#sick of seeing so many writers get unnecessary bullshit in their asks

[foli-vora]

The anon button gives some cunts way too much fucking audacity on this hellsite. If you don’t have the nerve to send some judgemental/mean shit with your own fucking name on it, maybe don’t fucking say it at all and take your cowardly ass off this site. Kindness is free you fucking animals.

[arharmon]

Life Is Strange 2.3 Review

I never really been interested in playing the Life Is Strange games but ever since the reveal of the Season 2 I was totally invested in the universe. I played the first season, BTS and the DLC and fell in love. Now that I’m playing the second season I can easily say it’s the best one to be added to the universe so far. 

Anyways this is my hot take on this episode.

Mainly I wanted to talk about the romance within the episode since it’s a really big topic people are talking about. The ships and romance have started some controversy within the fandom which is understandable, to say the least.

The episode starts off with a flashback before the incident that caused Sean and Daniel to flee their home and we see some brotherly dispute between to the boys and after a talk between Sean and his dad the brother’s make up. We then skip back into present time and If you ask me it really foreshadows how this episode is going to play out. 

Seeing Hannah topless gave me a bit of a shocker because of I never expected the writers to go this far however the video game had already given us so much in previous episodes so seeing someone naked should have been inevitable.

Sean is in a very troubling and even some would say traumatic time in his life that he is sure to remember. The plot of the game and the character's goal (Sean’s goal) to protect his brother and get him to safety in Mexico. It’s clear to see that journey has very much changed Daniel which is easy to notice throughout the entire episode. Daniel constantly acts out and cold towards Sean simply because Sean prefers to hang out with kids his own age instead of Daniel. To be honest Daniel’s behavior is understandable but not tolerated. His behavior is the reason for the many unfortunate things that happen later on in the episode. 

To put in blatantly, Daniel wasn’t really my favorite in this episode. Like I really enjoyed seeing him on screen in episode two and many of his outburst was determinant based on the players' choices, so not really Daniel’s fault and the ones that were (like him being upset with his grandparents about his mother) is totally valid.

I was hoping that in this episode Daniel would become more mature and realize the very dangerous situation that their in and him fucking up could really mess things up for them at the farm. Which he totally ignores and acts more like a brat and fucks shit up for everyone.

To be honest I saw it coming and I am surprised they even lasted as long as they did. Anyway, enough about Daniel and more about Sean. My favorite.

Sean went through I lot this episode and one of those things being is his love life. Now I read a lot of stuff on Tumblr about the romance options and people having mixed feelings about things and the main reason why I’m writing this is that I wanted to share mine. While some say the romance wasn’t needed in the game, I would totally disagree. 

I think the romance was a must in this game. 

The genre of the game is Adventure/Slice of Life with a bit of Fantasy or Paranormal. But most importantly it’s Teen Fiction. I think most people forget that Sean is only a 16-year-old boy. A teenage surrounded by other teenagers pumped with hormones and testosterone. Not to mention drugs and alcohol.

Honestly, the Cassidy x Sean romance was clearly going to happen and anyone could have known if they paid attention to their first interaction back in the previous episode. However, I never expected us to get a romance with Finn. I applaud DontNod for making both of their MCs Bisexual to give the player a choice of who they wish to romance. 

Now I want to talk about both Cassidy’s and Finn’s romance routes separately.

First up, Cassidy. Now don’t get me wrong, I love my girl Cas. I think she’s a badass just look at her. However, the game developers really pushed a Cassidy romance. I mean it seems like she’s all over Sean every second. I mean their very first interaction was flirtatious. I feel the players that went with the Cassidy route got to experience the full-on romance bundle. The went skinny dipping which was a sweet call back to the first season, AND THEN THEY FUCKING HAD SEX!!!!!! Like what? I was not expecting that to happen?!?!

