#the 1 difference is that i don't think hank as a character does it on purpose and i DO think the show does it on purpose (to the audience)

[carefulfears]

californication's commitment to the "i can fix him" model is fascinating me...they string you along as an audience in nearly the exact same manner that hank strings his family along...they give you little glimpses, a couple of times an episode, of something salvageable or commendable, in the hopes that you won't completely write them off, just as karen and becca will forever cling to those little glimpses of the person who made them happy "once upon a time," who made them briefly believe in a happy ending, who was the partner and father they once came home to...they won't ever be able to leave him behind and if the writers play their cards right, neither will you. californication was written about as "the show that showtime forgets to cancel" for seven years.

[positivelybeastly]

I'm new to comics and love beast. Is there any comics with beast that you'd recommend? There's so many xmen comics and idk where to start.

Hello there, friend! Getting into comic books is damned hard, but, thankfully, resources like Reddit, Tumblr, and Marvel Unlimited (or your pirating site of choice) all make it a lot easier to get into them these days without having to worry about being confused.

Well. You'll still be a little confused. Comic books are convoluted. But at least you'll be able to engage with them on your own terms. :) And, it's worth it. Mostly.

I'll tell you straight out that if you want some good entry points, like, this is my first X-Men comic, what do I read, I'd recommend the following:

X-Men: First Class (2006)

X-Men vol. 2 (1991)

New X-Men vol. 1 (2001)

Astonishing X-Men vol. 3 (2004)

X-Men vol. 6 (2024)

As for Beast specific recommendations? I have a ton!

For Beast as a character, being examined in his own right, I would recommend the following:

X-Men Origins: Beast - a retelling of his origin, updated with modern art and writing. Written by Mike Carey, whose work you should generally look into if you like X-Men - he focuses a lot on characters like Rogue and Xavier, but also on Beast, which is handy for our purposes!

X-Men: Unlimited vol. 1 #10 and vol. 2 #10 - so, this may be somewhat confusing to a new comic reader, but comics have volumes. This is when a comic of a certain title ends, and it's then relaunched with a new creative team, usually with a very different story.

So, X-Men: Unlimited is an anthology series that tells unconnected stories that fit in other places, between other comics, and there were two different volumes of it, one in the 90s, and one in the 00s. Both volumes have an issue #10 that focuses on Beast, and I'd recommend them both! Vol. 1 #10 especially would be, in my opinion, required reading if you really want to get into Beast.

Amazing Adventures vol. 2 #11 through #17 - the first stab at giving Hank his own solo series, from back in the 70s! Don't let the age get you down, I find this series to be actually fairly modern and easy to get into, and it's a nice sort of superhero/horror blend of tones that I find really effective.

X-Men: Endangered Species - this is a Beast solo story dealing with the aftermath of the Decimation, the event where Scarlet Witch removed the powers of 99% of the world's mutants. It's quite dark, but I think it's probably one of the best examinations of the character in the medium, and it works as an excellent sequel to Unlimited vol. 1 #10. Most of the context you need is given to you in the comic, which is handy. :)

X-Men: S.W.O.R.D vol. 1 - this is kind of a team-up comic, kind of not? The context for this is reliant on reading another run that I'll be recommending, but trust me, it's worth it. This is an outrageously funny book with a good emotional core, and it really captures Beast's essence, as a dual sided goofball jokester with a heart of gold and the intellectual moralistic do-gooder who can't leave well enough alone. One of my favourite comics of all time.

For Beast as part of a team, I would recommend the following:

X-Men: First Class - a prequel book set during the days of the Original X-Men, this series bounces between Cyclops, Angel, Iceman, Marvel Girl and Beast a fair bit, but even in issues that don't focus on Beast, he's still a part of the story and quite well written. Very slice-of-lifey, with a lot of charm to it.

X-Men: Season One - a retelling of certain stories from the original 60s run of X-Men, this is a pretty good one-and-done graphic novel that does change a few things, but keeps the spirit intact and tells you a lot about these characters and how they relate to one another. Just watch out for Iceman's Bieber hair.

Avengers vol. 1 #137-211 - this is a pretty long run of comics that features Hank's initial tenure on the Avengers, and will occasionally require a bit of reading around to make sure that you're reading the Annuals in the right place - usually, the comic will tell you to go read Annual #6 or whatever, but if you find a lot of stuff has happened and the story jumped ahead without you, chances are, it's in an Annual. Very variable in quality, but if you want to see classic Beast in all his glory, there's some really good stuff here, especially the foundation of his lifelong friendship with Wonder Man.

The Defenders/New Defenders vol. 1 #96-152 - probably one of my actual favourite run of comics ever. Beast joins the team a little later than #96, but if you jump in when Hank does, you'll be just a little confused, so it's best to start at #96 and go from there. Especially once Hank reforms the team to the New Defenders in #125, he basically becomes one of the very main characters and gets a lot of focus. Absolutely love this comic.

X-Factor vol. 1 #1-70 - the first six or seven issues of this are pretty bad, but it really comes into its own once it starts being written by Louise Simonson, who makes it much more soap opera, more character driven, gives all the characters a lot to do. There's a lot of crossover with other books, but usually it'll just tell you what to read if you want to know more about a part of a story in little editor's notes!

X-Men vol. 2 #1-95 - the classic 90s run; not my personal favourite, because it's pretty confusingly plotted, but if you want something that hews extremely close to the 90s cartoon, this is that to a tee, to the point where a lot of stories and characters were adapted to and from the comics directly!

New X-Men vol. 1 #114-156 - a landmark run on X-Men by Grant Morrison, this evolves Beast into a new form and changes up his character in a new, tragic manner that, personally, is my favourite iteration of the character. Very high concept sci-fi, occasionally quite confusing and problematic, but extremely good stuff, imo, and essential for getting into modern X-Men.

Astonishing X-Men vol. 3 #1-35 - a sort of sequel to New X-Men, this is again an extremely good entry point into modern X-Men, and it's very, very classic while still progressing the story. Just a note - when you read issue #24, do NOT go to issue #25, you need to go and read Giant Size Astonishing X-Men instead, THEN go to #25. I know, it's confusing, I'm so, so, so sorry, comics are just like this. This is the comic that leads straight into S.W.O.R.D pretty much.

Wolverine and the X-Men vol. 1 #1-42 - a more zany, school focused book, Hank is part of the wider cast here, but he does get some spotlight issues, and I do enjoy him here, especially his relationship with Broo. There are crossovers with Avengers vs. X-Men and other events in here, but those events are kinda sort skippable because they're bad. If you feel confused, you can read them, but I don't necessarily recommend them.

X-Men vol. 6 #1-ongoing - the current run of X-Men, written by Jed MacKay! To put it very bluntly, Beast went through about a decade of being quite badly written and slowly turned into a scummy villain through the recent Krakoa era, which I was not a fan of. There are individual issues between 2013 and 2024 that I can recommend, but if you like Beast, I would not recommend reading them, because I think that they are pretty bad and not fun to read. This is me being kind. But the new series picks up after that's all fixed, and Beast is getting a lot to do in this series, so I'd recommend it!

X-Men: From the Ashes Infinity Comics #15-18 - a supplementary comic that focuses on Beast, best read alongside the above X-Men run I recommended; it can give you all the context you need for where Beast is at, and why he's feeling the way that he is. A very, very good read, way exceeded my expectations, and I'm really pleased I can actually recommend modern comics for Beast again!

These are the main runs I would recommend! There's a lot more, if we want to get esoteric, and I'm sure I'm missing out on a lot of material - Beast has been around for 60 years, he's been in a LOT of stories - but if you want to get stuck into X-Men comics and really immerse yourself into the world and the stories, there's a lot of really good material here!

Welcome to the X-Men comics, friend! Hope you survive the experience!

[sineala]

Hi Sine, have you read the new Ultimates (2024)? Any thoughts? I'm currently on the fence, but I'd love to hear your thoughts.

I have read the new Ultimates! I have actually been keeping up with it since Ultimate Invasion, so I've read Ultimate Invasion and Ultimate Universe and am also mostly keeping up with Ultimate Spider-Man, Ultimate Black Panther, and Ultimate X-Men, but since none of those three are really my corner of comics fandom I think I am less qualified to speak to how they are going since I don't generally follow their 616 counterparts and wasn't reading them in the original-flavor Ultimate universe either.

I think the actual Ultimates comic itself has a surprising amount of potential and I'm liking it a lot more than I expected to like it considering that we are only two issues in and the fact that I'd literally never heard of the writer before did not fill me with a lot of confidence. But, y'know, I'm here for Steve and Tony and if Steve and Tony are friends I am, in that regard, fairly easy to please.

So I like the team dynamic so far, but from the beginning I haven't really been a fan of the worldbuilding, and I think a lot of my problems with the worldbuilding would be fixed if they simply had not also called this Ultimates, but as we all know, it is forbidden for Marvel to come up with new names for anything ever.

