#plus dc is the most known for varying takes on their characters and doing different movies and such outside of live action

[thetimelordbatgirl]

Just so we clear: if you get mad at MCU for constantly tying everything together and not letting anything be it's own thing anymore but celebrate James Gunn wanting to do the same with DC, your a hypocrite.

[oatlystrawberryicecream]

Who did you think have the most possibility of being on jason's side (batfam)? Not necessarily accepting his ideals but understanding where he came from and not antagonize him for it (unlike someone) and idk man take his side rather than bruce when theyre arguing or something??

Because i could only imagine other characters who arent batfam that would actually understand jason and choose him and not the so called family, idk man that 'fam' is so toxic i think its a cult

probably none of em? because of how dc likes to frame things so that even if batman is wrong he is still supposed to be the one you root for. that plus a love for status quo is why he never gets realistic consequences.

i do think a lot of them see where he is coming from and sympathize. and it is with heavy personal bias when i say i want it to be barbara. i think jason and barbara friendship is such an underrated one. it is not a diss at all when i say jason is not as resilient as babs, and while irl no one should compare/contrast responses to life changing trauma, i think in story exploring why things are the way they are and what is different about them is very interesting. even better if they struggle to accept the differences and have to work to see past their own stuff to keep the friendship. that is so interesting and emotionally satisfying if done right. plus she is one of the few to have known jason as robin.

jason and duke seem to click pretty well but idk if that matters because opposing batman to his face is maybe too much to ask.

it might be dick depending on if he has 18 other things to be concerned about that day or not. he will oppose batman if he needs to but how much time and energy he can devote to bruce and jason’s endless years long unresolvable issues will vary.

i would love to see people take jason’s side sometimes and i think it could be nice to see how differently that happens for different characters. i do think cass and jason should interact as little as possible, barely acknowledge the other exists. cass is the one who i do not want to find any acceptance of jason’s perspective from. neither of them should change their mind or budge at all on their beliefs because of the other one. that doesnt mean she has to be a yes man for bruce though, she can choose to sit out unless b feels like he needs to violate his son’s autonomy again.

[ahsokajackson]

This makes me think of the challenge of writing good summaries, blurbs, loglines, et cetera. Gah, I know I've spoken about this with a friend before regarding the Robins, but I can't seem to find the convo. But I'll share an excerpt from a comment I posted in reply to one on a fic of mine (Tale Spin), then I'll summarize as best I can from memory.

You and others have mentioned how Tim also seems to have been left adrift and DC doesn't seem to know what to do with him anymore. I think with both him and Jason, there was not really enough thought or planning about how they would all fit into the Batfamily as a cohesive but varied unit. Like even with Tim, I saw folks point out recently how Babs gets dumbed down so he can shine, and that's a general thing comics seem to be known for. How smart or capable a character is depends on whether they're in their own comic or someone else's. 😂😂 Take caution if you're a smart, non-villain character other than Bruce in a Batman comic.

And I suspect Jason most of all is the odd one out amongst the boys because he was never really planned to rejoin the family, plus he was intended to just be a villain and someone to root against and keeps getting reduced to that, so then when you do try to slot him into the family, it's awkward and unpredictable and keeps going downhill.

What you said about protecting kids and wanting to protect the other Robins, both because they're kids and because he doesn't want other Robins to suffer his fate? FVCK YES. This is exactly what I'm going for. Not him busy freaking stabbing his younger brothers and leaving them for dead and schitt.

I think maybe Jason was intended to represent a twisting of Batman, but I see him differently. To me, he is Batman's vengeance incarnate, but deeper than that, he Bruce/Batman's burning sense of JUSTICE. Wrath and vengeance are absolutely part of Bruce's own character, and Jason has not only the willingness to punish but ALSO the empathy that the anger and vengefulness is rooted in. He understands the impact of crime. He's a murder victim who was orphaned and who also lived in a household with drug addiction and domestic violence. He has FELT these pains and suffered deeply. He's ALSO had the experience of being homeless and orphaned and having highly limited options and needing to turn to crime just to survive.

He has both the vengefulness and the deep-seated empathy here, and he has experienced living with a constant fear and vulnerability different from what Bruce had as a young man who lost his parents but still had a both physically and psychologically safe home and caretaker to protect him. When crooks get let back out onto the street, it's not the folks in Bristol with high-end security systems who have the most reason to fear, right? They're absolutely not immune, but they are less vulnerable.

I also think of the "Re-collect" fic, which I believe I've linked to already—the idea that Dick is the Robin who made it seem like gravity didn't exist, and Jason is the one who proved you could flourish and overcome even though it did. Man, I'm about to get emotional here!

I also am a big believer in that hashtag I saw with Batbirdies—ALL Robins are smart Robins!

All of them have tech skills, detective skills, are highly educated and have the mental power to have both obtained and made use of that exceptional education.

Yet they also do and should have their own particular areas where they excel and can best contribute and are allowed to shine freely.

Anyways, I think a good summary of what each of Bruce's kids most essentially represents and/or has as a core quality, especially as an embodiment of the concept of Batman, would be. Also including Steph, due to her Robin status:

Dick is the hope and inspiration, the light in the darkness, the defiant joy and humor in the grimmest of circumstances.

Cass is the myth, the seemingly supernatural phenom who materializes from the shadows and whom few can stand against.

Jason is the guardian; he's the protector and avenger, the safety in the storm, yet also the very storm—an abiding empathy and compassion the true fuel to his ferocity.

Steph is the maverick, the pioneer—the one willing and able to keep forging ahead and carving her own path to do the right thing, even if she has little or no support or precedent to turn to.

Tim is the detective, the inquisitive eye who keeps tabs on the bigger picture and relentlessly uncovers evildoers and their schemes, his gaze extending far beyond the borders of the city.

Damian is the legacy, the enduring presence of Batman and proof that in spite of the challenges and obstacles and passage of time, he always continues and finds a way forward.

Am I constantly agitated that when people talk about the Robins they are usually boiled down to one word adjectives that take away a lot of the nuances from their personalities and histories as robin - yes

Do I understand that this is often necessary as being able to understand each separate Robin as a compex individual character can be difficult, time consuming and confusing especially for newer fans or people who just don't really care about the Robins that much and just want to understand what makes them different from each other: unfortunately also yes

[dornish-queen]

Pedro Pascal on Fame and ‘The Mandalorian’: ‘Can We Cut the S— and Talk About the Child?’

By Adam B. Vary

Photographs by Beau Grealy

When Pedro Pascal was roughly 4 years old, he and his family went to see the 1978 hit movie “Superman,” starring Christopher Reeve. Pascal’s young parents had come to live in San Antonio after fleeing their native Chile during the rise of dictator Augusto Pinochet in the mid-1970s. Taking Pascal and his older sister to the movies — sometimes more than once a week — had become a kind of family ritual, a way to soak up as much American pop culture as possible.

At some point during this particular visit, Pascal needed to go to the bathroom, and his parents let him go by himself. “I didn’t really know how to read yet,” Pascal says with the same Cheshire grin that dazzled “Game of Thrones” fans during his run as the wily (and doomed) Oberyn Martel. “I did not find my way back to ‘Superman.'”

Instead, Pascal wandered into a different theater (he thinks it was showing the 1979 domestic drama “Kramer vs. Kramer,” but, again, he was 4). In his shock and bewilderment at being lost, he curled up into an open seat and fell asleep. When he woke up, the movie was over, the theater was empty, and his parents were standing over him. To his surprise, they seemed rather calm, but another detail sticks out even more.

“I know that they finished their movie,” he says, bending over in laughter. “My sister was trying to get a rise out of me by telling me, ‘This happened and that happened and then Superman did this and then, you know, the earthquake and spinning around the planet.'” In the face of such relentless sibling mockery, Pascal did the only logical thing: “I said, ‘All that happened in my movie too.'”

He had no way of knowing it at the time, of course, but some 40 years later, Pascal would in fact get the chance to star in a movie alongside a DC Comics superhero — not to mention battle Stormtroopers and, er, face off against the most formidable warrior in Westeros. After his breakout on “Game of Thrones,” he became an instant get-me-that-guy sensation, mostly as headstrong, taciturn men of action — from chasing drug traffickers in Colombia for three seasons on Netflix’s “Narcos” to squaring off against Denzel Washington in “The Equalizer 2.”

This year, though, Pascal finds himself poised for the kind of marquee career he’s spent a lifetime dreaming about. On Oct. 30, he’ll return for Season 2 as the title star of “The Mandalorian,” Lucasfilm’s light-speed hit “Star Wars” series for Disney Plus that earned 15 Emmy nominations, including best drama, in its first season. And then on Dec. 25 — COVID-19 depending — he’ll play the slippery comic book villain Maxwell Lord opposite Gal Gadot, Chris Pine and Kristen Wiig in “Wonder Woman 1984.”

The roles are at once wildly divergent and the best showcase yet for Pascal’s elastic talents. In “The Mandalorian,” he must hide his face — and, in some episodes, his whole body — in a performance that pushes minimalism and restraint to an almost ascetic ideal. In “Wonder Woman 1984,” by stark contrast, he is delivering the kind of big, broad bad-guy character that populated the 1980s popcorn spectaculars of his youth.

“I continually am so surprised when everybody pegs him as such a serious guy,” says “Wonder Woman 1984” director Patty Jenkins. “I have to say, Pedro is one of the most appealing people I have known. He instantly becomes someone that everybody invites over and you want to have around and you want to talk to.”

Talk with Pascal for just five minutes — even when he’s stuck in his car because he ran out of time running errands before his flight to make it to the set of a Nicolas Cage movie in Budapest — and you get an immediate sense of what Jenkins is talking about. Before our interview really starts, Pascal points out, via Zoom, that my dog is licking his nether regions in the background. “Don’t stop him!” he says with an almost naughty reproach. “Let him live his life!”

Over our three such conversations, it’s also clear that Pascal’s great good humor and charm have been at once ballast for a number of striking hardships, and a bulwark that makes his hard-won success a challenge for him to fully accept.

Before Pascal knew anything about “The Mandalorian,” its showrunner and executive producer Jon Favreau knew he wanted Pascal to star in it.

“He feels very much like a classic movie star in his charm and his delivery,” says Favreau. “And he’s somebody who takes his craft very seriously.” Favreau felt Pascal had the presence and skill essential to deliver a character — named Din Djarin, but mostly called Mando — who spends virtually every second of his time on screen wearing a helmet, part of the sacrosanct creed of the Mandalorian order.

Convincing any actor to hide their face for the run of a series can be as precarious as escaping a Sarlacc pit. To win Pascal over in their initial meeting, Favreau brought him behind the “Mandalorian” curtain, into a conference room papered with storyboards covering the arc of the first season. “When he walked in, it must have felt a little surreal,” Favreau says. “You know, most of your experiences as an actor, people are kicking the tires to see if it’s a good fit. But in this case, everything was locked and loaded.”

Needless to say, it worked. “I hope this doesn’t sound like me fashioning myself like I’m, you know, so smart, but I agreed to do this [show] because the impression I had when I had my first meeting was that this is the next big s—,” Pascal says with a laugh.