Now everyone had mixed feelings about this scene and some people even saying it was wrong because “sean was pushing himself to do things he didn’t really want to do just out of fear that he won’t get to experience” which I don’t understand how you could get that idea from that scene, but it’s false. Like I said, in the beginning, I knew we were going to get more nudity in this episode and thought that lake scene was enough... but then Sean lost his virginity.

Though I was shocked I was also happy the scene was included, because like I said before, Sean is 16. His whole life was just flipped on its ass and he finally felt as though he got somewhat of a new family that actually cares about him and his brother. And no one can say that’s not true. Look at the way they all interacted with one another during the campfire scene. It was easy to see they were a family.

Sean losing his virginity was pretty sweat. He did feel embarrassed when it was over (as every teenage boy would feel after his first time) which was expected and valid. Cassidy reassuring him was also sweet. 

In conclusion, I really like the Cassidy romance and I don’t think it was forced or that came out of nowhere. 

Now let's talk about Finn... oh boy Finn.

I have mixed feelings about this route. Like everyone else.

One reoccurring thing that I see people talking about was that Finn’s feelings for Sean weren’t ideal and that he simply manipulated Sean with a kiss to make him go along with the plan. Every time I see that I ask myself; “were these guys even playing the game? did they see what I saw?” I mean anyone could see that Finn genuinely cares for Sean and Daniel. Take a look at all the flirting he does with Sean and tries to play it off as jokes and how he is willing to stand up for Sean and Daniel by literally taking a punch for Sean. 

I can see why it looks kind of shady that the only way you could kiss him if you go along with his plan, I can certainly see this as Finn being manipulative (then again it was completely unnecessary since Sean had already agreed to go along with the plan). I think this is just bad writing on the developers part. Also, I wouldn’t say that Sean becoming gay came out of nowhere because that is not true. When you decide to stay and get a haircut you’ll eventually end up talking about sexuality and stuff. And it’s clear to see after that that Finn may have a thing for Sean.

I don’t find Finn manipulating Sean by kissing him, I just see Finn confessing his feelings and wanting Sean and Daniel to stay with them. Not to mention it’s not like Finn asked to kiss Sean. Yeah, he basically takes the opportunity to confess his feelings to him but the player is given two chances to reject Finn love and still go along with the plan. It wasn’t Finn being manipulative he just saw an opportunity in a moment of happiness and made his move. He also is actively trying to have Sean stay with the group and him by getting the money from Merril. 

Speaking of which I want to talk about Finn’s plan. I think the whole situation was morally ambiguous. And I actually agree with it. 

Now hear me out.

Back in episode one and two, we got a first glance of the bullshit Daniel and Sean had to go through on the road. Sean basically got kidnapped by some racist asshole, they had to sleep outside in the woods for a time and then moved to some old cabin that wasn’t any better (not to mention it was in the middle of winter). Also, don’t forget that Daniel got sick and Mushroom was killed by a puma (which could have easily been one of the boys if the mushroom wasn’t there). The point I’m trying to make here is that it’s clear to see that being on the road alone was dangerous for them. Who knows what would’ve happened to Daniel if the didn’t make to their grandparents' house, or before that if they didn’t find Brody who gave them money (and good advice to Sean) for them to stay in a motel for the night.

So basically Sean and Daniel had help, and without that help, they would have never made it this far. The thing I’m trying to get at here is that them taking that money would have helped them in the long run. I think Finn tries to explain that to Sean and when he offers for Sean to stay with them after the heist it made me feel even more confident in the plan and the aftermath knowing that if it did go well they would all be together still. Safety in numbers and all that. Also, it proves further that Finn does care about Sean and Daniel.

Honestly, the reason why I agreed to Finn’s plan is that I knew even if I constantly disagreed with it Daniel was going to go through it anyway. So I knew it would be best if I was there with them and that way Cassidy wouldn’t be there to get hurt or injured. 

It kind of bothered me that no matter how much you successfully managed to execute the plan you still get caught... but whatever. 

