#so much stuff that has none of its background in this comic...

[sincerely-sofie]

*silently slides Twig/Ark content onto your dash* *scurries away into the night*

(Read the rest under the cut!)

[marikbentusi]

I wasn't interested much in the Gwenpool Fortnite collab (fingerless gloves are a cute tweak), but someone asked on Twitter about "evil future Gwenpool" being labelled "Dark Gwenpool" ingame (which is what I've been calling my fan character variant since 2020):

"Dark" is a very common prefix for evil alter egos, so even if people occasionally mistake my comics for official material, I was certain this was a coincidence. But then the person also casually pointed out that she's called "Dark GwenPool" on Wikipedia. Huh?

No sources cited as far as I can tell. One of the original Gwenpool creators even agreed that "Dark Gwenpool" was never official:

I hunted down the Wikipedia changelog where apparently someone injected all the Dark Gwenpool stuff on 8th of April this year (2024). So maybe someone on the Fortnite team checked Google/Wikipedia instead of making up the name from scratch.

I tried to hunt down the wiki editor for questioning only to find out they are banned for being a sockpuppet account. In fact, that user was such a prolific sockpuppeteer that they've got their own Wikipedia page listing all 164 suspected alts. One of them is called "Batrocfrogg", what kind of canonization assist from beyond the grave is this?!

Since that lead went cold, I looked at the sources the wiki edit gave when talking about the character more generally. Aside from the official comics where she isn't called Dark Gwenpool, we've got:

"Peter Parker & Miles Morales: Spider-Men Double Trouble #2" – evil Gwen just has a cosplay background cameo there, no name drop.

Marvel Duel, a niche F2P mobile card game, where she's an antagonist.

The person who first pointed out to me that "Dark Gwenpool" was also on Wikipedia dug around and found a screenshot that evil Gwen is indeed called "Dark Gwenpool" in Marvel Duel:

Obviously I assume the Marvel Duel devs just made that one up without knowing about my comics. Case closed on that lead! But I'm not sure if the Wiki edit was based on this.

Marvel Duel, if we can still trust its wiki page, only released in eight countries. They are mostly in the UTC+8 time zone. The edit was finished on ~22:00 UTC+0, which would be Tuesday 05:00 AM local time if the editor is from one of those countries themselves. Of course, maybe the person played an emulated/jailbroken version (the game does come in English), watched a foreign Let's Play, or is just a super night owl. None of these are stranger than having 146 sockpuppet accounts. But it also doesn't exactly help the edit's credibility like I had hoped.

I also don't know if Marvel Duel included the name variations "Dark GwenPool" and "Dark Gwen" that the Wiki editor used specifically (in the screencap above she's stylized differently). The editor also called her the "evil alternator future version" tho, so maybe they aren't a stickler for details.

----

But yeah the TL;DR is that "Dark GwenPool" is currently the main name for evil Gwen on Wikipedia with no source cited. Marvel Duel calling her that as well was probably just coincidence. Maybe Fortnite also made it up, or they copied it from Wikipedia, or maybe they copied it from Marvel Duel itself.

I thought it was weird and funny enough to share. 164 sockpuppets. WTF.

[fangirling-heart]

Hi Heart! Good morning ^w^

For the fandom Ask Game, how about The Owl House?

Hello! And good day/evening (it's evening for me)! Thank you for the chance to ramble about my favorite show! :)

my favorite female character

Luz Noceda my beloved! I have mentioned the numerous reasons why I like her so many times, I've probably become annoying, so I'll keep it brief: She's sweet, she's enthusiastic, she's unapologetically herself, she's smart, she's headstrong, she's extremely relatable to me, she's a weirdo, she's a legend and she is the moment!

my favorite male character

Hunter! Hunter is a really great character, who I absolutely love for his story and arc, his awesome design, his relationships with other characters, his personality...

He basically has everything it takes for me to love a character, including the antagonistic starting point (I do have a soft spot for redemption arcs), but he didn't really have a redemption arc, because he didn't really need it. Hunter was always a good person, trapped in the bad situation, but that doesn't make his arc any less impactful and wonderful.

my favorite book/season/etc

Definitely season 2. Literally every element in it bounces off each other perfectly. The character arcs get moving, we see many relationships grow and develop, we meet a lot new characters whose entrance to the show feels completely natural and very impactful and everything develops more and more! The story, the relationships, the characters! And then everything is comes together for a marvelous final act (Hollow Mind-King's Tide)!

my favorite episode (if its a tv show)

Thanks To Them. Yes, it's not a season 2 episode, but it's my absolute favorite one!

I will forever be pissed at disney for cutting this show short, but I will also forever be in awe for the way the crew handled the last season and especially this episode. It does an excellent job balancing out all the characters, a bunch of dynamics and I never thought that one scene was taking time from another one. Also, it focuses on a lot of the stuff I love the most about the show, like the dynamics of Luz and Hunter and Hunter and Flapjack, the lore of the Wittebanes, the shenanigans of the Hexsquad, Camila and her relationship with Luz, Belos being a creepy bitch (the fact that we didn't see him get hit by a car is a crime, but I gotta admit the idea of having him quietly getting stronger by possessing critters in the background to set the atmosphere and build up the ending part was great) and an awesome confrontation with a bunch of emotions for the end! 10/10 episode! (I still cry with Flapjack's sacrifice...)

my favorite cast member

The man, the myth, the legend, Alex Hirsch!

my favorite ship

I honestly have so many ships I love in this show, it's hard to choose just one. So I'm gonna say my top 3 (in no specific order):

Lumity

Huntlow

Raeda

a character I’d die defending

Camila Noceda! None of that "Camila is a bad mom!" crap is allowed here! In this house, we love and appreciate mama Noceda!

a character I just can’t sympathize with

Odalia Blight. That's an actual bad mom and horrible person! Screw her!

a character I grew to love

Probably King. I did like him from the beginning, just not so much when compared to other characters. But during season 2, when we got to explore his character more, outside of cute comic relief, I grew to love him.

my anti otp

Well, aside from obvious choices (incest, pedophilic ships), I personally don't like ships with the Hexsquad and Boscha, especially Boschlow. Aside from just, not really liking Boscha as a character, I just can’t see in general the appeal of the bully x victim of their bullying ship type.

[shigayokagayama]

sakurai hato or minegishi :3? my faves

sakurai:

Sexuality Headcanon:

this man is gay

Gender Headcanon:

honestly nothing in specific. cis but in a "never really put much thought into it" kinda way. could he be inclined to question or transition? perhaps, but he is too busy cleaning up the giant comical jar of disgusting orange sauce that spilled all over the floor because a customer insisted they could fit a weeks worth of groceries into one cheap reusable grocery bag and it predictably split open and went everywhere and now the whole store smells like nondescript orange sauce and he has a headache from the smell but the manager will be pissed if he closes the register and moves to one further away so he just has to mop it between customers and the stain remains until they redo the nylon in 30 years.

A ship I have with said character:

koyama. made for each other.

A BROTP I have with said character:

i really like thinking abt post canon 7th division staying friends :] i think they hang out sometimes

A NOTP I have with said character:

none that come to mind? obvious stuff aside i suppose

A random headcanon:

a common theme between all three of these characters is that theyre young enough to fall in the age range where they could have been kidnapped by claw and i choose to believe that's what happened. especially sakurai. this kid screams kidnapped. no one would have looked for him....

General Opinion over said character:

i dont think about the 7th division members all that much just because they all get introduced in my least favorite arc so i dont really have a reason to reread/rewatch unless im doing a full series rewatch, but as a background character enjoyer seeing people have thoughts on them makes me very happy

hatori:

Sexuality Headcanon:

gay asexual seems right for him i think :]

Gender Headcanon:

definitely some flavor of transmasc

A ship I have with said character:

computers. other than that ive seen people ship him with joseph and i see the vision.

A BROTP I have with said character:

similar to above i think he and the rest of the super five are still buddies after everything.

A NOTP I have with said character:

this is a weird question to answer for the more minor/background characters so instead ill say "i used to sorta ship him and minegishi in like a qpp sorta way when i thought they were like the same age but learning minegishi was like 19 and punching the numbers meant that unless they didnt meet until less than a year precanon there's no way to make that not weird so i dropped it". so it goes.

A random headcanon:

ditto to above and also reddit moderator. i know he's a reddit moderator on some tech forum giving the world's most smarmy and least helpful advice

General Opinion over said character:

i like him! i dont think of him too often but im fond of all the super five.

minegishi:

Sexuality Headcanon:

ace aro :]

Gender Headcanon:

transfemme nonbinary <3

A ship I have with said character:

none really. they dont have time for that they have a thankless minimum wage job to work.

A BROTP I have with said character:

super five but also i realized hoshida from the reigen manga is in the age range to have gone to middle school with them before they became a terrorist and the idea of them having been childhood friends who fell out of touch and then him turning on the news to find out the kid who used to make him clover necklaces is wreaking havoc on downtown is REALLY funny

A NOTP I have with said character:

most things honestly at this point. i am so sorry shimamine shippers they took everything from you with the fanbook

A random headcanon:

i feel like post canon theyd become a bug person. like, getting big terrariums with self sustaining ecosystems of invertabrates :]

General Opinion over said character:

i actually like them a lot! i feel like its clear from the answers to these that theyre the one out of these i think about the most frequently lol. i just. how did you join the upper echelon of a terrorist organization at age 16. what happened.