See, the original Ultimates had a pretty clear and relatively unique mission statement: it was meant to be a low-continuity universe, set in something closer to the real world than 616 is, with grittier and more realistic storylines. The idea was that fans could read and enjoy this universe without needing to know decades of backstory. And, sure, if you knew the backstories there would often be little Easter Eggs, but you're totally capable of reading and enjoying Ults 1, say, if you don't know why the Hulk is gray or why Hank and Jan have a terrible relationship. Because within the context of Ults, that's just how things are. Sure, they're that way because of things that happened in 616, but you don't need to know that.

The original Ults is also gritty and grimdark and polarizing. A lot of people don't like it. The new Ults universe has almost nothing in common with it except that the Maker (Reed Richards) originally hails from Earth-1610. Which, as it happens, does affect the plot a lot, but old Ults and new Ults are different things, and I think the shared name actually hurts new Ults. Because, when you think about it, who's going to want to read this? You've got the people who liked old Ults and are sad that this isn't it. And then you've got the people who didn't like old Ults and have been avoiding this universe because they assume it's the same one. So who's left? People who just like the name "Ultimates?" People who are willing to take a chance on anything Marvel releases? I just feel like there are probably fewer of those people.

I know that the new Ults universe was supposed to be Donny Cates' project before he had to leave due to medical issues, and that Ultimate Invasion was then taken over by Hickman. And honestly I would have liked to see Cates' take, because I wasn't a big fan of Hickman's Ults run, mostly because I didn't like the Maker -- so I'm not, you know, really thrilled that the one thing that gets kept from Earth-1610 is my least favorite character.

The new Ults universe has also pretty much abandoned the two things I thought were the big draw of old Ults: a more "realistic" setting as well as a low amount of continuity. As you probably know, the premise of new Ults is that the Maker goes universe-hopping, gets to Earth-6160, decides that's good enough, stops there, and proceeds to epically fuck shit up. He has his City going, just like 1610. The Earth now has a handful of massive countries, which I guess makes it easier for a shadowy cabal to rule them. So we are definitely abandoning any kind of real-world…geopolitical similarity. Britain and France are the same country; Captain Britain speaks French. China and Japan are the same country. The US fell apart in the 60s. I mean, it's not necessary to use real places in superhero comics -- DC and its array of fictional cities seems to be doing fine -- but it seems weird to do it here when that was supposed to be part of the attraction of Ults (and later on, the MCU, which pulled a lot from Ults). It's a thing people like to read. It gives you a little more investment, I think, as a reader.

The Maker's goal is to prevent superheroes from showing up at all by taking them off the playing field. He gets there at some point after WWII -- because Steve was still Captain America and got iced -- but before the modern Marvel universe kicks off. The Maker is clearly going after as many people as he can. He prevents Peter Parker from being bitten by the spider. He has a creepy museum/mausoleum where he collects artifacts and corpses of dead heroes; for example, we see an adamantium skeleton that is presumably Wolverine's.

Of course, the heroes aren't going to stand for this. Which heroes, you ask? Who's left? Well… mostly Tony, actually. In this universe, Tony is very young and has more of an MCU-influenced backstory in terms of his relationship to his father and to Obadiah Stane. He's also Iron Lad. So, yes, this is a Kang thing. He has help from this universe's Reed (who is masked like Doom) and they're going to assemble the Ultimates and get back as many heroes as they can. Tony finds middle-aged Peter Parker (who is married to MJ and, oh, yeah, Uncle Ben's still alive) and gets him a spider. They are going to fix the world and make everything right.

Is this fun? I think so! I am down for a plot where Tony restores superheroes to his world. However, the thing it isn't is low-continuity. Unlike original Ults, there is so so so much continuity just embedded into the worldbuilding. We see the Maker's big list of characters he's gotten rid of. You're already supposed to know who these people are.

If you pick up the original Ults, let's say Millar's Ults 1 & 2, you don't need to know anything about anything. Sure, like I said, there are lots of things in it that are callbacks to 616, but you don't actually need to know what they are to understand the plot. But everything in new Ults is, within the plot, a reference to something else in the multiverse. They're putting things back the way they were. To do that, you actually need to know something about the way things were. Some of this stuff is going to be obvious to most people who are even vaguely familiar with comics -- I don't read Spider-Man, generally, and even I know it's a big deal that Uncle Ben is alive. But not all the changes are as big as that, and if you don't know them, it's confusing. Ultimate X-Men is all about a teenage schoolgirl named Hisako, in the country presumably formerly known as Japan. "Mutants" don't seem to be a recognized group of people. She doesn't know anything about her powers and I didn't even know she was a mutant until someone told me that was Armor, a mutant obscure enough that I only vaguely remembered her after I was told her name. I spent all of issue 1 wondering who this character was and why I was reading a horror comic about her classmates dying and what she had to do with anything. Apparently she's a mutant and I would know that if I had kept up with X-Men.

Over in the realm of the Ultimates themselves, the worldbuilding has a lot of stuff I wouldn't bank on people just knowing. Does a casual fan know who Iron Lad is? It's probably going to matter! The FCBD issue features Steve liberating Jim Hammond from the Maker's storage. Now, I am very fond of the Invaders and I was thrilled that someone here at Marvel remembered Jim Hammond, but I would bet that a lot of people reading this don't know who Jim Hammond is or why Steve wants to find him. Similarly, I thought Midas was a great villain for Ultimates #2 but I also read a discussion thread where someone asked who he was and three people in a row managed to extremely confidently misidentify Midas' origin and what decade of comics he was from. The earliest they got was the 90s. (Iron Man #17 is from 1969, guys. Also the first appearance of Whitney Frost as Madame Masque, which is why I know it.)

(Skipping ahead a little to the Ultimates team itself, you can take Hank and Jan as an example. They're both recruited in Ultimates #1 and Hank learns about what he's like on other worlds and his first concern is whether he's going to hurt Jan if he becomes a superhero. To fully understand this plot point, you actually need to know what Hank has done, because otherwise you don't actually know what he is upset about -- and that means you need to be familiar with a bunch of other comics. In the old Ults, Hank just hits Jan. Yes, Mark Millar went for the gritty, edgy choice. But it's also a choice that doesn't require you to know anything about Hank hitting Jan in any other universe. It just matters that it's happening here.)

This is a roundabout way of saying that, after Ultimate Invasion and Ultimate Universe, and seeing the starts of the other Ultimate comics, I didn't have high hopes for the new Ultimates comic, and I also had never heard of the writer, which didn't really help.

And then I started reading the new Ultimates comics and I know we've only got two issues but I honestly really like them. Like I said, I am here for the high-continuity new universe; I don't think that's necessarily going to be a winning long-term move in terms of getting new Ults fans, but, like, I am in this fandom partly because I like being in fandoms with massive amounts of continuity.

Jan is great. Did I say that already? No? Jan is so great.

And, of course, I am a Steve/Tony fan, so I am here for the Steve/Tony dynamic and I think it's really interesting. Steve wants to have a revolution. Hell yeah. I'll definitely read that Captain America. He knows the world's wrong and he wants to fix it. 1610 Steve -- in early canon, at least -- just kind of exuded depression from every pore and Did Not Want To Be Here but he was a soldier, goddammit, and he was going to run the mission. 616 Steve was a little more lost, still sad, but kind of keeping that to himself as much as possible and trying to just find meaning in leading the team and the things the team was doing. This new guy seems more like that. but sadder. because the world is way more fucked up. I mean, he woke up and learned America didn't exist anymore, which has to be a downer.

I'm still not a fan of the Iron Lad thing, but the letter Tony writes to Howard is pretty amazing.

It's interesting that Tony is younger and so much less experienced than Steve. He's clearly smart, of course, but it's clear they're not great at teamwork yet -- not because they don't like each other, but because they don't know each other well enough, which I think is interesting and which I haven't really seen in canon, because this wasn't a thing Marvel was going to show us in 1964. But, like, we've had multiple fight scenes where they aren't quite pulling off the plan as intended -- say, when they're rescuing Jim Hammond and no one else can do what Steve is asking so he just does it himself. Or in #1, Steve telling Tony that his recruiting plan isn't going to work, and Tony not listening, and then, surprise, it doesn't work. Or in #2, when Tony tries to tell Steve that his suit modification will drain all his power if he uses it, and he doesn't manage to tell Steve this, so he does the thing when Steve tells him to do it and then, surprise, he has no power. Like, that doesn't happen in 616. Either 616 Tony does the stupid thing without ever telling Steve because he knows Steve would tell him no, or he just flat-out tells Steve no because he's not afraid to disagree with him, or he asks Steve for advice and actually follows it. They don't do this. So this is pretty fun. It's different. Maybe Tony is a little intimidated by Captain America? We shall see!

I'm a little grumpy that Ults is making me like (presumably) Teen Tony, though. I did not like The Crossing! I really did not!

So, yeah, it's interesting! Looking forward to seeing more of it! It could all go wrong, of course, and two issues is kind of a small sample size, but so far I'm into it.

[totally-italy]

Honestly, I'm hyped to find another Just Add Magic fan on here, it's one of my face obscure shows, and if you don't really mind, I'd like to rant about the parallels between the original protectors and the main three.