What people need to realize is that romance in this episode was a must and wasn’t just a “forced fling” but something completely more that impacted the characters completely. No one's forgetting about the many other important things about the game like family bonds, mourning lost, racism, exploitation, illegal drug trade/use and countless other important themes. But as a writer of Teen Fiction myself people need to understand that though it shouldn’t be centered upon; sexuality and romantic bonds are very important and were crucial in this story.

For me, this episode was an 8.5/10 it would have been a 9/10 it wasn’t the obvious glitches that were going on during my gameplay. I was trying to ignore it but completely lost it after Cassidy’s beer bottle was oddly floating in mid-air during the campfire scene.

Sorry for the long post, but I had to get my point across and give my honest opinion. I’m going to be making another post about my predictions and wants for the next episode.

Thanks for reading!

[fandom-queenliness]

*Spoilers* Oni-Chan

Why just why. I have so many issues with this so I’m doing it how anyone would. A full-length essay dissecting everything I can from the subtitles. 

Be aware, I am not very pro-Love Square, and have a large number of problems with the shows writing/Adrien and his Nice Guy/Passive behaviour in general. 

Essay/salt incoming, you have been warned. Read at your own peril. 

For context, in previous episodes, Adrien has had little to no problem with Lila lying and has even gone out of his way so that she may continue lying. Kagami had about zero romantic interest in Adrien upon her first appearance in Riposte, which is, in my opinion, her truest representation. Marinette has been told to not be so jealous of Adrien multiple times, but the narrative has made it clear she has no control of her feelings when it comes to him. All of Adrien’s love interests (Chloe, Kagami, Lila, Marinette) generally all hate each other, are vindictive, cruel, petty and jealous. Adrien does literally nothing to stop them. 

First of all, they expect us to believe that Kagami is in love with the limp noddle that is Adrien? Get out. Just get out. In Riposte, I believe she had about no interest in him. She came here to fence and by gods was she going to fence. But Nooooooooo, Adrien just had to have another love interest, and no girl can be without someone to make her complete. What utter bullshit. I am so mad right now. 

Second, I’m glad that he’s finally taking a stand against Lila (though, still in a passive way. I’ll take what I can get). He’s cut her off, he’s yelled at her, scolded her. Now we just need him helping Mari taking her down, acknowledging his flaws, trying to improve himself, all while learning about boundaries and taking no for an answer. What a wonderful development of his character, Adrien salt is non-existent, the show is saved, the love square is trending. Oh wait, it is physically impossible for the writers to have Adrien improve because “he’s already perfect”. Ugh. 

Third, what a shitty reason to get akumatised. (I love Kagami btw). I mean, yeah, she can be mad, but really, over a guy. A guy who has already stated he likes another girl. (Chat had a good point, Lila and Kagami should have had Adrien’s input on his feelings instead of a game of tag around the city, but honestly does Chat even think of LB’s feelings? Does anyone, ever? A post for another day). But really a better reason could have been Kagami learning of Lila’s lying and Adrien’s passive-fucking-ness and how poorly it has affected Marinette, who Kagami was open to building a friendship with in Riposte. She could have learned what happened and felt betrayed because Adrien was not who she thought he was, and she becomes akumatised to seek revenge for Marinette and to confront Adrien without him being pulled away by his schedule. Bam we have character development and Adrien getting called out on his flaws, plus Marinette has someone standing up for her. So much better immediately. (Sidenote: Kagami’s whole speech about Adrien sucked ass I can’t believe a word of it. Just more of Astruc pushing perfect sunshine boy upon us.) 

Fourth, honestly fuck how Marinette behaved in the first half. I love my girl, she is awesome, but I am tired of her being so over the top and possessive of Adrien. Like, we get it, she likes him, but no girl - especially no girl who is as mature as the narrative is portraying her as - is going to stalk her crush and a girl all the way to his house. She has been told/told herself to stop being jealous in multiple episodes, but it’s undone by the next. Fuck that. Also, let her have some character outside of Adrien because honestly, I am sick and tired of him and how Marinette is made to act around him. So much of her development is around him and it’s not a good message for the age demographic this show is targeted at. It’s just terrible honestly. 