Favreau’s determination to cast Pascal, however, put the actor in a tricky situation: Pascal’s own commitments to make “Wonder Woman 1984” in London and to perform in a Broadway run of “King Lear” with Glenda Jackson barreled right into the production schedule for “The Mandalorian.” Some scenes on the show, and in at least one case a full episode, would need to lean on the anonymity of the title character more than anyone had quite planned, with two stunt performers — Brendan Wayne and Lateef Crowder — playing Mando on set and Pascal dubbing in the dialogue months later.

Pascal was already being asked to smother one of his best tools as an actor, extraordinarily uncommon for anyone shouldering the newest iteration of a global live-action franchise. (Imagine Robert Downey Jr. only playing Iron Man while wearing a mask — you can’t!) Now he had to hand over control of Mando’s body to other performers too. Some actors would have walked away. Pascal didn’t.

“If there were more than just a couple of pages of a one-on-one scene, I did feel uneasy about not, in some instances, being able to totally author that,” he says. “But it was so easy in such a sort of practical and unexciting way for it to be up to them. When you’re dealing with a franchise as large as this, you are such a passenger to however they’re going to carve it out. It’s just so specific. It’s ‘Star Wars.'” (For Season 2, Pascal says he was on the set far more, though he still sat out many of Mando’s stunts.)

“The Mandalorian” was indeed the next big s—, helping to catapult the launch of Disney Plus to 26.5 million subscribers in its first six weeks. With the “Star Wars” movies frozen in carbonite until 2023 (at least), I noted offhand that he’s now effectively the face of one of the biggest pop-culture franchises in the world. Pascal could barely suppress rolling his eyes.

“I mean, come on, there isn’t a face!” he says with a laugh that feels maybe a little forced. “If you want to say, ‘You’re the silhouette’ — which is also a team effort — then, yeah.” He pauses. “Can we just cut the s— and talk about the Child?”

Yes, of course, the Child — or, as the rest of the galaxy calls it, Baby Yoda. Pascal first saw the incandescently cute creature during his download of “Mandalorian” storyboards in that initial meeting with Favreau. “Literally, my eyes following left to right, up and down, and, boom, Baby Yoda close to the end of the first episode,” he says. “That was when I was like, ‘Oh, yep, that’s a winner!'”

Baby Yoda is undeniably the breakout star of “The Mandalorian,” inspiring infinite memes and apocryphal basketball game sightings. But the show wouldn’t work if audiences weren’t invested in Mando’s evolving emotional connection to the wee scene stealer, something Favreau says Pascal understood from the jump. “He’s tracking the arc of that relationship,” says the showrunner. “His insight has made us rethink moments over the course of the show.” (As with all things “Star Wars,” questions about specifics are deflected in deference to the all-powerful Galactic Order of Spoilers.)

Even if Pascal couldn’t always be inside Mando’s body, he never left the character’s head, always aware of how this orphaned bounty hunter who caroms from planet to planet would look askance at anything that felt too good (or too adorable) to be true.

“The transience is something that I’m incredibly familiar with, you know?” Pascal says. “Understanding the opportunity for complexity under all of the armor was not hard for me.”

When Pascal was 4 months old, his parents had to leave him and his sister with their aunt, so they could go into hiding to avoid capture during Pinochet’s crackdown against his opposition. After six months, they finally managed to climb the walls of the Venezuelan embassy during a shift change and claim asylum; from there, the family relocated, first to Denmark, then to San Antonio, where Pascal’s father got a job as a physician.

Pascal was too young to remember any of this, and for a healthy stretch of his childhood, his complicated Chilean heritage sat in parallel to his life in the U.S. — separate tracks, equally important, never quite intersecting. By the time Pascal was 8, his family was able to take regular trips back to Chile to visit with his 34 first cousins. But he doesn’t remember really talking about any of his time there all that much with his American friends.

“I remember at one point not even realizing that my parents had accents until a friend was like, ‘Why does your mom talk like that?'” Pascal says. “And I remember thinking, like what?”

Besides, he loved his life in San Antonio. His father took him and his sister to Spurs basketball games during the week if their homework was done. He hoodwinked his mother into letting him see “Poltergeist” at the local multiplex. He watched just about anything on cable; the HBO special of Whoopi Goldberg’s one-woman Broadway show knocked him flat. He remembers seeing Henry Thomas in “E.T.” and Christian Bale in “Empire of the Sun” and wishing ardently, urgently, I want to live those stories too.

Then his father got a job in Orange County, Calif. After Pascal finished the fifth grade, they moved there. It was a shock. “There were two really, really rough years,” he says. “A lot of bullying.”

His mother found him a nascent performing arts high school in the area, and Pascal burrowed even further into his obsessions, devouring any play or movie he could get his hands on. His senior year, a friend of his mother’s gave Pascal her ticket to a long two-part play running in downtown Los Angeles that her bad back couldn’t withstand. He got out of school early to drive there by himself. It was the pre-Broadway run of “Angels in America.”

“And it changed me,” he says with almost religious awe. “It changed me.”

After studying acting at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, Pascal booked a succession of solid gigs, like MTV’s “Undressed” and “Buffy the Vampire Slayer.” But the sudden death of his mother — who’d only just been permitted to move back to Chile a few years earlier — took the wind right from Pascal’s sails. He lost his agent, and his career stalled almost completely.

As a tribute to her, he decided to change his professional last name from Balmaceda, his father’s, to Pascal, his mother’s. “And also, because Americans had such a hard time pronouncing Balmaceda,” he says. “It was exhausting.”

Pascal even tried swapping out Pedro for Alexander (an homage to Ingmar Bergman’s “Fanny and Alexander,” one of the formative films of his youth). “I was willing to do absolutely anything to work more,” he says. “And that meant if people felt confused by who they were looking at in the casting room because his first name was Pedro, then I’ll change that. It didn’t work.”

It was a desperately lean time for Pascal. He booked an occasional “Law & Order” episode, but mostly he was pounding the pavement along with his other New York theater friends — like Oscar Isaac, who met Pascal doing an Off Broadway play. They became fast, lifelong friends, bonding over their shared passions and frustrations as actors.

“It’s gotten better, but at that point, it was so easy to be pigeonholed in very specific roles because we’re Latinos,” says Isaac. “It’s like, how many gang member roles am I going to be sent?” As with so many actors, the dream Pascal and Isaac shared to live the stories of their childhoods had been stripped down to its most basic utility. “The dream was to be able to pay rent,” says Isaac. “There wasn’t a strategy. We were just struggling. It was talking about how to do this thing that we both love but seems kind of insurmountable.”

As with so few actors, that dream was finally rekindled through sheer nerve and the luck of who you know, when another lifelong friend, actor Sarah Paulson, agreed to pass along Pascal’s audition for Oberyn Martell to her best friend Amanda Peet, who is married to “Game of Thrones” co-showrunner David Benioff.

“First of all, it was an iPhone selfie audition, which was unusual,” Benioff remembers over email. “And this wasn’t one of the new-fangled iPhones with the fancy cameras. It looked like s—; it was shot vertical; the whole thing was very amateurish. Except for the performance, which was intense and believable and just right.”

Before Pascal knew it, he found himself in Belfast, sitting inside the Great Hall of the Red Keep as one of the judges at Tyrion Lannister’s trial for the murder of King Joffrey. “I was between Charles Dance and Lena Headey, with a view of the entire f—ing set,” Pascal says, his eyes wide and astonished still at the memory. “I couldn’t believe I didn’t have an uncomfortable costume on. You know, I got to sit — and with this view.” He sighs. “It strangely aligned itself with the kind of thinking I was developing as a child that, at that point, I was convinced was not happening.”

And then it all started to happen.

In early 2018, while Pascal was in Hawaii preparing to make the Netflix thriller “Triple Frontier” — opposite his old friend Isaac — he got a call from the film’s producer Charles Roven, who told him Patty Jenkins wanted to meet with him in London to discuss a role in another film Roven was producing, “Wonder Woman 1984.”

“It was a f—ing offer,” Pascal says in an incredulous whisper. “I wasn’t really grasping that Patty wanted to talk to me about a part that I was going to play, not a part that I needed to get. I wasn’t able to totally accept that.”

Pascal had actually shot a TV pilot with Jenkins that wasn’t picked up, made right before his life-changing run on “Game of Thrones” aired. “I got to work with Patty for three days or something and then thought I’d never see her again,” he says. “I didn’t even know she remembered me from that.”

She did. “I worked with him, so I knew him,” she says. “I didn’t need him to prove anything for me. I just loved the idea of him, and I thought he would be kind of unexpected, because he doesn’t scream ‘villain.'”

In Jenkins’ vision, Max Lord — a longstanding DC Comics rogue who shares a particularly tangled history with Wonder Woman — is a slick, self-styled tycoon with a knack for manipulation and an undercurrent of genuine pathos. It was the kind of larger-than-life character Pascal had never been asked to tackle before, so he did something equally unorthodox: He transformed his script into a kind of pop-art scrapbook, filled with blown-up photocopies of Max Lord from the comic books that Pascal then manipulated through his lens on the character.

Even the few pages Pascal flashes to me over Zoom are quite revealing. One, featuring Max sporting a power suit and a smarmy grin, has several burned-out holes, including through the character’s eye. Another page features Max surrounded by text bubbles into which Pascal has written, over and over and over again in itty-bitty lettering, “You are a f—ing piece of s—.”

“I felt like I had wake myself up again in a big way,” he says. “This was just a practical way of, like, instead of going home tired and putting Netflix on, [I would] actually deal with this physical thing, doodle and think about it and run it.”

Jenkins is so bullish on Pascal’s performance that she thinks it could explode his career in the same way her 2003 film “Monster” forever changed how the industry saw Charlize Theron. “I would never cast him as just the stoic, quiet guy,” Jenkins says. “I almost think he’s unrecognizable from ‘Narcos’ to ‘Wonder Woman.’ Wouldn’t even know that was the same guy. But I think that may change.”

When people can see “Wonder Woman 1984” remains caught in the chaos the pandemic has wreaked on the industry; both Pascal and Jenkins are hopeful the Dec. 25 release date will stick, but neither is terribly sure it will. Perhaps it’s because of that uncertainty, perhaps it’s because he’s spent his life on the outside of a dream he’s now suddenly living, but Pascal does not share Jenkins’ optimism that his experience making “Wonder Woman 1984” will open doors to more opportunities like it.

“It will never happen again,” Pascal says, once more in that incredulous whisper. “It felt so special.”

After all he’s done in a few short years, why wouldn’t Pascal think more roles like this are on his horizon?

“I don’t know!” he finally says with a playful — and pointed — howl. “I’m protecting myself psychologically! It’s just all too good to be true! How dare I!”

[hellzyeahwebwielingessays]

Super Heroes ARE NOT INHERENTLY a Conservative power fantasy

Master Post

I don’t really agree superheroes are inherently a Conservative power fantasy nor that they simplistically preach law and order and justice are necessary for a happy ending.

After all Superman was fighting corrupt politicians in his very first appearance. The X-Men are institutionally persecuted often by government forces. Stan Lee did an entire story arc in refutation to Law and Order politics in the early 1970s.

Yeah, they hit people to save the day but like...I honestly think that’s far more of a human power fantasy than something of any specific ideology. There have been examples of mythic and folklore figures doing that since forever. The broad appeal of those types of characters throughout history and across political ideologies speaks to how it’s not inherently a political power fantasy of one type or another.

