#the 90s just had nothing BUT adversarial love interests

[snackugaki]

and another shitpost to close out the weekend

just out here to terrorize the other elder millenials who had their sense of humor fried by the internet

[sebastianshaw]

Fic suggest: Black Queen Haven

((ooh, thanks Anon! I usually write haven post-possession and in current canon, but for this I decided to go with her still being under The Adversary’s influence, and still during the 90s. I think actually she was DEAD by this point in canon, actually, when Selene was trapped under the Hellfire Club but ehhhh. tagging @badmusesdoitwell since there’s substantial Tessa in this, though you don’t have to read it!)

“You can’t be serious,” he’d told Tessa when she had first recommended Radha Dastoor, or “Haven” as she went by, for the rank of Black Queen. The woman was an ordinary member of the Hellfire Club, just another of the ridiculously elite civilian crowd who came for galas and balls and had no idea of its dark underside. She was a philanthropist, like so many others, and though she had taken on advocating for mutantkind, she was not one herself. According to Tessa though, there was more to her than met the eye. She had...mad goals, and power to match. She was no mutant, but Tessa claimed to have accessed government data that described power on an incredible scale, a devoted cult following, great resources yes...but devoted purely to chaos, to devastation and destruction for its own sake, all the name of bringing about the Mahapralaya, some kind of Hindu apocalypse. It was not the sort of thing the Hellfire Club trafficked in, and not something he wanted to tie them to. Sure, she had power, but if she was only interested in wielding it for religious zealotry, she had no place here. “It can be profited from,” Tessa urged him, “The “natural” disasters, the riots and revolts incited, the famine...all these things, Shaw Industries can find a market in. You know this.” “I can profit from her acts without having to have anything to do with her.” “Emma has defected. Madelyne has left. Selene is trapped beneath the basement of the Club. We have a great many empty seats, and I think it would be wise to fill one with someone of your selection, who will not be a threat to you, rather than wait for someone it is to fill it herself.” “If she is not a threat, she’s not worthy to be here.” “Haven...is a threat. Just simply not to you. Your destruction...would have no benefit to her cause. She has power enough to fill the seat and be safe from anyone who would take it, and thus keeps it occupied from anyone who would use it against you.” Shaw furrowed his brow, exhaled through his nose, and thought on it. Finally, he agreed. *** Tessa’s motives had been twofold. Firstly, she indeed didn’t want Sebastian killed by one of his cohorts, as much as he might at times deserve it. If Sebastian was no longer head of the Hellfire Club, then she could no longer influence it through him. Speaking of influence, that was the second reason for her recommendation. Xavier had contacted her about Haven, made this suggestion. His own confrontation with her had gone...poorly....but he said he had sensed a second mind within her, and he wished for Tessa to investigate. And, perhaps, Tessa hoped, she could stop this woman, save her, as she had been unable to stop or save Jean, another woman of great power from the influence of a being beyond herself. Haven herself had taken some convincing, some coaxing, just as Sebastian had. She’d been shocked at first to find out there was something more to the Hellfire Club than a mere social group, but she had accepted the surprise with grace, conceding that perhaps she should have guessed that the super-rich among the super-rich would form such cabals. Cabals that, she had said with the most polite of phrasing, she simply wasn’t interested in. Her actions were based not in the desire for personal power or gain, but in holiness, goodness, compassion. And she believed it, Tessa could tell. Even as the woman spoke of the massacres to come, she radiated both sorrow and divinity, the purity of her belief making it all the more tragic. She hated what she was doing yet she truly, Tessa didn’t need to be psychic to see, was compelled to. Tessa did most of the talking. Shaw was scornful of religious at the best of times, and she knew that Haven’s strange angelic, soft-spoken zealotry engendered nothing but scoffs and sneers from him, which hardly would persuade her. Tessa also made no use of telepathy, not just yet---Xavier had spooked her when she’d been aware of him creeping in, and Tessa knew she was no Xavier. No, she manipulated in a different way. She appealed to logic, made the calculations of what would appeal rationally to Haven, rather than pulling at her heartstrings. But if she had done that, if she could have---she knew it would have worked. After all her data on the woman’s deeds, she was unprepared for how...kind she was. Even her conversation was gentle, and she looked to Tessa with eyes of...it was as though she were being held by that gaze, embraced, as though Haven had never met her but loved her nonetheless. She’d looked the same way at Sebastian, though Tessa doubted he saw it. It sometimes seemed that just as Sebastian was insensitive to tender feelings himself, he was just as insensitive to seeing them in others. But Tessa...was taken aback by the woman, and she continued to be taken aback by her. Over her years in Shaw’s service, Tessa had become used to being ignored at best, derided at worst. Not by Sebastian himself---she was a valuable asset to him and he treated her as such---but by the others of the Hellfire Club, who were her primary, perhaps only, source of human contact. They either looked past her entirely, or leered at her when she was in her lingerie costume, or derided her because they could not directly attack Shaw without consequence. This was good. It was what she wanted, what suited her mission, to be considered invisible, beneath notice, beneath ever being seen as a threat, as nothing more than Shaw’s lap dog or ornament, a mere secretary or eye-candy, usually both. Haven wasn’t like that. She smiled every time she saw Tessa, asked her how she was, and sounded like she MEANT it. It wasn’t just a social nicety. It made Tessa feel...human special, even if Haven said the same to Shaw, to everyone. Because she really did mean it for everyone. She tried to find out Tessa’s interests, bring her small gifts, connect with her...it, it was hard to fend off. She’d dealt with would-be gal pals from the maids and would-be suitors here and there, but everyone eventually understood---Tessa was cold. Tessa was a robot. Tessa wasn’t interested. Tessa wasn’t real. Haven...she didn’t press. She didn’t try to CHANGE Tessa or try to make her feel something, yet at the same time treated her so... It didn’t matter. The death toll on Haven’s hands had continued to mount. The reports had been true, and now she had the resources of the Hellfire Club at her disposal. It was up to Tessa to begin doing what Xavier what could not. It was up to her to free this woman...or, if it came to it, end her. *** Haven made Shaw uneasy. Tessa had been right, her simpering philanthropic principles and soft-minded religious zealotry were ridiculous to him in equal measure, but neither was disturbing to him. Indeed, the former was more immoral to him than the latter, but it was nothing unusual. Many people swallowed the societal norm that the haves should help the have-nots with hand-outs, and Haven was clearly not the sort to think for herself---hence the religious zealotry---it was something he’d seen countless times before in countless other fools. And her powers, whatever their source...those were unusual, but as much as she was wasting them, Tessa was right, they at least kept others at bay. No, this wasn’t what got under his skin. Nor that fact she cared for the sick and orphaned in the same day as wiping out millions of the same and seemed equally sincere in both, nor knowing she could wipe him out of existence if she so chose just by thinking about it, nor the way her eyes were sometimes solid black like volcanic glass. No, her eyes bothered him for a different reason. It was when they were normal, when they were plain big brown eyes that looked at him like...like...like she felt sorry for him. The softness in them, the sympathy, the gentle way she spoke when she refuted any attempt he made at engaging her in rationality. It was infuriating, provoking. It made him want to push harder, and he didn’t like that---not because Shaw had any qualms doing it, but because he didn’t like the feeling he was being influenced towards ANYTHING, even something he’d have done anyway. He’d walked in on her crying once and been  struck by the shocking urge to hit her. The shocking part wasn’t the  violence in mind, but the fact he cared enough to think of it, that he  wanted her to stop crying, that he did not want her to cry, to be  distressed, that it distressed him, and his only understanding of what  to do to make her cease was that violence. And that unnerved him too, that he had given a damn, enough to want to hurt her. He hadn’t. But he’d wanted to.   He wanted to hurt her a lot, to force her to fight back. She was a gentle thing, for all her power, and someone else was going to do it sooner or later, someone who MEANT it, someone who knew what she was doing with that power and planned to stop her PERMANENTLY. Better she learn NOW, since she should have long ago, against someone who WANTED her to do it. Who WANTED her to fight back. Of course, if she did, well...given what her powers did, that’d be the end of him, so he didn’t. But he wanted to. To see those soft eyes turn to hard obsidian and those open palms curve into claws that would tear his own from their sockets. But he didn’t. One day, someone else would make her. And that was not, he reminded himself, his business or his responsibility. If she wished to be weak despite all the power she possessed, she deserved what she got, it was not his problem. Not his problem. Still, his growing irritation with her lack of self-preservation and his disgust with her...expressions at him...began to color their interactions. Until one day, she had to asked, gentle and polite as ever, “Have I offended you, Mr. Shaw?” Of course she had. But he wasn’t exactly sure how to express that without sounding like a lunatic. “I’m not offended, Ms. Dastoor. I simply find you unbearably insipid. That’s all.” And she smiled at him. That sweet, damnable smile. And he’d lost it. He’d told her in no uncertain terms---and no uncertain volume--what he thought of her, why he thought, and what he’d like to do to her for it, what he’d like for HER to do, what--- She’d kept smiling, even as her eyes got sadder and sadder as he spoke, and she reached out and touched him, holding the side of his face, "There’s a hole in you,” she said, like a deathbed nurse giving comfort, “A hollow, with no opening. No light gets in. Any bit of brightness someone sends your  way goes out and you can’t perceive it or produce any of your own to  return it. I don’t know if you were hurt or you are made this way but  it’s as real a defect as if you had a missing  limb. And like a missing  limb, it does not cause you pain but it impedes you. And just as  physical deformities make others wince to gaze upon, so too am I in  pain when I feel this from you, when I see you suffering without knowing you are suffering.   Do you think I do not feel your crushing void?” He felt it, in that moment, a black hole that sucked out any possible response, any possible THOUGHT for response. But it wasn’t from inside him. It was coming from her. He told Tessa the next day to get rid of her.

[therainroguefanfiction]

⚾ Adversary; Yuuichirou Tajima (Sportember #008)

📑 Table of Contents | ⚾ Challenge Post

Genre: Slice of Life, Angst, Fluff, School

Word Count: 2,796

Pairing: Reader x Tajima

World: Ookiku Furikabutte

Prompt: Adversary

Sport: Baseball

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Your eye twitched as you looked down at your test, seeing a bright red 90 written at the top of the page. Sako, your seatmate, smirked at you as she pushed her test to the edge of the desk, allowing you to see the perfect score.

“Damn, another one-hundred. I’m just way too good at school work.” She sighed dramatically, flipping her black hair over her shoulder.

“Wow, you’re so smart, Sako-chan!”

“You’re the smartest kid in the whole year!”

Sako laughed loudly, covering her mouth with the back of her hand. ���What can I say? I’m just so perfect! Ahaha!”

Your jaw clenched, hand fisting around the test and nearing tearing it from the force. ‘What can you say? How about nothing.’ Stuffing your things into your shoulder bag, you stood up and left the room. Ever since Sako transferred to your class during your second year of middle school, she had made it her personal goal to beat you at everything you did and, no matter how much effort you put in, you were never able to beat her.

Not even once.

Academics, sports, art – she truly was amazing at everything she did and that pissed you off to no end. It made you feel insignificant, useless, like your efforts were completely pointless.

“What’s your problem?” Abe questioned after rounding the corner, nearly running into you.

Since both of you were heading for the baseball field, you fell in step with each other. “S’nothing.”

“Clearly. Was it the test?”

“…”

“Did you fail?”

“No.”

“Then, what’s the problem?”

Your lips parted but you quickly clamped them shut, choosing to shrug off the question instead. No one knew about your feud with Sako and, honestly, you worried that people would find it stupid. Even you found it stupid sometimes and, when you started high school, you had made a vow to yourself not to let her get to you, but you had long since broken that vow. It’s as if he knew exactly what buttons to press to get under your skin.

“No problem, just tired.” You finally answered.

Abe shrugged, silence falling over you. You heard the rest of the team before you saw them and that helped to lift your spirits. They had grown to be like family to you and you cared so deeply for them. ‘Well, I can’t consider Tajima family, though…’

Your cheeks heated up as you thought about the first-year. For you, it had been love at first sight, but you knew he just considered you as one of the guys. That was fine, though. Being friends with him was enough for you, as long as you got be close to him.

“Y/N~” Mizutani ran up to you, throwing his arms around your neck. “I want to show you this new technique I’m working on.” He started to explain, but you had already zoned out, eyes focused on your crush as you passed him by. He had his back to you, talking excitedly to Mihashi about one thing or another and you couldn’t help but chuckle at how excited he was.

‘He’s so damn cute.’

“You should just tell him,” Mizutani stated when he realized you weren’t paying attention.

“Nah, I’m not even his type. It’d be a waste of effort.”

He deadpanned at your excuse. “People can have a type and still fall in love with someone that doesn’t fit that type.”

“When the hell did you start sounding so smart?”

“Rude!” He bumped his shoulder against yours, making you laugh.

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“Y/N, wait up!” Coach Momoe jogged toward you with a smile, making you pause. “I need a favor.”

“Sure, what can I do for you?” You smiled politely as you turned to her, readjusting the books in your arms.

“Well, Tajima and Mihashi are failing several subjects,” she stated with an annoyed look on her face. “If they don’t get their grades up soon, I can’t let them play anymore!”

You realized what she was asking, forcing a soft smile. “Don’t worry, I’ll see what I can do to help them out.” It’s not that you didn’t want to help the boys, and you certainly wanted to spend more time with Tajima, but next week was the History pop quiz and you had to study harder. You were sick and tired of feeling inferior to Sako and you were determined to finally beat her at something. Just once, that’s all you wanted.

Lurking around the corner of the building, though, was Sako, listening in on the conversation. A plot was quickly forming within her mind and she smirked when she thought about your reaction.

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When class ended, Sako shot up out of her chair, rushing out of the room with her black hair swaying behind her like a cape. Your brow furrowed in confusion as you paused, staring at the door. ‘What the hell is up with her? She never leaves without insulting me at least once… maybe that’s a sign that things are getting better for me.’ With a soft smile, you gathered your things and headed for the baseball field. What you found, however, made your heart clench painfully.

Tajima and Mihashi were sitting in the dugout on the bench, facing each other with their notebooks between them. Sako stood behind Tajima, one hand on his right shoulder while she leaned over his left, her chest pressing against the back of his head.

‘Why… is she here?’

“Y/N,” coach Momoe sent you a concerned look as she approached you. “Sako told me that you weren’t feeling well. Why didn’t you tell me that you’re stressed out about school? I would have understood.”

“N-No, I’m fine.” Your mind was spinning in overdrive, trying to process the current situation, unable to tear your gaze away from Tajima.

“Don’t lie to me,” she scolded lightly, putting her hands on her hips. “You look like you’re about to pass out. Go home and get some rest, Sako will tutor them in your place.”

‘No, no no!’ You wanted to scream, to cry about how she had lied to them. ‘But they won’t believe me. Why would they?’

Tajima glanced up, his reddish-brown eyes meeting your own. Sako also looked up, giving you a victorious smirk as she leaned closer to him. Tears welled up in your eyes and you lowered your head, biting down hard on your lower lip to keep them at bay.

‘This isn’t fair… damn it!’ The books you were holding slipped from your grasp as your arms fell to your sides. ‘She really won’t be happy until she takes everything from me…’

“Y/N, what’s -”

You turned on your heal and took off running, ignoring the concerned calls of your name. Tears trailed down your cheeks, warm in the summer breeze. It felt like your heart was slowly cracking within your chest, a pain filling you like never before. Everyone loved Sako, so you knew Tajima would be no different.

‘This is your own fault, Y/N. You shouldn’t have been so obvious about your feelings!’ You always knew it would hurt if Tajima ever expressed an interest in someone, but you were sure you could get over it as long as he was happy, but… why her?

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A loud banging sounded on your bedroom door for the third time that morning, but you ignored it once again, staring blankly at the wall, wrapped tightly within your comforter like a burrito.

“Y/N!” Came your older brother’s voice, slightly muffled by the door but still quite worried. “It’s been a week, you can’t keep missing school! You’re gonna get held back, you know.”

But you didn’t care. If you were to get held back, then you wouldn’t be in class with Sako anymore which meant no more competitions, no more losing, no more feeling inferior. It sounded like a good option to you.

Your brother sighed and you heard feet shuffling down the hallway followed by a thick silence, the kind of silence that makes your ears ring. You tried so hard to go back to sleep, but your mind kept going back to the team. Did they even miss you? You doubted it since none of them had stopped by to check on you. Had they replaced you with Sako? Jealousy mixed with pain and anger, making tears well up within your eyes, but you wiped at them furiously because you were so damn tired of crying.

