occasion being a limo ride to a concert in the city. Lana is aware Clark has feelings for her. She is aware Lex - a friend of Clark - keeps trying to pouch them together. Lana has admitted she’s defended that  limo event with Clark to her aunt. Whitney is not being paranoid. I can understand why he doesn’t like this. 

Whitney: “So you sneak off to a party without me?” 

Lana: “I didn’t sneak off - I walked.” 

I don’t even fucking like Whitney but I’m on his side on this. Lana was being sneaky by not telling him. 

Lana: “I’m starting to get the feeling you don’t trust me.” 

I mean you didn’t tell him about the limo even until you thought Clark ditched you. 

I find interesting in this episode Whitney relies or tries to rely on Clark twice in regards to handling potential threats. 

Chloe: “This guy should be in a detox center.” 

Chloe there are multiple reasons why he could be having body tremors even without taking into consideration this is smallville. 

Chloe: “Then why was he shaking like a junkie?” 

Was Chloe’s mom a drug addict? From what I remember Gabe is single handedly raising her. 

Clark: “I kept snapping the guitar strings. I think Earl got sick of replacing them.” 

But he replaced them more than once. He still tried to teach Clark even though Clark broke strings of the instrument. I just find this moment says a lot about Clark and Earl. I wish we could see these two interacting outside of this episode. 

Clark: “He was like family.” 

I want to hug him. 

Clark call a lawyer damn it. Preferably one who does a contingent fee basis work or someone Lex would recommend. 

I’m surprised no one tried to get medical staff to look over Clark after he went through that glass. 

Whoever decided to have Kent parents watch Clark clean and then clap is a comedic genius. Also Clark honey why would you not shut and lock the door before using your super speed? 

I’ve complained about how the writers don’t show Clark having empathy before but they did it right here. Clark spent all night at that hospital because of Earl even though he had a house to clean. 

Doctor: “I pulled the plant’s safety records. I checked with OSHA and the EPA.” 

Ma’am. How did you get all of that so soon? 

I know there are cameras in this building. How come no one notices Clark super speeding? I can begrudgingly suspend my suspension of belief that Lex doesn’t have cameras at home - I still need to know what happened to the guy that froze in the pond in Lex’s backyard - but we see cameras in this building. You mean to tell me that Lionel nor Lex wasn’t curious about how Clark was already away from the group and running around unsupervised. Like even without a hostage situation I feel like someone would check the cameras on just Clark wandering around by himself.  

Once again Martha is wearing that grey coat. I love the costume and design crew on this show. 

How the fuck did no one notice Clark speeding around? 

Clark, you have x ray vision. 

Earl: “Just like everybody else.” 

I’m gonna defend Clark here. He’s the only person willing to investigate Level Three even though Jonathan had also interacted with Earl. Jonathan who constantly is suspicious of Luthors (I think in the Bug Boy episode he makes a comment about the Luthor plant infecting people) isn’t willing to look into this. Clark, who is friends with Lex, was willing to investigate even though it could potentially cause an issue between him and Lex. He was willing to hear Earl out and search for Level Three even before there were hostages involved. (Side note: moments like this I can see why Clark grew up and became a reporter. Though I hope to see Clark taking an interest in the school newspaper in this or the next seasons.) That said, I can understand why Earl made this comment. He’s been gaslighted about Level Three. He is also being told that level doesn’t exist because there are people who genuinely don’t know about Level Three is a thing. He’s being treated like he’s crazy even though he’s having these powerful body tremors from the incident in Level Three. I can understand why he’s pissed off at Clark but Clark is genuinely trying to help him. 

Lionel: “How did you allow this to happen?”

Lionel has a brilliant actor. Lionel is a nasty, intelligent villain which I like because I don’t tend to enjoy dumb ones. That said, this character makes me furious. Gee, asshole. Maybe if Lex was given a warning he could have been better equipped to prevent this. 

Lionel: “Lex! How did you allow this to happen?” 

Lex: “I didn’t allow anything.” 

Lionel: “Then how did this man get inside?” 

Lex: “I think-” 

Lionel: “You think? Why don’t you know Lex!” 

Lionel is one of those parents who even if you have a justified reason why x happened it doesn’t matter. Lionel isn’t asking how this happened out of genuine interest of knowing. He asked so he can lecture. If he truly cared he would allow Lex to continue speaking after Lex said “I didn’t allow anything” and wouldn’t interrupt Lex when he’s saying “I think.” Also I love how Lex’s actor plays this scene because at one point when Lionel is yelling at him Lex lowers his head. Lowering your head like that is usually a sign of submission but also it could mean you feel threatened and you’re protecting your throat. The first one is common but I’m not throwing out the latter because I remember from when I watched the show as a kid that Lionel was physically abusive to Lex. 

Lex’s expression at Lionel offering his hand to Johnthan makes me curious. Is Lex wary of his father knowing the Kents? Does he find it weird that Lionel is offering to shake hands with Johnthan? 

Lionel: “Of course it is.” 

I love Lionel’s actor. Lionel has interrupted Lex throughout this scene but Lex asking about Level Three isn’t interrupted nor is Lex lectured for even entertaining the “deluded” theory that the man holding teenagers and a Luthor employee as hostages believes in. There’s even these few seconds where Lionel doesn’t answer. And it’s so telling. 

Martha: “What about the kids? You need to get on the phone and talk to him!” 

I wonder when Lionel will start to be attracted to Martha. 

Lionel: “But…I do not negotiate with terrorists.” 

Negotiate being the key word. I wonder if Lex picked up on this. I do think he picked up Lionel’s response earlier as off. 

This episode is heartbreaking because in another universe Lex could have been a hero. I don’t think he’ll necessarily have the drive to go be a vigilante but I think Lex could have been a damn good hero if he decided to be. Now would he be a manipulative one? Absolutely. But **gestures at Batman** 

Lex **insert handshake emoji** me. We both don’t like being abruptly touched by family. 

I wish that Clark would hear this speech and think about it later when Lex is being hugged by his dad and is staring at the Kents in yearning. Clark is a teenager - who has a lot of weight on his shoulders - but I just wish that he recognized Lionel was abusive to Lex. A lot of the fandom blames Clark for Lex’s downfall. I however have a different opinion. Lionel is the main person outside of Lex to be blamed. I know what it’s like to be raised in an abusive environment and growing up in an abusive household may explain things but there comes a time where we are all responsible for our own decisions. Lex is responsible for his actions but if we are going to put blame on another character for the path Lex goes down I say Lionel is to blame. I think Clark played a role - though I’ve got opinions on this topic I’m not going to ramble about it just yet because I need to hurry up and finish this but I will be ranting about my mixed feelings later - but Lionel was abusive shit. 

Lex: “Yeah, it’s in his imagination. There is no Level Three Clark. Now get out of here.” 

The acting in this episode is phenomenal. I like how Clark is showing signs of feeling unwell as Earl draws near. There’s no physical signs of meteor poisoning - aka the green veins - or music to convey the meteor is affecting Clark but Clark’s actor is doing his part to convey Earl getting closer to him makes him sick. Also does Lex genuinely believe that or did he notice how off Lionel was acting but doesn’t have actual proof of Level Three nor does he have time to truly look for it with Earl so he’s just letting Clark believe there never was a chance for Lex to be saved? Lex is just one of those characters where I’m sometimes never sure what he’s actually thinking. And honestly it’s nice because I often can figure out what characters’ motivations are in situations. 

How the fuck does no one notice Clark using his super speed on the cameras. 

I want to hug Pete. Poor kid is blaming himself. 

God I love the Kents pretending they have no idea what’s going on. 

Lex must be so curious. Because not only did Clark magically find Level Three - somehow the wall covering the elevator has been smashed. I feel like the wall being smashed would be less interesting to Lex - he already suspects Clark is stronger than natural - than how Clark somehow managed to find it. 

Lex probably is hating his dad right now. Which is completely valid. 

Earl: “How am I going to get better if I don’t know what’s poisoning me?” 

I’m so tempted to write a fic where Clark reveals the meteor rock is what is harming Earl. We know Clark sees Earl like family - Clark has said this but he’s also shown it in his actions - but he’s not willing to tell Earl the truth. Also I wonder if Earl will go the same hospital Amy Adam’s character went to…

I find it interesting that Lex - who is in a hostage situation - is taking time to tell Clark he didn’t know about this place. His life is in the balance and he doesn’t want Clark to think he lied to him. Lex doesn’t even know Clark is close to Earl to the point he considers the man family - he only knows Earl used to work on the farm. Yet he doesn’t want Clark thinking he lied. 

Earl: “He’s lying. He's just like his father.” 

I don’t drink but I want to say if I took a shot every time a character said Lex was just like Lionel I would probably have liver poisoning before the season ends. 

Clark: “...I don’t know. Adrenaline, I guess.” 

Okay, so here's the thing. I’ve read fics where this line is mentioned in a negative light either because it’s a bad lie or it was bad of Clark to lie. I don’t think Clark is lying though. I think Clark went through an episode of hysterical strength. There are times where humans have abnormal strength for a period of time in order to save someone’s life - there was a case in like 1980s I believe where a mom lifted a car that had fallen on her son. Anyway, throughout this episode we’ve seen Clark become sick when near Earl. It is so bad that Clark would not agree to help Whitney attempt to attack Earl. Yet when Clark’s friend and someone he considers as family have their lives in danger Clarkl manages to find the strength to pull them up. So I don’t think Clark is actually lying. 

Ledx staring at Kents being happy Clark is safe - that they’re giving him a hug because they actually want to instead of for publicity - makes me want to cry. Also another reason this scene is sad is Lionel grabbed Lex by the arm earlier and Lex told his dad to never do that again. And Lionel here is hugging Lex - which is much more contact than grabbing an arm - for publicity reasons instead of respecting Lex’s wishes. I also think Lionel hugs Lex to prevent Lex from declaring anything else in front of the press that Lionel doesn’t want. 