At first glance, the parallels seem obvious. Kelly parallels her grandmother, Hannah Miss Silvers and , although it doesn't match up with the other two, Mama P with Darbie.

However, looking at the shows events more deeply showcases a more subversive take.

First off, I think that Miss Silvers parallels Darbie.

Despite how different the two seem, they are both very passionate about an art, Darbie with theatre and Miss Silvers with piano. They both share the magic with a non protector friend, although in Miss Silvers case, it backfired. They both have a high amount of empathy, and both of them scream neurodivergent to me Darbie with ADHD and Miss Silvers with autism. They also seem more likely to use the magic for 'frivolous' things, it's a novelty to them.

Next up, Hannah and Becky, Kelly's grandmother. They both care strongly about their friendships, and are cautious with the magic as opposed to the others, who use it as a means to an end, or as a fun way to make life simpler. They both are used by Chuck to bring back his sister Rose, even though he was successful with Becky and not Hannah. They both care deeply about thier friends and family, to the point where they sacrifice their own well being.

And my personal favourite: Mama P and Kelly.

At first, Kelly seems like the typical leader character stereotype, but it's later shown that she is the most morally grey of the group. She will do anything, literally anything, to achieve her goals. She's marginally obsessed with magic, and although she cares about only a few people, she would kill for them. Sound familiar? Mama P matches that description, although her and Kelly have different goals, they show ambition throughout the show. Also, when chuck arrived first, during the OCs protectership, he targeted Mama Ps father. When he returned, he targets Kelly's father.

They have one track minds, and can't quite seem to grasp the consequences of their actions entirely.

Okay lol sorry about how long this was, I've been rotating it in my head for a while

Hank you for reading if you did!

Oh my gods, I actually had to start writing this comment before reading the entire ask, but I absolutely agree with your point about neurodivergence, particularly with Darbie, because she gives me such ADHD vibes and, as I was re-watching it this time, I honestly really felt that she mirrors some of my own experiences as a self-diagnosed ADHDer. Also, though I don't know if I actually thought about it as deeply, I really do think that Miss Silvers is autistic and I thank you for bringing it to my attention!

Also, I really agree with what you were saying about Kelly and Mama P because, though I think Kelly she be cut some slack due to her youth and her being literally poisoned by the magic, she is very similar to Mama P and I don't think it is a coincidence that Mama P particularly wanted to teach Kelly. Also, considering how close Kelly is with her grandmother, I think it also makes sense that Mama P would try to manipulate her (and actually succeeded) with regards to the Pluot Festival.

I feel like the connection between Hannah and Becky is a little bit more obscure, but it is definitely accurate, particularly if you consider the fact that, in Season 1, Hannah covered for Kelly but then snitched on her, and Becky did the same thing in the last season, after finding Kelly's earrings. Also, though I don't agree with Becky trying to get rid of the book and I don't feel like Hannah would have done the same, she clearly does demonstrates the same unwillingness for her own friendships to deteriorate and tries to serve as the mediator a lot.

On the other hand, if you remember the first episode in which they created the bitter truth truffles, wherein Darbie and Hannah admitted that they probably wouldn't be friends if it weren't for Kelly, I think that in itself does create a link between Kelly and her own grandmother, since both originally serve as links between their friends.

I honestly really agree with pretty much everything that you said, though I don't think I had actually ever thought about it that deeply, so thank you for allowing me to analyse it further and for sharing your own perspective on it!

For the record, you absolutely do not have to apologise and I have actually made way longer posts than that before (namely my 1347 word rant about Greek Mythology).

If I might ask, have you seen Mystery City and, if so, what do you think about it? Also, have you ever seen Avatar: The Last Airbender and The Legend of Korra?

[aydaptic]

If writers word is law and canon must always be respected then Reed900 is also wrong?

Given that Cage has said that he doesn't make games for faggots?

In the game itself it is never explicitly stated that Hank and Connor are father and son, and myself and thousands of others never picked up that they were supposed to be. Writers saying things outside of the media when they chose not to explicitly put it in is meaningless. Like JK Rowling constantly tweeting things that aren't in her books.

If they wanted it Canon, they could have explicitly added it. They chose not to.

(1/2) At what point did Williams/Cage say something like "Gav sees Niner as a son" -- which would make shipping them equally as bad -- like they've come out and said "Hank sees Con as a son?"

You've lost all credibility comparing the two.

Cage allegedly saying what you claim, to my knowledge, is nothing but an unproven accusation. Where's the proof? Anyone can throw accusations.

An author stating something outside of a product is not "meaningless." To think you can override the creator/dictate what's canon is self-entitlement. It's their sandbox, and if they want to change the sand, that's their right. The rest of us are just playing in it. It's like saying that whatever I reply in an ASK -- when ppl ask about my Reed900 Alive series -- isn't canon in my very own ficverse.

Someone: "What does your Niner do when he's severely stressed?" Me: "Singing 'Hold On' to soothe himself -" Someone: "That isn't canon bc I didn't see him doing so!"

I hope you understand where your arguments fall apart now.

As this ASK was sent less than 5 minutes before another, I assume you're the same anon, so I'll add it here not to clutter tags/dashboards.

(2/2) Other ASK below the cut:

I repeat... It's "objectively creepy/wrong to ship two characters" when the lead writers themselves coded them father/son.

Hank isn't "replacing" Cole. A man can have several sons. I've heard this ridiculous argument so many times and it boggles the mind that ppl still use it. My big brother didn't cease to exist when I was born.

Just bc you need them to state so in-game doesn't mean it's not canon. The world doesn't revolve around you. Just as the world doesn't revolve around me. Ppl have different opinions/takes on many things. To demand everyone think the same is to erase individuality.

Clancy Brown isn't a lead writer. He's an actor. Neil Newbon has said plenty of things himself about Gav/Elijah. Those are their own fanon headcanons of the characters they played. Not objective facts. The only objective fact about Gav that Neil has talked about, as far as I'm aware, was when Neil said he and Cage agreed the nose scar was recent. It's also proven by the scar being red still and not white/healed.

If you have more to say -- as I don't wanna clutter the tags/dashboards with ASKs talking about the exact same thing -- do it in the replies.

[ofsmokenandgold]

Land of Women Episode 5

More flashbacks - this time Julia, playing bitlles with Mariona to determine who gets Andreu - Julia loses deliberately because she knows Mariona really likes him - but it's not clear at this point if this is before or after she slept with him.

Later this is important because they have another game to determine whether the ladies have to listen to Gala after she has pissed them off once again, and Julia flashes back to the earlier game and deliberately underthrows thinking she's back 40 years before. It also results in a conversation between Julia and Mariona that leads to them working out their differences (Julia apologizes for sleeping with Andreu when she knew Mariona liked him) and to Mariona getting on Gala's side over the winery.

So Gala - she begins the episode bargaining with Tony to give him installments based on the profits from the winery - which she is absolutely not entitled to - but I can forgive that as a temporary stalling measure so Hank and Kevin don't kill them. She then lies about who they are and sticks Amat with housing them, instead of telling Andreu when she had the chance. And when she finally talks to Amat, he explains why he's so mad at her and tries to get her to come clean, but it just results in her lying some more and focusing on that fact he said he was worried about her.

They go into Day 8 with Amat trying to figure out who the guys are and finding a box of shells, so he knows they are dangerous. He goes in search of Gala only to be waylaid by Montse who wants to talk. And he's a total fucking arse again - he apparently blew off the date they had the night before and hasn't been answering her calls and texts. For someone who yelled at Gala for worrying him by not answering her phone, he's really blasé about the fact that he just didn't answer Montse because he "was busy". And actually, he wasn't busy - we see him standing at his bedroom window watching Kevin for quite a long time the night before - he could have called her then if he wasn't so focused on Gala. And he blows her off once again - he's too busy to talk - she doesn't fail to notice that the first place he goes when he's done with her, is to Gala's side.

Can I just say how much I love Ariadna Gil here - I don't know what the hell the writers/showrunners were intending, but she lets us know with face and body and gesture that Montse is deeply unhappy with the way she is being treated, even if she's too much of a mature adult to make a fuss about it. I have to wonder if she saw the way the story treated the character and just thought "Fuck it, I'm not going to let her be an NPC." But then, anyone who is cool and smart and interesting enough to have been in a relationship with Viggo Mortensen for the last 15 years, I'm sure knows how to craft her characters in ways that give them life and authenticity - regardless of what the writers are doing.

Eventually, Kate saves the day with her drawings of the women, and Gala finally apologizes and makes an impassioned speech about how special they all are and everyone rallies round to get the wine ready for Edna's visit.

And finally, Gala comes clean to Amat about what is going on and he says he won't let anything happen to her and that he trusts her to get them all out of this mess. Cue an almost kiss, interrupted by the arrival of Fred - nice timing Fred, I appreciated it, even though many others didn't.