There was another knock on the door, softer than before. It wasn’t your brother. “Y/N, open up.” Mizutani’s voice floated to you, much softer than your brother’s had been so you had to strain yourself to hear him properly, but you could hear his concern. “It’s been so long, I forgot what you look like! Come on~ don’t you want to see your bestie?”

Your hand clenched around the covers because you did want to see him, but there was something inside of you that kept you in bed, preventing you from reaching out.

“I brought you a llama plushie!”

For the first time in a week, your spirits lifted slightly, eyes gaining a bit of life. Your body felt heavy and sluggish as you forced yourself up, toes flexing on the white carpet. The lock clicked as you turned it, stepping back as the door swung open. Mizutani’s usually cheerful smile was flipped into a worried frown, eyes searching your face, but you refused to look up from the carpet.

“Here.” He held out the small, purple plush to you and you accepted it gratefully, pulling it against your chest as you closed the door behind him before slinking back to your bed. He followed, plopping down onto the end, leg pulled up so he could face you.

“Thank you,” you mumbled softly, rubbing at your swollen eyes.

“Don’t thank me,” he grinned, folding his arms over his chest. “Tajima bought it for you, but your brother wouldn’t let him see you.”

Your cheeks burned at the thought, holding it tighter. “Really?”

“Yup! The whole team came to see you, but since your brother didn’t know what happened to you, he refused to let any of us see you, not even me!” He huffed, as if the idea offended him. “Finally, he agreed. Took him long enough.”

“I see…” you chewed on the inside of your cheek, feeling guilty for doubting your friends.

“Did you really think we forgot about you?” He quirked a brow, an amused grin upon his lips. “The team loves you, idiot.”

“Don’t call me an idiot, you idiot.”

Mizutani laughed, but then he sent you a serious look. “You want to tell me what happened? You know I’m here for you always.”

You frowned, lightly brushing the curled fur atop the llama’s head. “It’s… Sako.” As soon as the words left your lips, they refused to be stopped, tumbling from your mouth like rain from a clouded sky. You ended up telling him everything from the moment she entered your life and it felt so amazing to get everything off of your chest. You felt so much lighter, even with the tears sliding down your cheeks. “It was so stressful, but I could handle it all. At least until she… she…”

“She started hitting on Tajima,” Mizutani stated as he started to piece it together. He had thought it was strange how Sako suddenly showed interest in the baseball team and especially in Tajima himself. Everyone had thought the same thing, really, but no one could have suspected what the truth was.

You nodded. “I don’t know how she found out about my feelings. It’s probably my fault for not being more careful, but I know she was planning to take all of you from me, to prove once again that people will always choose her over me. I know that because she did the same thing back in middle school.”

His eyes widened a bit in surprise. “Really? What happened?”

“When she first transferred, I tried to befriend her and even brought her into my friend group. One of those friends I had a crush on and we had a date on the weekend, but he stood me up. I later found out that she had convinced him to leave me and go out with her instead. When I confronted her about this, my friends got angry at me for accusing her of such a thing. I don’t know how she did it, but she turned everyone against me, made me out to be the bad guy. I… Mizu, I’m so scared that she’s going to do it again.”

He frowned sadly, placing his hand over yours. “Y/N, that’s not -”

The door burst open with enough force to bounce off of the wall, making you nearly jump out of your skin. Tajima stood in the doorway, looking angrier than you had ever seen him before. Your face burned, knowing that you must look horrible with your red eyes, swollen from crying, and your hair sticking up in all directions.

“Tajima!” Mizutani scolded, turning to sent the boy an annoyed look. “I told you to wait outs -”

“That won’t happen!” He declared loudly, his reddish-brown eyes boring into your own. Like a magnetic pull, you couldn’t force yourself to look away. “No one can replace you, Y/N, especially not someone like Sako!”

“Oi! You can’t just -”

“Listen to me!” Tajima interrupted him again, closing the distance without ever breaking your gaze. “There’s only one you in the world and no one can compare!” A grin slowly slid onto his lips as he held his hand out to you. “Besides, she’s too late because I love you already!”

“N-No shame!” Mizutani cried in disbelief. He couldn’t imagine just blurting that out without fear.

Tajima laughed, rubbing the back of his head. “Besides, you’re the only one that really gets me going when I masturbate, Y/N.”

“Are you an idiot?!” The orangette cried, jumping off the bed and grabbing the front of Tajima’s shirt. “You can’t just say stuff like that!”

“Eh? Why not?”

“Because it’s weird!”

“What do you mean weird?” He huffed in response, putting his hands on his hips. “It’s completely natural!”

You suddenly started laughing, hiding your face in the soft fur of the llama.

Mizutani’s face fell as he turned to you. “Don’t encourage him, Y/N.”

“I’m sorry,” you chuckled, smiling brightly as you reached for Tajima’s hand, still outstretched toward you. His fingers curled around the back of your hand, his eyes shining as they met yours. “Thank you so much, guys. I… I’m sorry for causing you trouble.”

With a relieved sigh, Mizutani sent you a smile. “No trouble at all, that’s what high school is for, right? Drama is the essence of life.”

“No,” you wrinkled your nose. “This is not an anime, Mizu.”

“Whatever.” He rolled his eyes. “Are you gonna come see the others? They haven’t stopped messaging me since I arrived.” To prove his point, he pulled the phone from his pocket and showed you the screen where the notifications were constantly scrolling as new messages came through.

“Yeah, just… give me some time to get a shower?”

“Sure thing.” He headed for the door, pausing to wait for the black-haired boy.

Tajima leaned forward so he could whisper in your ear, voice lowered. “You finally beat her at something, Y/N~” He then pecked your cheek and headed to the door. “Man, I’m starving!”

“You just had breakfast, how can you be hungry?”

“I’m a growing boy!”

Their voices faded as they got further down the hall. You glanced down at the plush in your hands, unable to stop smiling. He was right – this time, Sako wasn’t going to take away the people that you cared about. ‘I don’t think my heart has ever felt this full before… what a strange feeling.’

“Y/N, hurry up~!” Tajima whined as he stuck his head back into the room. “Let’s go get food!”

“Ah, I have to shower, hold on!”

“Shower later,” he pouted. “You look gorgeous just how you are!”

“F-Fine,” your face heated up as you headed for the door. “At least let me change into some clean clothes.”

With a nod, he headed back down the hall and you shut the door, locking it for good measure. You quickly changed into some comfortable, clean clothes and tried to make yourself look as presentable as possible before heading for the living room. The entire team was there waiting for you, smiling brightly when you arrived. They pulled you into a tight group hug, telling you how much they missed you and asking if you were okay.

You had never felt so much warmth in your entire life.

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[thecorteztwins]

Okay, but here’s another unappreciated thing about Madelyne Pryor, so unappreciated that I’ve never even seen any fellow Maddy fan talk about it--- Her walking out on Sebastian Shaw, despite him treating her well, because he was going to do things that were potentially going to hurt other people. So, after Maddy got resurrected in the 90s by Nate, she was in this very liminal space between hero and villain, often oscillating back and forth between them. She was also amnesiac for awhile too, and it was during this vulnerable state that Selene, the Black Queen of the Hellfire Club, recruited her as her new Black Rook, and Trevor Fitzroy as her new White Rook. She brought them to the Hellfire Club and it’s pretty plain that she intended to use them against Shaw, but Madelyne and Shaw hit it off immediately. And here’s the crazy thing--Sebastian instantly recognized her as NOT Jean. And Shaw has a little past with Jean (or the Phoenix Force masquerading as her, more precisely) to say the least, given the DARK PHOENIX SAGA. But he looks right at Maddy and calls her an “unknown being”. And when Tessa/Sage telepathically relays to him who she is---since according to her, every telepath felt the Gobyln Queen’s passing---Sebastian makes reference to Inferno, something MADDY did. Under demonic influence, yes, when not herself, yes, but still something that was her accomplishment. He never ever refers to Jean at all in relation to her, at ANY point. Now, how the FUCK Sebastian knew it wasn’t Jean he was looking at, that’s never explained, but looking at Maddy as a wholly separate entity does make sense for Sebastian’s strong individualist philosophies. Most people don’t know Sebastian Shaw well besides “evil rich guy” (or, more recently, Emma’s evil ex) but he does indeed have a very individualist outlook. He says things like “the common herd means nothing, the individual is all”, he never identifies as a mutant unless it’s convenient for him (ex: Krakoa) and in fact will turn on other mutants and participate in their oppression if it profits him (building Sentinels) and was ready to die rather than have Sinister take over his body (”I’m an egoist. I’d rather die as myself than live as someone else.”) So it does make sense that he of all people would actually see Maddy as her own being, regardless of her origins, and thus only pay attention to her accomplishments (especially since he’s a guy who is all about power) and not who she looks like. Now, Maddy is still amnesiac at this point, but I think the fact he did recognize her as her own being probably charmed her subconsciously, and I think she also probably was subconsciously NOT kind to the idea of being manipulated once again like Selene was trying to do with her, because she starts liking Sebastian a lot more than Selene. But after Tessa probes her mind, it brings back her memories, so she zooms back to Nate. She finds him with Jean, and learns that he only brought her back to life because his mind was subconsciously seeking Jean, and grabbed poor Maddy’s ghost from the astral plane instead. Upon learning this, NATE TRIES TO KILL HER. Maddy, understandably, books it back to the Hellfire Club. She then comes into Shaw’s room, wakes him up, strips, and tells him no talking til morning. Maddy initiates their relationship entirely, and it’s a pattern that persists throughout it---from what we see, Sebastian pretty much does what she wants. He puts her up in a nice place in Hong Kong where she’ll be safe from the anti-mutant shit currently going down, he throws a party at her request that’s just about announcing they’re an official couple (holy shit, ROMANTIC COMMITMENT from SEBASTIAN SHAW?!), and, bizarrely, he never tries to use or manipulate her or even asks at all her with her help in any scheme, despite her great power. Now, Sebastian Shaw is a bona fide bastard, like he has no redeeming factors and I say that as a big fan of his (it’s one of the reasons I like him, I love total trash). But he actually was good to Maddy. He wasn’t yet the “abusive boyfriend” type bastard at this point in canon; his background with Emma was not added til the 2010s, and this was the 90s, so while he was established as an abusive father to Shinobi, there actually wasn’t any evidence to suggest he’d be an abusive partner, as those are two different dynamics, and he was shown to be deeply in love with his fiancee Lourdes before her death (though he was quoted as not being in love with Maddy) So his being a good boyfriend to Maddy despite being an awful person in general actually tracks fairly well for his characterization at this point in canon. But still, I am sure that if Maddy had stayed with him, he would have used her in some way, or done something awful, he’s just...he’s Sebastian Shaw. But for the time she was with him, he never did anything bad at all, certainly not to her. And whether Maddy loved him or not (which I don’t think she did, I think he was just all she had to turn to at the time) he was the first, and thus far, still the ONLY man that she was with that WASN’T of the Summers bloodline, and thus he’s the only man who was truly her own CHOICE to be with, rather than influenced by Sinister’s programming like with Scott, Alex, and Nate. So, what happened? Madelyne found out that Sebastian was waking up the Harbinger, a servant of Apocalypse, as part of yet another scheme of power and wealth for himself (YOU’RE A MULTIBILLIONAIRE ALREADY, SHAW, STOP) And while this wouldn’t affect her at all, nor likely anyone she knew or cared about, it was likely to result in the deaths of many other people. And she said fuck that, and she abandoned Shaw, and she reconnected with Cable, her son, with whom there was more than a little bad blood, in order to urge him to stop this thing. So, let’s break this down. Madelyne has been rejected by everyone else for what she ISN’T, but now she has a man who sees her for what she is, and he wants to be with her. And not, apparently, for her power, nor for who she looks like (Shaw NEVER had any interest in Jean besides for the Phoenix) but for HER. He’s not in love with her, but he does seem to have affection for her (ex: putting a blanket over her shoulders on the yacht in case she’s cold in her little black costume) which is more than he gives anyone else, and what’s more, she OWNS his dick and he gives her anything she wants. She could easily live the rest of her life in comfort and safety, and never deal with the X-Men or her past again, and be comfortable with the fact that for once SHE had complete agency in choosing the person she was with. But it’s over the moment he’s going to hurt people. It doesn’t matter if they’re far away, if it’s simply a by-product rather than something he’s doing directly, it doesn’t matter that they’re nameless faces she’ll never know, it doesn’t matter if she never has to see it or deal with it, MADDY WON’T STAND FOR IT. Madelyne Pryor, the REAL Madelyne Pryor, cares for people, and not just the people in her life, not just the people she’s CLOSE to, no, Madelyne Pryor cares for the WORLD, she understands EVERY life has value, not just the ones she knows and likes. This is the REAL Maddy, this is the Maddy I remember who sacrificed her LIFE alongside the X-Men to stop The Adversary even though she hadn’t found her son yet, because she knew that the countless lives of others was worth even more than that. And damn well she knows it’s worth more than her getting some good dick and nice things, and more even being seen as herself (which is all she’s ever really wanted) And I just...*clenches fist* I love it so much. I love HER so much. It actually makes me LIKE the Shaw/Maddy ship not just because I am glad she got a good thing for awhile, but also because it DIDN’T last, because she made this CHOICE to leave when she had everything, not for herself but for other people, and showed that she is still a HERO and I LOVE HER... ...and then ofc the 2000s since have shit all over that with bringing her back as a dominatrix crazy ex but I’M NOT EVER FORGETTING IT!!

[wolfhednn]

love languages ;

giving

1.) quality time. surprisingly for someone who so highly values his independence and tells people to gfto faster than you can even greet him, the #1 way he’ll demonstrate that he approves of someone or likes someone is by spending time with them. these will very often be framed as being for a purpose ( “spar with me” ), but just the fact that he’s even inviting someone to share his time and space is a compliment. an invitation to spar is in fact one of the surefire ways to tell that he’s warmed up to someone, or at least is interested in someone. strength is a highly prized trait to him, and in some ways ‘worthy adversary’ is almost a more important relationship to him than ‘friend’, so it’s definitely a foot in the door with him. it’s also equally notable if he agrees to spend time when invited, too. about 90% of the time, he’s going to make it sound like it’s the last thing in the world he wants to do ( dorothea & sylvain: “just this once.” / “just this once. because you saved my life.”; leonie: “the loser must pay tribute, i suppose.”; seteth: “you’ve gone to so much trouble, i may have to start making an effort as well.”; mercedes: “i can’t think of a reason to refuse your invitation, so i suppose i have to accept.” ), but rest assured that if felix had 0% interest in being around you, he wouldn’t even try to make an excuse.