Fifth, KAGAMI CUT DOWN A TREE AND IT WAS AWESOME. SHE’S SO STRONG, I LOVE HER. *Swoons* 

Sixth, Lila had some good lies. Fucking finally. It was about time. I was worried she was incapable. And some back story on her? Wonderful, personally I can’t find an absent mother as a good excuse because the mother clearly loves her dearly but it’s nice, nonetheless. And Lila manipulating Oni-Chan? Great, just so glad that I can actually start seeing her as a threat to something other than the Love Square in canon. And that bit where Gabriel was clearly seeing her as a weapon/ally was like water in a desert, the plot is moving, hussah. God it was refreshing but we all know it won’t last. C’est la vie. 

Seventh, loved the fireman thing. Him helping Mari and LB? Adorable. Hated the reason why he helped Marinette, but it was cute how he comforted her. (Honestly I kinda wanted him to tell Mari if this guy was bothering her so much maybe she should let him go. Idk I’m just so fucking tired man). He can be added to the Marinette protection squad I love how he’s all about the safety. 

Eight, notice how Chat was whining about how no one fights over him. Are we really going there? Really. I just, Jesus. The boy is a model, famous, rich, and has girls and guys fawning over him as Adrien enough, which he clearly does not appreciate. Does he really want that as Chat, or does he just girls he can use to make Ladybug jealous, like dolls to be discarded when he is done? A question for another day. 

Ninth, Tikki finally gives Marinette some good advice but it’s too late and I’m already cringing over the whole trash bin thing. I just—*sigh* 

Tenth, Kagami’s costume? Hurts my eyes. The potential was there but it was wasted. I’m so sorry that Hawkbitch forced my girl to wear that. My poor sword lesbian. 

Eleventh, Adrien continues to be a passive bitch, letting Lila sneak around him room, ignoring Plagg’s warnings, and only getting truly upset when Lila manipulated him into leaving LB. I’m mad about that too, because like, sure he thought she was hurt, but couldn’t he have just set her down on a rooftop somewhere safe instead of the whole hospital bit? Btw, I love fireman guy seeing through Lila’s shit. “This is what you get for now wearing kneepads”. He is so concerned for safety. My boy. 

Twelfth, LB using Oni-Chan’s powers against her was beautiful. We stan a queen. So smart, so brave, I love her. 

Thirteenth, they really made Kagami idolise that fucking rose Adrien gave her. The rose Adrien originally gave LB, the rose he gave her before asking her out on a terrible date. The terrible date where he invited another girl, payed more attention to said other girl, and then made it clear to Kagami that he was using her as a rebound and he was still not over the girl who rejected him. They are really trying to make us believe Kagami the Queen loves this guy? Really? 

Fourteenth, the horn was hilarious. I wish she was stuck with it. Or at least LB video Lila lying and her horn growing. It was a beautiful thing. 

Fifteen I don’t get the whole “Chat ignores the Bien-Joué from LB to help Kagami up is Bad and Terrible”. Like, I hate the implications and subtext behind it. And the way LB deflated over it. It was unnecessary and jsut there to stir up trouble. Just… fuck that. 

Sixteenth, LB abandoning Lila to walk home was wonderful. I wish Mari was allowed to be like that outside of the mask and not get demonised for it. 

Seventeenth, Alya asking Mari why she’s not “keeping an eye” on Adrien and Lila and Marinette saying she “trusts” Adrien with Lila is weird for me. Cause it’s like she was saying it like she was Adrien’s girlfriend and was trusting him not to cheat. It was like she was already laying claim to a guy that she can barely talk to. In fact, they didn’t talk at all in this ep. Mari and Juleka had more exchanges than her and Adrien. Pshh. 

Eighteenth, Gabriel is a piece of shit. Not letting his son have friends. No wonder he’s like this. Plus making a deal with the bitch who feels so entitled to Adrien is a dick move. Fuck Gabriel and his candy cane tie. 