I know someone who is incredibly Liberal and has himself and people he’s known been persecuted by the police and he’s outspoken against such institutional persecution. He loves Daredevil and more poignantly the Punisher, a character outright adored by the police themselves but who is near universally framed (even within his own stories) as not a good person and someone you shouldn’t aspire to be like. This was even the case in his debut in Daredevil season 2 where it was made explicit that he is self-destructive.

Obviously my friend would be disgusted by the Punisher in real life, as would we all (I’d hope). But the fantasy is still unto itself appealing despite it conflicting with his ideologies. Hence super heroes are not a power fantasy rooted in a specific political ideology. Now sure that is one anecdotal piece of evidence. But the Punisher is clearly very, very popular and the degree to which he is popular (especially in the 1990s) wouldn’t really add up if his fanbase were predominantly Conservatively leaning people with the occasional Liberal exception.

He’s very obviously a character people of either leaning or in-between enjoy and was after all created by an outspoken young Liberal in Gerry Conway. Batman too is often perceived as very conservative. But he is the most popular superhero ever so he obviously appeals across political ideologies. After all, the two most defining Batman writers (after Bill Finger) were the incredibly Conservative Frank Miller and the incredibly Liberal Denny O’Neil.

I also don’t think super heroes are analogous to stand your ground myths. For starters, super heroes are not enshrined by the law. The closest comparison you could draw is if you encountered a clear cut crime in progress and intervened non-lethally somehow. E.g. that scene in Spider-Man 2 where Peter Parker walks away from a mugging in progress, but for the purposes of what I’m saying actually tried to intervene.

I once received counterpoints to the above view that went something like this:

You are extrapolating specifically European myth created by white males and applying it to all humans. African myths are different. Native American myths are different. Asian myths are different. You’re making my point that comics are a dominant conservative culture - specifically white male - fantasy, not refuting it.

Actually I wasn’t. There examples of such figures in Eastern myths too such as Sun Wukong. Son Goku is a 1980s manga character based first and foremost upon him (and Jackie Chan) and is a veritable institution in Japan. There is a vast crossover between fans of him and fans of other superhero characters despite him not being directly based upon any of them, having distinctly Eastern cultural influences and also not being a crime fighter in the traditional sense.

Goku in truth is probably more comparable to figures like Theseus in spite of not being based or influenced by him. African myths and European myths may be different but most cultures involve figures who have beyond human abilities and among those figures those who engage in actions that, within the values of those cultures, are regarded as good. All human beings are innately attracted to stories that in one shape or form present them as physically more powerful than they are, a by-product of more innate survival instincts. On our absolute most deepest levels we are animals and because of this the fantasy of being stronger, faster, less vulnerable to injury or malnutrition and/or having the ability to defend our homes/territories/family units (which in superhero comics is usually extended to the general population of a native city) is incredibly potent and attractive.

The counter pointer continued:

“It’s not a female fantasy. Women tell very different myths, most of them lost because men wrote down the stories. The romance genre is dominated by female writers because those are the stories women are drawn to tell.”

Given the vast plethora of female fans of the genre from 1938-now I really do not see how we can honestly say this is a genre that is particular to the power fantasy of one gender or another. Wonder Woman was after all a distinctly female power fantasy created with a lot of input from two women very much ahead of their time.

But going into another culture Sailor Moon (and her predecessor Sailor V, who was more of a traditional crime fighter) was arguably even more of a female power fantasy. She was the singular vision of a female mangaka who was aiming at a young female audience and was very specifically creating a female power fantasy. In both cases they are people with secret identities who engage in physical violence to varying degrees against very clearly coded evil individuals who pose direct threats to innocent lives.

Now about the gun debate? Well, most superheroes use guns?

But for the sake of argument let’s extent ‘guns’ to mean stuff like:

Ray guns

Web-shooters

Firing concussive energy blasts, like Cyclops’ optic blasts

Any kind of projectile

Well, even if you define guns like that, the majority of superheroes’ weapons are non-lethal whereas guns are designed specifically to kill. Yeah you can wound or incapacitate but gun wounds can still be lethal or crippling. Plus you could in theory kill someone with a net but that wasn’t what it was designed to do.

Things get iffy if we count biological weaponry, like in Cyclops’ case. Whilst his super power is literally having a powerful gun for his eyes, it’s also part of who he is and he’s got no choice in that. This changes the context drastically from someone who owns a gun and seeks to use it.

In Cyclops’ case he’s forced to own that weapon and it’s an immense burden upon him . It curtails his ability to have physical and emotional intimacy with others the way anyone else would. I anything I’s more analogous to a disability. So it isn’t like this is a wonderful fantasy about how cool it’d be to own a big gun without the burden of choosing to own it in the first place

That doesn’t even make sense considering the real issue regarding American gun laws ultimately isn’t about people merely owning  guns but how they use  them upon  owning them. Cyclops still has to choose how to use his biological ‘big gun’ even if he didn’t get a choice in owning it one way or the other. It’s also a poor analogy considering Cyclops’ ‘Big Gun’ doesn’t even work properly due to a disability he has.

In fact, it’s posited superheroes are needed, especially vigilante heroes like Spider-Man who take law enforcement into their own hands despite being outside the law enforcement establishment, because the Marvel U is a dangerous, violent place. This is very similar to arguments used by conservative gun advocates in the US: we need guns to protect ourselves because our institutions can’t. Moving on let’s talk about the severity of crime. Is it not a Conservative power fantasy that the world of Marvel and DC comics is a dangerous and violent place? And therefore vigilantes who take the law into their own hands are needed?

That’s kind of similar to what Conservative gun advocates argue isn’t it? Guns are needed to protect one’s self.

Well for starters, the nature of the severity of crime is questionable in most Marvel or DC comics sans like Batman. It is made clear that superheroes absolutely do good but at the same time it wasn’t presented as though there was such a massive crime problem that say Marvel New York would’ve fallen apart without them.

That is exempting of course super villains.

Super villains however are cut from the same fantasy cloth as the heroes so how much to they really count towards representing real life concerns over crime anyway? They were after all literally created as a means to challenge the heroes. Action Comics #1 for example didn’t have any super villains.

Similarly modern interpretations of Batman do not seek to present the world or urban landscapes in general as inherently so riddled with dangerous crime that it necessitates Batman. They make it clear that Gotham is this extreme exception as opposed to the rule. Greg Rucka once spoke about this in an old documentary (for I think the History channel).The idea is that Gotham is exceptionally bad thus they need Batman.

In most versions of Superman post-1987 Lex Luthor has such a stranglehold on Metropolis that it needs Superman. And in Golden Age versions of Superman he was presented as just tackling general urban crime that existed amidst the Great Depression, most of which stemmed from organized crime or corrupt political figures. But it wasn’t as though Metropolis was on the brink if not for Superman’s intervention.

Really the levels of crime and such that exist in superhero stories exist purely to justify a superhero being a crime fighter in the first place; it’s a practicality issue not an ideological one. I think this is different to say police TV shows or films that present characters who allegedly exist in the real world, who represent real world police officers who do a real world job that involves them interacting with allegedly real world threat levels. In a superhero story, of course t here is more crime that actually exists in the real world but I don’t think anyone making the stories ever honestly thought otherwise or paid much thought to it one way or the other. It was just a means to an end of challenging the protagonists.

Okay, but how about the fact that heroes rarely (if ever) calling for gun control or gun bans? Surely that is a Conservative.

Well no not really. Again, it’s not really an ideologically driven factor in super hero stories. It’s more akin to how superhero comic books just do not touch for example the issue of abortion or how they rarely make it truly explicit what political leanings a character has one way or the other.*

John Byrne when discussing his iconic Superman run stated he felt the character was a card carrying Republican, but to the best of my knowledge no Superman comic before or since has ever come out and said that. No Punisher story to my knowledge has ever stated Punisher is a Conservative in spite of the fact that he obviously is. No Spider-Man story has stated Spider-Man is a Liberal/left leaning moderate. And yet he has been depicted that way in most stories and it’d just be incredibly likely given his age, where he lives and his family background. I don’t even know if any Captain America story has stated clearly and without question that Cap would obviously vote for the Democrats 100% of the time out of the two major parties, even though he was explicitly Liberal  from the very first piece of artwork depicting him. In ne of Bucky’s early adventures as Captain America though he simultaneously protected Democrat and Republican politicians.

So whilst superhero comics do not involve characters calling for the abolition of guns 99% of the time, that’s less because they are or are not a Conservative power fantasy and more because the companies do not want to touch what they at least perceive as an incredibly volatile issue.

If the gun debate in America (which to me shouldn’t even be a debate, just get rid of them) ever moves to a place where there is virtually nobody opposing the abolition of guns most superheroes would absolutely be depicted in support of that.

To strip back everything I’m saying, super heroes are intended more on, and consumed more on, a symbolic level  than something in line with a particular ideology.

They are vigilantes who fight crime. But it’s understood that the crime is in the story simply because it is universally understood as ‘a bad thing’ that can cause harm and damage. The superhero is you. You being a vigilante symbolises how you have to on an individual level deal with a problem, the ‘bad thing’.

And the super powers are the catharsis of how much easier it would be to deal with the ‘bad thing’ if you were more than what you are.

I don’t agree with 100% of this, but this video (which is interesting unto itself) touches upon this idea around the 15:30 mark.

It’s not as though a Liberal enjoys the genre for the escapism or the perverse indulgence in politics they wouldn’t agree with whilst a Conservative just loves it’s reaffirmation of their beliefs.

They love it for the same reasons and those are usually rooted in the human elements of the characters alongside the power fantasy. Which is why I maintain there is an innate human appeal to the genre regardless of what perspective you come at it from.

I mean Jesus, if we are really going to argue that superheroes are a Western  Conservative power fantasy why have countries with anti-Western  values, countries that American Conservatives are heavily in opposition to, devoured the genre on film?

Why is the MCU outright beloved  in China?

Why have they tried to create their own super heroes in a similar vein?

Because these characters are not a Conservative, or a white, or a male power fantasy. They are just a human  power fantasy.

*And contrary to what people who are hardline on one ideology or another think, not opposing an issue isn’t tantamount to supporting it. Neutrality exists. If you support abortion that’s Liberal stance on the issue. If you oppose gun control that’s a Conservative stance on that issue. If you do not care about them one way or another you ware not expressing a Liberal or Conservative view point.

The whole ‘With us or against us’ viewpoint is absolutely myopic and overly simplistic. By this logic America was supportive of Hitler before they joined the Allies in WWII. But they were also supportive of the Allies because they weren’t supporting the Axis powers either.

Neutrality can exist.

[bigskydreaming]

thatninja replied to your post:

I know I’m usually that guy who’s always...

Gambit is 100% riding on his charm and looks. Plus Rogue could punch a hole through just about anyone that could argue that, which is prolly some kinda factor.

someothermonstra replied to your post:

I know I’m usually that guy who’s always...

isn’t… isn’t that canon?

LOL it actually varies pretty wildly depending on who’s writing him. I mean, good luck finding consistent characterization with any popular comic book character that’s at least three decades old, but all kidding aside, I do love the guy and Gambit in particular is a frequent target of character assassination. There’s even a trope named after him, though I forget its specific name at the moment. 