2.) words of affirmation. also surprising for someone who’s as quick to cut with words as he is with a blade. but felix isn’t completely incapable of being kind, and we see throughout his script that the most definitive indication of his attitude towards someone is how he talks to them. it’s a fine line here, because he’s pretty caustic even if you’re close to him ( see: his entire sylvain support ), but he’s more comfortable with letting moments of softness come through his speech more than in any other way. he talks very abrasively, but judging by the juxtaposition of the things he says to other people and how he may react to something else they say a few moments later, i don’t actually think felix’s abrasive way of speaking is truly indication of how he feels about someone overall. but i’m veering dangerously off-topic and into the realm of “felix & speaking mannerisms”, which is an essay for another day. ultimately, despite being pricklier than a porcupine, we see that felix demonstrates gratitude, gives praise, and offers comfort through words, sometimes large-scale and sometimes through subtle changes in diction, more than any other avenue. though of course being called out on this will cause an instant and complete reversion back into his tsundere shell haha

acts of service and gift-giving are, for him, i think, too tied up with the traditional notions of chivalry and service that he detests so much, and so he turns away from them as ways of demonstrating his emotions. he thinks of these as very surface-level demonstrations of affection and, while i think he might still do them on occasion to those he’s very close to if the situation is right ( especially acts of service, maybe ), in general he wouldn’t consider these to be very genuine. as for physical touch... hahaha he’s just too shy and flustered for that. ( though he does have that singular moment where he mentions being so relieved to see sylvain okay that he almost wants to hug him. i do think that he was more physically affectionate in that way when he was a kid, but since adopting his ‘lone wolf’ persona he’s just Too Cool to give hugs. )

receiving

1.) quality time. this took some thinking because i think ultimately felix is not someone who requires a lot of overt demonstration of affection in order to be confident that someone cares about him, but in the end i think ‘quality time’ would probably still come first. despite his lone wolf act, he does actively acknowledge when people are enjoyable to be around ( dorothea: “you make a good sparring partner. and a good tea companion.” ), so it’s something that’s on his radar. his BL route s-support ending with byleth also suggests that he places a lot of importance on time that is sort of “their thing”, a time that’s unique to them that is focused solely on their connection. but, i’m also going to hedge on expanding the definition of quality time for felix’s sake though, because i think in terms of receiving, it’s not just about the literal time spent in each other’s company, but more importantly sense of emotional dependability and ‘effort’ put in. his support with sylvain is the biggest indicator here since it’s his most overtly affectionate one that doesn’t carry blatantly romantic overtones, and the one thing he praises sylvain for the most, and which seems to mean the most to him in their relationship, is sylvain’s dependability ( “You’ve been doing this since we were children. Constantly fooling around, but then showing up and helping when we really need you.” ). i think that ultimately is what’s most important to him.

with that being the most important love language to him on the receiving end, everything else is secondary, i think. words of affirmation aren’t required; in fact, he seems to be dismissive of praise and promises as a whole, telling dimitri at one point that words are meaningless and that he’ll need to see proof in his actions. i think he would balk at acts of service for the same reason he doesn’t like giving it; in fact, most of his supports touch on him actively disliking people trying to help him or do something for him, partially because it steps on his independence and partially because a lot of the time they’re putting themselves in harm’s way to do so and there’s nothing he hates more. physical affection is a moot point as mentioned above. i do think that he’s more receptive to receiving gifts than he would let on. he doesn’t seem to be opposed to it, and does in fact appreciate when the right things are given, in line with his tastes. seeing that one of his instruction questions is also about his attachment to an old sword despite having the opportunity to get a new one, i would wager he also has more of an inclination for sentimental attachments to objects than he would ever admit.

[arkus-rhapsode]

Captain Marvel Movie: My Thoughts

So I just went to see Marvel’s Captain Marvel and I have some opinions. Repeat, these are opinions. You are free to disagree with me if you so desire. I respect your decision, and I simply wish to tell you that this is not an objective dissection of this film. But before I do, I will be warning you (obviously) Spoilers Ahead. I will be putting this under the cut.

Other thing I’m warning of this (I cannot believe I’m doing this). I know this film has been having some controversy. And frankly I don’t give a shit. As someone has actually, y’know, watched the movie, I can say nothing about the controversy seems to have any effect on this film, nor should it. I’m saying my piece as a film goer.

So one last time spoilers ahead. You have been warned.

So before I talk about the film proper. I would like to give my general opinions the comic Captain Marvel Carol Danvers. I love her. I love Carol Danvers as character, she, in my opinion, is Marvel’s Wonder Woman. Her no nonsense attitude, but compassionate heart, would make for a great character in a solo film. As well as add some much needed diversity in terms personality in Marvel’s cast (Trust me, I was relieved by Black Panther actually not making jokes and being primarily serious).

I should also say, I love Marvel Cosmic. Seriously, Marvel’s cosmic stuff is so creative and you better believe I’m all for seeing them finally come to the big screen. To see the Kree and Skrull finally fight on the big screen, hell yeah. I was expecting the adaptation to have changes because getting the concept of the Cotati and the Celestials. But as long as its done well, it can work.

And boy oh boy, this movie was kinda underwhelming. Yeah, its not even like backlash hype, but this movie was kinda boring. It says something when during the first third of the film I checked my phone’s time. Yeah... Not a great sign. I do wanna say this though, the film does pick up after the first act. Like really it improves as it goes on, but boy is it bit of a hump.

Again, I wanna make this clear. This movie is fine. I recall people walking out of the theater saying I liked it. And as this is a marvel movie, it is better than other genuinely bad movies. But unfortunately as it isn’t strong one way or the other, its not in the best area. I didn’t mind that I saw it. For something to do for 2 hours it was nice. It got a few good laughs out of me. But boy this was... Kinda textbook Marvel film.

Okay, people have a tendency to say Marvel’s too formulaic or its too childish at times. And this movie fixes that. Oh not by twisting those formulas on its head like Black Panther. No it does the formula and removes most of charm. Yeah, this movie is Marvel films distilled. Everything in this film, you have seen done somewhere else, and done better.

Okay maybe I should get into the story. The story is again fine. It almost feels like a syfy channel original at times. And maybe that comes from the fact this movie had 5 writers and 2 directors. Cause boy this film is all over the place.

At first it seems like its all Kree vs Skrull, but its never really elaborated on why. There is no bitter history or reason other than they are skrull. Which is weird cause this film is exposition heavy. There’s one moment that sticks out and that was Monica telling Carol about her dad and her having a bad relationship. Now granted we saw a glimpse of this during one of many flashing sequences, but its never truly let sink. Its just the bare minimum. And Carol’s relationship with her dad and how he treated her is a big part of who she is.

But back to the juggling plots, when Carol lands on earth it seems like they wanna go the Thor 1 route while also there being a secret invasion. Which could work. Y’know, start of with the war, then Carol is trying to stop the invading Skrull who are planning on using the earth. But then it becomes a McGuffin run. Where the skrull apparently only want this lightspeed engine, and Carol must stop them cause... Skrull.

But then it turns out the Skrull are actually the victims this whole time and we need to get them off here before the Kree kill them. And I’m sure your asking, “what is even the point of this already?”

And that’s just the thing. This film is trying to be clever, but simultaneously, its really behind the times. Its almost fitting this is in the 90s as this feels like a 90s family movie. Its just so bland. Like got this ship dog fight in a canyon, its got the friend who lets the heroes go when they are suspects, and its got the whole, I was originally from here by looking at a photograph. By trying to be many things, it end up being nothing. Its just kinda okay. Not a bad movie, but when you’re in phase 3, this is shockingly more.

If this was like phase 1, maybe. But if you are expecting a Wonder Woman style film, this one is blown out of the water by WW. And I’m a guy who’s Marvel leaning when it comes to comics. But no Marvel, banking on this, its outdated.

In terms of characters, lets talk about Carol herself and her performance. Brie Larson is not a bad actress, but boy... The problem with her in this film is that Carol isn’t consistent in characterization. There are times in this film where I’m like, “Amazing, you got Carol.” Then there are times where she acts like a generic marvel protag. And then there are time “you really wanna go with that take?”

A wise word I heard was that how you know someone is the right fit for a marvel hero is you can see no one else playing that role. You can’t see Nick Fury not being played by Samuel L Jackson, you can’t see Iron Man not being played by Robert Downey Jr. etc. And unfortunately, I can see Carol being played by someone else. And it didn’t help that person was in this film.

Lashana Lynch acted her ass off in this film and was a better Carol Danvers than Carol Danvers. She played Maria Rambeau (Though really she’s playing Monica Rambeau in spirit, but given the time period, Monica is actually a little girl, but Maria acts exactly how you’d expect Monica to act from the comics and wibbily wobbly timey wimey) who is acting circles around Larson. She’s allowed to be very human while express a full range of emotions. While Carol is just kinda bland. (Also doesn’t help Monica was actually captain marvel before carol while she was still Miss Marvel) So if that’s one thing this movie got me eager for, it’s Monica Rambeau in the MCU.

Sam Jackson does a great job and is basically the linchpin of comedy in this movie. Yeah this movie’s humor is kinda non existent for a while. Again, it gets better as the film goes, but its again a slog. That said, Jackson handles the roles like a champ and is doing his best.

Talos was actually doing pretty good as a villain. He’s not Loki or Vulture, but he’s closer to Darren Cross from Ant Man. Having fun, while trying to be menacing. But he’s not a villain. Literally, the twist in this movie is the Kree were bad this whole time. Even though the point of the kree-skrull conflict is that both sides are wrong, nope. Skrull are the victims and they’re refugees. Christ, this movie basically told me, “Yeah, you’re never getting super skrull or a good secret invasion.” Christ.

All in all he turns in my favrite performance, but his Jason Statham impression is kinda distracting. I really think he could’ve been a good adversary in a better script.

No are real villain is Yon and he is basically Kaecilius from Doctor Strange. He’s Carol’s handler, he does that whole, playful banter while fighting thing. Then he disappears from film. Then it turns out that he’s the one who shot down Carol and that he’s the real villain. And he is not interesting.

Kinda comes with the fact that you literally didn’t make this twist until the end of the second act. So we have no strong impression of him as a character. Hell there is also his squad who fights Carol and its basically like watching the Black Order fight but blue. Its boring.

Oh there is the supreme intelligence. And that’s done so weird too. It projects itself int whatever form the person holds dearest (For Carol its Mar-Vell) and that seems like a great thing. Using the skin of a loved one, but in reality being nothing than cold unfeeling pragmatism. But then they start acting really gitty and emotional when they go into carol’s head again. This should be horrifying. This is just Jeff Goldbloom as the Grand Master lite.

Ronan also shows up in this movie. And he’s not the main villain! You have this chance to make Ronan (one of the most universally thought poor villain) and make him better. It would make a larger tapestry in films as we know what he’s like in guardians, but I would’ve like to see him before this. Show the seeds of just someone overtly self righteous that would bloom into zealous. I feel like this film could be much better with replacing Yon with Ronan.

But nope, in this film he’s just some asshole who is on screen for like 5 minutes. Oh but he’s got this group called the accusors that bomb out Skrull. Which also leads to this plot hole, why did Carol think that the Skrull caused ruins on the planet she visited? We saw her squad arrive while Ronan was bombing!

Then we have Mar-vell. Mar-vell is a woman this time and I was fine with that. She’s a good actress, if not enough time with her. Also the cause of Carol’s powers is the tesseract. Sure. Makes more sense.

I’ve been sounding lime a dick for a while, so I’ll quickly list off the good stuff in this film. I like the color pallet. I actually think Carol dressing in the grundge outfit is cool. I love goose. I think Talos and his family’s scenes are adorable. And I think the scene where Carol stands back up is empowering, but god I wish it was in a better film.

All in all, this film is fine. But its so on the bland side. And that leaves me in a wierd place. I want this film to do well, mainly cause I know how board executives work. “Oh a female superhero movie wasn’t profitable? Guess no more female superhero films.” And that’s not the case. We saw with Wonder Woman that you can do a female super hero movie, just get good writing and good directing. I want more females in Marvel movies. I want a damn Black Widow movie for christ sake!

But at the same time, I kinda want Marvel to take the L on this one. I want them to see that doing the bare minimum isn’t going to fly in the this oversatured market. Marvel was the best and only game in town for 10 years. But now. DC has clawed its way up, Wonder Woman was good, Aquaman was good, Shazam looks good, etc. And they all seem to want to try something new while being good. Marvel, you need to step it up. Because you’ll soon not be top dog anymore.

I feel like this film would’ve benefited from a director like Taika Waititi. Someone who knows how to take the fantastical of Marvel cosmic and  make it come to life. I also think it needs one writer. You though Justice League was bad as it feels like it was done by two different films directed by two different people, well this feel the same.

Is it bad. No. Its basically ghostbuster 2016. Its not bad, its not good. Not seeing seeing this film doesn’t make you a misogynist, seeing this this film does make you an asshole who is betraying the comics. Am I going to think less of you if you like this, god no! Am I saying its drek? No I still enjoyed the 2 hours I used up to watch this movie. So ball’s your court folks.

[liskantope]

During the last few months, I read through the the entire archive of Luann comics from 1985 to the present day, as it’s freely available through GoComics. Don’t judge me. Or do judge me, I don’t care. Luann is entertaining and nostalgic (at least the period from the late 90′s through 2006 or so when I was regularly following the strip in the newspaper). Some thoughts below. (I actually wanted to write this a month and a half ago when I had just finished and everything was fresher on my mind, but that’s when holidays and all my distractions hit. This turned out to be very long and I’m not sure if any of my followers is actually interested in a review of Luann, but if anyone wants to scroll down to the final bulletpoint, that is a bit less Luann-specific and more on the lines of my usual discourse topics.)

Never mind bulletpoints; some of these are too long to be easily readable without breaking up into paragraphs!

1) I was impressed, almost all the way through, with how much sexuality is conveyed in the dialog and relationships between the characters while somehow staying within the content restrictions for a newspaper comic. (I do recall back around 2000 a particular comic coming under fire because the dialog between Luann’s parents implied that they didn’t wait for marriage, one which I was able to identify this time around.) I think Luann possibly has the most sexuality in it of any newspaper comic I’ve come across.

2) I understand that daily comic strip artists typically have to do their Sunday comics some six weeks more ahead of publication than their non-Sunday comics, resulting in each Sunday strip usually having nothing to do with the story happening in its neighboring strips. Luann consistently seems to be an exception to this, where either the cartoonist is able to follow a schedule of drawing the Sunday strips contemporaneously with the rest or he is extraordinarily good at planning a further six weeks in advance what will be going on in the story by the time a given Sunday strip will come out. That said, while I remember being annoyed that my newspaper growing up didn’t include Luann in its Sunday comics section, I see now that I wasn’t missing all that much: the Sunday strips are still mostly independent, shallow gags that often look like they could have been carried out just as easily and more space-efficiently in a daily strip.

3) Luann’s relationship with her brother Brad, which was clearly meant to reflect a classic snarky sibling dynamic, went further with the insults, name-calling, complete reluctance to acknowledge caring feelings, and occasionally outright malicious behavior than I was comfortable with (until recent years when this has simmered down now that they’re more fully grown up). Are typical siblings really treat each other by default in such an antagonistic and adversarial manner? I appreciate that I had an idyllic relationship with my sister growing up -- I mean really the closest to ideal of any siblings I’ve known -- but I wouldn’t have thought that the norm was really closer to Luann and Brad.

4) On the flip side, there’s another aspect of Luann’s life with her immediate family which strikes me as probably healthier than what I imagine as the default: the openness with which she and Brad air all their personal trials and tribulations to their parents. Luann in particular is often venting about her crushes (especially her main crush, Aaron Hill, always referred to with his full name) and coming to her parents for support over whatever teenage-style drama she’s caught up in. I suppose the fact that I didn’t feel free to be open about these types of things with my parents has much more to do with me than with them: I’ve always been neurotic about open discussion of certain things, especially my romantic interests or feelings of sexual attraction, and was somewhat more so as a teenager than now. (It would take a much longer post than this to pick apart this neurosis.) I remember actually getting into an argument with my parents over whether it’s within a normal kid-parent dynamic to mention at dinner “I met/saw the most attractive girl today!” with me convinced that it wasn’t. I have to concede that the Luann universe (fictional, but clearly based on the cartoonist’s impression of reality) is a point in their favor.

All that said, I would think that Luann might have felt kind of silly blabbering so much about her obsession with Aaron Hill to her family members (not to mention her school guidance counselor!) knowing on some level that it must come across as immature. Yet, in writing this I’ve remembered that I did plenty of blabbering as a young teenager to my family about whatever Interests I was obsessed with at the time, in a way that I kinda-sorta knew was immature but not enough to stop me... but that just wouldn’t have included romantic or sexual feelings. Also, the desire or ability to feel comfortable sleeping on the sofa in the middle of my family doing things (as Brad is constantly seen doing) is utterly foreign to me, but that touches on another of my neuroses.

5) This strip has obviously changed a lot over its nearly 34 years of syndication, which shows most obviously and superficially in the vast improvement in drawing style. In terms of content and stories it changed a lot too, and I think in a very positive direction. In fact, if I hadn’t known that it would improve in this way, I don’t think I would have bothered getting through all of the first decade of Luann. The basis for Luann in its early years was simple gags meant to reflect life of a typical teenage girl in a typical nuclear family. But there was something very pessimistic about all of it: the lives of the DeGroots, each entrenched in their roles as mother, father, teenage daughter, and teenage son, seem weary and at times slightly on the dysfunctional side. The strip could have practically be titled “The Woes of the Modern Middle-Class Nuclear Family”. It predated but was rather similar to The Simpsons in this way. Moreover, Luann, depicted as an awkward and not very attractive 13-year-old, seemed hopeless in all of the Average Teenage Girl ways, including hating everything about school; not really excelling at anything in school or out; being constantly wrapped up in spending hours on the phone with the same two friends; and never, ever, ever being able to get her the object of her long-time super-obsessive crush, Aaron Hill, to so much as glance in her direction (this theme was dwelt on ad nauseum for over a decade to the point that it got extremely tiresome and I’m surprised I got through that period; maybe what got me through was occasional acknowledgments in the voices of Luann’s friends that this obsession was over-the-top and getting pretty old).