[therummesoccupied]

IDW'S SONIC THE HEDGEHOG, ISSUE #72 - THOUGHTS

WARNING - SPOILERS AHEAD

We're back with another thrilling installment of "Tay Sits Down to Write the Review Hours Before the Next Issue Releases!"

Lemme start by saying, the cover art for this one, by Natalie Haines, absolutely rules. Jet and the Phantom Rider circling each other while lightning strikes a Surge-shaped storm cloud in the background is so cool out of context, and even cooler in.

This issue, to me, the beginning of what I'm calling the Phantom Riders arc, following up the Extreme Competition arc from the last three issues, and looking to be the climactic story of the Clean Sweepstakes saga.

As is often the case with the first issue of any arc, this one is a bit of a slower one, not quite as thrilling as any issue of the arc before. It goes by quick, but there's still a ton of neat stuff in here to dig into, most of it is just... quieter in nature.

The story opens up with Surge and Kit marching right into Clutch's office and declaring that they will no longer be participating in his operation, desiring to leave behind their lives of villainy and pursue the much more fulfilling roles of heroes. It, uh... doesn't go well for them.

What's interesting here is that Clutch never actually makes any form of direct threat about what he'll do if they leave. He doesn't fly off the handle and smash anything to make an example for them. He doesn't even raise his voice.

And that's one of the things I love about Clutch as a villain. His entire strength is manipulation. He knows exactly which strings to pull, exactly which tone to employ to keep his operatives in mind. As I've said before, he doesn't have an army the size of the Eggman Empire, strength to contend with the Deadly Six, or an intellect on the level of Dr. Starline. But he has one thing none of them do - an unrivaled understanding of his resources, and exactly how to make use of them. There's just something so fascinating to me about a Sonic the Hedgehog villain who's entire strength comes from pulling strings and getting into peoples' heads.

I love this guy! I hope he doesn't... y'know... die at the end of this saga, because frankly, I'd love to see him return again in the future.

We also get Sonic on the run, trying to stay under the radar of the Babylon Rogues, until...

Real world years after their introduction, Sonic finally meets Nite and Don! I'm a huge fan of this scene - partly because I really like Nite and Don, and I'm always happy to see more of them, and partly because I love this kinda thing! Main characters from the games meeting side characters from the comics that they've never run into despite them having been around for a while! These path-crossings between characters who are well-established but don't usually interact is something I love in any story, but especially in Sonic, because it gives me an opportunity to see these characters I've known and loved for such a long time explored in ways I've never seen before! This goes a long way toward making the world feel more lived in, and is the kind of thing I'd been hoping we'd see more of as the comic got to have more and more continuity under its belt.

Also, I know it's a little thing that has already been shared a lot, but I love how visibly angry Sonic is in this panel. I've been gushing over any little hint of Sonic's 90's edge being brought forth in this saga, so any more of it is always gonna get me right where it counts.

Here, Nite clues Sonic in to the fact that, in addition to Amy and Tails, the Chaotix are also looking into Clean Sweep, which means we will more than likely be seeing them at some point in this arc.

(Side note: Nite's mug has a modified version of the Crush 40 logo on it, and the poster behind him has an edit of their eponymous album. This is awesome and Crush 40 is awesome.)

This is cool because I love the Chaotix, Vector specifically being one of my favorite characters, but it does worry me that they might be showing up... a little too much? Maybe it's just me, but if feels like they show up a lot over the course of IDW Sonic, especially lately between the Misadventures arc, A Very Chaotix Halloween, and the Spring Broken special. I've gotten into it a bit in other posts, but aside from Sonic Tails, Amy, and Eggman, I prefer most Sonic characters to be "sometimes food."

The cast is so big that you can constantly keep revolving side characters in and out, occasionally throwing in new ones, and go a good while between repetitions, which, in my opinion, only helps to make the appearances of these characters to feel more impactful and, again, make the world feel more lived in. Sonic has so many friends that he doesn't always see many of them that often. It makes sense to me, but maybe it's only me.

Anyway, it'll seem neat to see how they play into everything that's going on here. What's interesting to me is, back in Misadventures, when Clutch hires the Babylon Rogues to steal Echidna artifacts from Angel Island, he says that he did so to keep certain parties occupied while he conducted his business with the Restoration - setting things up for the Clean Sweepstakes. I'd assumed the parties he spoke of were the Chaotix specifically, whom Knuckles recruited to help retrieve his stolen relics.

However, if this was his intention, it seems the Chaotix have gotten involved anyway. Was this a simple oversight on his part? Were his efforts in vain? Or is something more going on? Was the party he sought to distract actually Knuckles? Does his grand plan involve some kind of play for the Master Emerald? If so, that'd be a very bold move for him. For now, though, the best we can do is speculate until we get a better look at the scope of Clutch's scheme - I will say though (and this is a bit of a spoiler within a spoiler), Evan Stanley has posted some WIP pencils for upcoming issues that appear to be part of this same arc, and one drawing among them does seem to show an Emerald present, so it's pretty safe to assume at least one Emerald, be it Chaos or Master, is definitely in the mix here.

Meanwhile, poor Surge is going through it. She lays out exactly what I have found tragically beautiful about her entire character arc, especially over the course of this saga: She envies the freedom of Sonic, but can never have it. No matter what, someone is always seeking to use her for their own ends, and if they can't, the make sure that she can never have the freedom she seeks by damaging her life beyond any hope of repair. It's a surprisingly deep and sad thing to see played out in the Sonic universe, and at the point she's at, I'm not sure there's any good way out for her.

That being said, Kit seems to have his own course of action in mind, and I'm excited to see exactly what it is, because while Kit was designed to be the reason to Surge's rush, he's always seemed to be the one capable of going even further off the deep end when pushed. He always seems to have some pretty extreme levels of violence in mind when he gets quiet and focused. He's kind of creepy like that, and who knows what he's got in store. Whether it works out in his favor or not, I don't imagine it looks good for Clutch, who, like so many others before him, has likely underestimated the little fox.

The last scene of this issue has Amy, Tails, and Belle trying to make their way to Jewel's office to expose Clutch, only to be intercepted by Clean Sweep Inc.'s mascots, who reveal themselves to be none other than Rough and Tumble. We knew these two were working under Clutch, but they haven't shown up in a bit, and it left me wondering exactly where they fit into Clutch's machinations here. Turns out they were right in the spotlight the entire time. Makes sense, given the way they're usually played for comic relief.

They pretty immediately call for backup - which is funny to me. It's characteristically underhanded of them, sure, but it also shows that they've been gaining some level of understanding of just how outmatched they are when dealing with Sonic and co. I did notice that Tumble says they have more infiltrators on their hands, implying they've already dealt with a few before these three arrived. I'd say it's pretty reasonable to assume they're referring to the Chaotix, so it's likely Amy, Tails, and Belle will be running into them soon.

Story-wise, this issue has a lot of neat stuff to dig into, just not quite as much forward momentum as recent ones. And that's good! You have to have setup to have payoff! Plus, these quieter scenes provide a great opportunity for character exploration, an opportunity this issue takes full advantage of. Just about every character gets plenty to do here, plenty to show us who they are when they're not in the heat of action.

In terms of art, this issue is everything the previous arc would lead you to expect. Aaron Hammerstrom continues to bring us some absolutely gorgeous pencils, with some really solid inks from Matt Froese, an artist I've been following since long before their work on IDW Sonic, and have been delighted to see show up in the comic's credits.

As I mentioned previously, we seem to have some upcoming pencils from Stanley herself, and while I love Stanley's art and am always excited to see more of it, it does make me a little sad that we won't be seeing as much from Hammerstrom or Min Ho Kim. They truly have become my absolute favorite artists working on this series - even over legends like Yardley and Hesse. Guess I couldn't see their pencils exclusively forever, though. Whatever the case, Stanley's upcoming stuff looks good, and I'm excited to see more of it, as well as what happens next, which I'll be seeing in... *checks watch* ... About an hour.

As always, thanks for reading, and I'll catch you next time!

[gunkreads]

(back to our regularly scheduled programming)

So I know I said I was about to read Leviathan Falls, but I had to put a hold on it at the library, so I grabbed Ten Arrows of Iron in the meantime.

Ten Arrows of Iron is the second book in the Grave of Empires trilogy by Sam Sykes. I read the first book, Seven Blades in Black, nearly a year ago now. It was... well, if you wanna read my review, you can search its title on my blog. Ten Arrows of Iron is preeeeetty much the same deal.

Before, I compared this story to Kings of the Wyld by Nicholas Eames (one of my all-time favorites) by saying Seven Blades in Black had all the same things right with it as Kings, but more things wrong with it.

The world of this series is pretty compelling, with Sal, the protagonist, on a revenge quest the no-man's-land of a war between the militaries of the Empire (made of mages with a comically hackneyed array of powers) and the Revolution (Basically the Imperium of Man from Warhammer 40k). There's some wacky interdemensional shit going on in the way background, but the foreground stuff is basically "Sal has a haunted gun and a list of people to kill. She is mean, bad, funny, and in extraordinary pain with even more extraordinarily bad coping mechanisms."

These books, the Grave of Empires trilogy, are an exercise in non-restraint. Sykes lives and dies by the idea that every single line he writes should be fucking killer. He makes liberal use of paragraph breaks, italics, choppy sentences, and all-caps dialogue to this end (kind of like I do in these reviews!). You might be able to tell this just from that description, but these books can get BEYOND exhausting to read. Blah blah, "when every line is a showstopper, none of them are," blah blah.