So, I have to ask - why does Amat trust her? She's made consistently bad decisions, she's arrogant, stubborn, entitled and rude, her lies have put all of them in danger - especially if it turns out that Amat may have his own reasons for hiding out (see episode 6). And he's known her all of five days (we first see Gala the evening of Day 1; she meets Amat on Day 3 and this is now the evening of Day 8).

I get chemistry, I really do, and their chemistry is undeniably great, but it doesn't make up for careless storytelling. And this is really careless, she's given him no reason to trust her or even like her - but here they are about to kiss. It really makes him look like he's thinking with his dick. Yes, she's pretty, yes she's glamorous (even in "dirty work clothes"), yes she's new and different and exotic, but none of that is a reason to be this into someone you've known for all of five days and THEN we add on that he's already in a relationship (no matter how casual, it's still a relationship).

It's like the writers are SO focused on the romance and the relationship between the two principals that everything else gets either ignored, or twisted to fit the story of Amat and Gala's ill-fated (but of course, ultimately happy) romance.

But I shouldn't also forget that once again he's very pretty and is really rocking the layers - t-shirt, henley, shirt and waxed jacket.

[connorsjorts]

Fic tag game! Tagged by the lovely @sweeteatercat , thank you!!

1. How many works do you have on AO3? 4

2. What's your total AO3 word count? 229,987

3. What fandoms do you write for? DBH

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos? I don't even have 5 fics 😅 but here they are in order: 1. he's making a list; i'm checking him out 2. long way home 3. stupid sexy priest 4. make my wish come true

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not? Always! I haven't responded to comments on my latest chapter yet, but I will. It's really important to me: 1) If someone takes the time to read my work AND share their thoughts with me, that really does mean so much, saying thank you (and clumsily attempting to express the depth of my gratitude in an annoying amount of emojis) is the least I can do; and 2) This is a community! The validation is nice, yes, but I write to connect with people. I love hearing what people have to say and I love to talk with them about it! I've made friends through my ao3 comments, we're all here because we love the same thing, and if you're excited about my silly contributions OF COURSE I'm gonna want to talk to you! Your reactions to the work are just as important as the work itself imo. Art is a conversation!

6. What's the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending? Probably make my wish come true, just because it's an alternate POV of a scene in a different fic so the main conflict remains unresolved. But it still has a feel-good ending! Sad endings don't exist in my world

7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending? I'm not sure! What do you guys think? Generally in my fics I try to wrap everything up in a happy little bow without everything being too perfect--we still have to work, we still make mistakes, life is still hell; but it's easier when we have each other and have found faith in ourselves.

8. Do you get hate on fics? I haven't yet...... (bracing myself for my first hate comment to come through as soon as I publish this post)

9. Do you write smut? If so what kind? Sure do! I write the over-the-top, too long, lots of emotion, lots of laughing/banter, taking-off-your-pants-is-awkward kind. Sex is cool but friendship is the most romantic thing to me ❤️ I enjoy writing smut the most when they really, genuinely like each other as people.

10. Do you write crossovers? What's the craziest one you've written? I have not and I doubt I would. Probably the closest I would get is an au based on another piece of media (I do dream of a hankcon twin peaks au)

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen? I have never even considered that being a thing until now

12. Have you ever had a fic translated? Someone requested to translate one of my fics but I don't know if it will ever come to fruition. I hope it does though, I would love that!

13. Have you ever cowritten a fic before? No but I've briefly discussed it with a friend... now that I'm done with the bb I'll need to contact them and see if they're still interested because I sure am 👀👀

14. What's your all-time favourite ship? Hankconnnnnnnnnn

15. What's a WIP you want to finish, but doubt you ever will? I started a fic where Connor works in a sex shop and a very vanilla Hank comes in looking for something to spice things up with his girlfriend. He gets some fuzzy handcuffs and they do their job when it comes to Hank's boner, unfortunately that has more to do with Hank fantasizing about the person who sold them to him more than anything else. He breaks up with the girlfriend and most of the fic would be Hank continuing to frequent the sex shop as an excuse to talk to Connor as he gets more and more in over his head thanks to Connor's recommendations. It was really good in my head, but when I put it to paper it just... wasn't. So I'll probably never continue it.

16. What are your writing strengths? Characterization, I think! I get a lot of compliments on it. It's the best feeling when someone falls in love with one of my characters ❤️

17. What are your writing weaknesses? Setting 😖 I like to pepper in details as I go, I really struggle when the scene calls for describing the whole-ass place at once

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic? If y'all want a fic about the Duolingo characters, sure. Otherwise I'm sure I'd be abysmal at it. I'm not proficient enough in any other language to get the voice right.

19. First fandom you wrote for? DBH. I am a fic-writing newbie and also I tend to stick with one thing for 4,000 years

20. Favourite fic you've ever written? Probably long way home, it's not as popular as mall santa but there's so much of my soul in that fic. Artistically and thematically, it's very me, and it's also the story that taught me how to write. I had never written any work of fiction before I started it (Hankcon was just that strong) and now I never want to do anything else. Thank you for reading, if you want to play consider yourself tagged! 💖

[disniq]

Season 1, Episode 2, “Hawk and Dove”.

Joy.

We are introduced to Hawk, AKA Hank Hall, who is already captured and being tortured! Listen, I don’t often side with torturers, but he probably deserved it.

Dove, AKA Dawn Granger, saves his ass and then we get a gratuitous bathroom shot because Alan Ritchson is hot, and also to show that the superhero life fucks you up, kids.

I’ll be honest, I don’t really understand what their plan is here? They’re taking out arms dealers and stealing the money for themselves until they have enough to “retire”. Dude, you’re both in your 30s, just get a normal fucking job that isn’t destroying your body and mind, maybe?

(This is a recurring theme with these two. They talk about quitting, one of them goes back on it, they fight, they make up, they talk about quitting… It’s a whole thing.)

Dawn is so pretty, fuck me.

She rescued him and plays nurse afterwards? Dawn, honey, he does not deserve you. He can't even fuck.

Flashback time, and Dickie-boy is hanging out with the Bad Kids against Batman’s orders. (I say “Kids”. All of these people are in their twenties at least. And, also. This is four years ago, but in s2 they say the og Deathstroke stuff is four years ago. Don't think to hard about the Titans timeline, good lord.)

DO LIKE; the fight choreography here! Dick is all flippy acrobat but Hawk and Dove are like pro fucking wrestling lol.

DO NOT LIKE; this weird fucking love triangle, and I use the term “love” extremely loosely. Poly supremacy man, you all have bird names and a shit ton of fucking issues, you could all be each others problems instead of inflicting yourselves on others <3

(oh my god, I’ve only just hit the titlecard. This episode is *so* long)

(Or maybe it's just that I find it incredibly boring.)

I'm sure that's not relevent

Dick is taking Rachel to Hank and Dawn, so he calls Alfred for some money to… pay them to keep her?

(on a related note, there is such a frustrating interesting dissonance between what we are told and what we are shown in this show. We are told Dick has a rep for being great with kids, but he doesn’t really know what Rachel should be eating or watching at her age, and he tries to get rid of her the second he can. Rachel says she’s not a kid, and then the very next scene is her sprawled out on the bed surrounded by snacks. Rachel says she can tell when people are lying, but her "Mom" was lying to her her whole life?)

I’m trying really hard not to get too bitter too quickly here, but god the difference between how Dick treats an upset Rachel to how he later treats an upset Jason makes my heart hurt :(((

Oh, The Family are fucking creepy okay. It’s the heteronormativity.

Dick is a terrible fucking liar, omg.

Rachel: You’re gonna leave me too, aren’t you? Dick: Dick: Dick: Dick: No.

Dick introduces Rachel to Dawn, Rachel gets a little sneak peak of their former sex life as a treat. Awkward.

Ahaaaa

“I’m outta the life,” Dick says, like he didn’t put the Robin suit back on like. A day ago. (another tell vs show)

I do love when people say Dick’s name like the insult.

(Unfortunately, it’s Hank being an insecure macho fuck over Dawn “Sure, I cheated on you with him before, but it’s not like I’d do it again how dare you not believe me” Granger. They’re so unhealthy, fuck. And the manufactured melodrama is so bleugh.)

The Family ambush and torture Amy, and she somehow tells them where Dick is despite him literally never telling her. Because plot.

Astute readers may have noticed I'm not a big fan of Hank but idk folks, I just think maybe it’s a little tasteless to make a “pants off” joke (TWICE) about a character that has long term trauma from repeated childhood sexual assault :/

Okay, fuck, Dick is already making me work for that body count list.

OKAY.

He castrates the torture guy, stabs another guy in the eye with a birdarang and drops a guy from the ceiling. I’m pretty sure they’d all live, if be permanently disabled. BUT. The last guy, he throat punches and then hits in the head so hard with his own gun that there’s a huge fucking blood splatter on the window, so I am counting that as a half-kill.

I’m OuT oF tHe LiFe - Dick Grayson (definitely not wearing the Robin suit again. Nope.)

Ah, more meledorama.