And yet... Luann has grown up into a beautiful and talented woman with ambitions and a number of dating relationships under her belt, and the DeGroots are now held up as an example of a really admirable and healthy family (one that TJ clearly wants as his own family). While Brad’s transformation from teenage slob who lay around and ate Oreos all day into a happily married, responsible, and fit fireman is openly remarked upon, the drastic change in the ethos of the strip as a whole isn’t explicitly acknowledged. Of course the evolution happened very gradually, but if I had to point to a single turning point, my choice would be obvious: things began to drastically turn around for Luann in early 1997 when she bared her feelings to Aaron Hill by giving him a scroll containing all her memories of him (a move that would be considered obsessive and stalker-ish in another context but which finally won his attention here).

6) I think there’s a sort of trope, which the Luann character exemplifies about midway through the strip’s history, where she’s supposed to continue representing the insecure girl who feels unattractive and unpopular so that people can relate to her, while at the same time she seems to constantly attract boys (most of whom she considers really hot) and gets dates with them, so as to make for more interesting stories. I got annoyed at times at how these two things seemed to be in tension. At one point, if I remember right, Luann had no fewer than four of the boy characters super into her, including Aaron Hill even though she had temporarily decided she was through with him (this was unacknowledged later on when she went back to complaining that all those years she was in love with Aaron but he never truly noticed her). Other examples of this trope perhaps include Gus Cruikshank and George Costanza.

7) I would feel amiss if I didn’t put in a word about the Gunther character here. He’s my favorite character in the particular sense of reminding me extraordinarily of myself. If Butters from South Park is the most similar animated cartoon character to me (at least in the opinion of some friends), then Gunther Berger is, a hundred times more so, the most similar comic cartoon character to me. Not only do most of his personality traits match almost perfectly with mine (although I’m not as good with kids and don’t know anything about costume-making), his physical appearance is strikingly similar to mine, especially the way I looked as a teenager (plaid shirts and all). In fact, I sometimes wonder if, had there been (say) a call for auditions for a Luann movie back when I looked slightly younger, I might have had a decent shot at winning the part due to my physical similarity to Gunther -- I’m not an amazing actor, but there’s not nearly as much acting involved when you’re basically playing yourself.

One of the rather negative aspects of the early Luann ethos for me is not only the mildly negative way that Gunther was portrayed as the stereotypical socially-inept nerd but the level of disdain Luann treats him with (despite her own insecurities) which she’s only occasionally called out on. I’m glad to see that Gunther soon became one of the most likeable and admirable characters in the strip. Rather than feel ashamed of our likeness, I see him as reflecting some of the best parts of me and, when it comes to standing up and speaking his mind, an inspiration for me to be better.

8) Luann, throughout its history, addresses stereotypical norms, particularly with regard to gender, in an interesting (although not at all unusual) way. Let’s first keep in mind that the strip and main characters were established in 1985. The original intent of the cartoonist was clearly to portray middle-class nuclear family life, with a special focus on teenage girlhood, as honestly and relatably as he knew how. This meant in particular making each member of the DeGroot family a sort of every(wo)man: Frank is the typical father, the main breadwinner, always the one to worry about money (and the parent to go to when one of the kids wants money or something expensive), and taking a backseat with housework; Nancy is the typical mother, more emotive, burdened with all the housework and daily discipline of her kids; Brad is the typical older teenage boy, a lazy slob with little regard for cleanliness or manners spending all his time either being a couch potato or working on his car; and Luann is the typical 13-year-old girl, hating school and obsessed with boys, shopping, fashion, and talking on the phone. The strip positively revels in stereotypes (especially once we add the blonde cheerleader “mean girl” Tiffany, the unattractive nerd Gunther, and the goof-off Knute). A particular theme is gender stereotypes; in fact, it felt like a good 50% of Luann’s non-story strips, particularly Sunday ones, revolved around the differences between the genders. All of this looks pretty tiresome now and was probably tiresome already back in the 80′s.

And at the same time, the cartoonist was clearly socially progressive and a feminist (at least in the old-school sense) from the start. He made many points about the particular burdens women face and wrote many sympathetic strips about how Nancy willingly did all the housework and cooking but was expected to by default and felt unappreciated because her work went unacknowledged by everyone else. There’s a lot of focus on how the fashion industry puts pressures on teenage girls and women and how women should free themselves from basing their self-worth on how their looks compare to other women’s and on what boys think of them. In fact, the artist very deftly points out the tension between Luann’s awareness of this unreasonableness and her desire to be superficially attractive and objectified by boys anyway!

What reads as a tiny bit strange about all of this -- but only from a very modern point of view, I think -- is that all of these stereotypes are remarked upon and criticized while still being exemplified by pretty much every single character and everything they do. (Compare to Zits, debuting in 1997, where the father, a rather sweet, huggy, un-stereotypically masculine character, is shown doing the laundry from early on.) I get why someone would go with that formula, because as I said it seems at least naively like the best way to maximize relatability, but it comes at the expense of creating a subtle tension and not fully promoting the intended messages. I believe this underscores a fundamental distinction between a bare anti-conformist message and anti-conformist representation and suggests that representation as a social justice concept just wasn’t a big thing back in the 80′s and 90′s in the way it (fortunately) is today.

[godstaff]

Truths about Lois Lane nobody wants to hear.

1. Lois Lane is a secondary character. She was born that way and spent the last 80 years being a secondary character. The main character is called Superman, even though some people tend to forget it.

2. She hasn’t evolve in those 80 years. She began being a brazen, bold, rude investigative reporter who takes unnecessary risks to get an exclusive and needs Superman to save her constantly. She still is the same character.

3. Lois Lane has no friends, only work associations. It is no surprise: she hasn’t been written as a likable person ever. Everybody in the office dislike her or fear her. The only time she looked at Clark Kent as a person was when DC decided to marry them back in the 90s. Otherwise, he was just someone else in her way. Which brings us to the next item:

4. Lois Lane is not a nice person: she has no problem in using people to get what she wants. She’s selfish, abusive and callous. Bosses everybody around, even her boss.  Only Clark likes her for some unknown reason. Some say it’s because she challenges him. Doing what?? She does nothing at all, other than insulting people! True: one does what’s necessary to get the job done, man or woman, but that doesn’t excuse you of being a horrible human being, which she is.

5. She thinks she comes before Superman’s mission. Lois made quite a scene once, when Supes forgot her birthday and shut him off completely when he saved Wonder Woman instead of her father in the midst of interstellar war. Problem is a hero prioritizes the greater good over the individuals. She seems to understand some of the  importance of his mission, as long as it doesn’t interfere with her plans. But she tends to forget that more and more. Lately, so does he.

6. Lois Lane is overrated. In order to be able to be with someone like Superman, she must be something special, an extraordinary human being, so writers keep giving her attributes far beyond those of mortal men, wiser, stronger and now, immortal. She used to have the excuse of being Superman’s human tether, now she’s not even human.

7. Lois lives in denial of Kal-El’s alien origins, and she wants him to forget it as well. For her, he’s “Smallville”, a Kansas hillbilly she has wrapped around her finger to do as she pleases. She has him and their son living in hiding, as humans for her own benefit, denying a rich Kryptonian heritage of thousands of years. Kal-El literally has to escape to his Fortress to connect with his past, which he does less and less each time. By the way, she never ever used his Kryptonian name.

8. The only reason an obsolete institution like the Daily Planet still exists is to give her a place to shine, to be a star, to be the center of attention. Printed media is dying. So does certain type of journalism, the kind she’s an expert on. Without the Planet, she has no purpose. Clark? He can do whatever he wants or nothing at all and still be in contact with current events, he has no need of the news paper. She needs it, there she’s the queen bee. She’s the reason they both are still stuck to it, back in the 90s.

9. As I said before, writers keep looking for reasons for her existence, with little success, like establishing that without her Superman goes insane. She has little purpose, otherwise. They gave them a kid, so their union is indivisible, but she’s not much of a mother, anyway, and they made her immortal, so death will never do them part. Still, she has little to do, other than being in the middle of things. The character is stagnant, so they make her do ridiculous things like fighting Apokoliptian Furies to make her do something, anything. Writers keep portraying Clark as a needy person, who has to be told what to do constantly and...who better than amazing Lois to give him all the answers? When she had her own title, they made her do anything to try to trick Superman into marrying her. Now she doesn’t even deserve her own book. Back then she had the goal of unmasking the Man of Steel (yeah, she said she loved him, but still wanted to reveal his identity for the exclusive), now she doesn’t even have that. She has literary nothing to do. And they tried giving her superpowers too!

10. Lois Lane needs Superman, not the other way around. Without him, she’ll pretty much disappear since she’s not interesting enough by herself. there where several attempts to write her alone, but not even her “faithful” fans would buy the books. Yeah, they were that bad. Still, some think she’s the stellar character in Superman’s books for some strange, self insertion reason. Just remember the New 52, when they weren’t together: Lois was little more than decoration and writers went to incredible extremes to make her present somehow. They even tried to made her Superman’s best friend, but it didn’t work because, as said before, she doesn’t know how to be friends with anybody.

Lois Lane is an idle character frozen in time who only reflects the light Superman emanates. They have her near him so they don’t have to write for her, which nobody would read anyway. Her major contribution to the Superman mythos was General Sam Lane, who was an interesting Superman adversary for like half an hour. Still, more interesting than his daughter.

[dustneedle48-blog]

How It Ends Review

For better or worse, AMC?s zombie-smashing megahit The Walking Dead�has long become the most popular depiction of the post-apocalypse. What comes after the end of everything is a popular topic in the collective unconscious these days (can?t imagine why), and The Walking Dead�is the entertainment entity that has had the longest time to explore it.

And that?s always been the problem with The Walking Dead, it loves to explore the emotional, social, and political ramifications of society?s collapse. And my God it has tons of time to do so. The show is so in love with what it means to survive the unsurviveable that entire seasons of the show pass with thousands of bullets fired, dozens of philosophical conversations had, and absolutely nothing learned.

At first glance, Netflix?s apocalyptic action drama, How It Ends,�seems like a response to the overly ponderous zombie-filled rumination on The Nature of Man? and What It All Means�. The apocalypse hits fast-forward in How It Ends. An unknown cataclysm on the West Coast turns off the lights and shuts down the internet and cell signals worldwide in about 15 minutes. Five minutes later the entire world is Mad Max: Fury Road�with Cadillacs on I-90 instead of war rigs on an African desert path.

Hilariously implausible? Yes. A death sentence for the movie? Not necessarily. What is a death sentence, however, is how punishingly, infuriatingly boring the apocalypse turns out to be. Give How It Ends�credit for not wasting our time and getting to the end of the world within a quarter-hour. Give it absolutely no credit for then somehow making the end of the world an absolute 120-minute chore to slog through.

Theo James stars as Will, a young man living in Seattle with his beautiful and perfect wife Sam (Kat Graham). We don?t know precisely what Will does for work, but he calls it ?the firm? so undoubtedly he?s very important and cool. Will has business back in Chicago so after a work meeting, he intends to pay a visit to Sam?s father, Tom (Forest Whitaker) and mother Paula (Nicole Ari Parker) with the intent of asking Tom for his daughter?s hand in marriage. Tom is a doting father, former military man, and monstrous prick. He hates Will for having the audacity to unconditionally love his daughter for years, not making enough money (but the firm!), and moving to Seattle. It?s a rough dinner for Will and the following morning is even rougher because uh?the apocalypse suddenly happens.

For a film called How It Ends, How It Ends�is completely unconcerned with the how of anything. Bad things just kind of start to happen and Tom, type-A butthead that he is, immediately knows that he must make the 2,000-mile drive to Seattle to rescue his Sam. http://tinyurl.com/y88bjbv3 decides to tag along because there?s paternal catharsis out in them there hills.

The majority of How It Ends�takes place on Interstate 90, which despite being closed by the federal government for safety reasons, it still seems to be populated by thousands of generic redneck villainy, who look like they?ve been living off the land for 40 years. Will and Tom spend a lot of time alone in Tom?s Caddy, speeding along a mostly barren landscape and needlessly challenging each other?s manhood.

http://bit.ly/2PkrNcl ?s hard to criticize James and Whitaker?s performances because there is really nothing to perform. Will and Tom are empty archetypes and not even interesting ones at that. Tom is the typical aging badass whose military training and fierce love of family will help him overcome any adversary. Just once, I?d like to see a post-apocalyptic drama in which the most powerful and useful character is a tiny nerd with a bad thyroid and PhD in modernist avant-garde literature of the 20th century.

Will alternates between helpless and killing machine as the plot dictates. James is charismatic enough but has the wrong physicality for the role. He?s far more imposing than any of the threats the two come across, but by plot necessity can?t quite seem to accomplish anything correctly until the third act when he suddenly must.

Also the scrunched timeframe and accelerated apocalypse goes from a strength to a weakness pretty quickly when it becomes clear just how accelerated the timeline is. The movie offers helpful ?Day 2, Day 3, etc.? subtitles throughout the proceedings and each one is funnier than the last. Viewers are treated to events that wouldn?t appear out of place on The Walking Dead?s�100th episode only to then be greeted by the star text ?Day 3.? It?s like that Will Ferrell era Saturday Night Live skit where the teleprompter goes out and society collapses.

Also for men who are singularly focused on finding the woman they love, Will and Tom sure make a lot of pit stops. They stop for gas and take on a barely willing mechanic, Ricki (Grace Dove). They stop at Will?s friends house and load up on what seems to be like nine years of supplies then stop again not five minutes later for more. Will and Tom?s only consistent characteristic, and only consistent motivation, is that they are in an action movie. Any outside emotion, motivation, or stimulus that would interfere with that is ignored. Even when they reach a level of understanding, it?s because they are in an action movie and required to do so, not because the two men have found any meaningful middle ground.

Visually, How It Ends�mostly works. Director David M. Rosenthal (of the upcoming Jacob?s Ladder�remake) knows that America on fire should be bitterly pretty. The landscapes across northern I-90 blend together but Tom and Will?s little Cadillac is placed well within them. The few action set pieces are clear but clich� and under characterization from those involved robs them from any poignancy or power.

[squidproquoclarice]

I was curious about the Time Team itself but the big picture stuff was cool too!

OK, so the MAWAMS kids.  I kind of miss them, even though I technically never got to directly write anything involving them.