However! If you let yourself melt into the narration, you can see it as both 1: characterizing the narrator (diegetic narration; Sal is telling another character her story) and 2: a thousand attempts at greatness with about a hundred successes. Sykes takes that 10% success rate and says "Fuck it! Good enough!" assuming that you'll also feel that way. As I believe the old crusties on this site say, "YMMV" (Your Mileage May Vary, for those of you who also didn't know what that meant).

Personally, I read these books in the same way I watch action comedy movies. They aren't high art. Are they constructed well? Yes. Are they changing my life? No, not at all.

Do I have a good time reading them? You fuckin betcha! They're oozing style in a way I don't see often. I've seen somewhere that Sykes created his setting inspired by old-school JRPGs; to this I say nay, this is Wacky West. Y'know how Sergio Leone basically said "Here's what a cowboy looks like!" and all of America went "Yeah we're cool with this, it's awesome!" Sam Sykes agreed with all of America on this and made Sal his Clint Eastwood. She's a cowboy through and through, in all the most ridiculous ways mythologized by classic American filmmakers.

Or... at least, she was in the first book. The second book cranks up the melodrama quite a lot. It's actually a very pleasant transition, with Sal having plenty of reason to become more emo and the difference coming out fairly smoothly. She's really questioning herself more in this book, which is saying something, but her narration does show wild swings in her belief that she's a bad person that are actually super interesting to read, but... possibly too deeply buried for some peoples' tastes. It's not that Sykes actually buries anything--he's about as subtle as, well, a zeppelin falling out of the sky--but because he's so blindingly hamfisted most of the time, any character or plot beat that's done normally feels like a little secret just for you.

I can't say I'd recommend these books outright, but I will say that if you're in for a couple 600+ page brain candy fantasy action comedies, these are pretty fuckin' stellar.

[thelightofthingshopedfor]

you know, I think I’d be at least slightly less upset/frustrated about character deaths in the MCU if they expanded more on the concept of the afterlife and brought that aspect more in line with the comics

because, I mean, it’s been mentioned, even portrayed, but not in a way that’s at all consistent, and at least for me, that makes some deaths feel a lot more final than others. not even “final” as in “I’m expecting the MCU to do the revolving-door thing of the comics and never keep its characters dead,” because I don’t expect that, but like--it makes a difference if you know a character’s soul continues to exist and they’re at peace, you know? especially if the alternative is, they were human and they died and now there’s just nothing?

and it’s confirmed for a few very specific aspects of the MCU. Asgard has Valhalla, implied before and now shown directly. Wakanda has the Ancestral Plane. there’s some stuff in Moon Knight that I haven’t actually seen yet but I know it’s there because of the wiki. those are all nominally based on real-world religions and gods, but in the MCU they’re actual reality whether you believe in them or not, and your cultural background seems to be the only thing dictating where you end up in the afterlife. I guess the Astral Dimension is...kind of connected to the other afterlives, but maybe also not, which is exactly the kind of thing they should develop more.

the very existence of the Soul Stone (and the fact that everyone has an astral form, I guess? but the Ancient One’s astral form fades when she dies, so does that mean astral forms don’t actually have anything to do with souls, or that human souls just poof into oblivion when they die, or just that their afterlife is completely inaccessible to the living?) is hard proof that souls exist in the MCU and everyone has one. only, there’s no indication that anybody else actually gets an afterlife, because absolutely nothing is ever mentioned, aside from human-typical stuff about resting or being reunited with dead family members or whatever. it would make sense if they did, for sure! like, it would be extremely weird if the souls in a small handful of cultures throughout the universe got to continue existing after death and literally everyone else just stopped existing as if they’d never been there in the first place. but nothing in the films indicates otherwise. every single other character who’s died might as well just be erased from existence like they’d never been, like they’d never mattered, and that just sucks, you know? at least in the comics, everybody--I’m pretty sure--went somewhere when they died, whether they stayed there or not.

which is also not to say that I think everyone in the MCU should know/believe that some kind of afterlife exists. obviously the Earth-based stuff in the MCU is more or less based on the real world, which has a ton of different beliefs about what happens after death even while none of us can ever actually know, and it would be pretty weird to make that huge of a difference between the MCU and reality. but there can also be a big difference between what the characters know and what the audience knows, or between what some characters know and others know. we could have gotten a quick shot of Tony and Natasha reuniting in some vague afterlife, for instance. (or Gamora absolutely wrecking Thanos in the afterlife, but that might be too complicated to do it quickly, and also they’re cowards and super weird about Thanos so they probably wouldn’t have done that anyway.) or a Wakandan could be explicit about the Ancestral Plane being only one afterlife of many, all connected, with everybody getting one whether they expect it or not. or one of the Masters of the Mystic Arts could say that the Astral Dimension contains a whooooole bunch of afterlives and the living can’t access them so not much is known for certain but they at least know something’s there and various people have had glimpses of dimensions or whatever that look like the afterlives described in various cultures.

...granted, I only watched Doctor Strange once, and I still haven’t seen Multiverse of Madness, Wakanda Forever, Moon Knight, or Love and Thunder, so I guess it’s possible any of these things could have happened and I forgot or just didn’t know, but the wiki doesn’t mention the kind of thing I want so I assume there wasn’t anything like that, and it bugs me.

(I don’t actually expect an Asgardian to care about any afterlife but Valhalla so I’m not surprised we didn’t get anything useful from them. ...I am annoyed Love and Thunder didn’t expand on the Valhalla bit just a little to show that Loki’s been reunited with his mom. and slightly surprised, because as joke-heavy as that movie apparently was, I wouldn’t have been surprised at all to have Loki welcome Jane to Valhalla just so she could punch him again--but more effectively this time--in a callback to TDW. the only question would be whether Taika would go for the cheap but basically nonsensical joke by leaving it there, despite Loki saving Jane’s life twice in TDW and apparently dying for Thor, and then fighting for Asgard in Ragnarok and actually dying for Thor in IW, or if he’d make it reasonable with “that’s for letting Thor think you were dead for years, asshole,” but then hugging him or something, all “that’s for...a bunch of other stuff. you’re still an asshole though.” which is something I could easily turn into a short little fic, probably, but I still prefer just going “well anyway he’s not dead because I said so.”)

[cowsandcrows]

dsmp theatee production braainrot

no but like. c!dream actually just wandering through the crowd, monologueing- better, SINGING THE LMANBERG ANTHEM AFTER DOOMSDAY

i am so happy for this

and just all the characters with different amount of armour

wilbur with none obviously but most of dreams costume would be his armour, aside from the mask, and techno would have a lot but it would be embellished and detailed and golden to fit his aesthetic

philza would have just enough to give him some protection but not too much because he doesnt care enough and hes not regularly on the offensive or fighting short-range

so hed have again, armour that fits his aesthetic but mainly like plates on his boots and arms, and maybe a vest that like just covers his chest a bit

OH MY GOSH WAIT. PHILZAS COSTUME DESIGN. WITH HIS WINGS. WOULD BE SO COOL. OH MY GOSHHHHHHHHHH AA

I would kill people to create that costume

ANYWAY characters like tommy or jack would have a lot less armour, just basic stuff

and then when its an actual war like doomsday people will wear change their amount of armour, and it will be so noticeable how much they cover up in that situation

ranboo puts on a full set

techno keeps it easy to maneuvere

tommy doesnt have much, and what he does have would be visibly scuffed and not entirely durable

tubbo has an okay set only because hes the president

dream takes off some of his armour as a power move, unnoticed in the midst of it all

also i just want to. discuss ghostbur. because ohhh my gosh thats such a good focus.

id probably have part 2 focus a lot on techno, though i wouldnt want there to be a clear main character in any of it- like wilburs story would be the focus in part 1, but he dies and that would throw off the audiences understandinf of who the protagonists are supposed to be! MORALLY GREY CHARACTERS HOORAY! CONFUSE THE AUDIENCE AND ANYONE WHO EXPEXTS STORIES TO HAVE A CLEAR GOOD VS BAD DYNAMIC!!!!!

focusing on techno in the second part of the play would be amazing because his interactions with the audience are so unique to other ccs

he talks constantly during lore, breaking 4th wall liberally, hes way less performative in the way he does it too, whereas wilbur and dream would do it with the idea of performance

and like that other person said, techno could actually spend his retirement arc IN THE AUDIENCE AREA

all od this is makinf me think the stage should have a thrust section that is level eith the audience, and maybe even multiple clearings throughout where characters can move to when needed, like with dreams wandering, and where characters that gradually move on-stage will start out? not like for the audience to see, but if youre near them you do see it. different perspectives and stuff

and Tommy might actuallt pick on members of the audience for comic relief, joking around and shit, which would contrast so heavily to exile where he would just sit on the edge of rhe stage and talk to them quietly

and ranboo could be constantly ramblinf to the audience withour a clewr understanding of what they are, and then one person in the audience could actually reply to him, and he could kind of jist stop and go 'wait what, thats not supposed to happen' almost like they did in wandavision if anyone knows what im on about. like that whole interview section? that

AUGHHHH MY BRAIN IS DECAYING schlatt should die in one of those sections in the middle of the audience. im just sayinf. he should.

becayse there are so many different povs to the dsmp i think it would be cool if the stage was set so that different sides of the audience would have a completely different idea of the story

like characters that can be seen wandering around in the background might only be see by the left audience, or the right side might get a different impression of the lighting

or the spotlights could be angled on some characters so that one side of them is obscured by shadow and another side is brightly lit (could work so well with Wilbur or schlatt to communicate how different people hate or idolise them)

please send help

[lovecolibri]

SaL anon here bestie and it looks like we're going to be in for another round of reduce, reuse, and recycle next episode 🙄🙄🙄. The stupidity of this is truly astounding, so since we only have 2 days before this shitshow hits the screen I have chosen to fight stupid with ridiculous and wish to share my optimal scenario for getting rid of guest stars and dumb plots.