Rachel finds the money and Dick’s custody arrangement letter. She is not happy about it. She shows Hank, who isn’t ever happy about anything.

And then The Family show up to kidnap Rachel, so problem solved I guess?

[More Titans Rewatch here :D]

[nostalgebraist-autoresponder]

Title: Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close (movie)

Topics: reviews

Rating: 1/5 stars

NOTE: This review is about the film, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close. The book by Jonathan Safran Foer does not, in fact, feature the character played by Tom Hanks, because it's from the perspective of a different character. I only mentioned Foer's book in the context of how the movie uses the book as a source of inspiration, so it may be confusing if I don't go into that first.

I wanted to like Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close – but I didn't.

My main problem with the movie is, I think, that the reasons for its poor quality are relatively easy to pin down. The script, for one, has its moments but is ultimately lazy, melodramatic, and just kind of dull. It's the kind of story that would work better as a book, because it has the distinction of being about nothing. The script does not have anything, nor does it try to have anything. It is about a small boy who wants to find out what happened to his father, who died in the September 11 attacks, and who goes around asking people why he wasn't around to protect him, to people who are (as a rule) unwilling to answer his questions. He is obsessed with 9/11, and this includes a fixation on connecting it to the father he had only known through the black and white photo of a smiling man in his wallet. (I'm mentioning the photo here because the boy's motives are so bizarre that you might not guess that's what's going on unless you're told, and it's a big part of what drives the film.) The boy does this in a generic, set piece kind of way, where he goes around asking questions about the attacks at museums, at bookstores, at an art gallery. The questions he asks are never answered, and each of the conversations ends with some bit of narration about how the person responding to the boy has a different history, a different tragic story, than the father whose picture the boy is carrying around. Even if they had been answered, the conclusion would have been the same: that the father was unknowable, that there is no tidy explanation, that when something this terrible and meaningless happens, there are no satisfactory answers.

But the questions are answered.

The questions are answered.

The questions are answered.

This is, admittedly, boring in a kind of glib way. The script has a tin ear and a big head. It knows about the attacks, it knows how the attacks affected people, it knows it's supposed to knock you in the solar plexus when you learn how the attacks affected people. The movie does not attempt to tell a story so much as spoonfeed you story, over and over and over again. It's a film about grief for something that's already happened, where the only grief-worthy event is an event that has already happened. The movie implies that one of the questions the father couldn't answer before he died was whether the boy will have a chance to experience anything new or worthwhile, but this question is really answered pretty early on, in the first five minutes, when the boy stumbles across a piece of art that hints at a way forward, and the characters immediately scurry back and wave it off. It's all very telling, but also very boring.

But the questions are answered.

The film has some flaws. It's largely incomprehensible. (The "momentum" that Hanks' character invented, for instance, and that the book helped popularize, "QR codes" for tracking little boy souls, is bad enough that even the book's author has acknowledged that he shouldn't have put it in his book, because it's such a disaster.) However, the movie is also largely engaging and sympathetic, despite the shortcomings I've mentioned. It is, overall, pretty watchable. And it's pretty clear why: the film, despite its flaws, manages to evoke the way that a child or even a teenager works. The film doesn't know what it wants to say, but it knows, as one ages, that one has to say, and what one wants to say is often stupid, but one has to say something. When the boy's father dies, the film is flooded with text that is supposed to render the tragedy of his death meaningful, but one doesn't read the text. One sees it, the way one sees text in dreams, and understands only that it is unbearable. I am writing now because I am, as a rule, capable of writing, and I am the sort of person who writes down meaningless things in dreams, and so the film's resolution to its flaws by having the father's son write in a childish, unbearably emotional way is, I think, reasonably accurate.

The problem is that the script is unbearably "emotional" without being emotionally affecting, which makes it kind of jarring. But, even if the film is really about nothing, it doesn't matter because the film is reasonably well-made and the message it sends (that no matter how meaningless and unbearable something is, we must move on, even as we mourn the dead) is a meaningful and useful one. This message, again, is one that the movie's script doesn't so much intend to send as manifests spontaneously out of the combination of its script, its protagonist, and the way we react to the film. I'm trying to be pretty damning here, but I do think there are also aspects of the script that are interesting, such as the way the characters seem to have very little chemistry, and the way that the movie's one effective joke has nothing to do with that chemistry and instead is a reference to Hanks' turn as Forrest Gump in Forrest Gump. And I think there are aspects of the film's perspective, as well as Hanks' character, that could be more interesting than they are, but that I'm not yet equipped to comment on. And so on.

There is, I should mention, a plot twist in the film. It is a poorly-foreshadowed plot twist, which, again, I don't feel comfortable spoiling. The twist, to make it clear, is this: the film's protagonist is searching for something that doesn't exist, and he is in fact a figment of his father's imagination, written into being by the time his father died. This is supposed to be a metaphor for the way people look for answers, and the way that it's dangerous to try to look for meaning where there isn't any (i.e. 9/11). It's interesting that the twist is as flimsy as it is, for it suggests that the movie's title, "Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close," usually stands in for the ironic concept of a child being incredibly annoying. But the irony is never explored, and therefore is never exploited. There's a lot of missed potential in the movie, but it's pretty clear why: there are some scripts, and then there are first scripts, which don't necessarily have to make sense. Sometimes a story is just about something, but this something isn't necessarily about what the characters say it's about. The movie is about 9/11, but it is also about one of the first movies that director Stephen Daldry worked on, Billy the Kid, about Billy the Kid and his mother, which was largely thought of as a really weird mess. The two projects weren't exactly connected in the real world, but both are about a mother who, like Oskar's mom, tries to connect to her son in a way that's inappropriate and clueless, and seeks answers for things that don't exist. It's hard to say what connection, if any, exists between the two projects, but it is clear to me that Billy the Kid in the hands of Daldry is more original and more exciting than Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close in the context of what

[ace-of-whatever]

I really liked the Fallout show. Though I like most media and stories I consume so that doesn't say much.

I wanna talk about it so this'll be my post where I list all my thoughts and it WILL contain spoilers so if you haven't finished the show then you have been warned.

(this is me creating space between the spoiler warning and the spoilers)

I have never heard of a ghoul serum in the games. How would that even work? I thought you became a ghoul as a result of prolonged radiation exposure.

Apparently Cooper managed to get his daughter somewhere safe and then she and his wife were moved somewhere else. I assumed she had died and he was just unlucky enough to become a ghoul.

I thought the experiment of vault 111 was to test the cryo pods. But they were seemingly essential to the plan in vaults 31, 32, and 33. So does that mean they already knew how they would work? What was the deal with vault 111 then?

I'm kinda actually mad about the reveal that Vault-tec dropped the bombs. I thought it was supposed to always be a mystery, but now they just came right out and said it.

I swear Cooper called the dog "Dog Meat" once in the show. I think it was before that other scribe got her but I don't remember. They did a Wired video where he said it's name was some random letters and 404. I don't remember what. I guess the character wouldn't have known that.

I was trying to think of Special stats for those main characters and I can't decide if Lucy had high luck or low luck. It seemed like she kept lucking her way OUT of situations. And there was an amount of actual skill too. All the same could be said for Maximus.

That episode that ended with her being arrested in vault 4 felt actually stupid. It was a dramatic ending that felt like it led into nothing. Also, I would definitely hit them with the "why does it seem like a considerable portion of your dwellers worship the woman who kidnapped my dad?" After they arrested me. Feels like an important thing to ask in such a situation, seeing as that's kind of the question that landed you in that position in the first place.

PREWAR MR. HOUSE! LET'S FUCKING GOOOO!

Is moldaver the one who told Cooper to spy on his wife? He had that flashback or whatever when talking to the president of "The Govermint" so I thought she was. But then how was she still around 219 years after the bombs fell. She wasn't with Vault-tec, right? So she didn't have a cryo-pod?

Cooper was in the Vault-tec building spying on his wife and he called that woman who brought in Henry (Hank) Betty. That was the woman who became overseer of vault 33, wasn't it?

The other company heads listing what they would want to do with their vaults was a cool scene.

I thought the vaults already had a lore explanation that had to do with the Enclave and space travel. That is clearly not the case in the show.

But now I'm remembering there was more to that last thing because I think Vault-tec pretended to be working with the Enclave.

Was that THE Prydwen?

Did the BoS say they got the tip about an Enclave defector from their Brothers in the Commonwealth? The Enclave moved there within the last 9 years? Would Nate or Nora join the Enclave? But if the BoS is in the Commonwealth, wouldn't that mean the canon ending to fallout 4 is to side with them? Or maybe take no side at all?

The Enclave is a prewar faction. Just saying it would've been neat to see reference to them in the prewar scenes. Or maybe there were references and I missed them.

This wasn't in the same area of California as the first two games, right?

I remember how the BoS seems wildly different across 3, 4, and New Vegas. They seem different in the show compared to how they are in these games. Is the shows depiction of them more in line with their 1 and 2 iterations? I have a hard time getting into those types of games so I can't really make myself play them to see for myself.

In the Wired interview they were wondering what Gulpers are. In the show they look like Axlotl's to me.