This episode is my favorite episode so far. I feel like it’s going to be a favorite even after I’ve rewatched multiple seasons. 

[showtoonzfan]

I’m so glad I found this tweet and that somebody FINALLY fucking said it, cuz I have some thoughts. So like…..I love Mystery Inc with all my heart. It was a huge part of my childhood and it has got to be one of the best, if not THE best Scooby Doo adaptation I have ever seen. I loved the characters, I loved the mystery surrounding the old gang, I loved the horror elements….I loved it all but………yeah I was NOT a fan of the damn love triangle between Velma, Scooby and Shaggy, in fact I think it was the only main thing that held the show back even if it was a masterpiece in my eyes. Particularly my issue was with Velma as a character. Don’t get me wrong, I love how she’s characterized in this show, she’s hilarious and all, but whenever she was attached to Shaggy, good fucking god, she was absolutely insufferable and honestly unlikable. I legit HATED the way she treated Scooby, the way she got jealous over a damn dog and referred to him as “some dog”, not liking Scooby really at all and the real Velma just would never act like that in my opinion, even if she did have beef with him. The whole point of the gang is that they’re supposed to be like a family, so to see this interpretation of Velma treat Scooby like shit did turn me off a lot.

There’s legit a scene in this show I DESPISED where Scooby was literally about to die, he was on the edge of a cliff and Velma deadass had to THINK about saving him or not because in her eyes he was the source to her and Shaggy’s relationship being messy. It was such a dark and disgusting scene of her blaming him for everything when he’s literally hanging on for his dear life, of course she saves him in the end but the fact that homegirl had to think about it and even CONSIDERED not saving him pissed me off immensely. It made her character look so fucking horrible, like she was really about to let Scooby fucking die just for some Shaggy tail, I legit have no idea what the writers were thinking for that scene, like I get that Velma had beef with him but that was going WAAAY too overboard.

Also there were like….SO and I mean SO many episodes of Scooby being jealous of Velma and then having drama with Shaggy over it and I just hated whenever the show wanted to focus on this romance drama bs, again the whole love triangle between these three drove me nuts. Velma was so forceful towards Shaggy as well and I always ended up just feeling bad for the guy. I can see where the show was coming from especially since the writers admitted they wanted Velma and Shaggy’s relationship to be messed up so she could end up with Hotdog Water, but…….yeah it was not for me, and you know what’s funny? I legit enjoyed Fred and Daphne’s drama more, seeing Fred be so oblivious and loving traps while Daphne was so obliviously pinning for him was hilarious. I will never not praise this show for how it characterized Fred, making him this cinnamon roll trap loving himbo was the best decision they ever made, and whenever the show focused on THEIR relationship, I never got tired of it, which is the opposite I can say for Velma/Shaggy/Scooby. As much as I love this show, it did drag with its romance aspect. I always hated love triangles and stupid drama in teenage shows, and I feel like this show kinda suffered from that. When it comes to Velma/Hot Dog Water, they could have been handled better honestly, in contrast to how she was with Shaggy. Like…the writing could have been so much better with that, but even after everything I just said, I still love this show and think it’s great. It has its up and downs, but at the end of the day it still rocks, I just needed to get this out there since I don’t see much people talk about it. I will say I don’t HATE this version of Velma, but I will admit that it is hard to really like her after the writing made her so attached to Shaggy and so needy and almost aggressive. They did her dirty with that damn cliff scene, but in the end it is happy to know that her and Shaggy realized they weren’t good for one another and that Velma was meant to be with a girl.

[tweedledumandtweedlebum]

Could be reaching but…

Didn’t one of the articles quote from an inside source that Max was leaving indefinitely? Indefinitely meaning for an unspecified amount of time. Could be slightly Linda Henryesque where he will be coming back but they just don’t know when yet. I’d they did axe him because of his mh, behaviour, whatever (I really don’t like to speculate) they could be giving him time to ‘sort himself out’ before returning?

I haven't got the foggiest idea, darling. I don't like to speculate either, but I just can't help it after all that's happened. I, too, would like to believe that this is a twisted way to give Max an extended leave, but I very much doubt it for two main reasons:

1 - the way EE handled the news was disgusting, what with them blaming it all on Max and his behaviour OFF SET (when other actors are still employed after much worse offences). If the break were consensual and the plan was for him to return at some point, I'm quite sure the PR team would have come up with a less hurtful explanation (I know, it was The Sun, but I'm convinced they were fed by somebody inside EE with CC's permission). So... no, I reckon this isn't them being nice to Max giving him time to sort himself out. He isn't coming back (*cries like a baby*).

2 - Ben and Callum have had an incredibile growth both individually and as a couple. They are in a good place right now, meaning soap producers and writers simply don't know what to do with them plot-wise. The depiction of the rest of their life together I have described in a previous post can't happen in a soap IMHO, because - let's be honest - we're not talking about Dickens here, those writers don't have the skills or the time to write them in a way that is wholesome, true to character AND interesting for the general audience. It's always about the drama - violence, dirty secrets, cheating, crime, fighting, teenage pregnancies, conspiracies... the unhealthier the better. The only unhealthy thing in Ballum's life at the moment is Jay with PR. Callum and Ben are learning how to deal with their issues instead of reacting impulsively and their connection is the strongest it's ever been. See? Nothing juicy to narrate here...

You know, after the rape, it was clear they were planning a "reset" for Ben, and I was thrilled to see where it was going. I was silly enough to think it would be something entertaining and educational to watch at the same time. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely loved bad boy Ben Mitchell, he is a splendid specimen of Byronic hero. I was just curious to find out how they would shape a reformed, healing troubled soul. Max would have rocked that as usual. How naive of me!

So, in my head, the meeting went like this. The bosses discussed the future of Ben with Max, informing him that Ballum would take seveal steps back, with either him or possibly Callum cheating, or Ben going back to being an unreliable dad to Lexi, or resorting to crime again, or some other nonsense utterly inconsistent with their recent development. Max protested just like John Krasinski did when "The Office" producers wanted Jim to cheat on Pam (which he would never do) because Max cares about Ballum. And the rest is history.

I am ROMANTICISING this, obviously. We'll never know what actually happened. But you'll see a devastating, hastily written exit story soon enough.

I won't be there.

[littlerosetrove]

This time I didn’t have to wait three days for ABC to release the episode to the service I use. I’m definitely shocked. Anyway! Here’s my initial Spoiler Thoughts for 8x4. 

No bullet points this time, too much to say.

Stating upfront, uhhhhh that was a lot? Like what’s the rush?? No but seriously, the plane crash should have been two episodes, as in 8x1 and 8x2, because the beenado, as cute as that was in some aspects, was not needed to lead up to the plane crash. And all the stories that were wrapped up in 8x4 should have been spread out a little more in 8x3 and 8x4 to give it some breathing room, honestly. This season has 18 episodes, so the balance of things already feels a bit wonky. 

Again, spending too much time for the plane crash overall, and then boom! Like several storylines were wrapped up so quickly! Don’t get me wrong, I am glad Gerrard is going to be gone now, since I was kinda expecting him to stick around potentially through most if not all of 8A. Oh, and before people get mad or confused, this was NOT a redemption or anything of the sort for Gerrard. His actions and choices were all to his selfish benefit. He was looking out for himself, and turning on Ortiz and helping the 118 was good for him because he then got to have a job he wanted. 

I will say I am a little disappointed that Gerrard’s time in season 8 just made him look like a hardass and a bit of a joke, rather than the massive bigot he is, but it’s what we got. I think he was literally only brought in to BE a hardass, and not to have any confrontation about him being a bigot. So.

While I’m certainly glad Mara is back, I would like to put it out there that, um. I really hope the writers find different issues for the Wilsons to face. Meaning, this is the second time that a child has been taken (and both have different resolutions) from Hen and Karen. So I’m hoping this type of story isn’t repeated again, and for that matter, can we not have Hen and Karen’s kids be in any danger for a while? Idk, let’s have the kids have typical growing pains, you know? Denny is almost a teenager, so what does that look like for Denny and the household?? Hell, as much as I disliked how Denny’s biological dad’s story was handled in season 6, where is he? 

Okay so we got some hints about Eddie and where things are going, but still not super clear. Obviously Eddie misses Chris, and it seems Chris is still barely talking to Eddie. So we know Eddie probably feels stuck on this front. What certainly needs to happen is for Eddie to confront some of his issues, which are many, because - and there hasn’t been time yet - there’s been no indication that Eddie has really even begun to work on himself. I think we all agree he needs therapy, but it remains to be seen if he’ll do that. Hopefully we’ll start to see some progress in the next couple episodes, some actual forward momentum for Eddie. 

Athena and Bobby are gonna build a new house? In LA on a firefighters and cops salary?? Hahahaha sure, okay. I’m sure the house will end up “wow how did they afford that” but we’ll just ignore it of course. Just like we ignore how Buck, on a firefighters salary, rents such a nice apartment, and so forth. *flaps hand* 

Huh, okay so Gerrard will not be the problem point for Tommy and Buck later, which I’m honestly happy about. I think it was in an interview where Oliver or Tim said there would be a roadbump of sorts for Tommy and Buck in 8A. Really curious to see what the roadbump will be about. 

I genuinely have no idea where the rest of the season is going to go. The character with the most possibilities, so to speak, is Eddie. Buck, kinda, because interviews are pointing towards Tommy and Buck relationship stuff, but we’ve no idea… about anything for them beyond that. Yeah. It’s all a bit of a mystery. 