First Buck is on a dinner date with Natalia, who pumping him for details about his "death", when Kameron and Connor come over. They have no sense of boundaries so they say they have news about the baby Buck donated sperm for. At first Buck is worried Natalia's going to freak out but she gets weirdly interested and asks when he did that. He explains it was before his death and Natalia starts staring creepily at Kameron's stomach and spouts some nonsense about Buck's death was in exchange for creating life and repeated refers to the "death baby". Kameron backs away and stutters out that they just wanted to tell Buck they ran some tests and Connor is the dad after all. Natalia is instantly dismissive and goes back to eating while Buck politely excuses himself and runs from the restaurant.

Cut to Eddie on the beach in heavy pining mode monologuing to himself extensively about how he wanted a sign and Buck on a date with Natalia who "sees him" clearly is a sign its not meant to be. He spots Marisol and starts reluctantly making his way to her when Buck, still fleeing his date, slams into him and knocks him over. He starts going off about how nuts Natalia is but stops when he noticed Eddie glaring at the heavens mutter "goddamnit..".

After the big finale emergency Eddie and Buck are stuck on an uncollapsed portion of the bridge with no way down to the ground. Buck starts to say this whole ordeal has made him realize and appreciate the people in his life more while giving Eddie A Look. Before he can finish though a helicopter comes in with L dangling from a harness and she says some crap like "need a ride" while winking at Buck. Eddie casually shoves her away causing her to spin comically in a circle and then asks Buck "You were saying?".

Hope you enjoyed this as a break from thinking about what is to come and some of the takes floating around out there. Also since you're the actual writer here I'd love to hear of you have an ideal scenario, we might as well have fun with this mess until forced to do otherwise.

Sorry this is so late at night my friend! It was my niece's birthday and I was out of town with every intention of being home by 8 or 9 tonight to answer this before an early bedtime so naturally it was after 11 before I actually got home 🤷🏻‍♀️

Yeah, none of the news coming out about Buck or Eddie's storylines interest me because it's all just a rinse and repeat of season 4 at this point and I'm so so very tired.

I enjoyed your version of events! There's a reason "gotta laugh to keep from screaming" is a tag I use often! 🤣 This gave me quite the giggle reading over it the other night! I wouldn't call myself *much* of a writer though if I was less brain dead I'm sure I could come up with something (6 year-olds man. They will wear you OUT!)

But ideally I would love to see sassy, petty, bitchy Eddie come out about Buck not being able to make it work to meet up with Natalia because those scenes always give me joy, and I would LOVE for literally anything to come out about the donor baby not being Buck's like I need this storyline to end in such a way that we can all just forget it happened and never have to deal with it again. I would also love if L appearance gets cut down to absolutely nothing. Like, a nod across the accident scene where SHE is the blurry background figure for once and then she also disappears never to be heard from or about ever again.

I didn't watch the sneak peeks but I saw some stills and memes about the Madney ones so at least I'm looking forward to that stuff and the calls look like they *could* be interesting but also like they could just be used to push more of Buck's stupid plot with Natalia so we'll see I guess. I'm disappointed with the news that as of yet, KR is still supposed to be moving with the show but they've got time to hammer out the details. I'm sure it will be like RNM did where it's "oh I left for such and such other, better, opportunity" which is fine I don't even care how they spin it as long as she leaves but if she's still around for s7....eh. I'm too tired to try and cross that bridge just yet.

Good luck to us tomorrow, and next week and then maybe I can breathe and work on my fic and actually get somewhere on it!

[evilwickedme]

Oh my god I'm so sorry for taking so long. At first I just didn't get around to it but then I got insanely busy and now here it is woo

Anyway so just for background in case y'all aren't familiar, earth 65's Gwen Stacy was introduced in the Spider-Verse event in 2014 and got her own comic, Radioactive Spider Gwen, in 2015. That run ended in 2018, and she promptly got a run called Spider Gwen: Ghost Spider that ran for ten issues and a follow up run called Ghost Spider that ended too soon imho. These two runs firmly established her new identity, and she stops using both Spider Woman and Spider Gwen as her hero names, adopting Ghost Spider, which is a fine name imo and works well with her arc. So for a couple of years we have no main title comics for Gwen, although she appears here and there in 616 comics as of the end of Ghost Spider she only operates in 616 due to Stuff. Read the comics they're great I won't be getting into that here.

So like I said, Gwen doesn't have a title after 2019, but then a miniseries is announced, starting summer 2022, starring my beloved Ghost Spider. It's called Spider-Gwen: Gwen-Verse.

Wait, just a second, record scratch. Did I read that right? Spider-Gwen? I thought she'd been called Ghost Spider since 2018!

Oh well, maybe it's an artefact title, just meant to appeal to an audience that isn't familiar with her canon? Although like. That doesn't usually happen. Like Tim Drake isn't currently being referred to as Red Robin when he's operating as Robin just bc of recognizability (ignoring that fact that he should NOT be Robin anymore, but that's a different rant).

This is a minor problem, supposedly, but I think it's indicative of the problems inherent to the mini series as a whole, which is that Tim Seeley has no idea what the fuck he's talking about!!!!

Ghost Spider (2019) ends on this massive dramatic cliffhanger - that same aforementioned Stuff that prevents her from working in her own universe as a hero - and yet here there is no mention of any of that. Gwen is still going back and forth from 616, yeah, but there's no mention of her being unable to patrol her own universe at all. And then there's also the fact that this Gwen isn't anything like my Gwen at all. She's so out of character the entire time - in fact the entire plot hinges on it.

Like, okay, just a sec. I need to explain the idea behind gwenverse before I can explain why the entire plot hinges on Gwen being ooc. So the idea for gwenverse is that in the far far future there is an artist called Finale who wants to become, I shit you not, "the ultimate meme". In order to do this, Finale wants to copy herself across time. However, as she tries to copy herself, entirely coincidentally Gwen is crossing universes to go to college and boom suddenly she's the one being copied across the timeline and for some reason there is now a Thorgwen, Iron GWEN, Gwen Rogers, Gwen Howlett... Okay you get it. These versions of Gwen that have been copied into history have wreaked havoc on Earth 65 and its timeline, and now Gwen has to fix this shit.

The main theme of the narrative is that every version of Gwen spread throughout history has an aspect of Gwen that makes up most of her personality, and that in order to fix the timeline Gwen has to not only gather all the Gwens but also learn to love herself and correct her mistake. But there is so much wrong with this!!!!

Firstly WHAT THE FUCK WHY IS THIS NARRATIVE OF SELF ACCEPTANCE CAUSED ON ACCIDENT!!! If Gwen had SNEEZED before entering the portal none of this would have happened!!! Narratives that involve accepting your flaws should, always, every time, be caused by your flaws, you can't fucking change my mind. Gwen's self acceptance plot is entirely pulled out of Tim Seeley's ass. Not only is it not thematically coherent since it's accidental, he invents entirely new insecurities for Gwen that have NEVER been seen before in eight years of publication. Gwen HAS insecurities - that she won't always do the right thing, that she's not strong enough, that she's not a good friend. But she doesn't like, struggle with self love, or have anger issues, or any of the bullshit Tim Seeley pulled in this series.

Tim had a vague idea of what Teenage Girls™ Are Insecure About, and he had a vague recollection of the Wikipedia entry for Spider-Gwen, and he wrote a shitty story that had no thematic consistency or narrative appeal - it didn't make sense as a continuation of Gwen's character, and it completely ignored her previous plot and character development. It feels like whatever the opposite of fanfiction is - taking a character you have no respect or enjoyment of and writing for them because it's your job.

It's a waste of everyone's time, effort, and frankly, I could've written something better in high school.

Fuck Tim Seeley and screw gwenverse Gwen deserves better

Just saw somebody genuinely recommend the gwenverse series and I realized I'm not sure I ever explained here why I hate it so much, so... Is there an interest in reading me tearing it to shreds?

[abusivelittlebunny]

I hate to bother you again but. You should really finish sandman. Like everyone is unhinged, hot and gay. And i really, really wanna see more stuff with dream getting dicked down so i trust you with it <3

OK major spoil and piping hot tea warning ⚠️

Alright I finished the sandman so here's my personal and might be controversial opinion: I did not like it. I didn't hate it, but I definitely did not like it. I watched the whole thing but honestly I only started because I was in a really bad place and wanted to distract myself by watching some dumb show but the thing is that there were a multitude of things that distracted me but by how frustrating they were.

Listen, I've never read the comics, I've no idea what the discourse is about in the main tag I'm not on Twitter I don't care I don't care, this is just my own opinion and if you do not agree with it or you've enjoyed it yourself then hey kudos to you, I in no way want to take that away from you it's just that I... have beef with it. Not even beef, just frustration.