Nineteenth, Lila manipulated Natalie. What the shit. I’m impressed. I’m loving this whole thing. I’m really excited for Lila working with Hawkbitch. It’s going to be either really good or bad as shit. I am worried for Adrien. Just because I don’t like how he’s being portrayed doesn’t mean he should suffer at the hands of Lila. Also her mirroring Gabriel’s want to shield his son is kinda creepy and possessive. Ew. 

Twenty, Adrien: “Lila, you can count on me, unless you hurt the people I love”. Um, how about Marinette? I get you don’t love her romantically but what about your good friend??? Or do you just not care about her?? Throwback to Chameleon where Adrien decided keeping Lila from being akumatised mattered less than the truth and Marinette’s feelings. Yeah, he’s such a great role model and such a wise choice for a love interest. 

As you can see from the evidence, this episode sucked. Kagami and Marinette deserve better (preferably each other) and not the limp blond pasta sucker that is Adrien Agreste. Very sorry if you’re feeling offended by this post, feel free to rant and complain about it and me. 

[dixie-diamonds]

The (non) Fridging of one Ms. Emma Frost.

For our initial offering, dear followers, we bring you our thoughts on the sad, tragic, and sadly unnecessary, fate of one Ms. Emma Frost at the end of the sordid, editorially driven to the ground, non-event Inhumans vs. X-Men.  

We wanted to get some distance from the events of this installment before putting down our thoughts to keyboard about…well there’s really no better way to say it…the character rape-ification that happened to Emma on IvX # 6.  So now a few days later. I think our thoughts have settled.  

One of the most awful truisms in life is the notion of having to take one’s own advice.  It sucks.  Particularly when it comes to comics.  We’re usually the one to tell folks, right after their favorite characters get nuked because some writer thinks awful writing choices means ‘genius’ or something, that one of the only constants in our hobby/culture/life is the constancy of change.  Status quos last only rarely and even something seemingly permanent can be rebirthed, rebooted, forgiven, recast, retconned, whatever.  That’s a long winded way of saying that…even though things are bleak at the moment, to quote Avenue Q, ‘this is only for now’.  We know it’s small, fleeting comfort fellow Emma fans.  We feel you.  But…it’s the only silver lining we can see emerging from this hot mess of a fucked up sitch we’re in right now. It’s hard to swallow.  We find it difficult to accept it at times still.  At the end of the day though, I think it’s also important to assess and realize that look, at the end of day, and as much as we all love her, she is just a fictional character.  Her status quo now, as awful as it is, hasn’t killed anyone (as far as I know) or made the Trump regime even worse (again as far as I know).  So we’re ok.  

So now that the table-setting is out of the way…let’s get on with the nitty gritty.  We’re not gonna summarize the plot of IvX, as that’s available plenty of other places.  And if you’ve read the story…well you know.

We’re not unhappy about Emma’s reversion to an out and out villain.  Honestly, after the events of Death of X and the earlier installments of IvX, any other kind of conclusion, or hell even having her returned to the X-Fold wouldn’t make much story sense.  Lemire and Soule have laid down enough story real estate that having it end any other way than that would just be silly or horribly contrived.  And you know what? That’s fine.  That’s totally fine.  Why not? It might even be interesting.  What would an anti-hero Emma, skirting on the darker sides of the gray lines she already inhabits, look like? What would an Emma-ized notion of Magneto’s previous ideology look like?  Would that even be her motivation?  Or would it just be (and to us far more interesting plot-wise and commentary wise on the X-franchise as a whole) more of Emma finally saying ‘FUCK IT’ to all the endless thumb-twiddling the X-folks have been doing ever since Bendis took over?  Or hell, she can just go full on Black Cat and just be an international jewel thief coz she is so sick and done with the X-Men’s perennially regressive approach to things and the endless Uncle Tom-ing they all seem to be doing lately.  All of these options are cool to us and they would be interesting to read about.