I liked parts of this episode, but right now I think I’m feeling a little “it was fine” because, again, so many storylines were wrapped up so quickly. Mr. Minear sir, we have 18 episodes, we don’t need to rush things and cram in a ton of stuff like you did in season 7. Chill just a little?

Edit: oh and side note, the 118 was moving a little too slow in regards to a woman they knew was bleeding out. i was like "chop chop everyone! why are y'all casually walking and making jokes??" this show does this stuff a lot, but still. the lady was bleeding out!

[jennycinco-5]

Miraculous Ladybug vs Agent Ali/Ejen Ali Comparison post : Introduction

So in my previous post about this mention about “Three Malaysian Superhero Cartoon have better handle than ML”. For anyone wonder what Cartoon I mean is “BoBoiBoy” “Ejen Ali (Agent Ali)” and “Mechamato”. All of this show have same demographic with Miraculous, a Kids Show with Action who also beloved by older viewer. 

While the three shows also have their specific flaws, they still have its consistency and better handle than Miraculous. The show creator and writers know what is the main core about the show. Its about Kids being Superhero and Secret Agents. Despite this, they still allow to bring some serious heavy issue or drama to make the show interesting instead of a fanservice. They do have some “soft reboot” to expand their world building and stuff but it never become messy like Miraculous.

Miraculous constantly has retcon and it become utterly MESS because The Writer feel viewer are idiots and only care about the ships. This is make The Writer and That Guy has zero idea what the show is about ! Its about a shojo-esque cartoon ? Its about silly teenage-romance ? Girls Power ? Family Drama ? They DON’T KNOW about that ! I would like to said this show is about a wild fantasy of grown-man about his “ideal virtual daughter” who obsessed with freaking white boy and that its ! 

Since I already see many of post who compare Miraculous with other show about the consistency and the handle, here I will make the same post with one of Malaysian Cartoon and I will choose this cartoon : 

For comparison post, I think Miraculous is deserve to be compared with Ejen Ali. Gotta admit this is my favorite show to the point my current Tumblr name “jennycinco-5″ is based from one of the villain of this show. I like to said that Ali is a “what if Adrien and Marinette become ONE CHARACTER but with good characterization and handle”. I said that because Ali share same parental neglect issue with Adrien after the death of their mother and he also have some Marinette personality. But the show handle him mooore better than Marinette and Adrien. Making Ali become lot more interesting as the story progress 

In this topic I will make a post about :

Comparison of Ali & Alicia vs Marinette & Adrien

Comparison of Aliya vs Emilie Agreste for being death mother who trigger the main plot

Comparison of how Ejen Ali vs Miraculous handle the serious issue for children 

Comparison of the Antagonist/Villains and how they “Humanize” them 

Comparison of IRIS and Miraculouses

Comparison of the Secondary Character like friends/allies and mentors

If you interest about Ejen Ali and curious about the show, you can watch it at Disney Hotstar. You can watch it from English Subs or English dub. Its still on going on Season 3. There is also the movie titled “Ejen Ali: The Movie” in there and you also can read a mini comic in webtoon title Ejen Ali : M A T A Secret Files about the series side story and all of them are canons especially the movie one since its explain about the world building and the lore of IRIS and the Agency

[jones-friend]

Lol. Lmao.

I started watching One Tree Hill bc what I saw through my now estranged sister was absurd, and bc of the John Oliver clip where a dog high on marijuana eats Dan Scott’s replacement heart. I first watched all the finales back to back to back then decided to give the whole thing a run through.

In one tree hill a number of souls are shackled within the purgatory of Tree Hill, a place that causes characters to stagnate professionally and emotionally while giving illusions of growth through platitudes and unearned emotional moments. You cannot escape Tree Hill. Death isn’t even enough to escape Tree Hill. You can fall onto the pitcher plant but you cannot climb out. You are one with Tree Hill.

This is a show with no less than three serial killer arcs, a show so hungry for drama it consumes every teen drama concept before the second season leaving it nowhere to go, a show with two near fatal bridge accidents, with real ghosts that help and haunt, where teenagers and small children talk like aged adults, where we get to see the progression of culture and technology from early 00’s flip phones to early 10’s smartphones and social media, and teenagers promising rebellion instead become the forces they were so much so against in early seasons as cycles are broken yet perpetuate. This is a show where a teenager can afford an apartment by working part time at a mall food court. Its also got an incredible reinforcement of heteronormative ideals.

In this show, Ball is Life.

The biggest issue with One Tree Hill working is there needs to be a source of drama caused by the main cast. The way this works out in writing is characters often backtrack their growth to cause more drama again.

I do have a few positives. After S4 there is a time skip of 4 years. I think this actually gives good weight to S4’s finale, letting it keep that weight. And they give new struggles to the cast that don’t trivialize their previous successes while giving us something to root for. The friendship between Nathan and Lucas has genuinely compelling moments as they learn about themselves and each other.

Dan Scott is also a source of great enjoyment for me. He makes the show work. You have plotlines like “Lucas and Brooke are having relationship issues”, “Nathan wants to play basketball more”, and “Dan uses a school shooting to kill his brother Keith bc Dan was convinced he was drugged and left to burn in his dealership when really it was-“ and its just absurd every time.

I will do a character rundown of the main 5 peeps:

Lucas is the original protagonist of the show. He is half brother to Nathan and the “underdog” of S1 where he plays the river court compared to Nathan playing varsity bball. He’s described to be the more emotionally driven one between Nathan and Lucas but as the show goes on he just becomes the dumber of the two. When it comes to relationships he can’t make up his mind and goes with whatever the girl he’s with wants. This leads him to cheat multiple times and as his gf gets mad at him he squints off into the middle distance like there’s something going on but we all know there’s nothing going on behind those eyes. After the timeskip he continues dwelling on the past writing a book that is both super successful and terrible at the same time and the show just kinda makes him a washed up writer before giving him and Peyton a fairy tale ending and saying goodbye S6.

Nathan Scott is the “rich boy” bball player who starts the show as an asshole until the show decides he isnt. Nathan is the only good person in One Tree Hill. He’s the only one who’s level and tries to make reasonable choices without flying off the handle. He does have a few hilarious moments with how seriously high school bball is taken where a mafia is pressuring him to shave points off games bc they bet a lot of money on him. The biggest letdown with Nathan is he continues to beat himself up over the unrestrained anxieties of his wife-

Haley is the worst character in the show. She accuses Nathan of cheating at least 5 times in the show despite nothing indicating that, the most egregious of which is when she snoops and finds Nathan’s valentines day gifts for her and accuses them of being for someone else. This is second to a rando accusing Nathan of sleeping with her after he becomes famous and after a few days she decides to believe the rando over her husband of 4-5 years. She just lets her anxieties get the better of her and it makes her mean to Nathan for 75% of their screentime.

Brooke! One of my least favorite characters of s1-4 and one of the stronger of 5-9. Brooke starts as a party girl who just kinda starts shit for the sake of starting shit. When the show needs drama they turn to her for it most times and it makes her later high school bits feel less genuine. After the timeskip shes in charge of a multi million dollar clothing company (if you’re noticing a trend the timeskip changes characters from relatable high schoolers to wildly successful in their field). She matures out of that shit starter mentality and slides into Lucas’s spot as protagonist (a loose term with so many characters). Her and Nathan undergo the most growth. I also did appreciate and resonate with her graduation arc in that she didn’t really feel the same drive as her classmates.

Shit with Peyton is wild. She has 3 sudden family member reveals: one is Laura Palmer who dies almost immediately, one is serial killer arc #1, and the last is one of the show’s rare black characters who’s a marine thats very quickly sent out to war (Bush era politics). She is a musician, artist, she dates the lead singer from Fallout Boy somewhat seriously (that’s canon, its not the lead singer as a character, in universe he’s also the lead singer of Fallout Boy. He comes by in a limo and goes on tours). Her and Lucas are supposed to be the will they won’t they but with three female leads and two male leads Brooke kind of gets left behind S4 in a smaller capacity. In the timeskip she goes on to become a producer instead of a musician which always felt odd, then after her and Lucas depart they beach ball her label around without knowing what to do with it. Also casting has an issue where they hire sameface women and Peyton was the only one I could reliably identify.

If youre interested in watching One Tree Hill it depends how much time youre willing to sink into it. S1-8 are 22ish episodes long each and each episode is 42mins. I don’t think every episode is worthwhile unless you come at it with the analytical mind of having watched good prestige TV so you can pick apart characters more than the show wants you to.

For those just looking for a casual good time watch S1E1 then watch all the finales back to back to back. Its wild, so much happens you just have to adjust for. Its actually great.

If you REALLY wanna get your hands dirty the entire show is a nostalgia trip into the 00’s complete with famous bands of the time, tech, and norms. This is good and bad as you’ll watch them try to handle a bisexual character in the early 00’s. Also watching Dan Scott dunk on literal high schoolers never gets old.

I DON’T WANNA BE ANYTHING OTHER THAN WHAT I’VE BEEN TRYIN BE LATELY

[anxresi]

Something just occurred to me...

And its barely Chloe-related! (shock, horror).

So basically, by the end of this season, there are eighteen, yes eighteen(!) full-time superheroes, right? Including: Pretty much ALL of Marinette’s classmates and passing teenage acquaintances (sans Chloe and Lila, of course).

My question is... has Marinette EVER considered the only one in her friend circle who she doesn’t know the identity of as a hero, the one who seems to be in love with her both in and out of costume and the one person she sees on a regular basis... could be Adrien/Chat Noir?

I know, it’s stupid, right? Considering they’re about a billion other plot holes and incidences of convenient stupidity the writers use just to get from A to B. But in view of the whole premise of the show seemingly resting on this obvious subterfuge, even if I was a kid I’d be pretty dumbfounded she hadn’t figured it out by now.