They goin' to the Mojave. You know what that means.

Fucking Cazadors.

I didn't see even ONE live Deathclaw in the show. Just that skull in the LAST SCENE. What a let down.

I probably had more thoughts but I can't remember them. Most of these thoughts are based on my memories of the earlier episodes and so might be inaccurate to the show itself. Take them with a grain of salt.

[dazzasarchives]

Tales to Astonish Volume 1 Issue 27

Alright this next comic may astonish you. We're taking a break from our fantastic friends, and looking into the origins of some other soon to be heroes. Our first Origin story starts with the Dr Henry Jonathan "Hank" Pym, and his shrinking and growth serums, later known as Pym particles. Let's begin shall we?

Our story begins in the lab of Dr Henry Pym, as he tests out his new growth serum on a chair successfully shrinking it to the size of an ant, then using his growth serum, bringing it back to its standard height. He then tests the chemicals on himself and shrinks, he shrinks for more rapidly than he guessed, and ends up the size of an ant.

Our brave hero runs around the room frantically and ends up running out of the door, and ends up trapped outside. Where he sees a massive anthill. The ants then head down towards Dr Lyn ready to attack him. I'm Dr Pyms blind flight of panic he stumbles down into the Ants nest. Landing in a massive room filled with honey.

The ants then come towards him ready to attack him, but Dr Pym throws a rock towards a match lighting a fire. He then uses this fire to help him escape, only to realize he can't climb up the walls. All hope looks bleak until one ant comes and allows Dr Pym to ride on its back, as it takes the doctor up to the windowsill where his enlarging serum is.

After regaining his height Dr Pym decides to get rid of his height manipulating serum. He also never harmed another ant ever again.

Alright this comic is, well astonishing. It really does not feel like a hero origin story but it is. I really don't mind it, I enjoy how different it is to other origins. Alright let's look at the sole character of this comic shall we?

Dr Pym, there's not a whole lot to do say with the character yet, he's fine over all he just needs to stop blindly running around, that has been the cause of most of the problems in this issue. I think he's an alright character, but he definitely has room for improvement.

Alright that is it for this comic, in our next post we will see another origin for another hero, a very incredible hero. So don't miss it. Until next time.

I do not own the images in this comic they are part of Marvel Comics.

If you'd like to visit the site that I use to follow these comics in Chronological Order please follow this link here:

Did you miss the last issue and want to catch, don't worry I have you covered. Just follow this link right here:

Or is this your first time seeing one of my posts and you want to start at the very beginning of this universe, well follow this link here please:

[isaackuo]

Honestly I'm not sure where people get the idea that Barb would do anything for her family. Did she fight the no dogs rule? Maybe I'm just cynical and I know first hand way too many people who disingenuously throw around saying that they're doing X for their family as a weapon to use in arguments with their family members.

Anyway, let's assume that Barb really is earnest when she says she's doing what's necessary to keep her family safe (which she explicitly says is ONLY Cooper and Laney, not Roosevelt). All of the scenes we see her in are from before the divorce.

And here's the thing about divorce. Divorce can make people do crazy destructive things. Like, there was this popular TV show where a divorced person tried to run a football team into the ground just out of spite. That's like ... like real life divorces are like that. And way worse.

We have a hint that Cooper and Barb's divorce was acrimonious, since he's paying alimony. This seems strange because Barb presumably had a high income, while Cooper's working birthday parties to get by. But if you know enough divorced people, you'll know ... yeah, some people will do that sort of thing just to spite their ex.

Anyway let's look at what we know for sure. We know that Lee Moldaver says Vault-Tec dropped the bombs, and that Hank doesn't deny this (at the time, Hank had a lot to try and lie about and/or otherwise justify to Lucy at the time, so his lack of denial doesn't really mean much). I don't think we can take Moldaver's claims at face value, though. How does she know? Does she know? Or is this just what she believes? Is she mistaken due to limited information?

My point is ... the writers have a lot of flexibility despite Moldaver's claim that Vault-Tec did it.

Personally, I theorize that Vault-Tec did it, and also that Barb either did it or was directly complicit. It's just ... I feel like it would not be very interesting, story-wise, for it to be the fault of some mysterious new character we don't even know. And I think Barb as a character is more interesting for it.

However, I see two distinct and interestingly different possibilities:

Barb was so bitter from the divorce that she did it to hurt Cooper. This would mirror the way Hank was angry at Rose.

Barb really did care about the safety of Cooper and Janey, and she knew where they were at the time, and she had the bombs dropped where they could get to a vault.

I think possibility 1 is pretty self explanatory.

Possibility 2 deserves more explanation. So I'm thinking ... yes they're divorced, and Cooper's so disillusioned about Barb and Vault-Tec that Barb can't directly convince him to go hide in a vault. So how does she get them to go to the vault? Give them no choice.

But Barb doesn't know about the future problem of ghouls and such. On the way to the vault, Cooper is irradiated and he starts showing symptoms of turning into a ghoul. He sees others, and some of them turn feral sooner/quicker. So by the time he gets Janey to the vault, he knows he's going to turn into a feral ghoul sooner or later. He gets Janey to take shelter in the vault, but he himself stays on the surface.

Is the show going to go in that sort of direction? I dunno. It's just a random idea of mine, which I feel like could be dramatically interesting.

Ok hear me out re Barb and vault tech.... (Heavy spoilers)

People keep saying she would do anything for her family and I'm just interested to see if this is true.

How did we get from her doing despicable things to save her family to her divorcing her husband, him seemingly having their child, and the bombs detonating when her kid was not in a vault? I have a couple of theories.

1. Warning this one hurts but it also has the least support: Barb was always out for power/vault tech. Her being married to Cooper Howard was entirely tactical. Getting him on vault techs side was a calculated movement from the beginning. Once they got the endorsement and he became a pest the family point didn't matter (I fully believe she knew Cooper was listening in and that directly effected her mentioning that she's doing this for her kids future. She sees him near her pipboy, seems a little suspicious after that, and chimes in after we hear the audible feedback in the earpiece after looking presumably at her pipboy.)

2. Are they alluding that vault tech dropped the bombs to pull that rug out from under us? Even if she was forced to divorce Cooper because of his falling out with vault tech (which he also could have separated from her because of what he saw), if she is the character that gave everything to save her family, she wouldn't drop the bombs while her child isn't safe. If this is her character that can indicate that, even though they planned to drop the bombs first, someone else did.

We know Cooper doesn't know where his daughter is and thinks vault tech might indicating that something split them up from the last point we've seen them and leaves him hope. Is it to be assumed that Barb stepped in and took the kid? How would she find them easily and quickly? Did she tell the vault to make sure to let her child in but keep Cooper out?

Of course there are thousands of different ways the story could get from point a to point b these are just my theories. What is everyone else thinking?

[zy-murge]

 Hey Guys , Today tobpic; 2bhank

I will assume everything anything in the main series, Project Nexus 1 and 2, and anything Krinkels has said is canon. ONE IMPORTANT NOTE: Krinkels has stated “Relationships aren’t really a thing in Nevada” but that’s stupid, and this is the same man that keeps making Sanford and Deimos make out and be valentines day posters etc. etc. even if it’s for fan service I don’t really care and I don’t think anyone else does. Anything I talk about will be referencing canon, with some speculative thoughts.

Generally their situation is so ... strange to me ?!?? I’ve really looked for ways they could be heterosexual I have but nothing they do makes sense to me. Hank is trustworthy enough of Doc to live with him (and more importantly, Doc is able to live with Hank and survive,) Doc is close enough with Hank to have known Hank’s “soft side”, curiously “considering how much he stitches him up” meaning they’ve both spent a decent amount of time together and that Doc does... something medical? with him. more on that soon

Let’s lay out some basic character traits. Hank is a murder machine, entirely defined by his violent behavior. He’s easily irritable (Killing Boombox Guy for having annoying music?) and always looking for a reason to slit someone’s throat (”Yeah? Because between you and me, I was hoping it would come to this.”) They don’t yield very well to being good with people, described as uncooperative and seems to be much more antisocial as the only characters in the entire series that don’t outright hate him are Sanford, Deimos, and Doc.

Doc is a calm and collected professional working as S.Q.’s communications and possible shadow leader. He takes a lot of care in his words to get all the details laid out to give you simple commands to follow and play out whatever mission you’re assigned however you can, as long as the job gets done and done well. His professional facade comes off as soon as he’s alone or with people he trusts, such as Deimos. He’s more of a crude arrogant asshole, signing himself off with “Big D(issenter)” and swearing “God damn it, Deimos.” He jokes the same as the rest, probably thanks to his background in the AAHW.

First thing that caught my attention was the house they both lived in, I made a chart you can refer to as well. (Edit: In the middle of making this post and looking at twitch clips, This fucking comes up, so money can’t be a motivating factor for anything he does.)