The whole show is going way too fast, they want to pack as much action and information into every single episode that it just becomes more like a too fast too spinny Rollercoaster where you don't even know what's happening before it's over which is not to say that the plotlines are obscure and deep and if you didn't catch that reference you won't get it, no, the show makes everything very spelled out and very - as we say in Hungarian - chews the food for you and spits it into your mouth. But because of this too fast pace we get no time to emotionally attach ourselves to storylines or characters at all, even Dream is a character we can't feel much sympathy for even though he's the main character because we keep cutting back and forth between different shit happening constantly. The cutting is actually hilarious to me in the first few episodes, -it was ridiculously bad - later on I just didn't pay much attention because I was mainly drawing while occasionally glimpsing up at the screen and mainly just listening because otherwise if I pay too much attention I get too frustrated. So yeah this is more of a put it on in the background and don't take it seriously kind of media.

There's also the problem of like... the acting? Besides the nonsensical storylines (like Dream said his siblings were well-aware of his imprisonment but none have come to his aid and then Death gives a speech that (for me) felt pretentious and made no sense of how she was "worried about him" and how "stupid and self-centered" Dream is for not reaching out to her after he escaped??? Then talking of how she missed him at the family dinners??? Girl literally move a piece of grain to break the fucking dust circle keeping this hoe imprisoned and don't act like he's the one selfish for being traumatized and having abandonment issues. It also pisses me off about her that she's like oh well that ain't shit dude wanted eternal life so you know what sure let's grant him that but then she takes the baby away saying yep that's all you get like. She talks like she's compassionate but does not come across that way at all no matter what music they put in on the background.)

The lady from doctor who who plays Johanna Constantine like. Cannot act for the life of her its so distracting. She has one facial expression and does not change it no matter what the context is, and in that way I sadly have to say she's a good followup for Keanu Reeves' John Constantine. Make no mistake, I find Keanu Reeves lovely, he's a great and gentle sweet person with the most beautiful face on God's green earth and I love the John wick movies he's great at action scenes, but the dearie is not a good actor. Wooden and feels awkward as shit. Same as her. Very beautiful face, very unable to act. The whole storyline with her losing a kid she adored and then her ex girlfriend just felt so horrible to watch but not because of the inherent tragedy of what we witness but because her acting makes us unable to take in that scene. The ex gf's last nice dream is of them smiling at each other on a field but the supporting actress gives so much more depth to it than Johanna who even when she should be acting outraged and concerned we get nothing from her performance nor after when she says goodbye to Dream. There's plenty more where that came from (Lyta's crying scene made me laugh she tried so hard not to show enough grief that would ruin her beauty that it just looked funny) but I had to mention her especially because she really made me want to stop watching altogether. That's not to say there's no good performances in the Sandman tho, the actor that plays Desire completely caught me off guard they are incredible: they barely had any time on screen but they're so expressive and unique and made a shiver run down my spine from just one smile and that chuckle had me screaming its like bestie is compensating for all the bad acting alone I hope to see more of them in the future.

There's also the thing that this show feels more like a collage, which is funny because in the extra episode recently dropped the writer's book that gets Calliope's powers is said to transcend and merge genres which I could feel regarding this show but not in a good way. It doesn't feel innovative it feels like ten different writers are trying to cram in their own ideas of what this show should be about and it feels like a turmix of ingredients not belonging together; the gore feels weird after the whimsical scenes, the Disney like wonder of dreamland is cut short by dwarf Cain putting a red hot poker through dwarf Abel's face for being too sweet, the discussion of loss and trauma and need for love feel meaningless when the cereal convention is shown in such a "fun" "badass" light where a p*do gets screentime with p*do jokes when he's around a kid that make you not laugh but think who the fuck let this be put on screen? If the show wasn't so crammed these contrasts might not feel so obvious but I get that Hollywood is going on 8 lines of pure coke per second and they need to put everything out in as short amount of time as possible, not trusting that these tiktok teens will keep watching if there's even a second of trying to digest what just happened.

There's also a lot of cringey stuff that just made me hurt physically, like the constant Keira Knightley pouting of the main character dude with the Bella Hadid cheek sucking in and the same Edward Cullen stare but I'm sure plenty 15 year old girls who experience this for the first time will wet themselves because they didn't live through the Twilight craze of the late 2000s - early 2010s; or most notably the fight scene between Lucifer and Dream that just made me think of elementary school girls in recess role-playing ponies that freaked me the fuck out when I was a kid. I just kept thinking yeah they gotta dnd fight because Gwendoline Christie could break that cracker biscuit twink in two with a snap of her fingers if it was a physical fight.

Contrary to popular belief I don't think racial and sexual diversity is enough to compensate for the lack of good writing, I think it's a cheap shield to shrug off criticism and dehumanizing to these marginalized groups, which is also very ironic in light of the extra episode where the crusty writer dude says that he wants to cast women and poc for his on screen adaptation and then publicize it so the studio can't back out due to the public backlash it would cause. Very self aware funnily enough. There are also a lot of very convenient resolutions to plots that have me roll my eyes back into my skull constantly but let's not get into all of them because I'll never stop complaining.

But I know you didn't come here to hear my opinion on the show itself only the emo twink in it so let's get into that.

Sure, Morpheous is fuckable, sure he's princess pretty, sure he's a bottom, but the type of bottom that is like how dare you make assumptions that I, an Endless, would enjoy a phallic object in my-kyaaa~♡ so yeah he's a pretentious little bitch that would rather die than ask for what he wants and you will not pull it out of him either you have to fucking read his mind and bear with the disappointed pout when the sex didn't turn out as he didn't fucking wish for. He's also an utter pillowprincess, if you get him into bed he'll not even raise his own legs you have to spread them for him because he's too proud to do so himself even though he loves to get his guts rearranged. I bet he secretly has a kink chamber for his own... well, dreams of what he wants to be done to him where he gets pushed around, held down, savagely taken by a very well trained dream meant to serve him in the most delicious way possible without him having to ask for it. He basically creates himself a pro vibrator rather than ask Hob to fuck his mouth like it is the source of eternal life.

Another gay I want to talk about is the Corinthian. Because he's really a great character and I do believe he's a one true dom vers. He'll rock a twink's shit to Hell and back, and you know he's all for watching as your eyes turn all blissed out when he's milking your prostate, BUT I also think he's a great powerbottom. We mainly saw him flirt with twinks but I do like to think he gets the occasional sexy big bear daddy within his charms and powerbottoms the soul out of them. I mean this stance alone is telling: sexy long legs and sweet strong thighs that'll bounce that ass up and down your dick at such a pace you're two seconds from Heaven and you haven't even tasted those milky tits yet. I mean, if evil why he milfy?

Dream: Corinthian you were my greatest creation I had so much hope for you, you disappoint me greatly-

Corinthian: says the bitch that can't ride nor suck dick so he makes up noncon scenarios for himself where he doesn't need to do all the work 💅

Dream: 👁👄👁

Corinthian: btw how big is Hob's dick or will I get to suck it before you? He might want a bottom that tells him exactly what he wants and two extra holes to stick that dick into-

Dream: SILENCE-

Corinthian: see I can suck dick while maintaining conversations and having a sippy from my drink at the same time-

Dream: BE UNMADE BITCH-

Corinthian: you just mad I can get dicks in the waking world and not make myself dildos out of sand-

Corinthian: *gets unmade*

[rachelbethhines]

Tangled Bonus Marathon - Rapunzel’s World : The Ultimate Series’ Guide

Introduction

While I was gathering books and comics for this review series, I kept seeing this series guide advertised to me by google’s and amazon’s algorithms. Now neither would tell what the book was nor give me any sort of insight into it’s pages, and I never heard it talked about within fandom. It’s not even listed on the wiki with the other activity books.

So out of sheer curiosity, I snagged it used off of Abe Books for less than five bucks. Now this was originally released mid-season and is supposed to be a ‘here’s a who is who’ so far in the story, but I figured it works better as an introduction to the show. I also wanted something short to go between the larger novels and give myself some breathing space.

Content

As I said, this is just a ‘Who’s Who’ book, but with some world building stuff thrown into the mix. Not much though, sadly....

Most of the little blurbs and such, are just things you can see in the show yourself. There’s nothing really here to flesh out the characters or the world; no additional tidbits or factoids, no added story, no activities for what is suppose to be an activity book. It’s kind of bland, and I can see now why the fans don’t really talk about it.

The most interesting thing about the book is what it gets wrong.  

Varian, Quirin, and Ruddgier are called the ‘Ruddiger Family’, as if they consciously named themselves after their pet raccoon...

And then they get both Herz der Sonne’s and General Shampanier’s names wrong. Calling them Herr Tazon and General Champagne... I kid you not, It’s Champagne. 

If this book was scheduled for a mid-season release, back when Queen for a Day was still intended to come after One Angry Princess, then Under Raps may not have been fully finalized by the time it was published.

Yet most interesting to me, is that The Great Science Expo is implied to be an annual event in the book. But, like, wouldn’t Varian had won like nearly every year then? Yet the judge seems to barely know him? What would have prevented Varian from participating previous years?

I personally would like to think that the Great Expo is a rotating event within the seven kingdoms. Like it does happen every year, but each year its hosted else where. Which would mean that the last time the Expo came to Corona, it was held when Varian was seven and too young to enter.

Now, I’ve nothing to back that theory up, but it seems as plausible as anything else. 

Presentation 

The art work in the book is very uneven, at best. We get some nice background shots and a few new promotional images of the mains. I especially enjoy the page listing out Rapunzel’s outfits. But then you you also get a lot of repeated artwork that fans see touted in every merch. 