But its basically the idea that certain male characters who end up more popular with women than male comic book writers expect, or understand - like as in they don’t understand what about them appeals to female readers so much, or misunderstand the basis of that appeal - there’s this weird trend where some of them basically take it out on the character and kinda...do their best to sabotage them? Idk, its like, it frustrates certain dudes who have rigid expectations of what women want in a ‘ladies man’ type character, that when faced with characters who get that reception not because of how these writers WOULD write them, but for reasons they just...can’t put a finger on.....they basically get butthurt about it and are like ‘well what’s so great about this guy anyway.’ 

I mean for sure, being jealous of a comic book character - let alone one you yourself are getting paid to write - is pretty pathetic, buuuuuuut lbr, that describes a lot of dudes in that industry and I mean....there’s a pretty obvious and proven track record of characters like Gambit and Nightwing and the other well known ‘lotharios’ of the Marvel and DC universe regularly getting tanked in various runs and written as vapid airheads or thuggish jerks (not to mention cheaters), in ways that really don’t make any kind of sense from even a basic storytelling perspective and really seem to only exist to make them look bad. 

One writer that always stood out in this regard for me with Dick Grayson was Chuck Dixon, who wrote his Nightwing solo comic for a long time in the 90s, as well as adjacent titles. And to be clear, it was always pretty obvious that Dixon WANTED Dick to be received by readers as a ladies’ man.....but for reasons and ways that Dixon wanted. Like Dixon was a pretty right wing, conservative d-bag at the best of times, (and also the one who made Dick a cop, which tells you all you need to know about what I think about him, lmao)....and so its not hard to guess what he THOUGHT an ultimate man’s man, macho but suave lady-killer James Bond kinda guy SHOULD look and act like, and how female readers were meant to like...swoon at his take on him.

Except....that’s not remotely Dick’s appeal, and why he’s so popular with female fans. If anything, that’s pretty much the exact OPPOSITE of the times he’s most popular with women, and like....you can kinda see throughout the course of Dixon’s Nightwing runs where that just baffles and frustrates the hell out of him....and with him then all of a sudden throwing curveballs into his OWN long-term character work and storylines, just to be kinda like ‘well what do you think of him NOW, huh?’ In particular, I’m thinking of this one infamous stand-alone issue, I think it was an annual or whatever, and it was a flashback issue that was written late in the 90s but meant to take place right before Dick was supposed to get married to Kory back in his Titans days. And it involved Dick going to see Barbara one last time before his wedding, and talking about their romantic history together and hand delivering to her the invitation to his wedding with another woman....and then she’s like wtf....and that somehow led to them sleeping together.....and then him waking up the next morning in bed with Babs and being like, well that was great, I’m off to go marry Kory now!

Seriously. That actually happened. That issue was thankfully considered non-canon by most readers and other writers and never referenced again (outside of occasional references to Dick being a cheater, but as I’ve talked about before, that BS existed long before that story and stems from the crap with Mirage).

But like....it made ZERO sense. In story, in context of the characters, in terms of how Dixon HIMSELF usually wrote both Dick AND Babs, which he’d done a LOT of....like he also wrote Birds of Prey for a long time? With Babs front and center in that? And forget about Dick even for a second, in what universe would SHE sleep with someone who was about to go marry another woman?

Like, it came absolutely out of NOWHERE, and made zero sense whatsoever, and tbh, Dixon didn’t even really try and justify it within the actual narrative, it was kinda a wham bam, well here you go, this happened, DEAL WITH IT. That story’s only purpose really was to make everybody in it look bad, b/c Dixon’s the kind of dudebro to throw a temper tantrum within his own work b/c his female readers don’t like Dick for the reasons HE thinks they should like Ultimate Ladykiller Fantasy Man Dick Grayson, but for reasons that don’t make sense to him and he CAN’T replicate because of that.

Its the same trope with Gambit. And it actually kinda originated with him, even though Dick is a vastly older character, because don’t forget, a good fifty years of Dick’s history was as a preteen and a teenager. He was only growing into that persona of the character with mass romantic/sexual appeal at the time that Gambit was created.....and right from the bat, Gambit’s creation and reception kinda threw writers for a loop.

B/c Gambit, as Claremont initially conceived him, was not SUPPOSED to be sexy. Like, he had really longterm, complicated and convoluted plans for Gambit originally, and how he was connected to Mr. Sinister and other characters, but like....in Claremont’s own words in past interviews, he’s basically said that like....Gambit was supposed to be more obnoxious than charming. Like, he kinda meant for him to be taken as this greasy, weaselly kinda sleazebag who was only ‘charming’ because of something to do with his mutant power, that much referenced but little canonized ‘charm’ ability he’s always been rumored to have in addition to his kinetic energy powers.

Except....between how artists throughout Gambit’s early years actually portrayed him, and the ways Claremont and other early writers wrote him and the things they had him saying all being taken entirely differently than they intended....Gambit was pretty much an instant hit, with female readers in particular....and just like Nightwing in later years to follow, this frustrated the SHIT out of certain writers, because they just DID NOT GET IT.

And so with Gambit, just like with Dick, half the time you have writers who are total fans and just want to show off those characters (and other characters that fit this particular niche archetype) to the best of their abilities, highlight just how competent and skilled and intelligent they are....with fans of course usually being very receptive to this and upholding these particular runs as iconic and fave portrayals, enjoying the characters here for the reasons they’re ‘naturally’ appealing to a lot of fans, etc. 

Which of course, in turn, just kinda frustrates and annoys that Certain Dudebro Writer Type all over again. And thus the next time one of THEM gets their hands on these characters, there’s all these little digs built into the stories and the characters making mistakes that ‘reveal’ them as the kinda insensitive assholes they are, the jerks who don’t deserve the kind of acclaim they get, just like....Those Popular Jocks That Don’t Know How To Treat Women Right, Not like A REAL Nice Guy Like Me Would, and are really just kinda dumb airheads anyway and why do people even like them, ugh.

Anyway. So yeah. That’s definitely a thing that’s stood out for a lot of fans and readers over the years and been noted and talked about pretty extensively, with again, there even being a trope named after Gambit because of it. This weird, self-defeating obsession some guys have with making sure that like ‘Well if women aren’t going to like these Male Power Fantasy Characters for the reasons WE think they should like them, then we’re gonna make sure they just don’t like them at all.’

[jimmypeakes]

ADAM DIMARCO? No, that’s actually JIMMY PEAKES from the GOLDEN TRIO ERA. You know, the child of BRANWEN PEAKES (NÉE GOYLE) and JEREMIAH PEAKES? Only 19 years old, this GRYFFINDOR alumni works as an AUROR IN TRAINING and is sided with THE ORDER OF THE PHOENIX. HE identifies as CIS-MAN and is a HALF-BLOOD who is known to be IMPULSIVE, CARELESS, and IMPATIENT but also COURAGEOUS, ENTHUSIASTIC, and LOYAL. — &&. ( SAM, EST, THEY/THEM, 24. ) 

character parallels: gordon tracy ( thunderbirds ) + lorelai gilmore ( gilmore girls ) + sam wilson ( marvel comics ) + ron weasley ( harry potter ) + betty cooper ( archie comics ) + mike wheeler ( stranger things ) + anna ( frozen ) + legolas greenleaf ( the lord of the rings ) + donna noble ( doctor who ) + peter pevensie ( the chronicles of narnia ) !!

THREE HEADCANONS

— ❝ 01. Branwen Goyle was never a big fan of her family, and was out of the Goyle sphere of existence as soon as she finished Hogwarts. She ended up marrying a muggle man, Jeremiah Peakes, when she was around 25 years old, and had her first child two years later. She and Jeremiah ended up having a total of five children, all boys, and Jimmy is the second youngest out of them. He’s always kind of been the trouble-maker of the family, and though all of his brothers were over-achievers, he never felt any less proud of himself or that he had to compete with them. In fact, he’s a pretty easy-going person, and tends not to worry all that much. He’s fun to be around, and absolutely despises tension. He’s always trying to make light of difficult situations, and maybe sometimes cracks a joke when it’s not the exact right time. He’s been working on that, though, and can take things seriously. It’s like… He just needs a little something to help him grow up a bit more.

— ❝ 02. Jimmy Peakes does not have any problems finding people to date whatsoever. He’s very flirty, and quite agreeable to be around, and therefore, it’s quite easy for him to attract others. He’s pansexual and panromantic, and has never counted gender in the equation when it comes to romance or who he’s attracted to. He never really questioned his sexuality either. He always knew that he didn’t only like girls, and that whether they were girls or not didn’t matter to him. He first told his brothers he didn’t only like girls when he was seven years old. Like, just… Stood on the couch on Christmas day and announced he wasn’t straight. Which was a word he had learned thanks to the fact that Branwen and Jeremiah Peakes taught their children things about the world and had always made it clear to them that no prejudices would be tolerated. And as Jimmy tended to be a bit dramatic, of course he had to make a big announcement out of it.

— ❝ 03. Jimmy was a very active child, and still, to this day, constantly needs to be doing something. He’s a huge fan of flying and Quidditch, and that’s why he tried out for the Gryffindor team in his third (?) year. However, he always knew he didn’t want to take it to the professional level. Not only did he not have the patience to train as much as was necessary to become a professional, but he also didn’t think he’d be able to stand being only challenged physically, as he does love an intellectual challenge too. Sure, there are plenty of Quidditch players who are much smarter than him, but for him, personally, given the way he functions as a person, it wouldn’t work. He likes things that are more varied, which is why he ended up settling on becoming an auror. Not only was one of his heroes one, but also he couldn’t think of a better thing to do with himself than stop bad guys and save innocents. Plus, it presented a variety of challenges, both physical and intellectual, and therefore truly motivated Jimmy.

MORE

Has three older brothers and one younger brother, who I’ll definitely beg y’all to play hehe.

Yes, his family was inspired by the Tracy family from the Thunderbirds TV show(s) (and movie, though we don’t talk about that. I mean, I do love it, but I acknowledge the fact that it’s... Not the best.)

Definitely inspired by Gordon Tracy. Like, I’m not even trying to be subtle about it. For reference, though, my favourite is John. But Gordon is a close second. But actually, it changes a lot.

I do realize this turned into me just talking about Thunderbirds, but it’s my one (1) niche interest, and I will never ever shut up about it. I do apologize about that, though.

Loves classical music! Like, isn’t that into music in general, but he does really appreciate classical music. And like, he does enjoy music, it’s just not a passion of his.

Is going to be so into the year 2029 like how much things have changed? Amazing. And since his dad’s a muggle, he’s quite connected to the muggle world, so to see how things have evolved over there? WOW.

Probably was the kid who kept on trying to make muggle devices work at Hogwarts by tinkering with them, but then mocked/teased (I’m never sure what the difference between those words is; I should Google it probably) his younger brother when he brought a walkman (or whatever the equivalent of that was at the time) to Hogwarts.

Loves all things water related. Used to hang out a lot by the lake, and went swimming whenever he got the chance. He’s a very strong swimmer.

Kind of? Bad at dealing with emotions? Jake Peralta could also be a character parallel for him, honestly.

Has literally never interacted with his mother’s family, as they consider him and his brothers huge mistakes and stains on their reputation. Would fight a Goyle, 100%.

Would die for his family (his brothers, siblings-in-law and parents - maybe even niblings if someone who plays one of his brothers want said brother to have a child or children), no doubt about it.