Now I’m sure there have been episodes that I’ve wiped from my memory where through the use of chicanery or shenanigans, Adrien has managed to be in two places at once to disprove this ‘clever’ idea in Marinette/ Ladybug’s head once and for all. You might even say it’s not important, and I should just ‘enjoy’ the show for what it is: a simple superhero cartoon for kids.

That’s the point though: I CAN’T enjoy it, obviously first because of legitimate issues I’ve had with the disgraceful treatment of my favorite character (guess who) but also down to the fact I honestly think it’s the biggest load of shit made from a great idea I’ve ever seen. Like taking a diamond, and using it to carve dog turds I suppose if you want a simple off-the-cuff analogy.

 Just reading the latest spoilers made me very sad, angry and confused that anyone could defend this mess by the time season 6 rolls around. Each to their own, but I think any audience member, whether they be 1 or 100 deserves to be treated with more respect than the absolute bilge the makers of Miraculous are shovelling. 

I would be bashing it relentlessly even if I WASN’T a massive fan of you-know-who, it’s simply breathtaking just how much the show plunges in quality with every passing season. And they say they want to give it at least eight?! That that doesn’t even include the ridiculous amount of individual spin-offs, Made-For-TV movies and live-action projects they have planned in the future? WOW. Compared to this overextension of property, even Spongebob seems a model of restraint.

The mind boggles at the cynical cash-grab of it all... but hey, if all that blatant rapaciousness for money over quality floats your boat, you’re welcome to it all. Just don’t ask me to understand your way of thinking, because I won’t. Ever. 

Sorry that I lapsed into one of my standard rants (come on, you know you love them), allow me to return to the original topic. The reason I pondered the issue of Marinette not even considering the fact that the love of her life and her superhero partner over 130 episodes might be one and the same is very symbolic to me of the show’s deeper problems. If it can’t even handle it’s central storyline right, how can you expect it to cope with anything else in this over-convoluted plot? The answer is, naturally: it doesn’t. 

In a better show, other elements might distract me from asking such a straightforward question, but seeing as there ain’t much of that here, my mind keeps returning to this one big query. And so far, I’ve yet to hear an acceptable answer. Any ideas, guys?

Still, looook over there! EIGHTEEN heroes eh, isn’t that something! All of which I’m sure will be fully-utilised and developed as part of the show’s core squad (something which the show has a SUPERB track record of), and all of course whom have various types of merchandise available NOW! And to show how brilliantly pre-planned everything is in advance, you can even get tons of limited edition Queen Bee stuff in all good shops already...

...Wait.

[wqintraining]

NEW MUTANTS: LETHAL LEGION #2 - THOUGHTS

I had so much fun covering the first issue, I thought, “Why Not?” and decided I’d do similar breakdowns for the rest of the series as it comes out. With its sapphic trans lead, Escapade, and writer, @charliejaneanders​, there’s no book I’m more eager to support and help spread awareness of right now. 

This issue sees multiple plots continuing here, with Escapade, Cerebella, Honey Badger (I’m still not calling her “Scout”), Morgan, and Wolfsbane still our leads as of this issue, but with the set-up and solicits we’ve gotten, it’s clear Dani and Karma will be getting more involved for the rest of the book. 

Starting with the A-Plot, probably my favorite thing about the previous three issues of New Mutants to star Shela, and this book so far, is how in nearly every scene, we get to see a new layer of her character. So often, fans will defend bland new characters by saying they “Just Need Time”, and my counterargument is always, “No, there are numerous modern characters who came out fully realized and captivating almost immediately.” 

We got a bit of this in the previous issue, but it’s made even more clear here that despite Shela often coming off as a typical quirky, goofy, teenage hero, she is an adult, she is an experienced veteran in her field, and she has lived a hard life with much more down-to-Earth trauma which has built responsibility. She may not like having to be all these things, and getting to act more like a kid is probably something she appreciates about Krakoa, but if she’s only teamed with less experienced heroes, this is gonna show. 

I’m unsure of what the writing is going for with Gabby so far. Gabby being excited and enthusiastic about beating up a bunch of villains? Nothing weird there. Being snarky? Right up her alley. But she has a weird mean streak throughout the issue that doesn’t feel right. Just a couple lines that don’t sound like things she’d say. 

I do like how she handled Nefaria’s tournament though. 

Sadly, Martha doesn’t get to do much this issue, and it’s to its detriment. While Shela and Gabby’s fights are fun, they take up so much of the A-plot that there’s no room for her. And with me not being particularly interested in Nefaria and his antics (mostly), sidelining the character who’s the whole reason this adventure is happening, and who’s emotional struggle is our hero’s primary motivator, hurts the issue. 

With that all said, now I get to talk about my favorite part of the A-plot, and the part that has me the most excited. 

To the shock of literally no one, it’s the part which involves Emma Frost. 

Not once, but twice in this issue, Shela directly compares Nefaria’s persuasive skills to Emma’s. Once is a joke. Twice tells me our young thief still has some unresolved issues regarding her former idol. 

In tandem with her other insecurities, it really is no wonder she allowed herself to get drunked-up by Nefaria. Against Emma’s speeches, she was able to bite back with bitterness. Against Nefaria’s, despite knowing what he’s doing, she still likes what he’s saying enough that she eases herself. 

Anders confirmed to me before this book started that Emma would not be appearing in it, BUT I really, really hope this is all going somewhere post-Lethal Legion. 

Onto the B-Plot, let’s start with the funny stuff because WOW did this get real dark, real quick. 

Of COURSE there are doomsday preppers for Mutants, of course there are.  Wonderful way to start the issue. 

 Cosmar basically realizing Shela has taken her place in the Lost Club’s main girl trio is sad, but also pretty funny in a meta sense. Hopefully Tashi can find another team to join. 

Also, Charlie, I know you read these, so I’m gonna ask one of the most common questions fans of these characters have: How old is Anole supposed to be? Shela and Martha are young adults, Gabby and Tashi are teenagers, and Rain Boy can go either way since it’s unclear if he died or not post M-Day, but no one really cares. Anole meanwhile is a longtime fan favorite, and between him simultaneously bartending at the Green Lagoon and hitting on Ahkiro, while also acting no older than Gabby and Tashi, and being referred to as a kid by one of his old classmates within the pages of New Mutants, fans have been deeply confused for years. 

I know writers sometimes aren’t allowed to speak on ages, so if that’s a thing here, I get it. If you can give an answer though, so many fans would love to know. 

Tangents aside, Dani and Karma’s entrance to the plot confuses me. I get Dani worrying about her kids, but are her and Xuan really freaking out because they don’t know where two grown women and their highly-deadly teenage friend are for more than a day? Hey, Dani, if you want to check on someone, how about your adopted son you haven’t spoken to in the last decade? If Josh has time to flirt with Gwenpool, he has time for you. 

Everything mentioned above is completely forgivable, however, because Dani and Xuan get the best damn panel in this issue.

Transitioning into the more dramatic stuff, we have Rahne. Wolfsbane has consistently been wonderful under Anders’ pen (really, she’s gotten consistently better writing in the past 3 years than she’d gotten in the prior 20), with so many great moments in this issue alone. I love how she helps calm down the sewer creature, wastes no time arguing with the doomsday prepper’s leader’s garbage, and is able to separate him from the rest of the mostly innocent people living in the sewers who need her help. 

Oh, Morgan, Morgan, Morgan. Since your first appearance, I have not liked you. I still don’t like you, even if you being Chinese, Jewish, and Asexual on top of being a trans man is pretty cool. 

However, progress may finally be getting made on making his less insufferable. At the start of this issue, he’s still his usual self, with 0 comprehension of what Mutants have been through (honestly though, man, with all your other identities, you shouldn’t be THIS blitheringly ignorant), but then...

...we get to the big “Oh shit” part of the book, as it seems like Rahne may be about to teach Morgan about The Massacre. 

This data page is amazing. I’m not sure if it actually fits the book tonally, but I love it. I’m not gonna go over the details of it just because it’s such strong prose, and you should really take it in for yourselves. It really makes you just imagine Jared walking through the woods on Krakoa, and seeing Greycrow, one of the people who brutally murdered him and his friends, making out with Kwannon, one of the War Captains charged with protecting everyone. Of course he wouldn’t believe he was safe on Krakoa (you know, along with all the OTHER reasons not to feel safe on Krakoa if you’re not one of the big, special Mutants)

Despite the various complains I had, I still loved this issue. With multiple issues now out I feel comfortable calling this my third favorite X-book right now. And when your competition includes Red and Immortal, third place is still a triumph. I can’t wait for the next issue, and I can only hope Marvel greenlights more just like this. 