But that isn’t what we got.  What we got instead is Emma literally assuming the identity of the Crazy Ex-Girlfriend (also known as Cyclop’s secondary mutation, seriously man, you should check that, it is a serious condition), and without the wit or awesome musical numbers that you get from the CW show.  Her motivation for turning the heel is literally, and we wave our fist to the sky as we type this, ‘my boyfriend died and I’m nothing without him’.  A notion that Soule (and Lemire too? It isn’t clear which of these two editorial puppets came up with the notion, though most seem to argue that it’s Soule) ratchets up to a level beyond creepy when he has Emma don an outfit THAT LITERALLY IS HER PUTTING ON HER EX-BOYFRIENDS SKIN.  What in the fuckity fuck fuck fuck is this?  How/why does this make sense?  As many other fans (and non fans) have said…we are talking about a woman who a) watched many iterations of her students die b) survived the 9/11-ing of Genosha by Sentinels (more on that FUCKITY FUCK plot point in a little bit) c) killed her sister for killing one of her students d) lost her brother, whom she cared for deeply to insanity because of an abusive father e) literally started from the bottom to build up a massive financial empire.  We can go on.  The point is, in the grand scheme of traumas that Emma has experienced, losing Scott would probably just amount to a small paper cut.  The fact (that Soule and Lemire forgot about?) that she and Scott ALREADY BROKE UP BEFORE DEATH OF X makes the notion of this crazy, stupid love even more ridiculous. Also, remember, in her diamond form, she is supposed to feel nothing, NOTHING, now let’s go back to IvX and count how many times Emma assumes her diamond form... bored of counting already? This characterization of Emma as jilted lover, turned all the way up to level 100 gazillion, is just idiotic writing borne out of some editorial mandate. 

And look ok, fine, let’s make Emma unstable.  Sure, why not, we can go there too.  But seriously? You’re going to show that by having the woman who, when she got god-like Phoenix powers (which, by the way also maybe made her a little crazy?) MADE IT HER FIRST PRIORITY TO LITERALLY DESTROY EVERY SENTINEL ON THE PLANET.  How does this even fucking work?  If Emma is really all ID now and she’s gone off the rails, and is now doing whatever the fuck she wants…why in the hell would she want to create Sentinels?  It makes no sense….even if the aim was to show her instability.  It also lacks the kind of deeper, elegant hurt that she’s capable of and prefers to inflict.  This Sentinel shit is amateur fucking hour, and she is anything but.  See, for contrast, the way she handled Laura’s previous handler Kimura.  That wasn’t the kind of mustache twirling fuckery we got handed.  That was Emma going for the elegant kind of pain: one that’s long lasting and deliciously poetic.  If Emma is going to be a baddie, then that’s the kind of next level shit they need to show her being capable of, not this two-bit hysterical monologuing bullshit we got.  Cullenn Bunn has stated in a recent CBR X-Position that Ems will be playing a big role in X-Men Blue.  Now, we trust Bunn, he does good work, particularly with anti-heroes like Magneto and Sabretooth...perhaps he can salvage something from this horrible situation.  

Making Emma the big bad of ResurrXion, the next Magneto, now that Magneto is a hero (at least this week), is all fine and dandy. But do it well. Make it meaningful. It takes about 2 panels for her to kill hundreds of inhumans. Almost as a side note. Those panels are going to define her as a genocidal villain for the rest of her days, the same way Hank Pym has been defined by a single panel that was not even scripted.