His dad’s actually rich, so even though Branwen (Jimmy’s mother) got disowned, they never lacked of anything. Especially the newest technology and vehicles, as that was the field his dad was in. Please don’t @ me for all these stolen Thunderbirds ideas I am but a small, idealess Sam.

Plays Dungeons & Dragons with friends and (maybe - depending on the people who potentially play them) some of his brothers and plays a wonderfully chaotic neutral forest gnome rogue named Alvyn. No family name for Alvyn, because he’s just too cool for that.

( FOOD TW ) Is actually a somewhat decent cook.

Will most likely marathon a shit ton of old (but new for him) superhero movies in 2029. Because, yeah. He loves superhero movies. He prefers Marvel movies, but DC comics. Which is not at all inspired by my own taste. Not. At all.

+ ABOUT PAGE !! + PINTEREST BOARD !! ( coming soon ) + CONNECTIONS PAGE !! ( coming soon )

[twdmusicboxmystery]

Mailbag Fan Question and Oh the Possibilities!

Okay, this came out the week before the finale aired but I never got around to posting about it. There’s the obvious suspicious stuff, which I’ll point out, but doing research on the details, I also found some interesting connections.

So part of the Mailbag Fan Question post for the finale was, “What happened to the remaining hospital staff at Grady Memorial?”

Let's appreciate the fact that I don't think this came from a TD-er. It probably came from someone in the GA, which means we’re not the only ones who’ve noticed the oddity of Grady being left standing and what to know what’s up.

Why include this in the fan mailbag right before the finale? Obviously we didn’t see Grady in the finale or anything about it. So why put this here? They get thousands of fan questions and generally only include the ones that are asked the most or are super relevant to the upcoming episode. And of course thy don’t reveal any spoilers. So again, why have this question?

You could argue it’s to remind us of Grady's unfinished story line. Between this and all the suspicious tweets the Grady actors have written over the years, it’s obvious Grady will become relevant again at some point. That alone doesn’t prove we’re right about Beth being alive, but let’s be real. She was the ONLY character that had a meaningful arc at Grady. The ONLY one privy to all the things going on there or who learned anything meaningful from it. If Grady is going to become relevant again, then Beth is going to become relevant again.

But again, why give us a Grady Update now? Again, the actors have tweeted things out over all the seasons, so why is AMC choosing this moment, this finale to post this?

Obviously we can’t say for sure, but I think it’s just more proof of how close she is. They post this before a finale that had Alone parallels, a blond walker who got an icicle in the eye, Christmas themes, and Daryl staring at Beth’s picture. Not at all what I would call a coincidence. I’m thinking more and more that we’ll see her early in S10 (kinda like we saw Morgan early in S5). I think all of this points to that. While we may have a long hiatus ahead of us, I think we’ll see Beth in the next handful of episodes which, in the scope of the show, really isn’t far away at all.

Now let’s look at the answers. First, let me credit those in my group who hashed all this out for us. They include @frangipanilove, @bethgreeneprevails, @thegloriouscollectorlady, and @wdway. This is a collection of their thoughts and mine.

First of all, it says that the Grady people perform an apocalyptic musical. Do you really think “music” is a coincidence? Even putting Beth aside, the last episode the Grady staff were in is called Coda, which is a musical term. But we can't really put aside Beth because she was the songbird on the show. The only one who literally sang.

They also say the musical is called Mammalton. I would've known that reference but luckily other people in my group did. It's a play on the show, Hamilton which is a famous off-Broadway musical. More on that in a minute.

Then it says Mammalton is the story of mammals taking over and forming their own democracy following the collapse of society. That strikes me as pretty much exactly what was happening at Grady. Society collapsed and this group of people was trying to create a new society on all their own. Of course, it was extremely flawed and not much of a democracy, but still. So perhaps this is a way of saying that Grady is still standing, and that maybe it created a better society after TF family left. Hmm. Wonder who could be leading that.

I also had the thought that it might be a play on the word, Slabtown. Even though Mammalton is a play on the name, Hamilton, it sounds a little like “Mammaltown.” In a way, that might give some insight in the title, Slabtown. If the “town” part simply represents a particular society, then Slabtown signified that this society bread only death, rather than hope, and was a subtle clue to Beth’s fate in 5x08.

Then there's the songs that are mentioned. "Stay Alive," "The Dead Commandments," and "The Gory of Tonight (reprise)." These, too, are plays on titles of songs from the musical Hamilton. The songs from the play are called, “Stay Alive,” “The Ten Duel Commandments,” and “The Story of Tonight.” 

Come on now. Stay Alive? Can we get any more obvious than that? The Dead Commandments. Obviously, it's a biblical reference to the Ten Commandments, but remember that we saw pictures of baby Moses and the burning bush on Father Gabriel's wall in Strangers. You know, right before we saw Beth on the Grady story line?

And it strikes me as a progression. Moses was separated from his true people and family as a baby. The same thing happened to Beth back in S5. She became separated from TF. Now we have reference to the Ten Commandments. Moses didn’t bring the Ten Commandments to his people until years later (*ahem* time jump *ahem*) after he’d reunited with his real family. So seeing Baby Moses pictures in 5x02 foreshadowed Beth’s separation from TF, and Ten Commandments referenced before the finale may foreshadow…her return.

The Story of Tonight has less obvious ties to TD, but the “gory” part is obviously a general TWD theme. I did look into what the song is about and it’s about revolution and fighting for what you believe in, even when it’s not by far the easiest thing to do. So it works well with TWD.

So this “Grady Update” would be super suspicious just with what I’ve said so far, right? But naturally, there’s more. As I looked into the musical Hamilton, something else occurred to me. Another connection between this and something else AMC put out this season.

They’ve used two real paintings as part of their promotion this season. There’s this Thanksgiving picture, and then this Crossing of the Delaware picture. In both cases, they superimposed TWD characters onto the faces in the picture. I’m going to reference the Crossing the Delaware picture today. 

Our group has discussed it back and forth quite a bit and tried to read TD stuff into it. We’ve been moderately successful. But reading through the plot of Hamilton, the musical, I made a huge connection.  

So, a little background for those who aren’t familiar. This painting depicts a famous event during the American Revolution, when George Washington crossed the Delaware River (an extremely dangerous crossing) on Christmas Eve and surprised his enemies at dawn. It was a major victory because they took the enemy's camp while the enemy were still asleep and half drunk on Christmas wine and were able to completely overtake the camp without a single loss of American life. I think a few of the enemy were killed, but not many. It's a very famous story.

In my group, we found this interesting anyway because of the Christmas references here, the river (water) and of course the founding fathers suggest DC. And of course in the finale, TF did cross a river, albeit a frozen one.

So what does this have to do with this mailbag fan question?

Well, the plot of the musical Hamilton is basically about Alexander Hamilton. It's a play that tells the story of his life through true historical events and the eyes of other founding fathers, who are all part of the play. I connected it to the painting of George Washington, because during the famous Crossing of the Delaware, Alexander Hamilton was Washington's aid-de-camp, which means he was Washington’s right-hand man.

So this reference to the musical Hamilton and the picture of George Washington crossing the Delaware on Christmas Eve are connected.

Reading through the plot of Hamilton in more detail, there’s a few suspicious things. Rick’s face is the one on George Washington’s in the picture, right? Well, if Hamilton was Washington’s right hand man, who does Hamilton represent in this analogy? You’d think it would be Daryl because Daryl has always been Rick’s right hand guy. In short, it’s not. Hamilton is Beth. Let me explain why.

1. Hamilton isn’t actually present in the famous painting. Most of the others in the boat with Washington don’t represent real historical figures. They’re more like composites of people involved in the American Revolution in some way. Many of them have varied cultural clothing to represent different countries and factions who took part. So Hamilton, though he was there historically, is not actually represented in this famous painting. (Beth is not there with TF right now.) Plus, Daryl’s face is on another character in the boat, (the one near the front) which specifically is NOT Hamilton, so Daryl can’t be Hamilton.

2. Reading through the synopsis of the play, there’s a whole section about a man named Charles Lee who is granted a command by George Washington, but turns out to be a terrible field commander. After Washington fires him, Lee goes on a tirade against Washington, claiming that he’s an unfit leader. Hamilton wants to challenge this man on Washington's behalf, but things get complicated. I was just thinking that sounds an awful lot like what happened at Grady with Dawn and Capt. Hansen. Unfit leaders, challenges, duels? Major parallels there.

3. When Hamilton dies near the end of the play, he’s shot in a duel. He ends up in musket duel with someone he truly doesn’t want to kill. So when they turn and fire at one another, he misses on purpose (kinda like Beth stabbing Dawn when she must have know that wouldn’t kill her) and is in turn shot himself (just like Beth.) Interestingly, the final musical number in the play is called, “Who lives, who dies, Who Tells Your Story.”

In short, I think it’s safe to say that Beth = Hamilton in this scenario, which makes even more sense because Hamilton was used to answer a question about Grady. If the musical is about Hamilton’s lives and battles, then applied to Grady, it pretty much has to mean Hamilton = Beth.

So the short of this is that both these things—the Grady Update and the Crossing of the Delaware picture—point to Beth’s imminent return.

The long of it is that this has me spinning in tons of directions. It’s all just conjecture and head canons and predictions I have absolutely no way of verifying right now, but I can’t help myself. Given that Hamilton is Washington’s right hand man (Rick in the picture) and that I’ve always compared the Dawn/Hanson dynamic to a Beth/Rick dynamic (details HERE) and the fact that Grady was practically part of Rick’s hallucination right before he disappeared… 

And then there’s THIS POST I made a million years ago about how this shot from Coda shows that Rick, Daryl and Beth will be on similar leadership levels…

I’m just thinking more and more that it makes sense that Rick and Beth will end up in the same place. That would make all their parallels make perfect sense. And while I 100% think she’ll be a leader in her own right, wouldn’t it be super cool if she met up with Rick and sort of stepped into Daryl’s shoes as Rick’s right hand person for a while? That would REALLY put her and Daryl on the same level, wouldn’t it?

Not to mention…Legs? Beth? Red Machete? Rick?  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Okay, okay. Again, this is all conjecture and my imagination is running away with me. Just wanted to point all this out because I think they’ve give us some heavy foreshadowing here and even if I’m not interpreting it entirely correctly, it’s super-important for S10. Thoughts?

[i-aim-to-overanalyze]

Fanfic writers meme: 3, 4, 6, 7, 10, 13, 14, 17, 19, 20, 27, 39, 40, 42, 45, 46, and 50 (my question for #50 is: Your favourite character from any of your fandoms (pick one or several characters you like) is writing a fanfic STARRING YOU AS A CHARACTER. Regarding this fact, what kind of fanfic do you think he/she/they are writing about and how would you feel about you literally being in it?)

Thank you so much for sending in an ask! :D

3. Name three favorite writers.

Ahh, this is a toughie! I’m going to list three writers from different fandoms that I admire a lot.