Heck, that one image above of Varian is repeated twice within this same book, while the royal family portrait shows up on three separate occasions. Then there’s the fact that all the villain's models are shown in default mode...

Everyone else at least has their models posing. Even minor characters, like the castle staff and the townspeople, at least were set up for their one promotional image. Yet, this, is lazy. Someone really dropped the ball here and it feels rushed. 

Would I Recommend It

I don’t understand who this is for. There’s nothing here that you couldn’t learn just by watching the show or reading a Wikipedia page to catch yourself up with. If this had perhaps been released between the pilot and the first episode, as a way to generate hype, I could understand it, but it was instead a midseason release, so none of this would have been new information to most audiences at the time.  

I guess if you lived overseas and couldn’t get the episodes till later, and for whatever reason didn’t have internet access, then maybe this might have had value then.... Only, its even harder to get merch like this overseas anyways so... Not to mention, that none of that is relative now that the series is over with.  

I don’t know. I know a few people who like this book a lot, but I personally fail to see the appeal. This is the first thing I’ve come across in the marathon that I would recommend skipping over. 

Next Up

We’ll be looking at our second original novel and first series based original novel to boot. Here’s hoping that’s better than the last book. Next is Rapunzel and the Lost Lagoon. 

Also the streams have retuned this week over on the salt discord. 

https://discord.gg/52hGg6TS

[rishi-eel]

thinking (yet again!) about the differences between the bad batch story reels and the season seven arc and like... some changes just blow my mind because all it did, really, was make the bad batch less likable.  

lets star with the whole “reg” thing. if i remember correctly, in the originals “regs” is said twice. the first instance is by crosshair when taunting jesse in the LAAT. the second is said by hunter: he tells tech (who’s hacking into the cyber center) that he and wrecker are going to “go get the regs” (i.e. rex and jesse). that is, hunter only used it among his squad when the others were not present (much like how cody informs that the bad batch are defective clones out of earshot. these words are descriptors, but there’s also an offense associated to being referred to by them). the idea that hunter has restraint referring to regular clones this way in their faces connects, i think, to how hunter was a tad more apologetic to jesse in the original script. “he means regular clones. don’t take it personal. it’s just that we don’t always follow protocol” carried an actual sense of hunter trying to convince jesse that it’s nothing to do with him.   

it’s interesting, i think, that in a context where you have clones and defective clones, that the bad batch (as defective clones) would find a way to talk about other clones in reference to themselves in a way that normalizes their own existence. it also introduces the idea that the bad batch experience a level of disconnect, and even animosity, in regards to other clones. all that can be conveyed by only using the word twice. the season seven episodes added three more instances, and in all of them the bad batch members comfortably throw the word around the clones who “are regs.” the sense of separateness (which, again, was already established/achieved by using it just two times) is only made stronger (thus more needs to be done to portray a sense of reconciliation or coming together. the reels succeed this to an extent because that barrier wasn’t built up as high). 

so yeah in the original... wrecker didn’t say “we always get shot down when we travel with regs,” he kept quiet as he helped people out of the wrecked gunship (in fact, wrecker lost a lot of subtlety going from the reels to the final eps, which i’ll get back to). hunter didn’t fake-compliment rex with a “not bad, for a reg”! and oh boy crosshair’s comment implying that echo is worthless and expendable because he’s a “reg”... yeah that was not in the reels either. in fact, not only does crosshair not call echo a reg, the meaning of his original dialogue was completely different.

in the original, after hunter voices his suspicions echo might be dead, crosshair suggests that if alive echo could be cooperating with the enemy, making him a traitor. rex takes this as an attack on echo’s character and crosshair explains that no, he’s not intending to insult echo, by saying: “oh i don’t blame him, if i were left for dead, i wouldn’t be so loyal.” and like!!!!! that’s such a radically different line of dialogue because crosshair seems to blame rex for having left echo behind, actually. if you betrayed the republic to survive, or even out of spite, i don’t blame you even if you now present a threat to myself and my family, is such an interesting, empathetic sentiment. and that contrasts with the lack of regard given to rex, making it read like he’s condemning rex for leaving someone behind. crosshair doesn’t seem to understand, as an experimental commando clone, the pressures rex as a legion captain is under, because he’s seen a less expandable (they’re a specially trained four man team, if one dies that’s 25% of the unit gone. is there a replacement for that member? you get the idea). so you’ve got a clash between different povs, but also crosshair being shown as having a set of morals, chief among them being that you do not leave anyone behind. so remember when rex says to move out and crosshair goes “commander cody is in no position to move” yeah i’d say that’s crosshair making sure cody isn’t being left behind. when crosshair saves anakin? that’s because he saw anakin go off on his own and followed him. because you don’t leave people behind. and like... the idea that yeah crosshair is an asshole. he’s unpleasant and that’s deliberate. he doesn’t care if people like him and he’s not trying to be liked. but that he values the lives of other people and looks out for them? that makes an interesting, flawed and multifaceted character. that got lost in the dialogue change because its no longer suggested that crosshair holds these values.

as for what i said earlier about wrecker: he lost subtle, nonverbal moments through the addition of lines that are either anticlimactic or only serve to make him seem loud or ditzy in an exaggerated fashion. he didn’t laugh when the LAAT came down. he was quiet as he helped people out of the downed gunship (no comment about regs!). he didn’t say “boom” when the ship exploded in the background after he flipped it over (the difference? a character moment that’s actually cool and impressive vs something that’s corny). when wrecker comes to crosshair’s aid by picking rex off of him, there was no quippy one liner. there was no need for anything to be said for it to be understood that wrecker is acting as a barrier and it trying to intimidate rex. when he’s afraid to get onto the elevator? that’s conveyed visually through camera angles and through hunter picking up on the fact that he’s scared. he doesn’t scream (if you can call a comical “aah what is that thing oh no its going to get me” a scream) when the organic decimator almost gets him. when they walk across the pipe? wrecker doesn’t whimper or talk to himself for comfort. he is scared of heights, that’s already been established, but he’s also a grown man and a soldier like he’s keeping that to himself? like we see wrecker hesitating to walk on the ledge but doing it anyway because he has to. in a piece of dialogue that was cut, tech said “does anyone want to know the odds of us making it across alive?” to which wrecker (who’s you know already having a bad time) interrupts with “don’t even think about it, tech” (if ur curious, this exchange was replaced with: wrecker: “keep walking tech!” tech: “that’s fine, but if you fall don’t take me with you” which???? uuh weird exchange). also, the fact that wrecker was mostly dealing with his fear silently means that when hunter tells wrecker to hold on because they’re almost there... that’s because hunter knows he’s scared and is checking up on him. basically... any kind of serious moment was cheapened by having wrecker talk in them. now i don’t want to say that DBB is a bad voice actor, but his expertise is making animal noises. he’s not able to do a realistic, deep voice, meaning that whenever wrecker talks he kind of sounds like a joke. it’s fine when wrecker is actual being lighthearted and jokey, but otherwise? the emotion just does not come across as genuine, which breaks the stakes or weakens credibility.  

and god the whole plot point about the bad batch being suspicious of echo was nonexistent in the reels. the “don’t worry, echo says he’s got a plan”/”that makes me feel so much better” exchange between rex and tech is in the original, but tech’s sarcasm isn’t from doubting echo’s allegiance, it’s because they’re planning to land on admiral trench’s ship and echo having a plan (that he himself doesn’t know) doesn’t exactly soothe his anxieties. rex acts like tech’s being a big joker and playfully shoves him, telling him to get on board. which is an interesting interaction because these characters are kind of starting to bond?? as for tech and echo, they kinda become nerdy friends really quick. like when tech warns echo not to send the signal right away because he first needs to make it look like it’s coming from skako minor, echo’s like “oh yeah good thinking tech.” and when echo figures out a way to shut down all the droids at once tech is impressed and lightly shoves his shoulder. again there is none of that “oooh maybe echo’s a traitor maybe he’s with the techno union” shit. like i understand that the writers wanted to up the stakes but it falls flat because the idea of echo being a traitor isn’t credible. it does not seem like an actual risk or possibility. so all it did was make the bad batch seem like assholes, cutting away at some very nice character moments.   

ok this is a long post and you might ask yourself “but tumblr user rishi-eel, why do you care so much about the story reels, this stuff isn’t canon now” and there are a couple reasons, first, i think it managed to tell a better story overall. so the question is: why is that? because you would expect that writers reworking the plot would add improvements and not downgrades. and to be fair, the s7 episodes had a bunch of upgrades, but not when it came to the characterization of the bad batch. another thing to consider is that changes were made in the context of setting the bad batch up as future protagonists of their own spinoff series (something the original arc was not intended to do because there were no plans for a bad batch series). were the characters made flatter and more archetypal to add to marketability? was the reg/defective clone rivalry (and dichotomy, even) amplified because this separateness serves a narrative in which the bad batch are heroes and the other clones villains?  