Why is all this happening? Why did it have to happen this way?  Our completely unscientific (and admittedly conspiracy theory-leaning) argument is that it all has to do with nostalgia.  RessurXion seems to be banking on regressing everything back to the 90s…the time when the X-Men were walking around in tights, constantly playing baseball, and involved in 30 plus year subplots that don’t ever get resolved.  And look, there’s nothing wrong with that.  But, why does that shiny new reboot have to be bought and paid for by throwing both Cyclops and Emma under the bus?  Why does this have to come at the price of wiping away so much of  the compelling additions that the Scott/Emma era of the X-franchise created? The notion of mutants as a tribe, as one people; of mutants being an actual political minority that exists in the larger Marvel firmament; the notion of an X-character, who not only is a compelling, multi-layered female character, who doesn’t go for the usual liberal/assimilative platitudes the X-People usually spout.  Why does all this need to be wiped away?  Are the new writers just not good enough to create something that the nostalgic mouthbreathing focus groups want (and is this even a real demographic? Who exactly did this development please? Other than godawful Jean partisans and non-intelligent comic readers?) while being respectful of and keeping (mostly) intact the import of stories that have already been told.  The fact that what happened happened feels like a slap in the face to all the fans who are rightly asking these questions.

Secondly….we think this development also owes a lot to the kind of demographic Marvel is targeting, and the kind of female characters that that demographic is interested in reading and supporting.  That is, the kind of female character who is a modified distillation of the manic, pixie dreamgirl: spunky, ‘strong��, sexual (to a degree), feminist (to a degree, but also only in a very specific second wave kind of a way)  and of course have to be tumblrflower, Bleeding Cool and Mary Sue approved, lest the wrath of twitter be provoked.  I’m talking of characters like America Chavez, Kamala Khan, Kate Bishop and Carol Danvers.  Strong, feminist, etc. But, not threatening, not overtly sexual, not swagger-y, and god forbid, not sexual only for the sake of sex; they are the equivalent of Boy Bands in the 90′s and early 00′s, attractive, easy to sell, tame. Remember She-Hulk being a strong woman with a brilliant career, kicking ass and taking names, having sexual fantasies with fellow Avengers in the 90′s? well, that She-Hulk is also gone.  After Civil War 2, poor Jen is being written as a very mousey Millennial...who’s afraid of her own power and strength.  Seeing a pattern already?

 Emma, in our view, represents one of the last few fabulously written female characters that counters this second-wave feminist tendency in current comic writing/production of female characters.  She has an unproblematic relationship with sex for pleasure and she isn’t here to make you feel good about your goddamned feminist struggle or your sophomoric need for representation.  And for that, she had to be punished and made the bogeywoman of all the twitter warriors who insist that female characters be feminist-strong…but only in the way that they find palatable and ‘relatable’.  I’ve always been very aware that Marvel is a business (a point I belabor to anyone who thinks Marvel OWES them something)…and of course they have to go where the money is.  But, it doesn’t make this direction for Emma, or the character assassination she and we have endued, any more palatable.  

Which brings us full circle to the essay’s title.  She may still be alive, walking around the Marvel U in an outfit that can only be described as ‘too garish, even for pre-Joanne Lady Gaga’, but for all intents and purposes, Emma Frost has been fridged.  Not physically, and in a way this is even far more cruel to her fans.  They could have just taken her away from us cleanly, ending her story, not in the best of places, but at least it would have ended (for now) and we can go on, missing her, but at least with the comfort that it couldn’t get any worse.  But that isn’t what happened.  Instead, they took her away from us, one sordid, horribly mandated development at a time, until all that’s left is this ghoul-caricature of a character, walking around; sapped of all of her vitality and that je ne sais quoi that made her so unique, endlessly compelling, and the source of such pure comic joy.  That woman is long gone.  And what’s in her place now is just a zombie that Soule and Lemire should have just put out of her misery.  

It’s fine that Marvel needed an X-Men reboot.  Hell, in many ways as a fan, I might have welcome it with much more enthusiasm than my tepid ‘oh great I guess I’m obligated to read it’ feeling that I’m having right now.  If only, this shiny new future for the merry mutants didn’t have to bought with the merciless, cruel, and absolutely unnecessary, and far worse, character fridging of one Emma Frost.

At least, we’ll always have the trades fellow Emma fans.

Keep the faith.

We’re hanging on with you.   