A. Anappleofdiscord from fanfiction.net I’m pretty sure she doesn’t have a tumblr and even tho it’s been forever since I spoken with her personally, she is an awesome person and an awesome writer. She writes for the Hetalia fandom, focusing on gen stuff centering around England and America. If you know anything about the Hetalia fandom, it’s ridiculously rare to find platonic fics about these two and her fics are like the cream of the crop. Her characterizations are on point, her fics are educational and hilarious (and also a rollarcoaster of emotions) plus she pulls off OCs superbly. If you ever check out her fics, tell her that Listenerofshadows sent you ;)

B. Glimare from fanfiction.net I don’t know her personally, but I love her work in the DC fandom. Sadly, she’s since mostly moved on to other fandoms (which is great for her, if the feeling’s not there, don’t push yourself to write fanfic for certain fandoms) but she has a TON of content and it’s all so good. Her most-well known work is a collection of one-shots known as “Daddy, Not Bats”. It’s an AU where Bruce encounters the bat-kids at a younger age and decides to retire to raise them all. It’s sweet, fluffy and angsty all rolled into one.

C. @elfpen from AO3, Fanfiction.net and Tumblr.  I stumbled across her fanfic Reprise when looking for a good star wars time-travel fanfic to satisfy my needs and boy, DOES SHE DELIVER. Most time-travel fics center around the OT era or Obiwan and/or Anakin traveling to TPM, but hers focus on OT!Obiwan traveling back to the era BEFORE TPM. It’s a great fic, I love the characterizations and her OCs are on-point. Not to mention, she also has a lot of other awesome SW and HTTYD content. 

Putting everything else under the cut because this is gonna get long quick!

4. Name three authors that were influential to your work and why.

A. Anappleofdiscord, again. Because she has actually beta’d my work before and given me great writing advice. I haven’t finished Neverlast, nor barely touched on it, but I’m thankful for her influence she’s played on it.

B. It’s hard to pinpoint my inspiration for my writing, because it’s kinda an intuitive thing? Like, I’ll be writing and a phrase comes up and I’m like “I know I stole that phrase from some fanfic lol” but i don’t know which one??? But basically all the fanfic writers I love are legions above me and I admire them all. But I have to say, I’ve started writing more third-person present tense because of a few good fanfics (but I can’t pinpoint which ones) which it’s a rare tense for a novel to pursue but I love the rhythm of it.

6. How did writing change you?

I’ve been writing before I could even write. Basically as a little four-year-old, I’d make pictures and then dictate to my older sister/mom what the pictures were about, essentially creating a storybook out of it. Since writing has been part of my life for so long, it’s so innate to me like breathing air. I know there’s a lot I could improve on writing, but it’s just a freeing way for me to express myself in a clear and concise manner. In real life, I can be awkward in how I word things and I have a tendency to trip over words or don’t fully pronounce my th-s and s-es. Fanfiction is great because I can explore my favorite concepts of a fanfic in a medium that people can enjoy reading in :)

7. Early influences of your writing

Once I discovered reading was fun (I didn’t learn to read until 2nd grade but that’s okay, because once I did I was reading several grades above my level) I devoured books. Some of my favorite books as a child are: PJO, Chronicles of Narnia, Boxcar Children and Black Beauty. I also did some RPG’ing at a young age, which greatly improved my writing as the constant writing at a rapid pace forced my writing to improve exponentially. There were roleplayers that I admired greatly that I imitated because I wanted my writing to be as good as theirs.

10. how do you do your researches?

Google, man, Google. For example let’s say my fanfic is a historical AU. I know a lot about history, but I might look up a historical site to proofcheck my dates or phrases of the time. Fanfic is nice, because it gives you an excuse to rewatch your favorite show if you wanna make sure you nail the characterizations. I might just look at a fan wiki if it’s a minor detail like what’s Ahsoka’s smaller lightsaber called. 

13. Hardest character to write

Oohhh boy! I think everyone can agree that Yoda and Darth Vader are the two toughest SW characters to write for. It’s hard to get into the head of a 900 yr old troll and Vader is just…really hard? Palpatine is also hard not to make him the typical cookie-cutter villian (Which he is, but I’d like to try to give him some depth). I feel like I write a different take of Anakin every time I write a different AU involving him, but I think that’s because the AUs are at different points of his life and also the AU effects his reaction to things.

14. Easiest character to write.

I know it’s contradictory, but Anakin. He’s definitely chaotic good and it’s fun to write that archtype. I haven’t written much Obiwan (actually I have, but I can’t post it until I write the chapters bridging to him :/) but he’s more lawful good compared to Anakin and throwing those two into the same fic is fun to see. Padme is a fun one to write as well as Ahsoka.

17. Favorite AU to write

I have so many AUs so again, hard choice. Gotta say Impetus, since it’s the most I have written for and I love it. It deals more with the traumatizing effects that slavery/the Jedi have inflicted on Anakin plus an even more problematic Palpatine. I didn’t mean to recreate Palpatine in that fashion he’s basically a pedophile in this AU, the characters kinda just made it happen and I ran with it. It was supposed to be a humorous/fluffy what-if but like everything I touch, it’s also angsty ( ¯\_(ツ)_/¯)

19. Favorite fandom to write for

My favorite fandom to write for naturally changes with my interests. I was obsessed with YJ for a while, then Hetalia and now SW. Star Wars is fun to write for because there’s a big audience and it’s pretty easy to find a pocket audience who love the same types of things that you do. YJ will always be my first love. I’m currently writing a fanfic for a YJ fandom event, but I’ve been kinda struggling? I’ve lost my enthusiasm writing-wise even tho I still love it to bits.

20. Favorite Character to Write.

Anakin, probably. It’s funny because I used to never like the PT, but the Clone Wars changed all that. It’s a shame that Lucas went the direction he did for Anakin in PT because TCW uncovered a problematic but likeable hero and I wish we could’ve seen that live-action (It’s not Hayden’s fault btw, the director is the one responsible for what portrayal the actor gives)

27. Best review you ever got.

Okay, so. I used to share an account on FF.Net with a friend and I wrote of a lot of YJ fanfics. One of them was a gen one-shot involving Bart and Jaime that received a good amount of attention. AND A REALLY GOOD FANFIC AUTHOR THAT I ADMIRED AND LOOKED UP TO REVIEWED MY FIC AND I HAVE NEVER GOTTEN OVER IT. I never in a million years imagined that my favorite authors potentially read my fanfics, let alone review/favorite it.

39. Do you want to be published some day?

Kinda. As a kid I’ve always wanted to get published but now I’m not so sure. I’ve never finished any fics other than one-shots and that really has gotten to me. My current goal is to finish at least one of my fanfics but I think I’ve been putting it off because I’m afraid it’s impossible to acccomplish. It’s silly, I know. I just need to do it.

40. Which one of your stories do would you most like to see as a movie/series?

Hmmm….probably my one-shot involving those two bounty hunter OCs. I could just see them trying to survive the universe with the least amount of weird space stuff happening but they seem to get pulled into it anyway. Those two are actually the easiest OCs for me to write, btw.

42. Do you plan or do you write whatever comes to mind?

I’m a weird creature. In life, I like to know things ahead of time. I like things to run exactly the way I planned. I don’t like unexpected variables. but in writing…I rarely outline. I usually write whatever is on my mind. Pure inspiration is awesome…until it runs out and feels like you’re pulling teeth to just to write a single sentence. That’s when I attempt to outline things.

45. Share the synopsis of a story you haven’t published yet

“Whatis love? To a young child slave, it is the words his mother used to caress himafter a brutal beating by their master. It is wrapped in the kisses she givesto each bruise and lullabies that lull him to sleep.” A meta on Anakin’s varying views of love a crappy summary authored by moi

46. Share a scene of a story you haven’t published yet.

Welp. Might as well share from the above fic.

Whatis love? To a young child slave, it is the words his mother used to caress himafter a brutal beating by their master. It is wrapped in the kisses she givesto each bruise and lullabies that lull him to sleep.

Hismaster can freely touch every part of him he wishes. He can say words to him—hecan do anything he like to him.

Hecan say things like, “You know I love you, boy?” and the slave obedientlyanswers, “Yes, master.”

He’sso very young, but he knows that his master’s words and touch are not love.Only his mother’s is. He doesn’t know how to describe it. But he can feel thewarmth behind them, like hovering over a fire on a cold desert night. They arelike a thick blanket made of bantha furs, soft and comforting. They melt awayhis tears and fill his lungs with laughter.

Everyday, his mother tells him “I love you Ani.” and Ani, the slave boy, freelyreplies, “I love you too, Mom!”

Hefollows by her example, smothering her with hugs and tells her silly stories tohear her laughter that rings like the bells at the market stands. Because heknows love is the best medicine to heal anyone. It makes them feel fuzzy insideand they don’t feel so sad knowing someone cares about them.

Hismom gets sad a lot, so he does his best to repel the sadness away. He doesn’tget angry when she’s sad, because she isn’t angry when he’s sad.

“It’sokay to be sad,” She tells him one night as she runs her hands through hishair, “Everyone gets sad, just like how everyone gets angry or happy.”

“Mastersdon’t like it when we’re angry though.” Anakin pouted.

Shepauses; looking down at her son with a sad smile, “No matter what they say,you’re allowed to feel angry, Ani. Bundle it up, and keep it to yourself—andrelease it when they aren’t looking.”

“Areyou ever angry, mom?” He yawned as he snuggled closer.

“Yes.”His mother breathed deeply, and he could feel a bit of her anger—for aninstant.

It ishot—not warm like Love’s fire. No, it burns and consumes him for a moment. Itreminds him of all the bruises and welts that his masters have given him. Angeris selfish and doesn’t love. He doesn’t like seeing the giver of his Love feelthis way. He internally sighs in relief when her anger melts away as he told atale about a funny customer that came in that day.

Hehas never truly felt anger. He flinches from its’ touch and refuses to feel theemotion that his masters are fond of.

50. Your favourite character from any of your fandoms (pick one or several characters you like) is writing a fanfic STARRING YOU AS A CHARACTER. Regarding this fact, what kind of fanfic do you think he/she/they are writing about and how would you feel about you literally being in it?)

I feel like everyone relates when I say I don’t think my life is interesting. I’d pick Cassie from YJ because I feel like she’d be the type to write fanfic. I will say one ironic moment in my life is that I starred in a play as a shy bookworm girl who got the lead role in her school play alongside her crush, the star basketball player, incidentally they ended up together in the end. Everyone irl teased me about this but the truth is….I actually had a crush on the actor himself. We’ve known each other for years and are good friends. And the closest I ever gotten to “kissing” him was a moment in the play where our characters almost kissed before being interrupted by other students. But of course nothing real came of the play and we still remain good friends.  I always note in my head that the hollywood version is that we…would’ve hooked up in the end. I’m sure if I was a fictional character and Cassie shipped me with him and we didn’t get together in the end, she’d be writing a fix-it fic where our pairing is the true pairing in the end. If i wasn’t fictional, I’d feel really weirded out by it. I don’t like fic involving real people in it, especially if it involves ships. I’m almost 90% sure this guy doesn’t have a crush on me and just regards as friends. Which is okay, because I’m not sure if I even want a relationship at the moment.

[wikitopx]

The attractions of the Gold Coast bring smiles to folks of all ages and stages.

With exhilarating rides, exotic animals and endless waterslides to assist you to cool off on hot summer days, your Gold Coast vacation offers a full spectrum of interactive recreation - from dazzling huge budget Gold Coast theme parks to little, uproariously kitsch museums.

[toc]

1. DREAMWORLD

As Australia’s largest amusement park, never-never land has it all. hormone junkies will withstand the world’s tallest free-falling ride, be propelled from zero to 161 kilometers per hour, and even challenge gravity fifteen stories higher than the bottom of the massive Thrill Rides.