[starvine]

first date headcanons

attack on titan (modern au)

summary: some first date headcanons with some of the attack on titan characters. 

warnings: none, just fluff :)

eren jaeger: movie 

a little basic but it’s all eren could come up with

besides, it was between a movie and dinner and dinner felt too formal so y’all decided on a movie

he’d let you pick the movie tho

he might argue with you if it’s something stupid and claim that it’s horribly written (as if he knows a thing) but that’s it

eren would make sure to get the BEST snacks. spicy food? check. candy? check. popcorn? check. fruits? check.

he just wants to impress you (even if he did have to confide in his friends for some advice)

he just really likes you

during the movie, you guys would start shifting closer to each other, both a little too timid to move all the way all at once

but you guys would make commentary throughout the movie, laughing when things seem too cliché or when a character says something funny

half way throughout the movie, you guys aren’t even really paying attention it it

you’re too busy throwing popcorn at each other and trying to catch it in your mouths, feeding each other candy, and giggling at each other

it’s intimate in its own relaxed way, which makes eren realize how perfect you are

you both could make the most out of a pretty average first date situation and make it into a beyond amazing first date

and that was all he needed to ask you on a second date before he dropped you off at your car, walking with you to make sure you got there safely

and ngl you’d be a bit of a fool to say no to eren

armin arlert: aquarium 

sweetheart is so nervous 

before he came to your apartment to pick you up for your date, he was a little nervous wreck 

he was fidgeting with his fingers, playing with the buttons on his shirt--he probably accidentally opened one by accident 

but once he saw you, he felt fine 

it was as if he physically melted, you just make everything okay 

once you guys got to the aquarium, he would NOT shut up

he was probably pointing things out, telling you fun facts, asking you what is your favorite marine life 

“oh, you like pufferfish? that’s cool! i like them too. they’re very... puffy.” 

he’s like a child in a candy store 

but while he’s rambling about how the digestive system of a sea cucumber basically cleans the ocean, he’s wondering how he should make a move 

he doesn’t want to scare you off or anything, but he doesn’t want you to be disappointed 

but while you guys are looking at one of those large fish tanks, the ones where you walk through a tunnel, you guys just sort of stand there and watch in awe

or rather armin watches in awe while you look at him, a soft smile gracing his pink lips as his eyes dart across the illustriously blue colored glass

and when he feels your pinky latch onto his, he’s a little shocked that you had made the first move

he didn’t not expect it per say, he just thought that he would be the one to make the first move 

but his overthinking got in the way

and when he turns to look down at your intertwined pinkies, he caught you sending him a delicate smile that made his heart squeeze until he felt as if every part of him was on fire

but it was him who finally held your hand fully 

he just needed you to give him the extra push

mikasa ackerman: book store 

it’s a very calming atmosphere, which is something you’d both need for this first date

mikasa is probably pretty anxious for the first date, and wants to make sure you’re okay and enjoying yourself while also making sure she’s okay and enjoying herself

so the calming scent of the book store and the quietness is perfect for her to multitask between mediating the two

you’d both be tasked with picking each other books and then buying them for each other

so initially mikasa was nervous because she wasn’t sure what to get you but then you asked what she liked to read and so that allowed her to ask the same, making the situation less stressful

and all while you two are walking from isle to isle, eyes scanning the various book titles and covers, she sneaks glances at you and how pretty you look

and the fact that you seem very deep in thought, heavily concentrated on getting her the right book, makes her feel less concerned on whether or not you’d rather be with her or not

the answer is obviously a yes but mikasa has a hard time understanding that sometimes

so when you give her the book you bought for her, making sure to lightly touch her fingers while you hand it to her, she already knows that another date is what she wants you both to have or else she’ll probably explode

and based off of how flushed she looks, the possibility of her exploding is not highly unlikely

you guys will sit at this little table in the corner of the store, reading your books

i can picture mikasa annotating certain lines that remind her of you, making mental notes to show you later

overall, the date is pretty lowkey and very sweet

connie springer: dave + busters/bowling

ok there’s not much of an explanation for this one besides the point that if feels right

like connie is pretty energetic and i feel like you can learn a lot about a person based off of the games they’re drawn to 

hence the arcade

i think connie really likes those racing games or the zombie shooting games

he also claims he’s really good at ski ball (he’s not, he’s trash)

so a good portion of the date consists of you just laughing at him the whole time cuz in all honestly he’s not the best at games but he enjoys them for the fun of them

he’d definitely cheer you on when you were playing or try to mess you up if it was you two against each other

but either way he’d give you a hug or a pat on the head after every game

even if u beat him

he’d probably try to sneak a kiss when you guys were in one of those shooting games that requires a booth and the curtains drawn (does that make sense?)

it’s not really romantic like at all, especially since it smells like a million different people in there, but it’s very low stress so in all honesty that’s what makes the kiss nice

and after you guys had used up all your tokens, you’d combine your tickets and pick something together

your prizes would mostly consist of candy and him insisting he get you a plastic gem ring so you can always remember your first date together

it was also his little, strange way of asking you for a second date

levi ackerman: art museum 

unlike connie, he’s not super energetic

so a museum is right up his alley

levi’s a bit awkward, he doesn’t really know how to talk to you

and especially since you’re lovely, his words jumble together and he gets all flustered

so a nice, quiet museum exhibit is perfect for him

it’s a nice balance between casual and formal, so you both dress nice but aren’t restricted by the need to be super polite and stuff

he’d probably like it when you try to imitate the poses that are shown in the paintings or sculptures

just imagine the soft chuckle he’d be unable to prevent from escaping his lips which then melts into a soft smirk

beautiful, beautiful lad

he probably wouldn’t join you though, he doesn’t want to embarrass himself

he just smiles at you and stares at the art, reading the background info they give on those little plates near them

but he would notice when you stare at him

he could be looking at some art made during the dutch golden age, but as soon as your head slightly tilted in his direction, his cheeks would HEAT up

you almost asked him if he was feeling alright he was so red

but as the date went on, levi really just thought about how much he enjoyed your presence

and he’s not a wicked talkative guy so being able to feel comfortable with someone even if you aren’t talking or doing much is pretty important to him

as the date concludes, levi finally works up the courage to place his hand on your shoulder, asking if there was anything else you wanted to see before the museum closes for the day

his face might be bright red, but the smile you give him makes him feel a little less embarrassed

what can you say, you’ve got charm 💅

hange: the fucking zoo

ok i won’t lie when i got the idea of hange taking you to the zoo for your first date i thought it was so funny and idk why

like they’d be so excited that they’d nearly forget that they’re on a date with you

they’d drag you around from exhibit to exhibit, pointing out the exact breed of tortoise or some really strange fact about the zebras without looking at the little description panel in front of the exhibit

it’s pretty comical

but then randomly, when you guys are sitting down and eating some fries from one of the concession stands, they start going on a rant about animal cruelty and how a lot of zoos don’t treat the animals properly

and you’re just sitting there like “what 🧍‍♀️” cuz they’re mood changed so quickly LMAO

and as soon as their rant started, it finishes and they’re rushing you to the reptile exhibit

they’d probably try to figure out if they could hold one of the snakes

you’d have to drag them out of there before they start harassing one of the workers into letting them hold a snake

they’d also give all of the animals names only to forget them in 2 seconds

“hey, robert, it’s good to see you again!” “hange, i thought you named them dante?” “oh... did i? 😁”

however there’s probably like one animal they absolutely despise and idk why but i feel like it’s parrots

y’all would be walking through this rainforest exhibit, birds flying from tree to tree and the whole time they’re cursing the birds under their breath for no reason at all

just an angry person walking through a rainforest exhibit, cursing out birds

pretty normal if you ask me

however, the date itself is pretty casual and almost feels like you guys are just hanging out

or it would if they didn’t ask you out on another date before dropping you off at home, kissing your cheek as their farewell

pieck finger: café

very simple and quaint

i feel like pieck has a coffee addiction and always puts her in a better mood

so what better place to go on a date then a café?

she’s definitely an iced coffee drinker, and will occasionally go for a hot drink but usually iced coffee is her go-to

and if you get a coffee or tea that she also happens to like, you’re already practically golden in her eyes

since pieck has a very soothing and lowkey nature, i can see the date being much more just like a conversation with someone you’ve known for forever instead of interview-y which is something i’ve found coffee/lunch/dinner dates to be a bit like

but pieck knows how to keep things interesting and she’s a pretty calming person to be around so all is well

i also can’t see her getting super nervous before the date

she seems pretty calm unless in high-stress situations, but even then, she’s pretty level-headed

but since she’s so calm, it makes you wonder if she really cares for the date

and of COURSE she does, she’s so excited about it

it’s just the way pieck is

but as the date continues, she’d probably start to tease you by playing footsies under the table

you gotta keep the date interesting, you know?

you guys would talk about your interests, family, friends, shows you’re watching

literally just anything and everything that’ll allow you guys to get a feel for each other

and if all goes well she’ll definitely suggest another date ;)

also don’t expect to leave without her either writing something cute on your cup, pressing a lip-stick stained kiss to your cheek that matches the one surrounding the rim of her cup, or a promise that your game of footsies will continue next time you see each other

[daisyachain]

Rictor is a special case where his arc is a real compelling, creative story, especially by the standards of the X-Men microgenre, and also one that you can’t think of too often or in too much detail.

The different writers who handled him knew enough to play his arc off of the expectations for the character. Simonson contrasted the tough-looking punk by making him a cautious and sensitive teenager and team lead. Nicieza built out some of the stereotypical Angry Ethnic Guy stuff that Liefeld introduced by making Rictor the controlled, supportive team heart. Seeley takes him out of the team environment, but extends his protective streak to all mutants and refugees and puts him in charge of that operation. Howard (disappointment) dials up the leadership that was with Rictor from the start and leans into his academic tendencies that have been a background trait by having him learn a new technology (magic). Just by being sidelined, he’s allowed to be a more multifacted character than your mains like Wolvie or Cyke because he has no brand to live up to.