[jupiter-inthe-archer]

my room was bare, bleeding and interpreting items that resembled a mix of you and me. i did this purposely to myself. make myself insanely sad, drink to cure the sadness, knowing damn well drinking won't do anything thus continuing the next step, popping a xanax to forget about making such a dumb decision. that was my daily routine for the entire late months of winter and even emerging into the longer days, warmer nights of summer. my room felt like home, for once, maybe because i woke up in confusion as always, not knowing what i got myself into the previous night. wall art of 50's singers, too many quieten tarintino movies that were completely unnecessary to have, alcohol bottles with dead plants in them, sunflowers with food cans as vase, my writing in scribbled mess all around my floor. this was what i was used to, a poetic mess. i laid on my bed, putting on spotify in hopes it'll make me charged and ready to get out of bed. i was actually sick of mourning, if that was an ideal thing. there was nothing i could do to get him back, no amount of shots or wishing upon that ole heavenly bright star in the sky, fuck, even praying to an maybe real maybe not, higher power man. none of it. and i was killing my body, just so i can see him again. fuck. my therapist mentioned you today, she actually said your name, not just saying him. that was our thing, i couldn't say his name, quite frankly, i still can't. i can only hear it. she asked me if i was writing again, because i stopped in june. if i was continuing to make playlist for you and write about my life, to you that is. not to me, not for me, but specifically for you. i see what she was doing and why she was doing it. metaphorically speaking, you is actually you but you is also me. i was incorporating you or your youness to my everyday living, as a healthier way to cope. it made it seem like you were with me, in some sort of weird, optical illusion type of way. it was all bullshit, i wasn't writing to you, there is no way you could possibly see it and if you did, you couldn't tell me how much you love it like you always did. you couldn't listen to the tracks i put on my playlist while we laid in our comfortable silence, weed smoke in the air, your finger grazing in between my sweater holes. the burgundy one, that you liked, you said it was soft and you loved playing with the holes and feeling my skin. i pulled out a newport. sorry, i know how much you hate them i thought to myself. well, metaphorically speaking, i was speaking to him. i stopped smoking because i hated the smell after a while but summer heat has me stressed, and life in general. i found myself sitting at the familiar sight, at my desk, pen and journal in front of me. a bottle of whiskey, jameson, accompanied me and lit cigarette in my ash tray that portrayed the words, don't kill yourself. ironic right, marketing. this was my daily routine, writing to you, i put your playlist on, dedicated to you. the only playlist i've ever made for a man, ever, in my life. making a playlist for a man was one step close to saying i love you, it was that crucial. i dragged the cig and sighed, jesus fuck. writing became my weak spot, every page just poured my emotional ass thoughts about being with you, i felt like a crabby cancer. my phone ringed, the vibration buzzing my shot glass and the screen lit up, bartender it read. i sighed, it was like this man was a reincarnation of my lovely nightmare. the bartender was about your height, maybe a little shorter. he had lighter hair than you but dressed exactly like you, type of guy that looks like he shops at pac sun and urban outfitters, my exact type. he was wearing a flannel and cuffed jeans, his skinny frame making the flannel just simply appear on him. he also wrote, but he wrote music. he was also sad, but he was an aquarius so he handled it differently, he didn't drink his liver away, instead he ignored all his issues like they didn't exist. writing again i see. he knew i had writers block for weeks, fuck, i still do and his distractions made things worst. the bartender, he understood my mourning and weird moods. he understood why sometimes i hated the fucking universe and thought entirely everything was useless. what else is new i replied. i would expect someone getting annoyed at someone so, well, someone so, pessimistic. not him. essentially, he watched me, from afar, be in love with someone, that i can no longer love anymore. and that in itself, must hurt. i know we would be good together, we're practically the same person, same view point on this bearing wasteland of a life, same perceptions on relationships, polygamy. we would be pretty rad lovers, but i liked us as friends. and i was, still in fact, still in love with my dead boyfriend.