Come face-to-face with the jungle’s most direful predator at Tiger Island or immerse yourself in ancient autochthonic Australian culture and life at never-never land Corroboree. Families will take a scenic ride aboard the never-never land categorical, create a splash on the Log Ride or repulse in time in Dreamworld’s picture Vintage Cars.

Kids will meet favorite tv characters Hoot and Hootabelle, and Dorothy the archosaurian reptile at ABC's youngster's WORLD, whereas animated movies Madagascar, Shrek and Kung-Fu Panda come back to life within the DreamWorks expertise.

Go from thrills to spills at WhiteWater World, currently one in all the various worlds of never-never land. Ride the enormous waterslides or the world’s most enjoyable simulated wave on FlowRider, or just cool off within the wave pool.

Treat yourself at a variety of shops together with the flagship LEGO® store and pull in a souvenir of your never-never land expertise. With such a big amount of worlds in one, there’s one thing for everyone at Dreamworld!

LOCATION: Dreamworld route, Coomera QLD, 4209

2. CURRUMBIN WILDLIFE SANCTUARY

Explore this painting Gold Coast life Sanctuary.

Experience the wild lory feeding, free-flight bird shows, and Aboriginal performances. take a look at your ability on the TreeTops Challenge High Ropes Course, Associate in Nursing exhilarating ninety challenge cover ropes course and see the howling vets in action at intervals the life Hospital city district.

With an enormous out of doors themed playground, Wild Island, there's lots of amusement for youths to relish as they tour the sanctuary on a miniature train. Lost vale a replacement exotic city district options 5 hectares of the gorgeous rain forest, Lost vale takes you on a journey through the traditional supercontinent Gondwana.

Explore a forgotten world and obtain up shut and private with a number of the world's most original and distinctive flora and life together with friendly Lemurs, Cotton-top tamarins, Red pandas, Capybaras beside free-flying birds and exotic reptiles.

Currumbin life Sanctuary may be a not-for-profit organization and reinvests all yield back to life and conservation programs.

LOCATION: Gold Coast road Corner of Tomewin Street, Currumbin QLD, 4223

3. AUSTRALIA'S SEA WORLD

Delve below surface and find out a full new world of fun and journey put off World, Australia’s favorite Marine Park!

Embark on a journey to avoid wasting the oceans with the all-new ocean Guardians Presentation or loosen up within the shade whereas the youngsters quiet down in Sea World’s latest splash pad attraction, The Reef at Castaway Bay.

Plus, don’t forget to prevent by and meet Chase and Marshall from PAW Patrol and catch their new show, PAW Patrol On vacation.

Make friends with splendid marine life, from dolphins to seals, Polar bears, penguins and additional. want the sky with our all-new ocean World Sky Flyer attraction! expertise breathless views of ocean World and therefore the Gold Coast Broadwater as you soar in an exceedingly big swing chair thirty-three meters on top of the bottom.

Discover the wonder of ocean jellies at our new exhibit, ocean Jellies lit that options associate array of ocean jelly displays and academic parts to require you on an associate illuminating journey.

If you favor a thrill, you'll be able to mount up the Jet Rescue ride and speed around the track your terribly own jet ski or attack the amazing Storm Coaster.

LOCATION: Sea World Drive, Main Beach QLD, 4217

4. BURLEIGH HEAD NATIONAL PARK

Discover a wild, natural foreland within the heart of the Gold Coast that gives walks on the rocky geological formation and through the timberland, and therefore the probability to check whales in spring and sea-eagles soaring on the coast.

Ancient volcanic columns meet the ocean during this park, that options timberland, eucalyptus tree forest, pandanus groves, clump piece of land, coastal heath, and mangroves. Its northern facet is one in every of Australia's most known water sport purpose breaks.

Walk the Ocean read walk round the rocky foreland from Tallebudgera Creek and see the tumbled lots of six-sided volcanic rock columns. Explore the timberland circuit, wandering through a living deposit of plants, and wait for humpback whales from Tumgun lookout in winter and spring.

Note that access to the drop line boulder fields, together with Cannon Rock, and therefore the steep slopes between the Oceanview track and boulder fields square measure prohibited because space has been declared a restricted access space for traveler safety. perpetually be the fashioned walking tracks. explore for Australian brush-turkey nesting mounds, seabirds, and water dragons as you walk.

Picnic on Burleigh geological formation or relax on Echo Beach.

LOCATION: Goodwin Terrace, Burleigh Heads QLD, 4220

5. TREETOP CHALLENGE

The top Challenge at Tamborine Mountain is Australia’s largest top journey Park with quite a hundred and twenty top activities together with ten nada lines! Their courses vary from simple to extreme and traverse through 9 acres of fantastic bushland and rain forest. to complete the complete journey Park can take 3 to four hours wherever you'll have an incredible journey flying through the trees, capture your fears and having an entire heap of fun!

You will suspend concerning within the trees, balance on suspended bridges, mount ten vast flying foxes with some spanning over a hundred thirty meters - it's nice fun, it's safe and appeals to the daredevil in everyone!

Their journey Park is meant for the complete family aged eight and up, you don’t want any expertise and it’s excellent for all fitness levels! make preparations to expertise the frenzy of flying through the trees and gaining large satisfaction as you conquer your fears and make lingering memories!

LOCATION: Corner Cedar Creek Falls Road and Tamborine Mountain, North Tamborine QLD, 4272

6. SKYPOINT CLIMB

SkyPoint Climb takes place on the highest of the Q1 building in Surfers Paradise and at 270 meters within the air, it's one in all Australia's highest external building walks. beginning on level seventy-seven of SkyPoint Observation Deck, Climbers can enter the out-of-doors wearing a full-body suit and harness.

Following their Climb guide, participants can then traverse up towards the platform settled at the best purpose of the Climb at around 270 meters higher than the bottom.

Regular stops are going to be taken to admire the gorgeous 360-degree views of the Gold Coast region together with the golden beaches, town skyline, and luxurious inexperienced backwoods. Climbers can then descend to level seventy-seven.

Altogether the expertise takes about ninety minutes together with a rendezvous session and also the time on the Climb course.

LOCATION: Surfers Paradise street, Surfers Paradise QLD, 4217

7. WARNER BROS. MOVIE WORLD

Step underneath the noted arch of Australia’s favored pleasure ground, Warner Bros. picture show World. withstand world category rides, attractions and shows and meet a number of your favorite stars!

Home to the tallest, longest and quickest roller coaster within the hemisphere, picture show World boasts a full day of journey crammed with all the loudness and glamour of Hollywood, your favorite loony Tunes Characters and the Super Heroes and Super-Villains of the DC Universe.

Experience all-new attractions as well as the family favorite Scooby-Doo Spooky Coaster Next Generation. Uncover endless thrills with new camera work like projections and lasers!

Plus, witness the all-new exclusive JL fifty-two Batmobile within the Streets Star Parade. you'll be able to conjointly get your image smitten tender and also the Batmobile throughout the day.

Don’t miss your probability to satisfy the foremost technically advanced member of the Justice League – bionic man. Part man, half machine and every one Super Hero, a bionic man may be a crowd favorite. Snap a photograph with this spectacular hero, alongside your different favorite Super Heroes, throughout your next adventure!

LOCATION: Pacific superhighway, Oxenford QLD, 4210

8. HOTA - HOME OF THE ARTS

Surrounded by parklands and a lake with Surfers Paradise because the background, HOTA, Home of the humanities is your home for live performances, lake-side strolls, star-gazing, cinema-watching, art, and new ideas.

There’s a novel bandstand for live events and a fresh restaurant for restful and connecting. Plus, all of your favorites, like their cinemas, theatres, and gallery. Discover art—indoors and out. HOTA is that sort of place—where art meets life.

LOCATION: 135 Bundall Rd, Surfers Paradise QLD, 4217

9. WET N WILD GOLD COAST

Enjoy endless summer days at Wet’n’Wild Gold Coast! Splash into a world of fun with a world category line-up of slides and attractions for the young and young in spite of appearance.

Experience Wet’n’Wild Junior, an enormous zone only for very little adventurers. Designed particularly for teenagers, Wet’n’Wild Junior options kid-friendly water slides together with miniature versions of our larger thrill slides like Tornado and therefore the blueness Racers.

If you’re when one thing additional courageous, tackle the gut racking Aqualoops! You’ll be discharged down a trapdoor, causing you plummeting into an enormous vertical free fall. If you’re when a slower pace, you can’t go past Calypso Beach or the enormous Wave Pool – the proper place to relax and unwind finally the action.

LOCATION: Pacific thruway, Oxenford QLD, 4210

10. PACIFIC FAIR SHOPPING CENTRE

Pacific honest is that the Gold Coast's unmissable searching and eating destination, providing an associate expansive assortment of luxury, painting international brands and leading Australian retailers. With four hundred stores, Pacific honest offers a charming mix of the world’s best brands, set amongst tropical landscapes and a novel outside ambiance.

Dine 'til late at upmarket restaurants within the Resort, The Patio, and also the street. The Food Court offers an associate array of nutrition choices. Hours of fun to be had at Play Street foot. a high climb course and child space.

A fantabulous traveler Lounge offers coach set down and parking, free LAN and a prayer space. baggage storage lockers and shower amenities square measure obtainable for a little fee. The complimentary traveler Privileges Pass provides exclusive retail merchant offers and is on the market for assortment from the traveler Lounge.

A free searching shuttle service operates daily between Main Beach and Burleigh Heads. Visit the web site for the timetable. Pacific honest is open seven days per week and simply a brief walk from Broadbeach South G.

LOCATION: Hooker Street, Broadbeach QLD, 4218

More ideals for you: Top 10 things to do in Melbourne

From : https://wikitopx.com/travel/top-10-things-to-do-in-gold-coast-705258.html

[markgottliebliteraryagent]

Graphic Novel Creators Kenny Porter & Zach Wilcox

Kenny Porter is a professional writer living in West Michigan. He's most known for content development, writing comics, copy, blogs, and fiction. He graduated from Grand Valley State University with a BA in Writing. The writing program at GVSU allowed him to create his own curriculum, which he used to focus on fiction, writing for the web, genre studies, and manuscript development. He started his career in writing during high school and has since gone on to publish short stories, write articles for online magazines, and has won the first Top Cow Talent Hunt for Writing.

Zach Wilcox is a cartoonist based in Philadelphia. He holds an MFA in Sequential Art from the Savannah College of Art and Design and a BS in Digital media from Drexel University. The goal of his work is to encourage young readers to get excited about art as a narrative tool and inspire future creators. When he isn't working on comics he enjoys time with his dog Finn and his three nephews.

Porter and Wilcox are the co-creators of the forthcoming graphic novel from Scholastic/Graphix, The Fearless Rider, in which a young girl and her pet ferret run away from home on their tricked-out bicycle on the first day of school to find her best friend who moved away and recapture her life before everything went wrong—pitched as a slice-of-life story with tone and setting of a Miyazaki film.

What do you enjoy about the comic book arts medium and what do you feel the graphic novel form of storytelling affords authors and creators?