David (derogatory) arguably did the most by smashing the character’s history of vulnerability into his off-screen depowering to ask: now that this constantly imperilled, anxious guy has no power and has been socially isolated (in comics limbo, therefore apart from all his friends), how is he going to take it? Rictor’s story had been defined by sheer firepower up until that point, the reason he’s short-tempered (fear of himself), the reason he got Xed in the first place (kidnapped to be a superweapon), the family legacy (he’s got the same destructive potential as his father’s weapon), so taking that away from him leaves an understandable hole. XFI for all its flaws respects Rictor’s established character (quick to emotion, smart, decisive, compassionate, levelheaded) and takes him in a new direction.

All that is to say, Rictor’s storyline is a well-executed, resonant, challenging arc by Big Two standards. The problem is that if I think about it for too long I get frustrated by how none of the good stuff is actually shown on screen. It’s an accomplishment in implication. All the killer concepts (the Mexico road trip, the escape railroad, the love story with Shatterstar, the magical mentorship) are doodled in the margins of pretty bland, uneven comics and it makes me pull my hair out

[mk-wizard]

Big Hero 6 The Series: It could have been better

Hello, friends. Today, I will be analyzing a TV series based on a movie that I fell in love with for its colourful themes, deep plot, compelling characters, great CGI and memorable messages. Before I get into it, I want to take a moment to say that I have quit doing videos. They are too big of a pain in the petunia to make and I write better than I speak, so I will stick to writing essays, reviews and more. Anyway, onto the analysis.

All I can say about Big Hero 6 the series is that it had a great concept, it presented some great ideas and tried hard to be a cartoon of the times, but it could have and should have been a lot better. The show’s downfall all centers around trying too hard to be kid friendly which makes the shame sting all the more because Big Hero 6 was already kid friendly even with its dark themes, sharp edges and intelligent writing. If anything, even the brightest kid friendly cartoons (Steven Universe, She-Ra, etc.) had those things and actually benefitted from them. By needlessly trying too hard, character development got scrapped, the edges were all smoothed out, storytelling was subpar, the humour was too silly and the executive meddling in the end produced a dismal final season. However, I don’t want this analysis to be one lengthy negative rant about how awful the series was because in its defense, awful is an unfair word. It did have potential and ideas which are worth carrying over to a reboot that I hope will be done someday in the future. Also, we should root for a reboot because Big Hero 6 would not be the first story that needs it before striking gold. Just look at how many times Spider-Man was rebooted in film before MCU found the version that worked. Anyway, I will list all the things in Big Hero 6 that could have been better in my opinion;

1- Go easy on the laughs and be more generous with the action. - I love adding comedy to my own writing because I think a good sense of humour makes everything better, but Big Hero 6 is not a stand up comedy routine. It is a superhero story where we expect action, suspense and life or death situations that are to be taken seriously first. The comedy should be for relief and with the right timing. Also, the chibi cutscenes and having characters act like fools aren’t funny. Ren and Stimpy are the exception not the standard and their way of making you laugh doesn’t fit an action series. In a show as big as Big Hero 6, real life physics and danger matters.

2- Make the villains menacing and gritty. - I admit that after having a movie villain like Yokai who was the stuff of nightmares, it is going to be a challenging act to follow, but it was obvious that the writers were trying especially with some villains who could have easily gone into some dark relatable territory. For example, Mr. Sparkles (the gentleman in the photo above) embodies social media and Internet personalities. Right off the bat, you have a long list of things which embody the dark side of that like scams, fraud, using social media to dox or harass, driving people to suicide, online predators, the Internet personalities being very depressed people in real life, and much more horrifying things. When you stop and look at it, Mr. Sparkles even looks like the Joker which hints how dark and scary he could have been if the stops were removed. The same goes for enemies like Hardlight who embodies online gaming, Liv with cloning, Obake an amoral and insane scientist, and Trina and Noodle Burger Boy (more on him later) being evil robots. Globby especially should have been painted and written in much darker colours rather being played off for laughs because he has many parallels with Clay Face. The only two villains who I can say were supposed to be campy, charming and comical were Baron Von Steamer and Supersonic Sue because they were a satire of the Adam West style villains.

The rest of them needed to be dark and threatening including Mr. Sparkles. In fact, I would love a rebooted version of Mr. Sparkles who gives me the heebie-jeebies. Going back to Noodle Burger Boy, I must confess that I was actually excited when I heard that he was going to be the main villain of the final season because I thought he was going to fulfill his master’s final wish and as a reminder, Noodle Burger Boy was based on a super robot for military purposes.

It would have been fantastic if Noodle Burger Boy was upgraded into a full military war machine with a new threatening look. For that, I think all of the villains deserve to be rebooted and have their full potential unlocked for better or for worse.

3- A show about geniuses merits genius level art quality. - I am usually forgiving towards art styles, but in the case of Big Hero 6, the oversimplified style with minimal details and lack of textures did not suit the show. The characters blend in with the background which makes them look flat and the special effects were extremely dulled down. I also know for a fact that Disney can do a lot better than this because I saw how superbly Tangled the Series was drawn.

You can see and almost feel the difference in quality, the number of layers and level of detail between the two styles. I think there was no excuse Big Hero 6 was not done in the same style and at the same level if not better as Tangled.

3- Don’t dumb down or flanderize amazing characters. - I absolutely detest it when characters are flanderized because it makes them one dimensional and grating. For example, Go Go is tough as nails and extremely calm, but she is not cold or hesitant towards helping her friends. She doesn’t require very special episodes for us to know that. If anything, the movie version of Go Go reminded me a lot of Garnet in how she deconstructed the broody character. She isn’t cold or emotionless. Just calm and mature. Another good example was how Honey Lemon was rewritten to be overly positive to the point of toxicity, naïve and oblivious with a juvenile obsession with stickers. Then you have poor Fred who was rewritten to be an incompetent fool. The spark that makes Big Hero 6 shine is that they are a team of geniuses meaning they are all intelligent. Even Fred is genius in his own way just not a scientific one. He has a vivid imagination, he is resourceful and can get himself out of tight spots. Please, don’t turn characters into dummies especially if their intelligence is a part of them. It doesn’t make them better or funnier. It ruins them.

4- Tadashi needs closure and honour. - I am all for Hiro making peace with the loss of his brother, but Tadashi is to the Big Hero 6 team what Uncle Ben was to Spider-Man. His loss was the catalyst if not the reason. He should never be forgotten. Moreover, there was never any true closure to him especially with the possibility that he may still be alive up in the air. After all, like Callaghan, his body was never found and it turned out that Callaghan was still alive.

With that said, who is to say that Tadashi was not secretly still alive and just hiding or being hidden? This is something that Disney really needed to clear up if not for the fans, then at least as a service to such an important character. Never just forget about them.

5- The format can only be episodic with a deep plots, continuity and character development. - Random episodes with a mere monster of the day is an outdated format which doesn’t fit Big Hero 6′s modern and bright setting. In seasons 1 and 2, when the episodes were plot heavy with character development, the series shined brightest. It also helped move the story along, but with the final season, plot was removed, closure was abandoned or poorly written if any was given, and characters were disallowed from growing. A good example at how plot and character development could have made this series and its characters better was the relationship between Hiro and Megan. Would it have truly survived or would they have broken up?

Would Richardson Mole have eventually lost interest in his obsession with besting and bullying Fred or would his obsession consume him compelling him to become a super villain? I do see quite a few similarities between Mole and Reverse Flash.

Then you have Karmi who is in my opinion, the biggest wild card of the bunch. She was intentionally introduced as an arrogant, prickly and unlikable yet complex character who rivaled Hiro bitterly.

Yet had a huge crush on his alter ego and as time went on, started to grow up and even form a friendship with Hiro. What would have happened further down the road with her? Would she have become a super hero herself? Or maybe even another love interest for Hiro kind of like how Black Cat is for Spider-Man?

Is Obake really gone?

What does the future hold Diana (Liv’s clone), Liv herself or the Sycorax the genetics company?

Is Alistair Krei going to become an ally to Big Hero 6 or an antagonist? There is also the issue at how little we know about the other Big Hero 6 characters other than Fred, Hiro and Baymax. What are Honey Lemon, Wasabi and Go Go’s backstories? These questions matter and while not every mystery can be solved, leaving none of them solved is lazy writing.

6- Executives, kindly stay out of the writing and any other part of the creative process. - I’m sorry, execs, but there is no nice way to say it. History itself proves that every time executives got involved in the creative process of any media, it got worse not better. Leave the writing to the creative team and the execs should only handle the legal stuff. Please. We understand that TV is a business, but writing itself is not. It is an art which you just don’t have a talent for. Let the creative people do their thing with the freedom necessary and you do your thing, deal? Deal.

7- Focus on Hiro and Baymax. - The are the main characters so keep them at the heart of the series no matter what happens around them. That is all I can say.

And that sums up all the things that could have made Big Hero 6 the series better, but this is all just my opinion. What is yours?

PS: I am well aware that the Big Hero 6 series is being retconned because a new series called Baymax is in the works as well as the long awaited sequel to the first movie. I am looking forward to both with an open mind. PPS: I also am aware that some people liked this show the way it was including the art style and I am cool with that. An analysis for art that includes cartoons is never right or wrong. It is solely based on opinion. I may have thought this series could have been better, but there are people who make arguments that it could have been worse.