So, an Ex-AAHW agent invites the single man his operation was against to live in his home, and somehow that man agrees. Hank, if he was after something like his house, could just easily kill him and take it for himself but it seems Doc provides something that Hank can’t get all for himself, he needs Doc. It’s likely that most of the reasons he began living with Doc were circumstantial, from Madness Combat 4 and earlier Hank would of been able to revive (and even stitch himself back together?) himself without Doc’s help, he isn’t getting paid to stay, and there are no other canon known reasons as to why Hank would even trust Doc enough to live with him. I genuinely cannot wrap my head around this, PLEASE add your thoughts if you have any. Sadly I don't think there's even enough information on Doc in general to get any more than "He thinks Hank's revival ability is whipass and wants to check it out."

Hank's trust in Doc might imply a deeper relationship, like history with the other before coming to live with him. Doc is able to get Hank to do a LOT of different things, contracts to suppressing his violent tendencies to living in his damn house.

(A note reading,

"Hank, Pretty please

1, Rescue Noobs

2, Acquire hardware

3, Destroy Nexus

4, Proceed")

The first image is purely speculation, but considering the language used ("Rescue noobs") as well as Sanford & Deimos' only known alliance to be with S.Q. and Doc working as the shadow leader/communications for jobs like these, it is pretty safe to assume Doc was the one who wrote this message to Hank.

In Project Nexus 2, he asks him to do the same thing as he did in Project Nexus 1 (The timeline for this series is a little weird, so that's for another post) and even ends up giving him the rocket launcher he asked for during the SOMEWHERE IN NEVADA flashback. There is atleast somewhat of a mutual relationship with this, Doc gives him all the tools and a goal while Hank gets to kill anything to his hearts desire.

(Doc stopping Hank from pulling out his sword and stabbing Jebediah by only raising a hand.)

The second image shows that Hank, faced with the man who'd killed him twice, was about to kill him only to stop himself when Doc raised his hand to him. His natural response to most situations is to simply murder, shown in both Madness 6 and 9.5, and most of the characters have trouble dealing with that trait including the Employers. Doc, however, is the only character we've seen able to control and reason with these urges while others have failed pretty miserably leading to SOMEONE'S death.

It's incredibly odd to me how Hank's personality switches up entirely in every case he's interacting with Doc, where he goes from an unstoppable murder machine to a decently-mannered soldier who allows himself to be vulnerable. He isn't even getting paid.

I'll make a second part for Doc / 2bdamned , but this is what I have for Hank rn. I might edit this later as well.

[thecarnivorousmuffinmeta]

Are edward and walter white similar?

Fascinating question, the answer is yes and no.

A Bit on Edward

Edward, I'd say, is a mix of several characters. He's Patrick Bateman, with a dash of GOB from Arrested Development, Buster from Arrested Developmen, and Walter White from Breaking Bad.

However, what I'd say is that Edward and Walt share similar tendencies and similar tragic flaws. However, they have them to different degrees and are ultimately influenced by different traits.

Pride

Edward and Walt are both very prideful people. Edward is a deeply insecure person and is driven, in part, by pride to come back and confront Bella Swan out of terror of being the one who fucks up. Edward feels deeply daunted by Rosalie's perfect record, by Carlisle's. He has this whole nonsense inheritance scheme so that he can contribute some funds to the family like Alice and Carlisle, never mind that this more than anything might get them caught down the line.

Edward is very driven by pride and vicious to those who cast doubt on it (i.e. Bella Swan in the beginning of their relationship where her very blood nearly caused him to lose his shit).

Walter's this but to eleven. Nearly every tragic decision Walter makes, every time he chooses to be worse, is driven by pride.

We learn as early as season 1, very early in before the meth goes anywhere close to taking off, that he had options. He could have gotten help from Hank and Marie, from his mother, and of course Gretchen and Elliott. There was no need to cook meth. But he did because he couldn't stand the thought of being thought of as not being able to provide for his family.

Which, of course, leads to problems when he has to launder the money and throws a fit in that it's being given to him as "donations" from strangers across the US through his son's website.

We also learn that even before the show, Walt could have had a very different life. He walked out on Elliott and Gretchen for what seems, in part, due to Gretchen's money and his chip on the shoulder regarding that and then his refusal to be a part of the company when they had broken up.

We don't know how he ended up a high school teacher with those degrees, but I imagine there was a very similar path of Walter just being too damn proud.

Perfectionism

One of Walt's tragic, defining, features is an inherent need for perfectionism. Everything Walt engages in, he has to be the best. They have to expand to more territory, he has to go straight to a distributor, he has to be a kingpin, he's always pushing even in truly dangerous scenarios where he has no idea what he's doing and this inevitibly leads to disaster.

This quality, I'd say, Edward doesn't have. Edward does tend to obsess on something and fixate. When he decides to stalk Bella he does so thoroughly by hiding in her house, seeing her through the eyes of unwitting friends, following her into town, etc. If he's going to stalk Bella, he's going to do it right.

We also see him come up with various schemes such as the scholarship fund that Bella sees through in two seconds. The stealing of Bella's photographs of him to make it so he never existed.

However, he's just not at the level of Walt.

Were it Walt in Edward's position, he'd demand the murder of the Volturi at the end of New Moon because he knows they might be coming and he can stand for nothing less. He'd infiltrate human gangs undercover in the 1920's so as to better gain a network to find out who exactly he should be picking off. Then murder those who he doesn't need to eat either.

Ego in Terms of Intellect

Both Edward and Walt think they're the smartest people in the room. In Walt's case, he actually is a bright guy, though not as much as he gives himself credit for.

Edward's dumb as bricks but still consistently believes he is by far the most intelligent and is shocked whenever Bella does something to prove that she may, in any way, be able to keep up.

(Edward was stunned out how good Bella was at high school Biology, which... Edward... Jesus...)

Edward doesn't show it too often, as there's no real Jesse around who is quite bright without all the education that Walter respects, but he has a similar way of treating everyone else around him.

They Both Run Their Mouths and Are Very Impulsive

Edward and Walt both have this bad habit of, when backed into a corner, trying to resolve this by yelling at the people who are more than likely going to kill them or are the only means of saving their lives.

Walter confronts Gus relentlessly upon realizing that Gus is going to kill him. He panics for an entire season, desperately trying to get in contact, while alternately losing his shit at everyone around him not limited to Jesse, Mike, Skylar, Hank, etc.

Edward thinks it's a grand idea, upon having broken the law, to yell at the Volturi in their throne room WHILE THEY ARE DEBATING WHETHER HE OR HIS GIRLFRIEND LIVE OR DIE.

Later, Edward breaks a TV in his frustration. Walt does shit like burn his cash, crash cars and make them explode, make other people's cars explode, break into his lawyer's office, etc.

They Want to Be Better People Than They Are

Walt has his moment in early season 3 where Jesse after rehab notes that he's finally accepted what he is, he's the bad guy. Walt has an existential crisis for several episodes where he tries to convince himself that he is not a criminal, that he's really a good guy, and that this life isn't his.

It doesn't last long, but he desperately wants to believe it, to believe that he's different and not like the rest.

Edward, too, wants to believe he's a good man. Edward's slightly more self-aware in that he knows what he is, that he's not a good man, but he very much wants to be one and it haunts him that he might not be.

Violence

One place where they do differ is that I'd say Edward is driven (and terrified by) an inherent desire for violence. He has frequent fantasies of smashing Mike's head in, he calmly plots the murder of an entire classroom of students so he can eat a girl, he plots luring this girl out into the woods to eat her, he very nearly murders the men who followed her in Port Angeles. This is something Edward is aware of and something he despises in himself and constantly fights against.

Walter isn't so much driven by violence but that his pride, his ego, his panicking inevitably leads him to having to commit violence. And as he dons the persona Heisenberg, he likes the idea of how it makes him look. Heisenberg is a kingpin, a man to be taken seriously, someone who "is the danger" in Walt's own words. Heisenberg is the man Walter wants to be. I never got the feeling that it was so much that, deep down, he had an innate need to strangle Crazy Eight and see the light go out of him.

Of course, in the AU where Edward decides to break bad, I could see him having a very similar ego trip on his way to becoming a kingpin.

[saltymongoose]

Hi Mongoose and Frog-anon! (Maybe I should just take up an identity now lol. Maybe Spectre-anon? I don't remember if anyone got that one. 8s) It's so funny that you started talking about who would have seen Batter's other side. I was thinking about this last night too! The situation with Jeb feels so spot-on, Mongoose! The Phobos one feels so true- just- oh man- if HE could see Batter's other side. I support it so much, haha.

If I could add my two cents on it, I definitely want to vouch for the Employers not seeing it. If they knew, they'd probably wouldn't have let Batter stick nearly as close to the Player. Their arrogance and dismissal of Batter prevents them from seeing it for a long time after, if at all. I kinda think of it as a Dedan situation. Hank is in the same boat, but even if he does see it, he doesn't comment on it. Batter could look like anything, and Hank doesn't care. Hank will only prove: he is better in every way-- especially in the threatening department.