KP: Comics have always been a part of my life and what I love most about them is that there are no limits to the kinds of visual stories you can tell. The great thing about original graphic novels is it allows you to break away from the single issue format of monthly comics to develop a pace that’s unique to the story. That’s something that Zach Wilcox and I are enjoying a lot with The Fearless Rider.

ZW: Graphic novels afford the reader a sense of control that you don’t get anywhere else. Being able to dwell on a panel or moment, or absorb a whole page at once, is such a unique and intimate experience. When you’re making something like that it’s sort of fun to imagine how the reader is going to interact with the work.

“I wanted to bring that same love of anime, manga, and live-action shows to Kara’s character.”

Have any anime/manga or comic book creators influenced The Fearless Rider, your forthcoming graphic novel? For instance, Hayao Miyazaki and Osamu Tezuka seem to come to mind.

KP: Miyazaki is definitely a huge influence on the tone of The Fearless Rider. I initially pitched it to Zach that way, as if it were a lost Miyazaki film about a girl who sets out to find her missing best friend. There’s also some influence of my love of Super Sentai and tokusatsu shows with the fake magical girl character Shinpi Rider that the main character adores. I grew up in a generation where Toonami was broadcasting these amazing shows from Japan that we had never heard of before, and I wanted to bring that same love of anime, manga, and live-action shows to Kara’s character.

ZW: Absolutely. I’m always finding new inspiration from other artists and people like Miyazaki really ignited my love for visual storytelling when I was young. The expressive nature of his work is something I’ll always be chasing.

“He lets the comic breathe and trusts the reader to immerse themselves in the story.”

The art of The Fearless Rider seems to be a mixture of manga influences, such as the gekiga or "dramatic" style of storytelling, often seen in the work of Tezuka. Your graphic novel also has many western influences, with inklings of ligne claire, the Belgium style of bold line comic illustration, often seen in Hergé's The Adventures of Tintin. How did you arrive at this style of art? Is it simply in vogue right now in comics, or has comic book illustration and storytelling been further globalized?

KP: From the start I wanted The Fearless Rider to have this kind of feel. I read a lot of manga and Franco-Belgian comics, so I’m always using those as an influence in terms of pacing and style. Also, Zach’s artwork completely fit the tone I was going for. I didn’t even consider anyone else for the project and called him right away with the idea.

ZW: The way Kenny addresses pacing and dialogue is something I really love. He lets the comic breathe and trusts the reader to immerse themselves in the story. I don’t know exactly how the style for the comic came about but I’m sure a lot of it has to do with his narrative structure and the world we’re building. Also, I love older comics like Tintin and Little Nemo!

Why a young girl's pet ferret as a character in The Fearless Rider...why not something more common, such as a cat or dog? Is there something more interesting or special there?

KP: I think it honestly has to do with my love of the movie The Beastmaster as a kid. He had a pair of ferrets named Kodo and Podo. I watched a lot of genre movies in elementary school and middle school, so I always thought that ferrets would make great adventure companions.

ZW: I always wanted a ferret when I was younger but that was a no-go from my parents, because apparently they have a bit of a smell. They are just so cute, who could care! I think it also fits Kara as she isn’t the type to have a basic pet. She’s unique in a lot of ways.

“...I’m still learning the ins and outs of the publishing world. It’s been a really exciting journey so far!”

How did you find your current literary agency and go on to get published with Graphix/Scholastic? What was the submissions process like?

KP: I found my current literary agency, Trident Media Group, after doing a Kickstarter for my original graphic novel Barnstormers!, which I created with artist Renny Castellani. I was contacted by you, Mark Gottlieb, during the Kickstarter and started developing a new project for the book market. From there, it was putting together the pitch with Zach and sending it out into the world. Graphix/Scholastic contacted us about the initial pitch and we fine-tuned the project from there.

ZW: I sort of let Kenny take the lead on this. The Fearless Rider will be my first published book, so I’m still learning the ins and outs of the publishing world. It’s been a really exciting journey so far!

Writing a graphic novel is so different from writing a miniseries or ongoing monthly title.

What do you feel the comic book publishing experience has been like with a larger independent book publisher like Scholastic, versus a direct-to-market comic book publisher such as IDW? Is the direct market holding comic books back?

KP: I’d say the pace is what’s mostly different. Writing a graphic novel is so different from writing a miniseries or ongoing monthly title. I enjoy both the traditional comic book publishing side and the larger independent book publishing side. Each has their own challenges and format that let me experiment with comic book storytelling.

ZW: I’m excited to work on a project I'm so passionate about for a long period of time. The struggle of smaller projects is tough because you spend so much time looking for work that you may not get as much done. I can’t wait to really sink my teeth into something more substantial.

“...I always let whoever I’m working with have their input in the storytelling process. It’s collaboration at every stage of the game.”

It is hard enough writing a story. Does also illustrating a story present its own set of challenges, or do you find that it is liberating in some way?

KP: Writing visually is a whole different skill set, so I always try to think like an artist (as best as I can) and I always let whoever I’m working with have their input in the storytelling process. It’s collaboration at every stage of the game. I’m just lucky to be working with someone as talented as Zach.

ZW: Kenny has been a blast to work with. He has a clear vision here and helping him to craft it is easier because of that. It’s always hard to bring a world to life but the back and forth of working with a writer takes a huge weight off my shoulders.

You get to be any comic book/manga/anime/video game character from whichever world of your choosing. Who do you choose to be and why?

KP: I would almost always choose to be a Green Lantern. Having that power ring and being able to fly through space and create insane constructs would just be too much fun. I recently wrote a Guy Gardner story for DC Comics and it was a dream come true to be able to play in that pocket of the DC Universe.

ZW: I’d say Link from The Legend of Zelda. The design of those game worlds are so immersive and surreal. Plus that outfit is tops!

“If you do great work and put yourself into your stories then people will resonate with that and will want to share them as well.”

Might you be able to share any advice with those still hoping to get their graphic novels published?

KP: I would say find a collaborator that you really gel with creatively, put your heart and soul into the book, and worry about making a great comic before worrying about publishing. If you do great work and put yourself into your stories then people will resonate with that and will want to share them as well.

ZW: Just create. As much as you can, as often as you can. Keep putting your creative energy out there and don’t be afraid to make connections. Rejection is a huge part of life so don’t let that stop you! Also, try to keep your stories small at first. Short sixteen page chunks are a great way to work and create a varied portfolio.

What can we expect next from the world of The Fearless Rider?

KP: I definitely have ideas for follow-ups and spin-off stories, even if they don’t directly connect with the main thread. The road is always wide open for more adventures.

ZW: I really want a one-shot of the Shinpi Rider character from the book. A fictional super sentai warrior with over the top action and drama! A guy can dream, can’t he?

[netunleashed-blog]

DC Universe: DC's new TV and comic book streaming service explained

http://www.internetunleashed.co.uk/?p=13963 DC Universe: DC's new TV and comic book streaming service explained - http://www.internetunleashed.co.uk/?p=13963 We've seen a wave of streaming services based on individual channels or network families, from HBO Now to CBS All Access and even ESPN+, but soon we'll be seeing more content and company-centric offerings - Disney's long-teased streaming service that will arrive in 2019, packing exclusive Star Wars shows and more, is a prime example.Now, DC has announced its own subscription-based service for fans of the legendary comic book company, and this one has a twist: it's not only a streaming video service for movies and TV shows based on their comics, but also a comic-reading app along the lines of Marvel Unlimited or comiXology Unlimited.DC Universe will arrive this fall, but the company announced most of the key details at San Diego Comic-Con (SDCC) 2018. Here's what to expect, how much it'll cost you, and how it varies from other services already on the market today.  What content will it have?  DC Universe will debut five brand new, exclusive TV shows during its first year of existence, beginning with Titans. The first trailer was revealed at Comic-Con, and depicts an intensely dark and gritty adaptation, complete with rampant gore and a shot of Robin saying "F--- Batman" while laying into a gang of street thugs.Later in that first year, we'll see live-action shows Doom Patrol and Swamp Thing (not the 1990-93 version), as well as exclusive animated series Young Justice: Outsiders and Harley Quinn.The service will also house new HD versions of Batman: The Animated Series and the Wonder Woman TV series, along with animated movies like Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox, Watchmen: Tales of the Black Freighter, and Batman: The Dark Knight Returns. Live-action films like Batman, Superman: The Movie, Batman Returns, and Batman Forever have also been spotted on the website and in the first trailer.Unfortunately, there's no sight of newer flicks like Wonder Woman and Justice League, let alone The Dark Knight Trilogy, while TV series like the current Arrow, The Flash, and Legends of Tomorrow seem to be MIA. Those ongoing series are all on Netflix, however.As far as comic books go, The Verge reports that DC Universe will include some 2,000-3,000 digital comics, with images suggesting a scattered mix of books old and new highlighting well-known characters. The site's report claims that you'll be able to zoom into a single panel on a 4K TV set to view the artwork with incredible clarity.  How much does it cost?  When DC Universe goes live this fall, the service will set you back $7.99 per month. If you choose to go big and commit to a full year, you'll save a solid chunk of change: the annual fee is $74.99, which saves you 20% over the month-to-month approach.Already sold on the service? If you pre-order an annual subscription now, they'll toss on three free months to sweeten the deal, plus you'll be entered into a contest to win two tickets to the Aquaman movie premiere later this year.And if you'd rather wait, DC Universe will offer a free 7-day trial once it's live. How does it differ from other streaming services?  The hybrid nature makes it distinct from other services. There are plenty of streaming video services, of course, but Netflix and CBS All Access don't feature comic books. Likewise, there are all-you-can-read comic book services like Marvel Unlimited and comiXology Unlimited, but those apps don't have a lick of video on them.It always seemed surprising that DC didn't launch its own take on Marvel Unlimited and open up the vault for a monthly fee, but now we know why. That said, the comics selection in DC Universe is much, much smaller: its expected haul of 2,000-3,000 books is a fraction of Marvel Unlimited's 20,000+ comics.But you're getting half of one service and half of another, essentially. Netflix starts at $7.99 and Marvel Unlimited goes for $9.99 a month, whereas DC Universe sort of splits the difference.Ultimately, we suspect that DC Universe won't be viewed primarily as a streaming video app or a comics app. Instead, it's the quintessential, all-in DC experience app for serious fans, offering movies, TV shows, comics, conversation, info, and merch on demand. Should I subscribe to DC Universe?  Do you absolutely love Batman, Wonder Woman, Superman, and the rest of DC's top-tier heroes and villains? Do you follow the myriad DC TV series airing these days and still wish there was more to watch each week? Are you eager to loop back on old-school DC animated and live-action series?If you answered "yes" to any of those points, then indeed, you will most likely want to subscribe to DC Universe. Granted, we haven't used the app yet and we don't know how well it'll perform as a streaming service or comic-reading experience, but assuming the technical benchmarks are cleared and it delivers the amount of content that's been promised so far, then we have to imagine that DC fans are going to eat it up.The potential downside of such a focused service is the possibility of running out of compelling content at some point. Is DC prepared to to continue these original shows for multiple seasons? Will the company bring the more recent films to the service as well? And will the curated comics selection grow, or at least see frequent turnover?It's too early to know for sure, but with five potentially compelling shows anchoring the service and plenty of other past content alongside, DC Universe looks like the real deal for the DC faithful. Best set-top box: the top six streaming media players for 4K and HD TV reviewed Source link