[astrologista]

been thinking a lot about online identities. 

it is interesting to me the level at which people will go to curate their online persona now-a-times. there’s a lot more focus on creating these vtuber/twitch “personas” with a 3d avatar that can emote, adding your own voice to the mix, and other things such as that. but at the same time there’s such an emphasis on doxxing, on the “face reveal”, on what someone looks like in real life. on real life identities, dramas, personal information being revealed, relationship and information on peoples’ partners, breakups, their family, real life friends, etc etc etc. it seems that kids are forming parasocial relationships with these youtubers and twitch personalities, thinking they are their personal close friends, donating actual money to these people, and then something gets dug up and the person is doxxed and cancelled. and then everybody takes their money and moves on to the next one.

back in my day, we usually identified ourselves with a simple online “handle” or URL and one 2d avatar and that was it. the focus was more on the content we were creating - writing, art. now it seems like the content that content creators make is more of an afterthought. i won’t say that let’s plays aren’t art, you have stuff like the dream smp which seems to have a bit of a lore and a story to it that makes it more than just watching some lads play minecraft, but at the same time... eh? maybe i’ve become too old. i don’t really get it.

as copyrights become more of a problem, people want to monetize their content. however, ip holders have a stranglehold on the internet. they don’t want anything monetized that doesn’t meet their “ethical and moral” standards which would damage their brand apparently if it came through that they were financially supporting something verboten. so in other words, it can’t be lgbt, you can’t swear, and it can’t be transformative in any way. only squeaky clean.

i have never and will never monetize my content because i write fic and a lot of the fic that i choose to write deals with heavy issues. so i’m out of this world of “content monetization”, i guess. what does it mean to become a brand? a persona? does this mean selling out? if chatgpt writes your copy and scripts and content, what does it mean? you’re an “online enterpreneur”? you’re an “influencer”? you’re a “disruptor”? you’re doing something significant? you’re improving peoples’ lives?

over time i truly start to hate this kind of landscape. i miss being surrounded by those who want to create for the sake of the process of creation. yes, i have this blog to shoot the shit, talk about my work, whatever, but creating this tumblr was never about “me” as a person. it was for me as a writer. of course this is a self indulgent place, for sure, but it was always about writing, from the very start. and i can’t seem to find as many people around who are interested in the same things. all they want to talk about is “monetization” and “content” and “personas“. i don’t know what that means. i’m not in that world. i’m not excited about ai writing things for me. overall, it’s not a good thing.

getting back to what i was saying re: doxxing and cancellation, i know that kids love this kind of schtick and if i were a teenager now, i’m sure i would be getting in on it too. it feels good to gang up against people when you’re a teen and i’m sure many of them think they’re doing the right thing within this culture but i still say things on the internet should be decoupled from real life hangups and drama and how people look in the meatspace. i don’t know it’s just silly. that being said, the kids are usually alright so i’m all for what teens think is the cool thing now as long as it’s positive. but i also think people should use their judgement and think independently more, not in a ben shapiro you-should-think-independently-by-buying-my-book type of way, but in a genuinely traditional you-should-look-at-different-sources-and-draw-your-own-conclusions-about-the-world type of way.

thems just my thoughts.

edit: also, this is dovetailing neatly with a very very disturbing general push in the zeitgest away from science and scientists (which is worse post-pandemic, dumbfucks saying the vaccine is poison etc) and into very very toxic anti-intellectualism which is leading some people back into religion fundamentalism. as someone who has experience with religious fundamentalists... this is not good juju

[professionallydeadinside]

I also think the difference between Boyfriends and Heartstopper is that, I believe, Heartstopper had better character development. I’ve never seen Heartstopper, so this one might be shorter than the others, but based on how little criticism there is and slander, I’d place my bets on Heartstopper having better characters and characterisation and storylines than Boyfriends. I’m confident a big part of that is that Heartstopper, at least the show, had more than one writer, whereas it seems Boyfriends was written by mainly just the one person. And I’d also like to say the idea that people hate on Boyfriends because of personal aspects of the creator (gay, trans, and Asian) doesn’t seem to really hold water. Most people don’t know the creator is from Indonesia! I didn’t know until I tried to do research on the hate for the creator. Most people also don’t know about him being gay or trans. Most people seem to think he’s a girl, which has its own problem with the hate given to teenage girls interacting with fandom, and don’t know who he actually is! Now, that’s not to say that some might hate the comic for racist reasons, that’s always a possibility, but when there’s genuine criticism to be make towards the comic without ever bringing up the creators ethnicity, race, gender, and sexual orientation in a negative way? That’s foolish and short sighted. Boyfriends has genuine problems and issues and isn’t a good comic, it’s storyline is flawed and isn’t good. I wish this comic hadn’t gotten the publicity it did, god I wish it could’ve stayed hidden in its own little bubble with little to no hate or knowledge, but that isn’t what happened. Heartstopper was placed in the public eye when it was ready, and it gained notoriety by itself and through Netflix making a, to my knowledge by what others have expressed, quite good show. Boyfriends was placed in the public eye as a comic that only a few would enjoy due to the way its written and made, and could never even pray to stand strong by itself. It has nothing to do with any personal attributes of the creator himself, aside from his choice to let the comic be made into an ad, and solely to do with the comic itself.

I actually heavily reccomend heartstopper! The author is also really good about putting warnings before content because the comic often handles harsher topics

[ogravensimp]

y’all i’m tired of hiding my truth, i unironically liked raven as a teenager😖 she’s literally just like me and when ppl say she’s annoying as a teen, it genuinely feels like an attack to me🙄💀/hj

[antiloreolympus]

10 Anti LO Asks

(Note: All of these asks are before episode 206 (Season 2 finale) so some may be dated.) 1. do RS defenders realize the issue is in the fact that, despite being a woman who claims to be a progressive feminist marketing herself to be making a progressive, feminist "reclaiming" of mythology, her work and actions being indistinguishable from awful male writers is?? really bad?? the "if the roles were reversed" argument is to point out her and her work is really no different from the same misogynistic, bigoted men and their stories that she and her fans claim she and LO are better then.

2. The thing is an age gap isn't the actual issue, the issue is the fact Persephone was made A TEENAGER who looks/acts even younger and even in comic it was found gross, THAT's why people were and still are grossed out by it and find Rachel's insistences "subverting it" questionable at best, and an outright lie at worse. This especially is more pointed with the timeskip, because Persephone still looks/acts the same as she did at 19, so it just makes you wonder WHY Rachel made her 19 to begin with.

3. Ok but it IS important to point out how the double standards within LO and RS and especially the fact she is a rich white woman who wants the praise of being progressive and feminist yet her actual actions and story do not show that. We also have to point this out because of how she and her fans weaponize this to say any legitimate criticism is merely "hating women", over the fact she DOES promote and do harmful things other creators (like queer and BIPOC creators) dont get to "grow" from

4. I'm sorry if this comes across as racist. That is not my intention. I hate the human skin colors Rachel Smythe uses. They look unnatural. Like paper grocery bags or potato wedges from KFC.

5. If 10 years passed, shouldn't Dionysus already be born? Semele died? I feel like RS forgot about a whole Olympian God. 🤨

6. I'm reading the comments on Rachel's insta, with the fast pass showing the pink nymth, and the comments speak volumes. Everyone's questioning if it's another lover, or someone is trying to seduce Hades, or Kronos is possessing him (??), Some fans even talk about getting anxiety/blood pressure spikes. Wow... It's almost as if a trama bonded relationship isn't stable. It's almost as if Hades has been unfaithful to past lovers. As if there's a pattern here that makes the readers want to blame the nymth (who has NO voice lines yet, btw. Their attacking her for putting her hand out (smug) and showing side boob (telling her to cover up? That's ironic)) rather than Hades himself. You know. The other person in their relationship. And don't even tell me they're not official yet, I'm tired of beating around the bush, Persephone is literally the queen of the underworld. 

7. Do LO fans know that flipping out over even potential other women in Hades' life, despite the fact the whole selling point is knowing Hades and Persephone ends up together, only gives the impression they're not confident in their relationship to begin with? Like yall know they end up together, there's absolutely no reason to flip out at the inclusion of a random woman other than they knowingly or not think the couple is too weak too stand on their own (also misogyny but that's a different convo)

8. Not to be a nerd or anything, but I think LO completely mixed up Kronos and Chronos. The former is the titan of harvest and leader of said titans, while the latter is the personification of time. Similar names, but distinctly separate entities.

-----SA Discussion Below-----

9. Yeah it's hard to say RS is a staunch supporter of SA victims and takes the topic seriously/handles it with care when she made Arion and the result of his birth a child support "joke" when the actual mythology is Demeter being violently r*ped. It's honestly disgusting the fans defend it as "just a joke' while claiming the series stands up for victims. No, it stands up for CERTAIN victims, the rest, what, "deserved" it? Especially Demeter because she's not their "precious cinnamon roll"?

10. The issue with the SA plot too is she uses it to push P towards Hades, but then also can’t just have them jump into bed because of the obvious barriers there from the assault, so she’s basically stuck in this bizarre juggling act where she wants to be praised as this “serious writer who tackles serious issues” yet does nothing because she just wants to draw them boning but can’t because she doesn’t know how to handle SA & its trauma without ignoring it outright, so she doesn’t tackle it anyway!

[cyndavilachase]

I’m Looking Forward Now 💖Thank you and good bye

So, it’s been a little over a week since Steven Universe Future ended… 

I’ve been hesitant to write this, honestly, but I’m tired of holding myself back from properly expressing myself in fear of appearing overly invested in the media I consume, even in private. Writing helps me organize my thoughts and feelings, and I feel like these thoughts in particular may resonate with many, so I want to share them. I want to talk about what Steven Universe has done for me personally, both as an artist, and as a person.

I’ve been around since the day the first episode of the original series aired. I actually remember when Steven Universe was just a logo on Wikipedia’s “List of Upcoming Cartoon Network Shows” list, back when I was a freshman in high school. It piqued my interest, but when commercials finally dropped for it, I thought it was going to be bad because of the way marketing handled introducing Steven as a likeable character. There was still something about it that made me want to give it a chance though, so I went online and watched the pilot before the first episode's release. I was hooked immediately. I knew I was going to love it, and I did. I fell so absolutely in love with Steven as a character, and the world that he and the gems lived in. I became obsessed. I was always so excited for new episodes to come out. Little did I know what else it would do for me as I went through my adolescence alongside it.

As the show progressed, it was evident that what I wanted out of a western animated childrens’ cartoon was finally coming into fruition: this show was becoming serialized. There was continuity, there was plot, there was character development-- it was getting deep. It was pushing the groundwork that Adventure Time laid out even further (thank you, Adventure Time).  

I will give credit where credit is due: earlier western childrens’ cartoons I grew up with like Hey Arnold, and Rugrats, among others, also touched on heavy topics, but Steven Universe was able to take similar ideas (and even more complex ones, concerning mental health and relationships) and expand on them outside of contained episodes and/or short arcs. These themes, which were a part of the show’s overarching story, spanned across its entirety. Continuity was rampant. 