Rufus: this will actually be the Rufus the quartet would rescue, FWIW.  He was pushed a little sooner into piloting due to Anthony and Emma going missing, but that one mission terrified him so much that he basically swore off piloting once the two of them were back.  I mean, they almost died, they lived for 12 years in the past, he’s got his mom and brother to think about…so, nah, he’ll be the Houston to their Apollo 11.  So fortunately for him, he wasn’t on Rittenhouse’s radar as a viable pilot, ergo, he wasn’t killed (like Anthony) or taken prisoner (like Emma pretended to be) when Rittenhouse stormed Mason Industries in 2016.  But he had to step up and take that role on in a hurry.  He got more assertive towards Connor and Denise more quickly because of it. A lot of his arc is the same as season 1, and yes, he and Jiya are precious cinnamon rolls.  He kept nudging Garcia to tell Lucy he loves her, because Rufus is a good friend, and the two of them tended to eat terrible junk food together constantly.Garcia: The biggest change.  As I described, he was sworn in as an actual NSA agent and recruited by Denise, rather than their initial adversary.  They put a fourth seat in the Lifeboat almost immediately because Garcia was coming off desk rotation after injury and some psychologically brutal years in the Middle East and Eastern Europe.  But Garcia being his sassy self, he refused to be left behind and pointed out he’d be more useful in the field.  He never married Lorena, and never lost her and Iris.  Which means he’s a bit more like his more even-keeled sassy and somewhat softer season 2 self: he’s never reached the depths of vengeful ruthlessness that he did in season 1.  But that also means he’s less comfortable with his more passionate emotions.  His only romantic relationship was about 20 years ago with Danil.  And much as he loved that man, the fact they had to keep a lot of it hidden away due to the situation in Chechnya took its toll.  He thinks sometimes maybe it was more a series of moments, and a few blissful weekends in Berlin, rather than a true day-to-day relationship.  So yeah, he’s 43, demi, doesn’t put himself out there easily, has the “I don’t know how to do relationships, do I?” panic, and he’s sort of a sad awkward stressball of romantic anxiety.  He’s been in love with Lucy for a long time, but he’s kept his mouth shut because he feels like he’s got nothing to offer her, and when she ended up starting something with Wyatt, he figured that was that.  Lucy: she actually ended up spending something like five months as a prisoner of Rittenhouse, not six weeks.  Carol tried that in order to keep the intense indoctrination up when she realized Lucy wasn’t going to be swayed, that her and Benjamin’s plan to show Lucy firsthand how they’d Make America Great Again failed, and she preferred the “bumbling idiots” in the Lifeboat.  So yeah, Carol staged an Rittenintervention.  Lucy came out of that ordeal with a bit more baggage than her season 2 counterpart, and probably a bit harder-edged.  She’s been interested in Garcia for a while, but he’s never indicated he wanted more than a friendship, so when the team rescued her, well…life is short, and Wyatt was willing to put himself forward, so she’d make that choice.  (And then Jessica showed up.)  Meanwhile, the rest of the bunker was kind of hoping Lucy would say something to Garcia first because clearly she needed to make the first move.Jiya: given they always had four Lifeboat seats, and she didn’t end up accompanying an injured Rufus because 1x16 didn’t happen, she didn’t end up having visions.  So Rufus’ death in Chinatown came as a total shock to her, her Klingon message from 1885 with the Lifeboat GPS coordinates asked him to please come for her, and…yeah, she feels really guilty about that.  :(  :(  :(  :(   She went on more missions than her season 2 counterpart because she’d sometimes swap out for Rufus to make certain they had two fully competent pilots available.  Basically, everyone would take turns being one left back at home as support staff, depending what the mission was.  Overall, the whole team, since it was essentially a five-person venture from the start given Jiya joined them pretty much after the first mission when Rufus and Connor insisted they’d better train her as another pilot, is probably generally better cross-trained than the one we know is.Wyatt: actually more like the dude we know and hope he can be.  He and Garcia aren’t butting heads (except in a friendly way) and he’s worked through a lot of his issues because the two of them were close friends and it’s been good for him to have a supportive male friend who gets the PTSD.  He and Lucy briefly got together in a post-rescue fever and he sort of regrets that because Jessica came back after that, and he left Lucy holding the bag right when she was dealing with her issues from captivity.  But he was lonely, and he cared about Lucy, and he knew Garcia was never going to to a damn thing about his feelings, so it just sort of happened.  He cares about her but admits it was a dumb move on both their parts now, but he’s doing his best to not make it into A Thing.  He’s still blind and stubborn enough to bring Jessica into the bunker, and to hide his suspicions about her so he does trigger Jiya’s kidnapping and Rufus’ death still, but he’s, like, 90% less problematic than season 2 Wyatt was.

[phantom-le6]

Episode Reviews - Batman: The Animated Series Season 1 (3 of 10)

We’re now into our third instalment from season 1 of Batman: The Animated Series, and this one begins with the re-invention of a formerly minor character that made that character a major foe of the Batman, albeit a bit infamous in the history of the live-action films.

Episode 14: Heart of Ice

Plot (as given by me):

In the middle of the hottest August in record for the people of Gotham, a series of cold-related crimes that involve the use of a freezing gun are occurring.  The crimes all involve thefts of equipment from facilities owned by GothCorp. Batman deduces that the equipment all fits together to create a larger and more powerful version of the freeze gun, and that the final component is only made by a single GothCorp manufacturing plant.

 That night, the thieves strike and Batman intercepts them, learning that the thieves are led by a man calling himself Mr Freeze, and it is Freeze who uses the cold gun in committing the robberies. Batman’s efforts to stop the theft fail, and when Freeze leaves one of his men behind who was hit by the freeze gun, Batman takes him back to the batcave to thaw him out.  At the same time, the dark knight begins to demonstrate that he has picked up a cold.

 Batman meets with GothCorp CEO Ferris Boyle the following day in his Bruce Wayne identity to try and find out why the company has been targeted.  Boyle claims the only person who would hate GothCorp so much died in an explosion when he was fired over an unauthorised experiment.  Batman suspects a cover-up and returns to GothCorp that night to investigate.  He finds a video tape showing that GothCorp scientist Victor Fries developed a form of cryogenics technology with GothCorp resources to save the life of his ailing wife Nora.  When Boyle tried to end the experiment, Fries fought for his wife’s life, resulting in Boyle kicking Fries into vials of coolant.  At that point Mr Freeze, who is in fact Victor Fries, enters and fires at Batman with his freeze gun.

 Back at Mr Freeze’s hideout, Batman deduces the suit Freeze wears is a result of the coolant altering his biology.  Freeze confirms he is no longer able to live outside of a sub-zero environment, compelling him to lash out at Boyle for the change.  Freeze leaves with his men and the freezing canon, as well as Batman’s utility belt. However, the caped crusader is able to free himself and pursues Freeze to a building where Boyle is being given an award for being the “humanitarian industrialist of the year”.  When Batman attacks and retrieves his utility belt, Freeze opts to enter and confront Boyle directly.

 Inside, Freeze reveals his true identity to Boyle as he freezes him up to his waist, but Batman intervenes before he can complete his revenge.  The suit that keeps Freeze cool also triples his strength, making direct combat useless, but Batman is able to stop him by cracking a thermos of chicken soup (given to him earlier by Alfred) against Freeze’s glass helmet.  Batman gives a tape showing Boyle’s actions to the press and sarcastically bids the half-frozen CEO good night.  Later, Freeze is incarcerated in a specially chilled jail cell.

Review:

This episode is another example of how much of an impact this series had on the Batman’s comic books and other mediums. Before this, Mr Freeze was apparently a minor rogue, simply being a guy with a freezing gun that would have been not much different from the Flash’s long-time enemy Captain Cold.  The tragic backstory and Freeze’s need to remain in a sub-zero environment were created for this episode, and as a result the Mr Freeze the fans of today know and love now exist.  Sadly, Joel Schumacher’s Batman and Robin film never did the whole thing justice, meaning that live-action film audiences who have never seen this episode or read any comics related to Mr Freeze from after this episode have never been given this character as he should be seen.

 The episode also features what was technically the first voice role in the series for Mark Hamill; he provides the voice of Freeze’s target Ferris Boyle, and only gained the role of the Joker later when Tim Curry found he couldn’t do a Joker voice without straining his vocal cords. It’s weird to learn this given that three Joker stories were already produced by this point, and perhaps it was this sort of re-casting and re-recording that at least contributed to the episodes not airing in their intended order.

 It’s a good story, and easily stands up as a fairly flawless example of the show’s quality.  I especially like how Batman empathises with Freeze enough to leave Boyle frozen after exposing him to the press.  A pity more unethical people in power never receive similar comeuppance. Another top scorer, 10 out of 10 for this episode.

Episode 15: The Cat and The Claw (Part 1)

Plot (as given by me):

Batman investigates a cat burglar and discovers it to be a woman; more specifically, Catwoman.  Catwoman uses a trained cat named Isis to assist her in her burglaries, and upon meeting Batman, she battles and attempts to flee him while also flirting with him.  There is a moment where her escape is almost ruined by the near-running over of Isis, but Batman saves the cat before losing both the cat and her owner.

 Later, Bruce Wayne attends a charity auction in aid of an animal charity, where the featured lot is a date with him.  The bidding initially only reaches the low thousands before wealthy animal rights activist Selina Kyle bids $10,000 for the date. Bruce is immediately attracted to Selina and insists on honouring the date, despite Selina’s protestation that she only made the bid to help the animals and has no real interest in a date. Gunfire is then heard from outside, prompting Bruce to leave so he can act as Batman.

 The gunfire turns out to be a group of terrorists trying to steal a truck of US army weaponry, but Batman manages to interfere and foil the theft.  Commissioner Gordon explains that a mysterious terrorist leader known only as Red Claw is in Gotham, and Batman promises to investigate.  The next day, Bruce turns up for his date with Selina, but beforehand Selina confesses to her secretary Maven that she is more interested in Batman.  The date is prematurely spoilt, however, when Selina learns that some land she was trying to acquire for a mountain lion reserve has been nabbed by a business cartel, Multigon International.

 Bruce uses his influence to arrange for Selina to meet Stern, the chairman of Multigon, who claims they’ll be developing the land into a luxury resort.  Selina is unconvinced and tells Stern she will have every environmental group putting Multigon under a microscope.  Unknown to Selina, Stern and Multigon are in league with Red Claw, who orders Selina monitored so she can’t jeopardise their plans.  That night, Batman grills the local mobs for intel on Red Claw, while Selina returns to Multigon in her alternate identity as Catwoman.

 Catwoman and Isis manage to gain information on Multigon’s real plans, unaware that Red Claw and her men are on the premises and planning the theft of a virus from a military transport train.  When Catwoman trips an alarm, Red Claw’s men try to capture her.  She almost makes a clean getaway, but Red Claw foils this by firing explosive ordnance at a ledge she is clinging to.  Batman manages to save Catwoman, only for her to then escape him.  She returns home with Isis and reports her success to Maven, unaware that one of Red Claw’s men has followed her and seen her unmask.

Review:

As the show’s introduction to Catwoman, I’ve often felt this episode and its part 2 follow-up had one major flaw; the inclusion of another villain.  Much as it’s cool to have Kate Mulgrew of Star Trek: Voyager fame voicing the TV show original villainess Red Claw, I think Catwoman should have been a featured solo villain rather just being the top-billed villain out of two.  After all, she doesn’t need an additional antagonist to tip her into villainy like Two-Face did, and she’s certainly the most well-known and high-profile of Batman’s female adversaries to the general public, especially in the early 90’s.  As with this show’s initial version of the Penguin, animated series Catwoman is based on the Michelle Pfieffer Selina Kyle in a grey catsuit.

 The Pfieffer influence on this character is less of an issue than styling the Penguin after the one played by Danny DeVito, since it only boils down to a hair colour and not a physical deformity. However, that’s about where the influence ends, as this version isn’t just a pure cat-burglar, nor is she seeking revenge as I understand the Pfieffer version did.  Instead, we’ve ended up with someone who is to cats, and to a lesser extent other wildlife, what Poison Ivy is to the plant world. In other words, an eco-warrior, albeit one that commits theft to finance activism where Ivy is more about direct eco-terrorism in most cases.  On the one hand it keeps the character unique from past versions of Catwoman, but it also detracts from the simple uniqueness of her being a thief where most of Batman’s other adversaries are either criminally insane or part of organised crime.

 Overall, part 1 is ok, but I feel like they should have been split into different stories so a simpler version of Catowman could have commanded the spotlight in her series intro.  For me, this episode only warrants 7 out of 10.

Episode 16: The Cat and the Claw (part 2)

Plot (as given by me):

The mob boss leaned on by Batman in part 1 informs him of an impending train heist being made by someone outside the local criminal underworld.  With nothing on the public schedules and no last-minute changes communicated to Commissioner Gordon, he and Batman deduce the train must be a classified military one. The train is soon raided by Red Claw and her men; they manage to secure the canister of virus before Batman can intervene, and he is forced to let them go in order to avoid them unleashing the virus.

 The next day, Bruce tries to take Selina out for their re-arranged date, but they are pursued by Red Claw’s men, who try to run the couple off the road.  Bruce manages to defeat the thugs by executing a series of evasive driving manoeuvres and then running them off a bridge by playing chicken.  He urges Selina to let him help, having deduced the men were after her and revealing he truly cares for her.  However, Selina insists she can take care of herself.  Later, back at the Batcave, Batman struggles to work out why Red Claw’s men would target Selina until Alfred finds a cat hair on Bruce Wayne’s suit jacket.  The colour is unique and matches cat hairs left by Catwoman’s cat Isis, causing Batman to realise Selina is Catwoman.

 That night, Batman rescues Maven from one of Red Claw’s men and asks her where Selina is.  Maven reveals that Selina has gone to the Multigon site on the land she’d wanted for the mountain lion refuge.  Maven also reveals to Batman that Selina loves him, but if this has any impact on him, he doesn’t show it.  At the site, Catwoman is caught taking photos of weapons stored in an abandoned military bunker, and has to be saved by Batman, but then both are captured. Red Claw, who is in the process of holding Gotham to ransom with the virus, opts to use it to kill Batman and Catwoman as her forces evacuate, believing a placebo will have the same effect. However, the pair of them manage to escape, and Batman quickly works to set the bunker on fire to destroy the virus while Catwoman gets out.

 Batman’s efforts not only destroy the bunker and the virus, but he heads a fuel truck into the side of the transport helicopter Red Claw’s men meant to use for escape.  Police helicopters then arrive to arrest the men, along with Stern as well. Red Claw, rather than flee, attempts to attack Catwoman, but is instead attacked and pinned by a mountain lion. Catwoman is then able to escape, but back at her apartment, Batman reluctantly arrests her.

Review:

This episode is mostly more of the same as what part 1 gave us, but the pay-off isn’t really any better than the build-up. In fact, if anything it’s a little anti-climactic, and in large part that’s due to everything to do with Red Claw and this version of Catwoman not just being a straight-up thief.  For me, I can’t really say much more and only give this part 6 out of 10.

Episode 17: See No Evil

Plot (as given by me):

A thief with a suit that makes him invisible commits numerous robberies across Gotham, using most of it to provide money for himself, but also giving some of the stolen items to a little girl called Kimmy, who believes her invisible benefactor to be her imaginary friend Mojo. One robbery occurs while Bruce Wayne is out shopping for a new watch, and he promptly intercedes as Batman. However, the invisible thief is able to get the drop on Batman and escape, and Batman begins to investigate further.

 It turns out that the suit is made from a plastic that bends light instead of absorbing it when an electrical current is supplied.  In the process, however, the plastic becomes toxic; the inventor has died and one of his assistants is trying to dispose of it, but some has been stolen by the other assistant, an ex-con named Lloyd Ventrix.  Kimmy is Lloyd’s estranged daughter, and he is using the invisibility suit to circumvent a court order keeping him away from Kimmy and her mother. With Kimmy believing Lloyd to be Mojo, she has informed him that she and her mother will move soon, prompting Lloyd to use Kimmy’s belief to abduct her.

 Batman pursues Ventrix to a nearby empty drive-in movie theatre, where Kimmy is now recoiling from her father after learning who he truly is.  With Ventrix’s head visible following his reveal, Batman is able to knock him aside, enabling Kimmy to flee to her house and her mother nearby.  Batman and Ventrix then engage in a protracted battle which leads them from the drive-in theatre to the Gotham rooftops.  There, Batman is able to make a water tower rain down on Ventrix, rendering him visible long enough for Batman to subdue him for the police.  Later, Kimmy confides in Batman that she and her mother will soon be moving, though her mother believes she has just developed another imaginary friend to replace ‘Mojo’.

Review:

This episode seems to have elements that make it a slight homage to the H.G. Wells’ story The Invisible Man, and fans of the 2020 modernised remake film of the story may be interested to note that the film’s lead actress Elisabeth Moss actually appears in as the voice of Kimmy. Personally, I know her better as Zoe Bartlett from TV drama series the West Wing, but it’s still interesting to note that she’s twice had acting roles relating to stories about invisible men. For me, though, the greater interest lies in getting to see Batman involved in what ultimately boils down to a domestic dispute that goes sideways as badly as a show like this can allow. It’s rare to see Batman, or any superhero, deal with a situation like this, and it’s a refreshing change not just in this show, but in superhero lore as a whole.

 My only real complaint with this episode is that Batman never once tries to employ an alternate mode of vision to see his invisible adversary.  His first confrontation with Ventrix reveals the suit’s current could be increased to produce a heating effect, suggesting the suit would emit a thermal signature. As such, infra-red lenses designed to register thermal energy instead of light energy would have been a clear and obvious solution.  The fact that Batman never even tries this feels like very poor attention to detail on the part of the show’s makers.  Batman is, among other things, a highly skilled tactician, and anyone deducing they’d fought an invisible thief once should surely have gone into their second bout with a better counter-measure than ‘fight across half the city and hope to luck into something like a water tower’.  For me, this episode gets 7 out of 10.