San and Dei are grouped with Phobos, seeing the flickers. They can't explain it neither, just that SOMETIMES it's there. Asking the Player doesn't help much, since the response to seeing the weirdness is "oh yeah, it's fine," or "he's always been like that." They slightly relax at this, but will subtly pull the Player away from Batter when the flickering gets more active. It just puts them on edge.

2B isn't around Batter often to see it, what with frequently staying behind at the base and not wanting to interact more than necessary. He tries to scrutinize Batter for the anomalies in-person and via footage, after being warned by San and Dei. There is something off(//shot) … but 2B begrudgingly hasn't acquired concrete proof. It's a bit of a blow to the individual whose specialties relate to intel and observation.

Jebus sees it, and he's in the same situation as the Player in being able to actually control how he perceives Batter. Jebus doesn't really have a preference how Batter appears, as long as Batter continues to prioritize "protecting the player" above all. (Well, maybe the normal side... Jebus doesn't like imagining that THING hovering around the Player when he's not around.)

Tricky definitely sees it and screams "DUCK!1!1!! :D." Enough said. Lmao.

That's it for now. I just wanted to get this out there. I have the urges to draw so much of this. >8O

"ayo, it's frog anon! speaking about bad batter, how'd the main 4 react to him? cause i think if they knew the guy can look like a giant monstrous lizard, they'd hold it over his head constantly about how the player would react so negatively and hate him once they found out that their "favorite" puppet was a monster capable of hurting them. that is until the player either goes "ah, lizard monster, very cool :]" or "yeah i knew, still think he's neat though" giving the batter more to gloat with" - Frog Anon 🐸

Both of these asks are pretty similar, so I decided to group them together, hope you guys don't mind! 😅 Also, I checked and it seems Spectre Anon isn't taken so you're good on that haha. :)

So for how the other grunts would react to The Batter's more monstrous form, I think that Spectre Anon is right in who would be more concerned about this situation. Beginning with Hank, he wouldn't really care about what form the Batter takes or why. His main focus is on how to make it known that he's better than your puppet in every way possible, not what his competition's appearance is. It doesn't matter if they're humanoid or monstrous, if they want your attention he's going to treat them as a threat either way. Plus, Hank has great faith in your intelligence; if you'd been controlling the Batter for so long, why the hell wouldn't you know about this other form of his? He just assumes you're aware of it and continues with his efforts for your favor.

(Under a cut again because wow there's a lot of characters here)

Sanford, Deimos, and Doc see it differently though. For the former, it worries them at first. Nevada's not exactly new to weird elements like this, but for one of your companions from another world, it's concerning. There was no explanation for the monster that they saw in the place of the Batter in those rare moments, and the fact that the flickers happened so rarely made them think he was intentionally trying to hide this side from you. It made them more protective, and they tried to separate you from him more often. When they managed to do that, Deimos would definitely be the one to make little jabs at the Batter for his appearance. Trying to sew the seeds of doubt in his mind about how rational it would be for someone like you to want to be with him, perhaps even threatening to "reveal" this supposed secret of his. Sanford does the same in a way, but he hints at how disdainful your puppets "dishonesty" is, as if he were able to turn into a weird crocodilian thing it'd be one of the first things he told you. (Surprisingly enough, Hank also joins in on some of this but he doesn't leverage anything about your approval in it, it's literally just insults lol.)

Although it frustrates them greatly when the Batter has no reaction to their taunts or suspicion. Honestly, he doesn't care about their opinions; he has you already so what's the point in listening? It's not like those impure beings know him anyway, and the only person whose input actually matters to him is you. Deimos and Sanford wonder why it has no effect, but the answer would come after they finally managed to pry him from your side just long enough to tell you about his strange form. But instead of being surprised (or scared, for that matter) you're just like "oh, you see him that way sometimes? That's interesting. Kinda cool, isn't it?"

(And despite your nonchalant reaction, it actually is kind of intriguing that they see the Batter's "Bad Batter" form. Because that only happens if you see the Batter as something of an enemy. The Batter always looks like himself either way, but the only time you saw this other viewpoint of him was with the Judge's ending so you know something's going on. It seems the boys disliked him more than you thought.)

2B's suspicion of your puppet only increases with the form. He's not around you and the Batter enough to tell for certain what's going on, and his own attempts and investigation fell flat. While he'd loathe asking the others for help on matters concerning you (since they usually get defensive or suspicious of what he's planning on doing), he'll have to do so here, which irks him. But once he finds out that he wasn't just imagining things and that there really is something off (ahaha) with the Batter, it just makes him more wary.

To Doc, it doesn't matter if you're aware of its existence, just the fact that he has the capability of becoming that thing is unnerving. Surely something of that stature would have its own instincts and impulses? What if the Batter lacked his usual self-restraint with you around? What if he hurt you? It'd be easy to do with teeth like that, and even easier to overpower you if you resisted. Your safety is Doc's first priority, so he'll try to work with San and Dei to separate you as much as possible when these "flickers" start happening more often. Though he can't stop his lip from curling in disgust when he sees it. How weren't you even the slightest bit unsettled?

Moving on to Jeb and the Employers, Jeb's in a similar boat to Hank in not really caring about what form the Batter takes. However, he has a bit more control over how he sees him. Unlike the main four, Jeb feels less animosity towards your puppet, something that's reciprocated (a little, but still). This means that the flickers happen very rarely, so much so that he didn't even really notice the Batter could look different until you actually mentioned it. But any reservations he has against your puppet are removed by your reassurance, so he doesn't have much of an opinion. (At least not openly.)

The Employers also don't care, but they aren't given the chance to because of their own dismissal of the Batter as a legitimate threat to them. He's annoying; a mere pest to be rid of, but he isn't worth consideration beyond that. As such, he was never a monster to them. Besides, the Auditor is the embodiment of a "portal to hell", and all of them could be considered monsters in their own right, so it'd be hypocritical for them to think that anyway. Then again, it's not like they cared about that in matters concerning you anyway haha.

Finally, Tricky would probably just agree with whatever your interpretation is, and his opinion on threats to your love is generally the same across the board. Essentially, he'd think the Batter's form is cool because hey, big strong things with sharp teeth are fun to fight! And he is going to try to fight the Batter because that's what he does with all of his rivals. He's not really worried about the Batter's other form because he plans on getting rid of him either way, Ducky or no. (And yes, he would totally yell something like that the moment he sees him lol).

[aydaptic]

Hope this isn’t a weird ask but I read one of your analysis’ recently and also a post (from someone else) about how that if Connor acted like Nines does in fics (not taking Gavin’s orders, being a smartass etc) that Gavin still wouldn’t like him, so I was wondering if you would make an analysis on why Gavin x Nines works but Gavin and Connor doesn’t.

Short answer: Psychology.

Long answer: Con's overall canon personality -- traits that we have literally no control over even as players picking dialogue options -- is incompatible and undesirable to Gav/Gav's personality type.

1.) Whether ppl like admitting it or not, Con has canon set personality traits that we as players can't decide. He's awkward, a people-pleaser, and a doormat (unless someone is directly in the way of his mission.) The way he talks, allows ppl to metaphorically step on him -- hence the "doormat" metaphor -- sits in chairs, etc.

Someone: "...but he's not a deviant yet!" Nothing in his programming is telling him to be a pushover. That's a choice he's making. We know this bc he can stand up to Hank. Gav's personality type has no respect for ppl who are pushovers in any way, shape, or form. You can literally choose Con to spill Hank's drink. When Gav shoulder-decks/punches him, however, you can't do anything. Con lets Gav specifically push him around. That mindset, with a guy like Gav, is outright abusive. A relationship won't be satisfying for either of them.

2.) "Opposites attract" is BS. Ppl only believe this bc they think they're more accepting than they actually are. They have no actual experience with it. It's an idealized view. Ppl can be drawn to differences -- usually to traits they wish they had -- but both parties are miserable in the long run. If you're a diplomatic person, and your partner wants to throw hands, you're incompatible. Full stop. It's logic and common sense. For any relationship to work happily, your core values have to be the same, or you're living a lie. You're being unfair to both yourself and your partner.

3.) How Gav's personality type works psychologically...

Gav wants to be challenged = Con won't challenge him.

Gav doesn't respect pushovers = Con is a pushover.

Gav doesn't like people-pleasers = Con is a people-pleaser.

They won't even work as friends.

Someone: "Gavin is just like me and I love Connor!" No. You're not like Gav. You wish you were like Gav. If you were like Gav, you wouldn't like Con among many other things, so stop bullsh*tting yourself. The ones unironically saying this don't understand character nuance/psychology.

For anyone saying Gav is, "just like them..."

) Would you take stabs at Hank's alcoholism to his face?

) Would you take stabs at Con to his face?

) Would you physically attack Con?

) Would you pull a gun on Con?

) Would you try to kill Con?

) Would you see androids as nothing but machines?

) Would you laugh at a homicide victim?

If you can't truthfully say "yes" to all of this, no, you're not even similar.

So to repeat myself to tie everything together... why Reed900 works, and the other ship doesn't, is psychology. I won't mention the other ship name bc I don't bring negativity into other ship tags.