What did this mean? It meant kids cartoons didn’t have to be silly and fun all the time and characters weren’t just actors playing a part in 11-minute skits. Steven and the gems would remember things that happened to them, and it affected them and how they would function and play a part in their story. This was a huge deal to me as a teenager. I always wanted the cartoons I grew up with featuring kid characters to feel more. In my own work, I often felt discouraged when combining a fun, cutesy western art style with themes as dark or layered as anime would cover. I always thought it had to be one or the other because an audience wouldn’t take a combination of the two seriously enough, based on discussions I had with classmates, friends, and online analysis I read at the time. Steven Universe proved to me otherwise. This show was opening the door for future cartoons exploring in-depth, adult concepts. I felt so seen as a kid, and was inspired to stick with what I love doing.

I was actually very worried about the show’s survival. It was in fact immensely underrated and the fandom was miniscule. Then in 2014, JailBreak dropped, and it’s popularity exploded. Part of it was because of the complex plot and the themes it was covering like I mentioned, but also because of its representation. 

I remember when fandom theorized that Garnet was a fusion due to grand, tragic reasons. Turns out, she’s simply a metaphor for a very loving w|w relationship. This was huge. I cannot stress how important it is that we continue to normalize healthy canon queer relationships in childens’ media, and Steven Universe finally was the first to do that proper. Introducing these themes offers the chance for a kid to sit there and ask themselves, “Why is this demonized by so many people?” I asked myself exactly that. Ruby and Sapphire were my cartoon LGBT rep. They were the first LGBT couple I ever ecstatically drew fanart of. I was dealing with a lot of internalized homophobia at the time, and they showed me that I was allowed to love women and feel normal about it. The process of overcoming this was a long one, but they played a part in my very first steps into becoming comfortable with my sexuality. I could go on and on about it’s representation in general-- how it breaks the mold when it comes to showcasing a diverse set of characters in design, in casting, and in breaking gender roles. It’s focus on love and empathy. Steven himself is a big boy, but he's the protagonist, and the show never once makes fun of his weight, or any other bigger characters for that matter. It wasn’t hard to see why the fandom had grown so large.

Fandom was always a joy for me. It was a hobby I picked up when I was in middle school, like many of us here did. I would always cater my experience to fun, and fun only. I only started getting more deeply involved in SU’s fandom when I had just turned into an adult. During the summer of 2016, between my first and second year of college, I drew for the show almost every day non-stop when the Summer of Steven event was going on and posted them online. This was a form of practice for me in order to become not just more comfortable with experimenting with my art, but also to meet new artists, make new friends, and learn to interact with strangers without fear. I dealt with a ton of anxiety when I was in high school. When I was a senior applying to art school for animation, I decided I was going to overcome that anxiety. I made plans to take baby steps to improve myself over the course of my 4 years of college. Joining the fandom, while unforeseen, was definitely a part of that process. I started feeling more confident in sharing my ideas, even if they were fan-made. I fell in love with storyboarding after that summer, when I took my first storyboarding class, and genuinely felt like I was actually getting somewhere with all of this. I remember finally coming to a point in my classes where I could pitch and not feel hopelessly insecure about it. I was opening up more to my friends and peers. 

But this process, unfortunately, came to a screeching halt. 

My life completely, utterly crumbled under me in the Fall of 2017 due to a series of blows in my personal life that happened in the span of just a couple weeks. My mental health and sense of identity were completely destroyed. All of that confidence I had worked for-- completely ruined. I was alone. I nearly died. My stay at college was extended to 4 and half years, instead of the 4 I had intended. I lost my love for animation-- making it, and watching it. I could no longer watch Steven Universe with the same love I had for it beforehand. It’s a terrible thing, trying to give your attention to something you don’t love anymore, and wanting so desperately to love again. I dropped so many things I loved in my life, including the fandom.

Healing was a long and complicated road. I continued to watch the show all the way up until Change Your Mind aired in the beginning of 2019, and while I still felt empty, that was definitely a turning point for me with it’s encapsulation of self-love. I was hoping James Baxter would get to work on Steven Universe since he guest-animated on Adventure Time, and it was incredible seeing that wish actually come true. The movie came out and while I enjoyed it and thought highly of it, I was still having issues letting myself genuinely love things again, old and new. It was especially difficult because cartoons were my solace as a kid, when things got rough at home. I remember feeling sad because the show ended, and not getting the chance to love it again like I used to while it was still going.

By the time Steven Universe Future was announced, I was finally coming around. I was genuinely starting to feel excitement for art and animation again. I wasn’t expecting there to be a whole new epilogue series, but happily ever after, there we were! Prickly Pear aired, and the implications it left in terms of where the story was going did it. I was finally ready to let myself take the dive back into fandom in January of this year. My art blew up, something I wasn’t expecting considering my 2-year hiatus. Following this, I was invited into a discord server containing some of the biggest writers, artists, editors, and analysts in the fandom. I had no idea there were so many talented people in the fandom, some already with degrees, some getting their degrees-- creating stuff for it on the side just for fun. The amount of passion and productivity level here is insane, and so is the amount of discussion that has come out of it.

I didn’t realize it at first, but it was actually helping me gain back the courage to share ideas. I lost my confidence in pitching while I was taking the time to heal, and graduating meant there would no longer be a classroom setting I could practice in. This group helped immensely. 

I have made so many friends through this wonderful series, and I have so many fond memories talking to like-minded creatives, getting feedback and a myriad of sources for inspiration, as well as all of the memes and jokes and weekly theorizations that came about as we all waited on the edges of our seats for episodes to air. I needed this so badly, I needed to get back in touch with my roots, when I would go absolutely hog-wild over a cartoon I loved with people who loved it as much I did. Future has been a blessing for me in this way. I graduated feeling like I was back at square-one, but now I feel like I’m on my way again.

It’s 2020 and while I’m doing great right now, I am honestly still recovering from the total exhaustion that followed after graduating a few months ago, and finally leaving the campus where my life fell apart behind. Needless to say, watching Future was like looking into a mirror. Watching one of my favorite characters of all time-- one that grew up with me-- go through so many of the same things I went through not too long ago was absolutely insane to watch unfold. It’s such an important thing too, to show a character go through the process of breaking down over trauma and all the nasty things that come with it, and to have them go on the road to healing. Steven got that therapy. He wasn’t blamed. The gems were called out. The finale was everything I could have ever hoped for. The catharsis I experienced watching it was out of this world.

As I continue my own healing journey, I will always look up to the storyboard artists, revisionists, and designers that I have been following over these past 7 years, as well as the new ones introduced in Future. It's been such a joy watching these artists release their promo art for episodes, talk about their experiences working on the show, and post the work they've done for it alongside episodes airing.

Thank you Rebecca Sugar, the Crewniverse, and the fans, for making this such a truly wonderful and unique experience. Thank you for reminding me that I am, and always will be, an artist, a cartoonist, and a fan. Thank you, my followers, for the overwhelmingly positive response to my artwork. I have had so much fun interacting and discussing the show with you all again over these past few months. Steven Universe and it’s fandom will always have a special place in my heart, and it will always be a classic that I will return to for comfort and inspiration for decades to come. I am sad that the cartoon renaissance is over, but so many doors have been opened thanks to this show. I am so, so excited to see what this show will inspire in the future, and I hope one day I get the opportunity to be a part of that. 

Goodbye Steven, thank you for everything. I wish you healing, and I wish Rebecca and the team a well-deserved rest. ♥️

-Cynthia D.

[hohoz]

How RE Village (8) SOLVED almost every problem that I had with RE Series

Okay - a few weeks ago I made a post that was “The ones that suffer the most” where I showed and explained my main problems with Chris and Jill and the RE series in general 

RE 1 is my fav game of this series and probably one of my all time favs, I player every RE there is to be played except 4 (because I dislike Leon, sry) 

Recently, specially after 4, the franchise had a few problems, specially in writing/map design/lore 

Resident evil 5 for example (I love this game) but it has it flaws, Chris there is only driven by anger and action - Sheva is used as a tool for lore exposition and to be Chris’s new partner 

PLEASE: be aware that game at that generation didn’t have much lore - with some exceptions, like God of War 1 2 3 were a simply game with a simple lore, and the most recent GoW has evolved a little bit in the storytelling

Until we hit rock bottom in RE6 - I know a lot of people like this game, but this is only and action game, bad writing and generic stages. 

Chris there is so mistreated that makes me mad (if you want to read more about this go to my other post “the ones that suffer the most”)

Until RE7 appeared, Capcom had a new engine and they wanted to do a game that was more horror like - since RE is know for being a Survival horror game.

I liked 7 - some people complained about Ethan being without emotion and others complained about the mold, a few didn’t like the FEAR vibes from Eveline. 

I personally enjoyed the game, I thought RE series was going back on track, that game has it’s problems but it was really nice compared to what we had in 6.

After that game I had a conversation with my best friend and I said that I wanted a game that portrayed Umbrella’s fall since the only game that shows this is Umbrellas Chronicles (and that is most a resume of what happened)

And I said: “Bro, I wish that when they made that game, they could tie some mythological lore and human evolution before Umbrella - using Spencer, this would solve LOT OF STUFF and open new ways to handle this series”

and guess what - this happened in RE8 and kudos to the one writer that did that, i have my gratitude. 

RESIDENT EVIL 8 is probably one of the BEST RE games that we had IN YEARS

And I want to address all thing that I loved in this game and do some predictions to what will happen in the next games.

“WELL WELL IF IT ISN’T ETHAN WINTERS” (The Father of the year)

My father was not a great guy... really, so I want to be the best dad ever, I really want be like Ethan - a guy who is ready to sacrifice and fight every monster in the way to save my family. 