Episode 18: Beware the Gray Ghost

Plot (as given by me):

A series of bombings occur across Gotham City, and Batman finds evidence that suggests the bomber is mimicking the plot of a TV show he watched as a child, ‘The Grey Ghost’.  Unfortunately, the original reels of the shows were apparently destroyed in a fire years ago, so the series has never been committed to video. This prompts Batman to track down the show’s lead actor, a man named Simon Trent.  Trent is out of work because his time spent playing the Grey Ghost type-cast him, and he is forced to sell off the last of his Grey Ghost memorabilia to cover his rent.

 Batman uses his wealth as Bruce Wayne to return Trent’s collection to him and enlists his aid in the case.  At first, Trent is reluctant, but eventually gives Batman a copy of the relevant episode, asking to be left in peace.  Batman watches the episode in his civilian attire back at Wayne Manor, and learns the bombs are being hidden in remote-control toy cars. At the next bombing, the police and Batman have more success preventing major damage, but at one point the bomb cars almost kill Batman, and only Trent’s intervention in his old Grey Ghost costume saves the dark knight.

 After the two costumed crime fighters evade more of the bomb cars, they head back to the Batcave to analyse one decoy car Batman managed to retrieve.  Trent is shocked when he discovers the only evidence on the car leads back to himself, but then realises that Ted, the toy collector he has sold his memorabilia to, is behind the bombings.  Batman confronts Ted, who reveals he is a toy addict that has had to turn to crime in order to finance his collecting.  He tries to trap Batman with some of the bomb cars, but Trent then intervenes as the Gray Ghost.  The ensuing confrontation results in a fire that destroys Ted’s collection, and he is soon taken into police custody.

 In the aftermath, Trent’s popularity soars and his reels of the show are turned into a video release of the old Grey Ghost series.  As he autographs copies of the series, he does one for Bruce Wayne, who reveals his secret identity to Trent through a call-back to something he’d said earlier as Batman.

Review:

This episode literally has one thing going for it; the worst live-action Batman actor of all time having a guest role alongside one of the best Batman actors ever (Jason O’Mara of the DC Animated Movie Universe holds joint-top spot with Kevin Conroy in my estimation at present). While I know many people love and respect West’s version of Batman, I cannot stand it.  Granted, West was forced to play the character as it was at that time, which was a horrible campy parody of what Batman originally was, and later returned to when the comics code that stemmed from 1950’s McCarthyism was relaxed, and then ultimately scrapped in favour of age-based certification similar to the film and TV industry.

 However, that doesn’t change the fact that West’s Batman was simply too light and silly to be a true Batman.  Frankly, I see this episode less as an homage to West’s real-life story (though it does use his struggles with being type-cast as a plot point), and more as the actor’s redemption.  Here, he gets to play a role in a serious version of Batman, and he actually does it very well.  It’s such a shame, however, that in the end they’re just dealing with a toy collector gone mad enough for crime, yet not mad enough to really develop the full supervillain melodrama of costumes, gadgets, etc.  For once, we have an adversary so underwhelming as to prove there’s such a thing as a Batman story being too grounded.  For me, the episode only warrants 5 out of 10.

Episode 19: Prophecy of Doom

Plot (as given by me):

Bruce becomes concerned when fellow businessman Ethan Clark claims that psychic fortune-teller Nostromos has been saving him a fortune by steering him clear of certain disaster.  Ethan’s daughter Lisa is convinced Nostromos is a con-man, and that he makes accidents happen according to his predictions just to prove them true.  Bruce attends an event with Nostromos, who claims an accident will soon befall him. Shortly after he claims this, Bruce’s glass shatters seemingly of its own accord.

 Suspecting the glass was broken by a device emitting high-frequency sound, Batman later identifies Nostromos as former actor and ex-con Carl Fowler.  Fowler’s associate, Lucas, is a special effects man, which suggests how the con is being pulled, but not its ultimate conclusion.  The next day, Lucas tries to kill Bruce Wayne in his personal elevator at Wayne Enterprises, but Bruce manages to escape as Batman.  He is unable to catch Lucas, and feigns falling for the con after the near-death experience to learn the intended conclusion.

 It turns out Nostromos is predicting a massive societal collapse, and is convincing his wealthy followers to stash their funds in a single combined account so it will be unaffected by the collapse.  However, Nostromos can’t touch the funds without Ethan Clark’s written authorisation. Lisa also discovers the con, but is captured by Lucas before she can tell her father.  Bruce realises Nostromos will somehow try to leverage Ethan into signing his consent ahead of the supposed collapse so he and Lucas can walk away with all the money.

 At the observatory where Nostromos has based himself, the fake psychic convinced Ethan to sign the papers, otherwise Lisa will be killed in the giant mechanised model of the solar system suspended from the ceiling.  Batman arrives just after Nostromos and Lucas have tied Ethan up, and he manages to defeat them both and save Lisa in a battle that wrecks the solar system model in the process.  The two con-men are taken to jail, and as Ethan ponders how he was easily misled, Bruce quotes a Shakespearean passage about the fault lying not in the stars, but in ourselves.

Review:

This episode is quite ‘meh’ compared to others in the series.  While seeing Batman bust up a con operation is a bit of something different, the sheer ridiculousness of the whole pretence makes it almost cringeworthy to watch. I’m not quite sure where this episode’s idea came from or what its purpose was, but if it was to teach audiences not to buy into such things, I think they should have toned the con down a bit.  Frankly, if anyone bought into a con as badly acted and generally blatant as this one was in real life, they’d have to be way too gullible to even live, much less accumulate enough wealth to make a worthy mark.  4 out of 10 for this one.

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9 Facts About Katsuki Bakugo

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9 Facts About Katsuki Bakugo

On the main belief systems of the manga of our well-known creator of My Hero Academia, Kohei Horikoshi. He envisioned our hero, Kacchan, as being benevolent and delicate, and when he offended others, it was consistently unintentional. The unique draft was believed to be excessively exhausting, thus they changed his character so he could be more fascinating to the fans. He, at a certain point, was even expected to have the name “Ground Zero” yet it was believed to be excessively vicious.

9-Kacchan’s Emo Phase

Devotees of the anime/manga will realize that Kacchan has something like four differents skull shirts, and he has been wearing them since his time as a preschooler (we can see it during the flashback among Deku and Katsuki playing in the recreation center, for instance).

While he might make some great memories tossing affronts at others and giving individuals entertaining epithets since he can’t in a real sense recall their genuine names, he obviously ought to be known as the emotional children!

8-Strategy Battle

One of only a handful multiple times where he isn’t hollering is the point at which he’s in the combat zone. He might be youthful, yet he takes battling like a supportive saint with poise. also, hence, when he battles, he\’s unquestionably knife and quiet. It is really this feeling of quiet that permits his cohorts to see him from an alternate perspective and admire him for how well he does in fights, he stands apart by utilizing his unstable idiosyncrasy in an absolutely interesting manner with a phenomenal capacity to respond rapidly.

Not just the way that he is remarkably normal yet he can even make a whole system while battling, and he never thinks little of his adversaries. ( or nearly )

7-Dealing With Stress

We must pressure that as much as possible. Katsuki Bakugo is a person who has calculated that the most ideal way for individuals to see how he feels is to shout his direction through the anime series.

Regardless of whether he is discussing his sentiments, managing his friends, youngsters, grown-ups, or even individuals he regards, Katsuki decides to holler. While it may not be the most ideal method of managing pressure or the sentiments, it unquestionably makes for a silly person quality. He is the entertainment from various perspectives for the shonen, as it is his steady shouting that has fans, yet even the characters in the show laughing out loud. the creator, Kohei Horikoshi, had envisioned Katsuki Bakugo as being decent when she began. Luckily, our Kacchan will stay for what it’s worth in the ebb and flow work and over the coming seasons!

6-Showing Off Quirk On Public

Kacchan doesn’t accept that saints should shroud what their identity is, regardless of whether it is denied, and it is hence that he has positively no issue showing his Quirk in broad daylight. He will regularly initiate it for some reasons, between being worried, flaunting, or on the other hand assuming he needs to threaten whoever he is hollering at. However, this makes the side of the person truly intriguing, in light of the fact that Katsuki Bakugo has consistently realized how to stay modest and in her belief systems..

Notwithstanding, despite the fact that he can be a hotshot, he is consistently legitimate about what his identity is, and therefore, he is really ready to advise when somebody is misleading him, demonstrating that he can pass judgment on people groups characters rapidly and well.

5-Katsuki’s Mind

In spite of the fact that individuals say that he is a wild person, and he can now and then appear to be a miscreant, Katsuki Bakugou really has an exceptionally solid good. He doesn’t care for lying, which is the reason he rather takes on a conflict to the demise as opposed to misleading save himself.

He isn’t in light of a legitimate concern for being untrustworthy, and he does nothing that would sell out his gallant side, in any event, when it can possibly change the result of a fight. This is one reason why fans ran to him; in spite of the fact that fans love a wild person in an anime show, they love it, significantly more, when that character has unadulterated profundity.

4-His Heroic Pride

For quite a while, Katsuki’s pride made him work without team play, as he imagined that others would back him off and can’t acknowledge the way that he needs to uphold. His pride is additionally the explanation concerning why he would now and then lose a fight. Be that as it may, it generally impeded him from making companions and working with a group.

At the point when he accomplished at last work with a group, for quite a while he dismissed their musings and ensured that they just paid attention to him. Nonetheless, he improved with time, despite the fact that he can in any case act disagreeable to some of them. He advances over the long haul and when he should acknowledge that when the circumstance is urgent, he acknowledges collaboration.

3-During Free Time

At the point when he’s not preparing, which he does regularly, even Katsuki has some personal time. He appreciates eating fiery food, hiking as running. On the off chance that anything that sort of finds a place with the remainder of his character qualities.

In any case, clearly, Katsuki trains 90% of the time during her breaks to consistently remain at a similar limit as her opponent, Izuku Midoriya.

2-He’s Very Kind

In spite of the fact that Katsuki Bakugo likes to yell at everybody in view of his character attributes, he gives exceptional grace and modesty, he is one of the saints probably going to take over from Endeavor, Shoto Todoroki\’s dad, we definitely realize that: to supplant All Might, and to have the option to turn into the main legend, all qualities should be in S, comprising of 5 generally attributes/notes: Power; Speed; Technique; Intelligence; Cooperativeness.

The solitary trademark include that will be missing is the lone motivation behind why he will tragically not be the first: the helpfulness, for the occasion, however, everything can change…

1-He’s Smarter Than He Lets On

Everybody realizes Momo Yaoyoruzu is a virtuoso, and despite the fact that he has legitimately procured that title, Katsuki is quite a very knife. He has a very profound comprehension of peculiarities, and how every saint utilizes them in a world record time.

He considers them intently during the battle fights to see how incredible they are and surprisingly their shortcomings. For instance, he figured out how to move with blasts without passing on or getting truly harmed. It just adds to the profundity of the person that he is exceptionally savvy however doesn\’t show it off, which we as a whole know, many brilliant characters in anime will in general do.

Credits to CBR My Hero Academia Fandom My Hero Academia Shop Team. RyuZu for Wallpapers

Reserved for TRUE heroes: Katsuki Bakugo Merch

Fan of My Hero Academia? Our article about Katsuki Bakugo interested you? Do you want to show your Hero\’s pride? All Might himself is offering you his opinion! 🌪️

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Superman & Lois Episode 1: DC Comics and Movie Easter Eggs Revealed

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This article contains Superman & Lois episode 1 spoilers. We have a spoiler free review here.

Superman & Lois episode 1 does it all! Callbacks to the comics that go all the way back to 1938! A visual reference to the character’s very first onscreen appearance! Random and obscure nods to comics from the ’90s! Oh, and a whole bunch of love for the granddaddy of all superhero movies, 1978’s Superman: The Movie.

Basically, if you’re a Superman fan, the first episode of Superman & Lois is like a love letter to nearly every era of the comics. Here’s everything we spotted…

The Origin Story

The fact that Kal-El is depicted as being “born” on Earth when the rocket opens seems to be something taken from both John Byrne’s Man of Steel origin story, as well as Zack Snyder’s Man of Steel film. Essentially, these versions of the Superman origin state that the rocket that brought him to Earth wasn’t just carrying him as a baby, it was carrying a gestation matrix for baby Kal-El. In other words, he never touched Kryptonian soil or breathed Kryptonian air, and the moment we see that rocket open on Earth is essentially the moment of his birth.

The Kents driving a red pickup truck (especially when they find baby Kal-El) has echoes throughout Superman history. It was most notably deployed in Richard Donner’s Superman: The Movie, and has been homaged in Smallville and again here, as well as in other places.

The Fleischer Superman Costume

When we see an early appearance of Superman in action, his suit (especially the emblem) looks like the version from the Max Fleischer cartoons. It’s a nice nod to the early media days of the character.

Incidentally, his “my mom made it for me” line was used in the pilot episode of Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman in 1993. It also speaks to a piece of Superman lore that often switches back and forth in the comics and elsewhere. For years, it was generally accepted that Clark’s costume was made by Martha Kent from the blankets that came with the rocket. In some recent interpretations (notably the Man of Steel film), it’s a piece of Kryptonian ceremonial wear of some kind, and is alien in nature.

At least we know that in this version of the story, Ma Kent made it.

Action Comics #1

When Superman makes his early appearance wearing that cool vintage costume, he’s catching a green car and setting it down gently, an inversion of the character’s first appearance in Action Comics #1 from 1938, where he is smashing a green car to bits against the side of a rock.

This isn’t the only Action Comics #1 nod in the episode, as on the memo board in Lois and Clark’s Metropolis home there’s a reminder to “Call Siegel and Shuster.” Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster are the creators of Superman. Their phone number (on this board) is 418-193-8000. Action Comics #1 was copyrighted (and possibly published) on April 18, 1938.

Later in the episode, the kids of Smallville are partying at “the old Shuster mine,” another shoutout to the creators. On the Superboy TV series from the ’80s, Clark and Lana attended Shuster University, as well.

Richard Donner and Superman: The Movie

Speaking of that memo board…there’s also a reminder for “Dr. Donner.” Richard Donner directed 1978’s Superman: The Movie, the first truly great superhero movie, and still considered one of the greatest of all time.

Clark’s crack to his kids that he was the “team manager” for the football team is something of a callback to Superman: The Movie, as well, because in one of the only scenes with a teenage Clark in that film, he’s in charge of keeping the football team’s equipment in order.

The doctor who (unsuccessfully) treats Martha Kent here is Dr. Frye. “Doc Frye” was mentioned by Martha Kent to Jonathan Kent in Donner’s Superman, warning him about his heart condition, in a bit of foreshadowing.

Storing the old rocketship in the barn is nothing new, but it had particular significance in Superman: The Movie. It’s unclear if a teenage Clark in that film had ever fully understood/embraced his heritage until the ship “calls” to him one night and he pulls one of those strange crystals from it.

“The sunstone crystal” that Jordan pulls out of the rocket is very much like the crystals that were embedded in the rocket that brought Kal-El to Earth in Donner’s Superman. It was the first instance in Superman lore where these crystals were such important sources of information, and it was only relatively recently that they were adopted in the comics (and that’s where they were finally named), as well.

Clark lifts the old pickup truck to show the boys that he’s Superman. In Superman: The Movie, one of his first acts on Earth as a baby is to lift the Kent pickup truck, letting his foster parents know that he wasn’t your average little kid.

“Stick with Lane, she’ll show you the ropes.” It’s always been a tradition in Superman lore that Lois is the more experienced (and better) reporter than Clark. But Clark’s first day on the job being paired up with Lois to show him around is another nod to Donner’s Superman.

When Superman is chasing the mysterious “Captain Luthor” there’s several moments that feel like when Supes chases the west coast missile in Superman: The Movie, as well.

Superman III

Superman III isn’t anyone’s favorite Superman movie, but there are elements of it that seem quite relevant to Superman & Lois.

For starters, Superman III is all about Clark returning to Smallville and reconnecting with Lana Lang and seeing how things changed. That’s a big deal here, although unlike in that film, Lana and Clark don’t appear to have ever fully lost touch. But also in that film, Lana is romantically involved with a local, and while Kyle Cushing is something of a prickly character here, he’s far better than the alcoholic former Smallville High quarterback Brad Wilson from Superman III.

The scene where Superman saves a nuclear reactor by freezing a lake and using that to cool it off is very similar to one of the best scenes from Superman III (and honestly one of the best scenes in the franchise) where Superman uses a similar trick on an overheating chemical plant.