Ethan was a character that in RE7 was used to make us fell like that it was us in the Baker’s house, so that is why he didn’t had that much personality (in my opinion) but they changed that in RE8, here he has nice dialogues AND a diary 

He has one of the best story line in the whole REverse, a guy that did EVERYTHING in his power to save his daughter - and you saw that playing the game, every sentence line that he delivered, he tried to save others too and even tho Chris said to him stay put ... but he couldn’t, he had to go to the altar, he had to help Chris, he had to go forward and keep going, specially after having the tools to face Heisenberg. 

The plea from a father, that was his last wish, after he heard that Mia was alive he knew that someone had to stop that monster, he made a promise to his daughter “Daddy won’t let those weird fairy tale monsters get you” so he trusted Chris, to be the one that teaches his kid how to be brave and strong

I will not address Chris and Rose situation here because this is Ethans part and he deserves completely all the spotlight, his sacrifice was 100x times better than Steve (CV)/Piers(6)

My cheers to Ethan Winters - You have my respect !

Revelations -> RE8 

So leaks from earlier times said that RE8 sucked and Revelations 3 was amazing

Revelations FYI is know for using old tales in RE stories 

Revelations 1 - Dante’s Inferno 

Revelations 2 - Frans Kafka 

Revelations 3 - Dracula 

But since RE8 sucked, Capcom said to the REV3 team that they could make REV3 become RE8 and they accepted 

Revelations series is one of the best in the games, they handle Jill in a way that I love, Claire and even Barry - so they deserve all the spotlight for making this awesome game - you CLEARLY can see that they love this series and that they treat all the characters with the love that they deserve. 

Keeping that in mind, they are the same team that made Rev 2 and in REV 2 we have this file here 

So they had a plan for Jill and we can see that in RE8 - I will address that later but keep that in mind - this team cares for the old characters, they were the ones that brought Barry back to the games :V 

Chris Redfield 

This is a hard one, because he is my fav character and I usually have the most critics regard him, since I’ve expect a lot from Capcom 

In the latest games they made him kind dumb, only muscles type of guy and an alcoholic that let all the people in his surroundings die (RE5,RE6,Vendetta) 

RE6 treats him the WORST

But in RE8 he had an amazing part in the storyline, it was obvious that he wasn’t evil and they FIXED HIS EYE COLOR - FINALLY 

I still don’t like the model face that much but it’s way better than 7 - so I believe Capcom, I still feel that he need more jawline 

But let’s go to the most important thing - here he really feels like a squad leader and a veteran, he has his team but he is the one in the front line, he covers and ask for help when he needs, everything about his line delivery makes you feel like “Woah, this guy is a badass, he is not some stupid guy only driven by emotions”

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR FINALLY GETTING THIS RIGHT 

If you remember my post about the ones that suffer the most / Jill is also in that list and I will talk about her a little bit later but if my guess is right RE8 saved her character aswell

Another thing that I enjoyed here is the fact that he is kind of a mercenary / Neo Umbrella kind of guy, even tho he is one of the founders of the BSAA

So I will give you all my score to this game: 

9/10

I won’t give 10/10 because of some technical issues, the cursor lock didn’t work and mouse sensitivity was i dunno, not the best. 

RE8 and the future (PREDICTIONS)  - Jill Valentine, Chris Redfield, BSAA, Neo Umbrella, Ada Wong and Rosemary

First let’s look Rose

The first time I saw Rose all grown up - I thought to myself : She has the same problem as Eveline (age a lot faster than normal) 

But she also absorbed Miranda’s power since the metalicite (something like this) thought that she was a better host. - so maybe she will live longer or something because I doubt that they will do a 14 years time skip. 

This is not the same as Terra Save logo (Claire’s job) but it kind reminds me of it - her shoes appeared at least 3 times in this cut scene so maybe they are trying to show some hints with this 

She really reminds me of Jodie (Beyond two souls, a game where a girl has a lot of power and the gov uses her in missions and stuff, but she also is learning how to be her own person) 

Another thing here is that they don’t have a logo in this car, it really reminds me the car that Chris as using in RE8 

This supports the theory that Chris’s organization is dealing with her instead of the BSAA, the she is a hot headed girl and that she had a lot of powers. 

So here you can say that she is just a kid because she is a teenager, but what if she actually grows older really fast (like Eveline) maybe this is just 1 year later / 2 yrs later. (after RE8)

So this is the tricky part, this is Chris’s guard/soldier, someone that Chris trust to stand by her side, in my mind I do believe that Chris is kind of a father figure to her, so when this guys says this he is thinking about hot head Chris but she replies “Yeah” thinking about Ethan - (she has the mold memories, so she can actually remember Ethan’s memories) 

Now let’s look at this 

BSAA 

So in REV1 is hinted that BSAA is not the best organization in the world, but since our heroes work there we think that they are the good guys right ? 

In REV 2 (it’s important to remember that the team that created RE8 is the same from the REVELATIONS and they had this file here in REV2)

This email is from Jill and what does Jill have ? T-Virus 

Wesker is a different case since he was a project and she had the vaccine but this would make a lot of sense if they had this tests with Jill to get the T-Virus

If that is the case, they explained Jill’s absence in the main games, could even explain why Chris left BSAA and opened a new window to a lot of possibilities 

My Predictions: 

- Chris had trouble dealing with BSAA and Jill’s case, he wanted to get her out of there, maybe he removed her from there but that resulted in him being expelled from the force

-Jill may or may not know what they are doing with her blood, but she will have a huge part in the BOW used by BSAA 

-Chris is married to Jill (sorry- I had to place this here, in a perfect world he has two kids with her and they all love aunt Rose) 

-Chris will hopefully be a father figure to Rose and they will be in a game together since in the end they came to get her

-Rebecca is still involved in BSAA activities (leak from new REV3) if you consider Vendetta canon, she maybe the one that used Jill’s sample of blood to create the virus soldiers

-Barry maybe retired 

-I don’t think Leon will be in this game, but he will get his RE4 Rmk 

- I do believe RE9 will be release after Code veronica rmk and MAYBE they will do a game about Umbrella’s Fall (Chris and Jill in Europe against Red Queen and BOWs) 

But that is it, you can see a lot of elements from old RE games in RE8, they tried to do something really smart and the game felt amazing to play, that was something else and it’s been a while since a player a RE game that made me feel that way <3

[stxleslyds]

Robin Jason, a friend and ally of the Titans.

PART 2.

Hi! Welcome to Part 2 of this post, as I said in the last one, I will be talking about Robin Jason’s moments and not reviewing the issues from a story point of view but I think I will have to give a little more context in this one because honestly I am a little lost with this particular storyline, there is too much going on and Jason isn't part of many pages so yeah, I hope this post isn't too boring or bad though.

I will link part 1 Here!

Let’s begin!

·         NTT (1884) #26-28

In my last post I talked about how Jason would be called by Donna to help the Titans save Dick and Raven from Brother Blood’s people. We start #26 with Mother Mayhem giving a public speech on television. What you have to get from this is that this cult is using the image of the two Titans/Heroes (Nightwing and Raven) that they captured as propaganda for their intentions, their intentions being resurrecting Brother Blood and making the world believe that they are good people. Obviously, Dick and Raven are not there because they are supportive of their cause, they were both brainwashed.

In this issue the Titans team that had fallen apart in issue #19 is back, so we find Donna, Beast boy, Cyborg, Joey and Wally together once more and they are trying to figure out what to do because they have two problems, on one hand Beast Boy’s father is killing people and captured Garth and on the other a whole ass cult is doing cult-y shit and captured Dick and Raven. In the end they choose to go save Dick and Raven first but they do it because Beast Boy says this “I…don’t know. I can’t say what we should do. We need Dick here…he’s a tactician. We need him as out leader”. Never in my life would I have thought that I would agree with beast boy but yeah…hard agree.

Donna understands that even though the team is (mostly) back on its feet they still need more firepower and that’s why she calls Jason. While it was kinda rude of Cyborg to say that Jason is not all that (in terms of firepower) any kind of tension is quicky gone because Starfire comes back (talk about firepower).

We have various moments of Beast Boy being a perv towards Kory (thanks a lot Marv) but that’s not important, what’s important is that now the Titans have to tell Kory that Dick has been captured and they are on their way to save him.

They all leave to Zandia (where Brother Blood’s Church is located) and a fight ensues as soon as they arrive, they fight but their goal is to get to the Church as fast as possible. Jason doesn’t say anything in these panels but he is fighting alongside the others. When things get a bit more complicated Jason starts to feel that maybe he isn’t that capable of handling himself but he doesn’t have to do anything by himself because this time he has a team that can back him up. Kory gives him a lift as soon as Jason is surrounded, he is of course thankful and a little bit pervy (thanks a lot Marv).

Kory is shot just after she gets him out of trouble and Jason as the adorable kid that he is becomes worried for her well-being. After Beast Boy is also injured in the fight the Titans decide to leave back to camp. Thankfully both Kory and BB are okay but they are all still worried about how they will get to the Church. We see here once more Donna being a bit overwhelmed with leading the Titans and beating herself up over what happened in Switzerland (#20 and #21) but Jason reassures her instantly that she did a good job and she doesn’t need to be so hard on herself.

This interaction here is particularly nice because Jason reassures Donna without her asking for it. In my last post Donna looked for reassurance in Robin several times but she didn’t do it because she actually wanted Jason to give his thoughts, she did it because she was hoping Jason would act like Dick and eventually take over the team’s leadership. Here that isn’t the case, Jason just tells her what he thinks.