Incidentally (and unrelated to Superman III) later on Clark and Sam Lane (more on him in a minute) discuss a similar incident at “Oyster Creek.” Oyster Creek is a real power plant, located in New Jersey, which probably places Metropolis on the east coast in the Arrowverse. Where it should be.

Steve Lombard

The “Lombard” that Lois disparagingly refers to is Daily Planet sports columnist Steve Lombard. Lombard was a staple of Superman comics in the ’70s and ’80s, a former football player turned sportswriter who delighted in making Clark the butt of his jokes. He doesn’t appear quite as much these days.

Before Lombard worked for The Daily Planet, he was the quarterback of the Metropolis Meteors, and we get several references to that team throughout this episode, from posters in the Kent home to the boy Superman saves in the car sequence wearing a Meteors hat. And, of course, this explains why Lombard is such a good source of Meteors tickets for his co-workers.

The Death of Martha Kent

Clark at his mother’s deathbed mirrors an oft-repeated scene from the comics, where young Clark speaks to his father as he dies.

Sam Lane

General Sam Lane has been a fixture of Superman continuity since 1959, and the idea of Lois being an army brat has been increasingly played up in recent years. Generally, Sam has usually had a more adversarial relationship with his future son-in-law than what we’re seeing here, but this is a nice change of pace, and one that will certainly make for some good storytelling opportunities down the road.

The signal device that Sam (and Lois) wield is similar to the watch worn by Jimmy Olsen. Here, it almost looks like it could have been designed by Jack Kirby, doesn’t it?

Jonathan and Jordan Kent

Young Jon Kent is a new addition to Superman lore, having only made his first appearance in 2015. There, he’s an only child, not a twin. After being a young kid for most of his time in the comics, he was recently aged up to a teenager (thanks to some space travel and relativity shenanigans). He is, of course, named after Clark’s foster father. Jordan is a new creation for the show and has no comics counterpart.

You may remember that Jon was initially an only child in the Arrowverse as well, but the reality altering effects of Crisis on Infinite Earths changed that.

Anyway, in the comics, Jon has powers. Lots of ’em.

Injustice 2

When we first meet Jordan Kent, he’s playing the DC/Mortal Kombat crossover video game Injustice 2. That’s certainly…an interesting choice considering what the actual storyline of the Injustice games entails (it involves the Joker and a pregnant Lois Lane…as you can imagine, it doesn’t end well). Anyway, needless to say, that probably isn’t the story in the Arrowverse.

Batman?

The Sequoia movie theater in Smallville during the flashbacks is showing a film called Rory’s First Kiss, which was the codename that Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight filmed under. This scene, in which Jonathan Kent dies, must take place earlier than 2008, though, so it’s unlikely that Rory’s First Kiss was a Nolan production in this universe.

Jonathan Kent dying of a heart attack has happened several times, but most notably in Superman: The Movie and on Smallville.

Who is Captain Luthor?

No, he isn’t Master Chief. All his talk about how his world was destroyed would seem to indicate he’s from an Earth that didn’t make it through Crisis on Infinite Earths, though. We’ll have to wait for future episodes to see how this one pans out.

And no, this doesn’t mean this doesn’t take place on the main Arrowverse Earth or that Jon Cryer’s brilliant portrayal of Lex is no longer canon. We’ll get answers soon enough!

Sam Foswell

Overbearing and overeager Daily Planet assistant editor Sam Foswell is just like that in the comics, too. He’s made a handful of appearances since 1991.

We also hear that Ron Troupe has been fired, and he’s a dedicated member of the Superman comics supporting cast, as well.

Morgan Edge

We’ll have more on Morgan Edge in the coming weeks, as he’s set to play a major role on this show. For now, just know that he’s got a 50 year history and is one of the few supporting Superman characters created by none other than Jack Kirby. His arrival in the Arrowverse bodes big things for the future.

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Miscellaneous Cool Stuff…

There’s news footage of Superman saving a space shuttle at one point, referencing multiple comics stories, but also the first episode of Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, once again.

There’s a banner for the Smallville Crows in one of the bedrooms of the old Kent home. The Crows were also the football team on the Smallville TV series, so this is a neat detail.

Superman falling to Earth after getting stabbed by the Kryptonite mirrors a moment in Superman Returns, when he’s been poisoned by the Kryptonite continent he hurls into space.

“When your father first told me I didn’t understand either.” In 1991’s Action Comics #662, Clark finally told Lois his secret. She wasn’t exactly thrilled to learn that he had been lying to her all that time.

Clark and Lana attended a Soul Asylum concert. Ladies and gentlemen, we have our first Gen-X Superman! But more specifically, Lana references how they got in an accident and nobody was hurt. 1990’s Adventures of Superman #474 was a flashback to a teenage Clark and friends partying and getting in an accident. It didn’t end as well as Lana’s anecdote, if my memory serves.

Spot anything I missed? Let us know in the comments!

The post Superman & Lois Episode 1: DC Comics and Movie Easter Eggs Revealed appeared first on Den of Geek.

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Wednesday 23rd December 2020

Our Garden etc. Birds. Part 2 The Comings and Goings

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Let’s start with our traditional ‘Christmas’ bird. The Robin is a member of the Thrush family and is related to both Blackbird and Nightingale who are all also well known for their singing.

Most Robins live a sedentary lifestyle, staunchly defending their own patch of territory from rivals. In fact, they have apparently been known to fight their own reflection or spar with an adversary to the death.

Many Robins won’t move more than 5km (3.11m) whatever the season. Some leave the UK for warmer climates before Winter arrives. Most of these birds are female, crossing the Channel to as far away as Spain or Portugal. They return to the UK with the warmer weather. No passports or Visas required for their wings  -  bit of a topical joke there: wildlife only obeys borders when it wants to.

We have numerous resident Robins here because we have such a large extent of suitable habitat surrounding the house and they know a good source of food and water for certain. It’s all very harmonic at the moment, but of course that’s subject to change when there’s more at stake.

Robin Facts:

Only for a short period in late summer while they are moulting and inconspicuous do robins stop singing. Both sexes sing.

As with the Nightingale, the song is usually delivered from a concealed perch within a bush or a tree, exposed perches are infrequent. Autumn and Spring songs are distinctly different. The Autumn song starts after the moult, from late Summer onwards. It is more subdued and melancholy in its tone, while the spring song is powerful, confident and upbeat.

The Spring song can start as early as mid-December, reaching full force in Spring. Its purpose is two-fold: to defend a territory and to attract a mate. Therefore, Spring song is far more powerful in males.

Robins are adapted to life in poor light and are often active in half-light when few other birds are about. They tend to be among the earliest birds to start the dawn chorus and one of the last to stop in the evening.

Street lights and floodlights can trigger singing in the middle of the night, and if roosting Robins are disturbed, they can burst into song even in complete darkness.

RSPB

In mild winters robins can start breeding as early as January although their usual breeding season starts in March.

Every continent has its own species of robins, but only the Japanese and Ryukyu Robins are closely related to the European Robin. 

Birdspot

Remember last week’s controversy about the colour of their eggs? If you missed it, THIS is the Blog entry you want. Don’t let the headline title put you off, it’s all in there, scroll down.

One of the most interesting facts about migrating Robins is how faithful they are to their territories. Many maintain both their summer and winter patches despite them being hundreds of kilometres apart. 

Of course the same is true in reverse. Resident birds are often joined by migrants from Scandinavia, Europe and Russia who avoid the most severe weather in their own countries. Along with other members of the Thrush family like Redwings, Fieldfares and Blackbirds, they arrive on British shores - usually along the East coast - once their own food supply has been covered by snow and ice.

When other garden birds migrate and return

At least 4,000 species of bird are regular migrants. That's about 40 per cent of the world's total. But some parts of the world have a higher proportion of migrants than others.

RSPB

Between September and March, 10-20 million Chaffinches fly here from Scandinavia and Western Europe. They can be differentiated from our resident Chaffinches by their foraging behaviour: searching for food in large flocks on open farmland. UK Chaffinches favour gardens, woodlands and hedgerows.

The UK also sees an influx of Starlings during Winter. Fleeing the severe cold in Eastern Europe, they seek solace in our abundant food sources and comparatively balmy temperatures. Numbers will trickle in throughout September, but the influx really kicks off during October. According to experts, one UK Starling roost numbered close to one million over-wintering birds!

In our own garden the most unusual bird we’ve seen visiting is a Turtle Dove, just the one and only on two occasions in subsequent years. Red listed as endangered and even on the verge of extinction it was a real thrill to see it and report the sighting to Operation Turtle Dove.

Turtle Doves have very distinctive plumage and beautiful voice quite different from other Pigeons.

The 12 Days of Christmas is a song that promises a great deal, but there’s a line that carollers may have to omit in future. Before a whole house of leaping lords and dancing ladies, the second day is supposed to bring two turtle doves. But dramatic declines in populations across Europe may mean that day two disappoints true loves in Christmases to come.

Only slightly larger than a blackbird, the European turtle dove is the UK’s smallest species of pigeon, as well as its only migrant species. You would be hard pushed to find turtle doves in the UK during December, as they spend the winter in sub-Saharan Africa, returning to Europe to breed in late April. With their return comes their gentle purring song, a long-standing sign of spring.

The Conversation 

Turtle Dove in our East Sussex garden - yes they are a real thing (for now)

Formerly a widespread breeding species in Britain, the Turtle Dove population in Britain has declined by over 90% since 1994.* The declines are likely linked to changes in agriculture on their breeding grounds in Europe, as well as hunting pressure in the Mediterranean region and possibly environmental changes in their wintering grounds.

BTO

UK decline 94% since 1995 - source Operation Turtle Dove.

Dangers include the fact that it likes to mainly feed from the seeds of weeds and the tidier our land becomes, the more their diet reduces...no one can say that we don’t do our bit Chez Nature Watch! and very sadly, recreational hunting in some parts of Continental Europe.

European Turtle Dove will no longer legally be killed in France this autumn, after the Conseil d'Etat banned hunting of the Vulnerable-listed species. On Friday [11 September 2020], the highest administrative court in France outlawed the practice for the 2020-21 season.14 Sept 2020 Birdguides.com

I really hope the ban continues and spreads far and wide.

You can read more about bird migration here from the RSPB. It offers loads of information and right at the bottom of that page you can also read more about Turtle Doves.

Of course, nothing for me tops the year we had Swallows take over the open fronted nest box in our porch. Getting photos was tricky as we didn’t want to disturb them - to the extent of taking a circular route to go up and down stairs and using our back door when we could.

I often wonder what happened to our brood. Just look at the BTO Migration Map. It’s an incredibly long and arduous journey, fraught with dangers. Apparently this year numbers here were down due to catastrophic storms off Greece in April or May. There did seem to be a healthy population in our neck of the woods though and I always look forward to seeing the migrants back again.

There was an interesting blog about this Summer’s situation Here from a bird food supplier in Hampshire.

Picture credit the BTO as above link

There were actually five in our brood and they all fledged successfully. The photos are fuzzy but given the low light, stealth and using only a little camera, at least I got a record of their Summer with us. I’ve always been so disappointed they didn’t return.

Most songbirds use a nest for just a single clutch or season, then build a new one – if they survive to breed again. But one study showed that most swallows returned to the same colony, with 44 per cent of pairs reoccupying the same nest. ... A good nest may be reused for 10–15 years by a series of different pairs.

Finally today I can’t finish without a big shout out for the BTO Cuckoo Tracking Project where you can get lots of information and also follow the whereabouts and progress of Cuckoos making their journeys backwards and forwards. Currently there’s information on Carlton II, PJ and Valentine.

Cuckoo Article from Countryfile. It’s brilliant.

I hope the last couple of Blogs have been informative as well as interesting. There’s certainly enough reading material to cover quiet moments over the Christmas break if you want something entirely different. I never pretend to be an expert in anything but do go to reputable sources for the links and enjoy increasing my knowledge as I research what to include.

Notes from the Kitchen: 

Last night we had a really delicious fish pie. We used Haddock and Salmon, leeks, peas and carrots, parsley and a savoury white sauce. I had thought about grating cheese on top of the potato and adding some thin slices of tomato, but didn’t get around to it...lazy!

Decoration from the Standen Courtyard Christmas Trees

A Pointsettia flower.

Personal details removed from label, the lady who crafted this is hoping to become a volunteer at the property in the New Year.

December 23rd Advent Door. Not expensive, just  Little Deer

The Nature Watch Nativity

MANY CHRISTMAS CAROLS make mention of the three kings, who follow a star and come to pay homage to the baby Jesus in Bethlehem. In the Bible, they are not called kings, and their number is not specified—instead they are “wise men from the East.” At many courts in the east, including ancient Babylon and Persia, learned astrologers often served as priestly advisers, practiced in the art of magic. In the centuries since, the three magi have been interpreted as kings.

Taken from This Page where you can see an absolutely incredibly beautiful and ancient mosaic.

Carol of Choice from King’s College Choir, Cambridge 

‘We Three Kings’

[nerdygaymormon]