After Donna talks about her doubts Kory says that she is impatient and worried about Dick but also expresses being unsure because the last time that she saw Dick they kinda left things off on “bad terms”. I say this because just like it happened with Jason and Roy, Jason and Kory also have differences, she is a grown and experienced woman that is going through adult problems and Jason is a kid that is just happy that he was called to join them on another adventure.

If we back a few panels to when Jason said that Kory “was a sight for sore eyes” Kory responds saying “first Changeling, now you. It’s got to be puberty”, she is obviously not pleased about Jason making that comment about her and it’s also made clear that he is just a teenager.

This is where I rant about how different what we see here is from what we get later in New 52. Just like Roy (in New 52) Kory is also seemingly very close or the same age as Jason and she is the one that is written as wanting to take Jason to bed or, at the very least, attracted to him. Kory being an adult in comparison with Jason is taken away from her and she is just transformed into something to fit Jason’s new beginning as the Red Hood. Lobdell didn’t do Kory any favours, he annihilated her character and made her out to be just eye candy that can come off as stupid and way too reckless just to prop Jason up, believe it or not Jason sometimes was the voice of reason to both Roy and Kory’s antics.

It’s even worse when you consider the fact that in this issue Kory is feeling better and more confident because she finally understands what she wants and has accepted Earth as her real home, all of that is gone in New 52, Kory is lost, insecure, she even depends on Jason a bit too much at the start (because she “didn’t remember” her time on earth or Dick) and goes back to killing. All in all, Lobdell’s version of Kory was very damaging and a disservice to her past history.

Back to the issue, as Donna and the others are going to start coming up with a plan (with only two days until resurrection day) we move scenes and find ourselves in a meeting where people are complaining about the Titans messing up their plans, but that is not what matters, apparently the people in that meeting wanted to “summon the Brotherhood” and here is where we are introduced to the person who will make the Titans’ lives a little more complicated…Twister. She is one of the people that were victims to Brother Blood’s brainwashing and experiments.

In the next page we see the Titans resting but Cyborg is awake so thanks to that he hears someone coming straight to them, here Kory takes the lead and she says once more that she will not kill whoever that is, that she can’t and won’t do that anymore…I wonder if Lobdell ever read these issues, maybe not.

The attacker was Twister and in seconds she twists the Titans’ reality and leaves them all incapacitated. She then goes to look for and recruit the Brotherhood of Evil. While she did that though the Titans slowly made their way back to the city and are now getting ready to attack. Donnas plans as we soon find out don’t include Jason as one of their front line fighters, in fact he has to be left behind as back up.

Jason is not very happy about this; he is the boy wonder! But because it’s the plan and the Titans are experienced, he decided to stay put (at least for now). Its funny to me that even Beast Boy calls Jason a kid. What is sad from these panels is obviously the last thing that Jason says “I can’t wait until I am sixteen!”. I mean, this issue came out exactly two years before Jason’s death, there was no way they could have seen that coming but yeah, it’s just sad. Jason really was in a better and happier place around this time, little did he know everything would turn upside down after a while.  

The rest of the Titans fight, Donna starts to feel like she is finally in control and that she is doing a great job at keeping the Titans together, Kory is having her inner turmoil about Dick but she is doing her job and when she decides to go help Cyborg and Joey they come across the Brotherhood of Evil. This is where #26 ends.

Issue #27 starts with a very difficult fight for Kory, Cyborg and Joey, it ends with Kory injured, Joey captured and with Cyborg thrown off a window. The only one of them that Donna, Beast Boy and Jason are able to save is Kory.

The Titans that re left have to retreat and find a place to recover, Jason is very silent all the time but Donna and Kory are the ones that are having interesting talks, they have to find out where the Brotherhood has Joey and Cyborg and their time to save Dick and Raven is running out but if they don’t save the others they might die. It’s a complicated situation and they are both impatient but Donna tells Kory this “Dick would be the first to tell you to plan first, attack later”, I bring this up because nowadays its very common for fanon and current writers to think of Dick as someone that doesn’t plan, that doesn’t think before jumping. Even Beast boy called him a tactician, I know this is a Jason post but its also a post about how characterizations are also kinda destroyed. Dick has suffered a lot from mischaracterization so its nice to go back to these stories and see that what we think Dick should be now isn’t something that we once imagined but something that mas modified or taken away from him either by fanon or current writers.

After the Titans decide to wait for the storm to pass to go looking for Joey and Cyborg, we actually see that Cyborg is in the city looking for shelter, he is injured and as he falls unconscious we meet a couple that decides to save him. Back to the Titans once more we have Jason say that the storm that is forming look “like something out of Ghostbusters” its then that the Brotherhood makes itself known, they are taunting them and they have roped Joey to the top of the capitol building and they are asking the Titans to surrender or Joey dies.

Its here where Donna takes full control of the Titans and even though she and Kory have different ideas of what to do she says that she is the leader now and what she says gets done. Donna will be in charge of saving Joey while the others will make their way towards the Brother Blood Church to help Dick and Raven.

Before they go their separate ways Jason says this about Donna “Wow! I wouldn’t wanna be in her shoes for all the garbage pail kid stickers in the world.” I am going to be honest, I had to look those stickers up and all I have to say is what the hell. But I am not here to talk about stickers I am here to talk about how funny its that Jason is being so uninterested about leading a team. Now, don’t get me wrong, Jason has the ability to lead, yes, but he is better at leading himself or an operation, we have all read UtRH, we know how well the Red Hood can handle himself and his plans but a team of heroes? Controversial opinion but I think that Jason should have never been given a team and I am talking about Kory and Roy as well as Artemis and Bizarro. Was Rebirth better than New 52? Absolutely. But I just don’t see Jason as a leader of a team of heroes and it’s also incredibly repetitive, just because he was Robin doesn’t mean that he needs his own team. I know that Robin Jason and Red Hood Jason aren’t the same person and that they might think differently but if Lobdell had never come into Red Hood/Jason Todd’s life when he did we might have never seen Jason lead his own team and that to me is proof enough that it should have never happened. I quite enjoyed the Prince of Gotham storyline in Red Hood: Outlaw, he didn’t have a team but he had an operation going on and people working FOR him not WITH him. In my opinion that’s better for Jason (if you would like to see me review that storyline let me know).

There is a lot happening story wise and I am finding it more and more difficult to continue talking about Jason’s moments here without giving context so I am going to resume what happened between Donna leaving to save Joey and Jason’s next appearance in this issue. Here we go, Brain tells Monsieur Mallah that he decided to “help” Twister take down the Titans because he wants to use Brother Blood’s Blood Pool because he is dying, Twister goes back to her family’s home and we get to see how brainwashed she is, her family is shocked to see her and they are also the ones that took care of Cyborg while he was unconscious, Cyborg leaves to find the Titans but Twister sees where he left to, she tells the Brotherhood where he might have gone to but protects her family by not telling them that they were the ones that protected Cyborg in the first place and Donna was able to save Joey. I think that was everything.

We see Jason again when he is just outside Brother Blood’s Church with Kory (who is giving him a lift) and Beast Boy. But because life can’t be easy for them the Brotherhood of Evil teleports there and a fight ensues. Kory takes the lead and Jason gets to work.

Kory praises Jason for his work here not because she can’t do anything but because she is seeing that a kid is doing an excellent job. Make no mistake, she is the one with experience but she is nice and gives credit when its due.

Cyborg arrives and the fight continues. We see Beast Boy warning Jason about some of the villains’ powers and Jason being the excellent Robin that he is pays attention and escapes Plasmus’ touch.

I might not think that Red Hood is a team player but Robin Jason absolutely is, and the Titans are nice and care for his safety.

While all of this was happening, Cyborg had made his way to the Church and there he gathers all kinds of information including the location of Brother Bloods main Church in the US. He also makes the alarms sound so everyone leaves because he set up the Church to blow up. Somewhere else Monsieur Mallah is threatening to kill Brain after the later insults him again. And there is where this issue ends.

In issue #28 Jason and the rest of the Titans appear after several pages of Mother Mayhem being a creep, Azrael the angel rising and trying to resurrect Brother Blood through the power of prayers, people watching the live broadcasting of the event and Dick trying to break free from his own head but as soon as he does it Mother Mayhem brainwashes him right away.

The Titans are back in their tower where we see Wally again but that is not all, Frances Kane and Robotman come in too. After all the people who are willing to fight get together the Titans make their way to Brother Bloods Church.

It’s in the jet with Wally that we see Jason and this time he gets to talk too! Jason is talking about how much braver the Titans are compared to him but Wally calms him down by saying that even though he has been doing this for a while he is also scared.

The fact that Jason joined the Titans on another adventure without mentioning it to Bruce is funny to me, he was probably so happy that Donna called him again! Maybe Jason was more bored of being with the Bat than he let on and maybe he didn’t feel appreciated enough or heard. I also like to think that Donna got Jason’s number through Dick, like do you remember that Dick gave Jason his number if he ever wanted to talk shit about the Bat with him? What if they did talk and then Dick put Jason’s number on the Titans’ data base? That would be cool and really sweet!

Jason continues to be a team player and being useful during the fights, he has the Titans’ back as much as the Titans have his.

They fight their way in Brother Blood’s Church and once there they find a dude called the Confessor with Arella (Raven’s mother) but he tells the Titans that she is dead. Somewhere else though is where the real trouble is at, between Azrael and Raven, Brother Blood has finally been resurrected. 

It’s in the last page where Brother Blood is looking all mighty and powerful that Dick seems to have broken free from his brainwashing once more.

 That’s the end of that issue and this part of the post. This one was super difficult to write and it’s even longer than part one, I hope I didn’t make it super difficult to read. At some points I felt like I was explaining too much and in others too little. I guess it’s very difficult to show how one character participates in a story without giving context but I just didn’t want this post to be too plot heavy.

These issues had some cool Jason moments but the ones in issues #29 to #31 are even better!