My message to fellow Church members

Some of the words are borrowed from others, but this is what I’d like to say to other Mormons to help them understand my situation. And to be clear, these thoughts don’t represent all gay Mormons, there’s no unanimity of thought or experiences. Think back to going thru puberty and the embarrassment when you start having explicit dreams. Many teenagers feel ashamed and wonder if they’re evil for having such thoughts. Some also wonder if they’re broken because the people in their imaginings are of their same gender. They didn’t choose these images and desires and it can be confusing. Imagine being taught that the truest form of joy and fulfillment comes from being married in the temple and having a family–but being told this is not meant for YOU. It can be disconcerting to be in a Church whose vision of the afterlife focuses on husbands & wives in eternal families. Would you wonder if there’s something wrong with you or what the eternities will mean for you? It’s difficult to reconcile same-sex orientation with this Church. While messages of hope and joy can be heard, so are words that hurt. Compared to my teenage years, the Church has moved forward and the language has softened, but there’s still things taught that wound. Fellow members have said unkind things when they didn’t know I was included in the group they were disparaging. Like any other member, I want to be understood and loved, to be included. I don’t want to be merely tolerated. I want to be embraced, want to be respected as a peer and a fellow child of God, accepted for being on the path of discipleship with you. God created me as a glorious, eternal being. Same is true for the person who is trangender, asexual, panromantic or any other person in a queer category. I don’t know how we fit into God’s plan, but God knows. Our situations are part of the natural variations of the human condition. I can’t believe we’re set up to fail. I am a son of God. I am gay. I am known and loved by Him. He is rooting for me. When LGBT topics arise in church, they’re always linked with restrictions. Gay members don’t often hear messages of love and hope regarding their situation. Sometimes I’m told the same church standards apply to me as to any other member, but is that true? Single members of our church are to refrain from sex until married, but they’re free to engage in a myriad of behaviors that would make my church leaders uncomfortable were I to do them. In some important ways, I’m not sure I can reach my full potential as a human being inside the Church. When people learn I’m gay, sometimes it feels like people automatically discount my faith and things I share about being gay & Mormon, like answers to my prayers or thoughts on the subject. For people who swim with the current, can they appreciate the struggle of members who have to swim upstream in this Church? It feels like some members’ compassion for gays is really just sorrow that the person is gay, not genuine sympathy for the challenges that gays face in our culture, let alone a desire to help lessen the challenges. Think of someone in a wheelchair, while they can’t walk, they’re not disabled in a society that is thoroughly wheelchair accessible. The discrimination of not accommodating and not making things accessible is the real impairment. You can follow the prophet by advocating for the rights of same-sex couples. Also, invite gay friends to your home and gay members should know there is a place for them on the pew next to you. The language used when talking about LGBT issues matters. Words like “struggle” and “suffer” are the way we talk about diseases, temptations, and addictions. “I struggle with depression,” or “he suffers from cancer.” Imagine if the Church routinely spoke of you as “someone suffers with opposite-sex attraction.” Homosexuality is not like being a smoker or an addict. My sexual orientation isn’t a spiritual disability. I know the Church uses the phrase “same-sex attraction” as a way to not have it be part of my identity, it’s merely something I "have" not something I “am”. The thing is being gay goes beyond sexual attraction, it’s an orientation, which means it’s a way of thinking, feeling and responding. Being gay affects how I view and understand the world in many areas: romantic, aesthetic, emotional, mental, and spiritual. I can’t turn off my heart or my thoughts. LGBT individuals experience the world in wonderful and holy ways, have the ability to perceive grace and connect with others, and have insight on what it means to be divine. Our experiences can be expansive and uplifting. Here’s an interesting thing, many prayers with the pleading of “Please take this away from me,” have been answered by silence. But “God, do you love me as I am? Do you accept me? Do you love all of me?” those prayers get a strong, loving “YES!” I don’t need mending, I am not broken. I’m a whole person, like you, as my Heavenly Father made me. He already knows and loves us, knows our orientation. I’ve been asked by parents, “Is there a place in church for my child?” “Church and family have brought happiness & purpose in my life and my child can’t have both?“ I can’t tell them what the future holds, but I can promise that as long as their child wants to be here, there’s a place for them, and there are people who’re willing to walk this hard path with them. As the Primary song says, “I’ll walk with you, I’ll talk with you, that’s how I’ll show my love for you.” LDS Family Services estimates there are, on average, four or five members in a typical North American ward with same-sex attraction. Does that surprise you? It did me. Some may keep a low profile, and others may be inactive. Being LGBT & LDS can be lonely and feel isolating. Our situation isn’t reflected in videos or the lessons, there’s not really any role models at church, we’re absent from any discussion on exaltation and Eternal Life. It feels like me and my existence aren’t acknowledged and certainly not valued, which is a shame, young people especially deserve to know that people like them matter. People always felt Jesus’ love, even if he’d told them hard things. People were seen and heard, they were touched. They left Jesus with more dignity than when they started. I’m not sure LGBT people can say the same about their encounters with Mormons. My country and my church both have sins in their pasts. In our church we teach that prophets and apostles are not infallible, however a lot of Mormons act as if they are and that the leaders won’t ever teach incorrect things. I don’t think that’s true of our history with members of African descent. It’s also not true in the area of homosexuality. Jesus would not ask me to stay away from him, yet it feels like, as a church, we’ve been letting the gay lambs go. I am a Mormon and I am a gay man. I love this church and how it’s taught me to feel the Spirit and gets me to serve others and the sense of community, but if I’m forced to choose between the two, I can’t change my orientation. Statistically about 70-90% of all LGBT members will leave the Church. Many view the choice of remaining as choosing to be miserable for Christ. Is this what He asks of us? Please be gentle and compassionate with LGBT members who leave or come back to Church. Being active in this Church for LGBT people usually equates with a lower quality of life, greater depression, more distress over their sexual orientation, lower self-esteem and higher suicide rates. Sometimes a person needs a break from the Church in order to maintain or reclaim better mental health. Your gay friends aren’t weak for seeking love & intimacy, they aren’t being led astray by the adversary. It’s a biologic drive that is natural to pursue and to deny & repress it comes at a great price. Today I may sound like a confident, mature person, but for a long time it was hard to love myself. It took a long time for me to accept and embrace my sexual orientation. It’s been a long journey for me to understand that being gay is neither good nor evil, it just is. In my life it has turned from a curse into a blessing. I know what it feels to be on the margins. I can empathize with people in their struggles. I’ve been used by God to build His kingdom, to befriend the friendless and comfort the comfortless, He guides me to people who need to feel His love. My being here means I survived and triumphed in a world that didn’t protect, validate, or encourage me as a gay individual. I’ve had to become strong & patient. I’ve had to gain some spiritual independence and be brave enough to say that I am staking a claim to the blessings of the gospel in spite of what others say. I recognize that many members would prefer to not have to hear about these things. That LGBT people don’t seem to “fit in” with the plan of creation as it’s generally understood, and yet, we exist. Sometimes I feel like the bothersome data point that doesn’t fit the hypothesis, that my existence is an inconvenient truth. The thing is, in society and especially at church, you are in the privileged position. If nothing changes, it doesn’t really affect you and so it’s easy to say let’s not stir things up or that I just need to be patient. For me, though, it means everything. He already knows and loves people in my situation, but for us to be honest with Him, we need to be honest with ourselves. Spiritual maturity includes coming out of the closet with God. The path forward is unclear for queer Mormons, we each have to navigate a path forward. I wish my church and my orientation were more compatible, because I don’t believe it’s incompatible with God.

[thecorteztwins]

@askprofessorx  SO I'M REALLY SORRY THIS IS A BIG FUCKING INFO DUMP but these are my muses and my ideas for what we could do with them and Charles

The Acolytes on this blog refers to Fabian Cortez, his sister Anne Marie, and their teammates Chrome and Delgado.At the beginning of the 90s, Magneto had basically retired and fucked off to live in space alone on the humbly named Asteroid M. Then all of a sudden, four mutants show up on his doorstep being chased by SHIELD agents and proclaiming loyalty to him. He lets them in. Three of them are sincere in their claims, but their leader, Fabian Cortez, has a plot. He starts manipulating Magneto, pushing him back into villainy, into doing things that scare the hell out of humans (like collecting fucking MISSILES) because "self-defense". This leads him into conflict with the X-men, who until now he'd actually more or less made peace with, and he sustains grievous injury from Wolverine. Psychologically, this makes him feel that much more isolated and rejected, making him that much more prone to Fabian's manipulation...and physically, he now needs to rely on Fabian's healing powers. Things get worse as Fabian also uses his ability to boost other mutants powers, because it's established that Magneto's powers are to blame for his mental imbalance, so more power equals more crazy for Mags. Fabian's plans all come together when Magneto gathers Xavier and the X-Men aboard Asteroid M, intent on brainwashing them to his side, and the governments of the US and Russia, motivated by Magneto's actions, decide that Asteroid M, and all those upon it, must be destroyed. Fabian, knowing this because THAT WAS HIS PLOT, gets in the only escape pod, leaving the others to die. The X-Men are able to escape, and offer a way out to Magneto and the remaining Acolytes, but Magneto chooses to stay, to use the last of his abilities to hold the asteroid together so the X-Men can make it to their ship...and the other Acolytes choose to stay with him and die at his side. So, why did Fabian do this? Why did he want to get rid not only of the X-Men but also his supposed "leader" Magneto, and his own team, his own sister? Power. Fabian had made Magneto a martyr now, instead of someone who abandoned his cause, and he used his name to rally a cult of new Acolytes, far more bloodthirsty and genocidal than the original squad had been...with himself leading them, of course. These new nasty Acolytes did a LOT of awful things, but Fabian got his when Magneto returned from the dead (typical!) bringing a super duper powerful mutant named Exodus with him who gave Fabs the boot.  Fabian flees to Genosha, kidnaps Luna (Pietro's daughter) to use as a human shield/hostage, demanding that Pietro, Wanda, Crystal (Luna's mom), and the Avengers all protect him from Exodus and Magneto or else he’ll kill Luna. He also gets the Genoshan mutants on his side (damn, this guy is charismatic!) and rallies them into causing a civil war so he can use the chaos to hide. Yeah, seeing the country “awash in a raging river of bloodshed!” is just to save his own slimy hide. What a charmer. Anyway, the good news for Fabian is that Magneto is braindead at this time due to Xavier finally whipping out the telepathic big guns on him after he ripped Wolverine’s skeleton out. The bad news is that Exodus is alive and well and shows up, kills Fabian. But Fabian doesn't stay dead. He comes back to caught more trouble, first with manipulating Joseph (Magneto's clone) and then when Magneto gets his mind back and becomes ruler of Genosha, Magneto comes back to recruit Fabian onto the Genosha cabinet (because as shitty as Fabs is, he's a good politician) and to be his personal battery since his powers are now depleted. Fabian starts secretly working to backstab Magneto AGAIN but then when Magneto's powers fully return, Magneto kills him. It mostly sticks this time. Mostly. He does show up during Necrosha though (an event where another villain mass-resurrected a bunch of mutants, of which Fabian was one, but that was a temporary thing) I play Fabian and the other original Acolytes as having been resurrected by unknown means (that's...not uncommon in Marvel tbh) Chrome, Anne Marie, and Delgado don't remember that it was Fabian who was responsible for their deaths, and have resumed their lives as terrorists with him as their teammate and leader. Naturally, Fabian doesn’t want them finding out the truth, and thus does everything he can to keep them from finding out Magneto is alive and at large, lest they seek him out and he tell them what really happened. Fabian himself also wants nothing more than to leave supervillainy at this point and have a normal life, not because he’s seen the light and turned good, but because he’s tired of getting beaten up and dying. Unfortunately, he doesn’t dare run for it, as he (rightly) believes his sister would kill him as a traitor if he did, and he doesn’t think he can escape her by murdering her again either, since he’s learned nobody stays dead (but he still doesn’t want to go through death again himself because IT’S HORRIBLE) With that setup, we've got the enemies deal down pat. Anne Marie will try to kill Xavier on sight. She can't be talked to or talked down. Chrome, it's possible to engage, and Delgado is actually unlikely to try to hurt Xavier UNLESS Xavier is getting in the way of something they're doing. As for Fabian...he might well try to get Xavier to help him out of this mess. Convince him to wipe the Acolytes minds, or rewrite their memories so they think Fabian is dead, enabling him to escape them before they can find out it was him that betrayed them and Magneto. In an XMCU verse, none of this would have happened. I'd picture it instead as Fabian and the others being fresh Brotherhood recruits, with Fabian having all these schemes in mind to betray and usurp Magneto, but not having done it yet. We could have a plot where they capture Xavier, or the X-Men have captured them, or things like that. Finally, in Evo, they're not terrorists yet, they're just teenagers. Fabian and Anne Marie are a couple of mutant kids, and they're not bad either! So, possibly students. They've actually got their powers perfectly under control more or less, and are quite comfortable with them, but they're interested in meeting others like them...and, frankly, Anne Marie needs to be taught responsible use. Because she's growing up with the ability to control the minds and emotions of other people and no one can tell her "no" on anything and it's not that she's evil but she doesn't have a concept of things like telepathic ethics and telepathic consent so she's kinda super dangerous despite being a sweetheart with no malicious intent. I do the 616 verse a lot so I'd actually be more interested in the XMCU and Evo options? I haven't seen any of the films after First Class, but your About section says that's where your default verse is, after FC but before DOFP or XMA. Over on @mypralaya I've got Haven, aka Radha Dastoor, she's a villain who showed up in seven issues of X-Factor during the 1990s. She's a woman who from an early age felt a calling to help ease the suffering and pain in the world, and worked in the streets of her native India helping the poor, caring for the sick, etc. Great person, total saint. Unfortunately, she fell in love with some cad, he knocked her up and then left her. Then things got worse, because a top-class demon known as The Adversary (demons = pretty regular things for the X-Men to deal with in the comics, actually) possessed her unborn child and started feeding her some major lies. Fast forward twenty years. She's still secretly pregnant, eternally in her first trimester. Her child is a mutant, and she can access its immense powers. She also believes it speaks to her with a divine voice, but that's the Adversary, who has made her amass a cult dedicated to spreading chaos and destruction in hopes of bringing about the Mahapralaya, a sort of Hindu apocalypse after which a beautiful age of painlessness and peace and joy for humanity will come, ending suffering forever. But Haven herself was still a really nice woman who advocated for mutant/human peace as a public figure (international best-selling author + lecturer) and in fact greatly admired Professor Xavier. But the whole "secret terrorist cult causing mass suffering" brought her into conflict with X-Factor, despite her desire to have them as her friends and allies. There's no shortage of bad guys with good intentions in the X-Men, but Haven was especially unusual in that she was a pacifist villain. She actually never attacks the good guys, even when they attack her. In fact, she tries to help them---she rescues Polaris from government agents, she heals Wolfsbane of the Genoshan brainwashing she underwent as a slave, and tries to heal Multiple Man of the Legacy Virus (X-Factor blames her for his death when she fails) We're told her cult is doing all these horrible things offscreen, but it's kinda hard to root against her when she barely even threatens anyone onscreen. Her story ends when the Adversary decides it's time to be reborn into this world and Haven...does not survive that in canon. I decided that she does, because I felt she deserved a better ending. In XMCU, demons don't really fit with the canon, so she could be a human or a mutant. Either way, not a villain, because not being influenced (and I don't really play her villain incarnation anyway, I'm more interested in what comes after) so not an antagonist, but more likely a friend or staff member? I feel like the "inspired by Xavier" thing would also be different, because she's in her early 40s, so she'd be older than your Charles, and that could be neat to explore. I mean, hell, maybe she could be a mentor figure to him, or at least a colleague in the same field (mutant/human relations) I'm guessing that it's rare for him to even meet a mutant who is older than he is, since he and Erik and the original X-Men/Brotherhood are kinda the OGs in the XMCU aside from Apocalypse. Then there's Shaw @sebastianshaw He's not a Kevin Bacon Nazi, he's not concerned with mutant supremacy, he's just concerned with money and power, to the point he'll happily throw other mutants under the bus to human bigotry if it makes him a profit. Seriously, this guy built SENTINELS for the government because it made him money, he gives no fucks about species solidarity. As for the Hellfire Club, rather than being a proto-Brotherhood, they're a worldwide social club for the wealthy elite. Most of its members (which includes the Starks, the Worthingtons, and the Braddocks) are just that, regular super-rich people who wanna hob-knob with other super-rich people at fancy parties, but behind closed doors, the Inner Circle that runs in (Shaw, Emma, etc.) are mutant bad guys bent on political and economic domination of the world. This has brought them in to conflict with the X-men several times, the most notable of which was the Dark Phoenix saga, in which the Hellfire Club recruited the telepath Mastermind to brainwash Jean into their service, resulting in her becoming the Dark Phoenix and the resultant horrors that followed, which ended in her death. Shaw's not liable to just attack Xavier, he's more like Delgado in terms of "I'm not after you, just don't get in my way" but there's still room for conflict there, as well as standard "good guy and villain have a chat" things like Xavier does with Magneto, with none of the affectionate history there. Shaw's shown to put himself on the same level of mutant influence as the likes of Xavier and Magneto  even if he's way overestimating himself (I mean, he's got a lot of economic/political influence on the world but he doesn't influence mutant culture like Magneto and Charles have, he's too private/on-the-down-low as a mutant) and to have opinions on that, as well as the typical 'thinks the heroes are fools wasting their powers' gig. He's also shown to be immune to Charles' telepathy, probably due to the same Hellfire Club technology that keeps Cerebro and other psychic stuff out of the building's walls, and even without it he's trained enough in telepathic resistance he was able to give Emma a very hard fight in trying to telepathically 'get' him.  So Charles can't just tell what he's thinking which makes for a more...normal/even conversation. Not that Charles goes around reading everyone's mind but like, Shaw is a bad guy, so it would be understandable if he tried just to be sure Shaw wasn't up to something, but he can't, so like...he's in the more normal person position of not being able to be sure. Also, he and Charles met in 616 before Charles formed the X-Men and before Shaw joined the Hellfire Club, but the details have never been revealed beyond that Charles embraced him as a friend and that the same young mutant (Tessa/Sage) saved both their lives, but Shaw rejected Xavier’s path and went his own way. In Evo, it's pretty easy to just introduce Shaw and the Hellfire Club as new foes on the scene, probably initially posing as a benign group with similar goals to Xavier, complete with a school of their own for young mutants (Emma Frost ran one in her Hellfire days in the comics) In XMCU...it's more complicated/difficult given the existence of Shaw there, but since that Shaw's real name is Klaus Schmidt, it's not impossible to say he stole this Shaw's identity or something, possibly along with taking/copying his powers via some kind of scientific experiment (since he doesn't display these abilities when he met young Erik) I also play Shaw's son @shinobixshaw and Fabian's son @malcortez. Shinobi is a 616 canon too, he "killed" his dad (Shaw got better) and took over his position in the Hellfire Club...and then proceeded to do nothing except drink and party and be lazy. Shinobi is not a serious threat in any way, even if he thinks he is, and thus really cannot make a decent antagonist, but he can certainly be annoying in his stupidity and arrogance and drunken shenanigans. Malcolm, on the other hand, is not from 616. He's from the Marvel Zombies universe, but has canonically access to a machine that can take him to other dimensions, including, oh, say, the XMCU! So it's perfectly plausible for him to be able to pop up in the mansion or wherever as a fish-out-of-water who needs help getting acquainted with this world. He's technically a villain in his own world, but his goals of "rule my village" won't really apply in any other world, he's just interested in his own home, not anyone else's. So he'd be more like a...very confused guest than anything else.